GIFT OF
SEELEY W. MUDD
and
GEORGE I. COCHRAN MEYER ELSASSER
DR. JOHN R. HAYNES WILLIAM L. HONNOLD
JAMES R. MARTIN MRS. JOSEPH F. SARTORI
to the
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
SOUTHERN BRANCH
^
HISTORY
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
PKOVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
BY
SAMUEL G K E E N E ^ K N O L D.
VOL. I.
1636 — 1700
FOURTH EDITION.
PROVIDEXCE, R.I.:
PRESTON & ROUNDS.
1894.
SOiii
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860,
Bt SAMUEL GREENE ARNOLD,
In the Clerk's OflBce of the District Court of the United States for Rhode Islaad.
TO THE
PEOPLE OF EHODE-ISLAXD
®Iris f istorg
OF THE TRIALS AND THE TEITJMPHS OF THEIR AX0E9T0B8
IS IX SCRIBED
BY THEIR F E L L O W- C I T I Z E If ,
SAMUEL GREENE ARNOLD.
/•
PKBPACE.
The work, of which the first volume is now presented, is the result
of many years' labor. To trace the rise and progress of a State, the
offspring of ideas that were novel and startling even amid the philo-
/) sophical speculations of the seventeenth century ; ^ who se birth was a
protest against, whose infancy was a struggle with, and whose maturity
was a triumph over, the retrograde tendency of established Puritanism ;
a State that was the second-born of persecution, whose founders had
been doubly tried in the purifying fire ; a State which, more than any
other, has exerted, by the weight of its example, an influence to shape
the political ideas of the present day, whose moral power has been in
the inverse ratio with its material importance, and of which an eminent
historian of the United States has said that, had its territory " corre-
sponded to the importance and singularity of the principles of its early
existence, the world would have been filled with wonder at the phenom-
ena of its history," is a task not to be lightly attempted or hastily per-
formed.
The materials for Rhode Island history are more abundant than
many have supposed. They are widely scattered and difficult to col-
lect or arrange, and hence the opinion has seemed -to prevail that too
much was lost to rend r the preservation of the remainder an object of
interest. But some j ersons have thought otherwise, and three attempts,
prior to this, have been made to write the history of the State. The
first was by Governor Stephen Hopkins, one of the signers of the Dec-
.iii>''on of Independence, who, in 1762, commenced to publish "An his-
torical account of Providence," since reprinted in the second series of
vi PREFACE. ^1
Massachusetts Historical Collections, volume ix. Only one chapter A
completed when the struggle for independence interrupted the woi , *
which was never resumed. The second was by Hon. Theodore Fostei ^
a Senator in Congress from Rhode Island, who collected a large number
of original papers and made copies of nearly the whole of the colony
records. But one chapter of this work was ever written. His death pre-
vented its completion. The third attempt, by the late Henry Bull of New-
port, was more successful. He published in the Rhode Island Repub-
lican, 1832-6, a series of articles entitled " Memoirs of Rhode Island,"
embracing the principal events of each year from the settlement of the*
State down to 1799. The care taken in the preparation , of these arti-
cles leads us to regret that Mr. Bull did not extend his labors still
further, and embody them in a more permanent form. These, with the
five volumes of the Rhode Island Historical Collections, with the valua-
ble notes of the editors and authors of each, the more than thirty vol-
umes of the Massachusetts Historical Collections, the lately published
Colonial Records of Connecticut, of Massachusetts, and now those of thb
State in the course of publication under the admirable supervision of .
the Secretary of State, the later editions of early Massachusetts authors,
Morton, Prince, and others, but particularly the Journal of Winthrop
with the copious notes of its liberal and learned editor, Hon. James
Savage, the life of the founder of Rhode Island by Professor Knowles,
a perfect magazine of important facts, — .'hese are some of the principal
printed authorities most accessible to the general reader. There are
also a great number of books in the librai'cs of Harvard and Brown
Universities, and more than all in the unrivailed collection of works on
American history in the possession of Mr. Joi'n Carter Brown, of this
city, whirl I shed much light upon the annals of Rhode Island. Besides
these there are several religious discourses, follov?ing the plan of Cal-
lender, also historical addresses, and some local nanatives, that contain
interesting facts bearing upon the general history of t >e State.
The unpubli?>hed materials are the records of the^ several towns,
those of this and the neighboring States that have not b<^n ino^udt:d io ^
PREFACE. VI]
the printed volumes, the private collections of Hutchinson, Trumbull,
Hinckley, Prince and others, in possession of the Massachusetts His-
torical Society, of Foster and Backus in the Rhode Island Historical
Society, and yet more important, the hitherto undeveloped resources in
the British archives, at London, which clear up many points never be-
fore explained. These are the chief sources of information that have
been consulted in preparing this work, and will be found referred to in
the notes.
Several months were spent abroad in 1846-7, in the examination
of government archives, chiefly in England and France, in search of
materials not to be found in America. The kindness of gentlemen in
official station, particularly in Her Britannic Majesty's Government,
in securing permission to examine their records, and of those in the
State Paper Offices at London, Paris and the Hague, in facilitating his
labors, should receive the grateful acknowledgments of the writer.
Copies of the English documents herein referred to are now in Mr.
Brown's library, he having given orders, previous to the author's visit
to England, to have every thing pertaining to Rhode Island, and much
more besides, copied for his private collection ; which was done under
the supervision of Henry Stevens, Esq., a gentleman whose experience
eminently qualified him for the task.
Many of these authorities extend beyond the limits of this volume,
and with a large number of new ones, both local and general, will be
used in the later portions of the work.
The thanks of the writer are due to many friends who have ren-
dered assistance in various ways to lighten his labors : to Mr. John
Carter Brown, to Hon. William E. Staples, late Chief Justice of the
State, the editor of Gorton, and author of the Annals of Providence, to
Judge George A. Brayton of the Supreme Court, to Dr. David King
and Rev. Henry Jackson, D. D. of Newport, to Hon. John R. Bartlett,
Secretary of State, to William J. Harris, Esq., and others, all deeply
interested in whatever pertains to the history of their State, who hav«
given efficient aid by the loan of books and manuscripts.
Vlll PREFACE.
The first object attempted io this work has been to make it reliable
both as to facts and dates; that it should be a standard authority upon
the subject and period of which it treats. To accomplish this design
no pains have been spared, and it has been kept steadily in view even
at the risk of making the book less readable than it might have been.
Many subjects are mentioned that, to the general reader, can have little
or no interest, the value of which can only be understood by those who
consult history for a specific purpose. For the benefit of this latter and
more limited class of readers, the reference notes are made more nume-
rous than they would otherwise have been. The most important dates
have been verified by a tedious mathematical process, unnecessary here
to describe, but which is essential to accuracy in many cases, owing to
a strange diversity that existed in the mode of dating under the Julian
calendar before the adoption of the Gregorian or New Style in 1752.
The Julian year began on the 25th of March. February was the 12th
month and March the 1st month of the year. Many papers between
the first and twenty-fifth of March, bear date as of the coming year,
while others are dated correctly, according to the Julian system, as of
the expiring year. This diversity of course throws a doubt upon the
true date of all correlative documents throughout the year, and has led
many writers into error. That the reader need not be misled on this
point the double date of the year, between January 1st and March 25,
is given in the margin. If it is desired to reduce the day of the month
to New Style, eleven days are to be added to the marginal date.
That, notwithstanding the labor and care bestowed upon these
pages, they contain some errors of fact or date, perhaps important
ones, it would be presumptuous to deny. The more one explores the
labyrinth of historical investigation, the less positive will he become
of the entire accuracy of his conclusions. A conscientious desire to
arrive at the truth, is all that the author dares to claim in submitting
this work to the judgment of his peers. That it will grate harshly upon
the ears of some, whose views upon the questions of politics and theol-
ogy involved in the settlement of this' State, diflfer from those of it*
PREFACE. IX
founders, he is well aware. That some may assail it upon these grounds
is not improbable, and for such he is prepared ; while at the same time
he courts a generous criticism that may aid his future labors.
So far as was compatible with the above mentioned object, he has
endeavored to make the work interesting to those who read simply for
the sake of reading ; but he can claim nothing upon this score. The
minutiae of local or of State history, demand an attention to details
which broader fields do not require, and limit, in the same proportion,
the power of the pen. To make a State history both authentic and
popular, where the ground has not already been occupied, would require
it to be too voluminous. To enlarge upon the philosophy of the funda-
mental principles involved in the settlement of Khode Island, would
afford a pleasing relief from the labor of critical research ; but this can
be better done by the reflecting reader, or it may furnish a theme for
some future historian, more fitted for the task than the writer feela
himself to be, who will reap the laurels that he must forego.
Providence, May 17, 1858.
ABBEEYIATIONS.
R. T. H. C. — Rhode Island Historical Collections, in 5 vols. -
R. I. Col. Rec. — Rhode Island Colonial Records, 3 vols, now published, 1636-
170G.
Conn. Col. Rcc— Connecticut Colonial Records, 2 vols, now published, 1636-
1G77.
M. C. R. — Massachusetts Colonial Records, 6 vols, now published, 1628-1686.
M. H. C. — Massachusetts Historical Collections, in series of 10 vols. each, of
which 3 series are completed, and 4 vols, of the fourth. The
fij^ure before the letters denotes the series.
Br. S. P. 0.— British State Paper Office.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I. 1620—1636.
Introduction — From the Settlement of New England to the Banishment
of Roger "Williams, ....... 1
Appendix A. — Early Life of Roger Williams, .... 47
CHAPTER II. 1636—1638.
The Autinomian Controversy, ...... 51
CHAPTER HI.
The Aborigines of Rhode Island — ^Peauot "War, . . . .72
CHAPTER ly.
History of Providence from its Settlement, 1636, to the Organization of
the Government nnder the Parliamentary Charter, May, 1647, . 97
CHAPTER V.
History of Aquedneck from its Settlement, March, 1638, to the Organi-
zation of the Government under the First Charter, May, 1647. . 124
CHAPTER VI.
flistory of "Warwick and Narraganset down to the Formation of the
Government under the First Patent, May, 1647, . . 163
Xii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII. 1647—1651.
History of the Incorporation of Providence Plantations from the Adop-
tion of the Parliamentary Charter, May, 1647, to the Usurpation
of Coddington, August, 1651, . . . . .200
CHAPTER VIII. 1651—1663.
Ill the Usurpation of Coddington, August, 1651, to the Adoption of
the Royal Charter, November, 1663, .... 237
Appendix B. — Proceedings in the case of John Warner, . . 287
CHAPTER IX. 16fi3— 1675.
From the Adoption of the Royal Charter, November, 1663, to tjie Com- .
mencenient of King Philip's War, June, 1675, . . . 290
Appendix C. — Errors of Grahame and Chalmers, . ". . 370
Appendix D. — Atherton Company Correspondence, . . 378
Appendix E. — Conspiracy against John Clarke exposed, . . 383
CHAPTER X. 1675—1677.
from the Commencement of Philip's War, June, 1675, to the Trial of
the Harris Causes, November, 1677, .... 3S7
CHAPTER XI. 1678—1686.
From the Renewal of the Struggle for the Soil of Rhode Island, 1677-'8,
to the Suspension of the Charter, June, 1686, . . . 439
Appendix F. — Answers of Rhode Island to the Board of Trade, . 488
CHAPTER Xn. 1686—1700.
From the Commencement of the Andros' Government to the Close of
the Seventeenth Century, ..... 492
Appendix G. — Founding of Trinity Church, Newport, . . . 559
THE
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAPTEK I.
INTRODUCTION— FROM THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND
TO THE BANISHMENT OF ROGER WILLIAMS.
1620—1636.
The direct causes which led to the settlement of New chap.
England, had heen in active operation for nearly seventy .^-.l^
years before that event took place. The more remote in-
fluences that led to this result date back to the com-
mencement of the English Reformation. The spirit of re-
sistance to clerical authority and papal aggression, was
first inculcated in Great Britain byv^ohn Wickliffe,-^ro-
fessor of Divinity in the University or~Dxlor3, It soon
spread to the continent of Europe, where the teachings of
Huss and Jerome, in opposition to the claims of the
hierarchy, roused the vengeance of the Council of Con-
stance, and led to their martyrdom.
A period of quiet succeeded the Bohemian struggle,
until the laxity of the pontifical court, under Leo X.,
gave rise to the Reformation of Luther. From that time
VOL. I. — 1
ii HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, the history of Europe presented a continuous scene of ac-
^^^.^.^^ tion and reaction upon the fundamental principles of re-
ligion and politics. The inquisitive mind of Germany,
was occupied in speculations which were to open a new
and brighter era to humanity. England, already in some
degree prepared for the mighty movement, soon asserted
her sovereignty by severing her allegiance to the church
)f Komje. The spell of the Papacy was broken ; the first
jreat result of the Keformation was achieved. A spirit
of inquiry was awakened, which could neither be quelled
by the fire of persecution, nor controlled by the decrees of.
princes or parliaments. During the reign of Edward VI.,
the English Liturgy was completed and promulgated' as
the ecclesiastical law of the land. The priestly vestments
were retained in the service, although strenuously opposed
by many of the reformed clergy. The more resolute Prot-
estants resisted at the outset all attempts to fasten upon
them the livery of a church from whose communion they
had withdrawn. Uniformity was the rock upon which
the early Keformers split. The first demonstration of
nonconformity occurred at Frankfort. The virulent per-
155 4. secution of the Protestants, which commenced upon the
accession of Queen Mary, caused great numbers of them
to seek refuge on the continent. A small church was
gathered at Frankfort, who objected to the use of some
portions of King Edward's service book. These were sup-
planted the next year by a party of their countrymen
under Dr. Cox, who restored the English forms in full as
prescribed by King Edward, and were hence called " Con-
formists." Most of the others went to Geneva, w^here
they were kindly received by Calvin, were there organized,
and adopted a liturgy agreeable to that of the French
1 .J 5 8 churches. The coronation of Queen Elizabeth was the
signal for the return of the exiles, and the permanent
though gradual establishment of the Protestant Faith,
The reign of Elizabeth was emphatically the age of prerog-
THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH, 3
ative in England. Never did the authority of the crown chap.
maintain itself so absolutely. Although some of the Stuarts v^.,;^.
afterwards attempted to exercise arbitrary power in repeat- 15 5 8.
ed instances, yet none of them wielded so uncontrolled
a sceptre, or conducted with the firmness or the success
that characterized the last of the Tudors. Mary had been
a bigot in religion ; Elizabeth became a tyrant in prerog-
ative ; and because theology was the prevailing topic of
the times, she seized upon that as the most convenient
medium for confirming and manifesting her authority.
The earliest enactments of her first parhament were to
this end. The act of uniformity, prescribing the regula-
tions of church service, preceded by a single day the act
of supremacy, which vested in the queen the right of
ecclesiastical control. Immediately upon the passage of
these acts two parties arose in the Protestant Church, one -^^ ^.^•
favoring the royal prerogative, the other, somewhat more
true to the spirit of the Keformation, maintaining that in
things indifferent, liberty should be allowed. Both were
at this time pretty nearly agreed in points of doctrine,
in the necessity of uniformity in public worship, and in
the right of the civil power to enforce it. The prerogative
party, or Conformists, held that the will of the queen was
the only guide in church affairs ; the Puritans, that coun-
cils or synods were the proper tribunals. The idea of
freedom of conscience as applied to the individual was un- '
known, or unrecognized, by either party. It was reserved
for another age and a distant land to develop in its full
significance the grand result of the Reformation.
The passion of Elizabeth for pageantry of every kind,
together with her inordinate love of power, were the chief
causes which distracted her reign. The one inclined her
to retain ae far as possible the gorgeous ceremonial of the
church of Rome, the other led her to punish those who
desired a simpler ritual and plainer robes. The severity
of her measures against the Puritans at length resulted in
4 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, the separation, which commenced in 1566. The press had
.,^1. already been closed against them by a decree of the Star
1 5 6 6i Chamber. The opposition of a large portion of the peo-
I pie to the Romish vestments, and to certain ceremonies, of
trifling import in themselves, which could easily have been
assuaged by temperate, policy, was increased by the exercise
of arbitrary power. Accordingly, after solemn delibera-
tion, a number of the deprived ministers, with their friends,
determined to withdraw from the communion of tlie
established church, and laying aside the English Liturgy,
they adopted the Geneva forms. Henceforward there was
to be no longer a cordial union of Protestants against '
Popery, but rather a union of the prerogativQ and papal
parties against the Puritans. This was Jess apparent
during Elizabeth's reign than in that of her successor.
{ But the Reformation in England, so far as the government
I was concerned, had attained its culminating point. The
/ breach thus commenced rapidly widened. The doctrinal
articles of the church, some of which, in the opinion of
many learned and pious men, were too strongly tinctured
with Erastian principles, began to be questioned. Other
sects arose, distinct in many respects from the Puritan
church, and carrying the principles of the separation to a
greater extent, but all who were zealous for the Reforma-
tiofi, were indiscriminately branded with the same invidi-
ous epithet. In vain did the Puritans seek to appease
the resentment of their enemies by disowning the sec-
taries. Papists, Familists, Baptists and Brownists, were
denounced by the Puritans with equal zeal as by the Pre-
latists, and alike held up as worthy of persecution ;' but
the attempt thus made to ingratiate themselves with
their rulers was without success. In proportioi as the
\/ ranks of non-conformity were augmented, the st verity of
government increased, and exile, or death, for c imes of
' IJeal, 312.
dt^
//
icienc
REIGN OF JAMES I.
iehce, became more frequent as the long reign of chap.
Elizabeth drew to its close.' ^^^'r^
The union of the crowns of Scotland and England, 16 3
in the person of James I., inspired the Puritans with a
new but delusive hope. This fickle prince, whose con-
summate vanity as a man, was the source of his weakness
as a monarch, very soon forgot the precepts of the Scottish
church, which he had sworn to support, and became the
tool of ambitious prelates and designing courtiers. Six
months after he came to the throne, occurred the celebrated
conference at Hampton Court, between the bishops and
the Puritans, at which the king himself presided, and
made his first public display of that combination of pedan-
try with tyranny which has made his character, when
viewed in the light of history, the object of mingled aver-
sion and contempt. The result of that conference crushed
the hopes of the Puritans. The triumphant bishops, no
longer doubtful of their position, at once proceeded to urge
severe measures against the whole body of Protestant
non-conformists, and secretly to court the favor of the
papal party. At the death of Archbishop Whitgift,
Bancroft, bishop of London, was raised to the See of Can-
terbury. This haughty prelate revived the persecution of
the Puritans, and conducted it with unparalleled rigor,
excommunicating many who would not receive a set of
canons prepared by himself and passed by an obsequious
convocation, although not confirmed by parliament. He
it was who first asserted in England the divine right of
the order of bishops, and ftrepared the church for the
usurpations of Laud, which afterwards involved the United
Kingdom in civil war.
To bring the kirk of Scotland under the dominion of
the English hierarchy was a favorite project of James, and
was actively promoted by the intrigues of Bancroft. This
was a bold design, against which the armorial bearings and
' For the last three years of her life she became more tolerant.
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
1C08.
motto of Scotland might have furnished a significant warn-
ing. It was an index of that aggressive and intolerant
spirit which drove a large numjM*-ef-_the Bnglish non-
conformists into voluntary exile(]B[o]la^ndJ&ecame a refuge '
for those whom persecution deprived of their natiiii-honic
The larger portion of the refugees were rigid(Separatist^^ -
whose views, crude as they might appear at tferfFfescnt
time, were very much in advance of those held by the
mass of non-conformists in respect to the essential objects
hi the Reformation. These were the men who, with their
descendants a few years later, made the first permanent
settlement of New England. The Puritans for the most'*
part remained in England, still clinging to the slender
chance of some favorable current of affairs. The succes-
sion of Archbishop Abbot to the high position vacated by
the death of Bancroft, gave them renewed hope. He is
described as a thorough Calvinist, a sound Protestant,
and as being suspected of Puritanism. But his views, al-
though they served for awhile to mitigate the asperities
of the times, failed to efiect permanent relief The
worthy primate soon became unpopular at court, and fell
into disgrace. The pretensions of King James to arbi-
trary power increased, and all who opposed the preroga-
tive, although friends "ot the established churcti, were (te-
as well as those who were Ualvlmsts
nounced as Puritans,
in the ology, or reformers in church government and wor-
snip.
Doctrinal Puritans.
. called Stat e Purit a n s , the l att er
The two, when united, comprised
a majority of the nation. The Armin ian party, of whom
most of the newly apj^ointed bishops, with Laud at their
head, were the leaders, allied with the Papal faction in
supporting the king. Such was the condition of afiairs at
the close of the reign of James I.
Meanwhile, a portion of the refugees in Holland, after
twelve years' residence in that country, resolved to emi-
grate to America. Protracted negotiations with the
'DEPARTURE OF THE PILGRIMS.
Virginia Comgaa^ to secure a, patent to lands, and with chap.
TTTCidiHuLb! ili~irondon to provide the necessaries for emi- ^■
gration, together with earnest consultations with their 16 2o!
friends in England, now occupied the attention of the
Pilgrims. After their departure from Holland, further
delays awaited them at the English ports. . Twice were
they compelled by the insufficiency of their transports to
return, and on the second occasion their smaller vessel,
tne Speedwell, of sixty tons, in wliich they had first em-
barked at Delft Haven, was abandoned si^nseaworthy.v
At length, on the €th of September, 1620, th^M^y^flow^i^ Sept.
finally set sail from Plymoutk, with her precious freioht ^'
of one hundred souls,' to seek a better land beyond the
seas.
Whether we contemplate this act in its intrinsic
character, or regard it in the magnificence of its results, it
assumes a degree of importance scarcely equalled in the
history of our race. The stern devotion to principle which
impelled them to encounter the severest hardships, when
a simple act of submission to a creed would ensure them
peace and plenty in their English homes — the lofty courage
wliich inspired even women and children gladly to brave
the perils of the deep— and, above all, their unwavering
faith in the promises of an Omnipotent Deity, present
picture whose moral sublimity is not enhanced even by
the success which has crowned their enterprise. After a
stormy passage of sixty-five days, they dropped anchor on
the dreary coast of Cape Cod. At the end of another
tedious month, consumed in exploring the vicinity, and
in preparations for landing, the Pilgrims stood at last on
Plymouth rock, v >
About this time a company of merchants and others
which had been formed in the West of England, with Sir
Ferdinand Gorges, governor of Plymouth, at their head,
100, not 101.— Young's Pilgrims, 122, note 1, and p. 100, notes 2, 5.
8 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
encouraged by the reports of the celebrated Captain John
Smith, and supported by the influence of some of the
16 2 0. most powerful noblemen in the kingdom, obtained a
charter of incorporation, with the exclusive right of plant-
ing and governing New England. Tbis jgompany^ know n
as the connnil of Plymonth ^ were thereby invested with
unlimited jurisdiction over a region of almost boundless
extent, embracing the entire breadth of the continent
from sea to sea, between the fortieth and forty-eighth par-
allels of north latitude. But the apparent compass of
their power was the real measure of their weakness. So
violent was the opposition to this monstrous monopoly, '
that not even the proclamation of King Jame^s, enforcing
the terms of the grant, and sustained by the utmost stretch
of the prerogative, could preserve inviolate the charter of
the company./ The spirit of English liberty, nourished
by the Puritans in proportion as the encroachment of the
crown increased, spurned the authority of an instrument
which fettered both sea and land.] Extensive fishing ex-
peditions were fitted out for ther coast of New England,
and conducted without regard to the claims of the coun-
cil. In vain did the company send out officers to main-
tain their authority in New England, or appeal to the
king to sustain their pretensions. The parliament stood
firmly on the rights of the subject, until the company,
exhausted by fruitless efibrts to secure their monopoly, at
length resorted to the sale of charters as their sole source
of revenue. In the course of a few years they disposed, in
various grants, of all the lands in New England, some of
them twice over ; nothing of value remained to them ;
16 3 5. many of the original patentees had already abandoned
"^^"^ their interests, and the council itself finally surrendered its
charter and became extinct.'
Frn jD thj - ii rnm p n ny thr pnrrhnnn of a brgr grnnt of
' Report of Board of Trade on Duke of Hamilton's claim to Xarraganset.
— British State Paper OJice, New England Papers, vol. xxxvi. p. 222.
THE MASSACHUSETTS COMPANY. 9
land s in Massachusetts was made, and a party of emi- chap
-.g^W^",, 1^^ri^^0r iIip rli'rppti^^lf ^ John Enflioflht, name ov eMjie^ _\_
s ame year, and established themselves at Salem, where l,'''2 8.
" ^oger Conant, from New Plymouth, had already made a " ^g '
sett lement . That enterprise, originating in a commercial
speculation, and proving unfortunate, had been abandoned
by all but Conant and a few associates, who, inspired by
the zeal of friends in England, had remained to found
another home where the exiles for religion might find rest.
^A few of Endicott's followers settlerl a i ri1igr1pgfr>wn
The next ye ar a royal charter was with much difficu lty
obtained, and the Massachusetts company became legal ly
a distmct trading corporation. T his ^'^^ fnllnwP(^] by g^
emigration of about two hundred persons under the pastoral
care of Rev. Francis Higgmson.-TlTese settled^ Batem-and—
^GharlesttTwn; The powers and priviteges~~which the Mas-
sachusetts charter conferred differed in no essential par-
ticulars from those of similar companies already existing.
That it was S03n to be virtually erected into a basis of
civil government became apparent, when, at a meeting of
the company in London, it was resolved to transfer the
charter to the freemen of the company inhabiting the
colony. By this act a powerful stimulus was given to the
scheme of colonization. Large numbers prepared to cross
the sea. A meeting of the company was held to transfer ^^*"
the government to America, by appointing an entire board
of officers who would agree to emigrate. John Wint hrop ^
was chosen governo r. In the month of March following, (
the great expedition, consisting of about eight hundred V 6 3
souls, embarked in eleven ships at Yarmouth, and reached )
their destination in June and July. Nearly as many more/
followed in the course of the year. The settlement of\^
Boston and the final establishment of .the colony of Mas- I
sachu setts Bay date from this period. ^
Although the terms of the patent, and the royal
intent in granting it, point only to a commercial ad-
10 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, venture, yet the circumstances wliicli determined the
,^,.^1,^ emigration, the documentary proofs in relation to it, and
163 0. the character and subsequent conduct of the men, furnish
sufficient evidence that a large portion of them were ac-
j tuated by other motives than pecuniary gain. What
/ were these motives ? Certainly not those assigned to
them by Charles I., " the freedom of liberty of conscience ;''
for scarcely had the royal charter been obtained, and the
church under Higginson established itself in Salem, wTiile
the government had not yet been transferred to America,
or the settlement of Boston commenced, before the per-
manent policy of the Puritans was developed in active
hostility to dissenters. Two men named Browne, occu-
pying influential positions in the colony, were foremost in
opposition to the new church organization, and strenuously
demanded that the English liturgy should not be aban-
doned. Thus the enemy from which they had fled ap-
peared at once among them. E[)iscopacy asserted its
rights in the stronghold of the Puritans. But should the
exultant hierarchy, which had driven them across the sea,
be allowed to dictate to them in their new-found homes,
and perhaps in time expel them from their " New English
Canaan ? " The colonists thought not, and availing them-
selves of a clause in the form' of government prescribed
by the company under their charter, which permitted the
expulsion of " incorrigible persons, " the two Brownes
were summarily sent back to England, by order of Endi-
cott, in the very ships which had brought them over.
/ Thus early was dissent rebuked, and theological con-
/ tumacy punished, before the Puritan church itself was
^ tairly established in Massachusetts. "The freedom of
lib erty of conscif^nce " then formed no part of the Puri tan
polit y in its inception, nor yet, as we shall presently se e,
in its c ompletion. The Puritans fled from England be-
cause they could not conform to the usages of the estab-
» 1629, April 30.— Young's Chrons. Mass., 196,
THE PURITANS. li
lislied church, because they desired a still further exten- chap.
sion of the principles of the Reformation, because they .^..^^
would not assent to those forms of church service attempted 16 3 0.
to be enforced by the celebrated act of uniformity. Differ-
ing widely on these points from the government creed,
they looked for a home in the new world, where they might
erect an establishment in accordance with their peculiar
theological views. " They sought a faith's pure shrine,"
based on what they held to be a purer system of worship,
and a discipline more in unison with their notions of a
church. For this they crossed the Atlantic and obtained
a home, where the Pilgrims had preceded them, on the
dreary coast of New England. Here they proceeded to
organize a State, whose civil code followed close on the
track of the Mosaic law, and whose ecclesiastical polity,
like that of the Jews, and of all those then existing, was
identified with the civil power. They thus secured what
was denied them in England, the right to pursue their
own form of religion without molestation, and in this the
object of their exile was attained. The hardships of the
infant colony are evinced in the fearful havoc which death
and desertion made in their ranks. More than one hun-
dred, discouraged at the prospect which pestilence and
famine presented, abandoned the enterprise, and returned
immediately to England, while of those who remained,
double that number, before the close of the year, had
fallen victims to disease. So great was the decrease from
these causes, and so disheartening the effect produced in
England by the report of those who returned, that the
accessions by emigration for the next two years were not
sufficient to make up the losses. A similar series of dis-
asters had occurred to the Pilgrims in comuicncing their
settlement. Sickness and starvation had reduced their
! numbers one-half within a few months, and the additions
were at no time so considerable as those which the sister
colony afterwards received. Ten years of hardship and
12 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, suffering elapsed before the great emigration of the
v^-^ Puritans, and at that time the Plymouth colony contained
16 3 0. Qjjjy. ^i^i-ge hundred persons. Such were some of the
difficulties encountered by the early settlers of New Eng-
land.
The government of Plymouth was for many years a pure
16 2 0. democracy. In the cabin of the, Mayflower the first solemn
^"^- compact in the history of America, creating a body politic
by voluntary act of the signers, was subscribed. Upon
this ^ rief but pompr<^hensive constitution r^sts the wh ole
fabric o f American republicanis m.' The right to frame
laws, and the duty of obeying them, were here simulta-
neously declared by the free act of the whole people. ^As
the_P ilgrims were mor^ liborRl tnwarHs those who differe d
from them in ^points oj religious da ciria o than -tfae-Pu-
ritans, so were t hey more free in their political constit u-
tion. There were good reasons for this difference. In
the first place, the principles of the early Separatists,
although falling far short of the full idea of liberty of
conscience, were much more liberal than were those of
either of the two parties into which the Puritans were
divided in the reign of James I. They were upon the
right line of action, without having yet attained the ulti-
mate result of their movement, or having traced back to
its source, in the philosophy of mind, the secret impulse
' In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the
I loyal subjects of our dread sovereign lord, King Jantes, &c., having under-
taken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith and honor
of our King and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern
parts of Virginia, do, by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the pres-
ence of God and of one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a
civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of
the ends aforesaid ; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such
just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to
time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of
the colony ; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In
witness whereof, &c. — Bradford's ^ Wiiislow't Journal, MourCs Belatioti.
Young's Chrom. of Pilyrims, p. 121.
THE PILGRIM FATHERS. 13
which urged them onward. Their conceptions of the
greatfftruth which they were unconsciously developing were
but vague and uncertain, but their course seems to have 16 2 0.
been guided in no small degree by its dawning light.
Their venerable teacher. Robinson, in his final sermon,
before their departure from Leyden, had given them a July
solemn charge, which seemed to foreshadow the new reve-
lation that was to spring from the oracles of God. " I
charge you, before God and his blessed angels, that you
follow me no farther than you have seen me follow the
Lord Jesus Christ. If God reveal any thing to you, by
any other instrument of his, be as ready to receive it as
ever you were to receive any truth by my ministry ; for I
am verily persuaded, I am very confident, that the Lord
has more truth yet to break forth out of his holy word." '
The contrast to the bigotry of England which this liberal
and Christian advice presents, is a proof, how far in ad-
vance of his age was this learned and pious pastor of the
Pilgrims. Had Robinson been able to accompany the
emigrants to America, the future apostle of religious free-
dom would have found in him a sympathizing friend. The
result of his teaching is seen in the milder treatment of
those who differed from them, which the records of Ply-
mouth present when compared with those of Massachu-
setts. The spirit of Robinson appeared to watch over his
feeble flock on the coast of New England, long after his
body was mouldering beneath the cathedral church at Ley-
den. Again, their twelve years' residence in Holland had
brought the Pilgrims in contact with other sects of Chris-
tians, and given them a more catholic sj)irit than per- ^
tained to those whose stay in England had been embittered
by the strife of contending factions in the established
church. Whether these reasons fully account for the
superior liberality of the Plymouth Colonists, or not, the
records show, that as they were distinct from the Puritans
' Morton's Memorial, p. 29, note.
14 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, in England, and had been long separated from them in Hol-
land, so did they preserve that distinction in some nJiasure
in America, The Pilc rrims of Ply mnnt h were more lib eral
in_jeelin g, and more tolerant injractice , than the Puri-
tans of Massachus ftt" P«y The simple forms of demo-
cratic government were maintained in Plymouth for
eighteen years, until the growth of the colony compelled-
the introduction of the representative system. The laws
were enacted by the entire people, and theif execution
intrusted to a governor, and council of five assistants,
afterwards increased to seven.
^-, The government of Massachusetts was much more
I restrictive, and the circumstances of the colony compelled
I more frequent changes in its forms than was the case with
1 6 2 9\ Plymouth. The royal charter, with the plan of govern-
■^P"^ / ii^^^t adopted under it, by the company in which John
Endicott was named as governor, had formed the fun-
damental law, until the corporation itself emigrated the
next year to America, with Winthrop at its head. A new
organization under the king's patent now took place. By
\ this patent, a governor, deputy-governor, and eighteen as-
sistants were to be elected annually by a majority of the
Aug. freemen of the company.' Soon after the arrival of Win-
throp, the first Court of Assistants was held at Charles-
town. Tho. proceedings of that court were singularly in-
dicative of the future policy of the colony. The first
measure proposed was " how the ministers shall be main-
tained."^ This question, so honorable to the colonists,
who, amid the hardships of an infant settlement, made
the support of the clergy their earliest care, would prove,
if other evidence were wanting, that the religious senti-
ment was the most active cause of Puritan emigration ;
and it might further serve as a premonition to all those
whose creed was heterodox, or whose conduct was at
» 1 Holmes's Annals, 195. « 1 Prince, 246.
MORTON OF MERRY MOUNT. 15
variance with the spirit of the times, that the Massa-
chusetts colony v?-as no home for them. And, as if to
confirm tlie latter position heyond mistake, the second
measure of the court was to order, " that Morton of Mt.
WoUaston be sent for presently." Thomas Morton was
one of a company under Capt. Wollaston, who, some
years before, had settled in what is now the town of
Quincy. Wollaston, on his return to England, left the 16 25.
place in charge of one of his companions, who was dis-
placed by the intrigues of Morton, and the establishment
under the new name of Merry Mount, became a scene of
riot and dissipation, to the infinite annoyance of the neigh-
boring settlements. The colonists had once equipped 16 28.
Miles Standish with an armed force to abate this nuisance,
and having captured Morton, sent him to England as a
prisoner, with charges against' him to be disposed of as the
company there might see fit. He found means to return the 16 2 9.
next year, and renewed the orgies of Merry Mount, until
the summary proceedings of the Court of Assistants broke
up this resort of idlers.' This was a step for which no one 1630.
can censure the court. The dissolute character of Morton
and his crew rendered their expulsion necessary for the wel-
fare of the colony, w^hile the fact of their supplying the In-
dians with firearms merited the severest punishment. But
it is the promptness of the government in taking action
upon the case, which is chiefly worthy of note. _Scai:aely
had they landed in New England, before they provide, first
forthe support of the miuistrv. and second for the purifi-
catio n of socie ty. The only other measure of the court
at this session related to the price of labor. However
much we may approve of their action in the two preceding
' Morton's house was burnt by order of the Court at their next session,
Sept. 7 (1 Prince, 248), and himself imprisoned until sent for the second time
to England, whence he again returned in 1643, and finally died at Piscataqua.
For particulars concerning tliis notorious " old roysterer,'' see Morton's New
England's Memorial, 135-142, with the Editor's note; also 1 Mass. Hist. ColL
iii. 61-64. His own account of himself in his book entitled New English
16 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
1630.
matters, this certainly was ill-advised, and as the event
proved,, injurious. Mechanics' wages were fixed at two
shillings a day, and a fine of ten shillings was decreed
against giver and taker for any excess ahove this rate. The
experiment of arbitrary values, whether placed upon lahor,
or affixed to things intrinsically worthless, has been often
tried with ruinous results, and the attempt in this case
displayed a disposition to excessive legislation, incompat-
ible with the real interests of society." -'
Oct. The first General Court, composed of all the freemen of
the colony, was held in the autumn. The spirit of tin's
assembly was liberal and yielding. Over one hundred per-
sons were admitted freemen of the company, many of whom
were not connected with any of the churches.'^ Among tlie
applicants for freedom was William Blackstone, the earliest
settler of Boston, having resided there four or five years
previous to the arrival of Winthrop, and the same who after-
wards removed to what is now the town of Cumberland,
being unable to brook " the tyranny of the Lord— Brethren "
at the Bay.3 The influence of the governor and assistants
and the disposition of the people to repose confidence in
their authority, led the Court to order that for the future
the freemen should choose the assistants only, and that
these should select the governor and deputy from among
themselves, and should also make laws and appoint oflicers.^
Canaan, by Thos. Morton, Amsterdam, 1637, 4to., 191 pp., a copy of which I
h&ve read in the British Museum, does not display his character much more
favorably than does the indignant secretary of the court of N. Plymouth in
the pages above referred to.
■ These absurd regulations were several times repealed and re-enacted, and
were the occasion of much trouble in Massachusetts, frequently requiring the
interposition of tie courts to adjust variations in the price of labor bet\s'een
different towns -1 Savage's Winthrop,' 31, note. This was not the only sub-
ject upon wlii.'.. the rulers of the Bay abused their legislative prerogative.
' 1 Hutchinson's Mnss., 26.
' 1 Savage's Winthrop, 63, note (1853). He was admitted at the next
Court, May 18, 1631.
* Prince's Annals (1826), 320.
163 1
THE RELIGIOUS TEST ACT. IT
This was a wide departure from the terms of the charter,
and a concession of power which, however safely reposed in
this case, furnished a dangerous precedent for the future.
At the next G-eneral Court, being the first court of election
in Massachusetts, this power was wisely restricted by the
people, who r^assumed the right to choose their own offi-
cers, and although they did not at this time expressly limit
the term of office to one year, they established their right
to make such annual changes in the board as the majority
might wish. Thus they partially rescinded the act of the pre-
vious Court by which they had yielded too much. It would
have been well if they had stopped at this point, and not
made the legislation of the two Courts present a still further
contrast, by an order which entirely reversed the liberality
of the former in admitting freemen without a religious test.
This measure, which was to be. the exciting cause of future
troubles, and the means of calling into existence a new
State based upon principles as yet untried, was considered
essential to the preservation of purity in the community.
" To the end the body of the commons may be preserved
of honest and good men, it was ordered and agreed, that
for the time to come, no man shall be admitted to the
freedom of this body politic, but such as are members of
some of the churches within the limits of the same."'
This extraordinary law continued in force until the dissolu-
tion of the government,^ and the spirit of intolerance which
it necessarily, if not intentionally fostered, survived in the
hearts of the people, and was displayed in the conduct
of the rulers, long after the odious enactment was ex-
punged from the statute book. The apologists of this
' Prince's Annals (1826), 354.
* It was nominally repealed in 1665 (1 Holmes's Annals, 210, note), but its
leatures were essentially retained, by substituting for church membership a
minister's certificate that the candidate for freedom was of orthodox princi-
ples, and of good life and conversation. 1 Hutchinson's Mass., 26, and note,
p. 2ai.
VOL I — 2
IG31.
18 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISI4ANP.
^^^^- law have excused its existence on the ground of dangers,
which were feared from the hostihty of the prelatical
I)arty in England, requiring a strong bond of union, and
the incitement of religiaus zeal in those to whom was in-
trusted the exercise of political power. They overlook or
conc eal the facts tha t the requi sites for church 'member-
ship in Massachusetts were far more stri ct tban in Eng-
l and, and that it was a greater grievanc e to~Be~deprived of
civil liberties for t hje mnsp in NpW F.ncylnrxT fhsin in CM •
and again, the direct ejffect of such a law must be to incul-
cate hypocrisy, since no rectitude of conduct could procure
the immunities, which were the reward of profession only, so
that if any one did not feel himself to be at heart a Chris-
tian, and so conld not conscientiously unite with a church,
he must submit either to dissemble or be disfranchised. At
this day it appears strange that men, who in so many re-
spects showed that they were wise and good, should not
have seen and shunned the consequences of such a law.
It would seem as if they believed that the act of legisla-
tion was omnipotent,' having in itself an efficacy to change
the heart of man, and to reverse the [)rinciples of human na-
ture. How, otherwise, could they sanction a statute which
placed a premium upon deception, and which required a
sjiiritual change, such as they held could only be effected
by divine grace, as a prelude to the exercise of civil rights,
while, as the evidence of this change, they could require
only the assurance of the applicant, accomi)anied by such
proofs, in outward conduct, of his sincerity as might suffice to
satisfy public opinion ? The external conditions of citizen-
ship were too easy, and its advantages too great, to be
overlooked by those whose lives were governed by any
other motives than those of c/mscience. The terms of the
law are such as to defeat its avowed object. To preserve
men " honest and good," we should avoid tlie occasion of
evil, and not offer an inducement to practise it under the
cloak of sanctity. The spirit of this law is one which
ARRIVAL OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 19
1631.
would blot out from the great canon of petition, " lead us
not into temptation," to substitute for the teachingsof Infi-
nite Wisdom the devices of man's invention, which would
expose frail humanity to a j)owerful allurement under the
name of a sanctifying trial, and expect it to emerge un-
scathed, or even strengthened, from the dangerous ordeal.
The operation of the law could not fail to introduce into
the body politic elements the very opposite to what was
intended, and to assimilate the institutions of the State
to those from which they had fled, by making still more
close, in Massachusetts than ever it had been in England,
the union of civil with ecclesiastical power. To establish
a tyranny of the church, to cherish a feeling of intolerance,
and to foster a spirit of dissimulation, were the inevitable
results of this baleful statute. To infuse discontent into
the minds of many, and thus to involve the State in con-
tinual difficulty, was its legitimate and immediate effect.
It was the first direct legislative exposition of the feeling
of the colonists towards those who differed from them in
religious opinions, however blameless might be their lives.
It foreshadowed a similar fate to others, under the sanction
of law, which had already been visited upon the Brownes,
by order of Endicott, under a construction of the charter.
Nor was it many years before the emigration of some pro-
minent citizens, and the open opposition of others, dis-
played the light in which independent men viewed the
infringement upon freedom of thought and action of which
this statute was the harbinger.
A few weeks j)revifluSr to the meeting of this G-ene-
ral Court, tM' ship LymT^ ^ve(j_3t N apt^°^'^^-j with Feb,
twenty passengers and a Targe store of provisions. Her ^'
arrival was most timely, for the colonists were reduced to
the last exigencies of famine. Many had already died of
want, and many more were rescued from imminent peril
by this providential occurrence. A public fast had been 9,
appointed for the day succeeding that on which the ship
20 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
1631.
reached Boston. It was changed to a general thanksgiv-
ing. There ^vas another incid ent connected with the arri-
val of this ship, which madeiF~an era, no t only in the
affairs of Massachusetts, but in the history of America.
She brought to the shores of New England.' the ^ tinder of^
a new State, the exp onent of a new philosoplis: ^ the intel-
lect that was to harmonize religious differen ces , q,nd spot he
thes ecta iian asperities of the New "World; a m an whose
clearness of mind enabled him to deduce^Jioitti^ie mass of
crude speculations which abounded i n the 17th century,
^'propOf^iLiun so comprehensive, that it fs difficult to say
whether its application has produced the most beneficial
influence upon religion, or morals, or po litics. This man
j^^-wjTs^Koger W iIlTani5,-~ihen about thirty-two years of age.'
lie wa^a scholai, "Well versed in the ancient and some of
the modern tongues, an earnest inquirer after truth, and
an ardent friend of popular liberty as well for the mind
as for the body! As " a godly minister," he was welcomed
to the society of the Puritans, and soon invited by the
church in Salem to supply the place of the lamented Hig-
ginson, as an assistant to their pastor Samuel Skel'ton.
The invitation was accepted, but the terra of his ministry
was destined to be brief. The authorities at Boston re-
monstrated with those at Salem against the reception'
of Williams. The Court at its next session addressed a
April letter to Mr. Endicott to this effect : " That whereas
12
Mr. Williams had refused to join with the congregation at
' See Appendix A for research into his early life. A Rhode Islander may
be permitted to notice the coincidence of a general thanksgiving day " by or-
der from the Governor and Council, directed to all the plantations," to cele-
brate the arrival of the ship which brought the founder of his State to the
shores of the New World. With the exception of the thanksgiving held July
8, upon the arrival of '• the great emigration " by the emigrants themselves,
this was the first instance of what has long since become, by universal cus-
tom, one of the " institutions '' of these United States. And happily for the
country, the principles which emanated from the cabin of the Lyon have been
no less widely diflused than has the custom to which her arrival gave occa-
sion.
WILLIAMS SETTLED AT SALEM. 21
Boston, because they would not make a public declara- ^^j^^
tion of their repentance for having communion with the ^T' —
churches of England, while they lived there ; and, besidesj
had declared his opinion that the magistrate might not
])unish the breach of the Sabbath, nor any other offence,
as it was a breach of the first table ; therefore, they mar-
velled they would choose him without advising with the
council, and withal desiring him, that they would forbear
to proceed till they had conferred about it." '
This attempt of the magistrates of Boston to control
the election of a church officer at Salem, met with the re-
buke it so richly merited. The people were not ignorant
of the hostility their invitation had excited ; yet on the
very day the remonstrance was written, they settled Wil-
liams as their minister.^ The ostensible reasons for this
hostility are set forth in the' letter above cited. That
they were to a great extent the real ones cannot be ques-
tioned. The ecclesiastical polity of the Puritans sanc-
tioned this interference. Their church platform approved
it.' Positive statute would seem to require it. Never-
theless, we cannot but think that, underlying all this, /
there was a secret stimulus of ambition on the part of the/
Boston Court to strengthen its authority over the prosper-
ous and, in some respects, rival colony of Salem. Saleml
was the oldest town in what was then Massachusetts, and
had been the seat of power under Gov. Endicott until the
corporation emigrated to America, supplanting his author-
ity by that of Gov. Winthrop, and making Boston the
capital of New England. But the advantages of Salei
were considerable, and the feeling of independence re-
sulting from these circumstances was apjjarent. The ex-
pediency of reducing the people of Salem to more com-
plete subjection to the central power, could not have been
•Winthrop, i. 63. ^ Bentley's Hist, of Salem, 1, M. H. C. vi. 246.
* Mather's Magnalia, B. v. ch. 17, § 9.
22 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
1 G31.
An
overlooked by the Court, and accordingly we find them
speedily embracing the earliest opportunity to assert that
power — gently, at first, expressing wonder and requesting
delay on certain theological grounds, but more harshly
afterward as we shall presently see. As a political meas-
ure this interference failed of its object. The people resent-
ed so great a stretch of a,uthority, and the church disregard- ,
ed the remonstrance. The reasons assigned by the Court',
we do not propose here to discuss, yhe firgt inyl^^^'T «_
poin t in which Williams was not alone.' The '^ gr eat
John Cotton " himself wit.hdrf^w fp^m ff'^mmunifn with the
and persuaded other eminent di-
t the same course,"' The second reason r e-
dounds to the eve rlasting honor of Willinms ns ^' the o;jeat,
tarl iest assertor of religio ns fri^P( h)7TLl '- What could not
as yet be accomplished by direct intervention of the Court
was effected in a surer manner. The fearlessness of Wil-
liams in denouncing the errors of the times, and especially
the doctrine of the magistrate's power in religion, gave
rise to a system of persecution which, before the close of
the summer, obliged him to seek refuge beyond the juris-
diction of Massachusetts in the more liberal colony of the
i Pilgrims.'
At Plymouth " he was well accepted as an assistant
in the ministry to Mr. Ralph Smith, then pastor of the
church there."^ The principal men of the colony treated >
him with marked attention. Gov. Bradford, in his Jour-
nal, speaks well of him,^ and Gov. Winthrop, who had
uniformly opposed him, mentions having partaken of the
Holy Sacrament with him, in corai)any with Mr. Wilson,
pastor of the Boston church, when on a visit at Plymouth.
Williams remained for two years at Plymouth.'' The
* Magnalia, B. iii. cli. 1, § 10-18. * Mr. Savape in note 2, Winthrop, i. 41.
* Bentley's Salem, 1, M. H. C. vi. 246. * Morton's Memorial, 151.
* Prince, 377.
' The weight of authority assigns this limit to R. W.'s residence at Ply«
mouth. See citations in Knowles. p. 55, note.
THE NARRAGANSETT INDIANS. 23
opportunities there presented for cultivating an intimate chap.
acrniaintance with the chief Sachfiias of the neiffhhorino: — • — -
-■ IBS!
tribes were well improved, and exerted an important in-
fluence, not only in creating the State of which he was to
be the founder, but also in protecting all NewEngland
amid the horrors of savage warfare.
Ousamequin, or Massasoit, as he is usually called, was
the Sadiem of the Wampanoags, called also the Pokanoket
tribe, inliabiting the Plymouth territory. His seat was
xt Mount Hope, in what is now the town of Bristol, P. I.
With this chief, the early and steadfast friend of the
English, Williams established a friendship which proved
of the greatest service at the time of his exile.
West of the Pokanoket country, embracing the islands
in and around Narragansett bay, the eastern end of Long
[siand, with nearly the whole - mainland as far as Paw-
;atuck river, was the powerful tribe of the Narragansetts,
deluding several subordinate tribes, all owning the sway
Off the sagacious and venerable Canonicus, with his brave
!rv\ud generous nej^hew, Miantinomo, as their chief Sachems.
Tradition speaks of this tribe as a fierce and warlike race,
exttuding their conquests from the main, over all the
adjacent islands, and it still points to the spot on the
island of Rhode Island, where in a great battle, anterior
to the arrival of the English, the former proprietors of
these I\sautiful shores were vanquished by the valor of
their auRailants. There is a clause in the Indian deed of
AquidnecV. to Wm. Coddington, which appears to confirm
this tradition. It is, however, certain that at this time
the schemes of the Narragansetts for territorial aggran-
dizement had ceased, and their attention had become
directed in some measure to the arts of civilization. They
coined money in their rude way from sea-shells, and were
skilled in various branches of Indian manufacture. With
these Indians, as with Massasoit, Williams sought friend-
ship, and by kindness and attention, making them pres-
24 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
ents and visiting them, as his letters describe, " in their
filthy smoky holes to gain their tongue," he overcame the
■ shyness of the old Canonicus and won the esteem of the
high-spirited Miantinomo. It proved well for himself and
for New England that tliis intercourse was maintained.
The generous spirit of the Pilgrims preserved Roger
Williams in a great measure from the annoyance which
had caused his removal from Salem, and protected him
from the offensive interference of the civil •'authorities.
i Still his own views were too liberal for the times in which
\ he lived ; he was misunderstood by the enlightened, and
* misrepresented by the bigoted who sympathized with
their brethren of the Bay. His attachment appears never
to have been withdrawn from the people of Salem, who
reciprocated the warmth of his regard and invited his
return.* So great was the respect and love entertained
^„„ for him at Plymouth, that it was not without ditficulty
16 3 3. lie obtained his dismissal from the church, through the
influence of Brewster, the ruling elder, who was one of
those who dreaded the effect of his opinions. It illus-
trates the singular power which, through his whole life,
Roser Williams exerted on the minds of his companions,
whether savage or civilized, that several members of the
Plymouth church, unwilling to be separated from him,
desired their dismission at the same time and followed him
to Salem. ^ Here he again assisted Mr. Skelton, whose
health was rapidly failing.
Now, within the jurisdiction of the Bay, was resumed
a conflict between the despotic spirit of theocracy and the
genius of intellectual liberty, which was to result in the
temporary triumph of arbitrary power over abstract light ;
which was to call into existence an independent State,
and finally to achieve the emancipation cf the human soul
from the thraldom of ])riestly oi)pression. It should be
borne in mind that in most of the points of dispute which
' Backus, i. 56. " Morton's Memorial, 151.
MISREPRESENTATIONS CONCERNING WILLIAMS. 25
now arose Williams was not alone or even foremost in the chap.
discussion, while in respect to some of the most important ^_^_;
encroachments of the Court upon the rights of the people 1 <3 3 3.
all the inhabitants of Salem were with him. His de-
tractors have delighted to represent him as if he were the
only thorn in the side of the authorities, the sole disturber
of fraternal harmony in the otherwise happy family of the
Puritans. To fasten upon Roger Williams the stigma of
factious opposition to government, as has often been
attempted, is to belie history by an effort to vindicate
bigotry and tyranny at the expense of truth. It is a
memorable fact, which a careful examination of the evi-
dence presented by the Puritan writers themselves will
establish, that of the many singular and bitter contro-
versies which raged at this time, in most of which Roger
Williams bore a conspicuous part, and for all of which his
enemies have endeavored to make him solely responsible,
only one was initiated by him, save that which has become
his crowning glory. The contentious spirit with which
he has been charged was characteristic of the age in which
he lived, and eminently so of the society in which he
moved. Transition periods are necessarily eras of agita-
tion, more or less prolonged according to the importance
of the principles to be evolved. In this case the Protes-
tant reformation had opened a discussion, in the 16th
century, involving the dearest rights of humanity, which
had already convulsed all Europe, and was about to sub-
vert the ancient monarchy of England. To establish the
inherent right of private judgment, the free agency of the
mind in spiritual matters, — this was the grand result
towards which a hundred years of toil and strife, in camp
and court, in school and closet, were slowly tending. In
the controversy which directly led to this result, Williams
had many ardent friends among his Puritan compeers, the
more. perhaps from his bearing only a secondary part in
the subordinate agitations which first occurred.
26 HISTORT OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
A meeting of the ministers, held at each other's houses,
to debate " questions of moment," inspired the cautious
16 3 3. mind of Skelton with fear lest* *' it might grow in time to
a preshyterv, or superintendency, to the prejudice of the
church's liberties." In this feeling Williams shared, but
remained passive, while Skelton openly denounced the
frequent meetings of the clergy."^ They had both seen
enough of priestly arrogance in England to dread its
appearance in America. Already had the interference of
the Court at Boston, at the instigation of the ministers,
given warning of the actual usurpation from which the
church at Salem was shortly to suffer. Liberty is rarely
subverted at a single blow. Its foundations are sapped by
gradual and regular approaches under the guise of lawful
authority, and often in the very name of freedom itself.
These manifestations could not escape the vigilance of the
Salem pastors, or fail to fill their minds with anxious fore-
bodings. The event justified the anxiety of these watch-
ful guardians of public liberty, notwithstanding the
remark of the amiable Winthrop, who was soon to feel
in his own person the fickleness of popular favor, with-
drawn at the dictation of the clergy, that " this fear was
without cause."
The custom of women wearing veils in public formed
a theme of pulpit discussion at that time, which has un-
justly been charged upon Williams. The earnestness of
Endicott and the eloquence of Cotton upon this topic are
recorded by contemporary writers. It has remained for
the ignorance or the ill-will of more recent times, to cast
upon Roger Williams the absurdity of a controversy which
began before his arrival,^ and in which there is no reliable
evidence to prove that he took a prominent part.*
' Winthrop, i. 117. " Bentley's Salem, 248. ' Bentley, 245.
* Hubbard is the earhest Puritan writer who connects the name of Wil-
liams with this ridiculous controversy. His tirade upon Roger Williams,
chiip. 30, General History of New England, is the source whence most of the
abuse of the Founder of Rhode Island is derived, wherein he is closely fol-
PROCEEDINGS AGAINST WILLIAMS. 27
More serious difficulties soon arose. During Williauis' chap.
residence at Plymouth, he had written a treatise upon ^
the royal patent, under which the Massachusetts colony 16 3 3.
held their lands, wherein he maintained that the planters
could have no just title except what they derived from
the Indians The Court, as usual, took advice of the
ministers, *' who much condemned Mr. Williams' error
and presumption, and were greatly offended at these
three passages : " 1. For that he chargeth King James to
have told a solemn jjublic lie, because in his patent he
blesses God that he was the first Christian prince that
had discovered this land : 2. For that he chargeth him and
others with blasphemy for calling Europe Christendom, or
the Christian world : 3. For that he did personally apply
to our present King, Charles, these three places in the Re-
velation, viz."' As to the first point, we are at loss to
discover any very strong grounds for clerical indignation.
If it was "presumption" in Williams to deny to the reigning
family the honor of discovery, it certainly was not an
error. To the Tudors, and not to the Stuarts, that
honor belongs. It was under the auspices of Henry VII.,
more than a century before James I. ascended the throne,
that New England was discovered.'^ Politically Williams
lowed by Cotton Mather a few years later. Other portions of his history are
equally unreliable ; in fact, nowhere is he to be trusted as an original author-
ity. His prejudices color his whole narrative. His plagiarisms and his care-
lessness are sufficiently exposed by the diligent editor of Winthrop, in an am-
ple note on p. 296, vol. i., to which the reader is referred.
' Mr, Savage's note at this place should be cited : " Perhaps the same
expressions, by another, would have given less offence. From Williams they
were not at first received in the mildest, or even the most natural sense ;
though further reflection satisfied the magistrates, that his were not danger-
ous. The passages from the Apocalypse were probably not applied to the
honor of the King, and I regret, therefore, that Winthrop did not preserve
th^m:'—l\inihrop, i. 102. In his 2d edition, p. 145, Mr. S. adds : "No com-
plaint of such indiscretion would have been expressed ten years later, when
the mother country far outran the colony in these perversions of Scripture."
' The author does not propose to discuss the question of the Ante-Colum-
bid.1 discoverv of America. If the claim of the Danish writers for their
28 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, njay have been presumptuous ; historically he was correct
,^_;,^ in this first charge. That the second point should have
16 3 3. given oflfence, displays more earnestness to preserve the
royal favor than zeal in the cause which they considered to
be the only true one. Men who had rejicatcdly denied the
Christianity of Europe, need not so suddenly have become
indignant that one of their number should write what all
of them spoke and believed. This spasmodic loyalty may be
attributed to a fear lest the influence of Laud,"'Archbishop
of Canterbury, should so far prevail with the Crown as to
lead to a repeal of the New England patent. The solicitude
for the honor of the king, manifested in .the third stated
ground of offence, furnishes an amusing contrast to the
conduct of the same reverend legislators a few years later.
The arbitrary action of the Court, in calling for a paper
Dec. written beyond the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, " for the
private satisfaction of the Governor of Plymouth," and
which had never been published, would have been properly
resented by refusing to obey the summons. None of his
persecutors in those days, or of his detractors in later times,
ever displayed a more Christian, or less "contentious
y spirit," than did Williams on this occasion. He " offered
the book, or any part of it, to be burnt, and gave satisfac-
tion of his intention and loyalty." On a further examina-
1G33-4. tion of the offensive passages by the council, " they found
24.' the matters not to be so evil as at first they seemed." Thus
the subject rested for a few months until it was found con-
venient again to call it up.
Upon the death of Mr. Skelton, the. church ordained
Roger Williams as their pastor, although the Court a sec-
northem progenitors were fully established, identifying New England, and es-
pecially Rhode Island, with the Vineland of Icelandic explorers, it would
have no hearing npon the New England of our day ; while iu the present
state of the subject it is more a matter for arclia;ological investigation than of
historical research. For a view of this point see R. I. Hist Coil's, iv. Ap. 2,
and fur the whole subject, Prof. Rufin's Antiquitates Ainericause.
PROCEEDINGS AGAINST WILLIAMS. 29
ond time interfered to prevent it. We shall presently see chap.
how severely their corW;umacy was punished. ]
In the autumn Williams was again summoned to ap- 16 3 4.
pear at Court, for promulgating his views concerning the
patent. When we remember that the practice of the 27.'
Puritans accorded precisely with the theory of Williams,
in respect to the Indian titles — that all the land they oc-
cupied, except what they found deserted, owing to the
pestilence which preceded the arrival of the Pilgrims, had
been purchased by them of the original proprietors — we
cannot discover in the ostensible reasons for this second
arrest, any sufficient cause for such treatment. That he
took what we should consider a needless exception to the
language of the patent is apparent. Perhaps he thought
that words are sometimes things. The sense of justice
which formed so striking a feature of his character, com-
pelled him to deny the royal claim to possession by right
of discovery. Yet this language was in itself harmless so
long as it remained merely a form of kingly phraseology.
We are forced to the conclusion that the real reasons for
pursuing this matter are not upon the record, and that
the repeated refusal of the Salem church to permit the
interference of the Court in their choice of a teacher was
the principal cause. This opinion is strengthened by the
fact that after this time we hear nothing further of the
controversy about the partent ; more tangible and serious
causes of complaint being found by the Court.
One other subordinate point remains to be noticed be-
fore we arrive at the immediate causes of the banishment ^ g 3 fi
of Koger Williams. The conduct of Endicott in cutting May.
out the cross from the national colors, for which singular
action he was suspended from office for one year by order
of the Court, has been ascribed to the influence of Wil-
liams, who has been made, as in the dispute about veils,
the convenient author of most of the erratic deeds and no-
tions of the times. The opposition to Popeiy and all its
30 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
symbols, which formed so deep a feeling in the Puritan
mind, was the real cause of this unwarrantable act of the
16 3 5. Salem magistrate. That Williams countenanced the act
is nowhere asserted, unless such a construction be given
to the language of Hubbard.* Even Mather, who cannot
be suspected of any bias in favor of Williams, says of this
proceeding, " that he was but obliquely and remotely con-
cerned in it." '^ How far he may be considered as morally
responsible for this application of an abstract opinion
which he entertained in common with -his fellows, is
rather a question of ethics than of history. The clear-
ness with which he discerned the dividing line between
civil and spiritual concerns, in an age when these subjects
had scarcely begun to attract public attention, forbids the
idea that he advised the mutilation of the ensigns. The
subject afterwards assumed a much greater prominence ;
the Court, at first divided in opinion as to the lawfulness
March ^f ^j^g cross, at length ordered the ensigns to be laid aside
entirely, two months before Endicott, from motives of
May policy, was disgraced for defacing them ; and when a year
^' later, at the request of certain shipmasters, these colors
were hoisted upon the castle, it was done " with the pro-
testation, that we held the Cross in the ensign idolatrous,
and therefoi-e might not set it up in our own ensigns." '
This was subsequent to the banishment of Williams, and
furnishes fair presumptive evidence to acquit him of re-
sponsibility for this singular transaction.
A more serious occasion for complaint was found in the
views entertained by Williams on the nature of judicial
A^l"'! oaths. He was cited before the council for teaching "that
a magistrate ought not to tender an oath to an unro-
generate man.'" It appears that he considered taking an
oath to be in itself an act of worship, recognizing as it
does the existence and power of a Supreme Being, and
' Hubhiirfl, ch. 80, p. 20.'i, in which he is followed by Hutchinson, 1, 38.
» Magnnliii, B. 7, ch. 2, § 8. ' June 16, 1636, Wiuthrop, ii. 344.
THE freeman's OATH. 31
hence, as a direct result of his views in respect to liberty chap.
of conscience, he denied the right of any one to enforce it. .^ ^
There was nothing in this proposition to excite alarm, so 1635,
long as it did not come in conflict with the tenets of the
ministers or the desiarns of the macristrates.
Passages in his writings indicate that he had long en-
tertained, and in some cases had suffered losses in chan-
cery on account of his views on this subject, which in
some respects resemble those held by the Society of
Friends, and for which, to this day, they are liable to pe-
cuniary damage by the laws of England. Very soon,
however, the action of the Court, in requiring a new oath
to be taken by all the citizens, brought Williams' abstract
notions into practical opposition. Alarmed at the rumors
of '" some Episcopal and malignant practices against the
country," the Court decreed that an oath of fidehty to
the laws of the colony should be taken by all freemen. It
will be remembered that " the freeman's oath" had already
been taken by all who were admitted freemen of the colony.
The terms in which it was expressed, requiring obedience
to laws which should be "lawfully" made by the Court,
acknowledged the charter as the fundamental law, and the
source whence it was derived as the sovereign power. But
tills new oath of fidelity ignored the charter, and bound
the citizens to obey the acts of the Legislature without
reference to their compatibility with the laws of England.
What right had the magistrates, with their ever present
counsellors, the clergy, to adopt this new law ? There
were more reasons for Williams' earnest hostility to the
measure than his enemies saw fit to assign, ^The c harte r,
fllthrmo-h o -pnprn1 in ifti fnvmti^ -nr nf^ y p f , ^ ^ safft g nidft in the
broa d principles of Ipio-isla.tion No laws repugnant t o those
JnfnRncrla.Tirl rnnlrl hp pnaofprl un der it. It shiel ded the
^f >1nni-;ffl frnm fhp pnqci'hln fy^c^T^Tiy r>f f^P k ^'" g^ P"d J i::2Z.
te cted them from the more probable despotism of their ow n
local _magistrat es. A friend of popular liberty might well
32 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RLODE ISLAND.
CHAP, be alarmed at a movement designed to destroy the only
^^.J.^, guarantee of freedom, and whatever his abstract opinions
16 3 5. in regard to oaths may have been, the illegality of the
measure was enough to ensure the opposition of Williams.
It appsars that he was not alone in this opposition. So
many were found to resist the unlawful attempt, that for
a time "the Court was forced to desist from that proceed-
ing." It was not until the spirit of free inquiry was more
effectually checked, and submission com[)elled b^ the coer-
cive policy of the Court, that the act was finally passed,
and the oath enforced, under severe penalties, upon every
man over sixteen years of age.
While the authorities, and especially the ministers,
"W'ere thus diligent in establishing their power over the
colonists, seeking to punish as seditious persons all those
who ventured to exercise their freedom by calling in ques-
tion the acts of the Legislature, they were aiming to ac-
complish a virtual independence of the mother country.
At the very time they were arraigning Williams as an
enemy to the patent, for his too faithful defence of the
rights of the Indians, and disgracing Endicott for mutilat-
ing ensigns which they had already laid aside as idola-
trous, they were nullifying their charter by decreeing an
oath of fidelity to themselves, and were preparing for
more overt acts of treason, should circumstances render
it expedient. The council, alarmed by the evidence of
serious designs against the colony, fomented by the high
church party in England, convened the clergy to con-
sider " what ought to be done if a general governoi
I'y.' should be sent out of England." Four months prior to
this, unusual activity was displayed in completing the
fortifications, when these designs were first detected, and
the idea of resisvance to the home government was freely
canvassed by the General Court. Thus early was the
spirit of colonial independence entertained by the ftxthers
of Massachusetts, while as yet they were ignorant of the
POLICY OF THE PURITANS. 33
leading principles of national freedom, and were pursuing chap
a policy fatal to the existence of popular liberty. That ^ — ^
they should conceive the idea of eventual separation from
the mother-country as an act of necessity, was natural
and commendable under the circumstances in which they
were placed ; but that they should at the same time ar-
raign Williams for a constructive hostility to the patent
they were designing to supplant, and degrade Endicott
for violating colors which they had already disowned, was
inconsistent in itself, and accords with the real motive
which animated the dominant class — to make inde-
pendence of England the means of establishing a theo-
cratic despotism at home. The republican feeling with
which the name of independence is associated in our
minds was unknown to the authorities of Massachu-
setts. At this time there was no sympathy with the
spirit of progress in the stern assemblies of the Puri-
tans. The all-pervading element of religious contro-
versy had withered every generous sentiment and dried
up the fountain of Christian benevolence. No respect
was felt for individual opinions, and no regard was
shown for private rights, that conflicted in any degree
with the rules of a coldly intellectual system of theology.
The sanctity of domestic life was disturbed by the sur-
veillance of the State. Even parents were known to re-
port to the magistrates incautious remarks made by their
children in the familiar intercourse of home. Cotton,
whose infl.uence was paramount in the colony, preached
publicly " that a magistrate ought not to be turned into
the condition of a private man without just cause," a doc-
trine calculated to perpetuate power in the hands of men
over whom the clergy already exercised unbounded con-
trol. The strong common sense of the Puritan masses re-
jected the dangerous dogma, but was not sufficient, as yet,
to withstand the organized efforts of the magistrates and
clergy. Every thing in the pohty of Massachusetts was
VOL. I — 3
34 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, made subservient to the interests of the State, and that
State was virtually and exclusively the Puritan church.
No wonder that religious toleration and political freedom
were alike abhorrent to its rulers, or that the conscience
which could not accept an oath designed to perpetuate
despotism was treated as an enemy to the State'.
^ The punishment inflicted upon the people of Salem
for the alleged contempt of installing Eoger Williams,
contrary to the repeated remonstrance of the Oourt, \^a8
characteristic, and illustrates the incongruous mingling
5fay of temporal and spiritual aifairs which must exist with a
^- church and state establishment. The authorities of Sa-
lem petitioned the General Court for some adjacent land
which they considered as belonging to their town. The
petition was refused, " because they had chosen Mr. Wil-
liams as their teacher." This was certainly an extraor-
dinary reason to assign for denying an act of justice. The
Salem people so considered it, and Williams ma,y be par-
doned for having united with the whole body of his parish-
ioners in an earnest protest against what they considered
to be a flagrant wrong. The church at Salem addressed
letters to the other churches desiring them to remonstrate
with the magistrates and deputies who were their mem-
bers on account of this injustice, and warning them of the
danger to which their liberties were exposed. This api)eal
to the people brought, no relief Popular sentiment was
not so keenly alive to a sense of violated right, or so vigi-
lant in guarding the outposts of freedom, as it is in our
July day. At the next General Court the deputies from Salem
8. were refused their seats until their constituents " should
give satisfaction about the letter."' Subsequently Mr.
1. * Eudicott protested against the action of the Court, and
' Winthrop, i. 164. Mr. Savage here justly remarks, in a note: "This
denial, or perversion of justice, by postponement of a hearinji, on a question
of temporal right, for some spiritual deficiency in the church or pastor, will
not permit us to think that the judges of Williams were free from all blame
in producing his schism."
WILLIAMS SUMMONED BEFORE THE COUET. 35
justified the Salem letter; for which exercise of his rights chap.
as a citizen he was committed by order of the government ^•
until he acknowledged his fault. By such arbitrary meas- 16 3 5
ures, the authorities were shortly to subdue the manly op-
position of the people of Salem, and to rule without re-
straint over their submissive subjects.
At the same Court which disfranchised the Salem
deputies, Roger Williams was summoned to answer 8.'
"for divers dangerous opinions, viz. : — 1, that the ma-
gistrate ought not to punish the breach of the first
table otherwise than in such cases as did disturb the
civil peace; 2, that he ought not to tender an oath
to an unregenerate man; 3, that a man ought not
to pray with such, though wife, child, &c.; 4, that a
man ought not to give thanks after the sacrament nor
after meat." To what has already been said upon the
first two points, it is only necessary to add, that the con-
cluding clause of the first charge proves that Williams'
views were not opposed to civil magistracy, as has been
represented, but only to the extension of authority over
subjects for which man is alone amenable to his Maker.
With respect to the third charge, there is nothing in Wil-
liams' writings to show that he entertained the views
therein expressed. It should be borne in mind that the
only reports we have of his opinions, during the ordeal
through which he was made to pass while a minister at
Salem, are given by his opponents, of whom Winthrop is
the earliest writer, and the only one who was suj^erior to
the influence of prejudice. And we know that inferences
from his abstract notions, drawn by those less skilful in lo-
gical deduction than himself, have been recorded as his
real opinions, and that, with equal recklessness, he has
been charged with acts which he never committed, but
which were supposed by his enemies to be the legitimate
results of views which they could not comprehend.' Wheth-
' Morton, Hubbard, Mather, and other nearly cotemporary writers, have
zrred in this way ; e. g. Morton's Memorial, 153, says, " he would not pray
36 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ERODE ISLAND.
er in this case he entertained the precise views alleged
against him or not, is of little importance. If he did, it
1635. may be attributed to the effect of the prevailing idea of
English worship, where all present are supposed fervently
to unite in the prescribed forms of prayer, however incon-
sistent may be their lives. An undue prejudice may have
biased his judgment in this particular. The fourth alle-
gation is immaterial otherwise than as evidence of his wis-
dom and zeal in opposing the attempt to estal3lish by law
" a uniform order of discipline in the chiirches." Uni-
formity, the rock upon which, a century before, the reform-
ed church of England had well-nigh been wrecked, and
which ever since had been the principal occasion of diffi-
culty, which had led to the expatriation of the Pilgrims,
and to the emancipation of the Puritans, was about to be
attempted in Massachusetts. The Court had already
taken measures to accomplish this object, and, if, as prob-
able, these minor observances were to form a part of the
religious system, we can well understand why Williams
should oppose them.
But these errors of doctrine appear to have had less
weight in determinino; the action of the Court than did
the " contempt of authority," by the Salem church,
of which he was both the instrument and the victim.
Church and pastor were each warned to expect sentence
at the next General Court, unless satisfaction should mean-
while be given. For two years this harassing treatment
had continued with little intermission. Williams' health
failed under the accumulated burden of pastoral duties
and legal vexations. While in this condition, " being
^""' sick and not able to speak, he wrote to his church a pro-
nor give thanks at meals with his own wife," &c. Hubbard copies him ver-
batim. A more open slander Mather in his History has exposed, although
with no good intent to Williams, in Magnalia, B. 7 ch. 2, g 6, which is cited
by Knowles, 69, who significantly adds : " We may wonder, nevertheless, tliat
Mr. Williams has not been accused of stardng his children, to the horror of
succeeding generations ! "
BANISHMENT OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 37
testation, that he could not communicate with the churches chap,
in the Bay ; neither woukl he communicate with them, .^^^^^^
except they would refuse communion with the rest." The 163 5.
cup of his annjuish was full when he penned this last epistle,
the only one upon the record of this protracted contro-
versy of which even his enemies could say that " it was
written in wrath ; " nor con we know that the apparent
bitterness of his rebuke did not spring from a spirit more
in sorrow than in anger.
The period of his sufferings was shortly to terminate.
The letter of the Salem church was an unpardonable sin,
which he, as its author, was to expiate, while that ad-
dressed to his parishioners was considered an equally
proper subject of judicial condemnation. For the fifth and
last time he was summoned by the authorities to appear
at the next General Court, where these two letters were Oct.
presented as the sole charges against him. He justified
their contents, and remained unmoved by the arguments
of Hooker, who was appointed to dispute with him. The
result was a decree of banishment in these words :
"Whereas Mr. Koger Williams, one of the elders of the
church of iSalem, hath broached and di\n^ilged divers new
and dangerous opinions, against the authority of magis-
trates ; as also writ letters of defamation, both of the
magistrates and churches here, and that before any con-
viction, and yet maintaineth the same without any re-
tractation ; it is therefore ordered, that the said Mr. Wil-
liams shall depart out of this jurisdiction within six weeks
now next ensuing, which, if he neglect to perform, it shall
be lawful for the governor and two of the magistrates to
send him to some place out of this jurisdiction, not to re-
turn any more without license from the Court."' It is a
1 Winthrop says : " At this general court Mr. Williams, the teacher at
Salem, was again convented, and all the ministers in the Bay being desired"
to be present, he was charged with the said two letters— that to the
churches complaining of the magistrates for injustice, extreme oppression,
etc., and the other to his own church to persuade them to renounce com-
munion with all the churches iu the Bay, as full of anti-Christian pollution,
80414
38 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
/
/
CHJfi'. singular fact, that in this Court, composed Df magistratcE
^L^ and clergy, while some of the laymen opposed the decree,
every minister, save one, approved it. A practical com-
mentary is thus afforded on the danger of uniting the
civil and ecclesiastical administrations. It suggests the
reflection that, of all characters, the most dangerous and
the most despicable is the political priest.
Liberty to remain until spring was afterward granted
him, accompanied by the injunction that he shduld refrain
from disseminating his opinions, a restriction not easy to be
borne by an earnest mind, conscious of possessing important
truths and actively employed in diffusing them. To con-
tinue his connection with the Salem church was incompat-
ible with his i^resent position. The church, subdued by the
severity of the Court, surrendered at discretion, and apolo-
gized for the offensive letter. The lands for which they had
petitioned and been refused, were soon afterwards granted
to them. The stern exercise of power, although it accom-
plished its purpose in breaking the spirit of the people, could
not alienate their affections from one who had been their
fearless champion and devoted pastor. Great was the grief
in Salem when the sentence of banishment was pronounced,
1635-6, ^"^^ many prepared to follow him into exile. The per-
J^^- mission to remain until spring was suddenly withdrawn at
a meeting of the council, and his immediate departure for
England, in a ship then ready to sail, was resolved upon.
The reason of this harsh treatment was that he had pro-
mulgated his views among those friends who visited him
at his own house, and was i)lanning a settlement in Narra-
eanset Bay, which was considered as being too near for
etc. He justified both these letters, and maintained all his opinions, and
being offered further conference or disputation, and a month's respite, he
chose to dispute presently. So Mr. Hooker was appointed to dispute with
him, but could not reduce him from any of his errors. So, the next morn-
ing, the court sentenced him to depart out of our jurisdiction within six
weeks, all the ministers save one approving the sentence ; and his own
church had him under question also for the same cause ; and he, at his re-
turn home, refused communion with his own church."
WILLIAMS ESCAPES TO SEEKONK. 39
the safety of Puritan institutions. An order was sent for chap.
him to come to Boston, which he declined to do. A boat ^;._
was then despatched to take him by force and place him 16 3 6,
on board the ship. Warned by the previous order, he
had already escaped three days before, no one knew
whither. Leaving his wife and two infant children, he set
out alone in midwinter to perform that arduous journey of
which, thirty-five years later, he wrote, " I was sorely tossed
for one fourteen weeks, in a bitter winter season, not know-
ing what bed or bread did mean." Happily for the world,
and most fortunately, as the event soon proved, for the
people of New England, he eluded the vigilance of his
pursuers. Had their designs succeeded, the grasp of in-
tellect and the energy of purpose which had evolved the
grand idea of religious toleration, and was about to estab-
lish it as the primary article inthe government of a State,
would have been transferred to another field of action, and
generations might have passed away, in the stormy period
of English history then commencing, before the man and
the opportunity again arose to test the great experiment ;
while the removal of the only man in New England who
could control the elements of Indian warfare, might have
given another and fatal termination to the desperate strug-
gle which Pequot cruelty was preparing.
Driven from the society of civilized man, and debarred
the consolations of Christian sympathy, Williams turned
his steps southward, to find among heathen savages the boon
of charity which was refused at home. The now venerable
Ousamequin, who sixteen years before had first welcomed
the weary Pilgrims to his shores, and with whom Williams,
during his residence at Plymouth, had contracted a friend-
ship, received with open arms the lonely and twice-exiled
Puritan. From him Williams obtained a grant of land
near what is now called Cove Mills, on the eastern bank
of Seekonk river, where he built a house, and commenced
planting with the view of permanent residence. But this April
40 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
was not to be his home. In the qnaint scriptural lan-
guage of the day, " he had tarried on this sid* Jordan, ■while
16 3 6. the promised land lay still beyond." He was soon advised
by his friend Gov, Winslow that, as his plantation was
within the limits of Plymouth colony, who " were loath to
displease the Bay, he should remove to the other side of
the water." This he resolved to do, and in company with
five others, who appear to have followed hira from Salem,
he embarked in his canoe to find at length a resting-place
on the free hills of Providence. Tradition' has preserved
the shout of welcome, " What cheer, netop,"' which
greeted his landing at " Slate Eock ;" .poetry has em-
balmed it in enduring verse ; good taste affixed the name,
" what cheer " to the adjacent farm, and even the spirit
of enterprise and the growth of population, which have
thrown these broad lands into the market of a proud and
prosperous city, have respected the consecrated spot, and
reserved " What Cheer Square," with its primeval rock,
forever to mark the place where the weary feet of Roger
Williams first pressed the soil of Providence.^ Pursuing
their course from Slate Rock around the headland of Tock-
wotten, passing what are now called India and Fox points,
they entered the Moshasuck river, and sailing up what was
then a broad and beautiful sheet of water, skirted by a
dense forest, their attention was attracted by a spring close
on the margin of the stream, where they landed, and com-
menced a settlement, to which, in gratitude to his supreme
June, deliverer, WJITjniTTHgayeJ^hejname of ProvidenG g:
There is a singular confusion among the writers as to
' How are you, friend ? " What cheer, nelop, is the general salutation of
all Englisli townrd them (the Indians). Netop is friend." — B. W.'s Key to the
Indian iMnfiuarie, ch. 1.
'-■ The wTiter hopes that the Rhode Island of the twentieth century will
not have occasion to question the accuracy of his narrative, by finding that
the aforesaid square has never been laid out, unless upon some then long-lost
plat, and that Slate Rock exists only in the pages of history. At present
there seems a likelihood of this.
FOUNDATION OF PROVIDENCE. 41
the period a t which this memorable event occurred, arising chap.
rather from ignorance or carelessness than from the absence ,^J[_^
of authenti 3 data The precise day of Williams arrival 1 6 3 G.
at Seekonli;, or at Providence, cannot be determined, but ^"'^^
both events may be established with sufficient accuracy
for nistorical purposes. The Massachusetts records fix
the date of his banishment, and also the proximate time
of his flight, early in January, from which time the " four-
teen weeks," that he describes as the period of his wander-
ing, would establish his settlement at Seekonk about the
middle of April, near the usual planting time of this region.
The warning letter from Gov. Winslow, after he had " be-
gun to build and plant at Seekonk," makes it certain that
he was there after March, 1636, at which time Mr. Wins-
low became governor of Plymouth, and the only year
between 1633 and 1644 in which he held that office. A
letter to Gov. Vane of Massachusetts from Mr. Williams
is dated from Providence, July 26, proving that he had
already been some time in his new plantation ; so that in
placing the foundation of Providence in June, 1636, we
feel assured of a tolerable degree of accuracy.
In r^^nowjnrr tl^Q Tr.of^s^^ypt, whi^h l^d to thf t h nn i s hm p ut
orRoger WilKams, we find that they all proceeded from
the fir mness with which, upon every oncasionj he ma in-
tame d the doctrine that the civil power has no contr ol
ov er the religious opinions of men. To adapt this new
theory to practical life was to effect a revolution in the
existing systems of government ; to sever the chain, which,
since the days of Constantino, had linked theology to the
throne ; to restore to the free mind the distinctive, but
long-fettered gift of Deity — free agency ; and, in fine, to
embody in civil polity that principle, but dimly un-
derstood by the Reformers, which, from W^itteuberg to
Rome, in the cloister and the camp, had aroused the sisirit
of all Europe — the right of private judgment.
The entire separation of Church and State had already
42 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISJ.AND.
been advocated by a small portion of Englisii dissenters,
consisting of Baptists and Independents, bi t the great
10 3 6. majority of Puritans, as we have seen, still maintained the
prerogative of the crown to interpose in matter's of faith.
Their chief objections to the English Church related to
forms and ceremonies, and these they sought to alter.
Persecution failed to make theiji liberal or tolerant to the
scruples of others.
The right of every man to worship God according to
his own conscience, untrammelled by written articles of
faith, and unawed by the civil jiower, implies a degree of
advancement in moral science and political philosophy,
utterly at variance with the tone of feeling in that age.
If to this assertion of natural right we add the denial of
any power in civil government to enquire even whether a
citizen believes in the existence of God, we have a propo-
sition far more bold than many which had already led a
host of martyrs to the gibbet and the stake. Yet this
was the sentiment which, in those days of political dark-
ness, Roger Williams had the clearness to discover, and the
courage to defend. He dared assert the freedom of the
soul. Thus was introduced a new principle in political
science, by eradicating an old element of civil polity.
The church was no longer to be a portion of the state,
-^and the state must undergo a thorough re-organization,
/ when deprived of its powerful auxiliary. Roger Wil-
\. Hams saw that government could be more efficient in its
jobject and more just to its citizens, if independent of the
^y church ; and he knew that the church could best sustain
I its spiritual nature when freed from the clogs of state.
1 Religion, ethics, and jiolitics, as now received, are alike
\ indebted to him for their fundamental principle.
Yet plain and immutable as these truths appear to us,
they were but dimly comprehended by the wisest states-
men two centuries ago. Their exponent was driven to
found a new state, which should illustrate the great prin-
CHARACTEK OF THE PURITANS. 4Jj
ciples for which he contended. From England he had fled /chap.
to Massachusetts, seeking sympathy among those who! ^'^.^^
had suffered with him in a common cause. But affliction, U 6 3 6.
which should serve to soften the heart to the sufferings of \
others, seemed only to increase the acerbity of the Puri- !
tans. Even among the ministers of Christ, from whom he /
might expect forbearance, if not kindness, he met his\^ ^
most virulent enemies. By their influence he was banished, ^^
and escaping to the headwaters of the Narragansett, he
found a spot in the pathless wilderness, where he could
rear a temple of liberty, consecrated to the Lord of the
whole earth, before whose ample shrine Jew and Gentile,
bond and free, might each worship God according to the
dictates of his own conscience.
Although the conduct of the Puritans in this trans-
action cannot be justified, it rtiay admit of palliation. It
is a source of regret to be compelled, from the nature of
the subject, to treat chiefly of the dark side of characters
who possessed so much true piety and essential greatness
of soul — to apologize for their errors and expose their
obliquities.
We observe in the Fathers of Massachusetts a degree
of virtue and intelligence, and a supreme regard for the
dictates of religion, and for the preservation of a sound
morality, such as has never fallen to the lot of any other
country in its early history. The germs of a powerful
state, competent to give laws to the world, and to trans-
mit the heritage of a wise example to future generations,
are seen in the feeble baud of Pilgrims, planted on Ply-
mouth rock, and in the throng of earnest Puritans gath-
ered alono; the shores and headlands of Massachusetts
Bay. But while we recognize these noble attributes in
the men who persecuted Roger Williams for opinion's
sake, justice requires that we should relate facts as they
occurred without abatement or reservation. We may re-
gret the conduct of our ancestors, but we are not entitled
44 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, to defend, or to extenuate, their errors. We may account
^^^.^^^^ for them from the circumstances of the case, and may show
16 3 6. that they originated in an honest misapprehension of
principles, thereby proving that the actors, though mis-
taken, were consistent, and that their sins were rather of
the head than of the heart. This view we adopt in our
judgment of the Puritans.
In estimating their characters, we are too apt to judge
them by the light of the present day. Two centuries of
progress have wrought so great a change in opinions and
views, by increasing so largely our fund of knowledge,
that what was expedient or proper, or even right in those
times, would be justly regarded as absurd or erroneous in
this age. We might as well revile our ancestors for the
use of the handloom, since modern science has introduced
self-moving machinery, as to denounce them for not acting
upon principles, which, in their day, were unrecognized in
civil polity. They founded a colony for their own faith
without any idea of tolerating others. For doing this,
they have been charged with bigotry, fanaticism and folly.
Evei-y epithet has been applied to them that can be em-
ployed to express detestation of the conduct of men acting
under a sober conviction of truth. Kegarding their con-
duct from the standpoint of the nineteenth century, all
this may be just. The like proceedings in this age would
deserve the severest sentence of condemnation. But not
so two hundred years ago. The bigotry of the Puritans
was the bigotry of their times. In every act they illus-
trated the spirit of the age. They committed some wrongs,
for which, even with all this allowance, we are at a loss to
account, which seem to us un})ardonable, and to these we
shall have occasion to refer ; but intolerance is not one of
them. Toleration was a word conveying to their minds
an image of terror. It was so held in England and '
throughout Europe. The principle was regarded with
the same heartfelt abhorrence that conservative statesmen
CAUSES OF PURITAN INTOLERANCE. 45
now exj^ress for tlie feculent emanations of the Jacobin chap.
clubs of France ; for, to their minds, it was attended with ^,}^
the like fatal results. The simple cobbler of Agawarn in- 163 6.
forms us that " he who is willing to tolerate any religion,
or discrepant way of religion, besides his own, unless it be
in matters merely indifferent, either doubts of his own, or
is not sincere in it." To the same end, and about the
same time, the illustrious Bossuet was employing his al-
most superhuman eloquence to obtain the royal interfer-
ence in enforcing the supremacy of the Papal church. The
churches of Scotland and England were alike zealous in
effecting uniformity. Edwards, an eminent divine of that
period, says, " Toleration will make the kingdom a chaos,
is the grand work of the devil, is a most transcendental
Catholic and fundamental evil.'' This was the policy of
Massachusetts Bay, and with this state of public opinion
among themselves, and these high authorities to counte-
nance them abroad, we cannot in fairness condemn them
for desiring to free the colonies of all dissenters. The
abuse of their principles arose mainly from the tenacity
with which they maintained them, and the trying situa-
tion in which they were placed. Had their own views
been more liberal, we may well doubt whether the home
government, actuated by the same spirit of intolerance,
would have allowed the dissemination of free opinion in
80 large and prominent a colony. It was not till some
years after, when a convulsion had shaken the institutions
of England to their foundation, and the public mind was
too intent on the fearful crisis at home to regard the
affairs of distant provinces, that a free charter was ob-
tained for the then obscure plantations in Rhode Island.
Again, the Puritans looked on every departure fro m the
establis hed creed «« bpin^o; wliQf in fnpf i^ -yy^g^ an in-
fringement of the civil code ; for in their const itution
gDvcrnmcnl vvus merely "secondary j nnrl t hr rhurclv-WRfl
thy pTiiSaiy function. Hence the^_re garded everx jUssent
46 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, from their rel igious polity ^s revolutionary, as subversive
^^.^^ 6f social order, and treated it as a crinie ^ We, therefore,
16 8 6. ^nd them summoning Roger Williams before their highest
tribunal, to answer for the crime of holding to certain
opinions of a purely religious nature ; and with these views
we are not inclined to wonder so much at their expulsion
of Williams, as to condemn their subsequent conduct to-
wards him and his colonv, and their horrible treatment of
the Quakers and Gortonists, which form the darkest chap-
ters in Puritan history.
It is pleasing to find in the personal kindness of many
eminent men towards Roger Wilhams at this time, a strong
contrast to the severity of the magistrates and elders.
The mild and amiable Winthrop, who was the ablest as
well as the most liberal man of his age and place, appears
to have regarded Williams with great affection and respect.
He had ceased to direct the public councils some months
before Williams' ordination at Salem, and the bigoted
Dudley had succeeded to the chief magistracy as the leader
of the most restrictive party in Massachusetts. The per-
secution of Williams is to be attributed to a policy of
which Dudley and his successor Haynes were the expo-
nents. The latter, who was governor w'hen Williams was
banished, openly censured Winthrop for the mildness of
his administration. The faithful friendship of Endicott,
who afterwards became governor, has been recorded, and
Williams' letters bear testimony to the kindness of Gov.
Winslow and others of the prominent men of Plymouth.
There was nothing personal in the li£)stility of his ene-
mies, the bitterestjoi^-^whonTwere am6n^"Hhe clergy, who
sought to estab(^i a political theocracy, aija dreaded the
promulgation of prmClplesf which Iht^y'could not compre-
hend. A yet greater obstacle to their scheme of uniform-
ity had already appeared among themselves, and after
distracting for two more years the councils of church and
state, was destined in like manner to be violently expelled.
EARLY LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 47
and to result in the settlement of the island of Khode- chap.
Island. ^•
Roger Williams had scarcely established himself at 163 6,
Proddence, before the Antinomian controversy burst forth
in Massachusetts.
APPENDIX A.
EARLY LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS.
The early career of Roger Williams has been the sub-
ject of frequent and labored investigation, but, until very
recently, with little result. Gradually, however, facts
have been presented which throw some light on his history
prior to his embarkation for America, Dec. 1, 1630. The
discovery of the Sadleir letters, a correspondence between
Roger Williams and Mrs. Anne Sadleir, daughter of Sir
Edward Coke, has shed light upon the important point
of his education, and established the fact of his being
a protege of Lord Coke. The original MSS. are in the li-
brary of Trinity College, Cambridge. Hon. George Ban-
croft, while Minister at the Court of St. James, procured
copies, and presented them to the R, I. Hist. Society.
They are also published in Dr. Elton's life of Roger Wil-
liams, ch. xiii. By these papers, it appears that his illus-
trious patron, on account of his ability displayed in taking
notes of proceedings in the Star Chamber, placed him at
Sutton's Hospital, now the Charter House, the records of
which institution show that he was elected a scholar, June
25, 1621. and that he obtained one exhibition, July 9,
1624. (Elton's Roger Williams, ch. ii.)
The writer regrets that he cannot adopt the other par-
ticulars relating to the birth-place and university educa-
tion of Williams, contained in this interesting chapter.
The learned author is undoubtedly correct in assigning
48 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
Wales as the country of Koger Williams. The name is
eminently Welsh, and abounds even more remarkably in
Anglesea and the northern counties than at the south.
Still it is not unlikely that Maestroiddyn was the birth-
place of our Roger Williams. The testimony of the aged
Nestor of Cayo ic conclusive of the fact, that a Roger
Williams, of sirfficicnt celebrity to be known, at least
among the natives of his mountain hamlet and the inher-
itors of his blood, by the epithet "'the greaf'" was born
there. But two points of difficulty occur in identifying
him with the founder of R. I. and the graduate of Oxford.
The records of Jesus College, cited by D.r. Elton, give the
name as " Rodericus" in the Latin style of the University,
which we submit should be " Rogerus " to meet this case.
Or, admitting that the two names were used inter-
changeably, which is barely probable, we are met with
a fact which has added greatly to the perplexity and la-
bor of this research, that there were two other persons of
the same name, filling somewhat conspicuous positions at
about the same time. One of these was a distinguished
soldier in the wars of Holland, and either of them would
seem as likely as the founder of R. I. to be the " Roder-
icus*' of Conwyl Cayo. But, Roderick and Roger are
distinct names, and it seems an unnecessary violence to
assimilate them, when a more natural, and in other re-
spects also, a more obvious explanation of the difficulty
may be found. Mr. Collen, the obliging Portcullis of the
Herald's College, London, has made the genealogy of the
founder of R. I. the subject of diligent, research in the
archives of that institution, at the instance of a wealth}
family in Paris, who are lineal descendants of Roger Wil-
liams. At his suggestion,- the writer, assisted by Mr.
Romilly, the venerable registrar of the University, exam-
ined the records of Cambridge, thf alma mater of Lord
Coke, and where, from the connection between them, the
probability is that WilHams would complete his education
EARLY LIFE OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 49
io preference to Oxford. In the admission book of Pem-
broke College is an entry " Williams, 29 Jan.,
1623." For the better understanding of these facts it
may be stated that the students in the English Universi-
ties are classed in three grades, according to their social
position. At Cambridge the first are called Fellow Com-
moners. This grade is composed of the 'nobility and the
wealthy. The second are called Pensioners, from their
boarding at the College, and this is the most numerous
grade. The third, called Sizars, consists of the indigent
students. When a student enters the University, his
name is enrolled on the admission book of the particular
College he joins, and is often very loosely entered, as in
this case — no Christian name or particulars being given.
The matriculation, which occurs after an interval of sev-
eral months, and often, as in this case, of a year or two,
is the registering the name on the books of the Univer-
sity. This is done by the registrar, with the student's
name in full, the date, and a list of degrees taken, each
in its appropriate column. By this book it appears that
Roger Williams was matriculated a pensioner of Pem-
broke College, July 7, 1625, and took the degree of Bach-
elor of Arts in Jan., 1626-7. He took no other degree.
A more decisive evidence, in its bearing upon the present
discussion, is contained in what is called the " subscrip-
tion book." This was introduced in 1613 by James I.,
who required every student to subscribe to the thirty-nine
articles. In the first volume of this book, under date of
1626, the time he took his degree, is the autograph signa-
ture of RoGERUS Williams. A copy of this signature,
carefully compared with the known autograph of the
founder of Rhode Island, leaves little doubt of their iden-
tity of origin.
Again, the testimony of Williams in one of his let-
ters dated July, 1679 (Backus, Hist, of the Baptists, i
421), that he was then " near to fourscore years of age,"
VOL. L — 4
50 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, ig strongly corroborative of the received opinion that he
— . — was born in 1599, and not seven years later, as was Rod-
" A. ericus Williams, the Oxonian. In that case he would
have been only in his 73d year when writing the letter,
and would hardly have described himself as " near 80."
For these reasons the writer is reluctantly compelled to
dissent from the conclusions of his early instructor and
friend, the learned Doctor Elton, on the point of the
University education of Eoger Williams, and hence like-
wise as to his being identical with the Roderic Williams
of Conwyl Cayo.
The difficulty of this research in England, occasioned
by there being three persons of the same name there, is
further continued in this country by the presence of two
Roger Williams's at the same time in New England,
which has led the accurate Prince, and all subsequent
writers, into error with regard to the admission of the
Roger Wilhams as a freeman of Massachusetts, until the
mistake was corrected by the diligence of Mr. Savage,
the editor of Winthrop's Journal, and late President of
the Massachusetts Historical Society, than whom no more
thorough or more liberal historian ever lived. In the
Massachusetts Colonial Records, i. 79, is a list of " the
names of such as desire to be made freemen," among
whom is Roger WilUams. This is under date of October
19tli, 1630, nearly four months before the founder of
Rhode Island arrived. Most of these, including Roger
Williams, with many others, took the freemen's oath at
the next General Court, 18th May, 1631, at which time
our Roger Williams had been three months in the coun-
try, but never applied for admission. The freeman was a
resident of Dorchester at that time, and afterwards re-
moved to Connecticut.
THE ANTINOMIAN CONTROVERSY. 51
CHAPTER II.
THE ANTINOMIAN CONTROVERSY.
1636—1038.
While the colonists were legislating for tlie preserva- chap,
tion of sound morals, by enacting sumptuary and other .^ — ,-«.
laws to regulate their domestic economy, there arrived a 1 ^ ^ •^
large accession of emigrants with news confirming the re- g^^
ports of the contemplated encroachments upon their liber-
ties by the English hierarchy, which led to the adoption
of prompt measures, on the part of the Greneral Court, to
place the country in a posture of defence. Among these
new comers was one who was destined to cause greater
disturbance to the Puritan settlements than any that they
were to receive from the prevalence of " immodest fashions "
at home, or from the designs of ambitious prelates abroad.
A woman of great intellectual endowments and of mascu-
line energy, to whom even her enemies ascribed unusual
mental powers, styling her " the master-piece of woman's
wit,"' and describing her as " a gentlewoman of an
haughty carriage, busy spirit, competent wit, and a volu-
ble tongue," 2 who by a remarkable union of charity, de-
votion and ability, soon became the leader, not only of her
own sex, but of a powerful party in the state and church,
80 that her opponents have termed her, by a species of ana-
' Johnson. Wonder-working Providence, B. i, ch. 42.
* Magnalia, B. vii. ch. 3 § 7, 8.
52 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, grammatic wit," The Non8Uch,<^^as Mrs. Ann Hutchinson,
^^.^J^ the founder and champion of the Antinomian " heresy^
10 34. Acting upon the principle that "the elder women were
to teach the younger." ' she established a weekly meeting
at her own house, where she promulgated her views in the
form of comments upon the sermons of Mr. Cotton. These
meetings soon became largely attended, and to them was
traced directly the origin of many opinions which were de-
nounced by the authorities as heretical and seditious.
We have seen that the Puritans had already changed
their position in becoming the founders tlf a State, and
were disposed to mete out to all dissenters the same meas-
ure of persecution which hod led to their own emigration.
The system that they had established was one of rigid for-
malism, exacting a great regard to externals, and enforcing
strict conformity in matters of abstract belief Tliis was
a position in accordance with the spirit of the existing
age, but contrary to that which was about to commence, of
which the premonitions had already appeared in Massa-
chusetts as well as in England, The new comers, who
formed a large proportion of the inhabitants of Boston, had
little sympathy with the established order of the state,
and were prompt to embrace the novel tenets that were
started at variance with the prevailing creed. These opin-
ions related primarily to the doctrine of free grace, or jus-
tification by faith alone, which was stoutly asserted by
Mrs. Jffn trh^'"S'^n^ nnd p ' hjp' '■■m'"1 ^'J ' ln'i hiii|iM:. r-i]i-'|>^nr^
leelwright/ minister__ai__Bi:aiiitre£,_who had recently
red". Although this cardinal article of the Reformation
was equally upheld by the Puritans, they did not overlook
the external evidence of sanctification, or forget the
apostles' injunction that " foith without works is dead."
Mrs. Hutchinson artfully contrived, by giving undue pro-
minence to the scriptural idea of free grace, to make it
' Titu^ ch. 2, vs. 3-5.
PKEVALENCE OF THE NEW VIEWS. 53
appear that her opponents denied the sovereign efficacy of chap.
faith, and grounded their hopes of salvation upon their ^.^^..^^^
good works, and she denounced them as being " under a 168 6.
covenant of works," while she claimed for herself to be
living " under a covenant of grace." The starting point
of disagreement between the two parties related to the
evidence of justification. The followers of Mrs. Hutchin-
son contended for an inward light as the only sure wit-
ness of divine grace, and without which no degree of mo-
ral rectitude could give assurance of a saving faith, while
the legalists held that obedience to the moral law, being
an evidence of sanctification, was thus far a proof of our ac-
ceptance with Christ. So long as the difference was con-
fined to this, it made no disturbance. The new views
3re embraced by a majority of the Boston church, includ-
ing Mr. Cotton himself, and were warmly espoused by the
governor, afterwards Sir Henry Vane. The prime doc-
trines of the Reformation, justification by faith, and the
right of private judgment, were too nearly allied to
these views to admit of their being disputed. The
message sent to England by Cotton, who favored the
new opinions, and by Wilson, who opposed them, con-
tains the substance of the controversy up to this point :
" That all the strife here was about magnifying the
grace of God ; the one person seeking to advance the
grace of God within us as to sanctification, and another
person seeking to advance the grace of God toward us as
to justification," to which Mr. WUson added, " That he
knew none who did not seek to advance the grace of God
in both."' Soon however the breach widened. The H ut-
chinson party, who cl aimed, theologica lly speaking, to be
living^' under a covenant of gra ce," not only d enied the
int«nsicr-efflcacyl)f good works for _the..fialvatiQa_Qf_many
but caTried this BcripturaLdx>£ljirLe-.so. far as to pervert
itB"obvious meaning, by rejecting all external proofs of a
' Magnalia, B. vii., c. 3, § 1.
54 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
CUAP. change of heart, as being indications that the convert was
,_1^ Hving under a " covenant of works."
163 6. The idea of inward revelation was no novelty in the
history of theology. It is one which in all time has been
effectively employed by the zealot or the impostor for the
accomplishment of purposes requiring the incitement of
religious fervor. It appeals to the imagination of men, and
in this case, it thoroughly aroused the latent enthusiasm
of the Puritans. The " opinionists/' as they wc^-e at first
called, soon received another name, and from the disregard
of the divine law, both as an evidence and a means of
grace, with which they were charged by their opponents,
were termed Anjtinoiai^ns. The controversy increased un-
til it reached an alarming height, interfering with the effi-
cient prosecution of the Pequot war, dividing families, and
threatening a dissolution of society. The more enthusias-
tic people, a large proportion of the new comers, among
whom was the governor, and those who cherished a secret
feeling of dislike at the preponderating influence of the
clergy in secular aifairs, espoused the Antinomian cause,
while those who were attached to the old order of things
in church and state, with all the ministers except Wheel-
wright and Cotton, formed the party of the legalists. With
these popular elements on one side, based upon a free system
of theological enquiry, and conducted by ardent and ta-
lented leaders, it was a natural result that new and often
startling opinions were promulgated, and the whole com-
munity involved in a giddy maze of abstruse speculation.
Questions pertaining to '• our personal union with the
S})irit of God," " the insignificancy of sanctification to be
any evidence of our good estate," " the setting up of imme-
diate revelation about future events, to be beheved as
equally infallible with the Scriptures," with similar recon-
dite or fanciful themes, were everywhere discussed with
more than scholastic zeal, and with " the exquisite rancor
of theological hatred."
Oct.
COMMENCEMENT OF THE DIFFICULTY. 55
The first evidence that public attention was directed to chap
the new opinions appeared in a visit made by the other min- ^^
isters of the Bay, while the General Court was in session at l 6 3 G
Boston, to ascertain the truth of the rumors, intending, if
need were, to write to the Boston church, warning them of
the dangers of heresy. Cotton and Wheelwright both at-
tended at this conference and satisfied them all, that on the
point of sanctification as an evidence of justification, there
was no difierence of opinion, while on the question of t^
indwelling of the person of the Holy Ghost there appeared
no material disagreement, many of the clergy holding to
that doctrine in a limited degree, but not to a personal
union of the believer with the Holy Spirit, which was the
tenet of Mrs. Hutchinson. Some of her followers, who
were members of the Boston church now sought to have
Mr. Wheelwright appointed over it as one of the teachers.
This was opposed by Ex-Governor Winthrop on the 3Q
ground that the church was already furnished with able
ministers, and that Wheelwright was known to advocate
certain doctrines at variance with the received opinions, as
" that a believer was more than a creature," and " that
the person of the Holy Ghost and a believer were united."'
A discussion ensued, in which Deputy Governor Winthrop,
Cotton, Wheelwright, and Governor Vane, took part, re-
sulting in the success of the former, so that the church gave
way that Mr. Wheelright might be called to a new church
about to be established at Braintree. The defeated mem-
bers felt aggrieved at this attack upon their candidate, 31.
whereupon the next day Winthrop apologized for his
ofifence, stating that Wheelwright had since denied holding
the ojiinions charged against him ; and then, not satisfied
with this recantation, most unwisely proceeded to argue
from the doctrines which Wheelwright admitted, that he
must necessarily hold to these objectionable dogmas also.
It was a question of metaphysical distinction too nice to
be debated in a mixed assembly, and it would have been
' Winthrop 1, 202.
56 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, well had Winthrop been satisfied with the explaua-
y^,.^!^ tions of his Christian brother, A similar instance of the
163 6. dangerous display of logical acumen liad occurred a year
before at the trial of Roger Williams where the dialec-
tics of Hooker convinced the court that Williams did
maintain opinions which he expressly denied. The habit
of deducing from the premises of enthusiastic theologians
conclusions not admitted by themselves, and then charg-
ing upon them not only errors of doctrine, but of con-
duct as the legitimate result of these conclusions, was
one to which the Puritans were addicted,' that caused
them infinite trouble, and was the occasion of great injus-
tice to the dissenting parties. In the discussion concern-
ing the settlement of Wheelwright, the first public exposi-
tion of the new opinions was made. Heretofore they had
been confined to Mrs. Hutchinson's private assemljly, or
made the subject of anxious deliberation by the ministers
alone. The rupture resulting from Winthrop's impru-
dence on this occasion, revealed how dee]ily the heterodox
notions had taken root. Cotton and Vane, with many
others, had adopted them, while Wilson and Winthrop
resisted the heretical novelties. A disputation concern-
ing the nature of the Holy Ghost was held in writing,
that the peace of the church need not be disturbed there-
by. The prudent conclusion was agreed to, that as nei-
ther the Scriptures nor the primitive Fathers made men-
tion of the " person " of the Holy Ghost, that terra
should not be used.
At this juncture, an unfortunate incident occurred to
give a political aspect to existing differences, and added
the bitterness of jiartisan feeling to the asperity of religious
controversy. Governor Vane convened the Court of Depu-
ties to tender his resignation,' alleging, in the first place,
that his private affairs required his immediate return to
England, and then assigning as his reason, the prevalent
dissensions, which he said were, by some, falsely attributed
VACILLATING CONDUCT OF VANE. 57
to him. The court silently consented to his departure, and chap.
decreed a new election. In the interval, some members of ^^.^
the church represented to the court that the governor's 16 3 6.
reasons were not conclusive ; whereupon Vane, acting upon
this demonstration "as an obedient child to the church,"
declared that " without leave of the church he durst not
go away " although the court had assented. The result
was that a great portion of the people declared in favor
of his continuance in office, and the Court of Election was
adjourned to meet at its usual time, the following May.
The vacillating conduct of Vane in this aifair has greatly
prejudiced his reputation. He has been freely charged
with dissimulation in attempting to extort an expression
of popular ojjinion in his favor, by a course more becom-
ing a demagogue than a Christian statesman. The sequel
gives the color of plausibility to this severe condemnation.
Happy had it been for Vane and for the country if he had
embraced the opportunity, given at his own solicitation by
the court, to withdraw from New England. His career
in Massachusetts had thus far been unique and brilliant.
No other man had ever received such honors at her hands,
or been more warmly admired by the people. Six months
after his arrival at Boston he was chosen governor, when jjay
only twenty-four years of age. His high connections and 25.
popular qualities, notwithstanding his extreme youth, and
inexperience in public affairs, combined to place him at
once at the head of the State — an injudicious choice, as it
proved in a few brief months.
At this court an attempt was made to reconcile the Dea
differences in the churches, and the ministers were con-
voked to give their advice. The governor took a j)romi-
nent part, and by some unseasonable remarks drew upon
himself a rebuke from the fiery Hugh Peter, who openly
charged him with destroying the peace of the churches.
The session assumed a polemic character, and closed with
a debate upon the nature of sanctification. The peace of
58 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, the churches, as might have been foreseen, was more dis-
.^^.^1^ turbed than promoted by this attempt at judicial inter-
16 3 6. ference. A speech made at this court by Mr, Wilson,
3l_" pastor of the Boston church,' gave offence to some of the
members, who demanded a public explanation. To this
Wilson acceded, and the opportunity was embraced by the
Governor, and others of his congregation, to assail him with
bitter reproaches. The excited laity were only restrained
from passing a direct censure upon their pasjtor, by the
firmness of Cotton, who, in lieu of it, "gave. him a grave
exhortation." The j^eople seemed beside themselves with
indignation during this earnest dispute upon nice points
of polemic theology, which, i^robably, very few of them
could understand."^ The effect of these public discussions
was to spread the Antinomian doctrines. Those heretofore
enumerated were now avowed by nearly the whole Boston
church, while still wider departures from the orthodox creed
were secretly entertained, and awaited only the stimulus
of opposition to be openly declared. The defection of Cot-
' The organization of the Puritan churches differed from those of the
present day. Beside the pastor, there were ruling elders and teaching elders,
the latter of whose duties did not vary materially from those of the pastor,
while the ruling elders seem to have had equal jurisdiction with him in the
government of the church. Wilson was the pastor, Cotton a teacher of the
Boston church, beside whom were other teachers at various times, the num-
ber of these seeming to be decided by the size of the church. Beside these
two classes of elders, there were deacons also, who assisted the elders. Our
modern deacons approach to the character of ruling elders, while assistant
pastors, as in some large churches now, occupy somewhat the position of the
teaching elders. There were two ruling elders of the Boston church at this
time, Ohver and Leverett, both Antinomian in their feelings, as indeed were
the entire church a little later, excepting Wilson, the pastor, Winthrop, and
some two or three others. — 1 Win. 212.
* The hair-splitting distinctions, enunciated -with all the energy of an ora-
cle, by the disputants on either side oi" this controversy, remind one of the
Scotchman's definition of metaphysics — " When twa persons be talkin' t'gither,
an' fane dinna understan' t'ither, an' t'ither dinna understan' hi'self," while
the ^'iolence with which the factions supported their respective leaders, illus-
trates the intensity of what an eminent writer has termed " the exquisite
rancor of theological hatred."
PROCEEDINGS AGAINST WILSON AND WHEELWRIGHT. 59
ton was a sore trial to the clergy, who drafted a list of six- chap.
teen points of supposed disagreement, upon which they ^j^
desired his opinion. His answers were published, and also l *) 3 7.
the ministers' reply to them. The dissensions at home,
together with the distractions and disasters occurring at
this period throughout the Christian world, Avere the occa-
sion of a general fast in Massachusetts. The unhappy j^^
dispute now assumed a more general character, extending 20.
beyond the limits of Boston, and disturbing the quiet of
other churches. The baleful distinction of me^n ujid£L_lla
covenant of works," or imder^ "^ '^covenant of gi-ace," divided
tTie whole community, it was at this crisis that the mes- „ ,
-__^.^^ ^ Feb.
sageT'beluib recited, was sent to England by Cotton and 3,
Wilson, which, however truly it might describe the con-
troversy in its earlier stages, gave no idea of the party
virulence that had since prevailed.
The ensuing session of the General Court presented ^^ ,
more the character of an ecclesiastical council than of a 9.
legislative or judicial body. The majority were legalists.
The proceedings against Wilson, arising out cf his speech
at the preceding court, were investigated, but as it was
impossible to identify those who had prejudiced him, no
action was taken, except to pass a vote approving of the
speech. The clergy were consulted as to the authority
of the court over the churches, and gave the opinion that
the court might proceed independently in cases of heresy
dangerous to the State. This advice they immediately
followed, bv summoning Wheelwright to answer for a ser-
mon preached by him on the recent fast day, wherein as
they alleged, he had fanned the flame of dissension, instead
of quenching it, thus perverting the object of the fast, and
adding contempt of court to the crime of seditious preach-
ing. The sermon was produced by his accusers, and
defended by its author. After much debate Wheelwright
was pronounced guilty of sedition and contempt, but sen-
tence was deferred until the next court. The governor and
60 Hlf-TORT OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, some of his party protested against the judgment, but with-
^^^.^1^ out effect. The Boston church petitioned in his behalf and
163 7. justified his sermon. This act was declared to be pre-
sumptuous ; the petition was pronounced to be " a seditious
libel," and was indignantly rejected. It subsequently fur-
nished the pretence for unwarrantable severity. So great
was the excitement, that it was decided to hold the next
session of the court at Newtown,' a motion which itself
produced a violent struggle between . the two parties. Tli6
dispute had now become so warm that the leaders of the
^" Boston church, Wilson of course excepted, even refused to
sanction by their presence the ordination of ministers of the
opposing faction.
Such was the temper of the people when the Court of
Elections was held at Newtown. Party tactics were applied
•^^^' to defer the election as long as possible. It was the last
struggle of political power on the part of Vane and his
friends. The zeal of Wilson, who climbed a tree to ha-
rangue the assembled multitude, decided the fortunes oi
the day. The people clamored loudly for immediate elec-
tion, and the governor was overborne by the tumult.
Fierce denunciations on either side had already given place
to acts of violence, when this timely exertion of the Boston
pastor no doubt prevented actual bloodshed. The legalists
triumphed at every point. Winthrop, who for the past year
had been only deputy governor, was restored 1o his for-
mer otfice of governor, and Vane, with his assistants, Cod-
dington and Dummer, were no longer magistrates. Boston
had deferred the election of deputies until the result of the
general election was known. The next day Vane and Cod-
dington, with another of the same party, were returned as
deputies from Boston. The court refused to receive them
19. on the plea of informality, but' on the following day, the
same deputies were again chosen, and the court was com-
pelled to admit them. Wheelwright appeared to receive
' Now CnmbriJ'ie.
IMPOLITIC COURSE OF THE ANTIN0MIAN8. 61
his sentence, but was again respited, the triumphant party chap.
wishing to give an example of leniency by thus affording ^^1^
him further time for retraction. The prisoner remained 16 3 7.
firm, inviting sentence of death, but threatening an appeal
to the king in case the court should proceed. This con-
duct was fatal to the Antinomian cause. JThus far, the
popu lar feeling, e specially in Boston, had been with the
liberal party, in opposition to tiie ciergv, and to t he old
order of magistrates ! The threat of appeal changed the
political aspect of the case7and~c"fe"ate d aTgvnlsTDn of^ub--
4itr-fH eling. The new c o mers, equally with the old se t-
tlers, dreaded the interf erence of England, where the pre -
latical party was now in the ascendan t This feeling was
more pot ent than any domestic difference. The righ t of
^appeal admitted the English claim to regulate the inter- ^'
lal affairs of the province, so that the question now ap-
^eafed-likr^o ne of indepen rlence against subjectioTi, in
the legalists supported the popular side. This
event hastened the downfall of fheiFoppdnents, and stimu-
lated the dominant party to those acts of injustice which
were now to be consummated. An order of court was
passed, imposing a penalty upon all persons who should
harbor any emigrant for more than three weeks without
leave of the magistrates. This combination of an alien
Jn w wii th n . pn c - s^prtrf. «? y stem was aimed directly at the
Antinomians. who w^ere expecting accessions from Eng-
land, an d occasioned a grpa.t, ontpiy Social visiting Avas
interrupted, and personal insults were of frequent occur- July,
rence. The arrival of a brother of Mrs. Hutchinson, with
others of the same party, afforded opportunity for a prac-
tical application of the new law, and thus increased the
rancor of faction.
A pamphlet controversy, respecting Wheelwright's ob- Aug.
noxious sermon, occupied both parties until the all-en-
grossing synod assembled at Newtown, which was to heal
every difference, and to settle the creed of New England.
30.
62 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
CHAP. A list of eighty-two "erroneous opinions" and nine "un-
^^.i^ savory speeches/' supposed to embrace the whole cata-
16 3 7. logue of prevalent heresies, was presented and condemned.'
Only five points of difference remained between Cotton and
Wheelwright on one side, and the rest of the ministers on
the other.^ An earnest and protracted effort at reconcili-
ation upon these metaphysical niceties, at length, through
the medium of ambiguous expressions, wrought the de-
sired end in the case of Cotton, who, with more perhaps
of prudence than good faith, " explained, distinguished,
and prepared to yield/' ^ Wheelwright maintained his
ground, and calmly awaited the penalty of contumacy.
^ ^ The synod, after twenty-four days' labor, dissolved, with
22. ^ the gratifying result that Cotton, heretofore the great
leader and theological dictator of the Puritans, after
having suffered a temporarj^ eclipse, " recovered all his
12. former splendor among the other stars." * A day of
thanksgiving was appointed for the success of the synod,
and for the recent defeat of the Pequots. A little later
it was discovered that, in resjDect to the former, the result
had n.ot been decisive. Although the pliant Cotton had
' These are duly set forth in T. Welde's pamphlet entitled " A short story
of the Rise, Reign and Ruin of the Antinomians, Familists and Libertines
that infested the Churches of New England,'' a very scarce and curious spe-
cimen of our early polemic literature. The copy which I have read is the
London edition, 16-4-t. It contains, besides an elaborate preface, G6 quarto
pages, 20 of which contain the catalogue of errors, with their confutation,
by the synod ; 24 embrace the proceedings of the General Court of Nov. 2d,
(erroneously printed Oct. 2d in the book.) 1637, which punished the Antino-
mian leaders, and the remainder are occupied with the trial of Wheelwright in
the preceding March, with an account of Mrs. Hutchinson's excommunica-
tion. The whole is a bitter and bigoted ex parte statement by an actor in the
scenes described, and will only repay a reading by the antiquary or the cu-
rious theologian. A remarkable instance of "bibliographical disingenuity '■
in relation to this book is exposed by Mr. Savagj in a lengthy note in I Win*
throp, 298-300.
^ They arc enumerated in 1 Winthrop, 285.
^ The expression is Hildreth's. Hist, of U. S., i. 247.
* Magnalia, B. vii. c. 3, § 5.
TRIAL OF THE LEADERS, 63
deserted to the stronger party, Wheelwright and his friends chap.
were none the less active in disseminating their views. .— ..^^
At the next General Court a summary course was 16 3 7.
adopted, based upon the petition or remonstrance that *2.
the Boston church had j^resented, the preceding March,
in behalf of Wheelwright, and which had then been
branded as a "seditious libel'' upon the court," Wm,
Aspinwall and John Coggeshall, both deacons of Boston
church, and deputies from that town, were dismissed from
the court ; the one for having signed, and the other for
defending the remonstrance. One of the two deputies
elected to fill the vacancies thus created, was immedi-
ately dismissed for the same cause, and the town properly
refused to elect another in his place, William Codding-
ton, the third deputy from Boston, acting under instruc-
tions, then moved a reversal of the censure against
Wheelwright, and a repeal of the alien law. This demon-
stration of the firmness of Wheelwright's friends caused
the court to summon him the same day to receive sen-
tence, which, since his conviction in March, had been
from time to tiine deferred. He was sentenced to banish-
ment, and required to leave the jurisdiction within fourteen
days, upon penalty of imprisonment, John Coggeshall,
who a few days before had been expelled from his seat,
was then summoned, and narrowly escaped the same
punishment, but was released upon being disfranchised,
and admonished to keep the peace on pain of banish-
ment.2 Wihiam Aspinwall was next called to trial for
the same offence, and sentenced to be disfranchised and
^ This petition is preserved in Welde's " Rise, Reign and Ruin," p. 23-25,
and 13 copied by Mr. Savage in 1 Winthrop, App. E., where the reader wll
find it difficult to detect sedition or presumption in its earnest but respectful
language. It was drawn up by Wm. Aspinwall, afterwards the first Secre-
tary of R. I. Colony, and signed by about sixty of the principal men in Bos-
ton, some of whom, banished at this court, soon after settled the i.sland of
Rhode Island.
- He was soon after exiled, and became the first President of R. I. Colony,
64 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, banished, but was allowed to remain until spring. Several
^^^^^^^^ other signers of the petition and chiefs of the Antinomian
1637. party, were in turn brought before the court, and pun-
15/ ished by disfranchisement and fines, among whom were
William Balstone ' and Captain Underhill, who thus re-
ceived the reward of his distinguished services in -the Pe-
quot war. The male leaders being thus summarily disposed
of, the author of all this commotion, Mrs. Hutchinson
herself, was brought into court. Her trial occupied two
days. It was opened in the form of questions between
the court and the accused, the object of which was to
deduce from her own admissions the evidence of her guilt.
Even the report given by Welde, one of her prosecutors
and judges, leaves her, at the end of the first day, un-
scathed by the dialectics of the court. The next morn-
ing, however, she undertook a defence in a lengthy speech,
wherein she broached the doctrine of inward revelations,
enforcing her views by scriptural quotations, and claiming
in a manner to be herself inspired ; in evidence of which,
she enumerated sundry revelations that she had received,
and among them that she should go to New England and
be persecuted, of which revelation she asserted her present
trial to be a fulfilment. " The court saw now an inevi-
table necessity to rid heraway;"^ sentence of banishment
was pronounced, and she was handed over to the marshal
to await its execution.
A most remarkable act, unparalleled in the subse-
quent history of the American States, concluded the pro-
ceedings of this memorable court. The principal men
of the proscribed party in all the towns we're ordered to
deliver up their arms and ammunition before the 30th
of the month, unless they would " acknowledge their sin
in subscribing the seditious libell," before two magistrates.^
* He was one of the four assistants chosen in 1641 in the island of R. I.
■^ Welde, p. 41. For this and all the foregoing cases tried at the Nov
court, 1637, see Welde's Rise, Reign and Ruin, pp. 23-42.
* Winthrop, i. 296, note.
BANISHMENT OF MRS. HUTCHINSON. 65
Seventy-five names are enumerated as the objects of this
astonishing; order, which naturally enouo^h, as the finale to
so much tyranny, aroused a strong feeling of indignation.
The governor took an early occasion to justify the conduct
of the court to the excited congregation with whom he
was a worshipper.
The secular arm having been so efficiently exercised to
purge the state, the ecclesiastical authority was next ex-
erted to purify the church. Many of the signers of the no-
torious petition were proceeded with " in a church way "
by admonition, and when this failed to convince them of
their sin, excommunication was pronounced against them.
The more serious errors before alluded to, as being secretly 1 63 8.
entertained by the followers of Mrs. Hutchinson, were now
openly avowed, and gave occasion for earnest consulta-
tions between the magistrates and elders. A few of the
most intelligible of these notions were : '*' That the law
is no rule of life to a Christian," that " union to Christ is
not by faith," that " there is no such thing as inherent
righteousness," that " the Sabbath is but as other days,"
that " there is no resurrection of the body," and many
other dogmas, which, however harmless they might appear
when explained by their propounders, were fraught with
danger when adopted in their literal significance by the
multitude, unskilled in ethical subtleties.' Mrs. Hutch- ^ >.
inson was examined before the church upon these latter 15.
charges, and gravely admonished by the teacher, Cotton.
A vain hope was felt that she might recant, for which
end she was permitted to reside for a few days at Cotton's
house ; but when the examination was renewed her ob-
duracy was manifest, and " the church with one consent
cast her out." The virus of Antinomianism had become
' A list of twentv-nine theses, from which the above five examples are se-
lected, was presented at the examination of Mrs. Hutchinson before the
church, 15 March, 1G38, all rf which she defended. They may be found in
Welde's book, pp. 59-61.
VOL. I — 5
66 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
neutralized by its own excess. A warrant to execute tho
sentence of banishment was immediately issued, and the
16 3 8. arch heretic departed into exile, to meet ere long a dread-
ful death.' Wheelwright with his family removed to the
head waters of the Piscataqua, where he commenced the
settlement of Exeter.^ The larger portion of the exiles,
among whom was the husband of Mrs. Hutchinson, had
already gone forth to seek a refuge in the wilderness.
Thus ended the Antinomian controversy in Massachu-
setts — the most bitter strife that has ever agitkted New
England, adding the severity of political conflict to the
fierceness of doctrinal contention. Now that two centu-
ries have passed away, and the names of Legalist and An-
timonian are known only to the student of history, we
may calmly review the causes and trace the results of this
stormy episode in Puritan annals.
The different phases presented in the progress of the
disjjute are accounted for by the changing elements which
at various periods it involved. Originally it was purely
of a theological character. Matters of abstract belief,
upon which all were agreed in their practical application,
were discussed in their metaphysical bearing. Terms not
used in the Scriptures were employed to express shades
of thought in relation to the sublimest mysteries of the
inspired volume. The specific purpose for which this
" barbarous terminology " was first applied, was soon over-
looked, and the fact that such expressions were merely " of
human invention " was forgotten in the heat of discussion.
Thus they came to assume a reality in the minds of the dis-
* Her subsequent history is soon told. She went first to Providence, and
thence to Aqucdneck, which had just been purchased by the fugitives of her
party, and where her husband died in 1642. Soon after this bereavement she
removed with her family to a spot near Hurl Gate, within the Dutch jurisdiction,
where in a short time she, and, with tlie 'exception of one child, all her house-
hold, sixteen in number, were murdered by the Indians in lG-t3 — a tragedy
which the bigoted 'Welde narrates, as a special providence upon this " Ameri-
can Jezebel."
" Belknap's New Humpshire, i. 37.
THEOLOGICAL ASPECT OF ANTINOMIANISM. 67
putants, and gave to the argument a material instead of
an abstract significance. The people who Hstened re-
ceived the subtile theses of the debaters as the words of 16 3 8.
an oracle, while fanaticism readily embraced the doctrine
of inward revelation, which was fii-st cautiously insinuated
and then boldly announced. The spread of dangerous
heresies was stimulated by the rigid discipline of the
Puritan churches. The desire for uniformity in creed
and ceremonial produced a stringency of regulation that
precluded, even in non-essentials, that latitude which a
sound discretion would allow. This strictness, however
congenial to those who ordained it, was offensive to subse-
quent settlers, whose feelings were thus enlisted, from the
moment of their arrival, in any movement that promised
relaxation. Furthermore, the principles of the Reforma-
tion, with which the new-comers were strongly imbued,
but which had lost some portion of their hold upon the
Puritan mind, when the possession of power had diverted
their application, favored a degree of liberality and toler-
ance distasteful to the rulers of Massachusetts. The right
of private judgment was merged in the authority of cor-
porate decrees. The doctrine of justification by faith
alone, which in the hands of Luther and Calvin, had
shivered the gorgeous ritual of Rome, seemed, to the
Antinomians, to be lost in the scrupulous attention paid
to formal and protracted worship. On the other hand,
'■' Calvinism run to seed " was an expression used by the
Legalists to describe the position of their opponents. The
antagonist elements of human character were here de-
veloped on the arena of religious strife. In its theologi-
cal aspect, the Antinomian controversy was the system of
Geneva, logically pursued, in conflict with the practice of
Massachusetts — a struggle for freedom of thought and ac-
tion against the spirit of formalism.
Politically considered, it presents a phenomenon not
unusual in the history of the world, but singular enough in
68 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
a community so entirely controlled, through moral means,
by the clerical profession. It was a demonstration by the
16 3 8. masses against spiritual domination — a protest of the peo-
ple in opposition to the clergy. The colony was still a
close corjioration in wliich but a small number of residents
were admitted to the privileges of freemen. The test
act ' was now working its legitimate effect in arousing
a spirit of hostility to existing institutions, which was
specially directed against those who were supposed to be
its authors and most strenuous advocates. A sense of in-
justice was preparing -nTPnyirulg ^^f flip |u^n-p1n fm- nvnrf
resistance to the supremany of the <"h^rgy The shrewd
and cautious Cotton maintained their cause until the re-
action, caused by the indiscretion of Wheelwright, was
apparent, and the political leader of the faction was dis-
graced at the general election. When the powerful influ-
ence of Vane was thus withdrawn, Cotton made good his
reconciliation with his ofi'ended colleagues, and still ap-
peared as the devoted servant of the peojjle. \][) to this
period the political phase of the controversy was as dis-
tinctly marked as its theological character. — -^^
There is one other point, somewhat akin to this,
which should not be overlooked, as it helj^s to explain the
position of parties in this obstinate strife. Viewed in its
social aspect, this was a contest between the new-comers
and the old settlers. Nearly three thousand passengers
arrived the same year with Henry Vane, and only one
hundred and forty-five freemen were added to the colony.^
This disjmrity, together with what has before been writ-
ten, will account for the feeling which disturbed even the
proprieties of social life.
From these various causes the Antinomian party was
at one time, far the most numerous in Boston, recruiting
its ranks from the most accomplished as well as the most
liberal of her citizens ; while in other towns it was rapidly
' Passed May 18, 1631. » Holmes's Annals, 229.
RESULTS OF THE CONTROVERSY. 69
augmenting its forces, and preparing to imbue the exclu- chap
sive spirit of the Puritans with more of liberality in feel- ^^.^^
ing and i^ractice. 168 8.
Thus much for the causes of this celebrated dispute.
Its results upon the Puritans were exhibited in a gradual
relaxation from the severity of their political system, de-
manded by the growing jealousy of the people at the
power of their ministers and magistrates. This was slow
but certain in its operation, so that the union of church
and state became much less oppressive in the next gene-
ration. Its farther results, upon the victims of its fury
who were driven to establish their principles in an inde-
pendent colony, soon afterwards united by parliamentary
patent with the Providence Plantations, the progress of
this history will develop.
By Clark's narrative it appears that during the pre- 16.3 7.
ceding autumn many of the' Antinomians, for the sake of
peace, and to enjoy freedom of conscience, had determined
to remove. The suffocating heat of the past summer in-
duced them to seek a place at the north, but the severity
of the ensuing winter compelled them in the spring to
move farther south. With John Clark and "vVilliam igsj.g
Coddington as their leaders, the exiles designed to estab-
lish themselves on Long Island or near Delaware Bay,
and while their vessel was doubling Cape Cod they went
by land to Providence. Narraganset Bay, which seemed
the destined refuge for outcasts of every faith, attracted
the wanderers by its fertile shores and genial climate.
Poger Williams recommended them to settle at Sowams,
now called Phebe's Neck, in Barrington, on the main
land, or on the island of Aquedneck, now Rhode Island.
He accompanied the exploring party, consisting of Clark
and two others, to Plymouth, to inquire about Sowams,
when finding that this was claimed to be within Ply-
mouth patent, they selected the large and beautiful island
.0
n
^
24.
HISTOR
tAW^
THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
of Aquednec^X Upon their return to Providence a num
©f "tfie principal people formed themselves into a bodj
politic by vohmtary agreement, as the inhabitants of
Providence had already done, and chose William Codding-
ton to be their judge or chief-magistrate.
Through the powerful influence of Roger Williams,
who in his account of the affair, modestly divides the
honor with Sir Henry Vane, negotiations were shortly
concluded with Canonicus and Miantinomi for^ the puf-
xjhase of the island. As soon as the deed was obtained
' This name is spelle<? ^ several ways, a common thing with all the In-
dian names, as Aquetnet, Aquiday, Aquetneck, Aquidneck, Acquettinck, &c.,
but the writer presei-ves the orthography used in the original Indian deed of
the island. He also, to avoid confusion, will apply to the island colonj' its
original name down to the time of the second charter, 1663, when the official
designation in the first patent, 1643, of " The incorporation of the Providence
Plantations in Xarraganset bay in New England," gave place to the title
which has ever since been preserved of " Rhode Island and Providence Plan-
tations," now abbreviated in common use to the name Rhode Island. It was
not till 1644 that the colonists changed the Indian name to " Rhode Island,"
or the " Isle of Rhodes." The derivation of this name has given rise to much
discussion. By what strange fancy this island was ever supposed to resemble
that of- Rhodes, on the coast of Asia Minor, is difficult to imagine, and it is
equally strange that the tradition that it was named from such resemblance
should be transmitted or be believed, unless, indeed, because it is easier to
adopt a geographical absurdity than to investigate an historical point.
Verrazano, a Florentine navigator in the service of Francis I. of France,
explored the American coast, and spent more than two weeks in the spring of
1524 in the spacious harbor upon which Newport now stands. The passage
in his naiTative that has been cited as authority by the advocates of this prev-
alent mistake, refers to Block Island, which with much more geographical ac-
curacy than in the case of Rhode Island, may be thought to resemble the
Mediterranean island.
The celebrated Dutch navigator Adrian Block, gave .his own name, still
preserved with the omission of tlie Christian name, to that ishind wliich Ver-
razano had before noticed as resembling the Isle of Rhodes. Tlie name in
full is found on the T itch charts of that day. Afterward, like his Italian
predecessor, he snilec into Narraganset Bay, where he commemorated the
fiery aspect of the plac3, caused by the red clay in some portions of its
shores, by giving it the name of Roodt Eylandt — the Red Island, and by easy
transposition, Rhode Island ; and Verrazano's casual notice of the neighboring
isluml lias been inadvertentlv transferred to this.
SETTLEMENT OF AQUEDNECK. Yl
they commenced a settlement called Pocasset, at the cove chap.
^ on the northeast part of the island, in the town of Ports- v^^^
J mouth. The colony increased rapidly during the sum- 16 3 8.
■x mer, so that, in the following spring, a portion of their 24.
] number moved to the southwest part of the island, and
I began the settlement of Newport. 16 39.
72 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAPTER III.
THE ABORIGINES OF RHODE ISLAND— PEqUOT WAK
We have now traced the causes which led to the set'
tlement of Providence and Aquedneck. Before speak-
ing of the later settlements within what is now the State
of Ehode Island, let us glance at the condition of the
country at the time when Wm. Blackstone first hroke
the stillness of the primeval forest with the axe of the
English pioneer, on the banks of the stream that now
bears -his name; when Roger Williams with his little
band first crossed the Seekonk, to found a State upon
principles as novel to his own race as to the swarthy
Indians with whom he sought a home ; when John Clark
and his brave companions peaceably purchased " the Eden
of America" from its aboriginal lords, and founded a
Christian colony in the midst of heathen barbarism.
A fertile soil yielded an ample return for the simple
agriculture of the Indians. Numerous streams, frequented
by the trout and the salmon, discharged themselves into
a broad and beautiful bay, whose full extent was yet un-
known to the sails of commerce, but wliich was dotted
with emerald islands, and on its shores were found the de-
licious shellfish that furnished the favorite food and the
only money to the rude natives. Forests, the undisturbed
growth of centuries, overspread the land and sheltered
THE INDIAN TRIBES. 73
alike the bear, the panther, the wolf, the red deer and chap.
the fox, with their natural master the aboriginal Man. ^1:^
Dense swamps furnished a lurking-place for the serpent, 1638.
and a safe retreat for the feeble in time of war. Hills
and rocks, sloping valleys, and verdant plains diversified
the scene, spread out with all the wildness of nature, and
over all the Indian roamed, unmindful, as yet, of that
other race which was so soon to supplant his own.
The principal tribes of southern New England were
the Massachusetts on the east, the Pokanokets inhabiting
the Plymouth region, and including among their subordi-
nate tribes the Wampanoags, who dwelt around Mount
Hope Bay ; tlie N arragansets, who inhabited nearly all of
t he present ?state ot Kliocte island, mc ludmg tlie islands
in the bay, Block Island, and the east end of Long Island :
ajid the_Pequots, who w ith the Mohegans, with whom
they soon became blended, occupied the whole of Con-
necticut! \V est ward of these m JNew iork were the sav-
age tribes of Mohawks, part of the Six Nations, who were
accused of being cannibals, and were every where dreaded
for their cruelty. The great tribes were ruled by one or
more chiefs or sachems, and were divided into many sub-
ordinate tribes, each with its own petty sachem or saga-
more. The Narragansets were at one time the most
numerous and powerful of all the New England tribes.
Shortly before the landing of the Pilgrims a jiestilence,
by some supposed to have been the small-pox, and by
others the yellow fever, had swept over the seaboard of ^ "
New England and nearly depopulated some of the tribes.' 1613,
Prior to this the Narragansets had extended their con-
quests over all the eastern tribes, and at that time their
dominion spread from the Pawcatuck River to the Merri-
mack. The Massachusetts and the Pokanokets paid
them tribute, as did the Montauk Indians of Long Island.
Wonumetonomy, Sachem of Aquedneck, confessed the
' Gookin's Indians of N. England, chap. 2.
74 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, sovereignty of the Narragansets. The Niantics around
,^,,^^ Pawcatuck River^ whose sachem was Ninnigret, a por-
1613. tion of the wandering Nipmueks to the north and west,
and the tribes of Pumham and Scconoco, inhabiting what
is now Kent County, were all subsidiary to and formed
a portion of the great Narraganset tribe, whose chief
sachems were the sage and peaceful Canonicus and his
high-souled nephew^Miantipomi. How long the empire
of the Narragansets had TSeen established over t-lie otheif
subject tribes is unknown. At the time of the arrival of
the English it had reached its culminating point. That
they w^ere a proud and martial race is proved by the ex-
tent of their conquests. These were savage virtues in
which at one time certainly the Narragansets held pre-
eminence. The empire which the valor of his predeces-
sors had acquired, was preserved by the wisdom of Canon-
icus, until the English emigration gave opportunity to
the Pokanokets gradually to withdraw their allegiance,
and seek the dangerous friendship of the colonists. The
policy of Canonicus was peace, and was pursued so far as
the warlike spirit of his neighbors would permit. Under
it the Narragansets became the most commercial and
civilized of any of the natives, and on this account they
were taunted by the hostile Pequots. At one time the
Narragansets could bring over five thousand warriors into
the field, ' and one would meet a dozen of their towns in
the course of twenty miles travel.'^ Their weapons were the
bow and arrow and club. It was not till intercourse with
Europeans had made them acquainted vnth. the use of
metals that hatchets were used, which being placed on
the end of their clubs formed the dreaded tomahawk that
has since become the adopted . emblem of Indian warfare.
Two years after the English landed at Plymouth the Naj--
ragansets sent to them, by way of challenge, a bundle
' Gookin's Indians of New England, chap. 2.
^ Key to the Indian language, chap. 1.
1622.
INDIAN CHARACTERISTICS. 75
of arrows tied with a snake skin.' The tomahawk was chap.
of later date, and the horrible custom among the Indians .^.^J^
of scalping their prisoners was taught them by the French, l 'i "^ ^
before which time the heads of their victims were taken
as trophies.^
The natives are described, by one who knew them well,
as being of two sorts. The better class were sober and
grave, yet cheerful, and as ready to begin as to return a
salute upon meeting the English, while the lower class, of
whom the more obscure had no names, were more rude
and clownish and rarely saluted first, " but upon salutation
re-salute lovingly." ^ Their mode of doing obeisance to
an offended sachem was by stroking him upon both his
shoulders, and using a word which signified " I pray your
favor." ^ Hospitality and a grateful remembrance of
kindness, proportionate to their vindictive resentment for
injuries received, were marked traits of Indian character.
They freely shared their scanty meals with the j)assing
stranger, and extended to him the protection of their
wigwams, often, with a delicacy that finds no parallel in
civilized life, sleeping out of doors themselves to allay the
fears or promote the comfort of their temporary guests.
Their domestic feelings were very strong. So dearly did
they hold the tie of brotherhood that it was usual for the
survivor to pay the debts of a deceased brother, and the
brother of an escaped murderer was executed in his stead
as full atonement for the crime. Their fondness for their
children was carried to an excess that made them unruly
and disobedient. Orphans were always provided for, and
beggaiy was unknown among them. Marriage was publicly
solemnized by consent of the parents. Fornication was
not considered criminal in single persons, but adultery was
severely condemned. The injured party might claim a
W'inslow, in Prince, p. 200.
Niles' Hist, of French and Indian Wars, p. 174 in 3 M. H. C. v. 6. Tlie
French learned it from the Huns. ^ Key to the Indian language, chap. i.
76 HISTORY OF THE SPATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
divorce, and if the woman was false, the hiishand, in
presence of witnesses, might beat the offender without
I 2 2. resistance on his part, and if death resulted from the
punishment it was not revenged. Polygamy-was toler-
ated, but among the Narragansets monogamy prevailed.
Do\vex was given by the husband to the parents of the
maid, or if he were poor his friends contributed for him.
Divorce was permitted, as among the Jews, for other
causes than adultery. The Indians w<?re very prolific, and
as usual among savage nations where the women till the
ground and perform the severest manual labor, the pains
of childbirth were very light. The proportion of deaths
in infancy was larger than among the English, from the
want of proper treatment and ignorance of medicine. In
sickness they used such simple remedies as experience
had taught them, and which their Powwaws, or priests,
or medicine men, dispensed, accompanied with hideous
singing and howling, in which the rest of the people
joined, until the patient either recovered or expired. The
Powwaws extorted large sums for these services, often to
the ruin of their patients. The principal treatment in
use among them was the sweat bath, which was taken in
this manner. A small cave made in the side of a hill near
some brook, was heated with wood placed over a heap
of stones in the middle ; when the fire was removed the
stones still retained great heat. Small parties of Indians
then stripped themselves and entered the cave, sitting
around the hot stones for an hour or more, smoking and talk-
ing, while a profuse perspiration opened every pore, cleans-
ing the skin and often removing the sources of disease.
Emerging from the cave in this condition they would
plunge into the brook, whether- in summer or winter, and
receive no harm from this sudden and violent transition.'
When one was taken ill the women of the family black-
' Among the Tartar tribes of Siberia and in Lapland the same severe
treatment is in common use, particularly foi fevers.
INDIAN FUNERAL RITES. 77
ened their faces with soot, and when death ensued all the chap,
men of the neighborhood adopted the same peculiar style JL^^
of mourning, smearing their faces thick with soot, which 16 2 2.
was continued for several weeks, or if the deceased was a
distinguished person, for a whole year. Their visits of
condolence were not less remarkable than the mode and
length of their lamentations. They were frequently
made, and were always accompanied by patting the cheek
and head of the afflicted parties, and bidding them " be
of good cheer." Their burial service was still more singu-
lar. The corpse was wrapt in mats or coats, answering
to our winding sheets. This was a sacred duty not to be
performed by a common person, but devolving upon some
one who was held in high esteem. The body was then
laid beside the grave and all sat down to bewail their loss
for some time. The corpse \yas then placed in the grave,
and sometimes some of the personal effects of the de-
ceased were buried with him. A second lamentation was
then held over the grave, and upon it was spread the mat
upon which the person had died and the dish from which
he ate. Often too his coat of skin was hung upon a tree
nearest the grave, and there left to decay, as a sacred
thing which it would be sacrilege to touch. In the case
of the death of a prince the ceremonies were yet more
striking. Canonicus, after the burial of his son, burned
his own residence with all its contents, of great value, in
solemn remembrance of the dead, and as a kind of
humble expiation to the gods who had thus bereaved
him. The Indians carefully avoided mentioning the
name of a deceased person, but emjjloyed some circumlo-
cution when referring to the dead. If a stranger acci-
dentally spoke the name of such he was checked, and
whoever wilfully named him was fined. If any man bore
the name of the dead he immediately changed his name,
and so far was this idea carried, that between diflFerent
tribes the naming of their departed Sachems was held as
a jtist cause of war.
78 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
In religion it is difficult to say whether the Indians
were Polytheists or Pantheists. They imagined a God in
16 22. every locality and connected with every phenomenon of
nature. Roger Williams obtained the names of thirty-
seven of their deities, to all of which they prayed in their
solemn worship. Their great God Cowtantowit- lived in
the southwest, the region of balmy airs. From him came
their grain and fruits, and to his home sped the souls of
their virtuous dead to enjoy an eternity of sensual blise,
while the spirits of the wicked waiid^red_jidtliout-j:est.
Here we find the doctrine of the^^I gLmortj lity of the_SQuL__
entertained by a barbarous race who affirmed that they re-
ceived it from their ancestors, and whose connection with
civilized nations had not then been sufficient to account
for its existence in that way. They were ignorant of
Revelation, yet here was Plato's great problem solved in
the American wilderness, and believed by all the aborigi-
nes of the West.
What connection subsisted between Cowtantowit and
their many other Gods does not appear. It is probable
that their religious system was too vague and undefined
to admit, even in their own minds, of any fixed relation-
ship among their deities. But Cowtantowit certainly held
the placj of a Supreme Being, clothed with all the attri-
butes of Deity, while the existence and nature of their
many other Gods argues a si)ecies of pantheism which
minds so clear and thoughtful, unaided by higher knowl-
edge, yet capable of evolving the idea of the soul's im-
mortality, might readily adopt. They acknowledged the
power and agency of their Deity in all things whether
good or ill. If a child died their God was angry, and
was entreated to withhold his chastening hand from the
surviving off'spring. If an accident occurred, the wrath
of God occasioned it ; and so in case of good fortune they
returned thanks to God for the blessing. In the time of
disaster, and after a plentiful harvest or successful hunt,
INDIAN DIVERSIONS. 79
or on the occasion of peace or war, they held a great feast chap.
or dance. The Powwaws commenced with an invocation ^J^
to the Gods, in which the people joined with violent dan- 16 2 2
cing and shouting. Always once a year, in the winter,
they held a great public feast, or thanksgiving, to Cow-
tantowit, for the fruits of the harvest. Private feasts
upon particular occasions were frequent, where besides
feasting the whole company, a great amount of money
and goods was distributed among the guests, a small sum
to each one, who as soon as he received the gift went out
and shouted three times for the health and happiness of
the donor.
The Indians were fond of sports and addicted to gam-
bling, using a kind of dice made of plum stones. Pub-
lic games were often held in houses from one to two hun-
dred feet long, erected for the purpose, where many thou-
sands would meet to dance. Towns would often meet to
play against other towns with dice, on which occasions
an arbor or play-house was built of long poles sixteen or
twenty feet high, from which large amounts of their mo-
ney, staked on the game, were suspended, and two men
were chosen out of the rest, in course, to play amid the
shouting of their abettors. Individuals would often stake
every thing, their money, houses, clothes, and. even them-
selves, like the ancient Germans, described by Tacitus, in
this absorbing vice. Football was a favorite summer di-
version, when they would meet, town against town, to
contend on some smooth plain or sandy shore, and stake
large sums on the result.
Hunting, fowling and fishing were the chief occupa-
tions of the men, in which they often displayed great
skill and powers of endurance. They often met in large
parties to drive the woods for deer. In the autumn they
took them in traps, of which they had many kinds. In
fowling they were expert, being excellent marksmen with
the bow or gun, and skilled in laying snares for the ducks,
80 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
CHAP, geese, turkeys and other fowl that abounded on the sea
,__^_^ and shore. Cormorants which frequented the rocks oif
16 2 2. the coast they would take in great quantities at night
while these birds were asleep. . Blackbirds caused the
Indians great annoyance by their countless numbers. For
protection against them the seed was planted quite deep,
lodges were built in the middle of the cornfields, where
they staid at sprouting time to frighten away the birds,
and hawks were tamed and kept about their houses
as a still greater security from the depredation of the
smaller birds. Crows, although doing some harm, were
held in veneration by the Indians, and were rarely killed.
They had a tradition that a crow first brought to them
a grain of corn in one ear, and a bean in the other, from
the fields of their great God Cowtantowit in the south-
west, and from that seed came all their corn and beans.
They were very fond of fishing, and would endure much
hardship in its pursuit. They chiefly used nets made of
hemp, setting weirs across the rivers and killing the bass
with their arrows as they became entangled in the meshes.
The -head of the bass was considered a great luxury.
The sturgeon they caught with a kind of harpoon of their
own invention, going out in their canoes to attack it, and
so highly was its flesh esteemed by them that they would
rarely sell it to the English.
Their canoes were made from the trunk of the pine,
oak, or chestnut tree, burnt out and hewn into shape.
Ten or twelve days were required to complete one. They
were of all sizes, carrying from two to forty men, and were
worked with paddles, or when the wind was fair a blanket
raised upon a pole was used as a sail In these canoes
they would push boldly out on the open sea, sometimes
in fleets of thirty or forty, and if they met an enemy a
regular sea fight would ensue. They were such expert
swimmers that if overset two or three miles from land
they would reach the shore unharmed.
INDIAN MANUFACTURES AND MONEY. 81
The Narragansets were skilled in the manufacture of crap.
bracelets, stone pipes and earthen vessels, and were the ^^
principal coiners of wampumpeage, the established cur- 16 2 2.
rency of the country, and which continued to be so long
after the European settlement. This was of two sorts,
the white called wampum, made from the stem or stock
of the periwinkle shell, and valued at six for an English
penny, and the black, made from the shell of the quahawg
or round clam,' and of twice the value of the white, or
three for a penny. The dark part or eye of this shell was
ground to a smooth round surface, polished and drilled,
ready to be strung,^ and thus worn as a necklace or brace-
let, or sewed to bits of cloth and used as a girdle, or car-
ried as a scarf about the shoulders. The name wampum
or peage was applied to both sorts. The regalia of their
Princes was made of these beads, with the diiferent colors
handsomely blended and curiously wrought in figures.
The people living on the seashore generally made peage,
and no license from the Sachem was required to do so.
A string of three hundred and sixty white beads made a
fathom, and its ordinary value was five shillings sterling.
A fathom of black was worth two of white. Before the
extent of the fur trade had reduced the value of beaver
in England the fathom of wampum was worth ten shil-
lings, and the Indians could not understand why their
money, in consequence, would bring only half as much as
formerly. This currency was used by the Indians for six
hundred miles in the interior, in trading among them-
selves, and also with the English, French and Dutch,
who made it legal tender. This money was often coun-
terfeited, but the Indians were quick to detect the real
value, requiring an allowance for defective pieces and re-
jecting the spurious article. Their trade consisted chictiy
in furs, provisions and their rude manufactures, wherein
the principle of division of labor was well understood,
^ Venus Mercatoria. Liuneus. ^ JMorton's Memorial, Ap. p. 388.
VOL. I — 6
82 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
some making only bows, some arrows, some dishes, while
some hunted and others fished, and those on the seashore
16 2 2. made wampum, collecting the shells in summer to coin
them in winter. They were shrewd at a bargain and
would try all markets, taking their wares forty or fifty
miles or more to secure a good price, and being ever sus-
picious of attempts to deceive them it required great pru-
dence and integrity in dealing with them. They eagerly
sought European trinkets, mirrors, knives, tool^ and fire-
arms. The latter it was forbidden by law to sell to them,
but through the French and Dutch, and from unprinci-
pled English they obtained them.' The habit of beg-
ging, which in their primitive state was unknown among
them, they soon contracted after the English came, and
were very troublesome in that way. True to the maxim
that '■' flatterers always want something," they would pre-
face their petition with some adulation of the wealth, the
wisdom, or the valor of the English. They were fond of
running in debt, and those who trusted them usually lost
both their goods and their customer. These habits, to-
gether with drunkenness and gluttony, to none of which
were they previously addicted, were acquired by contact
with Europeans. Still there were many fair and honora-
ble traders among them who scorned alike to beg or to
deceive.
Among their primitive virtues punctuality was promi-
nent. The exactness with which they kept a promise in-
volving attention to time was remarkable, and they were
slow to receive excuses from any who failed in this re-
spect. They measured time accurately by the sun by
day and by the moon or stars by night, and divided their
year into thirteen lunar months. They had an intuitive
sense of justice, were prompt to award it, and quick to
retaliate where it was withheld. If a robbery occurred
between difi'erent tribes the ofi'ended party demanded jus-
' This was one of the chief complaints against Morton of Mt. Wollaston.
INDIAN COUNCILS. 83
tice, and if recompense were refused resort to reprisals chap.
■was had, yet care was taken not to seize more than a just .J^^^
compensation for the loss sustained. A strict regard to 16 2 2.
public opiniim controlled the action of their sachems,
whose authority, although hereditary aud absolute, was
rarely exerted, in important affairs, in opposition to the
popular will. Punishments, whether capital or only
corporal, were usually inflicted by the sachem, although
sometimes, when a public execution might endanger the
peace of the tribe, the sachem would send one of his
chief warriors secretly to behead an obnoxious person.
Their love of news amounted to a passion. Their
civilized successois do not peruse the teeming columns of
the daily press with more avidity than the red man wel-
comed to the council fire or the wigwam the bearer of
some novel intelligence. Upon these occasions they
would all sit round in a circle, two or three deep, each
man with his pipe, while amid profound silence the news
was told, or a consultation was held, the orator speaking
for an hour or more with earnest language and impas-
sioned gesture. Eloquence was a native gift with these
rude sons of the forest, and exerted as powerful an influ-
ence upon their deliberations as ever it did on the Gre-
cian stage, or in the Roman forum. Their mode of col-
lecting an audience, especially when the news was of
great importance, such as a declaration of war, was to
send swift messengers to rouse the country, and at every
town to which the runner came a fresh messenger was
sent to the next town, until the last, coming near the
royal residence, shouted often, every man who heard it
taking up the shout, and all assembled quickly at the
council i^lace. The speed of these runners was extraor-
dinary, owing to constant training at races, and having
their limbs anointed from infancy. They have been
known to run from eighty to a hundred miles in a sum-
mer day, and back again in two days. The farm labor
84 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, and domestic drudgery was performed entirely by the wo-
^^^^j^ men, except on the breaking up of new ground, when the
1 (i2 2. whole neighborhood, men and women, would unite in the
task. The women planted, tilled and harvested the crops
with little or no aid from the men, dried the corn, beat if
and prepared it for food. They made all the. domestic
utensils of earthenware, and would carry incredible bur-
dens of provisions, mats, and a child besides, on their
backs. The tobacco plant alone was cultivajted by tJie
men. This they used for the toothache, to which they
were very subject, and as a stimulant, prizing it as highly
as do their civilized successors.
Their staple article of food was Indian corn pounded
to meal and parched, which they mixed with a little wa-
ter. A spoonful of this preparation, with an equal quan-
tity of water, would suffice for a meal. A small basket
of it would support a man for many days. It was easily
taken on long journeys, slung to the back or carried in a
leathern girdle about the loins. Of the un parched meal
they made a pottage called " nassaumj)," whence the En-
glish, name " samp," the same which in New England is
now called hasty pudding or mush. Chestnuts they dried
and preserved the year round as a luxury. Acorns also
were used when there was a scarcity of corn, or for a va-
riety. They extracted the oil from \ alnuts and used it
in cooking and also for anointing their persons. Straw-
berries were very abundant, and during the season they
lived almost wholly upon a delicious bread made by bruis-
ing them in a mortar and mixing them with meal.
Whortleberries and currants were dried' and kept the
year round ; beaten to powder and mixed witli their
parched meal they made a favorite kind of cake. Sum-
mer or bush squashes, of which the Indian name was
askuta-squash, and beans, which next to corn was their
principal dependence, were much used. The sea and the
forest supplied them with an alnmdance of animal food.
INDIAN WIGWAMS, 85
Their venison and other meats were dried in the sun and chap.
smoked for winter use, as were some varieties of fish. ^l:^.
But of all their different sorts of food none were more i "j 2 2.
highly esteemed than clams. In all seasons of the year,
at low tide, the women dug for them on the sea-shore.
The natural juices of this shellfish served them in place
of salt as a seasoning for their broth, their nassaump and
their bread, while the tenderness and delicacy of the flesh
have preserved its popularity to this day, amid all the
culinary devices of an advanced civilization. Whales,
sometimes sixty feet in length, were often cast up on the
shores, and being cut in pieces were sent far and near as
a most j)alatable present.
Their wigwams were made with long poles, usually
set in a circle and drawn nearly together at the upper
end, leaving a hole at the top to serve the double pur-
pose of a window and chimney. This part was the work
of the men. The covering and lining was done by the
women. The summer houses were covered with birch or
chestnut bark finely dressed ; the winter ones with thick
mats woven by the women. The interior was lined with
mats fancifully embroidered. A house of sixteen feet
diameter would accommodate two families. Some of the
houses were oblong, and were designated by the number
of fires that could be made in them. The entrance was
closed by a hanging mat, although sometimes a door was
made of bark. They rarely fastened their wigwams, ex-
cept when about to leave the town, in which case the last
one secured it on the inside by a cord and got out at the
chimney. It was a universal custom, which all the In-
dians strictly observed, to have small detached houses
where the women dwelt secluded during the term of their
monthly sickness, and no male ever entered these wig-
wams.' Their household furniture consisted of large
' It is very remarkable that, of all other nations of whom we have any
knowledge, the Jews alone held to this singular custom.
86 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, hemp sacks, baskets, mats and earthenware, the products
^^,^^,.1^ of female industry. They often removed their houses, in
1622. summer and winter, and for convenience in hunting, oi
for their agricultural labors, and always when a death oc-
curred among them. The mats were easily transported,
so that setting new poles was the only labor attending a
removal, and a few hours sufficed to accomplish the whole.
Of their houses erected for public purposes we have al-
ready written. They were larger and often moi'e loosely
constructed than their wigwams. The great council
house of the Narragansets was fifty feet in 'diameter.
In jiersonal appearance the Indians were very erect,
with firm, compact bodies, high cheek bones, hazel eyes,
straight black hair and light copper-colored complexion.
They painted their faces, chiefly with a red pigment
prepared from clay or the bark of the pine tree, the
women for ornament, and the men, in war, to appear
more terrible to their enemies. During the period of
mourning, as before related, they besmeared their faces
with soot or lampblack, and refrained from painting for
decoration.
The Indian languages were remarkably rich and co-
pious, regular in their inflections, and susceptible of com-
binations beyond almost any other knowm tongue. The
native languages of North America have been reduced to
four classes : 1, the Karalit, of the Esquimaux ; 2, the
Delaware, of the East ; 3, the Iroquois, of the West, and
4, the Floridian, of the Gulf regions. They were divided
into numerous dialects, of which those of New England
were considered as varieties of the, Delaware. The lan-
guage of the Narragansets, to which Roger ' Williams'
Key is devoted, was spoken, with more or less of idiomatic
variation, over a region of country extending north and
south from Rhode Island about six hundred miles.
Such was the condition of the aborigines of Rhode
Island when a new and discordant element was engrafted
MURDER OF OLDHAM AND OTHERS. 87
nn their social and political system by the advent of the chap.
English. Massasoit was the first to recognize the im- _,_
portance of this new element, and hy formal treaty, to 102 1.
enlist the English upon his side, in throwing off the yoke 22
of the Narragansets ; a treaty which his tribe preserved
inviolate for more than half a century, and was only
ruptured when the fiery spirit of Philip of Pokanoket, the
younger son of Massasoit, could no longer brook the wrong
and outrage heaped upon him by the whites. The Nar-
ragansets viewed with a jealous eye this dangerous alli-
ance, and threatened the English ^Nith hostihties ; but 1622,
the bold attitude of the colonists averted the danger. Jan.
The Pequots, the ancient enemies of the Narragansets,
perhaps emboldened by the partial defection of the east-
ern Indians, and by the fact that Miantinomi, the younger
sachem of the Narragansets, was in his minority, em-
braced every opportunity to make war against them.
Block Island and Montauk fell into their hands, and
the Pequot conquest was extended ten miles east of
Pawcatuck river. But a fatal disaster was soon to over- 16 3 2.
whelm the Pequot tribe and to efface their name from off
the earth. A number of murders had been committed
in which it was proved that they had participated, either
directly or by affordmg shelter to the perpetrators. One
Captain Stone and his entire crew of ten men, in a ship
from Virginia, trading on the Connecticut river, were
murdered while asleep, and during a few months sue- 1633.
c ceding the death of Oldham some twenty more were
tortured and killed on Connecticut river. The murder ^j^|^.^'
of John Oldham was the immediate cause of the Pequot
war. He was a daring trader with the Indians, and was
perhaps the first Englishman who contemplated settling
in Rhode Island. So highly was he esteemed by the In-
dians that Chibacuwese, afterwards sold to Gov. Win-
throp and Roger Williams and called Prudence Island,
was freely offered to him as an inducement to establish
88 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, himself among them, Oldham, with two English boys
.^.,__, and two. Narraganset Indians, had been upon a trading
16 3 0. voyage to the Connecticut river ; on his return, touching
at Block Island, he was murdered and his companions
carried off. John Gallup, who was also returning from
the river in a small vessel, seeing Oldham's boat full of
Indians near the island, bore up for it. The Indians
made sail for the main land, but Gallup gallantly pur-
sued them and, after a sharp contest, boarded the craft',
driving most of the enemy into the sea. The mangled
corpse of Oldham was found on board. His companions
and most of the goods had already been taken away.
Jnly "pije news of this outrasre reachino; Boston caused great
20. o o o
excitement. In a few days a deputation, including the
26. two Indians who were with Oldham, arrived from Canon-
icus with a letter from Roger Williams to Gov. Vane,
concerning the tragedy, and soon afterwards the two boys
were safely returned to their homes, with another letter
from Mr. Williams, stating that Miantinomi had sent an
expedition to Block Island to recover the boys and the
property, and to avenge the murder of Oldham. An
embassy accompanied by Catshamekin, sachem of the
Ang. Massachusetts, as interpreter, was sent to Canonicus to
treat with him on the subject of the murder. Upon their
return they reported " good success in their business,"
and that " they observed in the sachem much state, great
command over his men, and marvellous wisdom in his
answers and in the carriage of the whole treaty, clearing
himself and his neighbors of the murder, and offering as-
sistance for revenge of it, yet upon very safe and wary
conditions." It was proved that some of the Narragan-
set sachems had been in the .plot, but that their chiefs,
Canonicus and Miantinomi, were not concerned in it.
An expedition, consisting of ninety volunteers, under
command of John Endicott, was forthwith equipped to
demand satisfaction of the Indians. They embarked in
30.
8.
13.
ATTACK ON THE PEQUOTS. 89
tlu'ee pinnaces, with orders to take Block Island, and chap
tlience to proceed to the Pequot country to secure the .Jl^.
murderers of Captain Stone, to obtain indemnity for the 1636
crime, and hostages for the future good conduct of the ^25f
Pequots? After a short skirmish they landed on the isl-
and, where they remained two days, and having burnt
the wigwams and staved the canoes, they left for the
Connecticut river. At Saybrook they received a rein-
forcement of twenty men and sailed for the Pequot har-
bor, at the mouth of Thames river. Sassacus, the chief
sachem, was absent at Long Island. A skirmish ensued,
in which some of the Indians were killed, their town was
burned, and the next day the wigwams on the opposite
side of the river were destroyed, and the canoes broken
up, after which the expedition returned in safety to Bos-
ton without the loss of a man. By this affair the Pequots 14. '
had fourteen killed and forty wounded, and were greatly
exasperated. The policy of this hostile expedition has
been severely condemned by Lieut. Gardiner, commander
of Fort Saybrook, in his history of the war. Had the
instructions to Endicott limited his powers to the Oldham
matter, the settlers of Connecticut might not have suf-
fered so much from the fury of the Indians. The gov-
ernor of Plymouth remonstrated with the Massachusetts
authorities for ha^^ng needlessly provoked a war.
But the mischief was already done. The Pequots
were thoroughly roused, and wreaked their vengeance, in
the ensuing winter, upon the defenceless inhabitants of
Connecticut. They also sent ambassadors to the Narra-
gansets, with whom they had been in perpetual enmity,
offering to bury the hatchet, and proposing a league with
them and the Mohegans to effect the utter destruction of
the Enghsh, and thereby to avert the calamity which
they foresaw must soon annihilate the Indian race. It
was a perilous hour for New England when the envoys of
Sassacus opened their negotiations with the assembled
90 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, court of their ancient foe, the wary and thoughtful Ca-
^^_^_;_, nonicus. Eight was on the side of the Pequots — the right
16 3 6. to the lordship of the soil, in which the rapid encroach-
ment of the whites must soon restrict them. National
existence depended upon a prompt and united effort to
extirj^ate the race Avhose moral superiority was • already
asserted in reducing the aboriginal princes of the eastern
tribes to a state of vassalage. Life, liberty, and the pur-
suit of happiness, the same considerations whioii in the
next century were urged as the inalienable rights of man,
in the struggle with the mother country, were as clearly
understood by the Indians, and were no less dear to them
than to their enemies, w^hile to these arguments there was
the added bitterness of a conflict of races. Every in-
ducement that could be brought to bear upon the case
was skilfully employed by the Pequot emissaries to attain
their end. The decision was one that involved results
equally momentous to the Indians and the English, and
already the truthful eloquence of the Pequots seemed
about to prevail in the wavering council of the Narragan-
sets. -
Qg(^ At this imminent crisis Roger Williams appeared
among them. He was the only man in New England
who could avert the imj)ending evil. His own life, and
I that of the few who were with him, was secure in the
love of the Narragansets. Still, though smarting under
the injuries of recent oppression, he threw himself be-
tween his own persecutors and their relentless foes. At
the risk of his life, from the Pequot tomahawks and the
perils of the way, he sought the wigwam of Canonicus,
and accomplished, what a high authority has pronounced
1 " the most intrepid and most successful achievement of
the whole war ; an action as perilous in its execution as
it was fortunate in its issue."' At the earnest request
of the Boston magistrates, now seriously alarmed at the
' 1 Bancroft, 398.
Williams's mission to the narragansets. 91
aspect of affairs, Williams undertook this dangerous mis- chap.
sion. His own words can best describe the nature and .^^.1^
result of his labors : — 1 6 3 G.
" Upon letters received from the Governor and Coun-
cil at Boston, requesting me to use my utmost and speed-
iest endeavors to break and hinder the league labored for
by the Pequots and Mohegans against the English, (ex-
cusing the not sending of company and supplies by the
haste of the business,) the Lord helped me immediately
to put my life into my hand, and scarce acquainting my
wife, to ship myself alone, in a poor canoe, and to cut
through a stormy wind, with great seas, every minute in
hazard of life, to the sachem's house. Three days and
nights my business forced me to lodge and mix with the
bloody Pequot ambassadors, whose hands and arms, me-
thought, reeked with the blood of my countrymen, mur-
dered and massacred by them on Connecticut river, and
from whom I could not but nightly look for their bloody
knives at my own throat also. Grod wondrously preserved
me, and helped me to break to pieces the Pequots' nego-
tiation and design ; and to make and finish, by many trav-
els and charges, the EngHsh league with the Narragan-
sets and Mohegans against the Pequots."'
^ Letter to Maj. Mason. It is a singular fact that Winthrop alone, of all
the old writers upon this war, makes any mention of the part performed by
Roger Williams in averting a fatal catastrophe. Had not the well-laid plan
of the Pequots been frustrated by the infliience of Williams, the result of this
earliest American war of extermination would, according to all human cal-
culation, have been reversed. Yet none of the Massachusetts historians, be-
fore the present day, have had the candor to admit the fact. We can excuse
the military writers. Mason, Underbill, Vincent and Gardiner, for the omis-
sion, as they aim chiefly to describe the active hostilities in which themselves
bore a part ; but that Morton, Hubbard, Johnson, Mather, Hutchinson, and
others, who give a more or less detailed account of thf< negotiations connected
with the war should omit all mention of the debt of gratitude they owed to the
founder of Rhode Island upon that occasion, is somewhat remarkable. Even the
liberal Prince in his preface to Mason's history simply says, '* An agency from
the Massachusetts colony to the Narragansets happily preserved their staggering
friendship;" lea\ang us to apply the remark either to the deputation sent on
92 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
Upon the conclusion of this all-important negotiation,
Miantinomi, being sent for by Grov. Vane, went to Boston,
together with two sons of Canonicus, another sachem,
and nearly twenty attendants. He was received with
military honors, and the preliniinaiies of a treaty being
at once agreed upon, it was formally concluded the next
22- day, when the Indians were dismissed in the same man-
ner. It was a treaty of amity, and of aUiance, offensive
and defensive against the Pequots ; and, becausp the In-
dians could not perfectly comprehend all the articles, it
was agreed that a copy should be sent to Mr. Williams,
who could best interpret it. This management was hon-
orable alike to Mr. Williams and to th i government of
Massachusetts. It showed the confidence which both the
contracting parties placed in the good faith of their in-
terpreter, and it attests the integrity of the Puritans that
^ they should submit an instrument of such importance to
April the scrutiny of so strenuous an advocate of Indian rights.
■^* The Pequots, foiled in their atterapl , both with the
Narragansets and the Mohegans, rashly resolved to pros-
ecute . the war unaided. The garrison of Fort SaybrooK
was constantly alarmed by their menaces. Capt. Under-
bill, with twenty men, was sent to the relief The massa-
cre at Weathersfield, where six were killed and seven
■^P'"'^ taken prisoners and tortured, followed by another slaugh-
AtO»
the 8th August, (which Johnson, one of the above-named writers, seems to have
accompanied, and Williams did not,) or to tlie later and more danfterous mis-
sion in October, undertaken by Williams alone, w)iose nance, in either case, is
not even mentioned. There is a maxim of Rochefoncault, which is verified
in this instance ; " II n'est pas si dangereuse de faire du mal a la plupart def
hommes, que de leur faire trop de bien." Gov. Winthrop and some of his
council, in view of the signal services rendered by Mr. Williams throughout
the war, moved in the General Court, that he be recalled from banishment
and honored by some high mark of favor. The silence of the court records
npon the question is sii/nificant. But ample, though tardy, justice has since
been rendered to the memory of Williams by a son of Massachusetts. The
elegant historian of tlic United States has more than atoned for the want of
magnanimity in bis literary predecessors, by the generous spirit displayed iu
the ninth chapter of his eloquent work.
DESTRUCTION OF THE PEQUOTS. 93
ter of nine persons, and the capture of two young girls, chap.
decided the infant colony of Connecticut to declare war ._il^
without delay. Three small towns, Hartford, Windsor 163 7.
and Weathersfield, which had been organized scarcely a ^^'
year, and contained in all much less than two hundred
men, formed the whole colony of Connecticut. The Pe-
quots could muster nearly a thousand warriors, and had
two fortified villages, one on the Mystic river, near the
sea, and the other but a few miles distant, where Sassa-
cus, the chief sachem, dwelt. A force of ninety men,
under Capt. John Mason, was immediately despatched to
the scene of conflict, accompanied by Uncas, sachem of
the Mohegans, with about sixty of his warriors. All
doubts of the fidelity of these savage allies, who preceded
the main body to Fort Saybrook, w^ere speedily dispelled.
The Mohegans vanquished a party of Pequots near the
fort, and brought in the scalps of the slain as trophies of
their prowess. From Saybrook, Mason, being reinforced
by Capt. Underhill, sent home twenty of his troops, while
the main body sailed for Narraganset bay, designing to
surprise the Pequots in the rear. The forces reached a
harbor near Wickford on Saturday, passed the Sabbath
in religious exercises, were detained two days more on
board their vessels by a northwest gale, and then after
two days of severe march across the country, and being
joined by a strong force of the Narragansets, they en-
camped on Thursday night near Fort Mystic.
The Pequots spent their last night in carousal, exult-
ing over the English, who they supposed, from seeing the
vessels sail by some days before, had abandoned the at-
tack. Their songs were distinctly heard at the English
outposts until midnight. At daybreak the English, in
two divisions, assaulted the fort. The Indian allies, ex- 26.
cept Uncas and one other, remained behind through fear of
their redoubtable foe. The Pequots were buried in pro-
found slumber. The crash of musketry roused them to
94 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
inevitable doom, aa the English, bursting through the
palisade of sticks and brushwood, rushed upon them
»G3 7. sword in hand. It was the intention to put the garrison
to the sword and to save the plunder, but this plan was
changed. The Indians, as fast as they awoke either crept
under the beds or fled, when Mason gave the terrible or-
der, " WE MUST BURN THEM," and Seizing a firebrand from
one of the wigwams applied it to the matted roof. A
northeast wind was blowing at the time. The fire spread
with great rapidity, soon involving the whole village in
conflagration. Some of the Pequots, climbing the pali-
sades to escape, were shot down by the English ; others
rushed wildly into the flames and perished -by fire ; a few
boldly charged upon the enemy and fell by the sword.
The allied Indians were stationed in a circle at a distance
and kiUed with their arrows the few, who, fleeing un-
scathed from their fiery furnace, had escaped the triple
peril of shot and flame and steel. The massacre was
complete. One short hour had done the work, and when
the sun arose, a heap of smouldering ruins, over the man-
gled and crisping corpses of nearly seven hundred Indians,
w^as all that remained of this stronghold of the Pequots.
Men, women, and children fell alike in this indiscriminate
and wholesale slaughter. Of the hundreds who an hour
before were slumbering in fancied security, seven only
were taken captive aud but seven escaped. The loss of
the English was but two killed and twenty w^ounded.
As they were leaving the ground a party of three hun-
dred Indians from the otlier fort advanced to the attack,
ignorant of the fate of their comrades. Upon reaching
the spot they gave way to the wildest demonstrations of
grief, and then rushing down the hill, charged upon the
retiring English whose ammunition was nearly exhausted.
A few skirmishers sufliced to keep them at bay, while the
English reached the harbor just as their vessels, coming
round from Narraganset, had entered it. There they met
CLOSE OF THE WAR. 95
Capt. Patric witli forty Massachusetts troops. Underhill chap.
placed the wounded on board a vessel and sailed for ,^..^.1^
Connecticut river. The remaining troops marched across 16 3 7
the country, and were " nobly entertained by Lieut. Gard- ^27."^
ner with many great guns," upon reaching Fort Saybrook
the next evening. A day of thanksgiving for this signal J"|^®
victory was held in all the churches.
About a month after the battle of Mystic Capt.
Staughton with one hundred and twenty men arrived in
Pequot river to continue the war, and was joined by Ma-
son with forty men from Connecticut. The remnant of
the Pequot tribe concealed themselves in swamps or fled
to the westward. One of their hiding-places was broken
up and one hundred Indians taken. The men were killed,
the women and cljildren distributed among the Narragan-
sets, and sent to Boston as slaves. The troops pursued
the main body of the fugitives to a swamp near New
Haven. Surrounding the swamp they held a parley with
the Indians, resulting in the surrender of the old men,
women and children, not belonging to the Pequot tribe, juiy
to the number of two hundred. The warriors resolved to ^^•
fight it out, and some sixty of them succeeded during the
night in breaking through the English lines, after an ob-
stinate struggle, and effected their escape. One hundred
and eighty were taken prisoners. In this fight it is said
that a few of the Indians had fire-arms, which is the first
account we have of their use by the natives.
This encounter virtually closed the war. Sassacus, the
great sachem, whose name but a few months before had
been a terror to both whites and Indians in New Eng-
land, was murdered, with twenty of his men, by the Mo-
hegans, to whom he fled for shelter, and a part of his skin with
a lock of his hair was sent as a welcome present to Bos-
ton. The Massachusetts troops returned home with only ^^^
the loss of one man. The Pequots now became a prey to
their savage foes and were hunted down like wolves, the
96 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
allied Indians daily bringing in their heads or hands to the
English. A general thanksgiving was observed through-
out New England for the successful termination of the
war. The miserable remnant of the tribe delivered them-
selves up at Hartford on condition that their lives should
be spared. More than eight hundred had been slain in the
war, and less than two hundred remained to share the
fate of captives. These were distributed among the Nar-
I f; 3 3 ragansets and Mohegans, with the pledge jthat they
Sept. should no more be called Pequots, nor inhabit their na-
tive country again.' To make the annihilation of the race
yet more complete, their very name was extinguished in
Connecticut by legislative act. Pequot river was called
the Thames, Pequot town was named New London,
Thus perished the race and name of the Pequots.
The first aboriginal tribe who defied the English power,
had fallen in the desperate struggle for liberty and life.
In their fate they were but the precursors of a Icng line
of Indian races who were, one after another, to disappear
as the gathering tide of European civilization swept on-
ward to the west. In quick succession from the Atlantic
to the Alleghanies, and thence to the Mississippi, the
native tribes have melted away ; and westward still, from
the river to the Eocky Mountains, the fatal tide flows
Bwiftly on, driving before it the few whom it does not
slay. Already it breaks in narrow streams through those
mountain passes, until the far west is no longer the un-
disturbed home of the red man. A few years more will
see the fate of the Pequots repeated on our western
shores ; the great tragedy of New England will be re-
acted on the hills of Oregon ; the '' notes of the last
aboriginal death song shall mingle with the murmur of
the Pacific."
' Trumbuirs Hist, of Connecticut, vi. pp. 92, 93, Book 1, oh. ▼.
COMPANIONS OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 37
CHAPTER IV.
DISTORT OF PROVIDENCE FROM ITS SETTLEMENT, 1636, TO THE
ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT UNDER THE PARLIA-
MENTARY CHARTER, MAY, 16i7.
The original companions of Roger Williams, by his chap
own account, were four in number, William Harris, John - — .—
Smith, Francis Wickes, and a lad whom tradition asserts -^ ° ^ "•
to be Thomas Angel. ' By a letter from Joshua Verin,
on the town records, it appears that he also accompanied
the above named persons to Providence, as he speaks of
" we six which came first." This apparent discrepancy is
readily explained. The four persons named by Williams
probably joined him in his first jjlanting at Seekonk,
while Verin came later but in season to remove with
them across the river, and thus to become one of the six
original settlers of Providence.
That it was not the intention of Eoger Williams, in
seeking a refuge in the wilderness, to become the founder
of a State, his own declaration proves. Driven from the
society of civilized men, who showed little sympathy with
the enlightened and progressive views that placed him so
* " My soul's desire was to do the natives good, and to th:it end to have their
language, (which I afterwards printed,) and therefore desired not to be trou-
bled with English company, yet out of pity I gave leave to William Harris,
then poor and destitute, to come along in my company. I consented to John
Smith, miller at Dorchester, (banished, also,) to go with me, and at John
Smith's desire, to a poor young fellow, Francis Wickes, as also to a lad of
Richard Waterman's. These are all I remember." — R. Williams' Answer to
W, Harris hffore the. Court of Commissioners, 17th JVov., 1677.
VOL I — 7
9S HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, ^^r in advance of his age, his earnest, toiling spirit, sought
^J^l.1^ among the savages a field of action, and their debased
16 3 6. condition presented a fitting object for his philanthropy.
Had his only motive been to escape from the vexations of
a discordant community he would have refused, even
against the plea of pity, all English companionship, and,
like Blackstone, ' who at the quiet retreat of Study Hill,
had preceded him to Ehode Island, would have found, in
communion with nature in her solitude, that /est which
human fellowship denied. But the Supreme Ruler of
events had ordered otherwise. The missionary spirit
which led Williams to devote his energies to the good of
the Indians, gave him that hold upon their aflection and
esteem wliich enabled him to dwell securely among them,
and to acquire that ascendency in their councils which
afterwards made him the averter of war, and the virtual
protector of New England. The humanity of his disposi-
' There is a mystery in the life of Wm. Blackstone which probably can
never be explained. AVhen and how he came to America is unknown. The
first planters of Massachusetts Bay found him already established, the ear-
liest English settler on the peninsula of Shawmut, now Boston, where he
planted an orchard, the first in Massachusetts. He was a clergyman of the
church of England, and no doubt left his native country on account of non-
conformity, the same reason that led him soon after to seek a home for the
second time in the wilderness, when he used this memorable expression : " I
left England to get from under the power of the lord bishops, but in America
I am fallen under the power of the lord brethren." At his suggestion the
larger portion of the colonists of 1630, who had settled at Charle?town, re-
moved to Boston. In 1634 he sold out his title to Shawmut. each inhabitant
paying him sixpence, and some of them more, and, purchasing cattle, re-
moved soon after to a spot named by him " Study Hill," within what is known
as " the Attleboro' Gore," in Plymouth patent, now in the south part of the
town of Cumberland, R. I., near the banks of the PawtUcket river. He thus
became the first settler of Rhode Island, if we except the three English re-
ferred to in Winthrop's Journal, (1, 72) as occupying a house at Sowamset,
now Warren, which was attacked by Indians in April, 1632, and as this seems
to have been hut a temporary trading post, such as were frequently set up ir
the Indian country, and not a peiTnanent settlement, such as Blackstone's was,
no other reference being anywhere made to it, the honor here claimed prop-
erly belongs to the proprietor of Study Hill. At the time of his removal he
is supposed to have resided at Shawmut about ten years. Lechford says,
EARLY TITLE DEEDS OF PROVIDENCE. 99
tion prompted him so far to vary his exclusive design in chap.
favor of the Indians, out of pity to those who had like- ^^^^^^^
wise suffered persecution in Massachusetts, that, contrary 16 3 6.
to his own desire, he brought with him a small but reso-
lute band of immigrants and thereby formed the nucleus
of a State. These were soon joined by others, but at
what precise time or in what numbers it is now impos-
sible to know. Many of the records were lost, probably
in the burning of the town during Philip's war, and those
which are still preserved were but imperfectly kept. 1637-8.
The earliest deed upon record is in the form of a 24.
memorandum dated the twenty-fourth of March in the
second year of the plantation. It refers to a sale made
two years previous, of the lands upon Mooshausick and
Wanasquatucket rivers, by Canonicus and Miantinomi
to Eoger WilKams, confirming the same, and by its
terms extending the grant on either side so as to include
" One Master Blackstone, a minister, went from Boston, having lived there
nine or ten years, because he would not join with the church ; he lives near
Master Williams, but is far from his opinions," p. 42 — Plaine Dealing, Lvadon,
1641. He lived peacefully at his new plantation the remainder of his days.
Here he planted an apple orchard, the first that ever bore fruit in Rhode
Island. " He had the first of that sort called yellow sweetings that were ever
in the world perhaps, the richest and most delicious apple of the whole kind."
(2 M. H. C. ix. 174.) Many of his trees planted one hundred and thirty years
before were stQl in bearing when Gov. Hopkins wrote in 1765, and Mr. New-
man in his Discourse on 4th July, 1855, before the Blackstone Monument
Association, says that as late as 1830 three of these trees were living, and
two of them bore apples. They were then nearly two centuries old ! He
frequently came to Providence to preach the Gospel, " and to encourage his
younger hesrers gave them the first apples they ever saw." When no longer
able to travel on foot he rode on a bull that he had broken to the saddle.
His wife, Mrs. Sarah Blackstone, died in June, 1673. His own death oc-
curred May 26th, 1675, at an advanced age, having resided probably more
than fifty years in New England. He was spared from witnessing the deso-
lation of his place, and the burning of his house and library by the Indians
in Philip's war, which broke out a few days after his decease. He left but
one child, John, for whom guardians were a; pointed by Plj-mouth govern-
ment in 1675. His family is not extinct. An inventory of his estate, taken
ten days after his death, is contained in 2 M. H. C. x. 172. The name was
originally spelt Blaxton. See App. 0. vol. ii. p. 568.
100 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, all the land between Pawtucket and Pawtuxet rivers,
1 V •
.^,_L_- "With the grass and meadows upon the latter stream. This
i63i-6. extended grant is made " in consideration of the many
kindnesses and services he hath continually done for us,"
and the instrument is signed by the original grantors.
A memorandum appended the following year states that
May this was all again confirmed by Miantinomi, " up the
^' streams of Pawtucket and Pawtuxet without limits we
might have for the use of our cattle." By this,, document
it appears that the sole title to all the larids vested in
Eoger Williams. When years afterwards a bitter dis-
pute arose among the settlers, in which the ojiponents of
Williams denied his exclusive original title to the lands,
he wrote, " they were mine own as truly as any man's
coat upon his back." Nor was it true, as alleged, that
the purchase was made by him as agent of the company.
The sources of his ability to treat with the Indians, and
the reasons of his having any companions at all in his set-
tlement, as above recited, are sufficient proof, apart from
his own positive statements, that his assertion upon these
points is correct. But it was not his intention to secure
to himself the exclusive advantage which his position
afforded him. Soon after the purchase he executed a
deed giving an equal share with himself to twelve of his
companions " and such others as the major part of us
shall admit into the same fellowship of vote with us." It
was a simple memorandum, like the first Indian deed,
without date, and known as the '' initial deed," from its
containing simply the initials of the grantees. These
were Stukely Westcott, William Arnold, Thomas James,
Eobert Cole, John Greene, John Throckmorton, William
Harris, William Carpenter, Thomas Olney, Francis Wes-
ton, Richard Waterman, Ezckiel Holyman, who, with
Roger Williams, the grantor, form the thirteen original
projirietors of Providence.
This remained for more than twenty years the only
DIVISIONS OF LAND. 101
evidence of title possessed by the town, until Dec, 1661, chap.
when Mr. Williams executed a more formal conveyance ^^ ■
by request of the citizens, and five years later he exe- 166 6.
cuted still another deed, being an exact transcript of the
" initial deed," except that the names of the grantees
were given in full, and the instrument was dated the 8th
of 8 th month, 1638, to conform as nearly as possible with
the time the original was given. The sole object of this
instrument appears to be to explain the first one as to
date and names. ' It will be observed that only two of
the original settlers appear as proprietors by this deed.
Of the remaining four, two at least were minors, one, Ve-
rin, had already abandoned the settlement and returned
to Massachusetts, and John Smith, the miller, was
dead. Some of the grantees it is known did not leave
Massachusetts until 1638. But all of them, the six
settlers and thirteen proprietors, being seventeen per-
sons, had lots assigned them, together with many others,
fifty-four in all, in the first division of land which took
place soon after the " initial deed " was accepted. The
proprietors divided the lands into two parts, one called Oct,
" the grand purchase of Providence," the other " the
Pawtuxet purchase " In the first of these divisions fifty-
four names appear as the owners of " home lots," as they
were called, extending from " the town street," now-
North and South Main streets, eastward to Hope street,
beside which each person had a six acre lot assigned to
nim in other parts of the purchase, some on the banks of
the Seekonk, where Roger Williams' out lot was located,
at Whatcheer, the farthest north of all, and some on the
Wanasquatucket river.'^ The division known as the *' Paw-
tuxet purchase," which from the beauty of its meadow
• See Staple's Annals of Providence, pp. 26, 28, 30, 33, for these deeds.
' The grantees were prohibited from selling to any but an inhabitant
without consent of the town, and a penalty was imposed upon such as did
not improve their grounds.
102 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, lands soon began to be settled/ was the source of long
_-,-;_ and angry contention in the subsequent history of the
16 3 8. colony, as will hereafter appear.'^
The government established by these primitive settlers
of Providence was an anomaly in the history of the world.
At the outset it was a pure democracy, which for .the iirst
lime guarded jealously the rights of conscience by igno-
ring any power in the body politic to interfere with those
matters that alone concern man and his Maker. The in-
.» >
103 7. habitants, " masters of families," incorporated themselves
into a town and made an order that no man should be
molested for his conscience. As yet there was no dele-
gated power. The little community had i\ot swelled to
the dimensions that required a division of labor in the
conduct of pubUc aifairs. The people met monthly in
town meeting, and chose a clerk and treasurer at each
meeting. It is mucli to be regretted that the records of
the town were so loosely kept.' An experiment like this,
which had no precedent to furnish in doubtful cases a cri-
terion of action, must have often presented questions of
the deepest importance to the colonists, in the decision of
which there could be no other guide than their own clear
minds. Principle, not precedent, formed their only stand-
* The first settlers of Pawtuxet were Wm. Arnold, \Vm. Carpenter, Zeeh-
ariah Rhodes and Wm. Harris, who removed from Providence in 1638.
° The details of tlie various divisions of land in the town and vicinity, and
the localities assigned to individual proprietors, so far as they can now be as-
certained, are given in Judge Staple's Annals of Providence, and are not re-
peated here because they belong more properly to a local history of the town,
which has already been most diligently prepared in the aforenamed book,
than to a general history of the State.
^ The only officer whose election is recorded is Thomas Olney, Treasurer.
The earliest record is dated 16th of 4th mo., (June,) but without year. It
provides for a fine upon all persons who may be more than fifteen minutes
late at town-meeting, and but three other entries are made under that year,
the last of which, dated 3d of lOth month, is but a repetition of the first mem-
orandum. The next page is headed " Agreements and Orders of the 2d year
of the Plantation," under which but seven entries are made, all relating to
grants of land and preservation of timber, and bui three have a date affixed.
THE CIVIL COMPACT. 103
ard of judgment. Could the record of their proceedings chap
have been preserved, with what interest should we now .^ ^j_^
peruse the debates of this earliest of modern democracies ! 16 3 7.
The first written compact that has come down to us is as
fullows : " We whose names are hereunder, 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 pres-
ent inhabitants, masters of families, incorporated together
into a town fellowship, and such others whom they shall
admit unto them, only in civil things." It is signed by
thirteen persons — Richard Scott, William x Reynolds,
John X Field, Chad. Brown, John Warner, George Rick-
ard, Edward Cope, Thomas x Angell, Thomas x Harris,
Francis x Wickes, Benedict Arnold, Joshua Winsor,
William Wickenden. The five with the mark x afiixed,
signed by their mark, but whether through inability to
write their names, or from some other cause, may be ques-
tioned, as we know that at that period instruments having
more than one signature were often thus signed by some
of the parties who knew how to write. This agreement
is without date on the original record. It refers in terms
to an ao-reement between the first settlers and to their in-
corporation into a town fellowship, and is therefore pre-
sumed to be the agreement of the " second comers " — a
view strengthened by the fact that it is signed by T. An-
gell and F. Wickes, who came with R. Williams, but be-
ing, according to tradition, minors, were not named in
Mr. Williams' deed, and now, having attained their ma-
jority, they take this occasion to sign the compact of cit-
izenship. The parties bind themselves " only in civil
things," thus securing the rights of conscience inviolate
as their predecessors had done. The different and often
conflicting views of the members of this infant State upon
the exciting topics which caused their exile, and the un-
104 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
tried principles uiion which their settlement was made,
would afford a curious example of diversity of thought
and action converging to the same great end. Unfortu-
nately our only authorities upon these subjects are the
scattered and often biassed statements from the chronicles
of Massachusetts. The fairest of these annalists has
preserved a fragment of discussion, so curious as an illus-
tration of the nature of the difficulties which must have
been constantly ariising in the colony, and of th^ shrewd,
practical character of the people in their solution of knotty
questions, that we transcribe it. " At Providence, also,
the devil was not idle. For whereas at their first coming
thither, Mr. Williams and the rest did iliake an order
that no man should be molested for his conscience, now
men's wives, and children, and servants, claiming liberty
hereby to go to all religious meetings, though never so
often, or though private, upon the week days ; and be-
cause one Verin refused to let his wife go to Mr. Wil-
liams' so often as she was called for, they required to have
him censured. But there stood up one Arnold, a witty
man of their own company, and withstood it, telling them
that, when he consented to that order, he never intended
it should extend to the breach of any ordinance of God,
such as the subjection of wives to their husbands, etc.,
and gave divers solid reasons against it. Then one
Greene replied that if they should restrain their wives,
etc., all the women in the country would cry out of them,
etc. Arnold answered him thus : Did you pretend to
leave the Massachusetts because you would not offend
God to please men, and would you now break an ordi-
nance and commandment of God to please women ?
Some were of opinion that if Verin would not suffer his
wife to have her liberty, the church should dis})Ose her to
some other man who would use her better. Arnold told
them that it was not the woman's desire to go so oft from
home, but onlv Mr. Williams' and others. In conclusion,
THE VERIN CASE. 105
when they would have censured Verin, Arnold told them chap.
that it was against their own order, for Verin did that he ^
did out of conscience ; and their order was that no man 16 3 7.
should be censured for his conscience." This then is the
earliest record we have of the struggle between liberty
and law, the rival elements which Rhode Island was to
reconcile in the novel experiment of a self-governed State.
The only entry referring to it upon the town books is in Maj
these words : " It was agreed that Joshua Verin, upon
the breach of a covenant for restraining of the libertie of
conscience, shall be withheld from the libertie of voting
till he shall declare the contrarie." Here was a case in-
volving the cardinal principle of the Rhode Island settlers
with the most delicate subject of family regulation. One
of greater difficulty could not well be imagined. On the
supposition that Mrs. Verin felt bound in conscience to
attend the meetings, and did so without detriment to her
domestic duties, the restraint imposed by her husband was
a violation of the Rhode Island principle, and as such
the punishment was correctly administered, although the
report, as given by Winthrop, doubtless derived from
Verin himself, naturally gives the best of the argument
to the latter.
About this time Mr. Williams, jointly with Gov. Win- Nov.
10
throp, purchased of Canonicus the island of Chibachu-
weset, which had formerly been oifered by the Indians to
John Oldham, on condition that he would settle there for
purposes of trade, which he failed to do. This he named
Prudence, and two smaller islands adjacent, which he soon
after purchased, he called Patience and Hope. These
lands, with other property, he afterwards sold to meet his
expenses in England wdien on service for the colony.
Gov. Winthrop retained his half of Prudence island, and
left it in his will to his son Stephen.'
' 3 M. H C. i. 165. Knowles' R. W. 124. The deed of Prudence island
is dated 10th Nov. R. I. H. C. iii. 29. Williams' letter to Gov. Wmthrop
on the subject is dated Oct. 28tL
iOG HISTORY OF THE STATE OF KHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. The annals of crime have rarely contained a more
.^ ^ atrocious murder than was committed near Providence,
1 (] 8 8. upon the person of an Indian, by four English from Ply-
"' mouth in the following summer. The murderers Avere
taken at Aquidneck, and Mr. Williams, writing to Gov.
Winthrop for advice as to where they should -be tried,
gives the particulars of the tragedy. • One escaped. The
remaining three were sent to Plymouth, tried and exe-
cuted. Tlie chief interest of the affair at thisjday relates
to the question of jurisdiction, and to the diverse reasons
assigned for having the trial at Plymouth. Williams
thought they should be tried at Aquidneck, where they
were taken, and if not they should be sent to Plymouth,
where they belonged. The Aquidneck settlers desired to
send them to Providence, where the crime was commit-
ted, and this certainly was the correct view. Grov. Win-
throp advised that they be delivered to Plymouth if sent
for, otherwise that the ringleader be given up to the In-
dians, and the other three be detained till further consid-
eration, and gives as his reasons that there was no English
jurisdiction where the crime was committed, and no gov-
ernment at the island where the criminals were arrested.^
Plymouth also applied to Mastsachusetts for advice, and
the Secretary assigns opposite reasons from those given
by Gov. Winthrop himself for his advice, and very dif-
ferent ones from any that could have influenced the
Aquidneck people in surrendering the prisoners. He sa,y8
the Massachusetts refused to try them because the crime
was committed within the jurisdiction of Plymouth, and
that the Rhode Island men having taken' them, delivered
them to Plymouth ^' on the same grounds."-*
The birth of Mr. Willianis' eldest son, said to be the
first male child born of English parents in Rhode Island,
took place in the autumn of this year. He was named
' 3 M. H. C. iii. 170-3. ^ Winthrop's Journal, L 267.
' Morton's Memorial, p. 208.
THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH. 107
Providence. The first English child born in the colony cHAp.
was a female, in the same year, hut a few months pre- ^^ ■
vious to the birth of Providence Williams. 16 3 8.
The period had now arrived when a church was to be
organized in the new plantations. That religious services
had not previously been neglected in their exile, we may
fairly infer from the character of the people and the ear-
nest nature of their leader, himself an ordained preacher
of the Grospel, as also was Thomas James, another of the
original proprietors. And we know too that Mr. Black-
stone, also a regular minister, residing within six miles of
Providence, was in the habit of ^^siting the settlement
for this purpose. As the views entertained by the Provi-
dence colonists differed so widely from those of their Pu-
ritan brethren in other respects, a similar variance may
be looked for in their religious belief ; and as they had
instituted a civil government on principles entirely novel
in that age, so were they about to establish an ecclesias-
tical system, approaching, more nearly, as they consider-
ed, to that of the primitive church, than any then exist-
ing in the new world. Gov. Winthrop says : " Many of
Boston and others, who were of Mrs. Hutchinson's judg-
ment and party, removed to the isle of Aquiday ; and ^
others, who were of the rigid separation, and savored 3.
anabaptism, removed to Providence, so as those parts be-
gan to be well peopled." Some time between this date -^^^^^
and the following spring, when the account of the bap- 16.
tism of Williams, Holliman and ten others, is recorded
by Winthrop, the event then related occurred, which
places the formation of the first Baptist church in Amer-
ica probably in the autumn of 1638, and certainly prior
to the 16th "of March, 1639.^
' These twelve were Roger Williams, Ezekiel HoUimaa, William Arnold,
William Harris, Stukely Westcott, John Green, Richard Waterman. Thomas
James, Robert Cole, William Carpenter, Francis Weston and Thomas Olney.
^Benedict's Historij of Baptists, i. 473.
^ An interestino' discussion occurred a few years since between the First
108 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
t'liAr. The growth of the colony soon rendered a purely
^^^_^ democratic government impracticable. Too onerous for
164 0. the individual and too feeble for the purposes of the State,
it was reluctantly and cautiously abandoned. The jeal-
ousy of delegated power is conspicuous in the instrument
that authorized it, as well as in the frequent elections by
which it provided for a choice of the " disposers." The
necessity of some change was apparent, and a committee
was appointed by the inhabitants of Providence to con-
sider certain difficulties that had arisen in regftrd to a di-
vision of the lands, to adjust the same, and to report a
form of future government for the action of the town.
This report, consisting of twelve articles of agreement,
"j-^ was accepted by the people, thirty-nine of whose signa-
tures are attached to the only copy in existence, certified
by the town clerk twenty-two years later.' It was but a
sliglit dcjmrture from the primitive democracy, still it
Baptist Churches of Providence and Newport, the latter claiming seniority,
contrary to received opinions and the records of the Warren Association. A
report to the Association was made in 18-1:9, stating the grounds of the New-
port claim. This report was ably refuted by the Rev. Drs. Granger and Cas-
well and Prof. Gamraell, a committee in "behalf of the Providence church,
and their review presented to the Warren Association at its next annual meet-
ing, Sept. 12th, 1850, and printed in pamphlet form soon after. In Novem-
ber of the same year. Rev. S. Adlam, pastor of the Newport church, publiehed a
pamphlet entitled, " The First Baptist Church in Providence Not the oldest of
the Baptists \n America." This is a very ingenious attempt to show, 1st, That
the present First Baptist Church is not the original church referred to in the
text, but a seceder from an older church. 2d, That this older church disap-
peared about 1718, and 3d, That the Newport church is older than either of them.
The last proposition, at least, proves too much, for Winthrop settles the fact
of the formation of a Baptist church at Providence prior to 16th March, 1G39,
while the town of Newport was not founded till May 1st, six weeks after-
ward. Many of the facts relied on to sustain these positions will he found to
be already answered in the committee's Renew, and the additional statements
are well weighed by Rev. Henry Jackson, D. D., in " Churches in Rhode
Island," pp. 15-22, 70-85, 95 and 122, 23. Mr. Adlam's pamphlet is a fine
specimen of historical reasoning, requiring an intimate knowledge of the
times and subject, and some experience in critical analysis, to detect the er-
rors in its premises and the consequent fallacy of its conclusions.
' Staple's Annals, p. 40-3.
FORM OF GOVERNMENT ALTERED. 109
forms an era in our colonial history, and for several years chap.
constituted the town government.
The first article fixes the bounds between Pawtuxet
proprietors and those of Providence. The second pre-
scribes that five men be appointed by the town to dispose
of the common lands, and to do the general business of
the town, but in receiving freemen they are first to notify
the inhabitants, lest any objections should exist against
the applicant. If any one felt aggrieved by the action
of the '• disposers/' he could appeal to the town meeting.
A town clerk was to be chosen in addition to these five
selectmen, and the guaranty of liberty of conscience is
again expressly given. The next two articles provide for
the settlement of all private difliculties by arbitration,
and empowered the five disposers to appoint arbitrators
when either of the disputants refuses to do so. The fifth
requires all the inhabitants to unite in pursuit of any de-
linquent. The sixth enables any party, aggrieved by the
acts of any one of the " disposers,'' to call a town meet-
ing, in case of an emergency. By the seventh article all
land conveyances from the town were to be made by the
five selectmen. The next two articles provide for monthly
meetings of the selectmen or " disposers," and quarterly
met'tino-s of the town, at which the former were to render
their accounts and a new election to be had. The fees of
the clerk and his term of ofiice, to be one year, are the
subjects of the tenth article. The eleventh quiets all
prior land titles. The last article levies a tax of thirty
shillings upon all inhabitants of the town.
The provisions for elections, and for a revision of the
acts of the " disposers" at quarterly town meetings, and
for extra town meetings in the brief intervals, to redress
any private grievance inflicted by the selectmen, or any
one of them, are remarkable proofs of the tenacity with
which the founders of Providence held in their own hands
the reins of delegated power. The largest liberty of the
110 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, citizen, civil as weU as religious, consistent with the exist-
_i^ ence of society, was their cherished object, and one which
16 40. they protected with the jealousy of men escaped from the
tyranny of a church and state combination. But the
element of strength which it was sought to embody in the
new system was not there. The passions of men were
not restrained, and the crude ideas of many who sought
the new colony as a refuge from oppression, were not defi-
nitely shaped by this new agreement Latitude of opin-
ion upon fundamental points of civil government still
Yc,4^l existed. Theories subversive of all legal restraint were
broached, and although the angry discussions which they
produced resulted in the triumph of social order, they
gave occasion for the calumny that " at Providence they
denied all magistracy and churches." The doctrine that
conscience was to be the sole guide of the individual, in
civil as well as in religious matters, was held by some who
did not see clearly the distinction as it existed in the
mind of Roger Williams. In the neighboring colonies
these perversions of the idea of soul liberty were magni-
fied, and the disorder that threatened during the discus-
sions, which finally ended in the united triumph of reli-
gious liberty, and social law, wasmisrci)rcsented as the re-
sult of the established system in the State. Any attempt
to enforce the laws was attended with danger to the exist-
ence of the settlement, so much so, that on several occa-
sions aid from abroad was solicited to sustain the deci-
y^^^^. sions of arbitrators legally aj^i^ointed, in accordance with
17 the new form of government. The earliest instance of
this impolitic action is found in a letter from thirteen of
the colonists addressed to the Massachusetts, comi)laining
of the conduct of Gorton and his partisans, one of whom,
Francis Weston, had refused to submit to the " arbitra-
tion of eight men orderly chosen." To enforce their de-
cree a levy was made on Weston's cattle. A riot ensued,
in which some blood was spilt and a rescue effected by his
PAWTUXET MEN SUBMIT TO MASSACHUSETTS. Ill
friends, who then openly declared that a similar result chap.
should follow any attempt to attach any property of theirs. .^-,,I_
The writers urge the necessity of the case as the reason 1641.
for their asking assistance and advice. In reply the gov-
ernment of Massachusetts declined to send aid, because
they " could not levy any war without a general Court ; "
and " for counsel, that except they did submit themselves
to some jurisdiction, either Plymouth, or ours, we had no
calling or warrant to interpose in their contentions, but if
they were once subject to any, then they had a calling to
protect them." How such a submission by any inhabit-
ants of Rhode Island could operate to extend the Massa-
chusetts charter beyond its prescribed limits, or, if it
could do so, how any of the peoiDle could invite such a
usurpation we cannot understand.
A few months after this affair four of the principal 16 42
inhabitants, then resident at Pawtuxet, dissatisfied with |^ '
the conduct of Gorton and his company, who had moved
to their neighborhood, offered themselves and their lands
to the government and protection of Massachusetts, and
were received by the General Court, These were Wil-
liam Arnold, Eobert Cole, William Carpenter and Bene-
dict Arnold. The first three were among the original
purchasers. The last was the son of the first-named.
They were appointed by the General Court as justices of
the peace.' Thus a foreign jurisdiction was set up in the
very midst of the infant colony, which greatly increased
the difficulties of its existence, and continued for sixteen
years to harass the inhabitants of Providence, and threat-
en the peace of Rhode Island long after the Parliamen-
tary charter had secured to the people the right of self-
government.^ The motives of the Court in this act are
' Mass. Col. Rec. 2, 27.
- It was not till 1658 that this unnatural condition of things was termi-
nated upon the petition of Wm. Arnold and Wm. Carpenter in behalf of them-
selves and all the inhabitants of Pawtuxet. asking for a full discharge of theiz
112 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, stated by the Governor to be " partly to secure these men
_i^;_, from unjust violence, and partly to draw in the rest in
1 42. those parts, either under ourselves or Plymouth, who now
lived under no government, but grew very offensive, and
the place was likely to be of use to us, especially if we
should have occasion of sending out against any Indians
of Narraganset, and likewise for an outlet into the Nar-
raganset Bay, and seeing it came without our seeking, and
would be no charge to us, we thought it not %Msdom io
Oct. let it slip." In a few weeks a letter was addressed by
Massachusetts '' to our neighbors of Providence," inform-
ing them of this submission of the Pawtuxet men, noti-
fying them that the Courts were open for tlie trial of any
complaints against these men, and accompanied with the
assurance that equal justice should there be rendered, and
with the threat that if violence were resorted to against
them it would be repelled in like manner.' This official
demonstration of the grasping policy of Massachusetts
alarmed the colonists, who naturally preferred their own
system of arbitration to the decision of Courts in another,
and as they had good reason to consider, a hostile juris-
1H42-3. diction. Gorton and his companions, who, as the parties
^2' specially complained of, deemed this letter to be aimed
directly at them, shortly removed beyond the limits of
Providence, and purchasing from the Indians lands at
Shawomet, south of Pawtuxet, commenced the settle-
ment of Warwick. But the rest which they sought was
denied them in their last retreat. The persecution of
their enemies followed them to the homes which the
heathen, in pity for their sufferings, had bestowed. A
dark contrast between the kindness of the savages and
the cruelty of their civilized brethren, is presented in the
early history of the Warwick settlement.
submission to the Massachusetts jurisdiction, which was granted at the May
session. M. C. R., v. -t, Part i., p. 333.
' The letter is pubUshed in 2 II. I. U. Col., p. 53, and in Staple's Annalfi
of Prov., p. 47.
APPLICATION FOR A CHARTER. 113
The three colonies now existing in Khode Island were chap.
independent of each other. They felt the necessity of ,^i^
union in case of an Indian war which constantly threat- 16 42.
ened, and perhaps a still greater need of an authorized
government, which should cause their rights to he re-
spected by their neighbors. As yet each settlement de-
pended solely upon the consent of its inhabitants for the
efficiency of its government, and this basis was not recog-
nized by the Puritan colonies as valid. The only ties
that bound them together were those of a common dan-
ger from the Indians, the memory of suiferings endured
in a common cause, and the peril to their existence as a
State, which threatened all alike from the ambitious poli-
cy of the surrounding colonies. To strengthen their po-
sition at home, to fortify themselves against encroachments
from abroad, and above all to secure the enjoyment of that
liberty of conscience for which they had suffered so much
and were destined to endure still more, they sought from
the British Parliament a charter which should recognize
their acts of self-government as legal, and invest with the
sanction of authority the novel experiment they had com-
menced. The movement was made by the colony at Sept
Acquedneck. Providence united in it, and Eoger Wil-
liams was selected as the agent. Early in the following
summer he embarked at New York in a Dutch ship for 16 43
England, being compelled to this course by the refusal of
Massachusetts to permit him to pass through their limits,
or to take passage in one of their vessels. He arrived in
the midst of the civil war. The King had already fled,
and the Long Parliament ruled the realm of England.
The administration of the colonies was intrusted to a
committee, of which the Earl of Warwick was chairman,
with the office and title of " Governor-in-Chief and Lord
High Admiral of the Colonies." His efforts with this ^ ^/
committee resulted in obtainin^j a charter uniting the \^^^
. March
three Pthode Island colonies, as " The Incorporation of 14.
VOL. I. — 8
114 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
CHAP. Providence Plantations in the Narraganset Bay in Ne\v
J^ England/" The arrival of Mr. Williams with this all-
1 644. important document was the occasion of general rejoicing.
By virtue of an official letter to the Massachusetts, which
he brought with him/ he landed in Boston, and was al-
g lowed to proceed unmolested to his home. This letter
17. however failed, in its chief object, to produce a relaxation
of the stern policy of the Bay towards the founder of the
" heretical colony." Hubbard, in. his History, of Nev
England, says : " Upon the receipt of the said letter the
Governor and Magistrates of the Massachusetts found,
upon examination of their hearts, they saw no reason to
condemn themselves for any former proceedings against
Mr. Williams ; but for any ofl&ces of Christian love and
duties of humanity, they were veiy willing to maintain a
mutual correspondency with him. But as to his danger-
ous principles of separation, unless he can be brought to
lay them down, they see no reason why to concede to him,
or any so persuaded, free liberty of ingress and egress,
lest any of their people should be drawn away with his
erroneous opinions."
He passed quietly through the unfriendly territory,
whose people he had already once preserved, and from
' With respect to the exact date of this charter there is some difference
of opinion, evidently caused by the carelessness of transcribers. It is pub-
lished in the 2d and 4th vols, of R. I. H. Col., dated 17th March. The 3d
R. I H. Col., Hazard's State Papjrs, and 2 M. H. C. vol. 9, print it with the
date of 14th March. Various writers have followed each of thes3 authori-
ties. The latter, however, is the correct date, as ably argued by the learned
and accurate editor of Winthrop's Journal in a note, vol. ii., p. 236, edit.
1853. The fact that the 17th March 1043-4 fell on Sunday, not a legal day
of date, is of itself conclusive against that date. The writer, in the course
of his investigations in the British State P.ipcr Office at London, examined
the official MS. charter there preserved; It bears date 14th March. This
positive evidence, aside from the negative proof adduced by Mr. Savage, ap-
pears to settle the question. The charter waa signed on Thursday, 14th
March, 1643-4.
" Tho letter is given in Winthrop, 2, 193 (236.)
WILLIAMS' RETURN. 115
wliom he was destined shortly, for the second time, to chap
avert the horrors of Indian war, and reached Providence ^^'^
by the same route that eight years before he bad pursued, 16 44.
a homeless wanderer, dependent on the kindness of the
red man. His entry was like a triumphal march. Four-
teen canoes, filled with the exulting population of Provi-
dence, met him at Seekonk, and escorted him across the
river, while the air was rent with shouts of welcome.
How the contrast which a few short years had wrought in
all around him must have pressed upon his mind, and
more than all the feeling that the five companions of his
exile, and those who had followed them, were now raised,
by the charter he had brought, from the condition of de-
spised and persecuted outcasts to the rank of an inde-
pendent State !
During the absence of Mr. Williams an event of great
importance in its effect on the welfare of the colonists oc-
curred. This was the murder of Miantinomi, the faith-
ful ally of the English and the steadfast friend of Rhode
Island. A union for mutual assistance, to which we shall
refer more fully in the succeeding chapter, was formed by
the other New Eno;land colonies, and from which the ^^
Rhode Island settlements were excluded, upon grounds that 19.
reflect no credit upon the Puritan confederates. The
prospect of Indian war was the most urgent cause for
this union, and the exclusion of Rhode Island was a vir-
tual abandonment of her inhabitants to the chances of
savage warfare. A war broke out between Uncas, sachem j,
of the Mohegans, and Sequasson, a sachem on the Con-
necticut river, who was an ally of Miantinomi. Both
parties appealed to the English, who declared their inten-
tion to remain neutral. Miantinomi espoused the cause
of his ally against Uncas, his hereditary foe, and applied
to the Governor of Massachusetts, " to know if he would
be offended if he made war upon Uncas ? " The Gov-
ernor replied, " If Uncas had done him or his friends
116 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, wrong and would not give satisfaction, we should leave
_^_;^ him to take his own course." That the high spirited sa-
16 43. chem of the Narragansets should have thus asked leave,
as it were, to exercise the right of a sovereign Prince
against his enemies, is exj^lained by the existence of a
treaty formed six years before, when he aided the English
to crush the Pequots. The whole career of this haughty
chieftain, in his intercourse with the English, displays the
nicest sentiment of honor, blended with a proper regard
for his own dignity and absolute sovereignty. He re-
garded every article of the treaty he had made as binding
to the last hour of his life, not only in its terms but in
its spirit, and expected, though unfortunately, and as it
proved fatally to himself, to receive from his civilized al-
lies an equally honorable conduct. He had been repeat-
edly the guest of the authorities at Boston, and his de-
portment on those occasions, as well as in his own domin-
ions, when receiving embassies from the English, was such
as to win the confidence and command the admiration of
16 42. those with whom he negotiated. But of late suspicions
'^"e- had been excited in the mind of the General Court, by
intelligence from Connecticut, spread, as it appears, by
the intrio-ues of the Mohegans.' At a summons from the
Sept. Court Miantinomi promptly attended, and vindicated his
innocence; demanding to be confronted Avith his accusers,
and charging Uncas as the author of the calumny. The
Court were satisfied and Miantinomi was honorably dis-
missed. A fatal act of kindness soon afterward performed
by him, in selling Shawomet to the arch heretic Gorton,
seems to have inclined the Massachusetts more readily to
entertain suspicions of their high-souled ally, and to have
had no little weight in causing his death. However this
Yf-AQ may be, the leading events are well known. Uncas at-
July. tacked Sequasson. Miantinomi took the field with one
thousand warriors, and was defeated in a bloody action.
' An account of this plot is given in 3 M. H. C. 3, 161-4.
MURDER OF MIANTINOMI. 117
By the treachery of two of his captains he was delivered chap.
up to Uncas. An effort to obtain his ransom was made
by his subjects, and also by Gorton. Upon this Uncas
carried him to Hartford, where at his own entreaty he
was left as a prisoner in the hands of the English, till the
Commissioners of the United Colonies met at Boston.
By them his fate was decided. They '' were all of
opinion that it would not be safe to set him at liberty,
neither had we sufficient ground for us to put him to
death. In this dithculty we called in five of the most ju-
dicious elders, and propounding the case to them, they all
agreed that he ought to be put to death ; and we agreed
that, upon the return of the commissioners to Hartford,
they should send for Uncas and tell him our determina-
tion, that Miantinomi should be delivered to him again,
and he should put him to death so soon as he came within
his own jurisdiction, and ' that two English should go
along with him to see the execution, and that if any In-
dians should invade him for it, we would send men to de-
fend him." The sentence was executed in its spirit and
letter by the savage Uncas. • Thus fell the most power- g^^^
ful of the native princes, and the most faithful and hon-
orable ally with whom the English had ever dealt. Un-
skilled in theological subtleties, he received all alike, with
a noble charity which might be called Christian, did it
not contrast so strangely with the cruelty towards their
brethren, of those who claimed the name and asserted the
prerogative of the " Saints." Perhaps it was the igno-
1 The particulars of this atrocious sacrifice are given by Trumbull, Hist,
of Conn i. 135. A justly severe criticism on the authors of the outrage is
penned by Mr. Savage in a note on pp. 158-161, vol. ii., edit. 1853, of Win-
throp's Journal. The scathing remarks of the editor, honorable alike to him-
self and to humanity, come with a better graca from a Massachusetts man
than any comments from a son of Rhode Island could do— who will find
enou<rh beside to denounce in the conduct of the Puritans towards his State,
although nothing more needlessly cruel than the clerico-judicial murder hero
recorded.
118 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, ranee of this barbarian upon points of abstraet belief
,^_^_^ that made him so liberal a protector of " heresy." Tc
1643. him and to his uncle, the sage Canonicus, who survived
him four years, Rhode Island owes more than to all oth-
ers, Christian or heathen, for the preservation of the lives
of her founders. The immediate executioner of this re-
morseless edict was rewarded for his fidelity. His abet-
tors had reason afterwards to deplore their impolitic
haste. > '
While these events were taking place in the colonies,
a yet more dangerous influence was at work in England
to foil the efforts of Williams at obtaining the charter
that was to establish the independence of Rhode Island.
The Massachusetts government were attempting to an-
nex, by a similar patent, the whole soil of Rhode Island
to their jurisdiction, and thereby to legalize their acts of
'^^^- usurpation. The effort was so far successful that a char-
ter was actually obtained from the Colonial Committee,
adding to the patent of Massachusetts the whole of what
is now the State of Rhode Island, and expressly including
the Narraganset country, three months before the Rhode
Island charter was granted. The reasons assigned for this
act in the body of the instrument are the excessive charges
to which the Massachusetts planters had been subjected
in founding their colony, its rapid growth, requiring an
expansion of its territory, and the desire to Christianize
the natives. By what means this patent was obtained, or
how, so soon afterwards, the same territory was erected
into an independent government, and no reference made
to the previous grant to Massachusetts, 'although the
boundaries are described in precisely the same language
in the two documents, or yet why no allusion is made to
it on the records of Massachusetts, for more than twenty
months after it was granted, are points which cannot now
be determined. It is worthy of remark that the Narra-
ganset patent, as it was termed, provides a reservation of
THE NABRAGANSET PATENT. 119
all lands previously granted, " and in present possession chap.
held and enjoyed by any of His Majesty's Protestant sub- ^^
jeets/' while the Providence charter, dated three months 1<J43
later, contains no such proviso. In the Narraganset pa-
tent this proviso, so far as relates to lands " heretofore
lawfully granted," is mere surplusage, no grants ever hav-
ing been made within the described territory by the Brit-
ish government, unless intended to secure the grantees
under the original Plymouth company, who, as before
stated, when about to throw up their charter, had made
extensive sales within what they claimed as their pro-
priety, among which was one to the Marquis of Hamil-
ton, of the tract from Narraganset Bay to Connecticut
river, including all the Narraganset country. But if this
was the intention of the proviso, why was it not also em-
bodied in the Providence charter ? The reservation has
an important bearing, however, in its relation to those in
actual possession, and could we disconnect the two por-
tions of this clause of the proviso, it would explain much
that now appears difficult ; for it would show that it was
not the intention of the Colonial Committee to extend
the Massachusetts authority over those who were ac-
tual residents prior to the tenth of December, but only
that the natural increase of the Massachusetts population,
spreading into the granted territory, might carry with
them the protection of their own laws. The omission of
the proviso in the Providence charter strengthens this
view. Mr. Williams had no doubt represented the actual
relations between the Ehode Island settlers and their
neighbors, and his charter, being absolute and without
reserve, intentionally cancelled that of December previous.
The protracted silence of the Massachusetts government
seems likewise to favor this view. The first notice that ^ "^
appears of the existence of this document, is found in a 27.
letter addressed to Mr. Williams at Providence, by order
of the council, informing him that they had " lately" re-
120 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, ceived this charter from England, warning him and oth-
,^,.^_;^ ers not to exercise jurisdiction there, or, otherwise, to ex-
1645. hibit their authority for so doing at the General Court,
and temporarily remitting, for that specific purpose, the
decree of banishment.' It is not the least of the misfor-
tunes resulting from the destruction of the Providence
records in Philip's war, that we are ignorant what reply
was made to this arrogant missive.
Although the purchase of Providence from thq Narra-.
ganset sachems was considered by the contracting parties
as complete, the settlers were careful to conciliate the
good-will of the Indians residing within their limits, or
who claimed any sort of interest in the lands. Those
who had built wigwams or tiUed the soil, received gratui-
ties in addition to what had been paid to the sachems,
and even the claim to sovereignty over a part of the land,
asserted by Massasoit, sachem of the Wampanoags, a tribe
subordinate to the Narragansets, several years after the
164 6 purchase, although unfounded, was virtually admitted,
and compensation made to him by the colonists. The
claim embraced portions of what is now Smithfield, but
it is doubtful whether the rights of the Wampanoags
ever extended west of the Seekonk river. A committee,
of which Roger Williams was the head, visited the sa-
„ chem to treat for this pretended claim. The report of
lu. their negotiation i)resents a curious picture of Indian
shrewdness and importunity. Many years elapsed before
the last Indian titles were extinguished. Confirmatory
deeds from the successors of the first grantors were taken,
every new deed requiring some further gratuity.
In their sales to each other the colonists pursued a
plan which, however ill-adapted it might be to our pres-
ent modes of doing business, had the advantages of brevity
and publicity in a striking degree, and perhaps better pre-
' The letter is prmted in R. I. Col. Rec, i., 133, and in Mass. Col. Rec.,
iii.. 4'J.
GROWTH OF THE COLONY. 121
eluded the possibility of fraud than any methods that have chap.
since been adopted. The records for many years contain .J.^^
simply the date of the transfer, the names of the grantor 16 4 6.
and grantee, and the location and bounds of the land. A
dozen lines suffice to contain the whole transaction. No
consideration is named, and no verbose reiteration of con-
veyance amplify the deed to the tedious length of modern
instruments. These transfers were made, or acknowl-
edged, in open town meeting, and if the town approved
the sale they voted to record the deed, which made the
conveyance valid, but if they disapproved the whole was
void.
The population of the colony rapidly increased; a
natural effect of the broad system of religious freedom es-
tablished by its founder, which made it the refuge of
many who differed from the state creed of its neighbors.
President Styles, in liis diary, says that at this time there
were in Providence and its vicinity one hundred and one
men fit to bear arms. This corresponds precisely to the
w^hole number of proprietors of house lots, in the last
division of the lands made seventy-three years later. But
besides the original purchasers, and those who were ad-
mitted by them to an equal share in the franchise, many
were received as townsmen w^ho had no interest in the
lands, and others were admitted as twenty-five acre or
quarter-right purchasers, who in all subdivisions of land '6*^-6
received one-quarter as much as a full proprietor. The 19.
terms of admission to the propriety varied very much at
different times. The latest agreement upon the records
is signed by twenty-eight quarter-right proprietors, who,
having received a free grant of twenty-five acres each and
a proportionate right of common, promise to obey the
laws, and not to claim any right to the purchase, nor any
privilege of vote, until they shall be received as freemen
of the town.'
' Staple's Annals, 60.
122 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. With 80 thrifty a growth and with a similar increase
^_ , in the other settlements, it is difficult to understand why
164 6. a united government was not organized immediately upon
receipt of the charter from England. Yet more than two
and a half years elapsed before this event occurred. The
patent prescribed no form of government, nor any mode
of organization. All was left to the people, with the full-
est powers to adopt and act under it as they pleased. It
was a task as delicate and difficult as it was imperative
to consolidate the towns. A spirit of compromise and
mutual concession was requisite for the work. Although
the same causes had led to these settlements, they were
independent of each other in every respect, managing
their affairs in their own town meetings, and conducting
for themselves, as best they could, their disputes with the
Puritan colonies. This very independence must have
presented obstacles, which local or personal jealousies
would enhance. The distracted condition of the mother
country extended in some measure to the colonies, where
parties for the King and for the Parliament existed, al-
though with less violence than in England, and both par-
ties would fear the effect upon their charter liberties, in
case of the victory of either. These reasons may account
for the delay which otherwise would appear inexplicable.
The news of the Narraganset patent doubtless had an
immediate influence in hastening the consolidation so es-
sential to their preservation and to the maintenance of
16 4 7. their cherished principles. At length all obstacles were
so far removed that the four towns. Providence, Ports-
mouth, Newport and Warwick ajDpointed committees to
meet at Portsmouth on the eighteenth of May,' A town
meeting was held in Providence, at which Koger WiUiams
May presided, and a committee of ten men were chosen for
16- this purpose."^ The committee received full power to act
' It appears by the records that the Assembly was held on the 19th, 20th
and 21st.
' These were Gregoiy Dexter, William Wickenden, Thomas Olney, Rob-
INSTRUCTIONS TO THE COMMITTEE. 123
for the town in arranging the General Court, in choosing chap.
general officers, and, in case the Court should consist of „J[^
less than ten from each town, to select from themselves 1647.
this lesser number, to whom the same powers are given.
They were instructed to obtain a cojiy of the charter, to
signify their submission to the terms of the charter, and
to such laws as might be adopted under it, to secure for
the town the right to manage its own affairs, trials of
causes and executions, except such as might be reserved
for general trials, and to elect its own officers, and to see
that the powers of general and local officers were clearly
defined, to provide for appeals of causes to the General
Court, and, in case charters of incorporation were given
to the towns for the conduct of their local business, to
procure one for Providence suited to promote the general
peace or union of the colony, and securing the equal
rights of the town in general affairs. The instructions
close by wishing them " a comfortable voyage, a happy
success and a safe return." Thus commissioned, the com-
mittee, accompanied probably by a large proportion of the
population of the town, embarked in canoes on their
perilous " voyage." The result of their labors opens a
new chapter in our work, and commences the history of
" The Incorporation of Providence Plantations in Narra-
ganset Bay in New England."
ert Williams, Richard Waterman, Roger Williams, William Field, John
Green, John Smith and John Lippitt.
124 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAPTER V.
HISTORY OF AQUEDNECK FROM ITS SETTLEMENT, MAR^II, 1638,'
TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT UNDER THE
FIRST CHARTER, MAY, 1647.
CHAP. The civil compact formed at Providence and signed
.—,1^ by nineteen * of the Aquedneck settlers was as follows :
1637-8. a rpj^g ^^-^ ^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ month, 1G38. We whose names
March •' ' .
7. are underwritten do here solemnly, in the presence of
Jehovah, incorporate ourselves into a Bodie Politick, and
as he shall help, will submit our persons, lives and estates
unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord
of Lords, and to all those perfect and most absolute laws
of his given us in his holy word of truth, to be guided
and judged thereby. — Exod. xxiv., 3, 4 ; 2 Chron. xi., 3 ;
2 Kings xi., 17."
The account of the purchase of the island, through
the joint influence of Koger Williams and Sir Henry
Vane, with the Narraganset sachems, has already been
given. The Indian name of the place where the settle-
ment was commenced, on the northeast part of the island,
* These were Wm. Coddington, John Clarke, Win. Hutchinson, John
Cogge^hall, Wm. Aspinwall, Samuel Wilbore, John Porter, John Sanford,
Ed. Hutchinson, jr., Thomas Savage, Wm. Dyre, Wm. Freeborne, Philip
Shearman, John Wallcer, Richard Carder, Wm. Baulstone, Ed. Hutchinson,
sen., Henry Bull, Randall Holden. Holden's name is separated from
the others by a line. He is believed to be the one not concerned in the pur-
chase, as his name and that of Roger Williams are .signed as witnesses to the
deed. There were eighteen original proprietors and nineteen signers of the
compact. See Bull's Memoiirs of Rhode Island in R. I. Republican, 1832
AprU 17.
24.
THE AQUEDNEOK SETTLERS. 125
was Pocasset, and was retained for some time by the set- chap.
tiers, until changed to Portsmouth. This name was ^_
equally apjilied by the Indians to the opposite shore on 1637-8.
the main land, and probably was the name of the narrow
strait between them, across which a ferry, now known as
Howland's ferry, was soon after established. The consid-
eration paid for the fee of Aquedneck, and for the grass
on the other islands, was forty fathoms of white peage,
besides which ten coats and twenty hoes were given to
the resident Indians to vacate the lands, and five fathoms
of wampum to the local sachem. The jjurchasers adopted
the same policy as those of Providence towards the In-
dians, giving gratuities to all who claimed any interest in
the lands. Some of the purchasers expressing dissatis-
faction that the title stood in the name of William Cod-
dington, in 1652 he executed a joint deed to them, as Mr.
Williams had done for the same reason in Providence.
Callender says that the Aquedneck settlers " were Pu-
ritans of the highest form," and we know that their op-
ponents in Massachusetts called the Antinomian doctrine's
"•Calvinism run to seed." The peculiar phraseology of
their civil compact verifies the remark of Callender. So
prominent indeed is the religious character of this instru-
ment that it has by some been considered, although erro-
neously, as being itself " a church covenant, which also
embodied a civil compact.'" Their plans were more ma-
tured at the outset than those of the Providence settlers.
To establish a colony independent of every other was their
avowed intention, and the organization of a regular gov-
ernment was their initial step. That their object was to
lay the foundation of a Christian State, where all who
bore the name might worship God according to the dic-
tates of conscience, untrammelled by written articles of
faith, and unawed by the civil power, is proved by their
declarations and by their subsequent conduct. The dif-
* Minutes of the Warren Baptist Aasociation, 1849.
126 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, ference between the Aquedneck settlers and the followers
of Koger Williams upon this point was, that the latter
did not confine his principles of toleration to men profess-
ing Christianity, but allowed room for those of every faith,
Jew or Gentile, Christian or Pagan. The views of Clarke
and Coddington were veiy far in advance of the age, too
far for the peace of the colony in its intercourse with the
neighboring provinces. The doctrine of " soul liberty,"
as established by Williams, went still ftirther, carrying h^is
premises to their logical conclusion, and has come to be
the recognized doctrine of the present age -on this conti-
nent. The distinction between the two, although having
no practical effect at that time, is important to be borne
in mind, for it will explain some points in the later his-
tory of the State which might otherwise appear inconsist-
ent. The Aquedneck settlements for many years in-
creasd more rapidly than those on the main land. The
accessions appear to have been, for the most part, from a
superior class in point of education and social standing,
which for more than a century secured to them a control-
ling influence in the colony. Many of the leading men
were more imbued with the Puritan spirit, acquired by
their longer residence in Massachusetts, which sympa-
thized somewhat more with the law than with the liberty
element in the embryo State.^ The evidence of this is
frequent, and its existence was very early displayed. It
is foreshadowed in the language of the compact, and in a
few years was realized in action. It had its advantages,
however, and the chief of these were that it enabled the
people at once to organize a government, and strengthened
them to preserve it better than those of Providence, while
it also was a means of securing and extending their influ-
ence over the other settlements, who looked up to them
in many things, and received from them their first code
' Judge Durfee'8 discourse before the R. L Hist. Soc., January, 1847, pp
15, 16.
ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT. 127
of laws. But we are anticipating events in commenting chap.
upon principles. "^C —
Of the nineteen signers of the compact, William 1637-8.
Hutchinson died on the island, the other two Hutchin-
sons, Savage and Aspinwall, afterward returned to Massa-
chusetts, were well received and promoted to office there.
All of them, except Coddington and Holden, had been
disarmed in the famous act of November previous, but
the shafts of party malice still followed them in their re-
treat, and five days after the compact was signed Wm. March
Coddington and ten of his companions, with their fami- ^^'
lies, were formally banished by the G-eneral Court.' This
event had no influence on their plans. Their government
was already organized at a full meeting of the signers, at
which Wm. Aspinwall was chosen Secretary, and Wm. '^•
Coddington was elected, and took his engagement as
Judge, or chief magistrate, and Wm. Dyre was elected
Clerk. This meeting was held in Providence. A few 24
days afterward the purchase of the island was completed,
and the settlement very shortlj^ commenced. Town meet-
ings were frequent. The records are full and pretty well
preserved, so that we are enabled to know more concern- 16 3 8,
ing their early movements than we can of those at Provi-
dence. But a small number of acts were passed at each
meeting, relating to matters of immediate concern.
At the first meeting the earliest recorded act passed ^ay.
in Rhode Island related to the admission of freemen, that ' 13-
none should be admitted as such but by consent of the
Body, and who submit to the established government.
The other acts fix the location of the town, to be " build-
ed at the spring ; " order that every inhabitant should be
fully equipped with certain arms ; establish a site for the
meeting house ; and make a temporary apportionment of
* Their names were Wm. Coddington, John Coggeshall, Wm. Baulstone,
Ed.' Hutchinson, Samuel Wilbore, John Porter, Henry Bull, Philip Shearman,
Wm. Freeborue and Richard Carder. — M. C. R., i., 223.
128 HlSTORy OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, land to each inhaljitant, of an acre of meadow for every
,_,.^:^ beast and sheep, and an acre and a half for a horse, which
163 8. la.tter act was afterward repealed, and a more definite di-
vision made. The town was built around the head of the
pond, or cove, from which there was formerly an outlet to
the bay deep enough for small vessels to enter. The re-
mains of this first settlement may still be traced. Some-
what later a new town was laid out more to the south and
east, called Newtown, to distinguish it from the old, which
■j^riy name that part of Portsmouth still retains. Th€ follow-^
20. ing week the town was laid out, six-acre lots were as-
signed to the proprietors, and provision made for record-
ing land titles. An inn, brewery and general grocery " to
sell wines and strong waters and such necessary provisions
as may be useful," was also established, to be in charge
of Wtn. Baulston. This was doubtless the first tavern
in the State. A military organization was the next ob-
June iect of attention. At their third meeting officers for the
27.
train bands were chosen.' Already the colony had re-
ceived accessions to its numbers. Land on the island had
been taken up, for which the new-comers were required
to payinto the town treasury two shillings an acre, which
price was fixed for all future inhabitants. Two treasur-
ers, William Hutchinson and John Coggeshall, were
chosen for one year. The highways were ordered to
be repaired, and a fine of one shilling was laid upon all
who should be fifteen minutes late at town meeting, or
should leave it without permission before adjournment.
Aug. The first admission of freemen occurred in August '^ and
20.
at the same time " a pair of stockes ^ and a whipping
■ Wm. Baulston and Ed. Hutchinson, sergeants ; Samuel Wilbore, clerk ;
Randal Ilolden and Henry Bull, corporals.
- There were four admitted, viz., Richard Dummer, Nicholas Easton, Wm.
Brenton and Robert Harding.
' This was a pet punishment with the landed aiistocracy of the old coun-
try, and early transplanted to the new. The condition of English society
which tolerated the stocks, is graphically described by Sir E. Bulwer Lytton
12.
FIRST MILITIA TRAINING. 129
post ' " were ordered to be made. Three days afterward a chap.
prison, twelve feet by ten, was ordered to be built, thus ,^_^
completing the preparations for the vindication of violated 16 3 8,
law, and Randal Holden was ai3i3ointed Marshal of the 23.
colony for one year. They were very soon required, for in a
few days eight men having committed " a riot of drunken- Sept.
ness," were brought before the town meeting by warrant,
and variously fined, and three of them sentenced to the 15.
stocks. Viewers of corn and other produce were chosen,
whose, duty was to examine the crops, and report any
damage that might be done to them by cattle running at
large. The object of this law was to enable those whose
crops might suffer in that way to recover damages before
the court from the owners of the cattle. The military ^^^
naving before been organized, as stated, a general train-
ing was appointed, at which all men between the ages of 5.
sixteen and fifty years were warned to attend on the fol-
lowing Monday. This no doubt was the first militia mus-
ter ever held in Rhode Island.
The growth of the town now required greater pru-
dence in the apportionment of land. The size of house
lots was fixed at three acres, being one-half the quantity Nov.
held by each of the original inhabitants. A baker was
appointed for the plantation, from whom the town was to
in " My Novel," where the reader will find in the first three hooks some
scenes related such as this island may have witnessed two centuries ago ;
always excepting the one in book third, chapter ix., where the inimitable Ric-i
cabocca pays the forfeit of benevolent curiosity, by being caught in the stocks,
himself, and is thus found by his friends, quietly meditating under his red um-
brella. There may have been some Lenny Fairchilds in Rhode Island, but no
counterpart to the fatherly and philosophical Italian. I am sure the reader
will pardon this note if it leads him to peruse the admirable sketch of English
life here referred to, and if he is already familiar with it the recollection will
serve to relieve his mind from the dry record of actual history.
' This punishment nominally existed until a recent period in this State.
The last public infliction of it was on the Court House parade in Providence,
July 14th, 1837, for horse stealing. It had long been in disuse imtil this re-
currence of it aroused pubHc attention to its legal existence, when it was
goon after struck from the statute book. It still exists in many of the States.
VOL. I — 9
130 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
purchase the bread used at the meeting of the courts. A
few days after we find that a water-mill was projected by
16 38. Mr. Nicholas Esson/ for the use of the plantation, and a
16. grant of land and timber made to him for this purpose.
The earliest case of an absconding debtor in the colony
occurred at this time. John Luther, a carpenter, fled
from the island, leaving sundry debts unpaid. His prop-
erty was duly appraised and sold for the benefit of his
creditors. The disposition to regulate trade by establish-
ing prices at which articles should be bought "and sold,
which had already given much trouble in Massachusetts,
and continued to do so until the repeal of the statute left
such matters to regulate themselves, showed itself early
among the Portsmouth settlers. Four " truckmasters,"
as they were called, were appointed for the venison trade
with the Indians, and the prices fixed upon this staple
article of food were limited to a penny ha'penny a pound
to be paid for it, and two pence a pound as the selling
price. One farthing a pound, being one-half the profit
thus secured to the dealers, was to be paid into the treas-
ury.2
Up to this time the government had been a pure de-
1638-9 JT o J.
Jan.' mocracy. All acts had been passed in public meetings
^- of the whole body. The Judge and Clerk had acted only
as chairman and secretary of the assembled townsmen,
by whom all laws had been passed, and all i^roceedings,
■whether legislative, judicial, or executive, conducted. A
change now took place by appointing three Elders to as-
' The name was also spelt Eason and Easton in the records. This was
the same who with his two sons, Peter and John, built the first house in New-
port, six months later.
* A net profit of about seventeen per cent, on the capital invested, is here
allowed, and is a better margin than is usually left to the dealer under re-
stricted laws of trade. It also compares well with average results of modern
tiaffic. In this case the capital was all that was required. Deer and Indians
were both abundant, so that but little labor and no skill were needed on the
part of the " tnickmasters."
PROCEEDINGS IN TOWN MEETINGS. 131
sist the Judge in his judicial duties, to frame laws, to cbap.
have the entire charge of the public interests, and with
the Judge to govern the colony. These officers were to
render an account of their proceedings at quarterly meet-
ings of the town, where their acts were subject to revi-
sion, or repeal, if disapproved, A jealousy of delegated
power is here apparent, like that which existed in the
Providence plantation, and which presents a marked con-
trast to the feeling then prevalent in the community
which they had so lately left. Sealed ballots were used
at this election. Nicholas Easton, John Coggeshall and
William Brenton were chosen Elders, and their election
was duly ratified. At the next meeting the town united
with the Judge and Elders to choose a Constable and 24.*
town Sergeant, and to define their duties. Samuel Wil-
bore was elected for the former office, whose duties were
to see that peace be kept, and to inform of any breaches
thereof, with power to command aid for that purpose if
needed. Henry Bull was elected Sergeant, to execute
orders of the Court, to serve warrants and to keep the
prison, with similar power to demand aid from any per-
sons in the discharge of his office. The business of the
town for the ensuing three months was transacted by the
Judge and Elders. By their act new comers were admit-
ted as inhabitants, and complaints for exaction in trade 7. '
were redressed. A singular proceeding was taken in re-
gard to William Aspinwall, upon whom suspicions of se-
dition against the State rested. Neither the grounds of
suspicion nor the nature of the sedition is stated, but an
Order was issued forbidding farther work upon a boat that
he was having built. This kind of security for good con-
duct seems to have been usual, for one Osamund Doutch,
who at the same Court was admitted an inhabitant, was
likewise complained of for some wrong-doing, and his
shallop pledged in a bond of indemnity that he was re-
quired to give. Probably boats were considered the most
I3z HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
available and desirable property in an island settlement.'
Swine were considered a nuisance, and their removal or
confinement was early provided for. They were ordered
to be sent six miles distant from the town, or to some ad-
jacent island, or else were to be shut up so as to be inof-
fensive, and subsequently the act was enforced by a fine
of two pence for each hog that was found in the town, af-
ter four days. A cattle pound was also provided. To
guard against invasions from the Indians, and likewise to
secure the peace of the settlement from the chances of
riot, an alarm was established. The firing of three mus-
kets, with the cry of " Alarum," was the signal upon
which all the inhabitants were to repair to the house of
the Judge.
The colony had now so greatly increased that a divi-
2^- sion was deemed expedient. A meeting was held, at which
the following agreement was entered into by the signers,
by whom the settlement of Newport was commenced on
the south-west side of the island.
"PocASSET. Oil the 28th of the 2d, 1639.
" -It is agreed by us whose hands are underwritten, to
propagate a Plantation in the midst of the Island or else-
where ; And doe engage ourselves to bear cquall charges,
answerable to our strength and estates in common ; and
that our determinations shall be by major voice of judge
and elders ; the Judge to have a double voice.
" PRESENT :
AVM. CODDINGTON, Judge.
Nicholas Easton,
John Coggesoall,
William Brenton,
John Clarke, '■ Elders.
Jeremy Clehke,
Thomas Hazard,
Henry Bull,
William Dyre, Clerk:'
• As we hear no more of the charge of sedition, we may infer that it was
THE SECOND COMPACT AT POCASSET. 133
All the members of the Pocasset government, it will chap
be observed, are among the emigrants. They carried with ^^
them their records up to this date. Why they did this 16 3 9.
does not appear, for although they were the most promi-
nent men, and their settlement soon became the leading
one in the State, yet by far the largest number then re-
siding at Pocasset remained. Thus deprived at once of
their government and their records, a new organization
was necessary, and two days afterward they formed a new . .,
compact as follows : " We whose names are under[writ- 30,
ten do acknowledge] ourselves the legal subjects of [His
Majesty] King Charles, and in his name [do hereby bind]
ourselves into a civill body politicke and [do submit] unto
his lawes according to matters of justice.'" Thirty-one
names are signed to this document,'^ following which, of
unsustained, and that the boat was allowed to be finished, for about three
months later, 28th April, it was attached for debt, which is the only com-
plaint ever afterward brought against Aspinwall. He occupied many positions
of trust iu the colony. Early in 1642, probably in April, he returned to
Massachusetts, and " upon his petition and certificate of good carriage was
restored again to his former liberty of freedom." M. C. R. . ii. 3.
^ The record is much mutilated and defaced. The words in brackets are
interpolated to preserve the sense. These interpolations are all" at the end of
the lines where the edge of the sheet is torn off. The remaining words are
very legible.
" Wm. Hutchinson, Samuel Gorton, Samuel Hutchinson, John Wickes,
Richard Maggson, Thomas Spicer, John Roome, John Geofie, (Sloffe.') Thom-
as Beddar, Erasmus BuUocke, Sampson Shotten, Ralph Earle, Robert Potter,
Nathanyell Potter, George Potter, Wm. Heavens (W. T. Havens ?) George
Shaw (Chare ?) George Lawton, Anthony Paine, Jobe Hawkins, Richard
Awarde, John More (Mow ?) Nicholas Browne, ^Ym. Richardson, John Trippe,
Thomas Layton, Robert Stainton, John Brigges, James Davis. In R. I. C. R.
t. 70 but twenty-nine names are given. The other two on the Record have a
pen mark across them as if to expunge them from the list, and probably for
this reason are not copied iu the printed records. One of these names is that
of Wm. Aspinwall, who, on the same day, was chosen one of the assistants,
and continued, for three years, a resident of the colony. His signature be-
longs there, and why erased we cannot say unless it was done after his return
to Massachusetts in 1642. We infer the same, although with less positive
proof of the other erasure, and hence state the number of signers at thirty-
one, two more than the printed records show.
134 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
CHAP, tlie same date, is their agreement of government. " Ac-
^ ■ cording to the true intent of the [foregoing, wee] whose
1 3 y. names are above perticularly [recorded, do agree] jointly
or by the major voice to g[overn ourselves by the] Rulei*
or Judge amongst us in all [transactions] for the space
and term of one [year, he] behaving himself according to
the t[enor of the same.]" They then proceeded to elect
William Hutcliinson Judge. The mutilation of the rec-
ords has destroyed the name, and no clue to it is given in
any of the subsequent pages, but Winthrop has fortu-
nately preserved it.^ Seven assistants were also chosen,
V
"The writer devoted a whole summer to studying and making extracts
from the Portsmouth records, a year before they were printed by the State,
sand may be permitted to follow the results of his own researches, even where
they differ somewhat from the version since printed by Authority. In tbe
foregoing list, where the writer's version differs from that of the printed rec-
ords, the name, as given in the latter, is enclosed in brackets. It will be ob-
ser^'ed that there are four of these variations, besides the two first explained,
which require that the author should state further reasons, besides the evi-
dence of his own eyes, why he prefers the versions here retained. The
names of Goffc, Shaw and More occur often on the records, and are perpetu-
ated in a very numerous descent at this day on the island, while the names
as printed are nowhere else to be found or traced. W. T. Havens should be
Wm. Havens, as afterward appears on the records. Middle names were not
in use in that age. The difficulty of deciphering these ancient records is
greatly increased by the fact that many of them are written in the German
script or old English letter, and unless the student is familiar with that lan-
guage or character, his only mode of reading such passages is by making an
alphabet, somevvhat in the way pursued by Champollion in his application of
the Rosetta Stone to Egyptian hieroglyphics. The chances of error are much
increased by this process.
Lest these remarks should be misapprehended as throwing a doubt on tlie
reliability of tbe printed records, the writer deems it just and proper to say
that the errors therein contained are few and of little practical importance,
so far as he has discovered. Some errors have occurred in printing that are
readily detected. The completeness and accuracy of the ' work as a whole,
can only be duly appreciated by those who know the many difficulties incident
to such a task. Mutilation, erasure, fading ink, blotting, insects, dampness,
ever-varying orthography, and often bad. chirography, to all which add the
frequent use of a foreign character, as above stated, and we have some of the
inevitable hindrances that attend the reading of our earliest records.
M. 295, May 11th, 1639. "At Aquiday tbe people grew very tumul-
tuous, and put out Mr. Coddington and the other three magistrates, and chose
TWO GOVERNMENTS ON THE ISLAND. 135
*' for the help and ease of conducting public business and chap.
affairs, and to lay out lands/' viz. : William Balston, ^ J^
John Porter, John , William Freeborne, John 163 9
Wall, Philip Shearman and William Aspinwall. The
surname of the third assistant, like that of the Judge,
being near the edge of the page, is torn off. These offi-
cers were constituted a court for settling any dispute in-
volving less than forty shillings. Provision was also made
for a quarterly court of trials with a jury of twelve men.
Two distinct governments, which lasted the remainder
of the year, were thus established on the island. That
at Pocasset was occupied with business of a local nature,
chiefly in apportionments of land and house lots, which
were to be forfeited if not built upon within one year. No
man was allowed either to sell his lot or to offer it to the
Mr. Wm. Hutchinson only, a man of very mild temper and weak parts, and
■ft holly guifled by his wife, who had been the beginner of all the former trou-
bles in the country, and still continued to breed disturbance." The " putting
out " here recorded, is evidently a Puritan version of the emigration from
Pocasset to Newport a few days previous, which shows how carefully we should
regard the statements of the Massachusetts chroniclers, when the most liberal
of them all can thus construe the acts of those from whom he differed in
opinion. He is in error in using the word " only " in the passage above
quoted ; the records of Portsmouth showing, as stated in the text, that seven
Assistants were chosen at the same time with the Judge. There are also two
singular errors, one of omission and one of misstatement, in Judge Eddy's let-
ter to the Editor, quoted in the note appended to this passage.
The first consists in overlooking the fact of the emigration of the Mao-is-
trates, and the election of others by those who remained at Pocasset, of which
Judge Eddy does not seem to have been aware, and which led him to assert
wrongly of Wm. Hutchinson's election as an Assistant in 1640, that " this
was the only time he was chosen to office." The diligence of Judge Eddy and
his general accuracy is admitted by all who have pursued the same path of
research in our State Archives. The two errors here noticed could not have
been avoided by one who only examined, however carefully, the State records,
and it is evident from this letter that its writer had not, up to that time, con-
sulted the Portsmouth town records.
It is fortunate that Winthrop has thus accidentally enabled us to supply a
defect caused by a mutilation of the records. Without this confirmation we
should still have conjectured that Hutchinson was the man selected as Judge,
foi ue was one of the eighteen original proprietors, and was perhaps the naost
'.mport ant person left at Pocasset after the emigration.
136 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. town. The only act of public interest was to change the
,^..^;;^ name of the place to Portsmouth, which was done at the
1 3 9. first quarterly meeting under the new organization, and
1* confirmed by the united government the next year.
The nine men who signed the agreement at Pocasset
April proceeded at once to make their new settlement. By a
manuscript journal kept by Nicholas Easton, it appears
30. that he with his two sons, Peter and John, came by boat
to an island where they lodged, and the next morning
J^- named it Coasters' Harbor. Thence they came to 'New-
port the same day, where they erected the first English
building. ' The others were not far behind, if they did
not accompany the Eastons, for in their first .meeting they
16- speak of " the plantation now begun at this south-west
end of the island," naming it Newport, establishing the
site of the town " on both sides of the spring, and by the
seaside southward," and fixing the line dividing it from
Pocasset at a point five miles north and east from the
town. The spring referred to was on the west side of
Si)ring street, near the State House, whence a stream ran
a north-west course to the harbor. It appears that some
doubt existed at first as to the best location for the town.
A dense swamp skirted the harbor where Thames street
now is. This fact led them to direct their attention to
the beach. There they found only an open roadstead un-
safe for shipping ; so they returned to the harbor, sur-
veyed it, and wisely decided on the present location. The
' This fact entitles N. Easton to the honor of being considered the founder
of Newport, unless an equal share is claimed for his eight associates, who do
not appear to have been as prompt in their arrival or in establishing their
settlement by actual building. That he was endowed with the peculiar en-
ergy of a pioneer appears by his previous history. The house was on the east
side of Farewell street, a little west of the Friends' meeting-house. It was
burnt down in 1641 by the carelessness or the malice of some Indians, who
kindled a fire in the woods near by. There and in Tanner and Marlborough
streets the first houses w^ere built. Gov. Coddington's house was on the north
side of the latter street and fronting Duke street. — Bull's Memoir of Rhode
Jaland.
SETTLEMENT OF NEWPORT. 137
swamp has long since given place to crowded thorougli- chap
fares, and the finest harbor in America remains to attest ^^J^
the wisdom of their choice. Provision was made for every 1 <> 3 'j,
servant who remained with them to have ten acres of land
as a free gift upon his admission. The business of laying
out the lands was soon commenced. The oj^inion of the 5.
body is recorded " that the land might reasonably accom-
modate fifty families." Four acres were assigned for each
house lot, and six acres were granted to Mr. Coddington
for an orchard.' Free trade with the Indians was per-
mitted to all men. Some dift'erences on this subject had
arisen which probably occasioned this decree. The ap- g^p^
pointment of " truckmasters " had not given satisfaction 2.
at Pocasset, and the Newport settlers profited by their
experience. A justice's court, composed of the Judge Oct.
and Elders, was appointed to meet the first Tuesday ^•
in every month, to decide • such causes as might come
before them. At the quarterly town meetings, called also
courts, a majority was to rule, and the Judge was allowed
two votes. Under this date appears a list of fifty-nine
persons, "who by the general consent of the company were
admitted to be inhabitants of the island, now called
Aquedneck, having submitted themselves to the govern-
ment that is or shall be established, according to the word
of God, therein," and also a supplemental list of forty-two
" inhabitants admitted at the towne of Niew-Port since
the 20th of the 3d, 1638," (1639,) making one hundred
and one registered inhabitants at that time.^ Nearly one
half of the first list is composed of names signed to the
' This is the second orchard known in Rhode Island. The first was planted
by "W. Blackstone in 1635.
- There is a singular recurrence of this precise number of persons in our
early history. The I'ilgrims landing from the Mayflower in 1G20 were one
Imndred and one. The number of men in Providence fit for military duty in
1 645 was one hundred and one. The number of proprietors there at the last
division of lands in 1718, was one hundred and one, and we here see the
number of registered inhabitants of Aquedueck in Oct., 1639, to be one hun-
dred and one.
138 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. Pocasset agreement of April 30tb, and the greater part
___;^ of it is made up of those who still resided there, by which
I 3 9. we may foresee the union of the governments shortly to
take place. None of the proprietors' names are in either
list. They were the company by whom, with such as
they from time to time admitted, all others were received.
The supplemental list contains only the names of such sls
had come to the island during the summer.
We have before seen that the organization of courts^
very early occupied the attention of the colonists. * The
administration of justice was promptly providfed for, con-
trary to the slanders of their neighbors, who from the ab-
sence of any law religion at either Providence or Aqued-
neck, freely charged them with a disregard for both law
and religion. A division of labor in judicial matters, it
is true, was not immediately provided. Their circum-
stances did not at once permit the establishment of a va-
riety of courts, with limited and well-defined jurisdic-
tions, as at the present day. The number of the colo-
nists was too small, and the nature of the causes arising
among them did not require any extended judicial sys-
tem. Yet we have seen that something of this had al-
ready been undertaken at Pocasset. The Court of As-
sistants was to have cognizance of small causes, and a
quarterly court for jury trials was established. This
progress in one year, with the establishment of justices'
courts immediately upon their settlement, fully attests
their regard for law. The character of the men, with the
fact that a majority of them were members of the Boston
churcli before their exile, and many still continued to be
Nov. so, answers the other portion of the charge. A formal
act of the whole people, passed at this time, will set their
regard for justice, and their care in providing for its ad-
ministration, in still clearer liffht. " Bv the Bodv Poli-
ticke in the He of Aquethnec, Inhabiting this present 25
of 9 month, 1639.
25.
THE FIRST CHUFCH AT AQUEDNECK. 139
" In the fourteenth yeare of y' Raign of our Soveraign chap.
Lord King Charles. It is agreed, That as Natural sub- ._J^
jects to our Prince, and subject to his Lawes, all matters 163 9.
that conoerne the Peace shall be by those that are officers
of the Peace, Transacted ; And all actions of the case,
or Debt, shall be in such Courts as by order are here ap-
pointed, and by such Judges as are Deputed : Heard and
Legally Determined.
" Given at Niew-Port on the Quarter Courte Day
which was adjourned till y' Day.
" William Dyre, Sec."
Meanwhile their spiritual concerns were not neglect-
ed. We have the same reasons that were assigned in the
previous chapter for supposing that at Aquedneck, as
well as at Providence, religious services were regularly
conducted before any positive notice is found of the forma-
tion of a church. In Winthrop's Journal we read,
*' They also gathered a church in a very disordered way ; ^^^
for they took some excommunicated persons, and others
who were members of the church of Boston and not dis-
missed." The position of this record in reference to what
precedes it,' seems to indicate that the church was formed
at or about the time of the Newport settlement, but
whether there or at Pocasset, by the emigrants or by those
who remained, is not so apparent. The construction of
the sentence makes it probable that the latter is intended.
No other contemporary record of the formation of such a
church remains.^ Whatever were its doctrines it existed
' Winthrop, i. 207, under date of May 11th, 1639, and immediately fol-
lowing the statement of the ejection of the magistrates quoted iu note 1, p.
134.
' It is this church, if any in Rhode Island, that can he claimed to ante-
date the Baptist church already formed in Providence. Yet the record of
Winthrop mentions the formation of that church nearly two months earlier
than th'-. one at Aquedneck. The former is distinctly described as Baptist in
its ordinances. Of the latter the only clue given to its doctrines is that some
»f its members were still members of the Boston church, which fact, if it
140 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, but a short time in its original form, if we may rely od
,__^;.^ the authority of Lechford, but gave place in a few years
16 3 y. to a flourishing Baptist church, under the pastoral charge
of the Rev. John Clarke, who had been Elder of the former
church.' The same authority states that at Portsmouth
there was then no church, " but a meeting of some men
who there teach one another and call it Prophecie."=^
That a due regard was felt for religious matters at both
the Aquedneck towns, as well as at Providence, we think
has now been sufficiently shown on firmer grounds* than
simple inference. That " at Aquiday they gathered a
church in a very disordered way," which they could not
proves nothing else, shows pretty conclnsively that they were not Baptists.
If some writers whose ability entitles their judgment to respect had not, of
late years, expressed a doubt upon the point, the Author would feel little hes-
itation in expressing what is in his owa mind a firm conviction, tliat the
church at Aquedneck was formed some little time prior to May 11th, 1639,
and was in its faith and ordinances an Independent Congregational Church, of
the Puritan pedobaptist order. Mr. Savage, in a note to the passage quoted
in the text, has a just comment on the way the church is there described as
being gathered. See note (2) p. 107, ante.
' Plaine Dealing or News from N. England, London, 1641. The writer
used the copy in the British Museum, and collated the parts relating to Rhode
Island, with the re-publication in 3 M. H. ,C., iii. 96, 7, where the book is
dated 1642. Perhaps there were two editions. Lechford says: "At the
island called Aquedney are about two hundred families. There was a church
where one Master Clarke was elder. The place where the church was is
called Newport, but that church I heare is now dissolved." He is quoted as
evidence against the existence of the Baptist church at Providence at the
time he wrote, but nothing he says on that subject is so direct to that point
as the passage here given, bearing upon the other side of the question, and
which is quite overlooked in the discussion referred to in the foregoing chap-
ter, note (2) p. 107. The probability is that Lecbford's statement is correct,
that this earliest Aquedneck church was dissolved, and that in the change of
doctrinal opinion so rife in that age, there soon after arose from the materials
of the old church, and including its pastor, a Baptist church, founded, as Cal-
lender believed (R. I. H. C. iv. 117), "in 1644, by Mr. John Clarke and some
others."
- The views of "Thomas Lechford, of 'Clements lune, in the county of
Middlesex, Gent.," as he describes himself on his title-page, the High Church-
man, writing confessedly to prove his right to be so considered, may be pre-
sumed to differ materially from those of our antinomian progenitors of Aqued-
neck, upon the controverted question, " What constitutes a church ? "
FIEST MOVEMENT FOR A CHARTER. 141
avoid, and that " at Providence things grew still worse/' chap,
in Puritan opinion, and a Baptist church was the result, .^^.^j;^
will not be held, at this day, to militate against the piety 1 6 3 u.
or the prudence of our ancestors. ,.
The military organization was very soon completed, 25.
as at Portsmouth. It was kept distinct from the other
branches of government, but subject, in the choice of offi-
cers, to the approval of the Magistrates. Every man ca-
13able of bearing arms was enrolled. " The Body of the
people, viz., the Traine Band," were left free to choose
their own officers to exercise and train them, who were to
be approved by the Magistrates. No man was allowed
to go two miles from town, or to attend any public meet-
ing, under penalty of five shillings fine, without carrying
a gun or sword. The danger of Indian hostility occa-
sioned this great precaution.
Negotiations with Pocasset were already in progress
with a view to a united government. A yet more im-
portant project was discussed. Mr. Easton and Mr. John
Clarke were desired to write to Sir Henry Vane about the
condition of the island, in order to obtain his influence in
securing a charter from the King. Mr. Thomas Burr-
wood, a brother of Mr. Easton, was also to be written to
on the same subject. The Court adjourned for three
weeks. In the interval two men, having broken the peace j^^^
by drunkenness, were tried by the Magistrate's, or " par- 3.
ticular Court," and fined five shillings each, " according
to the law in that case provided." No respect of persons
was shown in the infant commonwealth, when any vio-
lated law required a vindication. At the adjourned meet- ^^
ing of the Quarter Court the first act was to impose a
fine of five shillings upon Mr. Easton, one of the Elders,
or assistants, for attending without his weapon. The
sanitary precautions, noticed at Pocasset, were taken also
at Newport. Hogs were prohibited from running at large
between the middle of April and October. A repeal of
Jan.
142 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, the former order on this subject, which, it may he remem
^^^^^ hered, required their removal to a distance of six miles
163 0. from the town, or to some adjacent island, would make
j!^ ■ it appear that the orders passed the previous year at Po-
casset were held to he in force at Newport, a view that is
strengthened by the fact of their having carried with them
all the records, as before stated. A pair of stocks and a
whipping post were now ordered for the town.
1639-40. The earliest export trade of Rhode Island was in lum-»
ber. The home prices were regulated by la\y. In the
earliest enactment on this subject these are fixed at eight
shillings the hundred for sawed boards, seven shillings for
half inch boards, delivered at the mill, and one shilling a
foot for clapboards and fencing, to be sound, merchanta-
ble stuff. Timber was not to be cut or exported without
a license. By a record at Portsmouth, now^ much defaced,
it appears that a ship load of pipe staves and clapboards
was obtained there about this time. A few years later '
ship building was commenced, and has ever since been an
important branch of business in the State.
A scarcity of provisions, which, but for the ample sup-
ply of fish and game that abounded in the sea and the
forests, would have threatened a famine, caused a survey
and census to be taken. This showed that there were
2'^ ninety-six persons inhabiting the town, and only one hun-
dred and eight bushels of corn among them.^ This was
equally divided, and the stock was calculated to last for
' 111 1G4G the New Haven colony built a ship of one hundred and fifty
tons at Rhode Island. TruinbuU's Conn., i. 161.
" The apparent discrepancy between this census of ninety-six persons and
the registeied list of one hundred and one males in October, is reconciled by
the fact that nearly all of the first list of fifty-nine men resided at Pocasset
The second list of forty-two were new coiners on the island and lived at New-
port The apportionment of only thirty-six quarts of corn to each person to
last for six weeks, being less than one quart per day, and that too in mid-
winter, with six months yet to harvest time, shows a fearful scarcity. It was
evidently contemplated to obtain supplies from abroad within the six weeka,
but where or how does not appear.
UNION OF PORTSMOUTH A.ND NEWPORT. 143
six weeks. The next quarterly meeting was held four chap
days sooner than the regular time, which fell on Sunday.
Provision was made for the annual election of all the of-
ficers, to be held on the twelfth day of March, forever af-
ter, in a General Assembly of the Freemen, and such as
could not be present were " to send in their votes, sealed
up, to the Judge." At the expiration of the six weeks
from the time the corn was divided, all the sea banks were Marcu
declared free for fishing, but whether in consequence of the
scarcity of provisions, or as a simple matter of public
right, is not stated — probably the latter.
At the first General Court of Election ever held in
Newport, very important proceedings were had. William
Hutchinson, Judge, and several of the principal men of
Portsmouth, who had not before applied, were reunited
to the Body, and some who had been registered as inhab-
itants in October were now admitted as freemen, and a
general act for the admission of freemen was passed by
the united Bodies of both towns, hereafter to constitute
but one government. The style and number of the mag-
istrates were changed. The titles of Judge and Elder
were abolished. The Chief was called Governor, the next
in office Deputy Governor, and the other four Magistrates,
Assistants. An equal number of the general officers were
to be chosen from each town, the Governor and two As-
sistants from one, and the Deputy Governor and two As-
sistants from the other. The change of the name of Po-
casset to Portsmouth, which had been there made the pre-
vious July, was now confirmed. The election resulted in
the choice of William Coddington, Governor, William
Brenton, Deputy Governor, Nicholas Easton, John Cogges-
hall, William Hutchinson and John Porter, Assistants.
The two latter and Mr. Brenton lived at Portsmouth.
Robert Jeffreys, of Newport, and William Balston, of
Portsmouth, were chosen Treasurers. William Dyre,
Secretary, Jeremy Clark Constable for Newport, and John
144 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
CHAP. Sandford for Portsmouth, and Henry Bull, Sergeant, all fci
,J^^ one year, or till others should be chosen. The Governor
1640, and Assistants were made Justices of the Peace, Five
j2 men were selected for Portsmouth and three for Newport
to lay out lands, and j)ro vision was made to record land
titles in conformity thereto.
This union of the towns was a most desirable event.
Already the evils of a divided jurisdiction had become
apparent, while the rights of the. proprietors, in^whom
rested the fee of the whole island, would, have oc-
casioned disputes which were thus happily prevented.
The idea of a free charter also, which was seriously en-
tertained by the people, doubtless contributed largely to
effect a union. The movement was particularly benefi-
cial to Newport, which at that time was much the smaller
of the two. It soon became virtually the capital, al-
though the Quarter Courts, or meetings of the General
Assembly, and the General Courts of Election were held
in both towns at various times. The " particular Courts,"
consisting of magistrates and jurors, vv^ere ordered to be
., held monthly in each town. These Courts had jurisdic-
6. tion in all causes not involving " life and limb." From
their decision there was a right of apj)eal to the Quarter
Sessions, which were held the first Tuesdays in March,
June, September and December. The laws were revised
and several of them repealed, among which was the one
forfeiting house lots that were not built upon within one
year from the grant,
j^j A formal convention or treaty was made by the gov-
7. ernment with the Narragansct Indians, and' duly ratified
at the next General Court. It provides that no fire
6. should be kindled by the Indians on the island, but such
as should be extinguished on their departure, and if any
damage result therefrom it shall be made good on legal
trial ; that for a hog that had been killed by an Indian,
ten fathoms of wampum should be paid at the next har-
MILITIA LAW — PROVISION FOR SCHOOLS. 145
vest ; tliat no traps for deer or cattle should be set by In- chap
dians on the island ; that if any Indian was unruly, or ,^^1^
committed any small crime, he should be punished by a 16 40,
magistrate, according to law ; but if the charge involved q^'
a greater sum than ten fathoms of beads, or if the accused
party was a sachem, however trivial the charge, then Mi-
antinomi was to be sent for to be present at the trial ;
that neither English nor Indians should take the canoes
belono-ino; to the other ; that no barg-ain once made should
be revoked, and that no idling about should be allowed.
A militia law, by far more , complete than any law
upon that subject that had before been passed, and the
most coj)ious of any of the existing acts, now appointed
that eight times a year the bands of both towns were to be
exercised in the field, and that two general musters, one
at each town, were to be held every year. The umisual
minuteness of this statute, the penalties attached to its
violation, and the stringency of its application, including
as it did every man who should remain for twenty days
on the island, and exempting no one except by commuta-
tion, evinces the feeling of insecurity at that time per-
vading the whole of New England.
It has been said that at one time Rhode Island was
behind all other States in providing for the education of
her people. However true this might be of other portions
of the State it was not so of the island. At this Court, ,
Mr. Robert Lenthal was admitted a freeman. He had
been invited to come and conduct pubHc worship, which
had previously been done by Mr. Clark, and to teach a
school. By a vote of the town of Newport he was
" called to keep a public school for the learning of youth,
and for his encouragement there was granted to him and
his heirs one hundred acres of land, and four more for a
house lot ; " it was also voted '' that one hundred acres
should be laid forth and appropriated for a school, for en-
couragement of the poorer sort, to train up their youth
VOL. I — 10
14.
146 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
in learning, and Mr. Robert Lentlial, while he continues
to teach school, is to have the benefit thereof."
16 40. The two towns were placed on an equal footing in all
resj)ects. They were allowed to draw similar amounts
from the public treasury. '• Two Parliamentary (or Gen-
eral) Courts" were appointed to be held equally at Ports-
mouth and Newport, on the Wednesday after the 'twelfth
of March and of October/
The local aflfairs of each town being left to its own
management, we find occasionally some matters initiated
there which afterwards became of public interest. Such
Sept. is the establishment of a ferry by the town of Portsmouth,
probably at or near the spot long afterw^ards known as
Rowland's ferry, where '"' the stone bridge " now is, being
the narrowest part of the east passage, and but a short
distance from the original settlement of Pocasset, Thos.
Gorton was appointed ferryman. The fares were fixed at
sixpence a man, or threepence each if more than three
were taken at one trip, and fourpence a head for goats and
swine,
Tlie Secretary was required to attend the two General
and the four Quarter Sessions courts, receiving threepence
a day for so doing. The Governor was instructed to write
to the Governor of Massachusetts to lenrn the plans of
that colony with regard to the Indians. Winthrop has
fortunately given the substance of that letter, which was
a joint communication from the Governors of Hartford,
New Haven and Aqucdncck, " wherein they declared
their dislike of such as would have the Indians rooted out,
as being of the cursed race of Ham, and their desire of
our mutual accord in seeking to gain'them by justice and
kindness, and withal to watch over them to prevent any
' The record so reads, but in fact the fall session was held in September,
* six months after the spring session. The fact and the time both concur ia
rendering it probable that September was intended, and that October wai
written by mistake of the Secretary, >
OFFICIAL VINDICTIVENESS. 147
danger by them, etc. We returned answer of our consent chap.
with them in all things propounded, only we refused to , .J^
include those of Aquiday in our answer, or to have any ^^.^/''
treaty with them." The action of the General Court of 7.
Massachusetts on this subject is instructive. It gives an
official stamp to that vindictive spirit which was soon to
display itself yet more signally in their treatment of
Rhode Island. '' It is ordered that the letter lately sent
to the Governor by Mr. Eaton, Mr. Hoj)kins, Mr. Haynes,
Mr. Coddington and Mr. Brenton, but concerning also the
Generall Courte shal bee thus answered by the Governor ;
that the Courte doth assent to all the propositions layde
down in the aforesaid letter ; but that the answer shall
be directed to Mr. Eaton, Mr. Hopkins, and Mr. Haynes,
only excluding Mr. Coddington and Mr. Brenton, as men
not to be capitulated v/ithal by us, either for themselves
or the people of the island where they inhabit, as their
case standeth." '
The second General Court of Election was held at
* M. C. R., i. 305. Upon this record of the Puritan Legislature Mr. Sav-
age comments with unsparing severity in a note to the above quoted passage
in Winthrop. He says : " This is the most exalted triumph of bigotry. Pa-
pists, Jews, Musselmen, Idolators, or Atheists, may be good parties to a civil
compact, but not erroneous Protestant brethren, of unimpeachable piety, dif-
ferino- from us in explication of unessential, or unintelligible, points of doubt-
ful disputation. It was not enough that the common charities of life were
broken off, but our rulers proved the sincerity of their folly by refusing con-
nection in a just and necessary course of policy, which demanded the concur-
rence of all the plantations on our coast. This conduct also appears little
more civil than prudent ; for when those of Aquiday were associated by the
gentlemen of Connecticut and New Haven in their address, the answer should
■ have been directed to all without scruple." The Governor of Massachusetts
at this time was the bigoted Dudley, the man upon whose person there was
found, when on his death-bed, this original couplet, which embodies the pre-
vailing sentiment of the age : —
" Let men of God in court and churches watch
O'er such as do a toleration hatch."
a verse no doubt considered equally creditable to the piety and the poetic
genius of the author. We think it was. That such a Governor should adopt
Euch a course might be expected.
J 48 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. Portsmouth and lasted three days. The court roll of
' freemen contains sixty names. An engao-ement to be
1641. taken by all officers of the State was framed as follows :
It)-18. " 1'^ ^^6 execution of this office, I judge myself bound
before God to walk faithfully, and this I profess in the
presence of God." The only change in general officers
was in substituting Kobert Harding and WiUiam Balstou
as assistants, in place of Nicholas Easton and William
Hutchinson. The nature of tlie government was defined
in these remarkable words : "It is ordered aiid'- unani-
mously agreed upon, that the Government which this
Bodie Politick doth attend unto in this Island, and the
Jurisdiction thereof, in favor of our Prince is a democ-
RACIE, or Popular Government ; that is to say. It is in
the Powre of the Body of Freemen, orderly assembled,
or the major part of them, to make or constitute Just
Lawes, by which they will be regulated, and to depute
from among themselves such Ministers as shall see them
faithfully executed between Man and Man." Not le^s
remarkable is the act establishing forever the tenure of
lands. "It is ordered. Established and Decreed, unani-
mouslie, that aU men's Proprieties in their Lands of the
Island, and the Jurisdiction thereof, shaU be such, and
soe free, that neyther the State nor any Person or Persons
shall intrude into it, molest him in itt, to deprive him of
anything whatsoever that is, or shall be within that, or
any of the bounds thereof ; and that this Tenure and Pro-
priety of his therein shall be continued to him, or his, oi
to whomsoever he shall assign it for Ever." And thus it
continued to be for more than two centuries. The feel-
ing of inviolability which invested real estate in Khode
Island has ever formed a stiiking characteristic of the
people. For more than two hundred years the ownership
of land was essential to the privileges of a freeman, and,
by the law of primogeniture, entitled the oldest son to
the same immunities, in right of his father, until altered
RELIGIOUS LIBERT'S ESTABLISHED. 149
by the adoption of the State constitution in 1843. And chap,
yet more singular was it that until the revision of the ^j^
code in January, 1857, nowhere in Kliode Island could 1641
real estate be attached for debt except in the absence of \q.is.
the debtor. So long as he remained anyw^here Avithin the
jurisdiction of the State, his land w^as secured to him by
the operation of this earhest law and its subsequent mod-
ifications.
A " State " seal was ordered, to be a sheaf of arrows
bound up, with the motto " Amor vincet omnia," en-
graved upon the leash. The word " State " appears for
the first time in "this decree. The possession of a seal has
always been held as one of the insignia of sovereignty, or
of exclusive rights. Its adoption by a yet unchartered
government was significant. The motto was no less so.
From the absence of the all-conquering afi'ection, as dis-
played in the conduct of their brethren, they had suffered
too much not to feel its value. They thus emblazoned
their opinions to the world, and at the same time passed
an ever-memorable law which illustrates their motto : "It
was further ordered, by the authority of this present
Courte, that none be accounted a Delinquent for Doc-
trine : Provided, it be not directly repugnant to y' Gov-
ernment or Lawes established." Religious liberty was
here set forth in terms not to be mistaken, when it is re-
membered that no laws existed relating to matters of
faith " The people having recently transferred the ju-
dicial power from their own control to the Court and Ju-
ries, they enacted this law protecting liberty of con-
science, not choosing to trust the Judiciary with the keep-
ing of that sacred principle for which they had trans-
ported themselves, first from England and then from Mas-
sachusetts. It was the foundation of the future Statutes
and Bills of Rights, which distinguished the early laws
and character of the State and people of Rhode Island
from the other English Colonies in America." * At no
' BnU's Memoir of Rhode Island.
150 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IIHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, period of the world has reJigious inquiry been more rife
^^^.^,1^ than during the seventeenth century. It was eminently
16 41. an age of progress in spiritual development, and as a
16-18. natural result, or cause, as different minds may view it,
it was the palmy era of theological controversy. Else-
where an avowal of independent thought was attended
with danger to the liberty, the property, or the life of the
earnest thinker. Here it was intended to remove all such
obstacles to free discussion, and to leave a fair field for
truth to work out its deepest problems. That in this
process many opinions, which in our day may" appear fan-
ciful, fanatical, or visionary, and which may be regarded
■as idle vagaries or spiritual absurdities, were warmly ex-
pressed and stoutly maintained, is no reproach to the
principle that permitted their utterance. In an inquiring
age, when the minds of men were agitated by new and
startling theories in religion and government ; when the
progress of liberal sentiments was awakening to fresh life
the dormant energies of the old world, and urging its op-
pressed people to seek an asylum in the new ; when
education was becoming more diifused, and philosophy
was no longer confined to the schools, or the elements
of polity to the court ; when men had begun to think
for themselves, and dared to question kingly preroga-
tive and priestly assumption ; when all Europe was em-
broiled in wars and distracted by revolutionary senti-
ments, it is not strange that crude, grotesque, and
unstable notions should blend with the essential truths
which lay at the bottom of all this commotion. Novel
ideas were started, new sects were established, secret
societies abounded, and those phenomena which ever
attend a transition state, and which, in this case, were
a continuation of the movement of the preceding cen-
tury, were everywhere apparent. The law of Rhode
Island first sanctioned their existence, and foreshadowed
the spirit of a future age. That "heresies" should
REPUTED HERESIES AT AQUEDNECK. 151
abound in such a community was inevitable, and our chap.
Puritan neighbors found delight in recording them with ^^^^
more fulness of detail than accuracy or jiropriety of ex- 16 41.
pression. Again we are indebted to Winthrop's Journal \q.i^
for facts of which no record is to be found in our own col-
lections ; and we prefer to quote him, because he was the
most liberal man of his age and station, to citing the
more bitter denunciations of Hubbard and Mather, or the
many other writers of that and the succeeding century,
whose Dudleian spirit would perhaps more truly portray
the prevailing temper of the times. Grovernor Winthrop
says : " Mrs. Hutchinson and those of Aquiday island, Aug.
broached new heresies every year. Divers of them turned
professed anabaptists, and would not wear any arms, and
denied all magistracy among Christians, and maintained
that there were no churches since those founded by the
apostles and evangelists, nor could any be, nor any pas-
tors ordained, nor seals administered but by such, and
that the church was to want these all the time she con-
tinued in the wilderness, as yet she was ; " * and again,
* ii. 38, 4:0. The terms anabaptist and antinomian were used generally to
designate all dissenters from the established faith, and vrere not applied, as is
often supposed, specifically to the Baptists and Independents as Christian sects.
In the above enumeration of doctrines ascribed to the former, there is not
one that was, or ever has been held by the Baptists, while the distinctive fea-
ture of that denomination is not even mentioned. Most of the doctrines
named were held by the Seekers, who were afterwards chiefly merged in the
Society of Friends, and by their opponents styled Quaiiers, until that name,
like that of Christian, has grown from an epithet of contempt to be an hon-
orable appellation. Many, if not all, of these doctrines, in a moditied form,
are held by them at this day. The term applied by Winthrop is liable to
mislead. That similarity of name implies concurrence of sentiment, is an
idea as common as it is superficial — a truth well illustrated in the vague use
here made of the word ' anabaptist' by our Puritan journalist, and since so
often repeated by his Prelatical brethren.
The slur upon Mr. Easton in the next passage needs no comment. If the
reader desires one he will find it in a note to Winthrop, i. 281. The first
three gentlemen there named were all, at various times, Governors of the
colony. Some, of whom was Mr. Coddington, became Quakers, and others
Baptists with Mr. Clarke ; which is no doubt the " schism " that broke up tbe
original Aquedneck church, of which Mr. Clarke was elder.
152 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. " Other troubles arose in the island by reason of one
^j^ Nicholas Easton, a tanner, a man ver}^ bold, though iguo-
1641. rant. He using to teach at Newport, where Mr. Cod-
^' dington their governor lived, maintained that man hath
no power or will in himself, but as he is acted by God,
and that seeing God filled all things, nothing could be or
move but by him, and so he must needs be the author of
sin, etc., and that a Christian is united to the essence of
God. Being showed what blasphemous consequences
would follow hereupon, they professed to abhor the conse-
quences, but still defended the propositions, 'whicb dis-
covered their ignorance, not apprehending how God could
make a creature as it were in himself, and yet no part of
his essence, so we see by familiar instances ; the light is
in the air and in every part of it, yet it is not air, but a
distinct thing from it. There joined with Nicholas Eas-
ton, Mr. Coddington, Mr. Coggeshall, and some others,
but their minister Mr. Clark, and Mr. Lenthall, and Mr.
Harding, and some others dissented and publicly opposed,
whereby it grew to such heat of contention, that it made
a schism among them."
A I An event that greatly alarmed the inhabitants of the
4. island occurred soon after the adjournment of the Court.
Some Indians, contrary to the treaty of July previous,
kindled a fire on Mr. Easton's land, whereby his house,
the first one built at Newport, was destroyed. A misun-
derstanding ensued that threatened the most serious re-
sults. An armed boat was fitted out to ply round the
island to prevent any Indians from landing. Two
English were wounded and one Indian killed, in a skir-
mish. Fortunately peace was soon restored.
At the ensuing Court, the law of liberty of conscience
was re-enacted. "It is ordered that the law of the last
Sept. Court, made concerning Libertie of Conscience in point ol
^^- Doctrine, is pcrjietuated." A license to practise surgery
was granted to Mr. Robert Jefireys, the Treasurer of
DISFEAyCHISEMENT OF FREEMEN. 15S
Newport. This is the earliest record of a licensed sur- chap.
geon, but it was not the only case where such a license >__^J^
was granted by the Legislature in this State. The price ifJ-il.
of corn was fixed at four shillings a bushel. Inspectors
of pork were appointed, to whom all swine killed on the
island were to be shown, under penalty of five pounds.
Earmarks for swine and goats were regulated by the
Court, the right of property in them recognized, and the
marks required to be recorded.
The following spring the same general officers were iG-ti-2
chosen, except that Mr. Easton, who had been super- jg 17'
seded by Robert Harding at the last election, was re-
elected an assistant, and Mr. Harding dropped. ^ These
gentlemen continued in office until the charter govern-
ment was organized, five years later. Sentence of dis-
franchisement was passed upon four freemen, ^ and their
names struck from the rollj and in case they came armed
on the island, they were to be disarmed and put under
bonds for good behavior. Unfortunately the reasons for
this earliest decree of virtual banishment are not given.
Three others were suspended the privilege of voting, two ^
until they should give satisfaction for their offences, who
were afterward restored, and Mr. Lenthal, the minister,
who had returned to England. Amendments and altera-
tions of laws were constantly made. Only such as were
permanent or of special interest can here be noticed.
The fee list was remodelled. Any arms or ammunition
were forbidden, under heavy fine, to be supplied to the
Indians. Jurors were elected by the freemen in town
meeting. Those who were only inhabitants could serve,
' In the term " general officers," are here included the Governor, Deputy
Go^-ernor, the four Assistants and Secretary only. The two Treasurers, two
Sergeants and two Constables, one of each for each town, are not specified in
the text, as their duties were mostly local, and the repetition of so many
names would be tedious.
- Richard Carder, Randal Holden, Sampson Shatton and Robert Potter.
^ Georoje Parker and John Briggs.
154 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, as well as freemen, on the jury, by virtue of their freehold
^^^.^j^ estates. The pay of the jurors was fixed at one shilling
1 (5 4 2. for every cause brought to trial.
19 ■ The island abounded in wild animals. Deer were
very abundant and were made a source of revenue ; every
man who killed one, except on his own land, being, at
one time, required to give one half of it into the treasury,
or to pay a commutation of two pounds sterling. Hunt-
ing parties were sent out to obtain venison for public use
at the meetings of the Courts. The Indians were not al-'
lowed to kill them, except occasionally by special license,
nor were traps permitted to be set for them, under a
penalty of five pounds, except by the freeholder on his
own land, and at a later period they were protected by
game laws. Foxes gave much trouble. A premium of
six shillings and eight pence a head was offered for them,
to be paid by the treasurer of the town where they were
killed. Wolves were numerous, and so destnictive to the
cattle that men were hired by the day to hunt them, and
were paid besides, thirty shillings a head for every one
killed, which bounty was soon increased to five pounds,
and a special tax levied for this purpose, to be paid by
the farmers in proportion to their number of cattle.
Boger Williams was commissioned to arrange with Mian-
tinomi for a grand hunt to extirpate them, which, how-
ever, was not so thoroughly done but that, for several
years, they continued to be a source of annoyance. '
The important subject of a charter, which three years
before had been discussed, was again considered at this
session, and a committee, composed of the general officers,
with Mr. Jeff"reys, Mr. Harding and Mr. John Clark,
' Wolves are often mentioned in the records of Aquedneck, as in Jan.,
1658, when Portsmonth asked Newport to aid in driving the island — and
acain on 10th Nov, 16G3, when "the island was to he driven the next fair
day on account of the destniction of sheep hy wolves and other vennin."
On the main land they existed much longer, and were repeatedly the subjects
of legislation hy the Asseinhly, to the close of the century, and even later.
TRADE OPENED WITH THE DUTCH. 155
was appointed with full power to act. Actual residence chap
on the island was required to entitle any freeman to vote, v— r^
but no one could be disfranchised unless the maiority of l*^'^^
1 -11 1 . /^ 1 , Sept.
the entire body was present at the meeting. Only eleven 19,
days before this Court convened, the four Pawtuxet men,
mentioned in the previous chapter, had submitted them-
selves and their lands to the jurisdiction of Massachusetts.
An act so dangerous to the independence of the colony,
and which might be taken as a precedent by other dis-
affected persons, could not fail to create much excitement.
The people of Aquedneck promptly took precaution to
avoid such a peril to themselves, by adopting an order
that no person should sell his lands to any other jurisdic-
tion, or person therein not subject to the government of
the island, on pain of forfeiture.
Arrangements were made at this time to establish a
regular trade with the Dutch at Manhattan. It is indic-
ative of the feeling existing towards Rhode Island in the
other colonies that she was driven to this step ; a feeling
of which the most painful evidence was shortly to be given.
The governor and deputy were instructed to " treat with
the governor of the Dutch to supply us with neces-
saries, and to take of our commodities at such rates as
may be suitable." Had there been a spirit of kindness,
or even of passive indifference, in place of open hostility,
in the neighboring provinces, Rhode Island would not
have been obliged to treat with the foreign and distant
settlement at New York for the supply of her wants.'
But the prejudice excited by her different faith, and more
liberal sentiments, was about to be manifested in an act
which few men at this day can contemplate without sur-
' Prior to the arrival of the English the West India Company established
a trading-post at Dutch Island in Xarragan?et Bay. Mr. Broadhead says •
'• About the same time (1625) the Indian title to the island of ' Quotcnis,'
near the ' Roode Island,' in Xarraganset Bay, was secured for the West India
Compauy, and a trading-post was established there, under the superintendence
of Abraham Pietersen." BroaHiead's History of New York, ch. viii. vol. 1, p.
268, and note. Besides this the Dutch had two fortified trading posts on tha
•oiUh shore cf Xarraganset, in what is now CharJestowu.
156 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. Drise and indignation. The exposed condition of the
^^.J,^ country had suggested the idea of a union of all the New
164 3. England colonies in a league of defence against the In-
dians, Six 3-ears before, just at the close of the Pequot
war, when the plantation at Providence was in its infancy
and the settlement of Aquedneck had not begun, the sub-
ject was first considered. Many difficulties served to re-
tard the consummation, chiefly arising from jealousy in
the other colonies of the j)0wer or the designs of Massa-
chusetts. These fears had no good foundation, Unless on
the part of Rhode Island, which was the only one that
did not, at some time during the negotiation, display
them. We have seen that two years ago she united with
Plymouth and the two Connecticut colonies in a joint
letter to Massachusetts, upon the subject that formed the
basis of the confederacy ; and we have read how those
overtures were approved as related to the rest, and re-
pelled with unmanly insult as regarded her. The times
now demanded immediate action. Fears were entertained
of the Dutch, especially by Connecticut, while the Indians
daily threatened a general combination to exterminate
the wlii-tes. They were becoming sui)j)lied with fire-arms
and skilled in their use. The peril was imminent. The
New England confederacy was formed by Massachusetts,
jg^ Plymouth, Connecticut and New Haven, with their sub-
ordinate settlements, and styled the United Colonies of
New England . By express stipulation no other jurisdic-
tion was to be admitted. It was mainly a league for
mutual defence, but contained an article for the rendition
of fugitive servants and escaped criminals, with some
other matters of international comity. From some sud-
denly conceived jealousy on the part of Massachusetts,
Maine, then a propriety of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, which
had been included in the i)reliminary negotiations, was
not permitted to join the alliance. ' Rhode Island was
' Hubbard assigns the reason, " because they ran a different course from
the rest, both in their ministry' and their civil administrations- Nor indeed
RHODE ISLAND REJECTED BY THE LEAGUE, 157
perhaps the most exposed of all the colonies, yet although chap.
the confederated States already owed their existence to ^^„^^^.^
the heroism of her founder, (and were shortly again to iti-iS.
receive the benefit of that practical Chnstianity which \g
they could not comprehend, in averting for the second
time a general war, by his effective influence in the
wavering councils of the Narragansetts,) neither of the
colonies within her limits was invited to join the league,
and her subsequent application for that object met with a
stern refusal. ' She was left to stand alone amid dangers
from famine, pestilence and war. Her only strength was
in the valor of her sons and the truth of lipr principles.
Had the lex talionis been her guide, as it has been of
most governments, she would have been justified by the
necessities to wliich she was reduced, and might have
compelled admission to the league, by withdrawing her
restraining influence from the Indians. It is one of the
brightest spots in her history that in this dark hour the
magnanimity of her foundci actuated her councils. Turn-
ing from the ingratitude of the Puritans, she appealed to
were they at that time furnished with inhabitants fit for such a purpose, for
they had lately made Agamenticus (a poor village) a corporation, and had
made a mean person mayor thereof, and had also entertained a contentious
person, and one under offence, for their minister." 2 M. H. C, vi. 467. Yet
the year before Maine was not considered so unworthy. AVinthrop's Journal,
ii. 85.
' It would be ungrateful not to acknowledge the grace extended by the
General Court to the people of Aquedneck, by a vote of Sept. 7th, 1643.
" They of Aquidneck are granted to buy a barrel! of powder, provided Lieut.
Morris give cautiou that it bee implied for the defence of the iland by the ad-
vice of the Governor and Deputy." M. C. R., ii. 4-4. But even this favor
was denied to the Providence colony, who were forbidden all trade with Bos-
ton, even to the purchase of arms and ammunition in this fearful crisis. That,
alter such cruel and ungrateful conduct, Roger Williams should again inter-
pose to save the United Colonies, when his own life and those of hi.'* friends
were secure in the love of the Narragansetts, who made a treaty of neutrality
with them at this very time, reminds us of Gibbon's comment on the conduct
of Belisarius in a case of domestic infidelity, '' the unconquerable patience
and loyalty of Belisarius appears either helow or above the character of a
MAS."
158 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
the king. Koger Williams was sent to England to inter-
cede for a charter ; and because the tyranny of Massa-
chusetts Bay would not relax, he was obliged to take
passage at New York. A free charter was obtained.
The despised colonies soon assumed the rank of a united
and independent State, and to the subsequent harshness ot
her neighbors, was enabled to oppose the language of bold,
but courteous remonstrance. One of the earliest proceed-
ings of the league was to sanction the dark deed recorded
in the preceding chapter, the murder of Miantihofiai, the
too faithful friend of Rhode Island.
5 ' The frequent alarms led to the establishment of a
night watch in Portsmouth, which seems, to have per-
1643-4. fectcd the system of precautions that had so long occu-
pied the attention of the people. The next General
Marcli Court changed the name of Aquedneck to the " Isle of
^^- Rhodes or Rhode Island." ' The last recorded act of
the Aquedneck assembly declared that the majority of
the major part of the body appearing, should have full
power to transact business, and to impose penalties upon
those who did not attend, or who left the meeting with-
16 44. out leave.
M^y The alarm of Indian war again spread through the
colonies. A letter from Canonicus and Pessicus was re-
ceived by Gov. Winthrop, announcing their intention to
revenge upon Uncas the death of Miantinomi. Two
messengers were sent at once to the Narragansetts to dis-
suade them, but without effect. The people of Aqued-
July- neck applied to Massachusetts for powder, but were re-
fused, as Plymouth had been, owing, no. doubt, to a
scarcity of ammunition ; a refusal which Winthrop re-
Q cords as an error of policy, for '" although they were des-
perately erroneous " it would be "a great advantage to
the Indians" if they were cut off, "and a great inconve-
nience to the English should they be forced to seek pro-
' See note on the origin of this name at the close of ;hapter ii.
AQUEDNECK CLAIMED BY TLYMOUTH. 159
tection from the Dutch." The commissioners of the chap.
United Colonies, at their next meeting, removed the im- .^^^J^
mediate danger, having summoned the disputants to 16 44.
Hartford, where an armistice was agreed upon till the
next 3'ear.
The records of the General Court of Aquedneck now
cease, and no town records of Newport remain to enlighten
us on the current events of the next two years. That
the same general officers, who had already heen elected
three successive years, and whose term of office was " for
one whole year, or till a new be chosen," continued to
carry on the government, and that its judicial powers
were exercised by them as far as was necessary, there can
be no doubt. The mutilated pages of Portsmouth aid
somewhat in filling this unwelcome gap, and confirm
the fact that if no General Courts were convened in this
interval, town meetings were- held in both the towns, and
their decrees executed by the general officers. The
deputy governor and one assistant were authorized to
appoint all town meetings at Portsmouth. Leave was
given to Osamequin, or Massasoit, with ten men to kill Aug.
ten deer within the limits of the town, which were to be
shown to Mr. Brenton and Mr. Balston, and -he was to
quit the island within five days. Several other meetings
are recorded during this year relating solely to local af-
fairs. It was at this time that Plymouth colony sent
a magistrate to Aquedneck to forbid the government iTov,
there from exercising any authority, and claiming the
island to be within their jurisdiction, contrary to their
express admission at the time of the purchase seven years
before.
A copy of the instructions given to Mr. John Brown,
who was commissioned for this purpose, is fortunately
preserved by Winslow, ' at that time Governor of Ply-
mouth. These are : 1. That a great part of their sup-
* Hypocrisie Unmasked, 83.
160 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
posed government is within the line of the government of
Plymouth. 2. That we assuredly know that this ever to
be honored House of Parliament would not, nor will
when they shall know it, take from us, the most ancient
plantation, any part of the line of our government former-
ly granted ; it being contrary to their principles. 3. To
forliid them and all and every one of them to exercise any
authority, or power of government within the limits of
our letters patent. 4. To certify them that Coweset , is
not only within the said limits, but that the 'Sachem
thereof and his sons have taken protection of "this, our gov-
ernment. And, therefore, to forbid them to enter upon
any part of his or their lands without due -order and leave
from our government."
A settled purpose was displayed by the Puritan colo-
nies, soon after the charter was received by Rhode Island,
to set it aside by every possible plea that could affect its
validity. The active measures thus taken by Plymouth
were at the same time pursued, yet more vigorously, if
indeed they were not directly instigated, by Massachusetts.
The more liberal Pilgrin:!s were overborne by the dictatorial
spirit" of their Puritan neighbors, and Avere led to press
claims which, had they ever existed, were become invali-
dated by their own acts. Yet this very messenger boldly
withstood the pretensions of Massachusetts to other parts
of Rhode Island as we shall presently see, and was per-
haps the only man whose influence could have sustained
the manly position he assumed in behalf of Shaworaet.
Gov. Winslow says, that Mr. Brown arrived at Aqucd-
ncck just as a public meeting was being held to apportion
lands, a measure disapproved by Mr. Coddingtdn and
Mr. Brenton, who kept aloof from it, and who ap-
prehended danger from the ' lawlessness of the people.
He states also that Gorton, who after his release from
prison in Massachusetts, had again settled at Aqucdneck,
was appointed a magistrate and had accepted the office —
FIRST APPRENTICESHIP IN RHODE ISLAND. 161
a fact which he adduces as proof that the fears of the chap.
ahove-named gentlemen were well grounded. Mr. Brown's .^3^
mission was futile. Grorton accuses him of privately seek- l 6-i4.
ing to dissuade the people of the island from recognizing
the charter. The spirit of his instructions would har-
monize with almost any means he might employ to fulfil
them. Winslow says, he performed his duty publicly at
the meeting. This meeting was probably held in Ports-
mouth to subdivide the lands there, as was usual at
that time. No legible record of it, or of any other meet-
ing for more than a year, remains.
The fact that a new government was about to be 16 45
formed under the charter, no doubt led to this evident
neglect of the old one so soon to expire. That this apathy
was increasing is apparent from a vote at Portsmouth, -s^^^ '
making nine men a quorum at any town meeting, and re- 28.
quiring that the business to be done should be specified
in the warning. „, _
*= 1646-7
Newport had passed an order that no deer should be Feb.
killed for two months, which Portsmouth concurred in, ^•
assigning as the reason that in that way the wolves would
more readily come to bate and so be caught. At the
same time it was ordered that of the five pounds bounty
on each wolf, which had been established some years be-
fore, Newport should pay four and Portsmouth one. An
act like this could not be valid unless passed by a Gene-
ral Court or concurred in by a town meeting at Newport.
A more efficient law for the protection of deer was passed
at the same meeting, forbidding their being shot in the
summer, from May to November.
The most interesting record of this, the last meeting
of the people of Aquedneck under their primitive gov-
ernment, contains the first notice of indentured appren-
ticeship in Rhode Island. ■■' Memorandum : That where-
as, Nicholas Niles, the father-in-law of Abell Potter, hath
[bound him] the said Abell Potter with Mr. WilHam
VOL. I. — 11
162 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. Balstone for the term of eighteen years, with the consent
^J!^ of the said Ahell. For the better sccuritie off Mr. Bal-
16 47. stone, the towns consenteth herein and approveth thereof."
19^ The three months that intervened before the first
General Assembly of the now chartered State convened
at Portsmouth we may suppose was employed in discuss-
ing the aU absorbing topic, and in the preparation Of that
admirable code of laws then to be presented for adoption.
THE FOUNDER OF WARWICK. 163
CHAPTER VI.
HISTORY OF WARWICK AND NARRAGANSET DOWN TO THE
FORMATION OF THE GOVERNMENT UNDER THE FIRST PA-
TENT, MAY, 164Y.
Warwick was settled some years later than Provi-
dence and Aquedneck, and chiefly by emigrants from
them ; but the same primitive cause, the intolerance
of Massachusetts, forced most of its founders into banish-
ment, while their peculiar views, differing from those of
the other Ehode Island settlers, influenced them in select-
ing another spot for their resting place. No man has suf-
fered more in reputation from the calumny of his enemies,
or been made to feel more severely the penalty of non-
conformity, or the trials of an independent spirit, than
Samuel Gorton, the founder of Warwick. " A most pro-
digious minter of exorbitant novelties," " a proud and
pestilent seducer," " a beast," " miscreant " and " arch
heretic," are some of the epithets with which he has been
branded by the malevolence of his age. It was in vain,
in those days, that any dissenter from the estabhshed
church of Massachusetts strove to deny whatever results
the authorities saw fit to ascribe to his views. The fate
of WilHams and of Clark, was sure to be his. There was
no reason why the Gortonists should be treated any better
than the Anabaptists or the Antinomians had been, or
than the Quakers were soon to be. The same power that
had driven Williams into exile and had disarmed the fol-
lowers of Mrs. Hutchinson, was ready to vindicate its
163 7.
164 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
superiority upon tlie sturdy spirit of Gorton. In 1636,
Gorton arrived at Boston from London. But little is
16 3 6. known of Ms earlier history, and that little is of no im-
portance to our present purpose. He soon removed to
Plymouth, where "he gave some hopes that he would
prove a useful instrument." These hopes were soon dis-
pelled by the wayward and indejxindent spirit which he
manifested. Cotton assigns as the reason of his leaving
Boston that it was to escape from the claims of a creditor
in England. Hubbard and Mather, with th'eir accus-
tomed bitterness, repeat the charge, but more reliable
historians are silent upon it, and its truth has been
reasonably doubted, from the fact that a removal to Ply-
mouth would not secure him from arrest. It soon ap-
peared that his religious views were widely at variance
from those of his associates. The key note of a persecu-
tion that was destined to pursue him for many years, even
beyond the chartered grasp of civilized man, was early
sounded by one Mr. Ralph Smith, who had formerly been
a minister at Plymouth, and a part of whose house Gor-
ton had hired for lour years. Some of Smith's household
w^ere in the habit of attending the morning and evening
religious service held by Gorton in his family, which dis-
pleased the former. Gorton refused to vacate the prem-
ises. The only mode of ejecting him was by an appeal
to the popular bigotry through the medium of the Court.
Opportunity was not wanting in the case of one so pecu-
liar in his views and so fearless in expressing them. What
was the form of the notion brought by Smith, or the na-
ture of the charge against Gorton, is not distinctly stated,
but the result was that the contract was broken, he was
ordered to provide for himself elsewhere within a certain
time, and to give bonds for his good behavior in the in-'
terval. A more serious breach of order was shortly al-
leged against him. A female servant in Gorton's family
was seen to smile in church. To escape the proceedings
PROCEEDINGS AGAINST GORTON. 165
which threatened in consequence of this overt act against chap,
the peace and dignity of the State, the woman fled to the ^^^.^1^
woods. Gorton spoke in her behalf, for which he was 1*>3 7.
called to account by the Court, where, conducting him-
self in a very rude and contemptuous manner, his bonds
were forfeited, he was bound over to the next General
Court, and required to find new sureties for his conduct
till that time. He obtained the sureties but immediately
left for Aquedneck. Morton mentions only the difficulty
with Smith, and assigns this as the cause of his banish-
ment, which he says was decreed on the fourth of Decem-
ber 1638, to take place within fourteen days. Winslow
and Gorton himself, both correct the error cf fact, while
other circumstances make it equally apparent that there
is also an error of date. Six months before the time of
16 3 8
his banishment, as given by Morton, Gorton was admitted June
an inhabitant of Aquedneck, as the records show. It is 20.
probable that the date in Morton should be one year
earlier, and that the sentence of banishment within four-
teen days was passed at a later court than the one in De-
cember. The difficulty with the Court, in the case of the
servant woman, happened after that with Smith, and is
not referred to by Morton. Perhaps the Smith case was
tried in December 1637, and the subsequent one at the
next March term. Very soon after the latter trial, all
accounts agree that he went to Aquedneck, where a set-
tlement had just been commenced by the Antinomian
refugees. The Massachusetts writers, while they freely
denounce the heresies of Gorton, deny that these were
the cause of his banishment. There can be no doubt that
the charge brought by Smith, in the first instance, for the
purpose of annulling the lease and thus ridding himself
of a disagreeable tenant, was that of heresy, and the in-
ference is equally direct that the truth of the allegation
had aroused popular feeling against the accused. The
evidence is equally plain that his conduct, when on trial,
166 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, was most abusive and his language insulting to tiie Court
.__^_1_ so nnicli so that " divers people being present desired
16 38. leave of the Governor to speak complaining of his sedi-
tious carriage, and requested the Court not to suffer these
abuses but to inflict condign punishment." Tliat he was
deeply imbued with the principles of "soul liberty" al-
ready established by Roger Williams, and indignantly
repelled any attempt to fetter the free mind in its com-
munion with the Creator, is so much in his favor, and at
this day will go far towards exculpating his conduct at
Plymouth.
In fact, it was on this account that he was warmly
received at Aquedneck, and ever since, his name has be en
associated in this State, with those whose first coming
hither was caused by Puritan persecution. That he af-
terwards so severely suffered from this cause has tended
to confirm this opinion. But on the other hand, the
minute account of his offensive bearing towards the Court
is so consistent with the repulsive traits of his character,
as afterwards displayed at Portsmouth, and still later at
Providence, in a more dangerous degree, causing his ban-
ishment from Aquedneck, and his flight to Pawtuxet, that
we are forced to believe him not to be so guiltless in his
couise at Plymouth as his defenders allege. This was
indeed one of those common cases where neither party in
a contest is altogether right, and in our view of it the
plea of persecution cannot cover his errors until a later
period of his history. Uj) to this time there is enough of
wTong apparent on both sides to excuse in some measure
the conduct of each, according as the sympathies of the
writer may incline him to either party.
We might think more favorably of Gorton's course at
Plymouth, had not his avowed jirinciples, and his acts in
accordance therewith, been so outrageous as not to be
borne by the people of Aquedneck ; beside which we know
that the Plymouth colony was more hberal in its feeling
PROCEEDINGS AGAINST GORTON. 167
than that of the Bay, permitting a greater latitude of in- chap.
dividual opinion. Assuming as above that the sentence ^'
of banishment was passed upon him in March, he must 16 3 8.
have reached Aquedneck very soon after the settlement of
Pocasset commenced. His name appears the seventh on
the list of fifty-nine inhabitants in October, with that of
his companion John Wickes, who, Morton says, was one
of his earliest proselytes at Plymouth ; and henceforth
their fortunes were closely united. As an evidence of the
distinction in which he was held at that time, it may be
stated that his is one of only four names on the list to
which Mr., used in that day as a special mark of respect,
is affixed. The date appended to these names is that of
their admission as inhabitants, not that of their coming
to the island, which must have occurred somewhat ear-
lier. But the time of his arrival at Aquedneck is a point
of little moment compared with the history of his conduct
while there. That he was whipped and banished from
the island has been doubted, ' because the State records
contain no notice of the fact. The evidence, however, is
too strong to permit as to doubt it. That it is not found
on the records is simply because judicial proceedings were
not entered there. But few of the court trials of that
day are preserved. Incidental references to them appear
occasionally on the State archives, as in the case of
Wickes, the earliest disciple and constant companion of i 6 4 2,
Gorton. The day after the four men, ^ who were after- ^aicr
. ,16.
wards among the first settlers of Warwick, were disfran-
chised, it was ordered that if they, with John Wickes,
should come upon the island armed, the constable was to
disarm and take them before a magistrate, " Provided
that this order hinder not the course of law already begun
with J. Wickes ; " by which it appears that Wickes had 17
' Judge Eddy in Winthrop ii. 58, note, and Staple's Simplicities Defence,
10.
- Richard Carder, Randal Holden, Sampson Shatton and Robert Potter.
1G8 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, previously got into trouble and left the island — a virtual
_J:^ banishment, although no record of any proceedings against
10 3 8, him, and no sentence of disfranchisement is found, any
more than there is against Gorton. It is probable that
bolh were involved at the same time, and that had the
Court files been preserved, the judicial punishment pro-
nounced against both, of whipping and banishment, would
there be fuund. Lechford, who. resided in New England
"almost for the space of four years," prior to August,
1641, relates the circumstances ; Winthrop and Morton
both refer to them, and Gorton himself not oidy does not
deny the facts, but, so far as he refers to his sufferings
prior to the settlement of Warwick, corroborates their
truth, speaking of " fines, whippings and banishment out
of all their jurisdiction," as suffered by himself and his
associates. The mi)st positive and detailed evidence in
regard to his conduct and treatment at Aquedneck, is
given by Winslow, in an ofiicial form, as agent for Mas-
sachusetts, replying to Gorton's Simijlicities Defence. '
There can be no doubt of the truth of the statements
there officially promulgated, however much we may dis-
sent from the author's inferences. That Winslow and
Gorton were on good terms personally at the time of its
publication, although both were in England engaged in
conflicting business pertaining to the Warwick settlement,
and that Gorton never read but little of it, appears by his
letter to Morton. ^ Had the official documents been false
he woidd certainly have seen them and denied their truth,
instead of quoting the indefinite remark of a third per-
son " that he would maintain that there were forty lies
printed in that book." The contempt expressed by Gor-
* Hvpocrisie Unmasked. By Edw. Winslow, London, 164fi. 4to., 103
pp. Published by Authority, and Dedicated to Robert, Earl of Warwick. It
is an extremely rare work. The writer examiued the copy in the British
Museum, and since then the " sole duplicate " of that copy, which is now in
the splendid library of John Carter Brown, Esq., of Providence.
" Hutchinson's Massachusetts, i. 552 Ap. xx.
Gorton's views of government. 169
ton for the government of Aqiiedneck as being self-con- chap.
stituted, is of itself sufficient explanation of the source ^^
whence his troubles arose, while the charges preferred 1 6 3 y
against him by the grand-jur}* of Portsmouth justify the
punishment he received. He says he conducted himself
'' obediently to the government of Plimouth, so farre as it
became me at least, for I understood that they had com-
ission wherein authoritie was derived, which authoritie I
reverenced ; but Rhode Island at that time had none,
therefore no authoritie legally derived to deale with me.
Neither had they the choice of the people, but set up
themselves. I know not any more that was present in
their creation but a clergie man who blessed them in their
inauguration, and I thought my selfe as fitt and able to
governe my selfe and family, as any that were then upon
Rhode Island," That he ignored all civil authority at
Aquedneck he here admits, and gives his reasons for it,
thinking himself " as fit and able to govern himself and
family, as any that were then upon Rhode Island."
This spirit could not long exist in harmony with
the views of the settlers anywhere in this State, for
although there was no law religion here, there was an
organized government demanding respect for its officers,
and obedience to its statutes. The views of Gorton, as
above given in his own words, were too much like those
which the Puritan calumniators of Williams and Clarke
charged as being held by their associates, that they " de-
nied all magistracy and churches." The banishment of
Gorton refutes the slander. And yet Gorton did not
deny all magistracy, but only the right of the people to
set up for themselves a form of government. After the
charter was received, his mind was relieved upon this
point. Meanwhile it was the constant source of trouble
to himself, and of annoyance to his neighbors.
The origin of his difficulty at Portsmouth, as stated 16 40
by Winslow, was a trespass by a cow belonging to an old
170 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND,
CHAP, woman, upon some land owned by Gorton. The woman,
,_.,,_^ while driving oflf her cow, was assaulted by a servant-
16 4 0. maid of Grorton's, and complained to the deputy governor,
Nicholas Easton, who had the maid brought before the
court. Gorton apj)eared in her behalf, refusing to allow
her to come to court. One of the witnesses called for the
defence, gave testimony strongly the other way, which
enraged Gorton, who commenced abusing her, and had
his friend John Wickes brought to the stand,, ^ickes
refused to be sworn. Gorton sustained him in the refusal,
and both insulted the court. At length- the Governor
summed up the case to the jury. While doing this, Gor-
ton was very abusive to the governor and "deputy, inter-
rupting the former in his charge, insomuch that " many
of the freemen present desired the court not to sutfer such
insolencies." He was committed, and when the Marshal
was ordered to take him to prison, he cried out that Cod-
dington should be taken, Wickes, Holden and others,
made so much disturbance, that an armed guard was sum-
moned to clear the way, and Wickes was put into the
stocks. After this affair, Gorton was indicted by the
grand jury as a nuisance, upon fourteen separate counts.
A copy of this remarkable presentment signed by the
Secretary of the Colony, is given by Winslow, * as fol-
lows :
" The sum of the presentment of Samuel Gorton, at
Portsmouth, in Khode Island, by the Grand Jury.
First, that Samuel Gorton, certaine days before his ap-
pearance at this Court, said, the Government was such
as was not to be subjected unto, forasmuch ^s it had not
a true derivation, because it was altered from what it
first was.
2. That Samuel Gorton contumeliously reproached
the Magistrates, calling them Just Asses.
3. That the said Gorton reproachfully called the
' Hypocrisie Unmasked, p. 54—5.
INDICTMENT AGAINST GORTON. 171
judges, or some of the justices on the Bench, (corrupt chap.
judges) in open Court. v_^J.>^
4. That the said Gorton questioned the Court for 1640.
making him to wait on them two days formerly, and that
now hee would know whether hee should bee tryed in an
hostile way, or by law, or in sobriety.
5. The said Gorton alleged in open court, that he
looked at the Magistrates as Lawyers, and called Mr.
Easton, Lawyer Easton.
6. The said Gorton charged the Deputy Governor to
be an Abetter of a Riot, Assault, or Battery, and pro-
fessed that he would not touch him, no, not with a pair
of tongs : Moreover, he said, I know not whether thou
hast any ears or no : as also, I think thou knowest not
where thy ears stand, and charged him to be a man unfit
to make a warrant.
7. The said Gorton charged the Bench for wresting
witnesse, in this expression, I profess you wrest witnesse.
8. The said Gorton called a Freeman in open Court
(saucy boy and Jack-an-Apes), and said the woman that
was upon her oath, would not speak against her mother,
although she was damned where she stood.
9. The said Gorton affirmed that Mr. Easton behaved
himself not like a judge, and that himself was charged
either basely or falsely.
10. The said Gorton said to the Bench : Ye intrude
oathes, and goe about to catch me.
11. The said Gorton being reproved for his miscar-
riage, held up his hand, and with extremity of speech
shooke his hand at them, insomuch that the Freemen
present said. He threatens the Court.
12. The said Gorton charged the Court with acting
the second part of Plymouth magistrates, who, as he said,
condemned him in the chimney corner, ere they heard
him speak.
172 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. 13. The said Gorton, in open court did professe to
,^.^_;^ maiutaine the quarrel! of another, being his maid- servant.
16 40. 14. The said Gorton being commanded to prison, im-
periously resisted the authority, and made open procla-
macion, saying, take away Coddington, and carry him to
prison ; the Governor said again, all you that owne the
King, take away Gorton and carry him to prison ; -Gor-
ton replyed, all you that own the King, take away Cod-
dington, and carry him to prison.
William Dyre, Secretary^"
Gorton was tried, and sentenced to be whipped and
March, "banished from the island, upon which he threatened an
appeal to King Charles. The sentence was executed
forthwith, and Gorton went to Providence. This was
when " the weather was very cold," probably in March,
as a few months later we find, by a letter from Roger
1. Williams to Gov. Winthrop, that he was " bewitching
and bemadding poor Providence." ' His reckless and
^ This letter fixes the time of Gorton's being in Providence earlier by more
than a year than any other known data. It is as follows : " Providence, 8th
1st, 1640. - Master Gorton having abused high and low at Aquidnick, is
now bewitching and bemadding poor Providence, both with his uncleane and
foul censures of all the ministers of this country (for which myself have in
Christ's name withstood him), and also denying all visible and extemall or-
dinances in depth of Familisme, against which I have a little disputed and
written, and shall (the most High assenting), to death. As Paul said of Asia,
I of Providence (almost) all suck in his poyson, as at first they did at Aquid-
nick. Some few and myself withstand his inhabitation, and town privileges,
without confession and reformation of his uncivil and injiuman practises at
Portsmouth : Yet the tide is too strong against us, and I feare (if the framer
of hearts helpe not) it will force me to little Patience, a little isle next to
vour Prudence. Jehovah himself be pleased to be a sanctuary to all whose
hearts are perfect with him : in him I desire nnfeignedly to be. Your wor-
ship's true and aflPectionate Roger Williams." — Winslow^s Hypocrisie Unmasked,
65,56.
The trial of Gorton could not have been in 1639, as Hutchinson was that
year the Judge at Portsmouth, where the indictment was found. Codding-
ton and Easton, the latter residing at Portsmouth, were chosen Governor
and Deputy Governor, on 12th March, 1640, on the union of the two towns
POLITICAL CHARACTER OF GORTON, 173
lawless spirit, opposed as much to magistrates constituted, chap.
like those of Rhode Island, by the popular will, as to ^^
ministers supported by law, like thoseof the other colonies, 16 4 0.
found a fitting arena for its exercise in the feeble and dis-
tracted plantation of Providence. A bitter partisan by na-
ture, with talent and energy to consolidate and control
discordant elements into a vigorous and relentless opposi-
tion, he soon made himself the leader of all who were
factious or discontented, and organized a destructive and
revolutionary party in the hitherto comparatively peace-
ful settlement of Williams. The career of Grorton in
Rhode Island illustrates how completely the extremes
of conservatism and radicalism in civil alFairs may unite
in a single mind. While on religious matters he main-
tained with Williams the great doctrine of the underived
independence of the soul, in civil concerns he was an ab-
solutist, a stickler for authority, yielding, theoretically at
least, entire obedience to chartered power, but ignoring
any other, and steadily denying the right of the people of
Aquedneck or Providence to govern themselves, and
hence refusing to be controlled by them. And because
of this defect in the basis of their government he used
every effort to weaken or destroy it, assuming for that
object the attitude of the veriest leveller recorded in his-
tory. His disorderly course in Providence was such as to
prevent his being received as an inhabitant. It was re-
quired, as a condition of his reception, that he should
confess the wrong he had done at Portsmouth and promise
reformation, which we presume to mean, that he should
admit the error of his theory of government. So great
was the contention caused by his presence, that Mr. Wil-
liams seriously thought of abandoning his plantation and
removing to Patience Island. The next year matters
Gorton was in Pro\dde.nce in Oct., 1640, and had been there some time. The
vreiither was cold when he went there, which must therefore have been early
in the spring, after the 12th March, or in April, 1640.
174 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
CHAP, grew worse. The refusal of the first application of Gor-
,^.^_;^ ton and his associates to be received into town fellowship
1641. did not discourage them. A second attempt was made,
25 upon which William Arnold, then one of the five "dis-
posers," to whom such applications were referred, ad-
dressed a letter, " To the rest of the five men appointed
to manedge ye affaires of our Town," giving reasons based
upon the weak condition of the town, why this further re-
quest should be denied. These were, that Gorton had
" showed himself an insolent, railing and turbulent per-
son," since, as well as before he came to Providence ; that
some of his company had insulted the disposers ; that
their former request had been refused and no new reasons
advanced why this should be granted ; that they had dis-
tracted and divided the town into parties, aiming to drive
away its founders, and had been ringleaders in breaking
the peace ; and finally he denies that any element of per-
secution is contained in a refusal to admit into a civil so-
ciety men so turbulent. He concludes by offering his
house and land for sale to the town, as the law required,
stating that if these men are received he shaU seU and
move- away.' Not long after this a riot ensued in which
{f^' some blood was spilt, and the aid of Massachusetts
was invoked by some of the inhabitants.^ Gorton and
his company moved to Pawtuxet soon after this affair,
10 42. where their conduct induced four of the principal residents
6?"' to submit themselves and their lands to the government
of Massachusetts.'^ The " warrant," as Gorton terms it,
issued by Massachusetts on this occasion, ^ greatly alarmed
' Hypocrisie Unmasked, 59-62. New England Gen. Register, 216-18.
'^ See ante, chiip. iv., pp. 110-111.
' " Massachusetts to our neighbors of Providence : Whereas, Wm. Arnold
of Pawtuxet, and Robert Cole and others, have lately put themselves and
their fumilies, l.inds and estates, under the protection and government of this
jurisdiction, and have since complained to us, that you have since (upon pre-
tence of a late purchase from the Indians), gone about to deprive them of
their lawful interest, confirmed by four years possession, and otherwise to mo-
PURCHASE OF SHAWOMET. IVS
his party, and drew from them a letter, addressed " To chap
our neighbors of Massachusetts," signed by nearly all of
them, which afterwards caused them much trouble. In
this letter they justly call the document " an irregular
note," " because it went beyond the bounds and jurisdic-
tions limited unto them." They then discuss the sub-
mission of the Pawtuxet men, of which the " warrant "
was simply a formal notification, denying the claim of
Massachusetts to extend her jurisdiction beyond her char-
tered limits on account of any such act, whether done by
English or Indians. The complaints of the submission-
ists are fully discussed and their conduct harshly reviewed.
The invitation to implead them in the courts of Massa-
chusetts is duly considered and declined in terms of unspar-
ing severity. Through the whole protracted epistle there
is interwoven a mass of abtruse theology, and a parade of
biblical learning, of which the apj)lication is often difficult
to discover, and the chief object of which is to hurl upon
those to whom it is addressed a storm of theological in-
vective. None but a mystical enthusiast could have
written it, and he must be a zealous antiquary in these
days, who would read it.* The bitter rebuke that it con-
tained rankled in the minds of the magistrates, and the
heresy they detected in its doctrines soon afforded a pretext
for their vengeance. Soon after this letter was written
tlie Gortonists left Pawtuxet, and purchasing of the In-
dians lands at Shawomet, beyond the limits of Providence,
lest them ; we thouglit good therefore to write to you on their behalf, to give
you notice that they and their lands, &c., being under our jurisdiction, we are
to maintain them in their lawful rights. If, therefore, you have any just ti-
tle to any thing they possess, you may proceed against them in our court,
where you shall have equal justice ; but, if you shall proceed to any violence,
you must not blame us if we shall take a like course to right them." Signed,
Jo. Winthrop, Governor. Tho. Dudley, Ri. Bellingham, Incr. Nowell. The
28th of the 8th month, 1642. Simp. Defence, 53.
^ This letter occupies nearly one-fifth of Winslow's book, and twenty-six
closely printed pages, 60-86, of Staple's Simp. Defence R. I. H. C, v. 2.
176 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
removed to the wilderness, where English charter, or civil-
ized claim, could legally pursue them no longer.
There w-ere twelve purchasers, but eleven of whom
are recited in the deed.' The tract extended along the
bay from Gaspee point to Warwick neck and twenty miles
inland, embracing the greater part of the present town-
ships of Warwick and Coventry. The consideration was
one hundercd and forty-four fathoms of wam]nim peage.*
The land was conveyed by Miantinomi, chief Sachem of
the Narragansets and hereditary lord of the soil,- and the
deed was witnessed by Pomham, the local Sachem of
Shawomet, with others.
No form of government seems to have been adopted.
Their numbers were too small to require an organization.
Some mode of adjusting differences was all they needed,
and this was provided for by arbitration, which was the
essential feature of the government of Providence. This
was only a temporary arrangement to continue until a
charter could be obtained from England. Had they re-
mained unmolested until the settlement attained greater
size, and no charter had been received, it would have been
curious -to see what method they could devise to secure
social order without violating their fundamental principles.
But this experiment was not to be tried. Scarcely had
the settlement of Warwick begun when a fresh occasion
of strife was presented, arising from the dissatisfaction of
the natives, fomented, as there is too much reason to be-
lievcj by the intrigues of Massachusetts. At the first
meeting of the General Court a committee of three, one
of whom was William Arnold of Pawtuxet, who had re-
1G48.
' They were Randal Holden, John Greene, John Weeks (or ^\'ickcs), Fran-
cis Weston, Samuel Gorton, Richard Waterman, John Warner, Ricliard Car
der, Samson Shatton, Robert Potter, William Wuddall, and Nicholas Power.
The latter is not named in the deed, but we learn from his letters that he was
one of the purehasers, and Gorton mentions that there were twelve.
■ ' Equivalent to £72 sterling, if black peage is meant, or half that sum if
the payment was to be in white.
'2 '2
SUBMISSION OF THE SACHEMS TO MASSACHUSETTS. 177
cently submitted to Massachusetts, was sent to Warwick chap.
" to understand how things were," and to bring back with ^^
them a certain Indian if possible ' On the same day the 1643.
magistrates and certain deputies were appointed a com- j^'
mittee to treat with the Sachems of Warwick and Paw-
tuxet about their submission, " and to warn any to desist Ju^e
which shall disturb them." The next month Pomham,
with Socouoco, Sachem of Pawtuxet, submitted themselves
and their lands to the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, de-
nied having assented to the sale of Warwick, or having
received any portion of the payment, and by this act of
submission afforded another pretext, of which their ene-
mies at once availed themselves, to harass the unhappy
Gortonists in this their last retreat. The proceedings that
followed are so extraordinary, that we are led to examine
closely the motives and the means employed by the Gen-
eral Court.
Gorton was beyond the reach of any English jurisdic-
tion. Having left Pawtuxet, he was no longer a tres-
passer on the lands of the proteges of Massachusetts.
Some new pretext must be found to secure their object,
A submission of the Warwick Sachem would furnish it,
claiming, as Massachusetts always did, that an act of
submission to their government by any party extended
their jurisdiction over the lands of such party. Gorton
had purchased Shawomet of its undoubted lord. The at-
tempt of Pomham to deny the sale is, to say the least,
suspicious. The witnesses on this point, at the General
Court, were deeply interested parties. Arnold had bought
land of Soconoco, the Pawtuxet Sachem, a short time be-
fore, and the validity of his title depended on establishing
the independence of his grantor. The Pawtuxet men
weie bitter against Gorton, and naturally desirous to
please their new and self-imposed rulers. They were pro-
minent, if not the instigators, in the whole matter. The
Narraganset empire was rapidly falling. Massasoit had
' M. C. R., ii. 35.
VOL. I 12
178 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, availed himself of an English alliance to sever his allegi-
^^^.^^ ance to the Narragansets, and the petty Sachems of Paw-
1 G43. tuxet and Shawomet wished to follow his example. Eng-
lish ambition assisted their design. Miantinomi was
shorn of his vassals by the act of the General Court in
receiving their submission, as a few months later he was
deprived of his life by a like interested tribunal.- The
motive in all this is barely concealed. At the time of the
submission of the Pawtuxet men, Winthrop honestly gave
as one reason for accepting it, that it would furnisii them
" an outlet into the Narraganset bay ; " an xjbject which
Massachusetts kept steadily in view, and wTiich furnishes
a key to this dark intrigue. One other nnjtive animated
the actors in the coming drama. The heretics yet lived,
and the sting of their last impolitic, although trTithful,
letter could only be assuaged by their blood. Territorial
ambition, religious bigotry, and wounded pride, all united
to demand their persecution, and for the time, blinded
their assailants to the illegality, the injustice, and the
dishonesty of the means employed to accomplish theii
Sept. end. At the next General Court active measures were
taken to follow up this scheme to its consummation. The
j2 Comissioners of the United Colonies were in session, the
same day, at Boston. The case of Gorton was referred
to them and their assent obtained, in advance, to what-
ever course Massachusetts might see fit to adopt.' A
letter, or warrant as Gorton again terms it, similar to the
one sent on the submission of the Pawtuxet men, was
written to the purchasers of Shawomet, informing them
of the submission and the complaints of the Sachems, re-
quiring them to appear at once before the court, where
the plaintiffs were then present, and granting them a safe
conduct for that i)urpose. A verbal reply by the messen-
ger was returned to the court denying their jurisdiction,
and rightly asserting that they were amenable only to the
' Hypocrisie Unmasked, p. 79, where the Act of the Commissioners ia
published.
GORTON'S LETTERS TO MASSACHUSETTS. 179
government of Old England from which they expected chap
" in due season to receive direction for their well ordering ..^^^J^
in all civil respects." A lengthy letter was also sent, ad- 164 3.
dressed " To the great idol General now set up in Massa- ''15 "
chusetts," signed by R. Holden, if possible more bitter from
a sense of accumulated wrong, than that of November
previous. In this letter they denounce the conduct of
Pumham and forbid his return to Shaworaet ; they com-
plain of outrages committed by the Indians under the
shield of Massachusetts, and refer to two rumored threats,
uttered by subjects of that government, which foreshadow
the crimes that were to follow — one, that Miantinomi
should die because he had sold Shawomet to Gorton, the
other that the Gortonists should be subdued or driven off
even at the cost of blood. The proposal to attend the
court, and the offer of safe conduct for that jiurpose, are
rejected with scorn. An array of charges are next brought
asainst the two sachems, and a demand is made that the
Massachusetts should come to Warwick and answer them,
A postscript refers to their treatment of Mrs. Hutcliinson,
news of whose massacre had lately been received, and for
which they are held morally responsible. The letter, as
usual, is full of scriptural allusions disparaging those to
whom it is addressed. The General Court could have
expected no other reply than one that would increase the
rancor engendered by the former letter. These two let-
ters were furnished to Winslow, and form the chief evi-
dence against Gorton, published in his official reply to
Simplicities Defence. They give occasion for " certaine
observations collected by a godly and reverend divine,"
classed under three heads :
1. Their reproachful and reviling speeches of the gov-
ernment and magistrates of Massachusetts.
2. Their reviling language against magistracy itself
and all civil power.
18U HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
3. Their blasphemous speeches against the holy things
of God.
(rOTton says they " franied out of them twenty-six
particulars, or thereabouts, which they said were blasphe-
mous, changing of phrases, altering in words or sense ;
not in any one of them taking the true intent of our
writings ; " and it is certain, by Winthrop's account of the
trial, that whatever may have been the real cause of hos-
tility towards Gorton, his heresy was the ostensible reason
of their severity. ■ - '
The court immediately dispatched another letter, ac-
19. ceding to the demand of the Warwick men that Massa-
chusetts should send to them, and informing them that
they should shortlj'^ send commissioners to obtain satisfac-
tion ; adding, that an armed guard would attend the
commission, and closing with the assurance " that if you
will make good your own olTer to us of doing us right,
our people shall return and leave you in peace, otherwise
we must right ourselves and our people by force of arms."
The following week Capt. Cooke, Lieut. Atherton, and
Edward Johnson with forty soldiers were s^nt to War-
wick." On their way to Providence they received a
third letter from the " owners and inhabitants of Shaw-
omet," informing them that their offer to Massachusetts
28. was a peaceable and not a warlike one, and warning them
upon their peril not to invade Warwick. To this the
commissioners replied that they desired to speak with the
men of Warwick, to lead them, if possible, to see their
misdeeds and repent, but if they failed in that they should
" look upon them as men prepared for slaughter," and
would proceed accordingly. This outrageous missive
spread terror in the humble settlement of Sliawomet. The
women and children tied for their lives, some to ttie woods
and others in boats to gain the neighboring plantations.
The men fortified a house and there awaited their assail-
ants. A number of Providence men accompanied the
FUTILE ATTEMPTS AT RECONCILIATION. 18]
troops to see what would be done, and to aid in effecting chap.
a peaceable adjustment of the difficulty, A parley was .^^^,1^
proposed. Four Providence men were selected as wit- 16 43.
nesses thereto. The commissioners briefly stated their 28.'
case ; that the Grortonists had wronged some of the Mas-
sachusetts subjects, and that they held certain blasphe-
mous errors of which they must repent or be carried to
Boston for trial, or otherwise be put to the sword, and
their goods seized to defray the charges of the expedition.
From this proposition the owners of Shaworaet dissented,
on the ground that their adversaries would thus become
their judges, but offered to appeal to England, which was
refused. The Gortonists then proposed to refer the dis-
j)ute to arbitration, offering their persons and property as
security that they would abide by the decision of impar-
tial men mutually chosen for the purpose. This seemed
so reasonable that a truce was agreed upon until a mes-
senger could be sent to Massachusetts to learn the views
of the magistrates. The Gortonists charge the troops
with many outrages during this truce, which are stoutly
denied by Winslow. The four Providence witnesses ' sent ^^^
a letter to Gov. Winthrop giving an account of the par- *
ley, and entreating him to accept the proposal of arbitra-
tion. " Oh, how grievous would it be (we hope to you)
if one man should be slain, considering the greatest mon-
arch in the world cannot make a man ; especially grievous
seeing they offer terms of peace," is the earnest language
they employ. The commissioners also wrote a letter, A
committee of the General Court happened to be con-
vened, upon news of the murder of Miantinomi, when
these letters were received. The elders, as usual, were
consulted. The result was what we might anticipate
from such a tribunal. It was " agreed that it was neither
seasonable or reasonable, neither safe nor honorable, for
' They were Chad. Brown, Thomas Olney, William Field, William Wick-
euden. Simp. Defence, 108.
182 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
CHAP. US to accept of such a proposition. 1. Because they
would never offer us any terms of peace before we had
sent OUT soldiers. 2. Because the ground of it was false,
for we were not parties in the case between the Indians
and them, but the proper judges, they being all within
our jurisdiction by the Indians and English their own
grant. 3. They were no State, but a few fugitives living
without law or government, and -so not honorable for us to
join with them in such a course. 4. The parties whojn
they would refer it unto were such as were rejected by us,
and all the governments in the country, and besides, not
men likely to be equal to us, or able to judge of the
cause. 5. Their blasphemous and reviling writings, etc.,
were not matters fit to be compounded by arbitrament,
but to be purged away only by repentance and public
satisfaction, or else by public punishment. And lastly,
the commission and instructions being given them by the
General Court, it was not in our power to alter them." '
Gov. Winthrop replied to the Providence letter, declining
arbitration. The commissioners were directed to pr(jceed
at once. They notified the besieged that the truce had
■ expired. A final effort was made to speak with the
commissioners, but failed. The Providence men were
warned to have no more intercourse with those of Shawo-
met. All hope of accommodation was at an end. The
cattle were first seized and then the assault commenced.
The Warwick men hung out the English flag in token of
their allegiance to Old England. It was immediately
riddled by the shot of their assailants. The troops had
entrenched themselves and opened a regular system of
approaches, so that the siege lasted some days. During
all this time the Gortonists acted solely on the defensive,
not firing a shot, although prepared to do so in case the
house should be set on fire, or a forcible entry be at-
' Winthrop, ii. 139, 40. How far these reasons justify Gorton's saspicione
of the impartiality of his adversaries, the reader can judge.
ATTACK UPON WARWICK. 183
tempted. On Sunday morning the works of the besiegers
were advanced so near the house that an eff(jrt was made
to set it on firp,' which failed. The commissioners sent
to Massachusetts for more soldiers. The affair had reached
a crisis. The Gortonists must surrender, or a fearful
slaughter on both sides, with certain death, under form
of law, to those of the besieged who might survive the
conflict, would result. They submitted to superior force,
and were carried in triumph as prisoners to Boston," where j?}
they were committed to jail to await their trial. The
next Sabbath morning the prisoners refused to attend ^^'
church. The magistrates determined to compel them.
They agreed to do so if they might have liberty to speak,
should occasion require, after the sermon. This was con-
ceded, so accordingly they came in the afternoon. Mr.
Cotton preached at them about Demetrius and the shrines
of Ephesus, after which, Gorton, leave being granted, re-
plied, somewhat varying the application of the text, to
the great scandal of his hearers.'^
* Gorton says this was a violation of the articles of surrender, hy which
they were to "go along with them as freemen and neighbors,'' and not as
captives ; and also that they took eighty head of cattle, besides swine and
goats which were, divided among themselves and their subjects, and broke
open the houses, robbing the corn and other supplies. A part of these allega-
tions are rather feebly denied by Winslow, while other parts are admitted
by Winthrop. Gorton in a note on page 119, Staples' Simplicities Defence,
taunts his captors with the extent of their triumph, " a whole country to
carry away eleven men," and says that one had died, Sampson Shatton, be-
fore, of his hardships, and but ten handled arms in this memorable siege.
Winthrop, p. 140, says three escaped, and that nine were brought in as pris-
oners, p. 142, but the Court records show that ten were put on trial.
■^ This was not the last time that our over-zealous neighbors found, to use
an expressive phrase, that they had " caught a Tartar." The author of the
Ecclesiastical History of Massachusetts, in a note to 1 M. H. C, ix. 38, relates a
pertinent anecdote as having come under his own observation in Boston. " A
man from the State of Rhode Island was accused of blasphemy, and brought
bfifore a Court of Justices. He was said to be a Deist, an Atheist, blasphemer
of the Bible, &c. He denied it all. Witnesses were produced who had heard
him say that the Bible was not the word of God. He acknowledged that he
said it, and that every Christian would say the same ; that he was no Atheist
184 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
Gorton and his company were brought before the
court upon the following charge of heresy and sedition ;
" Upon much examination and serious' consideration of
your writings, with your answers about them, wee do
charge you to bee a blasphemous enemy of the true re-
ligion of our Lord Jesus Christ and his holy ordinances,
and also of all civil authority among the people of God,
and perticularly in this jurisdiction." It is worthy of no-
tice that nothing is here said about Pumham. The os-
tensible cause of the first summons by Massachit^tts is
no longer regarded now that the heretics -are in their
power. Upon this absurd accusation, containing no fact
that admitted of any possible rejjly, the . captives were
2Q put on trial for their lives. A warrant was also issued for
the arrest of Waterman, Power, and John Greene and son,
who had fled dining the siege. The two former appeared ;
the latter escaped entirely. The prisoners' exceptions to
the jurisdiction were overruled on the ground that Ply-
mouth claimed them, and had yielded its power, in this
or Deist, hut loved his Redeemer, and venerated his Bible. Being asked how
he could be consistent, he answered, ' That his Bible told him that Christ was
the Word of God, and the Bible a record of the divine irill. Tiiis was all he
meant by saying the Bible was not the Word of God.' He was dismissed,
and he laughed heartily at his accusers. This man had been a Quaker
preacher ; became a preacher of the Universalists, and had a small congrega-
tion in the county of Berkshire, in 1794 ; but has never been permitted to
preach in the other churches of Universalists, his notions being very peculiar,
and such his manner of expressing himself as people of all persuasions must
dislike. Yet he possesses that acuteness of reasoning, and recollective mem-
ory for quoting Scripture, which would have been fully equal to Gorton, had
he met with the same opposition. But the spirit of persecution has flown
from this State, to the mortification of many who vvish to be of consequence,
and would fain raise its ghost, for the sake of complaiiiing of the present
magistrates and clergy, but cannot find even the shadow on the wall."
The writer of this history desires here to express his concurrence in the
truth and the spirit of the concluding sentence above quoted, because thus far
in the progress of this work the ho.stility between the two colonies was so con-
Btant that a casual reader might infer that the feeling, for which there was so
much occasion two centuries ago, still lingered, at least in the mind of the
author. This he expressly disavows, and only regrets that the nature of hie
WINSLOW'S DEFENCE OF MASSACHUSETTS. 185
case, to the Bay ; and that, if they were under no juris-
diction, then Massachusetts had no redress for her wrongs,
and must either right herself by force of arras, or submit 16 43.
to their injuries and reviUngs. This was but a weak de- 20.
fence in a desperate cause ; nor is it strengthened by the
special pleading of Winslow, who says, on this important
point, " And if any ask by what authority they went out
of their own government to do such an act, know that his
former seditious and turbulent carriage in all parts where
he came, as Plymouth, Ehode Island, a place of greatest
liberty, Providence, that place which releived him in that
his so great extremity, and his so desperate close with so
dangerous and potent enemies, aad at such a time of con-
spiracy by the same Indians, together with the wrongs
done to the English and Indians under the protection of
that government of the Massachusetts, who complained
and desired relief ; together with his notorious contempt
of all civil government, as well as that particular, and
his blasphemies against God, needlessly manifested in his
proud letters to them. All these considered you shall see
hereby cause enough why they proceeded against him as
a common enemy of the country." If these general
charges were the real cause of their proceedings, why are
they not all specifically alleged in the indictment, since,
theme requires him, while speaking of the Puritans, to dwell almost wholly
upon the dark side of characters that possessed so much real piety and essential
greatness of soul. The Massachusetts writers of recent date have well atoned
for the injustice committed by their forefathers, displaying the liberality of
feeling which ever accompanies elegant scholarship. Bancroft, Dean, Elliott,
Felt, Hildreth, Savage, Sparks, Upham, Young, and since this work was com-
menced, Mr. Barry's stirring and truthful volumes, have all illustrated the tri-
umph of truth over prejudice, and shown how a scholar may rise superior to
the biases thut misled his ancestors. The times have changed, and the sev-
enteenth century was the period of transition. The Puritans exemplified the
spirit of the past : the foimders of Rhode Island foreshadowed that of the fu-
ture ; and we of the present may render justice and do honor to both, by
placing ourselves, so far as practicable, in the position of those whose acts
we record. The Puritans we should view in the light of bygone centuries ;
their opponents in that of the present age, which has adopted their principles.
186 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, if true, they might easily be proved ? — instead of which
„_„.^_;^ the latter only is brought out at the trial, and the whole
1G43. attention of the Court engaged in i)rovin"; it.
Oct
20. Their letters were produced as evidence against them.
These they were required to retract or explain, which
they refused to do. " The Court and the elders spent
nearly a whole day in discovery of Gorton's deep myste-
ries, which he had boasted of in his letters, and to bring
him to conviction, but all was in vain." He denied the
consequences imputed to them by the elders, and shroud-
ing his opinions beneath an impenetrable v'eil of mysti-
cism, maintained them to the last. A series of questions
were propounded by the Court, upon which he was to
answer for his life. These were —
1. Whether the Fathers, who died before Christ was
born of the Virgin Mary, were justified and saved only by
the blood which he shed, and the death which he sutiered
after his incarnation !
2. Whether the only price of our redemption, were
not the death of Christ upon the cross, with the rest of
his sufferings and obediences in the time of his life here,
after he was born of the Virgin Mary !
3. Who is that God whom he thinks we serve ?
4. What he means, when he saith. We worship the
star of our god Remphan, Chion, Moloch ? Written re-
plies, signed by himself, were given to the Court. They
appeared so reasonable that even the governor said he
could agree with them in their answers though not in their
writings,' to which concession the bigoted Dudley object-
ed, while the more liberal Bradstreet, at Gorton's desire,
requested that no further questions should be put to him.
It was a peculiarity of the mystical philosophy of the
age, that ideas were couched in language ol" which the
apparent menning would lead to every excess, and which
' Simps, Defence, 132. Hutch. Hist, of Mass., i. 121. Eccles. Hist, of
Mass., 37.
SENTENCE OF THE GORTONISTS. 187
were too transcendental to be otherwise understood by tbe chap.
greater part. Such ideas were announced and defended ^^
by Gorton and the Antinomian school, all of which, as i « 4 ;i
explained by the promulgators, were harmless enough ; but
their danger consisted in the possible and probable abuse
of them by the masses, while their opponents, as in the
present tiial, imputed to them results which the authors
denied. Heresy was the only charge against the Gorton-
ists, and the sole object to which the attention of the
Court was directed. The crime being sufficiently proved,
the punishment was the next consideration.
Upon this " the Court was much divided." The case x-
of Gorton was the most difficult. All the magistrates, but 3.
three, condemned the great heresiarch to death, but a
majority of the deputies refused to sanction the diabolical
sentence. In the end he, with six others, were sentenced
to be confined in irons, during the pleasure of the Court,
to be set to work, and should they break jail, or in any
w'ay proclaim heresy or rejjroach the church or State,
then, upon conviction thereof they should suffer death.
They were sent to different towns, Gorton to Chadestown,
Wicks to Ipswich, Holden to Salem, Potter to Rowley,
Carder to Roxbury, Weston to Dorchester, and Warner
to Boston. The other three were more mildly treated.
Waddell was allowed to remain at large in Watertown ;
Waterman, giving bonds to appear at the next Court,
was dismissed ' with a fine, and Power, denying having
signed the first letter, a year previous, was dismissed with
an admonition. A warrant was forthwith directed to the
constables of the several towns to be ready within one
week to receive the prisoners. Their cattle were appraised
and sold to defray the cost of the seizure and trial,- The
' At the Court on the 29th May following, being " found erroneous, he-
retical and obstinate," he was remanded to prison till the September Coiirt,
unless five magistrates should meanwhile see cause to send him away, in
which case he was banished on pain of death. M. C. R., ii. 73.
- The justice of this piece of judicial robbery can only be defended on
188 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, prisoners were allowed to name two of the five appraisers
,^„.^ selected fur this pur[)Ose, which they properly declined to
'. <»4 3. do.' The convicts, secured in chains, were sent off to the
several towns named in their sentence, not however till
they had been paraded in a body before the congregation
at Mr. Cotton's lecture, with their irons upon them, as an
instructive spectacle. In this condition they were con-
fined the whole winter, in the course of which Gorton ac-
cused Cotton of having advised, in a sermon, that he
16434. should be starved to death. This charge could- searcel;^
12. ^6 credited had not the elders and magistrates, at the
trial, doomed him to die. This led Gorton to write a let-
ter to the ruling elder of the Charlestown cliurch, which
is preserved in his book. But public opinion did not sus-
tain such severe proceedings, and what was more to be
dreaded by these zealots, the prisoners corrupted the peo-
ple with their heresies. Now this offence, by the terms
of the sentence passed upon them in November, was to
be punished with death ; but a mightier power demanded
their release. At the next General Court they were set
V. at liberty, and banished from all places claimed to be
within -the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, including Prov-
idence, and the lands of the. subject Indians ; and if found
anywhere within those limits after fourteen days, they
were to suffer death. '^ But even this brief period was not
allowed them, for three days after, while Gorton and a
some such ground as that taken by the " cannie Scot," in the anecdote quoted
by Judge Staples, in a note to Simplicities Defence, p. 136, as having occurred
several years since in the island of Jamaica. " A Scotch officer, with sev-
eral others of his corps, engaged in a billiard match with some Jews. The
children of Israel, it seems, were much too expert at that game for the Cale-
donian and his companions. The latter, after having lost some money, mus-
tered their whole joint stock, and staked it against the sons of circumcision ;
the game was played ; the Scot lost ; but he swept the stakes into his hat,
drew his sword, and protected by his friends, retired, calling out, ' D — n yen
sauls, ye scoundrels, yere a' enemies to the Lord Jesus Christ.'"
' See M. C. R. ii. 51-4 for official proof of the foregoing facts.
» M. C. R., ii. 57.
10.
THE GORTONIST'S RETURN TO AQUEDNECK. 189
few others were awaiting the arrival of their comrades at
Boston, a warrant from the Governor was served on them,
ordering them to leave the town within two hours. They
departed for Aqiiedneck, lodging one night in their own
houses at Shawomet, whence they wrote a letter to Gov.
Winthrop to inquire if their own purchased territory was
included in the sentence of banishment. To this the
Governor replied that it was, and ordered them to leave April
on peril of their lives. They did so, and once more sought
refuge at Aquedneck. Thus ended these atrocious pro-
ceedings, which form one of the darkest pages in the his-
tory of Massachusetts.'
The controversy was about to be transferred to England.
The settlement of Warwick Avas for a time suspended.
Its persecuted owners were kindly received at Aquedneck,
whence they had been driven in disgrace a few years be-
fore. The cause for which they had since suffered, and
the measure of cruelty they had lately received, were
enough to ensure them an earnest welcome. Here they
hired houses and lands, and remained till after the recep-
tion of the charter had deprived their enemies of the last
semblance of claim to intermeddle with the affairs of
Rhode Island.
It jDroduced a curious effect on the minds of the In-
dians, that, after such harsh treatment, and so many
threats from their opi^onents, the Gortonists had returned
' The details of this memorable trial remind us of the application of a
nursery rhyme as made by the late Archbishop of Dublin : —
" Old Father Long-le^ wouldn't say his prayers :
Take him by the right leg-
Take him by the left leg-
Take him fast by both legs—
And throw him down stairs! "
" There," said his Grace, " in that nursery verse you may see an epitome
of the history of all religious persecution. Father Long-legs refusing to say
the prayers that were dictated and ordered by his little tj'rants, is regarded as
a heretic, and suffers martyrdom." Who shall say hereafter that there is no
moral conveyed in Mother Goose's Melodies ?
190 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, alive. They ima<^inecl tliat two distinct races inhaluted
,^,.^_;^ Old England, one the English, whom they called Watta-
16 44. conoges,' and the rival race they now termed Gortonoges.
I The civil war, of which they had heard, confirmed this
idea, and the release of the Gortonists they naturally
enough attributed to the preponderance of the Gortonoges
at home, which alarmed the English lest they should
come over to America, and revenge the injuries that their
feebler compatriots here had sustained.
Soon after the return of Gorton the Narragansets sent
messengers, asking him and his friends to conje over and
speak with Canouicus. The venerable savage, with Pes-
sicus, the brother and successor of Miantinomi, received
them with a courtesy to which they had long been stran-
gers. A council of the tribe was assembled. Their own
situation, impoverished by the heavy ransom paid in vain
for the life of their murdered prince, and the condition of
their guests, robbed by the same remorseless power, formed
the subject of their conference. The result was most im-
portant. This powerful tribe, upon whose fidelity, in
former years, had hung the destiny of New England, vol-
untarily submitted, in a body, "unto the government and
protection of that honorable State of Old England." In
^^- a written instrument they declared their allegiunoe to
King Charles, " upon condition of His Majesty's royal
protection ; " and the signers, as having been successively
from time immemorial, sovereign princes of the country,
say that they cannot yield " unto any that are subjects
themselves in any case." They appointed Gorton, Wicks,
Holden and Warner their agents to carry their submis-
sion to England ; soon after which Gorton 'and Holden
embarked at New York with the instrument."^ The
' Signifying coatmen, or those who wefir clothes. R. Wms Key R. I. IT.
C, i. 60.
" The exact time of Gorton's departure is unknown. Staples and Mackie
Bay it was " in 1644, probahly in tlie summer; " but by Gov. Winslow's ac-
count in his answer to Gorton's Simplicities Defence, it appears that in No-
MASSACHUSETTS ATTEMPTS TO SETTLE WARWICK. 191
other two remained at home. John Grreene, of Warwick, chap.
also accompanied Grorton. Besides their Indian agency, ^^..^.^^
their business was to enter a complaint with the Com- 1644.
missioners of Foreign Plantations against Massachusetts,
in behalf of the people of Shawomet, to obtain for them
the restoration of their property. Notwithstanding the 17.
arrival of Mr. Williams with the free charter of Provi-
dence, Massachusetts strove, though vainly, to continue
her usurpation over the lands of Shawomet. A notice
was issued warning any persons from settling there with- jg '
out leave from the General Court. The following year a
yet bolder step was taken by the General Court. A pe- ^"^^^
tition, signed by thirty-two persons, of whom twenty were 1.
freemen, asking for the lands of Pumham, was granted.
Ten thousand acres were given them. They had power
to admit or keep out others as they pleased. Benedict
Arnold was appointed to negotiate with the sachem for
his right in any improved ground. The houses of the
Gortonists were placed at the disposal of the petitioners,
provided only that they should pay to the owiui ^ what
the Court should appoint, " if they see cause &o to do,"
and that ten families should taue possession within one
year.' No settlement upon this grant was made. Mr.
John Brown, a magistrate of Plymouth, and then one of
the Commissioners of the United Colonies, prohibited the
settlement, claimmg the lands as within Plymouth juris-
diction, and saying it should be restored to the rightful
owners, Gorton and his associates. This bold stand, so
creditable to Brown, although partially disowned by his
government, deterred the settlers,"^ and before the dispute
vember of that year he was still at Aquedneck, and was a ma,Lristrate there
when Mr. John Brown was sent to assert the Plymouth claim to the island.
Winslow was Governor of Plymouth that year, and signed Brown's commis-
sion Nov. 8, 1644. On Uth January, 1645-6, Gorton dates his book at Lon-
dDn. I infer that he left during the winter of 1644-5. Perhaps Brown's
r.si at Aquedneck hastened his departure.
' M. C. R., ii. 128. ^ Winthrop, ii. 252.
192 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, that arose on the question between Massachusetts and
Plymouth was decided by the Commissioners in favor of
16 4 5. the former, the Parliament had already ordered its resto-
ration to the lawful purchasers. Similar annoyances con-
tinued for many years, summons being often issued to re-
quire the attendance of parties at the Massachusetts
Courts, upon the suit of her subjects resident in Rhode
Island.
The efforts of Massachusetts" to extend her jurisdic-
tion in this direction seemed to receive a fresh impetus by
the arrival of that charter which was designed as a shield to
the feeble colonists of Rhode Island against her all-grasp-
ing ambition. The coveted shores of the Narrao-anset
assumed a new importance in her eyes when the action
of Parliament placed them beyond her reach. Every ef-
fort was made to attach to herself any residents of Rhode
Island who were dissatisfied with the existing order of
things, and thus to sow the seeds of discontent more
widely in the heretical plantations. The insane idea was
cherished by her rulers and inculcated upon the other
colcmies, that in this way the people of Rhode Island
might be led to question the validity of their charter, and
be discouraged from organizing their distracted settle-
ments into one corporate body under its provisions. Ply-
mouth, we have already seen, was led to claim the east-
ern shore and the island, and Connecticut was ere long to
assert her right to the Narraganset country, while Provi-
dence and Warwick were apportioned to the fomenters of
this tripartite division. As we examine the progress of
this deep-laid scheme, and observe the steadiness with
which it was pursued through a long series of years, we
cannot but admire the firmness of our ancestors in foiling
it at every turn, nor can we fail to recognize the hand of
a Superior Power in preserving a colony whose peculiar
principles at first made it an object of aA'^ersion, and finally
were adopted as the cardinal doctrines of a whole nation
RESULT OF Gorton's mission. 193
The result of Gorton's mission, so far as falls within chap.
the limits of our present chapter, was briefly this. The ..2^:^
Commissioners issued an order requiring Massachusetts to 164 0,
reinstate the proscribed parties, and forbidding any at- i'^^
tempt to exercise jurisdiction over them. It was brought
over by Holden in a ship to Boston. With some difficulty ^^pt.
he was allowed to land. Many wished to commit him to
jail, but better counsel prevailed, and he was permitted
to pass quietly through to Rhode Island, by virtue of the
protection given him by Parliament. Uj)on receipt of Nov.
this order the Greneral Court seriously debated how far
they owed allegiance to England, but wisely concluded,
on advice of the elders, that they were not yet independ-
ent.' They decided to send Mr. Edward Winslow to
Eno-land as their agent. An answer to Gorton's memo-
rial, a copy of which had been enclosed in the aforemen-
tioned order, was prepared, which Winslow, being duly Dec.
commissioned, carried, together with two sets of instruc-
tions, one public, in accordance with his commission, the
other secret, concerning the course he was to adopt and
the answers he was to make to the objections against the
conduct and government of Massachusetts, contained in
the Commissioners' order.^ The controversy in regard to
the lands of Warwick, so named by Gorton in compliment
to the Earl through whose influence his mission was suc-
cessful, was prolonged for thirty-five years. It soon be-
came involved in the greater dispute relating to the adja-
cent territory of Narraganset, which wiU be considered in
future chapters. The first decision, above given, was final
1 This rather remarkable discussion is given at length by Winthrop, ii.
278-284. It shows the temper of the times, and demonstrates more clearly
than any other proceedings since those of 1 635, when a general governor was
expected from England. (VVinth. Jour, i. 154, and ante chap. i. pp. 32-3,)
the feeling with which the Puritans viewed any act of the home government
that threatened to abridge their virtual independence.
^ Copies of all these papers are given m Winthrop, ii. 295-301, and of th«
most important ones in R. I Col. Rec's. i. 367-373.
VOL. I. — 13
194 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, in its effect, although, after hearing Mr. Winslow, the
.^,,.:^ committee wrote to Massachusetts that if the Shawomet
16 47. lands were in their patent, or in that of Plymouth, the
25; case would be altered ; hut they soon afterwards wrote
Ji'ly to all the colonies that the Warwick men should be as-
sisted and not molested during the examination of the
question at issue. ' The purchasers of Shawomet returned
to their homes, and successfully withstood the pertinacious
efforts of Massachusetts to retain her unlawful dominion
over them. - , '
The Warwick men were strict constructionists of the
most rigid school. They neither recognized the existing
governments of Providence and Aquedneck, as we have
seen, nor did they establish any of their own ; not, as
their enemies rejDresented, because they were opposed to
all magistracy, but because, as English subjects, they
could not lawfully create or submit to any government
that was not authorized by patent from the Crown or
Parliament of England. Hence w^e have no record of
*'^y- their proceedings until after the organization of the colo-
nial government. They were few in number, so that the
mode - of settling difficulties, by arbitration, adopted by
them before their expulsion, was probably continued till
their scruples were removed by the adoption of the char-
ter. After this took place their rigid adherence to all the
forms of law, as well as to its spirit, was no less remarka-
ble than had been their previous neglect. The charter
supplied their theoretical wants, and devotion to its letter
and spirit marked all their subsequent conduct.'^
' Both these letters are in Staples' Gorton. R. I. H. C.-ii. 203-6,
" One or two examples of this may here be mentioned. For many years
their numbers were few, and some of the requirements of the common law
bore heavily upon them, especially that requiring twelve men to constitute a
jury. Accordingly we find them altering that provision to conform, in the
language of the charter, " to the nature and constitution of the place," in
these words : ' Whereas the townsmen of Warwick having taken into con-
uderation that it cannot stand with the constitution of the place to continue
1641.
SETTLEMENT OF NORTH KINGSTON. 195
The act of submission arrayed the Narragansets in chap
hostility to the pretensions of Massachusetts, and virtu- ^^,^.^,1^
ally annexed their country to the State of Khode Island, 16 44.
of which, thereafter, it formed an important part. Three
years prior to this Kichard Smith had purchased land and
erected a trading house, in what is now North Kingston,^
in the midst of the Indian country, which was the only
settlement south of Warwick until after the charter went
into operation, when Roger Williams set up a similar es-
tablishment for a few years and sold out to Smith, upon
his second appointment as agent to England."^
Both English and Indians were now the acknowledged ^ "*^
subjects of Grreat Britain, and the haughty spirit of the
twelve men for the tryal of causes, It is therefore ordered that there he estab-
lished six jurors for the trial of causes, and to have six pence a man for each
cause, and for counsellor's fees three shillings and four pence, and this to be
of force notwithstauding any law formerly to the contrary." Warwick Rec-
ords of Feb. 5, 1656,7. This change might appear as a violation of law in-
stead of a real conformity to its spirit, if the preamble were not recited and
their circumstances were not considered.
Bat still later we have a more striking instance of their attachment to
" law and order.'' At a tovra meeting, Oct. 12, 1663, we find it '' Ordered in
regard that there is a writing directed to the warden or deputy warden of the
town of Warwick, bearing date the 23 September, 1663, and subscribed
James (I. R.) Rodgers, and not the title of any office annexed thereto ; the
Town do therefore protest against it as being contrary to law and order, and
that report be made hereof to the next Court of Commissioners. It is fur-
ther ordered that the town being sensible of matters that do depend, which
concern our agent, Mr. John Clarke, do therefore conclude to choose com-
missioners to attend the Court notwithstanding illegality of the sayd writing,
and that justice may proceed nutwithstanding the sayd neglect do likewise
order to choose jurj-men to attend the Court of Trials." See Warwick Rec-
ords of that date. Rogers was General Sergeant of the colony, and should
have affixed the title of his office to his name in an official communication.
' On the site of the present (1835) Updike house, which is said to be
built, partly, of the materials of Smith's. Potter's Early Hist, of Narragan-
set, R. I. H. C. iii. 32.
"^ M. H. C. i. 211. The precedence of Smith was denied by Howlden and
Greene in their sketch of Narraganset, in 1680. They say Warwick was set-
tled first, and that Williams preceded Smith, but the evidence is all the other
way, and their error perhaps arose from there being two Richard Smiths, father
and son, in the concern. Br. S. P. 0. New England Papers, voL iii. p. 81.
196 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
CHAP native chiefs refused to account for their conduct to
s.^,-^ any but their common Master. A summons was received
16 44. from Massachusetts for them to attend at the next Court,
24"'^ They declined to do so, and informed the government of
their submission to King Charles, and of their intention
to make war on Uncas. This letter, with one of like pur-
port from Gorton, gave great anxiety to the General
~^?^ Court. Two messengers were sent to the Narragansets
to counteract the influence of Gorton, and to dissuade
them from their purpose. They were coldly received and
failed in their mission. Pumham and Soconoco, -dreading
the anger of the Narragansets, applied to Massachusetts
for a guard. An officer was sent with ten soldiers to
build a fort, and to remain for their protection till the
Jnly danger was passed. Although the Commissioners of the
^' United Colonies prevented immediate war between the
Sept. iiostile tribes, they could only avert it for a while. In a
164:4-5. few months the Narrag-ansets sent messengers to Boston,
Feb.
declaring that unless Uncas should pay a hundred and
sixty fathoms of wampum, or come to a new hearing of
the case within six weeks, they would make war upon
him.'
1 g 4 5 In" the spring the long restrained wrath of the Narra-
gansets vented itself upon the Mohegans. One thousand
men, some of whom were armed with guns, attacked Un-
cas and defeated him with considerable slaughter. Con-
necticut and New Haven sent troops to protect Uncas.
The General Court despatched a letter to the Narragan-
I'g ^ sets requiring them to desist from war, and soon after sent
Benedict Arnold as a messenger to them. The Indians
afterward stated that he had misrepresented their answer,
and sent for Roger WiUiams to assist them in their trou-
bles. A special meeting of the New England Commis-
^" y sioners was held in this emergency, and messengers ^ were
28.
* Hubbard's New England, cli. li.
' Sergeant John Davis, Benedict Arnold and Francis Smyth.
FORCED TREATY WITH THE NARRAGANSETS. 197
sent a second time to require both the hostile tribes to send chap.
deputies to Boston, who should explain the cause of the war, ^^
receive satisfaction, and make peace. This attempt failed. i6 4ro.
The embassy was haughtily treated by the Narragansets,
who were resolved to have the head of Uncas. On their
return they brought a letter from Mr. Williams, stating
that terms of neutrality had been made by the Indians
with the colonies of Rhode Island, and that war was in-
evitable,' The United Colonies at once declared war ^112.
against the Narragansets, and a force of three hundred 19-
men, under command of Major Edward Gribbons, was
raised. 2 Forty mounted men were impressed by Massa-
chusetts within three days, and sent on in advance under
Lieut. Atherton. Messengers ^ were also sent to carry
back a present that the Indians had lately sent as a peace
offering to the English. The Narragansets, alarmed at
these active demonstrations, sued for peace. Through the
mediation of Williams, to whose influence, now for the
second time within eight years, New England owed her
l)eace and safety, Pessicus, with two other principal sa-
chems, and a large train of attendants, came to Boston.
A treaty was concluded which bore heavily upon the Nar-
ragansets. They were to pay two thousand fathoms of ^'^•
wampum in four equal instalments, the last at the end of
two years. Captives and canoes were to l)e mutually re-
stored by them and the Mohegans, and the disputes be-
tween them were to be settled by the Commissioners.
They were to give up all right to the Pequot country,
' Hubbard's -Xew England, ch. li. and Trumbull's Connecticut, i. 150-4.
'^ The declaration of war contains a summary of previous occurrences
•with the Indians, signed by John Winthrop, President, and is given at length
by Hubbard, ch. li. and in 2 M. H. C. vi. 454-62.
' Capt. Harding, Mr. Wilbore and Benedict Arnold — the latter as inter-
jireter, but he could not be found in Providence, and dared no longer to ven-
ture among the Indians, who charged him with misrepresenting their reply
two months previous. Roger Williams, whose influence was paramount with
the Indians, acted as interpreter on this occasion at the solicitation of the
messengers. (Knowles, 204.)
1G4'
198 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
which they had aided the English in conquering. Other
hard terms were enforced, and hostages were required of
16 45. them. Sadly they signed this compulsory and oppressive
treaty, and sullenly they retired to their native fastnesses
to brood over the wrongs thus newly inflicted. The se-
vere exaction almost ruined them. The following spring
they failed to send the tribute, and when a small- part
June only was sent the Commissioners refused to receive it un-
less they could have the whole that was due.
The remainder of this painful story, although it car-
ries us beyond the limit assigned to this chapter, is better
told here. The next year an extra meeting of the New
England Commissioners was called on account of the fail-
ure of the Narragansets to fulfil the treaty, and of their
alleged attempts to allure the Mohawks to unite in a war
against the Enolish. A threatenino; letter was sent to
Pessicus requiring his appearance at Boston. He excused
his attendance on the plea of sickness, declared that he
had been forced by fear to accept the treaty, and prom-
ised to send Ninigret, sachem of the subordinate tribe of
Nianticks, to Boston, and to abide by any agreement he
. ^^^ should .make. When Ninigret came before the Commis-
3. sioners he denied all knowledge of the treaty, or of any
reason why the Narragansets should pay tribute to the
English, to whom they owed nothing. The case being
explained to him, he desired ten days to send borne for
the wampum, while he remained as a hostage. His mes-
senger brought back but two hundred fathoms, which
Ninigret attributed to his absence. It was finally agreed
that he should pay a thousand fathoms within twenty
days, and the rest by the next spring, upon which condi-
tion he was dismissed.
The wampum was not paid. Why should it be 1
When we consider the foul death of their almost idolized
chieftain, to avenge which — not upon the English, its real
authors, but upon Uncas, their ruthless tool — they had
EXPEDITION OF ATHEETON. 199
hegini a war after due notice given, as agreed, to the chap.
EngilJi, wheat first gave their consent ; and that then the .^^..^.1^
Eii*riit*h had marched an army against them, and by ter- 16 47.
r.jr liad forced them to a treaty of which the avowed ob-
ject was to disable them, we cannot blame Pessicus for
disavowing, or Ninig-ret for ignorino; it, or either for neg-
lecting to comply with its provisions. Again messengers
were sent to the Narragansets without effect. Rumors of j^-j^g
an Indirin alliance continued to alarm the colonists, who
persisted in identifying the cause of Uncas with their
own, and in considering any attempt of the Narragansets 16 4 9.
to avenge their wrongs upon the Mohegans as a conspiracy
against themselves. An abortive attempt was made to
assassinate Uncas. Another special meeting of the United j ,
Colonies was called upon this occasion, and Ninigret again 23.
appeared to excuse his breach of faith, and to defend the
recent attack upon the mortal foe of his tribe. The pa-
tience of the English was exhausted in this last fruitless
effort to obtain the tribute. The next year the Commis-
sioners sent Capt. Atherton with twenty men to collect
it. Pessicus tried in vain to avoid an interview while he
assembled his warriors. Seeing this, Atherton forced his gept.
way, pistol in hand, into the wigwam, and seizing the sa- 5.
chem by the hair, dragged him from the midst of his at-
tendants, threatening instant death if any resistance was
offered. This summary conduct, wliich reflects more
credit on the courage of the Captain, than on the justice
or the policy of his government, produced the desired re-
sult. The debt was paid. The troopers departed, leav-
ing behind them, in Indian memory, one more act of
wrong and insult to ranlde till the day of retribution.
From the murder of Miantinomi, down to the savage ex-
pedition of Atherton, the whole seven years is filled with
acts of aggression and of unjust interference on one side,
and with the haughty protests of an injured, a high-spir-
ited, and a feebler race oi Indians on the other.
SLOO HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLANT
164'
CHAPTEK VII.
164T— lfi51.
HISTORY OF THE INCORPORATION OF PROVIDENCE PLANTA-
TIONS FROM THE ADOPTION OF THE PARLIAMENTARY CHAR-
TER, MAY, 1647, TO THE USURPATION OF CODDINGTON, AU-
GUST, 1651.
" The Incorporation of Providence Plantations in the
VII. ' Narraganset Bay in New England," was the legal title
under which the several settlements in Rhode Island were
united by the terms of the patent. The origin of this
charter wo have already noticed. Its peculiar character
deserves attention. It was very general in its provisions,
and conferred absolute independence on the colony. The
single proviso with which it was fettered, to wit that " the
laws, constitutions and punishments, for the civil govern-
ment of the said plantation, be conformable to the laws
of England," was practically annulled in the same sen-
tence by the subjoined words, " so far as the nature and
constitution of that place will admit." Thus the people
were left free to enact their own laws, for this qualifying
clause in effect defeated the proviso. No charter had ever
oeen granted up to that time which conferred so ample
powers upon a community, and but one as free has ever
emanated since from the throne of a monarch.
The other remarkable feature in this instrument con-
sists, not in what it specified, but in what it omitted.
The use of the word " civd," everywhere prefixed to the
ORGANIZATION UNDER THE FIRST PATENT. 201
terms " government " or " laws/' wherever they occur in chap
the patent, served to restrict the operation of the charter v_^^
to purely political concerns. In this apparent restriction 1647.
there lay concealed a boon of freedom, such as man had
never known before. A grant so great no language could
convey, for the very use of words would imply the power
to grant, and hence the co-ordinate power to refuse.
Here was the essence of the Rhode Island doctrine. They
held themselves accountable to God alone for their relig-
ious creed, and no earthly power could bestow on them a
right they held from Heaven. Hence the expressive si-
lence of the charter on the subject of religious freedom.
At their own request their powers were limited to civil
matters. Beyond this a silence more significant than
language proclaimed the triumph of soul-liberty.
More than three years had elapsed since the patent
was obtained, and for thirty-two months, since its recep-
tion, it had served only as an apology for the self-consti-
tuted governments of the several towns. The higher ob-
ject for which it was designed could no longer be kept in
abeyance. The necessity of union was daily becoming
more apparent. So long as distinct organizations were
maintained, a color of plausibility was given to the con-
stant efforts of the neighboring colonies to impair its va-
lidity. The difficulties in the way of consolidation were
at length overcome. A General Assembly of the people
was held at Portsmouth. Providence sent ten delegates May
to act for her. The records of Portsmouth and Newport 19-21-
do not show that any were chosen from those towns, al-
though it is probable that this was done. Warwick was
not named in the charter, and her records do not begin
till after this Assembly, but she was admitted to the same
privileges with the rest at the opening of the session.
This first General Assembly was in fact a meeting of
the Corporators formally to adopt the charter, and then
to organize a government under it. It was not simply a
202 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, convention of delegates but of the whole people. A ma*
^__^ jority being j)resent their acts were binding upon the whole,
16 47. as is expressed in the opening of the Assembly, when,
J9.21. having first chosen Mr. John Coggeshall, Moderator. " It
was voted and found, that the major part of the colony
wei'e present at this Assembly, whereby was full power to
transact." The next step was to provide against the
withdrawal of so great a number as to defeat the object
of the meeting by putting a stoj) to legislation. For this
purpose the number of forty was agreed upon, who, in case
the rest should depart, were required to remain " and act
as if the whole were present, and be of as full authori-
ty." In the establishment of this compulsory quorum
we see the germ of the representative system, which the
increasing number of the colonists now rendered necessa-
ry. The Assembly being thus organized, and the initia-
tory steps taken to secure its permanence and authority,
" It was agreed that all should set their hands to an en-
gagement to the charter." The engagement is embodied
in the pr.eamble to the code of laws adopted at this time,
and hence has no signatures. This was a safer course to
pursue, as the other might imjjly that those only were
bound by the charter who had given in their written con-
sent. The Assembly then adopted the representative
system, by ordering that '' a week before any General
Court, notice should be given to every town by the head
officer, that they choose a committee for the transaction
of the affairs there," and they also provide for a proxy
vote in the words " and such as go not may send their
votes sealed." After unanimously adopting a code of
laws, which had been prepared previous to the meeting,
for the government of the colony, they proceeded to elect
by ballot the general officers, to continue for one year, or
till new be chosen.
John Coggeshall was chosen President of the Province
or Colony, with one Assistant from each town, viz. : Roger
MODE OF PASSING GENERAL LAWS. 203
Williams of Providence, John Sandford of Portsmouth, chap
William Coddington of Newport, and Kandal Holden of ^^
Warwick. William Dyer was chosen General Recorder, 164 7.
and Jeremy Clarke, Treasurer. iy-2i.
The mode of passing general laws was then prescribed,
and deserves attention for the care with which it provides
for obtaining a free expression of the opinions of the whole
people. All laws were to be first discussed in the towns.
The town first proposing it was to agitate the question in
town meeting and conclude by vote. The town clerk was
to send a copy of what was agreed on to the other three
towns, who were likewise to discuss it and take a vote in
town meeting. They then handed it over to a commit-
tee of six men from each town, freely chosen, which com-
mittees constituted " the General Court," who were to
assemble at a call for the purpose, and, if they found the
majority of the colony concurred in the case, it was to
stand as a law " till the next General Assembly of all the
people," who were finally to decide whether it should con-
tinue as law or not. Thus the laws emanated directly
from the people. The General Court had no power of re-
vision over cases already presented, but simply the duty
of promulgating the laws with which the towns had in-
trusted them. The right to originate legislation was,
however, vested in them to be carried out in this way.
When the Court had disposed of the matters for which
It was called, should any case be presented upon which
the public good seemed to require their action, they were
to debate and decide upon it. Then each committee, on
returning to their town, was to report the decision, which
was to be debated and voted upon in each town ; the
v^otes to be sealed and sent by each town clerk to the
General Eecorder, who, in presence of the President, was
to count the votes. If a majority were found to have
adopted the law, it was to stand as such till the next
General Assembly should confirm or repeal it. Thejeal-
204 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE INLAND.
CHAP, ousy with which the people maintained their rights, and
^^ the checks thus put upon themselves in the exercise of the
16 4 7. law-making power, as displayed in this preliminaiy act,
19-21 present most forcibly the union of the two elements of
liberty and law in the Ehode Island mind.
The " Court of Election " was appointed for '* the first
Tuesday after the fifteenth of May, annually, if wind and
weather hinder not ; then the General Court of trials im-
mediately to succeed.'' The manner and time of organ-
izing monthly and quarterly Courts, was left-to the town
councils of Newport and Portsmouth to arrange within
thirty days. From them had emanated the code of laws,
and to them it was intrusted to perfect the means of en-
forcing that code. Acts were passed regulating the pow-
ers of the towns in specific cases, and requiring that six
men, to compose a town council, should be chosen by each
town at its next meeting. " The sea laws, otherwise
called Laws of Oleron," were adopted " for the benefit of
seamen upon the island," and two water bailies ' were
chosen for the colony. An anchor was adopted as the
seal of the Province. Reciprocal duties with foreign na-
tions, upon all imported goods, except beaver, were estab-
lished, and they were prohibited from trade with the In-
dians. A military system, very like the one adopted
seven years before at Aquedneck, was ordered.^ No arms
or ammunition were to be sold to the Indians under a
heavy penalty. The remoter settlements were apportioned
among the towns. Newport was to have the trading posts
in the Narraganset country ; Portsmouth, the island of
Prudence, and the people of Pawtuxet were allowed their
choice to belong to Providence, Portsmouth or Newport,
A letter was ordered to be sent to them to make their se-
lection, and another to Massachusetts respecting her claim
to jurisdiction over them.^ A form of engagement for the
' John Cooke and Thomas Brownell. '' Ante, chap. v. p. 145.
^ These letters cannot be found on the records of Massachusetts or Rhode
Island.
RECIPROCAL ENGAGEMENT OF THE STATE TO ITS OFFICERS. 205
officers was adopted, and what in our day seems curious, chap
but is not the less just, a form for " The reciprocal en- _^_
gasement of the State to the officers" was agreed upon 16 47.
as tollows : — 19-21.
" We the inhabitants of the Province of Providence
Plantations, being here orderly met, and having, by free
vote chosen you to public office, as officers for the
due administration of justice and the execution thereof,
throughout the whole Colony, do hereby engage ourselves,
to the utmost of our power, to support and uphold you in
your faithful performance thereof." The clerk of the As-
sembly represented the State in giving and receiving these
engagements.
A tax of one hundred pounds was levied, as a free gift
to Mr. Koger Williams, for his labor in obtaining the char-
ter. Of this Newport was to pay one-half, Portsmouth
thirty, and Providence twenty pounds. By this appor-
tionment it appears that Newport had rapidly advanced
in wealth. Although the latest settled, she was already
equal to the two older towns, and the island embraced
four-fifths of the strength of the Province. Warwick was
too weak as yet to bear any part of the burden.
The preamble and bill of rights, prefixed to the code
of civil and criminal law adopted at this time, is a re-
markable production. Brief, simple and comprehensive,
the preamble asserts in a few words the two cardinal doc-
trines of the founders of Rhode Island. It declares " that
the form of government established in Providence Plan-
tations is Democratical, that is to say, a government held
by the free and voluntary consent of all, or the greater
part, of the free inhabitants." This position was no less
novel and startling to the statesmen of that day, than
was the idea of religious freedom, which, in the next enact-
ing clause, it carefully guards. Both of these principles
were exclusively Rhode Island doctrines, and to her be-
longs the credit of them both. Tliis first General Assem-
206 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
CHAP, bly aimed to adopt a code that should secure each of these
.^^.^^^ objects, and thus be " suitable to the nature and consti--
1647. tution of the place/' They succeeded ; and we hazard
19-2L little in saying that the digest of 1647, for simplicity of
diction, unencumbered as it is by the superfluous verbiage
that clothes our modern statutes in learned obscurity ; for
breadth of comprehension, embracing as it does the foun-
dation of the whole body of law, on every subject, which
has since been adopted ; and for vigor and originalfty of
thought, and boldness of expression, as weU && for the
vast significance and the brilliant triumph of the princi-
ples it embodies, presents a model of legislation which has
never been surpassed.
The bill of rights embraces in concise terms, under
four distinct heads, the fundamental principles of all our
subsequent legislation. In the first it re-enacts a clause
of Magna Charta guaranteeing the liberty and property
of the person, and guards against constructive felonies,
which at that time were sapping the foundations of Eng-
lish liberty, by restricting criminal suits to violations of
the letter of the law. In the second it prevents the as-
sumption or the abuse of delegated power, by forbidding
any to hold office who are not lawfully called to it, and re-
quiring those who are, to perform neither more nor less
than their proper duties. These two heads secure the
rights of individuals against the government. The third
protects the right of minorities against the majority, by
restricting the legislative power of the Assembly to laws
" founded upon the charter, and rightly derived from the
General Assembly, lawfully met and orderly managed."
The last section requires that adequate compensation be
paid to all officers, that every man should serve when
elected or submit to a fine, and that " in case of imminent
danger no man shall refuse." In conclusion they proceed
to adopt generally the common law of England, with the
reiterated restriction that they enact only " such of them
RIGHTS AND CODE OF LAWS. 207
and SO far, ab the nature and constitution of our place chap.
will admit." lT].«on this all-important saving clause in ..^^^.^
the charter they i-iid great stress. It was their guarantee 16 4 7.
and shield of independence. Under their patent they 19.21.
claimed tliat they could do as they pleased, so long as
they did not violate any law of England, and they acted
accordingly. Practically they declared that " their gov-
ernment derived all its just powers from the consent of the
governed," and expressly they estahhshed, for the first
time in the history of the modern world, a " Democratical
form of government." To secure this and their cherished
idea of religious freedom, were the two objects aimed at
throughout the digest of laws then adopted. For these
high purposes they sacrificed their early predilections for
English laws wherever they conflicted with them. They
commenced their career as an' independent State, by vir-
tue of a charter that made them such, and which they
knew, although it might be forfeited by abuse, could not
be revoked at pleasure. Their statutes were so framed
as to be within both its letter and its spirit, and so long
as this was the case they felt secure in their liberties.
The code, in its divisions of the law, is not remarka-
ble for precision, and the definitions of crime are not such
as we should find at this day in a work on criminal juris-
prudence ; but the meaning is clear and unmistakable.
Each offence is separately defined, and its penalty dis-
tinctly stated. A feeling of humanity pervades the whole,
as if the object were to repress crime rather than to pun-
ish it. In this point it presents a striking contrast to the
vindictive spirit of cotemporary codes ; sometimes indeed
erring, it may be, on the side of mercy, and ever display-
ing a marked respect for the righls of conscience. An
instance of the former peculiarity is found in the statute
against burglary, of which the penalty was death, save
where the convict was under fourteen years of age, or was
a poor person impelled by hunger to commit the crime ;
208 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
in which case it was declared to be larceny. The pream-
ble to the law against perjury well illustrates the regard
felt for private scruples. "Forasmuch as the consciences
of sundry men, truly conscionable, may scruple the giving
or the taking of an oath, and it would be nowise suitable
to the nature and constitution of our place, who profess
ourselves to be men of different consciences and not one
willing to force another, to debar such as cannot do so,
either from bearing office among us or from giving in testi-
mony in a case depending ; be it enacted by the authority
of this present Assembly, that a solemn profession or tes-
timony in a court of record, or before a judge of record,
shall be accounted, throughout the whole colony, of as
full force as an oath ; " and then it proceeds to decree the
penalty of perjury against any who should falsify such
testimony. This deference to conscientious motives is the
more remarkable as at that time the Friends did not yet
exist as a distinct society, holding to the unlawfulness of
oaths. It is a practical and legal exposition of the Rhode
island doctrine upon one of the very subjects for which
the Founder of the State had suffered twelve years be-
fore.' The law for the recovery of debts contains a pro-
vision in behalf of the honest debtor, which later codes
might well embody — " but he shall not be sent to prison,
there to lie languishing to no man's advantage, unless he
refuse to appear or to stand to their order."
Marriage was held as a civil contract throughout New
England. The statute required the banns to be published
at two town meetings, and confirmed before the chief offi-
cer of the town. It was then to be entered on the town
records, thus providing, in that early day, a registry of
marriage, such as recent legislation has attempted to re-
vive. The statute regulating the probate of wills con-
tains a singular provision in the case of intestates, or of
' On 30th April, 1635, Roger Williams was called before the Council for
his views on the matter of oaths. Chap. i. p. 30, ante.
ARCHERY PRESCRIBED BY STATUTE. 209
executors declinino; to act. The town council were to chap,
have an inventory taken, and then to distribute the estate ,_^_
among the heirs at law, appointing an executor for that 1^^"
purpose ; in other words, they were to make a will for ]9.2i.
him. This was a common thing, and many such quasi
testaments remain upon the town records, in some of
which a largely discretionary power appears to have been
exercised by the councils.^ It was not unusual to prove
a will in the presence of the testator, before his death.
The instrument being executed, and witnesses examined,
it was returned to the testator duly certified, and after
his decease testamentary letters were issued to the execu-
tor. The advantage of this course where questions of
sanity or fraud are involved is obvious.
There are very many points in this digest that make
it an interesting study, illustrative of the progressive
views of our ancestors, and of the dangers that surrounded
them. We can allude to but one other statute, bearing
upon the latter point. So important was the subject of
archery considered, in view of the menaces to which they
were exposed from warlike tribes, whose weapon was the
bow, and of their own liability to be deprived of the use
of their tire-arms from want of ammunition, that it was
not left, like the other laws relating to military defence,
to be established in the acts and orders of Assembly, but
was embodied in the code itself Every man between the
ages of seventeen and seventy was required to keep a bow
and four arrows, and to exercise with them ; and every
father was to furnish each son, from seven to seventeen
years old, with a bow, two arrows and shafts, and to bring
' Judge Staples says upon this subject : " They were not simply a division
and distribution of the estate of the deceased among his heirs at law, but in
one instance now in existence in the city clerk's ofBce in Providence, they dis-
posed of part of the real and personal estate to the widow, part for life and
))art in fee, and divided the residue among the children as tenants in fee tail
general, with cross remainders. This is believed to be pecuUar to this col-
ony.''' Code of 1647, p. 50, note.
VOL. I — 14
210 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, them up to shooting. Violation of this statute was pun-
.^^.^ ished by a fine which the father was to pay for the son,
164 7. the master for the servant, and to deduct it from his
May
19-21. wages.
At the close of the criminal and other general statutes
of the code occur these remarkable words : —
" These are the laws that concern all men, and these
are the penalties for the transgression thereof, which, by
common consent, are ratified and established throughout
the whole colony ; and, otherwise than thus 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 mo-
lestation, in the name of Jehovah their God, forever and
ever."
Thus they deny the existence of any crime not speci-
fied in the code, and expressly permit any act not therein
forbidden. The famous statutes of 2d Elizabeth, con-
cerning uniformity and ecclesiastical supremacy were not
" conformable to the nature and constitution of the place.'*
The code preserves as significant a silence on this subject
as does the charter upon which it is based, while the last
clause of this appended sentence proves that it was by no
oversight that the aforenamed acts of intolerance were
not recognized in Rhode Island.
The concluding sections of the code, " Touching the
public administration of justice," relate to the appoint-
ment of officers, very fully defining the duties of each,
and regulate the proceedings in Courts. By- these it ap-
pears that the President and Assistants had no part in
legislation. That power was reserved to the General As-
sembly of all the people, and "to the Courts of Commis-
sioners, six from each town, appointed at this time. Thus
it remained until altered by the royal charter. They
composed the General Court of Trials, having cognizance
of weighty offences, and were also a Court of Appeal in
DEATH OF CANONICUS. 211
cases that were too difficult for the town Courts to decide.
Causes between different towns, or between citizens and
strangers were also tried by them. This Court met in 1647,
May and October. The town Courts had original juris- 19 2J.
diction in suits among their own citizens. The President
was conservator of the Peace over the colony, and the As-
sistants in their respective towns, where they also acted
as Coroners. Besides these officers there were a General
Recorder, a Public Treasurer, and a General Sergeant ;
afterwards ' a General Attorney and a General Solicitor
were added. ^
Such were the proceedings of the first General As-
sembh' of Rhode Island. From them we may gather the
spirit of all her subsequent legislation, and with a knowl-
edge of the condition of affairs in England, and in the
neighboring colonies at tbis period, we may almost foresee
the leading events of her history. The young Common-
wealth was now fairly started on its career of progress,
with no precedents to guide its earnest statesmen in their
perplexities ; nothing but their own clear minds and
strong hearts could aid them in solving the two grandest
problems in civil government. Well has the philosophi-
cal historian of the United States said of Rhode Island :
" Had the territory of the State corresponded to the im-
portance and singularity of the principles of its early ex-
istence, the world would have been filled with wonder at
the phenomena of its history.^"
The death of Canonicus, the earliest and firmest friend June
A.
of Rhode Island, took place at this time. The venerable
sachem of the Narragansets, who was an old man when
the first plantation was made at Pro\ddence, just lived to
■' In May, 1650.
^ The similarity between the Xew England Confederacy of 16-13 and the
National Confederation of 1783 has been often remarked ; but there is yet a
itronger resemblance in the relative position of the four towns of Rhode Island
in 1647, and the States of the Federal Union under the constitution of 1787.
3 Bancroft's Hist, of U. S., i. 380.
212 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, see the scattered and feeble settlements of the English
.^...^^^ united into one Province. He died at a critical period in
16 4 7. the history of his nation, when they were striving by vain
4 delays to evade the ruinous treaty imposed on them by
the New England confederates. As he passed in review
the events of his long and chequered life, it is no wonder
that his declining years wei-e clouded by gloomy forebod-
ings. Under the guidance of his warlike ancestor, Tash-
tassuck,^ the tribe had become a nation, and succiessive
conquests had swelled the nation into an empire. Long
before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, Canonicus
had inherited the sceptre of a wide-spread dominion, by
far the most powerful of any that were found by the Eng-
lish. He was " a wise and peaceable Prince," aiming
to advance his race in the arts of civilized life, even before
any contact with the English had made them acquainted
with the means and appliances of civilization. When
conquest had secured his kingdom war was laid aside ;
commerce and manufactures, limited and rude to be sure,
were encouraged, and the Narragansets became rich as
well as strong, spreading the knowledge of their language
and the customs of their trade over a region of more than
six hundred miles in extent.'^ But the spell of their power
was broken when the Pilgrims received the proposal of
Ousamequin, or Massasoit, to form a friendly alliance.
The defection of the Pokanokets carried with them all
their subordinate tribes, and since that time one after
another of the native chiefs had deserted their j)roper
prince, to seek the dangerous protection of the English.
In all his intercourse with the English, from the time of
^ The Indian tradition is that he was greater than any prince in the coun-
try, and having two children, a son and daughter, whom he could not match
in dignity, he married them to each other. Their issue was four sous, of
whom Canouicus was the eldest. Hutchinson's Mass., i. 458, note. The Pe
ruvian Incas have a similar tradition respecting the origin of the founder of
their dynasty.
* Roger Williams' Key, p. 18.
NEWPORT AND PORTSMOUTH DISAGREE. 213
his first treaty to the day of his death, they could never chap.
* VTT
charge him with violated faith. Yet he could name ten , ^,
different instances in which their solemn pledge to him 16 47.
and his tribe had been broken. " I have never suffered
any W' rong to be offered to the English since they landed,
nor never will ; — if the Englishman speak true, if he
mean truly, then shall I go to my grave in peace, and
hope that the English and my posterity shall live in love
and peace together." These were the truthful and half-
desponding words once spoken by him to the Founder of
Khode Island, " in a solemn Assembly." There were
reasons, and he recounted ten, for the doubting spirit that
oppressed him, and wliich imparted to his language the
saddening force of an omen. With the settlers of Rhode
Island, whom he had received in their weakness, he ever
maintained the most intimate and friendly relatious ; and
it should be said in justice to our ancestors that, from
them, he never had cause to repent or to withhold his
kindness. That he suffered from the jealousy of the other
colonies, who were hostile alike to him and to them, is no
fault of theirs ; while the fact that his unwavering fidel-
ity to the founders of Rhode Island was the principal
cause of his disasters, affords ample reason why their
descendants should revere his virtues and embalm his
memory.
The union of the towns under one government did not
serve to heal the disputes with which each one was more
or less disturbed. Their distinct powers were in no de-
gree abridged by the compact they had formed. Their
local affairs were as much under their own control as be-
fore, and we shall soon see that even the burden of a gen-
eral union, so essential to their strength, was more than
they could bear. Between Newport and Portsmouth a
difficulty arose as to their relative positions under the new
government. For the past seven years they had, for the
most part, acted together as one colony. Whether to
214 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, continue thus, or to act as separate towns, wliicla was the
,.^.^_;^ reasonable construction of the charter, appears to have
164 7. been the question. The loss of the Newport records of
this period leaves us only the fragmentary notices of meet-
ings at Portsmouth, from which to conjecture the real na-
ture and extent of this difference. By these it appears
6. that certain messengers, sent by Newport to Portsmouth,
were informed "that if they will joyn with us to act ac-
cording to the General Corte order for this year we are
redie thereto, if not we must go bye ourselff by the corte
order." It also appears that forty-one votes were given
in Newport to act jointly, and twenty-four to act alone.
Aug. It was proposed to call a special meeting of the General
Assembly, but the grounds for so doing were deemed in-
1647-8. sufficient. A few months later it was " voted unani-
27* mously by the freemen of Portsmouth that they would
act apart by themselves, and not jointly with Newport,
and be as free in their transactions as anie of the other
towns in the colonic." Providence was more distracted
than either of the others by domestic difficulties, and
many were the expedients proposed by her citizens to se-
cure tranquillity. But they were too general in their na-
ture, not bearing directly upon the specific causes of con-
Dec, tention, to effect their object. One of these agreements
adopted at Providence is transcribed by Judge Staples,'
who justly says that little good could come of such instru-
ments, since those who signed them did not need them,
and those who required them would not agree to them,
and that every one was left as before to decide whether
his own or other's acts were in accordance with their letter
or spirit, and hence they would afford new causes of dis-
pute, thereby endangering the peace they were intended
to promote. The democratic element was too strongly
infused, and the conservative principles that underlie it
were as yet too little understood by a portion of the peo-
' Annals of Providence, p. 70.
GORTON AND WINSLOW IN ENGLAND. 215
pie, to admit of that perfect harmony in civil concerns chap.
which the successful application of the same doctrine of ^^
individual responsibility had already produced among 16 4 7.
them in religious matters. It is an easier thing to apply
the principle of personal liberty in religion than in poli-
tics, in the affairs that relate solely to man and his Maker,
than in those that pertain to human intercourse. Both
applications of the great idea were equally novel. The
one had already met with triumphant success, for eleven
years of trial among men of various and earnest faith,
had established its practicability, while the other was still
an experiment of which the result as yet appeared doubtful.
Gorton still remained in England, where his presence
was required to counteract the designs of the Massachu-
setts agent. Winslow attempted to justify the conduct
of his government towards the men of Shawomet, by de-
nouncing their heresies, but could not satisfy the Admi-
ralty that the Massachusetts had any jurisdiction beyond
the bounds of their patent, although he pleaded that,
" 1st, they were within the jurisdiction of Plymouth or
Connecticut, and so the order of the Commissioners of the
United Colonies had left them to those of the Massachu-
setts ; and 2d, the Indians, upon whose land they dwelt,
had subjected themselves and their land to their govern-
ment." ' Upon this the committee of Parliament again
wrote to Massachusetts, referring to their letter of the jj^^^
previous year, and declaring that " we intended not there- 25.
by to encourage any appeals from your justice, nor to re-
strain the bounds of your jurisdiction to a narrower com-
pass than is held forth by your Letters Patent, but to
leave you with all that freedom and latitude that may, in
any respect, be duly claimed by you," and adding that if
it proves, as claimed, that Narraganset Bay falls within
the limits of Plymouth patent, it " will much alter the
state of the question." Soon afterwards the committee
Hubbard's New England, 507. Winthrop ii. 317.
216 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, wrote another letter, saying that they could not decide
,^_^__, whether Shawomet was covered by any of the New Eng-
16 4 7. land patents, without an examination on the spot, but if
02.' it should so prove they " commend it to the government,
within whose jurisdiction they shall appear to be, not
only not to remove them from their plantations, but also
to encourage them with protection and assistance, in all
fit ways ; provided that they demean themselves peacea-
bly, &c." Letters to the same effect were sent to the
other New England governments. '
It is difficult to see what encouragement could be
drawn from these letters, by the parties to w^hom they are
addressed, yet the Puritan chroniclers are jubilant over
the jjrospect of having their illegal and outrageous pro-
ceedings sanctioned by Parliament, and their agent at
once " proceeded to have the charter, which they had
lately granted to those of Rhode Island and Providence,
to be called in, as lying within the patent of Plymouth
or Connecticut." In this we know he signally failed.
The. town of Warwick being received into the corpo-
Aiig. ration on equal terms with those mentioned in the char-
^* ter, conformed to the orders of Assembly by electing a
town council, and commenced keeping records. They
" made a compact, instigated by their position in regard to
Massachusetts, and by the troubles resulting at Pawtuxet
from the same source, binding themselves not to convey
their property by sale, gift, or otherwise to any but those
who should sign this agreement, and prohibiting such
conveyance to any other jurisdiction on pain of disfran-
chisement and of forfeiture of the whole estate to the
town. This article formed the fundamental law of the
town. Every inhabitant was required to sign his name to
it. It was confirmed a few months later,^ and was always
known as " the grand law."
' Both of these letters are given in "Winthrop, ii. 318-20, and are copieJ
by Hubbnrd, chap. Iv.
^ 23d January, 1648. See Warwick records.
RETURN OF GORTON. 217
But the Massacliusetts were careful not to lose their chap
hold upon Warwick through any lapse of watchfulness. .__^_^
Some of their subjects had settled there, and the Indians 1 •> i 7.
of Shawomet were under their protection. Complaints
were made by both of these of injuries received from in-
truders. The corn of the natives had been destroyed, and
an English house had been forcibly entered and its occu-
pant threatened. The General Court sent three messen- 1647-8.
gers to warn off the depredators, and to compel restitu- *^^'"^"-
tion. In case they did not obtain satisfaction at War-
wick, they were to proceed to Aquedneck and Providence,
and demand of the authorities there whether they sanc-
tioned these acts.'
Gorton, no doubt satisfied that Winslow could effect 1^^ 8'
nothing, returned to America in the spring. As in the
case of Holden, the Court, upon his arrival at Boston, or-
dered his arrest. A letter which he brought from the
Earl of Warwick saved him from imprisonment, although
so many favored violent proceedings, that the most urgent
considerations of State policy alone prevented the Earle's
request from being disregarded ; and Gorton was allowed
to pass safely to his home only by the casting vote of the
Governor.
The General Assembly was then in session at Provi- ^^
dence. Two messengers ^ were sent to Boston with a let-
ter " concerning the Warwick business," but on reaching
Dedham they heard that the General Court was adjourned,
and one of them, Barton, a resident of Warwick, wrote 22.
to Gov. Winthrop to ascertain how he would be received
by him if he continued his journey. What reply, if any,
was made to this letter, does not appear. The terms in
which it is expressed are almost servile in their extreme
courtesy. The narrow escape that Gorton had just had,
although protected by the powerful Earl of Warwick,
' Their instructions are found in M. C. R., ii. 228.
'■' Captain Clarke and Rufus Barton.
218 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
CHAP, might Avell teach caution to the humble envoy of Khode
Island, and the more so as he was one of the outlawed
16 4 8. company, perhaps himself involved in the recent com-
'' ■ plaints. His letter would not here be noticed but for the
use made of it by Hubbard, the absurdity of which is too
palpable to be passed over. He says : " By the style o
this letter it appears how this company were crest-fallen,
who but a little before had a mouth speaking great tilings
and blasphemies ; but thanks be unto God, they had not
power to continue very long ; for being now -reduced to a
little more sobriety in their language and behavior, they
were permitted quietly to enjoy their possessions at Shaw-
omet. This was the issue of the address made by these
Gortonists to the Commissioners, who after the great
clamor and noise they had made could make nothing ap-
pear of that which they had affirmed." That the man-
date of the Lord High Admiral of England, and of the
Commissioners of Plantations should depend for its fulfil-
ment upon the courtly expressions of a letter from an
humble inhabitant of Warwick to the magnates of Mas-
sachusetts, will excite a smile. That after this the Gor-
tonists " were permitted quietly to enjoy their posses-
sions," should have caused them to feel ever grateful to
their courteous messenger, who had so softened the hearts
of their magnanimous oppressors.^ Notwithstanding the
concluding assertion of the Ipswich divine, the event
proved that they made enough to appear not only to pre-
vent the Parliament from revoking their first decision in
* Taking Hiibbard's absurd comment as correct, no more palpable instance
can be found in history of the truth of the maxim that " nothing is lost by
civility." Winthrop inserts Barton's letter, addressed to himself, but does not
say what he did about it, nor does he make any comments upon it. The
bifotry of Hubbard must have been of the most Pharisaical and self-satisfy-
ing kind to enable him to draw, from a private letter of the Warwick mes-
senger, any solace for the wound inflicted upon ecclesiastical pretension by
triumphant heresy. To attribute, as he does, to the accidental phraseology
of such a letter the subsequent compulsory forbearance of the Puritans, is
simplj ridiculous.
ORGANIZATION OF THE COURT OF COMMISSIONERS. 219
favor of the Gortonists, but also to have it confirmed, a chap.
few years later, by Royal charter, to the final discomfiture .^.^^^
of their implacable enemies. 16 48.
An amendment of the law organizing the General
Court was now made. This Court, composed of six men
chosen from each town, soon came to be in fact the Gen-
eral Assembly, although if any others chose to remain,
those whose help was desired were allowed to do so. In
case any town refused to elect members, the Court, by
this amendment, was required to choose for them. The
General Court, as now constituted, was often called the
Court of Commissioners, or the " Committee " — a name
still preserved in styling the two branches of Assembly,
when united for the choice of ofiicers, " the Grand Com-
mittee." The act making this body a General Court of
trials was continued. In their judicial capacity they were
to hear causes in the place where the action arose or the
criminal was arrested, and at such times as were appointed
by law. Hence, we presume, arose the custom, existing
until a recent date, of the General Assembly's meeting in
the difierent chief towns of the State.
The first business of the Assembly, or " General Court
of Election," as it was termed, when opened for the
choice of general officers, was to go into the election. A
Moderator and Clerk were chosen ; the State officers were
then elected. The Clerk of Assembly was required to
send a copy of the proceedings to each town.
The changes made at this time were remarkable, when
we consider that it was the first election since the gov-
ernment was organized. They indicate already the exist-
ence of opposing parties. William Coddington was elect-
ed President, Roger Williams of Providence, William
Balston of Portsmouth, John Smith of Warwick, and
Jeremy Clarke of Newport, Assistants. The latter was
also continued in his office of Treasurer. Philip Sher-
man was chosen General Recorder, and Alexander Par-
220 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
CHAP, tridge, General Sergeant. By the list of the twenty-four
.J.^ members of this Assembly, it appears that one might be
1 6 48. a member from any town, and at the same time a general
^^' officer. The towns were ordered to meet within ten days
to choose their town officers. The " Act made and agreed
upon for the well-ordering of this Assembly," correspond-
ing to our modern " Rules and Orders," is worthy of at-
tention for the conciseness and simplicity with which it
regulates the business and decorum of the legislative
body. , '
" It is ordered, That y^ Moderator shall cause y'' Clark
of y^ Assembly to call over the names of the Assembly.
" That the Moderator shall appoint every mun to take
his place.
" That all matters presented to the Assembly's con-
sideration, shall be presented in writing by bill.
" That each bill be fairly discust, and if by y' major
vote of the Assembly it shall be putt to a committee to
draw up an order, which being concluded by y" vote,
shall stand for an order threwout y" whole colony.
" That the Moderator shall putt all matters to vote.
" That every man shall have liberty to speak freely to
any matter propounded yett but once, unless it be by
lease from y' Moderator.
" That he that stands uj) first uncovered, shall speake
first to the cause.
" That the Moderator by y^ vote of y Assembly shall
rejourne or dissolve y" Court, and not without, at his
great perile.
" That he that shall returns not to his place at y*
time appointed, shall forfeitt sixpence.
" That they that whisper or disturb y' Court, or useth
nipping terms, shall forfeitt sixpence for every fault.'
" Wm. Dyre, Clerk of the Assembly."
* Were the latter rule, especially the last clause of it, now in force, it
would aid the revenue of the State ; although it might be difficult to define
■with the precision of a statute what should be held as " nipping terms."
CONTINUED DISAGREEMENT AT AQUEDNECK. 221
Complaints were made at this Assembly against the chap.
President elect. He was not jiresent at the election, nor ^^^•
did he appear to rejtel the charges, whatever they were, in 48.
That he was chosen to that high office under such circum- ^ '^- '
stances seems strange. As he continued to absent him-
self Jeremy Clark, Assistant, of Newport, was chosen to
fill his place temporarily, with the title of President Re-
gent ; and provision was made that in case of vacancy by
the death, or absence from the colony, of the President,
then the Assistant of that town from which the President
was chosen should supply his place.
The dissensions on the Island were not healed by this May
Assembly. Just before it met, the Town Clerk of Ports-
mouth was ordered to inform Newport of their decision to
act separately The proceedings of the Assembly seem
to have widened the breach. It appears that even " the
legality of the Corte and orders thereof" was questioned Jnly
by Portsmouth. There was evidently some serious trou-
ble on the Island, threatening the existence of the colo-
ny.' Portsmouth was disaffected, and the conduct of
Coddington favored the alienation. His subsequent acts
may furnish a clue to his motives at this time, Roger
Williams, who appears as a peacemaker in all the troubles
of the colony, wrote a letter to the town of Providence, Aug.
wherein he represents the State as distracted by two par-
ties, Portsmouth and its partisans being one, and the re-
maining three towns the other, and suggested a plan of
reference by which the dispute might be settled, viz. , that
Portsmouth and its friends should select three men, and
the other towns three, one from each, whose decision
' It is probable that this difference between Portsmouth and Newport re-
fen-ed to the Courts of trials which up to tliis time had been held jointly by
the two towns, but were now appointed by the General Assembly to be held
separately in each town. This vie\> is strengthened by the passage of an
act at the first meeting of the Assembly after the reunion, giving these towna
leave to hold their Courts jointly or apart as they pleased. See Act No. 13^
Sept. session, 1654.
222 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
should be final. Unfortunately Mr. Williams does not
mention the causes of disagreement. That aifairs in
16 4 8. England, now approaching a crisis, had some influence in
these contentions is more than probable. Coddington was
a royalist, and was about attempting to withdraw the
island from the other towns and unite it to Plymouth.
Clarke and Eastcn were republicans, and leaders of the
dominant party on the island.
The hostile attitude of the Indians, occasionecT by the
determination of the United Colonies to protect Uncas at
every hazard, from the punishment due to his crime at
the hand of the Narragansets, caused more- serious alarm
than ever betbre. The dissensions prevaiUng among them,
those of Shawomet and Pawtuxet owning allegiance to
Massachusetts, and viewing as enemies all Englishmen
whom she denounced, while the Niantics and Nipmucks
remained true to their j)roper princes, made the situation
of Khode Island, surrounded as she was by these dis-
^^pt- tracted and exasperated tribes, extremely perilous. The
inhabitants of Warwick sutfered severely from this cause.
A letter written by Mr. John Smith, Assistant, in behalf
of the town, was carried by Kandal Holden and John
Warner to Plymouth, where the New England Commis-
sioners were convened. They comj)]ained that the In-
dians had killed their cattle, abused their servants, en-
tered their houses by force, maltreating the occupants,
and stealing their goods ; and desired advice on the sub-
ject. This was a proper course to adopt, since those In-
dians were under their protection. But the island of
Khode Island went still further. Mr. Coddington, who
had been chosen President of the colony, but had never
taken his engagement, with Captain Partridge, the Gen-
eral Sergeant, presented, at the same time, a written re-
quest, signed by themselves in behalf of Khode Island,
" That wee the Ilanders of Roode Hand may be recaived
into combination with all the united colonyes of New
Sept.
AQUEDNECK ASKS TO JOIN^ THE N. ENGLAND LEAGUE. 223
England in a prime and perpetuall league of friendship chap.
and amity : of ofence and defence, Mutuall advice and .^^.^J^
succor upon all just occasions for our mutuall safety and 1^6 4 8;
wellfaire, and for preserving of peace amongst ourselves,
and preventing as much as may bee all occasions of warr
and Diference, and to this our motion we have the consent
of the major part of our Hand." '
This appears almost like an act of treason against the
colony ; much more so than those acts which a few years
later gave rise to the famous trials for that crime. But
the imminent danger to which they were exposed might
excuse a greater sacrifice than they proposed, while it
makes the refusal they received appear absolutely inhu-
man. That the islanders intended nothing more than a
defensive alliance which would not compromise their posi-
tion as members of the colony under the charter, may be
inferred from their refusal of the offered terms of safety.
It is unfortunate that any expression occurs in the petition
that could be construed as an allusion to their mternal
difficulties, for it strengthens the evidence that Codding-
ton, and many whom he represented, inclined to accede to
the terms imposed. The Commissioners, in their reply,
commiserate the petitioners uj^on their domestic strifes,
and the dangers of their position, but, claiming the island
to be within Plymouth patent, they refuse the request un-
less this claim should be recog-nized. This answer miofht
have been expected from the treatment Rhode Island had
before received."^ It is said that Coddington and the town
of Portsmouth were willing to accept the condition, but
were prevented by the other towns. Had they submitted
the charter would have been virtually annulled by the act
of its holders, and the schemes of the surrounding colo-
nies to appropriate the rest of the State might have
' Hazard's State Papers, ii. 99.
^ In Oct., 16iO, when a league was first proposed, and in May, 1643.
wlien it was formed.
12.
224 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, proved successful.' Rhode Island would soon have been
,2.^^ absorbed by Massachusetts and Connecticut.
16 48. The notice taken of the "Warwick complaint was rather
IQ * remarkable. The Commissioners wrote a letter to the
sachems, advising them to abstain from such conduct in
future, and telling them that, if. they received any injury
from the English, satisfaction should be given them, as the
like would be expected from them.^ The mildness of this
rebuke to their offending subjects, contrasts with, the se-
verity of the terms dictated to the islanders. Scarcely
had this missive been sent when letters were received from
Eoger Williams and others, warning the United Colonies
of preparations making by the Narragansets to renew the
war on Uncas. Messengers were sent to Pessacus requir-
ing him to desist, and demanding anew the arrears of
tribute. Acts of violence were becoming daily more fie-
quent. The United Colonies, as they were in no small
degree the cause of these outrages, were looked to for re-
dress by the sufferers. Henry Bull, of Newport, soon af-
Q . terward complained that he had been beaten by some
7. Narraganset Indians, and asked aid in obtaining satisfac-
tion. He was referred to Rhode Island for relief, and
further referred to the advice lately given to the islanders
how they might secure protection. A copy of the letter
to the sachems, that was given to the Warwick men, was
also furnished to him, " for his future security." This
paper, in the opinion of the Commissioners, possessed the
virtue of a passport.
^ Hutchinson, i. p. 150, note, says : " Plymouth would soon have been
swallowed up in Rhode Island from the great superiority of the latter. Be-
sides, the principles of the people of the two colonies were so different that a
junction must have rendered both miserable." But as Plymouth was herself
annexed to Massachusetts in 1692, when the provincial government was
formed under Sir William Phipps, the whole of Rhode Island, under this sup-
position, except the King's province, claimed by Connecticut, would then
have belonged to Massachusetts.
« Hazard, ii. 100-1.
CODDINGTON SAILS FOR ENGLAND. 225
Coddington, having failed In his attempt to detach the chap
island from the other towns, soon after sailed for England vjl^
to procure for it a separate charter. His design was not 1*348-9.
known at the time. His daughter accompanied him, and 29. .
Captain Partridge was left to manage his affairs, includ-
ing, no doubt, his political interests.
The discovery of what was supposed to be gold and
silver ore upon the island, caused great excitement in the
colony. A special meeting of the General Assembly was ^*^ch.
held at Warwick. No record of it remains, but by the
letter of Roger Williams, and from other sources, we are
informed of its proceedings. The distracted state of the
towns, and the importance attached to this discovery of
precious metals, probably led to the meeting. The vio-
lence of party sjjirit had so compromised many of the
leading men in the colony that, to the sagacious mind of
Williams, the only mode of escape from increasing dan-
ger was by the passage of a general " act of oblivion." At
his suggestion such an act was passed. Mr. Williams
was not present at that session, but was elected Deputy
President of the Colony, probably owing to his constant
efforts to promote peace. He declined the honor, and in
a letter to Mr. John Winthrop ^ says, " I hope they have
chosen a better," but they did not, and Mr. Williams
acted as President till the election in May.
^ The son of Gov. Winthrop of Massachusetts, himself afterwards Gover-
nor of Connecticut. The father died at this time, March, 1649, so that we
have no longer his reliable journal, the last entry in which is on Jan. 11th, as
a guide. This book, with its full and admirable notes by the editor, Hon.
James Savage, is worth all the other authorities on this period of New Ea<r-
laud history put together. The lines of Milton, quoted by the translator of
the Decameron, will apply with greater force to Savage's Winthrop's Jour-
nal: — ■■
" Hither, as to their fountains, other stars
Kepairing, in their golden urns draw light."
In fact they all draw from him, while Hubbard, whose General History of
New England was more esteemed when it was less known, in the only reliable
portion? of his work, copies verbatim from the MS. of Winthrop, which was
not then (1680) printed, and carefully conceals the source of his informatiou.
VOL. I 15
226 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. The Assembly passed an act taking possession of the
^^^..^..^ mines in the name of the State of England, and forbade
16 4 9. all persons from interfering with the ore. The Clerk pub-
lished the proclamation, and the arms of England and of
the Earl of Warwick were set up at the mine. Closer
examination dispelled the illusion. A more certain and
less demoralizing source of wealth has, within a few years,
been developed in the discovery of coal mines on the
island, now in profitable operation.'
14. Special charters of incorporation were granted at this
session to the several towns. That of Providence, granted
on petition of the town, is given by Judge. Staples, and
follows closely the terms of the colonial charter. War-
wick had one of the same date. The Portsmouth records
of their next town meeting held for the election of officers,*^
refer to " the particular charter granted unto them for
choosing their town oflScers." A similar one must have
been given to Newport at the same time.
w The intolerance of the General Court of Massachu-
2. setts was again shown towards Randal Holden, who peti-
tioned that his sentence of banishment might be revoked,
to enable him to give his personal attention to some bus-
iness that required his presence in Boston. The favor
was refused, and he was informed that his affairs could
be as well conducted by an attorney as by himself.^
22. The regular session of the Court of Commissioners
was held at Warwick and lasted four days.. John Smith
of Warwick was chosen President ; Thomas Olney of
Providence, John Sandford of Portsmouth, John Clarke
' An account of these mines with the causes of their failure when first
opened, and the reasons for their subsequent success, is given by Dr. Jackson
in his Report on the Geological Survey of Rhode Island, made in 184(1, p.
95-104. Since the date of this Report the business has been revived, and is
now conducted with profitable results.
^ On first Monday of June, 1649.
= M. C. R., ii. 275.
FRAUDULENT VOTING. SALE OF SPIRITS FORBIDDEN. 227
of Newport, and Samuel Gorton of Warwick, Assistants ; chap.
John Clarke Treasurer, and Richard Knight, Sergeant. _,_
Already had fraudulent voting, the bane of all free 1|^49
governments, appeared in the colony. The system of 22
proxies afforded facilities for this, which it was attempted
to prevent by requiring that no one should bring any
votes that he did not receive from the voters' own hands,
and that all votes should be filed by the Recorder in pres-
ence of the Assembly. The fall in the price of beaver in
England, and the increased manufacture of peage by the
Indians, had reduced the value of that currency nearly
one-half. The depreciation was not so great in Rhode
Island, where this medium continued to be used much
lono-er than in the other colonies, but a law was passed
lowering the standard of black peage, which was double
the value of the white, one-third. Four, instead of three,
for a penny was now made the legal rate. Prisons were
ordered to be built in each town ; meanwhile the one at
Newport was used for the whole colony, and the General
Sergeant was appointed to keep it. The organization of
the Court of Trials, heretofore composed of the members
of Assembly alone, was amended by adding to it the mag-
istrates of the town where the Court might be held. The
sale of ardent spirits to the natives was forbidden, except
that Mr. Williams was allowed to dispense it, in cases of
sickness, at his discretion. This law displays a commend-
able regard for the welfare of the Indians, and an honora-
ble confidence in the Founder of the State.
There was a strong feeling in Rhode Island in favor of
Mr. John Winthrop, son of the late Governor of Massa-
chusetts, who before the Pequot war had made a purchase
near Thames river, which the government of Connecticut
had recently refused to recognize. It was thought that
he might move further east, perhaps to Pawcatuck, in
which case many desired to make him President of the
3olony, and his name was used for that purpose in this
228 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
election. He had been suggested as one of the refereua
in the difficulty with Portsmouth the previous summer.
The liberality of the Winthrops, often displayed by the
father in his trying position as Governor of Massachu-
setts, and inherited by the son, their close friendship with
the Founder of Rhode Island, and the sympathy they
manifested with the struggling colony on more than one
occasion, all go to account for this partiality.
The desire for public service was so little felt by our
ancestors, that heavy fines were imposed' upon any who
should refuse to accept an office. Any one elected Presi-
dent, and declining to act, was to be fined ten pounds ;
or an Assistant five pounds, and his place was to be filled
by the person having the next highest number of votes.
A similar law was enacted in the towns to compel the ao-
T ceptance of town offices. In Portsmouth, whoever was
June ^ ^
4. chosen to be a magistrate and refused was fined sis pounds,
and for an inferior office the fine was fifty shillings. The
reciprocal engagement of the State and its officers was
also -administered to the town councils in the following
form : " You, A. B., being called and chosen by the free
vote of the inhabitants of Portsmouth unto the office of
a town magistrate, in his Majesty's name, do in this pres-
ent assembly engage yourself faithfully to execute the of-
fice of a justice of the peace, in the due execution of jus-
tice in this town, according to the laws established unto
us by our particular charter, according to the best of your
understanding. The town reciprocally engage themselves
in his Majesty's name, to maintain you in the just execu-
tion of your office, according to the best of their under-
standing." The use of the words " in his Majesty's
name," in a formula adopted just at this time is peculiar.
The King was beheaded on the 30th of January. News
of his death had reached the colony either while the As-
sembly was in session, or shortly before it met, yet no no-
tice was taken of it by that body — possibly l>ecause it yet
FOURTH GENERAL ELECTION. 229
needed confirmation. And tlds might be the reason why chap.
the freemen of Portsmouth, as a matter of precaution, ,^,.^_;^
retained the old form of expression ; or perhaps that they 16 49.
did so was owing to the fact of the predominance of the n^
royalist or Coddington jmrty in that town. The news was
confirmed by an arrival from England the following week.
The Warwick men again wrote to the Commissioners
of the United Colonies, sittino; at Boston, to complain of J^ily
.26
the Indians, and to remind them of the order of Parlia-
ment that they should be protected.' The Commission-
ers, in their reply, deny having received any such com-
mand, or that the petitioners could reasonably expect aid 31.
in their position, but say they are ready to obey the order
requiring them to ascertain under what patent the lands
of Warwick are included.^
The next General Court of election was held at New- i g 5 0.
port at the same time with that at Boston. At both bus-
iness of great importance, affecting the relations of the
two colonies, was transacted. That there was some diffi-
culty in this election is evident from the record of a vote
that it should " be authentic notwithstanding all obstruc- .-^a^
tions against it."
Nicholas Easton was chosen President ; William
Field of Providence, John Porter of Portsmouth, John
Clarke of Newport, and John Wicks of Warwick, Assist-
ants ; Philip Sherman, Kecorder ; Richard Knight, Ser-
geant, and John Clarke, Treasurer. An Attorney Gen-
eral and Solicitor General were also appointed, for the
first time, and their duties defined. William Dyre was
chosen to the first-named office, and Hugh Bewett to the
latter. The committee of each town, which should con-
sist of six men, were empowered to fill any vacancy in
their number. It was also ordered that in case any mem-
ber, upon complaint and trial, should prove to be unfit to
hold his seat, the Assembly might suspend him, and
» In the letter of July 22, 164-7, ante. ' Hazard, ii. 135.
22.
230 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
choose another in his place. Heretofore the Assembly had
been usually styled " the Court of Commissioners/' the
term General Assembly aj^plying only to a meeting of all
the people ; but we have seen that gradually the legisla-
tive power had centred in this Court, and they now, for
the first time, style themselves the General Assembly,
and fix their salaries at two and sixpence a day.
The order apportioning the amount of military stores
to be kept by each town, gives an idea of their relative
strength at this period. Providence and Warw'ick were
each to have one barrel of powder, five hundred pounds
of lead, six pikes and six muskets in their magazines, fit
for service. Portsmouth was to have twice this amount,
or as much as both of these towns, and Newport was to
have three barrels of powder, a thousand pounds of lead,
twelve pikes and twenty-four muskets. Each town was
to regulate its own militia.
By an order of the previous Assembly letters had been
sent to the Pawtuxet men, respecting their allegiance to
the colony, and a summons issued to the sachems of Paw-
tuxet and Shawomet to attend upon the Court. This
procedure led the parties to petition the General Court of
Massachusetts, complaining, as usual, of injuries received,
and asking redress. Upon this the General Court ad-
dressed a letter to Khode Island, advising all whom it
concerned, not to prosecute any suits against the subjects
of Massachusetts, nor to do them any harm till they
should hear again from the Court, which would not be long.
June A committee was appointed to treat with Plymouth
about the title to the land of Shawomet and Pawtuxet,
and protection to the English and Indian subjects of Mas-
sachusetts at those places. The' Court adjourned for a few
days to await the issue of the negotiation. The General
Court of Plymouth was then in session. By a formal in-
strument they resigned all claim to the territory in ques-
tion, yielding in every thing to the proposals of Massachu-
30.
PLYMOUTH CEDES DISPUTED LANDS TO MASSACHUSETTS. 231
setts, but with one proviso, that does honor to their sense chap.
of justice, and to their clearness of perception, viz., that ^ ""
the lands of Pro\adence should not be included in the relin-
quishment, but should remain as before to be freely enjoyed
by the inhabitants. That Providence should be named
at all in the deed of cession, since it was not referred to
in the instructions of the Committee, is proof that Ply-
mouth suspected, and not without reason, that the design
of Massachusetts embraced more than she professed, and
by making this exception she declared her own opinion of
the rights of the people in Providence, and barred any
claim that Massachusetts might aftei-ward set up to that
territory, based upon the action of Plymouth in this case.'
The Court having reassembled at Boston, received the re-
port of their committee, and proceeded to annex their
newly-acquired possessions to the county of Suffolk.
They also, in gratitude to Captain Atherton, for his ser- 20.
vices in this and in the brutal affair with Pessacus,- voted
him a farm of five hundred acres. The officers of the
County Court were authorized to treat with any of the
Warwick associates who might appear to complain of this
outside disposition of themselves and their property.
There is one question that the high contracting par-
ties to this remarkable transfer of land and power, to
which neither had any right, quite overlooked. Admit-
ting that the claim of either one of them under their pa-
tents was valid, how could that one lawfully divest itself
of, or invest another government with, a portion of its
power ; or how could the recipient, simply on the ground
that the cession was voluntary, enlarge the limits of its
own patent ? The illegality on both sides is apparent.
The injustice to the rightful owners need not be consid-
ered after the outrages they had suffered seven years be-
fore.
These acts called for decisive action on the part of
' M. C. R, iv. Part I. 14-20. * Close of chap, vi., ante.
232 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. Rbode Island. The President of the colony called a con-
.2^^ vention, composed of a special committee of three from each
1650. town, to meet at Portsmouth, to deliherate on the con-
'2^; duct of Massachusetts in the premises. No report of their
proceedings can be found. But these convenient inter-
changes of jurisdiction were not yet ended. The Com-
missioners of the United Colonies advised, for many co-
Sept, g^iit reasons, that Warwick and Pawtuxet should 1^.6 re-
1^- stored to Plymouth.' The General Court yielded the
ig ' point, and re-assigned the territory to Plymouth.*^ Pres-
ident Easton had written to Massachusetts that Rhode
Island and Warwick now formed one colony,' and would
defend her rights. Letters were sent to Rhode Island,
^^' forbidding her to exercise jurisdiction over Shawomet, to
the Pawtuxet men to transfer their allegiance to Ply-
mouth, and to Gov. Bradford that he should protect them
and the subject Indians.
26. The General Assembly met at Portsmouth. The or-
der })rescribing the mode of passing general laws was re-
pealed and a new one made. The Assembly, or '' Repre-
sentative Committee," as it is here termed, having enacted
any laws, these were to be sent to the towns within six
days after the adjournment, and then, within three days,
to be read in town meeting. Any freeman who dishked
the laws or any one of them, was to send his vote, with
his name U]:ion it, within ten days after the reading, to
the General Recorder. If a majority were found to op-
pose it the Recorder should signify the fact to the Presi-
dent, and the President to the towns, that such" law was
annulled. Silence as to the rest was considered assent.
Banishment, as a punishment, was abolished. Divorce
was prohibited except, at the suit of the party aggrieved,
for adultery.
Roger Williams was urged once more to go to Eng-
land. The active measures taken by the other colonies
' Hazard ii. 153-'4. " M. C. R. iii. 216.
FRESH TROUBLES THREATEN THE COLONY. 233
in regard to Warwick and Pawtuxet, required that Khode chap.
Island should be represented before the Committee of JJJ^
Plantations. The sum of one hundred pounds voted l 6 5 c
three years before, in remuneration of his services in ob- ^q
taining the charter, had never been paid, although at-
tempts had been made to raise the money by taxation.
The Assembly now voted to pay the arrears, and one
hundred pounds more, if he would go a second time, but
if he would not, Mr. Balston, John Clarke and John War-
ner were named, any two of them to go.
This was the last session of the General Assembly, as
at first constituted, under the charter. A more serious
calamity than any that the malice or the ambition of her
neighbors could inflict, was about to overwhelm the State,
and for a time to palsy the arm of the sons of Rhode
Island. -, ^ - -,
In the following spring there was no meeting of the May
Assembly. News of Coddington's design had been re-
ceived, althouo;h his success was not vet known. Con-
sternation pervaded the colony. Within and without, at
home and abroad, enemies to the peace and Hberty of the
State appeared on every side. The Pawtuxet men com-
plained to Massachusetts that Providence had assessed
them to the amount of twelve pounds ten shillings, and
on their refusal to pay the tax had threatened them with
distraint. Upon this the General Court sent a letter to 22.
Koger WilliaDis, warning him that if this levy was made
they would seek satisfaction '"' in such manner as God
shall put into their hands."' Amid these complicated
^ M. C. R. iii. 228, and iv. part. i. i&. There could be no mistaking the
meaning of this. Tlie Puritans in their dealings with their weaker neigh-
bors, English or Indians, evidently believed with the Great Frederick, that
" Providence favors the strong battalions." Their reliance upon Divine aid
in all their forays, attempted or threatened, into Rhode Island, was of that
eommendably precautionary character displayed by Cromwell in the order to
his troops at " the crowning mercy of Worcester," which was fought on a
rainy day — " Tnist in God but keep your powder dry ! "'
10.
234 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, difficulties, an outrage was committed upon some of the
^^^-^.l^ best men of Rhode Island, wluch is without a parallel
1651. save in the treatment of the Gortonists. Rev. John
Clarke, pastor of the first Baptist church in Newport,
Obadiah Holmes, who shortly before had aided to estab-
lish a church of that order in Seekonk, and, being pre-
sented for it by the grand jury at the General Court of
jyj^ Plymouth, had fled to Newport,' and John Crandall, a
16. member of the same church, were deputed by the, church
to visit an aged member, residing near Lynn, who had re-
quested an interview with some of his brethren. Arriv-
ing at the place on Saturday, Mr. Clarke preached the
next day to those who were in the house. While thus
20. engaged two constables served on them a warrant for the
arrest of the " erroneous persons, being strangers." In
the afternoon they were carried to church by the officer,
where, after service, Clarke addressed the congregation
till silenced by a magistrate. Next day, although being
under arrest, he administered the communion to the aged
oc) member. of his church and to two others. The party were
examined and ordered to be sent to Boston, where they
25. were imprisoned to await their trial the following week.
At the trial Gov. Endicott charged them with being ana-
baptists. Clarke denied that he was either an anabaptist,
a pedobaptist, or a catabaptist, and affirmed, that al-
though ho had baptized many he had never re-baptized
any, for that infant baptism was a nullity. The others
agreed in this, and the Court sentenced them upon their
own declarations, '" without producing either accuser, wit-
ness, jury, law of God, or man." Clarke was fined twenty
pounds, Holmes thirty pounds, and Crandall five pounds,
and in default of payment each was "to be well whipped."
They refused to pay the fine, as that would be to admit
their guilt when they felt they were innocent, and were
' After the death of Dr. Clarke he succeeded him as pastor of the New-
port church. Knowles', 239, note.
81.
PERSECUTION OF THE BAPTISTS. 235
committed to prison. On the following day Clarke, by a chap.
• V T T
letter to the Court, challenged the members to a discus-
sion of the doctrinal views for which he had been con-
demned. The magistrates appointed a time for the de-
bate. Clarke prepared the heads of discussion, but be-
fore the day arrived an order of Court was sent to the jail
for his discharge, the fine having been paid by some one n
without his knowledge. Anxious to hold the debate, and
seeing how this ill-timed kindness might be represented
as being caused by his desire to avoid it, Clarke, on the
same day, renewed the challenge, offering to come to Boston
at any time they might name. In their reply the Court
seemed to accept the invitation, but fixed no time. Cotton
was to be the chosen champion of Puritan theology — the
man of all others, as the leader of their church, with
whom Clarke most desired to meet, and to discuss the two
great principles of Baptist faith, voluntary baptism and
individual responsibility. These were the two grand
points upon which Church and State in Massachusetts
were .antagonist to the sentiment of Rhode Island. But
although Mr. Clarke a third time notified the Court of his ^^
readiness, they failed to appoint a day, so that the debate
was never held, Crandall was allowed to go home on
bail, the jailer being his surety. Holmes was so cruelly
whipped, receiving thirty lashes with a three-corded whip
from the public executioner, that for many days he could g^pj^
take no rest except by supporting himself on his elbows 5.
and knees. Two of the spectators, one an old man named
Hazel, who had come from Seekonk, fifty miles, to visit
him in prison, were arrested for shaking hands with him
after the punishment was over, and were sentenced to pay
a fine or to be whipped. The fine was paid by their
Iriends, but Hazel died before reaching home.'
' See ni Xewes from New England, by John Clarke, London, 1652, 4to.,
76 pp. The writer consulted the copy in the British Museum. This very
scarce work by one of the ablest men of the seventeenth century, and a
236 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. Thus severely was the savage law of 1644, against
,^_^ the anabaptists, carried out by magistrates and ministers,
1651. who shunned a discussion of the doctrines which they ig-
norantly denounced.
founder of Rhode Island, has lately been reprinted by the Mass. Hist. Soc,,
in the 2d vol. of the 4th series of their Collections. »
ABEIVAL OF CODDINGTON IN ENGLAND. 2S'7
16 46.
CHAPTEE VIII.
1651—1663.
FROM THE USURPATION OF CODDINGTOJf, AUGUST, 1651, TO THE
ADOPTION OF THE ROYAL CHARTER, NOVEMBER, 1663.
When Coddington arrived in England the King was (j^^p^
already beheaded, the House of Lords had been voted ^'^^^•
useless, the Commonwealth was declared, and the supreme i 6 4 'J.
power vested in the hands of forty persons as a Coun-
cil of State. A revolution as complete had taken place
in ecclesiastical affairs. Episcopacy had been abolished
three years before ; the Directory had supplanted ihe
Liturgy ; a greater part of the livings were distributed
among the Presbyterian clergy, and finally Presbyterian-
ism was established by act of Parliament as the national
faith. The new church were as tenacious of their " di-
vine right," as ever the old one had been. The rights of
conscience were as little understood or respected by Pres-
byterians as by Prelatists. Toleration was denied to the
Independents by both alike. Humanity gained nothing
by the change till the master-spirit of Cromwell curbed
the persecuting will of these Protestant Papists. For
two years the efforts of Coddington were without result.
More momentous concerns than any that related to distant
plantations employed the Council. At length he obtained ^ e 5 1.
a hearing. By what representations, or through what in-
1649
?M^8 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, fluence he succeeded in virtually undoing the acts of the
Long Parliament in favor of Rhode Island, we can never
know. He obtained from the Council of State a com-
mission, signed by John Bradshaw, to govern the islands
of Rhode Island and Connanicut during his life, with a
council of six men, to be named by the people and ap-
proved by himself. With this authoritative document
Aug. i^g returned home to sever the islands from the main land
towns, and to be in effect the autocrat of the fairest and
wealthiest portion of the State. Great was the alarm
felt throughout the colony, more especially by the large
party in the now subjected islands who, being opposed to
Coddington, found themselves, as they thought, at the
mercy of a dictator. This party at once prepared to send
John Clarke to England, to obtain a revocation of Cod-
dington's powers. Providence and "Warwick recognized
the peril to which their charter was exposed, and has-
tened the departure of Roger Williams to secure to them
Sept. again the rights he had first obtained. William Arnold,
•'•• one of the Massachusetts subjects at Pawtuxet, wrote to
the Commissioners of the United Colonies to inform them
of this movement, that Warwick had already raised one
hundred pounds, and men in Providence were giving ten
or twenty pounds apiece to sjjced the object of Williams'
mission. John Greene, in behalf of Warwick, the same
day officially notified the Commissioners, that as the
United Colonies had failed to conform to the order of
Parliament to protect them, but as they " were bought
and sold from one patent and jurisdiction to another," had
been threatened with expulsion since the above order was
received, summoned to attend Courts in Massachusetts,
deprived of trade, and exposed to violence from both Eng-
lish and Indians, therefore they should send a messenger
to England to obtain redress, and the United Colonies
might instruct their agents accordingly to prepare their
answers. This official notice was a gratuitous act of
WILLIAMS AND CLARKE PROCEED TO ENGLAND. 239
courtesy on the part of Warwick that was not appreciated chap.
by the Commissioners. ^^-L
The United Colonies coldly recognized the commission 1651
of Coddington, and addressed him a letter inquiring what ""^g "
course he would pursue as to fugitives from justice ;
whether he would return them on legal demand, or bring
them to trial on the island. The Warwick letter caused
much discussion. The Massachusetts members of the
Commission presented a declaration on the subject, to
which those of Plymouth replied, disowning the cession
made to Massachusetts the previous year, and protesting
against the seizures she had made at Shawomet and
Pawtuxet. The other members, on the ground that Ply-
mouth had refused to accept the transfer made by Massa-
chusetts, recognized the claim, of the latter, and concluded
that trespasses committed by the Warwick men should
be punished by f )rce if necessary, " but with as much
moderation as may be." ^
A General Assembly of the two remaining towns was Oct.
called, at which Samuel Gorton was chosen President.
Roger Williams was urged, by every consideration that
could move him in such a crisis, to leave home to advo-
cate the cause of the colony in England. On the island
forty-one of the inhabitants of Portsmouth, and sixty-
five, being nearly all of the freemen, in Newj)ort, joined
to persuade Dr. Clarke to go out and obtain a repeal of
Coddington's commission. They both consented to go.
Mr. Williams was obliged to sell his trading-house in
Narraganset, to sustain his family during his absence.
The objects of their missions were distinct. Clarke was
the agent of the island towns, to procure a repeal of
Coddington's commission. Williams was the agent of
the main land towns, to obtain a confirmation of their
charter. In effect the same result was aimed at and se-
cured — a return to their former mode of government by
' Hazard's State Papers, ii. 198-203.
240 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
a reunion under the charter. The two agents sailed to-
gether, with some difficulty securing leave to embark from
Boston.
The Court of Commissioners, the relic of the colonial
Assembly, being the committees of Providence and. War-
wick, met at Providence to consult on the state of the
colony. They resolved to continue under the charter,
making laws and choosing officers as before. They re-
enacted several laws, modified to meet their present con-
dition, and also passed an act forbidding the purchase of
land from the Indians, without consent of the State,
165 2. Williams and Clarke presented a joint petition to the
■A-pril Council of State, which was referred to the committee on
8
foreign affairs. The island meanwhile quietly submitted
to the rule of Coddington. The main land towns held
May their regular Court of Election in the spring. John
^^' Smith was chosen President of the colony ; Thomas 01-
ney of Providence, Samuel Gorton of Warwick, General
Assistants ; John Greene, jr.. Recorder ; Eandall Holden,
Treasurer ; and Hugh Bewett, Sergeant.
At this session the famous law against slavery was
passed, believed to be, with one exception,' the first leg-
islative enactment in the history of this continent, If not
of the world, for the suppression of involuntary servitude.
This law was designed to prevent both negro and white
slavery, each of which was in use at that time. By it no
man could be held to service more than ten years from
the time of his coming into the colony, at the end of
which time he was to be set free. Whoever" refused tc
let him go free, or sold him elsewhere for a longer period
of slavery, was subject to a penalty of forty pounds.
Between Rhode Island and the Dutch at Manhattan,
there existed quite an active trade, and occasional inter-
marriages resulted from the intercourse thus maintained.
A serious disturbance occurred at this time in Warwick.
' The Act of Massachusetts, 4th Nov., IG46, in 2 M. C. R., IG8.
DUTCH DISTURBANCE AT WARWICK. 241
The crew of a small Dutch vessel which had arrived there chap.
in January, on a trading voyage, boarded for some two ^^^^•
months with John Warner, who was this year the As- 1652.
sistant or second magistrate of the town, and had
stored their goods in his house for sale. One of these
men, named Geraerd, was a connection of Warner, both
having married into the family of Ezekiel Holliman.
Upon settling their accounts a dispute arose, which it
was vainly attempted to adjust by arbitration, and the
Dutchmen appealed to the Court. At their request a ^ j^jj
special session was held. Warner refused to answer to
the case, and judgment was entered against him by de-
fault, and execution granted for the damages assessed by
a jury. Warner's wife was also indicted upon suspicion
of felony, and the case carried up to the General Court of
trials for the colony. The conduct of Warner before and 24.
at this trial was so bad that he was degraded from his
office as Assistant and disfranchised. A copy of the dec-
laration was sent to Providence, and also to Massachu-
setts, and the whole proceedings upon the case were after-
wards forwarded to Roger Williams in England. A few ,
» ^ , , o June
weeks later, " upon suspicion of insufferable treachery 7.
against the town," which is conveyed in the seventh item
of the declaration, his house and lands were attached.
For want of proof the property was shortly released, but jjjjy
not without a formal protest being entered upon the rec- 5.
ords by the leading men of the town. The proceedings
are so remarkable, and the form of the declaration, re-
sembling somewhat the indictment against Gorton/ is so
curious that they should be preserved.^
The war between England and Holland having com- -^
menced, the Dutch were forbidden to trade with the In- 19.
dians in the colony, and the President was instructed to
notify the Governor of Manhattan ^ of this prohibition.
* Ante, chap. vi. p. 170. ' See Appendix B.
* Peter Stuyvesant. This prohibition waa repealed in May, 1657.
VOL. I. — 16
242 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP Letters from Roger Williams caused a town meeting tc
_^_;^ be held in Providence, at which a letter was directed to
165 2. be sent to Warwick, proposing a meeting of Commission-
'27^ ers to prepare suitable replies. The town of Warwick
agreed to the proposal, and further suggested a conference
29. with the island towns, with a view to their all uniting to
obtain a renewal of the charter, as such united action
would remove some obstacles then existing, by reason of
the separate duties of the two agents, and would, -also help
to secure to the colony the Narraganset country, which
^y„ the Greenwich men were striving to obtain. A meeting
2. was accordingly held, but no record of it remains.
Another letter from Mr. Williams, saying that the
8. Council had granted leave to the colony to go on under
the charter until the controversy was decided, gave great
satisfaction. A few days later an order of Council was
2 ■ issued vacating the commission of Coddington, and direct-
ing the towns again to unite under the charter. The
mission was successful at every jjoint. The agents re-
mained- in England on their private business, and also to
sustain the rights of the colony, while William Dyre, who
had probably gone out with them, returned home with the
joyful news.
The General Assembly met at Providence, and passed
two important acts, an alien and a libel law. By the
former no foreigner was to be received as a freeman in any
town, or to have any trade with the Indians, but by con-
sent of the Assembly. The latter made disparaging lan-
guage, spoken in malice, actionable in every town. The^
also wrote to Roger Williams a letter of thanks for his
services, the successful result of which was not yet known
to them, and proposed that he should get himself ap-
pointed Governor of the colony for one year, as it would
give weight to the government. This proposal affords the
Btrongest proof of the respect and confidence felt in the
colony towards its illustrious Founder. But Williams
28.
TRIAL OF BEWETT FOR HIGH TREASON. 243
had little desire for power. Such a course would have chap
• V T T T
established a dangerous precedent, and might appear to _,^
take from the colony a portion of its liberty in the selec- 1652.
tion of oflScers. They also wrote a letter to the town of
Warwick, where doubts had been expressed as to the le-
gality of the Assembly, protesting against such expres-
sions as tending to discredit the authority of the Assem-
bly, thereby weakening the government, and likewise af-
firming both the validity of the committee chosen from
Warwick, and the legality of the Court. The occasion
for such a letter displays the lamentable distraction that
pervaded the colony at this time.
A more serious cause of dissension led to a special I^^c.
20
meeting of the Court of Commissioners at Warwick.
The President of the colony and the Warwick Assistant,
upon an examination before the Court of Trials, charged
Hugh Bewett, one of the committee from Providence,
with hio'h treason. The trial lasted four davs, and re-
suited in the acquittal of the prisoner, thus reversing the
decision of the Court of Trials, and thereby increasing the
divisions in the colony. The grounds of the indictment
cannot now be ascertained.
Upon the arrival of WilUam Dyre from England, with ig52-3.
the repeal of Coddington's power, he wrote letters to Feb.
Warwick and to Providence, naming a day when he would
meet all the freemen w^ho chose to appear at Portsmouth,
to communicate the orders of the Council of State. A 20.
town meeting was held in Providence, at which, in accord-
ance with a request from Warwick,^ a meeting of the
Commissioners of the two towns was agreed upon. It
was held at Pawtuxet the following week. This Assem-
bly drafted a reply to a letter from the island, relating to
a reunion of the colony, and appointed two of the mem-
bers from each town to carry it, and to consult with those
of the island concerning the peace and welfare of the
* Warwick records of 22d P'ebruary, 1652.
244 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
State. Their labor was fruitless. The point of difficulty
was this. The mainland towns contended that they were
1652-3. the Providence Plantations, their charter never having
Feb. .
been vacated, and their government having continued un-
interrupted by the defection of the island, and therefore
the General Assembly to hear the orders of Council,
should be held with them. The island towns claimed
that as they formed the greater part of the colopy, and
hence had a larger interest in the matter, the_. Assembly
should meet there. The original letters from the Council
of State were deposited by Dyre with the town clerk of
Newport, from whom certified copies were obtained, after
some trouble, by the other towns. Neither party was dis-
March posed to yield. On the following Monday an Assembly
^- of the colony, as it was called, met at Portsmouth, " to
hear and receive the orders from y* right Honorable y'
Council of State." The officers who had been displaced
by Coddington's commission were reinstated until the
next election, which was appointed for the usual time.
Proposals for reunion, and for the government of the col-
ony till the ensuing election, were sent to Providence by
jg the town of Newport. The mainland towns replied that
they were ready to meet by Commissioners, and desired
the island to ajjpoint the time, to arrange all matters.
They did not accept the terms proposed by Newport, nor
was any meeting of Commissioners appointed by the
island. The division therefore continued for another year,
to the imminent peril of the liberties of the colony and of
its internal peace.
Two distinct Assemblies convened for a general elec-
^jjy ' tion at the same time. That of the mainland towns met
16-17. at Providence, the other at Newport, each sitting for two
days. By the former a letter was sent to the island, giv-
ing as a reason why they did not meet with them, that
the island had not given any notice of agreement to meet
them by Commissioners, and hence they must proceed
TWO DISTINCT ASSEMBLIES. — NEW ENGAGEMENT. 245
with their own election as before. They chose Gregory chap.
Dexter, President ; Stiikely Westcott, General Assistant .__^_1,
for Warwick ; John Sayles, General Assistant for Provi- 16 5 3.
dence, and Treasurer ; John Greene, Recorder, and Hugh 16-I7,
Bewitt, Sergeant. The Council of State having directed
the colony to annoy the Dutch, with whom war had been
declared, it was ordered that no provisions should be sent
to the Dutch ; that each plantation should prepare for its
defence ; and that no seizures of Dutch property should
be made in the name of the colony without a commission
from the General Court. All legal process was to issue
in the name of the Commonwealth of England, and in
Providence and Warwick an engagement in these words
was subscribed upon their records : — " I do declare and
promise that I will be true aijd faithful to the Common-
wealth of England, as it is now established, without a
Kinge or House of Lords." '
The enemies of Rhode Island afterwards sought to
injure her position with the King on account of this en-
gagement, but did not succeed. The only policy that
Rhode Island could adopt was that which is pursued at
this day by the United States in its intercourse with for-
eign countries, to acknowledge the government de facto.
To that government, whether royalist, republican, or prOp
tectorate, she was always loyal, and her success from that
cause rankled in the breasts of her Puritan opponents,
whose professions of loyalty to the Kings were equally
loud and much less sincere.
The Assembly at Newport elected John Sandford,
sen.. President ; Nicholas Easton of Newport, and Robert 17-18.
Borden of Portsmouth, Assistaiits ; William Lytherland,
Recorder ; Richard Knight, Sergeant ; John Coggeshall,
Treasurer, and John Easton, Attorney General. They
re-established the code of 1647, and gave liberty to the
mainland towns to choose their own General Assistants,
' Warwick records, 8th March, 1652-3.
J46 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND;
in case they decided to unite "with the island. The next
day some freemen from Providence and Warwick came to
the Assembly, and an election for Assistants of those
towns was made, Thomas Olney was chosen for Provi-
dence, and Randal Holden for Warwick, thus making two
sets of Assistants for the mainland towns, and raising a
question of conflicting powers to render the difficulties
yet more complicated.
Mr. Coddington, upon demand of the Assembly to
surrender the statute book and records, declined to do so
without advice from his CouncU, having received no order
from England to resign his commission, or ' any proof, as
he said, that it had been annulled. A more inextricable
series of entanglements than now existed in the colony
could not well be imagined.
Active measures were taken against the Dutch. Can-
non and smaller arms, and twenty volunteers were voted
for the aid of the English on Long Island. Commissions
to act against the enemy were granted to Capt. John Un-
derbill, Wilham Dyre and Edward Hull, and a Court of
Admiralty for the trial of prizes was appointed, consisting
of the general officers and three jurors from each town.
The island was more energetic than the mainland in
these measures, assuming at once offensive ground, while
the latter acted chiefly on the defensive. Both did more
than the United Colonies, who, although they had re-
ceived similar orders from the Council of State, were more
prudent, if not lukewarm, in their conduct. This mili-
tary proclivity in Rhode Island was early shown. Their
exposed position made it necessary on account of the In-
dians in the first instance, and long habit cultivated the
martial spirit of the people till it became a second nature.
Their maritime advantages favored commercial enter-
prise, and the two combined prepared them for those
naval exploits which in after years shed so much glory on
the State. That the bold proceedings of the Island As-
CONTINUED DISSENSIONS IN THE COLONY. 247
sembly were considered rash by the rest of the colony, chap
appears from a remonstrance made by the Court of Com- _l,
missioners, assembled at Providence for this purpose. 165 3.
The acceptance of commissions to fight against the Dutch
was a direct violation of their act in May, and as they
claimed to be the lawful Assembly under the charter,
they at once disfranchised those who owned the validity
of those commissions, until they should give satisfaction to
Providence and Warwick. The remonstrance recited the
attempts made at re-union, as before given, and denounced
the conduct of the Island Assembly in granting com-
missions of reprisal, not only as rash in the feeble condi-
tion of the colony, but as subversive of all government,
in that they assumed to do it by authority of the whole
colony. In conclusion an ajjpeal to England was threat-
ened in case the iskind should attempt to engage the main-
land towns in the said commissions, or to molest them on
that account. The Court adjourned to meet at the call
of either of the General Assistants. This was not long
delayed.
The Pawtuxet men again, as two years before, peti-
tioned Massachusetts on the subject of taxes levied by
the Providence Plantations. The General Court sent a
letter protesting against such exaction, or the exercise of
any sort of jurisdiction over its subjects, and granting
leave to them to arrest and sue in the county Courts any
person of another government that should usurp over
them, whenever such person or his property should be
found within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts.' To reply
to this protest a special session of the Commissioners was Aug
held at Warwick. No copy of the reply remams.
The decided conduct of the island in the Dutch war
increased the dissensions of the State, and involved her
in further controversies with her neighbors. Capt. Hull,
under his commission, captured a French ship in a mode
1 M. C. R. iv. Part 1, U9.
248 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, alleged by Massachusetts, in a letter to Rhode Island, to
21^ he unlawful. Among the reasons for this allegation, the
16 53. dissolution of the Parliament was mentioned. This was
seized upon by Gorton as a ground of accusation against
Massachusetts in England, whither the original letter,
signed by the magistrates, was . to be sent as evidence,
g with other charges, against them. William Arnold, of
5. Pawtuxet, w^-ote to the General Court, informing^ them
of this design.' Great anxiety was felt by the United
Colonies lest the Indians should ally with the Dutch,
The Council of Massachusetts had sent two messengers
] y_ in the spring to question Pessicus, Ninigret and Mexham,
the son of Canonicus, being the three chief sachems of
the Narragansets, upon this subject. They all denied
any such intention, but their denial did not satisfy the
Confederates,^ who, at their next meeting, hearing of an
j2 ' assault made by the Narragansets upon the Long Island
Indians, again sent messengers to them, demanding an
account of their conduct. The explanation not being
20. satisfactory war was declared against the Narragansets,
but Massachusetts deeming the cause insufficient, refused
to raise her quota of troops, so the expedition was aban-
doned.^ The energy of the Rhode Island privateers had
alarmed the United Colonies in the spring. Another
seizure, of one of their own vessels, by Capt. Baxter, un-
der a commission from this colony, caused them to send
a special messenger with a letter to Rhode Island, re-
monstrating against the act. The Desire, of Barnstable,
belonging to Samuel Mayo, was seized in Hempstead har-
bor, an English settlement within the Dutch limits, hav-
ing stores on board, which the owner affirmed were in-
tended for a plantation of English at Oyster Bay. Lieut.
* Hazard's State Papers, i. 582.
' The queries, eleven in number, with the answers of each sachem, are
given in full in Hazard, ii. 20.5-9.
» Hazard ii. 283-5, 288-93.
13.
ACTS OF RHODE ISLAND PEIVATEERS. 249
Hudson was instructed to learn by what authority Rhode chap.
Island issued letters of marque, and also to demand sat- «^.^
isfaction for Mayo. President Easton replied that the lfo3.
colony was authorized to act against the enemies of Eng- ""jy/
land, and had sent to the supreme authority an account
of Baxter's proceedings, which they disowned so far as he
had exceeded his commission. No satisfaction was given
to Mayo. Upon Hudson's return the Commissioners ad-
vised Connecticut to bring; the Desire to trial if found in
her harbors, the owner agreeing to pay damages, if it
should prove true that she had been justly seized by Baxter.
Baxter also captured a Dutch vessel near New York,
and was pursued to Fairfield harbor by two armed Dutch
ships. The New England Commissioners thereupon pro-
hibited Dutch vessels from .entering any English port. l&.
This was a very mild course to adopt towards a belliger-
ent foe, and contrasts with the vigorous conduct of Rhode
Island.
The report of dissensions in Rhode Island had reached
England, and grieved the advocates of liberal principles
in that country. Among these none were more earnest
than Sir Henry Yane, whose sympathies, when Governor
of Massachusetts, were with the party of progress, and i653-4
who at home opposed in turn the despotism of the Stu-
arts and the ultimate designs of Cromwell. Yane always
manifested a deep interest in the welfare of Rhode Island,
and a cordial appreciation of the principles of its founder,
who for a considerable time during this visit to England
became his guest. He wrote to the people of Rhode Isl- Yeh.
and a most kind and imijloring letter, urging them to S.
reconcile their feuds for the honor of God and the good
of their fellow-men. " Are there no wise men among
you ? No public self-denying spirits," he asks, " who can
find some way of union before you become a prey to your
enemies 1" This letter no doubt had some effect in com-
250 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, pleting a reconciliation which, before it was received, had
.^^.^..^ already begun.
16 54. The next spring but one General Assembly was held,
16-18. although the union was not yet perfected. A majority in
the mainland towns seem to have agreed to the course
pursued by the island, as these towns held no separate
Court of Commissioners. A large minority still held out.
There was no cordiality between the p9,rties. A commit-
tee of eight persons, two from each town, was appointed
to prepare some mode of healing the division. Nicholas
Easton was chosen President of the colony. Randall Hol-
den had the next highest number of votes. Thomas
Olney was elected Assistant for Providence, Richard Bor-
den for Portsmouth, Edward Smith for Newport, and
Randall Holden for Warwick ; Joseph Torrey, Recorder ;
John Coggeshall, Treasurer ; Richard Knight, Sergeant,
and John Cranston, Attorney Greneral. Some men were
examined on a charge of illegal trading with the Dutch,
and another commission of reprisal was granted against
the enemy. Fugitives from labor, belonging in other col-
onies, were to be returned on proper proof, at the expense
of the master.
Mr. Williams had so often succeeded in calming the
ruffled spirits of the colonists, that he felt his presence
might be useful in the existing crisis. Leaving Mr. Clarke
to protect the rights of the colony in England, he re-
turned home early in the summer, bringing with him the
above-mentioned letter of Sir Henry Vane, and also an
order from the Lord Protector to the government of
Massachusetts, to permit him in future to pass unmo-
j„ly lested through that territory. . Soon after his return he
12. wrote to his friend Winthrop an account of his occu-
pations while abroad, from which we learn of his teach-
ing the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French and Dutch lan-
guages, thus making his many accomplishments a means
of subsistence, and also of his intimacy with Milton, then
REUNION OF THE COLONY. 251
Secretary of the Council of State, to whom he taught chap
Dutch in exchange for other languages.' That he should 31^
be obliged to teach for his support while employed on 16 5 4.
public business, is a proof of the poverty of the colony 12!^
at this time. He also addressed a most earnest and con-
ciliatory letter to the town of Providence, concerning the
dissensions in the colony, wherein he thanks Grod "for
his wonderful Providences, by which alone the town and
colony and that grand cause of Truth and Freedom of
Conscience, hath been upheld to this day," and suggests
a mode of settling the unhappy quarrel. He was ap- Aug.
pointed to reply to the letter from Sir Henry Vane, which ^^'
he did in behalf of the town. From that letter we are
confirmed in the opinion that the usurpation of Codding-
ton, and the difficulties arising from the granting of com-
missions of reprisal against the Dutch, were the chief
causes of discontent in the colony.
At length a reunion was effected. A full Court of
Commissioners, six from each town, assembled at War-
wick. Articles of agreement, settling the terms of reun-
ion, were signed by the whole Court. It was agreed that
all acts of the separate Assemblies from the time of the
division should remain to the account of the towns, and
of the persons taking part in those acts ; that the colony
should proceed under authority of the charter ; and that
the General Assembly for all public affairs, except elec-
tions, should be composed of six members from each town.
Thus ended this most dangerous period of disunion, that
had lasted for three years, of which the first half was
owing to the ambition of Coddington, and the last to the
local jealousies of the towns, and to the refractory spirit
of individuals. After this happy consummation the Court
continued in session two days. They re-established the P^'
code of 1647, forbade the sale of liquor to the Indians,
and prohibited the French and Dutch from trading with
* This extremely interestiag letter is given in Knowles, 261-4.
31.
252 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. them. The care of the colony to avoid all legislation that
.^^-^ could in any way affect the rights of conscience, is con-
1654. spiciious in the action taken upon "several complaints'
1. * exhibited to this Assembly against y" incivilitie of persons
exercised upon y' first day of y' weeke, which is offensive
to divers amongst us.'* They passed no Sunday lav.'s,
such as existed all around them, hut, judging rightly that
such disturbances arose from the want of any regular sea-
son for recreation, they referred it to the towns to appoint
days for their " servants and children to recreate them-
selves," and thus to prevent similar annoyances in future.
The Greneral Court of election met at Warwick.
12, Roger Williams was chosen President ; Thomas Harris
Assistant for Providence, John Roome for, Portsmouth,
Benedict Arnold for Newport, and Randall Holden for
Warwick ; Wm. Lytherland Recorder, Richard Knight
Sergeant, Richard Burden Treasurer, and John Cranston
Attorney General. These were to hold office until the
13 spring election. Tbe next day the Court of Commission-
ers fixed the first Tuesday in May for the election of
members by the towns, and the Tuesday after the fifteenth
of May for that of general officers. Legal process was to
issue " in y'name of His Highness y" Lord Protector of y^
Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and
y* dominions thereto belonging." The President and
Gregory Dexter, then town clerk of Providence, were
desired to " send letters of humble thanksgiving to His
Highness the Lord Protector, and Sir Henry Vane, Mr.
Holland, and to Mr. John Clarke, in y" name of y" colo-
nic.*' The two island towns were authorized to hold
their court of trials together, if they pleased, or apart as
they had previously done, and the same liberty was given
to the two mainland towns. This act seems intended to
remove what was apparently the first source of alienation
in the colony, soon after the oiganization of the charter
government.'
* Ante chap. vii. p 2U, 221.
INDIAN WAR. 253
War had again broken out between the Narragansets chap.
and the Long Island Indians. The United Colonies were 2J^
much alarmed, and sent messengers to inquire of Ninigret 1 6 .5 4.
the cause, and to demand his presence at Hartford. Nin- jg *
igret replied that the enemy had slain a sachem's son and 18.
sixty of his people. The haughty spirit of the chieftain
appears in his answer : " If your governor's son were
slain, and several other men, would you ask counsel of
another nation how and when to right yourselves ? " He
refused to go to Hartford, and desired only that the Eng-
lish would let him alone. President Williams wrote to
the government of Massachusetts a lonor letter in defence
. ... Oct.
of the Indians,' maintaining that the Narragansets had 5/
always been true to the English, and that the present war
on Long Island was an act of self-defence. A force was
sent against Ninigret under Major Willard. The In- ^•
dians took refuge in a swamp. The troops returned un- „ .
successful, to the great chagrin of the Commissioners at
Hartford. But Massachusetts, from humane motives, op-
posed the war, and the other colonies were obliged to
submit."^
Military affairs always received great attention in
Rhode Island, but were not always a matter of record.
This year the first mention is made of an election of oflfi- jy^^y
cers in Providence. All were required to do military duty ; G-
only one man could be left at home on each farm, one mile
from town, on parade days.
An entry in the Portsmouth records shows that mem- 13,
bers were elected from that town to attend a meeting of
the General Assembly to be held the next day at New- 14.
port. No record of any such session exists, nor is any
other reference made to it elsewhere.
When Aquidneck was purchased, only the grass upon
' The letter in full is given in R. I. Col. Records, i. 291, and Knowlei,
272-8.
« Hazard's State Papers, ii. 308, 318, 324-5, 340, etc.
254 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
the other islands was conveyed in the deed. The fee still
vested in the native owners. A movement was now made
in town meeting at Portsmouth to join with Newport in
the purchase of Conanicut and Dutch islands, and a com-
mittee was appointed to treat with Newport on the sub-
ject. These islands were afterwards bought, the former by
Coddington and Benedict Arnold, Jr.,' the latter, together
with Goat and Coasters Harbor islands, by Arnold and
others. 2
Although harmony was for the most part -restored to the
colony, there still remained many who were restive under
restraint, some advocating an unlawful liberty, and others,
royalists in feeling, refusing to obey the government. This
winter was one of unusual turbulence in Providence.
Under pretence of a voluntary training a tumult occurred
in which some of the principal people were implicated.^
A paper was sent to the town asserting the dangerous doc-
trine " that it was blood-guiltiness, and against the rule of
the gospel, to execute judgment upon transgressors against
the private or public weal." This dogma was subversive of
all civil society. If allowed it would pervert one of the
two distinctive principles of Bhode Island liberty to the
destruction of the other and the consequent annihilation of
them both. It was then that Eoger Williams wrote to the
town that masterly letter which will endure so long as the
principles it so admirably defines shall be cherished among
men.
" There goes many a ship to sea, with many hundred
souls in one ship, whose weal and woe is common, and is a
true picture of a commonwealth, or a human combination,
or society. It hath fallen out sometimes that both Papista
and Protestants, Jews and Turks, may be embarked in
one ship ; upon which supposal I affirm, that all the lib-
• April 17, 1657. » May 22, 1658.
* Thomas Olney, Robert Williams, John Field, William Harris and others.
Staples' Annals, 113.
"WILLIAMS' LETTER ON LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE. 255
erty of conscience, that ever I pleaded for, turns upon chap.
these two hinges : that none of the Papists, Protestants Jil^
Jews, or Turks, be forced to come to the ship's prayers or 16 5 5
worship, nor compelled from their own particular prayers
or worship, if they practise any. I further add, that I
never denied, that notwithstanding this liberty, the com-
mander of this ship ought to command the ship's course,
yea, and also command that justice, peace, and sobriety, be
kept and practised, both among the seamen and all the
passengers. If any of the seamen refuse to perform their
service, or passengers to pay their freight ; if any refuse
to help, in person or purse, towards the common charges
or defence ; if any refuse to obey the common laws and
orders of the ship, concerning their common peace or pre-
servation ; if any shall mutiny and rise up against their
commanders and officers ; if any should preach or write that
there ought to be no commanders or officers, because all ,
are equal in Christ, therefore no masters nor officers, no
laws nor orders, no corrections nor punishments ; I say, I
never denied, but in such cases, whatever is pretended, the
commander or commanders may judge, resist, compel, and
punish such transgressors, according to their deserts and
merits." '
Nowhere have the limits of civil and religious freedom
been more aptly illustrated than in this letter of the
christian statesman who first reduced them to harmonious
union.
Complaints made to Cromwell of the divisions in the 29.
colony, drew from him a brief letter confirming the charter
and promising to adjust the difficulties.
At the regular annual election held in Providence the
same general officers were chosen as in September, except ^^^
Harris, who gave- place to Thomas Olney as Assistant for
Providence, Knight who was defeated by George Parker
for Sergeant, and Burden who was displaced by John Sand-
» Knowles, 279-80.
256 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
CHAP, ford, as Treasurer. Jolin Greene, Jr., was chosen Solicitor
,^„^ General, an office not filled at the former election. The
16 5 5. court roll of freemen at this time numbered two hundred
22; and forty- seven persons, of whom Providence had forty-two,
Warwick thirty-eight, Portsmouth seventy-one, and- New-
port ninety-six. More than two thirds of the strength of
the colony was on the island. Newport had already by far
the largest portion and was rapidly increasing. The dif-
ference between an inhabitant and a freeman .should be
borne in mind. Not every resident was a legal inhabitant.
Some time elapsed after one's arrival in the colony before
he could be received as an inhabitant, participating thereby
in certain rights to the common lands, doing ju;;y duty, and
being eligible to some of the lesser town offices. If his
conduct while thus situated gave satisfaction he might be
propounded at town meeting to become a freeman, and if
no valid objection was brought against him, at the next
meeting he was admitted to all the rights of the freemen,
or close corporators of the colony.
In the earlier years an admission as freeman sometimes
brought with it a joint ownership in the land purchased,
but soon it came to convey only the elective franchise, and
even this was not always confined to freemen, for afterwards
by a town law in Providence' any inhabitant was liable to
be elected to office and finable for not serving. Two years
later all who held lands in the town were declared to be
freemen.^ This latter feature remained, with some modi-
fications, till the adoption of the State Constitution,
22 25. At this session the general Court of trials was appointed
to sit once a year in each town. All persons were required
to sisrn a submission to the Lord Protector and the Par-
liament. Those who refused were deprived of the benefit
of the colony laws till they did so. Prisons were ordered
to be built at Newport and Warwick. Providence and
' Passed at town meeting, June 1656. Annals of Prov., 118.
do. do. May 1658. do, do. 124.
SUBMISSION TO THE LORD PROTECTOE. 257
Portsmouth were each to build a cage and to furnish it chap.
with a pair of stocks. Very full laws were passed regulat- 2^^
ing the sale of liquors. This subject received the atten- 105 5
tion of neaily every Assembly and has been the must fruitful '^-^ "
theme of legislation for more than two hundred years.
Two taverns were licensed in each town, and leave was
granted to the towns to add one more if they saw fit.
The armed opposition to authority by Olney and others,
in the winter, was discussed and a committee appointed to
inform him of the Assembly's view of the matter. That
the disturbance was not very serious may be inferred from
the choice of Olney as an assistant and from his taking
the engagement after conferring with the committee. At
the next town meeting it was wisely concluded '' that for ''^'^'^^•
the colony's sake, who have since chosen Thomas Olney an
assistant, and for the public union and peace's sake, it
should be passed by and no more mentioned."
The reception of the letter from Cromwell caused a 28.
special session of the Assembly at Portsmouth*. Letters
of thanks were voted to the colony agent and to the Lord ^^•
President of the Council, requesting the latter to present
their submission to His Highness the Lord Protector. A
law was passed requiring that any who might be convicted
by the Assembly as leaders of faction should be sent as
prisoners to England at their own exj)ense, there to be
tried and punished.
That strict decorum was not always preserved, although
its necessity was appreciated, appears by the last act of
this session ; " that in case any man shall strike another
person in y' Court, he shall either be fined ten pounds, or
be whipt, accordinge as y' Court shall see meete."
The shortness of the sessions, and the early hour at
which the Assemblies met, are worthy of remark. Three or
four days were then found to be sufficient for the most im-
portant business, and the daily adjournments were usually
until six o'clock, or till half an hour or one hour after
VOL. I.— 17
258 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
sunrise the next morning. A fine of one shilling was im-
posed for absence from roll call.
16 5 5. The Warwick dispute remained unadjusted. An action
for damages in the sum of two thousand pounds was brought
by the Gortonists against Massachusetts, before the Coun-
cil of State. The Indians subject to Massachusetts there
and at Pawtuxet continued their depredations. The Eng-
lish subjects at the latter place, now consisting of hut four
families' only two of whom still held out against Rhode
Island, were a source of obstruction to the authority of the
colony. The law prohibiting the sale of powder and arms
to citizens of Rhode Island was still in force in Massachu-
setts. Upon these four points, of xital importance to the
JTov. prosperity of the State, President Williams wrote to the
^* Government of Massachusetts, urging them so to alter their
policy as to prevent comjDlaints against them from being
sent to England, iu ships then ready to sail.^ Although
the General Court was then in session no immediate notice
was taken of this communication.
1655-6. The people of Providence, alarmed by hostile demon-
strations of the Indians, decided to erect a fort on Stamp-
er's Hill.^ At the same meeting they established a jus-
tice's Court for the trial of cases not exceeding forty shil-
' Sttsphen Arnold, Zachary Rhodes, William Arnold and William Carpen-
ter. Of these the first-named desired to unite with Rhode Island, as did the
second also, for, being a Baptist, he was virtually banished by the law of 13th
Nov. 16-14. The last two alone held out, under pretence of fearing to offend
Massachusetts by withdrawing their allegiance. This they did, however,
three years later, Oct. 22, 1658, by consent of the General Court.
^ The letter is found in R. I. CoL Rec. i. 322-5, and Hazard's State Pa-
pers, i. 610-11.
^ The tradition, preserved by Judge Staples, in Annals of Providence, p.
117, gives a curious derivation for this name, and illustrates the constant dan-
gers to which the early settlers were exposed. " Soon after the settlement of
Providence a body of Indians approached the town in a hostile manner.
Some of the townsmen, by running and stamping on this hill, induced them
to believe that there was a large number of men stationed there to oppose
them, upon which they relinquished their design and retired. From tins cir-
cumstance the hill was always called Stamper's Hill.'' See vol. ii. p. 121 note.
J;in.
CODDINGTON SUBMITS TO THE COLONY. 259
lings iu amount. Eoger Williams, Thomas Olney, and chap.
Thomas Harris, were chosen judges of this Court. The .„J^
former was then President of the colony, Olney was the 1655-6.
Greneral Assistant for Providence, and Harris was a member
of the Assembly. That the smallest tribunal in a town
should be composed of such members speaks well for the
public spirit of the leading men, and for the care taken in
the administration of justice.
At the general Court of trials held at Warwick, Mr. ;^[„j.ch
Coddington appeared as one of the newly elected commis- 11.
sioners from Newport. His election caused so much dis-
satisfaction that an investigation was had by the Assembly,
the jury meanwhile being dismissed. The result was a
formal submission to the authority of the colony in these
words :
" I William Coddington, doe hereby submit to y"
authoritie of His Highness in this Colonic as it is now
united, and that with all my heart."
The Assembly then adjourned, while the Court of trials i).
proceeded, after which it again convened at the same
place. The committee of investigation reported favora-
bly on Coddington's right to a seat, but advised that a
letter be sent to the Agent in England, giving their
reasons for receiving him, and asking for a discharge of
the complaints entered against him before the Council of
State. He had incurred a fine for withholding the colony
records from the last Assembly, and this fine it was voted
not to remit. Guns, similar to some he had brought over
from England, were found in possession of the Indians.
He was therefore required to account for the disposal of
his. Certain proceedings prejudicial to Coddington during
the time of his usurpation, were cut out from the records
and given to him — a mutilation much to be regretted, as
it deprives us of all information concerning his administra-
tion. The presentments against him and some of his
partisans on the Island records were annulled.
260 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. The custom of referring particular items of business to
^^.^.^ sub-committees, which gave rise to the modern system of
1655-6. standing committees, was early introduced into our
March. iT mi •
Assembly, ihere is scarcely a session, since the reunion,
at which one or more sub-committees were not appointed.
Prior to that time, all business . was done by deliberation
of the whole body. A warrant was issued to bring Pum-
ham before the Court to answer complaints from th©. town
of Warwick, and a committee was appointed .-to treat
with him, and to report at the next session. Marriages
were ordered to be published at town meetings, or on
training days at the head of the company, or by writing
posted in some public place, signed by a magistrate. If
the banns were forbidden, the case was to be heard by
two magistrates ; should they allow it, the parties might
marry ; but if not, the general Court of trials were to
decide it. Tavern bars were to be closed at nine o'clock
at night. The age of majority was fixed at twenty-one
years. No magistrate, during the trial of a case, was
permitted to leave the bench without permission from the
Court, under a heavy penalty, as such an act might bias
the jury, and thus imperil a just cause.
Iggg The letter to the General Court, at their November
session, having received no reply, Williams, in the spring,
wrote to Governor Endicott, who invited him to come to
May Boston. A second official letter was sent to the Court,
of the same tenor as the former one ; and a few days
after, Mr. Williams, then in Boston, wrote to the Court,
17. expressing his gratification at the progress of affairs with
Pumham, which, it would seem, were intrusted to his
management. '
* An amusing entry in the Warwick records of 15th May of this year
shows the provision made hy that town for this journey of the President.
" Ordered that forty shillings be sent out of the treasury unto Mr. Roger Wil-
liams, and a pair of Indian Breeches for his Indian, at seven shillings six-
pence at 6 pr penny, as also a horse for his journey unto Boston and back
again."
GENERAL ELECTION. 261
At the general election held in Portsmouth, Roger chap.
Williams was again chosen President. The Assistants ^^..^.^
were Thomas Olney for Providence, William Balston for 165 6.
May
Portsmouth, John Coggeshall for Newport, and John 20.
Weeks for AVarwick, he having the next highest vote to
Randall Holden, who, being elected, declined to serve,
and whose fine of five pounds for refusing was offset by
his services previously rendered. John Sandford was made
Recorder and Treasurer ; George Parker, Sergeant ; John
Easton, Attorney-General ; and Richard Bulgar, Solicitor,
The Assembly, as usual, met the next day, and sat
three days.
It was agreed that the controversy with the Pawtuxet 21-23.
men should be closed by arbitration, after which they
were to be received as freemen of the colony. Whoever
should deface or destroy any instrument of justice was to
make reparation for the injury, and to be confined for six
hours in the stocks. Leave was granted to William
Blackstone to enter the titles of his land in the records
of land evidence in the colony. This was doubtless for
the sake of convenience, he living near Providence,
although at that time in the Plimouth jurisdiction, as
appears from letters of administration granted by that
colonv at his decease. At the autumn session, held like- _. ,
' . Uct.
wise at Portsmouth, provision was made for supplying lo.
any vacancy caused by the death of a general officer.
Whoever had the next highest number of votes was to
fill the place till the ensuing May election, or in case the
choice had been unanimous, the town where the vacancy
occurred was to elect a successor. This action was caused
by the death of the Sergeant, George Parker, the first
general officer who died in place. He was succeeded by
Richard Knight, who had been his competitor at the
spring election.
One of the most serious differences that ever disturbed
the colony commenced about this time. The free princi-
262 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, pies of the State were constantly liable to abuse by those
,.^,.^_;^ whom they attracted hither. The distinction between li-
165 6. cense and legal liberty was not yet so clearly drawn but
2Q ' that some strong intellects failed to see it as it existed in
the mind of Koger Williams, or as set forth in his remark-
able letter before given. The paper which produced that
letter expressed a most dangerous idea, but one that found
an earnest and able champion in William Harris, between
whom and Williams an inveterate hostility arose. The
sources of this enmity appear to have been'their different
views of the nature of liberty, and the proceedings result-
ing from this difference. It was carried to a degree of
personal invective that mars the exalted character of Wil-
liams and detracts from the dignity and worth of his op-
ponent. It was never forgotten by the one or forgiven by
the other. Both were men of ardent feelings and of great
address, whose mental activity was never at rest. Harris,
unfortunately, was almost constantly employed in business
that was inimical to the interests of Rhode Island, and
from this time forward assumed the position that the Ar-
nolds of Pawtuxet had before held, either as a leader of
faction within the State or the agent and representative
of adverse interests abroad. This is the more to be re-
gretted because he brought to whatever he undertook the
resources of a great mind and, to all appearance, the hon-
est convictions of an earnest soul. On this account he
was a more dangerous opponent and required stringent
measures to suppress the errors of his political creed. So
far only as this controversy had a public character we shall
follow its development through a long series of years.
Let the more repulsive features of personal rancor be con-
signed to oblivion ! Harris had published " that he that
can say it is his conscience ought not to yield subjection
to any human order amongst men ;" and had attempted to
sustain the subversive doctrine by abundant perversions
of scriptural quotation. It was much such an announce-
"WILLIAM HARRIS ARRESTED FOR TREASON. 263
raent as had aroused the pen of Williams two years before, chap.
He uow adopted severer means to crush the reiterated fal- ^^^^
lacy. As President of the colony he issued a warrant for ^^"^^■'•
the arrest of Harris on the charge of high treason against 12.
the Commonwealth of England.'
At the next election held in Newport, Williams was ^,^r'^ '
not a candidate. Benedict Arnold was chosen President ; ly.
Arthur Fenner of Providence, William Balston of Ports-
mouth, Richard Tew of Newport, and Randall Holden of
W^arwick, Assistants, John Greene Jr., Attorney General,
and James Rogers, Solicitor. The other three general
offices remained as before. The trial of Harris could not
proceed on account of the absence of his accuser. Both
parties were warned to appear at an adjourned session in
Warwick. At this special session Harris was required to ' ^^J
' Two copies of this warrant are still preserved among the papers of Wil-
liam Harris, now in the possession of Wm. J. Harris, Esq., of Providence,
whose kindness in placing these valuable MSS. in the hands of the writer he
here begs leave to acknowledge. The warrant reads as follows : " Whereas,
William Harris of Providence, published to all the towns in the colony dan-
gerous writings containing his notorious defiance to the authority of his high-
ness the Lord Protector, dec, and the high Court of Parliament of England,
as also his notorious attempts to draw all the English subjects of this colony
into a traitorous renouncing of their allegiance and subjection, and whereas
the said William Harris now openly in the face of the Court, declareth him-
self resolved to maintain the said writings with his blood ; These are there-
fore in the name of His Highness the Lord Protector, strictly to will and re-
quire you to apprehend the said William Harris, and to keep him in safe cus-
tody until his appearance before the General Assembly of the colony in May
next ensuing at Newport, before which Assembly he is to be convicted and
sent for England, or acquitted according to law of the colony established
amongst us. And you are also hereby authorized to take all due care that
his land and estate be faithfully secured to the use of his highness, the Lord
Protector, in case of the conviction of the said William Harris in the General
Assembly of the colony as aforesaid ; for the due performance of all which
premises all his Highness' officers in this colony, both civil and military, and
all his Highness' subjects in this colony are hereby straightly required to be
aiding and assisting, as they will answer to the contrary at their peril.
" Roger Williams, President.
" To Mr. Richard Knight, General Sergeant.''^
This warrant is dated " Newport, 12th of the Ist mo., 1656 and 1657, «C
called. "
264 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, read a copy of his book upon which the impeachment was
2,^^ based while Williams read the original. Williams then
165 7. read to the Couit his letter containino; the accusation, also
4 ' a cojiy of his charge, and his reply to Harris' book. It
was referred to a committee to report what further pro-
ceedings were desirable. They advised that the papers
be sent to England for examination and that Harris should
give bonds for good behavior till the result was known.
A committee was thereupon appointed to write-to John
Clarke a suitable letter to accompany these papers, and
Harris and his son Andrew were placed under bonds of
five hundred pounds.
The English settled in the Pequot country were ever
thwarting the efforts of the Narragansets to avenge their
wrongs upon Uncas. The Mohawks were in league with
the Narragansets against the Mohegans, and were advanc-
ing in force to attack them. The Narragansets applied to
the General Assembly to remonstrate with the English on
their conduct in always giving warning, through their
scouts, "to Uncas of the approach of an enemy, lest the
Mohawks, being enraged thereby, should attack the Eng-
lish themselves. The Assembly wrote a letter to Capt.
Denison and others in accordance with this request, that
for peace sake they should allow the Indians to fight out
their own quarrels — a grain of advice which, if followed,
would have done more than any thing else to secure the
good-will of those powerful tribes.
The year 1656 will be darkly memorable in the annals
of New England for the arrival of the Quakers and the
commencement of their persecution at Boston. The ap-
pearance of this "cursed sect of heretics"* so alarmed the
Puritans that a day of public humiliation was appointed^
to be held in aU the churches mainly on their account.
A stringent law was enacted for their suppression' and
' Preamble to law of Oct. 14th, 1656, M. C. R., iii. 415.
• May 14th, 1656, to be held June 11th.
» Oct. 14th, 1666.
PERSECUTION OF THE QUAKERS. 265
two years later their tenets were made a capital offence,' chap.
Fines, imprisonment, whipping, banishment, mutilation, J,^!^
and death, were denounced and inflicted upon them. The i « o 7.
wildest fanaticism on their part was met by a frenzied
bigotry on the other. Acts that made the perpetrators
amenable to the statute against nuisances were visited
with the penalties provided against heresies. The strait-
jacket or temporary confinement would have been the
proper treatment in many cases that were consigned to
the scourge or the scaffold. The vagaries of morbid minds,
not morally accountable for the indecencies they committed,
were visited with the same penalties that awaited the rob-
ber or the assassin.^ Nor was severity confined to cases
like these, but people of blameless conduct alike suffered,
on the same ground, for heretical opinions. For five years
this persecution continued, until stayed by an order from
Charles 11.^ requiring that capital and corporal punish-
ments of the Quakers should cease, and that such as were
obnoxious should be sent to England.^ That Rhode Island
became a city of refuge for those who fled from this fiery
" Oct. 19th, 1658.
^ " At Boston one George Wilson, and at Cambridge Elizabeth Horton
went crying throuajh the streets that the Lord was coming with fire and sword
to plead with them. Thomas Xewhouse went into the meeting house at Bos-
ton with a couple of glass bottles, and broke them before the congregation,
and threatened ' Thus will the Lord break you in pieces.' Another time M.
Brewster came in with her face smeared and as black as a coal. Deborah
Wilson went through the streets of Salem naked as she came into the world,
for which she was well whipped. One of the sect apologizing for this be-
havior said, ' If the Lord did stir up any of his daughters to_be a sign of
the nakedness of others, he believed it to be a great cross to a modest woman's
spirit, but the Lord must be obeyed.' " Hutch. Mass., i. 203-4. A display
of prurient piety like this last occurred also in one of the churches. New
England Judged, Part ii. p. 69.
^ 9th Sept., 1661.
^ See Hutchinson's Mass., i. 196-20-1 ; Bishop's New England Judged,
Part 1st, -Ito., 176 pp. Loudon, 1661, and Part 2d, 4to., 147 pp., 1667. New
England Ensign, London, 1659, 4to., 121 pp. Several Rhode Island people
were victims of this persecution, whose sufferings will be noticed in the proper
place Mary, wife of Wm. Dyre, Secretary of Rhode Island colony, was put
to death, and Thomas Harris and others were severely maltreated.
266 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
ordeal vexed the United Colonies. The Commissionera^
assembled at Boston, wrote a letter urging Rhode Island
to banish the Quakers already there and to prohibit any
more from coming to the State.' To this request the
President and Assistants, met at the Court of trials in
Providence, replied, that there was no law by which men
could be punished in Rhode Island for their opinions, and
that the Quakers being unmolested, were becomi»g dis-
gusted at their want of success ; but that in case of any
extravagancies, like those referred to, being committed, the
16.57-8. next General Assembly would provide a corrective. That
13' ' body met at Portsmouth and addressed another letter to
the Massachusetts on the same subject. In this letter
they say that freedom of conscience was the ground of
their charter and shall be maintained ; that if the Qua-
kers violate the laws or refuse to conform thereto in any
respect, complaint against them will be made in England
and the more readily as these people are there tolerated.'^
On the same day a letter was sent to Plymouth deny-
ing the claim set up by that colony to Hog island, which
was purchased by Richard Smith from Wamsutta, sachem
of the Wampanoags. The question was left to the Pres-
ident and Thomas Willett to be settled, by whom it was
advised to adjust the matter by arbitration, which after
much delay Avas done, and the right of Rhode Island to
the land in dispute ultimately sustained. Hope island
had been given to Roger Williams by Miantinomi many
years before but was still occupied by Indians. Tlie Court
ordered that the Sachems should remove their subjects to
leave Mr. Williams in possession. Gould island had been
purchased of the Indians a year before^ by Thomas Gould,
and about the same time^ the great Pettiquamscut pur-
1 Hazanl, ii. 370-1.
^ Both these letters and also that to which they are the replies, are giveu
in R. I. Col. Rec, i. 374-380.
•' March 28th, 1657. * January 20th, 1657.
PAWTUXET MEN RETURN TO THEIR ALLEGIANCE. 267
chase, in what is now South Kingston, was commenced, chap,
Repeated additions Avere made to this tract, and difficulties JL^I^
with adjoining purchasers arose when the claims of Massa- 1658
chusetts to the Narraganset country came to be urged.'
These frequent purchases caused so much trouble that the
Assembly soon afterwards prohibited any further purchases
of land or islands from the Indians within the colony with- " 2.
out express permission from that body, on pain of forfeiture
of the land, and a fine of twenty pounds besides.
At the general election, held in Warwick, the only Jg^
changes made were in the Assistants for Providence and
Newport ; William Field being chosen for the former and
Joseph Clarke for the latter. All the other offices remained
as before. Upon the conclusion of peace between England
and Holland the law prohibiting trade with the Dutch was
repealed, but there were still some lawless persons, who,
pretending commissions from Rhode Island, annoyed the
Dutch commerce by seizing their goods and vessels. To
prevent their recurrence these outrages were denounced as
felony. The order to build prisons and cages not having
been obeyed, it was repealed, and the prison built at New-
port was directed to be for the colony use, the other towns
contributing towards its cost.
The long pending difficulties with the Pawtuxet men
were now terminated by their withdrawal from the juris-
diction of Massachusetts, and acknowledging allegiance to
Rhode Island. William Arnold and William Carpenter,
for themselves and their friends, petitioned the General
Court for a full discharge of their persons and estates from o^^
subjection to Massachusetts, This was granted provided
they rendered an account of their proceedings against the
Warwick men under the commission of Massachusetts fif-
' The details and subsequent history of this purchase are given by Mr.
Potter, iu K. I. H. C, iii. 275-99. The original proprietors were Samuel
Wilbor, John Hull of Boston, John Porter, Samuel Wilson, Thomas Mum-
ford. At a later period William Brenton and Benedict Arnold were admit-
ted.
268 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
teen years before, and that the Greenes and others should
have liberty to prosecute them in any of the Massachusetts
1658. Courts' for injuries received thereby. This happy result
was effected by the mediation of Roger Williams. At the
next General Court in October the sentence of banishment
against the Warwick men was so far relaxed that leave
was granted to John Greene, sen., to visit his friends for
one month. The bond required from Arnold to -answer
any suit brought by the Greenes was limited ta-one year,
at the expiration of which period he petitioned the Court
for certain amounts of damage sustained by him in execut-
ing the commission against the Gortonists. The account
was referred and ultimately extended, and in part allowed,
but the committee's report was better calculated to satisfy
the Greenes than the petitioner.'^
gg J. The Commissioners of the United Colonies wrote to all
23. the General Courts urorin"; severer measures against the
29_" Quakers. Massachusetts acted at once on the suggestion,
and passed a law punishing with death any Quakers who
should- return after sentence of banishment. Rhode Island
again was urged to join in the fierce oppression. Threats
of exclusion from all intercourse or trade with the rest of
New England were made to force her from her fidelity to
the cause of religious freedom, but in vain. The result
was an appeal to Cromwell by the General Assembly that
" they may not be compelled to exercise any civil power
5 * over men's consciences, so long as human orders, in point
of civility, are not corrupted or violated." A letter was
sent to John Clarke to be presented to His Highness,
which contains this request, and clearly distinguishes be-
tween the rights of conscience and the duties of the cit-
izen.^
' M. C. R. iv. Part i. p. 333.
* The petition was Oct. 18th, 1G59. The report was made Nov. 12th.
See M. C. R., iv. Part i. 411, and R. I. H. C, ii. 200-12. He afterwards,
IGG3, presented an extended account, which was bettled by compromise, Oct
21st, 1663. M. C. R., iv. Part ii. p. 78, 93.
^ This letter is in R. I. Col. Rec, i. 396-9.
Nov
PERSECUTION OF THE QUAKERS. 269
While Rhode Island was thus defending her liberal chap.
sentiments, her citizens without distinction of sex or age .^_,.,^
were suffering from Puritan persecutions. A Mrs. Gardner lfio8.
of Newport, the mother of several children, and a woman W^
of good report, having become a Quaker, went to Wey-
mouth, with an infant at her breast, taking with her a
nurse, Mary Stanton, to attend the child. There they
were arrested and taken before Governor Endicot by whom
they were sent to prison, flogged with ten stripes each, and
closely confined for two weeks.' Thomas Harris of Bar-
badoes, who had settled in Rhode Island, went to Boston
with two others of the same sect, where, after servdce at .]„„e
church, he gave great ofience by haranguing the congrega- lo-
tion, an indiscretion which may have deserved some pun-
ishment but not the severity he received. He was flogged,
imprisoned for eleven days, during five of which he was not
allowed food or water, because he refused to work at the 22
jailer's bidding, severely whipped by the jailer, and again
publicly with several others, receiving fifteen stripes.^
Catharine, wife of Richard Scot of Providence, and sister
of the celebrated Ann Hutchinson, met with a similar fate.
She went to Boston to witness the mutilation of three %^P^'
ib.
of her brethren, whose right ears were cut off" by the hang-
man in execution of the law against Quakers. For re-
monstrating upon this cruelty she was imprisoned for two
weeks and then publicly flogged.^ She was advanced in Oct.
(ife, had been married twenty years, and was the mother of
several children, two of whom sufiered in the same cause.
The severity of these proceedings and the increasing rigor
of the statutes passed at every session of the General Court
against the Quakers, caused many of them to seek a home
in Rhode Island. But the spirit of fanaticism was not
yet appeased. From fine and imprisonment it proceeded
' New England Ensign, 72-3. Bishop's New England Judged, -47.
' July 19th. New England Ensign, 73-5.
• New England Judged, 75.
270 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, to apply whipping and mutilation, then banishment, and
2,1^ finally death to the unfortunate Quakers. This last out-
1658. rage upon humanity was opposed by the deputies and by
19 ' the great mass of the people, who were always ahead of
their rulers in liberal feeling and in their sense of justice
and of right. The magistrates and clergy' were zealous
in its favor. The deputies yielded by a majority of one,
and thus placed another blot on the annals of Massachu-
setts to the eternal disgrace of Puritan legislation. The
next year was to witness the execution of this cruel statute
in the case of a Rhode Island victim.
]vrov. To prevent further trouble like that which had just
2- been so fortunately ended with Pawtuxet, the Assembly,
convened at Warwick, decreed that no one should here-
after submit his lands to any other jurisdiction, or attempt
to bring in any foreign government within the colony od
pain of confiscation. No law was to be in force until
twenty days after the adjournment of the Assembly. This
was to allow ten days for the recorder to furnish each town
clerk with a copy of the acts of the session, and ten more
for the towns to consider them, and if they disapproved to
notify the President and thus to annul the statute. The
Assembly decided to have but one annual session, to be
held at the May election, but this was rarely found to suf-
fice. They also reduced the sittings of the Court of trials
to two, in March and October. The President and General
Council might call extra meetings of the Assembly. This
council was composed of the President, Assistants, and
Q^.^ town Magistrates. No law creating it can be found, and
14. but three meetings appear on the records — one at War-
wick, just prior to this session, at which no business of im-
portance was transacted, and the other two at Providence
in the following spring. At the first of these, warrants
* " In hsereticos gladio viijdicaudura est," was a motto of Calvin, as well
as of Koine, and too faithfully followed by his stern disciples in Massachu-
setts.
15.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 271
were issued to arrest Pumham for insurrection in causing chap.
a riot to rescue a felon in Warwick, and some other Indians s.^^.,,,^
for robbery committed upon William Arnold at Pawtuxet. l^^^-^-
^ . . Muich
Two days afterward the council met for the last time to 9.
publish the proclamation of Richard, Lord Protector, who
had succeeded to the supreme authority on the death of
his father in September. It was ordered to be read at
town meeting, and at the head of every military company
in the colony on the following Tuesday.
At the general election held in Providence the same 165 9,
officers were retained throughout, except Knight, Sergeant, ^^^
who was displaced by James Rogers. The dispute with
Plymouth about Hog island not having been settled, the
Assembly again appointed four Commissioners to meet
the same number from Plymouth to adjust this matter, and
also the general boundary of the two colonies, and notified
Plymouth accordingly. Four men, one from each town,
were also appointed to mark out the western bounds of the
colony, but nothing was done about it for the present.
The Indians gave much trouble by stealing the goods and
cattle of the colonists. A severe law was passed to prevent
it. If the damage exceeded twenty shillings, the convict
might be sold as a slave to any English plantation abroad,
unless he made restitution, and if less than that sum he
should restore twofold, or be whipped not more than fif-
teen stripes. The Assembly addressed a letter to Richard
Cromwell asking a confirmation of their charter. It was
never presented, as the Protector had resigned his power
before it reached England. A tax of fifty pounds was laid
to pay for ammunition, and to meet the expenses of the
agent in London. Providence and Wai-wick were each to
pay nine pounds, Portsmouth fourteeen, and Newport
eighteen pounds. Providence was allowed to buy out and
remove the Indians within its limits, and to enlarge its
bounds by further purchase. Leave was also granted to
purchase certain other lands, and a committee appointed
272 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
for that purpose. Fox island and an adjoining tract on
the main near Wickford, were bought by Holden and Gor-
ton, and soon afterwards Humphrey Atherton, John Win-
throp and others, not citizens of Hhode Ishmd, bought two
large tracts on the bay, one called Quidnesett, north of
Wickford, and the other, called Namcook, now Boston
j^]^, neck, south of it. This purchase was in violation of an
4. express law of Rhode Island. Its validity depended on the
decision of the question of jurisdiction over the Narragan-
set country, claimed by Rhode Island and disputed by Con-
necticut and Massachusetts. Roger Williams warned Ath-
erton upon this point, and refused the offers of land made
to induce him to aid as interpreter in the purchase. It
became a fruitful source of difficulty for many years. The
23. Assembly met at Portsmouth, and apj)ointed a committee
of two from each town to write to the Commissioners of
the United Colonies, to Massachusetts, and to Atherton,
respecting these purchases. During the Debate on this
question the Assembly sat with closed doors. They pre-
j^ared to prosecute the claims of Rhode Island before Par-
liament, and empowered the committee to call together
the Assembly when they saw fit.
Potowomut was ordered to be purchased for the colony
from the Indians. Hog island continued to be a source
of trouble. Richard Smith claiming it adversely to the
colony, and threatening any who should molest him in his
possession, the Assembly resolved to bear them harmless.
Smith sought to place the island under the jurisdiction of
Plymouth. Robert Westcott, a member from Warwick,
was tried for a similar ofience and sus]>ended, and John
Weeks was chosen by the Assembly to fill his place. A
further tax of fifty pounds was laid, of which Newport was
to pay twenty, Providence eleven, Portsmouth ten, and
Warwick nine pounds. Newport it ajjpears had doubled
in wealth over Portsmouth, and Providence for the first
time seems to have gained upon the other two towns
PERSECUTION OF THE QUAKERS. 273
Letters from John Clarke informed the colony of the Pro-
tector's resignation, and that the Parliament was the sole
authority, as before the accession of Cromwell. All legal 165 9.
process was therefore ordered to issue " in the name of the
supreme authority of the Commonwealth of England."
The first instance of the appointment of a deputy sergeant
occurred at this session. James Kogers, Sergeant General,
was allowed to appoint a deputy to serve writs and execu-
tions, he being responsible for the acts of such deputy.
The zeal of Puritan persecution was inflamed by the
rancor of the magistrates and clergy. Among those who
had already suffered imprisonment for their adhesion to
the novel and " cursed heresy," was Mary, wife of William
Dyre, the first secretary of Aquedneck. Returning from
England, whither she had probably accompanied her hus-
band when he went over with Williams and Clarke, but
had remained behind and there had embraced the new
tenets, with no knowledge of what had been done in Mas-
sachusetts, she was arrested and thrown into prison. With
difficulty she was released by her husband giving bonds
to take her immediately away, and not to suffer her to
speak to any one on the journey homeward. Afterwards
in company with other friends, Hope Clifton, and Mary,
daughter of Catherine Scot, whose sister Patience, a girl of g '
only eleven years, was then in prison for the same offence,
she ventured again into Massachusetts to visit some friends
confined in Boston as Quakers. Her two companions were
only imprisoned, but Mary Dyre, having been before ban-
ished under pain of death, was tried, together with Wil- ^^^
liam Robinson and Marmaduke Stevenson, and condemned
to death. The sentence was executed upon the two men. 27.
Mary was reprieved while on the gallows, after her two
fellow-sufferers had been swung off".' With singular in-
fatuation she returned in the following spring, for the third 16 6
time, while the General Court was in session, was arrested gQ^
' New England Judged, 38, 97, 109.
VOL. I — 18
274 HISTORY or the state of RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, and hung.' There were other instances of this revolting
_____ cruelty practised upon persons not resident in Rhode
16 6 Island, and which continued till Charles II. peremptorily
forbade any further murders to be perpetrated, in the name
May of God, by these infuriated zealots.
22
The next general election was held at Portsmouth,
"William Brenton was chosen President, William Field of
Providence, Wilham Baulston of Portsmouth, Benedict
Arnold, late President, of Newport, and John "Greene of
Warwick, Assistants, John Sanford, Recorder and Treas-
urer, James Rogers, Sergeant, John Easton, Attorney
General, and Richard Bulgar, SoHcitor General. An im-
portant modification of the statute regulating the mode
of annulling laws was made. In place of ten days, three
months was allowed for the towns to return their votes
upon any new law, after its presentation, and instead of a
majority of freemen in each town being necessary to annul
a law, a majority of those in the Colony was now sufficient,
even although any one town made no returns against it.
This was a great step towards consolidation, and tended
to strengthen the Colonial Government.
A great change was in progress at this time in English
affairs. Charles II. landed in England, and amid the joyful
'. shouts of his subjects, entered London in triumph. The
restoration was complete, not only in form but in sub-
stance. The great mass of the people received their mon-
arch with delight, for they desired relief from the turmoil
of civil strife. The religious parties united in the ovations
that welcomed his return, and each vied with the other in
demonstrations of loyalty. The Episcopalians hated
Cromwell because he had crushed them, the Puritans dis-
liked him for curbing their persecuting zeal, while the
Roman Catholics hailed tlie return of the Stuarts as being
a family who sympathized with their own faith.
The news of the restoration of Charles II. occasioned
a special meeting of the assembly at Warwick. His
» June 1, M, C. R. iv. Part i. 419.
SACHEMS MORTGAGE LANDS TO THE ATHERTON COMPANY. 275
Majesty's letter to Parliament, his declaration and pro-
clamation were read and entered upon the records. The
King was formally proclaimed at eight o'clock the next 16t)0.
morning, in presence of the Assembly, with military 21.'
honors, and the following Wednesday was appointed for
his public proclamation throughout the colony, and was
made a general hohday. All legal process was to issue in
His Majesty's name. A commission was sent to John
Clarke confirming his position as agent for the colony, and
desiring him to obtain a confirmation of the charter from
the crown.
A committee was also appointed to treat with Ather-
ton and his comj^any about their purchase in Narraganset,
and to arrange the terms upon which they might come
into the colony, or if they refused to treat, then to forbid
them from entering on their lands. They reported but
partial progress at the next session, and were continued.
Meanwhile a great wrong was committed upon the 'gif
Narraganset Indians by the commissioners of the United
Colonies, who, for alleged injuries inflicted upon the
Mohegans, which were denied by the Narraganset Sa-
chems, levied a heavy fine upon them, and compelled
them, by an armed force, to mortgage their whole country g .
for the payment of a sum, amounting to five hundred and 29
ninety-five fathoms of peage within four months. In a Oct.
month from this time the Sachems mortgaged to the
Atherton company all the unsold lands in Narraganset, on
condition that they would pay the fine to the United
Colonies, and further bound themselves to sell no more
lands without consent of the mortgagees. Six months
was allowed for redemption. Atherton paid the fine ; the
land was not redeemed, and afterwards, in the spring of
1662, the Sachems delivered formal possession to the
mortgagees. Upon so slight a transaction, founded in
force, and followed up in that spirit of acquisition which
aimed at the possession of * the whole of Rhode Island,
276 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, rested the claims of a company that was destined to giv^e
v-~r^ so much trouble to the colony.
1661. ipj^g same President, Assistants, Attorney-General
21.' and Sergeant were re-elected at Newport. Joseph Torrey
was chosen Recorder, Caleb Carr, Treasurer, and Peter
Tallman, Solicitor-General. The assembly passed a
lengthy act acknowledging their submission to the King,
22. proposing to send a special agent to England to present it
in a humble address to His Majesty, and voting^a tax of
two hundred pounds for that purpose. The plan was
2-^* given up on receipt of letters from John Clarke, which
were read at the next meeting of the court of commission-
ers at Portsmouth. A letter of thanks to Mr. Clarke was
voted, and the commission, prepared in October, was order-
ed to be sent to him. The tax was apportioned, eighty-
five pounds to Newport, forty pounds each to Prondence
and Portsmouth, and thirty-five pounds to Warwick. It
was to be raised by voluntary contribution for the use of
the agent.
An extensive purchase, made the previous year, by
some Newport men, in the south-west part of the Narra-
ganset country, called Misquamicock, now Westerly, be-
gan to be settled, and gave rise to further difiiculties of
propriety and jurisdiction.' At this session the purchasers
petitioned for the approval and assistance of the colony in
making a settlement there, which was granted. The
commissioners of the United Colonies took up the dispute
in behalf of Massachusetts, and wrote to Rhode Island re-
' This tract was given to Socho, a brave captain of the Narragansets, by
Canonicus and Miantinomi, for services rendered about 1635, in driving off a
party of Pequots who had settled there prior to the war between the Pequots
and English in 1G37. It was deeded by Socho, Jan. 29th, 1660, to William
Vauglian, Robert Stanton, John Fairfield, Hugh Mosher, James Longbottom
and others of Newport, and the original deed to Socho was confirmed by Pes-
sicus, 2-lth June, 1661, at which time Ninigret claimed the tract, but his
nephew Pessicus denied his right thereto. The documents relating to this
subject and the records of the Westerly proprietors are given by Mr. Potter in
Early Hist, of Nar't. R. I. H. C, iu. 241-75.
SEIZURE OF SAUNDERS AND BURDETT. 277
specting this and the Pettiquamscot purchase, protesting chap
against the comluct of Rhode Island in permitting them .^ ^^
to be made. Massachusetts, by whom the Pequot country 1_6 6 1.
was claimed by right of conquest, had erected the tract on ^3^ "
each side of the Pawcatuck river into a township called
Southertown, and attached it to the county of Suffolk.
Complaints from this town were now made to the General
Court, of the intrusion of some thirty-six settlers from
Rhode Island into that part of the town east of Paw-
catuck river, being the Westerly purchase, claiming it as
their own. Upon this a warrant was issued by the coun- 25 *
cil of Massachusetts to the constable of Southertown to ar-
rest the trespassers. Tobias Saunders, Robert Burdett,
and Joseph Clarke were seized. Clarke was released, and Nov.
the others were taken to Boston as prisoners, and commit-
ted for want of bail. The magistrates sent a letter to Dec.
Rhode Island, inquiring if the conduct of these trespass- ^^
ers was sanctioned by that government, and saying if it
were so, Massachusetts would prepare to defend her peo-
ple in their just rights. Receiving no reply, another let- j j. g o
ter was soon after sent, by special messengers, asserting March
Q
her claim to all Rhode Island, " from Pequot river to Ply-
mouth line," under the Narraganset patent,' and avowing
her determination to make it good. At the next session
of the General Court the two prisoners were brought to
trial. They were sentenced to pay a fine of forty pounds, May
and to be imprisoned till it was paid, and also to give '^•
sureties for one hundred pounds to keep the peace. ^ A
third letter was then written, informing Rhode Island of
the trial of these men, and requiring her to cause the set- 1^.
tiers at Pettiquamscot and Southertown to vacate their
lands before the end of June, or they should be treated as
Saunders and Burdett had been. But Rhode Island was
not to be intimidated by the threats of her powerful neigh-
* Obtained Dec. 10th, 1643, ante ch. iv.
'' M. C. R. iv. Part 2d, p. U.
22.
278 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, bor, whose efforts against her peace and existence had sc
..^^^ often been thwarted by her firmness, sanctioned by the
16 6 2. subsequent approval of her conduct by the Supreme Gov-
ernment in England. Kelying, as she ever had done, on
the justice of her cause, and looking to her right of appeal
to the King and Parliament, through the medium of hei
able and faithful agent, John Clarke, she maintained her
position. The Court of Commissioners, met at Warwick,
20. sent to Daniel Gookin and others, subjects of Massachu-
setts, who had intruded at Westerly, prohibiting them
from planting or building there until the order of the
King on that matter could be known. ^ A letter in rej)ly
to Massachusetts was prepared, defending the conduct of
Saunders and Burdett, and denying that the Pequot re-
gion ever extended east of Pawcatuck river, or that Massa-
chusetts had any claim to the Narraganset country. The
terms of the letter were as courteous as the subject would
permit. Two messengers were appointed to cany it to
Boston.2
At this general election Benedict Arnold was chosen
President, over William Brenton ; Kichard Tew, Assist-
ant for Newport, John Sandford, Treasurer, and Richard
Bulffar, Solicitor. The other officers continued as be-
fore, but the Attorney General declining to serve, John
Sandford was chosen to that place in June. These ofii-
cers were re-elected the following year, and served until
the adoption of the Eoyal Charter.
Wampum-j)eage ujj to this time had been the princi-
pal circulating medium in Rhode Island. The other colo-
' This prohibition does not appear on the records of the May session,
which be^an on the 22d, while this document is dated the 20th. There waa
perhaps a special meeting of the Court prior to the general election two days
later. It is found in the files of the General Court of Massachusetts, and is
printed in R. I. Col. Rec, i. 463, with the three letters from Massachusetti
above refeiTcd to, and other papers on the same subject.
^ I'hese were John Green and John Sandford. The letter is in R, 1. CoL
Rec, i 469-73.
THE COLONY DETERMINES TO MAINTAIN ITS RIGHTS. 279
nies had Ions: since abandoned it. It had now fallen so chap.
much in value that it was declared to be no longer legal ^^^.^
tender, and all taxes and costs of court were required to be 16 6 2.
paid " in current pay," that is, in Sterling or in New Eng-
land coin.' The confusion of land titles had become so
great, that a law was passed vesting the fee in whoever,
having possession, should record his claim within thirteen
months, if on the spot ; and this record, if undisputed
within that time, should perfect the title even against the
real owner. To those living in other colonies one year
more was given, and to those living beyond the sea two
years longer were allowed to establish their right. The
President or any Assistant was empowered to appoint con-
stables at any of the new settlements in Narraganset to
keep the peace. This act evinced the fixed determination
of Rhode Island to maintain her rights in the disputed
territory. The Court adjourned till the next month, to
await the return of the messengers sent to Massachusetts.
They did not reach Boston till the General Court had ad- June
journed. To prevent the mischief that might result from ' '
the contents of their letter not being generally known,
leave was granted for any person to send copies of it, and
of the prohibition, to their friends in Massachusetts.
Liberty to buy land of the Indians was also given to sev-
eral parties. These purchases soon became too frequent
to be specially noticed.
Letters were constantly passing between the colony
and its agent. Measures of vital importance to the wel-
fare of Rhode Island were in progress. The position she
occupied was anomalous, and required great tact and
ability to sustain. The charter, by which she existed,
was obtained from an authority inimical to the king,
'Massachusetts had begun to coin silver in 1652. Shillings and six-
ponces, all of which bear the same date, although the coinage was continued
throughout several years, are still extant. Thirty shillings of New England
silver was equal to twenty-two shillings sixpence sterling.
280 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, and which had afterwards dethroned and beheaded his
^^^^^ royal father. The principles she avowed were totally un-
n»6 2. recognized among men. No form of civil government
17 then existing could tolerate her democracy, and even
Christian charity denied her faith. To obtain a renewal
of privileges so remarkable, to secure the regard of a sove-
reign whose arbitrary will was an inheritance, to obtam
his sanction to a system which, initiated as an experi-
ment by a republican parliament, had come to be no longer
a philosophical problem but an established fact, and which,
if extended, must inevitably in time overthrow the fabric
of monarchical power — these were the difficult and perhaps
dangerous duties that now devolved on the agent of Rhode
Island. Well did he conduct his delicate mission, and
triumphant was the success that crowned his labors.
Two petitions or addresses were presented to Charles II.
by John Clarke, in behalf of the people of Rhode Island,
wherein he recites briefly the origin of the colony, and
states clearly the grounds of their first and second i-emoval
for the cause of religious liberty, asserting that they
" haye it much on their hearts, if they may be permitted,
to hold forth a lively experiment, that a flourishing civil
state may stand, yea, and best be maintained, and that
among English spirits, with a full liberty in religious con-
cernments," and finally surrendering their lands and
charter to the crown, and craving "a more absolute,
ample, and free charter of civil incorporation." '
While the existence of the colony hung on the yet
doubtful success of its agent at the English court, affairs
at home were scarcely more propitious to its safety or inde-
Sept. pendence. The subjects of Massachusetts in Narraganset
4.
' The precise date of these two addresses is unknown. They were found
among the archives in the British State Paper OfBce in London, and belong
no doubt to the year 1662. Copies were made for the splendid library- of Mr.
John Carter Brown, which contains probably the richest collection of MSS.
and of rare and valuable works on American history to be found. These twc
papers are printed in Mr. Secretary Bartlett's R. I. Col. Rec, i. 485-91.
CONNECTICUT CLAIMS NARRAGANSET. 281
complained to the commissioners of the United Colonies chap.
of the conduct of Ehode Island, in maintaining her char- ^^
tered rights over that country. The appointment of con-
stables by the last General Assembly had filled the cup
of New England indignation. The commissioners now
wrote to Rhode Island, claiming Narraganset for Connec-
ticut, imder the new charter to that colony which had just
been received, as the previous year they had claimed it
for Massachusetts under the old Narraganset patent.
The letter concludes with the usual threat in case of non-
compliance with their demands.' Connecticut, upon the Oct
proclamation of her charter, ^ ordered the inhabitants of ^•
Mystic and Pawcatuck not to exercise authority under
commissions from any other colony.^ This order was
aimed equally at Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and
was justified by the terms of the new charter, which em-
braced the whole Narraganset country. At the meeting
of the Court of Commissioners in Warwick, another letter
was ordered to be sent to Massachusetts about the lands
of Pawcatuck, in reply to the one from the United Colo-
nies. This letter was more severe than was usual in the
official communications of Rhode Island, justly charging
the Massachusetts with habitual injury to Rhode Island by
wrongful accusations and unchristian acts, and asserting
that the Connecticut charter, so far as it conveyed juris-
diction over the Narraganset country, was procured by
" underhand dealing," and that it would be revoked. The
letter further demanded the release of Saunders and Bur-
-dett, who still remained in prison, and also claimed dam-
ages for the wrongs inflicted upon them. In conclusion,
it offered equal justice in the courts of Rhode Island, to
all parties aggrieved by any illegal acts of the Westerly
settlers.*
1 Hazard, ii. 462-9. R. I. Col. Rec, i. 499.
^ Dated 23d April, 1662, and received in September.
= Coiin't Col. Rec, i. 389.
* See R. I. Col. Rec, i. 493-5.
282 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
That the subject of education received early attentior
in Rhode Island we have already shown in the chapter on
Aquedneck. An amjDle foundation for its support was
also made in Providence, by the reservation of one hundred
acres of upland and six acres of meadow for the mainte-
nance of a school, which was voted in town meeting at this
- time.
22. No changes were made in the general officers at the
next election. The session, held in Providence, was very
short.
The continued imprisonment of the two Rhode Island
men in Massachusetts exasperated the settlers at West-
erly, and led to a system of reprisals, and ■ to acts of vio-
lence, seriously disturbing the border towns. A house
that had been built on the east side of Pawcatuck river
by residents of Southertown, being within the asserted ju-
risdiction of Rhode Island, was torn down. William Mar-
ble, a deputy of the Marshal of Suffolk, bearing a letter
June. ^° *^^ Westerly men upon this subject, was arrested, sent
to Newport, and confined in prison for eleven months.
Soon after his release he petitioned the General Court of
Massachusetts * for redress. The petition is on the files
of the Court, but no action upon it is recorded.
By the third article of an agreement made between
P Clarke and Winthrop, the Atherton Company were to
choose whether they would be under the jurisdiction of
Rhode Island or of Connecticut. This agreement was im-
mediately sent over to America. The action of the com-
q pany was prompt and decided. They preferred the gov-
ernment of Connecticut, and so declared in a formal meet-
ing, every one subscribing a paper to that effect, which
was sent to Hartford. The Governor and Council imme-
10- diately accepted the jurisdiction, as being included in the
limits of their charter, named the plantation Wickford,
and appointed Richard Smith, sen., Edward Hutchinson,
' August 3d, 1664.
KECEPTION OF THE ROYAL CHARTER. 283
and Joshua Hewes, Selectmen, and Kichard Smith, jun., chap
VIII
Constable. Mr. Smith's trading-house was the place de- . ,__
signated for the transaction of public business. 1^ ^ ^•
The hopes of Rhode Island received a further blow in 21.
a letter from the king to the United Colonies, commend-
ing to their care the interests of the Atherton purchasers
against the vexatious proceedings of Providence colony.'
How that letter was obtained will appear in the succeed-
ing chapter. But steps had already been taken by Clarke
which prevented the injury that the State would other-
wise have sustained from these causes. The Assembly
met at Portsmouth soon after the receipt of this letter, to 14-19.
expedite measures for the support of their agent.
The Greneral Court of Massachusetts sent special
agents to Rhode Island, to infoiTQ the government of their
views of her acts against the peace of that colony in regard
to Southertown, and to propose a reference of the matters
in dispute, until which time further molestation should
cease.'^ Soon afterwards warrants were issued to all the
towns by the President, requiring the freemen to accompany ISTov,
their commissioners, with their arms, to solemnize the re-
ception of the charter, as advised by the colony's agent.
The President also wrote to Massachusetts, enclosing a let- ^g.
ter from the king in behalf of Rhode Island, and received
a reply that the council should be called at once to delib- ^l,
erate on the subject. They met at Boston, and proposed
by letter to President Arnold that all subjects in dispute „
between the two colonies be referred to arbitrators, to meet
at Plymouth at such time as Rhode Island might select,
and naming Governor Prince and Josias Winslow as refer-
ees on the part of Massachusetts.
Once more, and for the last time under the parliamen-
tary patent, the general Court of Commissioners convened
at Newport on the appointed day, to receive at the hands
' Hazard ii. 498. R. I. Col. Rec, i. 466.
= M. C. R., iv. Part 2d, p. 95.
284 HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
of Captain George Baxter, lately arrived from England,
the rich result of the labors of John Clarke — the Royal
Charter of Charles II.
"At a very great meeting and assemhly of the freemen
of the colony of Providence Plantations, at Newport, in
Ehode Island, in New England, November the 24th, 1G63.
The abovesayed Assembly being legally called and orderly
mett for the sollome recejitioh , of his Majestyes gratious
letters pattent unto them sent, and having in order thereto
chosen the President, Benedict Arnold, Moderator of the
Assembly," it was, " Voted : That the box in which the
King's gratious letters were enclosed be opened, and the
letters with the broad scale thereto affixed .be taken forth
and read by Captayne George Baxter in the audience and
view of all the people ; which was accordingly done, and
the sayd letters with his Majesty's Royall Stampe, and the
broad seal, with much becoming gravity held up on hygh,
and presented to the perfect view of the people, and then
returned into the box and locked up by the Governor, in
order to the safe keeping of it."
The humble thanks of the colony were voted to His
Majesty and to the earl of Clarendon, and also a gratuity
of one hundred pounds to John Clarke and one of twenty-
25 five pounds to Captain Baxter. The next da,y the com
missioners again assembled, and having passed such acts
as were necessary to prevent the failure of justice, "dis-
solved and resigned up " to the government appointed by
the charter.
26. On the following day the Governor and council named
in the charter, held a meeting to receive again the sub-
mission of the sachems to the crown of England, and to
order the government of the colony, by receiving anew the
engagements of all the existing" officers to hold their jdaces
until the session of the General Assembly, which was ap-
pointed for the first Tuesday of the ensuing March.
The government of the colony under the parliamentary
EXPIRATION OF THE PARLIAMENTARY CHARTER. 285
patent was ended. "The incorporation of Providence chap.
Plantations," as a legal title, had ceased to exist. Hence- x^^^
forth the colony was to assume another name, and tjo be gov- 16 6 3.
erned under a royal charter, not less free than that which
it supplanted, and better adapted to the exigencies of the
State. The patent of 1644 had accomplished the chief
end for which it was sought. It had gathered the scat-
tered settlements of fugitives from persecution into one
corj)orate body, and compelled their recognition as a body
politic by their ambitious and vindictive neighbors. But
it was too feeble to answer the full purposes of a charter.
The veiy freedom of its provisions, which in later days
would give it strength, was in those primitive times a
source of weakness. It was more a patent for the towns
than for the people, legalizing, in effect, so many independ-
ent corporations, rather than constructing one sovereign
power resting upon the popular will. It produced a con-
federacy, and not a union. Its defects are seen in the fa-
cility with which Coddington, contrary to the wishes of the
people at Aquedneck, severed that island from the rest of
the colony, and usurped a power almost dictatorial. Under
its operation, in eveiy town and hamlet were spread the
seeds of discontent and disunion, and nothing but the pres-
sure from without, and the supreme law of self-preserva-
tion, kept the discordant settlements from utter destruction,
and from being absorbed by the adjoining governments.
Its reception had been hailed with extravagant joy by a
despised and persecuted people. Its expiration was at-
tended with no regret, for twenty years had wrought that
change in the feeble colony which the same period works
from infancy to manhood. As a basis of civil polity it had
" outlived its usefulness,'' and was suffered to depart with-
out a murmur.
Thus closed the second epoch of Rhode Island history.
The first presents a view of scattered cabins reared in the
primeval wilderness, till they become a little village on the
286 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND.
river bank. One after another these feeble hamlets strug-
gle into life, remote from each other, amid virgin forests
16 6 8. and on the ocean shore. The hardy settlers, twice exiled
for opinion's sake, have become the pioneers of princij^les
immortal as truth itself. What, though wild beasts dis-
turb their rest at night, and the Indian warwhpop rings
around their dwellings ! They have won the savage by
acts of kindness and of justice, and have less to fear from
his untamed but generous spirit than from the brethren
they have left. Here, each village by itself^ they must
frame their own laws, and submit to their own enact-
ments, till, by force of habit and of necessity, each vil-
lager becomes, unconsciously, a statesman. The school
of j)ractice precedes the school of theory, and thus four in-
dependent governments are formed, self-constituted, in the
wilderness. But one common sentiment pervades the
whole. The spirit of liberty animates every heart. Soul
liberty and civil freedom is their aim, and with one accor-d
each separate village declares that " all men may walk as
their consciences persuade them, every one in the name of
his Grod." Thus in obscurity these outcast men indeed
proclaimed "freedom to the world," and from their seclud-
ed settlements sent forth a law which was to redeem the
human soul from spiritual thraldom, and in time to free
a nation, perhaps all nations at some future day, from civil
tyranny, by teaching the doctrine of self-government.
But the villages have grown to be towns, " heresy and
treason " are rampant in the plantations, and Puritan zeal
for Church and State seeks to extirpate the source of so
dangerous an example. Roused to a sense of impending
danger, and conscious of the vast significance of their
common principles, the towns obtain a patent which re-
cognizes their corporate existence, yet leaves them freely
to enjoy their cherished sentiments. With this patent of
incorporation the second epoch of their history begins.
Through the last two chapters we have traced this seco id
PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE OF JOHN WARNER. 287
period of doubt and change, of conflict and disunion, of chap
threatened anarchy within, and of aggression and insult _^^
from without. We have seen how, amid all the troubles 16 6 3.
that environed them, the townsmen kept steadily in view
the fundamental principles of their organization, and tri-
umphantly sustained their peculiar notions against the
arguments and the menaces of the rest of New England ;
and how the material prosperity of the people kept pace
with their fidelity to the truth, until the arrival of a new,
" more absolute, ample, and free charter of civil incorpo-
ration," ushered in the third epoch of our history— the
period of colonial maturity.
APPENDIX B.
PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE OF JOHN WARNER.
FROM THE WARWICK RECORDS.
'= The twentie-fourth of Aprill, 1652. ^^^
"At a town meeting or law making assembly ordered that
" John Warner for his misdemeanures under annexed is degraded
by the unanimos consent of the town from bearmg any office in the
town, and that he is hereby disenabled for ever after bearing any of-
fice in the Town untill he gives the town satisfaction.
'• It is further ordered that the abovesayed John Warner is put out
from having any vote in the town concerning its affairs.
•' The charges against John Warner are these, first
"Item— for calling the officers of the town rogues and theives with
respect to their office.
■( Item — for calling the whole town rogues and thieves.
" Item — for threatning the lives of men.
" Item— for threatning to kill all the mares in town.
•' Item— for his contempt in not appearing before the town now
met. being lawfully (assembled ?) by a summons from the officer with
two magistrates hands to it.
" Item— for threatning an officer of the colony in open Court that
288 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
if he had him elsewhere he would beate out his braynes, as also call
ing him rogue.
" Item — for his employing an agent to write to the Massachusetts,
thereby going about to inthrall the liberties of the t own, contrary to
the privileges of the town, and to the great indignity of the Honorable
State of England who granted the sayd privaledges to us.
" It is ordered that another be immediately chose for Assistant to
supply John AVarner's place while (until?) the next choice."
Mr. John Smith was chosen Assistant in place of Warner. At
the annual town meeting on 7th June it was
'• Ordered, that the answer read by Mr. S. Gorton in the town
meeting, to the motions of the Town of Providence with respect to
John Warner, be forthwith drawn forth and signed by the Clarke and
sent to the Town of Providence forthwith.
"Ordered, that the declaration that hath been drawn up in the
town concerning John Warner and the Dutchmen, which hath been
sent to the Bay, as also to Providence, that a cop}' of it be drawn forth
and signed by the Clarke and sent to Mr. Roger Williams, and or-
dered tliat Mr. Samuel Gorton is to write a letter to Mr. Roger Wil-
liams in the Town's behalf, to give him information concerning the
town and Colonies proceedings with John Warner and his wife."
The only notice taken of the case by the General Assembly was
on the 19th May, when the matter was left to the decision of the
Court of Trials in these words, "It is agreed that the case of Priscilla
Warne.r, now depending in the General Court of Trialls, shall there be
issued."
At a town meeting on the 22d June it was ordered,
'• That the house and land of John Warner situate and being in
the sayd town be attached forthwith upon suspicion of unsufFerable
treacherie against the town, to the forfeiture of the sayd house and
land, and that notice may be given him of the attachment thereof that
BO hee by himself or aturney may answer at the next court of Trials
to be held in Warwick the 3d Tuesday in August next ensuing the
date hereof. It is also ordered that all persons are hereby prohibited
from laying any claim or title unto it, or an}' part thereof by bargain
and sale or otherwise untill he hath answered the law and be cleered
by order of the Court held as afoi'esayd, but remains in the hand and
custody of the town in the mean time.
" Ordered, that the Sergeant shall have a copie of this order and
set it up upon the door of the house.
" Ordered, that if hereafter John Warner or any for him shall sell
that house and land abovesayd, an}- part or parcel of it, to any but
such as shall subscribe to our order it shall as before be wholly foifeit
to the town."
PROrFEDINGS IN THE CASE OF JOHN WARNER. 289
On the 5th of July the property was released, under protest, as chap.
follows:— VIII.'
" Ordered by the town of Warwick that the house and land of
John Warner, situated in the sayd Town of Warwick, being of late
atached upon suspicion of the breach of the grand law of the Town,
be resigned up to the said John Warner again.
" We whose names are here underwritten being unsatisfied with
the above voate upon the resigning of the abovesayed house of John
Warner which was atached upon suspicion of the breach of the grand
law of the Town, do hereby enter our protest against the act, as wit-
ness our hands.
Rnndal Houlden, John Wickes,
John Greene, Jun., Samuel Gorton,
Robert Potter."
Thirty-one years later, June 26th, 1683, he was divorced from his
wife upon her petition, on the ground of infidelity, and of pei-sonal
violence towards her, and at the same session was expelled from the
General Assembly as he had before been from town offices, in terms
as follows :—
" Voted : Whereas, Mr. John Warner was by the town of Warwick
chosen to be a Deputy in this Assembly, and being from time to time
called, and not in Courte appearing, and there haveing been presented
to this Assembly such complaints against him, that the Assembly doe
judge, and are well satisfied, he is an unfitt person to serve as a Dep-
uty ; and therefore see cause to expel him from acting in this present
Assembly as a Deputy."
TOL. I — 19
29t» BIBTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAM)
CHAPTER IX.
1663— lfi75.
FROM THE ADOPTION OF THE ROYAL CHARTER, NOVEMBER,
1663, TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF KING PHILIP'S WAR,
JUNE, 1675.
^?x^' T^^^ restoration of the Stuarts, annulling the acts of
' — ■ — the Long Parliament, compelled Rhode Island to seek a
renewal of her privileges by another charter. It was at an
auspicious moment, when Charles II. was yet but recently
seated upon his throne, that the talent and energy of Dr.
Clarke obtained this instrument. It confirmed every
thing that the previous patent had given, and vested even
greater powers in the people. Under it the State was an
absolute sovereignty with powers to make its own laws,
religious freedom was guaranteed, and no oath of alle-
giance was required. Rhode Island became in fact, and
almost in name, an independent State from that day.
There are three points in this charter deserving of
special attention, which distinguish it from all other royal
patents that have ever been granted. To mention these
in the order in which they occur, the first is the acknowl-
edgment of the Indian titles . to the soil. Among the
reasons assigned for granting the charter is this, that the
petitioners " are seized and possessed by purchase and
consent of the said natives to their full content, of such
lands, islands/' &c., and farther on, in the enumeration
THE CHARTER ACKNOWLEDGES INDIAN TITLES. 291
of powers granted, the inhabitants are permitted " to di-
rect, rule, order and dispose of all other matters and
things, and particularly that which relates to the making
of purchases of the native Indians." These paragraphs
would appear unimportant, if they did not concede a prin-
ciple for which the founders of Rhode Island had con-
tended from the beginning, and which was not incorpo-
rated in any other charter. Possession by right of dis-
covery was a European doctrine coeval with the days of
Columbus and de Gama. First exercised by the Su-
preme Pontiff, who claimed the exclusive right, as God's
Vicegerent, to the temporal control of all newly-discov-
ered countries, it was soon adopted by the maritime pow-
ers as a part of the royal prerogative. Overlooking that
principle of justice which establishes propriety in the
original possessor, the sovereigns of Europe did not hesi-
tate to assert their claim over both Americas. The rights
of the aborigines, heathens and barbarians as they were,
presented no obstacles to these enlightened and Christian
legislators. Their heathenism was handed over to the
tender mercies of the church, their barbarism to the civ-
ilizing agency of gunpowder and steel. Although the
method of administration was more summary in the Span-
ish and Portuguese j)OSsessions, the principle, in its broad-
est extent, was recognized by the British crown, though
rarely acted upon by the English colonists. Against the
abstract right, as well as the positive abuse of these pre-
tensions, the settlement of Rhode Island was the first
solemn protest. Mercy and justice combined to raise the
voice of indignant rebuke against the wholesale assump-
tion of territorial rights, urged by the Council of Ply-
mouth under their patent from King James. For the
bold denunciation of those words of the patent in which
the King, as the " Sovereign Lord " of this continent,
grants by his " special grace, mere motion and certain
knowledge," a large portion of America, reaching from
292 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, the AtLantic to the Pacific, to the Council of Plymouth,
^^,...,1^ Koger Williams was twice subjected to the censure of the
authorities of Massachusetts. This principle was the
only one, save that of " soul liberty," which Koger Wil-
liams initiated in Massachusetts, of the many factious
proceedings that later writers, following Hubbard, have
laid to his charge. Upon this point, the exclusive right
of the aborigines to their native soil, Mr. Williams was
decided, and his views were maintained by those jyho fol-
lowed him to Rhode Island. They were set forth by Dr.
Clarke in his addresses to the King, and thus became em-
bodied in the Royal charter. The operation of the thing
was the leverse in this State from what it was elsewhere.
The other colonies claimed the soil by virtue of grants
from the King, and confirmed their titles by purchase
from the Indians, or by conquest. Here the paramount
title was held to be in the aborigines, and the right, first
obtained from them by purchase, was only confirmed by
patent from the crown.
The second remarkable point in this charter is the am-
ple protection which it .extends to the rights of conscience.
So full and absolute is this guarantee, and so different
from the prevailing spirit of the age, that the principle it
embodies has come to be considered, not only as the pecu-
liar honor of Rhode Island, but as being the .sole distiii"
guishing feature of her history. It declares " that noe
person within the sayd colonye, at any tyme hereafter,
shall bee any wise molested, punished, disquieted, or
called in question, for any difi'ercnce in opinione in mat-
ters of religion which doe not actually disturb the civill
peace of our sayd colonye ; but that all and everye per-
son and persons may, from tyme to tyme, and at all tymes
hereafter, freelye and fullye have and enjoye his and theire
owne judgments and consciences, in matters of religious
concernments, tliroughout the tract of lande hereafter
mentioned ; they behaving themselves peaceablie and
ALLOWS LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE AND IS REPUBLICAN. 293
quietlie, and not using this libertie to lycentiousnesse and chap.
profanenesse, nor to the civil injurye or outward disturb- ^^J^.^
ance of others." It should be remembered that the laws
of England rigidly required uniformity in religious belief.
Church and State were essential portions of each other.
This grant therefore repealed the laws of England, so far
as Rhode Island was concerned, by excej)ting her from
their operation, and left the people of this colony precisely
where the parliamentary patent, by its significant silence
on this subject, had left them. It was a signal triumph
for what is now recognized as the fundamental principle
in ethics, in religion, and in politics.'
The remaining point to be noticed as distinguishing
this charter from all others that have emanated from the
throne of a monarch, is its purely republican character.
When the colony was organized under the previous pa-
tent, the Assembly declared " that the form of government
established in Providence Plantations is Democratical,
that is to say, a government held by the free and volun-
tary consent of all, or the greater part of the free inhabit-
ants." This was a novel doctrine, at least in the history
of the modern world, and although it was sanctioned by
the charter of a republican parliament, it could hardly be
expected to pass the seals of a Royal Council. Yet it did
so pass, and in almost the same terms in which it had be-
fore been secured. After conferring power to elect their
own officers and to make their own laws, " as to them
shall seem meet for the good and welfare of the said Com-
I^any," it requires only that such laws " bee not contrarie
and repugnant unto, but as near as may bee, agreeable to
* It is worthy of notice that Charles II., in his famous letter to the Com-
mons, known as the " Declaration," from Breda, April 4-14, 1660, promises
religious freedom to his subjects, in the event of his restoration, in precisely
the language used in the charter of Rhode Island, " that no man shall be dis-
quieted or called in question for differences of opinion in matters of religion
which do not disturb the peace of the kingdom." Echard's Hist, of England, ii.
897 ; Rapin book, 22d vol. xi. p. 180, where the declaration is cited in fvdl.
294 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
the laws of this our Realme of England," and adds the
game qualifying and practically annulling words, " ct)nsid-
ering the nature and constitution of the place and people
there." The extent of the powers conferred by this
charter is indeed surprising. The military arm, always
relied upon as the distinctive barrier of the throne, is for-
mally and fully surrendered to the people, in this instru-
ment, even to the extreme poiiit of declaring martial law
— a grant which, in repeated ca«es, the govcriunent of
Rhode Island successfully defended, in later yejirs, against
the threats and the arguments of the royal governors of
New England.
Thus it was that Rhode Island continiied, as she had
begun, an independent State, through all the vicissitudes
of the Mother country, and was unaffected, save at one
brief intei-val, by the changes that swept over the neigh-
boring colonies. With this charter, serving as the basis
of government rather than prescribing its form, the State
led the way in the final struggle for national independ-
ence.
Under it Rhode Island, a,s being no less truly than
professedly republican, adopted the Constitution of the
United States and was received into the American Union.
So far as tliis charter was concerned, a single provision,
fixing the apportionment of representatives for the several
towns, which time had rendered unjust in its operation,
and which, it was contended, could not be remedied other-
wise than by an alteration of the organic law, led to its
abrogation in 1843, at which time this venerable instru-
ment was the oldest constitutional charter in the world.
For one hundred and eighty years it had been regarded as
the shield of popular freedom against Royal prerogative or
Federal encroachment. It was the last remaining beacon
planted by the Republicans of the seventeenth century,
and so firmly that the war of the Revolution had not
BOUNDARY DISPUTE WITH CONNECTICUT. 295
changed its jaosition, for they both rested upon the same cHAt-
foundation — the inherent right of self-government. — ^
The Government was vested in a Governor, Deputy
Governor, and ten Assistants, named in the charter, with
a House of Deputies, six from Newport, four each from
Providence, Portsmouth and Warwick, and two from
every other town. The former were to be chosen annual-
ly at Newport on the first Wednesday of May, the latter
by their respective towns. The whole legislative body was
called the General Assembly, and was to meet twice a
year, in May and October, but they could alter the time
and place of meeting at will. Benedict Arnold was ap-
pointed the first Governor, and William Brenton, Deputy
Governor. '
In view no doubt ©f the acts of non-intercourse exist-
ing against Rhode Island in the neighboring colonies, the
charter specially req^uired that the people of this colony
should be permitted to pass unmolested through the adja-
cent provinces, and an appeal to the King was guaranteed
in case of further disputes. In all cases the charter was
to be construed most favorably for the benefit of the
grantees. The boundary lines were minutely defined.
They are those which, after more than a century of con-
test with the adjoining colonies, were finally established
in accordance with the charter, and exist at this day.
The western boundary was the source of immediate and
violent dispute, prolonging instead of quieting the difficul-
ties already commenced. The charter of Connecticut
bore date fifteen months anterior to that of Rhode Island,
and bounded that colony on Narraganset Bay. The peo-
ple of Rhode Island, upon the first notice of this legalized
robbery of so large a portion of their territory, charged
those of Connecticut with underhand dealing in the
' The Assistants were William Balstou, John Porter, Roger '\rilliaras,
Thomas Olney, John Smith, John Greene, John Coggeshall, James Barker,
WUliam Ffeild, and Joseph Clarke.
296 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHOl)E ISLAND.
CHAP, means employed to obtain that result, and maintained
^_;_:^ that upon a proper representation of the facts the obnox-
ious portions would be revoked — and so indeed it proved.
The Rhode Island charter, referring in terms to that of
Connecticut, and expressly limiting the territory therein
conveyed in accordance with the claims of Rhode Island,
designated the Pawcatuck river as her western boundary,
" any graunt, or clause in a late graunt, to the Governor
and Company of Connecticut Colony, in America^^ to the
contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding; the afore-
sayd Pawcatuck river haveing byn yeilded, after much de-
bate, for the fixed and certain boundes between these our
sayd Colonies, by the agents thereof; who have alsoe
agreed, that the sayd Pawcatuck river shall bee alsoe call-
ed alias Narraganset river; and, to prevent other disputes,
that otherwise might arise thereby, forever hereafter shall
be construed, deemed and taken to bee the Narraganset
river in our late graunt to Connecticut Colony mentioned
as the easterly bounds of that Collony." Nothing could
be more explicit than this recital, yet it did not suffice to
settle. the difficulty. The agreement made by the two
agents. Gov. Winthrop and Dr. Clarke on the part of their
respective colonies, was disowned by Connecticut, on the
ground that their agent had no longer any authority to act
tor the colony, his commission having expired, as they
said, upon the completion of his labors in obtaining the
charter.* Even if this were so, we do not see how that ob-
jection could set aside a Royal grant. It could only aftect
the force of a statement in the charter which is simply
explanatory and altogether secondary to the main question
at issue. Of the fact of the agreement there is no denial.
Of its binding effect upon the two colonies there might be
a question if the plenary powers of the Connecticut agent
had ceased, as was asserted, when his charter passed the
' See Report of the Royal Commissioners, October, 1683, in 1 M. H. C, v.
238.
THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN CLARKE AND WINTHROP. 297
seals. But the validity of the grant itself is untouched chap
by the error or the accuracy of one of the reasons therein ._^,J^
assigned for making it. 16 6 3.
This agreement was the result of arbitration. The
points of difference being submitted to five referees were
decided by them in four articles. The first fixed Pawca-
tuck river as the boundary and named it Narraganset. The
second gave the Quinnebaug tract to Connecticut. The
third allowed the inhabitants around Smith's tradino; house,
being the Atherton company, to choose to which of the
two colonies they would submit ; and the fourth declared
that the rights of property should be maintained through
the colonies. To these four proposals the two agents as-
sented, as a final issue of their differences. The second April
and fourth are unimportant, the other two include the
whole real matter in dispute.' We cannot understand
how any such agreement could of itself bind either colony.
If VVinthrop exceeded his powers, as charged by Connecti-
cut, in giving up territory, Clarke equally exceeded his in
yielding jurisdiction over a purchase made in violation of
the laws of Rhode Island ; for the desire of the Atherton
men to submit to Connecticut was weU known, and the
giving them this choice w^as nothing less than abandoning
all control over their lands. It was in fact admitting a
foreign colony into the heart of the State ; an evil from
which Rhode Island had already suffered too much in the
case of Pawtuxet. But Rhode Island did not set up the
plea that her agent had exceeded his powers. She stood
on the terms of her charter in the question of boundary,
and in that of jurisdiction she adopted conciliatory meas-
ures towards the people of Narraganset.
We have already seen abundant reasons why the New
England league should sympathize with Connecticut in
' The agreement is printed in 1 M. H. C, v. 248, where it is dated 17th
April, and in R. I. Col. Rec, i. 518, with the correct date, 7th April, follow-
ing the copy preserved in the British State Paper Office. New England pa-
pers, vol. 3, p. 90.
298 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
ciiAi'. this new occasion of dispute. The fact that their writ-
IX •
,.,_^_;_ ers have, steadily endeavored to defend tha claim of Con-
10 03. necticiit against the rights of Rhode Island, confirmed by
the King, and to uphold the conduct of Winthrop at the
expense of Dr. Clarke, while Rhode Island has to this day
silently submitted to the imputations cast upon her agent,
conscious of his rectitude, yet careless to preserve his name
unsullied, has wrouglit great injustice to one whose charac-
ter and whose taleiits appear more exalted the more-closely
they are examined. That foreign historians, seeking to
give an impartial account of this transaction, should have
been misled by the only authorities within their reach, and
thus unwittingly have attached an unmerited stigma to
the name of John Clarke, is natural and perhaps inevitable.'
But that New England authors should attempt to honor
Winthrop by disgracing Clarke does wrong to both, and is
alike ungenerous and unjust. Between these two great
men there appears to have existed a cordial friendship,
which was not broken even by the delicate position into
which they were thrown by the singular conduct of Con-
necticut colony. It is true that Winthrop in his letters
complained that Clarke had not obtained his charter sooner,
and that he had done him wrong in opposing the Conn*^c-
ticut charter after its confirmation, thereby hindering his re-
turn ; and in the same letter he sends a kind message to
his Rhode Island friends, declaring that he had no intent
to injure them, but only " to render a service to their old
charter," as well as to the people of Narraganset.'- The
geography of New England was but little understood, in
the minutias of courses and distances, even by its inhabi-
tants, at that time, and the reply to that letter, written by
the people of Narraganset, as the Atherton settlers were
' For a refutation of the charges brought by Grahame and endorsed by
Quincy against Chirke, and for an examination into the reliability of Chal-
mers, see Appendix C.
- This letter is Xo. 47 of the 22d vol. of the Trumbull MSS. in the ar«
chives of the Mass. Hist. Soc. See AppendLx D., No. II.
April.
THE TRADUCERS OF CLARKE EXPOSED. 29S
now called, shows a singular misconception on this point chap.
either in their minds or in that of Winthrop. It would ^^-.^
seem as if Winthrop had first, in obedience to instructions ^^^^^
from Connecticut, bounded that colony on Narraganset
bay ; that, upon being convinced by Clarke of the injustice
thereby done to Rhode Island, he agreed to the adjustment
mentioned in the Rhode Island charter, and that thus,
while trying to discharge his duty as the agent of one and
the friend of the other, he deeply offended both, through
want of exact knowledge of the position and limits of the
disputed territory. ' To retort upon Winthrop the charges
that his defenders have made against Clarke, would be to
pervert the truth of history, as has been steadily done by
those who, anxious to shield their own infamy, or ignorant
of the secret history of this transaction, have sought to cast
upon Clarke the stigma of ".underhand dealing" that at-
taches to themselves, or have blindly copied the falsehoods
of his enemies. Where this disgrace properly belongs, and
how, and why it was shifted upon the shoulders of Clarke,
will now be shown. The Atherton company who, it will
be remembered, had bought lands in Narraganset contrary
to the law of Rhode Island, and who had constantly re-
fused every overture made by the Assembly for their legal
and proper settlement in the State, being composed of res-
idents of the other colonies, and of whom Winthrop him-
self was one, were earnest in their desire to be placed
under the jurisdiction of Connecticut. They maintained
a constant correspondence with Winthrop during his
mission at London ; the burden of which was that he
should so establish the boundary of Connecticut as to
accomplish their purpose. They also had a special agent
of their own in Ltndon, one John Scot, whose incautious
pen has furnished the evidence of his own infamy, and of
that of his employers, while it pays a tacit tribute to the
* The reasons that lead to this conclusion would be tedious to embody in
the text, and will best appear by perusing the letters inserted in Appendix D.
300 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
3HAP. purity of Winthrop. It was he who obtained the famous
,J^^ letter from the King to the United Colonies, committing
16 6 3. to them the protection of the Atherton Company against
21. the claims of Rhode Island/ after Winthrop had embarked
for America, and only seventeen days before the final pas-
sage of the Rhode Island charter which effectually repeals
the powers conferred in that letter. It seemed unaccount-
able that so soon after an agreement had been made by
which the controversy was supposed to be settled^-and one
of the agents liad embarked for home, a royal letter should
appear, virtually repealing the substance of the agreement,
and that in less than three weeks from the date of the let-
ter a royal act of the most solemn nature, an absolute
July charter, should issue, making special mention of the said
^- agreement, and practically annulling the royal letter.
There was a confusion of dates, a confounding of powers,
and a manifest contradiction of purposes about all this,
which indicated underhand dealing somewhere. Winthrop
had left England almost immediately after signing the
agreement. He, then, was clear of suspicion. Clarke re-
mained. That circumstance aided the plan of the con-
spirators to divert suspicion from themselves to him. The
letter of June was triumphantly exhibited as proof of the
real intentions of the King, and the fact that its tenor was
contradicted by the charter of July was held up as proof of
baseness on the part of the agent of Rhode Island.
We can now show which was the true document, and
which was obtained by fraud. An obscure manuscript
heretofore unnoticed, perhaps from the insignificance of its
author, fastens upon himself the charge of underhand deal-
ing, describes the manner in which his object was ell'ected,
^^ ,.jl and names the bribe that he gave to obtain it. John Scot,
21). the special agent of the Atherton company, wrote the let-
ter, now ibr the first time printed,- which after the la})se
' Ante, chap. 8, p. 283. The letter is dated June 21, IG63.
^ See Apprndix E for this remarkable letter, with more copious commenta
thereupon thau arc given in the text.
FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY UNDEB THE CHARTER. 301
of two hundred years, exposes the haseness of the enemies chap.
of Clarke, shows for itself why they so freely charged ^_J^
him with dishonesty, and subjects its author and his abet- 1663-+.
tors to the double shame of corruption to obtain their ends,
and of meanness in seeking to hide their conduct by de-
faming the character of an honest man. To the honor of
Winthrop it should be mentioned here that seven years
later, while Governor of Connecticut, he refused to exercise
jurisdiction east of Pawcatuck river, alleging as a reason
his agreement with Clarke, which although ignored by
Connecticut, he at least deemed to be both legally and
morally binding upon that colony. The questions of
boundary and of jurisdiction were virtually one, and are so
treated in Grovernor Wintlirop's message to the General
Assembly at Hartford.
A great amount of business, as varied in kind as it was March
complicated in its nature, devolved upon the new Legisla- ■^•
ture. The Assistants were now, for the first time, invested
with legislative power by the charter, and acted conjointly
with the deputies. The Courts required to be remodelled
in accordance with the charter. Many laws were to be re-
pealed as being " inconsistent with the present govern-
ment," and others enacted in conformity thereto. Diffi-
culties of a most serious nature within and without the
colony demanded attention. The new territory of Block
Island was embraced in the charter, and must be provided
for. Magistrates were to be apportioned among the towns,
and the usual amount of private business was to be trans-
acted.
Notice being given to all the people to draw near, the
charter was read, together with Mr. Clarke's letter accom-
panying it, and Mr. Roger Williams was requested to
transcribe it. A committee was appointed to draw up a
prologue to the proceedings of the Court, which prefaces
the records, and contains a formal acknowledgment of grat-
itude to the king for his favor. The Assembly then en-
302 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, tered upon the business of legislation by prescribing the
_i^^ mode of calling courts, and the times and manner of hold-
1663-4. ing them. Two General Courts of trials in each year were
j estabhshed, to be held at Newport in May and October,
and were to consist of the Governor, deputy Governor, or
either of them, with at least six Assistants. Two other
Courts of trials were ajipointed to be held annually, one at
Providence in September, and one at Warwick in March,
. at which at least three Assistants, and a jury of twelve
men selected equally from each town, should be present.
An appeal could be taken from these to the General
Courts. Special Courts might also be called, at the re-
quest and expense of any person, w'ith the sanction of
the Governor or deputy Governor. In the apportionment
of grand and petty jurors, Newport was to furnish five of
each, Portsmouth three, Providence and Warwick two each ;
but in .that of State magistrates, the two Executives and
ten Assistants, five were to be inhabitants of Newport,
three of Providence, and two each, of Portsmouth and
Warwick ; and the precedency of the towns was settled
in this latter order, it being that in which they were named
in the charter. The Assistant " nearest the place occa-
tion shall present " was to act as Coroner.
A question arose whether by the charter it was pro-
vided that the State magistrates, or Council, should be
elected by the freemen in town meeting, or by the Gen-
eral Assembly. It was decided that, unless otherwise ex-
plained by advices from England, the right of electing
these officers should vest in the freemen.
An act was passed taking cognizance of the intru-
sions and attenn)ted usurj)ations of the Atherton com-
pany, and a summons was issued requiring them to ap-
l)ear at the next session of Assembly, to answer for their
conduct ; and similar attempts to settle in the colony,
without leave first obtained from the Assembly, were for-
bidden under pain of fine and imjtiisonment. A com-
BLOCK ISLAND ANNEXED TO THE COLONY. 303
mittee was named to treat with Massachusetts upon the chap.
pending difficulties between the two colonies. Pumham, ^^^^^^.i^
who, at the instigation of Massachusetts, had subjected ]^^^'^-
himself and his lands to her jurisdiction, and retained \,
possession of part of the tract purchased by the War-
wick men, was notified, upon their complaint, that he
was within the government of Khode Island, and must
adjust his diflerences with the complainants or submit to
legal process. A remonstrance to Connecticut colony
upon the riotous conduct of the men of Southertown,
and a notice of intention shortly to run the westerly line
of Rhode Island, were ordered to be sent.
A curious act is recorded at this session in favor of
Capt. John Cranston, who, for skill in his profession, was
licensed " to administer phisicke and practice chirurge-
ry." We have before mentioned instances of physicians
being licensed by the Legislature, but in this case the act
went further, and we have now to record, for the first
time, the foriaal conferring of the degree of M. D. upon
Capt. Cranston in these words : " and is by this Court
styled and recorded Doctor of phissick and chirrurgery, by
the authority of this the General Assembly of this Col-
lony."
Notice was sent to Block Island that the people should
appear at the May Court to be received into the colony,
and James Sands, already a freeman, was appointed Con-
stable. This island, the earliest authentic history of
which dates from the Pequot war, and has already been
noticed in that connection, remained subject to Massa-
chusetts until it was annexed to Rhode Island by the
royal charter. It was granted, as a reward for public
services, to Gov. Endicott and three others,' who sold it
two years later for five hundred pounds to Simon Ray
and eight associates. The following year they commenced
a settlement, liquidated the Indian title, subject to a res-
19th Oct., 1658. See M. C. R., iv. Part L, p. 356.
304 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
ervation in favor of the natives, and set apart one-six-
teenth of the lands for the support of a minister forever.
i6ti3-4. Soon afterwards James Sands, wlio had followed Ann
Hutchinson in her exile to the hanks of the Hudson, re-
turned and settled on the island. About two years had
elapsed since the settlement was commenced, wTien the
jurisdiction was transferred to Khode Island.' The re-
moteness of the island rendered it almost independent of
', the colony, and produced a different system of internal
' regulation from that which prevailed in the other towns.
Its exposed situation rendered it peculiarly liable to suf-
fer, not only from the native Indians, but also from the
attacks of piratical vessels, by which it was constantly
threatened. The local history of Block Island, truthfuU)'
written, would present an interesting study. The tradi-
tionary history of the aborigines is lull of the romance of
war ; their authentic history in connection with the
white's, abounds in stirring incidents ; the peculiarities of
the English settlers and their posterity, their customs,
laws and domestic institutions, are among the most singu-
lar and interesting developments of civilized life ; while
the martial deeds of a people, within and around whose
island there has been more hard fighting than on any ter-
ritory of equal extent, perhaps, in America, and where
the horrors of savage and of civilized warfare have alter-
nately prevailed, almost without cessation, from the ear-
liest traditionary period down to a recent date, would,
altogether, furnish materials for a thrilling history that
might rival tlie pages of romance.
10. A friendly letter was sent to Connecticut, in con-
formity to the vote of the Assembly, reciting a recent
outrage at Westerly, asking that such acts be prevented
in future, and requesting the concurrence of Connecticut in
16 64. riinning the line between the two colonies at an early date
March The Conflict of jurisdictions placed the Narraganset men
in a difficult position. They wrote to Connecticut for
CONFLICTING CLAIMS TO NABRAGANSET. 305
advice, saving that Kicliard Smith, jr., was under bonds chap.
to answer to Rhode Island, and that a constable appointed ..^^^.^^
by Rhode Island might soon be expected at Wickford. • 16 6 4.
The Conncil at Hartford erected a court at Wickford, f.'^
and conferred on the inhabitants power to choose their
officers, recommended them to obtain " an able orthodox
minister," and appointed Capt. Hutchinson to exercise
all males between the ages of sixteen and sixty in the
use of arms, six times a year. Wickford was now a fully
organized settlement, with control over " the places ad-
joining within the colony of Connecticut." Fortunately,
at this crisis, a measure was adopted in the King's Coun-
cil, that prevented a fatal collision between the deter-
mined and excited disputants. A commission was issued 25.
to Col. Richard Nichols, Sir Robert Carr, George Cart-
wrigh", and Samuel Maverick, to reduce the Dutch prov-
inces in America to subjection, and to determine all
questions of appeal and of jurisdiction, and all boundary
disputes arising in the New England colonies.^
At the same time a new and formidable claimant ap-
peared for the contested territory of Narraganset. The
Duke of Hamilton petitioned the King for confirmation of
his rights in all that country, and much more, against all ^^^
persons who had intruded upon the grant made to his
father, the late Marquis, by the council of Plymouth.^ The
deed held by the Marquis of Hamilton was given by the
Plymouth company when on the point of surrendering
their charter, and was of little intrinsic value. ^ It how-
ever served, in the hands of a powerful nobleman, still
further to complicate this intricate question. It was a
' MS. records of Connecticut in R. I. Hist. Soc.
* S. P. 0. New England papers, voL i. p. 194, and Mr. Brown's MS. Col-
lection, vol. i. 39.
^ S. P. 0. New England papers, vol. i. p. 200, and Mr. Brown's MS. Col-
lection, vol i. 40.
* Ante, chap. i. p. 8. The deed was dated April 22d, 1635, less than
seven weeks before the surrender.
VOL. I.— 20
306 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, deed of feofment, and conveyed a tract extending from
^.^ Connecticut river to Narraganset bay, " about sixty miles"
1 (i 4. up the west side of the bay to the head thereof, and thence
^^.' north-west sixty miles, where the line turned in a south-
west course to a point sixty miles up north-west from the
mouth of Connecticut river, and including all islands with-
in five leagues of these limits. The name given to this
magnificent grant was " the county of Cambridge." '
The session in March had been held chiefly for organ-
ization and for the preparation of business. The first reg-
ular Assembly, as established by the charter, met at New-
4. port in May. Benedict Arnold was chosen Governor, Wil-
liam Brenton, deputy Governor, Joseph Torrey, Kecorder,
James Rogers, Sergeant, John Coggeshall, Treasurer, John
Easton, Attorney, and Laurence Turner, Solicitor. The
latter officer declined to serve and was excused- Ten As-
sistants were also elected, and these seventeen, with eigh-
teen deputies chosen by the towns, composed the General
Assembly. As full lists of the seventeen general officers,
chosen annually by the Assembly are given under each
year in the printed Colonial Records, we shall hereafter,
to avoid a tedious catalogue of names, mention only the two
executive officers. For the same reasons we have not here-
tofore recorded the fists of commissioners, or dei>uties im-
der the first patent. They were eighteen in number at
this session, and increased two with the addition of every
new town. The deputies were chosen for each session of
the Assembly, always twice a year, and frequently oftcner.
The name of " Rhode Island and Providence Planta-
tions,*' with the word " Hope " above the anchor, was
adopted, or rather continued, as the seal of the colony.
The afiairs of Block Island were definitely settled at
this session. Three messengers appeared^ from the island
' S. p. 0. New England, vol. i. 8, and Mr. Brown's MSS., vol. i. No. 10;
also see Report of Board of Trade on this claim, lOth May, 161)7, iu Mc
Brown's MSS., vol. 7, No. 21.
' James Sands, Thomas Terry and Joseph Kent.
CONFLICTING CLAIMS TO NARRAQANSET. 307
to signify their obedience to his Majesty's will. A petition chap.
in behalf of sundry householders on the island, that they ^J^:^
be received as freemen, was granted. The srovernment of 16 64.
the town was vested in the hands of three selectmen, who 4;^
might call town meetings, hear causes of less amount than
forty shillings, grant appeals to the Greneral Court of
trials where a larger sum was involved, and issue warrants
in criminal cases. Liberty to send two deputies to the
Assembly was given to the town ; a copy of the laws was
to be furnished them, and their attention was specially di-
rected to that clause of the charter declaring freedom of
conscience.
Massachusetts having appointed two agents to treat
with Rhode Island in regard to Block Island and the Pe-
quot country. John Greene and Joseph Torrey w^ere com-
missioned to meet them at Rehoboth on the last day of
the month. Richard Smith, jr., and Thomas Gould of
Narraganset, were bound over in the sum of four hundred
pounds each, and two Newport men in one-half that sum,
to appear when called for, upon the charge of seeking to
bring in a foreign jurisdiction within the Umits of the col-
ony. These bonds were afterwards released. A warrant
for the same offence was issued against John Greene, sen.,
who appeared and confessed his fault. Upon petition he
was pardoned, and received again under protection as a
freeman of the colony. Richard Smith, sen., was written
to, to appear before the Court on a similar charge. He
made no reply to the letter, but enclosed it to Capt. Hutch- ^^
in son, desiring him to inform Connecticut of the affair,
which he did.'
An active correspondence now ensued between Rhode
Island and the rival claimants for her soil. The meeting 31.
at Rehoboth with the Massachusetts agents had no im-
portant results. Block Island had become private prop-
erty before the transfer, and its owners had since cheerfully
' These three letters are in R. I. Col. Rec, ii. 45-9.
20.
308 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
adopted the provisions of the charter annexing it to Rhode
Island. The Pequot country, still claimed by Massachu-
16 6 4. setts in right of conquest, was by the Connecticut charter
entirely within her jurisdiction, while the claim of Rhode
Island for that portion of it east of the river, under her
more recent charter, still left Massachusetts out" of the
question ; besides which, the royal commissioners had
power to arrange all such disputes, so that further discus-
sion was useless. The report of the agenta was accepted
by the General Court." Plymouth now entered the field,
complaining in a letter to Rhode Island of intrusions upon
her limits. But the most serious dispute in progress was
that with Connecticut. No direct reply having been re-
ceived to the letter written in March, but only an intima-
tion from Governor Winthrop, that its contents would be
July considered by the Assembly at Hartford, another letter
^' was sent, by a special messenger, referring to the former
one, and stating what had since been done by Rhode
Island with regard to the Connecticut officers in Narra-
ganset, whose commissions, it was urged, should be re-
voked. These officers, Richard Smith and William Hud-
son, with Edward Hutchinson then residing at Boston, also
12. wrote to Connecticut about some resistance offered to the
administrator of Capt. Athcrton's estate, who, in behalf of
the heir, had endeavored to take possession of the property,
but was resisted by the tenant who claimed allegiance to
Rhode Island, although he was one of those who had sub-
scribed the submission to Connecticut two years before.
Indeed, several of the Narraganset settlers had already
changed their views, and were inclined to Rhode Island,
while the original purchasers, many of whom resided in
Boston, remained firm in their preference for Connecticut.
SO. Connecticut replied to both of the Rhode Island letters,
proposing a joint commission to meet in October to settle
all disputes, but asserting her claim to jurisdiction, defend-
> 19th Oct., M. C. R., Vol. iv. Part ii. p. 140.
SUBJUGATION OF THE DUTCH PROVINCES. 309
ing the acts of her officers, and desiring Rhode Island to chap
forbear further interference with them. .^^^
On the arrival of the English commissioners at Boston, 16 64.
Gov. Endicot assembled the Council, to receive the royal 23.'
letter and the instructions that required them to raise a 26.
force to act against the Dutch, if it should be necessary.
A special session of the General Court was held, and two 3. *
hundred men were voted for the service, to be ready by the
twentieth of the month. But their services were not re-
quired, for upon the appearance of the fleet off the port,
New Amsterdam, now New York, surrendered to the Brit- 27
ish crown. Arania, now Albany, soon followed, and after- Sept.
wards Delaware castle, and other forts held by the Dutch
and Swedes, likewise surrendered to Sir Robert Carr. The
whole conquered territory was placed under the government
of Col. Nichols,
The Commissioners of the United Colonies, sitting at
Hartford, of course took ground against Rhode Island, and 9.
addressed to her a letter full of warning and advice, based
upon the royal letter of the previous year, wherein the Nar-
raganset inirchasers were placed under their protection.*
Probably they did not know by what means that letter
had been obtained. Rhode Island took no notice of this
mi^^sive, but acknowledged receipt of the one from Con-
necticut, and referred it to the General Assembly for a
more full reply.
The royal Commissioners, having nearly completed the
subjugation of the Dutch provinces, had their head-quarters
on board the English fleet now being in the harbor of New
York. A delegation consisting of John Clarke, who had
lately returned home, Capt. John Cranston and Wiiham
Dyre, was sent on with a letter from the authorities of
Rhode Island, expressing the gratitude of the colony to his
Majesty for the charter, and congratulating the Commis-
sioners. It appears by this letter that a previous one, of
* Hazard's State Papers, ii. 499.
20
310 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IIHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, like purport, had been sent by the hands of Capt. Baxter.
^^' but at that time it was not known where the Comraission-
1 6 04. ers could be found. The messengers were kindly received.
^' and a gracious answer was sent back on their return. The
courtesy was acknowledged by deputy Governor Brenton,
8. in another letter, inviting the Commissioners, upon their
visitins: Rhode Island, to make their home at his house. '
13. The Connecticut Assembly, at their next meeting, ap-
pointed a committee to arrange the boundary questions
pending between that colony and both Rhode Island and
Ma.ssachusetts, but ordered that they should not give up
any portion of their charter limits.^ This, so far as con-
cerned Rhode Island, was equivalent to making no ap-
pointment.
20. At the meeting of the General Assembly the name of
John Clarke appears at the head of the list of deputies.
He had returned in June, after an absence of twelve years,
spent in the faithful service of the colony, in England, and
again resumed a place in the public councils, where, under
the first patent, he had been so useful. The joy of the As-
sembly in having him once more among them, is evinced
in a singular and emphatic manner in the preamble to the
first public law passed at this session, establishing proxy
voting ; " and this present Assembly (now by God's gra-
cious providence enjoying the helpfuU presance of our much
honoured and beloved Mr, John Clarke,) doth. declare and
ordayne, &c."
It was ordered that at every meeting of the x\ssembly,
whether regular or adjourned, the charter should be read.
The inconvenience to the freemen of the remote towns, oc-
casioned by having to vote in person at Newport, had at-
tracted the attention of the Assembly at its May session,
and been referred to this Assembly to devise some legal
' The original letters are both in S. P. 0. New England papers, vol. i. pp
206-9.
^ Col. Rec. of Connecticut, ii. 436.
PROXY VOTES. THE INTERPOLATED PHRASES. 311
mode of voting by proxy. They enacted that all who did chap.
not come in person to Newport might give their votes, .J^^^
sealed up and subscribed with their own names on the 16 6 4.
outside, into the bands of a magistrate at any regular town 26
meeting, to be delivered to the Executive at the Court oi
election in Newport, there to be opened and counted. If
the voter was prevented from attending town meeting, the
magistrate might yet receive his vote in the same manner.
Edmund Calverly, a deputy from Warwick, had made
serious charges against the Governor, in respect to his of-
ficial conduct, which were discussed, and the complainant
required to prefer his charges in writing. He did so, but
faihng to sustain them, in the opinion of the court, he
was suspended from voting until he should give satisfac-
tion for his ofience.'
A committee was appointed to revise the laws, to see
if any were left unrepealed that were inconsistent with the
present charter, and to codify them for more convenient
reference. At the head of this committee was John Clarke,
and the second member was Roger Williams ; two names,
of which the presence of either sufficiently refutes the slan-
der contained in Chalmers,'^ and copied by later writers,
attributing the interpolated restrictions upon religious free-
dom to the act of this Assembly. That these words [pro-
fessing Christianity] and [Roman Cathohcs excepted] were
the additions of later times, is as clear as any fact in his-
tory. That they were never placed there at all by the
deliberate act of the Legislature of Rhode Island, but were
occasioned by some contingency of English politics, we fully
believe, and that the time will come when this unjust as-
persion upon the freedom of the State will be exj)lained,
and its charactei be vindicated beyond a doubt — as recent
developments have brought to light the conspiracy against
' At the May session the next year, Calverly failing to prove his charges,
the Governor was declared hy a vote of the Assembly to be innocent of the
matters charged.
- Political Annals, Book i. chap. xi.
312 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
the reputation of Clarke — we are firmly convinced. Thia
subject will be considered at length in a later volume when
we come to the repeal of the interpolated phrases.
Agents were appointed to treat with Plymouth, two
of whom were the deputy Governor and lioger Williams.
They were commissioned to run the eastern line of the
colony in connection with Plymouth agents. A letter was
sent to Plymouth, suggesting the time and place for a
meeting to arrange differences between the colonies. A
similar course was adopted as to Connecticut. John
Clarke, John Greene, and Josejih Torrey were commissioned
to run the western line, and to arrange all other disputes
with the Connecticut agents ; but should these refuse to
run the line, the Ehode Island men were to do it alone.
A letter was also sent to Connecticut, regretting that the
day fixed by the Hartford Assembly for this purpose was
passed, and naming the twenty-ninth of November as the
time for a meeting at Southertown, alias Pawcatuck.
Kov. Warrants were ordered for the arrest of William Hud-
son, of Boston, and Richard Smith, sen., of Narraganset, for
unlawfully exercising the office of constable within the
limits of the colony under a Connecticut commission ; but
these warrants were not to issue till after the time ap-
pointed to treat with Connecticut.
A law was passed at this session which shows the wis-
dom and foresight of our ancestors, in obviating the diffi-
culties that might arise from the existence of third parties
at a general election ; " that whereas there may happen
a division iu the vote soe as the greater halfe may not pitch
directly on one certaine person, yett the person which hath
the most votes shall be deemed lawfully chosen." It will
thus be seen tliat a plurality choice was early adopted in
this State. It was also provided, that in case of refusal
to accept office, the vacancy was to be filled by the Gen-
eral Assembly until the place was supplied.
The old law requiring each town to furnish itself with
HEAVY TAXATION AND POVERTY OF THE PEOPLE. 313
a cage, or a pair of stocks, wherein to secure offenders, was chap
reenacted. -^^,-^
An audit of the accounts of John Clarke showed a sum 16 6 4
of three hundred and forty-three pounds to be due to him
by the colony for his expenses while obtaining the charter,
one hundred and one of which were to be paid in England,
and one hundred pounds had been voted as a gratuity the
previous year. To meet this debt, and the expenses of the
several boundary commissions recently appointed, a tax of
six hundred pounds, current money, was laid. Of this
Providence and Portsmouth were taxed one hundred
pounds each, Warwick eighty pounds, Petacomscot twenty
pounds, Conanicut thirty-six pounds. Block Island fifteen
pounds, and Newport the balance, being two hundred and
forty-nine pounds. In the collection of this tax wheat was
valued, in colony currency, at four and sixpence per bushel,
l^eas at three and sixpence, and pork at three pounds ten
shillings per barrel. It was a heavy burden for the im-
poverished towns, and years elapsed before it was paid.
Warwick sent a formal protest against the large proportion Dec
assessed to her.' More than a year elapsed before Ports-
mouth levied her proportion, and then she sent a deputa-
tion to treat with Dr. Clarke on the subject."^ Providence
was equally backward in meeting the demand. The
northern towns complained that they had been at heavy
charges for the two missions of Koger Williams, and there- 16G4-S
fore should not bear so large a proportion of those for that
of Dr. Clarke, The rate remained uncollected until en-
forced by a subsequent Assembly. That it should be so,
and that Mr. Williams also was never fully paid even his
expenses, attests the poverty of the colonists at this time.
The arrival of Sir Robert Carr at Newport, where he j,
was detained some days by a storm, gave great satisfaction 23.
to the people of Rhode Island. Whatever fears were felt
' Printed ia R. I. Col. Rec. ii. 78.
* See Portsmouth Records, March 1665-6.
Feb
314 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, ty the rest of New England at the coming of these men,
^ ;^ their presence was no source of regret in this jurisdiction.
1664-5. The protection that a royal commission invariably afforded
to the oppressed and hated colony, while it embittered the
animosity of her neighbors, increased the feeling of.loyalty
that a sense of gratitude had inspired, and which was dis-
played in something more than fulsome or hollow profes-
27. sions. Leaving Newport Sir Robert spent some days with
• Mr. Willet, at his residence on Narragansefbay, and per-
suaded him to go to New York, where, it will be remem-
bered, he became the first Mayor of that city. The letter
that Carr wrote at this time to Col. Nichols is full of in-
terest. ' He had brought to Rhode Island the royal letter,
and one from Lord Clnrendon to the colony, which had
been given them on their departure from England to be
delivered in person to this Government. A grateful ac-
3. knowledgment was made by the Governor to Col. Nichols,
wherein the conduct of the Narraganset company was ad-
verted to and protection sought against their proceedings.'-
Complaints were made to Connecticut by the Pawca-
tuck Indians of the conduct of James Babcock and other
inhabitants of Westerly in demanding rent, and thrcaten-
int^ to drive them from their lands. The Council at Hart-
ford warned the Rhode Island men to forbear from urging
30. their claims while the question of jurisdiction remained
open. A special council was called to appoint a committee
to attend Gov. Winthrop to Narraganset, there to meet the
royal commissioners and urge the claim of Connecticut to
that country under her charter.
15. Upon the return of the three commissioners from New
York, leaving Col. Nichols there in command, they pre-
pared at once to visit the several colonies, and to investi-
irate the contiictins; claims for the soil of Rhode Island.
Plymouth received their first attention. The General As-
' Original in S. P. 0. New England, Vol. i. p. 218.
■' R. I. Col. Rec. ii. 86-9.
20
ORGANIZATION OF KINGS PROVINCE, 315
Bembly held a special session to prepare for their reception chap.
at Newport, and appointed a committee' to meet with the .^-,_^
commissioners at Seaconck to adjust the boundary with ^|?^'^-
Plymouth. All the expenses of the royal commissioners 27.
were to be borne by the colony. The commissioners could
not make a definite settlement of the line between Ply-
month and Khode Island. In their report to Lord Arling-
ton they say that the two colonies could not agree, for that
Ehode Island claimed a strip three miles in breadth east
of the bay, which Plymouth could not concede without
great prejudice to her interests, and therefore they had, for
the present, established the bay as the boundary until his
Majesty's will could be known. Thence the commission- March
ers came to Rhode Island. In their instructions they were
furnished with a series of propositions to present to each 4.
of the colonies, a copy of which was forthwith given to the
Governor.^ Soon afterwards the commissioners went over
to Pettaquamscot to settle the affairs of Narraganset.
There the submission of the Narraganset sachems was con-
firmed. The Indians agreed to pay an annual tribute of 20.
two wolf skins, and not to make war or to sell land with-
out consent of the authorities appointed over them by the
crown.^ The whole country from the bay to Pawcatuck
river was named Kings Province, and all persons were for-
bidden to exercise jurisdiction therein without authority
from the commissioners. The governor and council of
Rhode Island, fourteen in number, were appointed Magis-
trates of Kings Province, to hold office until the annual
election in May. The mortgaged lauds held by the Ath-
erton company, were ordered to be released upon payment
of seven hundred and thirty-five fathoms of peage by Pes-
' John Clarke, John Sandford, John Cranston, Roger Williams and Ran-
dall Holden.
^ These are printed in R. I. Col. Rec, ii. 110, with the action of the As-
sembly thereon,
* S. P. 0. New Kngland papers, Vol. i. p. 231.
316 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
sicus or Ninecraft to any of the claimants. The purchase
of the two tracts, actually bought by this company, was
1 G G 5. declared void for lack of consideration in the deed, and be-
cause the country had previously been surrendered to the
crownj and the purchasers were ordered to vacate the
premises within six months, provided the Indians shuuld
i:efund the sum of three hundred fathoms of peage, which
was all they had ever received for the land.' At the ex-
• piration of the time the order to vacate was' revoked, and
the settlers were permitted to remain till his Majesty's will
was further known. From Pettaquamscot the commis-
.. sioners proceeded to Warwick. There the controversy
4. about the lands of Westerly was decided in unequivocal
terms, by a decree that no lands conquered from the na-
tives should be disposed of by any colony unless both the
cause of the conquest was just and the soil was included
in the. charter of the colony ; and further that no colony
should attempt to exercise jurisdiction beyond its chartered
limits. The grants made by Massachusetts " or by that
usurped authority called the United Colonies," were de-
clared void, the settlers upon such grants were ordered to
vacate before the twenty-ninth of Sej)tember, and not to
prevent the Pequots from jjlanting during the summer nor
to interfere with the improvements of the lawful i)ur-
chasers."^ Pumham, the subject of Massachusetts, who
still refused to leave Warwick Neck, although the land
had been fairly purchased from his superior sachem many
years before, was ordered by the commissioners to remove
within a year to some place to be provided for him either
by Massachusetts or by Pessicus. For this he was to re-
ceive twenty pounds from Warwick, and if he subjected
himself to Pessicus, the latter was to receive ten pounds,
upon furnishing him and his men with a place. The
money was paid by Warwick, but Pumham refused to ful-
' This important decree is in Potter's Narrnganset K. I. H. C, iii. 1 71)
" R. I. Col. Rec, ii. 9.j.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL COMMISSIONERS. 317
fil his former contract or to obey the order of the commis- chap.
sioners, relying, as it appears, upon the continued protec- ^^Z,^^
tion of Massachusetts. ' A further decree was issued making 16 6 5.
the governor, deputy, and twelve assistants, who might y "
hold these offices, from time to time, by election in Rhode
Island, to be likewise magistrates of Kings Province, hav-
ing the entire control of that territory, and any seven of
them might constitute a court therein.
At the May election a great change was made in the May
list of Assistants, but three of the old set being returned.
Two additional deputies, elected from Block Island, took
their seats. A new form of engagement to be taken by
the officers, and of reciprocal engagement to be given to
them, by the administering officer, in the name of the State,
was adopted. The royal commissioners had not only to
adjust the disputes of a public nature in the colonies, but
a great number of private matters Avere submitted to their
decision upon petition of the parties. Such were, for the
most part, referred by them to the local authorities to de-
termine, and much of the time of the Assembly at this
session was occupied in those affairs. Some of them had a
bearing upon the public interests, involving charges against
the Assembly itself, as did the cases of Calverley and of
William Harris, which, for this reason, were referred back
to the commissioners. William Dyre, the newly chosen
Solicitor for the colony, having been guilty of a similar im-
propriety, in a petition to the commissioners, admitted his
fault, in writing, to the Assembly, and received pardon.
The five propositions presented by the commissioners
on their first coming to Rhode Island were placed before
the Assembly. They are as follows : " It is his Majesty's
will and pleasure ;
"1. That all householders inhabiting tliis colony take
the oath of allegiance, and that the administration of
justice be in his Majesty's name.
' R. I. Col. Rec, ii. 132.
318 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
" 2. That all men of competent estates and of civil con-
versation, who acknowledge and are obedient to the civil
magistrate, though of different judgments, may be admit-
ted to be freemen, and have liberty to choose, and to be
chosen, officers both military and civil.
" 3. That all men and women of orthodox opinion, com-
petent knowledge, and civil lives, who acknowledge and
are obedient to the civil magistrate, and are not scandalous,
may be admitted to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper,
and their children to Baptisme, if they desire it, either by
admitting them into the congregations already gathered,
or permitting them to gather themselves into such congre-
gations where they may enjoy the benefit of the Sacra-
ments, and that difference in opinion may not break the
bond of peace and charity.
" 4. That all laws and expressions in laws derogatory to
his Majesty, if any such have been made in these late and
troublesome times, may be repealed, altered and taken off
the files.
" 5. That the colony be put into such a posture of de-
fence that if there should be any invasion upon this island,
or elsewhere in this colony (which God forbid) you might
in some measure be in readiness to defend yourselves, or if
need be, to relieve your neighbors according to the power
given you by the King in your charter, and to us in the
King's commission and instructions."
Upon these proposals the Assembly took immediate
action. For the oath required in the first, they plead the
scruples of many in the colony against that particular
form, but prepared " an engagement " of similar purport,
and which, so far as concerned its binding force, was to the
same effect. This was to be administered to all the free-
men at their next town meetings, whoever refused to take
it was to be disfranchised, and no one could be admitted
a freeman without first taking it. The second proposal
was accepted, and the mode of application for those who
ACTION OF THE ASSEMBLY UPON THE FIVE PBOPOSITIONS. 31 S
desired to be made freemen was prescribed. The third chap.
met with the cordial concurrence of the Assembly. It was ^,.1^
in imison with the spirit of the colonj^, and with the terms 16 6 5.
of the charter. In embodying it in the instructions of the
commissioners, for the good of all the American colonies,
Charles II. exhausted the force of his famous promise con-
tained in the Declaration of Breda. The toleration thus
extended to the remote dependencies was denied to those
to whom it had first been pledged. The hearty accept-
ance by the Assembly of this recommendation contrasts
with the qualified assent given to it by Plymouth, the
most liberal of the other colonies, where payment for the
support of the settled ministers was insisted upon, in their
reply, to be made by all " until they have one of their own.''
The essence of an established church, the compulsory sup-
port of its clergy, was thus maintained even in the liberal
colony of the Pilgrims. Connecticut assented to the same
proposition on condition that the maintenance of the
public minister was not hindered.' Upon the fourth pro-
posal the Assembly declared that all acts of the nature re-
ferred to were repealed when the King was proclaimed,
and a further revision of the laws was ordered for that spe-
cific purpose. It was probably owing to this step that
the leaf of the Warwick records was aftenvards torn out by
order of the town.^
In obedience to the last command, to place the colony
in a posture of defence, the Assembly passed a militia law
requiring six trainings a year, under a heavy penalty, and
allowing nine shillings a year for the pay of each enlisted
> S. p. 0. New England, v. i. p. 248-58.
^ The inscription records the contents and is as follows: " This leafe was
torn out by order of j" towne the 29th of June, 1667, it being j^ submition
to y- Stat of England without y" Kisg Majesty, it being y« I3th page." Yet
a former entry to the same effect as the one here destroyed seems to have es-
caped the observation of the clerk, and remains to this day on the ancient
records of the town as passed March 8th, 1652-3. The Providence records
were not mutilated, and the entry remains in the same woKds as that of War-
wick.
320 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, soldier. Every man was required to keep on hand two
TV
.^.^^^ pounds of powder, and four of lead. Each town was obliged
16 6 5. to maintain a public magazine for its own defence, for
which Newport was taxed fifty pounds and the other three
towns each twenty pounds.
Coddington, who with Easton and others had become
Quakers, had sent a paper to the commissioners in March,
of what nature we are unable to say, to which an answer
was made immediately and communicated • to the gov-
ernor, to be presented to the Quakers in presence of the
Assembly. This was done, and at the same time a copy
15. of the five propositions was served upon them to consider
and obey.
The action of the General Assembly, in private cases,
was not limited in these early times, to legislative meas-
ures. Indeed the Court of trials was made up from its
members, and the whole body often exercised strictly ju-
dicial powers upon petition of individuals. Not only
were divorces granted and a separate maintenance award-
ed to the wife, but the whole proj^erty of the husband
was attached and held by the Assembly, until the j)ro-
visions of the decree had been satisfied. In the case of
John Porter, at this session, they went even further, and
annulled all transfers of property, that had been made by
him since the separation from his wife, which had not al-
ready been recorded. Upon his settling a satisfactory
estate upon the wife these disabilities were removed.
Criminal causes were likewise tried, upon petition, by
the Assembly. Peter Tollman applied for a divorce from
his wife on the ground of adultery. The woman, being
brought before the Assembly, admitted the charge. The
petition was granted at once, and then the criminal, upon
her own confession, was arraigned for sentence. Tlie pen-
alty was a fine and whipping, and she was accordingly
sentenced, by the terms of the law, to pay the fine of ten
pounds, and to receive fifteen stripes at Portsmouth on
May.
PROPOSED HARBOR AT BLOCK ISLAND. 321
the ensuing Monday, and on tlie following week another chap.
fifteen stripes at Newport, and to be imprisoned until the ^^
sentence was fulfilled. Upon her petition for mercy the \^^^'
Court again examined her as to whether she intended
to return to her husband. This she refused to do upon
any terms. Her petition was denied, and she was re-
manded for punishment. '
The wide distinction recognized in our day between
the three branches of government was not so early under-
stood. Under the first patent the President and Assistants
were executive officers, and had no share in legislation in
virtue of their position. By the royal charter the governor
and council became ex-officio legislators in common with
the deputies, and all alike exercised judicial powers. At
this time they sat together as one House of Assembly, and
although a movement was made the next year to alter
this system, it was stiU thirty years before the two bodies
were fully recognized as separate and co-ordinate branches
of the legislature, and more than eighty years before judi-
cial powers ceased to be exercised by them, upon the
establishment of a supreme court of judicature.
The necessity of a harbor at Block Island was so ap-
parent to the first settlers, that they took the earUest oc-
casion afforded by the presence of their deputies in the
General Assembly, to petition for a committee of inquiry
upon the subject ; and so important was it, in the opinion
of the Assembly, that the governor, deputy governor, and
John Clarke, were appointed to visit the island to see if
a harbor could be made there, and what encourao-ement
could thus be given to the fisheries. This was the first
movement in a matter that has ever since occuj)ied, at
' She escaped from prison and was gone two years. Upon ker return to
the colony in May 1667, she was arrested and petitioned the Court for miti-
gation of sentence. The fine and one-half of the corporal punishment was
remitted, and the remainder, fifteen stripes to be inflicted at Newport, was ex-
ecuted.
VOL. I. — 21 .
322 HISTORY OF THF, STATK OF RHODE ISLAND.
various times, the public attention, and which has re
cently assumed its propei form as a national measure
more important to American commerce than to the hardy
islanders themselves.
The Warwick men had presented to the commissioners,
upon their first coming to Rhode Island, a petition set-
ting forth the grievances they had suffered from Massachu-
setts, and asking redress. They had in vain sought jus-
tice from their oppressors, by letters and remonstrance,
before aj)pealing to the king,' and had once voluntarily
informed the United Colonies of their intention to appeal,
so that they might prepare their answer to the crown."^
Attention to their case was within the scope of the royal
commission. It was jiresented in proper season, and laid
before the authorities of Massachusetts for them to answer.
This they did at the session of the General Court, in a
80. very lengthy, abusive, and rambling document, made up
of theological discussion, personal invective, and positive
misstatements, wherein they profess " to compare the
petition, first, with its authors, second, with their princi-
ples, and third, with the whole transaction," and which
they style " an apologetical reply." ^
The commission itself was very distasteful to Massa-
chusetts. They regarded it, justly, as an interference
by the crown with their self-assumed prerogative to con-
trol New England, and they dreaded that any -such power
should come among them. The proceedings of the com-
missioners were bitterly denounced by the General Court.
Among the alleged wrongs committed by them, " the
great countenance given to the Rhode Islanders," and
their " calling, in their public declarations, the United
Colonies ' that usurped authority,' " occupy a conspicuous
' One of these letters dated August 2'2d, 1G61, is printed in R. I. H. C,
ii. 224-31.
^ Sept. 1, 1G51. R. I. H. C, ii. 217-19.
* The petition nnd answer are given in full in M. C. R., vol. iv. Part ii.
p. 253-65, and in R. I. H. C, ii. 231-45.
VT
MASSACHUSETTS AND THE ROYAL COMMISSIOKEES. 323
place. The temper of the Court may be gathered from a chap
letter to the author of the petition, by one of the com- ._,^
missioners, while the subject was under discussion in that 16 6 5
body/ The controversy was again transferred to Eng-
land. The General Court, fearing the effect of such a
report as the commissioners must necessarily make, ^^^g^
adopted an address to the King, sufficiently humble in its 1-
terms, but peevish in its spirit, complaining that the
commissioners had violated the royal instructions by frus-
trating the objects for which they were sent. Deprecat-
ing the misrepresentations that these commissioners
would probably make with regard to Massachusetts, the
address vaunts the superiority of its authors by denounc-
ing most of those who complain against them, " as In-
dians, Quakers, libertines and malefactors." It concludes
with a display of piety and loyalty as repulsive, in this
connection, as it was unfounded."^
Most of the towns being still in arrears for the debt Oct.
due to John Clarke, the General Assembly renewed the ^^'
order to collect the tax, and notified the delinquent towns
to that effect.
The commissioners, having completed their examina- ^^
tion of all the New England colonies, seven in num]>er, sent
home a long report, giving a sketch of the history and ac-
tual condition of each one. That concerning Massachu-
setts is the longest and expresses the most dissatisfaction.
It was the last colony visited, as the commissioners vainly
hoped that the condescension of the other colonies might
^ " Mr. Gorton. These gentlemen of Boston would make us believe tbat
they verily think that the King has given them so much power in their char-
ter to do unjustly, that he reserved none for himself, to call them to an ac-
count for doing so. In short they refuse to let us hear complaints against
them, so that, at present, we can do nothing in your hehalf. But I hope
shortly to go for England, where, if God bless me thither, I shall truly rep-
resent your suflFerings and your loj'alty. Your assured friend, George Cart-
wright. Boston, 2()th May, 1665." R. I. H. C, ii. 246. The government
copy is in British S. P. 0. New England papers, vol. iii. p. 3.
" M. C. R., vol. iv. Part ii. p. 274-5.
324 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, tend to diminish the refractory spirit there shown ; but
.^;,,J^ they could not obtain a hearing even upon some cases
16 65. specified in the royal letter, to be determined by them.'
The substance of the report on Rhode Island may be
gathered from what has before been written. Of the
Narraganset Bay, it says, "it is the largest and safest
port in New England, nearest the sea, -and fittest for
trade." A very remarkable point in this report is the al-
lusion to what is probably the earliest known temperance
petition, that of Pessicus, Sachem of the Narragansets,
desiring " the commissioners to pray King Charles that
no strong liquors might be brought into that countiy, for
he had thirty-two men that dyed by drinking of it." This
and all the other original papers referred to, were un-
fortunately lost, the ship in which Col. Cartwright sailed
for England having been captured by the Dutch.
Although the labors of the commissioners were now
apparently ended, some of their decrees remained un-
noticed, and required further attention, Pumham still
lingered in the sylvan retreat of Warwick Neck. Sir
Robert Carr held a conference with Cheesechamut, son
28. of the old Sachem, at Smith's trading house, that resulted
in an agreement to remove at once beyond the bounds of
Kings Province, upon receiving the ten pounds that Pes-
sicus was to have, and ten pounds more from the peojile of
100.1-6. Warwick. He acknowledged receipt of thirty pounds, be-
ing ten pounds more than was formerly promised, and six
days later the additional ten pounds was paid into the
9. hands of Pundiam. John Eliot, the Indian apostle, im-
mediately wrote to Sir Robert Carr, interceding in behalf
of Pumliam, but without effect. Sir Robert, after waiting
Feb- •
24 ' nearly a month, sent a peremptory order for the Indians to
J.iii
3
move within one week, and also replied to Eliot, rather
28- sharply, for what he justly considered an ill-timed although
' The entire report is in S. P. 0. New England, vol. i. p. 248-58. The
Report on Rhode Island is in R. I. Col. Rec, ii. 127-9.
REMOVAL OF PUMHAM. 325
well intended, interference on the part of the missionary, chap.
• TIC
for whose satisfaction he graciously forwarded copies of the v,_^'^
transactions in regard to Pumham. Roger Williams also 10 6 6.
wrote to Carr upon the same subject, giving the history i
of the dispute, and wisely advising him that force could
effect nothing permanent against Pumham, until the
commissioners had first reduced Massachusetts to obedi-
ence to his majesty, because these Indians were sustained
by Massachusetts in their resistance. He concludes by
suggesting that they be allowed to remain until harvest,
that thus, through his mediation, a peaceable adjustment
may be reached. Sir Eobert sent for Mr. Williams, and,
satisfying him of the proceedings, obtained his active as-
sistance in the iaa mediate removal of Pumham, Thus
this " old ulcerous business " was finally concluded, to the
great relief of the people of the colony, who, for more than
twenty years, had been harassed by the intrigues of their
neighbors with these turbulent natives.'
The delay of the towns, in paying Dr. Clarke, called
forth a severe letter from Roger WilHams, addressed to
Warwick, as the greatest dehnquent, which gave deep of-
fence. It was received on a training day, and was read at ^g
the head of the company ; not an unusual mode of publi-
cation in those times, for even the banns of marriage were
by law proclaimed in the same manner. The action of
the town is worthy of note. It was at once emphatic, and
under the circumstances, feeling as they did insulted by
the tenor of the missive, it was perhaps the most digni-
fied course they could adopt. They " voted that the said
letter is a pernicious letter, tending to stir up strife in the
town, and that the town clerk record this vote and send a
copy of it to Mr. Williams, as the town's answer to the
' The orders and letters here referred to, relating to Pumham, are printed
in R. I. Col. Rec. ii. 132-8. The diligence of Secretary Bartlett in collect-
ing the documents that go to make up a continuous history of the State, and
inserting them between the bare records of the Assembly's proceedings, is
worthy of all commendation.
27
326 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, said letter, no man dissenting," It should be remembered
sj:^^ that Warwick had, at the time, protested agajnst her
16 6 6. proportion of the tax, giving some cogent reasons for hei
' '"*^ ' dissent ; and it is probable that Williams's letter was not
so mild in its language as so delicate a subject required.
But tliat the colony agreed with his view of the case ap-
pears from the action of the Assembly that met the next
day. The Warwick protest was considered, and it was
ordered " that a letter shall be sent to them from the
Court to provocke and stirr them up to pay the rate
29. spedilye," and a similar letter was prepared to be sent to
Providence.
The form of the engagements to be taken by freemen
and officers was a frequent matter of legislation. So great
was the variety of opinion, and the latitude given to ten-
der consciences in the colony, that it was a work of time
to devise some form of words that should not be objection-
able to any. Verbal alterations and slight modifications
were made at different sessions, some of which, in our less
scrupulous times, appear puerile. At this session a com-
mittee consisting of the Governor and Nicolas Easton, the
latter })eing a Quaker, reported upon the subject of the
freemen's engagement, recommending either the form al-
ready prescribed by the Assembly, or the oath of allegiance
as required in England, or if objections to either of these
forms existed, the party might adopt any equivalent words
satisfactory to the Court.'
An important subject brought to the notice of previous
' The officers' engagement was adopted May 1661, altered May 1665,
amended May 1667. See R. I. Col. Rec, ii. 57, 97, 187. That for the free-
men was adopted May 1665, modified March 1666, pp. 112, 141-2, and gave
rise to the slander circulated by Brinlcy in 1 M. H. C, v. 219, and tr.ansmit-
ted by Holmes, Annals. 1, .341, that the Quakers were outlawed by Rhode
Island in 1665. This has been sufficiently refuted by Judge Eddy in 2 M. H.
C, vii. 97 ; by Knowles' Memoir of Roger Williams, 324, and cursorily by
Bancroft U. S., ii. 67. In fact at that time there were two Quakers, if not
more, members of the Assembly, and one of them was the next year, 1666,
choBeu Deputy Governor.
MODE OF ADMITTING FREEMEN, 327
Assemblies by petition from Warwick and Portsmouth/ chap.
was now acted upon. This was that the deputies might ,^_,_^
sit apart from the magistrates as a separate House, thus 16 6 6
creating two Houses of Assembly, with equal powers, acting
as a check upon each other. The rule was adopted, to
take effect in May, when the details of the change were to
be settled. This act was soon afterwards repealed, and the
measure was not adopted till thirty years later. The April
King having received from the commissioners an account
of their proceedings in New England, wrote to the colony,
expressing his a^jprobation of its conduct, and promising
liis continued favor and protection. ^
At the general election Governor Arnold retired from
office. He had served for three years, since the adoption ^fy
of the new charter, and had been for four years president
of the colony under the first patent. William Brenton,
who had been deputy governor for the past three years,
was chosen governor, and Nicolas Easton was elected to
fill that place. The same general officers were re-elected
except Torrey, general recorder, who gave place to John
Sandford, but there was a great change in the list of As-
sistants, only three of the former ones being retained. It
was the practice to admit as freemen those whose names
were sent in for that purpose by the clerks of the respec-
tive towns, as well as those who personally appeared before
the Assembly, being duly qualified. A large number were
thus admitted from all the towns at the opening of this
session. It was also allowed to the former Assistants, by
law, to sit as deputies in the General Assembly, in the ab-
sence of a full delegation, a contingency which now actually
occurred, so that several of the old Assistants were sent for
to aid the Court. William Blackstone petitioned for re-
lief from molestation by Plymouth in regard to his lands.
' See Warwick Records, Oct. 8, 1664, and Portsmouth Records Feb. 21,
1664-5.
* The letter is iu R. I. Col. Rec, ii. 149. \
328 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. The petition was recorded, and answer returned that, if his
.Js^ land proved to he within this jurisdiction, justice. should
1 6 (i 0. be secured to him. The Assemhly, or Court as it was
commonly termed, could not proceed to legislation owing
to the absence of deputies, and after waiting two days for
4 their appearance, adjourned- till June, but for some cause
no session was held till September. At -that time, the
^^V^' capture of Col. Cartwright by the Dutch, with the loss of
• all his papers, having been known, a new address to the
King, and letters to Lord Clarendon were ordered. ]\laps
of Plymouth, Connecticut and Khode Island were prepared
to accompany this address, in order to show their respec-
tive boundaries, which it was prayed might be confirmed ac-
cording to the charter. The letter to Lord Clarendon ex-
presses regret that no adequate return can be made by
the colony for the many favors he has conferred upon it,
but states that the colony had designed to set apart a
tract of one thousand acres, suitable for a farm, and to beg
his acceptance thereof. The present wants of the colony,
for which they petition, are, that Narraganset bay should
be fortified, that such commercial privileges be extended
as may develope the resources of the place, and that a
portion of the fund for propagating the gospel among the
Indians may be applied to establish a school for the Nar-
ragansets. Enclosed in this letter was a paper setting
forth seven reasons why the Kings Province should remain
a part of Rhode Island, and another paper presenting also
seven arguments why the eastern line of the colony should
be made to conform to the terms of the charter.
The difficulty experienced of late, owing to the non-
attendance of deputies, who hitherto had served without
pay, caused the passage of an act to pay all the members
of Assembly, and of the Courts, three shillings a day, while
employed on these duties. The per diem of the Assembly-
men was not paid in cash, but their accounts, certified by
the Moderator, were to be allowed in ofiset of taxes levied
A SPECIAL TAX TO PAY DR. CLA.RKE. 329
in their respective towns. The Court fees were paid in chap.
cash, upon orders, signed by the governor, to the public ;,J^
treasurer. In case of absence a fine of six shillings a day 16 6 6.
was imposed. If the general sergeant, or any town, failed
to give due attention to the summons of the governor
calling an Assembly or a Court of Trials, a fine of five
pounds was imposed upon the delinquent party. To hold
a colony court of trial, the presence of the governor, or his
deputy, and of four Assistants was required, and should
that number not be present, every absentee was subjected
to a similar fine of five pounds. Whoever should attempt
to vote at any election, not being a freeman of the colony,
was to pay a fine of five pounds, or to be otherwise punish-
ed as the General Assembly might see fit ; and no one
was to be admitted a freeman upon election day.
The delay in paying the debt due to Dr. Clarke was
likely to involve him in serious trouble. His house was
mortgaged to Eichard Dean for one hundred and forty
pounds, advanced some years before in London, on account
of the colony. The time for payment had long passed, and
a foreclosure was threatened. The Assembly now assumed
the debt. A special committee of eleven men was ap-
pointed, with extraordinary powers, to collect the arrears
of the six hundred pound tax levied for this object two
years before. The town sergeant and constables of every
town and village were placed at the disposal of the com-
mittee, at whose order they were to assemble the people,
and to levy by distraint, if required to do so. William
Harris was placed at the head of this committee, who, with
any other four of the number, were to act at their discre-
tion and to report, the ensuing month, to the Assembly.
They were unable fully to accomplish the object in so short
a time, and were continued at the next session ; and, be- ^^'•
cause of the difficulty of obtaining exchange on England,
they were empowered to send an adventure to Barbadoes,
or elsewhere, at the risk of the delinquent parties. Power
330 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
CHAP, was also given them to collect arrears due upon other rates
laid by the colony, prior to the one for Dr. Clarke.
John Clarke was appointed to make a digest of the
laws, " leaving out what may he superfluous, and adding
what may appear unto him necessary," and a cornmittee
of three was named, to examine the work when done, and
to report at a future Assembly.
16 67. The next year there were verv few changes made at
May . " .
1 ■ the general election. Charges were brought against Wil-
liam Harris, one of the Assistants from Providence, for ex-
ceeding his powers as an officer. The specific allegations
are not given. The engagement was administered to him
notwithstanding a motion for delay. This caused a pro-
test to be entered upon the records by those who thought
that the charges should be examined before he was quali-
fied as a magistrate.
England was now at war with France and Holland.
Symptoms of disafiection on the part of the Indians were
manifested. Invasion on one hand and treachery on the
other threatened the feeble colony. Prompt measures
were taken for defence. In each town a council of war
was organized, consisting of the town council with the cap-
tain and lieutenant of the train band. These were re-
quired to provide ammunition to the value of fifty pounds
for Newport and of twenty pounds for every other town.
Commissions were issued by the Assembly to the military
officers, who were required to be freemen of the colony.
Cannon were mounted at Newport, and cavalry corps were
formed in all the towns. The governor and council held
frequent meetings between the sessions of Assembly.
Their acts were equally binding with those of the latter
body. The council empowered any magistrate to require
assistance in case of need, and to impress men or appro-
priate property to the public service, being responsible only
to the General Council. The Indians upon the island were
disarmed, and the mainland towns were advised to adopt
18.
PREPARATIONS AGAINST THE INDIANS. 331
the same measure. A few days later all male Indians, chap.
IX
over sixteen years of age, were sent off the island, and no
Englishman, above that age, was permitted to leave with-
out a passport, or to go on board of any vessel that might
ai)proach the island, until her captain had reported him-
self to the chief magistrate of the town. All ammunition ^'^'
in private hands was required to be given up for the pub-
lic use. A committee was appointed to examine and re-
pair all arms belonging to the citizens. A special tax of
one hundred and fifty pounds was levied in Newport for
defence. Letters having been received from Plymouth
concerning a suspected consj^iracy by King Philip, a com-
mittee was appointed to treat with the Narraganset Sa- 21.
chems on the subject, and a letter was sent to them re-
quiring their presence on a certain day at Warwick. The
Assembly confirmed the acts of the council, and established
a series of beacons, where signal fires shoukl be lighted in
case of attack, to spread the alarm without delay over all
the colony. The principal beacon was on Wonemyton-
omi hill, whence the alarm could be spread along the whole
coast by bale-fires on the rocks at Sachuest, at Pettaquam-
scot, and on Watch hill, and northward on Windmill hill,
the highest point of the island, and thence to Moosha-usuck,
now Prospect hill, in ProWdence ; and a general system
of defence was adopted for all the islands and exposed set-
tlements in the colony and in Kings Province. These
were the preliminary steps taken in view of a crisis which
proved to be still quite remote.
Internal dissensions supplied the excitement that hos- j^ng
tile demonstrations failed to bring. At the annual town 3.
meeting in Providence two sets of town oflScers were elected,
and two sets of delegates chosen to the Assembly, at two
separate meetings caUed by the Assistants resident in the
town, at the same time and place ; one by Arthur Fenner
the other by William Harris in concert with William Car-
penter, another Assistant. It was the duty of one of the
332 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. Assistants to call town meetings, but of which one, in this
,^,;^J^ case, does not appear, nor is it known why two calls were
1 ^^ <> "• issued ; but it is supposed to be owing to a sharp contro-
versy then existing upon local questions relating to the
town limits. The result was unfortunate in cre^-ting a
bitter feeling that it required many years to assuage. A
narrative of the affair, entitled " The Firebrand Discov-
ered" was drawn up, by vote of the town, and sent to the
, other three towns. This presents the view of the Fenner
faction. The other side entered a complaint to the Gov-
ernor against Fenner, which led to a special session of the
j„]y Assembly at which both sets of deputies appeared. The
2- seats were awarded to the Fenner party. The complaint
of Harris against Fenner, charging the latter with '• acting
in a route " upon town meeting day, was then examined,
and Fenner with his deputies were acquitted. The town
officers elected by the Fenner meeting were pronounced
to be the legally chosen ofl&cers for the year. A letter
was sent to Providence stating the action of the Assembly
with the reasons thereof. Harris having upon insufficient
grounds caused this session to be held, expressly for the
trial of Fenner, was fined fifty pounds, and for other more
serious reasons was expelled from the office of Assistant,
two of his colleagues protesting, and another was chosen
in his place. The fine was remitted the next year by
advice of Col. Nichols, governor of New York, to whom
Harris had complained. To prevent similar vexatious
suits in future, an act was passed that no Assistant should
indict any person, for matters pertaining to another's in-
terest, without the sworn evidence of two witnesses imder
the hand of another Assistant, whose names should be en-
dorsed on the bill of indictment.
Tlie first troop of horse organized in Rhode Island re-
10^ ported for duty at Newport in August, and was commis-
sioned by the governor and council. It numbered twenty-
WESTERLY RETALIATES UPON STONINGTON. 333
one men well mounted and equipped.' The Assembly con- chap.
tinued to the towns, till farther notice, the full military ^,J^
powers before conferred on them. The strife about the 1 "^ 6 7.
. . Oct.
Narraganset country still continued. The mode in which 30 '
Rhode Island had run her western line, beyond the Paw-
catuck river, caused great dissatisfaction, and many depo-
sitions on that subject were given by the people of South-
ertown, or Stonington as it was now called."^ Hermon Gar-
ret, the English name of Wequashcooke, who had been
made chief of the Pequots by the United Colonies, renewed
the complaints formerly made by the Indians against the
Westerly settlers, who had driven them across the river,
and sought relief from Connecticut. The deputies from
Stonington also complained of intrusions on the west side
of the river, committed by John Crandall, who had laid
out a mile square of land for his son within the limits of
their town.^ These acts on the part of Rhode Island were
unjustifiable. They proceeded no doubt from a spirit of
retaliation in the minds of those who had formerly suffered
so much from the men of Southertown. The Assembly at
Hartford ordered notice of tliese encroachments to be given 10.
to Rhode Island with a request that they be discontinued,
and should this not suffice then the constable was required
to arrest the intruders. A letter to this effect was sent to 17.
Governor Brenton.
Massachusetts, although her claims had been super-
seded by those of Connecticut, and her right to interfere,
even with the Indians had been denied by the royal com-
missioners, embraced an opportunity presented by the
' Their names, from the Council records, are given in R. I. C)l. Rec, ii.
218.
- Southertown was incorporated hy Massachusetts Oct. 19th, 1658. The
name was changed to Mistick by the Connecticut Assembly Oct. 12th, 1605,
and then to Stonington, and bounded by the Pawcatuck river, May 10th,
1666. Conn. Col. Rec, ii. 26, 36.
^ Garret's petition was dated May 6th, that of the deputies was presented
Oct. 10th Conn. Col. Rec, ii. 80.
334 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. Nipmucks, who acknowledged her supremacy, to impose
^■^ terms on the Narragansets. The Nipmucks petitioned
i 6 tj 7. for redress for spoliations committed by the Narragansets.
31 ■ The General Court took up the matter, as of right, and
settled the difficulty. It was a measure of peace and
therefore commendable, but it does not admit of rigid
serutiny into the claim of jurisdiction over the Nipmuck
country upon which the interference was based.' A corres-
, pondence was carried on between various parties in Khode
^^'''- Island, and Col. Nichols, Governor of New York, as the
head of the late royal commission. His rej^lies were made
in a private capacity, his power as a commissioner having,
in his opinion, ceased.
16 68. An urgent petition was presented by the town of
4*^ Stonington to the Assembly at Hartford for protection
against Rhode Island,'- and on the same day the people of
Wickford also petitioned to be again received under the
jurisdiction of Connecticut.
Q The general election made but Uttle change in the of-
ficers, and is only remarkable for the triumph of the Har-
ris party ; William Harris, notwithstanding his expulsion,
being; ay;ain chosen an Assistant, and the other two As-
sistants from Providence being of his fection, while Fenner
himself was dropped. This is the more singular as there
is evidence that Harris at this time had, or was about to,
become the agent of Connecticut in prosecuting her claim
against Rhode Island. A very long document from his
pen is preserved in the archives of Connecticut, arguing
against the Assembly's apportionment of the taxes for the
])aymc'nt of Dr. Clarke, (jn the supposed ground of tlie
rightful jurisdiction of Connecticut in the Narraganset
country.^ But the governor refused to administer the
engagement until Harris should clear himself from an in-
' M. C. R., vol. iv. Part ii. p. 357-9.
'' Conn. Col. Rec, ii. 530.
» This was filed Oct. 1666. A copy is in R. I. Hist. Soc, MSS. vol. of
Conn, papers, p. 49-67.
Ausr.
CONFLICTING CLAIMS TO NARKAGANSET. 335
dictment brought against him for charging the Court of chap.
Trials with injustice. The deputy Governor was loss
scrui3ulous ; by him Harris was duly qualified, and a cer-
tificate sent as usual to the towns. The town of Warwick
protested against this act as being irregular, and refused
to acknowledge him as a legal officer.' The town of Prov-
idence sent a bitter remonstrance to the Governor and
council against the election of Harris and his colleagues,
but no notice was taken of it.^
Connecticut apj^ointed agents to treat with Ehode
Island upon the foregoing complaints, who were instruct-
ed to require the withdrawal of intruders, to assert the
jurisdiction of Connecticut according to her charter, and
to demand a written reply. These j)ropositions were sub-
mitted to the council at Newport, who replied to Gov-
ernor Winthrop, referring to the decision of the Royal
Commissioners, and to the Pawcatuck Eiver clause in 20?
the charter, but saying that if any violations of those
terms had been committed, justice would be rendered
upon due course of law.
Massachusetts again interfered in the affairs of Narra- gert.
ganser, by sending messengers to request the sachems to 4-
appear at the General Court to answer comj)laints made
against them by the Narraganset purchasers. The Wick-
ford men renewed their petition of May, to have the gov-
ernment of Connecticut extended over them. The Hartford
assemljly desired advice from Col. Nichols on this matter.
They also notified Rhode Island to send commissioners to
meet a committee aj^pointed by them to adjust difier-
ences at New London.^ This notice was not received till
after the Assembly had adjourned, and hence could not be
acted upon before the next spring. The Wickford peti-
' See Warwick record.^, June 1, 1668.
^ li is dated 31st Augnst, 1668, and is found in Staples' Annals, 147-50.
» Conn. Col. Rec.., ii. 102, 103, 5.32— also R. L Col. Eec, ii. 225-30,
where most of the foregoing papers are printed.
Oct.
336 HISTORY or the state of RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, tion was referred to England, and Mr. Willys, and Robert
_.;^ Thompson of London, were appointed to present the sub-
lfi'58. ject for the decision of his Majesty, but nothing decisive
was effected,
29. The General Assembly remitted the fine^of fifty
pounds imposed upon William Harris the previous year.
Upon William Blackstone's petition, John Clarke was re-
quested to write to Plymouth, warning that colony not to
molest him in the quiet possession of his lands. A large
number of freemen were admitted. The Assembly ad-
journed until March, to give place to the Court of Trials,
)fi(i«(-9. Up to this time, it was usual for any party who was
^^ indicted to plead his own cause before the courts, but as
this required more wisdom, or knowledge of the law, than
every man possessed, the Assembly now enacted tliat any
person who was indicted might employ an attorney to
plead in his behalf, a,nd further, that a pending indict-
ment should not prevent any general officer, fiiirly elected,
from holding his office ; but that he should nevertheless
be subject to trial. This statute seems to be intended to
meet the objections brought against William Harris by
the town of Warwick. A sharp controversy existed be-
tween that town and the Assistants of Newport, who sus-
tained Harris in the vigorous measures he had adopted,
as chief of the connnittee for collecting the fiimous tax of
25. six hundred pounds, levied in 1664. At a tcAvn meeting,
held to hear a letter from the Newport Assistants on this
subject, action was taken that deserves a place among the
curiosities of legislation.'
' "Voted: Upon the reading of a letter directed to 'Mr. Edmund Calrer
ley and Mr. John Greene and the rest of that faction,' &c., desiring to be
communicated to the honest inhabitants of Warwick town, subscribed John
CranstwD, to the end of the chapter, dated the 20tli January, 1068, and find-
ing the same doth not answer the town's letter to that part of the committee,
&c., who reside at Newport, touching the rate; but is full of uncivil lan-
guage, as if it had been indicted in hell ; Therefore the town unanimously do
ooudcnin the same, and think it not fit to be put amongst the records of the
8.
WESTERLY INCORPORATED. 337
The General Assembly met on Tuesday, a recent
law requiring them to meet the day before election, that
a full attendance might prevent delay in the choice of
officers. Benedict Arnold was again made governor, and
John Clarke was chosen deputy governor. There was
but little change among the other general officers. The
Harris party again prevailed in the choice of the three
Assistants from Providence ; William Harris himself be-
ing, as before, one of the number. On Saturday they ad-
journed for the Court of Trials, and met again the fol-
lowing Friday, when the letter from Connecticut of the 14,
previous October, was read, and a reply was sent, apologiz-
ing for the delay, and accepting the proposal to send com-
missioners to New London. The letter was forwarded by
a special messenger, whose expenses, as also were those
of the committee named in the letter, were paid by volun-
tary contribution on the spot. The sums thus raised
were to be deducted from the amount of the next tax.
Misquamicut, as it had heretofore been called, was now
incorporated as the fifth town in the colony, and named
Westerly. Two deputies were allowed to it, and the
town, but do order that the clarke put it on a file where impertinent papers
shall be kept for the future ; to the end that those persons who have not
learned in the school of good manners how to speak to men in the language
of sobriety (if they be sought for) may be there found." Warwick records,
March 25th, 1669, (New Year's day, 0. S.) We doubt if the idea of an "im-
pertinent file " ever entered the minds of any other people, or if anywhere
else in the arrangement of State Papers, so expressive, yet so convenient, a
classification was ever employed. We have already referred to one document,
" the pernitious letter '' of Roger Williams, which probably served as the foun-
dation stone for this remarkable structure. The notion of keeping a sepa-
rate file for disagreeable communications was not started tiU this second let-
ter, " indicted in hell," was received. This was not the last of the kind, as
we shall presently see, and the character of the documents consigned to this
significant receptacle, .seems to have grown worse and worse as the collection
increased. It is much to be regretted that the " impertinent file," or as it
was afterwards termed more energetically, the " damned file," has disappeared,
with many other of the records of this ancient town, for it would no doubt
furnish materials that would amply justify the votes of the townsmen.
VOL. I — 22
338 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
CHAP, usual courts for the trial of small causes, were there or-
..^.^^.^^^ ganized. John Clarke was desired to write to Providence
16 6 9. to persuade the people to settle the quarrels there ex-
"l4r isting. At the same time a measure was adopted that
produced a contrary effect in Warwick. Execution was
granted to William Harris against Edmund Calverly, and
John Harrod of Warwick, unless the litigants should at
once come to a mutual agreement, in the case of a land
dispute of long standing between them, upon which Har-
ris had recovered judgment in the courts. Against this
act, John Greene, Assistant, and the deputies from War-
wick, of whom Calverley himself was one, protested, and
desired to have their protest entered, but were refused, al-
though the fee was tendered for that purpose to the re-
corder. The town took uj) the matter in public meeting,
refused to assist in serving the execution, and entered the
protest upon their records in full, with the grounds of
their action.'
21 The council appointed six additional justices of the
peace in Kings Province, one of whom was Richard
Smith, the earliest settler in Narraganset, and who had
formerly given so much trouble in connection with the
Atherton Company. In the commissions issued to these
justices, the bounds of Kings Province are accurately de-
fined. They embraced all of the present State west of the
bay, south of the latitude of Warwick, being the south
half of Kent and the whole of Washington counties.
Monthly meetings of the council were established, but
the posture of affairs caused them to be held much oftener
July at this time. Governor Lovelace, who had succeeded
^' Col. Nichols at New York, wrote to Rhode Island con-
cerning a i»lot against the English, supj)0sed to be form-
ing between the Long Island Indians and Ninecraft, sa-
8, chem of the Narragansets. The governor and council of
Connecticut also wrote on the same subject. The coun-
' bee Warwick records, June 7tb, 1669.
EXAMINATION OF NINECRAFT. 339
cil met at once, and sent some discreet persons to Narra- chap.
ganset to inquire into these complaints. They found ..^..^,;^
some emissaries from Philip of Mount Hope at the camp 16 6 9.
of the sachem, which confirmed their suspicions. On 20.
their return the Council issued a warrant to apprehend
Ninecraft and bring him before them. A violent storm,
that lasted two days, preventing the immediate service of
the writ, it was renewed, and a letter was at the same
time written to Plymouth, advising that colony to ques-
tion King Philip on the subject. Ninecraft appeared be-
fore the Council and sustained a long examination. He 28.
declared his innocence of the charge of conspiracy, and
explained many suspicious circumstances that were
brought against him, but his answers not being in all re-
spects satisfactory, he was dismissed upon his promise to
appear again if sent for. Letters were sent to Connecti-
cut and to New York, giving details of the examination,
and desiring that any evidence in their possession against
Ninecraft might be forwarded in season for his next ap-
pearance before the Council. A broil between some
English and Indians soon occasioned another meeting of is.
the Council. Summons were sent to Ninecraft and Maw-
sup, another sachem, to appear before them. The Conn- 19.
cil recommended the five towns to take speedy measures
for defence, and also required the justices to assemble all
the people of the villages for consultation on the same
subject. The two sachems appeared, with the ringleader
in the recent broil, who was bound over for trial. Four 27.
Long Island Indians accompanied Ninecraft. They were
examined at length, and so clearly explained what had 28.
caused the rumors of a plot, that the whole were dis-
charged, and the excitement soon passed away.
The Commissioners of the United Colonies took up Sept.
the complaints of the people of Stonington, denounced
Rhode Island, and advised that the General Court of Con-
necticut should demand satisfaction, and if refused, that
340 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
notice should be given to the several colonies, and theii
advice asked upon the mode of seeking redress. The
16G9. New England league exercised less influence than for-
merly. It had become essentially weak, and a proposal
Oct. to revise the terms of union was submitted at this time,
but although it was approved and acted upon, nothing de-
cisive residted.' In a few years the confederacy expired
by default, and Rhode Island was thus relieved from what
had often been to her a source of oppression, and had al-
ways given her great annoyance.
So far from an amicable settlement with Harrod, as
desired by the Assembly, Harris, the repeated verdicts in
whose favor entitled him to the final process of the law,
wrote to him a letter, wherein he so abused the people of
Warwick that it was made the occasion for a town meet-
4. ing. An address was prepared to be presented to the
Assembly, condemning the conduct of Harris as danger-
ous to the existence of the colony. The address was read
18. at the next town meeting ; and the feeling of the town
was expressed in a vote too plainly to be mistaken. '^ The
27. letter was read in the General Assembly, and the parties
to the lawsuit were earnestly entreated to settle their dif-
ferences by arbitration, but in vain.
The quarrel at Providence was renewed with fresh vir-
ulence. Certificates from two town clerks, claiming to be
legally chosen, were presented, one of which declared that
there had been no election of deputies, and the other cer-
' Hazard's State papers, ii.
' " Voted, That the letter prepared by the town council touching William
Harris shall be read, which was done accordingly, and ordered to be signed
by the town dark in the name of the town, and by the deputies to be deliv-
ered to the next General Assembly, by a unanimous consent ; and that the
' town dark do put the paper of William Harris, that occasioned the letter,
upon the dam — Jile amongst those papers of that nature." Warwick records,
18th Oct., lOO'J. It will be seen by this that the remarkable file, referred to
in the note a few pages back, was rapidly increasing in size, and becoming
more intense in its character.
INTERNAL TROUBLES. 341
tifying to the election of the four deputies who claimed chap,
their seats under it. They were rejected, so that Provi- ^J^^
dence was unrepresented at this session. This deplorable 16 69.
feud caused the Assembly to appoint a special committee
of five to go to Providence, and call a meeting of the
townsmen, to endeavor to persuade them to refer the sub-
jects of dispute to the decision of disinterested parties.
If this was agreed to, they were then to call a town meet-
ing to elect officers and deputies ; meanwhile all actions
at law growing out of this quarrel were to be suspended
till another meeting of the Assembly. The six hundred
pound tax, the real cause of much of the disaffection now
existing in the impoverished colony, was not yet all col-
lected. The powers of the committee were renewed, and
the sero-eant was ordered to distrain at their biddinor.
Warwick prepared to resist this act, and warned Harris Nov.
1 ft
not to enter the town without leave.
The Council of Connecticut wrote to the men of Wes- -^g
<erly to require them to give satisfaction for injuries in-
flicted, not only ujjon those of Stonington, but also upon
the heirs of the Atherton company, saying that time
would be allowed them till the next March to arrange
these matters. No notice was taken of this missive till i669-to.
the time had expired, when an answer was returned, re- ^'^^^^
ferring to the injuries formerly received by them from the
Stonington men, and stating that if Connecticut had any
complaints to make, the Courts of Khode Island would do
justice to the litigants.
An extra session of the Assembly was called in conse- 22.
queuce of internal, as well as of external troubles. Four
men ' were appointed to go to Providence, two of whom
were empowered to make a list of the freemen, and to call
a meeting of all such to elect officers and deputies, and
to forbid any others tirom voting under peril of arrest as
^ John Easton and Joshua Coggeshall, with Lott Strange and Joseph Tor-
rej added tor counsel.
25.
342 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, rioters. All names, titles and passages in the laws de-
^J^ rogatory to the King, which under the various . govern-
16 70. ments prior to the restoration had been used, were for-
mally repealed ; but the laws in which they occurred were
to be letained in full force. This was simply^carrying
out, more fully than had yet l)een done, the recommenda-
tion of the royal Commissioners on that point. A spe-
cial commission was issued to the justices of Kings Prov-
ince to arrest any person pretending authority from Con-
necticut, or elsewhere, who should presume to exercise
jurisdiction in that province.
April The Providence committee performed their duties by
calling a town meeting, at which officeis, selected from
both the contending parties, w^ere legally chosen. Affairs
1^^ at Warwick proceeded less quietly. Writs were served
upon the town clerk and upon Samuel Gorton, sen., and
John Wickes, sen., two of the town Council, at the suit
of the Attorney General, for debts due to the colony by
the town on account of the old tax of 1664, and they
28. were im2)risoned. The town protested against this act as
repugnant to the laws of England, and agreed to stand
by their officers and each other in resisting it, in a paper
entered upon their records and signed by nearly all the
freemen. This difficulty was soon after settled,
jjjjy At the general election the same officers were chosen,
4^- but John Clarke declining to serve again as Deputy Gov-
ernor, Nicolas Easton was chosen in liis place. In the
choice of second Assistant from Providence, there being
some doubt which of the rival candidates, William Har-
ris or Arthur Fenner was elected, and neither being will-
ing to serve under these circumstances, Roger Williams
w'as chosen to that office. A committee was appointed,
upon petition from Block Island, to obtain contributions
for making a harbor there.
The Connecticut Assembly appointed a committee to
meet such as Rhode Island might authorize, to treat on
10.
1-2.
THE KINGS PROVINCE DISPUTE. 343
the question of boundary at New London, with full pow- chap.
ers to settle all disputes, and also in case Rhode Island ..Ji^^^
refused to treat, to reduce the people of Westerly and 1 6 ' 0.
Narraganset to submission. A letter to that effect was
sent to Grov. Arnold. The people of Stonington renewed 13.
their former jjetition for redress. Grov. Winthrop now
took that manly stand, against the popular clamor, which
his own high sense of personal honor and of public right
dictated. In a formal message to his Legislature he dis- 17
sented from the extreme course they had decided to adopt,
and refused, upon the ground of his agreement with Dr.
Clarke, to exercise jurisdiction east of the Pawcatuck
river until his Majesty's pleasure was further known, or
till the question should be settled by treaty. The Gov-
ernor and Council of Rhode Island replied to the Con- 23.
necticut letter, deprecating the threats it contained, ex-
pressing a desire for peace, and agreeing to the proposal
to send Commissioners to New London. A special ses- .June
sion of the Assembly was called to appoint them. John ''
Greene, Assistant, Joseph Torrey, Recorder, and Richard
Bailey, Clerk of the Council, were empowered to treat on
the part of Rhode Island. Their instructions gave them
full powers, within the terms of the charter, and of the
decree of the royal Commissioners. The two committees
met at New London. The negotiations were conducted -^_^
entirely in writing, at the suggestion of the Rhode Island to
men. They occupied three days, and embrace seventeen
letters. Connecticut claimed jurisdiction over Kings
Province by her charter. Rhode Island replied that that
only could mean Narraganset river, in the charter, which
was therein expressly described to be such. This was the
substance of the whole correspondence, which closed by
an assurance on the part of Rhode Island, that if Con-
necticut should attempt to usurp the government of
Kings Province she would appeal to the King. Thus
ended this fruitless effort at conciliation. The Connecti-
344 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAT, cut men, the same evening, read a declaration of their
^"^ intention to estabhsh a government at Westerly, and
1(5 7 0. Wickford, in his Majesty's name. The next day they
17 went to Stonington and formailly proclaimed the author-
ity of Connecticut over the people of Westerly, and sum-
moned them, as being a part of the township of Stoning-
ton, to submit thereunto. They also issued a'warrant to
John Frincke to warn the inhabitants east of Pawcatuck
river to appear the same day at Captain Gfookin's house,
in Stonington, to hear the proclamation, but they failing
to obey the summons the paper was publicly read on Goo-
kin's land. That night Frincke and two of his aids were
arrested and sent to Newport jail, by James Babcock,
sen., a Khode Island officer, under a warrant issued by
Tobias Saunders of Westerly. Saunders and Babcock
jg were in turn arrested and brought before the Commis-
sioners, to answer for the seizure of Frincke. They ad-
mitted the charge, defending it by virtue of their com-
missions as Rhode Island officers, and were discharged on
29 bail. The next day news of these occurrences reaching
Newport the Council was called together. A commission
^^- was issued to certain officers to proceed to Narraganset,
there to forbid any one usurping government under au-
thority from Connecticut, and to bring any such as pris-
oners to Newport, or in case of resistance, to read pub-
licly the prohibition, and then to deliver it to the offend-
ing parties. The Connecticut Commissioners, with a
force of fifty mounted men, went to Wickford on that
day, proclaimed their government and read their charter.
They then sent messengers to Petaquamscut, who were
21 seized on the road, but were afterward delivered up on re-
quisition. At this juncture the four men ' sent by the
Council at Newport reached Wickford, bringing the pris-
oner Frincke with them, and delivered their letter to the
Connecticut officers. It was immediately answered in a
' Joseph Torrey, Richard Bailey, James Barker and Caleb Can*.
23.
THE KINGS PROVINCE DISPUTE. 345
tone corresponding to the policy that Connecticut was chap.
now engaged, with a high hand, in carrying out. Har- .^^J^J^
vard college had received a grant of five hundred acres of l 6 7 0.
land in Southertown, at the time of the annexation by
Massachusetts, and now petitioned Connecticut for relief 21
against the people of Westerly. A similar proclamation
to that at Stonington was set up at Wickford, nailed on 2--
the door of Captain Hudson's house, and local officers
were appointed to administer the government in behalf
of Connecticut. The like declaration was also made at
Petaquamscut. The next day they went to Stonington
and issued another proclamation, warning the Rhode Isl-
and officers not to exercise authority in Westerly, and
enjoining upon the people of that town obedience to the
magistrates, named in the paper, appointed by Connecti-
cut. They also gave them liberty to use the County
Court at New London for justice when required. Upon
these bold proceedings being known, the Council of Rhode
Island called a special session of the General Assembly 24.
to -meet at Warwick on the following Wednesday. This
was the first session under the new charter that had been
held at any other place than Newport. The proximity
of Warwick to the scene of disturbance doubtless occa-
sioned this deviation from what had now become a settled
usage. The charter named Newport as the place for the
Assembly, but permitted it to be held " elsewhere, if ur-
gent occasion doe require." The Assembly appointed
Governor Arnold, as the agent of the colony, to proceed
to England, there to defend the charter against the in-
vasions of Connecticut ; or if he could not go, then Dr.
John Clarke, who had obtained the charter, was appoint-
ed, with Capt. John Greene, Assistant, of Warwick, as
joint agents for this object. The Governor was requested
to write to Connecticut and the other colonies, as also to
New York, on the same subject.
A debt of eighty pounds still due to Richard Dean
29.
Jnh
346 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, for services in obtaining the charter, was paid by a loan
,^:^„^ from private individuals to the colony, and a tax of three
16 70. hundred pounds was levied to meet the expenses of the
new agency. Of this tax Newport was assessed one
hundred and twenty-three pounds, Providence and Ports-
mouth fifty-one each, Warwick thirty-two, Petaqiiamscot
sixteen. Block Island fifteen, and Conanicut twelve
pounds. The most favorable result of this Assembly was
that it quieted the feeling of discontent, so rife hi War-
wick for six years past, if we may judge from-'the readi-
2. ness with which the town now voted their portion of the
new tax and of the arrears still due on the old one.
11. Gov. Arnold wrote a long and friendly letter to Gov.
Winthrop, informing him of the preparations of the As-
sembly to appeal to the King in the autumn, attributing
the conduct of Connecticut to the influence of men ac-
tuated by private interests, and also asking the surrender
of a fugitive from Rhode Island, who had twice broken
jail and was now harbored at Stonington.' The murder
of Walter House by Thomas Flounders at Wickford, an
22 act of private revenge, now served still further to compli-
cate the difficulties between the two colonies. The Con-
necticut coroner held an inquest on the body. When the
^^- Pihode Island coroner came for that purpose he was de-
nied access to the corpse. He forbade the burial, which
however was performed. The Council at Newport or-
dered the body to be disinterred, that a legal inquest
might be held, and sent a constable, with sufficient force,
to arrest the murderer, and also those who had obstructed
the coroner, as well as any who might attempt to prevent
the execution of this order. Thomas Stanton, one of the
J ^ newly appointed magistrates at Stonington, wrote to Con-
necticut wliat had been done in the premises. The mur-
' This letter of July Ilth, with all the papers relating to the acts of Con-
necticut, and of the joint commission from May Tith, are printed in R. L
Col Rec, ii. 309-328, presenting a complete documentary history of this im
portant period.
THE KINGS PROVINCE DISPUTE, 347
derer was arrested on tlio Ehode Island warrant and taken chap.
to Newport. Samuel Eldredge and John Cole, two of ^^
the Connecticut officers at Wickford, who had obstructed 16 70.
those of Rhode Island, were also taken prisoners. Floun- ^^
ders was indicted for murder, and afterwards, in October,
was tried and osecuted. The two officers were commit-
ted to the custody of the Sergeant till they should give
bail to appear at. the October Court. The Council of
Connecticut appointed another constable at Wickford in 2I
place of Eldredge, and issued warrants to arrest Samuel
Wilson and Thonuis Mumford, the Rhode Island officers
who had torn down the declaration of authority that had
been set up by the Commissioners at Hudson's house.
They also wrote a letter to Rhode Island, complaining of
the zeal with whicli she strove to maintain her rights over
the Kings Province.
That the people of Connecticut were not unanimous
in their approval of the conduct of their authorities in
such high-handed proceedings, but that these were insti-
gated, as Gov. Arnold intimates in his letter to Gov.
Winthrop, by parties having private interests to subserve,
appears, not only by the refusal of Winthrop to exercise
jurisdiction, as Governor, east of Pawcatuck river, but
also in a letter from Major John Mason of Norwich, to Aug.
the Connecticut Commissioners, enclosing that celebrated •
letter, recently received by him from Roger Williams,
which contains so lucid a sketch of the early history of
Rhode Island.^ Mason, in this communication, depre-
cates the action of the Commissioners in Narraganset as
unwise, and describes the territory to be gained as of
doubtful value compared with the cost of contesting it,
and significantly suggests that " the toll may prove to be
more than the grist."
The General Assemblies of Connecticut and of Rhode 9o''
13.
This important letter is printed at length in I M. H. C. L 275-283, and
in part in R. I. H. C, iii. 159-163.
348 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAISTD.
CHAP. Island met on the same day, one at Hartford, the other
.^J^^ at Ne.wj)ort. The Connecticut Commissioners reported
16 7 0, their proceedings at Narraganset, which were approved,
13 * and the officers named by them in Kings Province were
confirmed. The former bounds of Southertown, as incor-
porated by Massachusetts, were granted to Stonington,
which included the whole of Westerly. A new set of
Commissioners, including one of the former body, were
appointed to treat once more with Rhode Island* on the
questions at issue, and were invested with the -same pow-
ers that their predecessors had received. Governor Win-
throp sent in his resignation to this Court, but it was not
accepted. The posture of affixirs in Rhode Island is sup-
posed to have influenced him in this step, as he had pre-
viously refused to violate his agreement with Clarke, and
to trample on the rights of Rhode Island.
The Assembly at Newport issued new summons to the
witnesses at Wickford to attend at the trial of Flounders,
the former ones having been seized by a Connecticut offi-
cer before they could be served. A conciliatory letter
15. was sent by two messengers to Connecticut, desiring that
an easier mode of settling the dift'crcnces than by appeal
to England might be devised, and relying upon the tem-
perate spirit of Gov. Winthrop's letter, it suggests a new
commission, and that Connecticut meanwhile should forbear
to exercise jurisdiction in the King's Province. To this
overture Connecticut replied, approving the acts of her
Commissioners in June, dissenting from the points of
Gov. Arnold's letter of July, and accepting the proposal
of a new treaty, but declining the proviso upon which the
offer was made, that Connecticut should in the interval
suspend the exercise of authority in Narraganset. This
of course put an end to further negotiation, and Rhode
Island resumed her preparations for a final appeal to the
King. A special session of the Assembly was held, at
which it was ordered that such persons as were qualified
18,
26
VALUES OF MONEY AND PRODUCE. 349
for public service in holding offices, should be made free-
men by their respective towns, whether they desired it or
not. This was a compulsory act, akin to that which im-
posed a fine on any one elected to office who should refuse
to serve, and presents a striking contrast to the spirit of
later years on this subject. Summary means were adopted
to collect the taxes levied for the purpose of sending
agents to England. If not paid within two months the
process of distraint was to be employed. The details of
the act acquaint us with the market values of the chief
articles of produce at that time. Pork was three pence,
or two-and-a-quarter cents a pound ; butter, six pence ;
wool, one shilling ; peas, three shillings and six pence a
bushel ; wheat, five shillings ; Indian corn, three shil-
lings ; oats, two shillings and three pence. A penny at
that time was equal to a fraction less than three-quarters
of a cent at the present day, and one shilling was about
eight and one-quarter of our cents. Forty shillings of
New England currency was then equal to thirty shillings
sterling. For those who paid in silver coin of New Eng-
land, one shilling was taken for two shillings in produce
at the above rates.
By English statute the estate of a felon was forfeited.
The murderer. Flounders, having been executed, the As-
sembly restored to his widow the residue of his property,
after deducting the expenses of his trial, as an act of
mercy. Continued acts .of violence on the part of Con-
necticut again led to an extra session of the General As- April
sembly, the sole purpose of which was to pass an act con- ^•
fiscating the estates of those who presumed to exercise
authority in Kings Province without a commission from
Rhode Island, and also of those inhabitants of Westerly
who should place their lands under the control of Con-
necticut ; while the faith of the colony was pledged to
make good any loss sustained by those who remained
faithful.
350 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
The alarm of Indian war again aroused the colonies,
Gov. Prince wrote to Rhode Island concerning the suspi-
cious attitude of Philip of Pokanoket. A council was
called to reply to the letter, and a conference, to be held
at Taunton, was proposed, but for the present was post-
poned.
May The regular session of Assembly was held the day be-
^- fore the election, for the admission of freemen. At the
o election John Clarke, who had been Deputy O-ovemor the
previous year but had declined office the past year, was
again chosen to that place. Another outrage occurred at
Westerly. Two of the Connecticut constables, while lay-
ing out lands east of Pawcatuck river, were driven off by
the Rhode Island officers, one of whom, John Crandall,
was afterwards seized and taken to New London for trial.
He applied to this Assembly for advice whether to give
bonds or to go to prison. They advised him to give no
bond in any matter pertaining to his acts performed in
maintaining his Majesty's authority in the colony, and as-
sured him of protection. This violence drew forth another
letter to Connecticut, again tendering an appeal to the
King as the only remaining solution of the difficulty.
jl The Hartford Assembly replied, reiterating their claim,
but taking no notice of the proposed appeal ; to avoid
which, if possible, they appointed another set of Com-
missioners to open a new treaty with Rhode Island. The
General Assembly appointed meetings of the Court of
Justices, that had been clothed by the royal Commission-
ers with the exclusive jurisdiction of Kings Province, to
be held at Westerly and other places, to examine the af-
fairs of the province, and to restore quiet to its inhabit-
ants. They accordingly met at Westerly, the Deputy
Governor, John Clarke, presiding, and directed the Con-
stable, James Babcock, to summon the people to attend
on the morrow. Babcock refused to obey, and was ar-
17. rested by order of the Court. Another officer warned the
IG
AUTHORITY OVER KINGS PROVINCE SECURED. 351
people to assemble, when the charter, the royal commis- chap
sion of the Justices, the agreement between Clarke and t^:^
Winthrop and other pertinent papers were read. The 16 71.
meeting was disturbed by the intrusion of a mounted ^"
force from Stonington, who asserted the authority of Con-
necticut, and ordered the Court to desist, but no collision
ensued. A written protest was delivered to the intruders,
maintaining the authority of Rhode Island. The free-
men were then examined as to their fidelity, and nearly
all agreed to stand by the King and this colony. A dec-
laration was issued by the Court, wherein John Crandall 18.
and Tobias Sanders were confirmed as Justices, and the
reciprocal engagement of the colony to protect the people
of Westerly was afiirmed. The Court then proceeded to
Petaquamscot, where, the inhabitants being assembled, 19.
similar proceedings were held without interruption, and
the Court adjourned to meet at Acquidneset. The pro-
prietors there inquired if the Court claimed ownership of
their lands in behalf of the colony, and upon being as-
sured of the contrary, they readily gave their engagement
to Rhode Island, and elected officers, who were confirmed
by the Court.
All legal and peaceable means having thus been taken Juna
to secure the loyalty of Kings Province, the General As-
sembly met at Newport. One Uselton, having been sen- 7.
tenced at the last Court of Trials to leave the island, but
still remaining, was brought before the Assembly, where
his conduct was so insulting that he was sentenced to be
whipped with fifteen stripes, and to be sent away forth-
with, and if again found within the colony he was again
to be punished in the same manner. A burglar, under
sentence of death by the Court of Trials, petitioned for
reprieve, but was refused, and his execution was ordered
to take place without delay. The sum of three pence
per day was allowed for the support of each prisoner con- ^•
fined upon criminal process. Commissioners were again
20.
352 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
appointed to treat with Connecticut, and a letter was
sent to that colony reaffirming the authority of Rhode
Island over Kings Province, until the King's will could
be known, accepting the proposals for a new treaty, the
Commissioners to meet at some place not within either
colony, and proposing that the two agents, Dr. Clarke and
Gov. Winthrop, should be present at such meeting. An
active corresiiondence relating to Indian affairs >^as car-
July ried on with Plvmouth. A letter from Gov. Prince, sug-
8 . " . "" .
gesting a conference at Taunton, was considered so im-
21 portant that the Council ordered copies of it to be sent
to the other towns. The Connecticut Council replied to
29- the last letter from Rhode Island, that they could not al-
ter the place of meeting except by act of their General
Court, to whom the proposal should be submitted at the
next session.
Rumors of Indian hostilities again summoned the couu-
'^"?* cil at Newport, who wrote to Governor Prince, and the
31. next day called a council of war to be held the following
bept. -^gek, and ordered a troop of horse to attend as a guard.
A special session of the Assembly was called at Newport.
The vote of the previous year, appointing Dr. Clarke and
John Greene as joint agents to conduct the aj)})eal in
England, was revised, and Clarke was named as sole agent
for that purpose. His commission was directed to be made
out by the Governor, and a new tax of two hundred and
fifty pounds in silver was assessed. The accumulation of
large tracts of land, upon the main, in the hands of a few
persons incapable of improving so much, attracted the at-
tention of the Assembly. While the tax necessary to the
defence of these lands was onerous, the effect was to dis-
courage many upon whom the burden rested without a
hope of their sharing in the advantages of a freehold. The
Assembly recommended that some of these wild lands be
purchased on public account, that those in immediate
25.
FURTHER DISPUTES WITH CONNECTICUT. 353
want of land, or who might hereafter be received into the chap
colony, could be supplied. v— v^>-
Upon a petition of the people of Westerly, the Gen- 1671.
eral Assembly of Connecticut promised them protection, 12.'
and also a temporary cessation from all suits upon land
titles, or for trespass, provided they peaceably submitted
to her authority. The proposal in the Rhode Island letter
of June was so far accepted that commissioners were au-
thorized to settle all disputes, either by agreement with
those of Rhode Island, or by a mutual reference of the
subject to gentlemen selected from the other colonies, to
meet at Rehoboth or in Boston, either in November or in
April, and a letter to this eifect was sent to Rhode Island.
The General Assembly met at the usual time, and after 25.
healing the correspondence read, adjourned one week to Xov.
secure a further attendance of deputies. The alarm of ■'^•
war had subsided, as appears by a letter from the Assem- 2.
bly to Plymouth ; but not so the troubles on their western
borders. A reply was sent to Connecticut, selecting See- 4.
conck, called also Rehoboth, as the j^lace, and April as the
time, to renew the attempt at a treaty ; but further stat-
ing that the Rhode Island men would only be empowered
to decide disputed questions of land title, and not the mat-
ter of jurisdiction, upon which they could concede nothing.
To this end a committee was again appointed. When
the letter reached Hartford, Governor Winthrop was ab-
sent, so that no definite answer could be returned.
Most of the towns were, as usual, in arrears for the last
assessment, so that the act was renewed. Warwick re-
fused to furnish her portion of it while the negotiation with
Connecticut was yet in progress. At length a formal no- ^g^^.o
tice was sent by Connecticut, declining the meeting at Jan.
Rehoboth, as a useless labor, unless the question of juris-
diction could be entertained. Thus ended, for the present,
the attempt at negotiation.
Internal dissensions again occupied the attention of
VOL. I. — 2B
20
29.
354 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
the council. William Harris was now openly employed,
on the side of Connecticut, against the chartered rights of
1671-2. Rhode Island, with a zeal and ahilitv that could not he
Feb.
suffered to pass unnoticed. For this act of treason,
whether real or constructive, a warrant was issued for his
24. arrest, and he was committed to prison without bail, to
await his trial at the May tenn.
March An extra session of the Assembly was convened, at
^- which John Clarke, for the third time within two years,
was selected as the agent to appear for the colony before
the King. The repeated renewal of this appointment, and
the frequent revision of laws, especially in relation to taxes,
arose from a feeling prevalent in those times, that the acts
of one Assembly were not binding beyond the next session,
unless then ratified ; each Assembly being in itself a sov-
ereign body wielding the entire power of the colony. The
absence of deputies from the mainland towns obliged the
Assembly to dissolve, and a new one to be called, to meet
^5- speedily. At a town meeting in Providence deputies were
^ ^ elected for the next Assembly, which was to meet in April ;
March but as it was ascertained that these men would be unable
^^- to attend at that time, another town meeting was held,'
to select such as could attend, and who were declared by
the Assembly to be legally chosen.
April A paper from William Harris was read, but not re-
ceived, as it was not directed in a proper manner to the
General Assembly. This being a full Assembly, the act
of the previous one, appointing Clarke as the agent to
England, and providing for his support, was renewed. It
was also enacted, that no tax, raised for a specific purpose,
should on any account be diverted to other uses, much
harm having been sustained in this way by the colony. A
very important bill was passed at this session, which de-
servedly caused great commotion among the peoi)le, and
cost a large portion of the members their election. This
' New Year s day, old style, was 2;jih March
2.
SEDITION ACT. 355
was the famous sedition act, the origin of which appears, chap.
in the preamble, to have been the opposition made in the v^.^
several towns whenever a new tax was assessed. The bill 167 2.
declared that whoever opposed, by word or deed, in town " 2.
meeting or elsewhere, any rate laid, or any other of the
acts and orders of the General Assembly, should be bound
over to the Court of Trials, or imprisoned till it met, at the
discretion of the justice, for " high contempt and sedition ;"
and if found guilty, should either be fined, imprisoned, or
whij^ped, as the Court might adjudge. A bolder assertion
of the omnipotence of a Legislature could not be made,
and it speedily received the rebuke that it merited. But
the act, severe as it appears, was not passed without reason.
The grasping spirit of Connecticut on one hand, the fear-
ful symptoms of savage hostility on the other, and now
the evidence of treachery within, requiring j)rompt and
vigorous measures in the Government to provide means
of defence against these-threatening calamities, dismember-
ment of territory and Indian war, would seem to justify the
assumption, for a time, of the almost dictatorial power here-
in usurped. It was not intended to abridge the liberties of
the people, although represented to be so by George Fox,
the founder of the Friends, who was then in Rhode Island.
An Assembly that was subject to two, and often to three,
or four ordeals of popular election every year, could not do
that, or even attempt to do it. But the framers of the bill
seem not to have reflected, amid the difficulties that sur-
rounded them, upon the abuses to which such an act might
be perverted. The people saw this directly, and within one
month, applied the remedy.
More violent proceedings, by the inhabitants of Ston-
ington, than any that had yet occurred, demanded the at-
tention of the Assembly. They had crossed the river,
and by force and arms had carried away several persons in
Westerly to prison. Redress was refused by Connecticut.
An act was now passed to confiscate the estates of the as-
356 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
sailants, being on the east of Pawcatuck river, and also
those of such Westerly men who might be intimidated by
these outrages into submission to Connecticut, while any
damage sustained by those who remained faithful, was to
be made good from the estates thus forfeited.
A committee was appointed to examine the waste lands
in Narraganset, and to notify the owners, Indian or Eng-
lish, to appear at the May session to contract for a sale of
the same to the colony. The schedule of salaries was re-
vised, to ensure fuller attendance on the Assembly, and at
the Court of Trials. The Governor was allowed six shil-
lings, the deputy Governor, five shillings, the magistrates,
four sliilliugs, and the deputies, the same as by a former
law, three shillings, for each day's attendance, with double
fines in case of absence. A dinner was also to be provided
each day, at public expense, for the whole Assembly, and
also, during the Court of Trials, for the magistrates.
A further source of peril, and occasion of expense, was
about to come upon the too heavily burdened colony.
War. was declared by England against the States General
of the United Provinces, and letters warning the colonists
to prej)are for defence were forthwith despatched to
America.
The Assembly met as usual the day before election,
MaV ^^^ admitted many freemen. This election was the most
1. remarkable one that had occurred for twenty years. The
changes were almost complete, while repeated refusals to
accept office threatened to leave some places unfilled.
William Brenton was elected Governor, but refused to
serve. He was aljsent in Taunton at the time, and as his
answer could not be received tor some days, the Court of
election, after choosing the other officers, adjourned for two
weeks, when Nicolas Easton was elected. His two sons
were likewise chosen as general officers, John as Attorney,
and Peter as Treasurer. John Cranston was made deputy
Governor. Of the ten former Assistants, but four were
NEGOTIATIONS WITH CONNECTICUT RENEWED. 357
retained, while the change in the twenty deputies was en- chap.
tire, not a single one in the former Assembly being returned .^ .__
from any town. ^^!^'^'
May
The charter and other important papers were always i^
kept in the custody of the Governor, who, on a new elec-
tion, delivered them to his successor, taking a formal
receipt therefor from the committee appointed to receive
them. This was deemed so important that the receipt,
specifying the separate papers delivered, was usually en-
tered upon the records. It was also the custom to open
every session of the Assembly by reading the charter,
thereby preserving fresh in the memory of the legislators,
the provisions of that fundamental instrument.
The Assembly adjourned for two weeks, after writing
a letter to Connecticut, requesting that Government not to
molest the people at Westerly, as it was intended soon to
propose a method of adjusting all difficulties. The Con-
necticut Assembly, as soon as it met, appointed new com- 9-
missioners to treat with Rhode Island, and empowered
them, in case of failure, to establish their government in
Narraganset. They also wrote a conciliatory letter to
Rhode Island acceding to her request, and another to the
Westerly men, less mild in its import, requiring their sub-
mission until the treaty with Rhode Island was concluded.
The General Assembly met by adjournment, and hav- ^^*
ingr received Governor Brenton's refusal to return to office
elected Nicolas Easton Governor. Mr. Easton had been
for two years. President of the colony, just prior to the
usurpation of Coddington, and was more recently deputy
Governor for four years. The charter being then read, as
usual, the Connecticut question was at once debated.
Commissioners were appointed with full powers to treat,
and to conclude all differences, and a letter announcing
this fact, was sent by a special messenger. The subse-
quent correspondence upon this subject, for the next four
years, has not been preserved ; a loss of no great impor-
358 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
CHAP, tance, as nothing more definite resulted from these writings
^*\_ than came from this renewed attempt to settle, by treaty,
16 72. what could only be adjusted by the power that conferred
14^ the charters whose terms formed the basis of the dispute.
This done, the Assembly proceeded to undo the acts
of their predecessors- This was performed as thorougldy
as was the change effected by the recent elections. Not
a single public act of the previous session remained unre-
jiealed at the close of their labors, nor was there any new
act passed by them. The mutability of legislation was
never so perfectly exemplified. A preamble recites that
" several acts and orders were made in the General As-
sembly in April last, some whereof seeminge to the in-
fringeinge of the libertyes of the people of this colony, and
settinge up an arbitrary power, which is contrary to the
laws of England, and the fundamentall laws of this colony
from the very first settling thereof, others seeminge much
to the prejudice of the collony, and impoverishinge the
people thereof, to the great disturbance and distraction of
the good and well minded people thereof^ who have many
of them bjen sufferers in a great measure already, and like
more to undergoe, if not timely prevented."
This strikes first at the sedition act, and then at the
tax law, including the purposes for which the rate was
laid. Accordingly, the sedition act was first repealed, the
appointment of Clarke as agent to England, and the taxes
for that object, were cancelled, the schedule of salaries
was then rescinded, leaving them as fixed by the old law,
the commission upon waste lands in Narraganset w^as re-
voked, as if it contemplated a forced sale by the owners to
the colony, the confiscation of estates in Westerly was de-
clared void, and finally, upon" a complaint made by Arthur
Fenner, a censure was passed upon the Ai)ril Assembly,
for having sanctioned the second election of deputies in
Providence, after it was found that those first elected
15
WARWICK RESOLVES TO RESIST CONNECTICUT. 359
could not attend. The bitterness of party spirit could go chap.
no farther, and the Assembly adjourned. ^— U--
But the conduct of the Assembly was severely con- 16 7 2
demned in some portions of the colony. The Assistants
and deputies of Warwick dissented, in behalf of their
town, from the action in reference to Connecticut. To
them it appeared like a concession of rights that was not
to be tolerated. The town sustained the views of its rep- 3.
resentatives, and at a full meeting, called for the purpose,
agreed " to oppose to the uttermost the intrusions of Con-
necticut," and engaged, at their own expense, with the aid
of those freemen in the other towns, who might be willing
to unite therein, to maintain the appeal to the King, and
to send an agent to England for that purpose. This noble
and spirited pledge, signed by all of the town council, and
of the freemen present at the meeting, is still preserved in
the records of that ancient town.
The declaration of war with Holland caused meetings
of the councO, at which measures were taken to proclaim 16,
it in all the towns, and afterward to place the colony in a
posture of defence. Richard Smith was intrusted with "^
these duties in Kings Province. Letters to the other New
England colonies were also prepared, proposing a confer-
ence on these matters, as suggested in the King's letter.
A new subject of agitation now arose. Ehode Island
had long been taunted by her Puritan neighbors, as the
refuge of every kind of religious or political vagary. In
the fierce persecution to which the Quakers had been sub-
jected, she offered a free asylum to the oppressed, and re-
sisted alike the threats and the entreaties by which it was
souo-ht to force her from her fidelitv to the cause of relig-
ious freedom. The security which this firmness afforded
to the preachers of the new sect, led Rhode Island to be-
come a favorite resort of many of the followers of Fox, who
came hither from England and Barbadoes, to disseminate
their doctrines, as from a central point whence they might
July.
360 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, easily make excursions in all directions through the Amer-
^^:^ ican colonies. Their great leader himself spent two years
1 6 7 2. in America, and was at this time in Khode Island, to-
' " getber with Edmundson, Burnyeat, Stuhbs, and Cart-
wright, all active and eloquent missionaries of the new
faitli. Everywhere, except in Rhode Island, toleration of
doctrine implied, in the main, concurrence of sentiment.
Hence it was asserted that the public feeling of this colony
was friendly to the theology of Fox, and the assertion car-
ried greater weight because, at this time, some of the mag-
istrates were of that sect. Roger "Williams, as the peculiar
champion of intellectual freedom, wished to give evidence
at the same time, of the devotion of his colony to the cause
of " soul liberty,^' and of their dissent from the teachings
of George Fox. " I had in my eye the vindicating of this
colony for receiving of such persons, whom others would
not. We suifer for their sakes, and are accounted their
abettors." How could he better effect this object than by
showing that the new doctrine was not generally accepted
in Rhode Island, although its followers were not only pro-
tected here, but were admitted to the highest places of
j5 government .^ For this purpose, Williams drew up a pa-
per containing fourteen propositions, denouncing in strong-
est terms, the tenets of Quakerism, and challenged Fox
and his adherents to a j)ublic discussion of seven of these
points at Newport, and of the remainder at Providence.
For this he has been charged with inconsistency, and ac-
cused of persecuting the Quakers ! In our day there
appears indeed to be more of zeal than of wisdom in the
conduct of this controversy. Yet, although he stren-
uously condemned the teachings of the Friends, and per-
formed a marvellous feat of physical and mental labor to
oppose them, he would have laid down his life sooner than
have a hair of their heads injured on account of their doc-
trinal views. The qualities that enabled him to accom-
plish the one wovild have sustained him equally in the
WILLIAMS' DEBATE WITH THE QUAKERS. 361
other. It should be remembered also that these public chap.
disputes, upon points of dogmatic theology, were as com- ^^,1^,:^
mon in Europe and America, in those times, as political 16 7 2.
discussions are in our own day. In Germany especially,
for more than a century, they had furnished the arena for
those brilliant displays of intellectual gladiatorship which,
in the progress of civilization, had succeeded the martial
strifes of the feudal ages.
The challenge was sent, through some friends of Fox,
to Deputy Governor Cranston, to be delivered by him to
the Quaker apostle. Several days elapsed before Crans-
ton received it, and meanwhile Fox had left the island. 26.
Just before his departure he wrote a singular paper to
Thomas Olney, jr., and John Whipple, jr., at Providence,
known as " George Fox's instructions to his friends,"
which was answered with unseemly severity, the follow-
ing year, by Olney, in a lengthy article entitled " Ambi-
tion anatomised." Fox's departure excited a suspicion
that the challenge was purposely retained until he had
gone away, which gave rise to an unbecoming pun by
Williams about " George Fox's sHly departing."
The most remarkable incident connected with this
25.
Aug.
controversy was that Mr. Williams, then seventy-three 8.
years of age, rowed himself in a boat from Providence to
Newport to engage in it. The effort occupied an entire
day. He reached his destination near midnight before
the appointed morning. The discussion was held in the g
Quaker meeting-house and lasted three days. His ojDpo- to
nents were three of the disciples of Fox, before named.
Burnyeat and Stubbs were able and learned men, and all
of them were well trained in the school of polemic divin-
ity. Williams' brother Robert, then a teacher in New-
port, offered to aid him in the discussion, but was pre-
vented by his opponents. The first seven propositions
l^eing concluded, the debate was resumed at Providence 17.
by Edmundson and Stubbs, but continued only one day.
362 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. That no immediate good resulted from the discussion, or
^J^^^ that there was more of human frailty than of Christian
16 7 2. meekness displayed in the mode of conducting it, is not
^ "^' surprising. But the object of Williams was attained in
opposing what he held to be error, while defending the
principles upon which that error was tolerated, as' being
a matter beyond the pale of human legislation.'
July. A most unexpected invasion of the rights of Khode
Island occurred at this time. Among the many'worth-
less grants with which the Council of Plymouth overlaid
their boundless dominion, was one to the Earl of Stirling,
that embraced a large part of Maine, and included also
Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and Long Island, with the
adjacent islands. This right he afterwards sold to James,
Duke of York, brother and successor of Charles 11. , on
whom the King, in his reckless bestowal of emj)ire in the
new world, likewise conferred a large portion of the re-
cent conquests from the Dutch, including the present
State called after his title. Prudence Island, originally
purchased by Roger Williams and Gov. Winthrop, sen.,
had long since passed out of their liands, and was now
the property of John Paine, a merchant of Boston. He
had contributed liberally to rebuild fort James, at New
25. York, and now received from Gov. Lovelace, as attorney
of the Duke of York, a grant of Prudence island, to be
held as a free manor, by the name of Sophy Manor, for
an annual quit-rent of two barrels of cider, and six pairs
of capons. The following week the grant was confirmed,
1.
' We have before had occasion to refer the render to dull treatises upon
doctrinal theology, where he may verify, if he chooses, the statements of the
text. There are many authorities whence the above account is derived,
which the theological student or the devout antiquary can consult for the de-
tails of this famous dispute. Williams' own account is in a book of over 300
pages, entitled " George Fox digged out of his Burrowcs.'' The opposite
side is given in " A New England Firebrand Quenched,'" written by Fox ani
Burnyeat in reply to the foregoing. See also " A Jouinal of the Life, &c., of
William Edmundson," London, 1713; ''The Truth Exalted;" Burnyeat'8
Memoir.*, London, 1691 • and Knowles' Roger Williams, pp. E 36-40.
PRUDENCE ISLAND INDEPENDENT. 363
and Paine was made GTovernor for life, with a Council to chap
be chosen from the inhabitants of the island, of whom \:^
there were now a considerable number, and Courts for the 1672.
trial of small causes were established, larger ones to be
tried at the New York assizes. The seventh article of
the constitution of government contained in this grant
asserted the principle of religious freedom, as then under-
stood abroad, limiting it to Christians, and i-equiring dis-
senters to aid in support of the church established by the
authorities of the place. On account of further pay-
ments made by Paine towards fort James he was relieved
from quit-rent, and the island was released from all taxes.
The estate was held by him in fee simple, and was now
an absolutely independent government, the smallest in
America. A few days later Paine's commission as Grov-
ernor for life of Sophy Manor was confirmed. It wOl be _
seen that this act of Lovelace was a great stretch of the
Stirling grant, and might with equal justice have in-
cluded Acquednick, as the Plymouth Council patents
were lonjr anterior to the first charter of Providence Plan-
tations. Prudence island had pertained to Portsmouth
since the first settlement of Acquednick.
This act of intrusion aroused the spirit of the colony
Paine was at once arrested and thrown into prison, as ap- 6
pears from the acts of the Council of New York, but was
discharged on baih He w^rote a long letter to Lovelace,
giving an account of the conflict of patents in Rhode Is-
land^ and of his own difficulties from that source. At
the Court of Trials he was indicted, under the law of
1658, for attempting to bring in a foreign jurisdiction,
and found guilty. The pleadings are preserved among
the records of New York. The matter was finally settled,
as many other difficulties were in those times, by tacit
consent, without any formal act of adjustment, and Pru-
dence island quietly relapsed from the condition of inde-
Sept.
Oct.
23.
16.
6.
364 HISTORT OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, pendent sovereignty to its early dependence on the town
J[^ of Portsmouth.
16 72. Certain men in Westerly petitioned the Assembly at
Hartford to be incorporated as a distinct plantation, and
to be released from fines incurred and from taxes for one
year. To this it was answered, that, being a part of
Stonington, the first request could not be granted, but
that the fines should be remitted, and also the colony tax,
but not the town rate or the minister's dues.
Nov. The General Assembly incorporated Block Island, and
at the request of the inhabitants named it New Shore-
ham, " as signs of our unity and likeness to many parts
of our native country." The freemen were authorized to
choose two Wardens, who should have the power of Jus-
tices of the Peace, and to add three other good men to
compose the town Council, who were to hold quarterly
meetings, to see that a registry of births, marriages and
deaths was kept by the Clerk, and to conduct the trial of
causes under five pounds. The town was to send two
Dejjuties to the Assembly, which had not been done since
the year the island was annexed to the colony, and was
not done for some years after this time. New Shoreham
thus became the sixth town received into the colony, and
was in reality at this time the fifth, since the controversy
with Connecticut had practically withdrawn Westerly
from all participation in colonial affairs.
The care of our ancestors to prevent any important
act from becoming a law, without a fair expression of the
will of the people, has been often illustrated in the course
of this work. The neglect of deputies to attend the
General Assembly led to further legislation on this sub-
ject. As the charter vested the full powers of the As-
sembly in the Governor and Council in cases of invasion,
it was enacted, that in sudden emergencies of this sort
the acts of the Assembly should be binding although but
few deputies were present ; but as the bill of rights of
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 365
third Charles I., protected the subject from any tax not chap.
levied by consent of Parliament, it was declared that no
rate should be assessed upon the colony without a full
representation from all the towns ; neither could any act
affecting the King's honor, or the people's liberties, be
valid unless a majority of the deputies were present. The
pay of the deputies was reduced to two shillings a day,
and the fine for absence from any Assembly was laid at
twenty shillings, or double that amount if a quorum was
not present. The deputies were also, for the first time,
required to take an engagement, to be administered by
the Governor, upon entering on the duties of their office.
This was an innovation that met with strenuous opposi-
tion from the mainland towns. The owners of the Ath-
erton purchase petitioned for relief from the law by which
their land was forfeited. Their prayer was granted, by a
repeal of the act so far as it applied to their direct pur-
chase. Their title was confirmed, with a proviso that no
lawful complainant should be debarred from his right of
action by any thing contained in the said act of confirma-
tion.
It would seem that the separate powers of the magis-
trates were not distinctly defined or well understood, for
a censure was passed upon John Greene, Assistant of
Warwick, for having granted, by his own authority, a bill
of divorce. This proceeding was sharply reproved by the
Assembly, as being a usurpation of judicial power in su-
perseding the action of the Court of Trials. The town 1672.J
of Warwick declared the divorce to be legal, and pro- ^3 "
tested against this censure upon their leader, and also
against the acts in favor of the Atherton company, and
that requiring the engagement to be taken by the depu-
ties, as being repugnant to the accepted law of the col-
ony. A remonstrance ftrepared by the clerk was adopted
at a special town meeting, and copies were ordered to be
sent to the other towns and to the General Assembly.
366 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
When this body met, the Warwick deputies refused to
take the engagement, although all the others conformed
to the new law. Governor Easton was re-elected. For the
office of deputy Governor, four persons were successively
chosen and declined, until William Coddington accepted.
This was the first public offic^e he had held since the usur-
pation, except that once he had been a deputy, and then
an Assistant from Newport.* Richard Smith was again
chosen an Assistant, but declined, having then in ^iew the
acceptance of an appointment from Connecticut. The
change in the list of Assistants was as great as it had been
at the former election, but three of the old. set remaining.
William Harris having cleared himself of the charges
against him, and given satisfaction to the Court, was again
elected an Assistant. Of the old deputies less than one-
half were returned. The general officers remained nearly
as before. The only act, worthy of notice, was the apj)oint-
ment of a committee to consult with aU the chief sachems
upon some means for preventing the excess of drunkenness,
to which the Indii;.ns were addicted.
The Connecticut Assembly again appointed resident
magistrates in Kings Province, and made Richard Smith
president of the court thus erected.
jniy The capture of New York by a Dutch fleet, caused a
^^- special session of the General Assembly, to provide against
an expected assault upon this colony. A pension act was
. passed for the relief of those who might be wounded in the
13. war, or of the families of the slain, who were to apply to
the general Treasurer for necessary support,, and if they
failed to obtain it from him, they were to have an action
of debt against him, to be prosecuted in their behalf, by
the proper officers, free of charge. An exemption act was
likewise passed in favor of those whose consciences were
opposed to war. A very long and curious preamble recites
the scriptural and other arguments against war, by reason
' In 1666 he was deputy, and in 1667 an assistant.
15.
EXEMPTION ACT. SUXDAf LAW. INDIAN JURY. 367
of which the Quakers were excused, with a proviso requir- chap.
ing them to do civil duty, in removing the sick and aged, ..^.,1^
and valuable property, out of harm's way, in keeping watch, 16 73.
although without arms, and in performing any other duty
of a civil nature that might be required by the magis-
trates. At the next session, these acts were confirmed, and Sept.
a lengthy statute against selhng liquor to the Indians, was
passed. The committee on this subject had considted
with the sachems, at whose request heavy penalties were
imposed upon Indians found drunk, as well as on the deal-
ers who made them so. A Sunday law was enacted to re-
strain gaming and tipphng on that day, but with careful
reservations, for the liberty of conscience, that the act
should not be construed as enforcing attendance upon, or
absence from religious services. The quaintness of many of
these early statutes is not mor6 "remarkable than the ear-
nestness with which they insist that nothing therein con-
tained shall be construed as permitting any violation of the
fundamental principles of the colony. The preambles to
the exemption act, and to the Sunday law, are striking ex-
amples of this watchfulness.
The last two had been extra meeting-s of the Assembly.
These, although of frequent occurrence, never superseded
the regular sessions prescribed in the charter, although but
a few weeks, or even days, sometimes intervened. An In-
dian being about to be tried for the murder of another, the
Assemblv ordered that one-half the iurv should be com- Oct.
. " 29
posed of Indians, and that Indian testimony might be re-
ceived in such cases, which was not allowed when English-
men were the sole parties. The accounts of John Clarke
had not yet been settled. Four hundred and fifty pounds
was claimed by him, "i.-. still due from the colony. AVil-
liam Harris was empowered to negotiate with Dr. Clarke,
in writing, upon this mattei. to examine the items of the
claim, and to report to a tutur'^ Assembly.
At the next general election, William Coddington was
368 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
chosen Grovernor and John Easton deputy Governor. The
offices of Treasurer and Attorney General were united in
1674. Peter Easton, the late Treasurer, his brother, the late At-
qJ torney, being now deputy Governor, The Assistants re-
mained nearly the same. The deputies were always chang-
ing more or less. The office was esteemed a burden, which
but few would assume for more than one or two sessions as
required by law.
The people of Narraganset felt the want of certainty
in their condition of Government, and desired the Assembly
to settle this point, for which purpose a committee was ap-
pointed. It was quite common for the Assembly to take a
recess of several days, in which the Court of Trials was held.
This was now done, and at the remeeting, the difficulties
which the conflict of jurisdiction caused in the business of
18. the Courts, led to the passage of an act, by which any per-
son summoned as a witness was freed from liability to ar-
rest, during his attendance on the court.
The events of this year were few and unimportant.
The news of peace between England and Holland removed
the chief source of solicitude to the colonists. The Con-
20. necticut Assembly confirmed the Massachusetts grants of
land in Westerly to Harvard college, and to divers individ-
uals, and also, upon petition of Wickford men, established
a Court there, and soon proclaimed the same in due form
June at that place, and afterwards appointed a Court to meet
Q ■ at Stonington, in behalf of the people of Narraganset,
8. which was never held. ^ These demonstrations were lightlj
regarded, and were effectually met by the Governor and
council, who proceeded to Narraganset, and established the
township of Kingston ; which act was approved by the
^^' Assembly, and Kingston was incorporated as the seventh
town of the colony, upon the same terras with New Shore-
ham. The excise of liquors which, by an old law, j)ertained
to each town, was now ordered to go into the general treas-
■ Couu. Col Rec, ii. 227, 231, 246.
MASSACRE AT SWANZEY. 369
ury, and was to be formed out to an officer engaged for chap.
the purpose, who might regulate the quantity to he used, .^i^l^
The probate of wills, which heretofore had been in the head 16 74.
officer of the town, was at this session vested in the town
councils.
At the next general election, the same officers were i6 75,
continued with uncommon unanimity. The only subject ^^y
of interest that was acted upon, was that of weights and
measures. These were ordered to be procured of the Eng-
lish standard, and one man in each town was to inspect
and to seal with an anchor, all that were in use, in confor-
mity therewith.
The quiet that, for the past few months, had every
where prevailed, was not unlike that ominous calm which,
in the natural world, so often precedes some fearful con-
vulsion of the elements. Slowly, but surely, for many
years, the storm of Indian war had been gathering. At
times the clouds had loomed above the horizon, and the
mutterings of discontent had warned the colonists, as the
rumbling of distant thunder foretells the approaching
tempest. We have seen how active preparations wese
made at such times to avert the danger, and with apparent
success. But the clouds were only broken, not dispersed.
An unusual period of peace had lulled to fancied security
the unsuspecting English ; but this time had been em-
ployed by the great leader of the native tribes in perfect-
ing his secret plans. The moment had now arrived when
the terrible truth should be revealed. The massacre at
Swanzey startled all New England with the fearful ven-
geance that for years had been brooding in the dark mind
of Philip of Pokanoket.
Three men, remarkable in the history of Khode Island
as pioneers of the infant settlements, passed away as the
clouds of war arose to threaten the destruction of their life
labors. William Blackstone deceased ' but a few days be-
* May 26th, 1675, ante, chap. iv.
VOL. I.— 24
370 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
CHAP, fore his dwelling, on the banks of the Seetonk, was de-
,^^^^;^ stroycd by the savages. John Weeks, one of the founders
16 7 5. of Warwick, was butchered by the Indians at the com-
mencement of hostilities, and Governor Nicolas Easton
died soon after at Newport. He was indeed a pioneer.
In the spring of 1634 ' he landed in New England with
his two sons, Peter and John, and the following spring
they commenced the settlement of Agawam, or Newberry.
Three years later, they built the first English house in
Hampton, whence they removed to Pocasset, in consequence
of the Antinomian controversy, the same year. The next
spring they went to Newport, and there again erected the
first European dwelling, and in 1663, they built the first
windmill on the island.'^ Governor Easton was several
times chosen an Assistant, and was for two years, prior to
the usurjiation of Coddington, President of the colony un-
der the first patent, and again for the two years previous
to his death, he was elected Governor under the second
charter. His sons became equally distinguished, and to
one of them, John, now deputy Governor of the colony, we
are indebted for an authentic history of the war which we
are about to narrate.
APPENDIX C.
EUR0R3 OF GRAHAME AND CHALMERS.
'^Pl'' Grahame in his History of North America, vol. i. p.
373, edition 1833, says : —
'• The colony of Rhode Island had received the tidinjrs of the res-
toration with much real or apparent satisAxction. It was hoped tliat
• May Uth, 1634.
" "These facts are chiefly taken from marfrlnal notes In the handwriting of
Peter Eaaton, In an old copy of Morton's Memorial, now owned by his d««
•oendnnt, J. Alfred Hazard, Eiq., of Newport.
EERORS OF GRAHAME AND CHALMERS. 371
the suspension of its charter by the Long Parliament would more
than compensate the demerit of having accepted a charter from such
authorit}^ ; and that its exclusion from the confederacy of which Mas-
sachusetts was the head, would operate as a recommendation to royal
favor. The King was early proclaimed ; and one Clarke was soon af-
ter sent as deputy from the colony to England, in order to carry the
dutiful respects of the inhabitants to the foot of the throne, and to
solicit a new charter in their favor. Clarke conducted his negotiation
with a baseness that rendered the success of it dearly bought. He
not only vaunted the loyaltj^ of the inhabitants of Rhode Island,
while the only proof he could give of it was, that they had bestowed
the name of Kings Province on a territory which they had acquired
from the Indians ; but meeting this year the deputies of Massachu-
setts at the Court, he publicly challenged them to mention any one
act of duty or loyalty shown by their constituents to the present King
or his father, from their first establishment in New England. Yet the
inhabitants of Rhode Island had taken a patent from the Long Parlia-
ment in the commencement of its struggle with Charles II., while
Massachusetts had declined to do so when the Parliament was at the
height of its power and success."
In the London edition, 1836, p. 315, some slight ver-
bal alterations appear in the above passages, which do not
affect their purport. In the revised American edition the
word " baseness" is changed to the expression " supple-
ness of adroit servility," which is equally inaccurate and
unjust. The harsh charge here laid upon Dr. Clarke was
rebutted by Mr. Bancroft in a note to chap. xi. vol. ii. p.
64, edit. 1837, of his History of the United States,
wherein he says : " the charge of baseness is Grahame's
own invention," an expression, perhaps, in itself too se-
vere to apply to the learned and friendly Briton, who
Mr. Bancroft in the same note says, " is usually very can-
did in his judgments," since the accusation of " baseness"
was not invented by Grahame, but was evidently the result
of his misapprehension of the authority he cites — the
partisan historian Chalmers. After the emendation ap-
peared in the revised edition, Mr. Bancroft, in 1841, soft-
ened the charge of invention to that of " unwarranted mis-
apprehension," in which he is fully sustained by the facta.
372 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
This note occasioned a prolonged controversy between Mr,
Bancroft and Mr. Quincy, the American editor of Gra-
haine's history, upon the merits of which we do not pro-
pose to touch, only so far as injustice has been done therein
to Rhode Island, in the attempt to display the superior
honesty and candor of the Massachusetts agents at the
expense of Clarke. The passages in Chalmers' ^Political
Annals, Book I. chap. xi. p. 273, 274-6, cited by Grra-
hame, as his authority for the above quoted remarks on
Rhode Island, read as follows. After referring to the ex-
clusion of Rhode Island from the New England league,
owing to the dislike felt in Massachusetts for her liberal
principles, he says : —
" Necessity therefore obliged them to provide for their security by
other means. They cultivated the friendship of the neighboring sa-
chems with the greatest success ; whereby they acquired considerable
influence over their minds, which was of considerable importance.
And that ascendancy they employed, during the year 1644, to procure
from the cliiefs of the Narragansets a formal surrender of their coun-
try, which was afterwards called the Kings Province, to Charles I.,
in right of his crown, in consideration of that protection which the
unhappy monarch then wanted for himself. Yet no measure could
be more offensive to Massachusetts, or could provoke more her resent-
ment ; because it was equally inconsistent with her usual practice and
present views of acquiring the subjection of the same territory to her-
self. The deputies of these plantations boasted to Charles II. of the
merits of this transaction, and at the same time ' challenged the agents
of Boston to display any one act of duty or loyalty shown by theii
constituents to Charles I. or to the present King, from their first es-
tablishment in jSew England.' The challenge thus confidently given
was not accepted." p. 273. " That event [the Restoration] gave
great satisfaction to these plantations, because they hoped to be re-
lieved from that constant dread of Massachusetts which had so long
afflicted them. And they immediately proclaimed Charles II., because
they wished for protection, and intended soon to beg for favors. They
not long after sent Clarke as their agent to the Court of that mon-
arch, to solicit for a patent, which was deemed in New England so
essential to real jurisdiction. And in September, 1062, he obtained
the object of his prayers. Yet, owing to the opposition of Connecti-
cut, the present charcer was not finally passed till July, 1663."
ERRORS OF GRAHAME AND CHALMERS. 37.S
The remainder of the reference contains an abstract
Df the charter, and some erroneous statements of the ac-
tion had under it, to which we shall hereafter refer.
Now, admitting, for the moment, that Chalmers is
good authority, which we shall presently disprove, so far
at least as regards this portion of his annals, an examina-
tion of the foregoing quotations from the two authors will
show that Mr. Grahame has drawn two erroneous infer-
ences, not warranted by his citations, and has stated them
as facts. First, that the name of Kings Province was a
proof, and, as he states, " the only proof" that Clarke
could give of the " vaunted loyalty of the inhabitants of
Rhode Island." Chalmers, it will be seen, says parenthet-
ically, that the surrendered country " was afterwards
called the Kings Province," which is correct, but is very
different from the statement of Grrahame. The fact is,
that the name of Kings Province first appears in the in-
structions to the commissioners; at the head of whom was
Col. Nicholls, who were sent by the King to visit New
England, and were furnished with three sets of instruc-
tions regulating their conduct, one as to Massachusetts,
one as to Connecticut, and the other secret, all dated 23d
April, 1664, and also a commission to determine appeals,
boundary disputes, &c., dated two days later. They are
in New England Papers, bundle 1, pp. 182-194, in the
British State Paper Office. Article 3 of the set of in-
structions for Connecticut relates to the Rhode Island
boundary, a^nd in article 4, referring to the submission of
the Narraganset sachems, it orders that if it prove true,
the commissioners should take rent from the occupants,
and shall call the country Kings Province. This order
took effect on 20th March following, by formal proclama-
tion of the commissioners, as appears in New England
Papers, vol. iii. p. 4, British State Paper Office, printed
in 3 R. I. H. Col., 179-81. This is the earliest mention
of the name of Kings Province, which was given by royal
3.74 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, decree, nearly two years after the Khode Island charter
_i^^ was issued, and in relation to the time of the submission
^c^' ^y the sachems just twenty years " afterwards." Upon
this point then Chalmers is correct and Grrahame wrong.
The second false statement in which Grahame is not
borne out by his authority is that Clarke " meeting this
year (1662) the deputies of Massachusetts, challenged
them to mention any one act of duty or loyalty sliown by
their constituents." A due attention to the above ex-
tract will show that Chalmers says no such thing. The
faulty connection of the passage would perhaps give to a
cursory reader the idea received by Grahame, and very
distinctly and injuriously perpetuated by him. Chal-
mers' words are obscure, it is true, relating to another and
later affair, as will directly be shown ; but certainly Mr.
Grahame, before thus cruelly assailing Clarke, should
have examined the authority to which Chalmers refers.
He would have there found that Chalmers' citation was
not to Clarke's conduct, but to a very different point, and
he would thus have been led either to suspect the accuracy
of the Annalist, or to discover his own misapplication of
his language. Upon these two points, therefore, Mr.
Grahame has erred in drawing inferences that are not sus-
tained by his authorities, and as he has thus done a great
wrong — all the greater from the acknowledged excellence
of his character and general accuracy of his work — we
have felt compelled to furnish what we consider as the
proof of unpardonable carelessness in a historian. The
only other reference which he gives. Hazard ii. 612, is to
a copy of the charter.
It really seems as if Mr. Bancroft's charge of " inven-
tion," or rather of " unwarranted misapprehension," was
not so unfounded as has been represented, or so unjusti-
fiable, when we consider the pains that a writer of history
is morally bound to bestow upon his work before assailing
the private character or the pubKc acts of any man whom he
EKRORS OF GRAHAME AND CHALMERS. 375
has occasion to mention ; and also when we see, as in these chap.
two points, how Mr. Grahame has distorted the authority ^i^
upon which he relies. The note and reference attached -^^^'•
to this passage of Chalmers, the first one before quoted,
reads thus : " There is a copy of the Indian Surrender in
New England Papers, bundle 3 ; and see the same, p.
25," the latter clause referring plainly enough to the doc-
ument whence his extract is made. That document
could be found in five minutes by the clerks in the State
Paper Office, and placed before any applicant authorized
by government to have access to its archives. The Brit-
ish Government are veiy liberal in granting jjermission,
even to foreign students of history, who apply for this
privilege, only limiting their range of research, in the case
of Americans at least, with the commencement of the
revolution. A British subject would, of course, as easily
obtain entrance, and without such limitation. That Mr.
Grahame did not use the privilege to verify his authority in
this case is evident. The jiaper referred to is a " Petition
of the Warwick deputies (Randall Holden and John
Greene) to the Board of Trade, together with their reply
to the Massachusetts agents," who on the 30th July,
1678, had answered a complaint made by the Warwick
men, wherein was exposed the former conduct of Massa-
chusetts toward Gorton and his company. The document
embraces four pages, 24-27 of the volume, or bundle, and
on page 25, the precise reference of Chalmers, occur the
words, or nearly those, quoted by him. The aggravated
circumstances of that case justified the challenge of the
Warwick deputies, and the silence of those of Massachu-
setts, was a discreet reserve for which they could hardly
be expected to receive the praises of any man conversant
with the facts. Chalmers' obscurity and Grahame's over-
sight have furnished Mr. Quincy with an occasion for un-
due elation in contrasting the conduct of the two colonies
at this time. We only regret that he should lend the
376 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, sanction of his revered and distinguished name to the
J^^l^ slander against Clarke, and to the defamation of Ehode
^P'- Island. (See 3 Mass. Hist. Colls., vol. ix. p. 28, note,
and " The Memory of the late James Grahame Vindi-
cated," 8vo. 59 pp. Boston, 1846, passim.)
If, as he says, " The agents of Massachusetts would
not condescend, for the sake even, of saving their charter,
to feign a sentiment which they were sensible had no ex-
istence," it is more than can be said of the general Court
that deputed them, the first article of whose instractions
to them is to " present us to his Majesty as his loyal and
obedient subjects." (Hutchinson's Collections, 355.)
Whatever else we may render to our sister colony as her
just due, it is not in the qualities of honesty or of candor
that Rhode Island or John Clarke should yield the palm
to Massachusetts or her agents.
We have now to examine the reliability of Chalmers
himself, with particular reference to chapter xi. on Rhode
Island. No one can read the " Political Annals" with-
out being impressed with the partisan spirit of that work.
If the reader were ignorant of the circumstances of the
author's life, he could scarcely fail to discover the ])rinci-
pal points of it from a perusal of his pages. The bitter-
ness of the loyalist refugee appears in the title-page, and
is conspicuous to the last passage of his book. He writes
in 1780, when the Declaration of Independence had been
four years in operation, and but a faint hope remained
that the prerogative of the crown could ever be re-estab-
lished in America, and yet he styles the country " the
present United Colonies," and he closes the volume with
a formal denial of the " imniutable truths " upon which
that Declaration is based. Whenever an opi)ortunity oc-
curs to flout the principles of freedom by maligning the
motives of its friends, he does so with an evident satis-
faction which he takes no pains to conceal. An honest
regard to the truth of history is everywhere secondary to
'ERRORS OF GRAHAME AND OF CHALMERS. 37*'
his hatred of civil and religious liljerty. With such sen-
timents for a groundwork it is only remarkable that his
statements should be received without suspicion, and his
ample references taken without verification by writers
who, like Grahame, are imbued with opposite opinions.
The position he held as a Secretary of the Board of Trade,
to w^hose custody the colonial archives were intrusted,
and the fulness of his references to original papers, have
so long given currency to his work as the highest author-
ity, that it seems bold at this day to question its correct-
ness upon any point of colonial history. Nor would the
writer venture to do so now except upon the clearest evi-
dence, and because in the chapter that most concerns us
the spirit of the author is more than usually apparent,
and his erroneous statements have done more than those
of all others to misrepresent the motives and the conduct
of our ancestors.
Chalmers was born in Scotland, studied law in Edin-
burg, emigrated to America, and practised at the bar of
Maryland for ten years. As a stanch loyalist, he re-
turned home at the time of the revolution. There he de-
voted himself to historical pursuits. His situation with
the Board of Trade was not obtained till six years after
the publication of the Annals, when it was bestowed as
a reward of his loyalty, and as a comj^ensation for the
sufferings he had endured. It is evident, however, that
he had free access to the colonial papers before his ap-
pointment in that office. His ability is unquestionable ;
but the facts we have stated require that discretion
should be exercised in perusing the Annals, and demand
the apx3lication of the severest canons of historical criti-
cism, before receiving as truth the statements and deduc-
tions therein presented. As a general rule, in this case it
may be said that whatever Chalmers states favorably for
the colonists may be relied upon. The evidence must be
very clear to his mind when he does so. Whatever he
37S HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, states as fact unfavorable to them requires that his ref'.r-
^^^..J^^ ences should be verified, and if no reference is given, the
■'^^'- statement would more safely be thrown aside. Whatever
he offers as a deduction from stated facts, as philosoj^hy,
or as " remarks," should for the most part be discarded,
as being only the reflections of a mind opposed at every
point to the principles of the colonists, and hence unable
to appreciate their motives. And finally, those state-
ments that are susceptible of confirmation by the archives
of the plantations, kept by the Board of Trade, are in
the main reliable, while those which could only be verified
by the records of the colonies themselves, as being chiefly
matters of local concern, should not be credited without
examination of the original evidence in this country.
There is not an American colony that has not sufiered
injustice in some way by this work, through those who
have blindly relied upon its accuracy ; and none more so
than Rhode Island. To specify the errors of fact and of
inference contained in the single chapter upon this State,
would be tedious and superfluous. Suffice it to say, that
the comments upon the charter near the close of the chap-
ter begin with an error of date, and are so interwoven
with misstated facts and partial truths, and so colored by
party biases, as to destroy the value of the whole.
APPENDIX D.
CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE ATHERTON COMPANY AND
JOHN WINTHROP, Jk., AGENT FOR CONNECTICUT, IN LONDON.
FROM MSS. TRUMBULL PAPERS, VOL. XXII., NOS. 38, 47 AND 45, IN THE AR-
CHIVES OF THE MASS. HIST. SOCIETY.
I.
Boston, 29<A Sept., 1661.
Hon'rd S'. — After our senices presented to yo'selfe we in;ike
boulde to request this favor to be added to al yo' former, considering
it may be for our further comforte to have the Lands wee have at
ATHERTON COMPANY CORRESPONDENCE. 379
N'arragansett in some pattent and yo'selfe being now* in England and Qg^p^
having an interest with ourselves therein, we conceave that if you IX.
could procure them into Connecticut pattent it would be best, and ^pp
therefore if you could procure the line to runne alonge from Conecti- D.
cot by the Bays pattent til it meete with Plimoth pattent, and then
by plimoth pattent tile it come into Naraganset Bay and soe into the
sea, and bounded b}^ the sea til it meete with the further parte of Co-
nccticot jurisdiction with all the islands adjoyneing it would reach ye
whole. But notwithstanding this our advice wee desire to have our
particular Interest from the Indians to be reserved to us and onely y"
jurisdiction or government to be within Couecticot, onely we leave it
to yo''selfe which way you finde most feaseable whether in Conecticot
pattent or Plimoth provided whichever it be our particular Interest
be reserved to ourselves. If you cannot attain these boundes yet wee
desire if it may be that our particular lands, the propriety alwaies re-
served to ourselves, may be got into Conecticot pattent, however freed
from Roade Island. Thus craving excuse for our bouldness we take
leave, onely subscribing ourselves yo'' real servants apointed to sub-
scribe our names in the behalf of the rest.
Edward Hutchinson Rich'' Lord
Will'" Hudson Am Richison.
The former is what we formerly writ by Mr. Lord and not haveing
anything to add send the same again, onely the Lord hath maide a sad
breach amongst us by taking to himselfe Maj' General Atharton who
was slaine by a fall from his horse.
flfor the Right Worshipful
John Winthrope, Esqr
these present.
II.
FROJI MR WINTHROP TO CAPT. ED. HUTCHINSOX.
Hon^'i S^
According to yo"" desires in those Letters from yo'self and Mr
Richardson, and the others of yo' Company (of) y*" Plantation of Nar-
ragansett was included within Connecticott Charter, yet so as it was
according to the very words of their old charter which was to Narra-
g.msett River, I had onely those words put in for Explication and
avoiding controversie about the meaning of Narragansett River ; these
words are added [commonly called Narragansett Bay where the said
River falleth into the Sea] and by what I saw of y' coppy of Provi-
dence charter the words are these, that the Whole Extent of y Tract
was about 25 miles, which by calculation from y" further part of Prov-
idence would reach but to the Narragansett countrey. '
380 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
After the Charter was under the Create Seale and finished Mr
Clarke then appeared w"" great opposition, as Agent for Road Island
Collony, he never before made it known to me that he was agent for
them, nor could I imagine it for a good while after mj' arriveale heere.
Mr Alderman Pcake told me hee had Received Letters from Road Isl-
and, with an Address Inclosed, and was desired by those Letters to
Deliver y* Address, and afterwards- told mee he had procured Mr
Mandrick to Deliver it. I could not by this conceive they had any
other Agent, but waSi resolved in my Businesse to keep to y words of
the old Pattent, as Deere as might be. I am sorrv there should be
any Controversye between friends. If they had Desfred to have
Joyned w"' our Collony I doubt not but they might have had all
Equall Liberties with them. Mr Clarke might have done their Busi-
ness before my arriveall or all y* time since ; I should not have op-
posed anything therein, and whether he had done any thing, or were
about it, I did not enquire, but that he hath done nothing in it (if it
be so) is not through the least act from myselfe ; who only minded
our Businesse according to a former Grant : And when y' was fin-
ished then Mr Clarke began to stirr and oppose what he could, W'' was
a great wrong to y" hindrance of my voyage. Why he did not Rather
act about their Businesse before when hoe would have none to oppose,
or all this time when he should have no opposition from mj-self or
any other, but so act onely by making a Controversye after our Busi-
nesse was finished I know not y* Reason. I desire v" to present my
Remembrances to Mr Brenton and Mr Arnold and Mr Williams and
our friends of those parts, and let them know that this is the whole
truth of the Businesse, however Mr. Clarke tnay Represent itt to them ;
they are friends that I alwaj'e did and doe Respect and Love and had
not the least Intent of wronging them. Intending onely that serv'ce
to the Collony to their old charter w^'' they had purchased At a great
price, and according to the Desires of yo'selves the Purchasers of that
in Narragansett.
I shall not add at present by (but ?) my love and respects to yo'-
selfe and Mr Smith and the rest of yo' Company, and Rest
Your Loveing friend
John Winthrop.
Ln" September 2, 1GG2.
For Capt. £dw. Hutchinson
at Narragansett.
III.
FROM CAPT. HCTCHINSON TO MR. WINTHROP IN LONDON.
Boston, IS, 9 m. 16C2.
Honn"* Si. — Wee have Received yo" from London. We thought
good to send you a copy of what wee sent to Connecticot to consider
ATHERTON COMPANY CORRESPONDENCE. 381
of, onely wee think good to add, y' wee are bold to presume you doe ^jj^p
not consider y' what you have procured in y"* Charter Reaches the IX.
AVhole of y« Narragansett Countrey, and Whereas you speake of 25 ^^^[^^
miles wee understand not yo'' meaning, for yo' Pattent and Plimouth D.
Joyns Reaching both ye Narragansett River, and whereas Mr Clarke
pretends a Pattent. Wee have sent a Coppy of one to the Massachu-
setts of the same Land dated before theirs w^h answers theirs, and
wee conceive may give satisfaction. But, however, It is necessary for
avoyding Contention to yield no way to Road Island for they are not
Rationall. It seems Mr Clarke hath much abused you, but I wonder
not at it, for their Principles leads them to no better. But for any
Tract of Land of 25 miles there is not any such Tract, for theire Pat-
tent is bounded by the Countrey inhabited by the Indians (though
after there be an expres-;ion reaching to Pequod River) yet the whole
Countrey of a'« Narragansett lyes betwixt Pequod River and Provi-
dence w'''' is Inhabited by Indians, and therefore that Expression is
no better than a Cheate, for from the outside of Providence bounds to
Pequod River is at least CO miles taking in all the Indian Countrey
w'^'' they are not to do by their Pattent, therefore if Providence Town-
ship and Road Island should be granted a Pattent yett y" Countrey
Inhabited by Indians is Excepted, which is that wee have purchased,
therefore wee are bold to crave of you to consider w' you yeild to be-
fore you yeild, and w'ever you doe to Reserve our particular Interest.
But if y' Providence, Warwick and Road Island should procure a
Pattent for the Bounds of those 4 Towns to come as far as Warwick
rails where they now stand, and so goe along by the River pawtucket
not by the Bay but to ^Varwick pointe w '' will be about 20 or 25
miles to Reach to Boston Line wee should not oppose w""'' is indeed
more than anything they can pretend claime to. Thus not further to
trouble }'0u wee take our leave and rest
Yo' servants to our powers
Ed. Hutchinson by appointment
of the Company.
These letters are now for the first time printed. The first is given
to show the earnestness of the Atherton company to " be freed from
Rhode Island," whatever else might be their lot, long before the char-
ters were obtained. It breathes the true spirit of Massachusetts at
that day, and proposes a series of boundary lines that would annihi-
late the existence of Rhode Island. It refers to Mr, Winthrop's own-
ership in the purchase, and closes with the news of the fatal accident
that terminated the life of their gallant but unscrupulous leader.
From this time the name by which the company was first commonly
called in his honor was changed, in general use, to that of the Narra-
ganset company.
382 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
The second letter recites the difficulties which Winthrop encoun-
tered, chief!}- at the hands of Clarke, after he had obtained the Con-
necticut charter. That he should feel restive under the delay that
Clarke's opposition occasioned was natural, but we see no reason why
Clarke should have made known his intentions in regard to Rhode
Island before he was obliged to do so by the course of events. He
was surrounded by the agents of adverse interests, who, he had good
reason to fear, if they faithfully represented their principals, would
leave no means untried that bitter hostility could suggest,^to accom-
plish the overthrow of Rhode Island. That influences to this end
were brought to bear upon Winthrop the first letter shows, and it is
due to his purity alone, and not to the justice or hohesty of his princi-
pals and advisers, that the worst fears of Clarke were not realized.
Under such circumstances sound judgment dictated the conduct of the
Rhode Island agent in kcepii)g hia own councils. Winthrop's friendly
feeling towards Rhode Island is seen at the close of his letter in his
message to some of her leading men, to whom he says he intended no
wrong, but thought he was doing a service to their old charter, as well
as to the Narraganset company, in what he had secured for Connecti-
cut. There is no reference in this letter to his agreement with Clarke,
which in fact was not signed till seven months later, but an allusion in
the next letter, which is the reply of Hutchinson to this one, would
indicate that some compromise between them was already in view, and
had come to the knowledge of the writer, probably through AVin-
throp's official correspondence with Connecticut.
The third letter displays the usual animosity of its authors against
Rhode Island. It is chiefly valuable as showing, in connection with
that portion of the preceding one to which it specially replies, the in-
accurate notions of both the corresponding parties concerning the
courses and distances of the territory in question. It will be seen
that there is an irreconcilable difference between them on this point,
and hence if either party were correct in his statements the other was
entirely wrong. "Winthrop is pretty nearly accurate in his distance
of twenty-five miles " from the further part of Providence to the Nar-
raganset countr}-," if he means from Narraganset Bay to Pawcatuck
river in an east and west course, which is probably what he does mean,
as it is upon that basis the agreement was made and the charter of
Rhode Island was granted. Hutchinson, on the contrary^, is as nearly
correct in his widely different estimate of distance, taking a north and
south, or rather a northeast and southwest course from Providence to
Pawcatuck. So that it is probable the misunderstanding between the
writers was in regard to the courses i-ather than the distances. The
reading of each letter would seem to convey the idea that a north and
south course was meant in both cases. But if this were so, Winthrop
was very wide of the mark and Hutchinson pretty nearly correct.
LETTER FROM JOHN SCOT. 383
Another remarkable point in this letter is the allusion to the old q^xf
Narraganset patent held by Massachusetts, of which a copy appears IX.
to hare been sent by the Atherton company to Mr. Winthiop. The "Tpp"
references to this ancient patent are very few, and are almost always D.
merely incidental, as in this case, as if no great weight was attached
to it. AVhy this should be so we cannot tell, but so it is. Every al-
lusion to the patent of Dec. 10th, 1643, is worthy of notice from this
peculiarit3\ In its proper place, chapter iv.. this subject is more
fully considered.
APPENDIX E.
LETTER FROM JOHN SCOT, IN LONDON, TO CAPT. HUTCHINSON.
(from TRCMBCLL papers, vol. XXII. NO. 35, M3S. IN 31ASS. HIST. SOC.)
AprU 29, 1663.
Mr. Hutchinson, and my honoured friend. —
^Ir. Winthrop was very averse to my prosecuting j^o'' affaires, he
having had much trouble with Mr. Clarke, whiles he remained in
England ; but as soone as I received intelligence of his departure from
y Downes, I took into the Societye a Potent Gentleman, and pre-
ferred a Petition against Clarke, &c., as enimyes to the peace and well
being of his Majestyes good subjects, and doubt not of effecting the
premises in convenient tyme ; and in order to accomplish y' businesse,
I have bought of Mr. Edwards a parcel of curiosityes to y'' value of
00 : to gratifye persons that are powerfull, that there may be a Letter
filled with Authorizing Expressions to the Collonyes of the Massa-
chusetts and Connecticut, that the proprietors of the Naraganset coun-
trye, shall not onlye hve peaceablye, but have satisfaction for Injuryes
already received, by some of the saide Proprietors, and the power
y' shall be soe invested (viz.,) the Masachusets and Coneticott by ver-
tue of the saide letter, will joyntlye or severallye have full power to
doe us Justice to all intents as to our Naraganset concernes. S^. Mr.
Sam" Sedgwick disburst y' monye, the obligation I doubt not of sat-
isfaction of accnrdinge to tyme which is by March next and by y' time,
or long before, I doubt not of satisfyinge yo"^ desires, or elce I will
satisfye y' saide Bill to Sedgwick myself I cannot deeme those termes
Mr. Winthrop made with Clarke any waye to answere yo' desires,
were there a certaintye in what Clarke hath granted.
Yo' friend and servantt
uncerimoniouslye
John Scott.
E.
384 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
The foregoing letter is the most important evidence
that has yet been brought to light upon this subject.
Nothing could more clearly explain the whole conspiracy
against Clarke, its authors, their plans, and the means
adopted to accomplish their purpose. Their motive is
shown in previous letters, the desire " to be fi-eed from
Rhode Island " in whatever way, and '' the way " is here
explained after the lapse of two hundred years. Parties
who could adopt such means, " uncerimoniouslye," in-
deed, would hesitate at no other degree of baseness to
shield their crime. Why the character of Clarke was
traduced in every mode that unscrupulous corruption
could devise, can no longer remain a mystery. That the
slanders originated by these violators of both moral and
statute law, and eagerly perpetuated by their sympa-
thizing brethren in the adjoining colonies, by some, no
doubt, through ignorance, but by all with a zeal that does
no honor to their hearts, should now be traced to their
source after so long an interval, must be gratifying to
those who have steadily defended the purity of Clarke in
this matter of the charter, reasoning from his exalted
character in all the other relations of life. It furnishes
one more proof of the fact, that the general character of a
man is no unsafe criterion of his conduct in particular
circumstances, and that tlie reputation which he holds in
his own community is a tolerably safe standard of his real
character. It thus affords a triumphant vindication of
what Mr. Quincy (pamphlet on Grahame, p. 36) is pleased
to term " a studied eulogy on the general character of
Clarke," in Mr. Bancroft's 2d vol. p. 64, which must be
grateful to that eminent historian who, in the face of so
much printed evidence on the other side, has examined
our records for himself, and in this, as in other disputed
points, has dared to do Rhode Island justice.
The letter opens with a striking acknowledgment of
Winthrop's purity, for although Winthrop had had diflS-
scot's infamy exposed. 385
ciilty with Clarke, he was so averse to the writer's schemes
that Scot dared not pursue them until Winthrop had
embarked for America. He then gave an interest in the
company to " a potent gentleman/' preferred charges
against Clarke and his principals as enemies to the crown,
with what purpose is evident, and, these two points se-
cured, he doubted not of speedy success. But to render
assurance doubly sure, he adopts another form of bribery
to apply to other powerful personages, whose taste for cu-
riosities he supposed to be greater than their sense of right
or their pride of character, and invests the sum of sixty
pounds for that purpose. The object of all this nice cal-
culation was twofold ; to hide his own infamy under the
ruin of Clarke, and to obtain a letter from the King plac-
ing the Xarraganset country under the jurisdiction of the
United Colonies. No description could be more accurate
in every item than is here given on the 29th April, of the
royal letter of the 21st June following.
Corruption moved apace to further the plans of Scot.
In seven weeks the character of Clarke was branded with
infamy to remote posterity, and the Atherton company
had accomplished their selfish purposes by a baseness that
cannot easily be surpassed. We have no clue to the mean-
ing of the paragraph about Mr. Sedgwick. Possibly it
relates to some private matter, but not unlikely it refers
to some other disbursement in connection with this nefa-
rious scheme. A letter of this stamp might well be con-
fined to the one subject of its infamy. It concludes with
a doubt as to Winthrop's agreement being satisfactory,
even if Clarke were authorized to make it ; and the last
word it contains implies the confidential nature of the
topic and the free and easy character of the writer. " Un-
ceremoniously " indeed ! A cooler stab at all that an
honest and honorable man holds most dear, or a clearer
exposition of successful bribery was never made ; and but
for the sometimes dangerous habit of preserving private
VOL, I — 25
386 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, papers, which Capt. Hutchinson possessed, we might never
^^__, have known, in this world, the secret and real history of
^J^^'- tliis transaction.
The agreement between the two agents was signed on
the 7th April. That Winthrop had implicit confidence
in Clarke's honor is evident from his embarking for home
immediately afterwards, leaving Clarke, unfortunately for
the latter as it proved, still in England. The above let-
ter was written on the 29th Aj)ril. The King'-s letter to
the United Colonies, so accurately predicted and described
in that of Scot was issued on the 21st of June, and the
charter of Khode Island passed the seals on the 8th of
July.
TREATY WITH MASSASOIT. 387
CHAPTER X.
16V5— leTT.
FROM THE COMMEXCEMEXT OF PHILIP'S WAR, JUNE 1675, TO THE
TRIAL OF THE HARRIS CAUSES, NOVEMBER 1677.
To trace the causes of the most disastrous conflict that
ever devastated New England, it will be necessary to take
a rapid review of the intercourse between the English and i'qYo
the Indians from the time of the landing of the Pilgrims.
Shortly before this event, a pestilence had wasted the
strength of the natives of this region, and caused them to
become an easy prey to the martial spirit of the Narragan-
sets. Soon after their landing, Massasoit, Sachem of the
Wampanoags, a powerful tribe who had formerly ruled the
whole country east of Narraganset bay, and extending
north to the territory of the Massachusetts, but who were
now, with their dependent tribes, subject to the conquer- i6iil.
ors, made a treaty with the Pilgrims, which he kept in- ^^^^^
violate for forty years till the time of his death.' He left
two sons, Wamsutta, by the English called Alexander, and
' In the wintsr of 1661-2, Drake's Indians, B. 3, ch. ii. Various dates
from 1656 to 1660 are assigned by different authors as the period of the
death of Massasoit, but the diligence of Drake entitles his opinion to the
greatest weight, and the reasons given for it in Book 2, ch. ii., p. 28, are con-
clusive that the death of Massasoit did not occur till later than Sept., 1661.
388 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
CHAP. Pometacom or Metacomet, whose English name was Philip.'
The faith with which Massasoit or Ousamequin, as he was
also called, maintained the treaty on his side, was not so
well kept on the other. He quietly submitted to repeated
aggressions upon his land and liberties, and besides having
sold large tracts of territory at various times to the Eng-
lish, he witnessed the gradual withdrawal of his subject
tribes to a condition of independence. The fataPalliance
which had released him from his recent subjection to the
Narragansets, was destined to place a severer yoke upon
his own neck, to weaken, instead of strengthening, his in-
fluence over the subordinate tribes, and finally to effect the
extermination of his race. He had several residences, the
principal of which, in the town of Bristol, was called So-
wams by the Wampanoags, and Pokanoket by the Narra-
gansets, and by the English Mount Hope. The decay of
the nation, and the proportionate increase of the English,
made a deep impression upon the minds of the two sons
of Massasoit. Wamsutta, the elder, succeeded his father,
16 62. but survived him only a few months. The manner of his
death added to the sting which the accumulated wrongs
of forty years had planted in the hearts of Philip and his
councillors.
We have seen that Massasoit claimed portions of the
land of Providence, west of Seeconk river, and that Wil-
liams and others had satisfied his claims, although the
Narraganset supremacy was undoubted, and their Sachems
* The Indians often changed their names. Wamsutta was first called
Mooanam, and later Wamsutta or Scpauquet, both of which latter names are
signed, together with his English name, to the dead of March, 1661-2, to
Providence men. Any great event in Ijfe seems to have given occasion to
these changes ; as Massasoit, upon commencing his war against the Narragan-
sets in 1632, took the name of Ousamequin, by which he was afterwards
more generally known. This custom complicates the difficulties of Indian
history very much. The English rames of Alexander and Philip were be-
stowed on the two young sachems at Plymouth Court about 16.'j6, although
Mather says it was not till 1662 when the two sachems came to Plymcuth.
Morton's Memorial, 286-7, and Drake, Book 3, p. 6.
WAMSUTTA OR ALEXANDER. 389
had conve3'^ed a clear title to the original purchasers.' chap.
There is reason for more than suspicion that these claims ^^
were instigated by our neighbors, in their desire to possess 16 6 2.
themselves of an outlet to Narraganset bay, and that they
were not well pleased with their faithful ally that he should
consent to release his pretended right to those who already
held it from his superiors. Wamsutta was associated
with his father in the government for some years before the
death of Massasoit, and joined with him in conveying lands
to Plymouth.^ Upon the death of his father he became
the chief Sachem, and conveyed to the town of Providence
some land on the west of Seeconck river, which had been
claimed by Massasoit as belonging to the Wampanoags.^
This act was never specifically charged against him as the
cause of the harsh treatment which he received under pre-
tence of his plotting against the English, and which re-
sulted in his death ; but in the absence of any proof of the
truth of those charges, and in view of the murder of Miau-
tinomi, a few years before, whose greatest crime was his
kindness to Gorton, and his having sold Shawomet to the
" arch-heretic," we are inclined to think that this deed of
sale was one cause of the prejudice against him. He had
strengthened his position by marriage with Weetamo,
squaw sachem of the Pocassets, who inhabited what is now
Tiverton. This was a step towards restoring the ancient
unity of the tribes, which was still further effected at a
later day, by the marriage of Metacomet with the sister
of Weetamo.
It was soon after the sale to Providence that "some
of Boston, having been occasionally at Narraganset, wrote
to Mr. Prince, who was then Governor of Plymouth, that
Alexander was contriving mischief against the English,
1 This satisfaction occurred Sept. 10th, 1646. See ch. iv. ante.
"^ March 9th, 1653, these two sachems joined in the sale of a large tract
including Fapasquash neck. Drake, Book 2, p. 27-8.
= The deed is dated 12th March, 1661-2, and is given in Staple's Annals,
p. 57i
390 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, and that he had solicited the NarragansetB to engage with
._J^_^. him in his designed rebellion." ' We know that '' some
16 62. of Boston " were at this time anxious to gain possession
of Narraganset, and also that the Wampanoags. claimed
a portion of that countrj', and had long had a feud witli
Puniham about the lands of Shawomet.'^ These rumors
furnished sufficient grounds for the arrest of Wamsutta
upon the chai'ge of conspiracy. Capt. Willet, who resided
near Mount Hope, was sent to require his presence at the
next Court at Plymouth. He did not aj)pear, but, it was
said, continued his intercourse with the Narragansets.
Upon this. Governor Prince despatched Major Josiah
"Winslow, afterwards governor, with a small force, to seize
Alexander and bring him to Plymouth. Winslow found
him at one of his hunting stations, a few miles distant, and
captured him without resistance, although the anger of the
Sachem at this interference obliged the Major to adopt the
same resolute means resorted to by Atherton in his visit
to Pessicus twelve years before, and to present a pistol ut
his breast. The Sachem yielded, and with his whole train
of warriors and women, some eighty in number, who were
allowed to accompany him, was carried a prisoner towards
Plymouth, and stop])ed at Winslow's house in Marshfield.
Here the haughty chieftain, under the combined effects of
rage, fatigue and heat, was taken ill. The day was ver^'
hot, and although Winslow offered his horse io the Sachem,
it was gallantly declined, because there were none for his
squaw or the other women to ride. On a-ccount of his
sickness, his attendants entreated that he might be sent
home. Tliis was granted ujjon his i)romise to appear at
the next Court, and meanwhile to send his son as a host-
age. But his death ensued almost immediately. Hub-
bard says he " died before he got half way home." '
' Increase Mather's Relation, p. 70.
' President R. Williams' letter to Mass. May, 1656. Knowles, 290.
* Hubbard's Narrative, London, 1677, p. 10. Mather's Relation, p. 70-1
Bee also Davis's Morton, 287-9, note, and Drake's Indians, Book 3, p. 6- 9.
PURITAN DEALINGS WITH THE INDIANS. 391
Thus ended the brief and bitter reign of "VVamsutta, chap.
the eldest son and successor of the earliest and firmest .,J^
friend of the Pilgrims. Dr. Mather, in the passage before 16 6 2.
cited, accuses Alexander of not being " so faithful and
friendly to the English as his father had been." Forty
years had changed the condition of the tribe. They were
no longer in fear of the Narragansets, from whose power
old Massasoit had sought refuge in a friendly alliance with
the white man. Yet during his own life, he had more than
once been called on to explain his conduct. Their jealousy
of the natives was natural in view of the immense dispar-
ity of numbers between them ; but had their care in pre-
serving the terms of treaties been as great as was that of
their savage allies ; had there been less of the old theo-
cratic spirit of dominion, " the saints shall judge the world "
— ' we are the saints,' and more of the religion they pro-
fessed, in their dealings with the red man ; had there been
the same strict regard to the letter and spirit of their
agreements that was shown upon the other side ; or had
the temper of the founders of Rhode Island, in their inter-
course with the aborigines, been displayed by the other col-
onies, there would have been less occasion, perhaps none at
all, for the alarms that so often distracted New England,
and the hope of the old Canonicus would have been real-
ized, " that the English and my posterity shall live in love
and peace together." The jealousy with which the Puri-
tan colonies regarded the powerful Sachems around them,
was signally displayed towards those who showed kindness
to any whom they had placed under the ban of proscrip-
tion. The style of their negotiations with Canonicus, the
clerico-judicial murder of Miantinomi, the savage treatment
of Pessicus, and now the unfeeling harshness that hastened
the death of Wamsutta, are examples of this, which it is
in vain that the Puritan writers attempt to justify or ex-
plain. That Major Winslow conducted himself with cour-
tesy towards his royal captive, or that the best medical at-
392 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
tendance and careful nursing was obtained for him in hig
illness, does not palliate the manner of his arrest, or miti-
1 1! G 2. gate the insult offered to a sovereign prince upon his na-
tive soil. Nor did the peculiar allies of the Puritans es-
cape the frequent evidence of their displeasure. Uncas,
their willing tool, Pumham, their abject slave, and even
old Massasoit their most faithful friend, were often called
before their severe tribunals, to answer for suspected trea-
son or alleged misconduct. One cardinal error j)revailed
in all their treatment of the Indians. They regarded the
submission of the tribes to the British crown, always cheer-
fully and often voluntarily made, as being an act of sub-
jection to themselves. Nothing could be farther from the
intention of these haughty Sachems. Repeatedly they
asserted that they were the allies, not the subjects, of the
colonists ; but the latter, taking the servility of Pum-
ham, himself a renegade, as the type of the conduct they
desired from all, insisted upon a like submission from his
superiors, and when this was denied, they construed the at-
titude of equality into an act of hostility, and busied them-
selves in conjecturing plots where none existed. This was
a certain method of producing the result they so much
dieaded. What was only suspected in regard to Wam-
sutta was clearly proved, a dozen years later, in the case
of Metacomet.
The treatment of Alexander was openly condemned,
even among the Puritans, for its harshness and impolicy,
although their own conduct towards Miantinomi had been
if possible, yet more unjustifiable. Upon the savages, it
produced a deep and lasting influence. They did not hes-
itate to charge the English with having poisoned their
victim. False as this accusation was, it was less unjust
than the act upon which it was grounded. Weetamo, the
widuw, although she subsequently soothed her sorrows by
a second marriage with an Indian of lower rank, never for-
gave the death of her royal husband, but secretly nursed
METACOMET OR KING PHILIP. 393
her feelings of revenge, and gave currency among the
tribes to the story of English perfidy.
Metacomet, or King Philip as be was now called, sue- 16 62.
ceeded bis brother as chief Sachem of the Wampanoags. " c^^'
Being sent for by the Court at Plymouth, he appeared and
renewed the treaty of amity with the English. He was a
prince as politic in counsel, as he was uadaunted in war,
and he was a man too high-spirited tamely to submit to
private injuries or public wrongs, without seeking the
means of redress. His designs required concealment until
they could ripen into a general union of all the tribes
against the English. There were local jealousies to ap-
pease, and ancient rivalries to adjust, for which time and
diplomacy were requisite. Meanwhile he preserved, in a
measure, the same friendly aspect to the colonists that his
father had done ; and even after the demonstrations that
had led to the first disarming of the Indians, and to the 16 6 7.
subsequent alarms in Plymouth, he freely made a treaty,
confessing his fault, and agreeing to surrender aU his guns, j^'-^i
to be kept by the English so long as they saw fit. But 10.
seventy of them were given up. Strange Indians contin-
ued to resort to Mount Hope. The Court of Plymouth
again sent for Philip to require his presence. He, with
his counsellors, chanced to be in Boston when news of this
order was receis'ed there, and so favorably did he state his
case that the government of Massachusetts suggested to
Plymouth, that instead of commencing hostilities as threat-
ened, that colony should refer the dispute to the arbitra-
tion of the other colonies. When the mediators met at Sepn
Plymouth, Philip signed an agreement to pay one hundred "^'
pounds within three years, and five wolves' heads annually
to that colony, to refer to them all disputes between his
tribe and the English, and neither to seU lands nor to make
war without their consent. This was a forced arransre-
ment on the part of the Sachem, made under the alter-
lative of war for which he was not yet prepared. That he
394 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF BHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. SO considered it, is evident from his remarkable reply to Mr.
^^^ John Borden of Rhode Island, an intimate friend of Philip,
16 7 4. who, when the war was about to commence, attempted to
dissuade him from it by urging the reciprocal benefits that
would result from peace. "The English who came first
to this country were but an handful of people, forlorn,
poor, and distressed. My father was then Sachem. He
relieved their distresses in the most kind and hospitable
manner. He gave them land to build and plant upon.
He did all in his power to serve them. Others of their
own countrymen came and joined them. "Their numbers
rapidly increased. My father's counsellors became uneasy
and alarmed lest, as they were possessed of firearms, which
was not the case with the Indians, they should finally un-
dertake to give law to the Indians, and take from them
their country. They therefore advised him to destroy
them before they should become too strong, and it should
be too late. My father was also the father of the English.
He represented to his counsellors and warriors that the
English knew many sciences which the Indians did not ;
that they improved and cultivated the earth, and raised
cattle and fruits, and that there was sufficient room in the
country for both the English and the Indians. His advice
prevailed. It was concluded to give victuals to the Eng-
lish. They flourished and increased. Experience taught
that the advice of my father's counsellors was right. By
various means they got possessed of a great part of his ter-
ritory. But he still remained their friend till he died.
My elder brother became Sachem. They pretended to
suspect him of evil designs against them. He was seized
and confined, and thereby thrown into sickness and died.
Soon after I became Sachem they disarmed all my people.
They tried my peojjle by their own laws, and assessed dam-
ages against them which they could not pay. Their land
was taken. At length a line of division was agreed upon
between the English and my people, and I myself was to
EXTENSIVE INDIAN PLOT. 395
be responsible. Sometimes the cattle of the English chap.
would come into the cornfields of my people, for they did ^^.^
not make fences like the English. I must then be seized 16 7 4,
and confined till I sold another tract of my country for
satisfaction of all damages and costs. Thus tract after
tract is gone. But a small part of the dominion of my
ancestors remains. I am determined not to live till I have
no country." ' This is the preamble to a declaration of
war, more striking from its origin, and more true in its
statements, than any with which we are acquainted. It is
the mournful summary of accumulated wrongs that cry
aloud for battle, not for revenge alone, but for the very ex-
istence of the oppressed. It is the sad note of preparation,
sounded by a royal leader, that summons to their last con-
flict the aboriginal lords of New England. It is the death
song of Metacomet, chanted on the site of his ancestral
home, before plunging into the fatal strife that was to end
only with his life, and to seal for ever the fortunes of his
race.
The fact that the war broke out before the conspiracy
was complete, has caused some historians to doubt whether
there was really any concerted design among the Indians ;
but the evidence of Col. Church, in his interviews with
Awashonks and Wee tamo, queens of Seaconnet and Po-
casset, appears conclusive of Philip's intrigues in that
direction, while other cotemporary writers adduce the testi-
mony of captives, taken at Hadley and elsewhere, to show
that the plot embraced the remoter Indians of the Con-
necticut River, as well as the powerful tribe of the Narra-
gansets. An event that precipitated the war probably
averted the utter destruction of the English, by distracting
the yet incomplete alliance of the Indians. Sausaman,
one of Mr. EUiot's " praying Indians," a man of unstable
mind, after being educated at the college, and employed
as a teacher at Natick, returned to savage hfe, and re-
* Foster papers, MSS., vol. ix. last page.
396 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
OHAP. mained for many years with Philip as his secretary and
y^.J.,1^^ chief counsellor. The persuasions of Elliot induced hhn
16 74. to abandon Philip, and resuming civilized habits, he be-
came a preacher. Being thrown in company with some
1675. of his old comjianions, he discovered the ])lot that was
forming against the English. . This he made known to
Governor Leveret. He was soon afterwards murdered, as
a betrayer of his tribe. Three Indians who committed
the deed were seized and executed at Plymouth. Philip
expected his own arrest as the instigator of the crime.
Enraged at his subjects being thus tried by English laws
for fulfilling his commands, in executing the vengeance
denounced by Indian custom against all traitors — that
they should suffer death, and determined not to submit
to the indignity of personal violence, Philip mustered his
warriors and commenced to scour the country in all direc-
tions. His forces rapidly increased by accessions from the
neighboring tribes, and at length the border town of Swan-
"^* zey received the first blow in this sanguinary war. Houses
t). were robbed and cattle killed. Four days later the mas-
sacre commenced. Nine of the inhabitants were slain and
seven wounded. The troops of Plymouth marched at once
28. to the defence of Swanzey. Forces were also despatched
from Boston, who attacked the Indians and drove them to
29. a swamp. The next day other troops arrived, the whole
were placed under the command of Major Savage, and
marched into the Indian country to break up the head
quarters of Philip at Mount Hope. The savages fled be-
fore them leaving the traces of their retreat in burning
buildings, and the heads and hands of slaughtered English
stuck upon poles by the wayside, but not an Indian could
be seen. The wigwams were found deserted, with evident
marks of haste. A few prowling dogs Avere the only ves-
tiges of life that remained. A fort was thrown up at
Mount Hope, much against the advice of Church, and a
small garrison left to guard it. The enemy had crossed
chukch's fight at fogland ferry. 397
over to Pocasset where it was now proposed by Mr., after-
wards Colonel, Church to follow them.' With a small
band of volunteers, he readily attempted the daring exploit.
Having, previous to the war, negotiated with the squaw
sachems of the two tiibes in that vicinity, he hoped, on
this account, to withdraw their men from the alliance with
Philip. Crossing over to Rhode Island, he there found
boats to transport him the next night to Pocasset, where
the party laid in ambush for the Indians, but in vain
The next day they followed the trail south, to a point near 7^
Fogland ferry, where they were attacked by a greatly su-
perior force. The skirmish continued for six hours till the
English ammunition was nearly spent, when a sloop from
Rhode Island came down and relieved them from their per-
ilous condition. They returned to the garrison at Mount
Hoj)e.
It was of vital importance to prevent an offensive al-
liance between Philip and the Narragansets, for it was said
that the latter had promised to join him in the spring with
four thousand warriors. Commissioners were sent to treat
' There were many men who distinguished themselves by their courage
and address in the course of this war, but none more so than Col. Benjamin
Church. lie was the first English settler at Seaconuet, now Little Compton,
then filled with Indians, and was just commencing his plantation when the
war broke out. He thoroughly understood the Indian character, and their
partisan mode of warfare, which latter he adopted with great success in the
subsequent struggle. His conquests were conducted with more humanity
than was displayed by many of his colleagues, while his courage and military
skill were conspicuous. He was to Rhode Island what Miles Standish had
been to the first generation of Plymouth colonists — a buckler and shield in
the hour of danger ; but he had far more experience in military aiFairs than
fell to the lot of the Pilgrim captain. It was destined for him to strike tho
first and the last decisive blows in Philip's war, by which he is now best
known to fame. So great was the reputation he gained, that he was after-
wards constantly called to the field to repel the French and Indians at the
north and east. He served in no less than five expeditions against Canada
and Maine, as commander-in-chief of the colonial forces sent out by the royal
Governors of New England. The first time was at the request of Sir Ed-
mund Andros, in 1689 ; again in 1690 by Hinckley ; then in 1692 he waa
398 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
with them, and the Massachusetts troops marched into
their country to enforce the terms that mi^ijlit be dictated.
They found the villages in Pumham's district deserted.
He had shaken oif his English shackles, and joined, with his
countrymen against the common foe. Some days were
spent in negotiating with the sachems before the articles
15. of agreement were concluded. These required 4-136 sur-
render of any of Philip's subjects who might come in theii
power, stipulated rewards for such surrender, declared wai
against him, agreed that stolen goods should be restored,
confirmed all former grants of land and agreements made
with the United Colonies, pledged perpetual peace, and
granted hostages for the full performance of all the arti-
cles. It was a forced affair throughout, calculated to irri-
tate rather than to appease the Narragansets, and justly
regarded by them as no longer binding when the restraint
that compelled it was removed.
Meanwhile the war raged with great fury. In all di-
rections the mangled corpses , and burning towns of the
English bespoke the relentless wrath and ceaseless ac-
commiss'ioned by Sir William Phipps ; next in 169(i, by Stauofhton, and final-
ly in the sixty-fifth year of his age he was urged by Gov, Dudley in 1704, to
command the I'orces for the fifth time sent out against the French, and ac-
cepted. That no brilliant acts were performed in these expeditions, either by
the English fleet or the New England forces is to be ascribed to the nature of
the country. Operations were mostly conducted on the coast of Maine and
Nova Scotia, a vast wilderness, where security to the enemy was certain and
pursuit was vain. Col. Church died January 17th, 1717-18, in his seventy-
eighth year. The history of his wars was written by his son Tliomas before
his father's death, and a Latin ode by his grandson, at the close of the me-
moir, attests the scholarship of his descendants. Some branches of the fam-
ily have settled in different parts of the State, or moved elsewhere, but many
of the direct descendants of the old hero still reside in Little Compton, where
they preserve the position and the patrimonial estates inherited from their il-
lustrious ancestor. Gov. Winslow in his letter to the King, June 2t)tli, 1G77,
accompanying presents of the spoils of Philip, "being his Crowne, his Gorge
and two Belts of thi-ir own making of their goulde and silver tiken from him
by Capt. Benjamin Ciiurch," speaks of Church as " a person of great loyalty,
and the most successful of our commanders." The original letter is in the
British State Paper Office. New England papers, vol. iii. p. 16,
REPULSE OF THE ENGLISH AT POCASSET. 399
tivity of the omnipresent foe. We cannot follow these chap,
bloody chronicles in all their details of destruction, but ^— ^-^^
must pass rapidly over the field, touching only upon the ^^ | ^•
prominent jjoints of the war, or on those which had a spe-
cial reference to this colony. Khode Island was not a
member of the New England confederacy, and therefore
not bound to take part in hostilities provoked by the other
colonies. She disapproved of the war, which, from her
exposed situation, threatened her very existence. The
government too was in the hands of the Quakers, yet she
did what she could, in an unofficial way, to aid the English
with provisions and volunteers, and to protect herself.
Her inaction was perhaps the reason why she suffered less
than her neighbors at the beginning, but the case was
changed when her own territory became the battle-ground.^
Upon the return of the troops to Taunton, they found 17
that Philip had fortified himself in a swamp at Pocasset.
Joining with the Plymouth forces, the army marched to
the attack, and were repulsed with some loss. It was an 18.
unfortunate affair, for it strengthened the firm and con-
firmed the wavering natives, and thus completed a gen-
eral rising in behalf of Philip. He withdrew from the
swamp, effected a skilful manoeuvre in the passage of
Taunton river, accompanied by Weetamo who was ever at
his side, and hastened to join the Nipmucks, who had al-
ready taken arms against the English. Plymouth was thus
for awhile relieved, and the burden of the war transferred
to Massachusetts. Brookfield was burnt, and Captain Au"-
Hutchinson with twenty mounted men was defeated with
the loss of half his troop, and himself mortally wounded.
The Connecticut river Indians were fully enlisted in the
' Hubbard, in the table of assaults at the end of his narrative, says that
eighteen houses were burnt at Providence, June 28th, 1675, and that on 29th
March following, fifty-four houses were there destroyed. The latter statement
is correct, but we can find no verification of the former, which is probably an
error.
9
400 iflSTORT OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, war, and committed fearful ravages upon the defenceless
^l^ towns. Hatfield, Hadley, Deerfield, and Northfield were
It) 7 5. successively attacked, many of the inhabitants shiin, and
^^ ' the houses destroyed. These devoted villages were des-
tined to feel still further the horrors of savage warfare.
The commissioners of the United Colonies, whose union,
at one time almost abandoned, had of late been revived,
9. reviewed the causes of the war, gave it their offi(.'ial ap-
proval, and adopted the expenses of conducting it as a
just charge to be paid proportionably by the confederates.
]2. The slaughter of Capt. Beers, with a troop of twenty
men near Northfield, was followed by the defeat of Capt.
Lathrop with a corps of young men, " the flower of the
county of Essex," who were attacked by a force of seven
or eight hundred Indians, near Hadley, and almost the
whole party, including their leader, were cut off. This
18. was the greatest loss the country had yet sustained.
Nearly one hundred of the best troops of Massachusetts
fell in this unequal fight. The English had not yet be-
come accustomed to the Indian mode of warfare. Their
small detachments could stand no chance against the
lurking savage, in the deep forests and dense swamps of
the country. The commissioners now ordered an army
of one thousand men to be raised, one-half to be heavy
dragoons. Springfield was the next object of attack.
p. Near this town the Indians had a fort, into which some
three hundred of Philip's warriors were received the night
before the assault was made. The town, was partly
5. burned, when the arrival of Major Treat with a body of
Connecticut troops saved the inhabitants from a general
massacre by dispersing the assailants. For his gallantry
on this and other occasions, Major Treat was offered the
14
command of all the Connecticut troops, by the Assembly
of that colony. A second attack was made upon Hat-
field, where there was now a garrison, by a body of eight
19. hundred Indians, who surrounded the town. It was a fu-
Fov.
THE NAERAGANSETS JOIN IN THE WAR. 401
rioiis but unsuccessful assault. Major Treat with his chap.
field force, and the neighboring garrisons, coming to the ^^J^
relief of the besieged, the Indians were repulsed with 16 75.
great loss, and became so discouraged that the greater
part retired to Narraganset, and Massachusetts, in her
turn, was for a time relieved from peril, except only from
the small marauding bands that lingered within her bor-
ders.
The General Assembly of Khode Island, acting upon 27.
the petition of Capt. Cranston, referred the defence of the
colony to the councils of war established in the several
towns, whose decisions were to be absolute. The Narra-
gansets gave a cordial reception to the hostile Indians,
in violation of the compulsory treaty of July, and were
more than suspected of having taken an active part in
the recent battles, for some of their young men had re-
turned home wounded. The United Colonies resolved to 12,
send an army of a thousand men to attack them in their
winter-quarters, and thus to prevent their openly joining
with Philip in the spring, an event that must have been
most disastrous to the English, The haughty reply of
Canonchet, son and successor of Miantinomi, and chief
sachem of the Narragansets, made to the English when
they sent to demand the surrender of Philip's Indians,
who had placed their women and children under his pro-
tection, displayed the spirit of the royal savage, and cut
off all hopes of peace, "Not a Wampanoag, nor the
paring of a Wampanoag's nail, shall be delivered up,'*
was the answer of the indignant sachem. All attempts
at reconciliation were henceforth abandoned, and the colo-
nies prepared for their last appeal to the stern arbitra-
ment of arms. Massachusetts was to raise five hundred
and twenty-seven men, Plymouth one hundred and fifty-
eight, and Connecticut three hundred and fifteen. The
latter colony exceeded her quota, and sent three hundred
English and one hundred and fifty friendly Indians, Mo-
VOL. I.— 26
402 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
hegans and Pequots, so that the whole force numbered
eleven hundred and thirty-five, besides volunteers from
Rhotle Island, many of whom joined the army as it marched
through Providence and Warwick to the scene of action.
When all Avas ready a solemn fast was held, before setting
out on the expedition.
Strange to say, this enterprise was undertaken by the
United Colonies without consulting the government of
Rhode Island, although the express command of the
King, embodied in the royal charter, was in these words :
" It shall not be lawful for the rest of the CoUonies to
invade or molest the native Indians, or any other inhab-
itants, inhabiting within the bounds and lymitts hereaf-
ter mentioned (they having subjected themselves unto us,
and being by us taken into our speciall protection), with-
out the knowledge and consent of the Governour and
Company of our Collony of Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations." The Narragansets had always been friendly
to Rhode Island, and although j^ortions of the tribe might
engage in the war, the greater part were still subject to
her restraint ; and whether they were so or not, the at-
tack now made upon them, contraiy to the advice and
without the consent of Rhode Island, was a direct viola-
tion of the royal order, an unscrupulous disregard of the
rights, and a wanton act of indifference to the welfare of
a sister colony, which no exigency of State could excuse,
since the remedy was easy, involving only a simjile act of
courtesy or friendship. But these feelings were strangers
to the confederated Puritans, by whom heathens and her-
etics were classed together as beneath the regard of Chris-
tian fellowship.' The invasion of the Narragansets was
kindred in spirit with the desertion of Rhode Island after
the battle, leaving Providence a prey to the fury of sav-
ages, without a garrison to j)rotect her from enemies whom
they had roused against her.
' Easton's Narrative, pp. 27-31. Albuny, 1868.
THE WAR EXTENDS TO RHODE ISLAND. 403
The Massachusetts troops left Boston under command chap.
of Major Appleton ; those of Plymouth were led by Ma- ^^^
jor Bradford, and the Connecticut troops by Major Treat. 16 7 5.
The whole army was divided into thirteen companies of g_ *
infantry and one of cavalry, and placed under the com-
mand of Gov. Winslow of Plymouth. Captain Church
rode in the General's guard as a volunteer. We have no
means of ascertaining the number of recruits that joined
the expedition from this colony. It must have been con-
siderable, for the people were roused to a full sense of the
mortal struggle at hand by the massacres which had al-
ready commenced, and although the government took no
direct part, yet they had placed the full power in the
hands of the councils of war. Bull's garrison house in
South Kingston was attacked, fifteen persons were slain
and but two escaped. This was the first overt act of war
within the limits of Rhode Island. The precise day is 15
not stated in the chronicles of the time, but is j^robably
that which we affix. The Connecticut troops expected
to find shelter at Pettaquamscot, but on their arrival
found the buildings destroyed and the inhabitants butch-
ered. The next day they joined the other forces, and the jg
whole army encamped that night in the open air. The
weather was cold and stormy. At the dawn of the Sab- ig
bath morning they took up their line of march towards
the strong fort of the Narragansets, fifteen miles distant.
This fort occupied a rising ground, some three or four
acres in extent, in the centre of a dense swamp, about
seven miles west from Narraganset south ferry. It was
just one o'clock when they reached the scene of action,
wearied by a long march through the snow. A renegade
Indian whom they found at the edge of the swamp served
as a guide to the fort. The position was a very strong
one, well fortified with palisades and breastworks, and en-
closed by an impenetrable hedge. The single narrow en-
trance was flanked by a block house, whence a murderous
17.
404 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, fire was poured upon the advancing English. No lesa
^' than six of the captains, with a large number of men, fell
in the first assault. The entrance was choked with the
bodies of the slain. Over the mangled corpses of their
comrades the desperate assailants climbed the logs and
breastwork to effect an entrance. The struggle on either
side was one for life. Whichever party triumphed there
was no hope of quarter to the vanquished. Christian and
savage fought alike with the fur}' of fiends, and the sanc-
tity of a New England Sabbath was broken by the yells
of conflict, the roar of musketry, the clash of steel, and
all the demoniac passions which make a battle-ground an
earthly hell. It was the great conflict of New England.
A century was to roll by before the sons of the Puritans
were again to witness upon their own soil so fierce a strug-
gle. The carnage was immense. The acts of personal
daring performed upon both sides were worthy of a wider
field of fame. The English were at one time repulsed.
For three hours the battle raged and the result was yet
doubtful, until an entrance was in some way effected in
the rear of the fort by a reserve guard of the Connecticut
troops. The Indians, who were all engaged at the first
point of attack, were surprised and confused by a heavy
fire in their rear. Their powder was nearly consumed,
still their arrows rained a deadly shower upon the charging
foe. The wigwams within the fort were set on fire, con-
trary to the earnest entreaty of Church, whose military
forecast discerned the importance of shelter to the ex-
hausted conquerors. The tragedy of the Pequots was
thus re-enacted upon their ancient enemies. Humanity
and pohcy alike sustained the advice of the gallant Church,
but it was too late. The infuriated troops had already
commenced the work of destruction. In a few minutes
the frail material of five hundred Indian dwellings fur-
nished the funeral pyre of sick and wounded, infant and
THE GREAT SWAMP FIGHT. 405
aged. The blazing homes of the Narragansets lighted chap.
their path to death. v.— v-!.—
The victory was dearly bought. Accounts of the 1675.
losses on both sides differ widely. The entire loss of the ;^9 '
Indians, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, was not less than
one thousand, of whom at least three hundred perished
in the flames and as many more in the fight. The Eng-
lish loss is variously estimated from two to four hundred,
including a majority of the superior officers who fell lead-
ing the assault. More than one-half of this number
Height have been saved had the advice of Church been
adopted. He was himself severely wounded, and with his
suffering comrades was the next day carried over to Rhode
Island, and there carefully attended until recovery. But
the period of most intense suffering to the combatants
was yet to come. When the night closed over the field
of blood there was no shelter for victors or vanquished.
The fort was a smouldering ruin. The Indians escaped
to an open cedar swamp near by, where many perished
without food or covering on that fearful night. Still
worse was the fate of the English. They had taken a
weary march of some fifteen miles, through deep snow,
since daybreak, without halting for food, and had
spent the remainder of the day in desperate conflict.
They had noV to retrace their steps in the dark, through
a dense forest, with a deep snow beneath their feet and a
December storm howling around them. By the glare of
burning wigwams they formed their line of marcli, and
bearing away their dead and wounded, their retreat was
soon covered by the darkness of the forest. It w^as two
o'clock at night before they reached their camping ground.
The cold was severe. Many died on the march. The
limbs of the wounded were stiffened, fatigue had disabled
the rest, there was no shelter or provisions of any sort,
and when tL.) morning dawned death had done a melan- 20.
choly work. A heavy snow storm during the night had
20.
406 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, wrapped many a brave soldier in his winding-sheet. The
]^ survivors could hardly move from the depth of the new
fallen snow. The providential arrival of a vessel with
provisions, in the course of the night, at Smith's landing,
alone saved the remnant of that gallant army from de-
struction. The Connecticut troops were so disabled that
Major Treat led. them home to recruit. The other forces
scoured the country during the winter, cutting off the
Indian supplies or straggling parties, and burning their
wigwams, but did nothing decisive. The Narragansets
returned to their ruined fort but no attempt was made to
dislodge them.
By some it is supposed that Philip was himself in the
fort during the battle, while others state tliat hv was not.
It is, however, certain that his winter-quarters were with
the Narragansets, and that soon after the fight the In-
i67r).G. dians sued for peace, but their overtures were rejected
through distrust. The remnant of the English army gar-
risoned at Wickford. A reinforcement of one thousand
men was soon sent from Boston. So intense was the cold
at this time that eleven of their number were frozen to
death on the march, and many others were disabled by
sickness.
Philip removed his camp some twenty miles north to
a rocky swamp in the Nipmuck country. The distress of
the Narragansets for the want of provisions, all their win-
ter stores having been destroyed in the battle, was ex-
treme. A protracted and unusual thaw at midwinter, by
enabling them to obtain roots,' relieved their wants. The
army, now sixteen hundred strong, the Connecticut troops
having returned, proceeded to dislodge IMiilip from his
new position. The j»eo})le of Warwick made arrange-
2c, ments to entertain the army as they should march through
tiiat place. It was the last town meeting held there for
' " Ground nuts," as tlicy are called by tlio old writers, meaning the wild
artichoke, a staple article of food with the Indians.
THE WAR BECOMES GENERAL. 407
fifteen months. The place, left defenceless by the retiring chap.
army, was abandoned, and the inhabitants took refuge on ^;
the island, where their town meetino-s were reo;ularly held, 1075-6.
Jan.
as if at home, for the choice of deputies and jurors. The
town was annihilated for the time, but the cor[)oration
8urvi\'ed, and continued to discharge its legitimate func-
tions. The Indians fled at the apj)roach of the English, 27.
and retreated northward, driving off the live stock from
Warwick. The army pursued them but a few miles, and Feb.
soon after returned home and was disbanded. By this
memorable campaign the power of the Narragansets was
broken for ever. But the war was not ended, nor scarcely
checked. It could not be, so long as the master-spirit of
Philip survived. He went on an expedition to the Mo-
hawks to obtain ammunition, and to secure if jDossible
their alli?tnce against the common enemy. The war was
again transferred mainly to Massachusetts, but became
move general than before. Everywhere the burning
towns and mangled bodies of the English gave token of
the relentless foe. Lancaster was burnt, and about forty 10.
persons killed and captured. Medfield next suffered to
nearly the same extent. The boldness of the savages led
them within about fifteen miles of Boston, where, at
Weymouth, they burned several bouses. The exposed -^•
condition of Providence led to an urgent call upon the
governor for help. The reply of the deputy governor ok
shows the exhausted condition of the colony, and their ut-
ter inability to support the force asked for, while at the
same time it tenders to the distressed inhabitants the
hospitalities of the island as a refuge — an offer of which
they had speedy occasion to avail themselves. The let-
ters addressed to Providence and Warwick by the Gen-
eral Assembly, especially convened on account of the war, m. r h
were to the same effect. 13.
Tlie Indians on the island, above twelve years of age,
were placed in custody of the whites, and were required
408 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
to be guarded by day, and to be securely locked up al
night. A further order was passed, " that no Indian in
this colony be a slave " — a statute to which we shall again
refer at the close of the war. An attack was now made
upon Warwick. The town was entirely destroyed exce})t
one house, built of stone that could not be burnt. Only
one of the inhabitants was slain. At the north and east
the Indian ravages were still greater. Six towns in Mas-
sachusetts ' were sacked, and more or less wasted by fire,
and many persons slaughtered during this month. Dis-
asters in the field were fearful and frequent. Captain
Wadsworth, with fifty men, marching to the relief of
1C7 6. Sudbury, was overwhelmed by a large body of Indians,
26. and every man slain. The like fate attended Captain
Peirse with the same number of English and some friendly
Indians, a few days afterward, near Pawtucket Falls, and
2s. two days later Rehoboth, near which hostilities first be-
gan, was assaulted, and forty dwellings were burned
This was the darkest period of the war. Success attended
the savages on every side. The army had been too soon
disbanded. The Narragansets, although broken, were not
beaten in the great swamp fight, and terrible was the
vengeance they executed far and wide over the land.
Providence was nearly deserted, leaving it an easy prey
to the enemy. Less than thirty men remained, as aj)-
pears by a list, preserved on the records, of those " that
stayed and went not away." Two places in the town
had been fortified mainly through the efforts of Roger
Williams, who, although seventy-seven years of age, ac-
cepted the commission of captain. A tradition is pre-
served, that when the enemy approached the town the
venerable captain went out alone to meet and remonstrate
with them. '' Massachusetts," said he, " can raise thou-
sands (if men at this moment, and if you kill them, the
' Xorthuinpton, Springfield, Chelmsford, Groton, Sudbury, and Marlbo-
rough.
BURNING OF PROVIDENCE, NAVAL DEFENCE. 409
King of England will supply their place as fast as they chap.
fall." " Well, let them come," was the reply, " we are x^'^
ready for them. But as for you, brother Williams, you ^^"f-
are a good man ; you have been kind to us many years ; ^ '
not a hair of your head shall be touched."' The savages
were true to their ancient friend. He was not harmed,
but the town was nearly destroyed. Fifty-four houses
were burned.'-^ The records were saved by throwing them 29.
from the burning house of John Smith, the miller, then
town clerk, into his mill-pond. It was the north part of
the town that was consumed. Within the memory of
aged persons but recently deceased, the cellar walls of
some of these houses were still standing, on the east side
of the road just south of Harrington's lane, or North
street, the northern limit of the city.^
At an adjourned meeting of the Assembly, a flotilla of April
gun-boats was ordered for the defence of the island. There '^'
were to be four boats manned by five or six men each, the
force to be increased if necessary. These were employed
in constantly sailing round the island to prevent invasion
from the mainland. Of the size of these boats we have
no certain knowledge, except that some of them were
sloops.^ This is the first instance, in the history of the
^ Knowles, 346, and references in the note.
- Accounts vary as to the number. Some say twenty-nine, others thirty,
and fifty-four. The largest number is probably nearest the fact. The dis-
crepancy may arise from a distinction made but not stated, between dwellings
and buildings. There is a difference of one day also in the date of this as-
sault. The 29th and 30th of March are both assigned by different writers.
^ The venerable John Howland, late President of the Rhode Island His-
torical Society, who died Nov. 5th, 1854, aged ninety-seven years, has often
pointed cut this spot to the writer, and told him that when he was a boy the
foundation walls of several of these buildings were visible.
■* A petition from Wm. Clarke in 1679, recites that he was " commander
ol" '>»<■ of the sloops in 1676," which was taken from him by the^ government,
and for which he now asks indemnity. By a letter of Roger Williams in the
archives of Connecticut, dated 27th June, 1675, it would appear that this
aaval force was composed of sloops, and that it was sent out nearly a year
before it appears upon our records. Conn. MSS. voL i. p. 200, in R I. Hist,
410 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, colonies, where a naval armament was relied upon for de-
y^^ fence. It was the germ of a future Rhode Island squad-
1 6 7G. ron, one century later, and of an ultimate American navy.
4^^' A classified census of all the people on the island was
ordered, English, negroes, and Indians, with those also who
had taken refuge there, and the amount of corn and arms
possessed hy each, to be reported in detail to the Assem-
bly. The record of these interesting statistics cannot be
found. Two heavy cannon were mounted at Portsmouth.
Sixteen " of the most juditious inhabitants " of the colony
were desired to attend the sittings of the Assembly, to ad-
vise with that body " in these troublesome times."
On the very day these proceedings were had, an event
took place that contributed more than anything which had
yet occurred to put an end to the war. The capture of
Canonchet, the leader of the Narragansets, next to that of
Philip himself, was the most decisive blow. It was he
who had defeated Capt. Peirse, nine days before, and had
cut off his entire command. This terrible defeat roused
the United Colonies to more vigorous action. Four com-
panies of Connecticut volunteers, with three of friendly
Indians, immediately marched to attack Canonchet. Capt.
George Denison of Stonington, who led one of the compa-
nies, was conspicuous for his zeal and bravery. This force
suri)rised Canonchet near the scene of Peirse's massacre at
Pawtucket, and a rout ensued. The Sach-e.n fled, but
having slipped in wading the river, was overtaken on tlie
opposite bank by a Pequot and surrendered without re-
sistance. The first Englishman who came up to him was
a young man named Robert Stanton, who put some ques-
tions to the royal captive. " You much child ! No under-
stand matters of war ! Let your brother or chief come.
•Soc. The same appears from Holdeii and Greene's petition in reply to the
Massachusetts agents. ''The colony of Rhode Island and Providence, did, a
the request of the other colonies, assist them with several sloops well rcanned,
when the war was begun in Plymouth colony, to the utmost they could do,,
and to the great damage of the enemy." Br. S. P. O. N. Eng., vol. iii. p. 2b.
DEATH OF CANONCHET. 411
nim Twill answer ! " was the contemptuous reply after re- chap.
garding the youtli for a moment in silence. His life was ^,L^
offered him on condition of the submission of his tribe. 1676.
He treated the offer with calm disdain, and when it was
urged upon him, desired " to hear no more about it." He
was sent in charge of Capt. Denison to Stonington, where a
council of war condemned him to be shot. When inform-
ed that he must die, he made this memorable answer,
which may challenge the loftiest sentiment recorded in
classic or modern history. "/ like it icell ; I shall die
before myluMrt is sift, or I have said any thing unworthy
of myself ." His conduct on this occasion has been justly
compared with that of Kegulus before the Eoman Senate,
than which the chronicles of time present but one sublimer
scene. A higher type of manly character, more loftiness of
spirit, or dignity of action, the qualities that make heroes
of men, and once made demigods of heroes, than are found
in this western savage, may be sought in vain among the
records of pagan heroism or of Christian fortitude. To
ensure the fidelity of the friendly tribes, by committing
them to a deed that would for ever deter the Narragansets
from seeking their alliance, it was arranged that each of
them should take a part in the execution. Accordingly
the Pequots shot him, the Mohegans cut off his head and
quartered him, and the Niantics, who under Ninigret had
joined the English, burned his body, and sent his head as
" a token of love " and loyalty to the commissioners at
Hartford. Thus perished the foremost of Philip's cap-
tains, and the last great Sachem of the Narragansets !
The death of Grovernor Winthrop of Connecticut was a 5_
severe loss to New England. Ehode Island had good rea-
son to mourn his decease, for his inflexible justice would
nut assent to the spurious claims set up by his own colony
in the Narraganset country, even while he was their chief
magistrate. His personal qualities had endeared him in his
youth to the people of Rhode Island, so that he was urged
412 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, to mote hither and become the goveraor. The conduct ol
*^' his later years had served to confirm the esteem in wliich he
1 6 7 6. was held, and now his death left Rhode Island without an
^" ■ influential friend in the councils of her ambitious neighbor.
Within a few days a still heavier loss befell Rhode
Island. The two men who had been so long rivals in their
public life, as agents of their respective colonies, but who
had always maintained a mutual friendship, passed from
the world almost together. Dr, John Clarke expired two
weeks after Governor Winthrop, in the sixty-seventh year
of his age. To him Rhode Island was chiefly indebted for
the extension of her territory on each side of the bay, as
well as for the royal charter. He was a ripe scholar,
learned in the practice of two professions, besides having
had large experience in diplomatic and political life. He
was always in public life under the old patent, as commis-
sioner and as general treasurer, from the first election of
commissioners held under it, until sent to England, where
iie was employed as agent of the colony for twelve years.
On his return, he served as a deputy in the Assembly from
the first election under the charter till he was made
deputy governor, to which position he was three times
elected, and served twice, closing his public life with that
office, five years before his death. With all these public
pursuits, he continued the practice of his original profes-
sion as a physician, and also retained the pastoral charge
of his church, as its rect)rds show. His life was devoted to
the good of others. He was a patriot, a scholar, and a
Christian. The purity of his character is conspicuous in
many trying scenes, and his blameless, self-sacrificing life
disarmed detraction and left him without an enemy. He
was three times married but left no children. The colony
was largely indebted to him for advances made in securing
the charter, and this debt was not extinguished till many
years after his decease.'
' He had mortgaged his Newport estate in July, 1663, to Capt. Ri'^hard
OFFICE OF MAJOR-GENEKAL CREATED. 413
The Greneral Assembly having provided for the naval chap.
defence of the island, adjourned one week and then created _.,,1_
the office of Major-General. They elected Captain John 167 6.
Cranston, with the title of Major, to command all the n
militia of the colony. The commission is signed by Gov.
Coddington, whose religious tenets were compelled, in this
case, to succumb to the popular will under the stimulus
of pressing danger. Providence was in ruins ; but as the
time for planting was near, the handful of men who re-
mained there again applied to the governor for aid in
maintaining a garrison. Deputy governor Clarke replied,
agreeing to sustain ten men at the colony's expense, until 12.
the next session of Assembly, when a committee was sent
to Providence upon that business, and further action was ^^7
postponed for another month.
At the general election, deputy governor Walter Clarke
was chosen governor, and Major John Cranston deputy
governor. Ten barrels of powder and a ton of lead were
ordered to be bought.
For two months after the capture of Canonchet, there j^^^^^
were no events of importance in the war. The Indians had 5.
gone north, and thither the Connecticut troops under Ma-
jor Talcot pursued them. Their march to Brookfield and
Northampton was a long and weary one, known, to this
day, as " the hungry march," from the sufferings of the
soldiers for want of food. They came in good time, for
only four days after their arrival at the latter place, a force
of seven hundred Indians made a furious assault upon
Hadley, now for the third time attacked. It was then
that the sudden appearance of Goffe,^ the regicide, who
Dean, of London. The last payment was not made till Sept 5th, 1699, when
<£llo was paid to the heirs of Capt. Dean, and the mortgage was lifted.
Backus's Hist, of the Baptists.
' The tradition that Goffe <ind Whaley were at one time concealed in Xar-
raganset, is strengthened by the suspicions of the royal Commissioners to that
effect. In a letter from Fort James, New York, 31st Oct., 1GG6, to Mr. Rich-
ards, a constable in Kings Province, they, at his request, authorize him to
12.
414 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
unknown to the people was concealed near the town, serv-
ed to rally the terrified inhabitants to battle until the troo])s
from Northampton came to the rescue. His venerable as-
pect, mysterious appearance, and as sudden departure, so
bewildered the population o{ Hadley, that they ascribed
their deliverance to the interposition of an angel, so super-
natural, in their minds, was the whole transaction. At
this time, Col. Church concluded a treaty with Awashonks,
queen of Seaconnet, by which her tribe was detached from
the cause of Philip, and soon after united in the expedition
under Church, that terminated the war. ■ The daring dis-
played by Church in this negotiation, was equal to his
skill in etfecting the result.* Awashonks sent a messenger
to Rhode Island, whose safe conduct was provided for by
14. the Assembly. The Providence petition was granted by
establishing a garrison of eight men, with two more, to be
found by the owner of the garrison house at his own cost.
Roger Williams, Arthur Fenner, William Harris, and
George Lawton were appointed to select, from the garri-
sons already existing in Providence, the one best suited
for the purpose, which was to be called the king's garrison.
Captain Arthur Fenner was placed in command and duly
commissioned. The Assembly had a series of adjourn-
ments all through this year, sitting every few weeks, as
the exigencies of the time required. The army in pass-
ing through Providence, after the great swamp fight, had
left there certain hostages or prisoners in charge of Roger
Williams, who sent them for safe keeping to Newport.
80. The Assembly ordered them to be returned to Providence,
"judging they properly belong to Plymouth colony." It
should be noted that the army left no garrison at Provi-
retain the cattle in liis custody, giving security in the sum of £100 to the
Governor of Khodc Island, for the surrender of said cattle when required, "as
it appears to us by several testimonies and circumstances that the cattle ara
truly bclonj^ing to them," GofiFe and Whaley. Br. S. P. 0., New Eng. vol.
i. p. S'tl.
' Church's History, 85-44.
19
DEFEAT OF THE INDIANS NEAR WARWICK. 415
dence, although, by the act of the confederates, the de- chap,
fenceless towns of Rhode Island were exposed to the mer- ^^^
ciless savages, who could not be expected, after the de- 167 6.
struction of their fort by the English, to distinguish friend
from foe among the whites. In fact every house between
Providence and Stonington, except the stone one at War-
wick, was burned, and every fertile field laid waste. The
Assembly repealed the law exempting Quakers from bear-
ing arms or paying military fines, and now required every
citizen to do his part in personally defending the State.
The exemption act was restored when the war was ended.
After the repulse at Hadley the Indians deserted that
part of the country, and resumed their ravages to some
extent in Plymouth. The Eno;lish army marched to the 3 ^
south, and surprised them in a cedar swamp near War-
wick. A great slaughter ensued. Magnus, the old queen
of Narraganset, a sister of Ninigret, was taken, and with
ninety other captives put to the sword. One hundred
and seventy-one Indians fell in this massacre without the
loss of a single man of the English. Thence they scoured
the country between Providence and Warwick, killing
many more. The effect of these repeated reverses was
soon visible. The Indians were divided in their councils,
and many sued for peace. Many came to Conanicut isl-
and, and submitted to the government of Rhode Island,
and large numbers surrendered at discretion to the Eng-
lish forces. Others fled westward, and were chased from
swamp to swamp. The main body of these were over-
taken near the Housatonic river, by Major Talcot, and
cut to pieces. Still Philip maintained his ground with a
band of trusty followers. He had said that he would not
live till he had no country, and the time was drawing
nierh when his word would be redeemed.
Capt. Church was commissioned by Grov. Winslow to 24^
proceed with a volunteer force of two hundred men, chiefly
Indians, to attack Philip in his retreats near Mount Hope.
416 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
For several days they pursued the Indians from place to
place, killing many and taking a large number prisoners,
among whom were Philip's wife and only son. The sa-
chem himself narrowly escaped being shot. Still his in-
domitable spirit sustained him. Two Rhode Island com-
panies under Lieut. Eichmond and Capt. Edmonds,
7^ brought in forty-two captives. These and all other pris-
oners were ordered to be sold into service in the colony
for the term of nine years, one-half the proceeds to go to
the captors and the rest to the treasury. No Indians
were permitted to be brought into the island, or to be
sent out of it without permission of the magistrates, un-
der a penalty of five pounds.
Church closely followed up his successes, and in three
days had captured over one hundred and seventy of Phil-
ip's followers. The sachem was driven to a swamp near
Mount Hope, where one of his followers, advising him to
sue for peace, was slain on the spot by the indignant
chief. This indiscreet act hastened his own death. Al-
derman, a brother of the murdered man, deserted to
Church, and guided the enemy to the place where Philip
12. was concealed. The thicket was surrounded. Capt.
Roger Goulding of Rhode Island went into the swamp to
drive out the Indians. Philip in attempting to escape
was shot through the heart by Alderman himself, thus
singularly fulfilling the prophecy of the powaws at the
beginning of the war, that Metacomet should never fall
by English hands. The body was dragged out of the
swamj), beheaded and quartered by an Indian. The head
was sent to Plymouth, where it was set up on a gibbet
for twenty years ; one hand was sent to Boston as a
trophy, and the other, which had a well-known scar, was
given to Alderman, who made money by exhibiting it.
The mangled body was hung upon four trees, a monument
of the barbarity of the age. The great chieftain of the
CLOSING INCIDENTS OF THE WAR. 41*7
aborigines fell by a traitor's arm, and was denied tbe rite chap,
of Christian burial by his vindictive foes ! ^-v—
Among those who fell in this attack was the Indian l f» '' 6.
who had fired the first gun in the war. An idea was cur- °"
rent in those days that whichever side began the war
would be defeated, which may account for the report that
Philip wept when he heard of the massacre at Swanzey.
When we consider these two events, the manner of Phil-
ip's death, and the fall, at the same moment, of the In-
dian who commenced the war, and recall the two prophe-
cies or traditions which contemporary w^riters record, the
whole tragedy of the war assumes the air of an acted
drama. The coincidences certainly could not be more re-
markable in a written tragedy.
Most of the Indians escaped from the swamp guided
by old Annawon, a noted warrior under Massasoit, and
the chief counsellor of Metacomet. He was a wary sav-
age, and none but a master of the art of Indian warfare,
like Church, could have taken him alive. This was ac-
complished by Church a few nights after the death of
Philip. Church wished to spare his life, but, in his ab-
sence, the Plymouth authorities ordered him to be shot.
The most renowned captives met a similar fate. Quina-
pin, a cousin of Canonchet, and next to him in command 24
at the great swamp fight, was sentenced to death by a
council of war at Newport, and he with his brother wee
shot the next day. Pumham had already efiaced tl.^; ,-^
stain of a servile life by a manly death.' The friends oi
Philip were all executed, or met a fate worse than death
in being sold away into perpetual slavery. Such was the
fate of the young Metacomet, the only son of Philip, and
hundreds of other captives were shipped to Spain and the
West Indies.
One thing should be said to the lasting honor of the red
' He fell on the 25th July at the head of his warriors, in a battle near
Dedham. Drake, Book iii. p. 75.
VOL. I. — 27
418 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
man. The treatment of their prisoners was generally hu-
mane, more so than was that of their Christian eonr{iierors.
Some of the soldiers, it is true, were tortured, but only a
few, while the captives taken by the English were mostly
butchered in cold blood, or sent into Sjianish slavery.
The English women were uniformly treated with respect.
In not a single instance was violence oflfered to.tlieir per-
sons during their captivity. The chivalric honor of the
savage was the inviolable jjrotection of his female captive.
This is the unvarying testimony of many women, of all
ages and conditions, who were carried awaiy in the sacking
of the towns.'
The war was ended. Desolation reigned over New
England, and destiny had placed the seal of annihilation
upon the Indian race. Victors and vanquished were alike
exhausted. Thirteen English towns were in utter ruin,
and except in Connecticut, which altogether escaped,
scarcely one remained unscathed. The rural districts
were everywhere laid waste. One-eleventh of the avail-
able militia of the country had fallen in battle, and a still
larger proportion of buildings were destroyed.^ A heavy
debt weighed upon the United Colonies,^ while Rhode
Island, excluded from the league and always opposed to
the war, had suffered most severely of all. Her mainland
had become a desert, her islands fortresses for defence and
cities of refuge. We have already adverted to the sad
late of the captive Indians. A few of the foremost in
the war were condemned to death, but the greater part,
' See Mrs. Rowlaudson's narrative of her captivity.
" Trumbull's Connecticut, .350, note.
' Edward Randolph in his report to the Board of Trade, Oct. 12th, 1676,
states the cost of the war at £1.')0,000, that about twelve hundred liouses
were burnt, over eight thousand head of cattle destroyed, besides thousands
of bushels of grain. The English loss he puts at six hundred, witli twelve
captains, and the Indians at more than tiiree thousand. The original report
is in the British S. P. 0. N. England papers, vol. ii. p. 93-100. See also
Davis'rt Morton's Memorial, p. 458, Appendix, and Thatcher's Indian Biogra-
phy, Vol. 1. p. 162.
DISPOSAL OF THE CAPTIVES. 419
in the otlier colonies, were sent abroad and sold into hope-
less slavery. The conduct of Khode Island was more hu-
mane, and her legislation on this subject, when we con- 16 7 6.
sider the spirit of the age and the example of her neigh- °'
bors, was more enlightened. The act of March, to which
we before referred, declared " that no Indian in this col-
ony be a slave, but only to pay their debts, or for their
bringing ujd, or custody they have received, or to perform
covenant as if they had been countrymen and not taken
in war." This was in fact a true apprenticeship system,
whose terms were strictly carried out, such as generally
existed until a recent day among the white population
everywhere, differing only in the fact that one was volun-
tary while the other was not. It was not slavery either
as it is recognized now or as it existed then ; and writers
who have wasted regrets over the part that Roger Wil-
liams had in the final disposition of the Rhode Island
captives, might have sj)ared their words had they more
carefully examined the nature of the transaction, or taken
into account the spirit of the age and the conduct of the
other colonies. At a town-meeting held in Providence
upon this subject, a committee of five, of whom Williams
was chairman, reported a scale by which the proceeds of
the sale of Indians was to be divided among the towns- 14.
men. The inhabitants were to be supj)lied at the rate
current on the island. All captives under five years of
age were " to serve till thirty ; above five and imder ten,
till twenty-eight ; above ten to fifteen, till twenty-seven ;
above fifteen to twenty, till twenty-six ; from twenty to
thirty shall serve eight years ; all above thirty, seven
years." ' An Indian named Chuff, who had been a ring-
leader in the assaults on Providence, was condemned by
the council of war and shot. Still it was necessary to 25.
preserve a strict watch over the natives. A warrant was
' An extract from an account of sales at this time, and showing the value
of Indian service, is given in Judge Staple's Annals, 171.
Aug.
29.
420 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, issued to stop all the canoes on Prudence Island, and
,_^:,^ not to j^ermit any Indian to leave the island till further
16 76. orders. Care was also taken to prevent their obtaining
any arms or ammunition.* The refugees began now to
return from Newport. Mrs. Williams was brought up in
a sloop belonging to her son Providence, who on the same
day carried away all the Indian prisoners to be sold at
Newport. The eastern Indians, instigated by the French,
continued for some years longer to harass the frontiers,
and Col. Church was repeatedly sent against them. But
the death of Metacomet closed the war in the settled por-
tions of New England.
This war was the last struggle of an expiring nation.
Before taking leave of the subject we may be allowed to
present a few reflections suggested hy the results. The
Wampanoags and the Narragansets suffered the faie of
the Pequots, and successive tribes, however powerful or
warlike, have in their turn followed the same path to
death. All history points to an inevitable law conti oiling
the occupancy of the earth. Three races, and probably
four, perhaps even more, have occupied this continent,
but two of wdiich remain, and one of these is fast retiring
before the onward progress of the other. A century hence
there will scarcely be a vestige of the Indian race upon
this continent. They will have utterly disappeared, and,
unlike their jiredecessors whose western tumuli and Aztec
monuments survive the knowledge of their builders, and
attest the existence of two successive races anterior to
the Indians, they will not leave a proof upon the earth
that they ever have existed. What is the law by which
race after race of humanity succeed each other, each one
continuing for untold ages, and then giving place to
another utterly dissimilar to its predecessor ? The ques-
tion involves the very mystery of creation, and can never
' A copy of this warrant is in "Letters and Papers, 1632-1678," No. iii.
p. 161, in the Mass. Hist. Soc.
LAW OF THE SUCCESSION OF RACES. 421
be determiDed by finite minds. What we see daily oc-
curring in our own and in other lands, where a higher
type of civilization is steadily and rapidly supplanting a 16 76.
grosser and weaker barbarism, may serve to show the op-
eration of a law that seems to have existed since the
formation of man. Wherever the arts, the customs, or
the religion of a superior race is brought in contact with
an inferior, the latter j^erishes. As geological science
teaches that successive eras in the material history of our
globe have produced steadily progressive forms of animal
life, adapted to each new change, so the law of progress
in the human family seems to be that a race which has
expanded to its utmost, filling the position that nature
assigned it, when brought in contact with a superior type
of humanity, must gradually but certainly disappear.
The Caucasian is the highest type of mankind, and
wherever it has appeared the inferior races have been
subdued or annihilated. The degree of resistance which
the inferior race opposes to this positive law is propor-
tioned to its approach to, or its remoteness from, the in-
tellectual scope of the Caucasian. The changes that his-
tory presents in the different nations of the white race,
by conquest or assimilation, prove nothing against the
general law. Like modifies but cannot destroy like. The
different nations of the same type are improved by the
mixture of their elements. The history of Europe estab-
lishes this fact. It matters not whether the Anglo-Nor-
man or Saxon race is superior to all others of the Cau-
casian tyi^e, as some have claimed, or not. The question
is higher and deeper than that ; it is one of races, not of
nations.
It is a singular fact that the Indians, who before the
coming of the English were very prolific, soon ceased to
be so. Sterility became the rule and not the exception.
As the natural proclivity of mankind is to evil rather
than to good, the inferior race rapidly adopted the vices.
422 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, while it rejected the religion, and but slowly apprehended
^^^.^^^ the arts and sciences of the white man. The Indians
167 6. had attained their culminating point in mental and phys-
ical progress. Their intellectual powers admitted of no
higher development, and hence they were doomed, by this
inevitable law of Nature, to annihilation. They had ful-
filled their destiny, and this continent was to be given up
to a higher type of humanity. Thus has it beeii^in every
portion of the world where the white race has" extended.
We do not present this as an excuse for the wrongs
inflicted upon the aborigines by our ancestors, and con-
tinued upon their feeble remnants at this day by our-
selves ; but we do say, that this extinction of races is
something in the Providence of God which we cannot
avert if we would, and that everywhere the introduction
of the arts, religion, and commerce of Caucasian civiliza-
tion has been attended with the same results. Centuries
may be required to accomplish the end, according as the
field of operation is extensive or limited, and as the influ-
ence exerted by the new race is concentrated or scattered ;
but the result is the same. From one cause and another,
some apparent and others not, the inferior race will grad-
ually die out. So has it been on the Atlantic coast, and
thus is it progressing to the Pacific. War does not do it ;
the prevalence of new vices cannot fulh^ account for it ;
famine and pestilence contribute but little, in the aggre-
gate towards it, for all of these evils exist as activelj'-, or
more so. among the dominant race. The law that gov-
erns it appears to be that which we have stated, and
which a recent writer thus announces, " that the organi-
zation God has created for one species of development is
radically unfitted to receive another." ' That " other "
^ Confessions of an Inquirer, by J. J. Jarves, Part I., p. 192. The writer
regrets that his limits do not permit him to expand this subject, but only to
throw out thus briefly a view which is the result of some reflection npon the
most interesting problem of human history. The curious reader will find a
CONNECTICUT RENEWS THE CLAIM TO KINGS PROVINCE. 423
has now been for two centuries at work npon tliis conti- chap,
nent, and before its resistless advance the Indian dis- ^^_
appears. It is the fiat of the Almighty. ^n"^
The General Assembly discharged Capt. Fenner and 26.
the Kins's garrison at Providence from further service.
They also provided that all Indians who should come 2/.
upon any islands in the bay, must have written authority
therefor from the committee appointed to dispose of In-
dians, without which they would be liable to be sold into
service as captives. The law of May, compelling every
man to bear arms, was repealed, and that of 1673, ex-
empting those who were conscientiously opposed to war
from so doing, was re-enacted. Scarcely had the Indian
war closed before the Connecticut colony renewed their
claims to the Narraganset country. The council at Hart- Aug.
ford, in addition to the words of their charter, now as-
sumed to hold the Kings Province by right of conquest.
The vigor with which they had prosecuted the war con-
trasted with the comparative inaction of Rhode Island,
and to those who overlook the difference in their respective
positions during this struggle, the claim appears reasona-
ble. Connecticut had suffered nothing upon her own
soil by hostile tribes. The Indians within her borders
were friendly to the English, as the Narragansets had al-
ways been to Rhode Island, until exasperated by the wan-
ton destruction of their stronghold by the United Colo-
nies. She was thus enabled to send her troops abroad,
and to render invaluable services to her more distressed
neighbors, while Rhode Island, the most exposed of the
similar train of thought elahorated in chapter xxi. of the work above cited,
•which will richly repay the perusal. The observations of what is termed the
American school of ethnologists, so far as they incidentally touch upon this
branch of the subject, go to confirm the view here laid down, and that, too,
altoo-ether independent of the question mainly involved in their works, whether
the Mosaic account of the creation is to be received in its literal signification.
See Types of Mankind, Philadelphia, 1854. Indigenous Races of the Earth,
Philadelphia, 1857.
i24 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, colonies, doing what she could to protect herself, and ren-
^,^.^^ dering efficient and acknowledged aid to the others, in
16 7 6. supplies and men, according to her means, was now re-
q^uired to pay the penalty of her weakness, by surrender-
ing the fairest portion of her domain. The council or-
dered that all persons, English or Indian, who had any
rights in Karraganset, should apply to them for Igave to
occupy the same, and whoever should do otherwise would
be dealt with severely. The Assembly took this mat-
ter in hand as the first business of the session, and
sent a letter to Connecticut remonstrating in strong terms
Oct. against the act of her council, and protesting also against
25- the policy and conduct of the late war, as well as the in-
justice of depri^dng her citizens of their property because
they had been comijelled to abandon it temporarily.
27 They also set up a prohibition in Narraganset, forbidding
any one to exercise jurisdiction there, or to dispose of
lands except by authority of Ehode Island.
A fatal epidemic prevailed on the island at this time,
so sudden in its effect, that two or three days sufficed to
destroy the victim, and so general, that but few families
escaped without the loss of some of their number,'
Among the deaths that occasioned business for the As-
sembly was that of James Eogers, who had been longer
and more steadily in public office than any other man in
the colony, having been elected for twenty successive
years, the first three as general solicitor, and the last eigh-
teen as general sergeant — for one year he filled both offi-
ces. Thomas Fry was chosen as his successor.
■ See A Journal of the Life, &c., of -William Edmundson. London, 1713.
After his first visit to Rhode Island, before referred to, in 1672, he returned
to Ireland. In 1675 he made another missionary tour to the West Indies,
and thence came to Rhode Island, made a journey to the eastward, and re-
turned to Rhode Island at tl^e close of the war, where he remained some
time. He describes this pestilence, and was himself taken sick with it at
Walter Newberry's house in Newport, but does not give the nami of the dia»
<iase.
SALE OF INDIANS. 425
A curious original document exists, showing the results chap
of the sale of the first company of Indians on account of ..^1,^^
the townsmen of Providence. It is a receipt to the com- i6'6-7.
mittee of sale, appointed by the August town-meeting, i.
signed by those who were entitled to the proceeds, and
showing the share of each man, thus far received, to be
sixteen shillings and four pence half penny. ^ The In-
dians caused trouble by erecting their wigwams and mat
sheds on the commons of the island and on private lands,
where they became disorderly and drunken. Armed In-
dians also passed on and off the island without the re-
quired certificate. The governor and council ordered
these wigwams to be removed, all liquors found therein 22.
to be seized and the bottles broken, and any armed In-
dian found without a proper passport to be brought before
the magistrates. That the natives were not yet entirely
peaceable, appears from the proceedings of a town-meet-
ing at Providence, where a constant watch and ward March
was maintained, and armed bands or scouting parties,
were ordered to scour the woods, and provision was made
in favor of those who might be wounded on these expedi-
tions. This precaution was often taken in later times
whenever any alarm existed, and was required by the ex-
posed situation of the town.
Peace being restored and planting time at hand, the
people of Warwick and Narraganset returned to their
now desolate plantations. But the latter were not per-
mitted to rest in quietness. Three of their number were April
seized by Capt. Denison and carried prisoners to Hart- 16 7 7
ford.*^ They immediately informed Gov. Clarke of the
4.
' The committee of sale were Arthur Fenner, William Hopkins, and John
AMiippla. jr. Foster Papers, vol. i. MSS.
- Thomas Gould, James Reynolds, and Henry Tibbitts. Gould afterwards
compounded with Connecticut, and on 14:th ilay petitioned for himself and
others for leave to replant in Narraganset, acknowledging the authority ot
Tonnecticut. Conn. Col. Rec, ii. 540, note.
426 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, outrage, soliciting protection. The council promised re«
lief, and also wrote to Connecticut, the same day, de-
manding their release, and threatening to make reprisals
in case it was refused. This was the first business that
occupied the new General Assembly.
At the election Benedict Arnold was chosen governor,
in place of Walter Clarke, and Major John Cranston was
continued as deputy governor. The Assembly confirmed
the positions taken by the council in their letters to the
Narraganset men and to Connecticut, and took measures
for the re-settlement of Kings Province, A court of Jus-
tices was appointed to be held in Narraganset, with full
powers to pi'otect the settlers from the acts of the Con-
necticut officers. Ten thousand acres of land, to be
equally divided among one hundred men, were appropri-
ated for new settlers who should be ajDproved by the As-
sembly, and all persons were forbidden to enter within the
province except by authority of the Court. They also
addressed another letter to Connecticut, reiterating their
right to Narraganset, and declaring their intention to ap-
peal to the King if these molestations were continued.
The election of Gov. Arnold was a triumph of the
war party in Rhode Island. The militia law was now
thoroughly revised ; but lest it should be considered as
intrenching upon the rights of the Quakers, the preamble
and the concluding proAdso recited the necessity of mili-
tary defence, and carefully proclaimed, in the words of
the charter, the freedom of conscience. It was ordered
to be published by beat of drum in all the towns of the
colony. The King's garrison, as it was called, in Provi-
dence, which had been discharged in October, was re-es-
tablished in the veiy words of the act by which it was
first organized. The forms of engagement of officers, and
of reciprocal engagement of the colony were redrafted, to
be employed the next year, and an engagement to be at
once administered to constables, who heretofore had never
A COMPROMISE PROPOSED. 427
been formally qualified, was adopted. That Sabbatarian chap
views were already maintained in the colony is shown by .^^^__
a petition presented at this time to change the market 16 7 7
day, which heretofore had been Saturday only. The As- 2
sembly saw no sufficient reason to alter the day, but or-
dered that a market should likewise be kept in Newport
on Thursday of each week. This and all other acts of
the Assembly were " published in the town of Newport
by beat of drum, under the seal of the colony, by the
clerk of the Assembly." An adjournment was taken to
allow time for a reply to be received from Connecticut,
upon the most important business of the session.
The Assembly at Hartford, acting upon a petition of
John Saffin in liehalf of the Atherton claimants, ap-
pointed a committee to meet at Narraganset in June to 10.
lay out lands, and also encouraged the Wickford planters
to return under their auspices. They replied to the two
letters from Rhode Island, asserting their claims to juris-
diction, and acquiescing in th^ appeal to the King, but
proposing, in a postscript, by way of compromise, that
Cowesett, now East Greenwich, should be the boundary
between the two colonies. This reply not being satisfac-
tory, the General Assembly appointed Peleg Sandford and 24
Richard Baily as agents of the colony, to proceed to Eng-
land, and voted the sum of two hundred and fifty pounds
for their outfit. A letter was sent, notifying Connecticut
that Rhode Island would proceed at once to settle and
govern Narraganset, and also offering to that colony one-
half of all the unpurchased lands in the disputed territo-
ry, to be at their disposal, provided the settlers thereupon
should submit to the government of Rhode Island. This
was a futile attempt at compromise, suggested no doubt
by the proposal made " for peace sake " by Connecticut.
The Assembly then adjourned to the time appointed by
Connecticut for the meeting of her committee in Narra- June
ganset. Upon reassembling, steps were taken to raise
15.
428 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
money in Newport and Portsmouth for the expenses of
the agents to be sent to England. The sums raised were
to be credited to account of the appropriation of ten
thousand acres in Narraganset, at the rate of one shilHng
an acre. The Connecticut committee met on the same
day in Narraganset, examined the coimtiy, and reported
to their government concerning the quality and ojynership
of the lands. The proceedings of the Court. of Justices
held by Rhode Island are not preserved,, although, upon
its rising, the Assembly was again convened by warrant
of the Governor, and ordered that the transactions of that
20. Court should be a part of the public records. The coun-
cil of Connecticut replied, rejecting the offer of land, and
renewing their proposal to make Cowesett the boundary
between the two charters.
Oct. At the fall session of the Assembly the law requiring
^1- deputies to take an engagement on entering upon the du-
ties of their office, was repealed. It had been just five
years in operation, was stoutly opposed, especially by the
mainland towns, at the time of its passage, and had
caused much hard feeling ever since. There seems to us
no valid reason for all this, but the cause assigned for the
repeal was that, as every freeman had already engaged
true allegiance to the King and colony upon his admission,
it was unnecessary to repeat the ceremony upon his tak-
ing office. This shows a degree of respect for the nature
of an oath or engagement, more creditable to the morals
of our ancestors, than is the constant and frivolous admin-
istration of oaths, in judicial and commercial affairs at
this day, to ourselves. A tract of five thousand acres of
land in Narraganset was laid out in two parts, one of five
hundred acres on the bay, for house lots, and the remain-
der in farms of ninety acres each, and distributed among
fifty men, who were now incorporated as the town of East
Greenwich. The parties were to build upon their lots
within one year or lose the land, and no one was to sell
DEATH OF GORTON. 429
his land (vithin twenty-one years, unless by consent of tlie chap.
Assembly, on pain of forfeiture. They were also to lay .^J.^!^
out convenient roads from the bay up into the country. 16 7 7.
The death of Samuel Gorton, the founder of War-
wick, which occurred at this time, should not be passed
over in silence. He was one of the most remarkable men
that ever lived. His career furnishes an apt illustration
of the radicalism in action, which may spring from ultra
conservatism in theory. The turbulence of his earlier
history was the result of a disregard for existing law, be-
cause it was not based upon what he held to be the only
legitimate source of power — the assent of the supreme
authority in England. He denied the right of a people
to self-government, and contended for his views with the
vigor of an unrivalled intellect, and the strength of an
ungoverned passion. But when this point was conceded,
by the securing of a patent, no man was more submissive
to delegated law. His astuteness of mind and his Bibli-
cal learning made him a formidable opponent of the Pu-
ritan hierarchy, while his ardent love of liberty, when it
was once guaranteed, caused him to embrace with fervor
the principles that gave origin to Rhode Island. He lived
to '' a great age." The time of his birth is not certainly
known, and the precise day of his death is equally ob-
scure. " The exact spot," says his biographer, " where
his ashes repose, is marked by no pious stone or monu-
mental marble. Yet, if without other honors, may it at
least ever be their privilege to sleep beneath the green
sward of a free State ! "'
A combination of local disputes, relating in the first
instance to proprietary rights, then involving questions
of boundary between Providence and Pawtuxet, and
finally extending beyond the present county of Provi-
dence, had commenced almost with the first settlement of
* He died between 27th Nov. and 10th Dec, 1677. Mackie's Life of Gor-
ton, chap. viii. in Spariis' Am. Biog., vol. xv. pp. 378, 380.
430 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND.
the town, and now assumed a magnitude and importance
that bring them within the legitimate province of State
history. The details of these disputes are prolix and un-
interesting. A survey of their chief points is all that
we propose in this place.' They originated in a differ-
ence of construction put upon the deeds of Canonicus and
Miantinomi to Roger Williams, and which was further
complicated by a memorandum, added the following year,
confirming the same. The last clause in the deed con-
tained the words of disputed interpretation, " we do freely
give unto him all that land from those rivers,^ reaching
to Pawtuxet river, as also the grass and meadows upon
the said Pawtuxet river," which the confirmation made
still more inexact by the words, " up the streams of Paw-
tucket and Pawtuxet without limits, we might have for
our use of cattle." Hence arose a question, in after years,
whether the tract whose limits, in the confirmation clause,
were thus general and undefined, formed a part of the
purchase, or whether it was merely a grant of the right
of pasturage to the head waters of the two last-named
rivers, with the fee still reserved in the grantors. It was
a question of no importance at first, but when the town
increased it gave rise to bitter dissensions, one party main-
taining the former view, at the head of whom was Wil-
liam Harris, while the other, with Roger Williams as its
leader, sustained the rights of the Indians. Williams
had made the original purchase for himself, before the
settlement of the town, and two years later drew this
deed or memorandum, which does no credit to his legal
acquirements. He however must have known better than
any one else what it did mean ; but a party already ex-
isted against him who pressed their views with unneces-
sary asperity. When the Legislature, or " Court of Com-
' The reader will find a more full account of these divisions and dispute*
than is here given, in Judge Staples' Annals of Providence, chap. x.
' Mooshausick and Wanasquatucket.
PROVIDEXCE AND PAWTUXET BOUNDAIiY DISPUTE. 431
missioners," as it was styled under tlie old patent, author- chap,
ized the town to buy otf the Indians, and to add three .^,,.1^
thousand acres to their territory by purchase from the sa- 167 7.
chems,' the town negotiated with the natives to obtain
their removal, and in that year took three deeds, from the
successors of Canonicus and Miantinomi, more clearly de-
fining the disputed western boundary of the colony.'- The
two parties viewed these conveyances in different lights ;
one considered them as simple confirmations of the origi-
nal grant, the other as a new purchase. If they were
only confirmations the whole tract belonged to the origi-
nal proprietors of Providence, who were the owners of
what was called, in the division of lands into two parts, ^
" the Pawtuxet purchase." But if these were in fact
new purchases, the fee vested equally in those members
of the corporation who had been admitted since the first
grand division of lands. It is readily seen how important
it was to each party that the settlement of this question
should be in its favor. Again, whichever way this dispute
of title might be settled, the deeds were so vague, and
the rights exercised under them were so varied and un-
limited, that nothing definite coitld be agreed upon as to
the limits of the first grand di\dsion — where " the grand
purchase of Providence " ended and " the Pawtuxet pur-
chase " began. An attempt had been early made to de-
termine this boundary,^ but the line had never been run
out, nor could it be, owing to the vagueness of the deed,
' May, 1659, ante, chap. viii.
- Tlie first of these was given by Cawjaniquante, brother of Miantinomi,
May 29th. 1659. It confirmed the old grant and defined it as extending from
Fox's hill, twenty miles in a straight line up between Pawtucket and Paw-
tuxet rivers. His son acknowledged the deed 28th April following. The
other two deeds, from resident sachems of the same family, were given 13th
Aumist and 1st December, confirming the first one, and granting the lands in
fee simple but with less exactness of boundary. All three deeds are printed
La Staples' Annals, p. 567-70.
5 Made Oct. 8tb, 1638, ante ch. iv.
* July 27th, 16i0, ante ch. iv.
432 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, both as to the nature and the limits of the rio-hts coO'
^^^J.,^ veyed m the conchiding clause. To restore peace among
1 6 7 7. the distracted townsmen Roger Williams made a proposi-
tion ' for a new purchase from the Indians, and a separate
settlement in the disputed territory. This was rejected
by Thomas Olney, William Harris, and Arthur Fenner,
in behalf of the town.'^ A majority of the town having
decided ^ that the later deeds were simply confirmatory,
the Pawtuxet purchasers paid one-quarter of the cost,^
'' and the town limits were agreed to be at a point twenty
miles west of Fox hill. A committee of' three from each
place was named to run the line ^ between Providence and
Pawtuxet, and seven years afterward they made a partial
report covering less ground than was claimed by the Paw-
tuxet men, having ceased their surveys westward at a
point afterwards known as " the seven mile line." Mean-
while William Harris made a voyage to England, to ob-
tain justice from the King, but with no definite results.*
. The disputes between Providence and Pawtuxet re-
lated solely to title, the whole tract being within the
township of Providence ; but soon after the purchase of
Warwick questions involving both title and jurisdiction
arose, the former between the purchasers of Warwick and
of Pawtuxet, the latter between the towns of Providence
and Warwick. The Pawtuxet men were thus placed, as
it were, between two fires. Legal measures were early
resorted to by the conflicting claimants for title. Nu-
' 27th Oct., 1660. 2 29th Oct., 1660. ^ March, 1660.
■* The one-quarter paid to the Indians by the Pa^vtuxet purchasers for
these confirmation deeds amounted to twelve pounds one shilling and eight
pence, as appears by an agreement of a joint committee of the two parties,
composed of Roger Williams, Richard Waterman, Z. Rhodes, John Brown,
James Allen, and William Harris, in August, 1663. Se3 MSS. papers ot
Willinin Harris, in possession of W. J. Harris, Esq.
» April, 1661.
' In 1663, the evidence of which is in a bill of costs presented by him
against the town of W^arwick to the Court of Commissioners, 17th Nov., 1677,
preserA-ed in the Harris MSS.
FUETHER DISPUTES AND LITIGATION. 433
merous suits for trespass were brought in various Courts, chap.
without regard to jurisdiction.^ Cross suits were msti- .^^^^^^
tuted and counter writs of ejectment were issued, with no 167 7.
possibility of an unbiassed decision, owing to the mode in
which the tribunals were constituted, the whole commu-
nity br^ing jjarties in interest, either directly or contin-
gently, in every case, nor with any power to enforce a
judgment, for the same reason. The progress of these
various suits may be traced with great minuteness in the
voluminous files of the Harris manuscripts. William
Harris was generally successful in obtaining verdicts, but
could rarely obtain execution, or have process served, un-
der them. The officers were sometimes resisted by the
contesting claimants, at others the awards of arbitrators
or the decrees of Court failed to be carried out. He
spent half his life in this fruitless litigation, the details
of which, covering more than thirty years, would be te-
dious to the reader, and unimportant to the purpose of
this work. So inextricable was the confusion, and so
pressing the difficulties arising from these complicated
sources, that William Harris, as agent for the Pawtuxet
proprietors, at length resolved to go a second time to
England, to petition the King for a special commission to
decide upon them. The petition was referred to the
Board of Trade.- It set forth the rival claimants to por-
tions of the Pawtuxet lands, and prayed that the gover-
nors of the four New England colonies, or such men as
they might appoint, with a jury chosen in part from each
colony, should settle all diflerences in the premises.^ The
mission was successful. A royal order was issued to the
' The Pawtuxet subjects of Massachusetts in 1650 sued W. Harris for
trespass, and judgment was rendered for the defendant July 31. Harris was
himself one of the Pawtuxet proprietors.
2 On June 11th, 1675.
'^ The petition of 1675, with the order upon it issued 4th August, and the
royal letter to the four governors, dated August, 1675, is entered in the Brit-
ish State Paper Office, New England papers, vol. xxxiL pp. 38-47.
VOL. 1—28
434 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND,
CHAP, four governors who, after some delay, appointed commis-
,,._^ sioners to hear the disputes.' They met at Providence,
1677. and empanelled a jury of four from Massachusetts, two
3 ■ from Plymouth, and three each from Khode Island and
j^ Connecticut. The Court then adjourned to meet at Prov-
17. idence, where five cases were tried, three against private
parties for trespass, the other two against the -towns of
Warwick and Providence, to compel them, to run the
boundary lines before agreed on, and to decide the title of
lands on either side of these lines. William Harris,
Thomas Field, and Nathaniel Waterman were the plain-
tiffs, and Harris was the attorney for Pawtuxet, in all
these cases. Randall Holden and John Greene were ap-
pointed 2 by the town of Warwick to defend her cause.
Roger Williams, Gregory Dexter, and Arthur Fenner ap-
peared in behalf of Providence. The trials occupied four
days, and resulted in a verdict for the plaintiffs on every
case.^ The town of Warwick, being cast in the suit, at
once aj^pointed * their two attorneys, as agents, to proceed
to England to represent their case before the throne, and
21. to protest against the second verdict of the jury. War-
rants were issued to compel execution of the verdicts, but
the question of costs was reserved for advisement with the
resj)ective governors, the Court doubting its powers to is-
sue execution for them.
In order to present these controversies, so far as they
have a public interest, in a compact form, we shall be
obliged to pass somewhat beyond the period to which this
chapter is limited, condensing as much as i)Ossible the pro-
' These were Simon Lynde and Daniel Henchman of Mass., Thomas
Hinckley, Esq , and James Cudworth, Esq., of Plymouth, Capt. George l)en-
ison and Daniel Witherell of Conn., Peleg Sandford, Esq., and John Cogges-
hall, of R. I.
'^ Oct. 1, 1677. See Warwick records.
* The pleadings in full are preserved among the Harris MSS.
* 29th Nov., 1677. See Warwick records, and their commissions were
read and approved in town meeting, 1 8th January.
THE VERDICTS UNEXPLAINED. 436
ceedings of the next two or three years upon these cases, chap.
and then leave the subject for ever. — 4~-
To decide the question of costs, the Court met at Bos- 16 7 8.
ton, but the Connecticut members being absent, it was ad- 23"^
journed to meet at Providence. The eight commissioners
assembled there, but found that nothing had been done Jmre
about running the line between Providence and Pawtuxct
in accordance with the verdict, which required it to be run
by the defendants '"equally between Pawtuxet river and
Wanasquatucket river, till they meet a thwart line from
the head of Wanasquatucket river, directly running to
Pawtuxet river." An imperfect line, contrary to the in-
tent of the Court's order, had been surveyed between the
two rivers, a map of which was presented by Mr. Fenner,
but rejected by the Court, as being unfair towards the
plaintiffs ; as the thwart line was drawn to intersect it at
an acute instead of a right angle. The Court summoned
the jury to appear in October, and explain their verdict in
this case, the third in the order of trial. At this meeting, Oct.
one of the commissioners being absent, the two from Ehode 2.
Island withdrew, deeming the Court disqualified to act un-
less every member was present. The others, considering
a quorum to be sufficient, proceeded to act. The jurors
were all present, but the three from Khode Island refused
to explain the verdict. The other nine explained the
meaning of their third verdict, that the two lines were to
intersect at right angles. Still, as some of the Court were
absent, and others doubted their power, under these cir-
cumstances, to issue warrants to enforce its execution, as
now explained, the whole matter was referred back to the
king, and a full statement of the case was prepared and
sent to England by Governor Leverett.'
^ This long statement details the manner in which the Court and jury were
(Onstructed, the five verdicts rendered, and all subsequent proceedings of the
rommissioners. It is entered in New England papers, vol. xxxii. p. 296.
Br. S. P. 0.
436 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
Holden and Greene went to England to protest against
the second verdict, whicli required the town of WarwicK
1678-9. and certain individuals in it, as tenants by force, to restore
2. the land, with one hundred pounds damages, to the plain-
tiffs. They obtained an arrest of judgment by royal de-
cree, till Harris should prove title before the king in coun-
cil. Scarcely had they left London to return home, when
Harris appeared, for the third time in England, to urge
the cause which law and justice had so often decided in
his favor. Exceptions had been taken by the Warwick
agents against having referees from Massachusetts or Con-
necticut, by reason of their former difficulties with War-
wick men, and a valid objection was now made by Harris
■against any Rhode Island referees, as being interested par-
, - - „ ties. The council therefore recommended that the Magis-
15(9. *^
June trates of Plymouth colony should decide the questions be-
^^- tween Warwick and Pawtuxet, and that Rhode Island be
required to put Harris in possession of his lands under the
other four verdicts, within three months from the time of
receiving the order, or otherwise that Plymouth should see
julv it done. An order to this effect passed the council, and
2- letters were prepared in accordance therewith.' Thus
Harris was again triumphant before the highest tribunal
in the realm, but justice was still withheld. Governor
Winslow gave the parties a hearing and decided in favor
of Harris, confirming the verdict against Warwick."^ The
governor and council of Rhode Island received the royal
3Q ■ order brought over by Harris, and placed a warrant in the
hands of the marshal, to execute judgment in accordance
Nov. with the verdicts. This he attempted to do, but it would
' The report in full is entered in New England papers, vol. xxxii. p. 346,
S. P. 0. R. I. Col. Rec., iii. 66.
^ Oct. 28th Gov. Winslow summoned the parties interested in the second
verdict, and after a full hearing confirmed the action of the Court of Com-'
missioners in favor of Harris. On 2d Nov. he sent a report of the case to the
King, now preserved among the Harris MSS., giving a clear statement of the
questions involved ia that case, and the reasons of his decision.
DEATH OF WILLIAM HAERIS. 437
seem that the plaintiiFs themselves refused to receive pos- chap.
session except in the terms of the verdict, which required .^.^^^^^
the defendants to run the lines. This they had not done, 1679.
and the marshal properly refused to do it, although urged
to do so by the plaintiffs. At any rate, the plaintiffs failed
to point out the lands, and the marshal made his return ^^'
in accordance with these facts. The truth of this return
was denied by the plaintiffs who collected evidence to im-
peach it. Harris, resolute amid all these obstacles, im-
mediately sailed for England for the fourth time. On this 25.
occasion, besides his Pawtuxet business, he was the accred-
ited agent of Connecticut in her claim against Rhode i679-so.
Island for the Narraganset country. The ship was cap- 24.'
tured by a Barbary corsair, and he, and other prisoners,
were taken to Algiers, and sold in public market as slaves.
For more than a year he remained in this sad situation, 1681.
when his ransom was effected at a cost of twelve hundred
dollars. The colony of Connecticut became responsible F®^-
for the whole amount and contributed handsomely towards
it. The money was afterwards refunded by his family.
Landing at Marseilles in the summer he travelled through
France, and broken down by the trials of Turkish bondage,
died in three days after reaching London.
Thus perished one of the strong men of Rhode Island.
He filled a large space in the early histoiy of the colony,
as an active, determined man, resolute in mind and vig-
orous in body, delighting in conflict, bold in his views on
the political dogmas of his time, fearless in his mode of ex-
pressing them, striking always firmly, and often rashly, for
what he believed to be the right, and denouncing with the
energy of a concentrated intellect all men or measures
that did not conform to his ideas of truth or of justice.
His controversy with Roger Williams, we have before re-
ferred to. It was never forgotten, and scarcely forgiven,
by either of these great men, and presents the darkest blot
that rests upon their characters. The public career oi
438 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
Harris was almost uninterrupted, except by his frequent
voyages, and these were always upon official business. As
1G81. an assistant or a deputy, his name constantly occurs in
connection with important trusts, and no man, unless it be
his great opponent, has left a deeper mark upon the rec-
ords of his State. ■
1682. The year following his death, another attempt was
made to settle the controversy between Providence and
Pawtuxet by mutual agreement. The line agreed upon
narrowed the limits of the Pawtuxet purchase more than
any previous attempt at adjustment had done. The same
committee were to settle the Warwick dispute. Both at-
tempts failed, and the line between Providence and War-
wick was finally settled by the legislature in 1696, as it
now exists, making the Pawtuxet river the boundary.
This gave to Providence jurisdiction over the litigated
tract, which was on the north side of the stream included
in a bend of the river. The other controversy was main-
tained at great cost, agents being employed in England,
and hearings had before the royal council as late as 1706,
all to no practical result. It was finally settled by com-
promise in May, 1712, when the line was run and bounds
set up, reducing still further the limits of the Pawtuxet
purchase. The moral conveyed in the result of this pro-
tracted and costly litigation is apparent.
THE STRUGGLE RENEWED.
CHAPTER XI.
1678—1686.
FROM THE RENEWAL OF THE STRUGGLE FOR THE SOIL OF
RHODE ISLAND, 1677-8, TO THE SUSPENSION OF THE CHAR-
TER, JUNE, 1686.
CHAP
There are many periods of Khode Island history, xi.
some of which we have already passed, that could not be ^^' '
truly written without a free access to the archives of the
British government. To no period does this remark ap-
ply more fully than to that upon which we entered at the
close of the preceding chapter. The Harris controversy
is scarcely referred to in the State records, the council
minutes having been sent to England as evidence. The
struggle for jurisdiction that was now to be resumed on
every side against ilhode Island, was soon transferred to
the English Court, in whose archives alone its progress
can be correctly traced. The disasters sufiered by Ilhode
Island during Philip's war, furnished the occasion for a
renewal of the disputes that, with one exception, had
been definitely settled by the royal commissioners of 1664.
Even Connecticut, as we have seen, had acquiesced for a
time in the decision of Sir Kobert Carr, but soon took
esceptions to that settlement based upon the absence of
Col. Nichols, governor of New York, who was induced,
4'10 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, upon no valid grounds, to dissent from the unanimous
^^ decree of his colleagues in favor of Rhode Island. The
war had for a time suspended the dispute in regard to the
jurisdiction of Narraganset, but now her claims were put
forward with increased energy, on the new ground that it
belonged to her by right of conquest — the same reason
that had formerly been jDut forth by Massachusetts after
the Pequot war. Massachusetts also enterjed the field
again as a claimant, in behalf of the heirs of the Ather-
ton company ; and Plymouth, not satisfied with the de-
cision that bounded her upon Narraganset bay, until the
King's pleasure should be further known, injudiciously
sought to re-open the question, assigning reasons for so
doing that may well excite surprise. Thus the ancient
controversies with all her neighbors were re-opened, and
Rhode Island, weakened by pestilence and wasted by war,
was again involved in the struggle for existence.
It is not enough to say that, after nearly seventy years
of further contest, she came out more than victorious
over all her opponents, not only retaining the territory
which they sought to wrest from her, but adding some-
thing to it from two of them at least ; but we must trace
the progress of the struggle, if we would have even a
faint idea of the difficulties that beset her. At one time
it will appear as if all was lost, and that the colony must
be absorbed by her ambitious sisters, and again the recu-
perative energy of the sturdy "heretics" will seem to
have already won the battle. The plan of having resi-
dent agents in London soon came from necessity to be
adopted by each of the New England colonies, the record
of whose acts, in many cases, can only be found among
the archives of the home government.
While the era upon which we now enter is memorable
■ for the above-named causes, the present year is not less
remarkable for the changes wrought by death in the chief
magistrates of the colony. No less than three different
TAX LAW AMENDED. 441
governors filled that place within five months, two of chap.
whom died in office. The lapse of forty years was telling ,jj^^
the tale of mortality upon the founders of the State. 16 7 8.
The first generation of Khode Islanders was fast passing
away.
The force of the colony at this time was from one May
thousand to twelve hundred freemen able to bear arms. '
At the election Benedict Arnold was again chosen gover-
nor, and Major John Cranston deputy governor. Gov.
Arnold was then too ill to attend the Assembly, so that
the engagement was administered to him by a committee
at his own house. The tax law was further modified at
this session, and as taxation without representation was
one of the prime grievances which, a century later, roused
the American colonies to arms, it is important to notice
how early and deeply-rooted was this idea in the Rhode
Island mind, and how frequently it appears ui3on the stat-
ute book of the State. By an existing law "^ no tax could
be assessed without a full representation of deputies from
all the towns. This was now amended so as to require
legal notice to be given, by warrant from the governor, to
every town, that a tax was to be assessed, without which
notice no levy could be made.^ Since the creation of the
office of major, during Philip's war, the choice of that
officer had devolved upon the militia, but this was now
changed, and all freemen were admitted to vote upon the
Report of Sir Edmund Andres to Board of Trade received 9th April,
1 678, in reply to queries on the state of the Xew England colonies, addressed
to him the day previous. A rough draft of ths seventeen queries is filed in
Br. S. P. 0. New England, vol. ii. p. 140, and the original answer on pp.
149, 150. By this the relative strength of the colonies may be ascertained.
Sir E. A. had lately returned from America, where he had been governor of
New York. He estimates Connecticut force at 3000, Rhode Island 1000 to
1200, Plymouth 1000 to 1500, and Massachusetts 8 to 10,000.
^ Passed Nov. 6th, 1672.
^ It was soon found necessary to repeal this act. The struggle to main-
tain the rights of the colony in England often required money to be raised to
meet emergencies, which could not be done promptly under this statute. It
was therefore repealed in July, 1679.
12.
442 HISTOEl" OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, question, provided they personally appeared to do so, upon
.^^1^ election day. A permanent court-martial for the trial of
1C78. delinquent soldiers was instituted, to consist of the major
and a majority of the commissioned officers of the several
military companies in the colony. A bankrupt law was
also passed, based upon the statutes of Elizabeth and
James. Five men were chosen as commissioners of bank-
rupts, who were sworn to make a just and proportionate
distribution of insolvent estates among" the creditors.
They were to notify parties interested to present their
claims, and had full power to do all acts necessary to the
fulfilment of their commissions. ' This law, for some rea-
son not apparent, could not stand the test of the first case
Jnne that was brought up for action under it, and was repealed
within sis weeks, at the beginning of the adjourned ses-
sion of the Assembly. The conflict of land titles in Nar-
raganset, among private owners as well as townships, led
the Assembly to order a survey and plats to be made of
the several tracts. They also required all purchasers,
who held by Indian titles, to present their deeds to be
passed upon by the Assembly, in order that the vacant
lands might be known and should not be settled upon ex-
cept by their order. Fast riding within the compact
parts of Newport was forbidden under a penalty of five
shillings, on account of an accident from that cause which
had lately occurred. Constables were re-appointed for the
towns in Kings Province.
A greater accuracy in the terms employed in framing
statutes is observable at this time. The additional words,
" and by the authority thereof be it ordained, enacted,
and declared," appended to the enacting clause of a law,
which surplusage, with slight modifications, continued in
use till a very recent date, appear for the first time at
* The commissioners of bankrupts were the deputy governor, Major John
Cranston, the general treasurer, Peleg Sandford, John Coggeshall, the genera)
recorder, John Sandford, and the attorney -general, Edward Richmond.
DEATH OF GOVERNOR ARNOLD. 443
this session. Again, the law of 1647 which empowered chap.
the town councils to appoint an " executor " upon the es- vJ-./^
tate of a deceased intestate, was amended by substituting 16 7 8,
for that term " the word administrator ; it being in that jg.
case the more proper and usual term in the law." Among
the curiosities of legislation may here be cited the con-
cluding clause of an act making a final settlement of the
accounts of the late general sergeant, which it seems were
so involved as to be beyond the power of the auditing
committee to strike a balance. It was therefore voted to
call the accounts square, " and that by this act there is a
full and fynall issue of all differences relating to the said
accounts from the beginninge of the world unto this pres-
ent Assembly ! " A more comprehensive statute cannot
well be imagined. The military power, which during the
war had been placed in the hands of the town councils,
was now taken from them, and vested more completely in
the major-general, who could call out all the troops for
exercise at his pleasure, and was subject only to the orders
of the Assembly, the governor, deputy-governor, or their
council.
Scarcely had the Assembly adjourned when Gov. Ar- ^^
nold died. He had been a resident of Newport for twen-
ty-five years, having removed from Providence during the
division that continued in the colony for more than a
year after the revocation of Coddington's commission, and
was very instrumental in effecting the subsequent recon-
ciliation and union of the towns. From that time he
was almost constantly in public office, first as a commis-
sioner from Newport and then as assistant. For five
years he was President of the colony under the old patent,
and was named in the second charter as governor, which
affice he filled at seven different times by popular election.'
His liberal views and thorough appreciation of the Rhode
' He was elected a commissioner in 1654, 1656 — assistant in 1655, 1660-
61— president in 1657-8-9, 1662-63— governor in 1663-4-5-9, 1670-l-7'7
and 78, and died in his sixtj-fourth year.
444 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. Island idea of intellectual freedom, appear in the letters
w-^ that, as president of the colony, he wrote in reply to the
16 7 8. arrogant demands of the United Colonies, when they urged
20. the forcible expulsion of the Quakers.' That he -was no
friend of the doctrines, or advocate of the conduct, of the
followers of Fox, is evident from his writings ; hut that,
like Williams, he recognized the distinction between per-
secution and opposition, between legal force; and moral
suasion, as applied to matters of opinioir, is equally ap-
parent. In politics and theology he was alike the oppo-
nent of Coddington and the friend of John Clarke, and
throughout his long and useful life he displayed talents
of a brilliant order, which were ever employed for the wel-
fare of his fellow-men.
July Active demonstrations were soon made both here and
in England by the several claimants for the soil of Rhode
Island. The first of these proceeded from Plymouth in
a letter to the King, recounting the disasters sustained
by that colony during the war. It goes on to say, "our
neighbors of Rhode Island were once so ungrateful, after
we had freely given them the said island,'^ to accommodate
them in their distress when banished by the Massachu-
setts, that by misinformation they obtained from your
Majesty a good quantity of the best of our land on the
maine, the same that we now call conquest lands, but
better informed by your commands, you were pleased to
' These two letters are printed in R. I. Col. Rec, i. pp. 37()-80.
'' The claim here set up that Aquidueek was " freely given," is somewhat
jemarkable in view of the fact that when Williams and Clarke, with the An-
tinomian committee, went to Plymouth early in March, 1637—8, to inquire
about their contemplated settlement at Sowams, that spot was claimed " as
the garden of Plymouth patent," and the applicants v/ere advised to select the
other location, which they had also in view, Aquidneck, because it was be-
yond the limits of Plymoutlj patent. See Clarke's Narrative, or 111 News
from New England, p. 24-5, and ante chap. ii. Now, forty years later,
they claim, to the King, that the island was " freely given," and charge Rhode
Island with being " ungrateful " for the signal favor of having received at
their hands what they admitted at the beginning did not belong to them.
ACTS OF PLYMOUTH AND MASSACHUSETTS. 445
return it again to us. We have reason to fear they are chap.
coveting it, or part of it, again, and it may bee some of ..Jtj^^
them will pretende to have a right of purchase of the In- 167 8.
dians, &c." It next assails the conduct of Khode Island
during the war, in these words: "The truth is the au-
thority of Rhode Island being all the time of the warr in
the hands of Quakers, they scarcely showed an English
spirit, either in assisting us, their distressed neighbors, or
relieving their own j)lantations upon the Mayne,' but
when, by God's blessing upon our forces, the enemy was
routed and almost subdued, they tooke in many of our
enemyes that were flying before us, thereby making profit
by our exj)ence of blood and treasure," &c.'^
These extracts indicate the spirit of the opponents of
Ehode Island, and the new line of policy they had adopted
to obtain their ends.
The proceedings of Massachusetts and of her agents
in England were equally decisive. A printed advertise-
ment was struck off in Boston, and soon afterward posted ^q
in the town of Newport, signed by a committee of the
Narraganset proprietors, in right of the Atherton pur-
chasers, offering for sale, upon advantageous terms to ac-
tual settlers, tracts of land in that country, and describing
it as being within the jurisdiction of Connecticut.^
' There is more truth than poetry in this clause of the sentence, and in-
deed it is the only truth contained in the whole paragraph. But if the main-
land towns, appreciating the reasons of the neglect they certainly experienced
from the island, failed to complain very much about it, we see no cause why
Plymouth should vex herself in their behalf; and it comes with an ill grace
from one of the United Colonies when they had wantonly made Pihode Island
their battle ground, and then failed to leave a garrison within her borders af-
ter the great swamp fight.
-This letter, dated 13th July, 1677, and signed "Nath. Morton, Secy., by
order of the Great Court," is entered in Br. S. P. 0. New England papers,
vol. xxxiii. p. 5.
^ This handbill is signed by Simon Bradstreet, John SafBn and Elisha
Hutchinson, and is preserved in New England papers, vol. iii. p. 46. Br. S.
P. 0., and printed in R. I. Col. Rec, vol. iii. p. 18, from a copy in Mr.
Brown's MSS.
446 HISTOEY OP THE STATE OP RHODE ISLAND.
The course pursued by Holden and Greene, as the
agents of Warwick in the Harris case, opened the whole
16 78. discussion of the past conduct of Massachusetts. They
had protested against having any Massachusetts- referees
in a matter where their town was concerned. This drew
an answer from the agents of that colony,' wherein they
incautiously ventured upon a sketch of the early history
Aug. of Warwick, defending the acts of Massachusetts, assail-
ing the character of the petitioners, and charging Rhode
Island with disloyalty upon sundry occasions. This was
an unfortunate train of argument for the respondents to
adopt. The Warwick men at once retorted with great
.^ severity in a petition, relating the facts of the case, ex-
posing the fallacies of their opponents, repelling their at-
tacks upon the loyalty of Rhode Island, adducing record
proofs of the disloyalty of Massachusetts, and concluding
with a series of requests ; first, that a Supreme Court of
judicature over all the colonies may be erected in New
England, whereby equal justice may be rendered, boun-
dary disputes be adjusted, and civil war, which must oth-
erwise result from " the oppressions of an insulting and
tyrannical government," may be averted ; second, that
the royal letter of 1666, confirming the acts of the com-
missioners in behalf of Rhode Island, may be renewed ;
third, that Connecticut may be compelled to restore the
town of Westerly, lately taken from Rhode Island by
force ; and lastly, that the decisions of. Massachusetts
against Warwick men, especially the decree of banish-
ment against Randall Holden, now of thirty-five years
standing, may be annulled.'^ • The petition was accompa-
nied by a number of documents going back to the pur-
' William Stougliton and Peter Bulkely. Their answer is of the same
date in London as the haildbill in Boston, July 30th, 1678. The original
paper is in Br. S. P. 0., vol. iii. p. 47, of New England papers.
" The original of this masterly state paper, os conclusive as it is severe,
is filed in the Br. S. P. 0. New England papers, vol. iii. p.24:-7.
COUNTER ACTS OF RHODE ISLAND. 447
chase of Warwick, and corroborating the positions ad-
vanced by its authors.^
The General Assembly at the adjourned session pro- 16 7 8.
ceeded at once to fill the vacancy in the office of gover- 28?"
nor, and William Coddington was chosen. A committee
waited upon Mrs. Arnold, widow of the deceased gover-
nor, to obtain the charter and other public papers, late in
the official custody of her husband. Attention was called
to the Atherton handbill, which had been set up in Nar-
raganset by John Saffin, one of the signers, " whoe forth-
with fled otF the island from the hands of justice."^ A
declaration of ownership by Ehode Island, and prohibi-
tion to all persons against settling upon the lands without
leave of the Assembly, was immediately passed ; copies
of it were sent to every town in the colony, to be posted
' These documents are not filed with the petition, but are found scattered
amonj^f the papers in the same and other vohimes, with other evidence pre-
sented at different times by Holden and Greene, upon these and other points
connected with their mission. Seven of these documents are contained in
pages 2 to 6 of the same vol. iii. of New England papers, viz., Submission of
Narragansets, 19th April, 10-1:4. Reception thereof by the commissioners,
20th March, 1664. Warning sent by Warwick to Massachusetts men,
28th Sept., 161.3. Sentence of Massachusetts Court against Gorton, 3d
Nov., 1643. Naming and bounding of Kings Province, 20th March, 1664.
Appointment of Rhode Island officers as justices there, 8th April, 1665.
Cartwright's letter to Gorton, 26th May, 1665. The facts of which these
and many other papers deposited at this period are confirmatory evidence wo
have stated in their proper place, but have not before mentioned where the
official copies, if sought for, may be found. Although sent originally by
Warwick upon the Hams land case, the general business of the colony soon fell
into their hands. The colony agents, Sandford and Bailey, appointed 24th
May, 1677, did not go to England. The Warwick men showed themselves
fully competent for the most difficult labors of negotiation or of defence, and
upon their return the Assembly, in July, 1679, voted them the s\im of sixty
pounds, of which forty-five pounds had been disbursed by them on the colo-
ny's account in England, and the balance was for their passage home.
- He was afterwards arrested and imprisoned under a warrant issued by
Gov. Cranston, 14th April, 1679. MS. files of Mass. Hist. Soc, and a let-
ter was sent by Massachusetts to Rhode Island, 3d June, demanding his re-
lease — Trumbull papers, vol. xxii. No. 95 — but no notice was taken of it by
the Rhode Island Assembly. He was tried, fined, and his estate forfeited.
448 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
in conspicuous places, and the act was published by beat
of drum in the town of Newport.
16 7 8. A case involving the question of the revising power of
the Assembly over the proceedings of the General-Court of
Trials, which has since been .often agitated in this State,
was presented ; the action upon which shows that the im-
portance of an independent judiciary was felt at t4iat early
day, and that the Assembly clearly understood- their legit-
imate powers, and had no desire to exceed them. The
case of Sandford against Forster had- been twice legally
tried by the Court, when one Colson petitioned the legis-
lature, in behalf of the defendant, for a reversal of judgment.
We quote the language of the vote upon this petition :
" This Assembly conceive that it doth not properly belong
to them, or anywise within their recognizance, to judge or
to reverse any sentence or judgment passed by the Gener-
all Court of Tryalls, according to law, except capitall or
criminall cases, or mulct or fines."
Oct. When the next regular session of the Assembly was
held, Governor Coddington was on his death-bed. " He
died November 1st, in the seventy-eighth year of his age, a
good man, full of days." ' He was a man of vigorous in-
tellect, of strong passions, earnest in whatever he under-
took, and self-reliant in all his actions. Such a man could
not fail to occupy a prominent place in any community.
He was one of the Assistants of the Massachusetts Com-
pany in England, came over with it to America, and was
a leading merchant in Boston, where he built the first brick
house. With the larger number of the more liberal and
educated people of that town, he espoused the Antinomian
views, and upon the overthrow of that cause, emigrated to
Aquedneck, which island he purchased in his own name
for himself and associates. He was made the first judge
or chief magistrate of the new colony, and continued to be
its governor till the union of the towns under the first
' Cullender's Dedication, p. 62, K. I. H. C, iv.
30.
DEATH OF GOVERNOR CODDINGTON, 449
pateut. In Newport he was the first person who ever en- chap.
gaged in commerce. The distraction that prevailed in the .^.^^^
colony was no doubt the motive of his voyage to England 16 7 8.
to obtain a commission as governor of the island for life.
This was a direct, and as the event proved, an unwarranted
usurpation, in which he was opposed by Clarke, Arnold, and
nearly all the freemen of the island, and for which we can
best account in the words of one ivho thoroughly appreci-
ated the principles and the men of early Rhode Island.
" He had in him a little too much of the future for Mas-
sachusetts, and a little too much of the past for Rhode
Island, as she then was." ' After the revocation of his
power he led a retired life for many years. During this
interval, he embraced the views of the Friends, and was
distinguished for his zeal in their cause, and the vigor with
which he combated those who differed from his opinions.
Latterly he had engaged to some extent in pubUc affairs.
He was once elected deputy governor and three times gov-
ernor, in which office he died,^
The Assembly adjourned till the following Monday, 4.
when Conanicut island was incorporated as a township,
and called JamestoAvn in honor of King James. Another ad-
journment then took place, probably for the funeral of Gov.
Coddington, after which the chief business of the session
was transacted. The demity governor, John Cranston, was ^
to
then elected Grovernor, and the first Assistant from New- 15
port, James Barker, was chosen deputy governor. Each
took the engagement to his new office and was formally ab-
solved from his previous official engagements. The two
Assistants next to Barker were each raised one step with-
out taking a new engagement, and a third Assistant, Caleb
Carr, was elected and engaged. The charter and other
' Chief Justice Durfee's Historical Discourse, p. 1 6.
* He was a deputy from Newport in March,. 1666, and an assistant in Oc-
tober of that year. In 1673 he was chosen deputy governor, and the two
following years governor, and again in August, 1678, by the Assembly.
VOL. I — 29
450 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
papers, as usual, were obtained from Mrs. Coddington and
placed in custody of the new governor. The duplicate
copy of the charter, which had hitherto been kept by John
Clarke, was also obtained from his executors, and- has ever
since been preserved, first in the custody of the deputy
governor, and then by the General Assembly in the Secre-
tary's office.^
15. A rate of three hundred pounds was laid. .- As this was
the first tax assessed since the war, the great disproportion
observed in its allotments, indicates the relative degree in
which the towns had suffered. A comparison of this with
previous taxes will show how recent events had affected
the prosperity of different portions of the colony. New-
port was assessed one hundred and thirty-six pounds, Ports-
mouth sixty-eight. New Shoreham and Jamestown each
twenty-nine, Providence ten, Warwick eight, Kingston
sixteen, one-half of which was afterwards remitted. East
Greenwich and Westerly two pounds each. Thus it will
be seen that while every town bore its share, the two towns
on Aquedneck paid more than two-thirds of the whole
levy, the three islands together paid seven-eighths of the
tax, and the five mainland towns less than one-eighth.
So great a disproportion has never been observed before or
since. The prices placed upon articles of food and rai-
ment, in commutation of this tax, give us valuable infor-
mation as to the cost of living at this time. Fresh pork
was valued at two pence a pound, salted and well packed
pork, fifty shillings a barrel, fresh beef twelve shillings a
hundred weight, packed beef, in barrels, thirty shillings a
'At the January session of the present year, 1858, it was '-Resolved,
That the Secretary cause the original charter, granted to this State when a
colony, by King Charles II., and the copy thereof, to be framed and protected,
in such manner as to ensure their preservation ; and that he deposit the du-
plicate of said cliarter in the cabinet of tlie Rhode Island Historical Society,
for safe keeping ; and that the cost of such frames be allowed and paid out
of tlie State Treasury, upon the order of the State auditor." This has ac-
cordingly been done.
THE WARWICK AGENTS IN ENGLAND. 451
hundred, pease, and barley malt, two and sixpence a bush-
el, corn and barley, two shillings, washed wool, sixpence a
pound, and good firkin butter, five pence.' Most of this
tax was paid in wool, and the price reduced to five pence.
A report of the proceedings of the Court of Commissioners
at Providence upon the Harris land cases, jDresented by
the two Rhode Island members of that tribunal, was or-
dered to be forwarded to his Majesty, which was done, with
a letter from the governor.'^
The Warwick agents were fully employed at this time, '"
not only with theii- immediate business, but in a defence
of the rights of the colony, incidentally forced upon them
by her opponents. Eichard Smith, in behalf of the Nar-
raganset proprietors, had sent a petition to the King, set-
ting forth the Connecticut claim, and the defenceless con-
dition of Rhode Island during the war, and praying that
their country with the adjacent islands, Conanicut, Dutch,
Patience, and Hope, might be restored to Connecticut.
The matter was referred to the Board of Trade, and Hol-
den and Greene were called upon for information on the
subject, and to answer the averments of the petitioners.^
This they did, in behalf of the colony, with signal ability,
defending the claim of Rhode Island under the charter,
and vindicating her conduct in the war.* The printed ad-
vertisement of the Narraganset lands, having been sent out
' A comparison of this tax with that levied for the same amount in June,
1670, forcibly illustrates the changes ■wrought by the war. A like com-
parison of prices with those cun'ent in Oct., 1670, shows a large decUne
in all the staple articles of life, while the relative values of English
and colonial currency, as there stated, remained about the same, and
hence the reduction of sterling to federal money, there given, will answer for
this period.
* The letter is filed in Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. xxxii. p. 344.
* The original petition and order in council thereupon, July 3d, 1678, are
m New England papers, voL iii. p. 38-40, Br. S. P. 0., and are printed in R
I. Col. Rec, iii. 50-1.
* The original paper is in Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. p. 42 —
printed in R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 60-2.
452 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
CHAP, to Holden and Greene, was presented by them to the royal
^^' , council, and an order was at once issued for the Massachu-
1 13 78, setts agents to appear and show upon what title the lands
^^' were claimed.' Staughton and Bulkeley inforjned the
council that it was a private . claim. This admission, to-
gether with the representations of Holden and Greene in
answer to Smith's petition, were embodied in an. order of
13_ council,"^ issued the same day, requiring that notice should
be sent to New England to leave Kings, Province in its
present condition, and that those who claimed ownership
or jurisdiction there, should forthwith send" agents to prove
their rights before the King. The following week, upon
20 petition of Randal Holden, a peremptory order was issued
annulling the sentence of banishment passed by the Mas-
sachusetts Court against Holden and his associates, the
men of Warwick, thirty-five years before, and command-
ing the said Court to repeal the same and to allow these
persons, at all times, free access within their jurisdiction.
The terms of this order were unusually dec'ided, and indi-
cate a strong feeling of condemnation, in the royal coun-
cil, at the arbitrary conduct of Massachusetts towards the
adherents of Gorton. ^
g The Warwick men having concluded their mission in
Jan. England were about to return home, when another matter
occurred to cause their delay for a few weeks. John
Crowne petitioned for the grant of Mount Hope, lately
conquered from the Indians, as an offset to losses sustain-
ed by his family in the King's service in Acadia.* A
note was addressed by the council to the agents of Massa-
chusetts and of Warwick, inquiring about the extent,
■ This order is entered in vol. xxxii. p. 295, New England papers, Br. S.
P. O. See R. I. Col. Kec, iii. 62.
'' New England papers, vol. xxxii. p. 308, Br. S. P. 0. R. I. Col. Rec,
iii. 63.
' The original petition is in Br. S. P. 0., New England papers, vol. iii. p.
49, and the order upon it is in vol. xxxii. p. 312.
' Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. p. 62.
24,
CLAIMANTS OF MOUNT HOPE. 453
value, and proprietorship of Mount Hope,' To this Hoi- chap.
den and Greene replied that the tract contained about four ^^ ^:^
thousand acres, was worth as many pounds, and that the 16 7 9.
propriety was in the King. Staughton and Bulkeley 3^ '
estimated it at about six tliousand acres, could not judge
of the value, and claimed that it was included in Plymouth
patent.^ The diversity of these rej)lies led the council to ^*
order that inquiries on the same points be made to the
four colonies in the same letter that was preparing to be
sent to them concerning Narraganset.^ This letter, draft-
ed in accordance with the order in council of two months
before, recapitulated the points in dispute about Narra-
ganset, and required claimants to send agents to England 12.
to prove their rights. It also made inquiries about Mount
Hope,^ and became, as we shall see, a fruitful source of
contention in a few months.'
At the next General Assembly all the towns except g^*
Westerly and Kingstown were represented by deputies.
As we have before stated, it was the custom to organize
on the day previous to the election in order to admit free-
men. Those who had been received as freemen of the
towns were, on these occasions, made freemen of the colony.
Although in fact but one session, the two Assemblies, one
meeting the day before and the other upon election day,
were technically considered as distinct bodies, as indeed
they were, and the towns chose their deputies for the
spring sessions to attend both Assemblies. The changes
* Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. xxxii. p. 18. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 38.
^ The originals of these two replies are in Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol.
iii. pp. 50, 53. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 37-8.
« Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. xxxii. p. 336. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 38.
* The Mount Hope matter was settled in favor of Plymouth, by Report of
the Board of Trade, 4th Dec, 1679, approved by the Council 21st Dec Br.
S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. p. 34-7, and confirmed by royal letter, l2th
Jan., 1679-80, vol. xxxii. p. 315 — granting their petition of 1st July, 1679,
vol. xxxiii. p. 15, R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 64-6.
^ Br. S. P. O., New England, vol. xxxu. p. 338. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 40.
1 M. H. C, V. 221.-
454 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, made on election day were among the general officers and
^^' Assistants, who were chosen by popular vote. The meetings
I G 7 9. of the Assembly were held at hotels or in private houses.
*^ The vote of those present was by ballot, collected.in a hat.
Proxy votes were opened by a committee, and the Re-
corder made a list of the names of all those who voted.
7. At this election, the ohoice of John Cranston as .governor,
made by the Assembly upon the death of Coddington, was
confirmed by the people, and Walter Clarke was elected
deputy governor.
A custom had grown up " among sundry persons, being
evill-minded," of overworking their own servants, and of
hiring other men's servants and under-letting them, to la-
bor on Sunday. A law was passed to prevent this inhu-
manity, and also to forbid gaming, sporting, and tippling
on the first day of the week, under penalty of the stocks,
or a fine. The frauds j^ractised by sailor landlords upon
seamen, caused a law to be passed that no such person,
who should trust a sailor, that had been shipped, for a
sum greater than five shillings, without an order from his
captain, could recover the debt ; and should he attempt
to do so he rendered himself liable for damages at the suit
of the master. The master of every vessel of over twenty
tons burthen was required to report himself to the head of-
ficer of the town upon arrival and departure, and if over ten
days in port then to set up notice in two public places in
the town three days before sailing.' This act was passed in
view of the English acts of trade and navigation which
afterwards became so fruitful a source of contention be-
tween the mother country and her American colonies.
The colony now adopted the rule of paying the neces-
sary expenses of the members of the Assembly, and also of
the Court of Trials, for board and lodging during their at-
' This latter regulation still exists in some countries and is applied to all
travellers, who, as in Russia at this day, must advertise their intention tc
leave, that creditors may have lull notice.
RENEWED STRIFE FOR KINGS PROVINCE. 455
tendance. The sums collected by fines and forfeitures chap.
were apjiropriated to this purpose. The law of 1658 to .^...-^
prevent innovation in the government of the colony was 16 7 9.
revised, pronouncing forfeiture of the entire estates of all " ' "
persons who should subject their lands, lying within the
jurisdiction of this colony, to that of any other government.
There was ample occasion for severe legislation upon this
point. The settlement of Narraganset by Rhode Island
men had attracted the attention of Connecticut, and drawn
from that colony a letter demanding the recall of those
settlers ; to which Ehode Island replied, regretting a re-
newal of the strife, but asserting her claim, and looking
for justice to God and the King.' The General Assembly
of Connecticut appointed officers in Narraganset, and em- 8.
powered the governor and council to punish intruders, to
treat with Rhode Island, and to settle the country.
U]3on the return of the Warwick ag-ents bearins: the
T 1
royal letter of inquiry concerning Narraganset and Mount g ^
Hop3, the governor, by warrant, convened the Assembly.
A prohibition was sent to Westerly and Kingstown for-
bidding any persons from there exercising authority under
any other government, and requiring all the residents of
Kings Province to render obedience to this.^ The mao-is-
trates were required to hold courts in Kings Province as
often as the governor should see cause, the better to en-
force the King's commands. The arrival of Sir Edmund
Andros, governor of New York, being daily expected, pro-
vision was made for his reception at the pubhc expense.
He was then on his way home, and was making the tour
of New England under orders to report upon the condition
of these colonies. It happened fortunately for Rhode
Island, when a few years later she, with the rest of New
* The two letters, dated April 7th and 21st, 1679, are in vol. i. p. 240-4
of MS. copies of Conn, records in the cabinet of the R. I. Hist. Soc.
'^ The prohibition is entered upon the records, and is in R. I. Col. Rec, iii.
40-2.
19.
29
456 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
England, was placed under his government, that this
timely civility had been shown to the royal governor ;
but at this time no such calamity could have been antici-
pated.
A warrant was issued for the arrest of Richard Smith
on account of his petition to the King on behalf of Con-
necticut. He was to be examined preparatory to-drafting
the letter that was to be sent to England in reply to the
royal missive brought by Holden and Greene. A survey of
Mount Hope was ordered to be made for the same purpose,
and other examinations, in respect to Narraganset, were
2^- made on each side of the question. The testimonies of
John Greene and of Roger Williams were taken upon the
facts of the first settlement of Narraganset by Richard
Smith, and a lengthy petition was signed by a large num-
ber of the people of Narraganset praying that they may be
erected into a distinct government.' The letter of Rhode
l^' Island to the King was accompanied by a plan of Mount
Hope, which tract was supposed to contain about seven
thousand acres and was valued at three thousand pounds,
and it asked that Kings Province may be preserved to
Rhode Island as accorded in the charter." The United
Colonies in their reply to the royal letter claimed Mount
Hope for Plymouth and Narraganset for Connecticut,
and indulged in the usual vituperation of Rhode Island.-*
Sept. A court was held at Westerly, in his Majesty's name,
by the magistrates of Rhode Island, at which an oath of
allegiance to the King and fidelity to the colony was ad-
ministered, and signed by thirty-three freemen. The Con-
necticut Court for that county was then sitting at New
London. A protest was sent by Governor Leete upon this
subject. A prompt reply was returned by Governor Cran-
' These papers are all iiled in Br. 8. P. O., New England, vol. iii. pp. 44,
68, 69, 66. R. I. Col. Rec., iii. 52, 56-60.
- Original of this letter is in New England papers, vol. iii. p. 59, in Br. S,
P. O., R. I. Col. Rec, iii 43-6, 1 M. H. C, v. 223.
U M. H. C, v. 226. Not found in Br. S. P. 0.
KINGS PROVINCE DISPUTE. 4.57
ston, justifying the proceedings of the Ehode Island Court, chap
The same energetic course was pursued by the Court of *^^"
Trials. John Baffin, one of the signers of the obnoxious 167 9
handbill, before described, and who had posted the same ^^^'
in Newport, having been arrested, was imprisoned, tried,
and sentenced to pay a fine and to forfeit his estates in
Narraganset. Richard Smith was arraigned at the same
term but' discharged, owing to a flaw in the indictment/
The Connecticut Assembly, in compliance with the g^*'
King's command, empowered the council to send an agent
to England to defend the claim of that colony to Narra-
ganset, and designated William Harris of Pawtuxet as a
suitable person. They also disavowed the late Court held
by Governor Cranston at Westerly, forbidding the inhabi-
tants of Stonington in any way to recognize the same, and
protested against any other act of jurisdiction heretofore,
or hereafter to be, exercised by Ehode Island in the Nar-
raganset country. Massachusetts also resented the griev-
ances of her people, and upon the suit of John Saffin ar-
rested Capt. John Albro, an Assistant of Rhode Island,
then in Boston. . He was discharged at once, and the
slight expense incurred by this annoyance was met by the
Assembly. This body met at the usual time and contin- 30.
ued in session, with several adjournments, more than two
months. Their first action was ujoon a petition from the
town of Westerly that the western line of the colony
should be run. It was voted to do so, surveyors were ap- ^q'
pointed, and notice was sent to Connecticut requesting the
concurrence of that colony in the survey. This was a cool
rejoinder to the recent fulminations from that quarter, but
was perhaps the best notice that could be taken of them.
The same subject was at this time occupying the royal
council. A brief historical sketch of Narraganset, drawn 4,
' This was at the May term of the Court. Letters from Saffin and Smith,
dated May 2od and 26th, to Sec. Allen of Connecticut, giving an account of
their trial are in MS. records of Conn., vol. i. p. 250-2, in R. I. Hist. Soc.
458 HISTORY OF TUE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, lip by Holden and Greene, was read/ and a full report
_^^ was made by the Board of Trade soon after, upon the gov-
1 <i T 9. ernment and projiriety of Kings Province, reciting the
^^' progress of the dispute to this period, and recommending
that a commission be sent out to examine the subject, as
it was too complicated for the Board to decide.'^
11. Connecticut replied to the last proposition of Rhode
Island, refusing to run the line, and giving nptice of the
appointment of an agent to adjust the dispute in England
' Jan!^ that Rhode Island might also send one if she chose."' At
6- an adjom-ned meeting of the General Assembly, a letter
was addressed to the King, advising his Majesty of the ap-
pointment of an agent by Connecticut, and asking that
time may be allowed to Rhode Island to make her reply
before final judgment in the case.^
12. The grant of Mount Hope to Plymouth by royal let-
ter 5 decided the petition of John Crowne^ so long pending
Feb. before the council. He then made a new application, pe-
titioning the King for the grant of Boston neck in Narra-
ganset.^ This, like its predecessor, was referred to the
Board of Trade, and met the same fate. The lands of
Potawomet, about which tliere had been frequent conten-
J^ ' tion between Warwick and her neighbors, both Indian and
English, were finally disposed of in town meeting, by di-
vision into fifty equal parts or rights, and the names of the
proprietors were inserted on the records.''
A letter containing twenty-seven queries from the
^^- Board of Trade, relating to the condition of Rhode Island,
' Br. S. P. 0., New Eng. vol. iii. p. 45.
^ This report is without date, in Br. .S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. p. 12-
13.
' Conn. MSS., vol. i. p. 264 in R. I. Hist. Soc. A copy of the Connecti-
cut instructions to W. Harris is in Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. p. 107.
* Original filed in Br. S. P. 0., New Eng. vol. iii. p. 93, R. I. CoL
Rec, iii. 76.
^ N. E., vol. xxsii. p. 315, Br. S. P. O.
" N. E., vol. iii. p. 55, Br. S. P. 0.
' Warwick records, March 8th, 1680.
DEATH OF GOVERNOR CRANSTOX. 459
naving been received, was probably tbe cause of a special chap
meeting of the Assembly. A committee of seventeen per- ^^^^S^
sons was appointed to collect the necessary information in 16 8
reply. The severe illness of the governor compelled an ad- i ^
journment. He expired the next day, being the third gov- 12.
ernor who had died in office within two years.
Governor John Cranston had borne a distinguished
part in the history of the colony, and filled the highest
military and civil positions in its gift. He was the first
who ever held the place of Major-general, having been se-
lected to command all the militia of the colony during
Philip's war, and he was the father of a future governor
who became still more distinguished for his protracted
public service. Major Peleg Sandford was elected by the le.
Assembly to fill the vacancy. This was confirmed by the
l^eople at the general election, and Walter Clarke was
again chosen deputy governor. A bell was now provided ^ _^^'
for calling together the Assembly, the Courts, and the
Council, and ordered to be set up in some convenient place.
A committee was appointed to make a digest of the laws
" that they may be putt in print." ' The prudent limita-
tion of the power to be exercised over the Courts, prescribed
by a previous Assembly,'^ was swept away at this session
by a vote "' that in all actionall cases brought to the
Generall Courts of Tryalls, if either plaintiif or defendant
be aggrieved after judgment entered in Court, they may
and have liberty to make their appeale to the next Gen-
erall Assembly for reliefe, provided such appeale be made
in the Recorder's office tenn days' time after judgment en-
tered as aforesaid ; as also such person or persons soe ap-
l^ealinge, shall first pay cost of Court, and give in bond as
^ We infer that they did not discharge the whole of their duties, as the
earliest printed copy of the laws now known is dated 1719, and repeated at-
tempts were vainly made by the home government to procure from Rhode Isl-
and a copy of the laws, as we shall presently see ; and this could not have
been the case had a digest been provided.
'August, 1678 -
o.
460 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
CHAP, in case of review, and thereupon execution shall be stopped
^^ till the determination of the Assembly be knowne." It
10 8 0. should be remembered that the General Court of Trials
was composed of the General Council, being the 'governor
and assistants, or what afterwards became the upper house
of Assembly, who, at this time, formed a part of the Gen-
eral Assembly sitting as one body ; and it waS" not till
nearly seventy years later that a reorganization of the
Courts effected a complete separation of the legislative
from the judicial branches of the Government. An alter-
ation in the time of holding the Courts of Trials was made,
as they often interfered with the sessions of the Assembly.
They were hereafter to be held on the last Tuesday in March
and the first Tuesday in September, instead of in May and
October as heretofore. The pay of members of both bodies
was fixed at seven shillings a week. The statistical ac-
count of Rhode Island, in reply to the inquiries of the
Board of Trade, having been completed, it was sent, with
g. a letter from the governor, to England.^
The dispute with Connecticut continued with unabated
violence. That colony attempted to set up CatojDcci, a
Pequot, as joint Sachem of the Niantics with Weeounk-
hass, daughter of the deceased Ninigret, and hereditary
queen of the tribe. The same policy that had placed the
usurper Uncas at the head of the Mohegans, now sought
to distract the remnant of the once powerful Narragansets
who remained faithful to Rhode Island. . The injured
queen petitioned the King against this violation of her
rights, setting forth the conduct of Connecticut, and
of the Atherton purchasers,. as alike prejudicial to his
Majesty, to herself, and to Rhode Island, and praying that
' The original replies and letter are filed in Br. S. P. 0., New England,
vol iii. pp. 115-121. As this is the earliest official information upon these
points, and gives some interesting facts, we insert the substance in Appendi.K
F. The queries may be gathered from the replies. They were addressed to
all the colonies, and are printed in Antiquities of Connecticut, p. 130. Hart-
ford, 1836.
ARRESTS AND REPRISALS. 461
tlie jurisdiction of the country might be left, as it ever had chap.
been, in the hands of the latter.* A constable of Stoning- _^^
ton was seized by warrant of Governor Sandford, for exer- 16 8 0.
cising authority in Westerly, by arresting one Wells upon
a warrant from Connecticut, and carried to Newport. A g,
sharp letter from the Connecticut council followed, de-
manding his release, and for peace' sake agreeing " not to
meddle on the east side of Pawcatuck river " till the mat-
ter was decided in England. The governor replied, giving
the reason for the arrest, but retaining the prisoner for 9.
trial. The council issued a formal protest against the
conduct of Rhode Island, to be published by the marshal
of Stonington on both sides of the river, prohibiting the
recognition of any authority not derived from them. They
also wrote a letter to the Board of Trade containing seven
pleas for their claim to the jurisdiction and soil of Narra-
ganset.- Further than this they proceeded to make re-
prisals. The marshal and his posse broke open the house
of Joseph Clarke in Westerly, before sunrise, and carried
him oif as a prisoner. The governor and council of Rhode
Island and Kings Province demanded his release, in a let- 23.
ter setting forth their right of jurisdiction, both by charter
and commission, over the invaded district. Clarke was
released upon recognizance in the sum of two hundred
pounds sterling for his appearance at the October term.
Connecticut replied, placing the seizure of Clarke on the 29
ground of retaliation, denying the allegations of the Rhode
Island letter, and asserting her claims to Kings Province.
Mr. Blathwayt, secretary of the royal council, wrote to
Randal Holden and John Greene concerning the boundary
dispute, and also the Warwick case with Harris. In their
' The originnl petition, translated by Job Babcock, intei7)reter, dated 4th
April, 1680, and signed " Weeounkhass, the Queen in the Nihantick Cuntrey
in the Kings Prcvince in New England — with the consent of her Counsell," is
in Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. p. 77.
^ Antiquities of Connecticut, p. 128.
462 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
reply, a minute accourit of the history of Narraganset and
the grounds of the Khocle Island claim is given.' The
secretary's letter shows a leaning on the part of the council
in favor of Rhode Island. Connecticut continued to ex-
23. ert authority over the people of Westerly, summoning
them to the Stonington town meeting to elect deputies,
and to perform military duty ; while Rhode Island exer-
cised her rights in bringing suits for eviction,- in cases of
• land title under grants from Connecticut,^ in that town —
a j)roceeding that brought out a strong remonstrance from
Hartford,^ closing with a proposal to negotiate.
Private no less than public concerns, in the colonies,
were often the subjects of petition to the throne. Thomas
Savage, one of the eighteen original proprietors of Aqued-
25. neck, who had returned to Massachusetts, now wrote to
the Government of Rhode Island, claiming his right in the
undivided portions of the island to which he was entitled,
as well as to the eight acre lot that he received at Pocas-
set.'by the original agreement of the purchasers. Copies
of the necessary papers were given to his son, and also a
letter to the town of Portsmouth, to the same effect, which
was presented at town meeting, but refused record or
hearing by the freemen. Major Savage then petitioned
the King, stating the facts and asking that a commission
from the adjacent colonies be appointed to try the case ;
but no notice appears to have been taken of it.^ The
claim of one-eighteenth part of the island was a large one,
and although technically well founded, would have worked
practical injustice if allowed, since the settlers who re-
' Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. p. 81. This account differs some-
what from the received opinion of the settlement of Narraganset. See note
ante ch. vi. p. 195.
^ Conn. MSS., vol. ii. p. 8-10, to which Rhode Island replied, 13th Sept.,
that she was ready to treat, as proposed hy Connecticut, at any time. Do.
p. 11.
' The original petition of Mr. Savage is in Br. S. P. 0., New England, v,
iii. p. 128.
30
THE NAKRAGANSET PROPRIETOES PETITION. 463
loaiued had given up their equal rights for the benefit of chap.
new comers as fast as such were admitted freemen of the .^,.^^1^
colony. 16 80.
At the same time the proprietors of Narraganset sent
a long petition to the King, reciting the history of their
country, praying to be separated from Rhode Island, and
annexed to Plymouth or Connecticut, or to be erected into
a distinct government. The acts of the royal commission-
ers are particularly dwelt upon, and much stress is laid on
the dissent of Col. Nicholls, and subsequent revocation of
the order for the Atherton company to quit the settle-
ments. They had sent by William Harris all the papers
relating to their case, but these were carried to Algiers,'
and being too poor to send another agent to England, they
ask that John Lewin and Thomas Dean, to whose care the
petition is sent, may be received as their attorneys before
the council, and also that a court of claims, made up from
the other colonies, may be constituted to examine land
titles and report to the King.- The Government of Ehode
Island sent a remonstrance against this petition, recapitu-
lating the history of the colony, the agreement of Winthrop
and Clarke, and the terms of the Connecticut charter,
which so exphcitly assigned Narraganset to Rhode Island.
The date of every settlement in the colony is given, and
the assertion of Richard Smith that he was the pioneer in
Narraganset is directly denied, a Mr. Wilcocks and Roger
Williams having preceded him by some years, and before
the purchase of Warwick. The violent conduct of Con-
necticut is derscribed, and an issue of the differences, by a
confirmation of the charter of Rhode Island, is earnestly re-
' While the writer was examining the archives in London, all these docu-
intints, aiid many more relating to the capture of Mr. Harris, were found i:'
the bundles marked " Algiers," where they had been filed for one hundred
and seventy years. They are now restored to their proper place among the
New England papers.
- Original in Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. p. 84. Received Oct.
nth, 1680
464 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
quested. Papers in proof of the averments of the petition
accompanied it, with a letter ' of the same date from Gov.
Sandford. John Saffin also wrote to Lord Culpeper re-
hearsing the points of the Narraganset petition, and re-
questing him to represent their case, and to favor their
agent, Harris, and the attorneys.^
7. The trial of Clarke took place -at Hartford.- He was
sentenced to pay a fine of ten pounds and .-costs. The
^'- General Assemhly assumed the case and granted relief,
which was the only business of puhlic interest transacted
at the session.
A measure was now adopted in England of the most
vital character in its results upon the colonies. A deter-
j^oy mination to enforce the famous navigation acts ^ and their
12. corollary, the acts regulating the plantation trade, was sig-
' nified to all the colonies by royal edict. Upon the recep-
March ^io^ of this decree, the governor and council ordained, in
28. pursuance of its mandates, that a naval office, or custom-
'' Original letter and petition in New England, vol. iii. pp. 85-87, Br. S.
P.O.
' Br. S. P. 0., New England, v. iii. p. 113.
^ The author of the first of these acts was George Downing of Salem, a
nephew of the famous Hugh Peter, the father of New England commerce and
the founder of her fisheries. Its object was to give to British shipping the
monopoly of the home trade. Its motive was to weaken the overwhelming
commercial and naval power of Holland, then the carrier of the world and
mistress of the seas. It was introduced into Parliament on the 5th August,
1651, by Whitelock, the republican leader, and passed 9th October. It has
been well styled the Charta Maritima, and so beneficial was its effect that
Adam Smith is compelled to pronounce it " the wisest of all the commercial
regulations of England," although it is diametrically opposed at every point
to his favorite theory of free trade. Immediately after the restoration it was
remodelled and passed by the King's. Parliament in 16G0, and its author re-
ceived the honors of knighthood at the hands of Charles II. The glory of
England in this as in many other important points, was the result of meas-
ures initiated by the republican Parliament. "' The navigation act, " says
Upham, " was not only the wisest, it was the boldest, it might almost be
said, the most high-handed legislative proceeding ever passed." It built up
the maritime power of England, but it was one of the earliest sources of op-
pression to her American colonies, in connection with the kindred acts for the
control of the plantation trade.
THE CURSE OF CLAWSON. 465
house, should he established at Newport for the proper en- chap.
try of all vessels arriving in this jurisdiction. The bonds ,3^
required by the act were to cost six shillings for every ves- 16 81.
sel above forty tons burden, and two and sixpence for those ^ ^
of less tonnage. The act was pubhshed by beat of drum j,
in the town of Newport. The time was to come when the
same drum-beat should call the people to resist these acts
as being among the most oppressive impositions of a des-
potic government !
No changes were made in the general officers at the ^^
next election. Benjamin Hernden, Jr., or Herendeen, of
Providence, having without provocation fired upon an In-
dian, the Assembly passed an act to prevent such outrages
in future, and caused it to be. published, " with all expe-
dition " at Providence. This man was a desperate char-
acter, as was his father before him. A romantic legend
of the latter is preserved, which, as it serves to illustrate
one phase of border life, when this was a frontier settlement
of the English, may be here related. In the earliest list
of "twenty-five acre men" received as inhabitants of
Providence ' are found the names of John ^ Clawson
and Benjamin ;x) Herendeen. Their famihes were very
intimate, and it is probable were connected by marriage,
Clawsjn was a hired servant of Koger Williams. One
night "^ he was attacked from behind a thicket of barberry
bushes, near the north burial ground, by an Indian named
Waumaion, whom Clawson supj)Osed to be instigated
thereto by Herendeen. At the first assault Clawson's
chin was split open by a blow with a broad axe, from the
effects of which wound he soon afterwards died, but not
before he had pronounced the strange curse upon his mur-
derer, which the legend records as having been so singu-
larly fulfilled, " that he and his posterity might be marked
with split chins and haunted with barberry bushes."
More than a century later, testimony was collected in proof
' January 19th, 1645-6. « 4th January, 1660-1.
VOL. I. — 30
466 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, of the fulfilment of tliis dying malediction. By this it
_^_^ appears that the descendants of the murderer were remark-
1681. able for the excavated or furrowed chin, which caused the
curse of Clawson to be kept in remembrance, and many a
quarrel was excited among them at huskings and frolics
by mention of the word " barberry bushes." ^
23. At an adjourned session, the towns were empowered to
choose one or more additional constables at regular town
meetings, the same as on election day. A slight difficulty
July, arose between the Mohegan and Narraganset Indians,
owing to a murder committed by the latter, which led to
a friendly correspondence between Rhode Island and Con-
necticut, by which trouble was prevented, the dispute be-
ing settled by arbitration. This was the only intercourse
of an official nature that took place between the two col-
onies for more than a year.
The Narraganset proprietors sent through Lord Cul-
ggj^^ peper another statement of their claims, contradicting the
12. positions taken by Holden and Greene. This statement
was received while a commission for settling these disimtes
was beino; discussed bv the council."^
Oct.
26. The next regular session of the Assembly was held at
Providence, being the first Assembly ever held there under
the new charter, and only the second that had met at any
other place than Newport. This was perhaps owing to a
disagreement then existing in the town as to the number
of which the town council should consist ;. one party de-
siring that two or three members should be added to make
the council equal in number to those of the other towns,
' The curse of Clawson, with the singular and undoubted evidence of its
fulfilment, collected from the most respectable sources by the Hon. Theodore
Foster, and also the account of the murder and trial, with a copy of a letter
from Roger Williams to the town of Providence dated May 11th, lC6l, con-
cerning the estate of the murdered man, are preserved in the Foster MS.
papers.
= Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. p. 109. Potter's N.irr. R. I. H. C.
iii. 226. 1 M. H. C. v. 229.
A CUSTOM-HOUSE ESTABLISHED, 467
the other party opposing any alteration. Every town chap.
council consisted of six persons, including the resident as- ,^„,J^
sistants, who were chosen by all the freemen of the colony. 16 81.
Three of these being from Providence, left but three mem-
bers to be elected by the town, the rest being chosen by
the colony. This was a regulation prescribed when the
charter was adopted, and for which it is difficult to see
the reason. It certainly worked injustice to the townsmen
in this case. The Assembly authorized the assistants to
call a town meeting to elect a council of six persons in ad-
dition to the assistants. This was to be done annually,
and was carried into effect at the next town meeting. 14.
Fast riding within the compact parts of Providence was
also prohibited by the Assembly.
Attention to the acts of trade and navigation, the 168 2.
stumbling-block of New England, began now to be urged
upon the colonies. The dictatorial bearing of Randolph,
the special commissioner appointed from England to en-
force these acts, as surveyor general of customs, maddened
the people of Massachusetts almost to open resistance, but
as yet no trouble from this source was felt in Rhode Island.
The reciprocal engagement of the colony to the governor
was amended by adding thereto a pledge to stand by him -^^y.
in his performance of the said acts as required by the oath 3.
therein imposed. The ordinance of the governor and coun-
cil establishing a custom house, upon receipt of the royal
decree the year before, was confirmed by the Assembly.
The decree, or " charter concerning trade and navigation,"
as it was termed, was presented to the Assembly by Fran-
cis Brinley, and placed by them in custody of the governor.
Sandford and Clarke were again chosen to their respective
offices. The quarrel between Warwick and Kingstown
for the possession of Potowomet had proceeded so far that
the Assembly now interfered, to preserve peace, and for-
bade any persons whatever from entering thereupon until
further orders. They also warned certain intruders upon
25
i68 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
the said lands to depart forthwith, but permitted the War-
wick proprietors to mow and improve the meadows there
16 8 2. as heretofore. The town ofi&cers of Kingstown, distracted
' "^' hy the rival claims to the jurisdiction of Narraganset, had
avoided taking their engagenaent to this colony. Two
28. "conservators of the peace"' were therefore elected for
that town, and the governor was desired to hold a Court
there and to call a meeting of the town to elect officers ;
or in case the town should refuse so to do the Court was
requested to elect all of them, to continue until further
orders or till new ones be chosen.
Oct. The autumn session was held at Warwick for the
second time in twenty years. The question of the power
of town councils to reject persons coming into any town
was settled upon application of the deputies from Provi-
dence. It was decided that any one might be rejected
who should fail to give bonds satisfactory to a majority of
the council ; and if any one, being warned by the council
to leave the town, should fail to do so, a warrant for his
removal might be issued to the constable, and in case of his
return to the town he should be subject to fine or whip-
ping.2
The first company of cavalry in the mainland towns
was chartered at this session, to consist of thirty-six men
besides officers, with the same privileges given to the in-
fantry, and the like obligation to exercise six days in the
year. It was composed of residents of Providence, War-
wick, and adjacent places, upon whose petition it was or-
' John Cole and C.apt. John FoaVies.
' A curious paper is preserved among the Foster MSS., which shows the
mode of applying for permission to reside in any town. " To y" Towne mett
this: 15th of Decern''^ 1680. My request to y^ towne is; that they woold
grant the liberty to reside in y« Towne during the Townes Approbation, be-
having myselfe as a civell man ought to doe, Desireing not to putt y® Towne
to any charge by my resideing here ; and for what y= Towne shall see cause
farther to enquire of me, I shall see I hope to give them a tinie and sober
Answer thereunto. Y"' friend and servant Tho. Waters."
HOG ISLAND DISPUTE. 469
ganized. Two majors were hereafter to be cliosen annu- chap
ally, one for the island and one for the mainland, at the ^^
spring election. A crew of privateers had recently been 16 8 2.
taRen and brought into Newport as prisoners, whence they ^^'
were sent to Virginia for trial. - A portion of them having
broken jail, laid a plot to assassinate Governor Sandford,
which was disclosed by one of their number, who, in fear
for his life, petitioned that he might not be sent away with
the rest. The prayer was granted, and the informer sub- 25,
sequently released. Hog Island, which thirty years before
had been a matter of dispute with Plymouth, was again
claimed by that colony, which led to a corresi^ondeuce be-
tween it and Ehode Island, and to a very long letter from
Governor Hinckley of Plymouth to the secretary of the
royal council, claiming the island as within their limits. ^^^
Eichard Smith, the original purchaser, had recently peti- 18.
tioned the General Court of Plymouth to protect him from
some Rhode Island intruders. This caused the appeal to
the council, which was accompanied by a present of fifty
guineas to the secretary for past services, and the promise
of more in case the Hog Island claim should be allowed. '
A royal commission at length issued to Edward Cran- i68 3
field, governor of New Hampshire, and eight others,'^ or to April
any three of them, whereof Cranfield, or Eandolph, the de-
tested agent for the acts of trade in Massachusetts, should
always be of the quorum, to examine and report upon the
claims to the soil and jurisdiction of Kings Province.
Two more odious names could not be found in New Eng-
land than those of the two prominent members of this
" Gov. Hinckley's MSS. in three folio vols., 1676— 1699 in Mass. Hist.
See, vol. i. No. 40.
- Ed. Cranfield, V/m. Staughton, Joseph Dudley, Ed. Randolph, Samuel
Shrimpton, John P'itz-Winthrop, Ed. Palmes, Nathaniel Salstonstall and John
I'ynchon, Jr., Esquires. Antiq. of Conn., p. 153. 1 M. H. C, v 232. R.
I. Col. Rec, iii. 174. Printed copies of the commission date it April 17th.
but the original report in Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. p. 382, givei
the date as on the margin.
26.
470 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
commission. Cranfield had succeeded Mason as governoi
of New Hampshire ' with the single purpose of making
money, and ruled that ill-fated province with an arbitraiy
power exerted solely for gain. He had but recently ar-
rived in the country,^ and had commenced his despotic
career with an act of tyranny that placed the province
completely beneath his feet. Such was the chai-acter of
the head of a commission that was now to decide upon
questions vital to the interests of Ehode Island.^
2. At the general election, the same officers were again
chosen, but Governor Sandford declining to serve, WilHam
Coddington, son of the late governor of that name, was
chosen in his place, and besides the usual engagement
" also took the oath for trade and navigation," The
power of the Assembly to expel its members was rarely ex-
June ercised, but at the adjourned session, a deputy from War-
wick, against whom complaints were brought and a divorce
granted on petition of his wife at this session, was deemed
unfit to hold his seat, and was therefore expelledj A
movement was made for holding the October Courts an-
nually at Providence and Warwick, which towns were re-
quired to furnish a cage and stocks preparatory thereto.
A complication of affairs at home and abroad, distinct
in their characters, yet all of importance to Khode Island,
ensued at this time. Privateers began to infest the seas,
and often resorted to the American coast, where the lax-
ity in regard to the acts of trade favored, their unlawful
operations. This, as we shall hereafter see, in a few
years degenerated into actual piracy. The first appear-
ance of these naval freebooters in this vicinity we have al-
' 9th May, 1682.
"" Oct. 4th, 1682.
^ New Hampshii-e was at this period a provincial government, differing
from the others in New England, which were all charter governments. A
graphic sketch of the tyranny of Cranfield's administration is found in Bel-
knap's New Hampshire, chap. viii.
* See Appendix B., ante chap. viii.
SECOND ROYAL <JOMMISSION. 471
ready noticed. The claim of the Hamilton family to the chap,
county of New Cambridge, which included all Kings Prov- ^l:^
ince, was again revived. The Duke appointed Edward 1<383
Randolph, one of the commissioners, as his attorney to
prosecute the claim. The arrival of a privateer ship com- 30.
manded by Capt. Thomas Paine, of whom we shall have
further occasion to speak, caused Thatcher, the deputy
collector of Boston, to make a journey to Newport to seize ^-^
the vessel. Governor Coddington refused to lend his aid
in taking the prize. The ship showed Jamaica papers j[6.
that satisfied the governor, but were pronounced a forgery
by the officer, who a second time demanded assistance to ^^•
capture her, and was refused on the ground that her papers
werf^ regular, and that if the collector' did not think so, the
1 iw courts were open for him to tiy the question, Thatcher
returned to Boston, and sent to Coddington a pass from 19.
the governor of Jamaica to show that Paine's clearance
was a forged document. The matter rested thus for
awhile, but subsequently caused much trouble to Rhode
Island. ^
The second royal commission appointed to decide the
Narraganset dispute, now met upon that business. The
General Assembly convened at Warwick, and refused to 20.
publish the summons '^ issued by Cranfield, alleging as rea-
sons for their conduct that the summons were not granted
in his Majesty's name, that the commissioners had not
shown to the government their authority to act, and that
the King had not mentioned their appointment in any of
his letters. The j)rinted briefs that the commissioners
required to be published were both dateless and placeless.
Here were serious informalities, it is true, but it might have
been more politic to have waived these and to have ac-
' Thatcher's account of this affair is in Br. S. P. 0., New England, iii.
- R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 139. Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. p. 225, printed
sheet.
22
472 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, quiesced in the desires of the commissioners. The effect
_^^ of the course adopted was to prejudice the parties who
16 83. were to decide these vital questions, against the just
"■ claims of Rhode Island, while a more courteous treatment,
such as had heen shown to the previous commissioners,
would have comiDromised no principle, and might have
21. prevented any adverse bias in the court. A letter was ad-
dressed to the commissioners, calling upon them to pro-
duce their authority from the King before proceeding fur-
ther. They were in session at the house of Richard Smith.
The Assembly adjourned to meet the next day at the
house of Capt. John Foanes, also in Narraganset, where
the messengers made return that, upon delivering the let-
ter. Governor Cranfield denied any knowledge of a gover-
nor in Kings Province. No answer was sent to the letter
nor any commission shown. The Assembly unanimously
ordered that the governor and council should issue a pro-
hibition forbidding the commissioners from holding a court,
and requiring them peaceably to depart. This was im-
mediately done under the hands and seals of the governor
and council. The prohibition recited the aforesaid reasons
and order, and was posted by the general sergeant at
23, Smith's house. The next day the commissioners notified
the Assembly of the object of their meeting, and that they
had waited two days in vain for Rhode Island to comply
with the King's commands, and should now adjourn to
Boston. To this the Assembly replied, defending their
course, and stating that they had been four days in session
expecting that the commissioners would show their com-
mission. A great deal of testimony, some relevant, and
more not so, was collected by the Court from the various
claimants to the soil and jurisdiction of Narraganset, which
was forwarded to England.'
* Some of this is in the archives of Connecticut, and more in Br. S. P. 0.
New Enjrland, vol. iii. p. 330, among which is a curious old map of Rhode
Island, sent over the next year, dated 4 July, 1684.
24
COMPLAINTS AGAINST CRANFIELD. 473
The Assembly then elected and engaged conservators chap
of the peace and other town officers for Kingstown, and
adjourned for two weeks. Committees were then ap-
pointed to draft letters to the royal council, and Arthur
Fenner and Ex-Gov. Sandford where chosen by ballot as
agents to proceed to England. A tax of four hundred
pounds was voted for this purpose. The letter complain-
ed of Cranfield and his colleagues for not showing their ^^
commissions, and explained the conduct of the Assembly
consequent thereon, contrasting these with the acts of
the former commissioners and the treatment they had re-
ceived. It requested that notice should be given them in
case any complaints were made by Cranfield on this sub-
ject, that they might reply thereto. The town of War-
wick also sent an address ' to the King, written by Eandal 17.
Holden and John Greene, rebearsins; the foregoino; facts
and referring to the statements they had given when in
London. This paper substantiated the positions taken in
the Assembly's letter. Ehode Island had nothing to hope
from the royal commissioners whose haughty bearing she
had so indignantly resented. They were the avowed ene-
mies of all the colonies, as their private letters and of-
ficial papers equally prove. Cranfield's correspondence
is full of the spite of personal enmity engendered by
the treatment that his insolent and unprincipled con-
duct caused him everywhere to receive, Connecticut ap-
proached him with that cautious courtesy which his place,
if not his character, demanded, and for which she received
in return his approbation of her claims. His letter to the Oct
Board of Trade, accompanying the Report, abounds in
abuse of Rhode Island, in which it is difficult to separate
the misstatements of fact from the expressions of invective.
And lest he migbt seem, in usino; language which had too
often before been applied to Rhode Island by her sister
' The originals of both these letters are iu Br. S. P. O., New Eng., vol. ilL
pp. 230, 234. R.I. CoL Rec, iii. 135, 137.
474 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHOD. ISLAND.
CHAP, colonies, to be tacitly approving their course, lie charged
^^ the same disloyalty upon them, and concludes by sayin^
16 8 3. that " it never will be otherwise till their charters are
Oct
19/ broke, ' and the college at Cambridge utterly extirpated,
for from thence those half-witted Philosophers turn either
Atheists or seditious Preachers." ^ On the same day
Gov. Coddington, by order of the General Asseipbly, sent
an address to the King to the same effect as the Septem-
ber letter, relating to the conduct of jCranfield.^ The
"^- Eeport of the royal commissioners was a lengthy document
reciting the parties' claimants, the disrespectful treatment
of the commissioners by Ehode Island, the points of dis-
puted jurisdiction, hanging upon the interpretation of the
words " Narraganset river " in the two charters, which
was declared in favor of Connecticut, and then the claims
to propriety of the soil, which was decided fully in favor
of the Atherton company. The agent of the Duke of
Hamilton arrived too late to present that claim in season.
It was therefore referred to the King, and the adverse
j^^- parties were notified thereof. ^ Connecticut sent her an-
swer to the claim, alleging seven valid reasons against it,
to which the Duchess of Hamilton afterwards replied, re-
butting the positions taken by Connecticut, but in vain, ^
and the Narraganset proprietors also petitioned that the
decision of the commissioners in their behalf be con-
firmed.^
Among the important events of this year there was
one that had already occurred, more memorable than any
' This was the first direct intimation of the calamity that was soon to come
upon New England.
" Br. S. P. 0., vol. iii. p. 227. R. I. Col. Rec, iiL 146.
' Br. S. P. O., vol. iii. p. 232 of New Eng papers. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 147.
* Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iii., p. 332-7. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 140-5.
R. I. H. C, iii. 229-38.
' Both papers are in Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. viii., and the former u
printed in Antiq. of Conn. p. 159.
• Br. S. P. O., N. Eng., vol. iii. p. 319.
^EATH OF ROGER WILLIAMS. 475
we have recorded — the death of Ko^er Williams. More chap.
. • XT
than half a century had elapsed since this ardent friend ^,^
of freedom landed on the shores of Massachusetts, and 16 8 3.
forty-seven years had passed away since, twice exiled for
opinion's sake, he erected in this wilderness the altar of
free worship. He had seen the powerful tribes, that first
welcomed their " white brother " to the hospitalities of
the forest, melt away beneath the advance of a civiliza-
tion which he had heralded ; and he had lived to see his
little band of six associates grown into a prosperous colo-
ny amid persecution, pestilence, and war. With devout
thanksgiving he recognized the Suj^reme Power who had
preserved his infant colony through so many dangers, to
perpetuate and disseminate the eternal principles of civil
and religious freedom which he had sought to establish.
Of all the pioneers who settled the first four towns he was
nearly the last survivor ; but two, Randal Holden and
John Greene, outlived their leader. He died in his
eighty-fourth year, but how or precisely when is not cer-
tainly known, ' and " was buried with all the solemnity the
colony was able to show." -
The remarkable traits of his character may be gather-
ed from what has heretofore been recorded in these pages.
His life has been written by able pens, and well repays
perusal by those who would learn the trials and appre-
ciate the triumphs of this Christian statesman.^ He suf-
fered more than most men from the slanders of those who
should have been his friends, as well as from the ojDpres-
sion of his enemies. The bitterness of theological strife
spared no weapons which envy or malice could supply.
Coddington even accused him " as a hireling, who for the
' He died between January 16th and May 10th, 1683 Knowles, 354.
* Cullender, R. I. H. C, iv. 147, note.
^ By Prof J. D. Knowles, Boston, 1834, 12nao. pp. 437 ; by Prof. W. Gam-
tnell, in Sparke's Am. Biog. New Series, vol. iv. Boston, 1845 ; and by Dr.
Romeo Elton, Providence, 1853. 16mo. pp. 173.
476 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
CHAP, sake of money went to England for the charter ! " Harris,
_^i;^ in the long and angry controversy between them, left no
16 8 3, means untried to undermine his influence with those for
whom he had supplied a home when the gates of Massa-
chusetts were closed against them. Scot earliest dis-
played those feelings of envy, which successful merit is
certain to excite in jealous or feeble minds, when the
whole population turned out to receive Mr. Williams upon
his return from England with the first charter. " The
man," he says, " being hemmed in, in the middle of the
canoes, was so elevated and transported .out of himself,
that I was condemned in myself, that amongst the rest, I
had been an instrument to set him up in his pride and
folly." ' But posterity has rendered justice to his memory,
and the founder of Rhode Island, the great champion of in-
tellectual liberty, has outlived the efforts of his detractors.
The leading peculiarities of his mind may be briefly
sketched. A firmness, amounting in some cases perhaps
to obstinacy, enabled him to suffer hardships, rarely if
ever surpassed by those of any exile for opinion's sake.
His generosity amounted to prodigality ; for after having
purchased of the Indians all the lands around his new
plantations, with his own money, he divided them equally
among those who followed him. His charity was an ac-
tive principle, that led him to brave all peril to effect
good to the natives, or to reconcile feuds among his fellow-
tizens. Of his forgiving spirit his conduct toward the
neighboring colonies furnishes ample evidence. He har-
bored no feelings of revenge for injuries received, but
pitied the weakness, or lamented the delusion whence
they arose. His consistency and love of truth are alike
ajjparent in his controversy with the Quakers at NewjDort,
which has been so much misrepresented ; yet he would
' The Quaker controversy of 1G72 was the fruitful occasion of these mani-
festations of malevolence, all of which, and many more, may be found in Now
England's Firebrand Quenched, a work before referred to.
PRIVATEERS. CLAIMS OF PLYMOUTH. 477
Lave laid down his life rather than have a hair of their chap.
heads injured on account of their doctrinal views. His in- ^^'
dustry was unwearied ; he valued time and he well im- 16 8 3.
proved it. " One grain of its inestimable sand," said he,
" is worth a golden mountain." His faults were those of
an ardent mind, sometim.es hastf^ ever slow to yield ; but
these were few beside his exalted virtues. He was a
varied scholar, a profound philosopher, a practical Chris-
tian, a true philanthropist — one whose deep knowledge of
men, and whose acute perception of principles as displayed
in the foundation of an American State, entitle him to
the rank, Avhich posterity has bestowed, among the most
far-sighted statesmen of his age — one who, were it his
only praise to have been the first of modern legislators to
embody the princijjles of universal toleration in the con-
stitution of a State, would, by this act alone, secure a
niche in the temj)le of fame, and cause his name to be
handed down through all future time as the great Apostle
of Keligious Freedom. 1683-4.
The appearance of privateers upon the high seas en-
gaged the attention of the home government. Jamaica "^larch
was at first the head-quarters of these illegal proceedings,
and orders were sent to that island, and afterward to the
New England colonies, to pass laws against privateering
and piracy. The claims of Plymouth to the soil of Rhode
Island were now extended to an absurd point, including
the island of Aquedneck, as well as the long disputed
islet at the mouth of Mt. Hope bay, known as Hog Island.
A letter from Grov. Hinckley to Secretary Blathway t sets . „
forth this new claim, resting it upon the western boundary
of Plymouth patent, described as the middle of Narragan-
set bay, the mouth of which is between Seaconnet and
Point Judith, and the main channel westward of Aqued-
ueck, and hence including that island.' These two sub-
* Hinckley MSB. vol i. No. 63. Masa. Hist. Soc
478 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, jects presented the chief topics of legislation at the Gen*
,_5^ ei'^l Assembly.
1684. The same executive oflScers were again chosen, and
7^^ for the first time, two majors, John Coggeshall for the
island and John Greene for the main, were also elected by
the people. The governor being ill, the Assembly met at
his house, where the oath according to the act of Trade
^- and Navigation was administered with the regular en-
gagement. A difference between the towns of Portsmouth
and Newport, which had existed ever since their separa-
^^- tion, was now settled by the Assembly, the line between
them was established, and the tenure of lands upon the
J island definitely fixed. The proclamation concerning
24. privateers and pirates was received at an adjourned session,
and published in Newport by beat of drum. The act re-
quired thereby was at once passed, making it felony to
serve under any foreign Prince against any power at peace
with England, without special license, and making all
persons liable as accessories who should give aid or coun-
tenance in any way to those who might be adjudged as
privateers or pirates. Time was allowed for those already
employed under foreign flags to return and give security
to the governor for their future behavior. The act was
transmitted to England with letters from the colony.
Similar acts were passed by the other colonies. The in-
trusions of Plymouth, based upon her recent extravagant
claims, were discussed, and a letter was sent to Gov. Hinck-
ley, remonstrating in friendly terms against two acts of
violence committed at Hog Island by N. Byfield of Bris-
tol, and others, but making no allusion to any further claim
of that colony.'
The Jews, who afterwards contributed so much to the
commercial prosperity of Newport, appeared for the first
time, by petition, at this Assembly, and received the as-
surance that they might expect as good protection here
' Hinckley MSS. vol. No. 64. Mass. Hist Soc.
CHARLES II. AND JAMES II. 479
as any other resident foreigners, being obedient to the chap.
YT
laws.' The autumn sessions of the Assembly were ap- ^^.1,,^
pointed to be held hereafter alternately at Warwick and 16 8 4,
Providence, and accordingly met this year at Warwick, 29.
and assessed a tax of one hundred and sixty pounds, no-
tice of which had been given at the spring session.
The death of Charles II. and the proclamation of his ^5ft"^'
brother James II., occurred soon after in England. What- e.
ever may be said of the public and private character of
the deceased monarch, Rhode Island is bound to speak
well of his civil administration so far as it concerned her-
self, for to him she owed the confirmation of her glorious
privileges in the second charter, and was uniformly pro-
tected by him against the assumptions of her arrogant
neighbors. The broad principles of universal toleration,
which a distracted n-ation hailed in the famous Declara-
tion of Breda, and which Clarke incorporated in its very
terms in his draft of the charter of Rhode Island, were
secured to her, although they were denied to his other
subjects. The new king was soon to inaugurate a new
policy subversive of all liberty, and to prostrate New
England beneath his feet by means of a royal governor.
While this storm was gathering, other claimants pre-
sented themselves for the contested soil of Narraganset.
One sixteenth of all the lands held by the Atherton com-
pany had been bestowed upon Lord Culpeper, governor
of Virginia, who now petitioned the crown, in behalf of ^ 24.
his associates, to confirm their possession, offering to pay
an annual quit-rent of two and sixpence for every hundred 1^8 5
acres. The Earl of Arran, son of the Duke of Hamilton, . ..
again urged the old claim of his grandfather the Marquis. 3.
These petitions took the usual course of reference to the
^ This is worthy of note as evidence that the famous phrases, " professing
Christianity," &c., were not embodied in the law of 1663, as the enemies of
Rhode Island have charged, but were interpolated at a later date, and, as would
appear by this act, subsequent certainly to 1684.
480. HISTOKY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
Board of Trade, where tliey slumbered for some years be-
fore any Report was made upon them.' The nval claims
among the actual settlers in Narraganset was giving rise
to disturbance, threatening serious results. To prevent
18 this the governor and council of Ehode Island issued an
order requiring that no man should molest any one in
the quiet possession of his lands, until the King's pleasure
could be known.
Mny The first direct step was now taken in England by
^' Edward Randolph against the liberty of the colonies. He
complained to the Board of Trade of irregularities in Con-
necticut and Rhode Island, and urged that writs of quo
warranto should be granted against them, for the purpose
of revoking their charters. An order was at once issued
for him to prepare articles of misdemeanor against these
colonies, that might serve as a basis for the writs,^ That
some intimation of impending peril had reached Rhode
Island, we infer from the proceedings at the general elec-
tion. Gov. Coddington was absent when the Assembly
met. He was re-elected, and an earnest, letter informing
him of the fact, and requesting his presence, was carried
6- to him by a committee of the members. He appeared,
but declined to serve. Henry Bull, a man who afterwards
proved himself to be as fearless as he was honest, was
then chosen governor ; and the deputy governor, Walter
Clarke, was re-elected. The attorney general and several
of the Assembly also refused to take their engagements,
and others were chosen in their places. An address, in
the usual style, was prepared, congratulating King James
upon his accession, and asking a continuance of the fav*)rs
bestowed by his predecessor. The proprietors of Narra-
ganset sent a similar address.^
' Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iii. pp. 322 3, 326-7.
" See original letter prefacing the articles. Br. S. P. 0., New England
vol. iv. p. 245. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 175.
' Originals of both in Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. pp. 294, 348.
WRITS OF QUO WAERANTO. 481
A royal letter announcing an impost upon sugar and chap.
tobacco, to be paid by the retailers and consumers, and ^^'
mentioning also the defeat of Argyle and Monmouth in 168 5.
Scotland, was sent as the first greeting from the new King 26 ^
after his accession.' The General Assembly at an ad-
journed session filled the vacancies in the list of Assist- 30.
ants, two from Warwick having declined to serve.
As soon as Randolph had prepared the articles of mis- July
demeanor, according to the order of council, they were ^^'
J) resented with the request that writs of qico warranto be
forthwith issued. The articles were referred to the Attor- ^7
ney General, with an order to issue the writs against
Rhode Island and Connecticut, and advising the same
process upon the proprietors of East and West Jersey
and Delaware.^ The articles, as may be supposed, were
malicious in spirit and false in fact ; but they accomplish-
ed the purpose of their artful designer, who followed up
his scheme with untiring zeal. The Attorney General
placed the whole five writs in the hands of Randolph, who
urged the Board of Trade to send them to America by a 3°*
vessel about to sail. His anxiety was the greater on ac-
count of the failure of a similar writ issued nine months
before, against Massachusetts, which had lapsed owing
to the length of the voyage, the term at which it was
made returnable having passed. He therefore proposed ig,
to the Board to take them himself to America, and asked
also for power to erect a temporary government in
Massachusetts until a royal governor could be sent out
for all New England.^ This request was in the main Oct.
granted, and copies of the quo warranto were sent out ^•
soon after from the sheriff's office, with letters explaining
' Antiq. of Conn. 167.
^ Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iv. p. 247. New York Docs. vol. iiL p.
362. E. I. Col. Rec. iii. 175-7.
^ Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. pp. 3-19-366. R. I. Col. Rec. iii.
177-8.
VOL. I 31
28
482 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
the contents.' Two days later a President and Council
were appointed to govern Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
Maine and Kings Province. This commission consisted
of seventeen persons, residents of New England, and
many of them proprietors in Narraganset. Joseph Dud-
20- ley was named as President, and Edward Randolph was
made Secretary.^ Judgment against Massachusetts was
entered up a few days after.
The General Assemhly met at Providence. A peti-
tion from certain inhabitants of Rhode Island was pre-
sented, asking for a grant of vacant lands in Kings Prov-
inc3, sufficient to support a hundred and fifty families,
that they might commence a new plantation. The As-
sembly authorized the governor and council of Rhode
Island to locate this new settlement in the Narraganset
and Niantic countries, and to divide Kingstown into more
than one town, or adopt any other course in regard to the
difficulties there that they might deem best. A copy of
' The quo warranto cannot be found, but the original letter inwhicli it was
enclosed is preser^-ed among the Foster MSS. vol. iv. in R. I. Hist. Soc, and
is as follows: "London, October 6, 1685. Gentlemen. This day was delivered
to my hand (as I am secondary to the sheriff of London), a writt of Cowarranto
ishewin" out of the Crowne ofice of the Court of King's bench at Westminster,
afainstyou the Gov'"' and Company of the English colony of the Rhoade Island
and the providence plantations in New Ingland in America, Requiring your
appearance before his Magesty wheresoever he shall then be in Ingland, Irom
the daye of Easter in fifteen days to answer unto our Lord" the King by what
warrant you claim to have and youse divers libertyesand franchieses w'i'in the
si Colony — vizt., in the parish of Saint Michsell Bassieshaw, London, of which
you are impeached, and that you may not be Ignorant of any part of the con-
tents of the s' writt, I have in Closed unto you a true Coppia of the si writt
(in his Magestj^'s name requiring j-our appearance to it), and aquainting you
that in defalte thereof you will be proceeded against to the outlawry, whereby
the libertys and franchises you claime and now Injoye wUl be forfited to the
King, and your Charter annulled. Of this Gents plese to take notiss, from
your humble ser\'ant (unknown) Ri. Normansell." A similar letter to Con-
necticut, dated a year later, in the print, and varying somewhat in terms, is
found in Antiq. of Conn. p. 171.
■' 1 M. H. C, vol. V. 244. R. I. Col. Rec. iii. 197, 200. Randolph's com-
mission as secretary of the council is dated 21 Sept. 1685.
1 Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. pp. 355 and 379. R. I. Col. Rec,
iii. 183.
» A broadside in Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. iii. p. 381.
" M. C. R., vol. v.p. 516. 2 M. H. C, viu. 179. R. I. C. R., iii. 203.
RANDOLPH ARRIYES AT BOSTON. 48S
this act, and also of the petition, was sent to England.' chap.
A divorce law, making five years' neglect or absence of ,__,_;_
either party a ground of separation, was passed at this time. 1685-6.
The Narraganset proprietors published a protest against
this settlement act of the Ehode Island Assembly, signed
bv the three agents of the company, the authors of the fa-
mous handbill, of eight years before, prohibiting any persons 22.
from entering upon the land without their consent, or that
of Kichard Smith and Francis Brinley, who resided on 16 8 6.
1 A • 1 (^ 1 • 1 April
the spot.^ A revival 01 the prosecutions upon the seve- 2I.
ral writs of quo ivarranto was moved in the royal council.
At the general election the late deputy governor, H^^
Walter Clarke, was chosen governor, and Major John
Coggeshall, deputy governor. The laws relating to excise
on liquors, keeping taverns, and selling arms to the In-
dians, were repealed, and a committee was appointed to co-
dify the laws, the former committee for that purpose never
having reported. The speedy suspension of the charter
rendered this committee equally inefficient. As soon as 13.
news of the arrival of Randolph, at Boston, reached Ehode
Island, Grov. Clarke wrote him a friendly letter, offering 15.
his ser\'ices in behalf of the King. Dudley, the new gov-
ernor, or President of the Council, showed a copy of the 17.
royal commission to the General Court of Massachusetts,
who took exception to its contents, and unanimously
adopted a letter to him, stating their objections, which
were as valid as they were impolitic. The Court also re- 20.
moved all papers, relating to their charter, from the cus-
tody of their secretary, and deposited them with a special
committee for safe keeping.^ The first proclamation of
the new government confirmed all the existing officers of
justice in the several provinces. A second proclamation
2")
28
17.
484 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, followed, establishing the royal government in Narragan-
,j!^^ set, erecting a Court of Record there, appointing civil
16 86. and military officers for the time being, and prohibiting
Connecticut or Rhode Island from further exercise of
jurisdiction in that country.' But this government was
simply provisional, to continue only till the plan of con-
solidating all New England under one royal governor
3. could be perfected. This was done by the appointment
of Sir Edmund Andros, formerly governor of New York,
to the supreme autliority, by royal commission.^ Until
his arrival Dudley and his council had full sway within
the limits of their government. They examined the pro-
ceedings of the Cranfield commission in regard to Narra-
ganset, confirmed the records, and adopted the same book
for all subsequent entries of the acts of the proprietors.
They also rebuked the other authorities for the injustice
that had so long been practised against all dissenters from
the Puritan Church, The best act of the Dudley ad-
ministration, and the only one for which the secretary,
Randolph, deserves commendation from Rhode Island,
was a letter that he wrote to Gov. Hinckley on account
of a tax laid at Scituate, upon a Quaker, for the support
of the ministry. Randolph arrived in Rhode Island, with
the fatal order of council upon the quo warranto, and
there heard the complaint of this act of injustice com-
mitted about three weeks before in Plymouth. The
liberality of the Pilgrim colony had long since yielded to
the overwhelming influence of Massachusetts, and there
was now but little difference between them, either on points
of doctrine or of ecclesiastical polity. Although Plymouth
was not included in Dudley's government, the secretary
' R. I. C. R., iii. 197. Richard Smith, James Pendleton, and John Foanes,
were named aa Justices, Riqhard Smith as Sergeant Major of militia, and four
constables were also designated. Both proclamations are on printed broad-
aides in Br. S. P. O., New England, vol. iii, pp, 375, 377.
' His commission is printed in full in R. I. (1 R., iii. 212-18.
22.
NAMES OF TOWNS CHANGED. 485
at once wrote to the governor, expressing regret that, while chap.
liberty of conscience had been granted in the royal com- ^^l^J^
mission to the colonies therein included, it should be re- 16 8 6.
strained in that colony without special license from the 22.
King. The letter further stated that it would be as
reasonable to levy a tax on Plymouth for the support of
the Church of England minister, now preaching at Bos-
ton, as to make the Quakers pay to maintain the Puritan
clergy. This was a home thrust that admitted of no parry
except by adopting the principles of Khode Island ; and
not a little of the im-potent rage displayed against Dud-
ley and his successor, may be fairly ascribed to the spirit
of religious intolerance.
Randolph having delivered the order of council upon
the writ, and at the same time soothed, in a measure,
the irritated feelings of the people by his unexpected de-
fence of their favorite principle, the next day passed over
to Narraganset, where Dudley and his council held a 23.
court. The commission was read, the oaths of office and
of allegiance therein prescribed were administered to the
justices and people, and John Foanes was made perma-
nent clerk of the Court of Records. The militia were
duly commissioned, and the names of the three towns in
the Province were changed. Kingston, the chief town,
was called Rochester, Westerly, the second in size, was
named Haversham, and Greenwich, the smallest, Dedford.
Their boundaries were established, the western limits of
Haversham to be the Pawcatuck river, and the northern
bound of Dedford to be the town of Warwick, and to in-
clude within it the disputed neck of Potow^omet, long
claimed by the latter.' Preemption rights were allowed
' This pave ris? to a dispute. In order to an amicable settlement, the town
of Warwick on 9 July, 1686, appointed three men to meet a deputation, pro-
bably the ihree agents of the Atherton company, at a place halfway between
Warwick and Boston, to discuss the matter, but instructed them to yield noth-
ing over which they had a just claim by purchase from the Indians. The re-
486 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, to those who, without leave of the proprietors, had settled
^^.^^ upon the old ^' mortgaged lands," and time was given for
16 8 6. them to arrange with the owners, by rent or purchase,
"°^ with right of appeal to the government at Boston in the
case of dissatisfaction. Two annual courts of Pleas were
established, to be held at Rochester in May and October.
Thirty wild, or unmarked horses were ordered to be caught
24. and sold, the proceeds to be employed in building a
prison and erecting stocks, and Daniel Vernon was ap-
pointed marshal of the Province and keeper of the prison.'
The government of Kings Province was thus organized on
what was believed to be a permanent basis. The western
boundary was established in accordance with the early claim
of Rhode Island, with which the Province was soon again
to be incorporated never more to be divided.
The usual June adjournment of the May session hap-
pened to fall at the precise time when the summons of
Randolph to assemble the freemen would have required it
29. to meet. It was the last General Assembly that for
nearly four years was to convene upon the free soil of Rhode
Island. Notice had been given by Gov, Clarke for the
freemen generally to attend and give their opinion upon
the course to be pursued. A large number were present,
and, after consultation, left the matter to the judgment
of the Assembly, who wisely determined not to stand suit
with the King, but to proceed by humble address to his
Majesty, asking a continuance of their charter privileges.
A committee was appointed for this purpose, and to pro-
cure a messenger to go to England.
But, although the freemen in General Assembly thus
quietly and prudently surrendered their common charter
at the dictation of a despot whose will was law, they had
no idea of parting with their ancient liberties beyond a
suit of this conference, which was to be held on the 13th July, cannot be as-
certained. The Warwick records of this period are lost.
- Potter's Narraganset. R. I. H, C, iii. 239. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 200-3.
SUSPENSION OF THE CHARTER. 487
certain and inevitable point. Their distinct existence as a chap.
colony was soon to be merged in a great central government. ^^^^
The purpose for which they had first sought a patent, to 1 'J S 6.
consolidate the towns so as to compel the neighboring colo- 29.
nies to respect their rights, was no longer essential under
an administration that was to reduce the whole of New
England to the same level in point of power. The new
government would not tolerate such acts on the part of
her neighbors as had led the four original towns of Rhode
Island to combine under the first charter. Before that
period each town was in itself sovereign, and enjoyed a
full measure of civil and religious freedom. They had
now only to fall back upon their primitive system of
town governments to be as free under the new regime as
they had been prior to the union of 1647 ; while a royal
government would secure to them the same protection
from their neighbors that the charters had done. For
these reasons the policy of James II. was less disastrous
to Rhode Island than to any other of its victims. It
caused her to fall back upon a system in which she had
already had experience, and which had proved chitfly de-
fective in the single point that the new policy would ob-
viate. The American system of town governments,
which necessity had compelled Rhode Island to initiate,
fifty years before, now became the means of preserving
the liberty of the individual citizen when that of the
State, or colony, was crashed. To provide for this was
the last act of the expiring legislature. For this purpose
it was declared " lawful, for the freemen of each town in
this colony to meet together and appoint five, or more or
fewer, days in the year for their assembling together, as
the freemen of each town shall conclude to be convenient,
for the managing the affairs of their respective towns ; "
and that yearly, upon one of those days, town officers should
be chosen as heretofore, taxes levied, and other business
transacted at such meetings, as the majority should de-
488 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
termine ; and that to prevent question of the legality of
the meetings the townsmen should order their clerk, or
16 8 6. other officer, to warn the freemen to attend at a certain
•^."g® day and hour. The Assembly then dissolved. The clos-
ing scene in the first period of. Ehode Island history, under
the Royal charter, was at hand. Although the arrival of
Andros did not occur for some months, his commission had
already issued, and as there was no change in his policy,
so far as regards Rhode Island and Kings Province, from
that which was adopted by Dudley in respect to Narra-
ganset, his administration virtually commenced in Rhode
Island with the suspension of the charter.
APPENDIX F.
ANSWER OF RHODE ISLAND TO THE INQUIRIES OF THE BOARD
OF TRADE.
FROM THE ORIGINAL IN THE BRITISH STATE PAPER OFFICE, NEW ENGLAND
PAPERS. B. T. VOL. III. P. 121.
Whereas wee the Governor and Councill of his Majesties Colloney
of Rhoade Island and Providence Plantations receaved from your
Lordships the Right Honorable, the Lords of his Majesties most Hon-
orable Privy Councill, appointed a committee for Trade and Forreign
Plantations certain heads of inquiery, subscribed by the honorable
secretary William Blathwayt, in obedience to your Lordships com-
mands requiring an answer thereunto ; wee the Governor and Councill
afoiesaid accordinge to the best of our understandinge make answer as
foUoweth, viz'.
To the first wee humbly answer that the Councelis and Assemblies
are stated accordinge to his Majesties appointment in his gratious let-
ters Pattents, and our Courts of judicature are two in the yeare certain
appointed accordinge to Charter, and are carried on by Judges and
Jurors, accordinge to Law and Charter.
To the second, concerniiige the court of Admiralty wee answer that
wee have made provision to act accordinge to the Lawes of England
ANSWERS TO THE BOARD OF TRADE. 48S
as neare as the constitution of our place will bearc havinge but little chap.
occasion thereofe. " _;^
To the third wee answer that accordinge to our Charter the Legis- "^pp.
lative power is seated in our Generall Assemblies, and the executive F.
power of the government is in our Courts of Trialls settled accordinge
to Charter. '
To the fourth wee answer that our Lawes are made accordinge to
the Charter not repugnant but agreable to the Lawes of England.
To the fifth we answer, that as for Horse wee have but few, but the
chief of our Militia consists of ten companys of foote, being Trayned
Bands under one Generall Commander, and their arras are firelockcs.
To the sixth, wee answer that in the late Indian warres wee forti-
fied ourselves against the Indians as necessity required, but as for
fortification against a Forreign enemie, as yet wee have had no occasion
but have made as good provision as at present wee are capacitated to
doe.
To the seventh wee answer, that our coast is little frequented and
not at all at this time with privateer's or pirates.
To the eighth wee answer, as with respect to other Nations, that
the French being seated at Canada and up the Bay of Funde are a
very considerable number, as wee judge about two thousand, but as
for the Indians, they are generally cut off by the late warr, that were
inhabitinge our Colloney.'
To the 9th wee answer, that as for Forreighners and Indians, we
have no commerce with, but as for our neighbouringe English, wee
have and shall endeavour to keepe a good correspondency with them.
To the 10th wee answer as to the Boundaryes of our Land within
our Patent that our Charter doth declare the same viz— (extracts th^
hounds from the charter, and adds, " the greatest part of it unculti-
vated, and is about a degree as we conceave.")
To the 11th wee answer that the principal town for trade in our
Colloney is the Towne of Newport, that the generality of our buildinge
is of timber and generally small.
To the 12th, That wee have nine towns or divisions within our
CoUone}'.
To the 13th, That wee have several good Harbors in the Colloney
of very good depth and soundinge, navigable for any shippinge.
To the 14th, That the principall matters that are exported amongst
us, is Horses and provisions, and the goods chiefly imported is a small
quantity of Barbadoes goods for supply of our familyes.
To the 15th, That as for Salt Peter we know of none in this Col-
loney.
To the 16th, Wee an.swer that wee have severall men that deale m
bu^iuge and selliuge although they cannot properly be called Merchants,
490 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
and for Planters wee conceave there are about five hundred and abou
five hundred men besides.
To the 17th, that we have had few or none either of English, Scots,
Irish or Forreighnors, onely a few blakes imported.
To the 18th, That there may be of Whites and Blakes about two
hundred boiiie in a yeare.
To the 19th, That for marriages we have about fifty in a yeare.
To the 20th, That for burrials this seaven yeares last past accord-
inge to computation amounts to foure hundred fifty and five."'
To the 21st, That as for Merchants wee have none, but the most of
our Collonej' live comfortably by improvinge the wildernesse.
To the 22d, That wee have no shippinge belonginge to our Colloney
but only a few sloopes.
To the 23d, that the great obstruction concerninge trade is the
want of Merchants and Men of considerable Estates amongst us.
To the 24th, wee answer that a flshinge trade might prove very
benefidall piovided accord inge to the former artickle there were men
of considerable Estates amongst us and willing to propagate it.
To the 25th, That as for goodes exported and imported, which is
very little, there is no Custome imposed.
To the 26th. wee answer that those people that goe under the de-
nomination of Baptists and Quakers are the most that publiquelv con-
gregate together, but there are others of divers persuasions and prin-
ciples all which together with them injoy their liberties accordinge to
his Majesties gratious Charter to them granted, wherein all people in
our Colloney are to enjoj' their liberty o( conscience provided their
liberty extend not to licentiousnesse, but as for Papists, wee know of
none amongst us.
To the 27th, That we leave every Man to walke as God shall per-
suade their hartes, and doe activel}' and passively yield obedience to
the Civill Magistrate and doe not actively disturb the Civill peace and
live peaceably in the Corporation as our Charter requires, and have
liberty to frequent any meetings of Avorship for their better Instruc-
tion and information, but as for beggars and vagabonds wee have none
amongst us ; and as for lame and impotent persons there is a due
course taken. This may further humbly informe your Lordships that
our predecessors about forty years since left their native countrey and
comfortable settlements there because they could not in their private
opinions conform to the Lithurge, formes and ceremonies of the Church
of England, and transported themselves and familyes over the Ocean
seas to dwell in this remote wildernesse, that the}' might injoy their
liberty in their opinions, which upon application to his gratious Majesty
after his happy restouration did of his bountifull goodnesse graunt us a
Charter full of liberty of conscience, provided that the pretence of
ANSWERS TO THE BOARD OF TRADE. 491
liberty extend not to licentiousnesse, in which said Charter there is qhap.
liberty for any persons that will at their charges build Churches and XI.
maintaine such as are called Ministers without the least molestation ^pp
as well as others. F.
In the behalf and with the consent of the Councill, signed
Peleg Sandford, GoTemor.
Dated Newport on Road Island
the eighth of May 1680.
492 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE LSLAND.
CHAPTER XII.
1686—1700.
FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE ANDKOS GOVERNMENT TO
THE CLOSE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
CHAP. The address of Rhode Island to the Kinor acknowledg-
xn. . ^ ^
- — . — ' ed the receipt of the quo warrcintos at the hand of Ran-
f^f' dolph, and declared that although the period had already
3. passed at which the writ was returnable, they would not
stand suit with his Majesty. The policy of this course
was obvious. Resistance could only have incensed the
monarch, and prove futile in the end. The Bermudas
Islands and the city of London had both stood a trial and
lost their charters. A large number of corporations in
England had shared the same fate. The infamous Jef-
feries was then Lord Chancellor, to whom the will of the
King was the only law. New England was doomed, and
every consideration of principle or of policy that could ac-
tuate Rhode Island moved her to this course ; the more
so as James II. had proclaimed her favorite idea of free-
dom of conscience. The address asked for a continuance
of her privileges in this respect, and that no persons
should be placed over her " that suit not the nature and
constitution of your Majesty's subjects here," and further,
28.
PROCEEDINGS OF RANDOLPH. 493
that Newport might be made a free port.' Another ad-
dress from certain freemen of Ehode Island was sent, to the
same effect, but injudiciously taking exception to the act of ^ ^^ ^
the Assembly, and praying that they, the signers, may be ig.
exempt from the tax for an agent to be sent to England.
This attempt at action independent from that of the As-
sembly in the premises, was, to say the least, in bad taste,
and its motive is sufficiently apparent at the close. It
indicatec the preversity of party spirit at a time when all
parties should have united in view of a common danger.
It ii9 signed by fourteen persons, representing various in-
terests, several of whom were among the Atherton pur-
chasers.^ The two writs against Connecticut were not
served by Randolph till a month later than those against
Rhode Island. A special Assembly was thereupon con- ^^•
vened at Hartford, who appointed an agent to carry
a petition to the King. A third writ was afterward
brought against them, and it was not till Sir Edmund
Andros had arrived and personally appeared with an
armed force before the Connecticut assembly, that the
colony finally submitted ; but they concealed their char-
ter in a hollow of the famous tree since known as the
" Charter Oak." '
Randolph sent an account to the Board of Trade of
his proceedings, and of the state of government in the
colonies, urging that a general governor should be sent
without delay. ^ Major John Greene of Warwick was Aug
commissioned by the governor to carry the letters and ad-
dress to England and to act as agent for the Colony.^
His former colleague in the agency, Randal Holden, also
sent an address concerning Kings Province, rehearsing its 21.
» Br. S. P. 0., Xew Eng., v. 3. p. 396. K. I. Col. Rec, iii. 193.
* Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 412. R. I. Col. Rec , iii, 194.
3 Oct. 31, 1687. Trumbull B. 1. oh. xv. p. 368-72, edit. 1818.
* Br. S. P. O., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 315. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 208.
* Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 435.
494 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, history since the submission of the Sachems, down to the
j^^' government of Dudley, and advising that persons not in-
16 8 6. terested in the lands should have the disposal of them, as
01^' his Majesty's interests were disregarded by the present
rulers.' The justices of Narraganset, who were among
its proprietors, sent an address assailing the character of
Greene, the Rhode Island agent, as the author of their
troubles, in order to counteract his influence at the
Court,' and asking that their affairs might be referred
to Dudley and his council. A similar petition against
Greene was sent by the Pawtuxet proprietors, asking for
a like reference of their dispute with Warwick on the fa-
mous second verdict, obtained by Harris in their behalf
nine years before.^ In a long communication from Presi-
dent Dudley, sent at this time to the Board of Trade, he
dwells upon the violations of the acts of trade all along
the coast from Nova Scotia to New York, and mentions
the aggressions of the French upon the fishing vessels
of New England. He states that, to prevent illegal
commerce, the number of free ports had been much re-
duced, and gives also a full account of the proceedings of
the council in organizing Kings Province.* The secretary,
Randolph, in a letter denouncing the conduct of Massa-
chusetts for resisting an impost of duties, which he es-
timates would yield a revenue of four thousand pounds
sterling a year, when Connecticut and Rhode Island were
added to the New England government, also mentions
the appearance of piratical vessels upon the coast, to the
great hinderance of trade.' In a private letter of the
same date to the Lord Treasurer, Randolph complains
bitterly of his colleagues in the government, especially of
President Dudley, who he says refuses to aid him in the
' Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 440.
' Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 411. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 208.
" Br. S. P. O.. New Eng., vol. iv. p. 407. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 209.
* Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 311.
" Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 195. R I. Col. Rec, iii. 206.
23.
SEAL AND FLAG OF NEW ENGLAND. 495
schemes of enthralment whicli lie proposes for New Eng- chap.
land, and he urges again the sending of a general gov- >_j^
ernor. This letter presents a curious picture of the di- 16 86.
vided. councils that prevailed in the colonies, even among °'
the despotic ministers of King James.^ The Quakers nc^
also prepared a.n address to send by Robert Hodgson, one
of their members, in which they ask that their religious
privileges may be preserved to them, and their peculiar
views in regard to oaths and military service may be
respected.'^
Upon receipt of the address of the General Assembly, Sept.
additional instructions were given to Sir Edmund Andros
to demand the surrender of the charter, upon his arrival,
and to take Rhode Island under his government, assuring
the colony of the royal protection, and to do the same
with Connecticut in case her people should likewise de-
cide to surrender their charter.^ A few days later the
last acts necessary to the departure of Andros to enter upon
the government of New England, were concluded by giv-
ing him the seal and flag prepared for the consolidated
provinces. The seal employed by the president and
council represented an Indian with a bow in his left hand
and an arrow in his right, and the inscription, " sigilum
PE^SID. CONCIL. DOM. REG. IN NOV. ANGLIA,'' withiu the
border.* The new seal was more elaborate, and is thus
described in the receipt given for it by Andros — " en-
graven on the one side with his Majesty's effigies standing
under a canopy, robed in his royal vestments and crown-
\3. M, H, C, vii. loi. R. I. Col. Rec , iii. 206.
'' Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iv. p 419.
^ 3. M. H. C , vii. 162. R. L Col. Rec, iii. 218.
* The Seal of the Presiding Cocxcil of our Lord the King in New
Englaxd, Copies of this are attached to tbe proclamations of Dudley before
mentioned, in the British State Paper Office, London. No copies of the An-
dros seal appear in the British archives. The proceedings of his council were
transmitted to England but have not been found among tbe government rec-
9rds. It is to be hoped that they may some day be discovered.
29
496 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, ed, with a sceptre in the left hand, the right hand being
\^.^ extended towards an Englishman and an Indian, both
IG8 6. kneeling; the one jjresenting the fruits of the country,
and the other a scroll, and over their heads a .Cherubin
holding another scroll with this motto : Nunquam libertas
gratior extat, with his Majesty's titles around the circum-
ference ; there being on the other side the King's arms,
with the garter, crown, supporters and motto,, and this in-
scription round the circumference : Sigillum Nov;b Anglite
in America," ' A plate representing the New England
colors, under the administration of Sir Edmund Andros,
from the original design in the British archives, is here
offered as a rare historical curiosity,^
Q . It would seem as if every separate interest in Rhode
11. Island determined to be heard on its own account by
the King. The people of Providence sent an address re-
signing their charter, asking to be annexed to the general
New England government, and disowning the Assembly's
address. This was the seventh memorial that was sent
from this colony within about three months.^
The revocation of the edict of Nantes, that glorious
decree by which Henry of Navarre secured toleration to
the Protestants of France, was the crowning act of Jesuit
intrigue which only the genius of Colbert had hitherto foil-
ed. Upon his death the last obstacle to the cxtiri)ation
of Calvinism in France was removed. The edict of Henry
IV. was revoked by Louis XIV., liberty of conscience was
abolished, and a fierce persecution of the Huguenots en-
sued. More than half a million of the most skilful, in-
dustrious and loyal subjects of the Bourbon lied from their
' Br. S, P, 0., New England, vol. iv. p. 267.
' Br, S. P. 0., New England, vol. iv. p. 223.
' The Ist, from the Assembly, July 3. 2d. Divers freemen, July 16. 3d,
Rsindal Iloldcn's, 4th. Justices of Narraganset. .oth. Pawtuxet. 6tli. Quakers,
all in August. 7th. Providence, Oct. II. Only the first of these is found
upon our State records. The originals of them all are filed in the British
State Paper Office, Ix>ndon, as referred to in the notes.
THE HUGUENOTS IN RHODE ISLAND. 497
native land, and introduced into other countries the arts chap,
and commerce of which they were masters.^ The eflfect .^^JL.
upon France for a time was scarcely less disastrous 1 6 8 G.
than that which followed the expulsion of the Jews in
Spain, two centuries before, by Ferdinand and Isabella.
The banished Huguenots carried with them over the
world the blessings of a vital faith, of frugal habits,
and the knowledge of new sources of useful and elegant
industry. Wherever they settled their descendants re-
main, to this day, living witnesses of the loss entailed by
Jesuit craft upon the country of their origin. Numbers
of them emigrated to America ; some of these found
their way to New England, and settled in Rhode Island,
where they could enjoy the freedom that w^as denied them
at home. An agreement was made between the Narra- 12.
ganset proprietors and the Rev. Ezekiel Carre and P.
Berton, in behalf of the French refugees, for the settle-
ment of a place called Newberry Plantation, but this be-
ing too far from the sea, another spot was selected, near
John Foanes' house in Rochester (Kingston), and a new
agreement made between the parties. The j)rice fixed ^o^«
was four shillings an acre, cash, or twenty-five pounds for
every one hundred acres, being five shillings an acre, pay-
able in three years, with interest at six per cent, there-
after. Each family was to have one hundred acres of up-
land, if they desired so much, and a proportionate part
of meadow. M. Carre, the minister, was to have one
hundred and fifty acres gratis ; one hundred acres were as-
signed as glebe land, and fifty acres to support a Protest-
ant schoolmaster. Forty-five families commenced the
* This celebrated edict was issued by Henry IV. in 1598, and revoked by
Louis XIV., Oct. 24. 1685. 800,000 Protestants fled from France during the
persecution that ensued. England gained immensely by this fatal policy of
her inveterate foe. 50,000 artisans sought refuge in London, and introduced
the manufacture of silk, crystal glasses, jewelry', and other fine works, many
of them before unknown, but ever since successfully prosecuted in England.
Anderson's History of Commerce.
VOL. I. — 32
498 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
settlement, built a church and twenty-five houses, and
prospered for some years until dispersed by the lawless
conduct of their neighbors, as will hereafter be shown.'
At length the Rose frigate, bearing Sir Edmund An-
dros, with two companies of royal troops, the first ever
stationed in New England, and, except those sent for the
conquest of New Netherlands, the first ever s.gen here,
arrived at Boston. The Dudley government was super-
seded, and the president made chief justice. Andros,
by his commission, was in effect absolute, having power to
appoint and remove members of his council. With their
consent he could enact laws, levy taxes, and control the
militia of the country. He proceeded at once to organize
a system of despotism which has made his memory de-
16 86. tested wherever freedom has a name. Duiing the two
April ye^rs and four months that his administration existed, the
168 9. people of New England were at the mercy of a tyrant.
Massachusetts sufiered most, as she was the wealthiest
and. most powerful of the colonies, and she felt most koenly
the first blow inflicted by her persecutor — wherein Rhode
Island could have no sympathy with her griefs — the over-
throw of the Puritan theocracy, and the introduction of
the services of the Episcopal Church. But in the greater
part of his acts, all the colonies suffered alike in propor-
tion to their strength. Taxes were levied without consent
of the people. Public fees were enormously increased,
that of probate some twenty-fold. Town governments
were almost annihilated, colonies were made simple coun-
ties, and the whole country reduced to one vast province.
Writs of intrusion involved landed proprietors in expen-
sive suits to defend or confirm their titles. Marriages by
' The agreement, and the remonstrance of Dr. Pierre Ayrault in 1705,
from which the above facts are taken, are filed in Br. S. P. 0., New England,
vol. 13, together with a plot of Frenchtowu containing the names of all ths
families on their separate lots. A copy of the former is in Trumbull's papers
vol. 22, No. 114, in Mass. Hist. Soc.
ADMINISTRATION OF ANDROS. 499
civil magistrates were at first tolerated from necessity, and chap
afterwards interdicted, and the performance of this rite ,^_,,^
was confined to the Episcopal clergy, of whom there was 16 86
but one in Massachusetts. The odious system of pass-
ports was established. The form of administering oaths
was changed from the Puritan mode of holding up the
right hand, to that of laying the hand on the Bible — a
dangerous approach, some thought, to the Papal custom
of hissing the cross. By this innovation the Puritan
might learn to regret his own disregard of the conscien-
tious Quaker. And what was perhaps the bitterest inflic-
tion of all, in connection with the introduction of the
Episcopal forms, the Baptists, Quakers, and other dissent-
ers from the established Puritan church, were encouraged
in their refusal to pay the tax for the support of the set-
tled clergy. But in Rhode Island, where no established
church ever existed, this latter grievance, and those spring-
ing from kindred sources, were not felt; but, on the con-
trary, a sympathy upon these points with the new gov-
ernment, that had the strength and the will to enforce
one of her cardinal principles upon her early persecutors,
was cordially entertained. The bearing of Andros, in his
official communications with Rhode Island, was always in
friendly contrast to his intercourse with the other colonies.
The courtesy extended to him, as governor of New York,
some years before, was not forgotten. The tyrant was at
least a gentleman, and showed as much gratitude for for-
mer civilities as was consistent with the nature of his com-
mission. He addressed a letter to Rhode Island, in mild ^^^
terms, demanding the surrender of the charter, and desig-
nating seven persons as members of his council for this
government, who were to meet at Boston at the first gen-
eral council.' He also wrote friendly letters to Gov.
Clarke, concerning the submission of the Assembly and
* These were Walter Clarke, Jo. Sandford, John Coggeshall, Walter New-
bury, John Greene, Richard Arnold, and John Alborougb, Esqs.
500 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
surrender of the charter.' His arrival was the signal foi
sending petitions upon disputed land claims. Richard
I 6 8 G. Smith, of Narraganset, lost no time in petitioning for
'^^' relief from the molestations of the Rhode Islanders at
Hog Island. This little islet had already occasioned the
waste of almost as much paper since its purchase, forty
years before, as would suffice to cover it.
3Q The first council of Gov. Andros, which me't at Bos-
ton, consisted of nineteen members, of whom five were
from Rhode Island.^ The royal commission was read, and
also the instructions to receive the charter of Rhode Isl-
and. The oaths of office and allegiance were then taken
by all but the two Quaker members from Rhode Island,
Clarke and Newbury, whose affirmation was received in-
stead. A proclamation continuing all officers, civil and
military, and all laws not repugnant to those of England,
during his Excellency's pleasure, was agreed upon.^ Ae
this was the first, so was it the last full meeting of the
Andros council. The distant members returned home,
and those only who lived at or near Boston regularly at-
tended. They had but little influence. Four or five,
whose interests were chiefly in England, controlled the
action of the whole. Opposition was silenced by the min-
ions of Andros, some of whose advisers were not of the
council. It does not appear that the Rhode Island mem-
bers attended another general council. This was a glQomy
period in New England history. Inaction prevailed among
the freemen of the towns. The calm of despotism settled
over the colonies.
1686-7. Soon after this first council meeting, Andros' com-
^2 mission, as governor of this colony with the rest of New
England, Connecticut excepted, was published in Rhode
• 2. M. H. C, vol, 8, pp. 180-181. K. I. Col. Rec, iii. 219.
' Those named in Andros' letter except Sandford and Greene, the latter
of whom was in England as agent of the colony.
» 3. M. H. Cr viii. 181. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 220.
ANDROS PROTECTS DISSENTERS. 501
Island, and the colony was declared to be one county.' chap.
John Greene was then in England as agent. The policy .J..^.,;^
of the crown was by this time too obvious to render it ex- 1686-7.
pedient to seek a continuance of the charter. He there- {9 '
fore confined his efforts to minor objects, and petitioned
in behalf of the towns for relief from the interruptions
given by the Narraganset proprietors, and others, to the
quiet possession of their lands; and also to his Majesty's
interests in Kings Province, and prayed that thepe mat-
ters might be referred to Gov. Andros.'- The town of Feb.
. . . .18
Bristol, which had been settled not quite six years, peti-
tioned Andros for relief from a tax of one penny per
pound, levied throughout the province for the support of
government. It was the custom to relieve new settle-
ments from taxation for seven years. This had been guar-
anteed to the purchasers of Bristol by the Plymouth
committee, who made the sale. A representation of these
ftxcts was made by the selectmen of the town,^ but with
what effect there is no record to show.
The Narraganset proprietors applied to Sir Edmund ^4.
for a confirmation of their titles. They furnished him a
copy of the proceedings of the Cranfield commission, with
the evidence there presented, and requested an opportu-
nity to defend their claim against all opponents.* The
event proved that this was an unfortunate step for the
proprietors. The late Gov. Hinckley incautiously com-
plained to Andros of the letter of Randolph, who retained
the same position he had held under Dudley, as secretary
of the council, in which he had reproved the Plymouth
magistrate for taxing dissenters for the support of the ^arch
ministry. Sir Edmund replied sharply, forbidding the 5.
' CaUender in R. L H. C, iv. 102^. Chalmers' PoUtical Annals, 278-9.
« Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 429. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 221.
' Benjamin Church, John Rogers, Thomas Walker. R I. CoL Rec,
11222.
« TnimbuU papers, vol. 22, Xos. 127-8. Mass. Hist. Soc.
502 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
constable to execute the warrant against the Quaker, and
warning Hinckley to be faithful to the King.=
In reply to the Rhode Island address, further instruc-
tions were sent to Andros, granting the freedom of con-
science asked by the Assembly. This was consistent with
the policy of James, who sought, by promulgating the
doctrine of religious liberty, to undermine the Episcopal
church, and thus, in time, to restore the Pajoal power in
England. With this object he soon after issued the Dec-
laration of Indulgence, nominally, at least, leaving his
subjects to obey their own consciences in- spiritual mat-
ters.2
\r^ ^T The members of the Andros government were constant-
25. ly changing. A new list of twelve names, to fill vacancies
already existing in the council, was sent to London.
Three of these were from Rhode Island and Kings Prov-
ince.^ In the letters accompanying this list, Andros gives
an account of the condition of his province, and states
that Connecticut has not yet submitted, and that it is
important to unite her to the rest of New England, as
wheat and provisions are chiefly supplied by her.* The
difficulties that environed Andros, formed the subject of
frequent letters from Randolph and himself to the home
May government. In one of these to the Board of Trade, the
-1- former says, " His Excellency has to do with a perverse
people," and complains that but few members of the
council manifest any interest for his Majesty.
The duties of the General Assembly and of the Court
of Trials, both of which were superseded by the new gov-
ernment, now devolved upon a Court that met quarterly,
' Hutchinson's Mass., i. 357, note.
- Hume, chap. 70. The declaration was issued April 4, 1687. A copy
of it, apparently the official one sent to this colony, is preserved among the
Foster MSS., vol. i. in R. I. Hist. Soc.
* Richard Smith, Francis Brinley, and Peleg Saudford.
• Br. S. P. O., New Eng., vol. iv. pp. 287, 201, 297. R. I. Col Rec.
ui. 223-4.
29.
ANDROS IN BHODE ISLAND. 503
and was called " The General Quarter Sessions and In- chap.
ferior Court of Common Pleas." The first meeting of _^^^
this new tribunal was held at Newport, for Rhode Island, 16 87.
Kings Province, and Providence. It was composed of ijlig
nine justices, of whom Francis Brinley was chairman and
judge. Its proceedings were unimportant. Jurymen and
constables were sworn. Private petitions were referred
to justices of the peace in the different towns. Over-
seers of the poor were appointed for every town. Licenses
for Newport were granted, but the sale of liquors in Kings
Province was forbidden.
The questions of ownership in Narraganset having been
referred to Gov. Andros, he ordered a careful survey of the 22.
country, and a plat to be made marking the several
claims.' Several parcels of latid were granted by him to
Richard Wharton, at an annual quit-rent of ten shillings
an acre.'^ This is the first case, except that of Prudence
Island, of the introduction of this species of tenure in
Rhode Island. The revenue duties under Andros were
farmed out by the treasurer of the Province, John Usher.
Nathaniel Byfield of Bristol was by him appointed farmer
of excise in this district, as appears by an original warrant
in his name to John Whipple " to receive the whole excise 8.
of all sortes of drinke, that shall be sould within the town-
shipp of Providence by retaile," for one year.^
The intrusions that ultimately broke up the French
settlement were commenced by their neighbors on the first
summer of their planting. The meadows belonging to
them, or set apart for their use, were unlawfully mowed
and the hay carried ofi", leaving them without fodder for
their cattle. Complaints were made to Gov. Andros, who
ordered an examination of the matter. The hay was se- Aug.
cured and stacked, and a further order was issued dividing
' Potter's Xarr., R. I. H. C, iii. 220. R. I. CoL Rec, iii. 225.
- Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 795. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 225.
* Foster papers, vol. i.
Julv
5.
504 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
it, one half to certain needy persons in Kochester and
Deptford, and the other half to the French families, until
the rights of the parties could he determined.'
The next quarter court was held at Rochester, or
Kingston, at which the overseers of the poor were em-
powered to assess taxes for the relief of paupers in their
respective towns. A petty sessions, for probate^ business
^^^- only, at which but three justices were present, was after-
wards held at Newport.
26. Sir Edmund Andros, with over sixty regular troops,
now proceeded to Hartford, where the Assembly was sit-
ting, to overawe the government of Connecticut and com-
pel a surrender of the charter. It was at this time that
the sacred instrument was hidden in the ancient oak to
preserve it from his grasp. This ubjf.ct was accomplished,
but it did not prevent him from seizing the government.
Taking the records of the colony, he wrote beneath them,
with his own hand, the transfer of the government to him-
81 self, and closed the volume with the significant word, in-
scribed in glaring capitals — FINIS.'^
Connecticut had more reason than any other colony to
dread the despotic spirit of Andros ; for just at the com-
mencement of Philip's war, when he was governor of New
York, he appeared with a naval force before Saybrook, and
was only deterred by the resolute conduct of Capt. Bull,
commander of the fort, from making an attack in prose-
cuting the claim of the Duke of York, under an old patent
that comprehended Connecticut in his dominions.' The
memory of this repulse added to his rancor, while the
Prince in whose behalf he was then acting was now the
monarch of England. \Vell might the gallant colo-
nists refuse to admit his authority, and resort to every
' C. M. H. C, vii. 182. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 228.
" Tnimbull, Hist, of Conn., cli. xv. vol. i. p. 372.
'■' July 8 to 12, 1675. Trumbull, ch. xiv. vol. i. p. 328.
KINGS PROVINCE DISPUTE DECIDED. 505
means of throwing a taint of illegality over his proceed- chap.
ings.
XII.
A full report was at this time made by Gov. Andres 1 C S 7
upon the various claims to the Narraganset country. The
great claim of the Atherton company was thrown out, as
having been based upon grants extorted through terror
from the Indians by the illegal acts of the United Colo-
nies. The submission of the Sachems, in 1644, vested the
propriety in Charles I., since which no grant of jurisdic-
tion had been made in that region except to Connecticut
and Khode Island. The Connecticut claim was repudiated
for the reasons expressed in the Ehode Island charter, which
latter had been confirmed by the commissioners of 1664,
who had disavowed both the other claims. Several titles
from the Indians, and from Khode Island, to individuals
are mentioned. The rights of Rhode Island over the
Kings Province were thus again, for the third time, se-
cured to her, as against Connecticut in point of jurisdic-
tion, and against the so-called proprietors in point of
ownership.'^
From Hartford Andros visited Fairfield, and returning Nov,
by the sea-side, completed the annexation of Connecticut
by appointing the principal persons in the various towns
as justices.^ Stopping at Newport with his troops, he pro-
* An anecdote that illustrates alike the wit of the great Puritan divine,
Dr. Hooker, and the hatred felt in Connecticut for Andros, is pre-served by
Hon. Theodore Foster, among his MS. collections. Foster Papers, vol. ix.
"While Sir Edmund Andros was at Hartford, he met Dr. Hooker oue morning,
and said, ' I suppose all the good people of Connecticut are fasting and pray-
ing on my account.' The Doctor replied, 'Yes, we read, This kind goeth not
out but by fasting and prayei.' "
^ Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 762. No date is aflSxed to this copy
of the Report, but a reference to it in a later document upon the same ques-
tion in 1697 dates this paper, Oct. 1687. A marginal memorandum men-
tions that, prior to the submission of 1644, the Council of Plymouth had con-
veyed the tract to the Hamilton family, in 1635, in whom the title still vested,
if that convej-ance was legal.
* Letter to Board of Trade from Boston, Nov. 28, 1687. Br. S. P. 0., N.
E. V 4, p. 579.
28
506 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, posed to take possession of the charter of Rhode Island.
^3^ But in this attempt he was foiled by the foresight of the
16 8 7. cautious Clarke, who, on hearing of his arrival, sent the
jirecious parchment to his brother, with orders to. have it
concealed in some place unknown to himself, but v/ithin
the knowledge of the secretary; He then waited upon Sir
Edmund, and invited him to his house. A gre^t search
was made for the eoveted document, but it could nowhere
be found while Anxlros remained in Newport. After he
left it was returned to Gov. Clarke, who kept it until the
fall of Andros permitted a resumption of the government
under it.* The seal of the colony was however produced
and broken by Andros. A new one was made as soon as
it was needed.^ In his letter to the Board of Trade, con-
cerning the annexation of Connecticut, written directly
after this affair, Andros makes no allusion to the success-
ful ruse of the governor of Rhode Island, nor does he even
refer to the mysterious disappearance of the Connecticut
charter.
j)pg The third quarter sessions was held at Newport, with
13. but five justices present. An order was passed to prevent
danger from fire in the compact portions of the town.
Should any chimney take fire, the person using it was to
forfeit two and sixpence, and each householder was to place
a ladder, reaching to the ridge pole, against every dwelling
house that he owned. Andros. following an established
custom, had appointed the first of December as a day of
thanksgiving. The proclamation was genei-ally disregard-
ed, and parties were brought before the Courts for con-
j^ tempt. One of these answered to the charge of keeping
open his shop on that day " that he was above the obser-
vation of days and times." Another said that his boy
opened the shop, and worked upon his own account, but
that if he had not been lame he did not know but he
' Foster MS3., Bound vol, ii. p. 337.
" Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. v. p. 74.
GRANTS TO THE ATHERTON COMPANY. .007
should have worked himself ! Thus general was the spirit chap.
of discontent at the loss of their liberties felt even in _!^
Khode Island, where the yoke of tyranny rested compara-
tively lightly. A tax of one hundred and sixty pounds
was ordered for building a court house in Newport and one
in Kochester, The committee appointed to do the work
wrote to Grov. Andros on the subject, and nominated John 15.
Woodman of Newport to be treasurer of the Province or
County of Rhode Island if his Excellency should approve.'
Soon after the report of Andros upon Narraganset
reached England, Lord Culpeper again petitioned, in be-
half of the Atherton company, for a number of grants,
amounting in all to sixty thousand acres in Kings Prov- 1687-8.
ince, to be selected by themselves, in lieu of the whole
country, heretofore claimed. " They asked that the land
sold by them to the French refugees should be included in 13.
the grant, and that the bass ponds might be reserved to
them, as also the use of the waste lands adjoining their
settlements.^ There were sufficient reasons why this re-
quest should be granted, although the terms in which it
was expressed — "your petitioners for their parts being
willing to consent, in lieu of the whole which is of great
extent, to accept of part thereof under such quit-rent as
your Majesty shall think fit " — were not very modest or
appropriate for parties whose entire claim had just been
set aside. The royal council accordingly instructed An- 1.^^.^-
. , , April
dros that, as these petitioners had an eqmtaole pretence 10.
to receive favor, he should assign to them such lands as
were not already occupied, they paying a quit-rent of two
and sixpence for every one hundred acres. ^
The spring term of the Common Pleas was held at
Kingston, or Rochester as it was then called. An order g^
encouraging the fishery in Pettaquamscot pond was pass-
• Potter's Narr. 221. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 228.
- Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. iv. p. 762.
^ Br. S. P. 0., New Eug., vol. xxxiv. p. 8.
508 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, ed, and a tax of over fifty-three pounds was laid upon the
Ji!i_ whole Province, or County, to pay for the killing of wolves
168 8. therein. These animals were still very numerous and
* ^" troublesome. The records of Warwick show that some
had been killed in that town within a recent period. '
The commission under which Sir Edmund Andros had
hitherto acted did mot include Rhode Island and Connec-
ticut, although he was empowered by it to recefvc their
7. charters. A new commission was sent out, confirming his
government over all New England, and annexing thereto
the Provinces of New York and the Jerseys, imder the gen-
eral name of New England, with a council of forty-two per-
sons named therein, seven of whom were from Rhode Isl-
and.'^ Five members were to constitute a quorum in
emergencies, and seven in any case. The seal of New
York was to be broken, and that of New England, before
described, used in its place. Liberty of conscience, in ac-
cordance with the declaration of indulgence, was to be per-
mitted ; but the freedom of the press was made subject to
16. the will of Andros. The instructions accompanying the
commission were very full, and are chiefly exceptionable
from the discretionary power vested in certain cases in the
governor.'
The news of the prospect of a direct heir to the throne,
caused great rejoicing among the Papal party in England,
and was received with consternation by the Protestants.
,g A proclamation for a day of public thanksgiving and
prayer was issued by Andros, and sent to every county or
province in his wide dominion. The appointed day was
not observed with a zeal commensurate to the occasion, in
jQ^ the opinion of the Viceroy. The birth of the Prince of
■ On 20 April, 1G74, old Puinhiiiii killed a wolf in Warwick, and on 29 Jan.
1680, a bounty of twenty shillings a head was offered for tlieir destruction.
' Walter Clarke, John Coggeshall, Walter Newberry, John Greene Rich-
ard Arnold, John Alborough, and Richard Smith.
' R. I. Col. Rec. iii. 2.t8-54.
29.
ANDROS MOVES TO NEW YORK. 509
Wales, afterward known as the Pretender, caused mucla chap.
discussion in England. Suspicions were rife against the ^^^
legitimacy of this heir to the throne ; and when, upon 16 8 8,
news of the event reaching America, Andros issued an- 24?
other proclamation of thanksgiving for the Queen's haj)py
delivery, it was less favorably received than the former
had been. The people generally credited the injurious
reports circulated in England.
The June session of the Court was held at Newport. "^"^^
Nine justices were present. New constables were sworn
for every town in the county. Providence having disre-
garded the orders relative to the last two taxes, the consta-
bles were required to levy by distraint for their collection.
Some persons in the vicinity of Newport having escaped
taxation, the assessors were ordered to perfect the rate
list by including them.
Upon receipt of his new commission, Sir Edmund An- Jtdy
dros moved his head-quarters to New York, supplanted
Col. Dongan, the late governor, and settled the govern-
ment. French intrigues with the hostile Indians led the
government to take some measures to protect the friendly
tribes, which were afterwards brought up against Andros
as evidence of favor towards them, to the prejudice of the
colonists. Depositions to this effect were taken in Rhode
Island and elsewhere, tending to excite the people against
him.'
At the autumn Court, held in Rochester, granting ggpt,
licenses and the trial of criminal causes was the only 4.
business. The succeeding session at Newport was the
last at which any legislation was had. The fire ordinance n.
' These were published in "The Revolution in New England Justified," p.
26. Boston, 1691. This book was called forth by one entitled, " An Answer
to the Declaration of the Inhabitants of Boston and the country adjacent, on
the day when they secured their oppressor," by John Palmer of New York,
one of Sir Edmund Andros's Council. The declaration referred to was issued
on the seizure of Andros, April 18, 1689 — a printed copy of which is in Br.
S. P. 0., New England, vol. v. pp. 9, 10.
510 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
in Newport, having been neglected, was re-enacted, and
the fines resulting therefrom were appropriated for the
1688-9. poor of the town. A tax of one hundred and twenty
pounds was levied, but never collected, for before the day
appointed in the act for the assessors to meet, the revolu-
tion broke out. The justices often met for probate busi-
2 ness, in the interval of the quarter Courts. One meeting
is recorded during this winter. Once more the Court of
Common Pleas assembled at Rochester^ between wliicli
place and Newport the Courts for this county alternated.
March j^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ meeting of the Andros- government in
o. .
Rhode Island. The only thing done was to fine a man
two and fourpence for planting a peach tree on Sunday.
18 Some of the justices met a few days later for probate busi-
ness, and this closes the records of the " usurpation," as
it is often called, in Rhode Island,
Meanwhile a great change had taken place in English
politics. The long struggle between privilege and i)rerog-
ative had closed in violence, if not in blood. William,
Prince of Orange, whose wife was the eldest daughter of
James, had invaded England with a fleet of five hundred
vessels, and an army of fourteen thousand men. The
1689. King had fled to France, and a Protestant dynasty was
4. secured to England in the persons of William and Mary.
The news of this revolution was the signal for the fall of
Andros. The messenger who brought it was imprisoned
at Boston, but the great intelligence could not be con-
cealed. The minds of the people were ripe for revolt.
The detested usuqjer was doomed. The principal citi-
zens, including some members of his own council, assem-
bled at the town house, and signed a summons to Sir Ed-
mund Andros to surrender the government. This they
urged for his own wclttire, assuring him of safety in case
of compliance, but otherwise threatening that the fortifi-
cations should be taken by storm.* A lengthy declaration
' A broadside in Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. v. p. 11. R. I. Col. Rec, iiL 256.
18.
EEVOLDTION AGAINST ANDROS. 511
of the inhabitants of Boston, set forth in thirteen sections chap.
the grievances of the people as the ground of their action, ^J..,^^
the burden of which instrument was, that " New England 16 8 9.
beheld the wicked walking on every side, and the vilest ^ ^8.
men exalted. •" Capt. George, of the Rose frigate, was
seized as he came on shore in the morning, and carried to
prison. The Governor and his attendants, attempting to
appease the council assembled at the town house, were
treated in the same manner. Andros refused to send or-
ders to surrender the fort. Thereupon his secretary, Ran-
dolph, was seized, and a pistol presented at his breast,
threatening him with instant death if he did not accom-
pany his captors to the fort, and there represent to the
commandant that the Governor required him to surrender
it at once to the people. This ruse succeeded. Five
thousand men were by this time under arms. The ven-
erable Gov. Bradstreet, now eighty-seven years old, who
had been supplanted by Dudley, was reinstated by accla-
mation. The castle, situated a league below the town,
was summoned in the same manner, but with a different
result. The commander, suspecting the violence offered
to Randolph, refused to obey. The courage displayed
by Andros at this crisis, was worthy of a better cause.
Threats of violence were vainly employed to extort from
liim an order for the surrender of the castle. Although
told that he and his adherents should be put to the sword
unless instant compliance was made, he firmly refused to
yield the point. The next day a committee of gentlemen
prevailed on the garrison to surrender, with the promise ^'
of thtui- liberty, but on reaching the town they were all
thrown into prison. The fort, the jail, and the castle,
were all used as prisons for the civil and military officers
of the late government, twenty-five of whom were closely
confined with their leader.^
* See note ante p. 509. Br. S. P, 0., New England, vol. v. pp. 9-10.
* Riggs' narrative of tbe Boston Revolution. Br. S. P. 0., New England,
512 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
When news of this affair reached Rhode Island, Dud-
ley, the chief justice, who had gone to Narraganset to
hold a Court, was seized by a party of Providence men,
taken to Roxbury, and afterwards committed to prison.
23. A letter was circulated among the people, from Newport,
in cautious terms, recommending them to assemble there,
" before the day of usual election by charter," to consult
upon what course should be adojited.' In accordance with
this call, the freemen of Rhode Island, Providence, and
" ^^ Kings Province, assembled at Newport, and put forth a
declaration of their reasons for resuming the charter gov-
ernment.^ At the same time they adopted an address
" to the present supreme power of England," stating that
the fall of Andros obliged them to resume their old form
of government, which they prayed might be confirmed to
them; and that as they were " not only ignorant of what
titles should be given in this overture, but also not so
rhetorical as becomes such personages," they hoped their
deficiencies on this point might be overlooked. Thus
easily and quietly did Rhode Island revert to her former
freedom; and not knowing yet who might be victorious in
England, adopted this cautious and politic form of ad-
dress. But the wary Clarke hesitated to accept his former
post, and for ten months Rhode Island was without an
acknowledged governor. The deputy governor, John Cog-
geshall, with several of the old assistants, boldly resumed
their functions. Connecticut followed immediately and
9
more thoroughly, restoring all her former officers, conven-
ing her assembly, and resuming at once the government
vol. V. p. 7. Capt. George's account, p. 34, and list of prisoners, p. 48. R. I.
Col. Rec, iii. 257.
' This letter is signed W. C, J. C. What appears to be the original is
preserved in the Foster papers, vol. iv. The handwriting, the cautious lan-
guage, and the first initial signature, all attest the authorship of Gov. Walter
Clarke. It is printed in Staple's Annals, 176, and R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 257.
' R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 268, where hy error of type the declaration is dated
1C90.
ACCESSION OF WILLIAM AND MART. 513
under her long hidden charter. Plymouth took the same chap.
course under Hinckley. In Massachusetts a convention of S^
representatives of the several towns was held, who unani-
mously voted to re-organize the government with the
same officers who had heen superseded three years hefore.
These officers accepted the trust provisionally, declaring
that in so doing they did " not intend an assumption of 24.
charter government." ' Two days later a ship arrived at
Boston with the joyful news that William and Mary had
ascended the throne. The acting governor and council of
Rhode Island immediately proclaimed the new monarchs
in every town of the colony; and the same was done, with
the greatest demonstrations of loyalty and delight, through-
out New England.
Dr. Increase Mather had secretly escaped from Bos-
ton, before the revolution, and gone to England to repre-
sent the cause of the colonists. Upon the accession of
William III., he had an audience with the King, who
promised that Andros should be recalled.- The order was J"^y
issued in due time, requiring the authorities of Massachu-
setts to send home Sir Edmund Andros and his fellow
prisoners, by the first vessel, to answer for their conduct
to the king.^ Andros, by the aid of his servant, who per-
suaded the sentinel to drink, and then to suffer him to
stand guard in his stead, escaped from the castle and fled
to Rhode Island. At Newport he was captured by Major ^3"*
Sandford, and sent back to Boston,^ where a lingering im-
prisonment of half a year stiU awaited him.
The deputy governor and council of Rhode Island peti-
' Two broadsides in Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. v. pp. 12-U. The Br.
archives abound in documents pertaining to the revolution in New England.
Volume V. of New England papers is full of pamphlets, broadsides, and MS.
letters from both parties upon this subject.
- :\Iarch 14, 1688-9. A curious account of this audience, from Cotton
Mathei'.- Life of his Father, is in 1 M. H. C, ix. 2-i5-58.
= Hutchinson, i. 391, note. 3 M. H. C, vii. 191. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 256.
* Hutch, i. 392. Randolph to Board of Trade from Boston gaol, Sept. 5,
1689. Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. v. p. 9i.
VOL. I. — 33
514 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, tioned the throne for a confirmation of their charter, re-
J^^.!^ hearsing the circumstances of its resumption, of the proc-
i(>9.9o. laniation of their majesties, and of the late seizure of
30. Andros.' The long confinement of Andros and Jiis asso-
ciates was about to terminate. For nearly ten months
they had expiated their acts of tyranny in a Puritan
prison. The order for their return to England^for trial
had arrived, and the vessel was now ready to sail. The
haughty royalist, who had too faithfully executed the
mandates of a despotic master, returned as a prisoner
Feb. from the country w^hich, sixteen years before, he had first
visited as a ruler, and to which he was again to return,
withhi two years, as governor of Virginia.
In reviewing the administration of Andros in New
England, an impartial judge cannot fail to discover,
among the principal causes which have made his memory
odious, that he inflicted a mortal wound upon the Puri-
tan theocracy. The hierarchy, of which Hooker, and Cot-
ton and the Mathers were the heads, never fully recovered
its prestige. To this, in a great measure, is due the de-
testation that nttaches to his name. Cotemporary de-
nunciation has been echoed in later times by those who
have no sympathy with the religious intolerance that
evoked it, but who, either through carelessness or timidity,
have neglected to analyze the conduct of Andros, or have
feared to present it in what we believe to be the just light.
He conscientiously and fearlessly obeyed the commands
of his sovereign, and in entering upon his difficult mission
he displayed a nice sense of the delicate position he was
called to fill, utterly at variance with the character of
brutality assigned to him by his Puritan critics. The
opinions of men who maligned the purity of Williams, of
Clarke, and of Gorton, who '' bore false witness " to the
character and the acts of some of the wisest and best men
who ever lived in New England, who strove to blast the
' Original in Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. v. p. 219. R. I. Col. Rec,
iii. 258.
REVIEW OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF ANDROS. 515
reputation of people whose liberal views they could not com- chap.
prehend, who collected evidence to crush the good name ,_^^
uf their more \artuous opponents, hy casting upon them 16 8 9.
the odium of acts wherein they were themselves the guilty
parties, who committed outrages, in the name of God, far
more barbarous than the worst with which they ever charged
" the usurper," — the opinions of such men, we say, are
not to be received without a challenge, and the conclusions
to which a candid examination brings us are not to be
withheld, because differing in some points from the whole-
sale denunciation hitherto employed against Andros. For
the tyrannical points of his administration his master is
to blame ; for the petty oppressions that often rendered its
execution vexatious we beheve that his tools were more
culpable than liimself Their object was to enrich them-
selves at the expense of the people, and their practice was
to charge upon their leader the extortions that rendered
his administration grievous. The wide dominion over
which Andros held control could only be organized, under
the system of James, by delegating power, and this
was too often placed in irresponsible hands. Randolph,
the secretary, was the author of many of the acts for
which Andros, as the governor, is held resi3onsible. The
mutual hatred between him and the colonists was undis-
guised, but posterity has shielded the infamy of the legis-
lator beneath the mantle of the executive. William III.
was looked upon as a mild and liberal monarch, yet upon
the arrival of xlndros in England the charges • against
him were dismissed by the royal order on the ground of
insufficienc)' — that he had done nothing which was not
fully justified by his instructions ; and in compensation
for his imprisonment in New England, he was soon after
appointed to succeed Effingham, as governor of Virginia.
' These charges were prepared by Sir Henry Ashurst, Increase Mather
and others, 14 April, 1690, and were answered by Andros and his associates,
at great length, and with the result stated in the text. A draft of the charges,
and the original reply are in Br. S. P. O., New England, vol. v. pp. 164, 166.
516 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. The republican spirit of New England could not quietly
'^"- submit to such a form of government as was prescribed
1689. by James II., however well it might be administered.
The prejudice against this form has been unjustly directed
upon the instrument employed to establish it, and Andros
has consequently been portrayed as a monster of tyranny.
Yet it should be remembered, that for three years he
ruled without interruption, which could scarcelyiiave oc-
curred had a tithe of these misrepresentations-been true ;
nor, till the news of the revolution in England reached
Boston, was there a single attemj^t made to resist the
government of this " incarnate despot."
Although the government of Andros has been held
up as one of absolute tyranny, and necessarily so for the
reasons here given, the other New England colonies com-
plained most bitterly of those acts which Rhode Island
could not but approve, and some of which, as seeming to
be favors shown to her, were construed into acts of hos-
tility to them. So general is the prejudice against him
to this day, that it may sound strange to say that in any
respect Sir Edmund Andros was a benefactor to Rhode
Island. " The evil that men do lives after them, the
good is often interred with their bones." So has it been
with Andros. His will was arbitrary. His rule, even in
Rhode Island, where it was mildest, was oppressive ; but
his acts, where they were good, should not be forgotten,
even though the evil predominates. He sought to estab-
lish universal toleration in religion. This was abhorrent
to the Puritans. In their estimation it was rampant
Rhode Islandism. His object, to be sure, was to secure
a foothold for the church of England, not to favor the
principle. But Rhode Island could not object to see her
free ideas adopted by a despot, although what was a prin-
ciple with her was merely policy with him. Again, the
long dis])iited boundary with Connecticut was established
by Andros, in accordance with the claims of Rhode Island.
This added a new cause of complaint in which this State
ROYALISTS AND REPUBLICANS. 517
could not unite. And so lonsj as he ruled, Pthode Island chap.
YTT
was secure from the insults of her neighbors, and protected ,^.,,,^
against them in her rights. The courteous treatment ^•^'^-^'^
which he here received, compared with the rudeness else-
where shown him, led him to represent Rhode Island, in
his despatches, in favorable contrast with the other colo-
nies. It is not improbable that the assurances of her loy-
alty, repeatedly given by Andros, had some effect in secur-
ing the tacit confirmation of her chartered rights under
the succeeding reign.
Two parties, royalist and republican, divided the col-
ony. Prominent among the former was Francis Brinley,
a distinguished merchant of Newport, whose letters dis-
play the bitterness of faction in these troublous times.
He denounced the action of the republicans in resuming the Feb.
charter, and called for a settled government, to be estab-
lished by the king, over aU New England.^ The bold at-
titude of the republican party secured the freedom of the
colony. In May they had reinstated all the old officers,
and re-established all the laws superseded in 1686. The
charter had been produced in open Assembly, and then re-
turned to the custody of Gov. Clarke. The records of the
colony were not forthcoming at that time, the former re-
corder being dead, and the present custodian having refus-
ed to deliver them except upon distraint. This act of re-
sumption was afterward sanctioned by the king, upon re-
ceiving the written opinion of the law officers of the crown,
that the charters of Ehode Island and Connecticut, never
having been revoked, but only suspended, still remained
in full force and effect.^ Had the royalists, who doubted
' Abstracts of his private letters are in Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. v. p.
413. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 259.
^ Tlie opinions of Ward, and of the then Attorney and Solicitor General,
in the case of Connecticut, were rendered 2d August, 1690, and apply equally
to R. I. Hutchinson, i. 406 note. The opinion of Attorney General Ward
specially upon the R. I. charter, was given three years later, Dec. 7, 1693. con-
firming the acts of the people under it on every point. It is in Br. S. P. O.,
New Eng., vol. vii. and R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 493.
518 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, the legality of these acts, prevailed, and a renewal of the
J^J^ charter been applied for, it could not have been obtained
'kIi^'^' ^^'^^^ ^ liberal provisions as the old one, if at all ; and
most probably Rhode Island would have met the fate of
Plymouth, and been absorbed by Massachusetts \inder a
general governor.
The defective government of the last ten months called
for legislative action. The General Assembly wa"§ as yet
unorganized, and the chief magistrate was doubtful of his
powers, or shrank from the duties of his post. A meet-
mg of the assemblv had been called bv Gov. Clarke, in
October, the regular time appointed by charter; but a
storm prevented the mainland towns from being repre-
sented, and the governor himself had failed to attend.
At length the Assembly convened for the first time for
26. nearly four years. The deputy governor, six assistants,
the new recorder, chosen by the freemen in May, the gen-
eral sergeant, and seventeen deputies, were present. The
Assembly proceeded to fill the vacancies in their number.
Absentees were sent for. The governor obeyed the sum-
mons, but declined to retain his office. Christopher Almy
was elected in his place, but he also declined. It was
27. then that " all eyes turned to one of the old Antinomian
exiles, the more than octogenarian, Henry Ball; and the
fearless Quaker, true to the light within, employed the
last glimmerings of life to restore the democratic charter
of Rhode Island." ' Benedict Arnold, son of the late
governor, was elected an assistant ; and Almy, who de-
clined to be governor, consented to fill another vacancy in
that body. Gov. Clarke refused to deliver the charter,
and other official papers, to a committee of the Assembly
appointed to receive them. He gave them leave to take
it, but refused himself to open the chest in which it was
kept. It is said that his extreme caution was only over-
come by an order for the sheriff to arrest and confine him
• Bancroft, chap. 17, vol. 2, p. 360.
RESUMPTION OF THE CHARTER. 519
in prison, upon whicli the required documents were handed chap.
over, and placed in charge of Gov. Bull ; but it appears ^,,L.
from the records that he retained the charter till the an- }^f^^~^t
March
nual election — two months later, and then gave it up, on
a second demand, to the assembly. ' There was a policy
in all this which was so apparent that Clarke never lost
the confidence of the people. The funds of the colony
were in the hands of Roger Xiolden, to be appropriated
to building a colony house. He paid them over without j,
demur. A new seal " being the anchor, with the motto,
Hope," was procured by the Assembly, in place of the one
broken by Andros, The declaration of war between
France and England was proclaimed. Col. Church was ^'
at this time fighting the French and Indians, at the east-
ward; and very soon the war" was to be brought nearer
home by the presence of a French fleet on our coast.
The towns were put in a state of defence, and the French
refugees in Narraganset were required to present them-
selves to John Greene, at Warwick, and take the oath of
allegiance to the British crown, required by the king, in
consideration of which they were to remain undisturbed,
behaving peaceably.
At the next regular session of the Assembly, the day ^ '
previous to the annual election, all the members were 6.
present. The charter was publicly read, as in former
days, and the election proceeded with in usual form. De-
clining years compelled Gov. Bull to refuse a re-election.
The deputy governor was then chosen, but refused, per-
haps from the same cause. John Easton was then elected
governor, and Major John Greene, deputy governor. The
list of assistants was completed to ten, and the other gen-
eral officers, and two majors, were chosen as heretofore.
The first grand period of Rhode Island history, the
formation period, was ended. The era of domestic strife
and outward conflict for existence, of change and inter-
* Foster papers, Boand vol. i. p. 337.
520 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
ruption, of doubt and gloom, anxiety and distress, had
almost jDassed. The problem of self-government was
solved, and a new era of independent action commenced,
which was to continue unbroken for an entire century, un-
til her separate sovereignty should be merged in the Amer-
ican Union, by the adoption of the federal constitution ;
and her royal charter, the noble work of her republican
founders, was never again to be interrupted, not even by
the storm of revolution, until the lapse of more than a
century and a half had made its provisions obsolete.
The colony house, j)rojected during the" government of
Andros, was now nearly completed, and received the name
of the Town House. The governor, deputy governor, and
assistants, on account of the expense attending their of-
ficial duties, and their receixnng no salary, were excused
for the future from paying any colony tax. The war with
the French and Indians raged all alonor the northern fron-
tier. Leisler, governor of New York, demanded assist-
ance from all the colonies. Rhode Island could not spare
men, but voted a tax of three hundred pounds solely for
this purpose. The effective force of New England at this
time, as shown in a tabular statement of the enrolled mi-
litia, furnished by Sir Edmund Andros to the royal coun-
cil, was over thirteen thousand men. Of these, eight
hundred were in Rhode Island, exclusive of the eastern
shore, which was included in Plymouth.' A fleet of seven
sail of French privateers made a descent upon the coast,
I Rhode Island, <&c. Kings Province and Protidcnce Plantations.
Capt. Pelham, Newport, Ist Co. 104 Major Richard Smith.
Capt. Riigers, do 2d do 85 Major Gen. AVinthrop, Providence, 175
Capt. Arnold, Portsmouth, 105 Capt. Fones, Rochester, (Kingston,) 136
Capt. Joseph Arnold, Jamestown, 84 Capt. Gorton, Warwick, 60
Capt. Davoll. Feversham, (Westerly,) 56
828 Capt. Weaver, Deptford, (Greenwich) 87
These were under Major John Walley,
with the County of Bristol troops, number- 464
ing 780. It would seem by this that the Provi-
dence troops were attached to a Connecti-
cut division.
Br. S. P. 0., New Eng., vol. v. p. 202.
13.
21.
NAVAL VICTORY OVER THE FRENCH. 521
captured Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and Block Island, chap.
where they committed horrible excesses. Bonfires were ^^
lio^hted at Pawcatuck, and thence all along; the shore, to 16 9 0.
arouse the country. A sloop with thirty-four men was jg^
at once sent out from Newport to reconnoitre. A portion
of the enemy entered the harbor of Newport by night, to l-^-
sur\irise the town ; but failing in this, they proceeded to
attack New London, and were beaten off. Thence they
landed at Fisher's Island, and burnt the only house upon
it. There a small body of seventeen men, from Stoning-
ton, surprised a party of them, and killed one Trimming,
an English renegade, who had served as their decoy at the
taking of Block Island. An expedition, consisting of two
sloops with about ninety men, under command of Capt.
Thomas Paine, was sent out from Newport to attack the 20.
enemy. Capt. John Godfrey was Paine's second. The
next day they fell in with five French sail near Block Isl-
and. Paine sent a few men on shore to prevent the enemy
from landing, and ran his vessels into shallow w^ater to
avoid being surrounded. The French force numbered two
hundred men, under one Pekar, a Frenchman who had
sailed as a lieutenant with Capt. Paine, in privateering
expeditions, some years before. At five o'clock in the af-
ternoon the enemy came up with the intention of board-
ing, but was repulsed. A bloody action ensued for two
hours and a half, till night separated the combatants.
Pekar withdrew with the loss of nearly one-half his men, in
killed and wounded. Paine's loss was only one man killed,
and six w^ounded. The next day the French put to sea.
Paine gave chase, and compelled them to sink a prize,
loaded with wines and brandy, which they had taken.
The alarm caused by this bold assault, induced many
persons to remove their property from Newport, to places
of greater security. To Block Island this was but the
commencement of a series of sufferings to which that ex-
posed spot was subjected from foreign foes, as it had often
22.
522 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, already been at the hands of the Indians. The dangers
of the sea, and the sterner perils of war, united to pro-
duce a race of men whose courage and hardihood cannot
be surpassed. The brilliant exploit of Paine at once in-
spired the people of this colony with a naval spirit. It
was the first victory of Rhode Island on the open ocean,
and the worthy harbinger of many daring deeds.' Three
subsequent attempts upon Block Island were made by
the French, during this war, as related by Niles. The
second was a night attack : " the people were maltreated,
and their cattle carried off, but no one was. killed. The
next time the privateers were captured by the Nonsuch
man-of-war ; ' and on the fourth, and last attack, the
islanders themselves repulsed the marauders "in an open,
pitched battle," after which they were no longer molested
by the French,
g A great expedition consisting of thirty-two vessels and
about two thousand men, under Sir William Phipps, sailed
from Boston for the conquest of Canada, but were repulsed
by Count Frontenac, before Quehec, and returned in dis-
grace. To pay off the men, bills of credit were issued, the
first paper money ever seen in New England, but unfor-
tunately not the last. French privateers covered the seas,
plundering the commerce of the colonists and harassing
ggpf the seaboard. In consequence of these troubles, a special
16. session of the Assembly was called, to meet at Portsmouth,
to adopt stringent measures for raising the tax levied in
the spring, and not yet collected. A tonnage duty of one
shilling, or of one pound of powder, per ton, was laid upon
all vessels of more than ten tons, belonging to other colo-
nies, that should break bulk in the harbor of Newport ; the
' Rr. S. P. 0.. New England, vol. v. pp. 356, 365. Niles' Hist, of Fr. and
Ind. Wans in 3 M. H. C, vi. 263-74, where many instances of the brutality of
the French are given, to which Niles, a native of Block Island, was an eye-
witness.
» May 20, 1691. ' In the summer of 1693.
SMALLPOX ON THE ISLAND. 523
receipts to be applied to maintainiag a powder magazine chap
for the use of the Island. The regular session was held at w^-^
Providence at the house of John Whipple. The smallpox 16 90.
had broken out with great violence upon the Island. The 29.
recorder and liis family were ill with it, so that the read-
ing of the charter, an indispensable prerequisite to legisla-
tion, was omitted; no attested copy of it being at hand, and
an entry was made of the reason for the omission. The
whole aliairs of the colony were deranged by the prevailing
sickness, and no business of general interest was transacted
by the Assembly. So virulent was this formidable plague,
for which no remedy or preventive was then known,' that 1690-].
a letter from Boston, written during this winter, says, '^^"•
" Rhode Island is almost destroyed by the smallpox." ^
Newport was abandoned by the legislature for nearly a
year. The general election was held at Portsmouth, " it
being removed from Newport by reason of the distemper." 16 91
No changes were made in the principal officers, and no im- qJ
portant business was done. The French again attacked
Block I.sland in the night, but seem to have left before
any force could be sent against them.^ The adjourned ^^•
session was opened at Portsmouth, and removed next day ,
to Newport, whence we infer that the pestilence, v>'hich 23.
had ravaged that town for about ten months, had abated.
An address to their Ma.jesties was adopted, but seems
never to have reached its destination. The miUtary sys-
tem of the colony was revised, and the power placed in the
hands of the two majors. The militia was divided into
two regiments, one under each major, and courts mar-
' The Christian world owes to the Turks one of the greatest discoveries in
medical science. Inoculation was introduced into England by Lady Mary
\Yortley Montague, in 1721, who had learned it at Adrianople three years be-
fore. Vaccination was discovered by Dr. Jenner in 1796, and made public iu
England in 1 799, whence it was brought to the United States by Dr. Waterhouse,
the following year.
- Mr. Lloyd's letter. Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. v. p. 362.
* Prince's collection. Letters and Papers, p. 60, No. 3 iu Mass Hist. Soc.
524 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, tial were established, to consist of a majority of the com-
v^'^:^ missioned officers of each regiment. An addition to the
i ♦'i^'i cou:*-house at Newport, and also a turret, where the bell
'27. mio;ht l>e hung, were ordered.
Tlie records of the General Assembly from October
1G90 to July 1695, except the. fragment of a special ses-
sion in August 1692, have disappeared from the fik-s A
portion only has been found among the Biitish archives,
whither the whole were probably sent by Lord" Bellemont.
The history of the intervening period is derived chiefly
from other records in the State Paper office at London,
and from contemporaneous authorities at home.
^. Massachusetts and Plymouth were united under one
7. charter, and the selection of their officers was left to their
own agents, by whose recommendation Sir William Phijjps,
a native of Massachusetts, and tlien an Assistant of that
colony, was named as governor. By his commission he
12. was made commander-in-chief of all the land and naval
forces of New England, each colony being separately named
therein. This was an infringement upon the chartered
rights of Connecticut and Rhode Island which at once oc-
casioned trouble. Connecticut was placed in a still worse
position, by a similar power over her militia being also
conferred afterward upon Col. Fletcher, governor of New
York. The charters of both these colonies were so differ-
ent from any others, that constant blunders of tills sort
were made by the Home Government, and many of the
comi)laints, particularly against the conduct- of Rhode Isl-
and, are attributable to this source. The firmness with
which she clung to the Magna Charta of her freedom,
through trials of every kind," is surprising ; and that she
was legally as well as morally right in the ever varj'ing
positions that she was compelled to assume, as the attacks
made upon her changed in their character and objects, is
obvious from the almost uniform decisions in her favor^
whenever she was called to plead in her own defence.
169 2.
20.
ATTEMPTS OF SIR WILLIAM PHIPPS. 525
Upon the arrival of Sir William Phipps at Boston, chap.
the venerable Governor Bradstreet resigned his office. .J,^^
This was the era of witchcraft in Massachusetts, but as 1 •> ^ 2.
the infatuation never extended to the less gloomy people ^ ■^^'
of Rhode Island, we do not propose to discuss it. The of-
fence appears on the statute book, but no prosecutions
were ever had under it. The people of this colony had
suffered too much from the superstitions and the priest-
craft of the Puritans, readily to adopt their delusions, and
there was no State clergy to stimulate the whimsies of
their parishioners. More important matters to them than
the bedevilment of their neighbors engrossed their whole
attention.
A revival of difficulties between Rhode Island and Con-
necticut was threatened. The latter colony wrote to Gov.
Easton that some persons at Pawcatuck had appealed to
them for the protection of their laws, and suggested that,
for peace" sake, Rhode Island would consent, under these
circumstances, that the request of the petitioners should be
granted, until further orders were received from England.
It was an amicable letter, far different in tone from the
correspondence in former years on the same subject. Gov.
Easton replied in a similar spirit, but maintained the claim
of Rhode Island to the bank of the river, and that a sub- j'g ^
mission to another government, by the people in question,
could not convey the right of jurisdiction.
Meanwhile Governor Phipps wrote to Rhode Island re- 2.
quiring the militia of the colony to be j^laced under him,
by the terms of his commission, and that an account of
their numbers and condition should be sent to him. The
deputy governor, Major Greene, and one assistant went to
Boston upon this business, and also to secure the establish-
ment of a post-office in the colony. They were detained
five days before they could obtain a hearing, and then re-
ceived no satisfactory reply ; nor was any letter sent by
Phipps to Gov. Easton, as was promised, but soon after-
52G HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, wards several commissions were sent to Major Sandford,
Ji^ to be distributed among the militia officers, displacing
16 9 2. most of those already in commission. The Assembly was
2°' convened, and ordered that the present officers should re-
tain their posts, and hold their companies ready for defence.
In the towns that had neglected to choose military officers
at the spring election, the former officers were reappoint-
ed. An address to their Majesties was adopted, 'stating
the .facts of the case, suggesting that the conduct of
Phipps was stimulated by private interests^ — some of his
counsellors, by whose acts the settlement of Narraganset
was thereby impeded, being members of the Atherton
company — and praying that the charter limits of the col-
ony might be confirmed to them, in accordance with for-
mer decisions. An attempt to run the lines of the colony
was forbidden by Governor Phipps, whereupon the As-
22 ' sembly again met, and commissioned Christopher Almy to
take another letter to their Majesties, enforcing the prayer
of the address, with a plat of the colony, and the reasons
for the petition.
Governor Phipps was equally foiled in his attempt
upon the militia of Connecticut, and being a very passion-
ate man he nearly involved himself in a quarrel with Col.
Fletcher of New York, who also endeavored, by virtue of
his commission, to control the troops of Connecticut ; but
both were alike thwarted by the firmness of Gov. Treat.
1692-3. During the winter. Sir WilUam,for the first time, came to
Rhode Island, and read his commission to Gov. Easton in
the presence of witnesses. The governor replied, that
when the Assembly met, if they had any thing farther to
say, he would write. There was little satisfaction in this
cavalier reception, which offset Pliipps' treatment of Rhode
Island, and still less in the ultimate result ; but with such
as it was Sir William declared himself contented, and went
home.
The war between England and France continued
POST ROUTES ESTABLISHED. 527
with great violence. Louis XIV. prepared to invade chaf
England, in behalf of James the Pretender, and main- ^^..^^l,
tained a strono; force in Canada, which threatened the con- 1692-3,
... March
quest of British America. Orders were issued from White- 3.
hall for all the colonies to send aid, in men or money, to
the governor of New York, for the relief of Albany, then
a frontier fort of the English.
The first postal arrangements in the United States 169 3.
were now adopted in the council of Massachusetts. The
right to establish post routes in America had been granted
for a term of twenty-one years, by royal patent, to Thomas
Neale,' who deputed Andrew Hamelton to carry out the
design. By him the plan was presented to the govern- ^^^"
ment of Massachusetts to establish a weekly mail from
Boston to Virginia. The rate • of postage for all foreign
letters was fixed at twopence a letter. Inland letters
paid, from Boston to Rhode Island, sixpence for each sin-
gle letter, and proportionately for a package, which could
not count less than threa letters, ninepence to Connecticut,
a shilHng to New York, fifteen pence to Pennsylvania, and
two shillings to Maryland and Virginia, with one penny
for delivery at the house after any letter had lain two June
days in the post-office uncalled for. The act was passed ^•
by the representatives, and concurred in by the council.
Almy, the Rhode Island agent, became impatient at
the delays that detained him in London, and petitioned
that the address which he had brought might be read by Aug.
the royal council. This was done and the subject referred,
as usual, to the Board of Trade, who in turn submitted the g^^
address to the attorney general for his opinion upon the 15.
validity cf the charter, and the right ta control the militia
against the demand of Phipps, and to have their eastern
boundary explained. The decision was rendered in favor
of Rhode Island upon every point. " I see nothing in
point of law but that their Majesties may gratify the pe-
• Feb. 17, 1691-2.
528 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
titioners, and confirm their charter, and explain the east-
ern boundaries as is desired," is the conclusion of this im-
portant paper, which virtually crushed the hopes of the
royalist faction in Rhode Island, and cooled the ardor of
25 her ambitious neighbors. Meanwhile the General Assem-'
bly sent another address to their Majesties, assigning the
exposed situation of the colony, as shown by the late at-
tacks upon Block Island, as the reason for their not send-
ing aid to Albany.'
1693-4. The Board of Trade submitted further questions to
2 " the attorney general upon the charters of Connecticut and
Rhode Island, and the Jersey grants, how the strength of
the whole might be united under one Commander-in-chief
1 6 9 4. to operate against the French. His opinion sustained the
2. position which he had before taken, that these colonies
had the exclusive control over their militia in times of
peace, but added, that in case of war, if necessary for the
common defence, a chief commander might order out a re-
quisite number of troops, with the aid and assistance of
the governor, leaving enough at home to secure the safety
22 of each colony. The Board of Trade having reported this
opinion to the royal council, an order was issued fixing the
Aug. quota of troops to be furnished by Rhode Island, for ser-
vice under the governor of New York, at forty-eight men,
and also referring the boundary dispute to the members
of the council of New York. The Queen forthwith sent
21. her commands to Gov. Phipps, limiting his control
over the miUtia of Rhode Island, in accordance with the
report, and requiring him to furnish three hundred and
* All the foregoing documents referred to are in Br. S. P. 0., New England,
vol. vii., and are mostly inserted in R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 288-295. The admi-
rable mode in which these Records are compiled, by supplying deficiencies in
the existing files, and inserting explanatory documents obtained from other
sources, in order to present a documentary history of the State as complete as
possible, places the Rhode Island Colonial Records before any other State col-
lection we have seen, and reflects great credit upon the industry and ability
of the Hon. John R. Bartlett, Secretary of State, by whom they were prepared.
EASTERN BOUNDARY QUESTION. 529
fifty men from Massachusetts for the defence of Albany, chap.
Similar orders were sent to Khode Island and Connecti- J_^
cut. The quota of the latter was fixed at one hundred 16 94.
May
and twenty men.'
The boundary question had been much discussed pre-
vious to this order of council. The new charter of New
England, by absorbing Plymouth, had bounded Rhode
Island on the east as weU as the north by Massachusetts.
Tlie old conflict for the eastern shore was therefore to be
continued with a new and more formidable opponent.
Almy wrote to the Duke of Leeds, President of the Privy 15.
Council, asking his special attention to the eastern bound-
ary of the colony, and supplying the evidence to sustain
the claim of Rhode Island. The Massachusetts agents
petitioned the Board of Trade ^ for a hearing upon this
point before the question should be decided. The point
was referred to the attorney general, whose action was
hastened by a notice from the Board that they were wait- ' jg^
ing his report. While he was preparing it, the Earl of
Arran presented the great claim of the Hamilton family 28.
to the attorney general, as including a part of Rhode Island,
but it was for the present thrown out. The opinion re- ^^^^
cited in detail the charter bounds of Rhode Island, the
Plymouth grant, and the decision of Sir Robert Carr, and
suggested a reference to disinterested parties near the spot
as the only mode of determining the dispute. Upon re-
ceipt of this report, the agents were summoned to attend a
meeting of the Board to consider this boundary question. ^"*
Mr. Almy petitioned that no Connecticut man should be
placed upon the commission, as the dispute with that col-
, ' Br. S. P. , New England, vol. xxxv., pp. 152, 165, 170. R. I. Col.
Rec, iii. 295-9.
* The official title of this hody was " the Right Honorable the Lords of the
Committee of Trade and Plantations." A little later than this time they were
known as the "Board of Trade," by which name we style them in the text,
for brevity. All the colonial documents in the British archives are marked
B. T., as plantation affairs were their peculiar province.
VOL. I.— 34
530 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF EHODE ISLAND,
CHAP, ony in regard to the western line still existed. The at-
J_^ torney general prepared the draft of a commission to the
16 9 4. arbitrators, which was approved by the Board, and the
2 next day, when the order upon the militia was issued, as
before stated, this draft was. attached to it to be filled by
the names of the New York council.
The acts of trade were so generally disregarded in the
colonies as to form the subject of frequent remonstrance by
the home government. Rhode Island came in for her
share of rebuke, although at first she was more loyal upon
this point than either New England or New York. In
reply to a circular from the Board of Trade, issued a year
gg ^^ before. Governor Easton wrote that the collector, Jahleel
6. Brenton, would shortly be in England, and would represent
the fact that for want of proper forts in the bay it was dif-
ficult to enforce the navigation laws.
The friendly feeling between Ehode Island and Con-
necticut at this time was satisfactory to both parties, and
could not easily be disturbed, although occasions were not
wanting to renew the strife. There was a border conflict
June between Westerly and Stonington. Some persons in the
latter town attempted to assess a tax upon the former,
which was resisted, and a complaint was made by the gov-
ernor of Rhode Island to the authorities of Connecticut on
Oct. the subject, to which the latter replied, disowning the act
^^- of the intruders, and expressing a hope that no disturbance
would be created by any act of Rhode Island west of the
Pawcatuck river. So far as it went, this was a virtual
concession of the points in dispute, in favor of Rhode Isl-
l g 9 5 and. But the Narraganset proj)rietors, as they still styled
^^l!iy. themselves, were not satisfied with this tacit aOTcement
which subjected them to Rhode Island, and petitioned to
have the question settled. It was referred to the attorney
general, with whom it rested for more than a year.
May. At the general election Caleb Carr was chosen gover-
nor, and John Greene was re-elected deputy governor
MODE OF LAYING TAXES. 531
The great break in the records does not cease till the ad- chap.
journed session of the Assembly at Newport, when they ^^
again appear complete. The old tax of three hundred 16 95.
pounds was still uncollected. An additional rate of two ' ^ ^
pence on the pound was laid, and a more exact mode of 2.
assessment than had heretofore been used was adopted, by
appointing three men in each town to examine the proper-
ty of every citizen, and estimate his income. Formerly
the rates were laid by guess work, both by the Assembly
in aj^portioning a tax among the towns, and by the coun-
cils in assessing the inhabitants.
Complaint having been made that the Colony House
was used for other purposes than that for which it was
built, it was ordered that it should be occupied only for
legislative or iriilitary affairs, and for no religious objects
whatever. Committees were appointed to run the eastern
and northern lines of the colonv.
Governor Fletcher had written to demand the quota
of troops assigned to Khode Island for the defence of New
York, to which Governor Carr replied that either the forty- 5.
eight men required, or some commutation should be sent
according as Fletcher himself might elect. •
From the death of Sir William Phipps to the appoint-
ment of the Earl of Bellemont several months elapsed,
during which Lieut. Governor Stoughton was at the head
of affairs in Massachusetts. A proposal was made by the 10
Lords Justices to recall Fletcher, and to unite, under Belle-
mont, the governments of New England and New York,
as in the time of Andros, when aU of the American colonies
north of Pennsylvania were known by the name of New
England. But more than three years elapsed before the
plan was perfected by the arrival of Bellemont at New
York ; meanwhile the two governments continued under
their present rulers.
Stoughton refused to have the lines run between Mas-
' N. Y. Col. Mss. xl. 39. R. I. Col. Rec, iu. 303.
532 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
sacliiisetts and Rhode Island, without which the quota of
troops for New York could not be drafted fairly. Fletcher
refused commutation and demanded the men ; whereupon
the Rhode Island council wrote to him, assigning reasons
why they could not send the men. Some further corre-
spondence ensued, when the subject dropped. The Assem-
bly met at Warwick. The boundary between Kingston
and Westerly was settled. A prison was ordered to be
^q' built at Providence. A tax of a penny on a" pound was
laid, to raise the sum of one hundred pounds for the agent
in England. Salaries had occasionally been paid to the
civil officers, but most of the time jjublic service had been
performed gratuitously. It was now enacted that the
governor should have ten pounds a year, the deputy gover-
Nov. nor six pounds, the assistants four pounds each, and the
'"' deputies three shillings a day while in session, or to pay
a double forfeit when absent.
j)ec. Governor Carr died in December, being the fourth gov-
!"• ernor of the colony who died while in office ; and Walter
Clarke, who was governor when the charter was suspended,
was again chosen to that office, probably at an extra ses-
Jan. sion of the Assembly in January, of which no record re-
mains. Nearly seven years had elapsed since the resump-
tion of the charter ; the government had acquired the
confidence of all classes, so that Clarke and Newberry, the
assistant, who had refused office after the fall of Andros,
now cheerfully accepted their former places.
Feb. The Popish plot to assassinate William III. having
1^- been revealed by some of the conspirators, stringent meas-
», , ures were taken ag-ainst the Roman Catholics. All ships
Al3.!'Cll
10, bound to America were embargoed, and letters were sent
to the colonies informing them of the circumstan jes. The
^^ ^.^" activity of the French, in their operations against America,
20. alarmed England, so that further orders were issued, and
aid promised, to j)repare for invasion. Associations were
formed throughout England binding the subscribers to
ASSEMBLY DIVIDED INTO TWO BRANCHES. 533
siipj)ort the King, and to revenge any violence offered to chap.
his person. Notice of this was also sent to the colonies, ,3!I^
with a form " proper to be entered into " as a mark of loy- 169 6.
alty to his Majesty.^ ^'^
Governor Fletcher wrote to Governor Clarke for the 24.
Rhode Island quota which had been refused by his prede-
cessor. He rebuked the neglect of the colony, adding that
her letters of excuse had been sent to England as wit-
nesses against her. This letter was laid before the As- g^
sembly, and a reply returned that the exposed condition
of the colony, with forty miles of coast line, having three
inlets from the sea, undefended by forts, required all its
strength for self-protection ; that the letters of excuse
referred to by Fletcher, had already been sent by Rhode
Island to the home government ; and that she did not
fear the result, as his Majesty would not require impossi-
bilities.^
A very important movement, proposed by the deputies
from Warwick thirty years before,^ was now adopted. The
house of deputies was constituted a distinct body, a lower
house of assembly, with power to choose their own Speaker
and Clerk. It thus became a coordinate branch of the
legiislature, with the assistants, each house having a veto
upon the proceedings of the other ; and thus has it ever
since remained. The first instance of the deputies resolv-
ing themselves into a committee of the whole; for the prep-
aration of business occurred at this session. The practice
was introduced three years later into the council board of
Massachusetts by Lord Bellemont, and was of English
origin, but has never been much used in this State.
Upon receipt of the royal orders relative to the Popish j^^^^
plot they were published in solemn manner, with great pa- 8.
rade and joy, throughout the colony. A letter of congrat-
'■ Smollet, B. i. chap. v. § 30. Antiq. of Conn., 233.
^ N. Y. Docs., iv. 155-6. K. I. Col. Rec., iii. 315-16.
* Ante, chap. is. p. 327.
534 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. Illation was prepared by the council, promising vigilance
^^ in securing the conspirators should they appear in Rhode
1<3 9 6. Island.
" ^' There was always great difficulty in collecting taxes
in the colony. The people were poor, and their situation
the most exposed of any in New England, while the vexa-
tious proceedings of their neighbors not only kept them at
great expense, from the very beginning, to maintain agents
in London, but also furnished a constant pretext for re-
fusal to pay by those who denied their jurisdiction. Not
unfrequently many years would elapse after a tax was
voted before it could be collected, and in view of the per-
plexities arising from these sources it is often a matter of
surprise that a tax could be collected at all. Special ses-
sions of assembly were repeatedly called on this account.
1, One was now convened for this purpose ; and to increase
the revenue, a duty was laid upon all foreign wines, liquors,
and molasses imported into the colony. The latter article
was to pay a half penny a gallon. Privateers fitted out
from here had been engaged in illegal acts, to prevent
which it was ordered that no new commission should be
granted without a bond of one thousand pounds not to ex-
ceed the powers therein conferred. Wolves continued to
trouble the plantations to such an extent that a bounty of
ten shillings was offered for each old one that should be
killed.
Sept. The governor and council of Connecticut entered into
2- an association, in the form adopted in England, for the de-
fence of the King against all conspirators, but we find no
Q trace of any such act in this colony. The attorney gen-
28. eral of England, after more than a year's delay, reported
upon the Narraganset proprietors* petition, that the juris-
diction belonged to Connecticut by reason of the priority
of her cluirter. This was the first opinion adverse to the
claims of Rhode Island, if we except the ex parte report
of the Cranfield commission, and seems to have been hast-
ADMIRALTY COURTS IN THE COLONIES. 535
ily drawn. About the same time the proprietors, probably chap.
weary of the delay, sent another petition asking to be join- J_^__
ed to Massachusetts. To this Major General Winthroo i 6 9 g.
. * Oct
sent a counter petition, in behalf of Connecticut, to " in- 28.
sist on and claim the government of the said country." '■
Meanwhile Almy returned home, and on the same day
that the attorney general's opinion was rendered against
the colony, in England, he received from the Assembly,
sitting at Providence, something over a hundred and thirty-
five pounds for his expenses as agent.
The unsettled state of the eastern shore produced sim-
ilar annoyances with those that had occurred in Westerly.
The Massachusetts officers, having distrained for taxes in
Tiverton, were seized and placed under bonds at Newport. Nov.
Complaints of these seizures were made to Stoughton from ^^■
Bristol and Little Compton, and a vote was passed by the
representatives for the lieutenant-governor to protect the
officers from the violence of Rhode Island.
An important step was now prepared in England to
restrain the irregularities existing in America, with respect
to privateering and to the acts of Trade, by establishing
courts of admiralty in all the colonies. The legality of 21.
the measure was submitted to the attornev general, who,
" . . Dec
on examining all the old charters and grants in America, ^ '
gave as his opinion that they contained nothing which
could restrain the King in his design.'^
There were two parties in the colonies upon the ques- i69tJ-7.
tion of uniting all the governments under a viceroy. 2.
Many in Massachusetts urged it in frequent letters to in-
fluential persons in England They complained of the
small independencies. New Hampshire and Rhode Island,
and denounced the latter as a great resort for privateers,
which its commodious bay facilitated. The New York in-
23.
' Originals of the three papers last referred to are in Br. S. P. 0., New Eng.,
Tol. viii., as are most of the foregoing authorities not cited in the notes.
* Br. S. P. 0. Proprieties, vol. i. p. 65.
536 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
CHAP, terest opposed the union, unless limited to strictly military
_^J^ purposes, on the grounds that the people were too dissim-
iG!)G-7. ilar, and that the rivalry in trade between New York, the
less, and Boston, the greater, would ruin the former. A
9_ circular was sent to all the colonies by the Board of Trade
concerning their irregularities in not furnishing the re-
quired quotas against the French, in harboring each other's
fugitives, and especially in giving countenance .. to piracy,
which had naturally grown out of the system of privateer-
ing, so long maintained during the war with France.'
The independent positions of Connecticut and Khode Isl-
and made them a hindrance to the establishment of any
general system of government in New England, or to the
enforcement of acts intended to apply equally to all the
colonies. Hence another attempt was to be made to re-
strain them, and the attorney general was directed to ex-
25. amine their charters with special reference to this design.
The long-pending appointment of the Earl of Bellemont
March gg governor of New York, Massachusetts, and New Hamp-
shire, and as captain-general of the forces of Rhode Island,
Connecticut, and the Jerseys, was at last announced.
His coming was to open a new struggle in Rhode Islaod.
23 At an adjourned session of the Assembly, held at
Newport, Pawtuxet river was established as the southern
limit of Providence. Deputy governor Greene and the
Warwick deputies protested, but to no effect, against this
act, which terminated a struggle that had lasted for half
a century between Warwick and Pawtuxet, and had form-
ed one of the great points of dispute in ^the Harris trials
twenty years before.
1 6 97. The entire records for the following year are missing,
but the British archives supply the more important events.
Although the long war with France was drawing to a
close, tliere was as yet no cessation of hostilities in Amer-
' Br. S. P. 0. Proprieties, vol, xxv. p. 42. Antiq. of Conn,, 245. R.I. CoJ
Rec, iii. 321.
THE HAMILTON CLAIM DECIDED. 537
ica. Massachusetts applied to Connecticut and Rhode
Island for aid in men, money, and provisions, against the
common enemy, and appointed Capt. Byfield of Bristol to 10 9 7.
obtain the same.
Town records throw very little light upon the general
history of the State after the government became settled
under the second charter, but occasionally they afford cu-
rious hints of the condition of society, or of matters affect-
ing the prosperity of the peoj)le. An agricultural popu-
lation will feel most sensibly those things that afi'ect their
stock or their crops ; hence the frequent notice of wolves
and the lesser vermin, which became so troublesome as to
require State legislation. A new torment was added to . .,
these, for we find that in Portsmouth, every householder 16.
was required to kiU twelve blackbirds before the tenth of
May ensuing, and to bring in their heads, or pay a fine of
two shillings, and for all above twelve that were killed he
should receive one shilling each.'
Again the Hamilton claim came up, on petition of -^
the daughter of the late duke, to be confirmed in her
right to Narraganset, and to receive quit-rent from the
occupants. The case was fully stated, from the time of
the original grant by James I., down through all its sub-
sequent stages, to the report of Andros upon it. Jahleel
Brenton was asked by the Board of Trade, what c^rgu-
ments Rhode Island had to urge against its validity. The
Board were resolved to have a careful examination of this
matter, which should be final. Rhode Island did not sup-
pose the claim would ever be revived, and hence had
given Brenton no instructions upon it. He so stated in 30.
his memorial, and asked that a copy of the duchess' pe-
tition might be sent to Rhode Island. The Connecticut
agent, Winthrop, was equally unprepared upon this ques-
tion, and made a similar request in behalf of the proprietors, July
of whom he was one. Somewhat later, Sir Henry Ash-
^ Portsmouth records, end of vol. i., April 16, 1697.
538 HISTORY or the state of RHODE ISLAND,
urst replied to the same effect, on the part of Massachu-
setts. But the Earl of Arran insisted on a report ; and
although ex i^arte, as the opposing claimants could not be
heard, it was so adverse to the petitioners as to be^ in ef-
fect, final. This document was of formidable length,
and chiefly historical. It recited a decision of the Lords
and Justices upon a parallel case, that " the parties have
recourse to the Courts upon the place,"^ and recommended
that the petition should not be granted, as it would es-
tablish a precedent fraught with disturbance to every land
title in America. The report was equivalent to a legal
decision, so that Rhode Island was forever relieved from
this source of vexation. •
Apil r^\^Q acts of trade were not so easily disposed of, A
royal letter called attention to their abuses in the several
colonies, and threatened a withdrawal of charters if these
were continued.^
The alarm in which the colonists were kept by the
sudden and frequent incursions of the Indians, can scarce-
ly be imagined in our day. The councils of war, com-
posed of the local magistrates, were as active at this time
as they had ever been since the settlement of the State.
An original warrant, of this date, with the council seals
attached, is still extant, directed to twenty-one of the
principal inhabitants of Providence, as commanders of
scouting parties, composed of ten men each, who were to
range the country in pursuit of " the cruel and barbarous
Indians," beyond the limits of the plantations, for two
days at a time ; and each leader, on his return, was to
hand the commission to the one whose name was next in
order upon it. This was continued long after the treaty
of Ryswick had restored peace to Europe,
The hasty opinion of the attorney general in favor of
' Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. xxxvi. p. 222. The other papers above
referred to are in vol. viii.
* Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. xxxvi. p. 159. R. I. Col. Reo. iii. 220.
24
COURT OF ADMIRALTY RESISTED BY CLARKE. 539
tlie Connecticut claim to Narraganset, given in October, chap.
did not escape the keen eye of Brenton, who presented a J^^^J^
memorial to the Board of Trade, pointing out the errors 16 9 7.
therein, that they might be advised of the facts before 15
acting upon it. Letters were sent to both colonies, ad-
vising an adjustment by mutual agreement, or by refer- 26.'
ence to Lord Bellemont, or otherwise to send agents to
England early in the Spring.' Sept.
The treaty of Ryswick restored peace to all Europe. "^^
A printed proclamation was issued in England, and sent ^^t*
out to America, with orders to suspend all privateering
against the French. It reached New England in Decem-
ber, where it was published in due form. Mr. Brenton ^^^•
returned to Rhode Island, with all the letters and pa- ,„^„'
. . ' • '^ 1697-8.
pers from the British government, above refen-ed to, and Jan.
delivered them to the General Assembly, at a special ses- ^^'
sion held in Newport. He was empowered to administer
to the governor the oath required by the acts of trade,
which Clarke, being a Quaker, steadily refused to take.
The creation of a Court of Admiralty in Rhode Island, 17-21
was a further source of discontent to the governor.
Brenton brought over a commission to Peleg Sandford, as
Judge of Admiralty, and to Nathaniel Coddington, as
Register, which Sandford presented to Gov. Clarke, who
endeavored to persuade the Assembly to oppose it, but
without success. He then kept the commission from
Sandford, who complained to the Board of Trade of his
conduct. A similar complaint was also addressed to the 01
King. Brenton forwarded these letters to the Board, and
advised the impeachment of Clarke, as a warning to oth- -^.^yq],
ers. He also urged that the government of Rhode Isl- 8.
and should be required to print their laws, which as yet
bad never bien done."^ These perplexities, no doubt,
» Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. xxv. p. 109. Antiq. of Conn., 259.
R L Col. Rec, iii. 328.
* Br. S. P. 0. Proprieties, vol ii. pp. 445-7-9. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 329-31.
540 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, caused the resignation of Gov. Clarke, at this time, in
,^^__^ favor of his nephew, Samuel Cranston, who, it appears,
16 9 8. presided as governor at the spring term of the Court of
^^y Trials.
The administration of Gov. Cranston is remarkable
for many reasons. He held his position probably longer
than any other man who has ever bfien subjected to the
test of aa annual popular election. He was thirty times
successively chosen governor, holding office till his death,
in 1727. His great firmness in seasons of unexampled
trial, that occurred in the early part of his public life, is,
j)erhaps, the key to his wonderful poi3ularity, of which we
shall find some signal proofs later in his career. The
choice of the Assembly was confirmed by the people at the
election ; and he was also retained in his military office
of major, for the islands. John Greene was re-elected
deputy governor. A majority of the civil officers chosen
at this time, held military commissions. The Quaker
regime expired with Gov. Clarke. The government passed
into the hands of men whose scruples would not imperil
the existence of the State, at a time when firmness was
as much required as caution, in resisting the aggressions
attempted by the royal governors of Massachusetts.
The subject of weights and measures, which twenty-
four years previously had received the attention of the
Assembly, was again discussed. Want of uniformity in
these particulars, injured trade. To remedy this, a sealer
for the colony was apjDointod, with orders to procure stand
ard weights and measures in Boston, whose duty it should
be to seal, with an anchor, all such articles used in New-
port ; and to furnish the other sealers, one of whom was
to be chosen in each town, with accurate models. Any
town failing to appoint a sealer, was to be indicted at the
Court of Trials.
Piracy now prevailed to an alarming extent. Priva-
teers, clearing for Madagascar and the Red Sea on trading
STATUTE AGAINST PIRACT. 541
voyages, with roving commissions against the French, had chap.
become open pirates after the peace. All New England .jj^
and Kew York, as well as the West India Islands, were 169 8.
deeply involved in these unlawful enterprises. The home ^ ^/
government sent orders to repress them. The Rhode Isl-
and Assembly accordingly passed a law, requiring their
officers to seize any suspected person, who should bring
foreign coin or merchandise into the colony, and that he
should be held for trial, unless he could produce satisfac-
tory e\T[dence to the magistrates how he came by the
treasure. A proclamation was also issued, in obedience to
the royal order, and published by drum beat in every town,
requiring the officers to arrest any suspected pirates, and
warning the people not to harbor any such, or to receive
their goods, on pain of punishment as abettors. An ad-
dress to the King was prepared, in which the remissness
of the colony in respect to the acts of trade, is confessed,
and their statute on the subject of piracy is mentioned.
Their assumption of admiralty jurisdiction during the late
war, is also admitti.-d, and defended on the ground of ex-
pediency — there being a necessity for annoving French
commerce, and no admiralty Court then established in
the colony — and finally, a continuation of the royal favor,
in the language of the charter, is earnestly sought. These
papers were all enclosed in a letter from Grov. Cranston to
the Board of Trade, apologizing for the irregularities of
the colony in refusing the quota of troops for New York,
and explaining the charges against it in regard to piracy.
He also stated that two men suspected of piracy had just
been examined, and would be brought to trial.' A bitter
letter against the government of the colony was soon after
written by that old enemy of New England, Randolph, 301
the surveyor general of customs, who had just been to
New York to welcome the arrival of Lord Bellemont.
* The originals of these four papers are in Br. S. P. 0., Proprieties, vol. ii.
Pi 513"-5-7. America and West Indies, vol. 379. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 336-8.
542 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
The charges made against the rulers were most serious, as
that they were in league with the pirates, by whom they
16 98. were enriched ; and equally false was the statement that
many of the people desired a royal governor, and would pay
five hundred pounds a year towards the support of one,'
Depositions against the deputy governor, for having issued
privateer commissions, four years before, when Gov. Eas-
4. ton had refused to grant them, were obtained, and for-
warded in confirmation of these charges ; and Mr. Bren-
ton advised the Board of Trade to call for copies of all
such commissions and bonds as had been granted during
the late war, some of them being, in his view, illegal.^
In compliance with the orders of the home govern-
ment, commissioners were apjjointed by Rhode Island and
Connecticut to adjust the boundary between these colo-
gQ nies. They met at Stonington, but to no jjurpose. Each
claimed all Narraganset, as heretofore. The negotiation
was held in writing, as it had formerly been, and with the
^^S- same result. The Rhode Island Assembly met, for the
first time, at Kingstown, and voted a tax of eight hundred
pounds, currency, of which Newport was to pay two hun-
dred and twenty-five pounds; Portsmouth, one hundred
and forty; Providence, one hundred and twenty-eight ;
Kingstown, one hundred and twenty-five ; Warwick and
Westerly, forty-six pounds each; Jamestown, thirty-eight;
Greenwich, tliirty, and New Shoreham twenty-two pounds,
A tax law in twelve sections, the most complete that had
yet been framed, was passed for its collection, providing
for the first time for a jioU tax upon all males between
• sixteen and sixty years of age, of whom a census was to
be taken, as well as an account of their estates; and each
man, except slaves and the like, was to pay one shilling
a head. Provision was made for the reception of Lord
Bellemont, who was expected soon from New York, on his
^ ' Br. S. P. 0., Plantations General, vol. v. c. 17. R, I. Col. Rec, iii. 339,
" Br. S. P. 0., Proprieties, vol. ii. pp. 581-3.
PIRATES AND PRIVATEERS. CAPT. KIDD. 543
way to Boston. The governor's salary was increased to chap.
thirty pounds. A committee was named to prepare a di- ^^!^
gest of the laws, to send to England, as req[mred, and an- 16 98.
other to present the case of the western boundary to Lord
Bellemont.'
The next regular session was held at Providence. 26.
Want of uniformity in the size of casks and barrels, in
which jDiovisions were packed, led to the adoption of a
standard gauge for the various sizes, and the appointment
of gaugers in each town, with penalties for any violation
of such standard.
Further letters were sent by the Board of Trade to
the colonies, at this time, on the subject of piracy. The 23.
one to this colony, following the suggestion of Mr. Bren-
ton, required coi^ies of all privateering papers to be sent
home, with an account of the trials of Munday and Cut-
ler, who had been arrested for exceeding the powers grant-
ed in their commissions. The letters to the other colonies
were equally specific on the same subject,*^ and were fol-
lowed by instructions to the custom house officers how to \'^'
conduct their business ; and soon after by an order from
the British Cabinet to the governors of all the colonies, to 23.
apprehend the notorious Capt. Kidd, should he appear in
their waters.^
' A letter from the R. I. commissioners to those of Coiin., dated Kingstown,
Dec. 8, 1698, proposing a reference of the dispute to the Earl of Bellemont, as
their negotiations had proved fruitless, is in Trumbull papers, vol. xxii. No.
152.
■^ Br. S. P. , Proprieties, vol. xxv. p. 253. Antiq. of Conn., 266. R. I.
Col. Rec, iii. 34 J.
'■ Antiq. of Conn. 268-71. Kidd was of English birth, and a bold privateer
during the war with France. The governor of Barbadoes induced William III.
to give Kidd a commission to act against the pirates who then infested every
sea. He received the title of Admiral, Dec. 11, 1695, and soon after sailed
with 80 men in a government ship of 30 guns, to New York, where he doubled
his crew, and went to the Red Sea. There he commenced his acts of piracy,
and became the terror of his countrymen. A fleet was sent to the East Indies
to take him, but he escaped, and came to the American coast. At length,
grown reckless by success, he appeared in Rhode Island, and was soon after
orrosted in Boston, sent to England, and there gibbeted in 1700.
1698-9.
544 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF KHODE ISLAND.
A formidable representation was made to the King hy
tlie Board of Trade, concerning the many irregularities in
Rhode Island, as to their refusal to take the oaths, their
encouragement of illegal traffic, their assuming admiralty
jurisdiction to themselves, and resisting it from the crown,
with other flagrant acts of disloyalty, and recommending
that a commission of inquiry be sent to Lord Beilemont
to examine into these matters, with a view to the issuing
JsLxu ^ 5'wo ivarranto against the charter,' The inquiry was
^- ordered at once — the instructions to Lord Beilemont were
prepared, not only for this, but for all the colonies, and a
3. copy thereof forwarded to each. But Rhode Island was
the special object aimed at. The Board made inquiries
of Mr. Brenton, then in London, about the extraordinary
militia power of the colony, and were informed that it was
conferred by the charter ; but that recently the Assembly
had given to the military the power of selecting their own
officers. His former communication upon the subject of
March privateering papers, with the queries to be put to the
'''■ government of Rhode Island, were embodied in the in-
structions. They passed the council, and were presented
on the same day for the royal signature.'
Pglj The differences between Connecticut and Rhode Isl-
14. and, and various difficulties arising from that cause, were
the subject of much legislation at a special session of the
Assembly. The former colony had spread a report that
the people of Narraganset were not to be taxed while the
disjDUte upon jurisdiction was pending. This was seized up-
on by the disaffected as an occasion of disturbance, by refus-
ing to pay the late levy. Other parties, without leave
had intruded in that country. These were required tc
depart, or to arrange with the lawful owners wilhout de-
lay. The commission to treat with Connecticut was con-
' Br. S. P. 0., Proprieties, vol. xxv., p. 275. R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 361-3.
' Br. S. P. 0., Proprieties, vol. ii. pp. 663, 767, and vol. xxv. pp. 305, 367
R. I. Col. Rec, iu. 363-7.
22.
BOUNDARIES OF TOWNSHIPS. 545
tinued, and tlie legal rights of all persons, whether claim- chap.
iug ownership by Connecticut titles, or otherwise, were ,._,_;^
secured. A law against peddling was adopted, with a i<398-9.
coijious preamble, reciting the injuries to regular trade re-
sulting therefrom. Warwick was again forbidden to ex-
ercise jurisdiction north of Pawtuxet river, as had been of
late attempted in the collection of taxes. The registra-
tion act was reaffirmed, and marriages were legalized
which had been performed in disregard of the previous
registry act. The magistrate's fee for performing the cer-
emony was fixed at three shillings, with sixpence to the
town clerk for recording the same.
The colony were informed by Jahleel Brenton of the -, ggg
movements of Connecticut in regard to the boundaiy
question. She now claimed a great part of Warwick and
of Providence as well as all of Kings Province. At the
May session Mr. Brenton was appointed sole agent to Lon- ^^ay.
don, in behalf of Rhode Island, and funds were remitted
to him for this purpose. Tlie three Narraganset towns,
Kingstown, Westerly, and Greenwich, were not yet agreed
as to their respective boundaries. A committee was fully
empowered to adjust all differences between them. They
at once entered upon their duties, and within a month
were prepared to report to the Assembly definite limits
for each of the towns, which were accepted with but little
variation.' Gov. Cranston wrote a long letter to the 27,
Board of Trade deprecating the many false reports against
the colony, circulated chiefly by Randolph, and announc-
ing the appointment of Brenton as the agent.
At this time Lord Bellemont, who for the first year of
his residence in America remained in New York, removed
to Boston. He was afflicted with the gout, a circumstance
which, if we may credit his own words, interfered not a
little with the discharge of the pressing duties of his gov-
ernment, and seems to have afiected his temper likewise,
» Potter's Narraganset. R. I. H. C, iii. 108.
VOL. I — 35
54G BISTORT OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, to the serious detriment of Khode Island interests. His
_^^ present jiiiri^ose was to break up the piracy that had
16 9 9. grown out of privateering, a work in which he found great
difficulty, many of the leading famiUes, especially-of Leis-
ler's party, in New York, as well as a large part of New
England being concerned in it. By stratagem he suc-
1. ceeded in enticing the notorious Capt. William -Kidd to
come to Boston where he had him seized and thrown into
prison. He had many friends in Rhode Island and Mas-
sachusetts, and influential persons came even from Al-
bany and New York, upon Kidd's affaii^sj all of whom
Bellemont so far blinded as to induce Kidd through
their influence to come to Boston. Bradish, and other
well-known pirates confined in the gaol, had recently
been permitted to escape. The connivance was very
general in the plans of these lawless freebooters, which
much resembled the schemes of a later fillibusterism.
Bellemont's letter to the Board of Trade sets forth the
secret history of these transactions, and presents a la-
mentable picture of the state of society in America at
this period. With the many letters that he sent home
this year, chiefly upon this subject, were inclosed a great
mass of documents, nearly a hundred in number, accu-
mulated for the most jjart as evidence in support of the
charges against Rhode Island. We shall refer only to
some of the most important, or interesting of these, ex-
tending throughout the year. Among them is an order
from Sarah, wile of Capt. WilUam Kidd, who was im-
prisoned with him, upon Capt. Paine who lived on Con-
anicut, to pay the bearer twenty-four ounces of gold, for
the support of herself and husband in gaol. In a later
letter, Bellemont describes minutely the whole afiair of
Kidd's arrest and examination.
To further his designs upon Rhode Island, and to aid in
securing other pirates known to resort there. Lord BeDe-
mont commissioned the members of the Admiralty Court,
8.
18.
26.
ATTEMPTS TO SUPPRESS PIRACY. 547
Brinley, Sandford and Coddington, to collect evidence and chap.
to use their efforts in capturing Gillam, Palmer, and other
confederates of Kidd. They accepted the trust, but de-
plored the difficulties attending it by reason of the sym-
pathy everywhere felt for the freebooters. The feeling
of the home government may be gathered from a letter
written by the Board of Trade in reply to Gov. Cranston's ^^■
letter of May. Its language was very severe, blaming the
colony for sending only an abstract of the laws instead of
a copy of them as required, and that too an incorrect and
imperfect one, and sharply rebuking them for the en-
couragement given to piracy by the commissions granted
in 1694 by the deputy governor, whose ignorance, if that
were the real and not simply the ostensible cause, as the
Board intimate, of his conduct, should have excluded him
from public office.' The correspondence between the
commissioners and Lord Bellemont is full of the names of
the accomplices of Kidd, who at various times resorted
to this bay, and of those who harbored them, many of
whom were arrested. The urgency of these affairs led the
governor to call a special session of the Assembly at New- 21.
port, of which the only record that remains is the speech
made by Gov. Cranston at the opening, assigning his
reasons for convening it, which is filed with the Belle-
mont papers in the British archives. The reasons were,
the expected visit of Lord Bellemont to Rhode Island to
inquire into the irregularities of the government and to
settle the dispute with Connecticut, and the necessity of
raising money to defray the expenses of this visit and of
another agent to join Mr. Brenton in England, to defend
the colony from the attacks of its enemies.- Just before y ^^
going to Ehode Island, Lord Bellemont wrote to the Board 8.
upon the difficulty of enforcing the acts of trade in New
York, " where the people have such an appetite for piracy
^ The colony took the hiut at the nest election, as we shall presently see.
*- Br. S. P. 0., Proprieties, vol. iv. p. 643.
18.
548 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
and unlawful trade that they are ready to rebel as often
as the government puts the law in execution against
them," and he is equally severe upon the lawyers of that
Province.
Bellemont has left a diary of his visit at Ehode Island
and his proceedings there. The journey to Newport oc-
cupied two days. At Bristol ferry the govenwr and
counc'il, with a troop of horse, received and escorted him
20 to Newport, where a meeting of the council was immedi-
ately held and the royal commission was read. The next
21- day his special instructions to inquire into the mal-ad-
ministration of Rhode Island affairs were read to the
council, and ex-governors Clarke and Easton, Gov. Crans-
ton and Deputy Gov. Greene and Pel eg Sandford, were
examined upon the several points charged in the instruc-
22. tions. The troublesome subject of oaths was then mi-
nutely inquired into. The scruples of many in Rhode
Island upon this subject could never be comprehended by
the British officers. A somewhat similar idea of legality
pertained to the exact form of an oath, as was attached
to the possession of a seal in those days. It was an em-
blem of loyalty as the latter was of sovereignty, and the
letter of the law on this point was more insisted upop
than its spirit. The omission of it was one of the chief
causes of complaint against Rhode Island. This, and
the volunteer militia system, were two grand stumbling-
blocks to an English comprehension of Rhode Island
peculiarities.
23. While they were under consideration Gov. Winthrop,
with the Connecticut commissioners upon the Narragan-
set dispute, arrived. The conflicting clauses in the two
charters were read, and also the agreement between the
two agents, Dr. Clarke and John Winthrop, thereupon.
The case was then argued by the commissioners on each
side, and they were advised to come to a mutual agreement.
This was attempted in vain. Bellemont then ordered
25
EPISCOPAL CHURCH MOVEMENT. 549
them to prepare a statement of their claims. This was chap
done and presented the next day, affidavits were taken ^^
upon the case, and the two colonies were warned to send 16 9 9.
their agents to England to lay the matter before the |g '
King. Further examinations in regard to piracy were
had. Caleb and Josias Arnold were added to the members
of the admiralty court as commissioners to collect evi-
dence upon the charges, and the governor and council
were requested to aid them in the work.
The earliest movement in favor of an Episcopal
church in Ehode Island now assumed an organized form.
A number of the people who preferred that service, had
commenced in the early part of this year to hold public
worship, and now petitioned the Earl of Bellemont to in-
tercede with the home government that aid might be ex-
tended to them in support of a settled minister. The
paper was signed by sixteen persons, headed by two of the
old Huguenot names, whose establishment in Narraganset
had been abandoned amid the distractions occasioned by
the contest for jurisdiction. Of the whole number of
forty-five families who had settled at Frenchtown, all but
two had left for New York, and those two had removed
to Boston. But two individuals remained in the colony.
ThcbC settled at Newport and appear as the first signers
of the petition. Although the Huguenots differed essen-
tially from the church of England upon many points, be-
ing themselves the direct offshoots of the Geneva school
of theology, their simple but beautiful ritual approached
nearer co that of the English church than it did to the
yet sim])ler forms of the Baptist, or to the strictly spirit-
ual communion of the Society of Friends. Hence they
sympathized with the new movement, and appear as its
leaders.'
Meeting-houses were this year built by the Friends at
Portsmouth and Newport, the latter in place of an old
See Appendix G. for this interesting document.
550 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
one. shortly afterwards taken down, which had been erect
ed in the early years of the colony.
16 9 9. Bellemont having finished his business, placed the
governors of Rhode Island and Connecticut under bonds
of three thousand pounds each to enforce the acts against
27. pirates, and left Newport, escorted as before to the ferry.
He reached Seekonk that night, and arrived at Boston the
Oct. next afternoon. He then wrote to Gov. Cranston, thank-
ing him for the hospitalities he had received at Newport,
and directing the arrest of Bradish, a pirate who had es-
caped to Rhode Island. An accurate copy of the laws and
of the acts of council of the colony was required, a task not
easy to perform in the disordered state of the records. But
^- Gov. Cranston, in his reply, promised it should be done.
One more effort was made in the Connecticut As-
sembly, by appointing a new committee, to settle the
question with Rhode Island, without sending an agent
to England ; but foreseeing the futility of further effort
in that way. Gov. Winthrop sent a commission to Sir
Heniy Ashurst as agent of the colony, and advised the
Board of Trade of his appointment. BeUemont wrote to
16. Gov. Cranston not to distrain for taxes in Narraganset
until the dispute was settled, and also reproved his tardi-
ness in not having yet sent the laws and acts of council as
required. Brinley wrote that no council records could be
found, but that the laws would be sent after the As-
sembly, about to meet, had put them in proper shape.
23 Gov. Cranston replied to Bellemont, that they could not
comply with the order to send an agent to England unless
they raised a tax, and this they could not do if they were
forbidden to levy upon the portion of the colony claimed
by Connecticut, being nearly all the mainland. Here was
a difficulty which the General Assembly, convened at
Warwick, had to meet. It was met, as such hindrances
often were, by ignoring it. A tax of six hundred pounds
had before been assessed, and copies of the law, under seal,
12.
15.
21.
25.
BELLEMONT DENOUNCES THE COLONY. 551
t
had already been sent to the several towns. This was chap
considered enough, and no notice was taken of the injunc- ^^
tion, or command of Bellemont. His other orders were 169 9
better respected. A committee to transcribe the laws
was appointed, to report at the adjourned session. In
compliment to the action of the Connecticut Assembly, a
committee of conference upon the matters in dispute was
apj)ointed to meet in two weeks at Wiekford. An at-
tempt was made to appoint an agent to go to England,
but none would accept it, and the subject was laid over to
the adjournment. Depositions in regard to Gillam and g
other pirates were taken at this time, and forwarded to
England by Lord Bellemont, with a letter denouncing the
government of Rhode Island, as " the most irregular and
illegal in their administration that ever any English gov-
ernment was." His criticisms were amply sustained by
the complaints constantly sent to him by the admiralty
commissioners at Newport. Sandford says that any com- 3
mission direct from his Majesty is considered as an in-
fringement of the charter privileges, and those who take
them are looked upon as enemies to the State.
The joint commission of the two colonies met at Wick-
ford. Their correspondence was brief, and, as was antici-
pated on each side, inconclusive. An appeal to the King
was now the last resort. Bellemont wrote to the Board of jg.
Trade a full statement of the case, and enclosed all the
documents relating thereto. The adjourned session of the
Assembly was held at Newport, and vainly attempted to -^•
select an agent. Six nominees declined. The matter
was referred to a committee to find an agent who would
go, and to order all things requisite to that object. The
committee to revise and transcribe the laws, made a full
report, which was received, and all laws not included in
their transcri23t were repealed.
At length Lord Bellemont, having collected a great
mass of evidence to support the charges against Rhode
29
552 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
Islanctj made his report to the Privy Council. It was a
formidable paper, presenting under twenty-five distinct
heads, an array of testimony against B.hode Island, which
we can only wonder at this day that the friendless colony
was enabled to resist. That she was not utterly crushed
beneath the cumulative evidence of every kind of irregu-
larity that was hurled upon her by the indefatigable zeal
and the consummate ability of Bellemont, can scarcely be
accounted for by any human agency. It is the greatest
marvel in the history of Rhode Island in the seventeenth
century. She had had many narrow escapes, but this was
the most wonderful of them all.' Immediately following
this rej)ort he sent a letter to the Board of Trade on the
subject of piracy, wherein he denounced Gov. Cranston
for "conniving at pirates, and making Rhode Island their
sanctuary."
Some people of Westerly, acting upon the prohibition
issued by Bellemont, refused at town meeting to elect as-
sessors of the tax laid by the Assembly for sending an agent
to England. Upon this Gov. Cranston issued a warrant
for the arrest of several persons who had signed a protest
against the said election, and appointed a special con-
2, stable with a sufficient force to serve the warrant. The
firmness of Cranston at this crisis, did more than any
other one cause to save the colony from extinction.
A fair copy of the laws and acts of the colony was at
last sent to Bellemont, with a letter explaining the causes
of delay, and deprecating the conduct of the commission-
ers appointed by his Lordship, as being adverse to the in-
terests of the colony. Capt. Joseph Sheffield, one of the
assistants, carried the papers; and that he might serve as
a special envoy to soothe the anger of the Earl, his cre-
dentials were stated in the letter, requesting Bellemont to
" discourse with the bearer" upon the state of the coloDy.
* The Original Report and Journal of Lord Bellemont are in Br. S. P. 0.
Proprieties, vol. iv. pp. 565, 573. See R. I. Col. Rec, iii. 385-93.
22.
Dec
22,
THE CODE OF LAWS SENT TO ENGLAND. .'553
The commissioners followed the next day, with a letter chap
declaring that the copy of the laws sent was neither com- x>^^^
plete nor correct, and condemning the arrests made at 16 9^9
Westerly, the parties taken having been carried to New-
port jail. This act roused the anger of Connecticut.
The governor and council of that colony empowered Capt. 25.
Mason to seize any Rhode Island officer who should at-
tempt to distrain for taxes in Westerly. Brinley also
wrote to Lord Bellemont in regard to the sedition act,
which the last Assembly had revived, and under which the
Westerly prisoners were to be tried ; and a few days later ^^
he again wrote in the same strain, denouncing the whole
code, and the manner of its adoption by the Assembly, ^ggg
The laws were sent over tO' the Board of Trade, with YToV.
abundant annotations and denunciations by Bellemont, J^"-
together with the letters of Brinley upon the state of the
government.'
The threatening aspect of affairs caused frequent ses-
sions of the General Assembly. A permanent agent in
England was indispensable to the salvation of the colony.
Mr. B ronton had acted in her behalf upon the Connecti-
cut dispute, and had since been empowered to defend her
charter; but he was the collector of Newport, and liable
to be sent home to his post, a purpose that Bellemont
was seeking to accomplish. A man was at last found
both able and willing to take the responsible position.
Capt. Joseph Sheffield, who had lately served as envoy to Yeh:
Bellemont, was selected as the agent to defend the char- 16.
^ The original authorities for the events of the year 1699, above related,
are so numerous and varied in the British State Paper office, that the writer
deemed it best to insert them all in a single note at the end. For the local
reader these references can hate no interest, but to the historian who may-
wish to verify facts or dates herein stated, by examining the archives in Lon-
don, they will be found of great importance in the sa\nng of time and trouble.
They are in the bundles marked as follows : New England, vols. ix. and x.
Proprieties, vols. iii. iv. v. and xxvi. America and West Indies, vol. 379, and
New York, vol. ix.
554 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, tered rights of Rhode Island, at the Court of Sainl
J___, James. If he should find, on reaching London, that
17 00. Brenton had already acted upon his late commission in
defence of the charter, the two were to be united* in the
agency ; otherwise, Sheffield was to be the sole agent,
with an annual salary of eighty pounds, besides his neces-
sary expenses. The Assembly adjourned to New Year's
day, when, the only business done was to establish, upon a
25 permanent basis, a horse-ferry between the mainland and
Conanicut.
The Court of Trials, held the next day, conducted
26. with a high hand against Pemberton and the other Wes-
terly prisoners, under the sedition act. The grand jury
io;nored the bills. The Court refused to receive the re-
turn, and adding three more to the jury, sent them out a
second time. Again they failed to find indictments. The
Court then added six more persons to the jury, and again
sent them out to deliberate, with positive orders to find
true 'bills. After several hours' consultation, twelve of the
twenty-one made a return in accordance with the instruc-
tions of the Court. This was an exercise of jjower more
dangerous to the liberties of the colony than any they
were likely to suffer, even from the will of Bellemont; and
it was followed up by a verdict of guilty, obtained by a
similar violence on the part of the Court towards the
petty jury, who, at first, were for acquitting the prisoners.'
There was need of haste in the matter, of Sheffield's
^ .J commission, for the Board of Trade, upon receipt of Lord
8. Bellemont's report, sent an abstract of it to his Majesty,
and recommended its referenoe to the law officers of the
crown, " to consider what method may be most proper for
bringing the colony under a better form of government,"
and that they proceed forthwith. '^
The memorial of the foreman of the grand jury at
' Br. S. P. 0., Proprieties, vol. v. pp. 417-421.
" Br. S. P. 0., Proprieties, vol. xxvi. p. 184.
RIOTS IN KINGS PROVINCE. 555
Newport, who was one of the nine dissenters from the act chap
of the majority, in finding a bill against the Westerly J___;_
prisoners, was presented to Bellemont. He wrote a sharp 170
letter to Gov. Cranston, pronouncing the proceedings in 22.
the case of Pemberton, to be the " most arbitrary and ir-
regular he had ever heard of, next to taking away a man's
life against law ; " and also rebuking them for sending an
armed force to levy taxes in Narraganset. This latter
procedure was retaliated by Connecticut. Mallett, the
sheriff of Rhode Island, was seized, with several of his
posse, by a Connecticut force, and taken to New London
jail, where the others were released on bail, but the sheriff
was detained for trial.' Riots attended upon these attempts
to collect taxes, and the whple of Kings Province was in
a state of disorganization. A Court of Inquiry was held
at Kingstown, at which a large number of persons were
fined for resisting the officers.
At the general election, John Greene, who for ten sue- May
cessive years had been elected deputy governor, was
dropped, and ex-Gov. Walter Clarke was chosen in his
place. The ferry from Newport to Jamestown was settled
upon similar terms with that to the mainland. News
having arrived that Brenton had accepted and acted upon
his commission as general agent for the colony, the ap-
pointment of Sheffield was revoked. The recent riots in 4.
Kingstown occupied the Assembly. Many persons ap-
peared and confessed their fault. Some had their fines
remitted, and others were bound over for trial at the Sep-
tember term. The seizure of the high sheriff by the Con-
necticut government did not impede the collection of the
tax. Another sheriff was appointed, and also special con-
stables, with sufficient force to complete the gathering of
the six hundred pound tax forthwith. A new form of
engagement for the dej)uties was adopted, binding them
to allegiance to the King, and fealty to the chartered au-
' Br. S. P. 0., Proprieties, vol. v. p. 633.
556 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP, thorities of the colony. A determined spirit prevaded the
.^.^ proceedings of this Assembly, such as had not always
1700. been shown in critical tinies, but which was essential in
Mav
" the final struggle for existence, upon which the xjolony
13. had now fairly entered. At the close of the session, Gov.
Cranston, in behalf of the Assernbly, addressed a petition
to the King, imploring a continuance of the charter.'
He also wrote to the Board of Trade,^ informing them
that the late deputy governor had been left out of all of-
fices of trust, at the recent election, on account of his ille-
gally granting privateer commissions : that a more perfect
copy of the laws was to be made and sent under seal, and
that a new form of engagement had just been adopted to
meet the views of the home government. It was a diplo-
matic letter, well drafted to aid the efforts of Brenton in
averting another quo loarranto.
June. ^^^t tbe Earl of Bellemont was ready with a rejoinder
22. sustained by documentary proof He wrote to the Board
that h£ had given up all attempt at reducing the disorders
in Khode Island, and forwarded the petition of Pember-
ton, with other papers relating to the seizure and arbi-
trary trial of the Westerly j)risoners.^ Nor were these
the only outrages committed in the name of the law, dur-
ing this period of turmoil and excitement. The French
settlement had been broken up, but Dr. Ayrault remained
as a practising physician. Greenwich had extended its
limits to embrace the whole of Frenchtown. It was
charged that Ayrault had fenced in certain highways laid
23^ out through the settlement. A court of inquiry, com-
posed of the officers of Greenwich and AVarwick, was
held there to decide upon the question; and, after delib-
^ Original in Br. S. P. O. America and West Indies, vol. 379. R. I. Col.
Rec, iii. 419.
* Original in Br. S. P. 0., Proprieties, vol. v. p. 317.
^ Originals in Br. S. P. 0., New York papers, vol. x. p. 256, and Proprie-
ties, vol. V. p. 413
INDEPENDENT LEGISLATION. 557
erating a whole day, tlie jury rendered a verdict. of guilty chap.
against the doctor. That night a mob attacked his house, J^^^,^
carried off himself aud his son Daniel hy force, maltreated 17 0.
his aged wife who attempted to plead with them ; and
having taken the two men to where the court was held,
compelled them to give bonds to appear at the next Court
of Trials. The affidavit of Dr. Ayrault, with the con-
current testimony of John Fones, and others who were
present, given soon afterwards at Newport, and yet more
the subsequent conduct of the assailants in laying waste Aug.
the premises, prove the whole affair to have been one of
lawless violence, for which no excuse can be offered. It
was a phase of border life, where law imposes l)ut a feeble
restraint upon the cupidity or the passions of men.'
A special session of the Greneral Assembly was held at 29
Newport. Acts were passed to lay a tax upon pedlars ;
to require any man who should marry an executrix, to give
bonds to perform the will of the testator so far as the es-
tate would permit; to provide for a constable's watch in
every town; and "that where the laws of this collony, or
custom, shall not reach or comprehend any matter, cause, ^0.
or causes, that it shall be lawful! to put in execution the
laws of England." This last act forms a fitting conclu-
sion to the legislation of Rhode Island in the seventeenth
century. It contains a covert assertion of sovereignty,
amounting almost to an act of independence. It was an
extreme application of the famous clause in the charter,
which conveyed far more than its grantors imagined — that
the laws should conform to those of England as nearly as
possible, " considering the nature and constitution of the
place and people there."
Sir Henry Ashurst, agent of Connecticut, presented ^^^
to the Board of Trade a memorial setting forth the claim
of that colony to the jurisdiction of Narraganset. Bren-
ton replied to it with a counter memorial on the part of 17.
' Br. S. P. 0., New England, vol. xiii.
558 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. Rhode Island. Both papers state concisely the ffrounds
J^,-^ of their respective claims. After some delay, Brenton
1700-1. again called the attention of the Board to the sub-
Feb. •
g, J6ct, and requested an early decision, as his busin'ess re-
quired him to return to, America.' But this long dis-
puted point was not destined to be so speedily arranged.
Another quarter of a century was to elapse befbre the
rights of Rhode Island should receive their final- confirma-
tion by the King in council.
An event of the greatest importance to the people of
this colony now occurred. The death of the Earl of
^ ^^^ Bellemont, at New York, removed the most formidable
opponent to the charter of Rhode Island, who had ever
ruled in New England. Unlike Sir Edmund Andros,
Bellemont could neither be moved by flattery nor softened
by courtesy. He acknowledged in becoming terms the
civilities extended to him on his visit to Newport, and in
the same letter rebuked the free spirit of a people who
virtually set at defiance the laws that he was appointed
to execute. Had his litis been s^jared, the ability with
which he prepared the charges and evidence against this
colony, and the energy that he displayed in pursuing his
purposes to the bitter end, might have given another and
a fatal termination to a contest that involved the colonial
condition, and determined the future fortunes of Rhode
Island.
' Originals in Br. S. P. 0., Propncties. vol. v. pp. 67o, 497-631.
FOUNDING OF TKINITY CHURCH.
559
APPENDIX a.
CHAP.
XII.
APP.
G.
FOUNDING OF TPJNITY CHURCH, NEWPORT.
(from BRITISH STATE PAPER OFFICE. NEW ENGLAND, VOL. IX.)
T> his Excelleucy Richard, Eafle of Bellemont, Capt. Generall and Gov in
Chiefe in and over the provinces of the Massachusetts Bay, New York
and New Hampshire and the Territoryes thereon depending in America,
and Vice Admiral of the same,
The humble Petition of the People of the Church
of England now resident in Rhode Island,
Sheweth,
That your Petitioners and others inhabiting within this Island having
agreed and concluded to erect a church for the Worship of God according to
the discipline of the Church of England and tho' we are disposed and ready
to give all the encouragement we possibh' can to a Pious and learned ^Minister
to settle and abide amongst us, yet by reason we are not in a capacity to con-
tribute to such an Hon'''* Mentenance as may be requisite and expedient ;
Your Petitioners therefore humbly pray that your Lordship will be pleased
KO farr to favour our undertakings as to intercede with his Maj > for his gra-
cious letters to this Government, on our behalfe to protect and encourage us aud
that some assistance towards the present mentenance of a Minister among us
may be granted as your Excellency in your great wisdome shall think most
meet, and that your Excellency will also be pleased to write in our behalfe
and favour to the Lords of the Council of Trade and Plantations, or to such
Ministers of state as your Excellency shall judge convenient in and about the
premises.
Aud your Petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray iSsc*.
Gabriel Bernon W'". Brinley
Piere Ayrould Isaac Martindale
Thomas Fox Robert Gardiner
George Guttler Thos. Paine
Will". Pease Thos. xMallett
Edwin Carter Rob'. Wrightiugton
Fra. Pope Anthy. Blount
Richard Newland Thomas LilUbridge
This petition was delivei-ed at Xewport, 26th Sept. 16'J9, and for-
warded to the Board of Trade by Lord Bellemont on 24:th October.
It was received and read on 5th -January following. In his letter en-
closing it to the Board, Bellemont says. " I send your Lordships the
netition of several persons in Rhode Island for a Church of England
560 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
Minister and a yearly settled maintenance for one. I hope yonr Lord-
ships will please to patronize so good a design, and will obtain his
Majesty's allowance of a competent maintenance for such a Minister.
It will be a means I hope to reform the lives of the People in that
Island, and make good Christians of 'em who at present are all in
darknesse." The petition was sent by the Board of Trade to the
Bishop of London, who presented it to the King, by whom it was re-
ferred back to the Board, April 16, for their opinion upon what was
proper to be done in the matter. Other petitfons for promoting the
Gospel among the Indians were pending at the same time. I'rom these
movements originated the " Societj^ for propagating^ the Gospel in
foreign parts," incorporated in 1702, by whom, two years later, the
Rev. James Honeyman was sent out as a missionary to this station,
upon petition of the wardens of Trinity church to the society for aid.
Meanwhile, Rev. Mr. Lockyer, who had gathered the church early in
1(599, new style, served as its rector, and the building was completed
some time in 1702.
BND OF VOLUilE FIBST.
GENEEAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIEST.
Abbott, Archbishop, 6
Acorns, 84.
Acquicineset, 351.
Acts of Trade and Navigation, 454, 464, 467, 530,
535, 538, 544.
Addresses of R. I. to Home Government, 492-6,
514. 520, 523, 541.
Adlara. Eev. S., 108 n.
Administrators of estates, 44.3.
Admiralty courts in E. I., 246, 488, 535, 539, 541.
Adrianople, 523 n.
Adultery punished by Indians, 75; by Gen. Asa.,
320.
Advertisement of Narr. lands, 445, 447, 457.
Agamenticus. 157 n.
" Agawiim, Simple Cobbler of," cited, 45. Town
of, 370.
Agents of R. I. in England, 345,436,440,447,461,
463, 493, 526, 545, 553.
Agreement between Clarke and "Winthrop, 282,
296. 297, 351.
Alarm established, 132.
Albanv, 309. 527, 528, 529, 546.
Albro. or Alborough, Capt. John, 467, 499, 508.
Alderman, an Indian, 416.
Als;iers, 437, 463.
Alien law in M.ass., 61, 63; In E. I., 242.
Alleghany Mts.. 96.
Allen, J.ames, 432.
Almy. Christopher, 518, 526, 527, 529, 535.
"Ambition Anatomized," referred to, 361.
Anabaptist, name how aiiplied, 151 note.
Anchor, for State seal, 204.
Anderson's " Hist, of Commerce," 497 n.
Andros, Sir E., 397, 455, 4S4, 493, 495,498; his
administration, 49S-510 ; reviewed, 514-17;
new ccimmission, 508; fall, 510-14, 520, 558.
Anecdotes, 18^3 n., ISS n., 189 n., 505 n.
Angel, or Augell, Thomais, 97, 103.
Anglesea, island, 47.
Annawon, Indian chiet, 417.
Annexation of VTarwiek and Pawtuxetto Mass.,
131; of Plymouth, 524.
Antinomian controversy, 47, 51-69 ; doctrines,
52-5. 65 ; party, 54,56, 58 ; impolitic course,
61 ; trial of leaders, 63, 64 ; disarmed, 64 ; re-
view of. 66--9 : term how applied, 151 n.
"Antiquitates Americans." referred to, 28.
"Antiquities of Connecticut," referred to, 460,
461, 469, 481, 482, 53-3, 536, 589, 543.
Apples, first in R. I., 99 n., 137.
Vol. I.— 3(j
Appleton, Major, 403.
Apportionment of taxes, 205, 271, 272, 276, 813,
846, 450, 542.
Apprenticeship, 161.
Aquedneck island, 23, 69, 70, 113 ; purchase of,
125 ; compact, 124 ; the settlers of, 125 ; two
governments at, 135; united, 143; election,
148; fire, 152: claimed by Plymouth, 159.
223, 440, 444, 477 ; proceedings "against Gor-
ton, 167-172; his return to, 189 ; dissensions
at, 213, 221; petition to United Colonies,
222 ; usurped by Coddington, 238 ; sends Dr.
Clarke to Engl.and, 239 ; courts, how held,
252; Indians sent off, 331 ; guarded, 407;
smallpox at, 523.
Arbitration a basis of government, 176 ; declined
in the Warwick case, 182.
Archery prescribed by law, 209.
Argyle, Duke of, 4S1.
Arlington, Lord, 315.
Arminian party, 6.
Arms and ammunition ordered, 413.
Arnold, William, 100, 102, 104, 107, 111, 174, 176,
177, 238, 248, 258, 267, 268, 271.
Arnold, Benedict, 103, 111, 191, 196, 197, 267, 327,
345, 380; Asst, 252, 274; Pres., 263, 278, 28-3,
284; Gov.. 295, 306. 837, 426, 441 ; death, 443.
Arnold, Benedict, Jr., 254, 518.
Arnold, Stephen, 258.
Arnold, Richard, 499, 508.
Arnold, Caleb, 549.
Arnold, Josias, 549.
Arnold, Capt., of Portsmouth, 520.
Arnold, Capt. Joseph, 520.
Arran, Earl of, 479, 529, 538.
Arrests and reprisals, 277, 282, 461.
Ashurst, Sir Henry, 515, 537, 550, 557.
Aspinwall, William, 63, 124; Sec, 127, 131, 133
n. ; Asst, 185.
Assassination, attempt at, 469.
Assembly of E. I. See General Assembly.
Assessors of taxes, 531.
Assistants, title of, adopted, 143 ; how to be cho-
sen, 295 ; duties and powers of, 211, 301, 302,
321, 327.
Association, Warren Baptist, 108 n., 125.
Associations of loyalty, 532, 534.
Astronomy, Indian, 82.
Atheist, trial of an alleged, 183 n.
Atherton, Humphrey, ISO, 197, 199, 231, 272, 879.
Atherton company and purchase, 272, 275, 282
283, 297, 299, 302, 308, 814, 315, 316, 841, 865;
378-386, 427, 440, 445, 447, 463, 466, 474, 483
501, 605, 507, 530, 534
562
GENEEAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIEST.
Attleboro' Gore, 93 n.
Attorncvs, 336.
Awarile," Richard, 183.
Awasliouks, Squaw Sachem of Seaconnet, 395,
414.
Ayrault, Dr. Pierre, 498, 556, 559.
Ayrault, Daniel, 557.
B
Babcock, James. 314, 344, 350.
Babcock, Job, 461.
Backus, Hist, of Baptists, referred to, 24, 49,
41.3.
Bailey, Kicliard, .34.3, 344. 42", 44T.
jaker appointed, a public, 129.
Balstone, William, 64, 124, 127, 128, 159, 162,
233. Treas. 143. Asst. 186, 148, 219, 261,
263. 274, 295.
Bancroft, .\rchblshop, 5.
Bancroft, lion. tJeo.. 47. Hist, of IT. 8. r(»ferred
to. '.t(t. IfJ n,. lN)n., 211, 371,372, 374,384,518.
Banishment abolished, 232.
Bankrupt law, 442.
Baptist Church, First, 107, discussion as to pri-
ority, liiSn., 139 n., 140 n.
Baptists persecuted in Mass., 234-5; most nu-
merous in U. I., 490.
Barberry bushes, 465-6.
Barbadoes, 269, 329, 859, 489, 543.
Barker, James, 295, 344; Dep. Gov., 449.
Barrington, 69.
Barrv, JoJin 8., 185n.
Bartiett. Hon. John R. 325, 528.
Barton, Rufus, 217, 218.
Bass, SO ; ponds. 507.
Baths, Indian sweating, 76.
Battle at Mystic, 98 ; New Haven, 95 ; Narr.
and Moheg., 116,-196; Fogland ferry, 397;
Pocasset, 399; Hadley, 400, 413; Great
swamp tight, 403-6 ; Warwick, 415; Naval,
521.
Baxter, Capt. George, 248, 249, 284, 310.
P..a<<.ns, 381, 521.
V,(ads, Indian, 81.
Bc-an>, so. S4.
Bears, 78.
Beaver, 81, 204, 227.
Beddar, Thomas, 133.
Beers, Capt., 400.
}5eggars, none in R. I., 490.
Belknap, Hist, of New Hamp., 66, 470.
Bell provided, 4.59, .'J24.
Bellemont, Earl of, 624, 531, 683, 536, 539, 541-
5.56 ; death, 558.
Benedict, Rev. David, Hist, of Baptists, referred
to, 107.
Bentlcy's Hist, of Salem, referred to, 21, 22, 26.
Bermuda Islands, 492.
Bernon, Gabriel, 5.59.
Berton, P., 497.
Bewett, Hugh, 229, 240, 246 ; tried for treason,
243.
Bijiotry, 147 n., 218 n.
Bill of'Riirhts. L'dd, 207,
Birth.s the first in R. I,, 106, 107, 490.
Blackbirds, so, .W7.
Blackstone, William, 16, 72,98-9 n., 107,261, 327,
.386 ; death, 869.
Blathwayt, Secretary, 461, 477.
Block, Adrian, 7o n.
Block Island, 73, 87, 88, 89. 801, 308, 804, 306, 807,
317, 821, 842, 364, 521, 522, 528.
Blount, Anthony, 559.
Board of Tr.ide, replies to the, 488-491; tltl«
of the, 629 n.
Boats libelled, 181, 133 n.
Borden, Robert. 245.
Borden, John, 394.
Borden, or Burden, Rich.ird, 250, 252, 255.
Pxissnet, intolerance of, 45.
Boston. 9. 21, 60, 68, SS, 89, 92, 95, 98, 117, 18.3,
ls7, 193, 197, 198, 264, 265, 269, 273, 277, 278,
8(19, 457, 488, 49S, 500, 511, 518, 516, 522, 525.
527, 536, 545, 549.
Boston Neck, 272, 458.
Boundary of R. I. defined, 295.
Boundarv disputes, Western, 295, 304, .808. 810,
812, 3.33, 335, 387,.841, 343-8, 37S-880r423-7
440-4.58, 460-2, 486, 505, 525, 530, 534, 542-5,
548, 551.
Boundary disputes, Eastern, 808, 312. 315, 440,
444, 527, 529, 581, 585. Northern, 531.
Boundary disputes, Prov. and Pawtuset, 429-
438 ; Ports, and Npt., 47S.
Bountv on wolves and fo.xes, 164, 161, 534.
.rBiadfonl, Gov., 22, 232.
Bradford. Major, 408.
Bnulish, a pirate, 546, 550.
Bradshaw. John, 23S.
Bradstreet, Gov. Siaion, 186, 445, 511, 525.
Braintree, 52, 55.
Breda, Declaration of, 293 n., 319, 479.
Brenton, William, 128, 312. 380; Elder, 131, 1.32 ;
Dep. Gov., 14.3, 147, 159, 160, 267, 29.5, 306;
Pres., 274; Gov., 327, 856.
Brenton, Jahleel, 530, 537, 539, 542, 543, 544, 545,
547, 553-8.
Brewster, Elder, 24.
Brewster, M.. 265.
Briberv, 888-5, 469.
Bri^r^es, John, 188, 153.
Brinlev, Francis, 467, 483,502, 503, 517, 547, 550,
.5.5.3.
Brinley, William. .559.
Bristol, 28, 388, 478, .501, 535.
British State Paper Otlice Documents, referred
to, S, 195. 2S0, 297, 305, .300, 310, 314, 315,
319, 328, 824, 373, 375, 877. 878, 398, 410, 418,
4;i3, 43.5, 436, 441, 445, 446. 447, 451, 4.52, 458,
456, 458, 460-4, 466, 469, 471-4, 480, 481, 483,
484, 493-6, 498, .5lil-7, 509, 510, 511, 513, 514,
615, 517, .520, 522, 523, 524, 528, 529, 535, 586,
588, 539, 541-4, 547, 552-8.
Broadhead, J. R., Hist, of New York referred
to, 1.55 n.
Brookfield burnt, 399, 413.
Brown, Chad, 108, 181.
. -Brown, John, of Plymouth, 159, 160, 161, 191.
Brown, John Carter, 280 n.
Browne, Nichola,s, 133.
Browne, John, 482.
Browne, the two of Salem sent back, 10, 19.
BrowM.II, Thc.nias, 204.
r.illL'ar. Kicliard. 201, 274, 273.
r.ulkelcv, I'lt.r, 446, 452, 453.
lUill. llenrv, 124, 127, 128, 131, 132, 144, 224;
Gov.,-4S0, 518.
Hull, ('apt. Thom.is, of Conn., 504.
]'.iill, "Memoirs of B. I." referred to, 124, 186
149.
i;ullocke, Erasmus, 183.
Burdett, Robert, 277, 281.
Burgbiry, law of, 207 ; punished, 851.
Burials, Indian, 77; number of, 490.
Burning of Fort Mystic, 94.
Burnyeat, Quaker preacher, 860-2.
Burrwooil, Thomas, 141.
Byfleld, Nathaniel, 478, 503, 637.
GENERAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST.
563
G
Cases for criminals, ordered, 257, 267, 318, 470.
CallondiT. Itev. John, century sermon referred
to, r2.5. 140, 44S, 4T5, 501.
Calvorlv, Edmund, 311, 317, 338.
C.ilvin,"John, 2, 67, 270.
Calvinism in France. 496.
Cambridge, 60, 61, 265, 474; County of, 306,471 ;
University, 47.
Canada, 522, 527.
Cannibals, 73.
Canoes, Indian, 80.
Canonchet, Sachem, 401 ; death, 410 ; character,
411.
Canonicus, Sachem, 23, 24. 70, 74, 77, 88, 90, 92,
99, 105, lis, 158, 190, 276, 391, 4.30 ; death,
211 ; ch.iracter, 213.
Cape Cod, 69.
Captures by R. I. privateers, 247, 248, 249.
Carder, Richard. 124, 127; disfranchised, 153,
167 ; .at Warwick, 176 ; sentence, 187.
Carpenter, William, 100, 102, 107, 111, 258, 267,
.3.31.
Carr. Caleb, 276, 344, 449; Gov., 530; death,
532
Carr, Sir Robert, 305, 309, 313, 324, 825, 439, 529.
Carre, Rev. Ezekiel, 497.
Carter, Edwin, .559.
Cartwrisht, Col. George, 805, 323, 324, 827.
Caswell,^ Alexis, D. D., 108 n.
Catopeci, Sachem, 460.
Catshamekin, Sachem, 88.
Ca\alry corps, 330, 332, 468.
Cawjaniquante, Sachem. 431.
Censures passed, 35S, 365.
Census of Newport, 142 ; of Aquedneck, 410.
Challenge, Indian, 75.
Chalmers' "Pohtical Annals," 298, 811, 871-8,
501.
Champolion. 1.34 n.
Charles I.. 10, 27, 172, 190, 228, 505.
Charles II., 265, 274, 275, 280, 284. 290, 29-3, 319,
362, 464 ; death, 479.
Charlestown, Mass., 9, 14, 95, 187, 183 ; K. I.,
155 n.
Ch.arter, Parliamentary, obtained, 114; first
movement for, 141 ; Committee to obtain.
154: nature of, 200; engagement to, 202;
confirmed by Cromwell, 255: expiration, 2S.5.
Charter, Roy.al, reception of, 284; its chief
points, 290-5 ; how kept, 357, 450 ; suspend-
ed, 486; concealed, 506; resumed, 51 2, 518.
Chtirter, the Narraganset, 118-120, 383; of Con-
necticut, 281.
Charters granted to towns, 226.
Charter House, 47.
Clioesechamut, son of Pumham, 324.
ClK-hii.-ford. 408
Chestnuts. S4.
Chibacuwese, see Prudence I.
Chuff, an Indian, 419.
Church, Col. Benjamin, 895, 896, 897, 403. 404,
40.5. 414-17, 420, 501, 519.
Church, Thomas, .398 n.
Churches, Puritan, how constituted, 58 n.; first
Baptist, 107 : priority of, lOS n., 1-39 n. ; at
Aquedneck, 139 ; schism, 151, 152.
Clams, 81, 85.
Clarendon, Earl of, 284. 314, 328.
Clarke. John. 69, 72. 124, 126, 1-32, 140, 141, 151,
152, 154, 226, 227, 229, 23=3, 312, 315, .321, .323,
329. *36, 338. 345, 352, 354, 358, 367, 514;
persecuted bv Mass., 234. 235 ; affent in
England, 238,' 239, 252, 264, 26S, 273, 275,
276, 280, 284, 290, 379-386; return, 309, 810
revises laws, 311, .330; his character defend
ed, 298-301, 371-8; Dep. Gov., 337, 350;
death, 412.
Clarke, Walter. 499, 500, 506, 508, 512, 517, 518,
539, 540, 548 ; Dep. Gov., 41.3, 454, 459, 465,
467, 470, 478, 480, 555 ; Gov., 413, 483, 5;32,
533.
Clarke, Joseph, 267, 277, 295, 461, 464.
Clarke, Captain, 217.
Clarke, William, 409.
Clarke, or Clerke, Jeremy, 132, 143, 203, 219 ;
Pres. regent, 221, 222.
Clawson, John, curse of, 465.
Clifton, llope, 273.
Coasters Harbor island, 136 ; bought. 254.
Coddington, William, 23, 60, 63, 69, 124, 126, 127,
1-32, 203, 221, 254, 413, 475; Judge, 70; deed
of Aquedneck, 125 ; Gov. of Aquedneck,
143,147,151,1.52,160,172; Pres., 219; his
designs, 222, 223; goes to England, 225;
usurps govt., 237-8; power revoked, 242;
retains the records, 246; submits to R. I.,
2.59 ; becomes a Quaker, 320 ; Dep. Gov.,
366; Gov., 367, 369, 447; death, 448.
Coddinston. William, (the son.) 471, 474, 480 ;
Gov., 470, 478.
Coddington, Xathaniel, 539, 547.
C-odoof 16«, 206-210.
Coggeshall, John, 6:i, 124, 127, 128, 1-31, 1-32, 143,
" 152, 245, 250. 261, 295, 306, 4U, 442, 478, 499,
508; First Pres., 202; Dep. Gov., 4.S3, 512.
Coggeshall, Joshua, 341.
Coincidences, 293 n., 417.
Coke, Sir Edward, 47.
Colbert, Minister of France, 496.
Cold, intense, 406.
Cole, Robert, 100, 107, 111.
Cole, John, 347, 468.
Collen, Mr., 48. •
Colors of Xew England, 496.
Colson's petition, 448.
Commissioners of the United Colonies, 117, 1.59,
17S, 191, 196, 19S, 199, 222, 223, 224, 229, 232,
2-38, 239, 249, 253, 268, 272, 275, 276, 281, -309,
8^39, 400.
Commissioners, Roval, 805, 314-17, 322, 828,
469, 471, 472, 473'.
Commissioners on boundaries, 271, 315, 343, 348,
350, 352, 357, 542, 54S, .551.
Commissions granted bj' R. I., 246, 250.
Committees, of six, under first ch.arter, 203, 210,
219,229; introduced into Gen. Assy., 260 ;
of the Whole, 533.
Common Law adopted, 206.
Compact, Pilsrim, 12 n. ; Pro^-ldence, 103 ;
Aquedneck, 124, 133-4; Warwick, 216.
Conanicut island, 288, 254, 415, 449, 451, 546;
Furry, 554.
Conant, Roger, 9.
Conference, Hampton Court, 5; of clergy, 55;
proposed, 859.
Conformists, 2, 3.
Confederacy, New England, 115, 156, 158, 340.
Confiscations, 349, 355, 358.
Connecticut, 196, 224: Indians in, 73; river, 87.
89,95; settled, 93; claims Narrt., 281, 2s2,
295-301, 305, 308, 310, 312, 314. 319, 335,
313-8, 351, 353, 355, 357, 366, 368, 423, 424,
440, 455-S, 460, 461 ; decisions in favor of,
474, 534; claim rejected, 505; further claims
on R. I., 545; attempts to adjust, 550; repri-
sals, 5.5.3, 5.55; quo warranto, 481, 493; An
dros usurps govt, of, 504 ; resumes charter
512 ; militia troubles, 524, 520.
Connecticut, Colonial Records referred to, 281«
305, 310, 333, 334, 335, 368, 425.
564
GENERAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST.
Conspiracy against Clarke exposed, 298-301,
3S3-6.
Constables, duties of, 131 ; how chosen, 466, 509.
Constructive felonies avoided, 20fik.
Convention called, 232.
Conwyl Cayo, 4S, 50.
Cooke, Capt, 180.
Cooke, John, 204.
Cope, Edward, 103.
Cormorants, 80.
Corn, 80, 84 ; scarcity of, 142 ; price, 153.
Coroner's inquest, 846.
Cotton, Eev. John, 22, 26, 33, 52, 53, 55, 56, 58,
59, 62, 65, 6S, 164, 183, 18S, 235.
Council of State, 237, 238, 242-6, 258.
Council, General, of E. I., 210, 271 ; of Andros,
500.
Council, Indian, 83 ; houses for, 86.
Council of K. I., 302; Gov. and, 330,338,844,
346, 852, 359 ; of war, 352.
Courses and distances not understood, 381, 382.
Court-houses to bo built, 507, 524.
Courts, proceediniis of in Mass., 14, 16, 17,20,22,
27. 28. 29. 30, 34, 35. 37, 57, 59, 60, 61, 63, 64,
111, 127, 147, 176 177, 17S, 181, 182, 186, 187,
191, 193, 196, 217, 226, 231, 2-32, 2=33, 238, 247,
258, 267. 268, 273, 277, 283, 309.
Courts in R. I. orsranized, 135, 138, 139; first
of election at ><'pt., 143 ; various kinds of,
144; ,gener.al, ut Aquedneck, 146, 152, 158;
of the Colony, 203 ; of election, trials, and
appeal, 204, 210, 227, 256, 270, 460; of com-
missioners, 219, 226; styled General Assem-
bly, 230; of Justices, 258; under roval char-
ter, 302, 820, 829, 488; to be paid." 454; re-
visory power of Gen. Ass., 448, 459 ; under
Andros, 503,504, 506,507,509,510; tyran-
ny, 554.
Courts-martial, 442, §24. ^
Coventry, 176.
Coweset', 160, 427. See Greenwich.
Cowtantowit, Indian deity, 78.
Cox, Dr.. restores the Litursv, 2.
Crandall, John, 234, 235, 333;"350, 351.
Cranfleld, Gov. Edward, 469, 470-3, 484.
Cranston, John, 260, 252, .303, 309, 815, 401 ; Dep.
Gov.. 356, 361, 413, 426, 441 ; Gov., 449, 454 ;
death, 459.
Cranston, Samuel, Gov., 540, 547, 54^ 550, 552,
Cromweil, Oliver, 237, 249, 250, 252, 255, 256, 268,
274.
Cromwell, Richard,, 271, 273.
Cross in the colors, cut out, 29.
Crowne, John, 452, 458.
Crows, 80.
Cud worth, James, 434.
Culpeper, Lord, 464, 466, 479, 507.
Cumberland, 98 n.
Currants, 84.
Curse of Clawson, 465.
Custom-house established, 465, 467.
Cutler, a pirate, 543.
Guttler, George, 559.
D
D.avia, James, 188.
Davis John, 196.
DavoU, Capt, 520.
Dean, Richard, 829, 345, 413 n.
Dean. Thomas, 463.
Deane, Charles, 185 n.
Deaths of Governors, 440, 441, 532.
Debt, law of, 208.
Debtor, absconding, 130.
DecLaration of Breda, 293 n., 319, 479; oi Indnl
gcnce, 502.
Decorum in court, 220, 257.
Dedford, Greenwich »o called, 485.
Dedbam, 217.
Deeds of Prov., 99-101 ; brevity of old, 12L
Deer, 73, 79, 85, 154, 159, 161.
Deerfield, 400.
Degree of M. D. conferred by Gen. Assy., 803.
Deist, trial of an alleged, 183 n.
Delaware • Bay, 69 ; language, 86 ; Castle, 809 ;
Colony, 481.
Delegated power, jealousy of, 109, 131, 204, 206.
Delft Haven, T. •*•
Demetrius of Ephesus, 183.
Democracy at Prov., 102 ; given up, 108 ; at
Aquedneck, 148 ; declared. 205, 2o7.
Denison, Capt. George, 264,. 410, 411, 425, 434.
Deputies, House of, 295; to take engagement,
365.
Derogatory passages repealed, 342.
" Desire," the, a vessel, 248. '
Despotic i^pirit of the Puritans, 33.
De.xter, Gregory, 252, 434 ; Pres., 245.
Dice, Indian, 79,
Digest of Laws, 4.59, 483.
Dinners provided by the Colony, 356.
Disarming the Anlinomians, 64; the Indians,
330.
Disfranchisement of Salem deputies, 34 ; at
Aquedneck, 153 ; by Gen Assy., 247.
Disposers at Prov., 108, 109, 174.
Divorce, Indian, 76; prohibited, 232; granted,
320, 365, 470 ; law of, 483.
Dogmas, dangerous, 254, 202.
Dongan, Gov. of N. Y., 509.
Dorchester, 187.
Doutch, Osamoud, 131.
Dower. Indian, 76.
Downing, George, 464 n.
Drake's" Book of the Indians," referred to, 887,
358, 3S9, 390, 417.
Drunkenness, 129, 141, 366.
Ducks, wild, SO.
Dudley, Joseph, 398 n., 469 ; Prea. of New Eng.,
482-5, 494 ; Chief Justice, 498, 511, 512.
Dudley, Gov. Thomas, 46, 147 n., 186.
Dummer, Richard, 60. 128.
Durfee, Job, quoted, 96, 126, 449.
Dutch, the, 159, 240; trade, 155; disturbance at
Warwick, 241 ; war, 241, 245, 246, 824 ; ves-
sels taken, 249, 267 ; surrender, 809 ; take
N. Y., 366; invade England, 510.
Dutch island, 254, 451.
Duties, custom, 204, 534.
Dyre, William. 124, 127, 182, 139, : 48, 172, 208,
220, 229, 242, 243, 246, 309, 317.
Dyre, Mary, 265, 273.
E
Ear-maj-ks, 158.
Earle, Ralph, 138.
Easton, Nicholas, 128, 1.30, 131, 182, 186, 141, 143,
148, 151, 152, 153, 170, 171, 222, 246, 820, 326;
Pres., 229, 250 ; Dep. Gov., 342 ; Gov., 327, 356,
857, 366, 369 ; de.-ith, 370.
Easton, Peter, 180, 136, .356, 868.
Easton, John, LSO, 186, 245, 261, 274,306,341,356
542, 54S ; his narrative, 402 ; Dep. Gov.,
868; Gov., 519,525,530,
Eaton, Gov. of New Haven, 147.
" Ecclesiastical Hist, of Mass.," quoted, 183 n.,
186.
Echard's " Hist, "f England," referred to, 293.
Eddy, Judge, 135 n., 167.
GENERAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST.
565
Erten of America. 72.
Edmonds, Capt.. 416.
Edmundson, William. 360-362, 424 a.
Education, provision for, 145, 2S2.
Edward VI., 2.
Edwards, Kev., 45; Mr., 383.
Effinsham, Gov. of Va., 515.
Egyptian hieroslvphics, 134 n.
ElVlors at Ports., 131 ; title abolished, 143.
Eldiedge, Samuel, 347.
Election davs appointed, 252, 295.
Elections at Pocasset. 131, 134, 185; at >ewport,
14=3, 14S, 153; Colonial, 202, 203, 219, 226, 229,
240 2.511 2.52.2.55.201,263,267.271, 2(4, 2(6,
278 2S2, 306, 317, 327, 330, 334, 337, 342, 350,
356, 357, 366, 367, 369, 413, 426, 441, 454, 459,
465, 467, 470, 47S, 4S0, 4S3, 518, 519, 528, 530,
532, 540, 555.
Eliot, John, 324, 395, 396.
Elizabeth, reiprn of Queen, 2-5.
Elliott, Charles W., 185 n.
Eloquence. Indian, SJ. 394.
Elton, Komeo, 1). D.. 47, 50. 475 n.
Embassies, Pequot.89; W'ilUams to >arrts., 91;
Mass. to same, 88, 153, 196, 197, 199, 224, 243,
398 ; to E. I., 217. ^ „^ ^„
Endicott, Gov. John, 9, 10, 14, 19, 20, 21, 26, 29,
34, 46, BS, 89, 234, 260, 269, 303, 809.
Encaf'enwnt, form of, 148; to the charter, 202 ;
■^ slate, to its officers, 205; of town councils,
228 ; to the commonwealth, 245 ; changes in,
317, 318, 326, 420 ; of Deputies, 365, 366, 428,
England in 1643, 113.
Ephesus, shrines of; 183.
Epidemic, 424.
Episcopacv abolished. 237 ; hatred to Cromwell,
274; i'ntroduced by Andros, 49S; in K. I.,
549 ,559
Errors of Grahame and Chalmers, 370-378.
Esquimaux, 86.
Excise of liquors, 368, 483, 503.
Executions, 347, 351.
Executors appointed by town councils, 209, 448.
Exemption act, 866, 415. 423.
Exports of K. I., 142, 489.
Fairfield, John, 276.
Fairfield. 249, 505.
Famine, 19.
Fast days in Mass., 59, 264, 402.
Feasts, "Indian. 79.
■ Fellow Commoners, 49.
Felt, Joseph B., 185 n.
Fenner, Arthur, 263. ml. :332, 334, 342, 358, 414,
423, 425. 432. 4:}4. 4:35. 473.
Ferries establishe<l. 146, 554, 555.
Field. John, 103, 254.
Field. Thomas, 434.
Field, William, 181, 229, 267, 2T4, 295.
Fines, 258, 261, 275, 329, 865.
Fire, 152; Act to prevent, 506, 509.
Firearms first used by Indians. 95 ; supplied to
them, 156; forbid<ien to, 204; Act repealed,
48;3.
"Firebrand Discovered,"' referred to, 332.
Fisher's island, 521.
Fishins, 79 ; declared free, 143; protected, 507.
Fitz-Winthrop, John, 469.
Flag of New England, 496.
Fleets, Indian, 80.
Fletcher, Gov. of N. T., 524, 526, 531-533.
Floridian langu.age, 86.
Flounders. Thomas, 346-549.
Foanes, or Fones, John, 468, 472, 4S4, 485, 49T,
520, 557.
Football, 79.
Force of R. I. militia, 441, 520.
Foreigners, regulations, 204, 2.51.
Fornication permitted by Indians, to.
Fort James, 362. 36:3.
Fortifications at Boston, 32.
Foster, Hon. Theodore, 466 n., 505 n.
Fowling, 79.
Fox, George, 355, 359-362.
Fox, Thomas, 559.
Fox Point, or Hill, 40, 431.
Fox Island. 272.
Foxes, 78, 154.
Frankfort, church at, 2.
Freeborne, William, 124, 127, 135. ., ., .
Freedom of Conscience, see Religious Liberty.
Freemen admitted in Mass., 16; at Aquednecfe,
127, 128; disfranchised, 153; nature and
number of, 256; how admitted, 327, 349,
453.
Friends, Society of, see Quakers.
French, vessels" captured, 247 ; annoyances, 494 ;
intrigues. 509 ; privateers, 520, 521, 522, 523.
Frenchtown. .549, 556.
Frincke, John, 344.
Frontenac, Count, 522.
Frv, Thomas, 424.
Fugitives to be returned, 250, 346,
Funeral rites, Indian, 77.
Fur trade, 81.
Furniture, Indian, 85, 86.
G
Gallup, John, 88.
Gambling, Indian, 79.
Gammeir. AVilliam, 108 n., 475 n.
Gardiner, Lyon, 89, 91, 95.
Gardiner, Robert, 559.
Gardner, :Mrs., of Npt., 269.
Garret, Hermon, 8:3:3.
Garrison house, Bull's, 403.
Sene'rarAssembly, 201-211. 217, 219 220 225,
2^>6 2->9 2:30 232 240, 242. 243, 244, '»), 2ol,
257, 259! 263^ 270, 271, 272, 274, 278, 2S1, 282,
283 301 306 310, 315, 317. 320, 321, 323, 326,
327 328 380, 3:32, 334, 336. :3;37, 340, 341, 34o,
347 34S 849, 350-7, 364, 366-9, 401, 409, 413,
414 493 426-8, 441, 448, 449,45-3, 454,455,
45L 459, 464, 466, 470, 471, 478, 479 4S0, 482,
483, 486, 488, 518, 519, 522. 526, o28, 533-6,
539 541-5, 547, 550, 551, 557; the first, 201-
2li'- modified, 219, rules and orders of, 220;
powers of, 229, 320, 321, 354, 448,459,470;
name first given, 2:30 ; two separate Asseni-
blies 244; division of Houses prijposed,
327 ; 'and efi'ected, 533 ; to be paid, 828, 454;
technical sessions, 453, 454 ; dissolved, 4s8;
resumed, 518.
" Geological Survey of R. I." referred to, 226 n.
George. Capt, 511.
Geiaerd, the Dutchman, 241.
Gibbons, Major Edward, 197.
Gillam. a pirate, 547, 551.
Goats, 15:3.
Goat Island, 254.
Godfrey, Capt. John, .521.
Gofi'e, or Geofl"e, John, 133.
Goffe. the Regicide, 418.
Gookin. Daniel. 278. 844. ^ ^ ^„ ..
■■ Gookin"s Indians," referred to, 73, T4.
Gorges, Sir Ferdinand, 7. 156.
566
GENERAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST.
Gorton, Samuel, 110, 227, 240. 248, 258, 272, 342,
389, 514; purchase of Warwick. 112, 116,
176; at Aquedueck, 133, 160, 161, 165-173;
abuse of, 163; at Plymouth, 164; whipped,
167,172; his views" of govt., 169, 194; in-
dictment, 170-2 ; at Prov., 172-4 ; his politi-
cal character, 173; at Pawtuxet, 174-5; pro-
ceedinprs against, by Mass.. 177-189; goes to
England, 190; result of his mission, 193,
215; return, 217 ; Pres., 239; letter to, 323 n.;
death. 4-'9.
Gorton, Thomas. 146.
Gorton, Capt., 520.
Gortonists, why persecuted, 178 ; to be subdued,
179; attempt to treat, 181; besieged, 182,
183; tried, 184; sentenced, 187; banished,
188; return to R. I., 189; ideas of govt.,
194; triumph of, 218, 219, 452.
Gortonoges, 190.
Gould, Thomas, 266, 307, 425.
Gould Island, 266.
Goulding, Koger, 416-519.
Governor, title of, adopted, 143.
Grahame, James, 298, 370-S.
Granger, James N., D. D., IDS u.
Gratitude. Indian, 75.
Greene. John, lOO, 104. 107, 176. 184, 238, 268,
274, 278, 295, 307, 312, 338, 34^3, 345, 352. 865,
461, 473, 475, 478, 508, 555 ; agent in Ens-
land, 191, 195, 434, 436, 446, 447, 451-3, 456,
458, 493, 499. 501; Dep. Gov.. 519, 525, 580,
536, 540, 542, 548.
Greene, John Jr., 240, 245, 256, 263, 807.
Greenwich, men claim Narrt., 242; East G. in-
corp., 427, 428 ; named Dedford, 485; bounds
set, 545; take Frenchtown, 556-7.
Groton, 408.
Ground-nuts, 406 n.
Guagers appointed, 543.
H
Hadley, 395, 400, 413, 414.
Hamelton, Andrew, 527.
Hamilton, Marquis of, family claim to Narrt.,
119, 305, 471, 474, 479, 505, 529, 537, 538.
Hampton, 370.
Hampton Court conference, 5.
Harris, Thomas, 103, 252, 255, 259.
Harris, Thomas, of Barbadoes, 265, 269.
Harris, Andrew, 264.
Harris. William, 97, 100, 102. 107, 254, 262, 317,
329, 330, 331, 332, 334, 336-8, 840, 342, 854,
366. 867, 414, 430, 457, 463 ; arrested for trea-
son, 268; lawsuits. 432-6; death, 437.
Harris, William J., 263 n.. 482 n.
Harbor at IJlock Island. 821, 842.
Harding, Kobert, 128, 14S, 152-4; Capt., 197.
Hardships of the early colonists, 11.
Harrod, John, 838, 340.
Hartford, 98. 96, 117, 159, 253, 282, 309, 353, 425,
464, 504. 505.
Harvard College, 345, 863.
Hastv-i)udding, 84, 85.
Hatfield, 400.
Havens. William, 133.
Haversham, Westerly so called, 485.
Hawkins, Job, 133.
Havnes, Gov. John, of Mass., 46; of Conn., 147.
Hazard, J. Alfred, 370 n.
Hazard, Thom.as, 132.
" Hazard's State Papers," referred to, 223. 224,
229, 232, 239, 248, 253, 258, 266, 281, 283, 309,
340.
Hazel, Mr., 235.
Hempstead, 248.
Henchman, Daniel, 484.
Henry VII. of England, 27.
Henry IV. of France, 496.
Herald's College, London, 48.
Herenden, or Hernden, Ben, 465.
Heresies in R. I. reputed, 151; Gorton accused
ot; 163, 184, 187.
Hewes, Joshua, 288.
Higgin.son, Rev. Francis, 9, 10, 20.
Highways, 128.
Hildreth's'Hist. of U. S. referred to, 62, 185.
Hincklev, Gov. Thomas, 397 n., 484, 469, 477, 478,
484. "501, 518. ^
Hodgson, Robert, 495. ^-
Hog Island, 266, 271. 272, 469, 477, 478, 500.
Hoiden, Randal. 124, 127-9, 153, 167, 170, 176,
187, 195, 203, 217. 222, 226, 240, 245, 260, 252,
261, 263, 272,315,473,^75, 493; agent in
England, 190, 193, 484, 436, 446, 447, 451^
458, 461,
Holland, The Separatists flee-to, 6.
Holland, Cornelius, 252.
" Holmes's Annals " refeiTed to, 14, 17, 68.
Holmes, Obadiah, 234, 235.
Holyman, Ezekiel, 100, 107, 241.
Honeyman, Rev. James, 560.
Hooker, Rev. Thomas, 37, 56, 505 n.
Hopkins, Guv. Stephen, quoted, 99 n.
Hopkins, Gov. Edward, of Conn., 147.
Hoi)kins, William, 425.
Hope Ishmd, 105 206, 451.
Ilnrsrs, 4S(1, 489.
Horton, Elizabeth, 265.
Hospitality, Indian, 75.
Housatonic river, 415.
House, Walter, 346.
Howland, John, 409 n.
"Hubbard's Hist, of N. E." referred to, 26, 80,
91, 114, 151, 164, 196, 197, 215, 216. 218, 225.
" Hubbard's Narrative " referred to, 390, 399.
Hudson, Lieut., 249.
Hudson, William. 308. 312, 345, 347, 379.
Huguenots in R. I., 497, 503, 519, 549.
Hull, E.lward, 246, 247.
Hull, John. 267.
" Hume and Smollett, Hist, of England," refer-
red to. 502, 588.
Hunting, 79, 154.
Hutchinson, Mrs. Ann, 51, 107, 151, 269 ; doc-
trines of, 52, 53, 55, 56, 65; trial, 64,66;
death, 66 n.
Hutchinson, William, 124, 128, 133,134, 135, 143,
148, 172.
Hutchinson, Edward, 124, 127, 128.
Hutchinson, Edward, Jr., 124, 127, 282, 805, SOT,
808, 879-386, 399.
Hutchinson, Samuel, 138.
Hutchinson, Elisha. 445.
Hutchinson, "Hist, of Mass. Bay," referred to,
16, 17, 30, 91, 168, 186, 212, 224, 265, 502, 513.
517.
" Hypocrisy Unmasked," referred to, 159, 168,
170, 172, 174, 178. 179, 183, 185, 190.
" 111 News from N. E." referred to, 235, 444
Immortalit.v, Indian idea of, 78.
"Impertindnt File," the, 337 n., 340 n.
Imposts laid b.y James II., 481.
Imi)ris()nment for debt, forbidden, 208.
Independence contemplated in Mass., 32.
Independents, toleration denied to, 237.
India Point, 40.
Indian, salutation, 40; tribes of N. K., 73, 14:
GENERAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST.
567
character, 75, 82 ; customs, 76 ; funeral rites,
"7; religion, 78; sports, 79; tradition, 80;
money, 81 ; councils, S3 ; food, 84; wigwams,
85 ; languages, 86 : ideas upon Gorton's re-
lease, 190 ; dissensions, 222 ; foreigners not
to trade with, 251; war, 253; laws against,
271,423,425; titles to land recognized, 290,
292; disarmed, 330 : drunkenness, 366 ; jury,
367; plots, 369, 395; gallantry, 890; elo-
quenoe, S3, 394; heroism, 411; chivalry,
418; captives sold, 416, 419, 425.
.'ndictments of Gorton, at Aquedneck, 170-2;
at Boston. 1S4.
" Indigenous Kaces of the Earth," referred to,
423.
Inhabitant and freeman, distinction of, 256.
Inoculation, 523 n.
Interpolations in E, I, laws. 311, 479 n.
Ipswich, 187, 218.
Iroquois language, 86.
Jackson, Henry, D. D., "Churches in K. I.,"
108 n.
Jackson, Dr. Charles T., "Survey of E. I.,"
226 n.
Jamaica, 471, 477.
James I., reign of, 5, 6, 27, 291.
James II., 362, 479. 481, 492, 510, 515, 516.
James, Thomas, 100, 107.
Jamestown incorp., 449 ; ferry at, 554, 555.
Jarves, J. J., " Confessions of an Inquirer," 422.
Jett'eries, Lord Chanc, 492.
Jettreys, Eobert, 143, 152, 154.
Jenner, Dr. 523 n.
Jesuits, 496, 497.
Jesus College, 48.
Jews protected, 478.
Johnson's " "Wonder Working Providence," 51,
91.
Johnson, Edward, 180.
Judith, Point, 477.
Judge. Title of, 70, 127, 143.
Jurisdiction, doubtful, 106 ; a foreign in E. I., 111.
Jurors, elected, 153; apportioned^ 302 ; Indian,
307.
Justice, denied to Salem, 34 ; Indian sense of, 82.
Justice of Peace, 144; in Narrt, 484.
Karalit language, 86.
Kent, Joseph, 306.
Kent County, 74.
" Kev to Indian Language," referred to, 40, 74,
75, 66, 190, 212.
Kidd. Capt. AVilliam, 543, .>16, 547.
King's Province, 224 n.; named, 315; see Nar-
rasanset.
Kingstown, or Kingston, 368, 453, 455, 467, 468,
473 ; to be divided, 482 : called Kochester,
4S5; French settlers in, 497; bounds, 532,
545 ; Assv. at, 542 ; court at, 555 ; North,
195; South, 267.403.
Kniirht, Eichard, 227, 229, 245, 250, 252; 255, 261,
271.
Knowle's "Life of Eoger Williams," referred to,
22. 36, 105, 197, 2;J4, 251, 253, 255, 362, 390,
409, 475.
Labor regulated, 16. '
Land, tenure fixed, 148 ; not to be bought of In-
dians, 240, 267; titles settled, 279; pur-
chases, 272, 276; public, 852, 356, 358.
Lancaster burnt, 407,
Lathrop, Capt., 400.
Laud, Archbishop, 6, 28.
"Law and Order" at Warwick, 195 n.
Lawsuits, the Harris, 432-8, 536; Sandford vs.
Forster, 448.
Lawton. George, 133, 414.
Laws, how passed or repealed, 203, 232, 270, 274,
364,365; to be revised, 311, 330; phraseol-
ogy of, 442; digest of, 459, 483 ; to be sent to
England, 543, 551-3.
Layton, Thomas, 1-38.
League, N. E., see Confederacy.
Lechford's " Plaine Dealing," referred to, 99,
140, 168.
Leeds, Duke of, 529.
Leete, Gov. of Conn., 456.
Legalists, views of the, 58 ; party of, 54 ; tri-
umph, 60.
Legislation, curiosities of, 443 ; independent,
557.
Legislature, see General Assembly.
Leisler, Gov. of N. Y., 520, .546.
Letters, extracts from, Boston to Salem, 20;
Williams to Major Mason, 91 ; Mass. to Paw-
tnxet men. 111 ; The Three Govs, to Mass.,
146; Gorton and Mass., 172, 174,175,178,
179, 180, 181, 189; Barton to Winthrop, 218;
Mass. to E. I., 238, 277 ; Vane to E. 1., 249 ;
AVilliams to Prov., 251 ; on soul liberty, 254
-5; E. I. to U. Cols., 266, to Cromwell", 268;
Charles II. to U. Cols., 283 ; Cartwright to
Gorton, 823 ; E. I. to Lord Clarendon, 328 ;
" the pernitious letter," 325; " the damned
letter, 340 ; Atherton Co. and Winthrop.
877-381 ; John Scott, 883; Sheriff of London
to E. L, 482 ; E. I. to Board of Trade, 488-
491 ; Mr. Lloyd's, 523.
Lenthal, Eobert, "l46, 152, 153.
Leveret, Gov. 396, 435.
Lewin, John, 463.
Libel law, 242.
Liberty of Conscience, see Eeligious Freedom.
Lillibridge, Thomas, 559.
Liquor laws, 227. 251, 257, 367, 868,483, 503, 584;
a seizure, 425.
Little Compton, 897, 398, 535.
Liturgy established, 2.
Lockj-er, Eev., 560.
London charter lost, 492.
Longbottom, James, 276.
Long Island, 23, 69, 73, 89, 246, 248, 253, 339, 302.
Long Parliament, 118.
Lord, Eichard, 379.
Lord Protector, see Cromwell.
Lords, House of, abolished, 237.
Louis XIV., 496, 527.
Lovelace, Gov. of N. Y., 838, 362, 368
Lumber trade, 142.
Luther. Martin, 1, 67.
Luther, John, 130.
Lynde, Simon, 484.
Lyon, ship, 19.
Lytherland, William. 24.5, 252.
Lytton, Sir E. B., "My Novel," 128 ii.
M
Mackie, J. M., " Life of Gorton," 190, 429.
Madagascar, 540.
Maestroiddyn, 4S.
Magistrates", no' to leave the bench, 260 ; powen
"of, 330, 865.
Magnus, squaw sachem, 415.
568
GENERAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST.
Maine, 156, 362, 397, 39S, 4S2.
Major General, office of, 413, 441, 443; to be two,
469 ; elected by the people, 478.
Majority of Freemen to rule, 158,202; age of,
261).
Mallett, Thomas, 555, 559.
Manilriek, Mr., 3S0.
Manhattan, see New York.
Marble, William, 282.
Market days, 427.
MarlborouVh, 408.
Marriages. Indian, 75, 76; Law of, 208, 260; how
published. 325; number of, 490; fee, 545.
Marshrteld. :!90.
Manh.i"s Vineyard, 362, 521.
Martiiidale. Isaac, 559.
Mary, Queen. 2.
Maryland. 527.
Mason, Major John, 91, 93, 95, 847.
Mason, Capt., of Conn., 653.
Mason, Gov. of New Hamp., 470.
Massachusetts Co., 9; Govt., 14; Indians, 73;
receives Pawtuxet men, 111 ; Narrt. p.itent,
118 ; official discourtesy, 147 ; intrigues, 176 ;
claims Warwick, 177 : attacks it, 181 ; re-
cent historians of. 185 n. ; attempts to settle
Warwick, 191 ; designs on R. I., 192, 217,
231. 232, 233, 277, 440, 445, ^35 ; Indian af-
fairs, 196, 248, 253, 334, 335 ; persecutes Bap-
tists, 234-6, and Quakers, 264-6, 268-270,
273 ; sued by Gorton, 258 ; releases Paw-
tuxet men, 267; coins silver, 279; proposes
a reference, 283, 307 ; grants declared void,
816 : opposes royal comms., 322, 323, 325 ;
Philip's war in, 407, 408 ; oppressed by Ran-
dolph, 467 ; quo warranto, 481, 482 ; Dudley
In, 483 ; Andros, 498 ; Provisional Govt.,
513; Uoyal Govt over, 524.
Massachusetts Colonial Records, referred to, 50,
111, 112, 127. 133, 177, 187, 188, 191, 217, 226,
23-1-3. 24<). 247. 204, 268, 274, 277, 283, 303,
808. 322. 323, 334, 483.
Massachusetts Historical Collections referred to,
116, 157, 183, 19.5, 197, 297, 847, 453, 456, 466,
469. 482, 4S3, 495, 500, 504, 513, 522.
Massacre at Weathersfield, 92 ; Mystic, 94 ;
Swanzey, 369, 396, see Philip's War.
Massasoit. sachem of Wampanoags, 23, 89, 87,
120, 159, 212, 389, 391, 392 ; death, 387.
Mather, Increase, 513, 515.
Mather. " Masnalia," referred to, 21, 22, 30, 36,
51, 53, 62,'91, 151, 164.
Mather, " Relation," referred to, 390, 891.
Maverick, Samuel, 305.
Mawsup, Sachem, 339.
Ma.von, or Maggson, Richard, 188.
Mavtlovvei-, the ship, 7, 12, 137.
M^i'vo. SaniiU'l, 248, 249.
McM-iiies and wci-hts, 869, 540.
M.dliel<l b'lriit, 107.
Meelitig of Puiilan clergy, 26.
Mutaconiet, 417, sec Philip.
Mcta[)l)ysics defined, 58 n.
Merriinack river, 73.
-Merry .Mount. \^.
Mi-ssengers, see Kmbassies.
Mi'xham, son of Canonicus, 248.
Miantinomi, sachem, 23, 24, 70, 74, 87, 88, 92, 99,
1.54, 1.58, 176. 178, 179, 190, 266, 276, 891, 392,
4-30; death, 115-17.
Military expeditions, 89, 93, 95, 152, 180, 196, 197,
199. 246, 396, 401, 406 ; stores apportioned,
2. 30.
Mflitia organ iz.ition, 128, 141, 144, 204, 253, 819,
880, 426. 4^9. 523 ; conflicts with royal gov-
ernor.s, .525, .528.
Milton, John, 225 n. ; a friend of E. Williams, 250.
Mines, gold and silver, 225 ; coal, 226.
Minorities protected, 206.
Misdemeanors, articles of, 4S0, 481.
Misquamicock, see Westerly.
Mississippi river, 96.
Mohesan tribe, 73, 89, 91, 93, 196, 197, 199, 264,
275, 402, 466.
Mohawk tribe, 73, 198, 264.
Molasses, duty on, 534.
Money, Indian, 81 ; values of, 849.
Monmouth, I)uke of, 481.
Monogamy .among Narrt. Indians, 76.
Montague, Mary Wortley, 52Sii.
>lontauk tribe,"73, 87.
More, John, 133.
Mortality among Indians, 78, 76.
Mortgaged lands in Narrt., 275, 815.
Morton, Thomas, 15.
" Morton's Memorial," referred to, 18, 22, 24, 85,
81, 91, 106, 165, 168, 890, 418.
Moshasuck river, 40, 99, 430; hill, 331.
Mosher, Hugh, 276.
Mother Goose, 189 n.
Motto on State Seal, 149.
Mount Hope, 23, 388, 396, 897, 415, 452, 458, 456,
458.
Mumford, Thomas, 267, 847.
Munday. a pirate, 543.
Murder, of Oldham, 87; of an Indian, 106; of
Miantinomi, 117 ; of House, 346; of Weeks.
870 ; of Clawson, 465.
Mystic, river and fort, 93; town, 281.
N
Namcook purchase, 272.
Nantes, edict of, 496.
Nantucket, 362, 521.
Narraganset tribe, 23, 78, 74, 75-86. 89. 3.34, .389,
466 ; treaties, 92, 116, 144, 197, 198, .398 ; decay
of, 177-8, 417, 420 ; submit to King Charles,
190,315; Atherton's expedition, 199 ; early
history, 212; w.ar on Uncas, 224, 264; oii
Long Island, 248, 253; mortgage land, 275;
school for, 828 ; plots, 895-7 ; join Philip,
401 ; defeated, 406.
Narraganset Bay, 38, 69, 9.3, 324. 828 ; coveted by
Massacliusetts, 112, 178, 889.
Narraganset patent, 118-120, 277, 883.
Narraganset country, 193,195,204,242; Ather-
ton purchase, 272, 275 ; claimed by Mass.,
Conn., and ftimily of Hamilton, 277, 281,
804, 305, 807, 80S, 814, 328, 3-35, 343-350, .353,
357, 806, 370-886, 423-5, 427, 440, 442, 445,
447,451,455-8, 461, 463, 469, 471, 479,480.
525, 580, 585, 545, 557; annexed to R. I., 815,
817 ; bounds, 338 ; decisi'ons for Conn., 474,
534; secured to R. I., 351, 426, 442, 505;
Dudley's gov't, 482, 484-6; Andros, 503;
riots in, 555.
Nassaump, 84, 85.
Natick, 895.
Naval, "armaments and expeditions, 152, 246, 409
.522; victory, 521.
Neale, Thomas, 527.
Neale's "•History of the Puritans," 4.
New Knirland, causes of settlement, I; ante-Co-
lumbian discovery, 27 n.
"New England ensign," referred to, 265, 269. .
"New England Geneal. Register," referred to,
174.
"New England judged," referred to, 265,269,
273.
"New England firebrand quenched," referred
to, 862 n., 476.
New Hampshire, 469, 470, 482, 535, 586.
GENERAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST.
56S
N«w Haven, 95, 196.
New Jersey, 4Sl ; annexed to N. E., 508. 5S6.
New London, 96. 343, 345. a50, 456, 521, 655.
New Shorehaui. ineorp., 364.
New York, 113, 158. 241. 314, 332, .339, 362, 866,
494, 527, 531, 536, 541, 545, 546, 547, 549 ; In-
dians in, 78; trade with, 155; surrender ol",
309 ; annexed to N. Eng., 508, 509.
New York documents, referred to, 481, 531, 533 ;
Broadhoiid's Hist, of, 155.
Newberry, Mass., 370; plantation in E. I., 497.
Newberry, Walter, 424, 499, 500, 508, 532.
Newhouse, Thomas, 265.
Newland, Kichard, 559.
Newman, S. C, quoted, 99 n.
Newport settled, 71, 136, 137, 870 ; committee of
union, 122, 201 ; census, 142 ; union with
Portsmouth, 143; school law, 145; growth
of, 205, 272; disagrees with Ports., 213, 221,
478 ; proposals for reunion, 244 ; Assy. at.
^45, 345; freemen in, 256; fortified, 330;
■war tax, 331 ; fast riding forbidden, 442 ;
Andros at, 506, 513 ; threatened attack on,
521.
Newtown, Mass., see Cambridge.
Newtown, K. I., laid out, 128.
Niantic tribe, 74, 198. 222. 460.
Nichols, Col. Kichard, 305, 309, 314, 332, 384, 835,
373, 439, 46:3.
Night-watch established, 158.
Niies, Nicholas, 161.
Niles, Samuel, " Hist, of Fr. and Eng. wars," re-
ferred to, 75, 522.
Ninecraft, sachem of Narrt., 816. 338. 389.
Nini^i-et, sachem of Niantics, 74, 198, 199, 248,
2.53, 276. 411. 460.
Nipmuck tribe, 74, 222, 334, 399.
Non-conformity, first appearance of, 2.
Nonsuch, fri<rate, 522.
Northfield, 4(J0.
Northampton, 408, 41.3.
North Kingston settled, 195.
Norwich, 347.
Notice required on sailing, 454.
Nova Scotia, 494.
O
Oak. the Charter, 498, 504.
Oaths, Williams's views upon, 30; Freemen's,
31 ; of trade and nav., 467, 478, 539 ; K. I.
ideas of, 548.
Obeisance, Indian mode of^ 75.
Oblivion, act of, 225.
Otlice, penalties for refusing, 228, 256 ; vacancies
in, how filled, 261.
Officers, under first charter, 211 ; under second
charter, 295.
Oldham, John, 87.89, 105.
Oleron, sea laws of, adopted, 204.
Olnev. Thomas, 100, 102, 107, 181, 226, 240, 245,
250. 2.54, 255, 257, 259, 261, 295, 4:32.
Oliiey, Thomas, Jr., ;361.
One "hundred and one, recurrence of the num-
ber, 137 n.
Opinionists, the Antinomians so styled, 54.
Orchards, first in Mass., 98 ; in R. I., 99, 13T.
Oregon, 96.
Orphans, Indian care of, 75.
Ousamequin, see Massasoit.
Oxford University, 48.
Oyster Bay, 248.
Paine. Anthony, 1.33.
Paine, John, 362, 363.
Paine, Capt. Thomas, 471, 521, 546, 559.
Palmes, Edward, 469.
Palmer, a pirate, 547.
Pantheism, Indian, 78.
Panthers, 7:3.
Paper money, 522.
Papists, none in Pv. I.. 490 ; plot, 532, 538.
Parker. George, 15:3, 255, 261.
Particular courts. 144.
Parties, colonial, 5:35.
Partridge, Alexander, 220. 222.
Passports in New Eng., 499.
Patent, of Mass., Williams' treatise on, 27, 23
29; attempt to enlarge, 118; see Charter.
Patience, island, 105, 172, 17:3, 451.
Patric, Capt.. 95.
Pawcatuck river and town, 23, 73. 87, 277, 281,
2S2, 297. 312, .521, 525, 530.
Pawtucket river, 98, 100 ; falls of, 408.
Pawtuxet river, 100; purchase, l(tl ; men sub-
mit to Mass., Ill, 155, 174; Gorton moves
to, 174-5; to choose its jurisdiction, 204: an-
nexed to Mass., 2:30, 231; to PlyiH., 2-32;
complains to Mass., 233, 247; Assy, at, 243;
Mass. subjects at obstruct R. I., 258 ; submit
to R. I., 267 : robbery at, 271 ; boundary dis-
pute, 429-4:38, 536.
Peace, Eng., and Hoi., 267, 368.
Peage, see Wampum.
Peake, Alderman, 380.
Pease, William, 559.
Pedlars, act against, 545; taxed, 557.
Peirse, Capt. defeated, 408, 410.
Pekar, Capt., 521.
Pelham, Ciipt., 520 _
Pemberton, of Westerly, 554, 555, 006.
Pembroke College, 49.
Pendleton, James, 484
Pennsylvania, 527.
Pension act, :366.
Pensioners, 49.
Pequot tribe, 39, 276, 316, 402, 420; war, 54, 62,
64, 7:5, 74, 87, 88-96.
Perjury law, 20s.
Persecution, religious, 189 n.; of Baptists, 234-5;
of Quakers, 264-6, 268-270; of Huguenots,
496.
Pessicus, sachem of Narrt., 158, 190, 197, 198,
199, 224, 231, 248, 276, 315, 316, :324, 391.
Pestilence among the Indians, 7-3, :387, and Eng-
lish, 523.
Peter, Hugh, 57, 464.
Pettaquamscot, 266, 277, 315, 331, 345, 351, 403,
5(17.
Phebe's Neck 69.
Philip of" Pokano'ket. 87,331, 3.39, 3.50.869,388,
892-6. 406. 410, 411, 415; death, 416.
Phipps, Sir William, 224 n., 398 n., 522, 524-8,
5:31.
Pilgrims, 6, 7 ; differ from Puritans, 12-14, 22,
"166; influenced bv them, 160, 4S4.
Piracy and Pirates, 494, 540, 541, 543, 546, 547,
550, 552.
Plato, doctrines of, among Indians, 78.
Plurality law, 812.
Plymouth Co., 7, 8, 291. 292, 362; Govt, of, 12,
14 ; claims Sowams, 69, and Aquedneck, 1.59,
and Warwick, 184, 191, and Hog Island, 266,
271, 469. 477 ; other claims on R. I., ;308. :312,
815, •3.36, 440, 444, 477; dealings with Mass.,
89, 2:30, 231. 2-32, 239; proceedings ag.ainst
Gorton, 164-6; established church." 319;
seizes Wamsutta, 390; summons Philip,
893; .irbiter in Harris causes, 4:36 ; obtains
Mt. Hope, 45:3,458; rebuked, 4s4, 501; re-
sumes charter, 513; united to Mass., 226 u.,
524.
570
GENERAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST.
Pocasset. settled, 71, 12o, 370 ; agreement to emi-
srate, 132 ; named Portsmouth, 136, 143 ;
Indians, 389.
Pokanoket tribe, 23, 73, 74, 212.
Poll tax. 542.
I'lilvLMiny, Indian, 76.
Piilytheisui. Indian, 78.
P()l»-. Francis, 559.
Porter. John, 124, 127,135, 148, 229, 267, 295; di-
vorced. 320.
Portsmouth. 71, 122, 128, 129, 201, 205, 232, 313,
3C8; Govt., l.SO, 131 ; separation, 132; elec-
tion, 134, 135; union with Newport, 143;
lerrv, 146; night watch, 15S; game laws,
161 • Gorton's cai^e. 169-172 ; first Gen. Assv.,
201 ; disagrees with Newport, 213, 221, 47S;
asks to ioin N. E. League, 223; freemen in,
256; fortified, 410.
Possession by right of discovery, 291.
Post routes established, 527.
Potowomut, 272, 458, 467, 485.
Potter, Abell. 161.
Potter. George. 133.
Potter, Nathaniel, 13-3.
Potter, Robert, 133, 153, 167, 176, 187.
Potter, Hon. E. K., "Hist, of Narraganset," re-
ferred to, 195, 267, 276, 816, 347, 466, 486, 503,
507, 545.
Poverty of the colonists, 251, 313.
Povaws, Indian, 76.
Powder, refused to R. I., 158, 253.
Power, Nicholas, 176, 184,187.
Preamble to the code of 1647, 205.
Pieiiietions fulfilled, 416, 417.
Preemption riirhts, 4S5.
Preshyterianism in Endand, 237.
Presbvterv feared in Mass.. 26.
President,' duties of, 211,270.
Press, the, under Andros, 508.
Pretender, birth of the, 5U9, 527.
Prices of produce, 153, 313, 349, 450, 451.
Prince, Gov., of Plym., 283, 852, 389, 390.
Prince. Rev. Thomas, "Annals," referred to, 14,
16. 17, 22, 75; "Introd. to Mason's Hist," 91.
Prisoners, support of, 851.
Prisons to be built, 129, 227, 256, 267, 486, 532.
Privateers on the coast, 469, 470, 477, 489, 520,
621, 522.
Privateering in K. L, 246, 247, 250, 471 ; act
against, 478, 534.
Probate law, 208, 369.
Propositions, the five, of 1665, 817, 31S.
Protistants. two parties of, 8, 42.
Protests, 330, 385, 838, 342, 859, 865.
Providence, 40, 69, 70, 97, 127. 181, 201, 205, 818,
831, 407,408,425, 466,509; the 18 propri-
etors, loo ; divisions of land, 101, 121 ; govt,
102, 108-110: civil compact, 103; first
church, 107; riots, 110,254; conciliates the
Indians, 120; growth of, 121, 272; instruc-
tions, 123; Gorton at, 172-4; dissensions at
172-4, 214, 242-6, SJBl, 338, 340, 854, 358, 466
two sets of Assts., 245-6 ; freemen in, 256
fortified, 258; .justice's court, 259; boundary
disputes, 429-4;W, 5ti6 : Assy, to meet regu-
lar! v at, 479; claimed by Conn., 545.
Proxy votes, 143, 202. 811.
Prudence Island, 87, 105, 172,420, 503; joined to
Ports., 204; independent, 362-8.
Pundiani, sachem of Shawomet, 74, 176, 184,
191, 196, 260, 271,308,316, 824, 392,508; sub-
mits to Mass., 177; rebels, 398; death, 417.
Punctnalitv, an Indian tr.iit, 82.
Punishments. Indian, 83; inflicted, 128, 142,
257, 25S. 261, 275, 313, 820, 329, 351.
Puritans, rise of the, 8; disown other sects, 4;
two kinds of, 6 ; policy in Mass., 10, 11, 52,
67; aim at independence, 32, 19-3; cKarao
ter of, 48-6 ; polemic habits, 63 ; integrity,
92; bigotry, 147 n. ; hostility to R. I., 16i;
402; apology for, 185 n.; persecute Gorton-
ists, 177-89, and Baptists, 284-5. and (.junk-
ers, 264-6, 268-270, 273 ; threats, 233 n.; hated
Cromwell, 274; treatment of the Indians,
391, and of R. I., 402 ; their estimate of An-
dros, 514.
Pyncheon, John, 469.
Q
Quahaug shell, 84.
Quakers; 151. 184, 208, 820, 826, 599, 490, 495,
640; arriv.!! in Boston, 264;' persecuted,
2(>5-6, 268-70, 273; debate with Williams,
859-862, 476.
Quarter Courts, 144.
Quebec, 522.
Queries of Board of Trade, 458.
Questions discussed in the Antinomian contro-
versy, 54 ; put at Gorton's trial, 186.
Quidnesett purchase, 272.
Quinapin, a sachem, 417.
Quincy, Hon. Josiah, 298, 872, 375, 384.
Quinnebaug, 297.
Quit-rent in R. I., 503, 507.
Quorum established, 202.
Quota of troops, 628, 529.
Quotenis, island, 155.
Quo warranto, writs of, 480, 481, 483, 484, 492 ;
threatened, 544, 554.
E
Races, law of succession of, 420-3.
Randolph, Edward. 418, 467. 469, 471, 480-5. 493,
494, 502, 511, 515, 541, 546.
Rapin's " Hist, of Eng." referred to, 293.
Ray, Simon, 803.
Real estate, tenure of, in R. I., 14S-9.
Reciprocal engagements, 205, 228, 317.
Records, of Prov.. 99, 102; of Ports., 159; of
Warwick, 195, 260, 819, 836, 840, 4=34, 458; of
Coddington's govt, 259; of Gen. Assy, lost,
524, 5S6.
Red Sea, 540, 543.
Reformation, the, 1, 2; checked, 4; aims of, 25,
41.
Registry of births, &c., 364, 545.
Rehoboth, see Seeconck.
Religious Freedom, at Prov., 102 ; at Aquedneck,
149, 162 ; in first charter, 200-1 ; successful,
215; how guarded, 252;. defined bv Wil-
liams, 254-5; defended by R. I., 266; in
second charter, 292 ; advocated by Randolph,
485, and by Andros, 501 ; maintained in R.
I., 490 ; allowed by James II., 502, 508.
Religious views of the Indian.'^, 78.
Remonstrance, as to commissions against the
Dutch, 247 ; Narrt. Indians to the English,
264; R. I. against Atherton Co., 463.
Report of Coms. of 1683, 474.
Representative system adopted, 202.
Republican feeling, unknown in Mass., 83; per-
vades R. I., 205, 207, 293, 294; party in E. I.,
222, 517.
Residence, how obtained, 468.
Restoration of the Stuarts, 274.
Revenue system of Andros, 503.
Revolution against Andros, 610-511.
"Revolution in N. Eng. Justified," referred tft
509.
Reynolds, James, 425,
GENERAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST.
571
EejTiolds, ■William, 103.
*' Khode Island Colcnial Records," referred to,
183, 134, 325, 52S, et paiisim.
"Khode Island Hiet. Colls." referred to, 112,
34T.
Rhode Island, State of, origin of name, 70 ; need
of a charter, 113: delay in uniting, 122, 201 ;
rejected by N. E, League, 157, 223; name
adopted, 158 ; first charter, 200 ; establish-
ment of democracy and of religious freedom
both original with. 205, 207, 215; virtually
independent, 207, 293-4 ; resemblance to the
Federal Union, 211 n., parties in, 222, 426,
517; danger from Indians, 222; Codding-
ton's scheme, 233 ; dismembered, 2:38 ; re-
united, 242. 251 ; dissensions in, 243, 246, 247,
341, 354; causes of these, 244, 251 ; their ef-
fect in England, 249 ; loyalty of, 245 ; mar-
tial spirit of, 246 ; protects Quakers. 266, 26S,
859, and Jews, 47S-9 ; appoints officers in
Narrt.. 279; petitions for a new charter,
2S0 ; two epochs of its history, 286-7 ; recog-
nizes Indian land titles, 290-2 ; King's Pro-
vince assigned to, 815. 317; opposes Philip's
War, 399 ; but not consulted, 402 ; the war
in, 403, 415, 41S ; treatment of captives, 419 ;
renewed struggles for existence, 440, 536 ;
statistical account of, 460,488-491; writ of
quo warranto, 4sl ; charter suspended, 4S6 ;
made one connty, 501 ; rights vindicated by
Andros, 505, 516; resumes the charter, 512;
close of the " formation period," 519 ; rights
infringed, 524; decision in favor of^ 527 ; ex-
posed condition of, 583; charges against,
541, 542, 544. 551, 552 ; a quo warranto
threatened, 554, 556 ; free legislation ofi 557.
Rhodes, Zechariah, 102, 253, 432.
Richards, constable, 413 n.
Richardson, William, 133.
Richison, Am., 379.
Richmond, Edward, 416, 442.
Rickard, George, loS.
Riding fast, forbidden, 442, 467.
" Hiss's Narrative," referred to, 511.
KiotK at Prov., 110. 174, 2.54 ; at Ports., 129, 170 ;
at Warwick, 271 ; at Westerly, 282, 350 ; in
King's Province, 555, 557.
Robinson, Rev. John, 13.
Robinson, Willij.m, 273.
Rochcfoucanlt, maxim of, 92 n.
Rochester, Kingston so called, 485, 504.
Rockv Mountains, 96.
Rosefs, or Kodgers, James, 195, 268, 271, 273,
^274,306; death, 424.
Rogers, John, 501.
Rogers, Capt., 520.
Roman Catholics, 274, 490, 532.
Romilly, Joseph. 43.
Roome, .lohn, 133, 252.
Rosetta Stone, 134 n.
Rose, frigate, 498, 511.
Rowlandson's, Mrs., "Narrative,'' 418.
Rowlev, 187.
Rbxbury, 187, 512.
Royalist party in R. I., 222, 229, 517, 52&
Runners, Indian, 83.
Ryswick, treaty of, 538, 589.
B
Sabbatarians, 427.
Sachems, power of the, 83.
Sachuest, 331.
Sadloir. Mrs. Anne. 47.
Baffin, John. 427, 44.5, 447, 4.57, 464.
Salaries, 356, 358, 365, 532, 548.
Sale of Indians, 416, 419, 425.
Salem, 9, 10, 20, 21, 24, ;i6, 34, 33, 187, 265.
Salmon. 72.
Saltonstall, Nathaniel, 469.
Samp, 84, 85.
Sandford, John, 124, 127, 144, 208, 226, 256, 261,
274, 278, 815, 327, 442, 499 ; Pres.. 245.
Sandford. Peleg, 427. 4;34, 442, 447, 469, 473, 502,
526, 539, 547, 548, 651 ; Gov., 469, 466, 467.
Sands, James, 303, 806.
Sassacus, sachem of Pequots, 89, 93, 95.
Saunders, Tobias, 277, 231, 344, 351.
Sausaman, an Indian, 395-6.
Savage, Thomas. 124, 462.
Savage, Major, 396.
Savage, Hon. James, referred to, 22, 27, 34, 50.
6.3, 117, 140, 147, 185, 225.
Saybrook, 89, 92, 93, 95, 504.
Sayles, John, 245.
Scalping, learned from, the French, 75.
Scarcity of provisions, 142.
Scituate, Mass., 484.
Scot, or Scott, John, 299, 800, 883-5.
Scott, Richard, 103, 269, 476; Catharine, his
wife, 269 ; Mary and Patience, daughters,
273
Scotch story, 188 n.
Scouting parties, 538.
Sea laws adopted, 204, 464.
Seal adopted, 149, 204, 306; of N. Eng., 496; of
Andros, 496; of R. I. broken, 506; new ono
procured, 619.
Sealed ballots used, 1-31.
Seaconnet, 395, 414, 477.
Sealers of weights, 369, 540.
Seamen, protected, 454.
Secretary, duties of, 146.
Sedgwick, Samuel, 333, 385.
Sedition act, 355, 358, 455, 653, 554.
Seekers, doctrines of, 151 n.
Seekonk, river and town, 39, 41, 72, 97, 101, 115,
120, 235, 307, 35-3, 389, 403, 550.
Separation, the, 4-6.
Sequa.sson, a Conn, sachem, 116, 116.
Sergeant, town, duties of, 131 ; deputy, 273.
Servants, law to protect, 454.
Sessions of Assembly, brief, 257 ; regulations of;
270 ; secret, 272 ; technical, 453 ; see Gen-
eral Assy.
Shaw, George, 13.3.
Shawmut, see Boston.
Shawomet, see Warwick.
Sheffield, Joseph, 552-5.
Sherman, Philip, 124, 127, 185, 219, 229.
Shipbuilding, 142.
Shotten, Sampson, 1.3-3, 153, 167, 176, 183.
Shrewdness, Indian, 82.
Shrimpton, Samuel, 469.
Silver ore, 225; coined, 279.
" Simplicities Defence," referred to, 167, 168,
175, 183, 186, 188, 194, 322.
Six Nations, tribes, 73.
Sizars, 49.
Skelton, Rev. Samuel, 20, 24, 26, 2&
Skirmish, first, with Indians, 162.
Slaverv, law against, 240, 403, 419.
Small-pox, 73, 523.
Smith. Adam, " Wealth of Nations," referred to,
464.
Smith, Edward, 250.
Smith, Capt, John, 8
Smith, John, the miller, 97, 101, 409.
Smith, John, of Warwick, 219, 222, 295 ; Pres.
226, 240.
Smith, Rev. Ralph, 22, 164, 165.
Smith, Richard 195, 266, 272. 282. 307 308. 812,
572
GENERAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST.
8SS, 359, 366. 451. 456, 457, 463, 469, 472, 488,
4S4, 500, 602, 608, 520.
Smith, Richard, Jr., 2S3, 305, 307, 4S4,
Sniithfleld, 120.
Smyth, Francis, 196.
Socho, sachem of Narrt., 276 n.
S'ocietj' for Propagating the Gospel, 560.
Soconoco, sachem of Pawtuxet, 74, 176; Bub-
mits to Mass., 177. 196.
8oi)hv Manor, see Prudence Island.
Soul "Liberty, Williams' views of, 126,254; see
Religious Freedom.
Southertown, 277, 2S2, 283, 303, 312; named
Stonington, 333, which see.
Sowams, 69, 9S, 3SS.
Sparks, Jared, 1S5 n., 475 n.
Speedwell, the ve.ssel, 7.
Spicer, Thomas, 133.
Spirits, sale of forbidden, 227, 251 ; seized, 425.
Springfield, 400, 408.
Squashes, 84.
Suimpers' Hill, 258 n.
Standish. Miles. 16, 397.
Stanton, or Stainton, Kobert, 183, 276.
Stanton, Robert, the younger, 410.
Stanton, Mary, 269.
Stanton, Tboinas, 346.
Staples, W. K., " Annals of Prov." referred to,
101, 102, lOS, 112, 121, 167, 214, 254, 266, 258,
335, 8S9, 419, 480, 481, 512.
Star Chamber, 4, 47.
State, term first apidied to E. I., 149.
Statistics of R. I., 4SS-491.
Staughton, Capt., 95.
Staughton, Gov. William, 898, 446, 452, 463, 469,
531.
Stevenson, Marmaduke, 273.
Stirling, Earl of, 362.
Slocks. 128, 142, 257, 313, 470, 486.
Stone, Capt., 87, S9.
Stonington, 383, 884, 389, 841, 343-6, 348, 851,
865, .364, 411, 457, 461, 521, 580.
Strange, Lott, 341.
Strawberries, 84.
Stubbs, Quaker preacher, 860, 361.
Study Hill, 98.
Sturgeon, 80.
Stuyv£sant, Gov. Peter, 241.
Styles, President, his Diary, 121.
Submission, of Pawtuxet men to Mass., Ill ; of
the sachems. 190, 284, 505; E. I. to Crom-
well, 266, 257 ; of Coddington, 259 ; of Paw-
tuxet men to E. I., 267 ; law against, 270.
Subscription book of James I., 49.
Succession of Races, law of the, 420-3.
Sudbury, 408.
Suttblk county, annexations to, 231, 277.
Sugar, dutv on, 481.
Sunday law.s 252, 867, 464.
Supremacy, act of, 8.
Supreme Court over N. Eng. asked for, 446.
Surgery, license to practise, 162.
Sutton's Hospital, 47.
Swanzey, 896.
Swedes, surrender. 309.
Swimmers, Indian, 80.
Swine, acts regulating, 132,141, 158.
Synod at Newtown, 61-2.
Talcot, Malor, 413. 415.
Talluian, Peter. 276, 320.
Tufhtassuck. sachem of Narrt, 212.
Taunton, 352, 866, 899.
Tavern, first in E. I., 128; licensed, 257; rcga-
lated, 260 ; act repealed, 488.
Taxes laid, 205, 271, 272, 276, 813, 320, 329, 331.
846, 352, 450, 473, 479, .607, 508, 510, 520, 581.
632, 5i2 ; laws of, 865, 441, 642 ; difficult to
collect, 534.
Temperance petition, the earliest, 324.
Terrv, Thomas, 306.
Test Act in Mass., 17-19 ; results of, 68.
Tew, Eichard, 263, 278.
Thames riveT, 89, 96.
Thanksgiving days, 20, 62, 95, 96, 506, 508, 609.
Thatcher's " Indian Biography," referred to,
418.
Thatcher, Dep. Coll. of Boston, 471. -
" The Truth Exalted," referred to, 862.
Theocracy in Mass., 33.
Thompson, Robert, 336.
Throckmorton, John, 100.
Tibbitts, Henry, 425.
Tiverton, 389, 535.
Tobacco, 84, 481.
Tockwotten, 40.
Toleration, how viewed by the Puritans, 44, 45.
Tomahiiwk, not of Indian origin, 75.
Tonnage duties, 522.
Torrev, Joseph, 250. 276, 306, 307, 312, 327, 341,
343, 344.
Town House, name first given, 520.
Town charters granted, 226; Govts, provided
for, 487.
Towns incorporated, 337, 364, 868, 428, 449;
names changed, 485.
Town Councils, 204, 466 ; their engagement,
228 ; powers of. 869, 468.
Training, first gener.al, 129.
Treason trials, Bewett, 243 ; Harris. 354.
Treat, Maj. Gen., 400, 401, 403, 406; Gov. of
Conn., 526.
Treatv, with Massasoit, 87 ; Miantinomi, 92, 116;
Narrt., 144, 197; Church's, 414; of Eys-
wick, 539.
Trial of three murderers at Plymouth, 106.
Tribute paid by Indians, 815, 893.
Trimming, a pirate, 521.
Trinity College, 47.
Trinity Church memorial, 669.
Trippe, John, 133.
Troops, royal, first, in N. Eng., 498.
Trout, 72.
Truckinasters, 180.
Trumbull's " Hist, of Conn." referred to, 96, 117
142, 197, 418, 493, 504.
Turner, Lawrence, 306.
Turkeys, wild, SO.
Turks, inoculation derived from the, 623 n.
" Types of Mankind," 423.
u
Uncas, sachem of Mohegans, 93, 115, 116, 117
168, 196-9, 224. 264, 392, 460.
Underbill, Capt. John, 64, 91, 92, 95, 246.
Uniformitv, act of, 3; attempted, in Mass., 36.
United Colonies of N. Eng., 115. 117. 166, 197
199, 224, 239. 246, 248, 253, 268, 275, 822, 38;J,
606; refuse E. I., 228; declared to be usurp
crs, 816.
Universalist preacher, trial of a, 183-4.
Universities, English, classification of students^
49.
Updike house, 195 n.
Upham, Charles W., 185 n., 464 n.
Uselton, , punished, 851.
Usher, John, 508.
GENERAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST.
573
Vaccination, 623.
Vane, Gov. Sir Henry, 53, 55, 56, 57, 60, 68, TO,
SS, 92, 124, 141, 249, 250, 252.
VauL'han, William, 276.
Veils discussed in Mass., 26.
Venison, 85, 130.
Verdicts, unexplained, 435.
Verin, Joshua, 97, 101, 104, 105.
Vernon, Daniel, 486,
Verrazauo, discovers E. I., 70.
Vice-royalty proposed for N. Eng., 535, 536.
Viewers of corn, Ac, appointed, 129.
Vincent, P., 91.
Vindictiveness, Indian, 75.
Virginia, S7, 479, 514, 527.
Vcjting, with sealed ballots, 181 ; by proxy, 143,
202, 454 ; requisites for, 155 ; fraudulent,
227 ; how punished, 329 ; in Gen. Assy.,
454.
W
Wadsworth, Capt., 408.
Wales, 48.
Walker. John. 124.
Walker, Thomas, 501.
Wall, John, 135.
Walley, Major John, 520.
Walnuts, 84.
Wampanoas tribe, 23, 73, 120, 266, 3S9, 420.
Wainpuin-peage, 81, 176, 227, 278.
WaiTisutta, sachem of Wampanoags, 266, 387,
388-392.
Wanasquatucket river. 99, 101, 430, 435.
War, Pequot, 88-96 ; Moheg. and Narrt., 115-16,
196 ; U. CoLs. and Narrt., 197, 253 ; Kns. and
IIol.. 241, 356, and Franco, 330; Philip's,
396-420 ; Fr. and Eng., 519 ; alarm of, 158,
248, S3I), 350.
Ward, Eev. N., quoted, 45.
Ward. Attorney General, 517.
Warner. John, 1U3, 176, 187,190,222,233,470;
trials, 241, 287-9.
Warrants against Harris, 263, 354.
Warren, 98 n.
Warwick, 112, 116, 122, 163, 176, 177, 201, 205,
313, 353; attacked, 180-3; settlement sus-
pended, 189 ; appeal to Eng., 191, 238 ;
named, 193 ; return to, 194, 425; organized,
206; fear of Indians, 222; Gen. Assy, at,
225, 226, 345, 468, 471, 479 ; demands protec-
tion, 229 ; annexed by Mass., 23U-1, to
Plym., 232; Royal Corns, at, 316,319,322;
protests, 325, 326, 342, 859, 865, 536; dispute
with Newport, 836; broken up, 406; burnt,
408 ; battle near, 415 ; Dutch disturbance at,
241 ; proposes reunion, 242, 243 ; two sets
of A.ssts., 245, 246 ; sues Mass., 258 ; sentence
• of banishment mitigated, 268; order for its
repeal, 452; riot, 271; boundary disputes,
4:32-8, 536, 545 ; agents in Eng., 434, 446 ;
Potowomut, 467 ; address to the King, 473 ;
wolves in, 508 ; claimed by Conn. ,.545.
Warwick, Earl of. 11.3, 193, 217, 218, 226.
Watch, established, 158, 557.
Watch Hill, 331.
Water bailies. 204.
Water mill, 13l>.
WaterhoHse, Dr., 523 n.
Waterman, Nathaniel, 4-34.
Waterman, Eichard^ 97, 100, 107, 176, 1S4, 187,
432.
Waters, Thomas, 468.
Watertown, 187.
Wattaconoges, 190.
Weathersfleld, 92, 93.
Weaver, Capt., 520.
Weeounkhass, squaw sachem of Niantics, 460,
461.
Weetamo, squaw sachem of Pocasset, 389, 392,
895, 399.
Weights and measures, 869, 540.
Weirs, used by Indians, 80.
Weld's "Else, Eeign, and Euin," 62, 63, 64, 65.
Wells, arrested, 461.
Weequashcooke, 338.
Westcott, Eobert. 272.
Westcott, Stukelv, 100, 107, 245.
Westerly, 276, 277, 282, 316, 333, 841, 844, 345,
348, 350, 351, 353, 855, 357, 864, 446, 453,
450-7, 461, 530, 532, 545, 552, 553 ; incorp.,
337; called Haversham, 485.
Weston, Francis, 100, 107, 110, 176, 187.
Weymouth, 269, 407.
Whales, 85.
Whaley, the regicide, 413.
Wharton, Eichard, 503.
What cheer, 40, 101.
Wheelwright, Eev. John, 52, 56 ; proceedings
against, 59-63, 68.
Whipping-post, to be made, 128, 142, 820, 351 ;
abolished, 129 n.
Whipple, John, jr., 361,425,503,52-3.
Whititift, Archbishop, 5.
Whortleberries, 84.
Wickenden, William, 103, 181.
Wickes, Francis, 97, 103.
Wickes, John, 13-3, 167, 170, 176, 187, 190, 229,
261, 272, 342 ; death, 370.
Wickford, 9-3, 272, 282, 805, 834, 335, 844-7, 406,
427, 551 ; Conn, court at, 368.
Wigwams, 85.
Wiibore, Samuel, 124, 127, 128, 131,267; Mr.,
197.
Wilcocks, Mr., 463.
Willard, Major, 253.
Willett, Thomas, 266, 814. 890.
William III. and Mary, 510, 613, 615, 532, 543.
Williams, Providence, 107, 420.
Williams, Eobert, 254, 361
Williams, Eodericus, 48-50.
Williams, Eoger, of Dorchester, 50.
Williams, Eoger, 20, 69, 70, 72, 78, 87, 88, 124.
154, 172, 203, 205, 219, 221, 227, 2-32, 295, 311,
312, 315, 325, 342, 347, 880, 409, 414, 419, 430,
432. 434, 456, 463. 514 ; at Salem, 21, 24, 28 ;
at Plym., 22, 23 ; his views misrepresented,
25, 26", 35, 292 ; proceedings against. 27-9 ;
ordained, 28; his views upon oaths, .'50-32;
his protests, 34, 87; charges against, 35, 56;
banished, 87; settles at Seekonk, 39, at
Pro v., 40 ; causes of his banishment, 41-6 ;
early life, 47-50 ; prevents the Pequot
league, 90 ; writings quoted, 91, 97, and see
"Key;" interprets treaty, 92; motives in
comins to E. I., 97-9 ; purchase of Prov.,
100, 101, of Prudence Island, 105, 362 ; son
born, 106 ; his baptism, 107 ; sent to Eng.,
113, 158 ; obtains charter, 114; returns, 115;
treats with Massasoit, 120; opposes Gorton,
172, 173 ; in Narrt., 195 ; Indians send for,
196 ; prevents war a second time, 197 ; Dep.
Pres., 225; sent to Eng. a second time, 238.
239 ; refuses to be Gov., 242 ; return, 250 ;
Pres., 252, 261; defends Indians, 253; de-
fines soul liberty, 254-5; Judge, 259; goes
to Boston, 260 : "Harris controversy, 262^ ;
mediates with Mass., 268 ; warns the Ather-
574
GENERAL INDEX TO VOLUME FIRST.
ton Co.. 272: Quaker debate, 800-2; Capt.
of militia. 40S ; death, 475-7.
Wills, made by town councils, 209; probate of,
369.
Willys, Mr., 836.
Wilson, George and Deborah, 265.
Wilson, Samuel, 267, 347.
Wilson, Eev. John, 22, 53, 56, 68-60,
Windmill hill, 881.
Windmill, first in K. I., 870.
Windsor, 93.
Winslow, Gov. Edward, 40, 41, 46, 159, 160, 161,
165, 193. 194, 215, 216.
Winslow, Josiah, 2SS, 390, 391, 403, 415, 436.
Winsor, .Toshua, 103.
Winthroi.. Gov. John, 9, 14. 21, 22. 26, 46, 55, 56,
60. 87, 92, 105, 172, 1S2, 197, 225, 22S, 362.
Winthrop, Gov. John, ir.. of Conn., 225, 227,
272, 20()-9, 300, 801, '385, 843, 847, 848,852,
863, 878-386. 411.
Winthrop, Gov. Fitz John, of Conn., 548.
Winthrop. M.i.ior General, 520, 585.
Winthrop. Stephen. 105.
" Winthrop's Journal." referred to, 16. 21. 26, 80,
34, 87, 50, 56, 58, 62, 64, 98, 104, 107, 117, 134,
139, 140, 147, 151, 152, 167, 158, 168, 178, 182,
183. 191, 193, 215, 216, 226.
Witchcraft, 525.
AVitherell, Daniel, 484.
Witnesses, exempt from arrest, 868.
WoUaston. Capt.. 15.
Wolves, 73, 154, 161, 315, 393, 508, 534.
Women, Indian, S4, 85.
Wonemvtonomy, sachem of Aquedncck, 78
hill,"831.
Woodman, John, 507.
Wriehtington, Robert, 559.
Wuddall, or Waddell, William, 176, 187.
Yellow fever, 73.
York, Duke of, 504.
Younsr, Eev. Alex., "Chronicles," referred ta T
10, 12, 185.
Zeal, efficient, of Wilson, 60i
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