shelter from persecutions. However, he was never friendly to their
peculiar tenets and assailed them in debates and pamphlets. When George
Fox, their founder, was in America in 1672, Williams challenged him
to a debate. A delay in getting the challenge to Fox, who had sailed
for England, did not leave the debate unaccepted. Three Rhode Island
Quakers undertook the task. Roger Williams rowed the thirty miles
to Newport and for three days debated with all the characteristic
bitterness of debates of that period. They adjourned to complete the
debate at Providence. Williams is seen in the worst light here and has
been greatly criticized for the strong language he used in opposing
these Quakers. We should never forget that the Puritans went far beyond
strong language, in persecuting some to death and in exiling others.
Both sides claimed a victory in the debate, which was perpetuated in
pamphlets, issued at its completion. Williams wrote one, entitled,
“George Fox Digg’d out of his Burrowes.” Fox replied with one,
entitled, “A New-England Fire-Brand Quenched.” Fox’s book is a quarto
of 489 pages. Williams’ book, a small quarto of 327 pages, was printed
in Boston, 1676. The only original copy known to exist is the one in
the Library of Harvard College.
Roger Williams wrote many letters, the originals of which were widely
scattered. Many of these have been collected and printed in a volume
by the Rhode Island Historical Society. In one of these letters, to
Governor Bradford, of Boston, he refers to a collection of discourses
which he had reduced to writing. These sermons, with treatises written
prior to his banishment, are probably lost forever.
KING PHILIP’S WAR
Canonicus died, June 4, 1647. Massasoit died in 1660, leaving two
sons, Wamsutta and Metacon, or as they were nicknamed by the English,
Alexander and Philip. The former succeeded his father. On a return from
Plymouth Alexander died suddenly, and Philip suspected that he was
poisoned. This, however, was not the fact. The Narragansetts had not
forgotten the death or murder of Miantonomo, and the Indians generally
felt that the English were gradually crowding them out of their own
domains. Philip took advantage of this feeling and organized a war
which had for its object the complete extermination of all the
English settlements. This war, opening in Plymouth, 1675, lasted more
than a year. Twelve out of the ninety New England towns were completely
destroyed and forty others were the scene of fire and slaughter. A
thousand strong men lost their lives in addition to a large number of
helpless women and children who were tomahawked. Rhode Island, for the
first time, was exposed to the hostile attacks of the Indians. Many of
the inhabitants, fearing the impending disaster, had joined the army
of attack against the Indians. In retaliation for this, Providence was
attacked, and twenty-nine houses were burned. One of them contained the
town records, part of which were saved by being thrown into a pond,
from which they were afterward recovered. When the Indians appeared
on the heights above Providence, Roger Williams, unarmed, went out to
counsel with them. He urged them to stop the warfare, telling them that
the English king would come to the assistance of the colonists and,
with greater numbers, overpower the Indians. They replied:
Let them come, we are ready for them. But as for you, Brother
Williams, you are a good man, you have been kind to us many years, not
a hair of your head shall be touched.
He returned to a house which had been converted into a fort. It was not
touched, but the town otherwise was destroyed. Most of the citizens of
the mainland fled to Rhode Island and Newport. The doom of the Indians
was sounded, the war was put down, and the leaders were captured or
slain. Immediately after the war the work of rebuilding commenced.
Houses were built larger and more substantially.
[Illustration]
A _NEW-ENGLAND_-
Fire-Brand Quenched,
Being an
ANSWER
UNTO A
Slanderous Book, Entituled; _GEORGE FOX
Digged out of his Burrows_, &c. Printed at _Boston_ in the Year
1676, by _Roger Williams_ of _Providence_ in _New-England_.
Which he _Dedicateth_ to the _KING_, with Desires, _That, if_
the Most-High _please_, Old _and_ New-England _may Flourish, when
the_ Pope & Mahomet, Rome & Constantinople _are in their Ashes_.
Of a _DISPUTE_ upon XIV. of his _Proposals_ held and debated
betwixt him, the said _Roger Williams_, on the one part, and
_John Stubs_, _William Edmundson_ and _John Burnyeat_ on the other.
At _Providence_ and _Newport_ in _Rode-Island_, in the Year 1672.
IN which his _Cavils_ are Refuted, & his _Reflections_ Reproved.
In Two Parts.
AS ALSO,
An _ANSWER_ to _R. W’s APPENDIX_, &c.
WITH A
_POST-SCRIPT_ Confuting his Blasphemous Assertions,
_viz._ _Of the Blood of_ Christ, _that was Shed, its being_
Corruptible _and_ Corrupted; _and that_ Salvation _was by a Man,
that was_ Corruptible,
&_c._ Where-unto is added a
_CATALOGUE_ of his _Railery_, _Lies_, _Scorn_ & _Blasphemies_: And
His _TEMPORIZING SPIRIT_ made manifest. Also, The
_LETTERS_ of _W. Coddington_ of _Rode-Island_, and _R. Scot_ of
_Providence_ in _New-England_ concerning _R.W._ And _Lastly_, Some
_TESTIMONIES_ of _Antient_ & _Modern Authors_ concerning
the _LIGHT_, _SCRIPTURES_, _RULE_ &, the _SOUL_ of _Man_.
By _GEORGE FOX_ and _JOHN BURNYEAT_.
Printed in the Year MDC. LXXIX.
[Illustration: Rhode Island Historical Society Museum]
[Illustration: Apple Tree Root from the Grave of Roger Williams]
[Illustration: Grave of Roger Williams]
Roger Williams for many years had a trading-place, where he did
business with the Indians. This store was near the present village of
Wickford. His profits, he tells us, were five hundred dollars a year.
The foundations of this old building are still intact, with a new
superstructure over them. Late in life he made monthly preaching visits
to this place. When too old to do this, he planned the publication of
his sermons for the natives. Roger Williams was the original missionary
to the North American Indians, antedating the illustrious Eliot by
thirteen years. Williams’ Indian Bible is in the John Hay Library,
Providence, R. I.
[Illustration: New Testament Title-page of Roger Williams’ Indian Bible]
WUSKU
WUTTESTAMENTUM
NULLORDUMUN
JESUS CHRIST
Nuppoquohwussuaeneumun.
[Illustration]
_CAMBRIDGE_:
Printed by _Samuel Green_ and _Marmaduke Johnson_,
MDCLXI.
[Illustration: Indian Bible Used by Roger Williams, the Pioneer
Missionary to the American Indians]
THE
HOLY BIBLE:
CONTAINING THE
OLD TESTAMENT
AND THE _NEW_.
Translated into the
INDIAN LANGUAGE
_AND_
Ordered to be Printed by Commissioners of the _United Colonies_
in _NEW-ENGLAND_,
At the Charge, and with the Consent of the
CORPORATION IN _ENGLAND_
_For the Propagation of the Gospel amongst the_ Indians
_in New_-England.
_CAMBRIDGE._
Printed by _Samuel Green_ and _Marmaduke Johnson_.
MDCLXIII.
In 1683, Roger Williams died. All the inhabitants of Providence turned
out to honor his memory. The coffin was carried on the shoulders of his
friends, and his earthly remains were laid to rest on his own property,
on the slope of the hill east of his residence and the spring. An
apple tree grew above the grave. The roots drew from the remains their
nourishment and followed the shape of the skeleton and the legs. Today
these same roots are preserved in the Rhode Island Historical Society’s
collection. Reuben A. Guild describes this in the following manner:
Still further up the hill among the trees of his orchard, was the
family burial ground. Crossing Benefit Street and passing into the
rear of the house of the late Sullivan Dorr, a few feet from the
stable door, is the original grave of Roger Williams. It is covered
by a finished cap of a heavy stone pillar. Here for nearly two
hundred years slept the remains of the Apostle of Religious Liberty.
In March, 1860, the grave was opened, and the dust, for that was all
that remained of the mortal body, was carefully placed in an urn and
deposited in Mr. Randall’s family tomb in the North Burial Ground.
Mrs. Williams’ grave was also visited, and a lock of braided hair was
all that was discovered. At the bottom of Roger Williams’ grave the
root of an apple tree had turned out of its way to enter in at the
head. Following the position of the body to the thighs, it had turned,
now divided, to follow each leg to the feet, tender fibers shooting
out in various directions.
Roger Williams died a poor man. His interest in the needy and
distressed had kept him constantly poor. Ambition formed no part
of his personal life. His ambitions were for the larger group of
distressed souls. A prophet is rarely appreciated in his own age by
his contemporaries. Posterity, in later days, usually discovers the
greatness and genius of the man and the ideal he realized. Today that
ideal is the secret of America’s greatness and one that has given her
distinction among the nations. Shortly before Williams’ death there was
a discussion relative to dividing up the common lands. Williams wrote
to the Town of Providence a plea, which is characteristic of the spirit
of the man:
For all experience tells us that public peace and love is better than
abundance of corn and cattle. I have only one motion and petition
which I earnestly pray the town to lay to heart, as ever they look for
a blessing from God upon the town, on your families, your corn and
cattle, and your children after you; it is this, that after you have
got over the black brook of some soul bondage yourself, you tear not
down the bridge after you, by leaving no small pittance for distressed
souls that may come after you.
V
FROM SOUL-LIBERTY TO ABSOLUTE CIVIL LIBERTY
RHODE ISLAND’S GIFT
Last of the thirteen, smallest of them all,
What canst thou bring to this world’s festival,
Where all thy sisters come with pride and power,
And bring each one a princess’ generous dower
Of gold and gems, and fruits and precious woods,
And joyous tribute of their costly goods?
What can we bring? No outward show of gain,
No pomp of state; we bring the sons of men!
Bring gold, fair sisters, yellow gold,
And gems, and all that’s fair and fine,
And heap them all, the new, the old,
Before our country’s stately shrine.
Bring hardihood from north and east,
Bring beauty from the south and west,
Bring valor to adorn the feast,
Bring all that has withstood time’s test.
We grudge you not the riches rare,
We grudge you not your acres broad,
We bring you for our noble share
THE LIBERTY TO WORSHIP GOD.
--_Caroline Hazard, Poem read on “Rhode Island Day” at World’s
Columbian Exposition, Chicago, October 5, 1893._
FROM SOUL-LIBERTY TO ABSOLUTE CIVIL LIBERTY
The ideal of democracy grew in all the New England colonies and led
eventually to the American Revolution and the establishment of the
United States of America. Rhode Island, however, in the century prior
to the Revolution, had never given up her advocacy of soul-liberty, and
thus the Revolution was to her a greater struggle than to the other
colonies. This distinct feature will be seen in a study of the real
successors of Roger Williams, in the struggle for religious liberty.
Therefore it is interesting to note some of the outstanding events in
the history of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, previous to the
Revolutionary War.
In June, 1700, a lot was set aside for a training-ground, a
burial-ground, and other public uses. Thus originated the North Burial
Ground, the first public burial-ground in the colony. Before this each
family had buried on its own land. Not until 1760, when Benefit Street
was laid through the burial-grounds of many of the citizens, including
the land where Roger Williams first settled, did they come to use in a
general way this North Burial Ground. Then many bodies were removed to
the new place for burial.
The second house of worship to be erected in the colony, in 1704,
was the Friends’ Meeting House, in what is now Lincoln. It is still
standing, although with an extensive addition. The Friends’ Meeting
House in Providence was erected about the same time. The First
Congregational Church was organized in 1720, a meeting-house being
erected in 1723. It was on the site of the present county court-house.
In 1722, the Episcopalians erected their first church building. It was
called King’s Church, and was on the site of the present St. John’s
Church on North Main Street. In 1798, the Methodists organized their
first church, building their first meeting-house in 1816 at the corner
of Aborn and Washington Streets. The Roman Catholics commenced their
work in 1827, meeting in Mechanics’ Hall, afterward in the old Town
House. From the very start no discouragement was given to any church to
organize in Rhode Island. During this same period of time Baptists were
hindered in other colonies.
In 1660, the proprietors of the colony ordered the setting aside of
one hundred acres of upland and six of meadows to be reserved for the
maintenance of a school. In 1696, a piece of land on Dexter Lane,
or Stamper’s Hill, was set apart for a school. This schoolhouse was
built about the year 1697, about fifty feet north of Olney Street, on
the east side of Stamper’s Street. It was used for about fifty years.
The schoolmaster probably received all of his compensation from the
scholars. A lot on the end of the Court House Parade was left for a
school building. The first reference to a school house on this lot is
found in the town records for 1752. The town leased this schoolhouse
to a schoolmaster. In 1769, the first free school was established on
King’s Street, now Meeting Street. This building is used now as a
fresh-air school.
BROWN UNIVERSITY
As early as 1762 a movement was instituted by James Manning of Scotch
Plains, New Jersey, to establish in Rhode Island a university on the
broad basis of religious freedom, but under the special care of the
Baptists. A charter, to be presented to the General Assembly in 1763,
was prepared by Rev. Ezra Stiles, a Congregational minister at Newport.
When the document was ready for presentation, it was noticed that the
governing power was to be given to a presbyterian body. That occasioned
postponement. A charter was granted, however, in February, 1764, under
the name of “The Trustees and Fellows of the College or University in
the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in New
England in America.” The corporation was given power to change its
name. It organized with James Manning as president. Active teaching
work was commenced at Warren in 1766. The founding of this university
was an event touching not only the life of Rhode Island, but of the
whole country. As a Baptist movement, it was first proposed by Morgan
Edwards in 1762, at the Philadelphia Baptist Association. James
Manning came from the little church at Scotch Plains, New Jersey, and
from a Baptist Association to the only place in America, at that time,
where a Baptist university could be established. The Baptists desired
the controlling power, but not the whole power of administration, in
order to preserve their great principle of religious freedom. According
to the original charter, twenty-two of the thirty-six trustees were
to be Baptists, five Quakers, four Congregationalists, and five
Episcopalians. Of the twelve fellows, eight were to be Baptist, the
rest indefinitely of any or all denominations. The following extract
shows the Baptist ideal:
into this liberal and catholic institution shall never be admitted
any religious tests, but, on the contrary, all the members hereof,
shall forever enjoy full, free, absolute, and uninterrupted liberty
of conscience; and that the places of professors, tutors, and all
other officers, the President alone excepted, shall be free and open
for all denominations of Protestants, and the youths of all religious
denominations shall and may be admitted to the equal advantages,
emoluments, and honors of the university; and that the sectarian
differences shall not make any part of the public and classical
instructions.
Its early history is interesting. There was but one student during
its first year, the Rev. William Rogers, of Newport, then fourteen
years old. In 1767, four new students enrolled. The first years of the
college were spent at Warren, where Dr. James Manning, the president,
was the acting pastor of a Baptist church recently organized. In
1769, the first class of seven was ready for graduation and the first
commencement was held on September 7, 1769.
The various towns of the colony contended earnestly to have the college
permanently located with them. Newport considered that her large gifts
to the college were sufficient to give her the preference. Providence,
being a stronger center for the Baptists, won, and, in 1770, the
college was moved to that city. The old brick schoolhouse, near the
foot of Meeting Street, was the first building used by the college. The
students boarded in private families at a dollar and a quarter a week.
The building committee soon selected a better location for the school
and a better place for housing the student body. Morgan Edwards said of
the site finally selected:
Commanding a prospect of the Town of Providence below, of the
Narragansett Bay and Island and of an extensive country, variegated
with hills and dales, woods and plains.... Surely this spot was made
for a seat of the Muses.
The first building, one sufficient for the needs of the college for the
following fifty years, was University Hall, modeled after Nassau Hall
of Princeton. The upper two stories were added after the Revolutionary
war. For six years, during that great struggle, the hall was used as
barracks and hospital for the combined American and French troops. In
1775, the present First Baptist Church Meeting House was erected, “for
the public worship of Almighty God and to hold commencements in.” Since
1775 until the present time, with the exceptions of the years 1804 and
1832, this church has been used for the commencement exercises. On its
platform illustrious students have received their degrees and have gone
forth to bless the world. The presidents of Brown University, seated
in the James Manning chair, have presided at the commencements in the
historic Baptist Meeting House, and have given public honor to men
who in turn have honored the university and city. George Washington
received the honorary degree of LL. D. in 1790. Among her illustrious
graduates none is greater than Adoniram Judson, our pioneer American
and Baptist foreign missionary.
Doctor Manning died in 1791, and was buried in the North Burial Ground.
The corporation voted that same year,
That the children of the Jews may be admitted into this institution
and entirely enjoy the freedom of their own religion, without any
constraint or imposition whatever.
The name of the college was changed from Rhode Island to Brown
University, in 1804, in honor of Nicholas Brown, whose liberal gifts to
the college were much appreciated. He was a trustee and in his lifetime
gave about $100,000 to the college. In 1821 the increasing number of
students made another building imperative, and Nicholas Brown gave this
needed structure, Hope College, as a gift to the institution.
[Illustration: Original Home of Brown University, in Providence, R. I.]
[Illustration: Brown University in Early Nineteenth Century]
The second president of Brown University was Jonathan Maxcy, who served
from 1792 until 1802. In these ten years two hundred and twenty-seven
were graduated, sixty-six claiming law as their profession, and
fifty-six entering the ministry. Asa Messer was the third president,
serving from 1802 until his resignation in 1826. His membership was in
the First Baptist Church, but his views, after 1815, were Unitarian.
Acts of vandalism, such as breaking into the library, beating down the
pulpit, and breaking windows, were such that he took it as a protest
against his position and finally resigned.
The next president was Francis Wayland. He completely reorganized the
University. He introduced the elective system, and offered several
practical courses. The college grounds were laid out. Two new buildings
were erected. Manning Hall, a gift of Nicholas Brown, and named
in honor of the first president, was built in 1840. In this Doric
structure the library found a home on the first floor and the chapel on
the second. Rhode Island Hall was erected shortly afterward, $10,000
being raised by Rhode Island men and women, and the balance of $12,500
being largely the gift of Nicholas Brown. Doctor Wayland’s presidency
came to an end by his death in 1855. He was buried in North Burial
Ground. Following him came Barnes Sears, Alexis Gaswell, Ezekiel Gilman
Robinson, Elisha Benjamin Andrews, and the present president, W. H. P.
Faunce, since June, 1899. Today the college has more than a thousand
students, about thirty buildings, and an endowment of more than four
million dollars. Brown University was the pioneer of the hundreds of
schools, colleges, and universities which the Baptists were destined to
have in the years that followed. These are not limited to one State,
but are scattered all over our country.
Pilgrims to Providence, the birthplace of religious liberty in America,
should not fail to visit those buildings which contain sacred relics of
the long and hard struggle for soul-liberty and political freedom in
America.
The present million-dollar CITY HALL, at the west end of Exchange
Place, in Providence, was erected in the period 1874 to 1878. In the
office of the Recorder of Deeds can be seen “the original deeds”
from the Indian chiefs to Roger Williams in 1636, also his letter
transferring to his loving friends, “a share of the new territory.” The
original Compact of Government is here also, and there is a bust of
Roger Williams over the entrance.
THE OLD STATE HOUSE, situated on Benefit Street, is a building which
can well vie with Faneuil Hall in Boston and Independence Hall in
Philadelphia as a “Cradle of Liberty.” Built in 1763, it was originally
occupied by the Rhode Island Colonial Assembly, who here on May 4,
1776, two months previous to the Declaration of Independence, in
Philadelphia, adopted the famous act renouncing allegiance to Great
Britain. This fact is commemorated by a bronze tablet and also by an
annual commemoration in all the public schools of Providence.
THE NEW STATE HOUSE, or “Marble Palace,” on the crest of Capitol Hill,
completed in 1902 at a cost of $3,200,000, is built of white Georgia
marble, and has for a distinguishing feature one of the few marble
domes existing in the world. This inscription is on the south front of
the Capitol:
To hold forth a lively experiment, that a most flourishing civil state
may stand and best be maintained, with full Liberty in Religious
Concernments.
On the north side, we read,
Providence Plantations, Founded by Roger Williams, 1636, Providence,
Portsmouth, Newport, incorporated by Parliament, 1643, Rhode Island,
Providence Plantations, obtained Royal Charter 1663. In General
Assembly declared a Sovereign State, May 4th, 1776.
The inscription around the interior of the dome is a Latin quotation
from Tacitus. Translated it is:
Rare felicity of the times when it is permitted to think as you like,
and say what you think.
In the State Chamber is Gilbert Stuart’s rare full-length portrait of
General Washington. In the Secretary of State’s office is the original
charter, granted in 1663, under which the colony and State were
governed until 1843. In a subbasement there is a collection of State
historical exhibits, originally collected for the Jamestown Exposition.
On the dome of the State House there is a colossal bronze statue of
“Independent Man, or the Genius of Religious Liberty,” designed by
Brewster.
[Illustration: Capitol Building in Providence, Where the Charter is
Kept]
[Illustration: City Hall, Providence, Where the Compact, Indian Deed,
and Letter of Transference are Kept]