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Roger Williams, A Political Pioneer By Edm.und J. Carpenter, Litt. D. $2.00 net (post 15c.) THE GRAFTON PRESS 70 Fifth Avenue. 6 Beacon Street New York Boston ROGER WILLIAMS A STUDY OF THE LIFE, TIMES AND CHARACTER OF A POLITICAL PIONEER BY EDMUND J. CARPENTER, Litt.D. AUTHOR OF "AMERICA IN HAWAII," ETC. THE GRAFTON PRESS PUBLISHERS NEW YORK Copyright, 1909, By the GRAFTON PRESS ©Ci.A252 To The President and Fellows OF Brown University PREFACE With the broadening of human thought and sympathies, and the consequent weakening of division walls, separating the various sects of Protestant Christianity, which have distinguished the past few years, there has come an in- creased sense of human brotherhood. Never in the his- tory of the human race has the public conscience been so sensitive as in these opening years of the twentieth cen- tury. At no period has there been so little contention concerning doctrine; never has there been so broad an insistence upon the fundamentals of belief and the demands of ethics. For more than a century past the discussion which has waged, often bitterly, concerning the true con- ception of the character of Roger Williams has had its basis too firmly fixed chiefly upon a doctrinal foundation. The day has dawned when it is possible to lay aside such considerations and to study the character of one of the most remarkable men of his day, as of a man among men; to consider from a political and personal, rather than from a strictly religious, point of view, the times in which he lived and the circumstances by which he and others were con- trolled ; to study the peculiarities of his disposition and of those around him, and to form our final opinion, crystal- ized by these considerations, rather than by popular no- tions, which may have been held, either by his extreme admirers, or by those whose opinion of his character has been less favorable. In pursuing this study and analysis of the character of this man, the author has thought proper to consult orig- inal authorities alone, deeming the facts of history and the statements of the man himself, or of his contemporaries, and the inferences to be drawn from them, to be of more real value than the opinions of writers, whose sources of information have been limited to the same records and documents. He has endeavored to produce only a picture of the man himself, from which the reader will be quite capable of forming opinions, unaided by suggestions from the collector and compiler of the facts. ■ The propriety of entering upon a study and record, such as is here presented, was first suggested to the author by his brother, George Moulton Carpenter, late judge of the United States courts in Providence. It has been a source of the deepest regret that his sudden death, before the work had hardly been begun, deprived the writer of advice and suggestion, which could not have failed to be of the greatest value. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION . . , . . The English separatists. The rise of diverse sects. Twelfth century struggles for religious freedom. The act of supremacy. The rise of separatism. Robert Browne and Brownism. Liberal sentiment and William of Orange. Execution of Copping and Thacker. Writings of Martin Mar, prelate. Work of Greenwood and Barrowe. Their execution. Apostacy of Browne. Migration to Holland. The Anabaptists. The Mennonites. Alva and the flight from Holland. The act of banishment. The Scrooby congregation. Fourfold nature of the struggle for religious liberty. Loyola and the Jesuits. Henry VIII and the English church. The Pope's offer of arbitration. The prostestantism of Elizabeth. Her Act of Supremacy. Rise of the Puritans. Hooper and his non-conformism. Mary and her religious reign. The vestment controversy. The Act of Uniformity. The Puritan resistance. Puritan and Separatists. A new comer in New England. CHAPTER I 3 Arrival of Roger Williams at Boston. His birth and ancestor. A genealogical controversy. His education. His love episode and the Barrington letters. Ride of Hooker, Williams and Cotton to Sempringham. Jane Whalley. Williams invited to supply the pulpit of the First Church in Boston. The wife of Williams. Marriage of Jane Whalley. CHAPTER II 28 Williams declines the invitation and withdraws to Plymouth. Williams a Separatist. Demands repentance of Boston Church. Missing records of the Salem Church. Goes to Plymouth. His life there. Gov. Winthrop's visit to Plymouth. Disputatious temperament of Williams. Birth of daughter of Williams. Bradford's estimate of Williams. Mutual affection of Winthrop and Williams. X Contents CHAPTER III 43 Williams removes from Plymouth to Salem. The separatists of that settlement. Renewal of controversies. Attack upon the ministerial association. The attack upon the validity of the patent. Attack upon the King. A hastily called conference. Williams confesses error. Controversy with John Cotton. The question of veils. Cotton's remarkable sermon. Endicott and the En- sign. The oath of fidelity. Williams attacks the oath. CHAPTER IV 59 Political status of the colony of Massachusetts Bay. Sir Ferd- inando Gorges and Captain Mason falsely accuse the colonists. Sir Christopher Gardiner. Winthrop and Bradford. Gorges dream of the empire. The settlement of Wessagaset. Grant to Endicott. John Mason and his claim. Career of Sir Christopher. Thomas Morton and his settlement. The maypole of Merry Mount. Morton furnishes arms to the Indians. Bradford denounces Morton. His arrest and deportation. Distress in New England. CHAPTER V 81 Arrest of Morton ordered. Sentence to be deported. Morton's reputation in England. Philip Ratcliffe and his offence. His sentence of mutilation and banishment. Morton's version of the affair. The sentence remitted. Ratcliffe deported. The attack upon the charter in England. Gardiner, Morton and Ratcliffe wit- nesses against the colonists. Governor Winthrop's shrewd con- duct. The spirit of colonization. The Pope's grant of land in North America. The statute of praemunire. Rights of Spain and Portugal in the new world. First attempts at English colo- nization in America. Colonial rights under the charter. Later fortunes of Thomas Morton. Morton's record of the Ratcliffe matter. CHAPTER VI 92 ^ Endicott's reason for mutilating the colors. Attitude of King Charles towards the Massachusetts colony. Archbishop Laud's attention attracted. Colonists prepare for an attack. Military preparations. Boston's beacon. Critical condition of affairs in Massachusetts. Attack of Williams upon the patent sim- ultaneous with that of Gorges. Williams' assault upon the royal prerogative. Contents xi CHAPTER VII 99 Death of the Rev. Mr. Skelton, pastor at Salem. Williams called to Salem. Breaks his promise to Massachusetts magistrates. Sum- moned by magistrates to appear at Boston. Hearing in Boston upon his case. His opinions adjudged to be dangerous. He refuses to communicate with the churches. The Salem church joins with him in opposing the magistrates. Salem deputies suspended. Endicott declared to be in contempt. Williams ordered to de- part from the jurisdiction of the colony. The Salem church ac- knowledges error. Hooker's sharp argument with Williams. Williams renounces communion with the Salem church. Case of Israel Stoughton. Sentence of Williams suspended. He resumes his belligerent attitude. It is determined to deport Williams. His flight from Salem. CHAPTER VIII 112 Williams' love of controversy. Dr. Johnson's discussion of the subject of the liberty of conscience Bradford's comment on Williams. Probable cause of Williams' withdrawal from Plymouth. Some of his characteristics. His work among the Indians. Some inconsistencies. Williams an owner of real estate in Salem. His banishment an enlargement. [Cotton Mather's record of the banish- ment of Williams. Governor Winslow's affection for Williams. Winslow's record of the cause of Williams' banishment. Sir William Martin's letter to Winthrop. CHAPTER IX 126 Wanderings of Williams after his banishment. His settlement at Seekonk and later at the head waters of the Narragansett. His companions. His review of his banishment in a letter to Cotton. Reply of Cotton. The removal across Seekonk. The Indians' salute. The settlement at Providence. Williams forms a democracy. The Providence compact. Williams a close friend of Cananicus and Miantonamoh. A large tract of country conveyed to him. The historic initial deed. Conveyances. CHAPTER X , 141 The new colony soon troubled. Joshua Verin and his wife. Winthrop's record of the Verin episode. Disaffections among New England colonists. Troubles among the Providence colo- nists. xii Contents CHAPTER XI 148 The Pequods and their attitude towards the colonists. Williams as a peacemaker. Correspondence in Pequod matter. The league with the Narragansetts. Dastardly act of four Massachusetts men. Arrest of the murderers, trial and execution. CHAPTER XII 163 Williams interested in tenets of anabaptists. Ezekiel Holli- man. Mrs. Scott. Holliman and Williams join in re baptisms. Williams soon repudiates the new baptism. Williams concerning immersion. Cotton Mather's record. Curious new departure of Williams. His controversy with John Cotton. CHAPTER XIII 177 Williams starts for England to procure a charter. His work as a pacificator at New Amsterdam. Sails for England. Important literary work on the voyage. Reaches England. The Long parliament in session. Negotiates for charter. His movement for providing the London poor with coal. Issues his " Blovdy Tenant." John Cotton's reply and Williancis' rejoinder. The Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Declaration of Independence antedated by Williams. " Bloudy Tenant." The Cotton- Williams Controversy. Williams' " Queries of Highest Consideration." Discovery of a hitherto unknown Williams' pamphlet. Williams negotiates with Warwick for a charter. Is successful. Sets out ,upon his return voyage. Applies for permission to pass through Boston, which is granted. CHAPTER XIV 192 Williams again at Providence. Resumes his work as an Indian pacificator. A meeting of commissioners. Report of messengers. War fortunately averted. A treaty of peace concluded conten- tions among the colonists and efforts of Williams to quell them. Coddington's coup. Williams despatched again to England. His petition to Massachusetts Bay for permit to pass through its terri- tory. Sails for England from Boston. Appearance of his "Bloudy Tenant yet more Bloudy." Intimacy of Williams with Milton. His familiarity with the Dutch language. His correspondence with Mrs. Sadlier. Is entertamed by Sir Henry Vane. Codding- ton's commission vacated. Williams returns to New England. Contents xiii CHAPTER XV 207 Friendship of Williams with Winthrop. Their correspondence. Earthquake in New England. Records of Bradford and Winthrop concerning the phenomenon. Correspondence with John Cotton the younger. The William Harris episode. Defense of Williams in the Harris controversy. Commercial ventures of Williams at Narragansett. His means of livelihood. Family relations of Williams. Birth record of his children. CHAPTER XVI 231 Controversy of Williams with George Fox. Visit of Fox at Aquidneck. Williams' challenge. Rows from Providence to Newport to engage in debate. The famous debate in the Quaker meeting-house at Newport. Publication of "George Fox digg'd out of his Burrowes". Rejoinder of Fox in "A New England Fire- brand Quenched" The controversy characterized. Character of Williams analyzed. Bradford's estimate of the man. His one great discovery. Death of Williams. His grave and the apple tree which grew from it. Conclusion. ILLUSTRATIONS The Roger Williams Statue . . . Frontispiece The Charter House . . . Facing page 1 4 Roger Williams' Dwelling, at Salem, Mass- , .120 The Abbott House (l658). Providence, R. I. .164 INTRODUCTION THE ENGLISH SEPARATISTS The century which saw the rise of the Reformation saw, also, in some of the countries of Europe, what was a necessary sequence, the rise of diverse reHgious sects. More properly speaking, perhaps, it saw, in England, the development, not merely of religious sects, but of a senti- ment which, finding its natural outlet in religion, expanded itself, until it invaded the realm of politics, and broadened and established a new theory in the life of men and the conduct of nations. The sixteenth century was an era of transition, a period in which the human mind, dimly look- ing into the mists of the future, was girding and preparing itself for a struggle which was to end, long years after, in the establishment of new thoughts, new principles, a broader life, and a more thorough recognition of human rights and duties. And yet, the sentiment of freedom in religious thought did not spring forth, fully fledged, at the dawn of the Reformation. Even so long ago as the twelfth century, a company of weavers of Worcester, who thought that they saw before them a glimmer of light — a light which years after, brightened into the full dawn, — honored with the name of heretic, paid with their lives the penalty of their presumption. But the lash, the pillory, and the stake have ever failed to do their perfect work. The flames might consume the bodies of men, b«t they have never caused the human mind to cease its activity, nor served to check its onward progress toward freedom. Plantaganet and Lancaster, York and xviii Introduction Tudor each in turn found his realm infected with doctrines and tendencies which, to him, appeared fraught with the gravest danger to the church and to the nation. Each century saw a strengthening of this sentiment and a deeper rooting of the tiny plant which would, one day, grow into a stately tree. Four hundred years after the thirty weav- ers of Worcester had been scourged and driven out of the city, to perish of exposure and hunger, the Act of Suprem- acy cancelled the power of the Bishop of Rome in Eng- land, and declared Henry to be the head of the English church. Broken loose from the bonds of Rome the people of England found themselves embarked, as it were, on an un- known sea of religious thought, and in a condition of un- rest and transition. The advent of the era of the Reforma- tion, and the establishment of the English church, did not serve to satisfy those minds which were reaching out into yet broader fields ; and these began to be known as Sepa- ratists. In the days of Edward VI and of Mary Tudor there were many secret gatherings by night, in private dwellings, at which were taught those doctrines which led many of their advocates to martyrdom. Elizabeth, a sovereign far more beneficent than her immediate prede- cessor, sympathizing with Protestantism, saw many rea- sons why, to her mind, the English establishment should be maintained; for through it were maintained the validity of the divorce of Katherine and of the marriage of Anne Boleyn, her own legitimacy, and the security of her throne. The queen felt no hesitancy, therefore, whenever a con- gregation was discovered engaged in their secret and in- terdicted worship, in casting the participants into prison. The loathsome condition of the prisons of England in that day, and the atrocious and cruel manner in which they were conducted, comprise one of the darkest blots which Introduction xix stain English civilization. Many of the victims of ecclesi- astical persecution died under the torture of incarceration and thus received a happy release. Robert Browne, to whom perhaps belongs the honor of having first in England actively promulgated the once dangerous doctrine of a separation of Church and State, was, at the outset of his career, at the age of twenty-one, a graduate of Cambridge, in holy orders in the Church of England, and the private chaplain to the Duke of Norfolk. He would appear to have been a youth given to some in- dependence of thought, for he is recorded as having early given offence to the ecclesiastical authorities, by the ad- vocacy of some erratic doctrines. This offence seems to have been overlooked, doubtless through the influence of his patron; but a few years later, he was rebuked by the bishop of the diocese in which he was preaching, for pro- mulgating doctrines, which did not comport with his posi- tion as a priest of the establishment. Deprived of his living, Browne openly became a dissenter. Teaching and preaching in the open air, in fields and pastures, to whomsoever would listen, Robert Browne speedily became a power in certain districts of England. In Norfolk he came in contact with a former college acquaintance, Robert Harrison by name, whose mind also had been turned to- wards the doctrines of these strange people. Together the two went to Norwich, where a congregatioe was gathered, to which they ministered. At Bury St. Edmunds, in Suf- folk, also they labored; but here they were apprehended upon charge of gathering congregations of dissent- ers, in private houses, to listen to heretical and treasonable doctrines. After serving for a time in prison for this of- fence the two were released. Their fate was banishment, a fate which was to them a release from persecution and a permission to dwell in a foreign land, under happier XX Introduction auspices than had been theirs in thieir own country. But in migrating to Holland, Browne left behind him a name which, attaching itself firmly to the sect which he had helped to establish, served, no doubt, to increase the feeling of antagonism felt toward him by the ecclesias- tical authorities.^ r~ It was in 1581 that Browne and his congregation took up their abode in the Dutch city of Middleburg, where was, even then, a small colony of Anabaptists. Against these the authorities of the city had, in 1577, set on foot a persecution, which had been checked by William of Orange. *'You have no right to trouble your- selves with any man's conscience," he said, **so long as nothing is done to cause harm or public scandal;"^ a sentiment which, however novel at that day, receives in modern times its full recognition. In his safe retreat at Middleburg, Browne entered the ranks of the pam- phleteers and put forth for circulation in England, books in which were taught doctrines then regarded as nothing else than assaults upon the Queen's supremacy. Thus the eastern counties of England were flooded with these books and pamphlets, sent across the North Sea from Holland. These publications were, of course, speedily interdicted and their circulation forbidden. In 1583 John Copping and Elias Thacker, who had been active in the distribution of the writings of Browne and of Harrison were apprehended, put upon their trial, convicted and sentenced to death. The sentence was promptly executed, and two more names were added to the already long list of martyr Separatists. A dramatic act at the execution of the sentence upon these men was ^The Separatists were also known as Brownists. ^Motley— The Rise of the Dutch Republic, iii, 334. Introduction xxi the burning, in their sight, before arrival of the fatal moment, of as many copies of the objectionable books as the authorities had been able to gather together. The attempt thus made to stifle human thought proved futile. In 1588 the attention of the people of England was attracted to a series of pamphlets, secretly issued and widely disseminated, under the signature of Martin Mar-prelate. These writings were in a satirical vein and thus served to attract wide attention, and called forth varied comment. The most strenuous efforts were made to discover the authorship of these writings, but these efforts were vain and it still remains as deep a secret as the authorship of the letters of Junius. These writings served however, to keep alive the flame which had long been burning, and the anathemas of ecclesiastics were powerless to quench it. A few years later still, two names more were added to the roll of martyr Separatists — names which have been handed down to us as among the active promoters of these doctrines, so obnoxious to statesman and ecclesiastic. John Greenwood, a young clergyman of the Established church, had by some means come into possession of one of the tracts of Browne. It made a deep impression upon his mind and doubtless had its effect upon his ministra- tions, in his country parish of Norfolk. His utterances attracted the attention of the bishop and, in 1585, Green- wood was deprived of his living. Drifting into Essex, he began to hold meetings at Rochford Hall. Pursued by the bishop. Greenwood fled to London, where he found a large company of Separatist brethren, who were wor- shipping in secret. In 1587 he was discovered and ar- rested, with a considerable company, upon charge of being present at private conventicles. In prison he met a fel- low sufferer, Henry Barrowe, a young barrister, whose ^2cii Introduction name later became identified with this persecuted sect. For five years the two remained prisoners, engaged mean- while in writing tracts in dissemination of their faith. In 1593 the two were put upon their trial and condemned to death. Twice were they reprieved, even after the halters had been put about their necks. Their third journey to the scaffold was their last. Thus did England endeavor to root out heresy from among the people and by this means to maintain the English church and the Queen's supremacy. But this severity availed little. Although Robert Browne, in 1586, apostatized from the new faith and returned to the fold of the Established church, where he officiated as a priest for many years, the work in which he had been a leader went on. It was seven years after this apostasy that Greenwood and Barrowe forfeited their lives upon the scaffold, and in these years the number of the Sep- aratists had not diminished, but the rather had increased. Fully twenty thousand names now were inscribed on the roll of this sect. These made their homes chiefly in the east counties of England and in 'and about London. The roll of the dead in the cause has never been fully made up. Alarmed at this increase in the sect, which it seemed impossible to exterminate, the English authorities now enacted a statute which provided that any person above sixteen years of age, who should absent himself from church, without good excuse, for the space of one month, who should induce others to stay away, or who should write or speak anything derogatory to the royal authority, in ecclesiastical matters, should, at the end of three months, if refusing to conform, be banished from the kingdom. All convicted persons, refusing to leave the realm, or re- turning from banishment, without permission so to do, were to suffer death. Introduction xxiii This statute was in effect a release from prison of hun- dreds of poor creatures, who were suffering untold tor- tures for conscience's sake. Then it was that began a great migration of these people from England, across the North Sea, into that Holland from which their Anabap- tist friends had been driven by the savage cruelties of the Spanish Alva. As early as 1522 had risen in Holland this sect called Anabaptists, some of the tenets of which survive until the present day. Denying the validity of infant baptism, these people accepted also, in all their literalness, the doc- trines of the sin of bearing arms, of resisting evil, of ap- pealing to law, of taking judicial oaths, or judging others. In Anabaptism was in reality the germ root, from out which grew the great principle of resistance to ecclesias- tical centralization. It was more than a sect; it was a system. A term of reproach, the name of Anabaptist grew, among thoughtful people, to become one of honor; and from these people sprang a variety of sects, many of which have their survival to the present day. A new leader who arose, Menno Simons, founded and gave his name to the people called Mennonites; and in this and the des- ignations of other sects, which arose upon this foundation, the name distinctive of Anabaptist gradually disappeared. It was this germ root from whence sprang the greater part of the modern ideas in religion and statecraft, which have made the broadest impress upon thought and char- acter. "In whatever else they differ," says William Elliot Griffis, "the ancestors and their descendants agree in these points: the liberation of religion from sectarian, priestly and political control; the elimination of the mob of middlemen in religion and the swarm of mediators be- tween God and man; the practical abolition of monopoly and privilege in religion; the separation of Church and xxiv Introduction State; freedom of conscience; the priesthood of believers; the rights of the independent congregation; honest trans- lations of the Bible; the liberty of prophesying; prison reform; abolition of human slavery; the salvation of in- fants and of the seekers after God in non-Christian lands; the equalization of the sexes in religion and privilege; and, an avowed social and political as well as spiritual reform." Such was the outgrowth from the spirit of Anabaptism. There were some of the Anabaptists of Holland, it is true, who plunged into strange excess, including the adoption of a plurality of wives, following, in this, the example of the patriarchs. But this was an episode, and the example of the few did not make its impress upon the many; and this feature soon fell into abeyance. In the year 1567, driven by the persecutions of Alva, a great exodus of these people, — fully one hundred thou- sand in number — occurred. Fleeing to England they found their homes and settled in the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. It was in these counties, and in those of York, Nottingham and Lincoln, not far distant, where were found many members of the sect of Separatists, who, later came to be variously known as Brownists, Barrowists and Independents. Naturally, here they came in contact with their fellow non-conformists from over the sea, and when, at the adoption of the Act of Banishment, the em- igration to Holland began, the Separatists had already become imbued with ' some of the doctrines which had been brought to England by their Anabaptist brethren. Later in the history of these remarkable people, when James I had succeeded to the throne of Elizabeth, the little remnant of Separatists, who had gathered together in Scrooby, attempted to follow the great body of their fellow religionists to Holland. But the folly of the Act Introduction xxv of Banishment had been seen, since, with a free press in Holland, the refugees had been able to advance their cause in England, by sending their literature across the sea, far better than they could have performed this ser- vice had they remained in England/ The story of the escape of the Scrooby congregation, their subsequent settlement in Leyden, and their emigration and final set- tlement at Plymouth in New England, is a story as famil- iar, as it is attractive, to American ears. This is, briefly told, the story of the Separatists of Eng- land, whose connection with the subject of this history will disclose itself, as the narrative expands; whose doctrines, especially those which have made the deepest impress upon the world's civilization he adopted, and which he, years later, expounded and developed. The struggle for religious freedom in England, in the sixteenth century, however, was quadrangular. We have already seen how, from out the stock of the Established church grew luxuriantly the branch which we call by the name of Separatists. The great revival of learning, which had swept over Europe and which is known to history as the Renaissance, was accompanied by a quickening of the popular conscience, a sentiment which had its expo- nents in Luther and in Calvin and in their fellow lead- ers in the Reformation. With Luther and Calvin, upon the stage of life, came beside them a third figure. No less earnest and sincere in his leadership, than were the fathers of the Reformation in theirs, was Ignatius Loyo- la, the founder of the Order of the Jesuits. Side by side with the struggle of conformist and non-conformist, was waged, by Loyola and his adherents, the struggle for the extermination of both. During this struggle, which now ^Motley— The Rise of the Dutch Republic, iii, 616 et seq. xxvi Introduction bade fair to be won by one faction and now by the other, sprang full panoplied as from the earth, a new sect, des- tined to exert an influence quite as powerful, within its sphere, as was that of the Jesuits. The English church, founded in England by Henry the Eighth, at the refu- sal of the pope to sanction his divorce from Katherine of Aragon, was, as we have already seen, strengthened and upheld by Elizabeth, the daughter of Anne Boleyn. This monarch, upon the death of her sister Mary and her own accession to power in England, despatched mes- sengers, according to custom, to the several courts of Europe, to announce that a new sovereign had ascended the English throne. Elizabeth could not have anticipa- ted that this intelligence would be received with univer- sal pleasure. She was quite sure that her name would not be received at the French court with acclaim; since Mary Stuart of Scotland, once the wife of the dauphin of France, was, in the view of every true Frenchman and Romanist, the rightful sovereign of England. At Rome she could scarcely have expected a warm welcome for her emissary; for had not the Holy See refused to her father, Henry its blessing upon his union with the mother of the new queen ? It could not have been with surprise, then, that she listened to the message sent by the vener- able pontiff, Paul IV, that he was unable to comprehend the hereditary right of one who was not born in lawful wedlock; that the Queen of Scots was undoubtedly the legitimate sovereign of England; but that he was willing to act as arbitrator in the controversy, if Elizabeth should be willing to submit it to his judgment. It is readily understood that the new queen, young and imperious, had no thought of submitting the question of her legit- imacy and of her constitutional right to the throne, to the arbitration of one who, in the same breath in which Introduction xxvii he offered his services, had declared his prejudgment of the matter to be arbitrated. With such strained re- lations with the Papacy, Elizabeth could scarcely expect that the pope would listen to a request from Philip of Spain, for a dispensation, by which he might be enabled to contract a matrimonial alliance with his sister-in-law, and thus continue to be the Prince Consort of England. Thus hedged about, Elizabeth had no choice but to declare for Protestantism, if she would maintain her sovereignty. But Elizabeth, during the reign of Mary, for prudential reasons, doubtless, had espoused the faith of Rome. She allowed the burial of her sister to be at- tended with the full pomp and ceremonials of the Roman church. She allowed a bishop of that church to place her own crown upon her head. She was fond of the gorgeous ceremonials, the ritual, and the vestments of the church of Rome; and it was not without a struggle that she brought herself to renounce them. Indeed, in the details of the worship of the English church, Eliza- beth long and sturdily struggled for a retention of much which the Calvinistic reformers rejected. Long after the lighted candles and the crucifix had been banished from the English churches, the queen retained them in her own private chapel. She insisted upon the reten- tion of the Roman vestments, by her clergy. She long maintained her belief in the Real Presence; and she insist- ed upon the celibacy of her clergy. Indeed, Elizabeth, so far as doctrine and ceremonial were concerned, was Protestant scarcely more than in name. The Papal See insisted upon its supremacy, as well in political as in re- ligious affairs; it threw the weight of its influence against the de facto queen of England, and in favor of the preten- sions of the Queen of Scots. xxviii Introduction The jQrst act passed by the parhament summoned by EHzabeth, after her accession, was the Act of Supremacy. This act provided the penalties of treason for those who presumed to deny that the queen was "the only supreme governor within the realm, as well in spiritual or eccle- siastical causes and things as temporal." To maintain her own supremacy, then, Elizabeth not alone declared her- self and her realm to be independent of the dictation of the Roman pontiff, but also declared herself to be, in his stead, in England, the head of both State and Church. It was the opening of the gates for those who were to come after, who, on the other side of the sea, should en- lighten the world in the great precept that, to govern a state, in the fear of God, is not an attribute of ecclesi- asticism alone; and that, to control aright the affairs of God's church, is alike the duty and the privilege of His ministers and of His people, unhampered and undis- turbed by political sovereignty. And now, at the outset of her reign, a new sect arose to vex the young queen. As a Protestant, Elizabeth had, as already seen, retained an attachment to many of the forms of the Roman church. In this she had consistently fol- lowed Luther, for his idea of a reformation in the church had touched matters of doctrine alone. The teachings of Calvin, however, went much further than this; and in the churches of Calvinistic faith the utmost plainness of ceremonial, of ornamentation and of dress were affected. During the reign of Mary, many of these extreme reformers had been sent to the stake and many others had fled for their lives. When these refugees saw a Protestant sov- ereign upon the throne, they were encouraged to return and soon their voices were again heard in England. It was in the antagonism which at once arose, between a queen, on the one hand, who retained a strong preference Introduction xxix for the ancient ceremonials of Rome, and a large body of the clergy, on the other, who were sturdy adherents of the complete reformation urged by Calvin, that the power- ful body known as the Puritans had its rise. This sect differed from the Separatists, in that they advocated no separation from the Established Church of England. In May, 1629, Francis Higginson, leading his followers to the New World, stood upon the prow of the vessel, which was bearing them out of sight of their native land, and exclaimed: "We will not say, as the Separa- tists were wont to say, at their leaving England, * Farewell, Babylon! farewell, Rome!'; but we will say: 'Farewell, dear England! farewell, the Church of God in England! and all the Christian friends there! We do not go to New England as separatists from the Church of England, though we cannot but separate from the corruptions in it; but we go to practise the positive part of church refor- mation and propagate the gospel in America.' " ^ Seeking to purify the church from the last lingering vestige of Romanism, these people were given the name which, alternately a term of reproach and of approbation, became in time a power throughout England, a power which reached its culmination, years later, in that historic tragedy, in front of the Banqueting House at Whitehall. The true beginning of Puritanism, however, must be fixed at a time even earlier than that of Elizabeth. Al- though these people were not known by the distinctive name of Puritans, until the days of the virgin queen, the principle of non-conformity first appeared, with John Hooper as its exponent, in the days of Henry the Eighth. Although this monarch's relations with the Holy See had suffered an open rupture, it would not appear that he ^Mather's Magnalia Christi Americana, ii, 328. XXX Introduction sympathized with the religious movement known as the Reformation. As did, in later years, his daughter Eliza- beth, King Henry sought only to form a new church, with himself as the head, a church which should preserve all the doctrines and usages of Rome. His desire was merely to effect a schism, or a revolt against the claims of head- ship set up by the Bishop of Rome, and not a reforma- tion, or a recasting of the doctrines of the church. When, therefore, John Hooper appeared as the advocate in England, of the new thought, which had been advanced by Luther, he found it necessary to seek refuge from persecution in Switzerland. Returning to his own country on the accession of Ed- ward VI, he was appointed to the bishopric of Gloucester; but, on his refusal to wear the vestments of the Roman church he, instead of a bishop's palace, was given a home in a prison. After an imprisonment of a year his scruples were so far overcome, that he consented to be arrayed in the dress prescribed for a bishop, during his consecra- tion, with the understanding that, at other times he might be permitted to discard it. With this compromise Hooper was released and was consecrated Bishop of Gloucester, in March, 1551. Four years later, by order of Mary, he was burned at the stake, the first of the Puritan mar- tyrs. The severities which characterized the reign of Mary, served to check the spread of non-conformity, which she confounded with the Lutherism of Germany. But after the close of her inglorious reign, and the accession of her half-sister, as already seen, the exiles who had escaped the stake by taking refuge in Holland, Switzerland and elsewhere began to return and to resume their work. Many of the bishops of the reign of Elizabeth were open adherents of the new faith. The influence of the years Introduction xxxi passed in exile, and of the teachings of the continental reformers, especially of Calvin and his followers now began to be felt. The insistence of this new sect within the pale of the English church, was upon the rejection, not only of the headship of the Bishop of Rome, but also of the forms, ceremonies and doctrines of the Roman church. To many, indeed, the episcopacy itself became an abomination; and two orders only, of the clergy, it was claimed were sanctioned by the Scriptures. From this waning belief in the episcopacy grew forth a sentiment of disbelief in the necessary validity of episco- pal ordination. Many of the clergy of the English church at this time who held livings, had been set apart to the work of the ministry, after the congregational form, this or- dination being accepted, if not formally recognized, as valid. The example of Hooper, in refusing to wear the vest- ments of the church, was followed by many others. The alb and the stole became to be regarded by many as em- blematic of superstition, even as pictures and images in the churches, were regarded as idolatrous. A vigorous controversy arose and many of the clergy preferred the loss of their benefices to submission even to the compro- mise of the surplice. This growing discontent with the retention in the English church of the forms and symbols of Rome, excited the alarm of the queen. Especially was she alarmed when the agitation reached the great universities, and gown and surplice came more and more to be discarded. The vestment controversy, which largely, gave rise to Separatism, was followed by an earnest discussion of the use of the sign of the cross in baptism; of the custom of kneeling in partaking of the sacrament of the Last Supper, as being regarded as an act of adoration of the xxxii Introduction Real Presence; and of the employment of the organ and other instruments of music, as adjuncts to divine wor- ship. Upon a reformation in the church, which should include the abolition of these customs, the Puritan wing in the church steadily insisted; and their attitude was as vigorously resisted by the conformists. Indeed, the new sect began to demand that whatever savored of Rome should be abolished from the church, thus adopting the extreme position of Calvin. The Act of Supremacy was speedily followed by the Act of Uniformity. This act forbade the use in the churches, of any prayer book save the second of Edward VI; and it imposed a fine of one shilling upon all who absent- ed themselves from divine worship, without any lawful or reasonable excuse for such absence. Upon these two acts Elizabeth based those claims by which she, as sover- eign of England, assumed to control the consciences of her subjects and hold them in subjection, in matters ec- clesiastical as well as political. The great controversy which followed and which convulsed the nation, served to strengthen the ranks of the Puritan sect, and to raise up, in Cromwell and his followers, its great exponents, and in Archbishop Laud and his fellow ecclesiastics its bitter enemies. The Puritan resisted, as an invasion of his rights of conscience, the contention of the sover- eign, that the power lay in the crown to correct and pun- ish abuses of doctrine and worship. He denied the claim that the Church of Rome, despite its corruptions, was a true church; and he denied the right of the Bishop of Rome, in his claim to the headship of the Christian world. The Puritan held closely to the Scriptures as the true guide, in matters of government and discipline, as well as in matters of faith; a contention which his opponents did not admit. His opponents maintained the right of Introduction xxxiii the civil ruler to settle all questions of ceremonial and of ecclesiastical vesture, as things not touched upon in the Scriptures; this right the Puritan denied. This last named point of divergence was that which chiefly brought upon the Puritan sect the heavy hand of civil persecution, which caused many of them to flee to foreign lands, and which led both Puritan and Separatist to find homes in the New World. Wide as was the divergence between the sect of the Puritans and the adherents of the English church, it was scarcely wider than was the chasm between the two wings of non-conformists. While this divergence of doctrine was so great, it does not appear, however, that there was, at any time, either in England or in America, any incli- nation, on the part of Puritan, or of Separatist, to per- secute each other. Both sects had felt the heavy hand of the English law as administered by those in authority, and both fled before its weight. At Plymouth, in New England, a little company of Separatists found an asy- lum, after years of exile in Holland ; to Salem and to Bos- ton came the Winthrop company of Puritan settlers, to found t]ie-'^^vt^JSftgland_ theocracy. And yet, divergent in their ideas of church polity, and filled with an heredi- tary dislike of each other, these two settlements lived in the sweetest of amity; while in the Old World the dis- tinction between the two sects continued to be widely marked. The tree having become firmly planted in the New World, in the course of time the theological distinc- tion between Separatist and Puritan began to grow less and finally disappeared. The Puritan in New England, by virtue of his surroundings, his isolation, the political and ecclesiastical drift of the times, insensibly allowed the chasm between the two sects to grow less, and finally to disappear. And yet, with the memorjr of the bitterness xxxiv Introduction of religious dispute still fresh in his mind, it is not to be wondered that a new-comer among the New England Puritans, himself imbued with the doctrines and tra- ditions of Separatism, should have looked askance at those among whom he found himself, and should have felt impelled to continue the old controversies. ROGER WILLIAMS ROGER WILLIAMS CHAPTER I It was early in the month of February, in the year 1630, that the good ship Lyon, sixty-seven days from Bristol, England, dropped anchor at Nantasket, near the entrance to the harbor of Boston, in New England. She had had a very tempestuous passage, yet all, save one, of her twen- ty passengers arrived safe and in good health. One young man, named Way, had volunteered to assist the crew in the management of the vessel, during a tempest. While employed aloft, he missed his footing and fell from the spritsail yard into the sea. It was a fatal fall, for the sea ran high, wherein no boat could for a moment live. We may easily imagine the consternation of the parents of the unhappy lad, as they watched his fast receding form, until it disappeared forever in the deep. Four days later, upon the ninth day of February, the ship Lyon, in the midst of a field of drifting ice, dropped anchor before Boston. Among the passengers who land- ed was one to whom the attention of the people was at once directed. He was, so Governor John Winthrop recorded^ "a godley minister," or, as another chronicler describes him, a man "of good account in England, for a godly and zealous preacher."^ His name was Roger Williams. ^Winthrop's History of New England. ^Hubbard's General History of New England, ii, 202. -4 Roger Williams The coming of this man marked the beginning of an episode in the history of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, brief, but remarkable. He was welcomed, doubt- less with delight and reverence; and yet, five years had not elapsed when he was directed, by vote of the Gen- eral Court, to "depart out of this jurisdiction," as a disturber of the peace of the colony. To the narrative and discussion of this brief episode, and of his later life, and hischaracter, the pages which follow are devoted. Who was this man, Roger Williams, who, in this man- ner, had come into the life of the colony.^ What city saw his birth, and who were his father and his mother? For many years these questions remained unanswered, and his parentage was a genealogical problem, fascinating, yet seemingly impossible of solution. Even as the linea- ments of his face, and the measure of his stature can be sketched by the idealist alone, so also the events of his early life, before he came to these shores, could only be imagined. Tradition, for years, ascribed to him a Welsh origin; but for this tradition no satisfactory foundation can be found. For want of a better, this theory of the nativity of Roger Williams was generally accepted by historians, and remained undisputed until the year 1889. In April of that year, a paper was read before the Rhode Island Historical Society, by Reuben A. Guild, LL.D., librarian of Brown University, in which the writer claimed to have made an important discovery. The claim was set forth that Roger Williams was the third son of William Willyams, of Roseworthy, near Gwinear, Corn- wall, England, born December 21, 1602. From the records concerning this family. Dr. Guild now made the further discovery that it comprised two other sons, William and Arthur, and one sister, named A Political Pioneer 5 Margaret. In support of his theory, Dr. Guild shows that the Roger Williams of history, in a document exe- cuted in 1679S declared himself to be "now near to four- score years of age." The birth of Roger Williams of Cornwall in December, 1602, is certainly thoroughly in accord with this statement. But, furthermore, in subtle and ingenious argument. Dr. Guild shows, from Wil- liams' own writings, that the Roger Williams of history was not in good favor with his family, on account of his Separatist tendencies, having been, as he says in a letter written to Winthrop, in 1632, "persecuted in and out of my (his) father's house, these many years." Dr. Guild urges that the Willyams family of Cornwall were wealthy and proud, and were quite likely to have assumed an at- titude of hostility and disapproval towards a member who had become antagonistic to the English establish- ment. Again, Dr. Guild shows that Roger Williams declares, in his '^George Fox, Digg'd out of his Burrowes", that he had lost great sums in the chancery in England, which losses he chose to bear rather than submit to the impo- sition of a judicial oath. He argues that this might well apply to the Roger of Cornwall, who, he is sure, was the son of a wealthy mother. Still again. Dr. Guild turns to philology to account for the tradition of a Welsh origin of Roger Williams. He quotes Max Muller in saying that the ancient Cornish was a Celtic language, formed from the Cymric and Gaelic, in which the Welsh dialect was predominant. "Being brought up in the neighbor- hood of Wales," says Dr. Guild, "and possessing an ar- dent Welsh temperament, he would naturally be regarded as a Welshman, by those who gave the information, in m. I. Hist. Soc. Coll., iii, 168. 6 Roger Williams 1771, to Morgan Edwards, by whom the tradition of Wil- liams' Welsh origin was transmitted." Dr. Guild meets with some difficulty concerning a brother, Robert Williams, to whom Roger Williams makes oc- casional allusion in his writings, and whose name often appears in the Rhode Island records. He recognizes the fact that the name of Robert does not appear in the genealogy of the Willy ams family of Cornwall, a fact up- on which other genealogists, who oppose Dr. Guild, place great stress. Dr. Guild suggests, as a solution of this difficulty, that the terms "brother" and "brother-in-law" are often used interchangeably, and that Robert Williams may have been the brother-in-law of Roger, and not of his own blood. This is the ingenious argument which this distinguished historical student built up to sustain his theory of the identity of Roger Williams of history, with Roger, son of William Willy ams, of Roseworthy, near Gwinear, Cornwall. Other genealogists, and notably, Henry F. Waters, A.M., have disputed this theory, and, in the light of later researches, may be said to have dispelled it. In the interest of the New England Historic-Gen- ealogic Society, of Boston, Mr. Waters has made a careful search of the records of probate in London. In the year 1889, the same year in which Dr. Guild promulgated his theory, he made some remarkable discoveries, which shed much light upon the subject of the parentage and early life of Roger Williams, and which, beyond doubt have solved the mystery which has so long perplexed his- torian and genealogists It is certain that the name of Roger Williams was by ^New England Historical and Genealogical Register, July, 1889, pp. 290- 303. Ibid. October, 1889, p. 427. / y [A. Political Pioneer 7 no means unique, in the Puritan age in England. In- deed, there was another New England settler of the name, who was a contemporary of his distinguished namesake, and who became a resident of Dorchester, in the Colony of Massachusetts Bay. The mere discovery, then, of the name among ancient records is, by no means, con- clusive proof that its owner was identical with the founder of Rhode Island. In his researches, Mr. Waters finds that still another Roger Williams was born in London, near the opening of the seventeenth century; and vari- ous genealogical tests have satisfied even the most credu- lous that he, indeed, it was who afterwards became famous as the apostle of separation of Church and State. This Roger Williams was one of a family of three sons and one daughter, the children of James Williams, "a citizen and merchant tailor of London," and of Alice, his wife. James Williams would appear to have been a man of some importance and of considerable property. His last will and testament was executed September 7, 1620 and proved November 19, 1621, his death having, of course, occurred in the interim. In this will, James Williams bequeathed one-third part of his estate to his "loving wife, Alice, according to the custom of the city of London." To his sons, Sydrach, Roger and Robert, and to his daughter, Catherine, the wife of Ralph Wightman, he gave each a portion. The poor were well remembered, for to them of St. Sep- ulchre's, without Newgate; to them of Smithfield quarter, of Holborn Cross quarter, and of Church quarter, he left generous sums of money for their relief. Alice, the widow of James Williams survived her hus- band about thirteen years and, on the twenty-sixth of January, 1634, her will was admitted to probate. In this instrument she directed, among other bequests, that the 8 Roger Williams sum of ten pounds yearly, for twenty years, should be paid to her son, Roger Williams, described as "now be- yond the seas,'* and she furthermore provided that "if he, the said Roger, shall not live to receive the same him- self, fully in such manner aforesaid," it is her will that "what remaineth thereof unpaid at his decease shall be paid to his wife and to his daughter, if they survive, or to such of them as shall survive." It will be remembered that Roger Williams described himself, in the year 1679, as "near to four-score years of age." There is a record that Sydrach Williams, the eld- er brother of this family, was married in the year 1621. Allowing for a probable difference of two years in the ages of the brothers, and upon the supposition that Sy- drach Williams was from twenty-one to twenty-four years of age at his marriage, the genealogist finds that Roger was probably born between 1599 and 1602, dates which tally well with the record just quoted. Mr. Waters thus finds no apparent discrepancy be- tween the age of Roger, the son of James Williams, and that of the Roger Williams of history, so far as it can be learned from his writings. Again, Mr. Waters argues, in support of his position, that Alice Williams, of St. Sepul- chre's, London, in January, 1634, bequeathed a certain sum of money to her son Roger, "now beyond the seas," with a reversion to his wife and daughter. At the date of the execution of this will, as Mr. Waters points out, Roger Williams was in New England, "beyond the seas," and he also makes significant the fact that he had then a wife and a daughter. Mr. Waters does not state his authority for this last statement, but it is undisputed that Roger Williams was accompanied by his wife, when he first came to New England; and The Early Records of the Town of Providence, published since Mr. Waters A Political Pioneer 9 concluded his researches, include an entry that "Mary, ye daughter of Roger Wilhams and Mary his wife, was borne at Plymouth, ye first weeke in August, 1633 (so called)."^ Mr. Waters meets with no such difficulty as that which confronts Dr. Guild, in the matter of Robert Williams. He finds that the Roger Williams of St. Sepulchre's had a brother of that name, who received mention in the wills, both of his father and of his mother. That the Roofer Williams of history had a brother Robert is shown from his own writings, where he says: "Mine own brother, Mr. Robert Williams, Schoolmaster in Newport, desired to speak. "^ To this may be added the fact, of which Mr. Waters was perhaps not aware, that the early records of Providence make frequent mention of one Robert Will- iams, who was a man of some importance in the colony, frequently serving as moderator of the town meetings and, upon one occasion at least, serving as president of the general court. An important document, known as the "Compact of the Twenty-five Acre Purchasers," exe- cuted January 19, 1645, contains the names of Robert Williams and Roger Williams in close juxtaposition.^ That Robert Williams did not always remain a citizen of Providence is shown by a deed, printed in Volume III of The Early Records of the Town of Providence , and bear- ing date of October 13, 1671. In this instrument one John Scott conveys to Leander Smyth a certain parcel of land, described as one "which formerly belonged unto Robert ^The Early Records of the Town of Providence. Edited by Horatio Rogers, George Moulton Carpenter and Edward Field, i, 7. "^George Fox Digged out of his Burrowes — Publications of the Narra- gansett Club, v, 47. ^ee facsimile of Compact, which forms the frontispiece of Volume II of The Early Records of the Town of Providence. 10 Roger Williams Williams, formerly inhabetant of Providence." There is, therefore, no discrepancy found between these records and Williams' statement concerning his brother Robert, a schoolmaster at Newport. In concluding the narrative of this remarkable contro- versy concerning the parentage of Roger Williams, it is interesting to note that Dr. Guild himself has furnished one of the strongest points of evidence for the upholding of the case of his antagonist. He calls attention to the fact that, in his George Fox Digged out of his BurroweSy Roger Williams says: ^'Myself have seen the Old Testament of the Jews, most curious writing, whose price (in the way of trade) was three score pounds, which my brother, a Turkey merchant, had and shewed me." Had Roger Williams of St. Sepulchre's a brother who was a Turkey merchant.^ Surely Robert Williams was not in trade with the Orient, for he was a schoolmaster at Newport. Sydrach Williams, as well as his father, James, was a member of the Merchant Taylors' Company of Lon- don. At the request of the former librarian of the New England Historic-Genealogical Society, the late Mr. John Ward Dean, the officers of the Merchant Taylors' Com- pany, in 1889, made a thorough search of the records, for evidence that Sydrach Williams was engaged in the Orien- tal trade. This search was rewarded; in August, 1889, the reply was returned that Sydrach Williams was a mer- chant to Turkey, for "on March 6, 1626 he took as an ap- prentice one Robert Williams, (son of Jacobi Williams, citizen and merchant taylor) and he is described on the apprentice book, vol. IX, p. 233, as a merchant to Turkey and Italy."* Thus the evidence is cumulative, that the *The quotation is from an unpublished letter of the secretary of the Merchant Tailors' Company to Mr. Dean. A Political Pioneer 11 mystery which so long surrounded the parentage of Roger Williams has, at last, been fully solved and historian and biographer of the present day are fully justified in writing him as the son of James Williams of London, and of Alice his wife. Concerning the date of the birth of Roger Williams the most recent and most convincing discussion is by Mr. Almon D. Hodges, jr.^ In a careful and exhaust- ive manner Mr. Hodges has examined all of the records bearing, in any manner, upon this point, and in his con- elusions has brought this question as near to a settlement as is possible with the data yet discovered. Quoting a record found among the archives of the Rhode Island Historical Society, in which Williams, under date of July 24, 1679 writes himself as *' being now neere to foure score years of age," he compares this with his statement con- cerning his age, in a letter addressed to John Winthrop in 1632.^ In this letter he describes himself as "neerer up- wards of 30 then 25. " This somewhat obscure expression Mr. Hodges interprets as meaning that his age was, at the time of writing, nearer to 30 than to 25, "or that he was over 27J years old, and hence born not later than April, 1605." In a still closer reasoning, and a comparison of the records concerning his education, Mr. Hodges finds it probable that the exact date was even earlier than this, and that he was born in, or very near to, the year 1604. The reasoning is lucid; and it is not impossible that we of to-day, accepting this computation as accurate, know the date of the birth of Roger Williams quite as accurately as he did himself. Not only are both of these references ^N.E. Historical