Roger Williams

Foreword

For much of the data contained in this biography of Roger Williams, I am indebted to the following authorities :

Narragansett Club Publications;

Memoir of Roger Williams, by James D. Knowles ;

Roger Williams: the Pioneer of Religious Liberty, by Oscar S. Straus;

Roger Williams, by Edmund J. Carpenter;

Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations;

History of the State of Rhode Island, by Samuel Greene Arnold;

Rhode Island: Its Making and Its Meaning, by Irving Berdine Richman;

Providence in Colonial Times, by Gertrude Selwyn Kimball;

Annals of the Town of Providence, by William R. Staples;

Winthrop's Journal.

My sincere thanks are due Mr. Howard vi FOREWORD

M. Chapin, Librarian of the Rhode Island Historical Society, for the illustrations of the Charter House, statue of Roger Williams and the Roger Williams seal, also for permission to photograph the Roger Williams compass, and for other substantial assistance rendered in the preparation of this little volume.

I desire, too, to express my thanks for the story of the Roger Williams watch given by Mr. Henry Russell Drowne of New York City and photograph of the same.

The Author.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

Foreword v

Introduction xi

Introduction

The new Life of Roger Williams is certain to receive a cordial welcome and a wide reading. It has been eight years since Dr. Edmund J. Carpenter published his "Roger Williams, a Study of the Life, Times and Character of a Political Pioneer," and twenty-three years since the admirable work by Oscar S. Straus, entitled "Roger Williams, the Pioneer of Religious Liberty," appeared. In the meantime Irving B. Richman has given to the public his able volumes on "Rhode Island, its Making and its Meaning," which naturally and inevitably portrayed the character and service of its great founder. Rhode Island was but the incarnation of the views and principles of Roger Williams.

In view of these recent biographies, added to several which had been written previously and the large place which Roger Williams fills in all publications on New England history, it may be asked, "Is there a demand for xii INTRODUCTION

a new Life?" It may be answered emphatically, "Yes, if it is written in the attractive and popular style in which Mrs. Hall has done her work." She has made herself familiar with the facts of Roger Williams' life so far as known, with the spirit of the Puritan age and the causes which led to his banishment, with his advanced views of religious liberty, his courageous efforts to defend them and his heroic self-denials and sufferings to incorporate them in human government, with the reasons which justify the title now universally given to him as "the pioneer and apostle of soul liberty," with the evidences of his humane and forgiving spirit toward those who had persecuted him and his wonderful success in preserving them more than once from slaughter by hostile Indians, with his deep and abiding interest in the native tribes and his labors for their moral and spiritual elevation, with his success in acquiring their barbarous language, winning their confidence and turning many of them from their idolatry and superstitions to the knowledge of the true God and the acceptance of Christian truth, which

INTRODUCTION xiii

labors place him side by side with John Eliot, the Puritan apostle to the Indians. With all these things Mrs. Hall has made herself familiar, and also with his noble service, often rendered, as a wise statesman and recognized peacemaker among the turbulent elements in his little colony as well as between the natives and the Puritan settlers, with his recognition by the British Parliament as a scholar of exceptional ability and an eminent philanthropist, when they granted his request for a charter for his imperiled venture, and also with his intimate acquaintance with some of the distinguished leaders of the EnglancL of his day, viz., Cromwell, Milton and Sir Henry Vane, Jr., and she has told the wonderful story in a manner that will charm and instruct readers, both old and young.

The life of Roger Williams was surrounded with not a little of romance — the uncertainty of the date and place of his birth, his discovery and patronage by the eminent jurist, Sir Edward Coke, his unfortunate first-love experience, his migration to the wilderness of the new world, his xiv INTRODUCTION

expulsion by his companions from their primitive society, who found him a disturbing element by reason of his advanced political opinions, his retention of the esteem and friendship of some of the ablest men who drove him out because of his "pestilential doctrines," as, for instance, the Winthrops, father and son, with whom he kept up an affectionate correspondence as long as he lived (more than one hundred of his letters to them have been preserved), and the remarkable success of his "lively experiment," which has given to him an honored and conspicuous name with all modern historians and has exerted an influence upon human government which is rapidly encircling the globe. Roger Williams was charged by his Puritan neighbors with having "a windmill in his head." Not only Rhode Island and Massachusetts, but the whole nation, from ocean to ocean, is now enjoying the priceless grist which that despised windmill ground out. It looks as if Roger Williams was fast coming into his own. Prof. Romeo Elton said in his "Life of Roger Williams," published sixty-three

INTRODUCTION xv

years ago, "His property, his time and his talents were devoted to the promotion of the temporal and spiritual welfare of mankind, and in conducting to a glorious issue the struggle to unloose the bonds of the captive daughter of Zion." Charles Francis Adams, in his "Massachusetts, its Historians and its History," frankly declares, "Massachusetts, in the person of her ministers and magistrates, missed a great destiny by rejecting Roger Williams."

We of to-day undoubtedly look upon the Puritans with more charity and a greater appreciation of their spirit and excellences than did those of a former generation. We recognize their great virtues as well as their glaring faults. They were men of sterling character, of deep religious convictions, of willingness to make painful sacrifices for the sake of principle, of great reverence for the Bible and the institutions of religion, of purity of life in the home and in their social relations. They believed that religion was the supreme thing and that the commandments of God were of binding obligation upon all intelligent moral beings. They xvi INTRODUCTION

may have been too rigid in their interpretations and too severe in their application of religion to life and conduct, as, for example, in the observance of the Sabbath. But in our day of extreme and dangerous neglect men are saying, "There are some things that are worse than a Puritan Sabbath." It might be well for modern life if we, the descendants of the Puritans, had inherited more of their virtues.

Of course in the matter of the separation of church and state they were still in the bonds of ignorance. Though they had broken away from the persecuting hand of the mother land and "the mother church," as they loved to call it, they had not broken away from the belief which was the source and instigator of the persecuting spirit. As Prof. John Winthrop Platner has said recently in his "King's Chapel Lecture" on the Congregationalists, "The connection between church and state was also close, in spite of their theoretical separation, so close in fact that the government of Massachusetts Bay has often been described as a theocracy. . . . They believed that no human govern-

INTRODUCTION xvii

ment could be firmly established, unless based upon the divine. . . . The mixture of law and religion of course gave rise to difficulties, and aroused criticism. It was the persistent exercise of jurisdiction over offenses "against the first table of the law" (i.e., against the first four commandments of the decalogue) that provoked the open hostility of Roger Williams against the authorities, and caused him to protest that the things of God and the things of Csesar should not be confounded, a protest which brought him into trouble."

The Puritans had hardly reached the dawn of the glorious day which was to be distinguished by absolute religious liberty. Roger Williams was enveloped in its full noonday splendor. Hon. James Bryce denominates him "an orthodox Puritan." True, if he means an intense, logically consistent, fully ripened, radical Puritan, a Pilgrim of the Pilgrims. In the memorable words of Judge Storey, "In the code of laws established by Williams and his companions we read for the first time, since Christianity ascended the throne of the xviii INTRODUCTION

Ca?sars, the declaration that the conscience should be free, and that men should not be punished for worshiping God in the way they were persuaded He requires." In similar language Professor Masson declares that Roger Williams organized "a community on the unheard-of principles of absolute religious liberty combined with perfect civil democracy." Such is the unanimous testimony of historians as to the character and service of the founder of Rhode Island. Mr. Oscar Straus expresses the hope "that the time is not far distant when the civilized people in the remotest corners of the earth will recognize the truth and power of the principles which throw arotmd the name of Roger Williams a halo of imperishable glory and fame." May this new and popular biography, charming in style, appreciative in spirit and in harmony with the generally accepted facts of history, hasten the realization of this sublime hope.

Henry M. King,

Pastor Emeritus of the First Baptist Church (The Roger Williams Church).

Providence, R. I.

"ROGER WILLIAMS STEERED HIS LITTLE SHIP OF STATE TO A SAFE HARBOR BY THE COMPASS OF AN ENLIGHTENED CONSCIENCE."— STRAUS.

Chapter I

Tucked away in the northeastern corner of the United States is the tiny state of Rhode Island. "Little Rhody" she is often affectionately called, although her full name is "State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations." Such an overwhelming title for such a small body! 'Yet not only in length of name, but in the number of her capital cities, has Rhode Island led her sister states. Up to the year 1900 she boasted two capitals, while every other state in the Union was contented with one. From the beginning, Rhode Island has made up in interesting history what she has lacked in size. '

Much of this history is hinted at in the names found within her borders. Take the name Providence, for example. It sounds as if it had a story back of it — as, indeed, it has. Other quaint and suggestive names are found in the streets of the capital — Benefit, Benevolent and Friendship — and in the islands in Narragansett Bay — Prudence, Patience, Hope.

Rhode Island's story is largely that of Roger Williams, yet he was too great a man to belong to one bit of the country alone. He is one of the finest characters in United States history, though people were long in finding it out. Even to-day we do not always remember the noble services he rendered our country. Men who do spectacular things have many biographers, while quiet lives often remain unrecorded. We are apt to forget that it may take as much bravery to stand abuse and loss of friends as to face the cannon's mouth, that even more courage is required to fight for disagreeable truths than to win battles. So while Roger Williams never did anything to startle the world, he will remain one of the great moral soldiers of all time. Lacking appreciation in the day in which he lived, he deserves the honor of our own age. It is time he came into his own.

The lives of most famous men begin with a fixed date. Stories of family and boyhood follow, with perhaps a clear description of the great man himself. In this respect, Roger Williams' life is different from the others. We have not the faintest idea what he looked like — whether he was tall or short, stout or thin, dark or light, had blue eyes or brown. No true portrait of him has ever been discovered. The artists who have attempted to give us his likeness in bronze or marble or on canvas have had to idealize him.

Out of a shadowy past, largely from our own imagination, we must make up for ourselves a picture of his early days. Roger Williams has left a very scant account of his boyhood and he was too unpopular in the seventeenth century for others to take the trouble to record it. When later writers did so, they made many mistakes. This is not strange, as there were probably several persons by the name of Roger Williams living at the same time as our hero.

To begin with, the very date of Roger Williams' birth is unknown. It is given by different historians anywhere between 1599 and 1607. In his own writings, Roger Williams referred once or twice to his age, but in such an indefinite way that we are led to think that he was not exactly sure of his birthday. Thus in a letter written to John Winthrop in 1632, he said he was "nearer upwards of thirty than twentyfive." Again, in 1679, he said he was "near to fourscore years of age." Even with the most careful arithmetic, we shall have to be content with the rather vague information that he was born near the beginning of the seventeenth century.

As to his birthplace, on this point also there has been much dispute. For many years it was thought to be Wales, but now it has been quite clearly proved that Roger Williams was born in London. The ancient court records that point to this fact show that James Williams was the father of Roger and a merchant tailor living in the parish of "St. Sepulchres, without Newgate, London." He was apparently in comfortable circumstances, for his will provided not only for his wife and children, but directed that gifts of money and bread be distributed among the city poor.

Alice Williams, the mother of Roger, who survived her husband, owned or leased property in Cow Lane. In her will she mentioned four children — Sidrach, the oldest, Roger, "now beyond the seas," Katherine, wife of John Davies, and Robert. To Roger she bequeathed ten pounds, or about fifty dollars, to be paid yearly for a term of twenty years.

The oldest boy of the family, Sidrach, after he grew up, became a merchant of Turkey and other southern countries of Europe. Roger Williams referred to him as follows:

"Myself have seen the Old Testament of the Jews, most curious writing, whose price (in way of trade) was threescore pound, which my brother, a Turkey merchant, had and showed me."

Roger's younger brother Robert became, like himself, a Rhode Island colonist. He was one of the first settlers of Providence and later became a schoolmaster at Newport.

Like many another boy, Roger Williams owed his start in life to a great man. Sir Edward Coke was a brilliant English lawyer when Roger was young. His friendship for the lad is best described by Sir Edward's daughter:

"This Roger Williams, when he was a youth, would, in a short-hand, take sermons and speeches in the Star Chamber, and present them to my dear father. He, seeing so hopeful a youth, took such liking to him that he sent him in to Sutton's Hospital, and he was the second placed there."

The Star Chamber was a London Court, so called because the room in which it met had a ceiling decorated with gilt stars. The school mentioned in the letter is better known as the Charter House School. On its roll of students are such famous names as Addison, Steele, John Wesley and Grote. That Roger Williams remembered his early friend with gratitude is shown by these words written in middle life :

"And I may truly say, that beside my natural inclination to study and activity, his example, instruction and encouragement have spurred me on to a more than ordinary, industrious and patient course in my whole course hitherto."

There is, indeed, every reason to think that Roger Williams proved to be the kind of pupil Sir Edward hoped he would be, for while at the Charter House he successfully prepared himself for college. Yet of his real life as a schoolboy — his chums, his sports, his pranks, his holidays — we know almost nothing. One tiny bit of information has come down to us, however, which would seem to show that Roger Williams was not very different from other boys. Thackeray, the great novelist, who was himself a scholar at the Charter House School years later, once said, in a lecture in Providence, that he had found in a beam of the old school the letters "R W" which Roger Williams cut there as a boy. Whenever Thackeray had to educate his boy characters, he usually sent them to this venerable old institution. This is the way he pictures it in "The Newcomes":

"Under the great archway of the hospital he could look at the old Gothic building;

and a black-gowned pensioner or two crawling over the quiet square, or passing from one dark arch to another. The boardinghouses of the school were situated in the square, hard by the more ancient buildings of the hospital. A great noise of shouting, crying, clapping forms and cupboards, treble voices, bass voices, poured out of the schoolboys' windows: their life, bustle and gaiety contrasted strangely with the quiet of those old men, creeping along in their black gowns under the ancient arches yonder, whose struggle of life was over, whose hope and noise and bustle had sunk into that gray calm."

In all probability, Roger Williams continued his education at Pembroke College. Being the college of the great man who had interested himself in the boy, it was the one that would most likely be chosen. After graduating with a degree, Roger Williams studied law for a time. Then, deciding to become a minister, he took orders in the Church of England and obtained a position as chaplain in the household of Sir William Masham of Otes, in the county of Essex.

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A delightful and, at the same time, amusing love story has come to light which reveals one of the last glimpses of Roger Williams in the Old World. It seems that the wife of his patron, Lady Masham, had a cousin, Jane Whalley, with whom the young chaplain fell in love. He proceeded to write two letters to Miss Whalley's aunt and guardian, Lady Barrington, asking for the hand of her niece. In the first, he mentions the fact that the affair has caused considerable talk and he hints that Miss Jane returns his affection. Then he sums up his worldly possessions — an expected trifling legacy from his mother, a little money ("sevenscore pieces") and a small library ("a little yet costly study of books") . Pitiful means, indeed, for winning a young lady of rank! Yet Roger Williams frankly pointed out to the aunt that the advantages were not all on one side, for in spite of Miss Whalley's high birth, she had a most passionate temper.

Everything considered, it is not strange that the struggling minister was flatly rejected. The second letter addressed to

Lady Barrington is such as only a disappointed, angry lover could write. He says in plain language that the Lord is very angry with her ladyship and that if she does not repent, all sorts of dreadful things are likely to happen to her. The lengthy sermon-letter is filled with Scriptural quotations. Still, although he asserts, "We hope to live together in the heavens though the Lord have denied that union on earth," time proved a rapid healer. In less than two years he had transferred his affection to a Miss Mary Warnard, or Barnard, and made her his wife.

The sequel of the unfortunate love affair is rather interesting. Of course Miss Jane married another man, but, as it happened, he was a clergyman like her former sweetheart. In turn she came to know the pioneer life of New England as did Roger Williams, being located for some years in Massachusetts and Connecticut. She later returned to old England, where her husband became chaplain to her cousin, Oliver Cromwell, who was also a friend of Roger Williams. In fact, Cromwell's real family name was Williams and some historians have even asserted that he was related to Roger Williams.

The correspondence with Lady Barrington is of importance aside from the disappointing love passages it records. For here is given an early inkling of that unrest and dissatisfaction in religious matters that was to play so large a part in the future life of the youthful chaplain. Already beginning to protest against the established forms of worship, he writes, "A tender conscience hath kept me back from honor and preferment." Then follows the merest hint of having received a call from New England.

By this time Roger Williams had formed the habit of thinking for himself and of holding firmly to what he believed to be right, whether others agreed with him or not. During his stay in Essex, he used to talk over religious subjects with his fellowclergymen and to explain why he differed from them on certain points. Among these companions were Thomas Hooker and John Cotton, whose lives ran parallel to his on both sides of the water. The three friends rode through the countryside earnestly discussing the burning questions uppermost in their minds. Little did they dream where these same discussions would lead! Had Master Hooker and Master Cotton been told that the argumentative man who rode by their side was to become one of the makers of American history and a leader in world thought, they would most likely have said, "Oh, no. Roger Williams is our friend, but he is really a very short-sighted and very obstinate fellow." Indeed, he had gained the reputation among his Sussex neighbors of being "divinely mad."

These, then, are the few meager facts of the beginnings of Roger Williams' existence before he set his face toward the New World. His life in England will always remain more or less of a mystery. Not so, fortunately, his life in America. His hardships, trials, adventures and sufferings have become familiar history. And it is this part of the story that is most important, for Roger Williams is, first and last, a great American.

Chapter II Westward, Ho

In order to understand why Roger Williams should have wanted to make his home on this side of the water, we should know a little something of the England in which he lived. It was not then the free, liberal country it is to-day. In many matters, especially those relating to religion, a man could not do as he chose, but as he was told. To-day, one can attend any church he pleases ; then he was forced by law to attend the established church. The king was the head of both church and state.

Now it was not surprising that all persons of that day did not care to support the same church. They were not able to think alike, any more than we who live to-day. Curious, indeed, it would be if we held exactly the same views as our neighbors and worshiped in the same church. Some of the men. of Roger Williams' day objected to the teachings of the national church, others wished to do away with its forms and ceremonies. And hecause they could not conscientiously worship the way the sovereign commanded, serious trouble arose. Those who were independent enough to defy the king were liable to be fined, banished or imprisoned. And the prisons of those days were anything but pleasant places in which to spend one's time!

The persons who objected to the established form of worship were of two classes. On the one hand were church members who believed in working for certain religious reforms without separating from the church. Their enemies nicknamed them Puritans. The Puritans argued something like this:

"We do not think our ministers should wear vestments. Neither do we believe it right to make the sign of the cross in baptism. Kneeling at sacrament is sinful in our eyes, also the use of the organ in church. These ceremonies are too much like those of the Roman church from which we have turned. But the established church is our church. She is our own dear mother and

WESTWARD, HO! 17

we will not forsake her. At the same time, while still remaining her children, we will try to lead her to a better, purer life."

The Separatists went further than this. In turn, they argued:

"The church is corrupt and we will have nothing to do with her. We will form congregations of our own and worship according to our own consciences."

It is easy to see that being a Separatist was a far more dangerous thing than being a Puritan. By remaining in the church, the Puritan was shielded to an extent. The Separatist, on the other hand, had no protection.

When James, the first Stuart king, came to the throne, he kept in mind the motto, "No bishops, no king." For political purposes, he determined on a course of persecution. He said of all those who would not support the national church, "I will make them conform, or I will harry them out of the land."

That is just what he did. A little band of Separatists, who were later to become world-famous, were glad to flee to Holland to escape persecution. It was no small thing, three hundred or more years ago, for any European country to shelter a people whose religion differed from that of the state church and we therefore like to think of the liberality of the Dutch. They and the English immigrants lived together like brothers for a period of years. A thriving settlement was founded at Leyden, and here, for about twelve years, the fugitives knew the meaning of peace and happiness. Many of them learned to speak and write the Dutch language, which one writer has called "the sister language nearest to the English." There were certainly marriages between the two peoples and the English children were doubtless sent to the free Dutch schools for their education.

As Roger Williams was familiar with Dutch, it may be that he studied the language with the idea of making Holland his home. However that may be, such a plan was never carried out. At least once he had occasion to address King James, though what the occasion was, we are unable to guess. He merely referred to the monarch

WESTWARD, HO! 19

briefly as "King James, whom I have spoke with."

Why did the English in Holland begin to long for still another home? Living so contentedly, why were they not satisfied to remain so? There seem to have been two reasons for their feeling as they did. To begin with, there was grave danger of their becoming a part of the Dutch nation. They were afraid of losing their speech, customs, religion — everything that made them English Separatists.

Then, too, when they had attempted to spread their doctrines by means of printing, King James had interfered and taken possession of the types. When such tyranny as this could exist even in kindly Holland, they thought it was high time to seek a home elsewhere.

" No home for these! — too well they knew The mitered kin? behind the throne; The sails were set, the pennons flew, And westward, ho! for worlds unknown."

The rest of the story of the "Pilgrim Fathers" we all know — how they crossed the water, battled against famine, disease and poverty, and succeeded slowly but surely in building up a settlement at Plymouth.

Years passed before they had any neighbors. At last, in 1628, the little settlement of Salem was formed by the Massachusetts Bay Company. This was followed two years later by a big migration of Puritans to New England under John Winthrop which led to the founding of Boston and several smaller towns. The colony which embraced these different settlements was called Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Meanwhile, things had been going from bad to worse in England. King Charles was now on the throne and his subjects were discouraged to find that he was even more of a tyrannical master than James, his father. How could anybody expect justice or fairness from a ruler who believed that because he was a king, he could do no wrong? It grew more and more uncomfortable for the Puritans every day, even in the established church. One of Charles' chief advisers, Archbishop Laud, was busy

WESTWARD, HO! 21

ridding the country of all "heretics" and other offenders against the royal will and law. If Roger Williams had now taken notes in the Star Chamber as he did when a boy, he would have recorded many undeserved punishments, such as heavy fines, whippings and worse. But he was now a man and looking with longing eyes across the ocean, as so many of his countrymen had before him.

As to Roger Williams' true place among the different sects of his time, he was without doubt a Separatist. More than one passage in his letters points to this as the truth. There was no half-way to a man of his decided character. Believing as he did, there was only one thing for him to do — seek a refuge in the New World.

"And truly it was as bitter as death to me," he wrote in after years, "when Bishop Laud pursued me out of this land, and my conscience was persuaded against the national church, and ceremonies, and bishops."