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Gc 974.5 So50 1771775
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01114 9702
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AN ORATION
ON THE
ANNALS OF RHODE ISLAND AND
· PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS,
BY THE
REV. FRANCIS VINTON, D. D.,
AND
A RHYME
RHODE ISLAND AND THE TIMES, OF
. BY GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS, EsQ.,
DELIVERED BEFORE
THE SONS OF RHODE ISLAND IN NEW YORK, MAY 29, 1863.
NEW YORK: PRINTED FOR THE ASSOCIATION, BY C. A. ALVORD. 1863. .
87007
1771775
THE
ORATION AND POEM
DELIVERED BEFORE
"Che Sons of Rhode Island' -
IN NEW YORK,
ON THEIR FIRST ANNIVERSARY,
May 29th, 1863.
=
1
1
1
1.
1
Sons of Rhode Island.
F 845 .833 An oration on the annals of Rhode Island and Provi- dence Plantations, by the Rev. Francis Vinton, D. D., and A rhyme of Rhode Island and the times, by George Wil- liam Curtis, esq., delivered before the Sons of Rhode Island in New York, May 29, 1863. New York, Printed for the association, by C. A. Alvord, 1863.
OUKLF CARD
80 р. 221cm.
1. Rhode Island -- Hist .- Addresses, essays, lectures. . I. Vinton, Fran- cis, 1809-1872. 11. Curtis, George William, 1824-1892. III. Title : A rhyme
of Rhode Island and the times.
Rc-2976
Library of Congress
₣76.S69
i 37324 -- Copy 2. 233cm. ra25d1;
1
At a Meeting of the EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE SONS OF RHODE ISLAND, held pursuant to the call of the President and Vice-President, at the Directors' Room of the American Exchange Bank (in the City of New York), on Wednesday the third day of June, 1863, Mr. ENGS offered the following RESOLUTION :
RESOLVED, that the thanks of this Committee be presented to the Rev. Dr. VIN- TON for the eloquent Oration, and to GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS, Esq., for the excel- lent Poem delivered by them respectively, on the occasion of the Anniversary of this Association, and that they be solicited to furnish copies of the same to this Committee for publication.
The question having been put by the Recording Secretary, at the request of the President, the same was unanimously adopted.
The President responded to the vote of thanks in a few well-chosen and inter- esting remarks, and gave his consent to the request of the Committee with the proviso that he should retain the Oration for the present.
The Corresponding Secretary also courteously acknowledged the request of the Committee; but hesitated in granting it, on account of what he was pleased to call the transitory nature of his, Poem, and because he had written it hastily, for a particular occasion, and with no reference to its permanent preservation.
It having been suggested, that this might be explained in a note, Mr. Curtis kindly consented to the request of the Committee.
Upon motion of Mr. Engs,
RESOLVED, that the Committee of Arrangements for the Anniversary Celebra- tion, have charge of the publication of the Oration and Poem, with power.
WILLIAM J. HOPPIN, Recording Secretary.
[Extract from the Minutes.]
37324 xc
.
Constitution of the Sons of Rhode Island,
IT being desirable that Rhode Islanders, and the descendants of Rhode Islanders, residing in New York and its vicinity, should be associated for the cultivation of social intercourse, the promotion of mutual good-will and fellowship, the enlargement of their acquaintance with and knowledge of each other, and for the exercise of beneficence towards needy Rhode Islanders, it is agreed that :
1. The name of the Association shall be " THE SONS OF RHODE ISLAND."
2. The officers of the Association shall be an Executive Committee of thirteen ; the officers of which-namely, the President, the Vice-President, the Treasurer, and the Secretaries-shall be elected annually by the Com- mittee, and shall hold the same offices in the Association. The Executive Committee shall have power to make By-laws for their government and that of the Association.
3. The election of the Executive Committee shall be held on the day of the Annual Meeting, namely, the twenty-ninth day of May, in each year- that being the Anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of the United States by the State of Rhode Island; and, in the event of such day being Sunday, the election shall be held on the succeeding business day. Vacancies occurring during the current year, may be filled by the Com- mittee.
4. Any person who shall have been a Citizen of Rhode Island, or who is the descendant of a Citizen, may become a Member of this Association, on application to the Executive Committee and assenting to, and subscribing these articles; paying to the Treasurer an Initiation Fee of Three Dollars and such Annual Dues thereafter, not exceeding One Dollar, as the Execu- tive Committee may determine. Honorary Members may be admitted by a vote of the majority of the Committee, or of the Association.
5. The President and Vice-President may, in their discretion, or, on the application of three Members of the Committee, shall call a meeting of the Committee or of the Association, notice thereof being published in at least two of the daily papers of the city.
6. The Executive Committee is authorized, by a vote of two-thirds of its Members, to cause this Association to be incorporated under the General Laws of this State relating to Benevolent Societies, or under Special Charter, at its discretion.
7. These Articles may be altered or amended by a vote of two-thirds of all the Members present at any meeting, provided that notice of such alter- ation and amendment shall have been given at the meeting next previous thereto.
.
HOPE
: Executive Committee.
1863-4.
REV. FRANCIS VINTON, D. D., PRESIDENT. JOHN E. WILLIAMS, VICE-PRESIDENT. BENJAMIN G. ARNOLD, TREASURER. GEORGE WM. CURTIS, CORRESPONDING SECRETARY. WILLIAM J. HOPPIN, RECORDING SECRETARY.
CHARLES H. RUSSELL,
NEHEMIAH KNIGHT, PHILIP W. ENGS, JOHN H. ORMSBEE,
GEORGE S. COE, RANDALL H. GREENE, CHARLES CONGDON, BENJAMIN COZZENS.
COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION, AND ALSO FOR THE PUBLICATION OF THE ORATION AND POEM : MR. KNIGHT, MR. ARNOLD, MR. HOPPIN.
MR. ORMSBEE,
Annals of Rhode Island and Probidence Plantations.
THE ORATION
SPOKEN ON THE
FIRST ANNIVERSARY
OF
THE SONS OF RHODE ISLAND IN NEW YORK,
MAY 29, 1863:
BEING THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION BY RHODE ISLAND OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES IN 1790,
AND ALSO (PROBABLY),
THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE LANDING OF ROGER WILLIAMS OR THE SETTLEMENT OF " PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS IN NEW ENGLAND" IN 1636.
BY FRANCIS VINTON, D. D.,
ASSISTANT MINISTER OF TRINITY CHURCH, NEW YORK, AND PRESIDENT OF THE SONS OF RHODE ISLAND.
.
.
Advertisement to the Reader.
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IN publishing this contribution to the Annals of my native State, at the request of the Sons of Rhode Island in New York, I cannot forbear to make public my acknowledgments to Mr. Henry T. Drowne, my fellow- statesman, whose patient and loving interest in whatever concerns the history and the welfare of Rhode Island, as well as his cherished personal friend- ship, has furnished excellence to my manuscript (which he took pains to copy) for the printer's elegant skill. He has likewise so enriched this pamphlet, by his exact erudition, with references to several authentic sources, as to entitle these " Annals" to the dignity of History, and to the confidence of the future scholar.
Trinity Church, New York, November 25, 1863.
FRANCIS VINTON.
The Oration was delivered also. by invitation
. Of the Long Island Historical Society, in Brooklyn, N. Y., June 11, 1863 ; Of the New York Historical Society, in New York, June 16, 1863 ; Of the citizens of Providence, R. I., in Roger Williams Hall, June 26, 1863 ; Of the Redwood Library Association, in Newport, R. I., in Aquidneck Hall, June 30, 1863.
THE ORATION.
RHODE ISLAND, the smallest of the United States, was the cradle of the civilization of the nineteenth century. This is a bold statement, as well as lofty praise. And yet it is not arro- gant in the sons of Rhode Island to repeat what European Phi- losophers* have asserted, and the truth of history confirms.
Professor Gervinus, t in his recent "Introduction to the His- tory of the Nineteenth Century," says that "Roger Williams founded, in 1636, a small new society in Rhode Island, upon the principles of entire liberty of conscience, and the uncon- trolled powers of the majority in secular concerns. The theo- ries of freedom in Church and State, taught in the schools of philosophy in Europe, were here brought into practice in the . government of a small community. It was prophesied that the democratic attempts to obtain universal suffrage, a general elec- tive franchise, annual parliaments and entire religious freedom would be of short duration. But these institutions" (the foun- dations of which were laid in Rhode Island), "have not only . maintained themselves in their birthplace, but have spread over the whole Union. They have superseded the aristocratic com- mencements of South Carolina and of New York, the high- church party of Virginia, the theocracy of Massachusetts, and the monarchy throughout America; they have given laws to one quarter of the globe, and, dreaded for their moral influence,
* See NOTE I .- Letter of John Milton.
+ Dr. G. G. Gervinus, of Heidelberg, whose "Commentaries on Shakspeare's Writings" are highly esteemed in Europe and America.
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ANNALS OF RHODE ISLAND
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they stand in the background of every democratic struggle in Europe."*
Des Cartes founded modern philosophy on the method of free reflection. But, two years before Des Cartes startled Europe with his discussions on freethinking, Roger Williams asserted the intellectual liberty of man and the freedom of the conscience. Des Cartes derived his conclusions from doubt of Divine Reve- lation : Roger Williams learned his truths from faith in God's written Word. The unbelieving philosopher exalted the specu- lations of human thought ; the humble Christian student yielded lowly reverence to the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Yet, both the Divine and the Philosopher, almost simultaneously, in re- mote parts of the world, without collusion or conference, enun- ciated the right of conscience "to obey God rather than men." This was the echo of the voice of apostles and martyrs bursting from the caverns of the dark ages, where the arrogance of a cor- rupt Church, conspiring with ignorance and superstition, had choked the soul and suppressed its breathings.
Acknowledging, as we do, the Providence of God over the affairs of the world, and seeing His hand in the progress of civil- ization, it is interesting and instructive to observe the instru ments which He employs, often of diverse materials and oppo- site characters, in accomplishing His purpose.
In the early years of the seventeenth century, Germany was the battle-field for all Europe in the wars for Religion ; Holland was torn by infuriate factions; France was arming for a strug- gle with bigotry ; England was gasping under the load of intol- erance. It was the second era of the Reformation, when the emancipated mind was resisting the attempts of the usurper to re-enslave it. It was the after-birth of the new civilization. Europe demanded one course of treatment, America another, to produce sound health. In the Old Countries, institutions were
* Quoted from "An Account of the, Writings of Roger Williams,"* by R. A. Guild, Librarian of Brown University.
* The original copy of "Experiments of Spiritual Life and Health, and their Preservatives," by Roger Williams, is in the library of John Carter Brown, Esq., of Providence, and was recently reprinted by Sidney S. Rider, of that city.
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AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
to be modified; in the New Country, institutions were to be created. And while the philosopher, living in a region of thought far above that by which he is surrounded, and remote from the strife of common minds, might, without suspicion of party proclivities, announce the principle which was to reform so- ciety and would be accepted by the struggling partisans ; at the same time, the Christian Colonist,* about to found a State, and living amidst the real hardships of savage life, might put in practice the same principle, as the leaven of a fresh Common- wealth, and rear a fabric of society that should become a living pattern to the nations of the world. Des Cartes would have been as much out of place in the wilds of New England, as Roger Williams would have been out of place among the savans of Holland and France. While, therefore, the battle of the soul's freedom was being fought in Europe, the Providence of God was establishing the freedom of the soul in Rhode Island.
It will require an effort in us, who have been familiar with the civilization of a century, to appreciate the full value of our freedom, and to do just honor to those who gained it for us. The boy who rides on the railway car, at the speed of thirty miles an hour, and reads the telegraphic news from California, of the date of yesterday, imagines that these things have been so always. The history of Commerce will inform him how slow and painful have been the steps of improvement, and what a debt he owes to his fathers for their gradual and triumphant experiments. So the civilization of the nineteenth century owes to the Cartesian school of philosophy, and to the lively demo- cratic experiments of Rhode Island men, the familiar blessings of toleration and liberty of thought, which we prize as our birthright.
I trust that it will not be considered presumptuous, there- fore, nor in any measure self-complacent, while we talk of Rhode Island's greatness. .
* Prof. William Gammell's Life of Roger Williams,-Sparks' American Biogra- phy, vol. xiv.,. pp. 206, 207. Tuckerman's Biographical Essays, -" Roger Wil- liams, the Tolerant Colonist," pp. 181-190. Knowles' Memoirs of Roger Wil- liams, pp. 389, 435-437.
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ANNALS OF RHODE ISLAND
. The antiquity of Rhode Island annals, probably exceeds that of any other portion of our country. You will find them in the Scandinavian libraries of Iceland and Sweden, in the narrative of the voyages of the Northmen, before Columbus discovered America. Its most ancient European name is "Vinland," and its climate is described just as the modern meteorologist describes it, or as the senses of the throngs of modern visitors enjoy it.
There stands the mysterious "OLD MILL" in Newport, set up on shafts, or columns, in the architecture of the eleventh cen- tury, a fireplace in it, and window-openings outlooking towards the sea, and in the direction of Seaconnet and Conanicut.
The antiquaries of Stockholm and Copenhagen say, with confi dence, that the Northmen built it, after the pattern of their old coast-towers, both as a fortress and a granary, wherein the voy- agers deposited the reserve supplies, and left a garrison, while they prosecuted their explorations. The windows for the look- out of the sentinels, the fireplace for cooking of provisions, and the columns to lift the garrison and stores beyond the reach of the predatory savages, all touch the question and seem to con- firm the theory.
Governor Benedict Arnold, in his last Will," styles the edi- fice his " Mill." And, doubtless, he used it for a windmill ; for the location of a tower for observation, and a windmill for grinding corn, is the spot highest in the neighborhood; and the settlers of Aquidneck, in 1638, probably found the structure for their windmill already reared. For, if they built it, why should they build it of stones ? Why lift it up on shafts? Why open it towards the sea, and not landward ? Why put a fireplace in it? These questions the Archaeological Society of Norway and Sweden have answered, by affirming that the Northmen were the architects.
Prof. Rafn (in the "Mémoires da la Société Royale des Anti- quaries du Nord," for 1838-1839), says : " From such character-
* Recorded in the Town Clerk's office, Newport, R. I., p. 348, No. 5, Probato Records.
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AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
* istics as remain, we can scarcely form any other inference than one, in which I am persuaded that all who are familiar with old Northern Architecture will concur, that this building was erect- ed at a period decidedly not later than the twelfth century."
Nor is the old mill at Newport the only token of the antiqui- ty of Rhode Island annals .* There are the remains of the civ- ilization of the Middle Ages in " the Skeleton in Armor," which was dug up at Fall River a few years ago (1850), clad in the mail of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, broken and corroded by time. This discovery inspired Longfellow, as you know, to compose the ballad suggested to him "while riding on the sea- shore at Newport," full of poetic fire and historic probability :
"THE SKELETON IN ARMOR.".
"Speak ! speak ! thou fearful guest ! Who, with thy hollow breast, Still in rude armor drest, Comest to daunt mel Wrapt not in Eastern balms, But with thy fleshless palms Stretched, as if asking alms, Why dost thou haunt me ?"
Then, from those cavernous eyes Pale flashes seem to rise, As when the Northern skies Gleam in December; And, like the waters flow Under December's snow, Came a dull voice of woe From the heart's chamber.
" I was a Viking old ! My deeds, though manifold, No Skald in song has told, No Saga taught thee !
*
"I wooed the blue-eyed maid, Yielding, yet half afraid, And in the forest's shade Our vows were plighted. *
* I do not mention the inscription on Dighton Rock, which is not yet satisfacto- rily deciphered.
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ANNALS OF RHODE ISLAND
"Aş with his wings aslant, Sails the fierce cormorant, Seeking some rocky haunt, With his prey laden ; So toward the open main, Beating to sea again, Through the wild hurricane, Bore I the maiden.
"Three weeks we westward bore, And when the storm was o'er, Cloud-like we saw the shore Stretching to leeward; There for my lady's bower Built I the lofty tower, Which to this very hour, Stands looking seaward.
* * * *
"Death closed her mild blue eyes, Under that tower she lies; Ne'er shall the sun arise On such another."
And, as there is much of romantic interest in the misty and uncertain story of Rhode Island, which the transatlantic Anti- quarian and the American Poet would embalm, in history and in song, so Rhode Island's Annals of Indian Diplomacy and In- dian Wars are full of examples of wisdom, of kindness, of bravery, and of fortitude, to inspire the loftiest strains of poetry and to challenge the eulogiums of the historic pen.
Mount Hope was the seat of the royal court of Massasoit, and his son Metacomet, or Pometacom,* or Metacom, known and named by the English as King Philip.
" When Roger Williams left Salem to obtain permission from the Indians to settle at Seekonk," says Professor Elton, "it ap- pears that he made his way through the desolate wilderness to Ousamequin, or Massasoit, the Sachem of the Pokanokets, who resided at Mount Hope, near the present town of Bristol, Rhode Island. This famous Chief occupied the country, north from Mount Hope, as far as Charles River."t IIe and his son Pom-
* Drake's Book of the Indians,-Life of King Philip, book iii., chap. ii., p. 13. t Elton's Life of Roger Williams, p. 37.
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AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
etacom gave the title deeds* of New Bedford and other towns. Massasoitt was the acknowledged sovereign of the territory which the Pilgrim Fathers settled; and the original seat of em- pire over Plymouth and Massachusetts was in Rhode Island.
The influence of climate on character, which political phi- losophers maintain, is strongly corroborated by the historic fact that Rhode Island has produced the aboriginal lords, and the greatest men, of the barbarous tribes of Indians in New England. The wisdom and power of Massasoit; the gentle courtesy of old Canonicus ;} the discernment, the cautious con- fidence, the fidelity and honor of Miantinomoh ;§ the far-reach- ing statesmanship, and the intrepid valor and fortitude of Met- acomet, were characteristics of the Narragansett race, whose intelligence, virtue, and bravery, not only gave them mastery over the Indian tribes, in war and in peace, but also commanded the unwilling tribute of respect from the Puritan Pilgrims.
The Narragansetts were the victors over every tribe in Indian wars, and the tutors of Indians in the savage arts of peace. They coined the Wampum,| both black and white-the money of the tribes-from the shells of the Rhode Island shores. They excelled in agriculture and in the manufactures. They gave the laws. While other tribes were Polygamists, they alone were Monogamists.
She who reigned over the Seaconnets, Queen Awashonks, is, both by the famous Captain Benjamin Church and by Drake, the annalists, described in glowing praise, as possessing charms and virtues belonging to high civilization. T She was the friend of the English, to be sure, but she was the friend and ally of King Philip also : she was faithful to her nation, yet tolerant of the foreigners settled amongst them. The remnant of her tribe remained in Little Compton.
* Drake's Indians, book ii., chap. ii., p. 26; also, book iii., chap. ii., pp. 13-15. + R. I. Hist. Coll., vol. iii.,-Potter's Early History of Narragansett, p. 78.
¿ Ib., pp. 42-47. Drake's Indians, book il., chap. iii., pp. 47-52.
§ Ib., p. 42. Ib., book ii., chap. iv., pp. 59-67.
[ Hutchinson, vol. i., p. 406. Knowles' Memoir of Roger Williams, p. 88.
Drake's Indians, book iii., chap. iv., p. 62. Captain Benjamin Church's In- dian Wars.
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' ANNALS OF RHODE ISLAND
Strange mutations of human fortune! Within this present year, the railway from Newport to Fall River has required ex- cavations through the burial places of those famous Narragan- setts ; and the rude spades of Irish laborers have laid bare the graves, and skeletons, and utensils, and ornaments of the In- dians to the gaze of the stolid and curious-of the tourist and the antiquarian. Two years ago, in 1861, some antiquaries in Charleston, Rhode Island, opened the graves in "Sachem's Burial Ground;" and in this city of New York, on this very spot, the skulls of Ninigret* and his maiden daughter, with the copper bowls and implements of the royal Wigwam (evidently manufactured by the Dutch), and the long precious chain of silver reaching. from head to foot, and her gold sleeve-buttons, with other ornaments of silk and gold and wampum, that some time served to embellish her royal person; and coins, bearing date 1650, Ludovicus XIIIL., with other curious things, were exhibited by Rhode Island's learned Archaeologist,t and formed the topic of his instructive lecture before the Historical Society of New York in November, 1862, and will likely be deposited in the Historical Society's Museum in Central Park. Well might our Indian Sachems exclaim, with Hamlet, to the grave-diggers of the Nineteenth Century : "To what base uses we may return! Why may not imagination trace the noble dust of Massasoit, till.he find it stopping a bung-hole ?"
Imperial Ninigret, dead, and brought to light Has had his skull a topic for a night.
But, in a higher point of view, we rejoice that the soil of Rhode Island has surrendered her deposits to enrich the history of New York, and exemplify the trade of the Dutch settlers.
The story of King Philip's war is too familiar to be recited. But we may say, that, for love of country and the determination to defend it; for the prowess of the Colonists, like Captain
* Potter's Early History of Narragansett, p. 50.
+ Dr. Usher Parsons' Lecture before the N. Y. Hist. Soc., published in the His- torical Magazine for February, 1863. Dr. Parsons is the last surviving commis- sioned officer of Perry's flag-ship in the battle of Lake Erie.
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AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
Church, persevering to conquer; for the hardships, the valor, the self-sacrifices, the heroism, which wars of conquest and de- fence evince, for the incidents of hair-breadth escapes and skil- ful strategy, the stronghold in the swamp, the fiery assault, the ice-bridge, that bore the assailants to victory and the Indians to despair, the extermination of the Narragansetts ;* these are topics for the prolonged eloquence of our Poets and Historians, not exhausted by the "Yamoyden" of Sands and Eastburn, nor by the narratives of Church and Drake, nor by the histories of Bancroft and Arnold. Alas ! for the Indians ! they had no literature, else the lion would have been painted as killing the man; and not man the lion. But though we may find in the contemporaneous annals, only epithets of beast and savage and devil, with cognate characteristics, yet the calm justice of later chroniclers portrays the character and exploits of the Narragan- setts in colors of humanity and heroism. What loftier grandeur does history narrate than Metacomet's reply to the messenger of the Governor of Massachusetts ?- " Your Gov- ernor is but a subject of King Charles, of England. I shall not treat with a subject. I shall treat of peace only with the King, my brother. When he comes, I am ready."+ It is like that of the captive Porus to Alexander the Great, who, when asked, "How he would be treated," answered, "Like a king."}
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