USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > A discourse delivered at Providence, August 5, l836 : in commemoration of the first settlement of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Being the second centennial anniversary of the settlement of Providence > Part 4
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The fourth town, of the Narragansett plantations, in the order of time, is Warwick. This settlement began in January, 1642-3. Its history is intimately connected with Massachusetts, and consti- tutes some of the most melancholy pages of her history.
About four years after the settlement of Providence, some of the proprietors removed to the lands on the Pawtuxet. To this settle- ment came Samuel Gorton, from Rhode-Island. All the settlements on the Narragansett Bay, being formed originally by voluntary associations, and their political obligations resting only in mutual covenant, without any authority from the mother country to make laws to punish their violation, doubts arose which rendered it diffi- cult to preserve the peace and to administer justice. When all were disposed to submit to the determination of those who were appointed to administer justice, between man and man, all went well ; but it was soon found that a government of more energy was required. Some of the inhabitants of Pawtuxet, in November, 1641, complained to Massachusetts of Samuel Gorton and others, and desired advice and assistance. Massachusetts declined assist- ance, or advice, unless they would submit themselves to her juris- diction, or that of Plymouth. This they were then not prepared to do. In 1642, four of them, did so, and then Massachusetts took
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cognizance of their complaints, and sent their orders to Gorton and others. If Massachusetts had not been very desirous of extending her limits to the Narraganset Bay, and perhaps of crushing the set- tlement which she, originally, endeavored to prevent, she must have seen that she was here exercising most unwarrantable authority. All her authority, over Englishmen, was derived from her patent; and within her territorial jurisdiction. To attempt to go beyond this, was to set herself up as the sovereign of the country ; but she herself owed allegiance and subjection to the king of England, and Gorton, and his associates, were, according to the laws of England, within the territory and under the protection of this king, and could not be made subject to her but by the authority of their common sovereign. To attempt therefore to derive this authority from the submission of the four Pawtuxet men, who had no right to subject themselves and their lands, much less to subject Gorton to the Mas- sachusetts jurisdiction, was a pretence which they might have used to blind others, but we can hardly think was sufficient to blind themselves. Governor Winthrop, however, betrays the secret. They had cast their eyes upon their neighbor's vineyard, and though the sin of covetousness was well understood, yet it was easy to hide it under a desire to do justice, if not to root out all heretics from the land. The words of Winthrop are remarkable, and though few, are not the less significant. After narrating the submission of these four men and their lands to Massachusetts, and their receiving them under their government and protection, he adds : " This we did partly to rescue these men from unjust violence and partly to draw in the rest in those parts, either under ourselves or Plymouth, who now lived under no government, but grew very offensive, and the place was likely to be of use to us, especially if we should have oc- casion of sending out against any Indians of Narragansett, and like- wise for an outlet into the Narragansett bay, and seeing it came without our seeking, and would be no charge to us, we thought it not wisdom to let it slip."* Had they not invited these men to put themselves under their jurisdiction, and refused them their advice, as good neighbors, unless they did so, how then could it be said " it came without our secking ?"
* Winthrop, vol. 2, p. 84.
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This act of the Pawtuxet men, was in violation of their covenant with Roger Williams and his associates, by which they agreed to submit to the majority of the inhabitants of Providence ; upon this condition their lands were granted to them, and they were admitted into the town fellowship. In the second year of the Providence plantation, it was ordained, " that no man sell his field or his lot granted in our liberties, to any person but to an inhabitant, without the consent of the town." The attempt, therefore, to subject their lands to a foreign jurisdiction, was virtually a forfeiture of them, and of course conveyed no legal or equitable right to Massachusetts.
Gorton, and his associates, viewed this order of Massachusetts as unwarrantable, but thought it prudent to remove from the neigh- borhood of their accusers and further from the growing and grasp- ing colony of Massachusetts. They moved south of the Pawtuxet river, and on the 12th of January, 1642-3, purchased Shawomet of Miantinomo the chief Sachem, Pumham the petty Sachem having signed the deed. The conveyance is from Miantinomo as " chief Sachem of the Narragansett," and says that it " was sold and pos- session of it given to the persons therein mentioned, with the free and joint consent of the present inhabitants, being natives, as it ap- pears by their hands hereunto annexed." The name of two other natives appear to the deed, besides Pumham's .*
It was not so easy to escape from the power of Massachusetts. Through the instrumentality of those, of Pawtuxet, who had en- deavored to subject Gorton and his associates to her authority, Pumham was induced, with Saccononoco, who claimed to be Sachem of Pawtuxet, to go to Boston and submit themselves and their lands to Massachusetts. Pumham alleged that he was compelled by Mian- tinomo to sign the deed, that he had refused to receive any part of the price, and that he was an independent Sachem and not subject to Miantinomo. Pumham then preferred complaints against Gor- ton and his associates, upon which they were summoned to answer at Boston, by a warrant dated the 12th September, 1643.
Here we behold a further assumption of power-the right to de- termine the prerogatives and powers of an independent native prince
* The first purchasers of Warwick were Randall Houlden, John Greene, John Weeks, Francis Weston, Samuel Gorton, Richard Waterman, John Warner, Richard Carder, Samson Shotton, Robert Potter, William Wuddall.
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in relation to his lands, and the authority he claimed over inferior Sachems ; and the right to determine the facts in relation to this deed, which conferred at least a prima facie title in fellow-subjects, so far as the rights of the natives were concerned, who had the same right to buy land of the natives, as Massachusetts had to de- rive jurisdiction from them.
Massachusetts undertook to decide all these points, and decided them of course in her own favor. Upon this decision, founded in usurpation, she claimed the right to summon Gorton and liis asso- ciates to her bar, and, the summons not being obeyed, to send after them an armed force. That they were not called upon to answer to the mother country, for the murder of her subjects, was not owing to their prudence, or forbearance, but to the merciful inter- position of a preserving providence.
We forbear to detail the perfidy by which Gorton, and his com- pany, were made prisoners of war; the destruction of their proper- ty ; the suffering and dispersion of their families ; their imprison- ment at Boston for trial ; the manner in which the people and mag- istrates were addressed, previously to their trial, from the pulpit, to induce them to take away their lives, fearing too much lenity might be shown them ; the apprehending them on one set of charges, to give color to their arrest, and without trying them for these, charg. ing them with blasphemous and heretical opinions, which they denied; their narrow escape, with their lives, by a majority of two votes, be- ing reserved for a punishment in chains and labor, resembling Alge- rine servitude ; and their final discharge and banishment, lest the people should be corrupted by their heresies, with a prohibition not to occupy their lands at Shawomet, under pain of death. Their sto- ry has filled a volume,* and is too full of painful emotions to be here dwelt upon. Happily they escaped, and found protectors in Eng. land, powerful enough to rescue them from oppression ; they re- turned to their plantation, and, in testimony of their gratitude to the noble earl who had interposed in their behalf, they called it War- wick.
Gorton lived down many of the calumnies which had been heaped on him ; held several important offices in town and colony ; and en- joyed the confidence of his fellow-citizens, at Warwick, until his
* Coll. R. I. Hist. Society, vol. 2.
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death, in 1677. What his peculiar religious opinions were, it is now difficult to determine ; that they were much misrepresented we must believe, if we credit his denial of many that were imputed to him ;* but his religious writings are among the most mystical of those times. Whatever were his opinions, he might have been safely left to en- joy them in the wilderness, and those letters, so offensive to Massa- chusetts, would never have been written, but for her attempt to ex- tend her power beyond her jurisdiction.
Many of the descendants of those persecuted men now enjoy, un- der happier auspices, the land of their fathers, and when the blood of Massachusetts was shed at Lexington, and her capital in posses- sion of the enemy, a descendant of one of them,f at the head of his fellow-citizens, hastened to her relief, and in the deadly controversy which ensued, rendered those services, which, in the estimation of his country, were second only to those of Washington.
And here it becomes us to pay a passing tribute to the memory of a native prince, who was the early, and while he lived, the con- stant friend of this colony. And we are the more required to hold his memory in grateful recollection, as it is most probable this friendship cost him his life. I refer to Miantinomo, the Chief Sa- chem of the Narragansetts, who, with his uncle Canonicus, granted to Roger Williams his lands, to William Coddington and his friends the beautiful island of Aquetneck, and who granted Shawomet to Gorton and his associates ; whom Roger Williams calls his " kind friend," and who assured him that "it should not be land he should want." This prince was kind, generous, noble, and of shrewd un- derstanding. Being summoned, in 1642, before the Massachusetts Court, to clear himself from those suspicions of hostility to the Eng- lish, of which he had been accused by his inveterate enemy, Uncas, his deportment was such as became a prince, and one conscious of innocence. He " would not speak of any business at any time," says Winthrop, " before some of his Counsellors were present, al- leging that he would have them present, that they might bear wit- · ness with him, at his return home, of all his sayings. In all his an- swers he was very deliberate, and showed good understanding in the principles of justice, and equity and ingenuity withal. He de.
* See 2d vol. R. I. Hist. Coll. App. No. 11, p. 246.
t Nathaniel Greene.
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manded that his accusers might be brought forth, to the end that if they could not make good what they had charged him with, they might suffer what he was worthy of, and must have expected if he had been found guilty, viz .: death." He " offered to meet Uncas at Boston, and prove to his face his treachery against the English." " We spent," says Winthrop, " the better part of two days in treat- ing with him, and in conclusion he did accommodate himself to us to our satisfaction."
The account which Roger Williams gave of the harmony which prevailed in the Narragansett government, shows the character of Miantinomo in a very favorable light.
" Their government, (says Williams, in his Key, chap. 22, p. 120,) is monarchical ; yet at present the chiefest government in the country is divided between a younger Sachim, Miantunnomo, and an elder Sachim, Canaunicus, of about fourscore years old, this young man's uncle ; and their agreement in the government is re- markable. The old Sachim will not be offended at what the young Sachim doth ; and the young Sachim will not doe what hee con- ceives will displease his uncle." How few civilized kings and princes, but would suffer from comparison with these. The Turk " bears no brother near the throne," and the ancient history of christian kings, does not abound with instances of more moderated ambition.
In 1643, Miantinomo took up arms in defence of a Sachem of Connecticut, a kinsman of his, with whom Uncas was at war. In an attack upon Uncas he was defeated, and "having on a coat of mail, was easily overtaken ; which two of his own captains per- ceiving, they laid hold on him and carried him to Uncas, hoping to procure their own pardon, who immediately slew them both ; and Miantinomo standing mute, (disdaining to beg for his life,) Uncas demanded of him why he would not speak. "If you had taken me," said he, "I would have besought you for my life." Gorton, hearing of the capture of Miantinomo, wrote Uncas to give him his liberty, and threatened him with the power of the English if he did not ; " he wrote the letter," says Winthrop, " in the name of the Governor of Massachusetts." " Upon this," says Winthrop, “ On- kus carried Miantunnomoh to Hartford, to take advice of the magis- trates there, and, at Miantunnomoh's earnest entreaty, he left him with them, yet as a prisoner. They kept him under guard, but
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used him very courteously, and so he continued till the commission- ers of the United Colonies met at Boston, who, taking into serious consideration what was safest and best to be done, were all of opin- ion that it would not be safe to set him at liberty, neither had we sufficient ground for us to put him to death. In this difficulty we called in five of the elders, (it being in the time of the general as- sembly of the elders,) and propounding the case to them, they all agreed that he ought to be put to death."* In pursuance of this ad- vice, Miantonomo was delivered to Uncas, with orders to put him to death, so soon as he came within his jurisdiction-these orders were faithfully obeyed, "two English being sent" to witness their execu- tion ! Such was the advice of those who should have been ministers of peace and mercy ! Surely they " knew not what manner of spirit they were of." It has been suggested that this advice would not have been given, but for the late proceedings against Gorton and his associates, who purchased their land of Miantinomo, and who was, no doubt, disposed to aid them against the claims and pretences of Pumham, his inferior sachem. The interference of Gorton, also, in his behalf, was most unfortunate, as it probably produced an appeal to the commissioners, by Uncas, for advice, who might, otherwise, have treated with the Narragansetts for the ransom of their chief, as they said he had done, and received a part of the price.
It was most unfortunate, also, in its tendency to produce the ad- vice which was so fatal to his friends. The coat of mail, it is said, was lent Miantinomo by Gorton, which proved the cause of his captivity-and the letter designed for his deliverance, probably caused his death. What an illustration of the truth of the maxim, Save us from our friends ! This was no justification for those who ought to have remembered the friendship and services of Miantino- mo in the time of their utmost need, when the Pequods were deter- mined on their extermination, and, to induce Miantinomo to join them, prophesied, (as proved too true,) that otherwise he would only be the last to be devoured. They ought to have remem- bered the open and ingenuous manner in which, the year before, conscious of his innocence, and relying upon their justice, contrary to the advice of his friends, he trusted himself to their keeping, and
* Winthrop, vol. 2, p. 131.
F
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removed all their suspicions by his wisdom and truth. They ought to have suspected the secret source whence issued those bloody counsels, in opposition to all their original notions of justice ; but how could they suspect-tantæne animis calestibus ir ?- How could they suspect that such motives could dwell " in heavenly minds ?"
We cannot better close this tribute to the memory of this illustri- ous chief, than in these words of Governor Hopkins, which have that eloquence and truth which come warm from the heart :- " This was the end of Myantonomo, the most potent Indian prince the people of New-England had ever any concern with ; and this was the reward he received for assisting them seven years before, in their war with the Pequots. Surely a Rhode-Island man may be permitted to mourn his unhappy fate, and drop a tear on the ashes of Myantonomo, who, with his uncle Canonicus, were the best friends and greatest benefactors the colony ever had. They kind- ly received, fed, and protected the first settlers of it, when they were in distress, and were strangers and exiles, and all mankind else were their enemies ; and by this kindness to them, drew upon themselves the resentment of the neighboring colonies, and hastened the untimely end of the young king."
Where was the voice of Roger Williams that it was not raised in behalf of his friend ? He was not here, and, if he had been, his influence would probably have been exerted in vain. He had sail- ed for England, on the voyage during which he wrote the Key to the Indian Language, and might have been penning the testimony which he therein gives to the harmonious government of Canonicus and Miantinomo, when this tragedy was enacting.
How much English blood was shed, in Philip's war, by the Nar- ragansetts, to atone for the murder of their chief, is known only to Him who knows all hearts ; but such conduct, on the part of the United Colonies, was fitted to unite against them those who had " not stained their hands with any English blood, neither in open hostil- ities nor secret murders, as both Pequods and Long-Islanders did, and Mohegans also, in the Pequod wars," according to the testimony of Roger Williams, written eleven years after this, to the General Court of Massachusetts. And, in this letter, he says : " The Nar- ragansetts, as they were the first, so they have been long confed- erates with you ; they have been truc, in all the Pequod wars, to
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you. They occasioned the Mohegans to come in, too, and so oc- casioned the Pequods downfall." *
In 1643, the four colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connect- icut, and New-Haven, formed a union, for offence and defence, and mutual assistance and advice ; they were called the United Colonies of New-England. Rhode-Island petitioned to be admitted a member of the confederacy, but was refused unless she would submit to the jurisdiction of Plymouth, and cease to be a separate colony.f
In the summer of 1643, Roger Williams sailed for England, to procure a Charter which might unite the Narragansett colonies un- der one government, protect them from the ambition of their neigh- bors, and enable them, by the authority of England, to administer justice among themselves. In taking passage for England, he had to go to New-Amsterdam, now New-York, then in possession of the Dutch, being still forbidden the territory of Massachusetts. At New-Amsterdam he was instrumental in negotiating a peace be- tween the Dutch and Long-Island Indians, who were at war, and was the means of blessing others, though subjected himself to incon- venience and danger.
By the aid of Sir Henry Vane, a charter was procured from the Earl of Warwick, Governor-in-Chief, and Lord High Admiral, and from the Earl of Pembroke, and others, Commissioners, by the ordi- nance of Parliament, of the islands and plantations in America. Sir Henry Vane was one of these Commissioners. This charter is dated the 14th of March, 1643-4.
By this charter the inhabitants of the towns of Providence, Ports- mouth, and Newport, were incorporated by the name of " The In- corporation of Providence Plantations, in the Narragansett Bay, in New-England, with power to rule themselves, and such others as should thereafter inhabit within any part of the tract of land men- tioned therein, by such a form of civil government, as by voluntary consent of all, or the greater part of them, they should find most suitable to their estate and condition." These were ample powers, and left them at perfect liberty to constitute such a form of govern- ment, and make such laws, as a majority saw fit, with but one wholesome restriction, that " said laws, constitutions, and punish- ments, should be conformable to the laws of England, so far as the nature and constitution of the place would admit."
* Knowles, p. 276.
t Holmes' Annals, vol. 1, p. 327.
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It has been objected that this charter, procured by Roger Wil- liams, contained no clause securing liberty of conscience, as if here- in he had failed to estalish and perpetuate his great principle. This objection we think has been made without sufficient consideration. The object of this charter was not to give liberty of conscience to the inhabitants, for they had it already, but to give them an author. ity for civil government. In his letter to Major Mason, Roger Wil- liams says : "Considering (upon frequent exceptions against Provi- dence men) that we had no authority for civil government, I went purposely to England, and upon my report and petition, the Parlia- ment granted us a charter of government for these parts." But there was another reason which, probably, prevented Roger Wil- liams from inserting any thing in this charter respecting liberty of conscience. This liberty, according to his views, was not derived from man, but from God, which no charter or compact or human power could give, or rightfully, take away. To have put such a clause therefore into the charter, would liave been admitting, tacitly, that it was derived from thence, and that the power which gives it may, expressly, or impliedly, take it away. This accounts for those very few, but significant words in the engagement signed by the new comers of Providence, by which they agreed to submit themselves to the authority of the majority-" only in civil things." The char- ter was granted for government only in civil things. The power given was to form a " civil government," and " to make and or- dain," not such laws and constitutions as they pleased, but " such civil laws and constitutions, &c."* Roger Williams therefore was
* Extract from the Charter of 1643-4 .- " In due consideration of the said premises, the said Robert, Earl of Warwick, Governor in Chief, and Lord High Admiral of the said plantations, and the greater number of the said Commissioners, whose names and seals are here under written and subjoined, out of a desire to encourage the good beginnings of the said planters, do, by the authority of the aforesaid ordinance of the Lords and Commons, give, &c. to the aforesaid inhabitants of the towns of Providence, Portsmouth and New. port, a free and absolute charter of incorporation, to be known by the name of The Incorporation of the Providence Plantations in the Narragansett Bay, in New-England. Together with full power and authority, to rule them- selves, and such others as shall hereafter inhabit within any part of the said tract of land, by such a form of civil government, as by voluntary consent of all, or the greater part of them, they shall find most suitable to their estate and condition ; and for that end, to make and ordain such civil laws and con-
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not only true to his great principle, but to the form which he deemed originally most proper to secure it.
If there are any who deem these suggestions more ingenious than true, (and, on reflection, I think there will be but few,) to them I would say, that if the powers granted by this charter were not con- fined to civil, in contradistinction to religious things, then all power was granted to the people to secure their own liberties, in this re- spect, as they thought best, and, if any provision was necessary, there was wisdom in allowing it to emanate from themselves, rather than from the mother country.
Mr. Williams returned to America in September, 1644, bringing with him the Charter, and letters to the Massachusetts government, from their friends in England, recommending him to their friendly offices, and regretting the distance there was between them. Mr. Williams was allowed to land at Boston, and pass through the Mas- sachusetts territories ; but this letter produced no repeal of the pro- hibition, forbidding him, and all Providence men free liberty of in- gress and regress in her territories. Mr. Williams, on his return, was met at Seekonk, by his Providence friends, and escorted in their canoes, across the Pawtucket, to his home in Providence, in testimony of their joy at his return, and in honor of his services. How pleasing must have been his reflections, as he contrasted the different circumstances under which he had crossed the same waters, in the summer of 1636 !
This charter bounded the colony of Providence Plantations north- ward and northeast by the patent of Massachusetts, cast and south- east on Plymouth patent, south on the ocean, and west and north- west by the Pequod river and country. This included the territory Massachusetts had endeavored to obtain by the submission of Pum- ham, Saccononoco and the four Pawtuxet men, and lessened her hopes of getting a foothold on the Narragansett Bay. She therefore for- bid Mr. Williams and his associates from exercising authority under this charter, at Pawtuxet and Warwick. The government of Ply-
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