USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > History of the state of Rhode Island and Providence plantations, Vol. I > Part 21
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Sept. 1.
239
WILLIAMS AND CLARKE PROCEED TO ENGLAND.
courtesy on the part of Warwick that was not appreciated by the Commissioners.
The United Colonies coldly recognized the commission of Coddington, and addressed him a letter inquiring what course he would pursue as to fugitives from justice ; whether he would return them on legal demand, or bring them to trial on the island. The Warwick letter caused much discussion. The Massachusetts members of the Commission presented a declaration on the subject, to which those of Plymouth replied, disowning the cession made to Massachusetts the previous year, and protesting against the seizures she had made at Shawomet and Pawtuxet. The other members, on the ground that Ply- mouth had refused to accept the transfer made by Massa- chusetts, recognized the claim of the latter, and concluded that trespasses committed by the Warwick men should be punished by force if necessary, " but with as much moderation as may be." 1
A General Assembly of the two remaining towns was called, at which Samuel Gorton was chosen President. Roger Williams was urged, by every consideration that could move him in such a crisis, to leave home to advo- cate the cause of the colony in England. On the island forty-one of the inhabitants of Portsmouth, and sixty- five, being nearly all of the freemen, in Newport, joined to persuade Dr. Clarke to go out and obtain a repeal of Coddington's commission. They both consented to go. Mr. Williams was obliged to sell his trading-house in Narraganset, to sustain his family during his absence. The objects of their missions were distinct. Clarke was the agent of the island towns, to procure a repeal of Coddington's commission. Williams was the agent of the main land towns, to obtain a confirmation of their charter. In effect the same result was aimed at and se- cured-a return to their former mode of government by
CHAP. VIII.
1651. Sept. 13.
16.
Oct.
1 Hazard's State Papers, ii. 198-203.
240
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. a reunion under the charter. The two agents sailed to- VIII. gether, with some difficulty securing leave to embark from 1651. Boston. Nov. 4.
The Court of Commissioners, the relic of the colonial Assembly, being the committees of Providence and War- wick, met at Providence to consult on the state of the colony. They resolved to continue under the charter, making laws and choosing officers as before. They re- enacted several laws, modified to meet their present con- dition, and also passed an act forbidding the purchase of land from the Indians, without consent of the State.
1652. April 8.
May 18.
Williams and Clarke presented a joint petition to the Council of State, which was referred to the committee on foreign affairs. The island meanwhile quietly submitted to the rule of Coddington. The main land towns held their regular Court of Election in the spring. John Smith was chosen President of the colony ; Thomas Ol- ney of Providence, Samuel Gorton of Warwick, General Assistants ; John Greene, jr., Recorder ; Randall Holden, Treasurer ; and Hugh Bewett, Sergeant.
At this session the famous law against slavery was passed, believed to be, with one exception,1 the first leg- islative enactment in the history of this continent, if not, of the world, for the suppression of involuntary servitude. This law was designed to prevent both negro and white slavery, each of which was in use at that time. By it no man could be held to service more than ten years from the time of his coming into the colony, at the end of which time he was to be set free. Whoever refused to let him go free, or sold him elsewhere for a longer period of slavery, was subject to a penalty of forty pounds.
Between Rhode Island and the Dutch at Manhattan, there existed quiet an active trade, and occasional inter- marriages resulted from the intercourse thus maintained. A serious disturbance occurred at this time in Warwick.
1 The Act of Massachusetts, 4th Nov., 1646, in 2 M. C. R., 168.
241
DUTCH DISTURBANCE AT WARWICK.
The crew of a small Dutch vessel which had arrived there CHAP. VIII. in January, on a trading voyage, boarded for some two months with John Warner, who was this year the Assist- 1652. ant, or second magistrate of the town, and had stored their goods in his house for sale. One of these men, named Geraerd, was a brother-in-law of Warner, both having married into the family of Ezekiel Holliman. Upon settling their accounts a dispute arose, which it was vainly attempted to adjust by arbitration, and the Dutchmen appealed to the Court. At their request a April special session was held. Warner refused to answer to the case, and judgment was entered against him by de- fault, and execution granted for the damages assessed by a jury. Warner's wife was also indicted upon suspicion of felony, and the case carried up to the General Court of trials for the colony. The conduct of Warner before and 24. at this trial was so bad that he was degraded from his office as Assistant and disfranchised. A copy of the dec- laration was sent to Providence, and also to Massachu- setts, and the whole proceedings upon the case were after- wards forwarded to Roger Williams in England. A few weeks later, " upon suspicion of insufferable treachery June 7. against the town," which is conveyed in the seventh item of the declaration, his house and lands were attached. 22. For want of proof the property was shortly released, but July 5. not without a formal protest being entered upon the rec- ords by the leading men of the town. The proceedings are so remarkable, and the form of the declaration, re- sembling somewhat the indictment against Gorton,' is so curious that they should be preserved .?
The war between England and Holland having com- menced, the Dutch were forbidden to trade with the In- dians in the colony, and the President was instructed to notify the Governor of Manhattan 3 of this prohibition.
May 19.
1 Ante, chap. vi. p. 120.
2 See Appendix B.
3 Peter Stuyvesant. This prohibition was repealed in May, 1657.
VOL. 1 .- 16
242
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP VIII. July 27. 29.
Letters from Roger Williams caused a town meeting to be held in Providence, at which a letter was directed to 1652. be sent to Warwick, proposing a meeting of Commission- ers to prepare suitable replies. The town of Warwick agreed to the proposal, and further suggested a conference with the island towns, with a view to their all uniting to obtain a renewal of the charter, as such united action would remove some obstacles then existing, by reason of the separate duties of the two agents, and would also help to secure to the colony the Narraganset country, which Aug. 2. the Greenwich men were striving to obtain. A meeting was accordingly held, but no record of it remains.
Another letter from Mr. Williams, saying that the Council had granted leave to the colony to go on under the charter until the controversy was decided, gave great satisfaction. A few days later an order of Council was issued vacating the commission of Coddington, and direct- ing the towns again to unite under the charter. The mission was successful at every point. The agents re- mained in England on their private business, and also to sustain the rights of the colony, while William Dyre, who had probably gone out with them, returned home with the joyful news.
28.
The General Assembly met at Providence, and passed two important acts, an alien and a libel law. By the former no foreigner was to be received as a freeman in any town, or to have any trade with the Indians, but by con- sent of the Assembly. The latter made disparaging lan- guage, spoken in malice, actionable in every town. They also wrote to Roger Williams a letter of thanks for his services, the successful result of which was not yet known to them, and proposed that he should get himself ap- pointed Governor of the colony for one year, as it would give weight to the government. This proposal affords the strongest proof of the respect and confidence felt in the colony towards its illustrious Founder. But Williams
Sept. 8. Oct. 2.
243
TRIAL OF BEWETT FOR HIGH TREASON.
had little desire for power. Such a course would have CHAP established a dangerous precedent, and might appear to take from the colony a portion of its liberty in the selec- tion of officers. They also wrote a letter to the town of Warwick, where doubts had been expressed as to the le- gality of the Assembly, protesting against such expres- sions as tending to discredit the authority of the Assem- bly, thereby weakening the government, and likewise af- firming both the validity of the committee chosen from Warwick, and the legality of the Court. The occasion for such a letter displays the lamentable distraction that pervaded the colony at this time.
A more serious cause of dissension led to a special meeting of the Court of Commissioners at Warwick. The President of the colony and the Warwick Assistant, upon an examination before the Court of Trials, charged Hugh Bewett, one of the committee from Providence, with high treason. The trial lasted four days, and re- sulted in the acquittal of the prisoner, thus reversing the decision of the Court of Trials, and thereby increasing the divisions in the colony. The grounds of the indictment cannot now be ascertained.
Upon the arrival of William Dyre from England, with the repeal of Coddington's power, he wrote letters to Warwick and to Providence, naming a day when he would meet all the freemen who chose to appear at Portsmouth, to communicate the orders of the Council of State. A town meeting was held in Providence, at which, in accord- ance with a request from Warwick,1 a meeting of the Commissioners of the two towns was agreed upon. It was held at Pawtuxet the following week. This Assem- bly drafted a reply to a letter from the island, relating to a reunion of the colony, and appointed two of the mem- bers from each town to carry it, and to consult with those of the island concerning the peace and welfare of the
VIII. 1652. Oct.
Dec. 20.
1652-3. Feb. 18 20.
25.
1 Warwick records of 22d February, 1652.
244
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. VIII. 1652-3. Feb. State. Their labor was fruitless. The point of difficulty was this. The mainland towns contended that they were the Providence Plantations, their charter never having been vacated, and their government having continued un- interrupted by the defection of the island, and therefore the General Assembly to hear the orders of Council, should be held with them. The island towns claimed that as they formed the greater part of the colony, and hence had a larger interest in the matter, the Assembly should meet there. The original letters from the Council of State were deposited by Dyre with the town clerk of Newport, from whom certified copies were obtained, after some trouble, by the other towns. Neither party was dis- March posed to yield. On the following Monday an Assembly
1. of the colony, as it was called, met at Portsmouth, " to hear and receive the orders from ye right Honorable ye Council of State." The officers who had been displaced by Coddington's commission were reinstated until the next election, which was appointed for the usual time. Proposals for reunion, and for the government of the col- ony till the ensuing election, were sent to Providence by the town of Newport. The mainland towns replied that they were ready to meet by Commissioners, and desired the island to appoint the time, to arrange all matters. They did not accept the terms proposed by Newport, nor was any meeting of Commissioners appointed by the island. The division therefore continued for another year, to the imminent peril of the liberties of the colony and of its internal peace.
18.
1653.
May
16-17.
Two distinct Assemblies convened for a general elec- tion at the same time. That of the mainland towns met at Providence, the other at Newport, each sitting for two days. By the former a letter was sent to the island, giv- ing as a reason why they did not meet with them, that the island had not given any notice of agreement to meet them by Commissioners, and hence they must proceed
245
TWO DISTINCT ASSEMBLIES .- NEW ENGAGEMENT.
with their own election as before. They chose Gregory CHAP. VIII.
Dexter, President ; Stukely Westcott, General Assistant for Warwick ; John Sayles, General Assistant for Provi- dence, and Treasurer ; John Greene, Recorder, and Hugh Bewitt, Sergeant. The Council of State having directed the colony to annoy the Dutch, with whom war had been declared, it was ordered that no provisions should be sent to the Dutch ; that each plantation should prepare for its defence ; and that no seizures of Dutch property should be made in the name of the colony without a commission from the General Court. All legal process was to issue in the name of the Commonwealth of England, and in Providence and Warwick an engagement in these words was subscribed upon their records :- " I do declare and promise that I will be true and faithful to the Common- wealth of England, as it is now established, without a Kinge or House of Lords." 1
The enemies of Rhode Island afterwards sought to injure her position with the King on account of this en- gagement, but did not succeed. The only policy that Rhode Island could adopt was that which is pursued at this day by the United States in its intercourse with for- eign countries, to acknowledge the government de facto. ยท To that government, whether royalist, republican, or pro- tectorate, she was always loyal, and her success from that cause rankled in the breasts of her Puritan opponents, whose professions of loyalty to the Kings were equally loud and much less sincere.
The Assembly at Newport elected John Sandford, sen., President ; Nicholas Easton of Newport, and Robert 17-18. Borden of Portsmouth, Assistants ; William Lytherland, Recorder ; Richard Knight, Sergeant ; John Coggeshall, Treasurer, and John Easton, Attorney General. They re-established the code of 1647, and gave liberty to the mainland towns to choose their own General Assistants,
1 Warwick records, 8th March, 1652-3.
1653. May 16-17.
246
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. VIII. 1653. May 18.
in case they decided to unite with the island. The next day some freemen from Providence and Warwick came to the Assembly, and an election for Assistants of those towns was made. Thomas Olney was chosen for Provi- dence, and Randal Holden for Warwick, thus making two sets of Assistants for the mainland towns, and raising a question of conflicting powers to render the difficulties yet more complicated.
Mr. Coddington, upon demand of the Assembly to surrender the statute book and records, declined to do so without advice from his Council, having received no order from England to resign his commission, or any proof, as he said, that it had been annulled. A more inextricable series of entanglements than now existed in the colony could not well be imagined.
Active measures were taken against the Dutch. Can- non and smaller arms, and twenty volunteers were voted for the aid of the English on Long Island. Commissions to act against the enemy were granted to Capt. John Un- derhill, William Dyre and Edward Hull, and a Court of Admiralty for the trial of prizes was appointed, consisting of the general officers and three jurors from each town. The island was more energetic than the mainland in these measures, assuming at once offensive ground, while the latter acted chiefly on the defensive. Both did more than the United Colonies, who, although they had re- ceived similar orders from the Council of State, were more prudent, if not lukewarm, in their conduct. This mili- tary proclivity in Rhode Island was early shown. Their exposed position made it necessary on account of the In- dians in the first instance, and long habit cultivated the martial spirit of the people till it became a second nature. Their maritime advantages favored commercial enter- prise, and the two combined prepared them for those naval exploits which in after years shed so much glory on the State. That the bold proceedings of the Island As-
247
CONTINUED DISSENSIONS IN THE COLONY.
sembly were considered rash by the rest of the colony, appears from a remonstrance made by the Court of Com- missioners, assembled at Providence for this purpose. The acceptance of commissions to fight against the Dutch was a direct violation of their act in May, and as they claimed to be the lawful Assembly under the charter, they at once disfranchised those who owned the validity of those commissions, until they should give satisfaction to Providence and Warwick. The remonstrance recited the attempts made at re-union, as before given, and denounced the conduct of the Island Assembly in granting com- missions of reprisal, not only as rash in the feeble condi- tion of the colony, but as subversive of all government, in that they assumed to do it by authority of the whole colony. In conclusion an appeal to England was threat- ened in case the island should attempt to engage the main- land towns in the said commissions, or to molest them on that account. The Court adjourned to meet at the call of either of the General Assistants. This was not long delayed.
The Pawtuxet men again, as two years before, peti- tioned Massachusetts on the subject of taxes levied by the Providence Plantations. The General Court sent a letter protesting against such exaction, or the exercise of any sort of jurisdiction over its subjects, and granting leave to them to arrest and sue in the county Courts any person of another government that should usurp over them, whenever such person or his property should be found within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts.' To reply to this protest a special session of the Commissioners was held at Warwick. No copy of the reply remains.
The decided conduct of the island in the Dutch war increased the dissensions of the State, and involved her in further controversies with her neighbors. Capt. Hull, under his commission, captured a French ship in a mode
1 M. C. R. iv. Part 1, 149.
CHAP. VIII. 1653. June 3-4.
Aug. 13.
248
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. VIII. alleged by Massachusetts, in a letter to Rhode Island, to be unlawful. Among the reasons for this allegation, the 1653. dissolution of the Parliament was mentioned. This was seized upon by Gorton as a ground of accusation against Massachusetts in England, whither the original letter, signed by the magistrates, was to be sent as evidence, Sept. 5. with other charges, against them. William Arnold, of Pawtuxet, wrote to the General Court, informing them of this design.1 Great anxiety was felt by the United Colonies lest the Indians should ally with the Dutch. The Council of Massachusetts had sent two messengers April 19. in the spring to question Pessicus, Ninigret and Mexham, the son of Canonicus, being the three chief sachems of the Narragansets, upon this subject. They all denied any such intention, but their denial did not satisfy the Confederates,2 who, at their next meeting, hearing of an Sept. 12. 20. assault made by the Narragansets upon the Long Island Indians, again sent messengers to them, demanding an account of their conduct. The explanation not being satisfactory war was declared against the Narragansets, but Massachusetts deeming the cause insufficient, refused to raise her quota of troops, so the expedition was aban- doned.3 The energy of the Rhode Island privateers had alarmed the United Colonies in the spring. Another seizure, of one of their own vessels, by Capt. Baxter, un- der a commission from this colony, caused them to send a special messenger with a letter to Rhode Island, re- 13. monstrating against the act. The Desire, of Barnstable, belonging to Samuel Mayo, was seized in Hempstead har- bor, an English settlement within the Dutch limits, hav- ing stores on board, which the owner affirmed were in- tended for a plantation of English at Oyster Bay. Lieut.
1 Hazard's State Papers, i. 582.
2 The queries, eleven in number, with the answers of each sachem, are given in full in Hazard, ii. 205-9.
3 Hazard ii. 283-5, 288-93.
249
ACTS OF RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEERS.
Hudson was instructed to learn by what authority Rhode CHAP VIII. 1653. Sept. 16.
Island issued letters of marque, and also to demand sat- isfaction for Mayo. President Easton replied that the colony was authorized to act against the enemies of Eng- land, and had sent to the supreme authority an account of Baxter's proceedings, which they disowned so far as he had exceeded his commission. No satisfaction was given to Mayo. Upon Hudson's return the Commissioners ad- vised Connecticut to bring the Desire to trial if found in her harbors, the owner agreeing to pay damages, if it should prove true that she had been justly seized by Baxter. Baxter also captured a Dutch vessel near New York, and was pursued to Fairfield harbor by two armed Dutch ships. The New England Commissioners thereupon pro- hibited Dutch vessels from entering any English port. This was a very mild course to adopt towards a belliger- ent foe, and contrasts with the vigorous conduct of Rhode Island.
The report of dissensions in Rhode Island had reached England, and grieved the advocates of liberal principles in that country. Among these none were more earnest than Sir Henry Vane, whose sympathies, when Governor of Massachusetts, were with the party of progress, and 1653-4. who at home opposed in turn the despotism of the Stu- arts and the ultimate designs of Cromwell. Vane always manifested a deep interest in the welfare of Rhode Island, and a cordial appreciation of the principles of its founder, who for a considerable time during this visit to England became his guest. He wrote to the people of Rhode Isl- Feb. 8. and a most kind and imploring letter, urging them to reconcile their feuds for the honor of God and the good of their fellow-men. "Are there no wise men among you ? No public self-denying spirits," he asks, "who can find some way of union before you become a prey to your enemies ? " This letter no doubt had some effect in com-
20.
19.
250
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. VIII, 1654. May 16-18.
pleting a reconciliation which, before it was received, had already begun.
The next spring but one General Assembly was held, although the union was not yet perfected. A majority in the mainland towns seem to have agreed to the course pursued by the island, as these towns held no separate Court of Commissioners. A large minority still held out. There was no cordiality between the parties. A commit- tee of eight persons, two from each town, was appointed to prepare some mode of healing the division. Nicholas Easton was chosen President of the colony. Randall Hol- den had the next highest number of votes. Thomas Olney was elected Assistant for Providence, Richard Bor- den for Portsmouth, Edward Smith for Newport, and Randall Holden for Warwick ; Joseph Torrey, Recorder ; John Coggeshall, Treasurer ; Richard Knight, Sergeant, and John Cranston, Attorney General. Some men were examined on a charge of illegal trading with the Dutch, and another commission of reprisal was granted against the enemy. Fugitives from labor, belonging in other col- onies, were to be returned on proper proof, at the expense of the master.
Mr. Williams had so often succeeded in calming the ruffled spirits of the colonists, that he felt his presence might be useful in the existing crisis. Leaving Mr. Clarke to protect the rights of the colony in England, he re- turned home early in the summer, bringing with him the above-mentioned letter of Sir Henry Vane, and also an order from the Lord Protector to the government of Massachusetts, to permit him in future to pass unmo- lested through that territory. Soon after his return he wrote to his friend Winthrop an account of his occu- pations while abroad, from which we learn of his teach- ing the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French and Dutch lan- guages, thus making his many accomplishments a means of subsistence, and also of his intimacy with Milton, then
July 12.
251
REUNION OF THE COLONY.
Secretary of the Council of State, to whom he taught CHAP VIII.
Dutch in exchange for other languages.1 That he should be obliged to teach for his support while employed on public business, is a proof of the poverty of the colony at this time. He also addressed a most earnest and con- ciliatory letter to the town of Providence, concerning the dissensions in the colony, wherein he thanks God "for his wonderful PROVIDENCES, by which alone the town and colony and that grand cause of TRUTH AND FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE, hath been upheld to this day," and suggests a mode of settling the unhappy quarrel. He was ap- pointed to reply to the letter from Sir Henry Vane, which he did in behalf of the town. From that letter we are confirmed in the opinion that the usurpation of Codding- ton, and the difficulties arising from the granting of com- missions of reprisal against the Dutch, were the chief causes of discontent in the colony.
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