USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > History of the state of Rhode Island and Providence plantations, Vol. I > Part 38
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These extracts indicate the spirit of the opponents of Rhode Island, and the new line of policy they had adopted to obtain their ends.
The proceedings of Massachusetts and of her agents in England were equally decisive. A printed advertise- ment was struck off in Boston, and soon afterward posted in the town of Newport, signed by a committee of the Narraganset proprietors, in right of the Atherton pur- chasers, offering for sale, upon advantageous terms to ac- tual settlers, tracts of land in that country, and describing it as being within the jurisdiction of Connecticut.3
1 There is more truth than poetry in this clause of the sentence, and in- deed it is the only truth contained in the whole paragraph. But if the main- land towns, appreciating the reasons of the neglect they certainly experienced from the island, failed to complain very much about it, we see no cause why Plymouth should vex herself in their behalf; and it comes with an ill grace from one of the United Colonies when they had wantonly made Rhode Island their battle ground, and then failed to leave a garrison within her borders af- ter the great swamp fight.
2 This letter, dated 13th July, 1677, and signed "Nath. Morton, Secy., by order of the Great Court," is entered in Br. S. P. O. New England papers, vol. xxxiii. p. 5.
$ This handbill is signed by Simon Bradstreet, John Saffin and Elisha Hutchinson, and is preserved in New England papers, vol. iii. p. 46. Br. S. P. O., and printed in R. I. Col. Rec., vol. iii. p. 18, from a copy in Mr. Brown's MSS.
30.
446
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. XI. 1678.
The course pursued by Holden and Greene, as the agents of Warwick in the Harris case, opened the whole discussion of the past conduct of Massachusetts. They had protested against having any Massachusetts referees in a matter where their town was concerned. This drew an answer from the agents of that colony,1 wherein they incautiously ventured upon a sketch of the early history Aug. of Warwick, defending the acts of Massachusetts, assail- ing the character of the petitioners, and charging Rhode Island with disloyalty upon sundry occasions. This was an unfortunate train of argument for the respondents to adopt. The Warwick men at once retorted with great 10. severity in a petition, relating the facts of the case, ex- posing the fallacies of their opponents, repelling their at- tacks upon the loyalty of Rhode Island, adducing record proofs of the disloyalty of Massachusetts, and concluding with a series of requests ; first, that a Supreme Court of judicature over all the colonies may be erected in New England, whereby equal justice may be rendered, boun- dary disputes be adjusted, and civil war, which must oth- erwise result from "the oppressions of an insulting and tyrannical government," may be averted ; second, that the royal letter of 1666, confirming the acts of the com- missioners in behalf of Rhode Island, may be renewed ; third, that Connecticut may be compelled to restore the town of Westerly, lately taken from Rhode Island by force ; and lastly, that the decisions of Massachusetts against Warwick men, especially the decree of banish- ment against Randall Holden, now of thirty-five years standing, may be annulled .? The petition was accompa- nied by a number of documents going back to the pur-
1 William Stoughton and Peter Bulkely. Their answer is of the same date in London as the handbill in Boston, July 30th, 1678. The original paper is in Br. S. P. O., vol. iii. p. 47, of New England papers.
2 The original of this masterly state paper, as conclusive as it is severe, is filed in the Br. S. P. O. New England papers, vol. iii. p.24-7.
447
COUNTER ACTS OF RHODE ISLAND.
chase of Warwick, and corroborating the positions ad- CHIAP. vanced by its authors.1 XI.
The General Assembly at the adjourned session pro- ceeded at once to fill the vacancy in the office of gover- nor, and William Coddington was chosen. A committee waited upon Mrs. Arnold, widow of the deceased gover- nor, to obtain the charter and other public papers, late in the official custody of her husband. Attention was called to the Atherton handbill, which had been set up in Nar- raganset by John Saffin, one of the signers, " whoe forth- with fled off the island from the hands of justice."? A declaration of ownership by Rhode Island, and prohibi- tion to all persons against settling upon the lands without leave of the Assembly, was immediately passed ; copies of it were sent to every town in the colony, to be posted
1 These documents are not filed with the petition, but are found scattered among the papers in the same and other volumes, with other evidence pre- sented at different times by Holden and Greene, upon these and other points connected with their mission. Seven of these documents are contained in pages 2 to 6 of the same vol. iii. of New England papers, viz., Submission of Narragansets, 19th April, 1644. Reception thereof by the commissioners, 20th March, 1664. Warning sent by Warwick to Massachusetts men, 28th Sept., 1643. Sentence of Massachusetts Court against Gorton, 3d Nov., 1643. Naming and bounding of Kings Province, 20th March, 1664. Appointment of Rhode Island officers as justices there, 8th April, 1665. Cartwright's letter to Gorton, 26th May, 1665. The facts of which these and many other papers deposited at this period are confirmatory evidence we have stated in their proper place, but have not befere mentioned where the official copies, if sought for, may be found. Although sent originally by Warwick upon the Harris land case, the general business of the colony soon fell into their hands. The colony agents, Sandford and Bailey, appointed 24th May, 1677, did not go to England. The Warwick men showed themselves fully competent for the most difficult labors of negotiation or of defence, and upon their return the Assembly, in July, 1679, voted them the sum of sixty pounds, of which forty-five pounds had been disbursed by them on the colo- ny's account in England, and the balance was for their passage home.
2 He was afterwards arrested and imprisoned under a warrant issued by Gov. Cranston, 14th April, 1679. MS. files of Mass. Ilist. Soc., and a let- ter was sent by Massachusetts to Rhode Island, 3d June, demanding his re- lease-Trumbull papers, vol. xxii. No. 95-but no notice was taken of it by the Rhode Island Assembly. He was tried, fined, and his estate forfeited.
1678. Aug. 28.
448
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. XI. 1678.
in conspicuous places, and the act was published by beat of drum in the town of Newport.
A case involving the question of the revising power of the Assembly over the proceedings of the General Court of Trials, which has since been often agitated in this State, was presented ; the action upon which shows that the im- portance of an independent judiciary was felt at that early day, and that the Assembly clearly understood their legit- imate powers, and had no desire to exceed them. The case of Sandford against Forster had been twice legally tried by the Court, when one Colson petitioned the legis- lature, in behalf of the defendant, for a reversal of judgment. We quote the language of the vote upon this petition : " This Assembly conceive that it doth not properly belong to them, or anywise within their recognizance, to judge or to reverse any sentence or judgment passed by the Gener- all Court of Tryalls, according to law, except capitall or criminall cases, or mulct or fines."
Oct.
30.
When the next regular session of the Assembly was held, Governor Coddington was on his death-bed. " He died November 1st, in the seventy-eighth year of his age, a good man, full of days." 1 He was a man of vigorous in- tellect, of strong passions, earnest in whatever he under- took, and self-reliant in all his actions. Such a man could not fail to occupy a prominent place in any community. He was one of the Assistants of the Massachusetts Com- pany in England, came over with it to America, and was a leading merchant in Boston, where he built the first brick house. With the larger number of the more liberal and educated people of that town, he espoused the Antinomian views, and upon the overthrow of that cause, emigrated to Aquedneck, which island he purchased in his own name for himself and associates. He was made the first judge or chief magistrate of the new colony, and continued to be its governor till the union of the towns under the first
1 Callender's Dedication, p. 52, R. I. H. C., iv.
449
DEATH OF GOVERNOR CODDINGTON.
patent. In Newport he was the first person who ever en- CHAP. gaged in commerce. The distraction that prevailed in the XI. colony was no doubt the motive of his voyage to England 1678. Nov. to obtain a commission as governor of the island for life. This was a direct, and as the event proved, an unwarranted usurpation, in which he was opposed by Clarke, Arnold, and nearly all the freemen of the island, and for which we can best account in the words of one who thoroughly appreci- ated the principles and the men of early Rhode Island. " He had in him a little too much of the future for Mas- sachusetts, and a little too much of the past for Rhode Island, as she then was." 1 After the revocation of his power he led a retired life for many years. During this interval, he embraced the views of the Friends, and was distinguished for his zeal in their cause, and the vigor with which he combated those who differed from his opinions. Latterly he had engaged to some extent in public affairs. He was once elected deputy governor and three times gov- ernor, in which office he died.2
The Assembly adjourned till the following Monday, when Conanicut island was incorporated as a township, and called Jamestown in honor of the King. Another ad- journment then took place, probably for the funeral of Gov. Coddington, after which the chief business of the session was transacted. The deputy governor, John Cranston, was then elected Governor, and the first Assistant from New- port, James Barker, was chosen deputy governor. Each took the engagement to his new office and was formally ab- solved from his previous official engagements. The two Assistants next to Barker were each raised one step with- out taking a new engagement, and a third Assistant, Caleb Carr, was elected and engaged. The charter and other
4.
8 to
15.
1 Chief Justice Durfec's Historical Discourse, p. 16.
2 He was a deputy from Newport in March, 1666, and an assistant in Oc- tober of that year. In 1673 he was chosen deputy governor, and the two following years governor, and again in August, 1678, by the Assembly.
VOL. I-29
450
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. papers, as usual, were obtained from Mrs. Coddington and XI. placed in custody of the new governor. The duplicate 1678. Nov. copy of the charter, which had hitherto been kept by John Clarke, was also obtained from his executors, and has ever since been preserved, first in the custody of the deputy governor, and then by the General Assembly in the Secre- tary's office.1
15.
A rate of three hundred pounds was laid. As this was the first tax assessed since the war, the great disproportion observed in its allotments, indicates the relative degree in which the towns had suffered. A comparison of this with previous taxes will show how recent events had affected the prosperity of different portions of the colony. New- port was assessed one hundred and thirty-six pounds, Ports- mouth sixty-eight, New Shoreham and Jamestown each twenty-nine, Providence ten, Warwick eight, Kingston sixteen, one-half of which was afterwards remitted, East Greenwich and Westerly two pounds each. Thus it will be seen that while every town bore its share, the two towns on Aquedneck paid more than two-thirds of the whole levy, the three islands together paid seven-eighths of the tax, and the five mainland towns less than one-eighth. So great a disproportion has never been observed before or since. The prices placed upon articles of food and rai- ment, in commutation of this tax, give us valuable infor- mation as to the cost of living at this time. Fresh pork was valued at two pence a pound, salted and well packed pork, fifty shillings a barrel, fresh beef twelve shillings a hundred weight, packed beef, in barrels, thirty shillings a
. 1 At the January session of the present year, 1858, it was " Resolved, That the Secretary cause the original charter, granted to this State when a colony, by King Charles II., and the copy thereof, to be framed and protected, in such manner as to ensure their preservation ; and that he deposit the du- plicate of said charter in the cabinet of the Rhode Island Historical Society, for safe keeping ; and that the cost of such frames be allowed and paid out of the State Treasury, upon the order of the State auditor." This has ac- cordingly been done.
451
THE WARWICK AGENTS IN ENGLAND.
hundred, pease, and barley malt, two and sixpence a bush- CHAP. el, corn and barley, two shillings, washed wool, sixpence a XI. 1678. Nov. 15. pound, and good firkin butter, five pence.1 Most of this tax was paid in wool, and the price reduced to five pence. A report of the proceedings of the Court of Commissioners at Providence upon the Harris land cases, presented by the two Rhode Island members of that tribunal, was or- dered to be forwarded to his Majesty, which was done, with a letter from the governor.2
27.
The Warwick agents were fully employed at this time, not only with their immediate business, but in a defence of the rights of the colony, incidentally forced upon them by her opponents. Richard Smith, in behalf of the Nar- raganset proprietors, had sent a petition to the King, set- ting forth the Connecticut claim, and the defenceless con- dition of Rhode Island during the war, and praying that their country with the adjacent islands, Conanicut, Dutch, Patience, and Hope, might be restored to Connecticut. The matter was referred to the Board of Trade, and Hol- den and Greene were called upon for information on the subject, and to answer the averments of the petitioners.3 This they did, in behalf of the colony, with signal ability, defending the claim of Rhode Island under the charter, and vindicating her conduct in the war.4 The printed ad- vertisement of the Narraganset lands, having been sent out
1 A comparison of this tax with that levied for the same amount in June, 1670, forcibly illustrates the changes wrought by the war. A like com- parison of prices with those current in Oct., 1670, shows a large decline in all the staple articles of life, while the relative values of English and colonial currency, as there stated, remained about the same, and hence the reduction of sterling to federal money, there given, will answer for this period.
2 The letter is filed in Br. S. P. O., New England, vol. xxxii. p. 344.
3 The original petition and order in council thereupon, July 3d, 1678, are in New England papers, vol. iii. p. 38-40, Br. S. P. O., and are printed in R. I. Col. Rec., iii. 50-1.
4 The original paper is in Br. S. P. O., New England, vol. iii. p. 42- printed in R. I. Col. Rec., iii. 60-2.
5.
452
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. XI. Dec. 4. to Holden and Greene, was presented by them to the royal council, and an order was at once issued for the Massachu- 1678. setts agents to appear and show upon what title the lands were claimed.1 Staughton and Bulkeley informed the council that it was a private claim. This admission, to- gether with the representations of Holden and Greene in answer to Smith's petition, were embodied in an order of 13. council,2 issued the same day, requiring that notice should be sent to New England to leave Kings Province in its present condition, and that those who claimed ownership or jurisdiction there, should forthwith send agents to prove their rights before the King. The following week, upon 20. petition of Randal Holden, a peremptory order was issued annulling the sentence of banishment passed by the Mas- sachusetts Court against Holden and his associates, the men of Warwick, thirty-five years before, and command- ing the said Court to repeal the same and to allow these persons, at all times, free access within their jurisdiction. The terms of this order were unusually decided, and indi- cate a strong feeling of condemnation, in the royal coun- cil, at the arbitrary conduct of Massachusetts towards the adherents of Gorton.3
1678-9. Jan.
The Warwick men having concluded their mission in England were about to return home, when another matter occurred to cause their delay for a few weeks. John Crowne petitioned for the grant of Mount Hope, lately . conquered from the Indians, as an offset to losses sustain- ed by his family in the King's service in Acadia.4 A note was addressed by the council to the agents of Massa- chusetts and of Warwick, inquiring about the extent,
24.
1 This order is entered in vol. xxxii. p. 295, New England papers, Br. S. P. O. See R. I. Col. Rec., iii. 62.
2 New England papers, vol. xxxii. p. 308, Br. S. P. O. R. I. Col. Rec., iii. 63.
3 The original petition is in Br. S. P. O., New England papers, vol. iii. p. 49, and the order upon it is in vol. xxxii. p. 312.
4 Br. S. P. O., New England, vol. iii. p. 52.
453
CLAIMANTS OF MOUNT HOPE.
value, and proprietorship of Mount Hope.1 To this Hol- CHAP. den and Greene replied that the tract contained about four XI. thousand acres, was worth as many pounds, and that the 1679. propriety was in the King. Staughton and Bulkeley Feb. 3. estimated it at about six thousand acres, could not judge of the value, and claimed that it was included in Plymouth patent .? The diversity of these replies led the council to 6. order that inquiries on the same points be made to the four colonies in the same letter that was preparing to be sent to them concerning Narraganset.3 This letter, draft- ed in accordance with the order in council of two months before, recapitulated the points in dispute about Narra- ganset, and required claimants to send agents to England 12. to prove their rights. It also made inquiries about Mount Hope,4 and became, as we shall see, a fruitful source of contention in a few months.5
At the next General Assembly all the towns except Westerly and Kingstown were represented by deputies. As we have before stated, it was the custom to organize on the day previous to the election in order to admit free- men. Those who had been received as freemen of the towns were, on these occasions, made freemen of the colony. Although in fact but one session, the two Assemblies, one meeting the day before and the other upon election day, were technically considered as distinct bodies, as indeed they were, and the towns chose their deputies for the spring sessions to attend both Assemblies. The changes
1 Br. S. P. O., New England, vol. xxxii. p. 18. R. I. Col. Rec., iii. 38.
2 The originals of these two replies are in Br. S. P. O., New England, vol. iii. pp. 50, 53. R. L. Col. Rec., iii. 37-8.
3 Br. S. P. O., New England, vol. xxxii. p. 336. R. I. Col. Rec., iii. 38.
4 The Mount Hope matter was settled in favor of Plymouth, by Report of the Board of Trade, 4th Dec., 1679, approved by the Council 21st Dec. Br. S. P. O., New England, vol. iii. p. 34-7, and confirmed by royal letter, 12th Jan., 1679-80, vol. xxxii. p. 315-granting their petition of 1st July, 1679, vol. xxxiii. p. 15, R. I. Col. Rec., iii. 64-6.
6 Br. S. P. O., New England, vol. xxxii. p. 338. R. I. Col. Rec., iii. 40. 1 M. H. C., v. 221.
May. 6.
454
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. XI. made on election day were among the general officers and Assistants, who were chosen by popular vote. The meetings 1679. of the Assembly were held at hotels or in private houses. May The vote of those present was by ballot, collected in a hat. Proxy votes were opened by a committee, and the Re- corder made a list of the names of all those who voted. 7. At this election, the choice of John Cranston as governor, made by the Assembly upon the death of Coddington, was confirmed by the people, and Walter Clarke was elected deputy governor.
A custom had grown up "among sundry persons, being evill-minded," of overworking their own servants, and of hiring other men's servants and under-letting them, to la- bor on Sunday. A law was passed to prevent this inhu- manity, and also to forbid gaming, sporting, and tippling on the first day of the week, under penalty of the stocks, or a fine. The frauds practised by sailor landlords upon seamen, caused a law to be passed that no such person, who should trust a sailor, that had been shipped, for a sum greater than five shillings, without an order from his captain, could recover the debt ; and should he attempt to do so he rendered himself liable for damages at the suit of the master. The master of every vessel of over twenty tons burthen was required to report himself to the head of- ficer of the town upon arrival and departure, and if over ten days in port then to set up notice in two public places in the town three days before sailing.1 This act was passed in view of the English acts of trade and navigation which afterwards became so fruitful a source of contention be- tween the mother country and her American colonies.
The colony now adopted the rule of paying the neces- sary expenses of the members of the Assembly, and also of the Court of Trials, for board and lodging during their at-
This latter regulation still exists in some countries and is applied to all travellers, who, as in Russia at this day, must advertise their intention to leave, that creditors may have full notice.
455
RENEWED STRIFE FOR KINGS PROVINCE.
tendance. The sums collected by fines and forfeitures CHAP. were appropriated to this purpose. The law of 1658 to prevent innovation in the government of the colony was revised, pronouncing forfeiture of the entire estates of all persons who should subject their lands, lying within the jurisdiction of this colony, to that of any other government. There was ample occasion for severe legislation upon this point. The settlement of Narraganset by Rhode Island men had attracted the attention of Connecticut, and drawn from that colony a letter demanding the recall of those settlers ; to which Rhode Island replied, regretting a re- newal of the strife, but asserting her claim, and looking for justice to God and the King.' The General Assembly of Connecticut appointed officers in Narraganset, and em- 8. powered the governor and council to punish intruders, to treat with Rhode Island, and to settle the country.
Upon the return of the Warwick agents bearing the royal letter of inquiry concerning Narraganset and Mount Hope, the governor, by warrant, convened the Assembly. A prohibition was sent to Westerly and Kingstown for- bidding any persons from there exercising authority under any other government, and requiring all the residents of Kings Province to render obedience to this .? The magis- trates were required to hold courts in Kings Province as often as the governor should see cause, the better to en- force the King's commands. The arrival of Sir Edmund Andros, governor of New York, being daily expected, pro- vision was made for his reception at the public expense. He was then on his way home, and was making the tour of New England under orders to report upon the condition of these colonies. It happened fortunately for Rhode Island, when a few years later she, with the rest of New
1 The two letters, dated April 7th and 21st, 1679, are in vol. i. p. 240-4 of MS. copies of Conn. records in the cabinet of the R. I. Hist. Soc.
" The prohibition is entered upon the records, and is in R. I. Col. Rec., iii. 40-2.
XI. ~ 1679. May
July 9.
456
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. XI. July England, was placed under his government, that this timely civility had been shown to the royal governor ; 1679. but at this time no such calamity could have been antici- pated.
19.
21
A warrant was issued for the arrest of Richard Smith on account of his petition to the King on behalf of Con- necticut. He was to be examined preparatory to drafting the letter that was to be sent to England in reply to the royal missive brought by Holden and Greene. A survey of Mount Hope was ordered to be made for the same purpose, and other examinations, in respect to Narraganset, were made on each side of the question. The testimonies of John Greene and of Roger Williams were taken upon the facts of the first settlement of Narraganset by Richard Smith, and a lengthy petition was signed by a large num- ber of the people of Narraganset praying that they may be erected into a distinct government.1 The letter of Rhode Island to the King was accompanied by a plan of Mount Hope, which tract was supposed to contain about seven thousand acres and was valued at three thousand pounds, and it asked that Kings Province may be preserved to Rhode Island as accorded in the charter.2 The United Colonies in their reply to the royal letter claimed Mount Hope for Plymouth and Narraganset for Connecticut, and indulged in the usual vituperation of Rhode Island.3
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