USA > Rhode Island > Picturesque Rhode Island : pen and pencil sketches of the scenery and history its cities, towns, and hamlets, and of men who have made them famous > Part 15
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" There goes many a ship to sea, with many hundred souls in one ship, whose weal and woe is common, and is a true picture of
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a commonwealth or a human combination of society. It hath fallen out sometimes that both Papists and Protestants, Jews and Turks, may be embarked in one ship; upon which supposal I affirm that all the liberty of conscience, that ever I pleaded for, turns upon
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The Buildings of the Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Company.
these two hinges: that none of the Papists, Protestants, Jews, or Turks, be forced to come to the ship's prayers or worship, nor com- pelled from their own particular prayers or worship, if they prac- tice any. I further add, that I never denied, that notwithstanding this liberty, the commander of this ship ought to command the ship's course, yea, and also command that justice, peace, and sobriety, be kept and practiced, both among the seamen and all the passengers. If any of the seamen refuse to perform their service, or passengers to pay their freight; if any refuse to help, in person or purse, towards the common charges or defence ; if any refuse to obey the common laws and orders of the ship, concerning their common peace or preservation ; if any shall mutiny or rise up against their commanders and officers ; if any should preach or write that there ought to be no commanders or officers because all are equal in Christ, therefore no master nor officers, no laws nor orders, no cor- rections nor punishments ; I say, I never denied, but in such cases, whatever is pretended, the commander or commanders may judge, resist, compel, and punish such transgressors, according to their deserts and merits."
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The Roger Williams Monument.
This letter, however con- vincing to an unprejudiced mind, by no means ended the controversy. The idea set forth in the paper re- ferred to, although absurd upon the face of it, found ready supporters among the lawless, and notably one in William Harris, who, how- ever, can hardly in fairness be called lawless, since, al- though he did many un- principled things, he seems to have done them under an honest conviction of their lawfulness. He was a man of pleasing address, culti- vated mind, and strong feel- ing. all of which he brought to bear upon the discussion of the subject. The acri-
mony of the dispute engendered a hostility between him and Mr. Wil- liams which never died out during their lives, and both, in the heat of controversy, so far forgot what they owed to their own dignity, as to descend to personal invective. Harris had published "that his conscience would not allow him to be subject to any man," and had attempted to sustain his position by perverting texts from Scripture in its support. It was the same mischevious doc- trine which had called forth the letter quoted The Park Garden Pavilion.
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above. Gentle means having failed, Mr. Williams, as president of the colony, resorted to harsher measures, and issued a warrant for his arrest, on a charge of high treason against the Commonwealth
The Works of the Nicholson File Company.
of England, and he and his son, Andrew, were placed under bonds of £500.
The year 1656 is memorable as the time of the advent of the Quakers into the Puritan colony. If the colonists meted out such persecution to those who, while offending in a few points of doctrine, yet held many of the essentials in common with themselves, how direful was the punishment which they inflicted upon this " cursed sect of heretics," who differed so totally from them. A stringent law was enacted and rigidly enforced for their suppression, and in 1658, to hold Quaker tenets was punishable with death. "Fines, impris- onment, banishment, mutilation, death were denounced and inflicted upon them. The wildest fanaticism on their part was met with frenzied bigotry on the other." The persecutions which they had suffered were productive of morbid conditions of mind, and many committed acts which could be accounted for only upon the ground of insanity, but which were visited with the extremity of the law. So great was the fear of them, and the hatred cherished towards them by the Puritans, that they were not content with inflicting punishment upon overt acts of offence, but visited their
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severity upon persons of blame- less life and character, who held their heretical opinions. This persecution lasted five years, and was only stayed then by an order from King Charles II. that it should cease, and that obnoxious persons should be sent to Eng- land, to be dealt with by the home government. Like others who had been driven from the Massachu- EEEEE setts Colony for daring to differ from its founders, many Quakers fled into Rhode Island, where they led peaceable lives, cherish- ing their own belief without let or hindrance. This state of affairs was almost as vexatious to the The Betsey Williams House. Puritans as their presence among themselves. Their commissioners assembled at Boston and framed a letter requesting the Rhode Island Colony to banish those who were already within the limits of the colony, and to take immediate measures to prevent the entrance of any more. Mr. Williams, who was then president of the Rhode Island Colonies, and his assistants met in Providence, and replied to this request, that there was no law in Rhode Island by which any one could be pun- ished for his opin- ions; that the
Quakers, being allowed to hold and to set forth their doctrines without molesta- tion, had met with so little success in converting others to them, that they were becoming discouraged ; and
The What Cheer Cottage.
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finally, that if they committed any extravagancies, such as they had been guilty of in Massachusetts, the next General Assembly would provide a corrective. The charter of Rhode Island guaranteed that
The Rhode Island Hospital,
every person should be free to enjoy his own opinions so long as they did not militate against the general good. So the Quakers were allowed free access to the colony, and during the years which immediately followed, great numbers made it their home. They found it a convenient central point from which to make excursions abroad for the purpose of disseminating their doctrines. So bigoted were the surrounding colonies, that they could not comprehend that a thing might be tolerated which yet might not be believed.
Seeing that the Quakers were neither burned nor hanged, they asserted that the colony was actuated by an undue friendliness towards the teachings of Fox. Some color was given to this asser- tion by the fact that some of its magistrates belonged to the hated sect. Roger Williams, true to his character of champion of intel- lectual and religious freedom, undertook to prove them in the wrong, and that his colony, while faithful to their ruling idea, yet had no sympathy with Quaker dogmas, even although some of the highest places in the government were filled by their supporters. For this purpose he drew up a statement of fourteen propositions, in which
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he denoun- ced in un- measured terms the tenets of . the Quak- ers.
He challenged The Butler Hospital. Fox to a public dis- cussion of these, seven to be debated in Newport and seven in Prov- idence. The challenge was sent to Deputy-Governor Cranston, to be delivered by him, but so long was it in reaching the governor, that Fox had left the island, and consequently did not receive it. It was accepted, however, in his behalf by his disciples, Burnyeat, Edmundson, and Stubbs, -all thoroughly qualified by natural gifts and by training to discuss the subject in all its branches. Roger Wil- liams, then seventy-three years old, performed the remarkable feat of rowing himself from Providence to Newport in order to meet his engagement. The first seven of the propositions were debated in Newport, and then, according to agreement, the discussion was resumed in Providence, but only for one day. No special good resulted from the debate, as far as convincing either party of error is concerned. but the immediate object of Williams was attained, - that of convincing the neighboring colonists, especially those of Mas- sachusetts, that while protecting the persons of the unpopular sect, they refused to be identified in the remotest way with their creed.
When King Philip's War broke out, Roger Williams was an old man. Not- withstanding which, he accep- ted a commission of captain of mi- litia in the year 1676. Provi- dence had been nearly deserted.
The Friends' School.
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Less than thirty men remained for its protection. Two places in the town had been fortified, chiefly through Mr. Williams' efforts. Tra- dition relates that upon the approach of the enemy the venerable captain went out alone to meet and reason with them. " Massachu- setts," said he, " can raise thous- ands of men at this moment, and if you kill them, the King of England will supply their place as fast as they fall." " Well, let them come," was the reply, "we are ready for them. But as for you, Brother Williams, you are a good The Narragansett Hotel. man ; you have been kind to us for many years ; not a hair of your head shall be touched." The savages were true to the man who had kept faith with them all those years, and although they burnt the town, he was not harmed. The town records were saved from destruction by being thrown into the mill-pond of John Smith, the miller, who was town clerk at the time.
Early in the year 1683, at the ripe age of eighty-four, Roger Wil- liams was gathered to his fathers. Precisely how or when his death occurred is not known. He was buried in a spot said to have been selected by himself on What Cheer, not far from the place where he first landed on Rhode Island shores. At the head of his grave an apple-tree stood for many years. Not long ago, when the grave was opened, the roots of this tree were found to have passed through the space the body is supposed to have occupied. From the main root smaller branches had followed the course of the arms and legs. This singular specimen is still preserved, and may be seen in the Museum of Brown University.
Arnold thus sums up the character of this "Christian statesman": " He suffered more than most men from the slanders of those who should have been his friends, as well as from the oppression of ene- mies. . But posterity has rendered justice to his memory,
A View of Westminster Street.
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and the founder of Rhode Island, the great champion of intellectual liberty, has outlived the efforts of his detractors. The leading pecu-
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FREID
Hotel Dorrance.
liarities of his mind may be briefly sketched. A firmness, amounting in some cases perhaps to obstinacy, enabled him to suffer hardships, rarely if ever surpassed by those of any exile for opinion's sake. His generosity amounted to prodigality ; for after having purchased of the Indians all the lands around his new plantations with his own money, he divided them equally among those who followed him. His charity was an active principle, that led him to brave all peril to effect good to the natives, or to reconcile feuds among his fellow- citizens. Of his forgiving spirit, his conduct towards the neighboring colonies furnishes ample evidence. He harbored no feelings of revenge for injuries received, but pitied the weakness, or lamented the delusion whence they arose. His consistency and love of truth are alike apparent in his controversy with the Quakers at Newport, which has been so much misrepresented; yet he would have laid down his life rather than have a hair of their heads injured on account of their doctrinal views. His industry was unwearied; he valued time and he well improved it. 'One grain of its inestimable sand,' said he, ' is worth a golden mountain.' His faults were those of an
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ardent mind, sometimes hasty, ever slow to yield : but these are few beside his exalted virtues. He was a varied scholar, a profound philosopher, a practical Christian, a true philanthropist,-one whose deep knowledge of men, and whose acute perception of principles as dis- played in the foun- lation of an Amer- ican State, entitle him to the rank, which posterity has bestowed, among the far-sighted statesmen of his Low's Opera House. age - one who, were it his only praise to have been the first of modern legislators to embody the principles of universal toleration in the constitution of a State, would, by this act alone, secure a niche in the temple of fame, and cause his name to be handed down through all future time as the great Apostle of Religious Freedom."
It is a matter of lasting regret that no portrait of Roger Williams exists. Probably none was ever painted. Historians, in the descrip- tions of him, although acknowledging the influence of his personal presence, quite ignore his personal appearance. Undoubtedly the grandeur of his character and actions quite overshadowed it. The statue of him in the Old Representatives' Hall at Washington - the first statue presented by any state to the Nation - is a purely ideal one.
In the early years of Providence there was a sheet of water called the Mile-end Cove, between Fox Point and Wickenden Street. This has been filled up for many years. Within the last century, the tide flowed over Westminster Street and all north of it. At the head of Long Wharf was a round hill, which was then an island. The first vessel which sailed from Providence to the West Indies was loaded at a wharf a little west of the canal market. Large vessels used to lie at wharves adjoining the present 'Smith Street. There was a draw in the great bridge, which was fifty or sixty feet longer than it now is. Two highways originally led from the Moshassuck to the See- konk River, -one where Power Street now is, and the other at Meet-
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ing Street. Before the year 1770 very little attention was given to the subject of education. Some small schools were kept soon after that time, having about a dozen scholars each. The text-books used in them were the Bible, spelling-book, and primer. One was taught by George Taylor, for the special benefit of church scholars, and was partly or entirely supported by England. There were also some " dames' schools." "When one had learned to read, write and do a sum in the rule of three, he was fit for business." About 1770, the first school-house was built, through the exertions of Dr. Jonathan Arnold. It was situated near the north end of Benefit Street, and was called Whipple Hall.
The customs and fashions of Providence in those days were necessarily plain and simple. Durability in the materials of dress was consulted rather than beauty. Men generally wore breeches of wash-leather ; laborers of all kinds wore leather aprons ; those whose aspirations and means were equal to it wore clothes of English manufacture, but made in the plainest of styles. Most of the cloth used in the settlement was made by those who used it. Occasionally one with an inordinate passion for dress would appear in a cocked hat, or a powdered wig. Women made neighborly calls, dressed in a striped loose-gown, a checked apron, a handkerchief folded over the shoulders and across the bosom, and a sun-bonnet upon the head. The more opulent among them wore silk gowns, or calico ones, long ruffles at the wrist, and a lawn apron in place of the com- mon check. The hair was dressed high over a roll, upon which was worn a low-crowned chip hat, covered with thin silk of whatever color individual taste suggested.
The amusements of young men were chiefly games of ball, shoot- ing at poultry or at a mark, wrestling, jumping and dancing, in the latter of which, as a matter of course, the young women shared. Occasionally a pack of hounds would be kept, and a fox-hunt would give variety to their ordinary amusements.
People lived to be very old in those days. Mr. Samuel Thurber, himself then in his eighty-first year, gives an account of several whom he knew personally, who had reached a great age. A Mrs. Eddy died at the age of 105, and a Mr. Miller, at the same time, at about the same age. Mr. Thurber met a man in Newport who told him he was a hundred years and one month old that day. Mr. Richard Brown, who lived somewhere in the northeastern part of the town, was so active and cheerful that on his hundredth birthday he
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played a violin which his family presented to him, and to which in his younger days he had been much attached.
The machinery used was of the simplest kind. Furniture was very plain, and hard, ornamental woods but little used. Chairs and tables were straight and smooth, without paint or polish, and kept white by constant scouring. China and glass were almost unknown, and the few crockery dishes in use were of the coarsest. Most of the dishes were made of pewter or wood, and often a family did not possess enough of these to allow each person one.
The first coach in town was owned by Mr. Merritt, an English- man. Its advent upon the street created as much excitement as the street parade of a circus does now. Windows and doors were full of excited faces watching the passage of the wonderful object. Col. William Brown kept a vehicle which he called a " curricle," in which he would take an occasional passenger to Boston. The round trip occupied three days. Thomas Sabin, in 1767, advertised that a stage would "start every Tuesday morning from the house of Richard Olney, inn-holder, to carry travelers to Boston on the most expeditious and cheap rate." The coach returned on Thurs- day. Olney's inn was nearly opposite the Court House parade on North Main Street. The owners of stages used occasionally to give notice a week or ten days beforehand, that on a certain day, if suffi- cient encouragement were given, they would start for Boston. The object of this long notice was, that passengers might settle their worldly affairs and make their wills, preparatory to entering upon such a perilous undertaking. In 1783 a stage ran twice a week to Boston, and it was possible to look with calmness upon a man who had been to New York. In 1763 a line of two boats began to ply between Providence and Newport twice a week, and oftener if the number of passengers and amount of freight warranted it. The line of packets which soon after began to ply between Providence and New York were said " not to be surpassed in speed and accom- modation by any in the world." In 1820 the New London turnpike was built, and a line of stages put upon it connected with steamboats to New York from New London. The following charge, extracted from the account-book of Richard Brown, gives some idea of trav- eling expenses 150 years ago.
Oct. the 25, 1737, MARY TILLINGHAST, DR.
For the use of my mare the three days last past, a journey to East Greenwich, and carrying double on said mare, £0.12.0
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On the third of June, 1769, a transit of Venus occurred. Great interest in this phenomenon was shown in Providence, and no expense was spared in securing all the instruments necessary for observing it.
JSFOF
CARRA.RCIO
The Cathedral.
A temporary observatory was erected upon a cross street, about one hundred feet east of Benefit. The street has ever since borne the name of Transit Street. Dr. West published an account of the obser- vation, which compares most favorably in point of accuracy with those published in Europe.
The winter of 1779-80 was one of unprecedented severity, and is the historical " cold winter." Providence Harbor was closed by the ice as early as November, and continued so two months. The island of Rhode Island became practically a part of the main land, beaten paths over the ice leading to it from Providence, East Greenwich and
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Wickford. The ground was covered with snow the whole time, but its depth was not sufficient to interfere materially with travel.
The ecclesiastical history of Providence began with the founding of the First Baptist Church, in 1639. The first settlers were mem- bers of the Plymouth and Massachusetts churches. These organiza- tions possessed a Congregational government, were moderately Cal- vinistic in doctrine, and held to infant baptism. From the beginning of the settlement, meetings for public worship were held with regu- larity and frequency, and the service was conducted either by Mr. Williams or Mr. James, both of whom were ordained ministers. In March, 1639, active steps were taken to organize a church. Before this they had denied the doctrine of infant baptism, and Mr. Holy- man, a layman, had baptized Mr. Williams by immersion, after which Mr. Williams baptized Mr. Holyman in the same manner. By this act they disowned the churches of which they had been mem- bers, and were therefore excommunicated by them. They formed a church, and called Mr. Williams to the pastorate of it. This was the commencement of the First Baptist Church, the oldest organiza- tion of its kind in the country.
Mr. Williams held this position for four years, at the end of which he resigned it. Mr. Holyman was his colleague. Their successors were Chad Brown, William Wickenden, Gregory Dexter, Pardon Tillinghast, Ebenezer Jenckes, James Brown, Samuel Winsor, James Manning, Jonathan Maxcy, Stephen Gano, Robert E. Patti- son, William Hague, Robert E. Pattison, J. N. Granger, W. C. Richards, Dr. Francis Wayland, S. L. Caldwell, and the present pastor, Dr. Edward Glenn Taylor.
Dr. James Manning removed to Providence with the Rhode Island College, of which he was president. He was invited by the pastor of the church to preach before the society, and afterwards to partake of the communion with them. His acceptance gave great offence to some members of the church, because he did not hold that the doc- trine of the laying on of hands was an essential one, although he had submitted to the rite, and was in the habit of administering it whenever desired. So great a schism did this create, that at length the pastor withdrew and joined the separates in May of the year 1771. With the advice of some other Baptist churches, President Manning was elected to the vacancy in the following July. It was not the custom to make singing a part of public worship. Mr. Manning held that it should be such, but to Mr. Winsor, the idea was " disgustful."
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The records of the church state that "the church at first met for wor- ship in a grove, unless in wet and stormy weather, when they assembled in private houses ;" that after- wards Pardon Tillinghast " at his own expense built the first meeting-house about the year 1700." This house stood on the west side of North Main Street, nearly opposite Star Street. Mr. Tillinghast afterwards made a free gift of the house and lot to the society and their successors in the same faith and order. A new house was built in 1726, on the lot south of this one. In 1740 the Gen- eral Assembly, for reasons which have not been hand- ed down, allowed the so- Grace Church. ciety to hold service in the Court House. The house now occupied by them was first opened for public worship on May 28, 1775. The lot upon which it stands belonged to John Angell, whose orchard it was. They had reason to think that nothing would induce him to let it pass into their hands, knowingly, to become the site of a Baptist meeting-house. They therefore arranged that it should be purchased by an Episcopalian and conveyed to them.
The church, or meeting-house, as it is still most commonly called, stands in the middle of the lot, surrounded with grass, and enclosed by a fence. It is of wood, 80 feet square, of the Roman Ionic order, with a symmetrical and graceful spire at the west end, 196 feet high, said to have been modeled after designs by Sir Christopher Wren. The story is told of a student of Brown University, now living in Kansas, that he once climbed to the top of this steeple. Another tradition relates that at one time, when it required painting, no
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painter would take the contract, until one, quicker witted than the rest, agreed to do it, and fulfilled his agreement by importing sailors from Boston for the purpose.
The harmony of construction has been marred of late years by substituting slips for the old-fashioned square pews, and a pulpit of modern style for the old-fashioned one, with its sounding-board. The first bell weighed 2,515 pounds, and had the following inscription :
" For freedom of conscience, the town was first planted; Persuasion, not force, was used by the people. This church is the eldest, and has not recanted, Enjoying and granting bell, temple and steeple."
The present bell weighs 2,387 pounds, and is thus inscribed : " This church was founded A. D. 1639, the first in the State, and the oldest of the Baptists in America."
In the year 1871, more than two hundred years after Roger Wil- liams had made the purchase of Providence and Pawtuxet, and had made his companions equal owners thereof with him, a part of the original grant came into the possession of the city. In that year Miss Betsey Williams, a lineal descendant of the fifth generation from Roger Williams, died, and by her will bequeathed to the city of Providence the farm which had been in the possession of her fam- ily ever since it was given to her great ancestor by the sachem, Miantonomi. It lies partly in Providence and partly in Cranston, and consists of about one hundred acres of plain and woodland, with gently rising elevations and a stream of water. It was given to the city for a public park forever, to be called Roger Williams Park. The testatrix made but few conditions upon which the city should receive it, but among these few was one that it should erect in it a memorial to Roger Williams, at a cost of not less than five hundred dollars. In 1872 the city formally accepted this bequest, and straightway began to plan for a monument on a much more expen- sive scale than stipulated in the will. The result was, that in Octo- ber, 1877, the present monument, designed by Mr. Franklin Sim- mons, of Rome, and executed by the Smith Granite Company, was unveiled and dedicated with great pomp in the presence of many thousands of people. It stands facing the west, on an elevation west of the lake, and is visible from the Cranston road, and from most parts of the park. The old gambrel-roofed homestead, with its well- sweep, is in close proximity, and the immediately surrounding land has been reduced to order and beauty. The monument is of Westerly
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