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was heard, not a hamlet burned, not a life lost, within her borders. Her soldiers made common cause with their brethren of Massachusetts and Rhode Island; but their own homes were saved from the desolations

of war.

In July of 1675, Sir Edmund Andros, the governor of New York, arrived with an armed sloop at the mouth of the Connecticut. Orders were sent to Captain Bull, who commanded the fort at Saybrook, to surrender his post; but the brave captain replied by hoisting the flag of England and assuring the bearer of the message that his master would better retire. Andros, however, landed and came to a parley with the officers of the fort. He began to read his commission, but was ordered to stop. In vain did the arrogant magistrate insist that the dominions of the duke of York extended from the Connecticut to the Delaware. "Connecticut has her own charter, signed by His Gracious Majesty King Charles II.," said Captain Bull. "Leave off your reading, or take the consequences!" The argument prevailed, and the red-coated governor, trembling with rage, was escorted to his boat by a company of Saybrook militia.

In 1686, when Andros was made royal governor of New England, Connecticut was again included in his jurisdiction. The first year of his administration was spent in establishing his authority in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. In the following October he made his famous visit to Hartford. On the day of his arrival he invaded the provincial assembly while in session, seized the book of minutes, and with his own hand wrote FINIS at the bottom of the page. He demanded the immediate surrender of the colonial charter. Governor Treat pleaded long and earnestly for the preservation of the precious document. Andros was inexorable. The shades of evening fell. Joseph Wadsworth found in the gathering darkness an opportunity to conceal the cherished parchment-a deed which has made his own name and the name of a trec immortal. Two years later, when the government of Andros was overthrown, Connecticut made haste to restore her liberties.

In the autumn of 1693, another attempt was made to subvert the freedom of the colony. Fletcher, the governor of New York, went to Hartford to assume command of the militia of the province. He bore a commission from King William; but by the terms of the charter the right of commanding the troops was vested in the colony itself. The general assembly refused to recognize the authority of Fletcher, who, nevertheless, ordered the soldiers under arms and proceeded to read his commission as colonel. "Beat the drums!" shouted Captain Wadsworth, who stood at the head of the company. "Silence!" said Fletcher; the

drums ceased, and the reading began again. "Drum! drum!" cried Wadsworth; and a second time the voice of the reader was drowned in the uproar. "Silence! silence!" shouted the enraged governor. The dauntless Wadsworth stepped before the ranks and said, "Colonel Fletcher, if I am interrupted again, I will let the sunshine through your body in an instant." That ended the controversy. Benjamin Fletcher thought it better to be a living governor of New York than a dead colonel of the Connecticut militia.

"I give these books for the founding of a college in this colony." Such were the words of ten ministers who, in the year 1700, assembled at the village of Branford, a few miles east of New Haven. Each of the worthy fathers, as he uttered the words, deposited a few volumes on the table around which they were sitting; such was the founding of YALE COLLEGE. In 1702 the school was formally opened at Saybrook, where it continued for fifteen years, and was then removed to New Haven. One of the most liberal patrons of the college was Elihu Yale, from whom the famous institution of learning derived its name. Common schools had existed in almost every village of Connecticut since the planting of the colony. The children of the Pilgrims have never forgotten the cause of education.

The half century preceding the French and Indian war was a period of prosperity to all the western districts of New England. Connecticut was especially favored. Almost unbroken peace reigned throughout her borders. The blessings of a free commonwealth were realized in full measure. The farmer reaped his fields in cheerfulness and hope. The mechanic made glad his dusty shop with anecdote and song. The merchant feared no duty, the villager no taxes. Want was unknown and pauperism unheard of. Wealth was little cared for and crime of rare occurrence among a people with whom intelligence and virtue were the only foundations of nobility. With fewer dark pages in her history, less austerity of manners and greater liberality of sentiment, Connecticut had all the lofty purposes and shining virtues of Massachusetts. The visions of Hooker and Haynes, and the dreams of the quiet Winthrop, were more than realized in the happy homes of the Connecticut valley.

IT

CHAPTER XXII.

RHODE ISLAND.

was in June of 1636 that the exiled Roger Williams left the country of the Wampanoags and passed down the Seekonk to Narragansett River. His object was to secure a safe retreat beyond the limits of Plymouth colony. He, with his five companions, landed on the western bank, at a place called Moshassuck, purchased the soil of the Narragansett sachems, and laid the foundations of Providence. Other exiles joined the company. New farms were laid out, new fields were ploughed and new houses built; here, at last, was found at PROVIDENCE PLANTATION & refuge for all the distressed and persecuted.

The leader of the new colony was a native of Wales; born in 1606; liberally educated at Cambridge; the pupil of Sir Edward Coke; in after years the friend of Milton; a dissenter; a hater of ceremonies; a disciple of truth in its purest forms; an uncompromising advocate of freedom; exiled to Massachusetts, and now exiled by Massachusetts, he brought to the banks of the Narragansett the great doctrines of perfect religious liberty and the equal rights of men. If the area of Rhode Island had corresponded with the grandeur of the principles on which she was founded, who could have foretold her destiny?

Roger Williams belonged to that most radical body of dissenters called Anabaptists. By them the validity of infant baptism was denied. Williams himself had been baptized in infancy; but his views in regard to the value of the ceremony had undergone a change during his ministry at Salem. Now that he had freed himself from all foreign authority both of Church and State, he conceived it to be his duty to receive a second baptism. But who should perform the ceremony? Ezekiel Holliman, a layman, was selected for the sacred duty. Williams meekly received the rite at the hands of his friend, and then in turn baptized him and ten other exiles of the colony. Such was the organization of THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH in America.

The beginning of civil government in Rhode Island was equally simple and democratic. Mr. Williams was the natural ruler of the little province, but he reserved for himself neither wealth nor privilege. The

lands which he purchased from Canonicus and Miantonomoh were freely distributed among the colonists. Only two small fields, to be planted and tilled with his own hands, were kept by the benevolent founder for himself. How different from the grasping avarice of Wingfield and Lord Cornbury! All the powers of the colonial government were entrusted to the people. A simple agreement was made and signed by the settlers that in all matters not affecting the conscience they would yield a cheerful obedience to such rules as the majority might make for the public welfare. In questions of religion the individual conscience should be to every man a guide. When Massachusetts objected that such a democracy would leave nothing for the magistrates to do, Rhode Island answered that magistrates were wellnigh useless.

The new government stood the test of experience. The evil prophecies of its enemies were unfulfilled; instead of predicted turmoil and dissension, Providence Plantation had nothing but peace and quiet. It was found that all religious sects could live together in harmony, and that difference of opinion was not a bar to friendship. All beliefs were welcome at Narragansett Bay. A Buddhist from Japan or a pagan from Madagascar would have been received at Providence and cordially entertained. Miantonomoh, the young sachem of the Narragansetts, loved Roger Williams as a brother. It was the confidence of this chieftain that enabled Williams to notify Massachusetts of the Pequod conspiracy, and then at the hazard of his life to defeat the plans of the hostile nation. This magnanimous act awakened the old affections of his friends at Salem and Plymouth, and an effort was made to recall him and his fellow-exiles from banishment. It was urged that a man of such gracious abilities, so full of patience and charity, could never be dangerous in a State; but his enemies answered that the principles and teachings of Williams would subvert the commonwealth and bring Massachusetts to ruin. The proposal was rejected. The ancient Greeks sometimes recalled their exiled heroes from banishment; the colony of Massachusetts, never.

During the Pequod war of 1637, Rhode Island was protected by the friendly Narragansetts. The territory of this powerful tribe lay between Providence and the country of the Pequods, and there was little fear of an invasion. The next year was noted for the arrival of Mrs. Hutchinson and her friends at the island of Rhode Island. The leaders of the company were John Clarke and William Coddington. It had been their intention to conduct the colony to Long Island, or perhaps to the country of the Delaware. But Roger Williams made haste to welcome them to his province, where no man's conscience might be distressed. Governor Vane of Massachusetts, sympathizing with the refugees, prevailed

with Miantonomoh to make them a gift of Rhode Island. Here, in the early spring of 1638, the colony was planted. The first settlement was

made at Portsmouth, in the

[graphic]

northern part of the island. Other exiles came to join their friends, and civil government was thought desirable. The Jewish nation furnished the model. William Coddington was chosen judge in the new Israel of Narragansett Bay, and three elders were appointed to assist him in the government. In the following year the title of judge gave way to that of governor, and the administration bemore modern in its methods. At the same time a party of colonists removed from Portsmouth, already crowded with exiles, to the south-western part of the island, and laid the foundations of NEWPORT. Hither had come, more than six hundred years before, the hardy adventurers of Iceland. Here had been a favorite haunt of the wayward seakings of the eleventh century. Here, in sight of the new settlement, stood the old stone tower, the most celebrated monument left by the Norsemen in America.

came

THE OLD STONE TOWER AT NEWPORT.

The island was soon peopled. The want of civil government began to be felt as a serious inconvenience. Mr. Coddington's new Israel had proved an utter failure. In March of 1641 a public meeting was convened; the citizens came together on terms of perfect equality, and the task of framing a constitution was undertaken. In three days the instrument was completed. The government was declared to be a "DEMOCRACIE," or government by the people. The supreme authority was lodged with the whole body of freemen in the island; and freemen, in this instance, meant everybody. The vote of the majority should always rule. No soul should be distressed on accoun of religious doctrine. Liberty of conscience, even in the smallest particular, should be universally respected. A seal of State was ordered, having for its design a sheaf of arrows and a motto of AMOR VINCET OMNIA. The little

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