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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
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 UNITED STATES OF AMEMOAiii 
 
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Early Baptists Defended. 
 A REVIEW 
 
 OF 
 
 Dr. Henry M. Dexter's Account of 
 THE VISIT TO WILLIAM WITTER, 
 
 In "As to Ro(;er Williams." 
 
 A PAPF.R READ BY REV. HE.N'RY M. KING, DD., AT THK SEMI-ANNUAL MEETING 
 
 li 
 
 OF THE liACKUS HISTORICAL SOCIETY, HELD IN THE BOWDOIN 
 SQUARE BAPTIST CHURCH, BOSTON, DEC. 8, 1S79, AND 
 PUBLISHED BY VOTE OF THE SOCIETY. 
 
 
 
 'it 
 
 Boston: 
 
 HOWARD GANNETT, PUBLISHER. 
 
 {880. 
 

 At a meeting of the Backus Historical Society, Monday, Dec. 8, 1879, '" 
 the Bovvdoin Square Church, it was unanimously voted to request the publication 
 of a paper read by Rev. Henry M. King, D. D. Rev. J. Banvard, D. D., and 
 the Secretary, were appointed a Committee, with the author, to carry out the 
 wishes of the Society. In accordance with the instructions, the paper appears 
 in the present form. 
 
 HEMAN LINCOLN, Secretary. 
 
THE VISIT TO WILLIAM WITTER. 
 
 The memorable visit of John Clarke, Obadiah Holmes and 
 John Crandall, members of the Baptist Church in Newport, 
 R. I. to William Witter, one of the early settlers of Lynn, 
 Mass., took place in July, 1651. I propose, in this paper, to 
 review the history of that visit, that we may ascertain, if 
 possible, the object of it, the alleged criminal conduct of 
 which these troublesome visitors were guilty, and the severity 
 of the punishment which they received at the hands of the 
 Puritan magistrates. 
 
 I have undertaken this service solely in the interests of his- 
 toric truth, and not, I trust, in the spirit of a partizan or a 
 controversialist. A difference of opinion having recently been 
 manifested in high quarters, and views put forward in opposition 
 to those which had been universally held, it seems desirable 
 that there should be a thorough and candid reexamination of 
 the facts in the case which are accessible. When such histo- 
 rians as Dr. Palfrey,^ and Dr. Dexter,- who follows him closely 
 
 ' Hist, of N. E., by John Gorliam Palfrey, D.D., LL.D. 
 -As to Rogers Williams, by Henry Martyn Dexter, D.D. 
 
and even outstrips him in the positiveness of his convictions, 
 call in question accepted opinions in matters of colonial his- 
 tory, it is due that those opinions be reviewed in the light 
 of all the evidence, old and new, that can be presented. 
 
 A high regard for the many sterling qualities of our Puritan 
 ancestors, and admiration and gratitude for the noble service 
 which they rendered, and the inestimable benefits of which we 
 are enjoying, make us desirous to judge them fairly in all things, 
 and even charitably where they were undoubtedly in error. 
 We certainly would not misjudge their spirit or their acts, and 
 if any false judgments have come down to us, transmitted 
 through ignorance or prejudice, it is high time they were aban- 
 doned. On the other hand, a sacred regard for the truth of 
 history should keep us from any disposition to conceal the errors 
 of the Puritans or to extenuate their sins. Great and good as 
 they were, they were not perfect ; and he who undertakes 
 to justify all the acts of his fathers, natural or denominational, 
 will find himself burdened with a grave responsibility. 
 
 It should be remembered, indeed, that we are dealing 
 with events two centuries and a quarter old, when truths now 
 well developed, full grown and generally accepted, were in 
 their infancy and acknowledged by few. We should be 
 careful lest we unconsciously carry back to that early period 
 of our history the standard of to-day, and measure events 
 
which occurred then, by the fuller wisdom which we now 
 possess. We should be no less careful lest, forgetting the 
 growth and advancement that have been made, we seek to 
 bring past events into closer harmony with present views and 
 wishes than the facts will warrant. The duty of the historian 
 is simply to write history, not to modify it or make it appear 
 different from what it is. The truth may be judged charitably; 
 but the truth is history, and nothing else is. 
 
 Let us consider, first, what was the object of the visit 
 which Clarke, Holmes and Crandall, members of the Baptist 
 Church in Newport, made to William Witter, a farmer residing 
 in Swampscott, about two miles from Lynn proper. Backus'^ 
 introduces the account of this visit with the following state- 
 ment : "On July 19, 1651, Messrs. Clarke, Holmes and 
 Crandal, 'being the representatives of- the church in Newport, 
 upon the request of William Witter, of Lynn, arrived there, 
 he being a brother in the church who, by reason of his 
 advanced age, could not undertake so great a journey as to 
 visit the church.' " Backus gives as his authority for this 
 statement the Newport church papers, from which the state- 
 ment is a quotation. Arnold^ says, in similar language, 
 "They were deputed by the church to visit an aged member, 
 residing near Lynn, who had requested an interview with 
 
 = Hist. of the Baptists, Vol. I., 178. ^ Hist, of R. I., Vol. I., 234. 
 
some of his brethren." From these statements it appears 
 that the visit was one of Christian sympathy, the pastor and 
 two other members of the church, with its knowledge and 
 consent, making the journey to carry comfort to the heart 
 of an aged and infirm brother who, as we elsewhere" learn, 
 had already been arrested twice for expressing, in the emphatic 
 language of the times, his opinion against infant baptism, 
 and who, deprived of the privileges of the church and of the 
 sympathy of those whose faith was in accord with his own, 
 had requested this interview. This view has been uniformly 
 accepted as explaining the simple, religious purpose of the 
 visit. We have no statement from either of the three visitors 
 which sheds any further light on the matter. In the letter 
 of Mr. Holmes to John Spilsbury, William Kissen'' and other 
 brethren in London, incorporated by Clarke in his " 111 Newes 
 from New England,"'' he says: "I came upon occasion of 
 businesse into the Colony of the Mathatusets, with two other 
 Brethren." If they were deputed by the church to make 
 this visit, this is all the explanation the language requires ; 
 this was the " occasion of businesse" which took them to Lynn. 
 In opposition to the prevalent view, — a view which seems 
 
 "Hist, of Lynn, by Lewis and Newhall. 
 "Written Kiffen in Backus' Hist., Vol. I.., 1S7. 
 • Mass. Histor. Coll., Vol. IL, Fourth Series. 
 
to be supported by incontrovertible authority, — Dr. Palfrey has 
 suggested - that the visit had a very shrewd political purpose, 
 and was carefully planned to that end ; that owing to local disa- 
 greements in the Providence Plantations, and the supposed fear 
 of Clarke and his friends that an attempt was about to be made 
 to unite Newport and Portsmouth to the colonial Confederacy, or, 
 possibly, to annex them to Massachusetts, it was determined to 
 prevent such a union ; and this method was deliberately chosen 
 to call forth an exhibition of the persecuting spirit of the author- 
 ities of Massachusetts, that the breach might be widened and 
 the suspected designs of those who were thought to be laboring 
 for the annexation, might be frustrated. 
 
 William Coddington, who, in 1648, was elected the second 
 President of the Providence Plantations (though at this time 
 certain charges were brought against him, the nature of which 
 is unknown, and which he did not appear to answer), had, 
 indeed, manifested a desire for a union with the Colonies. 
 There is much about his conduct which is veiled in mystery. 
 He was evidently a wiley, unscrupulous, ambitious man. In a 
 letter of his to Winthrop,^ under date of Aug. 5, 1644, — a letter 
 which Dr. Palfrey calls a " curious letter,"^*^ written, it will be 
 
 'Hist, of N. E., Vol. II., chap. ix. 
 "Mass. Archives, Vol. II., 4, 5. 
 ""Hist, of N. E., Vol. n., 152, note 2. 
 
8 
 
 noticed, five months after the signing of the charter given to 
 Roger Williams for the incorporation of the Providence Planta- 
 tions, — he said: "I desire to have either such alliance with 
 yourselves or Plymouth, one or both, as might be safe for us all, I 
 having chief interest on this island, it being bought to me and my 
 friends; and how inconvenient it might be, if it were possessed 
 by an enemy, lying in the heart of the plantations, and conven- 
 ient for shipping, I cannot but see ; but I want both counsel 
 and strength to fiffect what I desire. I desire to hear from you, 
 and that you would bury what I write in deep silence ; for 
 what I write I never imparted to any, nor would to you, had I 
 the least doubt of your faithfulness that it should be uttered to 
 my prejudice." The intent of this letter is obvious. It was 
 written about the time the knowledge of the charter to Roger 
 Williams had been received in this country, and one month 
 before the second meeting of the Commissioners of the four 
 'Colonies. It reveals his state of mind and his ambitious pur- 
 pose. At the first election of officers for the Providence Plan- 
 tations, three years afterward, he received a subordinate place, 
 being made Assistant from Newport. We do not know that he 
 accepted the office. At the second annual Assembly it was 
 ordered that those persons who refused to take public office 
 should be subject to fines.^^ It seems surprising that he should 
 
 "R. I. Rec, Vol. I., 2i8. 
 
have been chosen President at the second election, in spite of 
 open opposition and the little prospect that he would accept 
 the position ; for Mr. Jeremy Clarke was appointed " President 
 Regent," and permanent provision was made for supplying the 
 vacancy that might at any time occur in the PresidencyJ^ Mr. 
 Coddington declined to be President of the Providence Planta- 
 tions, his reason evidently being a growing alienation from the 
 people of Providence and Warwick, which appears in his letter 
 to Governor Winthrop, dated May 25, 1648.^'^ This was 
 written nine days after the Assembly met at Providence, which 
 elected him President. In September of this year he applied, 
 in connection with Alexander Partridge, to the Commisioners 
 of the Colonies for a union of the Island, meaning to separate it 
 from Providence and Warwick, "that we, the islanders of Rhode 
 Island, may be received into a combination with all the United 
 Colonies of New England, into a firm and perpetual league of 
 friendship and amity." ^^ The application contained the assur- 
 ance that it was indorsed by "the major part of our island;" a 
 statement which was proved false by subsequent events.^'^ This 
 application was refused. The Commissioners were unwilling to 
 recognize them as a distinct colony, — the thing which Cod- 
 dington desired, — and offered them their protection only on 
 
 "Arnold's Hist, of K. I., Vol. I., 221. "Ibid, 226. 
 
 '3 Hutchinson's Collections, 225. ''Backus* Hist, of the Baptists, Vol. I., 221. 
 
10 
 
 condition that they should place themselves under the govern- 
 ment of Plymouth, — the thing which Coddington, evidently, did 
 not desire, ^'^ — notwithstanding the impression of Roger Williams 
 to the contrary.^' For when the opportunity was offered, Cod- 
 dington declined to avail himself of it. And here the matter 
 ended. Four months afterward Coddington sailed for England, 
 where he remained at least two years and a half. His design 
 in going to England he succeeded in keeping a profound secret. 
 This is acknowledged by all.^^ The exact time of his return is a 
 matter of great uncertainty.^'' It could not have been before the 
 visit to Witter ; yet it must have been very soon after. When, 
 however, he did return, it was found that he had succeeded, 
 at the very close of his visit, in obtaining a "Commission" 
 from the Council of State to institute a separate government 
 over the islands of Rhode Island and Conanicut, thereby 
 setting aside the patent of the Providence Plantations given to 
 Roger Williams, March 14, 1644! This Commission appointed 
 William Coddington Governor for life. He was to be assisted 
 in the government by Councilors, "not exceeding the number 
 of six," who were to be chosen annually by " such freeholders 
 of Newport and Portsmouth as should be well affected to the 
 
 '" Hutchinson's Coll., 225-227 ; Backus' Hist., Vol. I., 169. 
 
 '■Mass. Hist. Coll., Chap, xxix., 271; Palfrey's Hist, of N. E., Vol. 11., 220. 
 
 IS Palfrey's Hist, of N. E., Vol. II., 344; Arnold's Hist, of R. I., Vol. I., 225. 
 
 ''■'Palfrey's Hist, of N. E., Vol. II., 350; As to Roger Williams, 122, note 480. 
 
II 
 
 government of the Commonwealth of England." These Coun- 
 cilors, however, were to be approved by the Governor.^" 
 Having accomplished his ambitious purpose after so long a 
 delay, and procured a division of the Providence Plantations 
 and the appointment of himself for life, as well-nigh the supreme 
 ruler of Newport and Portsmouth, he arrived home possibly 
 in August, 165 1. 
 
 I have dwelt thus at length upon the conduct of Cod- 
 dington, because it is supposed to furnish the probable occasion 
 of the visit of the three Newport worthies to Mr. Witter, in 
 which they found Massachusetts about as hot a place as a 
 fiery furnace heated sevenfold. 
 
 Dr. Palfrey says :^^ " If Massachusetts was intolerant of 
 Baptists, and if the execution of Coddington's scheme would 
 place the Rhode Island Baptists more or less under her 
 control, the necessity of self-defense admonished them that, 
 if possible, that scheme should be defeated. Clarke had 
 known, for seven years, that his presence would not be 
 allowed in Massachusetts.22 During that time a law had 
 existed which his presence would affront. And, indeed, seven 
 years earlier yet, he had gone away under circumstances which 
 
 2» Palfrey's Hist, of N. E., Vol. II., 344. 
 ='Hist. of N. E., Vol. II., 3SO, 351. 
 »Mass. Coll. Rec, Vol. II., 85. 
 
12 
 
 made it next to certain that, had he not departed voluntarily, 
 he would have been expelled. 
 
 "Fourteen years he was content to stay away from Massa- 
 chusetts ; in the fifteenth he was prompted to go thither. 
 The considerate reader may see a significance in the time 
 of this movement. The precise day of Coddington's arrival 
 from England, with his " Commission," is not known ; but 
 it seems to have been when his arrival was expected, from 
 week to week, or even from day to day, that Clarke undertook 
 his journey. Clarke was a man of influence and authority. 
 His personal character, his sacred office, and his newly 
 acquired position of Assistant in the government, placed him 
 prominently before the people. He was a man of discernment 
 and resolution, and felt no reluctance to expose himself to 
 personal inconvenience for the furtherance of what he 
 accounted a good public object. And he judged well, that, 
 at this moment, some striking, practical evidence of the 
 hostility of Massachusetts to Baptists, would be efficacious 
 to excite his Rhode Island friends to oppose the ascendency 
 of Coddington. 
 
 " Clarke took with him two companions, one of whom, he 
 could promise himself, would, at the moment, be almost as 
 unwelcome a visitor as himself John Crandall was so far a 
 person of consideration that we find him to have sometimes 
 
13 
 
 served, in the General Court of the Colony, as Commissioner 
 (or Deputy) for Newport. But Obadiah Holmes was a man 
 of more importance. He was minister of the congregation 
 which had occasioned the application from Massachusetts to 
 Plymouth ;--^ and he had been recently presented by the 
 Grand Jury of that Colony for a disorderly meeting with 
 others on the Lord's day.-^ The three proceeded together 
 to Lynn, ten miles on the further side of Boston." 
 
 Dr. Palfrey continues the narrative, with the introduction 
 of such words as " perhaps," " it may easily be believed," 
 " as is probable," showing that while he regards his theory 
 as probable, he does not present it as a fact which can be 
 proved. Indeed, he offers no authority for his conjecture 
 beyond what he thinks he finds in the conjunction of events. 
 I shall pause only to point out one or two errors in Dr. 
 Palfrey's narrative. He says that Clarke left Massachusetts 
 " under circumstances which made it next to certain that, had 
 he not departed voluntarily, he would have been expelled." 
 This language casts an unwarranted reproach upon Clarke 
 and his conduct, when in Massachusetts. He himself says : 
 " In the year 'ij I left my native land, and in the ninth 
 moneth of the same, I, through mercy, arrived in Boston. I 
 was no sooner on shore but there appeared to me differences 
 
 =3 Mass. Rec, Vol. III., 173. =^Plym. Rec, Vol. II., 162. 
 
14 
 
 among them touching the Covenants," etc.^'^ He goes on to say 
 that, "seeing they were not able so to bear each with other 
 in their different understandings and consciences, as in those 
 utmost parts of the World to live peaceably together," he 
 himself proposed "for as much as the land was before us 
 and wide enough," to seek out some other place. Very 
 likely had this peace-loving citizen remained in Massachusetts, 
 he would have been banished, even as Roger Williams was; 
 but no reproach should be cast upon the record of "the 
 modest and virtuous Clarke," as Bancroft-*^ calls him, "whose 
 whole life was a continued exercise of benevolence," and who 
 "left a name without a spot." Dr. Palfrey has also fallen 
 into an error when, in holding up Mr. Clarke's conspicuous 
 character as well calculated to call forth the religious hostility 
 of the authorities of Massachusetts, he speaks of "his newly 
 acquired position of Assistant in the government;" for, accord- 
 ing to the official table given by himself,'-^' Mr. Clarke had 
 been an Assistant for the two previous years, but in 1651 did 
 not hold the office. 
 
 I pass now to Dr. Dexter's account of this matter. He 
 shows himself to be the more than willing disciple of Dr. 
 
 s^Mass. Hist. Coll., Vol. II., Fourth Series, 23, 24. 
 MHist. of U. S., Vol. 11., 64, 65. 
 27 Hist, of N. E., Vol. 11., 639. 
 
i5 
 
 Palfrey. In his dexterous hands Dr. Palfrey's supposition is 
 treated as if it was an established fact, and the conjecture 
 of his master becomes accredited history. Having alluded to 
 the remonstrance which the General Court of Massachusetts 
 sent to the General Court of Plymouth in regard to its mild 
 treatment of Mr. Holmes,^^ he proceeds :^^ — 
 
 " Some months before this,'^*^ William Coddington, sick 
 of the unsettled state of civil affairs, which proved to be the 
 result of the unorganized individualism which was then the 
 key-note of the Rhode Island plantations, exaggerated by 
 the normal fact of the eccentric ani impracticable character 
 of many of the individuals who were then naturally attracted, 
 or driven, thither, had gone to England, to see if something 
 could not be done in the way of remedy. He then obtained 
 leave from the Council of State to institute a separate govern- 
 ment for the islands of Rhode Island and Conanicut, he 
 to be Governor, with a Council of not more than six Assistants. 
 In the autumn of 1650 it was understood that he was on 
 his way home with this new instrument ; and it was further 
 understood that it was Mr. Coddington's desire and intention 
 to bring about under it, if possible, the introduction of Rhode 
 Island into the Confederacy then existing of the other Colonies, 
 
 28 Backus' Hist., Vol. I., 177. 
 
 ""As to Roger Williams, iiSsq. 
 
 ^It was, in fact, twenty-one months before. 
 
i6 
 
 if not absolutely to procure its annexation to Massachusetts. 
 Clarke and Coddington had not been on the best of terms 
 since the disturbance occasioned by Nicholas Easton i^^ and, 
 with many of his Newport adherents, the Anabaptist pastor 
 was bitterly opposed to the new-coming order of things. 
 When the crisis approached he seems to have felt that a 
 little persecution of the Anabaptists — if such a thing could 
 be managed — by Massachusetts, might serve an important 
 purpose in prejudicing the Rhode Island mind against Cod- 
 dington's scheme. An occasion appears, accordingly, to 
 have been made, by which the red flag of the Anabaptistical 
 fanaticism could be flouted full in the face of the Bay bull." 
 And so Dr. Dexter says : " Knowledge of Mr. Witter's case 
 reaching Mr. Clarke, a pilgrimage was determined upon for the 
 purpose of public sympathy with this person, if not his open 
 rebaptism and reception into the Newport fellowship. Such an 
 expedition had in itself a promising look. It would lead through 
 Boston, yet not far enough beyond it to imperil the desired 
 publicity. Yet nothing was neglected which should reasonably 
 avail for fullest success. Clarke himself had left Boston four- 
 teen years before, to avoid being sent away, and he knew that 
 his presence in the Massachusetts must bring him at once 
 under the operation of the Anabaptist law of 1644 ; while, as 
 
 '^^ Winthrop's Journal, Vol. 11., 40. 
 
an Assistant under the Rhode Island government, and as pastor 
 of the Newport Anabaptists, he dolibtless felt himself to be 
 sufficiently a man of mark to be tolerably sure of being "perse- 
 cuted." But for further security against failure he took along 
 with him John Crandall, son-in-law of Samuel Gorton ; and, 
 also, to make assurance doubly sure, that very Obadiah Holmes 
 who, a short time before, had been the occasion of the com- 
 plaining letter of the Massachusetts court to that at Plymouth. 
 The scheme succeeded perfectly," etc. 
 
 Again I pause to correct a few errors. Dr. Dexter also, 
 misled by Dr. Palfrey, speaks of Mr. Clarke as "an Assistant 
 under the Rhode Island government," at this time, and makes 
 another covert fling at his character when he says he left Boston 
 "to avoid being sent away." Moreover, Dr. Dexter seems to 
 represent the knowledge of Mr. Witter's case as reaching Mr. 
 Clarke just at this crisis, as if it was a happy juncture of events. 
 But Mr. Clarke must have been acquainted with his case for 
 years, for it had been eight years since Mr. Witter's first 
 arraignment for condemning infant baptism, and five years since 
 his second arraignment ; and Mr. Clarke could not have re- 
 mained uninformed about it until this time, especially if, as I 
 think will be clearly shown, Mr. Witter was a member of the 
 church of which Mr. Clarke was the pastor. I pass by the 
 flippant sarcasm which is apparent in this quotation from 
 
i8 
 
 Dr. Dexter's book, and, indeed, throughout the whole volume, 
 from its significant title — "As to Roger Williams and his 'Ban- 
 ishment' from the Massachusetts Plantation" — to its closing 
 page ; a sarcasm which is hardly becoming in one who professes 
 to be a candid historian, and which, I am confident, will do much 
 to prevent the book from accomplishing its object, v/hich was 
 nothing less than the reversal of the judgment of history with 
 reference to certain men and their relation to great principles 
 and struggles in the early life of the Colonies. I can only allude 
 to the fact that Dr. Dexter attempts to cover up the real char- 
 acter of Mr. Coddington's design by keeping out of sight two 
 points ; viz., that, in seeking to remedy the unsettled state of 
 things by ambitiously getting the government into his own 
 hands, he secured for himself a life appointment as Governor; 
 and, secondly, that the election of his Councilors was not valid 
 unless confirmed by himself. 
 
 But the principal criticism upon this quotation is to be 
 made upon the very remarkable statement of Dr. Dexter that 
 "In the autumn of 1650 it was understood that he (Coddington) 
 was on his way home with this new instrument ; and it was 
 further understood that it was Mr. Coddington's desire and 
 intention to bring about under it, if possible, the introduction 
 of Rhode Island into the Confederacy then existing of the 
 other Colonies, if not absolutely to procure its annexation to 
 
19 
 
 Massachusetts." It will be noticed that in this theory, sug- 
 gested by Dr. Palfrey and warmly advocated by Dr. Dexter, 
 the question of time is a very important one. Coddington's sup- 
 posed design and its successful accomplishment must have been 
 understood sufficiently early before the visit to Mr. Witter, 
 to allow Clarke and his companions to make their plans as to 
 the best course to be pursued. Dr. Dexter, in his anxiety to 
 give time enough, says it was understood that Coddington 
 was on his way home with his Commission "in the autumn 
 of 1650." Now, it so happens that this was at least six months 
 before the Commission was given. Coddington must have 
 •reached England soon after the execution of Charles I. and 
 the downfall of the British monarchy. The Council of State 
 under the Commonwealth held its first meeting Feb. 17, 
 1649, in the third week after the beheading of the King. 
 Such were, the agitations in England, and such the pressure 
 of home business, that two years elapsed before any attention 
 wss given to the Colonies; or, in other words, before Cod- 
 dington could obtain a hearing. At a meeting of the Council, 
 Feb. 18, 165 1, a committee was appointed "to consider of 
 the business of plantations." And six weeks later, on April 3, 
 1651, by a vote of the Council, Coddington received his 
 Commission.32 ^s already remarked, the lime of Coddington's 
 
 == Palfrey's Hist, of N. E., Vol. 1 1., 344, note. 
 
20 
 
 return to this country is a matter of uncertainty. It was 
 probably soon after the visit to Witter. He would have been 
 likely to return as quickly as possible after accomplishing 
 the object of his visit, and may have brought the news of his 
 Commission with him. So that it could not have been under- 
 stood "in the autumn of 1650" that Coddington was on his 
 way home with his Commission ; and no more could it have 
 been understood that it was his "desire and intention" to 
 bring about under it the introduction of Rhode Island into the 
 Confederacy of the Colonies or its annexation to Massachusetts. 
 Setting aside the question of time, which makes strongly 
 against the new theory, Mr. Coddington's "desire and inten- 
 tion " must be determined by his previous conduct and by 
 the nature of his Commission, which he was successful in 
 procuring. 
 
 In general, then, it may be said against the theory that the 
 visit to Mr. Witter had a political purpose : — 
 
 1. There is not the slightest proof of it, and no authority 
 for it whatever. Dr. Dexter cites Dr. Palfrey, and Dr. Palfrey 
 cites nobody. 
 
 2. If Mr. Coddington's design was such as this theory 
 supposes, and the defeat of which was the object of the visit 
 to Mr. Witter, it could not have been understood by Clarke 
 and his companions before their visit was planned and made. 
 
21 
 
 3- If Mr. Coddington's design was such as this theory- 
 supposes, there was no necessity whatever for this visit as 
 a method of defeating it. The hostility of the authorities 
 of Massachusetts to Baptist principles, their intolerance and 
 persecuting spirit, it would seem, were too well known already 
 to require any new exhibition. The severe law of 1644, con- 
 demning to banishment all persons who " shall either openly 
 condemn or oppose the baptizing of infants, or go about secretly 
 to seduce others from the approbation or use thereof, or shall 
 purposely depart the congregation at the administration of the 
 ordinance, or shall deny the ordinance of magistracy, or their 
 lawful right or authority to make war, or to punish the outward 
 breaches of the first table," had been put on the statute-book, 
 and kept there in spite of the " Petition and Remonstrance " *^ 
 of a few prominent citizens. Thomas Painter, of Hingham, had 
 been whipped for refusing to have his child baptized. ^^ Com- 
 plaints about these proceedings had been sent over from England, 
 and Mr. Winslow had been commissioned to go to England and 
 answer them.*^ Mr. Witter himself had been twice arraigned 
 before the Court. Mr. Holmes and two others had been brought 
 to trial at Plymouth, and when they had been treated leniently 
 
 ^'Asto Roger Williams, ii6. 
 
 ^ Winthrop's Journal, Vol. 11., 174, 175. 
 
 3= Mass. Col. Rec, Vol. II., 162. 
 
22 
 
 and bound over, a remonstrance from the Court at Boston had 
 been sent " urging the Plymouth rulers to suppress them speed- 
 ily." 3<^ And all this was in addition to the treatment which 
 Roger Williams had received. Surely, there was no doubt as to 
 the spirit and temper of Massachusetts, and no occasion for any 
 new demonstration. Moreover, Mr. Coddington had few friends 
 and sympathizers in Rhode Island in any scheme he might pro- 
 pose. It would have been voted down by an overwhelming 
 majority. His statement, when seeking an alliance with the 
 Colonies, in September, 1648, that a major part of the Island 
 desired it, is not sustained by facts which are known. When 
 the character of his Commission was discovered, a request was 
 presented to Mr. Clarke, signed by sixty-five of the inhabitants 
 of Newport and forty-one of the inhabitants of Portsmouth, 
 who, it is said, constituted nearly all the free inhabitants, that he 
 would go to England to secure the rescinding of Mr. Codding- 
 ton's Commission. 3" Mr. Clarke yielded to this request, and in 
 connection with Mr. Williams, who was sent out by Providence 
 and Warwick, made such representations before the Council of 
 State, that on October 2, 1653, it voted "to vacate Mr. Cod- 
 dington's Commission and to confirm their former Charter."^ 
 
 ^ Mass. Hist. Coll., Vol. II., Fourth Series, 46. Backus* Hist, of the Baptists, Vol. I., 177. 
 ^' Backus' Hist., Vol. I., 221. 
 38 Backus' Hist., Vol. I., 223. 
 
4. The facts in the case do not warrant the belief that Mr. 
 Coddington's "desire and intention" in procuring his Commis- 
 sion was to bring Rhode Island into alliance with the four Colo- 
 nies, and, much less, under the influence and control of Massa- 
 chusetts. He had, indeed, three years before, for reasons not 
 fully explained, sought a division of the Providence Plantations 
 and a friendly league with the Confederacy. It is possible that 
 he may have looked upon the league as the only method, at that 
 time, of accomplishing the division on which he seemed bent. 
 When, however, annexation to Plymouth was recommended, 
 he positively declined any such condition of protection. His 
 journey to England was successful. He fully accomplished 
 his object. The result disclosed the full extent of his 
 design. Rhode Island was separated from Providence and 
 Warwick. It became an independent Colony, and he was to 
 be its Governor for life, with the powers almost of dictator.^'-* 
 
 '" It should be added that there was little ground for fear that Massachusetts and Plymouth 
 would ever consent to a league with Rhode Island, on account of their uncompromising hostility to 
 the principles and practices of its inhabitants. The application for such a league had been refused 
 again and again. " In truth, these Rhode Island people grew, from the beginning, more and more 
 intolerable to the Boston brethren. It was bad enough that they should obstinately maintain tha 
 rights of independent thought and private conscience ; it was unpardonable that they should assume 
 to be none the less sincere Christians and good citizens, and should succeed in establishing a govern- 
 ment erf their own on principles which the Massachusetts General Court declared were criminal. 
 Even in a common peril the Massachusetts magistrates could recognize no tie of old friendship, — 
 hardly, indeed, of human sympathy, — that should bind them to such men." See Bryant's Popu. 
 Hist, of the U. S., Vol. II., 47-49. 
 
24 
 
 5- Causes quite sufficient are discoverable to account for 
 tne opposition to Mr. Coddington. There were religious differ- 
 ences between him and the other leaders,*^ which "grew to 
 such heat of contention that they made a schism among them." 
 Moreover, affairs in England, which were now approaching a 
 crisis, had undoubtedly no little influence on the state of things 
 in the Plantations. Coddington was a royalist, while Clarke 
 and Nicholas Easton and other leaders were republicans, and 
 the republican party was the dominant one.'^^ And still further, 
 there was a very general determination to resist the division of 
 the Providence Plantations, and to stand by the original Char- 
 ter. Coddington's ambitious scheme was enough, in itself, to 
 arouse the most bitter and determined opposition. 
 
 6. If Mr. Clarke and his companions had planned their 
 visit for a political purpose, viz., to draw forth the intolerant 
 spirit of the Massachusetts magistrates, and had been so anxious 
 to succeed in it, as they are represented to have been, it is per- 
 fectly amazing that they did not go directly to Boston, or even 
 to Salem, in one of which places they would be much more 
 likely to find the " Bay bull "kept, than in such a quiet, obscure, 
 out-of-the-way place as Swampscott, which was two miles, even, 
 from Lynn. That this place should have been the terminus of 
 
 *" Winthrop's Journal, Vol. 1 1., 40. 
 
 <• Arnold's Hist, of R. I., Vol. I., 222. Bryant's Popu. Hist, of the U. S., Vol. II., 105. 
 
25 
 
 their journey, is utterly inconsistent with any such motive as is 
 ascribed to them. Their supposed shrewdness seems to have 
 failed them in the most vital point of their plan. Having deter- 
 mined to seek persecution, they took the surest method to 
 escape it. 
 
 7. We are told distinctly, by what ought to be good and 
 sufficient authority, that the object of the visit was to minister 
 Christian sympathy to an aged brother in the church. The 
 visit was made to Swampscott, because this brother whom they 
 came to comfort lived in Swampscott. This statement rests upon 
 the authority of the Newport Church Papers, on which Dr. Dexter 
 attempts to throw discredit, in order to break down their testi- 
 mony. ^^ He says, " Backus, indeed, professes to quote [Vol. I., 
 2i5]^3 fj-om the Newport Church Papers," which looks very like 
 a charge against Backus of willful deception. And then he 
 adds, " But one cannot help thinking that those ' Papers ' must 
 have been written long after the date of the occurrence, '^ "" " 
 and that their author confused the order of events." That those 
 Papers are altogether trustworthy, will be acknowledged when 
 it is remembered that they were "gathered by the painstaking 
 John Comer, in 1726," and " were derived from Samuel Hub- 
 bard and Edward Smith, both members of the Newport Church, 
 
 *- As to Roger Williams, 120, note. 
 « New Ed., Vol. I., 178. 
 
26 
 
 and contemporary with the events narrated." ■** At any rate, 
 this testimony may be accepted as valid until some evidence to 
 the contrary is presented more substantial than the unreasona- 
 ble and preposterous conjectures of Dr. Palfrey and Dr. Dexter. 
 8: Finally, the purpose of the 'visit to Mr. Witter, as thus 
 declared and uniformly accepted to be the true one, is entirely 
 sufficient to account for it, and harmonizes with all the circum- 
 stances. Here was on old man, far removed from his brethren 
 in the church, and needing Christian sympathy and spiritual 
 consolation, but by reason of age and infirmity unable to make 
 the long journey to Newport. Dr. Dexter is disposed to sneer 
 at Witter's age and inability to make the journey. But Witter 
 was within three years of threescore and ten.*^ He is spoken 
 of as being disabled by infirmity such as "advanced age"*'' often 
 brings with it ; and, moreover, as being blind.*' The journey 
 from Lynn to Newport for such a man, in those days, was no 
 slight undertaking. It was very suitable that the church should 
 remember him in his loneliness and feebleness, surrounded by 
 those who were hostile to his faith, and probably soon to die. 
 It is quite possible that Mr. Clarke and his companions may 
 
 " Article by Rev. C. E. Barrows in Bapt. Quarterly, Vol. X., 360. 
 
 *•■ Savage's Gen. Diet., Vol. IV., 620. 
 
 <« Backus' Hist., Vcl. I., 17S. 
 
 ■" Clarke's 1\\ Newes from New England, in Mass. Hist. Coll., Vol. II., Fourth Series, 27. 
 
27 
 
 have thought that in visiting so remote a place as Swampscott, 
 they would escape all observation. However that may have 
 been, they passed quietly through Boston, and having timed 
 their journey so as to reach Witter's house on Saturday evening, 
 there they lodged. It was a brave, loving, Christian deed, in 
 which can be traced no shrewd policy other than the prompting 
 of a Christlike sympathy, and no defiant purpose other than a 
 courageous willingness to endure perilous exposure in order to 
 minister to one of Christ's imprisoned and needy disciples. 
 And when Dr. Dexter says, that " when Clarke published his 
 version of all this in England, he was careful to declare that one 
 purpose which he had in view in it all, was to make known 
 'how that spirit by which they [the Massachusetts authorities] 
 are led, would order the whole World, if either brought under 
 them, or should come in unto them,''*'^ — that is, how they would 
 treat Rhode Island Baptists, were they to be annexed to their 
 Colony," '*^ — he makes an utterly unwarranted, and, it is difficult 
 not to say, a willfully false, inference from Clarke's language. 
 For the language was not intended to apply at all to the visit 
 and its motive, but only to the published account of the visit, 
 and even then contains no such meaning as Dr. Dexter inter- 
 prets into it. Clarke was intending to show simply how he and 
 his companions were treated, and how all who differed from the 
 
 ^' III Newes, etc., 27. ^''As to Roger Williams, 122. 
 
28 
 
 Massachusetts authorities religiously would be likely to be 
 treated if they should fall into their hands. We have here an 
 illustration of how an unresisted bias may disqualify a historian 
 for his high ofhce, and how a weak theory may seek to bolster 
 itself up by an amazing deduction. 
 
 I shall now consider more briefly the two remaining points ; 
 viz., the alleged criminal conduct of Mr. Witter's visitors, and 
 the punishment which they received. 
 
 Having arrived at Mr. Witter's on Saturday evening, they 
 thought it best " to worship God in their own way on the Lord's 
 day " in Witter's house. Clarke says, in his narrative of what 
 occurred : ■'^'^ "Finding, by sad experience, that the hour of 
 temptation spoken of was coming upon all the World (in a more 
 eminent way), to try them that are upon the Earth, I fell upon 
 the consideration of that Word of Promise, made to those that 
 keep the Word of his Patience, which present thoughts, while 
 in Conscience towards God and good will unto his Saints, I was 
 imparting to my Companions in the house where I lodged, and 
 to 4 or 5 Strangers, that came in unexpected after I had begun, 
 opening and proving what is meant by the hour of Temptation, 
 what by the Worcf of his patience, and their keeping it," etc. 
 But the presence of these heretics had been discovered. The 
 scent of heresy was marvelously acute. The quiet service in 
 
 =0Mass. Hist. Coll., Vol. II., Fourth Series, 27, 28. 
 
29 
 
 that remote place was suddenly interrupted by the entrance 
 of two constables with a warrant, signed by Robert Bridges, for 
 the arrest of " certain erronious persons, being Strangers." 
 The warrant, of course, was issued before the service was held ; 
 therefore, the only offence thus far of Mr. Clarke and his com- 
 panions was, that they were there. Having politely requested 
 the officers to allow them to complete the service, and being 
 denied the favor, they offered no resistance to the arrest, and 
 were taken to the "ordinary," for safe keeping. In the after- 
 noon they were compelled, against their protest, to go to the 
 public service, Mr. Clarke saying, " If thou forcest us unto your 
 Assembly, then shall we be constrained to declare ourselves 
 that we cannot hold Communion with them." This compulsory 
 attendance at "meeting," in spite of the warning of what they 
 would be forced to do, seems to have been too small a matter to 
 be noticed by Dr. Dexter. After some hesitation and consulta- 
 tion on the part of the constables, the three strangers were 
 taken to the meeting. What occurred there is told by Mr. 
 Clarke, as follows: "At my first stepping over the threshold 
 I unveiled myself, civilly saluted them, turned into the Seat I 
 was appointed to, put on my hat again, and so sat down, opened 
 my Book and fell to reading. Hereupon, Mr. Bridges, being 
 troubled, commanded the Constable to pluck off our hats, which 
 he did, and where he laid mine, there I let it lye, until their 
 
Prayer, Singing and Preaching was over. After this, I stood up 
 and uttered myself in these words, following : * I desire, as a 
 Stranger, if I may, to propose a few things to this Congregation, 
 hoping, in the proposall thereof, I shall commend myself to your 
 Consciences to be guided by that wisdom that is from above, 
 which being pure, is also peaceable, gentle, and easie to be 
 intreated. "^^ 
 
 When Mr. Clarke attempted to proceed, and to give the 
 reasons for his apparently discourteous conduct in not joining in 
 their worship, he was commanded to silence, and the prisoners 
 were remanded to the "ordinary." Their opposition to going 
 to this public service, and their irreverent and discourteous 
 conduct while there, are to be accounted for on the ground of 
 that intense and narrow conscientiousness which characterized 
 the times. It prevailed on both sides, among Puritans and 
 come-outers, alike. Whatsoever was not of faith, in their judg- 
 ment, was sin. Whatsoever was not according to the visible 
 order of the Lord, as they understood it, was of the Devil. 
 They could not even appear to fellowship and indorse it, or to 
 show any sympathy with it. It was this spirit that prompted 
 Mr. Witter to use the language for which he was arrested, in- 
 1646, "that they who stayed whiles a child, is baptized, doe 
 
 '■■' Mass. Hist. Coll., Vol. II., Fourth Series, 29. 
 
31 
 
 worshipp the Dyvell " and " broake the Saboath." "^ It was this 
 spirit that prompted the Simple Cobbler of Agawam to say, 
 " Polypiety is the greatest impiety in the world." " He that is 
 willing to tolerate, will, for a need, hang God's Bible at the 
 Devil's girdle." ^3 Possessed of this spirit, Clarke and his com- 
 panions could not, in conscience, be present at this Sunday 
 afternoon service, though forced there by the officers of the 
 law, without giving expression to their disfellowship and disap- 
 probation. I am not justifying their conduct ; I am only 
 accounting for it. 
 
 It appears from the language of the sentences of the Court 
 that the prisoners must somehow have been allowed so much 
 freedom on Monday that they visited Mr. Witter's house again 
 and held a service, at which they celebrated the Lord's 
 Supper.^ This, apparently, aggravated their offence. They 
 were sent to prison in Boston by the mittimus of Mr. Bridges, 
 under date of Tuesday, July 22d. 
 
 0= Lewis and Newhall's Hist, of Lynn, aog. Dr. Dexter (iig), referring to the first arrest of Mr. 
 Witter, in 1643, says he " had become so inspired with the genius of Anabaptism as to call infant bap- 
 tism 'a badge of the whore.'" Similarly strong language was used by Governor Winthrop, as 
 quoted by Dr. Dexter himself (28, note 109). Such language was no more born of the genius of 
 Anabaptism than of the genius of Puritanism. It was simply the emphatic language of the times, 
 affected by the phraseology of the Scriptures, and has frequent illustrations in the religious literature 
 of the Colonies. 
 
 sa Oliver's Puritan Commonwealth, 193. "Clarke's 111 Newes, etc., 3J, 44. 
 
Dr. Dexter seems very confident that at some time during 
 the visit, and previous to the observance of the Lord's Supper, 
 Mr. Witter was " rebaptized."^^ He cites as authority the 
 statement of Lewis and Newhall's History of Lynn (230), that 
 Clarke "rebaptized Mr. Witter;" also the language of the mitti- 
 mus and the language of Mr. Clarke's sentence; and, finally, the 
 fact that "Witter was presented at the Salem Court in the 
 November following, 'for beinge rebaptised,' [Salem Court Rec. 
 25, 9 mo., 1651]." 
 
 The question does not seem to me to be a very important 
 one as affecting Baptist polity. It was perfectly competent for 
 Mr. Clarke, if he was deputed by the church at Newport to 
 visit and baptize Mr. Witter and administer to him the com- 
 munion, to do so. The only question is, how long prior to the 
 celebration of the Lord's Supper was Mr. Witter baptized ? or, 
 in other words, was he baptized at this visit or at some previous 
 time "} The opinion that he was baptized at this visit, rests, I 
 think, upon an entire misapprehension of the language of the 
 mittimus and of the sentences of Clarke and Holmes. The 
 History of Lynn, by Lewis and Newhall, published in 1865, 
 does, indeed, say that Clarke " rebaptized Mr. Witter." But 
 the History of Lynn, by Alonzo Lewis alone, published in 1829, 
 which was the basis of the later work, makes no mention of the 
 
 •^ As to Roger Williams, 121 ; also 120, note 470. 
 
33 
 
 baptism of Mr. Witter, the author probably thinking that the 
 record would not warrant it.'^'^ 
 
 The language of the viittitnus is very significant, and 
 undoubtedly shows exactly how much foundation there is 
 for the opinion that Mr. Witter was baptized at this time. 
 In it Clarke, Holmes and Crandall, were to be made to 
 answer for the following offences, viz. : For being " at a 
 Private Meeting at Lin, upon the Lord's day, exercising among 
 themselves ; " " for offensively disturbing the peace of the Con- 
 gregation at their coming into the Publique Meeting;" "for 
 saying and manifesting that the church of Lin was not consti- 
 tuted according to the order of our Lord, &c., for such other 
 things as shall be alleged against them concerning their 
 seducing and drawing aside of others after their erroneous 
 judgments and practices, and for suspition of having their hands 
 in the rebaptizing of one, or more, among us. "°' There was, 
 then, simply and only a suspicion of a baptism of one or more 
 persons, for which not the slightest evidence was produced or 
 sought for, and for which they were never called to answer. 
 The magistrates, in the exercise of their judicial watchfulness 
 against the awful sin of Anabaptism, suspected there had been 
 
 ''^It reads (97), "They went to the house of William Witter, of Swampscott, where Mr. Clarke 
 began to preach. On hearing this, Captain Bridges, the magistrate, sent two constables," etc. 
 ''"Ill Newes, etc., 30, 31. 
 
a baptism ; and Dr. Dexter, in his desire to make as good a 
 showing as possible for his theory, suspects that that suspected 
 baptism was the baptism of Mr. Witter. 
 
 The sentence of Mr. Clarke contains this charge : that he 
 had " administered the Sacrament of the Supper to one excom- 
 municate person [who Dr. Dexter suspects was Holmes], to 
 another under admonition [about whom Dr. Dexter seems to 
 have no suspicion], and to another that was an Inhabitant of 
 Lin and not in fellowship with any Church." "Who was this, 
 if it were not Witter.?" triumphantly asks Dr. Dexter,^^ 
 thinking thereby to prove that Witter was not a member of 
 the Baptist church in Newport, and, therefore, could not have 
 been previously baptized. But the language, if it refers to 
 Witter, as Dr. Dexter suspects, proves nothing ; for if Mr. 
 Witter had been a member of the Baptist church, his church 
 relationship would not have been recognized by the magistrates 
 of Massachusetts, and the language of this sentence would 
 have been regarded as true on their lips. 
 
 The sentence of Mr. Holmes appears at first sight to contain 
 the charge of having baptized one or more persons at this visit. 
 But on examination it is evident that the magistrates, in order 
 to make the case as strong as possible, united with his present 
 offence previous offences of which he had been guilty, and 
 
 '* As to Roger Williams, 120, note 470. 
 
determined to punish him accordingly. The sentence begins 
 thus: "Forasmuch as you, Obediah Holmes, being come into 
 this Jurisdiction about the 21 of the 5th M., did meet at one 
 William Witter's house at Lin, and did hear privately (and at 
 other times being an Excommunicate person did take upon 
 you to Preach and to Baptize) upon the Lord's day, or other 
 days," etc. It will be remembered that the Massachusetts 
 authorities remonstrated with Plymouth for treating Mr. 
 Holmes so leniently for his grievous misdemeanors at Reho- 
 both. They now had the criminal in their own hands, and 
 felt themselves called upon to make amends for Plymouth's 
 leniency, and to see that justice was meted out. Criminals 
 of such a character must not go unpunished. Not only his 
 present transgression, but the sins of "other times," were 
 charged against him ; and now that he was in their jurisdiction 
 they would make him suffer for sins committed out of their 
 jurisdiction. So reasoned these guardians of the new world's 
 faith and peace, who looked upon themselves as God's ministers 
 of justice, for their neighbors as well as for themselves. 
 
 Moreover, when Dr. Dexter says that Mr. Witter was pre- 
 sented at the Salem Court in the following November "for 
 bcinge rebaptized," as if this was a fresh offence, he only 
 gives half of the charge against him. The full indictment was 
 " for neglecting discourses and beinge rebaptized." ^^ The one 
 
 •'■"Lewis and Newhall's Hist, of Lynn, 231. 
 
36 
 
 sin had certainly been continued for years, although no notice 
 had been taken of it before ; and the other sin, it is altogether 
 likely, dated back a long period ; but the recent visit of Rhode 
 Island Baptists made it necessary that a fresh demonstration 
 should be made against the aged and obstinate offender. This 
 indictment when taken as a whole, as it ought to be, has no 
 weight whatever in determining the time of Mr. Witter's 
 baptism. 
 
 If Mr. Clarke did baptize Mr. Witter at this time, it is 
 exceedingly surprising that neither the mittimus nor the sen- 
 tence contained the positive charge. As it is, we find only 
 a stispicion of one or more persons being baptized. Moreover, 
 neither Mr. Clarke nor Mr. Holmes makesany allusion to any 
 baptism as occurring during the visit, as it seems natural they 
 would have done if such had been the fact ; so that it seems 
 more than probable that there was no baptism whatever, either 
 of Mr. Witter or any one else, and that the suspicion of the 
 magistrates was born of their own fears or wishes. This 
 conclusion is fully indorsed and established, so far as it 
 concerns Mr. Witter, by the testimony of the visiting brethren 
 that he was a Baptist brother, and by the distinct statement 
 of the Newport church papers '"^' that it was a brother in the 
 
 '" I am indebted to Rev. C. E. Harrows, of Newport, for a copy of tlie record : viz., "Three 
 of the brethren, viz., Mr. Jolin Clarke, Pastor, Ubadiah Holmes and John Crandall, who were 
 taken up on the lord's da\ , July aolh, 1651, at the house of one of the brethren whom they went to 
 visit, viz., William Witter, in the town of Lyn." 
 
37 
 
 church whom the three brethren Clarke, Hohncs and Cran- 
 dall went to visit. This opinion has been universally accepted. 
 Backus speaks of him as "a. brother in the church.""^ Arnold 
 calls him "an aged member." "^^ Dr. Palfrey says, "brother in 
 the church of Baptists as he was."*^" We know that more than 
 eight years before, he was in open antagonism with the Puritan 
 church, and it is altogether likely that he had sought baptism 
 and congenial church fellowship long before 165 1. The only 
 position that is in harmony with the facts and the testimony, 
 and that can be reasonably defended, is that Mr. Witter had 
 been previously baptized (when, we have no means of ascer- 
 taining), and that he was, at the time of the visit, in actual and 
 full fellowship with the Newport Baptist church. 
 
 I come now to the concluding and most distressing part of 
 this transaction ; viz., the punishment which was inflicted upon 
 these three offenders, and especially upon Mr. Holmes. Dr. 
 Dexter says: "The next week, on Thursday, — 31 July — 10 
 Aug., 165 1, they had their trial." "^ Mr. Clarke says : " In the 
 forenoon we were examined ; in the afternoon, without produc- 
 ing either accuser, witness, jury, law of God or man, we were 
 Sentenced."'^'' During the examination Governor Endicott 
 
 <" Hist, of Baptists, Vol. I, 178. "As to Roger Williams, lai. 
 
 62 Hist, of R. I., Vol. I., 234. o-"Ill Newes, etc., 31. 
 
 «=HUt. of N. E.,Vol. II.,3Si. 
 
charged them with being Anabaptists ; to whom Clarke answered 
 that he was "neither an Anabaptist nor a Pedobaptist nor a 
 Catabaptist." The Governor lost his temper, and said they 
 "deserved death, and he would not have such trash brought 
 into their jurisdiction ; "^^ also insinuating that they had influ- 
 ence over weak-minded persons only, and daring them to hold 
 a discussion with the ministers. This challenge Mr. Clarke 
 promptly accepted, and endeavored to bring about the proposed 
 discussion. The magistrates seemed at first to consent; but, 
 after some delay, it came to naught. The excitement at the 
 time of the so-called "trial" must have been intense ; not that 
 it would take much "to put John Endicott in a towering passion 
 at any time,"''' but even John Wilson, the pastor, struck and 
 cursed Holmes, saying, "The curse of God or Jesus goe with 
 thee," because Holmes had meekly said, " I blesse God I am 
 counted worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus." 
 
 The sentence.of the three men varied in severity. Crandall 
 was sentenced to pay five pounds, or to be well whipped ; 
 Clarke to pay twenty pounds, or to be well whipped ; and 
 Holmes to pay thirty pounds, or to be well whipped. Crandall's 
 punishment was the lightest, because he was the least prom- 
 inent, and was only associated with the others. Holmes' 
 punishment was undoubtedly the heaviest, because he had been 
 
 •'"HI Newes, etc., 33. '" Bryant's Popu. Uist. of U. S., Vol. II., 108. 
 
39 
 
 excommunicated from the church at Rehoboth, and, havino- 
 been guilty of baptizing, had been dealt lightly with by the 
 Court at Plymouth. Dr. Dexter seems to have fallen into 
 another error when, in painting the character of Mr. Holmes, 
 he gets it a little blacker than the truth will warrant. He says 
 he was twice excommunicated, once at Salem, and, again, at 
 Rehoboth, having, "in some way, joined himself to Mr. New- 
 man's church." '^8 Mr. Holmes says of himself that he was 
 "recommended" when he removed from Salem to Rehoboth, 
 and walked with the church in the latter place "for four years' 
 time ; " that then he separated from the church, with seven or 
 eight others, on account of the unchristian course of a minority 
 in the church, including the pastor, in a matter of discipline, 
 and that it was not until "a long space of time" that he was 
 baptized, and afterward excommunicated.*^^ 
 
 The fines imposed upon Crandall and Clarke were paid by 
 "tender-hearted friends, without their consent and contrary 
 to their judgment,"™ though the matter has an entirely 
 difterent and untruthful aspect as represented by Dr. Dexter. "^ 
 He seems to have caught the spirit of Mr. Cotton, to whom, 
 in connection with Mr. Wilson, a letter was sent by Sir 
 Richard Saltonstall, one of the first magistrates of Massa- 
 
 '•" As to Roger Williams, Ji8. 70]ii Newes, etc.. 38, 42, 43. 
 
 «• 111 Newes, etc. 53. 54- -1 As to Roger Williams. 121. 
 
40 
 
 chusetts, who was then in England, rebuking them for their 
 "tyranny and persecution in New England, as that you fine, 
 whip and imprison men for their consciences. * * * We pray 
 for you and wish you prosperity every way; hoped the Lord 
 would have given you so much light and love there, that you 
 might have been eyes to God's people here, Ad not to practice 
 those courses in a wilderness which you went so far to pre- 
 vent." "^ Mr. Cotton's reply is a most remarkable document 
 in justification of this whole transaction ; in which both reason 
 and truth were sacrificed in defence of the Puritan magistrates. 
 In it he says Mr. Clarke "was contented to have his fine paid 
 for him, whereupon he was released."''^ And Dr. Dexter 
 represents him, notwithstanding his eagerness to suffer perse- 
 cution according to his theory, as quietly acquiescing in this 
 conclusion of his visit, and "very willing to leave for home." 
 Neither of these statements accords with the truth. 
 
 There were those, too, who would have paid the fine of 
 Mr. Holmes ; but, to use his own words, he "durst not accept 
 of deliverance in such a way." His conscience compelled him 
 to refuse the friendly offer, as did also the consciences of the 
 others, lest thereby he should appear to confess himself a 
 transgressor, and worthy of the penalty imposed upon him. 
 
 • "Hutchinson's Coll. of Original Papers, 401 : quoted by Backus, Vol. II., 198. 
 " Hutchinson's Coll. of Original Papers, 403-406 ; Backus, Vol I., 200. 
 
41 
 
 It seems, certain, from the narrative, that the authorities were 
 willing to accept the payment of the fines of Crandall and 
 Clarke, though made by others, without their knowledge and 
 consent, and set them free ; but that in the case of Holmes, 
 he being the greatest offender, they manifested no such 
 willingness. Had he consented to the payment of the large 
 fine, very likely they would have released him ; but as he 
 refused to allow it, they made an exception in his case, and 
 held him to the letter of the penalty, and inflicted upon him 
 the cruel punishment of thirty stripes, "^ which was the penalty 
 for the crimes of adultery, rape and counterfeiting, '■' and was, 
 within ten stripes, the maximum number allowed by law. ''' 
 
 The account of the cruel whipping which Holmes suffered at 
 the hands of the Boston magistrates, is given in very touching 
 
 «The character of Cotton's letter, alluded to above, may be seen from the following extract, 
 in which he seeks to throw the responsibility of the whipping upon Holmes himself: "As for his 
 wliipping, it was more voluntarily chosen by him than inflicted on him. His censure by the Court 
 was to have paid (as I know) thirty pounds, or else be whipped : his fine was offered to be paid by 
 friends for him, freely,'but he chose rather to be whipped; in which case, if his suffering of stripes 
 was any worship ofGod at all, surely it could be accounted no better than will-worship " To which 
 Governor Jenks, of Rhode Island, replies: "Although the paying of a fine seems to be but a small 
 thing in comparison of a man's parting with his religion, yet the paying of a fine is the acknowledge, 
 ment of a transgression ; and for a man to acknowledge that he has transgressed, when his conscience 
 tells him he has not, is but little, if anything at all, short of parting with his religion." Backus, Vol. 
 I., 200. Cotton seems to have been incapable of understandmg that there could be a great principle 
 involved in Holmes' unwillingness to consent to have his fine paid, and sees in it only a spirit of 
 willful obstinacy, which chose the whipping rather than to be released. 
 
 ••■IllNewes ttc, 61, 62. '"HI Newes, etc., 70. 
 
42 
 
 Christian language in his letter to the brethren in London. " 
 Having been kept in prison until September, he was led forth 
 to his punishment, cheerfully trusting in God and in the right- 
 eousness of his cause, and taking his Testament in his hand, as 
 being the source of his comfort and the substance of his faith. 
 When he had been stripped of his clothing, he neither assisting 
 or resisting, and telling them that for all Boston he would not 
 give his body into their hands thus to be bruised upon any 
 other account, yet upon this he would not give the hundredth 
 part of a wampan peague"^ to free it out of their hands, and 
 that he made as much conscience of unbuttoning one button as 
 he did of paying the thirty pounds, the executioner was com- 
 manded to "doe his office." 
 
 "As the man began to lay the stroaks upon my back," 
 wrote Mr. Holmes, "I said to the people, 'though my Flesh 
 should fail and my Spirit should fail, yet God would not fail ; ' 
 so it pleased the Lord to come in and so to fill my heart and 
 tongue as a vessel full, and with an audible voyce I brake forth, 
 praying unto the Lord not to lay this Sin to their charge, and 
 telling the people. That now I found he did not fail me ; and, 
 therefore, now I should trust him forever who failed me not ; for 
 in truth, as the stroaks fell upon me, I had such a spirituall 
 manifestation of God's presence, as the like thereunto I never 
 
 •'111 Newes, etc., 45-52. '"The sixth part of a penny. 
 
43 
 
 had, nor felt, nor can with fleshly tongue expresse ; and the out- 
 ward pain was so removed from me, that indeed I am not able 
 to declare it to you ; it was so easie to me that I could well bear 
 it, yea, and in a manner felt it not, although it was grievous, 
 as the Spectators said, the Man striking with all his strength 
 (yea, spitting on his hand three times, as many affirmed) with a 
 three-coarded whip, giving me therewith thirty stroaks. When 
 he had loosed me from the Post, having joyfulnesse in my heart, 
 and cheerfulnesse in my countenance, as the Spectators observed, 
 I told the Magistrates, ' You have struck me as with Roses ; ' and 
 said, moreover, ' Although the Lord hath made it easie to me, 
 yet I pray God it may not be laid to your charge.' " 
 
 Such is the plain, pathetic story of his sufferings, as told 
 by Holmes himself, in which he sought to exalt the wonderful 
 grace of God which sustained him, and manifested in a remark- 
 able degree the spirit of a Christlike forgiveness. So severe 
 was his punishment that the. hearts of the spectators were 
 moved to a sympathy which they could not repress, though 
 the expression of it put them in peril of like punishment ; and 
 a former acquaintance visited him, when taken back to prison, 
 and, as he said, "poured oyl into my wound and plaistered 
 my sores." That it was a cruel punishment, inflicted with 
 unmitigated severity, no candid reader of the narrative will 
 question for an instant. Governor Joseph Jenks, of Rhode 
 
44 
 
 Island, writing in the first third of the last century, so that 
 he must have received his information from contemporaries 
 of Mr, Holmes, thus describes it: "Mr. Holmes was whipped 
 thirty stripes, and in such an unmerciful manner that in many 
 days, if not some weeks, he could take no rest but as he lay 
 upon his knees and elbows, not being able to suffer any part 
 of his body to touch the bed whereon he lay."'^ In order to 
 show the impression which the narrative has made on unbiased 
 minds, a few testimonies will be quoted. Callender, in Sprague's 
 Annals, says, "The sentence of the law was executed upon 
 him with the utmost severity."^'' Arnold says he was "cruelly 
 whipped," ^^ and Bancroft, that he was "whipped unmerci- 
 fully." ^^ Oliver speaks of him as "being livid with the bruises 
 of the lash;" 83 and Gay, in Bryant's Popular History of the 
 United States, says: "Such was his spiritual exaltation that 
 when the ghastly spectacle was over, and his clothes were 
 restored to him, to cover his scored and bloody back, he 
 turned to the magistrates standing by, and said, ' You have 
 struck me as with Roses.' "^^ 
 
 I turn now to a very remarkable note in Dr. Dexter's vol- 
 ume. It is numbered 47S, and reads thus : " Arnold thinks he 
 
 '" B.ickus* Hist, of the Baptists, Vol. I., 193, note I. '-Hist, of U. S., Vol. I., 450. 
 '"Annals of Bapt. Pulpit, 23. '•''The Puritan Commonwealth, 223. 
 
 8' Hist of K. I., Vol. I., 235. *^ Vol. II., no. 
 
45 
 
 was 'cruelly whipped.' [Hist. R. I., Vol. I., 235.] But Clarke 
 says, ' It was so easie to me that I could well bear it, and in a 
 manner felt it not ; ' and that he told the magistrates after it was 
 over, ' You have struck me as with Roses.' [Ill Newes, etc., 22.] 
 Dr. Palfrey suspects the executioner had orders ' to vindicate 
 what they thought the majesty of the law, at little cost to the 
 delinquent.'" [Hist. N. E., Vol. II., 353. J^^ 
 
 Passing by the strange mistake of Dr. Dexter, in that he 
 makes Clarke speak instead of the sufferer. Holmes, in the quo- 
 tations from " 111 Newes," etc.,^*^ let us notice the real meaning 
 and purpose of the note. Dr. Dexter would have his readers 
 understand that Holmes' punishment may not have been very 
 severe, after all ; that it may have been little more than a farce, 
 an apparent vindication of the majesty of the law ; and he 
 throws back the responsibility of the insinuation upon his great 
 master. Dr. Palfrey, who, he says, "suspects" that it may have 
 been so. Having found as many as nine fatal errors and unfor- 
 tunate omissions (which, whether designed or undesigned, are 
 
 ^ As to Roger Williams, 121. 
 
 *«The attention of Dr. Dexter has been called again and again to this mistake, as well as to the 
 untruthful character of the whole note, by Rev. Henry S. I'.urrage, editor of " Zion's Advocate," 
 Portland, Me., and also by others in prominent religious and secular journals. Two tardy .ind 
 unsuccessful attempts have been made by the author to correct a mistake which seems so easily recti- 
 fied, both of them, however, leaving it in a more unsatisfactory condition than at first. But as yet no 
 acknowledgment has been made of the erroneous character of the entire note and the unfortunate 
 misrepresentation which it contains. 
 
46 
 
 unpardonable) within half as many pages of Dr. Dexter's vol- 
 ume, we feel now compelled to verify his quotations, even when 
 he quotes from Dr. Palfrey. Turning now to Dr. Palfrey's His- 
 tory, we find this allusion to the whipping of Mr. Holmes : 
 " When he relates that the scourging which he endured ' was so 
 easy to him that he could well bear it, yea, and in a manner felt 
 it not,' and that he told the Magistrates 'You have struck me as 
 with Roses,' the reader ventures to hope that the executioner 
 had been directed by his superiors to vindicate what they 
 thought the majesty of the law, at little cost to the delinquent." 
 The phrase used is, it will be noticed, "the reader ventures to 
 hope." To be sure, to ordinary readers such a hope is consider- 
 able of a venture, in the face of the facts as narrated, which both 
 Dr. Palfrey and Dr. Dexter must have had before them. If it 
 was only a humane " hope," it might be allowed to pass unno- 
 ticed. But the "hope "of Dr. Palfrey, unwarranted as that is, 
 is magnified and perverted into a " suspicion " in the process of 
 quotation by Dr. Dexter ; and when he seeks to ground that 
 suspicion upon the touching words of the patient sufferer, and 
 to ascribe the effect of the sustaining grace of God to the 
 supposed grace of the executioner or the magistrates, he is 
 guilty of a palpable and gross misrepresentation. Such a note 
 as "478" in "As to Roger Williams," the intent of which is so 
 manifestly uncandid, and which offers a monstrous distortion of 
 
47 
 
 the truth for the truth, would be sufficient to destroy confidence 
 in any volume or in the honest purpose of its author to write 
 history fairly. 
 
 The Puritan magistrates were in no mood to play a farce. 
 They were dead in earnest. They were bent on tragedy. In 
 their judgment Holmes was guilty of the most serious crime. 
 Governor Endicott had told him he deserved death, and the 
 meek John Wilson had "struck and cursed" the prisoner 
 in holy indignation, in "the exquisite rancor of theological 
 hatred." The executioner is represented as " striking with all 
 his strength (yea, spitting on his hand three times, as many 
 affirmed)." Warrants were issued for no less than thirteen 
 persons who were unable to repress their sympathy with 
 Holmes at the time of the whipping.*' The most of them, how- 
 ever, escaped. Two only, John Spur and John Hazel, who 
 had taken the sufferer by the hand as he was led away from the 
 whipping-post, were arrested; and it is more than intimated that 
 there would have been more whipping had not the executioner 
 taken himself out of the way, so that he could not be found, 
 having probably had enough of the bloody work.*''' There is 
 only one possible conclusion to be accepted; viz., that never 
 was sentence of court executed more literally, never did execu- 
 tioner do his work more faithfully. 
 
 "Backus' Hist, of Baptists, Vol. I., 194. «» Backus' Hist., Vol. I., 197. 
 
48 
 
 It has not been pleasant to dwell at such length on these 
 painful details, and to portray again the persecutions which our 
 fathers endured for the sake of conscience and of truth. But 
 justice should be rendered to their memories, and we who are 
 the lineal heirs of their religious faith and the inheritors of bless- 
 ings purchased by their sorrow and blood, may reasonably be 
 expected to protect their fair names from unwarranted and 
 sacrilegious assault. Better that this whole transaction should 
 be passed by in silence, as it was by Captain Johnson, in his 
 "History of 1654," by Mr. Morton, in his "New England 
 IMemorial of 1669," by Mr. Hubbard, in his " History of 1680," 
 by Dr. Cotton Mather, in his " History of 1702," and by Gov- 
 ernor Hutchinson, in the first two volumes of his History, than 
 that, for the sake of justifying the persecutors, the motives of 
 the persecuted should be maligned, and their sufferings be made 
 light of. The name of Roger Williams, the acknowledged 
 apostle of religious toleration and liberty of conscience, is 
 engraven too high among the names of the great benefactors 
 of mankind to be dimmed or brought low by any modern assail- 
 ant. John Clarke, the learned physician and able pastor of the 
 Newport Baptist church, whose admirable confession of faith ^•' 
 might be accepted to-day, with little change or improvement, 
 by any New Testament church, was, in some respects, the peer 
 
 ^•'111 Newes, etc., 70 sq. 
 
49 
 
 of Roger Williams, though less widely known and honored.''^' 
 In defending him and his two companions (one of whom, Mr. 
 Holmes, was his honored successor in the pastoral office for 
 thirty years) ''^ from unrighteous aspersions, may this paper 
 fulfill its humble purpose. 
 
 ■"' Rev. Jolin Callender says of Dr. Clarke : " He was a faithful and useful minister, courteous 
 in all the relations of life, and an ornament to his profession, and to the several offices which he sus- 
 tained. His memory is deserving of lasting honor for his efforts toward establishing the first govern- 
 ment in the world which gave to all equal civil and religious liberty. To no man is Rhode Island 
 more indebted than to him. He was one of the original projectors of the settlement of the Island 
 and one of its ablest legislators. No character in New England is of purer fame than John Clarke." 
 (See Sprague's Annals of Bapt. Pulpit, 26.) 
 
 "' Sprague's Annals of Bapt. Pulpit, 23.