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A SUMMER VISIT OF THREE RHODE ISLANDERS TO
THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY IN 1651

TUniform witb tbis Wolume
[ary Dyer oe Rhode Island, the Quaker Martyr
BY .TIIDGE HORATIO KOOBTRS

A SUMMER VISIT

THREE RHODE ISLANDERS

MASSACHUSETTS BAY IN 1651

AN ACCOUNT OF THE VISIT OF DE. JOHN CLAEKE,
OBADIAH HOLMES AND JOHN CEANDALL, MEMBEES
OF THE BAPTIST CHURCH IN NBWPOET, E. I., TO
WILLIAM WITTBE OF SWAMPSCOTT, MASS., IN JULY,
1651 : ITS INNOCENT PUEPOSE AND ITS PAINFUL
CONSEQUENCES

BY
HENEY MELVILLE KING
PASTOR OF THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, PROVIDENCE, K. I.

PBOVIDENOB
PRESTON AND BOUNDS
1896

Copyright, 1896
By HENRY MELVILLE KING
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

PRESS OF
E. L. FREEMAN .t SONS, PROVIDENCE, K. I.

PREFACE
The substance of this paper was presented
at the midwinter meeting of the Backus His
torical Society, held in Boston, Dec. 8, 1879.
It was published (Boston, 1880), by vote of
the Society, under the general title — "Early
Baptists Defended, a Eeview of Dr. Henry
M. Dexter's Account of the Visit to William
Witter in 'As to Eoger Williams.'" It has
been quoted frequently as an authority in
reference to the historical incident which it
discusses. Dr. Dexter found a copy of it in
the Library of the British Museum. For
several years it has been out of print, and
the demand for it, on the part of the increas
ing number of students of colonial history,
could not be met.
The history of the visit has been carefully
re-examined, and the paper has been consid
erably lengthened by the addition of new

VI PEEFACE
matter, and made to include a consideration
of the incident as symptomatic of the Puritan
spirit, and as shedding light upon the cause
of the banishment of Roger Williams — -a
question which a few writers and speakers
are not willing to allow to remain settled.
The recent discovery of incontrovertible doc
umentary evidence will confirm the belief
that has been generally held as to the re
ligious nature of Williams' offence, and ought
to be able to remove all doubts from all
minds. This paper was read, in its enlarged form,
before the Ehode Island Historical Society
at its meeting, March 5, 1895, and before the
Veteran Citizens Historical Association of
Providence, April 11, 1895.

A Summer Visit
OF THREE EHODE ISLANDEES TO THE
MASSACHUSETTS BAY IN 1651.
The memorable visit of Dr. John
Clarke, Obadiah Holmes and John Cran-
dall, members of the Baptist church in
Newport, to William Witter, one of the
early settlers in the Massachusetts Bay,
took place in July, 1651. It is proposed
in this paper to review the history of
that visit, that we may ascertain, if pos
sible, the object of it, the alleged crim
inal conduct of which these troublesome
visitors were guilty, and the severity of
the punishment which they received at
the hands of the Puritan magistrates.

S THREE EHODE ISLANDEES
This service has been undertaken solely
in the interests of historic truth, and not
in the spirit of a partizan or a controver
sialist. A difference of opinion having
been manifested of late 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 re-examination of
the facts in the case which are accessible.
When such historians as Dr. J. G. Pal
frey ( " History of New England " ) and
Dr. H. M. Dexter ("As to Roger Wil
liams " ) who follows Dr. Palfrey closely
and even outstrips him in the positive-
ness of his convictions, call in question
accepted opinions in matters of colonial
history, 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

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 9
qualities of our Puritan ancestors, and
admiration and gratitude for the noble
service which they rendered, and the in
estimable benefits of which we are en
joying, 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 judg
ments have come down to us, transmitted
through ignorance or prejudice, it is high
time they were abandoned. On the other
hand, a sacred regard for the truth of his
tory 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.

10 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
It should be remembered that we are
dealing with events nearly two centuries
and a half old, when truths now^ well
developed, full grown and generally ac
cepted, were in their infancy and ac
knowledged 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 wis
dom 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 mth present views and
wishes than the facts will warrant. The
duty of the histoi'ian is simply to write
Jii story, not to modify it or make it ap
pear different from what it is. The truth
may be judged charitably ; but the truth
is history, and nothing else is.

DJ THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 11
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 Swamps-
cott, about two miles from Lynn proper.
Backus introduces the account of this.
visit with the following statement (''His
tory of the Baptists," Vol. L, 178) : "On
July 19, 1651, Messrs. Clarke, Holmes
and Crandal, ' being the representatives
of the church in Newport, upon the re-
(j^uest 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 the Newport church
papers, from which the statement is a
(quotation. Arnold says in similar lan
guage ("History of Rhode Island," Vol.

12 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
I., 234) : " They were deputed by the
church to visit an aged member, residing
near Lynn, who had requested an inter
view with 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 learn elsewhere ("History of Lynn,"
by Lewis and Newhall), 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 innocent, humane, religious purpose

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 13
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 Kiffen and other
brethren in London, incorporated by
Clarke in his "111 Newes from New
England" (Mass. Hist. Coll., Vol. IL,
Fourth Series), he says : " I came upon
occasion of businesse into the Colony of
the Mathatusets, vnth two other Breth
ren." 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 Swampscott.
In opposition to the prevalent view, —
a view which seems to be supported by
incontrovertible authority, — Dr. Palfrey
has suggested that the visit had a very
shrewd political purpose, and was care-

14 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
fully planned to that end; that owing
to local disagreements in the Pro^ddence
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 confed
eracy, or possibly to annex them to the
Massachusetts Bay, 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
authorities of the Bay, that the breach
might be widened and the suspected de
signs of those who were thought to be
laboring for the annexation, might be
frustrated. It will be necessary to sketch briefly
the situation. William Coddington, who
in 1648 was elected the second President
of the Providence Plantations (though at
that time certain charges were brought

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 15
against him, the nature of which is un
known), had indeed manifested a desire
for a union with the Colonies. There is
much about Coddington's conduct which
is veiled in mystery. He was evidently
a wily, determined, 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 noticed, five months after the signing
of the charter given to Roger Williams
for the incorporation of the Providence
Plantations, 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 convenient it might
be, if it were possessed by an enemy,
lying in the heart of the plantations,
and convenient for shipping, I cannot

16 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
but see; but I want both counsel and
strength to effect what I desire. I de
sire to hear from you, and that you
would bury what I write in deep sil
ence : 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 v^^as received
in this country, and one month before
the second meeting of the Commission
ers of the four Colonies. It reveals
Coddington's character, and his ambi
tious purpose. We cannot dwell up
on the details of Coddington's conduct.
Four years later — in 1648 — in another
letter to Winthrop, he disclosed his
growing alienation from the people of
Providence and Warwick. In Septem-

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 17
ber of that year he applied, in connec
tion with Alexander Partridge, to the
Commissioners of the Colonies for a
union of the Island with them. The
application declared that it was endorsed
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 the island as a
distinct colony — the thing which Cod
dington evidently desired — and offered
their protection only on condition that
the island should place itself under the
government of Plymouth — the thing
which Coddington evidently did not
desire. That would have defeated his
ambitious purpose. He declined the
proposition ; and here the matter ended.
Four months afterward he sailed for
England, where he remained at least

18 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
two years and a half. His design in
going to England he succeeded in keep
ing a profound secret. This is acknow
ledged by all. The exact time of his
return is uncertain. It was probably
very soon after the visit to Witter. It
could not have been before. When,
however, he did return, it was found
that he had succeeded, at the very end
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 Provi
dence Plantations given to Roger Wil
liams, March 14, 1644. This commission
appointed Coddington governor for life.
He was to be assisted in the government
by Councilors, "not exceeding the num
ber of six," who were to be chosen an
nually, but must be approved by the

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 19
governor. Having accomplished his am
bitious purpose, and procured a division
of the Providence Plantations, and the
appointment of himself for life as well-
nigh the supreme ruler of Nevvport and
Portsmouth, he arrived home possibly in
August, 1651.
This act of Coddington is supposed to
furnish the probable occasion of the visit
of the three Newport worthies to Mr.
Witter, in which they found Massachu
setts about as hot a place as a fiery fur
nace heated to a seven-fold temperature.
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-defence admonished them that, if
possible, that scheme should be defeated.
Clarke had known for seven years that

20 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
his presence would not be allowed in
Massachusetts. During that time a law
had existed which his presence would
affront. [This was the intolerant law of
1644 banishing all persons who should
oppose infant baptism or deny the right
of the magistrates to punish the outward
breaches of the first table.] And indeed
seven years earlier yet, he had gone away
under circumstances which made it next
to certain that had he not departed vol
untarily he would have been expelled.
" Fourteen years he was content to
stay away from Massachusetts : in the
fifteenth he was prompted to go thither.
The considerate reader may see a signi
ficance in the time of this movement.
The precise day of Coddington's arrival
from England vsdth his 'Commission' is
not known; but it seems to have been
when his arrival was expected from

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 21
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 peo
ple. He was a man of discernment and
resolution, and felt no reluctance to ex
pose himself to pei'sonal 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 effi
cacious to excite his Rhode Island friends
to oppose the ascendency of Coddington.
" Clarke took with him two compan
ions, one of whom, he could promise
himself, would, at the moment, be al
most as unwelcome a visitor as himself.

.22 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
John Crandall was so far a person of
consideration that we -find him to have
sometimes served in the General Court
of the Colony as Commissioner (or Dep
uty) for Newport. But Obadiah Holmes
was a man of more importance. He was
minister of the congregation which had
occasioned the application from Massa-
<;husetts 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 use of such words and phrases
as " perhaps," " it may easily be be
lieved," "as is probable," showing that
while he regards his theory as probable
he does not present it as a fact capable
of proof. It is a conjecture of his own,

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 23".
for which he offers no authority beyond
what he thinks he finds in the conjunc
tion of events.
We pause to point out two or three
errors in Dr. Palfrey's narrative. He
says that Clarke left Massachusetts.
" under circumstances which made it
next to certain that, had he not de
parted voluntarily, he would have been
expelled." This language casts an un
warranted reproach upon Clarke and his
conduct, when first in Massachusetts.
He himself says : " In the year '37 I left
my native land, and in the ninth month
of the same, I, through mercy, arrived in
Boston. I was no sooner on shore but
there appeared to me differences among
them touching the Covenants &c." He
goes on to say that "seeing they were
not able so to bear each with other iu
their different understandings and con-

24 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
sciences, 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 re
mained in the Bay he would have been
banished, even as Roger Williams and
a dozen others were ; but no reproach
should be cast upon the record of "the
modest and virtuous Clarke," as Ban
croft calls him, " whose whole life was
a continued exercise of benevolence, "^
and who "left a name without a spot."'
Having left the Bay in order to avoid
strife, it seems utterly inconsistent that
he should return to the Bay in order to
stir up strife.
Moreover, Dr. Palfrey has fallen into
an error when, in holding up Dr. Clarke's
conspicuous character as well calculated

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 25
to call forth the religious hostilities of
the authorities of the Bay, he speaks of
"his newly acquired position of Assis
tant in the government," for according
to the official table given by himself
{i. e. Palfrey) Dr. Clarke had been an
Assistant for the two previous years,
but in 1651 did not hold the office; so
that what little force this point seems
to have, falls to the ground utterly.
We now turn to Dr. Dexter's account
of this matter. He shows himself to be
the more than willing disciple of Dr.
Palfrey. He swallows him bodily, con
jectures, errors and all, although the
palfrey is hardly less than a moderate-
sized camel. In his dexterous treatment
suppositions become established facts,
and conjectures become accredited his
tory. Having alluded to the remon
strance which the General Court of

26 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
Massachusetts sent to the General Court
of Plymouth in regard to its mild treat
ment of 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 .... 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, vrith
a Council of not more than six Assis
tants. 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

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 27
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 Massachusetts. . . .
When the crisis approached, Clarke
seems to have felt that a little perse
cution of the Anabaptists — if such a
thing could be managed — by Massa
chusetts, might serve an important pur
pose in prejudicing the Rhode Island
mind against Coddington'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 continues : " Knowl
edge of Mr. Witter's case reaching Mr.
Clarke, a pilgrimage was determined
upon for the purpose of public sympa
thy with this person, if not his open

28 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
rebaptism and reception into the New
port 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  The scheme
succeeded perfectly," etc.
Dr. Dexter represents the knowledge
of Mr. Witter's case as reaching Dr.
Clarke just at this crisis, as if it was
a happy juncture of events. But he
must have been acquainted with it for
years, for it had been eight years since
Mr. Witter's first arraignment for hold
ing Baptist views, and five years since
his second arraignment. Dr. Clarke
could not have remained uninformed
about it all this time, inasmuch as
Witter was a member of the church
of which he was pastor. Dr. Dexter
attempts to cover up the real character

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 29
of Mr. Coddington's design by keeping
out of sight two points, viz., that he
secured in his commission for himself
a life a/ppointment as Governor, and,
secondly, that the election of his Coun
cilors was not valid unless confi/r'Tned by
himself. But the principal criticism upon this
quotation from Dr. Dexter is to be made
upon the very remarkable statement that
"In the autumn of 1650 it was under
stood that he (Coddington) was on his
way home vdth this new instrument ;
and it was further understood that it
was Mr. Coddington's desire and inten
tion 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 pro
cure its annexation to Massachusetts."
It will be noticed that in this theory
3*

30 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
the question of time is a very important
one. Coddington's supposed design and
its successful accomplishment must have
been understood sufficiently early before
the visit to Mr. Witter to allow Dr.
Clarke and his companions to mature
their plans as to the best course to be
pursued. Dr. Dexter, in his anxiety to
give time enough, says it was under
stood 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. Codding
ton, whose purpose in visiting England,
it will be remembered, he had kept a
profound secret, must have reached there
soon after the execution of Charles I.
and the downfall of the British mon
archy. The Council of State under the
Commonwealth held its first meeting.

EST THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 31
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 full
years elapsed before any attention was
given to the Colonies, or, in other words,
before Coddington could obtain a hear
ing. At a meeting of the Council, Feb.
18, 1651, a committee was appointed "to
consider of the business of plantations,"
and six weeks later, April 3, 1651, by a
vote of the Council, Coddington received
his Commission.
As has been already remarked, the
time of Coddington's return to this coun
try is a matter of uncertainty. It was
probably soon after the visit to Witter,
and is generally put down as in August,
1651. He would have been likely to
return as quickly as possible after ac
complishing the object of his visit, and

32 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
may have brought the news of his Com
mission with him : so that it could not
have been understood "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 Massa
chusetts. Setting aside the question of
time, which makes strongly against the
new theory, Coddington's "desire and
intention " must be determined by his
previous conduct in declining the an
nexation, and by the nature of the
Commission which he asked for and
procured. In general, then, it may be said
against the theory that the visit to
Mr. Witter had a political purpose : —

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 33
I. There is not a scintilla of proof
of it, and no authority for it whatever.
It is a specimen of hypothetical history,
with all the known facts squarely against
it. Dr. Dexter cites Dr. Palfrey, and
Dr. Palfrey cites nobody.
II. If Coddington's design was such
as this theory supposes, and the defeat
of which is supposed to be the object
of the visit to Mr. Witter, it could not
have been understood by Dr. Clarke
and his companions before their visit
was planned and made.
III. 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 the Bay to Baptist
principles, their intolerance and perse
cuting spirit, were too well known al
ready to require any new exhibition.

¦34 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
The severe law of 1644, condemning 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 there
of, or shall purposely depart the congre
gation at the administration of the or
dinance, or shall deny the ordinance of
magistracy, or their lawful right or au
thority 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 Re
monstrance " of a few prominent citizens.
Thomas Painter, of Hingham, had been
¦cruelly whipped for refusing to have his
child baptized. Complaints against such
proceedings had been sent over from
England, and Mr. Winslow had been
commissioned to go to England and an
swer them. Mr. Witter himself had

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 3&
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 and
bound over, a remonstrance from the
Court at Boston had been sent " urging-
the Plymouth rulers to suppress them
speedily." And all this in addition to
the treatment which Roger Williams
and many others had received. Surely
there was no doubt as to the spirit and
temper of the Massachusetts Bay, and
no occasion for any new demonstration.
Moreover, Mr. Coddington had few
friends and sympathizers in Rhode Is
land in any scheme he might propose.
It Avould have been voted down by an
overwhelming majority. His statement,
when seeking an alliance with the Col
onies in September, 1648, that a major
part of the Island desired it, is not

36 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
sustained by facts which are known.
When the character of his Commission
was discovered, a request was presented
to Dr. 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.
Coddington's Commission. Dr. Clarke
yielded to this request, and, in connec
tion vpith Roger Williams, who was sent
by Providence and Warwick, made such
representations before the Council of
State that on October 2, 1653, it voted
"to vacate Mr. Coddington's Commission
and confirm their former charter."
IV. The facts in the case do not
warrant the belief that Mr. Codding
ton's " desire and intention " in procur
ing his Commission was to bring Rhode

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 37
Island into alliance with the four Col
onies, and, much less, under the infiuence
and control of Massachusetts. He had,
indeed, three years before, for reasons
not fully explained, sought a division
of the Providence Plantations and a
friendly league vpith 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 re
sult disclosed the full extent of his
design, so far as we know. Rhode Is
land was separated from Providence and
Warvnck. It became an independent
colony, and he was to be its Governor

38 THREE RHODE ISLANDEES
for life, vnth the powers almost of dic
tator. V. There was little ground to fear
that Massachusetts and Plymouth would
consent to a league with Rhode Island,
on account of their unrelenting hostility
to the principles and practices of its in
habitants. The application for such a
league had been refused again and again.
" In truth," it has been said, " 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
the 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
government of their own on principles
which the Massachusetts General Court

Dif THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 39
declared were criminal. Even in a com
mon peril the Massachusetts magistrates
could recognize no tie of old friendship,
— hardly indeed of human sympathy, —
that should bind them to such men."
VI. Causes quite sufficient are dis
coverable to account for the opposition
to Mr. Coddington. There were relig
ious differences between him and the
other leaders, which " grew to such heat
of' contention that they made a schism
among them." Moreover, affairs in Eng
land, which were now approaching a
crisis, had undoubtedly no little influ
ence on the state of things in the Plan
tations. Coddington was a royalist, —
while Clarke, Nicholas Easton and other
leaders were republicans, and the repub
lican party was the dominant one. And
still further, there was a very general
determination to resist the division of

40 THREE EHODE ISLANDEES
the Providence Plantations, and to stand
by the original charter. Coddington's
ambitious scheme was enough, in itself,
to arouse the most bitter and determined
opposition. VII. If Dr. Clarke and his compan
ions had planned their visit for a political
purpose, viz., to draw forth the intolerant
spirit of the magistrates of the Bay, and
had been so anxious to succeed in it, as
they are represented to have been, it is
perfectly 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 their
journey is strangely inconsistent with
any such motive as is ascribed to them.

EST THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 41
Their supposed shrewdness seems to
have failed them in the most vital point
of their plan. Having determined to
seek persecution, they took the surest
method to escape it.
VIII. We are told distinctly by what
ought to be good and sufficient author
ity 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 the 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 testimony. He says : " Backus, in
deed, professes to quote (Vol. I., 215)
from the Newport Church Papers," which
looks very like a charge against Backus
of wilful deception. And then he adds :
4*

42 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS
" 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 al
together trustworthy will be acknowl
edged when it is remembered that they
were "gathered by the painstaking John
Comer in 1726," and "were derived from
Samuel Hubbard and Edward Smith,
both members of the Newport Church,
and contemporary with the events nar
rated." At any rate this testimony may
be accepted as valid until some evidence
to the contrary is presented more sub
stantial than the unreasonable and pre
posterous conjectures of Dr. Palfrey and
Dr. Dexter.
IX. Finally, the purpose of the visit
to Mr. Witter, as thus declared and uni
formly accepted to be the true one, is

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 43
entirely sufficient to account for it, and
harmonizes with all the circumstances.
Here was an old man far removed
from his brethren in the church, and
needing Christian sympathy and spirit
ual 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 three
score 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 re
member him in his loneliness and feeble
ness, — surrounded by those who were
hostile to his faith, and probably soon

44 THREE EHODE ISLANDERS
to die. It is quite possible that Dr.
Clarke and his companions may 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 Satur
day 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. Dr. Clarke published in England a
truthful account of this visit and the
treatment Avhich the visitors received —
to make known, as he said, "how that

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 45
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."
And when Dr. Dexter says that Clarke
was careful to declare that one purpose
which he had in view in it all, was to
show how they would treat Rhode Is
land Baptists, were they to be annexed
to their colony, he makes an utterly un
warranted, and it is difficult not to say
a wilfully 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. Dex
ter interprets into it. Dr. Clarke ^ras
showing simply how he and his com
panions were treated, and how all who
differed religiously from the Massachu-

46 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS
setts authorities, 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 office, and how
a weak theory may seek to bolster itself
up by a fallacious deduction.
It will be necessary to consider more
briefly the two remaining points, viz.,
the alleged criminal conduct of Mr.
Witter's visitors, and the punishment
which they received at the hands of
the Bay magistrates.
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. Dr.
Clarke, in his narrative, thus describes
the scene : " Finding, by sad experience,
that the hour of temptation spoken of
was coming upon all the World (in a

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 4T
more eminent way) to try them that are
upon the Earth, I fell upon the consid
eration of that Word of Promise, made
to those that keep the Word of his Pa
tience, 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 un
expected after I had begun, opening and
proAdng what is meant by the hour of
Temptation, what by the Word of his-
patience," &c. But the presence of these
heretics had been discovered. The scent
of heresy was marvelously acute. The
(juiet service in that remote place was
suddenly interrupted by the entrance of
two constables with a warrant, signed
by Robert Bridges, for the arrest of
"certain erroneous persons, being stran
gers." The warrant, of course, was issued

48 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS
before the service was held ; therefore
the only offence thus far of Dr. Clarke
and his companions was that they were
there. Their polite request to be allowed
to complete the service was impolitely
refused. They offered no resistance to
their arrest and were taken to the "or
dinary" for safe -keeping. In the after
noon they were compelled, against their
protest, to go to the public religious
service.* They manifested their disap
proval by silently reading during the
*Dr. Clarke said: "If thou forcest us Into your
assembly, then shall we be constrained to declare our
selves that we cannot hold communion with them."
Their opposition to going to this public service, and
their discourteous conduct while there, are to be ac
counted for on the ground of that intense and narrow
conscientiousness which characterized the times. It
prevailed everywhere. Whatsoever was not of faith,
in their judgment, was sin. They could not even ap
pear to fellowship and indorse it, or to show any
sympathy with it. Clarke and his companions could
not, in conscience, be present at this Sunday afternoon
service without giving expression to their disfellow-
ship and disapprobation.

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 49
service, and by failing to remove their
hats, which the constable removed for
them. When the service was over. Dr.
Clarke rose and said : " 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." He
was not allowed to proceed, and the
prisoners were remanded to the "or
dinary." They were sent to prison in
Boston by the onittimus of Mr. Bridges
under date of Tuesday, July 22d.
The language of the m^ittimus is sig
nificant as disclosing the nature of their
offences, viz. : " for being at a Private
Meeting at Lin upon the Lord's day,
exercising upon themselves," "for of-

50 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS
feiisively disturbing the peace of the
Congregation at their coming into the
Publique Meeting," " for saying and
manifesting that the church of Lin was
not constituted according to the order
of our Lord &c, for such other things
as shall be alleged against them concern
ing their seducing and drawing aside of
others after their erroneous judgments
and practices, and for suspition of hav
ing their hands in the rebaptizing of
one, or more, among us."
The magistrates, in the exercise of
their judicial watchfulness against the
awful sin of Anabaptism, suspected that
there had been a baptism. Dr. Clarke
was charged also with having adminis
tered the Lord's Supper while there.
Such was the nature of their offences.
It is not necessary to consider at this
time whether the suspicions of the au-

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 51
thorities were well-founded or not. The
probability is that they were only sus
picions.* But, in any event, there was
no disturbance of the peace, no violation
of any civil law, — only the exercise of
the right to worship God in their own
way, and gather comfort from his truth
and ordinances within the sacred temple
and castle of a man's private dwelling.
We now come 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. Having been taken
to Boston, they were arraigned the fol
lowing week, on Thursday, July 31st.
Dr. Clarke says : " In the forenoon Ave
were examined; in the afternoon, with
out producing either accuser, witness,
*This question is fully considered in my "Early
Baptists Defended," p. 32-37.

52 THREE EHODE ISLANDEES
jury, law of God or man, we were sen
tenced." During the examination Gov
ernor Endicott charged them with being
Anabaptists ; to whom Clarke replied
that he was "neither an Anabaptist,
nor a Pedobaptist, nor a Catabaptist."
The Governor lost his temper, and de
clared they "deserved death, and he
would not have such trash brought in
to their jurisdiction " ; also insinuating
that they had influence over weak-
minded persons only, and daring them
to hold a discussion with the ministers.
This challenge Dr. Clarke promptly ac
cepted, and endeavored to bring about
the desired discussion. The magistrates
seemed at first to consent, but after some
delaj'^ it came to naught. The excite
ment at the time of the so-called "trial"
must have been intense, — not that it
would take much "to put John Endi-

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 53
cott 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 vsdth thee," because
Holmes had meekly said : " I blesse God
I am counted worthy to suffer for~ the
name of Jesus."
The sentences 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 prominent.
Holmes' was the heaviest undoubtedly
because he had been excommunicated
from the church at Rehoboth, and hav
ing been guilty of baptizing had been
dealt lightly with by the Court at Ply
mouth. Massachusetts sent a remon-
5*

54 THREE RHODE ISLANDEES
strance at the time. They now had the
criminal in their own power, and felt
themselves called upon to make amends
for Plymouth's leniency, and to see that
justice was meted out. Criminals of
such a dangerous 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 self-appointed guardians
of the new world's faith and peace, who
looked upon themselves as God's minis
ters of justice, — for their neighbors as
Avell as for themselves.
The fines imposed upon Crandall and
Clarke were paid by "tender-hearted
friends, without their consent and con
trary to their judgment," though the

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 55
matter has an entirely different and un
truthful aspect in the accounts of John
Cotton and Dr. Dexter. Cotton, who jus
tified the Avhole transaction, said Clarke
"was contented to have his fine paid for
him," and Dr. Dexter represents him,
notwithstanding his alleged eagerness
to suffer persecution according to his
theory, as " very willing to leave for
home." There were those, too, who would
have paid the fine of 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, lest he should appear to
confess himself a transgressor.* It seems
* Cotton's letter to Sir Richard Saltonstall in defence
of the Puritan magistrates is a remarkable document.
In it he seeks to throw the responsibility of the whip
ping upon Holmes himself : "As for his whipping, it
was more voluntarily chosen by him than inflicted on

¦56 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
certain from the narrative, not only that
he was unwilling to allow the fine to be
paid, but that, as he was the greatest
offender in the judgment of the author
ities, they were not willing to allow it
to be paid, as they had been in the case
of the others. They made his case an
exception, and held him to the letter of

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
cliose rather to be whipped ; in which case, if his suf
fering of stripes was any worship of God at all. surely
it could be accounted no better than will-worship."
To which Governor Jenks 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 iine is the aclinowledgment of a trans
gression ; 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.'' Cotton seems to have been incapable of
understanding that there could be a great principle in
volved in Holmes' unwillingness to consent to have his
fine paid, and sees in it, or pretends to see in it, onlj' a
spirit of wilful obstinacy, which chose the whipping
rather than to be released.

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 57
the penalty, — inflicting 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 maxi
mum number allowed by law.
The account of the cruel whipping is
given in very touching Christian lan
guage in Holmes' 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 righteousness of his cause,
and taking his Testament in his hand
as being the substance of his faith and
the source of his comfort and strength.
When he had been stripped of his
clothing, — he neither assisting nor re
sisting, and telling them that for all
Boston he would not give his body in
to their hands thus to be bruised upon

-58 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
any other account, yet upon this he
would not give the hundredth part of
a wampum peague (the sixth part of a
penny) 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 ex
ecutioner was commanded to "doe his
-office." "As the man began to lay the stroaks
upon my back," wrote the sufferer, "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 to so 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

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 59'
trust him forever who failed me not ;
for in truth, as the stroaks fell upon
me, I had such a spirituall manifesta
tion of God's presence, as the like there
unto I never 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 easy 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 hands three times, as many affirmed)
with a three - coarded whip, giving me
therewith thirty stroaks. When he had
loosed me from the Post, having joyful-
nesse in my heart, and cheerfulness in
my countenance, as the Spectators ob
served, I told the Magistrates — You
have struck me as with Roses ; and said

60 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
moreover Although the Lord hath made
it easie to me, yet I pray 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 remarkable 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 re
press, although the expression of it put
them in peril of like punishment. A
former acquaintance visited him, when
taken back to prison, and, as he said,
"poured oyl into my wound and plais-
tered my sores." That it was a cruel
punishment, inflicted with unmitigated
severity, no candid reader of the nar
rative will question for ah instant.

m THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 61
Governor Joseph Jenks, writing in the
first third of the last century, so that
he must have received his information
from contemporaries of Holmes, de
scribes it thus : " 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 similar language
Callender, Arnold, Oliver, Bancroft, Gay,
Adams, Straus and others describe the
whipping. But Dr. Dexter in a remarkable note*
says : " Arnold thinks he was ' cruelly
whipped.' But Clarke says [he ought
to have inserted ' that Holmes said ' ]
' It was so easie to me that I could well
*A8 to Roger Williams, p. 121.
6

62 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
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.' Dr. Palfrey suspects the
executioner had orders ' to vindicate
what they thought the majesty of the
law at little cost to the delinquent.' "
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 insinua
tion upon his great master. Dr. Palfrey,
who, he says, " suspects " that it may
have been so. Having had our confi
dence in Dr. Dexter's fairness seriously
shaken, we feel compelled to verify his
quotations, even when he quotes from
Dr. Palfrey. Turning to Palfrey's His-

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 63
tory, we read: "When he (Holmes)
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 Magis
trates '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
considerable 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 un
noticed. But the "hope" of Dr. Palfrey,
unwarranted as that is, is magnified and

64 THEEE EHODE ISLANDERS
perverted into a "suspicion" in the pro
cess of quotation by Dr. Dexter ; and
when he seeks to ground that suspicion
upon the pathetic words of the patient
sufferer, and to ascribe the effect of the
sustaining grace of God to the imagined
grace of the executioner or the magis
trates, he is guilty of a palpable, gross
and unpardonable misrepresentation.
Such a note as Dr. Dexter's, the in
tent of which is so manifestly uncandid,
and which presents a monstrous distor
tion of the truth, is sufficient to destroy
confidence in any volume, or in the
honest purpose of the author to wiite
history fairly.
The Puritan magistrates were in no
mood to play a farce ; they were in dead
earnest. They were bent on tragedy.
In their judgment Holmes was guilty
of a most serious crime. Governor En-

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 65
dicott had told him he deserved death,
and the meek pastor, 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 hands
three times, as many affirmed." War
rants were issued for no less than thir
teen persons who were unable to repress
their compassion for Holmes at the time
of the whipping. The most of them,
however, escaped. Two only, — John
Spur and John Hazel, who had taken
the bleeding sufferer by the hand as he
was led away from the whipping-post, —
were arrested ; and it is more than inti
mated 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
6*

66 THREE EHODE ISLANDERS
enough of the bloody work. There is
only one possible conclusion to be ac
cepted, viz., that never was sentence of
court executed more literally, never did
executioner do his work more faithfully.
It has not been a pleasant duty to
dwell upon these painful details. But
the memories of men who were loyal to
their convictions of truth and the rights
of conscience, and to their more perfect
views of soul -liberty, are as sacred as
the memories of those who made them
to suffer, and as worthy of being pro
tected from sacrilegious assault. Better
that this whole transaction should be
passed by in silence — as it was by Cap
tain Johnson in his "History of 1654,"
by Mr. Morton in his "New England
Memorial of 1669," by Mr. Hubbard in
his "History of 1680," by Cotton Mather
in his "History of 1702," and by Gover-

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 67
nor 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 for the sake of con
science and liberty should be made light
of. John Clarke, the learned physician
and able pastor of the Newport Baptist
Church was in some respects the peer
of Roger Williams, though less widely
known and honored.* Obadiah Holmes,
*Rev. John Callender says of Dr. Clarke : " He was
a faithful and useful minister, courteous in all the re
lations of life, and an ornament to his profession and to
the several offices -which he sustained. His memory is
deserving of lasting honor for his efforts toward estab
lishing the first government 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 Is
land, and one of its ablest legislators. No character in
New England is of purer fame than John Clarke." It
is not known where Dr. Clarke was educated ; but the
following item in his will shows him to have been a
man of wide learning and studious habits : " Unto my
loving friend, Richard Bayley, I give and bequeath my

•68 THREE EHODE ISLANDEES
the martyr of heavenly spirit and trium
phant faith, was Dr. Clarke's honored
successor in the pastoral office for thirty
years.* The unchristian and inhuman
treatment of these worthies called forth
remonstrances on both sides of the At
lantic. Sir Richard Saltonstall, one of
the first magistrates of the Massachu-
concordance and lexicon thereto belonging, written by
myself, being the fruit of several years' study, my
Hebrew Bible, Buxtorff's and Parsons' lexicons. Cot
ton's Concordance, and all the rest of my books." He
did not return from his mission to England till 1664,
having remained there as the agent of the Colony. lie
died April 20, 1676.
¦*Obadiah Holmes was born at Preston, Lancashire,
England, about the year 1606, and came to this country
about 1639. He belonged to a family of considerable
means and of acknowledged respectability. He said of
his parents : "They were faithful in their generation,
and of good report among men, and brought up their
children tenderly and honorably." Three sons were
educated at Oxford, one of whom was probably Oba
diah. This is evidence that the family was in ample
circumstances and of more than ordinary culture. Oba
diah Holmes died in 1683, leaving a large posterity,
some of whom have obtained distinction in the learned
professions.

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 69
setts Ba}^, who was at the time in Eng
land, wrote sharply rebuking Cotton and
Wilson for their "tyranny and persecu
tion in New England as that you fine,
whip and imprison men for their con
sciences  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,
and not to practice those courses in a
wilderness which you went so far to
prevent." And Roger Williams — the
great apostle of religious liberty, Avhose
voice, from before his banishment until
the day of his death, ceased not to pro
claim the sublime principle of Avhich his
name will ever be the illustrious expo
nent — wrote to Governor Endicott such
characteristic words as these : " Sir, I
must be humbly bold to say 'tis impos-

'70 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
sible for any man or men to maintain
their Christ by their sword, and to wor
ship a true Christ ! to fight against all
consciences opposite theirs, and not to
fight against God in some of them, and
to hunt after the precious life of the
Lord Jesus Christ."
The true philosophical historian can
not treat this incident, which we have
been considering, as an isolated phenom
enon. It was symptomatic of a social
condition and of a prevailing religious
spirit. It reveals to us the attitude —
conscientious, indeed, but nevertheless
the attitude — of the ruling minds among
the Puritans. It was not necessary for
a man to be a disturber of the peace in
order to be whipped or banished ; or
rather, whoever differed from them in
religious faith or practice, and claimed
the right to indulge the exercise thereof.

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 7L
was, in their judgment, a disturber of
the peace. Uniformity of religious be
lief was the animating purpose of their
government, the sacred end of their leg
islation, a principal object of their social
compact and existence. The language
of James I. expressed their sentiment
towards all dissentients : " I will make
them conform, or I will harry them out,
of my kingdom." There are men to-day
who boast of their descent from the
Puritans, and laud their excellencies —
and rightly so — who would not have
been allowed to remain within their bor
ders twenty -four hours unmolested.
This incident throws its light upon that
long series of persecutions, in which the
Puritan magistrates solemnly delighted
themselves, of Church of England men,
Antinomians, Quakers, and Anabaptists.
This incident throws light — if any is

72 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
needed — upon the cause of the banish
ment of Roger Williams, which some-
Avhat memorable event took place only
fifteen years before. The spirit of the
Puritan magistrates had suffered no
change in that interval of time. It was
neither better, nor worse, nor different.
They tried to be consistent, and to make
their principles of Church and State
triumphant, though no candid man is
now rash enough to say that those prin
ciples were right. Dr. George E. Ellis
has truly said: "Intolerance was a neces
sary condition of their enterprise. They
feared and hated religious liberty." In
parallel words Professor J. L. Diman
describes them as "intolerant of differ
ence of opinion, regarding liberty of
conscience v\dth equal fear and hate."
And so they feared and hated Roger
Williams, who not only entertained

m THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 73
broad and correct views of religious
liberty, but advocated them as oppor
tunity offered itself.
To make a distinction between a
man's religious opinions and his dispo
sition, whose only offending was that
it defended those opinions, is to make
a distinction vpithout great difference.
The phrase " disturber of the peace "
did not then signify any such thing as
it means to-day. None of those offend
ers had been guilty of any overt acts
against civil laws, but only of violation
of religious laws which were incorpo
rated into civil legislation. To hold
religious opinions different from those
of the magistrates and the body of the
people, and to be disposed to advocate
them, was to be wickedly contentious
and criminal according to their stand
ards. Religious offenders were politi-

74 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
cal offenders. It is evident enough to
candid students of colonial history that
it was not Roger Williams' disposition,
in distinction from his religious views,
that caused his banishment, but the dis
position of the Puritan magistrates.
They indulged in no such hair-split
ting and specious methods. To them
Roger Williams represented views and
ideas of liberty which they "feared
and hated." He was already accused
of anabaptism. It is recorded that
Elder Brewster, in 1633 or 1634, pre
vailed with the church in Plymouth
to grant Williams' request for dismis
sion, '' fearing that he would run the
same course of rigid separation and
anabaptistry which Mr. John Smyth
at Amsterdam had done," and that at
Salem, where the church though warned
against him had received him, "in one

m THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 75
year's time he had filled that place with
principles of rigid separation and tend
ing to anabaptism."
Anabaptism was the synonym of re
ligious liberty. It had been before
Christendom as a distinct movement for
a hundred years, — in Switzerland and
Germany, in Holland, and in England.
Its first confession of faith, issued in
1527 at Schleithheim, a little town near
Schaffhausen, openly claimed and pro
claimed religious liberty. In the Neth
erlands, during all the fierce struggle
for civil liberty, these people, it is said,
" kept intact their ideas of religious
liberty." The confession of faith issued
by the Anabaptists in London in 1611
contained the enunciation of the same
great principle ; and in all these lands
their fidelity cost them their lives.
Mark Pattison, in his biography of

76 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
John Milton, whose broad views of tol
eration are well known, says, that on
that account "every Philistine leveled
at him the contemptuous epithet of An
abaptist most freely." So thoroughly
was anabaptism identified with religious
liberty, that, if any man advocated a
more generous toleration, this epithet
was hurled at him, and not only in
the old world, but in this new world
as well.
Roger Williams was, if not already
an Anabaptist, fast tending to it. The
Puritan magistrates understood perfectly
what he stood for, — if some of their
modern misinterpreters do not. Arnold
says : " To fasten upon Roger Williams
the stigma of factious opposition to the
government is to belie history, by an
effort to vindicate bigotry and tyranny
at the expense of truth." In the charge

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 77
against Williams — under which he was
tried, convicted and banished — the first
item, which may be supposed to contain
the gravamen of their accusation, is :
" That the magistrate ought not to
punish the breach of the first Table
except when the civil peace is endan
gered." While announcing the doctrine
of the separation of Chiu'ch and State,
instead of being " a disturber of the
peace," he is represented as carefully
guarding it. In a summary of the
charges against him, prepared by Wil
liams himself in .1644, occurs the fol
lowing specification : " That the civil
magistrate's power extends only to the
bodies and goods and outward state of
men." Governor Haynes was still living,
and the most of the others also who had
had a hand in the banishment ; but no
denial of this specification was ever made.
7*

78 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
Again in 1652, in the letter of Wil
liams to Governor Endicott — already
quoted — which was occasioned by the
cruel treatment of these peaceable Rhode
Island visitors, the writer says : " At
present let it not be offensive in your
eyes that I single out another, a fourth
point, a cause of my baidsTiment also,
wherein I greatly fear one or two sad
evils which have befallen your soul and
conscience ; the point is that of the civil
magistrate dealing in matters of con
science and religion, as also oi persecuting
and liunting any for matters merely spir
itual or religious.'''' Notice the phrase
" a cause of my banishment also," as de
termining the fact that the same spirit
of religious persecution which whipped
Holmes banished Williams.
Moreover, in order to remove all ques
tion or doubt, if any remain in the minds

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 79
of any persons, as to the cause of Wil
liams' banishment, and to establish con-
clusivel}^ the fact that it was a difference
of religious opinion that made him ob
noxious to the Puritan magistrates, and
that it was religious persecution that
drove him out into the wilderness, we
may cite an Act passed by the Council
of Massachusetts, March 31st, 1676, con
ditionally revoking the original act of
banishment. It is only recently that
attention has been called to this act.
It Avas published by Massachusetts in
1859 in Vol. H. of the "Acts of the
Commissioners of the United Colonies."
It was discovered in the Massachusetts
archives after the printing of the body
of the volume, and placed in the Intro
duction, and so was not properly in
dexed. It reads as follows :
" Whereas, Mr. Roger Williams stands

'80 THEEE EHODE ISLANDEES
at present under a sentence of Restraint
from coming into this colony, yet con
sidering how readyly & freely at all
tymes he hath served the English In
terest in this time of warre with the
Indians, and manifested his particular
respects to the authority of this Colony
in several services desired of him, and
further understanding how by the last
assault of the Indians upon Providence
his house is burned and himself in his
old age reduced to an uncomfortable
and disabled state — Out of compassion
to him in this condition the Council doe
Order and Declare that if the sayed Mr.
Williams shall see cause and desire it,
lie shall have liberty to repayre into
any of our Towns for his security and
comfortable abode during these Public
Troubles, he behaving himself peaceably
and inoffensively and not disseminating

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 81
and venting any of Ms different opinions
in matters of religion to the dissatisfac
tion of any."
Forty years had gone by. Some of
the actors in 1636 had undoubtedly —
like Williams — been spared to 1676.
He had gone out of their borders, but
not out of their knowledge or out of
their necessity. Twice at least, by his
friendly interposition with the Indians,
he had probably saved the inhabitants
of the Bay fi'om annihilation. He had
heaped coals of fire upon their heads.
He had asked the privilege of simply
crossing their territory on the way to
England, and had been refused. He
had been their neighbor, but Avas still
^'feared and hated." They kept him
at arm's length, lest the pestilential
principles which he advocated and fos
tered across the line should infect them.

82 THEEE RHODE ISLANDERS
John Winthrop, Avho had assented to
his banishment, had indeed shown a
disposition to recall him, and to "confer
npon him some mark of distinguished
favor for his services." But adverse
¦counsels long prevailed, until at length
touched to some slight appreciation of
his generous and self-sacrificing services
in their behalf, and to some slight sym
pathy for his age and supposed suffering
and poverty, but not to any marked
degree of penitence for their past con
duct, they were prompted to revoke the
act of banishment, and to permit him to
return temporarily "during these public
troubles," — still, however, remembering
the nature of his offence by adding this
significant condition, that he shall "not
disseminate and vent any of his differ-
¦ent opinions in matters of religion."
Dr. Dexter, Av^hose reputation as an ex-

IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 83
plorer of colonial literature was very
great, confessedly wrote his monograph
" because of the limited acquaintance of
some of the earliest historians with the
facts," and because they did not go back
to "the only original authorities." This
act of revocation must have escaped this
careful and boastfully thorough inves
tigator, — or, perhaps Ave should come
nearer the truth if we said, he seems to
have escaped it. As a revocation it
could not have amounted to much to
Roger Williams, for we cannot conceive
of him as accepting such liberty at the
price of stifled couAdctions, and as sur
rendering the priceless principle for
Avhich he had once suffered the loss of
all things. But this act of 1676 ought
to settle all dispute as to the cause of
the banishment of Roger Williams, and
to settle it forever.

APPENDIXES

APPENDIX I
Warrant for the arrest of Clarke, Holmes and
Crandall.
" By virtue hereof, you are required to go
to the house of William Witter, and so to
search from house to house, for certain erro-
nious persons, being Strangers, and them to
apprehend, and in safe custody to keep, and
tomorrow morning by eight of the Clock to
bring before me. EoBERT Bridges."
Copy of the Mittimus.
" To the Keeper of the Prison at Boston,
By virtue hereof you are required to take
into your custody from the Constable of Lin,
or his Deputy, the bodies of John Clark,
Obediah Holmes, and John Crandall, and
them to keep, untill the next County Court to

88 APPENDIX I
be held at Boston, that they may then and
there ansAver to such complaints as may be
alleged against them, for being taken by the
Constable at a Private Meeting at Lin upon
the Lords day, exercising among themselves,
to Avhom divers of the ToAvn repaired, and
joyned Avith them, and that in the time of
Publick exercise of the Worship of God ; as
also for offensively disturbing the peace of
the Congregation at their coming into the
Publique Meeting in the time of Prayer in
the afternoon, and for saying and manifest
ing that the Church of Lin Avas 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
draAving aside of others after their erroneous
judgements and practices, and for suspition
of having their hands in the re-baptizing of
one, or more among us, as also for neglecting
or refusing to give in suificient security for
their appearance at the said Court; hereof
fail not at your perill, 22. 5. 51.
EoB. Bridges."

APPENDIX I 89
The sentence of Holmes, {the sentences of Clarice
and Crandall loeredraivn up in similar lan
guage, there being slight variations in the
accusations and the jyenalties.)
" Forasmuch as you Obediah Holmes, being
come into this Jurisdiction about the 21 of
the 5th M. did meet at one William Witters
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 Lords day, and other dayes, and
being taken then by the Constable, and coming
afterAvards to the Assembly at Lin, did in dis
respect of the Ordinance of God and his
Worship, keep on your hat, the Pastor being
in Prayer, insomuch that you Avould not give
reverence in veiling your hat, till it Avas forced
off your head to the disturbance of the Con
gregation, and professing against the Insti
tution of the Church, as not being according
to the Gospell of Jesus Christ, and that you
the said Obediah Holmes did upon the day
folloA\dng meet again at the said Williams
Witters, in contempt of Authority, you being
8*

90 APPENDIX I
then in the custody of the LaAv, and did there
receive the Sacrament, being Excommunicate,
and you did Baptize such as Avere Baptized
before, and thereby did necessarily deny the
Baptism that Avas before administered to be
Baptism, the Churches no Churches, and also
other Ordinances, and Ministers, as if all
Avere a Nullity ; And also did deny the laAS'-
fullness of Baptizing of Infants, and all this
tends to the dishonour of God, the despising
the ordinances of God among us, the peace
of the Churches, and seducing the Subjects
of this CommonAvealth from the truth of the
'Gospel of Jesus Christ, and perverting the
•strait Avaies of the Lord, the Court doth fine
you 30 pounds to be paid, or sufficient sure
ties that the said sum shall be paid by the
first day of the next Court of Assistants, or
else to be Avell Avhipt, and that you shall re
main in Prison till it be paid, or security giA^en
in for it. By the Court,
Encrease Noaa'ell."

APPENDIX II
Extracts from the letter of Holmes to friends
in London, addressed —
"Unto the Avell beloved Brethren, John
Spilsbury, William Kiffen, and the rest that
in London stand fast in that Faith, and con
tinue to Avalk stedfastly in that Order of the
Gospell Avhich Avas once delivered unto the
Saints by Jesus Christ. Obediah Holmes an
uuAvorthy Avitness that Jesus is the Lord, and
of late a Prisoner for Jesus sake at Boston,
sendeth greeting." After giving an account
of his conversion, change of religious vicAvs
and arrest by the Plymouth court, in con
nection Avith tAvo others, all of Avhom Avere
severely reprimanded and discharged Avith-
out punishment, the letter continues—
" Not long after these troubles I came upon
occasion of businesse into the Colony of the

92 APPENDIX II
Mathatusets, A^'ith tAvo other Brethren, as
Brother Clark, being one of the tAv^o, can in
form you, Avhere Ave three Avere apprehended,
carried to the prison at Boston, and so to the
Court, and Avere all sentenced; A^'hat they
laid to my charge, you may here read in my
sentence : Vpon the pronouncing of A\'hich I
Avent from the Bar, I exprest my self in these
A¥ords : I blesse God I am counted A^^orthy to
suffer for the name of Jesus; Avhereupon
John Wilson (their Pastor as they call him)
strook me before the Judgement Seat, and
cursed me, saying. The Curse of God or
Jesus goe Avith thee; so Ave Avere carried to
the Prison, Avhere not long after I Avas de
prived of my tAvo loving Friends; at Avhose
departure the Adversary stept in, took hold
on my Spirit, and troubled me for the space
of an hour, and then the Lord came in, and
SAveetly relecA^ed me, causing me to look to
himself, so Avas I stayed, and refreshed in the
thoughts of my God; and although during
the time of my Imprisonment, the Tempter
AV'as busie, yet it pleased God so to stand at
my right hand, that the motions AN'ere but

APPENDIX II 93
sudden, and so vanished aAvay ; and although
•there Avere that Avould have payd the money
if I Avould accept it, yet I durst not accept of
deliverance in such a Avay, and therefore my
ansAver to them Avas, that although I A\^ould
acknoAvledge their love to a cup of cold
Water, yet could I not thank them for their
money if they should pay it: so the Court
drcAsr neer, and the night before I should
¦suffer according to my sentence, it pleased
¦God I rested and slept quietly ; in the morn
ing many Friends came to visit me, desiring
me to take the refreshment of Wine, and
•other Comforts, but my resolution Avas not
to drink Wine, nor strong drink that day
untill my punishment Avere over, and the
reason Avas, lest in case I had more strength,
•courage and boldnesse than ordinarily could
be expected, the World should either say he
is drunk Avith new Wine, or else that the
comfort and strength of the Creature hath
carried him through, but my course A^^as this :
I desired Brother John Hazell to bear my
Friends company, and I betook myself to my
Ohamber, Avhere I might communicate Avith

¦94 APPENDIX II
my God, commit myself to him, and beg
strength from him 
 And Avhen I
heard the voyce of my Keeper come for me,
«ven cheerfulnesse did come upon me, and
taking my Testament in my hand, I Avent
along Avith him to the place of execution, and
after common salutation there stood ; there
stood by also one of the Magistrates, by
name Mr. Encrease NoAveU, Avho for a AvhUe
kept silent, and spoke not a Avord, and so did
I, expecting the Governors presence, but he
came not. But after a Avhile Mr. NoA\'ell bad
the Executioner doe his Office, then I desired
to speak a iew Avords, but Mr. NoA^ell an-
SAvered, it is not noAv a time to speak, Avhere-
xipon I took leaA'e, [permission] and said.
Men, Brethren, Fathers, and Countrey-men,
I beseech jovl give me leaA-e to speak a fcAv
Avords, and the rather, because here are many
Spectators to see me punished, and I am to
seal Avith my Blood, if God give me strength,
that Avhieh I hold and practise in reference
to the Word of God, and the testimony of

APPENDIX II 95
Jesus ; that Avhich I have to say in brief is
this. Although I confesse I am no Disputant,
yet seeing I am to seal Avhat I hold Avith my
Blood, I am ready to defend it by the Word,.
and to dispute that point Avith any that shall
come forth to Avithstand it. Mr. NoAvell an-
SAvered me, noAV Avas no time to dispute, then
said I, then I desire to give an account of the
Faith and Order I hold, and this I desired
three times, but in comes Mr. Flint, and saith
to the Executioner, FelloAv, doe thine Office,^
for this felloAv Avould but make a long Speech
to delude the people 
 And in the time.
of his pulling of my cloathes I continued
speaking, telling them, That I had so learned,
that for all Boston, I Avould not give my
bodie into their hands thus to be bruised
upon another account, yet upon this I Avould
not give the hundredth part of a Wainpoji
Peague to free it out of their hands, and that
I made as much Conscience of unbuttoning
one button, as I did of paying the 301. in
reference thereunto ; I told them moreover,
the Lord having manifested his love toAvards

96 APPENDIX II
me, in giving me repentance toAvards God,,
and faith in Jesus Christ, and so to be bap
tized in Avater by a Messenger of Jesus into
the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,.
Avherein I have felloAvship A^th him in his
death, buriall, and resurrection, I am noAv
come to be baptized in afflictions by your
hands, that so I may have further feUoAvship'
Avith my Lord, and am not ashamed of his
sufferings, for by his stripes am I healed ;
And as the man began to lay the stroaks
upon my back, I said to the people, though
my Flesh should fail, and my Spirit should
fail, yet God Avould not fail ; so it pleased the
Lord to come in, and so to fill my heart and
tongue as a vessell full, and Avith an audible
voyce I broke forth, praying unto the Lord
not to lay this Sin to their charge, and tell
ing the people. That noAv I found he did not
fail me, and therefore noAV I should trust him
forever Avho failed me not ; for in truth, as
the stroaks fell upon me, I had such a spirit
uall manifestation of God's presence, as the
like thereunto I never had, nor felt, nor can
Avith fleshly tongue expresse, and the outAvard

APPENDIX II 97
pain Avas so removed from me, that indeed I
am not able to declare it to you, it Avas so easie
to me, that I could Avell bear it, yea and in a
manner felt it not, although it Avas grievous,
as the Spectators said, the Man striking Avith
all his strength (yea spitting on his hand
three times, as many affirmed) Avith a three-
coarded Avhip, giving me thercAvith thirty
stroaks ; Avhen 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 Avith 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. After this many came^
to me, rejoyoing to see the poAver of the Lord
manifested in Aveak flesh; but sinfuU flesh
takes occasion hereby to bring others in
trouble, informs the Magistrates hereof, and.
so tAvo more are apprehended as for contempt
of authority, there names Avere John Hazell
and John Spur, Avho came indeed and did
shake me by the hand, but did use no A^'ords
of contempt or reproach unto any ; no man

98 APPENDIX 11
can prove that the first spoke, any thing, and
for the second, he only said thus. Blessed be
the Lord ; yet these tAvo for taking me by the
hand, and thus saying after I had received
my punishment, Avere sentenced to pay 40
shillings, or to be Avhipt. Both Avere resolved
against paying their Fine : Nevertheless after
one or tAvo dayes imprisonment, one payed
John Spurs Fine, and he Avas released, and
after six or seven dayes Imprisonment of
Brother Hazell, even the day Avhen he should
have suffered an other payed his, and so he
escaped, and the next day Avent to visit a
Friend about 6 miles from Boston, Avhere he
the same day fell sick, and Avithin 10 dayes
he ended this life ; Avhen I af as come to the
Prison, it pleased God to stir up the heart of
an old acquaiiitance of mine, Avho A\^ith much
tendernesse, like the good Samaritan, poured
oyl into my Avound, and plaistered my sores ;
bufl there Avas present information given Aphat
Avas done, and inquiry made Avho Avas the
Chirurgion, and it Avas commonly reported he
should be sent for, but Avhat Avas done, I yet
knoAv not. Noav thus it hath pleased the

APPENDIX II 99
Father of Mercies so to dispose of the matter,
that my Bonds and Imprisonments have been
no hinderance to the Gospel, for before my
return, some submitted to the Lord, and Avere
baptized, and divers Avere put upon the A\'ay
of enquiry ; And noAv being advised to make
my escape by night, because it Avas reported
that there Avere Warrants forth for me, I de
parted : and the next day after, Avhile I Avas
on my Journey, the Constable came to search
at the house Avhere I lodged, so I escaped
their hands, and Avas by the good hand of my
heavenly Father brought home again to my
neer relations, my Avife, and eight children,
the Brethren of our ToAvn and Providence
haAdng taken jDains to meet me 4 miles in the
Avoods, Avhere Ave rejoyced together in the
Lord. Thus have I given you as briefly as I
can, a true relation of things : Avherefore niy
Brethren, rejoyce Avith me in the Lord, and
give aU glory to him, for he is Avorthy, to
Avhom be praise for evermore, to Avhom I
commit you, and put up my earnest prayers
for you, that by my late experience, AA'ho
have trusted in God, and have not been de-

100 APPENDIX II
ceived, you may trust in him perfectly : Avhere-
fore my dearly beloved Brethren trust in the
Lord, and you shall not be ashamed, nor
confounded, so I also rest,
Yours in the bond of Charity,
Obediah Holmes."

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND INDEX

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Acts of the Commissioners of the United
Colonies, Vol. II.
Address at the Unveiling of the Statue
of Roger Williams in Providence, by
Prof. J. L. Diman.
Allen's Biographical Dictionary — (Sketch
of John Clarke).
Annals of the Baptist Pulpit — (Sketch of
John Clarke), by Wm. B. Sprague, D.D.
As to Roger Williams, by Henry M. Dex
ter, D.D.
Bancroft's History of the United States,
Vols. I and II.
Baptist Quarterly, Vol. X. Article by C.
E. BarroAvs, D.D.
Bryant's Popular History of the United
States, Vol. II, by William C. Bryant
and Sidney H. Gay.

104 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Historical Discourse, by Eev. John Callen
der.
History of the Baptists, Vol. I, by Isaac
Backus.
History of the Baptists, by Thomas Armi-
tage, D.D.
History of the Baptists in New England,
by Henry S. Burrage, D.D.
History of the Baptists in the United
States, by Prof. Albert H. NeA\'man,
D.D.
History of Lynn, by Alonzo Levds.
History of Lynn, by LeAvds and NeA\'hall.
History of New England, Vol. II, by John
G. Palfrey, D.D., LL.D.
History of Massachusetts, First Period,
by J. L. Barry.
History of Rhode Island, Vol. I, by Samuel
Greene Arnold.
Hubbard's History of New England.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 105
Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts.
Hutchinson's Collection of Original Pa
pers.
Life of Roger Williams, in Sparks' Am.
Biography, Ncav Series, Vol. IV, by Prof.
William Gammell.
Life of Roger Williams, by Eomeo Elton,
D.D.
Massachusetts Archives, Vol. II.
Massachusetts Historical Collections,
Vol. II, Fourth Series.
Massachusetts, Its Historians and Its
History, by Charles Francis Adams.
Massachusetts Records, Vol. III.
Memoir of Roger Williams, by Prof. James
D. KnoAvles.
Morton's Memorial.
Neal's History of New England.
Newport Church Papers, compiled by Eev.
John Comer.

106 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Plymouth Records, Vol. II.
Puritan Commonwealth, by Peter Oliver.
Rhode Island Colonial Records, Vol. I.
Roger Williams, the Pioneer of Religious
Liberty, by Oscar S. Straus.
Savage's Genealogical Dictionary, Vol.
IV— (Sketch of WiUiam Witter).
Short History of the Baptists, by Prof.
Henry C. Vedder.
The Emancipation of Massachusetts, by
Brooks Adams.
Winthrop's Journal, Vol. II.

INDEX A.
Adams, Brooks, 61.
Anabaptism, charge of, against The Three Rhode-
Islanders, 50, 52 ; charge of, against Roger AVil-
liams, 74 ; meaning of, 75, 76 ; confession of faitb
of, (1611), 75.
Anabaptists, 27 ; persecutions of, 71.
Antinomians, 71.
Arnold's "History of Rhode Island" as to the-
visit, 13 ; as to whipping of Holmes, 61 ; as to-
Roger Williams, 76. B.
Backus' "History of the Baptists," 11,41.
Bancroft's " History of the United States" ¦ as to
the character of Clarke, 24 ; as to whipping of
Holmes, 61.
Baptism, Infant : Witter's opinion of, 12 ; law of
1644 concerning, 20, 34.
Baptists, hostility to, by Massachusetts, 19, 31, 33,
38, 45.

108 INDEX
Boston, Court of, 35.
Brew.ster, Elder, 74.
Bridges, Robert, 47, 87, 88.
C.
Callender, Rev. John : as to whipping of Holmes-,.
61 ; as to Clarke, 67 (foot note).
Catabaptist, 53.
Church of England, 71.
Clarke, Dr. John : date of his visit to Witter, 7 ;
object of visit, according to Backus, 11 ; to Ar
nold, 13 ; in his own "111 Newes from New Eng
land," 13 ; according to Dr. Palfrey, 14, 19-32 ;
errors of Dr. Palfrey noted, 23-25 ; real reason.
for leaving Massachusetts, 23 ; character of, by
Bancroft, 34 ; Assistant in the government, 25 ;
object of visit, according to Dr. Dexter, 27 ; sent
to secui-e rescinding of Coddington's Commission,
36 ; a republican, 39 ; statement of, before enter
ing church at Swampscott, 48 (foot note) ; own
account of visit to Mr. Witter, 46, 47, 49 ; charges
against, 49, 50 ; trial of, 51-53 ; sentence of,. 53 ;.
fine paid, 54, 55 ; character of. by John Callender,.
67 (foot note) ; item from will of, 67 (foot note) ;
death of, 67 (foot note) ; pastor of Newport Bap
tist Church, 67 ; treatment of the visit of, sympto
matic of prevailing religious spirit. 70-73.

INDEX 109s
Coddington, William : desires union with jNlassa-
chusetts or Plymouth, 15, 16 ; president of Provi
dence Plantations, 14 ; application of, for union.
with colonies, 17 ; obtains commission, 17-19 ;.
commission of, the occasion of the visit of the
three Rhode Islanders, according to Dr. Palfrey,
19 ; commission vacated, 36 ; its purpose, 36-38 ;
Dr. Dexter's account of procuring of commis
sion of, 26, 37 ; refutation of Dr. Dexter's view,
38-33 ; opposition to, 36, 39, 40.
Colonies, confederation of, 14, 15 ; Commissioners
of, 16, 17 ; as to introduction of Rhode Island
into, 17, 37, 29, 33, 35-37; as to union of New
port and Portsmouth with, 14.
Comer, John, 42.
Conanicut, 18, 36.
Cotton, John : as to Clarke's fine and Holmes' whip
ping, 55, (foot note,) 69.
Council of State : gives commission to Coddington,.
18, 26 ; rescinds same, 36 ; first meeting of, 30, 31..
Councilors of Rhode Island and Conanicut, 18.
Court of Boston, 35.
Crandall, John : date of visit to Witter, 7 ; object
of visit, see under Clarke ; as Commissioner for
Newport, 33 ; sentence of, 53 ; trial of, 51-53 ; his
fine paid, 54, 55.
10

110 INDEX

D.

Dexter, Dr. H. M. : author of "As to Roger Wil
liams," 8 ; disciple of Dr. Palfrey, 35 ; his account
of the visit to AVitter, 26 ; errors of his view,
38-33 ; throws discredit on Newport Church
Papers, 41, 43 ; view of, on Witter's age, 43 r
his interpretation of Clarke's own statement as
to object of the visit, 45 ; his interpretation of
payment of Clarke's fine, 55 ; his account of
Holmes' whipping, 61 ; as an historical authority,
64 ; failure of, to see act of revocation of Roger
Williams, 83 ; criticism of, 64^66.
Diman, J. L., 72.
"Disturber of the peace" : meaning of, 70, 73, 77.
E.
Easton, Nicholas, 39.
Ellis, Dr. Geo. E., 73.
Endicott, Gov. John : at trial of the three Rhode
Islanders, 53, 53, 64, 65 ; letter to, from Roger
Williams concerning punishment of Clarke, 69,
78. G.
Gay, Sidney H., 61. H.
Haynes, Gov., 77.

INDEX 111
Hazel, John, 65, 97, 98.
Historian, duty of, 10.
Holmes, Obadiah : date of visit of, to Witter, 7 ;
object of visit, see under Clarke ; letter of, to
John Spilsbury, 13, 91-100 ; trial of, at Plymouth,
35, 53; trial of, at Boston, 51-53; sentence, 53; copy
of sentence, 89 ; excommunicated from church at
Rehoboth, 53 ; fine of, 54, 57 ; whipping of, 57-66 ;
his own account of the whipping, 57-60 ; accounts
of Gov. Jenckes, Dr. Dexter, Dr. Clarke, Dr. Pal
frey, 61, 61-64, 61-63, 62-64 ; criticism of Dexter's
account, 64-66; pastor of Newport Baptist church,
68 ; opinions as to his punishment, 68-70 ; life of,
68 (foot note) ; extracts from letter of, concerning
his punishment, 91.
Hubbard, Samuel: "History of 1680," 42,66.
Hutchinson, Gov. : "History of Massachusetts," 67.
J.
James I., 71.
Jenckes, Gov. Joseph, 56 (foot note), 61.
Johnson's " History of 1654," 66.
K.
Kiffen, William, 13, 91. Li.
Lewis and Newhall's "History of Lynn," 13.

112 INDEX

M.

Massachusetts, or Massachusetts Bay : as to an
nexation of Rhode Island with, 14, 27, 29, 32, 38,
39 ; General Court of, 33, 38, 39 ; hostilityof, to-
' ward Baptists, seen in its remonstrance at time
of sentence of Holmes at Plymouth, and in
Clarke's leaving Massachusetts, 22, 24, 26, 53 and
54 ; services of Roger Williams to. 81 ; Act of, in
1676, revoking banishment of Roger Williams,
79-81, 83.
Mather, Cotton: "History of 1702," 66.
Milton, John, 76.
Mittimus : contents of the, 49, 50 ; copy of the, 87.
Morton's " New England Memorial," 66.
N.
Newhall, nee Lewis.
Newport : as to its union with the Colonies, 14 ;
Coddington, as governor of, 19 ; requesting re
scinding of Coddington's commission, 36.
Newport Baptist Church, 7, 11, 28.
Newport Church Papers, 41, 42.
Nowell, Encrease, 90. P.
Painter, Thomas, 34.

INDEX 113
Palfrey, Dr. J. G. : author of "History of New Eng
land," 8 ; purpose of the visit of The Three Rhode
Islanders, 13, 14 ; views of. on Coddington's letter
to Winthrop, 15 ; theory of, as to the visit to
Witter, 19-22 ; errors of his view, 23-25.
Partridge, Alexander, 17.
Pattison, Mark, 75.
Pedobaptist, 52.
"Petition and Remonstrance" against Law of 1644,
84.
Plymouth : as to union of Rhode Island with, 15-17 ;
trial of Holmes at, 22, 35, 53.
Plymouth, Church at : its dismissal of Roger Wil
liams, 74.
Portsmouth : as to its union with Colonial Confed
eracy, 14 ; Coddington, supreme ruler of, 19 ;
signing attempt to rescind Coddington's commis
sion, 36.
Providence : alienation of Coddington from, 16 ;
separation of, from Rhode Island, 37.
Providence Plantations: local disagreements of. 14;
charter to Roger Williams for incorporation of,
15 ; charter set aside, 18 ; division of, 19 ; division
of, sought by Coddington, 37 ; division of, resisted,
39.
Puritans : as to judgment of, 8, 9 ; religious attitude
of, 70-73.

114 INDEX Q.
Quakers, 71, R.
Rehoboth, 53.
Rhode Island : separate government of, established,
18 ; Coddington, governor of, 26 ; unsettled con
dition of, 26 ; as to proposed introduction of. into
Colonial Confederacy, 29 ; introduction of, not
purpose of Coddington, 32, 36, 37 ; separated from
Providence and Warwick, 37 ; intolerable to Bos
ton, 38.
Rhode Island Plantations, 36,
S.
Salem : Church of, 74.
Saltonstall, Sir Richard : Cotton's letter to, 55 ifoot
note) ; opinion of, on punishment of Holmes 68,
69.
Sehleithheim : confession of faith issued at, 75.
Smith, Edward, 43.
Smyth, John, 74.
Spilsbui-y, John, 13, 91.
Spur, John, 65, 97, 98.
Straus, Oscar S., 61.

INDEX 115

w,

Warrant for the arrest of Clarke, Holmes and Cran
dall, 87.
Warwick: alienation of Coddington from, 16; sep
arated from Rhode Island, 37.
Williams, Roger : charter to, for incorporation of
the Providence Plantations, 15, 16 ; banishment
of, 34 ; sent to gain the rescinding of Coddington's
commission, 36 ; letter of, concerning treatment
of Holmes, 69, 70 ; cause of banishment of, made
clear by treatment of The Three Rhode Islanders,
76-83 ; seen in Arnold's estimate, 76 ; in charges
at time of banishment, and in his own statement,
77 ; established conclusively in Act revoking his
banishment, 79-83.
Wilson, John : at trial of Holmes, 53, 65 ; rebuked
by Saltonstall, 69.
Winslow, Gov., 34.
Winthrop, John : letters to, from Coddington, 15,
16 ; desire of, to recall Roger Williams, 83,
Witter, William : visit of The Three Rhode Islanders
to, 7 ; object of the visit, iiee under Clarke ; ar
raignment of, for holding Baptist views, 28, 34 ;
time of visit to, 31 ; summary of evidence against
a political purpose of the visit, 33-45 ; real reason
for the visit, 42-44 ; age of, 43.

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PLANTATIONS.

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