Show the AV first r e t 01 of breedom are y e s v 0 A za f 1 om fawe 1 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON HE various tercentenary celebrations which have been held in massachusetts s e ats this year have revived vi ved public interest in the historical events of 0 long ago and have brought again to the attention of americans the names of many men who are all but forgotten some one has suggested that the bay state might well round out its tercentenary program with one more celebration of an important event which took place years ago such a celebration would be held next february for it was in february 1031 1631 that a man named roger williams arrived in boston from england the only trouble with that suggestion Is that roger hoger williams la is a man whom massachusetts Is little likely to honor with say any special ceremonies even though it would seem that after three centuries had passed all ancient prejudices should be dispelled and the harsh judgments of those far oll off days considerably softened at least one might logically draw such a conclusion from these facts in 1635 the great and general court of the massachusetts cay bay colony wrote upon its records the following whereas mr roger williams one of the elders of the church of salem bath broached and divulged divers new and dangerous opinions against the authority of magistrates and also writ letters of defamation both of the magistrates and churches here and that before any conviction and yet maint aineth the same without any retraction tt it Is therefore ordered that the said mr williams shall depart out of this jurisdiction within six weeks now next evening which it if he neglect to perform it shall be lawful for the governor and two of the magistrates to send him to some place out of this jurisdiction not to return any more without license from the court in 1028 the massachusetts house of representatives accepted without debate a report by the judiciary committee recommending leave to withdraw on a bill by representative jolin john W hawkins to revoke the sentence of banishment of roger williams thus the nay day state passed up its chance to make a graceful gesture which would show that the spirit of intolerance which once characterized massachusetts the colony had been succeeded ty by a more generous spirit in massachusetts chu the state and it missed an opportunity to utter even this smallest thanks tor for williams service when at the greatest risk to himself lie dissuaded the narragansett indians from joining in the pequot war against tile tho colony which had expelled him from its borders but quite aside from this question of whether or not the massachusetts of today Is likely to pay belated honor to the man whom the massachusetts of years ago considered dangerous feared and sent into exile Is the question which one might logically ask as the result of recalling the name of a mno man who has been gone from the american scene these years why Is the arrival of roger williams will lama on the shores of new england important enough to justify a celebration years later the answer to that question may be found in these words roger williams was the first prophet of freedom in america the land of the free a man whose liberalism was not confined to religion alone but who stood staunchly for civil liberty its as well surely in these days when americans are becoming concerned about the liberties guaranteed them la in the foundation stone of our republic the constitution to know something of such a man la Is worth while recently there has appeared pear ed a biography of him which brings out strongly tile the importance of this nan man in american history it Is roger williams prophet and plo neer written by emily easton and published by the houghton mifflin company it if roger williams had been no more than the pioneer he would still be interesting te and worthy of study but it is in roger williams the prophet of freedom that our main ln interest terest ties lies and with him in this role his nev biographer ogra pher Is chiefly concerned the year of his bis birth Is uncertain it was probably 1002 or the scene was in london on the edge of smithfield where were held both the fairs and the executions of the day ills his father was a merchant tailor but young roger does not seem to have had any desire to follow in his fathers tat liers footsteps he began the study of stenography and became an adept at writing shorthand taking down sermons at saint sepulchres chres church and speeches in the star chamber the awesome and terrible court at westminster lial hall 1 where offenders against the crown were summarily and secretly tried williams talent attracted the attention of sir edward coke the great judge and leader of the puritans who saw to it 11 that the boy was admitted to the charter house school in he be received his degree from pembroke college cambridge and became becam chaplain c in the country house of sir william masham naturally a free thinker he allied himself with the mosi extreme of the puritans belief in the the separation of church and state prevented his taking a parish in england and he resolved to come to merlea america A he arrived in boston on february 5 1631 but soon found that he was no better off in new england than in old england so he be went to plymouth the pioneer settlement the plymouth people could not agree with his strange opinions so he went to salem where he was repeatedly peat pent heatedly edly summoned and finally banished it was in january 1030 1616 that roger williams was compelled to leave hla his wife and babies and tramp through I 1 tile the snow covered forests he was saved through the aid of indians toward whom lie he had ever assumed a kindly and generous attitude chief massasoit of the indians gave him a tract of land on seekonk river where he was joined by old friends from salem and a settlement started but upon receiving friendly hints that complications complication 1 were liable to arise with the plymouth colony he moved to the present site of providence R L I 1 and in june 1030 started the settlement that was destined to become rhode island the land there was given by his old friends canonicus and sachems of the ts williams soon had a chance to return good for evil for such was his influence over oer the ts that lie he easily prevailed upon this puw powerful powei erful ful tribe not to join the under Sas in their plan to destroy all the english settlements in that part of the country williams in 1638 assisted isted jolin clarke cearle and william coddington in purchasing or rhode island from the ile he saw to it that the indians were not swindled but liberally paid tor for their holdings in 1018 lie went to england and ol ob talked the charter for the providence and rhode island settlements while there he blossomed forth as an author of some of the best sellers producing key into language of america rhe blody tenet of persecution for cause of conscience and mr cottons letter examined and answered williams made such a hit in england that several members of parliament gave hire him a letter which was virtually a passport through massachusetts upon his return in 1644 in 1851 lie he was obliged to again visit england in order to obtain the of the commission of william coddington as governor of rhode laland and connecticut he not only got what he went after but f found some time to do some more w 9 ile returned home in 1 aa in the tie colonial government and cc t presidency of the colony which I 1 h he L held eld until aims tn in his adal administration list itla he obtained toleration for I 1 the e quakers ua er who were then coming to new ken england it seems a somewhat strange paradox that the settlers of massachusetts who fled from england to secure religious liberty should become so intolerant toward others whose religious ideas ld not agree with theirs but it must also be admitted that the quakers gave them plenty of provocation for unlike the gentle peaceful persons whom we are accustomed to associate with the idea of the society of friends today the quakers of the seventeenth century were firebrands fire brands and disturbers disturb ers of the peace wherever they went williams himself had little more use for them than did the puritans amongst jews and turks protestants and pagans with allaf all of which 1 have con conversed V eased he wrote 1 I never met with alth such a judging censuring reviling spirit as Is the spirit splint of the quakers but though lie he disliked thera theiu he would not deny them the right to worship as they pleased any mo more i re than lie he would deny that right to any a Y others who were driven out of alasso massachusetts chu because of their beliefs rhode island had very little trouble with will tile the quakers for the simple reason that they were allowed to talk all they wanted to hence they had little desire to cause a disturbance just the opposite was the case in massachusetts chu the more they were persecuted there and their right of tree free speech suppressed the more determined they were to exploit theira views there Is food for thought in those facts in some present day problems in americal america I 1 not only did williams Hlll lams stand firm for religious liberty in ills his colony buts but for civil liberty as well lie ile had revolted against the theocracy which ruled new england and in revolting lie he rebelled against the magistrates as well as against the clergy eighteen nigh teen beirs eais aft litter after er he tied had founded foi indel ills his islet of defiant freedom he could boast in a letter to sir henry vane van we have not felt the new chains of like presbyterian tyrants nor in this colony have iv e been ann cnn umed with tile the over zeal ous tire fire of tile the so called godly christian tian inn sir air we e have not known fin an excise means we have aamot forgotten what tithes are yea iea or taxes either to church or commonwealth A new charter wits granted island in IMI IGO this charter established such liberal republican govern ment truit stat tile revolution in 1770 made no change in it and it was not super ceded until 1812 1842 18 12 for the next 14 1 years he was actively engaged in pub lie life the death of tills this remarks remarkable amerl can p pioneer 10 neer w was as a announced nn 0 in tills this quaint fashion in a letter written mn mill i 10 I 1 by john thorndyke of provi proal dence to it HIT iv samuel hubbard the llie lord hath arrested by death our an dent clent and approved friend mr roge williams with divers othes here hem 0 5 by stent western union |