Literary cadet and Rhode-Island statesman. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1827-1829, 1828-04-09

predecessor, Lived but 10 enhance eRSh othei
happiness, and to accelerate the growing
greatness Of the COLONY. Few in numbers,
and with but few exceptions, connected by the
links Of consanguinty, they enjoyed uninter-
rvp.ed happiness -labored in the common
cause Of the people, and if they made both
ends meet, at the end of the year, end saved
little to keep the wolf from tho door, in the
event Of any distressing emergency, they we're
satisfied blessed their kind stars, and the
God that made them, and were content
ed and happy. Unaccustoned to the luxu-
ries Of life, they thirsted not after them were
frugal, temperate and prudent, and cared not
for the warnings Of the elements or the cop'mo-
tions and downfall Of states and empires
Their dress was simple, plain, and Of domestic
manufacture the raw material was reared
by their own industrious hands, and whilst tho
asriculturalist toed in his fields to produce his
crops Of flax and veget ables, the untutored nr-
tizan tusged at the wheel and the loom, in pre-
pairing the necessary fabricks to apparel the
inhabitants of the colony. Thus for number
of years, did the primitive Rhode Islanders
pass their lives away; and thus they would
have continued to live, had they not impru-
IDENTIFY, in the fullness of their liberal ZEAL ad-
mitted to their circles, unknown and unac-
credited individuals, who had migrated from
other regions, and sought in the land Of the
happy, an asylum to secure them from the pur-
suits Of those whom they had injured, and who
were Justly entitled TO a punishment, which
the wisdom Of ancient and experienced law
givers, had founded for delinqucnts and Grim
inals.
The first parsonage who came among them,
and who succeeded in sowing the seeds of dis
cord and confusion, was ono Richard Babbing-
ton, puritan by birth and education man
OF some small alta inments, possessing n vast
deal Of impudcnce and arrogance, and who,
added TO all his other faults, the charac-
terisitics of base and perfdious hypocrte,
the properties of the knave, and confirmed
scoundrel He was about the age of forty,
when he first made his appearance in the colo
ny-tall, of a prcpossessing appearance, meek
and humble as a lamb, and strongly addicted
TO extreme piety. Much of his time was spent
in the " highways and bye ways" in deep de-
votion, and the balance Of his hours was occu-
pied in slyly infnsing poison into the minds of
| the people and with an efirontery rarely par
nIelled, he undertook to take charge Of their
spiritual concernmc nts.
The weaker vessels Of the colonv-and there
were goodly number who might be ranked a.
mong that order listened to him with the most
scrupulous attention, and looked upon him as
the co-heir of,he estates Of those happy regions
which are promised to the blessed At the
evening meetings, he was listened to. with the
most profound attention - the sisters Of the
order slipped down his language, as If it were
uttered by one of the purified saints and
:hus. whilst the barcfaced hypocrtc, the infa-
nous Richard, captivatcl many iearts, " ..ich
were cncased in softer tabera, cles, hc
rendered the lives of hundreds OF coo'4i3r
husbands, absolutely intolerablo.
For more than five years, did the cantng
and ahomnabe knavc, carry on his foul prac-
ticcs; and it was not till one Of the Dcacons
Of the Church, dcte cted him in the very act Of
carrying away the helpmate Of the Parson of
the Parish, that his vlainy was exposed, and
he was secuted from the circles which he had
too ccessfully annoyed and disgra aced, by his
,Iol r.
The Rhode Islanders, even in those early
days, were remarkable for their hospi'abIc
creduliiy = and as they swallowed all that
Richard uttered, they did not think il ncces-
sary to make any enquiries relative 10 his his.
tory, ill after his villainy and hypocrisy,
had been fully exposed and exploded. 1t
was then, when it was too late, that they
began to seek for information in relation
to the pious ncendlary ; and, following up
his history. as dclinea.ed by those through
whose regions 10 had passed, they learned,
that he was a rank impostcr, who having cs-
capped the vengeance Of the Blue Laws Of Con-
nccticutt, had fled to Rhode Island, to carry
on those dcprcdations, which were so accePta-
bic to his natural propcnsities, and so familiar
10 his education.
When the disclosure was made, the Parson
Of the Parish, and his venerable Deacon, both
Of whom had most severely realized the iniqui-
tous course which the impostor had followed,
gravely turned up their noses, and pious!y pro-
claimed, to the congregation, that the evils
they had experienced, by too readily receiving
Richard within the province. were nothing
more or less, than signal evidences Of the
wrath Of Heaven, towards his sinful creatures,