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

w hose hear hath nr'eT within him burned
As home hi fooi,tep, he hath uned,
from tednd,riny on T'r.t t,E Nrend
II such there breathe, 20, marx him ~el
For him uo Minstrel raplures swell
Hish though his titles, prov hi, name
Bouniess las wealth, wish claim;
De'pre those tnle' power and pelf,
The wretch concenter al all IN self
Living ,hall forfeit, fair
And douhly dying, shall 20 down
lo the rHe dust, from whence he sprung
UnTtPt uahOnored, aud unsunG"
Isle Of the ocean, "aern and mild
heei nurse LOT poetic chilli
Land OF brown heath, and shaggy wood,
Land "i the mountain and the Hood,
Lind n my Sircs, what oItsl hand,
Can e'er unite the Gliai band
That tni' me 10 ny rugged strand"
Lay ,fhe Last Minstrel.
The State Of Rhode Island, though the
smallest member Of that republican Confeder-
acy. which forms the United States Of Ameri-
ca, is situated in an agreeable latitude. and
affords all Of that mild variety Of scenery, ,
which can tune the Lyre Of the poet, and di.
rect the pencil Of the artist. The section Of
country, confined within the boundaries Of
Rhode Island, is neither remarkable for its
fertility or sterility ut is composed of hap
py admxure Of soil and whilst i, is not so luz
uriant as to create Incidence, it is not so ster-
lie, as to doom those who inhabit it, to cease
lcsss toilings and poverty.
The original settlers Of Rhode Island, were
emigrants from England, Wales. Scotland.
Ireland, and Holland, who having heard of the
riches, and interminable mines Of gold, which
were said to abound in North America. cross
ed the Atlantic and commenced an enter
prise which at that time was not considered
very insignificant fully assured within them
selves, that their golden dreams would sooner
or later break upon bright reality. At first,
! they located themselves in the colony of Mas
I sachusotts, but soon finding that the atmos-
| phere was contaminated with bigotry and pu-
ritanical tyranny, they fled to the colony of
Rhode Island, to escape persecution, and to
enjoy the privileges Of religious freedom.
The leader Of the band Of semi-plgrims as
all the world know, was the famous Roger
Williams clergyman and a graduate of one of
the principal English Universities, who had re-
solved to penetrate the polar regions them
selves,in pursuit Of freedom; and locating hm-
self at Tockcorotton, near the eastern environ
of the town Of Providence, he there erected an
humble temple TO his God and freely, and with
out molestation, worsbipped that being who
made him.
Roger, with all his pety, and professed lib
erality, was something of bigot, and though
he suffered other men to worship God as best
pleased them, he could not believe it possible
for man to enter into the kingdom of Heaven,
unless he worshipped his God, believed in
the Holy Trinity, and demeaned himself pre-
clsely as he did. But Roger, Notwithstanding
his bigotry, was too much Of the politician and
statesman, to suffer theological affairs to inter-
fere with lay concernments, and having him
self fled from The rod Of fanalicai persc ccuton,
he proclaimed that his colony should afford
an asylum to all who should think proper to
associate with him, and share with him equal
ly. and Ieciprocally, the joys and dangers Of
the rising kingdom. That he was a good
, man, no one can for a moment dispute {; but
whether he was, or was not, nordina.ely fond
was never satisfactorily decided, though 1t is
evident from monuments left behind hun, that
he sometimes served God, and sometimes
Mamnon. He was in statue, about five feet
! ten inches high, inclining to corpucncy -
his eyes were blue his complexion ilprid; and
a sort Of languishiog smile often played upon
his countenancc. He was fond Of fishing and
the 'hase; was not exactly averse to pretty
woman, and in his happier moments wrote
verses TO the eyebrows of the Dcborahs Of
the colony, and at quilting, or husking,
would libato quite freely, and if tempted too
strongly, would sip nectar from the lips Of a
flushing Hcbo. For number of years, he
was the Crack Of the colony its governor,
spiritual guide. and oracle, and he who pre-
snmed to dissent from the propositions Of Roger
williams, was looked upon as a sceptIc. il he
was not contemp,uously pronounced down
right infdel.
| His rcign, if such his purely republican ad-
| minis,ra,ion might have been called. was re-
markablc for It's salutary influences and the
the present greatness OF Rhode Island had its
origin in the wisdom, and political forecast OF
Roger Williams Of blessed memory. For a
number Of ycars,he resided at Tockco,cott"n,
but at last conceiving that that spot was not
so near Heaven as il should be, he removed to
| Prospect Hill, and established himself near a
babbling spring, in the rear of the mansion
house of Sullivan Dorr, Esq. where, after
numbering upwards of three score years and
ten, he died, and was gathered to his fathers,
and left no monument to mark the spot, where
| he built his modest and rugged sepulchre.