Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1854-10-31
EVENING STAR.
ROGER WILLIAMS.

The American Baptists possess rich inheri-
tance In the name and fame of Roger Viii
iiams. Rather let us say, this inheritanc. en-
riches our whole country, and the world; for
IN establishing the principle of Religious Toll
GRAFTON, Roger Williams became the benefac-
tor Of his race The American historian has
done him justice. Behold the picture of this
brave and noble leader, as drawn by the glo g
ing pencil of Bancroft:
I'm 1851 he was but little more than thirty
years Of age; but his mind had already ma
| tured doctrine which secures him an immor-
| tality of fame, as its application has given re-
ligious peace to the American world He WAS
| Puritan, and fugitive from Eaglish perse-
cution; but this wrong had not clouded his &C
| curate understanding; in the capacious recesses
| of his mind be had revolved the nature of in
tolerance, and he, and he alone, had arrived
at the great principle which is its sole eaectua
| remedy. He announced his discovery under
the simple proposition of tho sanctity of con-
science. The civil magistrate should res. rain
crime, but never control opinion; should pun
ish guilt, but should never violate the freedom
of the soul The doctrine contained within
itself an entire reformation of theological juris-
prudence; it would blot from the statute-boo
| the felony of non conformity: would uuonch
the fires that prosecution had kept so long
burning; would repeal every law compelling
attendance on public worship, would abolish
| eith0o onu ioiCou CONSlTlDutlO0S TO the mann
| tenanee OF religion; would give an equal pro
lection to every form Of religious faith; and
| never suffer the authority of the civil govern.
ment to be enlisted against the mosque of the
Musselman or the altar of the fire worshipper
against the jewish synagogue or Roman cath
"But the principles of Roger Williams led
him into perpetual collision with the clergy
and government Of Massachusetts 1t had
ever been their custom to respect the church
OF England, and in the mother country they
trequented its services without scruple; vet
its principles and its administration were
harshly exclusive. Williams would hold no
communion with intolerance for said he.
the doctrine of persecution, for cause of con-
science Is most evidently and lamentably con-
tTary to the doctrine of Christ Jesus.
But the controversy finally turned on the
question of the rights and duty Of magis rates
TO guard the minds of the people against cor
| ruptlon, and to punish what would seem 10
| them error and heresy. Magistrates, Williams
protested are but the agents of the people. or
| Its trustees, on whom no spiritual power in
| matters Of worship can ever be conferred !;
| since conscience belongs to the individual, and
| is not the property Of the body polite and
| with admirable dialects clothing the great
! truth In its boldest and most general forms. he
asserted that the civil magistrate, NAV not
intermeddle even to stop church from apos
, tacy and heresy; that this power extends
only to the bodies and goods aud outward es.
tates of men, With corresponding distinct
| ness, he foresaw the influence of his principles
| On society. The removal of the yoke of SOU.
oppression, to use the words in which at 4
J later day, he confirmed his early view. as it
will prove an act Of mercy and righteousness
to the enslaved nations, So it is of bindipg =
| force to engage the whole and every Interest
and conscience to preserve the common liberty
and peace
When summoned to appear before the gen
eral court, he avowed his convictions in he
presence of the representatives OF the State
| maintained the rocky strength of his grounds .
and dec Jared himself ready to be bound and
bsnished, and even to die IN New England }
! rather than renounce the opinions which had
| dawned upon his mind in tbs clearness Of light.
| AT time when Germany was the battle. field
Tor all Europe in the implacable wars Of reii-
gion, when even Holland was bleeding with
tie anger Of vengetul factions when France
was still to 60 through the fearful struggle
with bigotry; when England was grasping
under tue despOtism of intolerance altuosI
halt century before William Penn became
an American proprietary, and two years be-
| fore Descartes founded modern philosophy on
the method Of free rejection, Roger Williams
asserted the great doctrine of intellectual lib
erty. 1t became his glory to found State on
that principle, and to stamp himself upon the
institutions in characters so deep that the i'm
press has remained to the present day and
can never De erased without he total destruc-
ton OF the work. The principles which he
first sustained amidst the chickering's of a col
o2ial parish, neAt asserted in the general
court of Massachusetts, and then introduce
into the wilds on Narragansett bay he soon
found occasion to publish to the world and to
defend as the basis of the religious freedom of
mankind; 80 that, borrowing the rhetoric en-
ployed by his antagonist in derision, we NAV
| compare him to the lark the pleasant bird of
| the peaceful summer, that, affecting to soar
aloft, springs upward tIo10 the ground, takes
his rise from pale to ~ and at last, sur
mounting the highest tbs, utters his clear
| carols through the skies Of morning. He was
the first person in modern Christendom 10 as
sert in lis plenitude the doctrine of the liberty
| of conscience, the equality of opinions before
law, and in in its defence he was the harbin.
ger of Milton, the precursor and the superior
OF jeremy Taylor"
AFTER being expelled from Massachusetts,
Roger Williams went out 10 seek home for
himself:
cit was in j une that the Iawgiyer of Rhode
Island with 1--WE companions, embarked on
the stream; frail Indian canoe contained
the founder Of an independent State and its
earliest citizens. Tradition has marked the
spring near which they landed it is the par
ent spot, the first inhabited nook of Rhode
| Island. To express his unbroken confidence
in the mercies of Ged, Williams called the
place PRoyIDECE. Il desired, said he, sit
might be for q shelter for persons distressed
f"- conscience"
The Isms Of the Day.