The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1854-11-25
Roger williams.

| heritance in the name and fame of Roger
| Williams. Rather, let us say, this inher-
| tcncc enrichcs our whole country, and the
| world; for in e,ta' Fishing the principle of
Religious To'qration, Roger Williams be-
came the be ,efactor Of the race. The Am
crican historian has done him justice. Be-
| hold the picture of this brave and noble
leader, as drawn by the glowing pencil of
Bancroft:
ain 1851 lac was but little more than thir
| ty years ofage; but his mind had already
naturcd doctrine which secures him an
/ immortality of fame, as its application has
| given religious peace to the world. lie was
Puritan, and fugitive from English per-
secution but his wrongs had not clouded
| his accurate understanding; in the capa-
cious recesses Of his mind he had resolved
the nature Of intolerance, and he alone, had
arrived at the great principle which is its
| sole cficctual remedy. lie announced his
discovery under the simple proposition of
the sanctity ofconscicncc. The civil magis-
trate should restrain crime, but never control
opinion; should punish guilt, but should
never violate the freedom of the soul. The
doctrine contained within itself an entire re-
formation of theological Jurisprudence it
would blot from the statute book the felony
of nOn-coniormity; would qucnch the fires
that persecution had kept so long burning !;
would repeal every law compelling attcn.
dance on public worship, would abolish
tithes and all forced contributions to main.
tain religion; would give an equal protcc-
| ton to every form Of religious faith ; and
never suffer the authority Of the civil gov
ernmcnt to be enlisted against the mosque
| q a.. 10 III L.. g.
worshippcr, against the Jcwisb.synagogue or
Roman cathedral.
''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
| frequcnted its service without scruple; yet
| its principles and its administration were
/ harshly exclusive. Williams would hold no
/ communion with intolerance for, said he
| "thc doctrine Of persecution, for cause of
| conscience is most evidently and lamentably
contrary to the doctrine Of Christ Jesus.
'But the controversy finally turned on the
/ question Of the rights and duty ofmaeistrat s
to guard the minds Of the people against cor
ruption, and to punish what would seem to
/ them error and lerc ay. Mag g's,rates,
| Williams protested, are but the agents Of
/ the people or its trustees, on whom no spir-
| itral 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 dialec
/ ties clothing the great truth in its boldest
and most general forms, he asserted that
1.-THE civil magistrate, may not intermcddlc
even to stop church from apostacy and
heresy, that this power extends only to
the bodicsan goods and outward estates Of
men, With corresponding distinctness, he
/ forcsaw the influence OF his principles on So
| ciety. "Ihe removal of the yoke Of soul
I OPPRESSION TO utter the words in which,
at n later day, he confirmed his early view
''aS il will prove an act Of mercy and right
cousncsS 10 the cnslaycd nations, so II is
of binding force to engage the whole and ey-
cry interest and conscience to preserve the
eo""."" liberty and pcnce..
ny hen summoned TO appear before the
general court he avowcd his convictions in
the presence Of the representatives Of the
State maintained the rocky strength Of his
grounds" =" and declared himself ready to be
bound and banishcd, and even to die in New
England" rather than renouncc the opinions
which had dawned on hH mind in the clear
ness Of light Alta time when Germany was
the battlefield for all Europe in the applica-
bic wars ofrcIigion; when even Holland was
bleeding with the anger Of vengeiul factions;
when France was still to go through the
fearful struggle with bigotry when Eng
land was gasping under the dcspotism Of in
tolerance altnnSt half IA h.lnrn
William Penn became al American propric-
tary, and two years before Descartcs founded
modern philosophy on the method of free
reflection, Roger Williams asserted the great
doctrine Of intellectual liberty 1t became
his glory to found State on that principle,
and to stamp himself upon its rising insti.
tutions in characters so deep that the i'm
press has remained TO the present day, and
can never be erased without the total des-
truction ofthc work. The principles which
he first sustained amidst the chickering's of Il
colonial parish, next asserted in the general
court OF Massachusetts,, aud then introduced
into the wildS on Narragansct bay he soon
found occasion to publish to the world, and
to defend as the basis Of the religious free
dom Of mankind; so that borrowing the
rhetoric employed by his antagonist in de-
rison, we may compare him to the lark, the
pleasant bird Of the peaceful summer, that
affecting to soar aloit, springs upward from
the ground, takes his rise from pale to tree"
and at last, surmounts the highest hills, ut
tcrs his clear carols thro' the skies of morn
ing. He was the first person in modern
Christcndom to assert in its plcntitudc the
doctrine Of the liberty of conscience, the
equality Of opinions before law, and in its
defence he was the harbinger of Milton, the
precursor and the superior Of Jeremy lay
lor."
After being expelled from Massachusetts,,
Roger Williams went out to seek home for
himself
ut was in June that the lawgivcr of Rhode
Island, with five 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
parent spot, the first inhabited nook of Rhode
Island To express his unbroken confidence
in the mercies ofGod, Williams called the
place Providence. 81 desired" said he, il
might be for shelter for persons distressed
for conscience"
GpntIt hs