The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1870-07-06
NOs52:..

though he were carried with the streai
-tof my banishment, yet he tie ndefl
loved me to his last breath.p ~
:. The banishedBman appears, !indeed
to have. had the good will Of all tn
best men in the colony. They though
him in error, but honest in his errors
and they felt that so: long as he re
! mained among them there couH b
no peace In the COLONY, They wer
right. They were bound either d
banish Roger Williams or adopt hi
opinions Ia ttt 2 -ilc.iass.,t sslf
!, 1t was IN the beginning of Jaiiuary
when the cold is severest, that he lef
: his family in Salem, and struck int
/ the wilderness. He wandered fol
fourteen weeks, journeying ifromiont
! Indian village to another; and ICON
yersing7with the chiefs whom he ,hae
known during his residence at Ply
'mouth; until, at length, he reached
the brow of that commanding emf
hence, at the head Of Narragan
,sett Bay, where now stands the beau
tiful and wealthy city of .Providence.
Recognizing no owner of the soil ex
cept the Indians, in whose welfare he
took an interest only less than that oi
Elliot, he bought of them territory
which now constitutes the State OF
Rhode Island. It was in June 1885
the he erected his hut on the site oi
Providence. -. :, : '.'i, !,
He had not lived. more than a
month in the new home, when the
Pequot war broke out and he gave a
striking proof OF the love he bore to
those who, had banished him. He
saved the colony from extermibation
He had gained such an ascendency
over the Narragansetts, among whom
he lived, and with whose principal
chiefs he had friendship of three
YEARS Standing, that he was able to
prevent that powerful tribe from join
ing the Pequots against the English.
AS soon as he heard the dread news,
he tells us: ~ s'..'t - .''iz.s7i on
.erhe Lord helped me Immediate
" to put my life into my hand, and,
Scarce acquainting my wife, to nshI,
myself alone ID poor canoe, and TO
cut through a stormy wind with great
seas, every minute in hazard Of life,
to the Sachem's louae., Three days
and nights my business forced me to
lodge and mix with the bloody i1'e-
quot embassadors, whhhse hands and
arms, methought, reeked with the
blood of my countrymcn, murdered
and massacred 10y them on Connects
cut river, and from whom a, l., could
not but nightly, look for their bloody
knives at my own throat also"
He succeeded; but not until after
many dangers and rapid journeys
We may say with certainty, that if the
Pequots had effected an alliance. with
the Narragansetts--who, under King
Philip, even forty years after, were
such formidable enemies@the feeble
sentimentsofs 1886 would have ~ been
overwhelmed and destroyed, His
was indeed a sublime revenge.
.r Twice, in after years, he visited
England on business of the colony. q
Besides obtaining a charter for Rhode
Island, made in accordance with his
own principles, he published various
works upon the principle of tolerance,
with which his name was identified -
He conversed it seems, with the Pro.
,tector Cromwell, to whom he was
distautly related; and he had the still
more glorious privilege of exchanging
good offices with John Milton. =
'fThe Secretary of the, council, Mr..
Milton, he wrote in one of his letters,
.tfor my DntchsI read him, read me
many more langtiages.P3nagd 7ol ss9r.
Whenshe. was an old IMAM, he stroye
heroicallY TO avert the horrors Of King
Philips war. !. Clergyman as, he was
he accepted commission as,capta;n in
the militia, and stood by the town of
Providence when a large number Of
its inhabitants fed for safety to New
port. When tlreH Indians appeared
an the heights, he went forth to meet
them, carrying only hiss walking-stick.
and urged the old chiefs, Whom he
had known for so many years, to lay
down their arms. and abandon the
war: ia - -i7i31aa Tit2. - f'ef
...Massachusetts,' sald he 7stcan,
raise thousands of men at this. mo,
ment, and if you kill them, the king.
of England will supply them as fast
as they fall '''t . 1'7i'iNi-la4io .,ii1 J.
10 '.Well, !" replied onei of the. chiefs
'slet them come Weiare ready for
them. But as for you, brother Will,
liams, you are a good mau- You
have been kind to us many years
Not hair ofyour head shall be touch
eds 10 y1cj- 5.Go.sas SIT % issgc.i.s-l
% After thp war; he continued >. his
regular monthly visits to the remnant
of the tribe, preaching to them and in
structing their children Toward the
close of his life, having long ago Civ
en- away his lands, he appears to have
been very poor, and to have been de
for his livelihood upon his
son. He died in 1858, aged seventy
eight years, leaving behind him the
wife of hisyouth and theirsix children
His dust reposes in the midst of the
city of Providence, and there is not so
much as stone to. mark the spot
At least there was not two years
ago, when Twisted it. - !,atrai.1fse u
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