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

|, tknown to the readers of T Thackeray a.
n the Charter house. Placing boy-ir
t that school was an immense boon, fol
II it gave him free education and sup
port while preparing for the universl
| ty, and afforded him chance also o
winning, by good scholarship, free ad
4 mission to the university itself Rog
Ter Williams made the most of his op
From the Charter-house
he went to Oxford The Original
/ lrecord of his entrance and departure
4 from the school, and of his admission
to the university, may still be inspect
ed by the patriotic sons of Rhode Is
lond, when they visit the land, Of
their ancestors. + b3..tas; = faid
Tradition reports that It was the de.
sign, of Sir Edward. Coke to bring
him up lawyer; but the youth, relig-
/ ious from his childhood, preferred the
laborious profession of a clergyman
to the obvious advantage which must
have accrued to him from being train
ed in the law under the auspices OF
the Chiet Justice of England and the
greatest lawyer of his time. OF ar
dent, impetuous, positive character,
and having imbibed from his master
Coke an unqucnchable' love OF justice,
and clear ideas of its nature and lin
Its, it was inevitable that he should
embrace the Puritan side of the great
controversy then raging in England,
He went even further in. his opposi-
tion than most of his brethren. for
he pronounced it sin to hold any
communion with a ceremonial church.
In other words, he was an extreme
lSeparatist. While still young in the
m histery,ci thercfore-twcntyr-fve,
years of age, and recently married,
he, was Obliged to leave his country,
and seek a home beyond the seas ~
There is an effecting passage in one
of bis letters toliSir Edward Coke's
daughter, in which he alludes TO his
secret, sudden departire;iI Iii, 81 q
.."'That man of honor and wisdom
and piety, your dear father, was often
pleased to call me his SON and truly,
It was as bitter as death to me wien
bishop Iaud pursued! me out i.of
this land, and my conscience was pur-
suaded against the National Church
and ceremonies and Bishops beyond
the conscience of your dear father,-A
I say, it was as bitter as death to me
when rode Windsor-way ito take
ship at Bristowc, and saw Stoke
House. where that blessed man was,
and burst not acquaint him with my
conscience and my flight. s. T.
And this is all we know of the life of
Roger Williams IN England lf4's..
+ February 9TH, 1851, he and his
wife reached Boston in the ship Lion,
after stormy passage of more thar
nine weeks. His fame seems to have
gone before him, for his arrival APP
pears to have been Unusually welcome
to the. colonists, one of.whom spoke.of
him as ga young minister gedly and
zealous,nI who had Sprecious gifts,
a philosophic mind, and opinions of
his own. He had indeed opinions of
his own, some of which were not at all
agreeable to his brethren in Massa-
chusetts. AT first all went well with
him. His precious gifts were SO
heartily approved in Boston, that he
was unanimsusly chosen teacher of
its church. 1t soon appeared, how
ever, that there were differences of
opinion between him and the people
of Boston, to which both attached in
finite Importance. He thought that
the churches in New England ought
to publicly declare their complete sep
aration from the church Of England,
and even to express repentance for
ever having been in communion with
it. He also thought that the 'colo-
nists ought to found the titles to their
lands upon purchase from the Indians
and not upon the kings patent. But
his most serious difference was this.
he thought therc should be a complete
separation of church and state and
that; magistrates had no right to pun
Ish heretical opinions or = irreligious
acts unless they disturbed. the public
peace or lesscned the liberty of other
men. ~ Sos
This last difference was vital; Z for
the magistrates of New England pun,
ished nothing with such trightful Sc
verify as heresy. 1t was about the
time of Roger Williams arrival in
Boston, that a man, for only speak
ing disrespectfully of the religious ten
cts and observances oil, the country,
was sentenced to have his tongue lbor-
ell through, his face branded, and his
ears cut off, to be whipped ip each
plantation, fined forty pounds Gand 1
banished. Part Of tits Internal SEMI
tence was remitted he was merely
whipped, fined and banished, and
part OF his ears cut off. About the
same time a man was banished for
disbelief in the doctrine of
original sin; and, suppose, every |
reader is aware that it was criminal !
offence to celebrate the mass. Roger
Williams s-to his immortal honor be !
it said-distinctly saw, century and /
a half before mankind saw it, that all !
this. was foolish and wrong = 60
But he saw it to his cost. Though |
he was admired as a preaoher, first in
Boston, then in Salem, then in Ply I
mouth, and afterward in Salem again
-al of which changes occurred in
less than four years-the magistrates
were SO aggrieved fllat,-. in Septen
Der, 1855, they ordered him to depart
from the colony within six weeks