New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-08-04
NEW PUBLICATIONS.


iect and the premature acceptance OF apparent iacS
Inv historical writers that have no sufficient da'. lor
their support In the present volume. the author
has submitted the quest on TO fresh and thorough
investigation. lie has addressed himself 10 the
task in the true spirit Of historical research
Taking nothing for granted without ample evidence,
making no account OF "oud-hand Ialhorlt'S' az"
chauergsag every statement to produce lis oic"e'-
tials he has faithfully explored the great mass ~
records. books and papers. which throw any iisu,
upon the inquiry ana has presented the results o.
hs studies in a transparent form, and WIN te4N-
perate spirit .1
Among the ro;nts on which Or. Dexter urgently
ineist. IL tbe vouth of Roger Williams during ms
rcs,de,ce in Massachusetts,, which had not permitted
him the attainment Of maturity Of principle OF ols'
cretion of purpose. Whatever he might nave Nrra
in after Efe, at this period, according to the tesu-
,oopy of wise and candid men, he hasiy. even 20
rashpess, greatly addicted 10 extreme views ana
unsettled and uncertain in his Judgments " Ith all
his sincerity of religious feeling ana all has hdehF
of godly endCavor he gained the reputation i hr'hg
an eccentric and headstrong Young man. WiIh niue
re.oect for tho opinions Of his supeTios in knowledge
and experience, and without the capacity OF view
ING any subject in broad and comprehensive light.
Nor can his so-called punishment be regarded ~
an erbtrarv exercise OF ecclesiastical civil power
Massachusetts at that time was not yet state IN
The ordinary sense, ii was not even colony IL
was scarcely anything more than trading pantl-
ton Prisons as yet there were none, and the only
means of getting rid of diSturbers OF the pubic
peace was by excluding them from the territory
The RELOCATION Of Roger Williams beyond the Hhlts
of Massachusetts,, DR.. Dexter MAINTAINS, was not
Punishment nj least in the usual sense OF that term
Banishnient is the act Of a State and there Is no
evidence that this plantation was a civil govern
T., 3 30 tt-.Yp IN al pth
rs 4 Company in exact accordance with tho pro-
visions of it, charter. plantation like this at the
distance of three thousand miles from the mother
copptry. surrounded Shy bloodtlrrsty and hostile
savores must have some method Of eliminating the
hard customers, who always hang on the borders OF
advancing civilization. The most available course
was 70 send such persons outside Of the jurisdiction,
and thus relieve the colony of the calamity OF
their presence" Such transportation, Dr. Dexter
contends could not De in the nature of an extreme
hardship and barbarous punishment. To TINS eliect
he.quotes John Cotton, in reference to Roger VIII
lia1ps's case who queries whether such Punishment,
abe in proper speech punishment at all in sneh
country as this is where the jurisdiction whence
man is hanisheD is but small and the county round
about il large and fruitful; where man may mako
his choice Of more pleasant and profitable seats, than
he leaves behind him. In which respect, Punishment
in this country not counted so much confinement
rs an enlargement; where man does not so much
lose civil comforts as change them"
Even Mr. Williams himsclf-and this is another of
the authors strong pons-in after hie justified, III
almost every respect the treatment he had received
from Massachusetts,. Having tested his own theo-
RES on the subject through the greater part Of a
generation, he quie1ly abandoned them in favor Of
the doctrine which he had written against at Ply
month and Salem. With regard 70 the treatment OF
the Bap1sts and Quazers by the Puritan colOnists
ofNew-EngIaud. DR.. Dexter forcibly urges the plea
that the persons in question we've OF an utterly IN
fersnt character from the representatives OF those
enineuty respectable denominations at the present
day. The former sect had not yet wiped of the
stain which had cleaved to them from the Munster
Anabaptists. The NeE-EEgland men connected the
name with wild and indecent frenzics. There are
indications, referred to by Dr. Dexter, which would
seem to show that the Anabaptiss of Massachusetts,
were infected with some of the loose and Offensive
notions that were held by the sect during It's earlier
days in Europe.
In like manner the primitive Quakcrs of Mossa-
chusetts were lar from having attained the "swcet-
ness and light which characterizcs the "chdren
of the Spirit" in orr day. The times favored
rank rrowths in morals and religion. As the Quakers
grew in numbers the author suggests that they grew
also IN heat and in the capacity of making them
selves dsagreeable to the average of decent people
Hence an uusavOry rcputc preceded their coming
into New England They were met with stern enact
ments tinctured with the Inquisitoral rather than
the Congregational spirit, and which were intended
70 cperate as an absolute bar TO the presence of
Quaker in the Puritan colony. The laws, however,
DR. Dexter remarks were quite in accord with the
best wisdom and the most humane temper OF those
taes0 and were in fact play compared to the treat
ment which was received by the same offenders IN
England. fhe case Of Mary Dyer, who was hanged
asa Quakeress on Boston Common little more than
two hundred years ago, is described in terms OF
palliotive softpeSs. 10 which "buttcr and honey"
are rank in comparison MARY Dyer could not be
caSy. Where she spent the Winter is not known,
except that she not IN her proper place
with her husband and children at Newport
Could she have felt motion of the Lord upon her
spirt' TO attend to his Word as it Is revealed in
snch passages of the Scripture as that which COM
mands believers to study to be quiet and to do their
own business and especially that which ordans
that the women be discreet chaste keepers at home,
GOOD. obedient to their own husbands; in place Of
mistaking tie crude fances of her own heated i'm
opnaton for the voice from heaven, she might have
filed out a useful lie and slept in peace by the side
of her kindred But when the May flowers boomed
AGAIN her restless spirit led her sealthly by forest
by-paths back to Boston, and TO a fate which, with
rs lust as sombcr, pathos her husband character
lied as one Tor know not TO what end or 10 what
purpose"
In conclusion DR.. Dexter argues, that neither the
Quakers nor the BaptistS, in whom the Puntans
found cause Of such dire oense, can justly be com
pared with the excellent Christians who bear those
names at the present day. The BaptiSts now he con-
eedes are quiet and wel-behavcd persons, and not
inferior to any other denomination Of Christians IN
the nineteenth century respects spiritual attain
cas- q scholastic