The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1930-10-03

Cause of Conscience" and "Mr. Cot
toms Letter Examined and Answered"
Williams made such a hit in England
that several members of parliament
gave him a letter which was virtually
a passport through Massachusetts up
on his return in 1914.
In 1851 he was obliged to again visit
England in order to obtain the revoke
ment of the commission of William
Coddington as governor of Rhode Is
land and Connecticut. He not only
got what he went after, but found
some time to do some more writing
He returned home in 1854 and par
ticipated in the reorganization Of the
colonial government, and accepted the
presidency of the colony which he held
until 1868. In his administration he
obtained liberation for the Quakers
who were then coming to New Eng
land. This, of course, aroused the ire
of the Massachusetts authorities, who
were having plenty of trouble with
this religious sect.
1t seems a somewhat strange para
dox that the settlers of Massachusetts,
who fled from England to secure re-
ligious liberty, should become so in
tolerant toward others whose religious
ideas did not agree with theirs. But
it must also be admitted that the
Quakers gave them plenty of provoca-
ton, for, unlike the gentle, peaceful
persons whom we are accustomed to
associate with the idea of the Society
of Friends today, the Quakers of the
Seventeenth century were firebrands
and disturbers of the peace wherever
they went.
Williams himself had little more use
for them than did the Puritans.
Amongst Jews and Turks, Protestants
and Pagans with all of which have
conversed)," he wrote, 81 never me.
with such judging, censuring. revil
ing spirit as is the spirit of the Quak-
ers." But, though he disliked them,
he would not deny them the right to
worship as they pleased any more
than he would deny that right to any
others who were driven out of Massa-
chusetts because of their beliefs.
Rhode Island had very little trouble
with the Quakers, for the simple rea-
son that they were allowed to talk all
they wanted to, hence they had little
desire to cause a disturbance. Just
the opposite was the case in Massa-
chusetts. The more they were per-
secuted there and their right of free
speech suppressed, the more deter
mined they were to exploit their
views. There is food for thought in
those facts in considering some pres
ent-day problems in America!
Not only did Williams stand firm
for religious liberty in his colony but
for civil liberty as well. He had re-
volted against the theocracy which
ruled New England, and in revolving
he rebelled against the magistrates as
well as against the clergy. Eighteen
years after he had founded his islet
of defiant freedom he could boast, in
a letter to Sir Henry Vane: "We have
not felt the new chains of the Presby-
terrain tyrants, nor in this colony have
we Deen consumed WITH the OVer-Zedl-
Gus fire Of the (so-called) godly Chris
tan magistrates. Sir, we have not
known what an excise means; we have
almost forgotten what tithes are, yea,
or taxes either, to church or common
wealth."
A new charter was granted Rhode
Island in 1863 This charter estab-
lished such liberal republican govern
ment that the Revolution in 1776 made
no change in it, and it was not super
coded until 1912. For the next IA
years he was actively engaged in pub
lie life.
The death of this remarkable Ameri-
can pioneer was announced in this
quaint fashion in a letter written May
10. 1858, by John Thorndyke of provi-
dence to Rev. Samuel Hubbard: "The
Lord hath arrested br death our an
cient and approved friend, Mr. Roger
Williams, with divers others here"