19

and ambition," he says, "concurred in countenancing all whom he thought godly, of what sect soever. Piety pleaded for them as godly, and charity as men, and ambition secretly told him what use he might make of them. He meant well in all this at the beginning, and thought he did all for the safety of the godly, and the public good, but not without an eye to himself." As to his ambition, he probably had a sufficient share of it; but he refused the crown when it was urged on him, with many plausible arguments, by Parliament, and when, as Hume intimates, a large part of the nation would have acquiesced. His personal and domestic habits are acknowledged, by all parties, to have been pure and amiable. His court was perhaps the most moral and decorous, that England has ever seen.

The Protector was a friend of toleration, and this single trait in his character is sufficient to entitle his memory to respect. He was not entirely consistent, it is true, but no public man, at that day, except Roger Williams, was so. Cromwell was surrounded with difficulties; and the "Instrument of Government," under which he held the Protectorship, excluded Episcopalians and Catholics from the enjoyment of that religious liberty which it granted to all others. But the spirit of the Protector was more tolerant than the laws, and he often connived at the meetings of the Episcopalians. A man, who, at that time, and in his post, could act, so far as he did, on the principle of an equitable toleration of all religious opinions, could not have been either a fanatic or a despot.‡

*

Works, vol. i. p. 149.

Neal, vol. iv. p. 101.

The Protector's exertions to relieve and protect the unhappy Waldenses, who were at that time suffering a merciless persecution, claim for him the gratitude of every friend of religion and liberty. He appointed a day of national humiliation and prayer through. out all England and Wales, and ordered that a collection should be made in all the houses of worship, for the relief of the sufferers. He himself headed a subscription, with the liberal donation of two thousand pounds, and in a short time the large sum of nearly forty thousand pounds was raised and transmitted. Not contented with this measure, he sent letters to the Duke of Savoy, the inhuman persecutor, and to several of the princes of Europe, for the purpose of procuring deliverance for the miserable remnants of the Waldenses. The potent voice of the formidable Protector, which none of the monarchs of that day ventured to despise, uttered, as it was, by the

Roger Williams was a friend of Cromwell. It has been supposed, that he was allied to him by birth. He was certainly drawn to him by a communion of spirit, on the subof religious liberty. In his letters, he repeatedly alludes to familiar conversations with Cromwell. The friendship of Milton and Roger Williams may be viewed as an honorable testimony to the character of the Protector. It is difficult to believe, that these men would have yielded their confidence and esteem to a hypocrite, either in religion or in politics. It is not more easy to believe, that such a man as Cromwell has been described, would have admitted men so sagacious and upright as Milton and Williams, to a close scrutiny of his actions, or that by all the cunning which has been ascribed to him he could have deceived them.

These three men, in fact, resembled each other, in their character, in their opinions, and in the treatment which they received. Each was misunderstood; each has suffered obloquy, and each is receiving, from the calm and enlightened judgment of the present age, that just sentence, which, sooner or later, will reward him, who aims to advance the happiness of men, and who perseveres, through evil and good report, in upholding the persecuted cause of truth and freedom.*

Cromwell was quietly succeeded, as Protector, by his son Richard, a proof, that the nation were not very much

powerful pen of Milton, the Latin Secretary, had some effect, though less than he hoped, to soften the rage of bigotry and persecution. The following sonnet was written by Milton on this occasion:

"On the late Massacre in Piedmont.

Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones
Lie scatter'd on the Alpine mountains, cold;
E'en them, who kept thy truth so pure of old,
When all our fathers worship'd stocks and stones,
Forget not; in thy book record their groans,

Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient fold
Slain by the bloody Piedmontese, that roll'd'
Mother and infant down the rocks. Their moans
The vales redoubled to the hills, and they

To Heaven. Their martyr'd blood and ashes sow
O'er all th' Italian fields, where still doth sway

The triple tyrant; that from these may grow

A hundred fold, who, having learned thy way,
Early may fly the Babylonian woe."

* Judging from the rapid progress of free principles in England,

The

dissatisfied with Cromwell's sway. But Richard possessed neither the talents, nor the ambition of his father.* aspiring and factious men whom Oliver held in check, soon forced his son to retire from his burthensome and difficult office. A stormy period succeeded, during which the rival parties struggled for victory. At length, General Monk, obtaining the command of a powerful army, restored the King, Charles II. who entered London in triumph, May 29, 1660. The nation received him with apparent joy, being weary of the disorders which preceded and followed the energetic government of Cromwell. The royalists, among whom were the Episcopalians, welcomed the King with delight. The Presbyterians, who had disliked Cromwell, were also zealous in restoring Charles, with the expectation that their system would be continued as the national religion. They were so eager to merit the gratitude of the King, that they exacted of him no conditions, but were satisfied with the assurance, that he would grant liberty to all tender consciences; a promise, which he after

it would not be surprising if Cromwell should, ere long, be recognised as one of the great leaders in the struggle for freedom. Mr. Ivirney, in his life of Milton, (p. 131,) says of Cromwell," for whose statue I venture to bespeak a niche among the illustrious dead in Westminster Abbey; not doubting, from recent events, but the time will come, when the governors of the nation will be so sensible of the obligations of Britain to that illustrious ruler and his noble compatriots, as maugre the mean power of ignorance and prejudice, will decree him a monumental inscription in the sepulchres of our kings." *The colony of Rhode-Island adopted an address to Richard Cromwell, of which the following is an extract. The address was never presented:

"May it please your Highness to know, that this poor colony of Providence Plantations, mostly consists of a birth and breeding of the Providence of the Most High, we being an outcast people, formerly from our mother nation, in the bishops' days, and since from the New-English over-zealous colonies; our whole frame being like unto the present frame and constitution of our dearest mother England; bearing with the several judgments and consciences each of other in all the towns of our colony, which our neighbor colonies do not, which is the only cause of their great offence against us. Sir, we dare not interrupt your high affairs with the particulars of our wilderness condition, only beg your eye of favor to be cast upon our faithful Agent, Mr. John Clarke, and unto what humble addresses he shall at any time present your Highness with in our behalf."-Backus, vol. i. pp. 316-17.

wards found it very easy to violate, by insisting, that all consciences which did not agree with his views, were not tender, but criminally obstinate. The efforts of the Presbyterians to obtain a compromise with the Episcopalians, by which they might be comprehended in the Established Church, failed.* The bishops would not consent to any alterations of the liturgy. The Presbyterians would not listen to the King's proposition of toleration to other denominations, by which he meant to favor the Papists, but which the Presbyterians rejected, more from a dread of Popery, we may hope, than from their general aversion to toleration. The Act of Uniformity was passed, and took effect, August 24, 1662. Two thousand of the best ministers in England were ejected from their livings, because they could not submit to the rigorous requirements of the act. Dreadful distress to them and to their families was the natural consequence. The interests of religion suffered incalculable injury, by the loss of these ministers, and by the character of many of their successors.

King Charles II. was proclaimed in Rhode-Island, October 19, 1660. A new commission was sent to Mr. Clarke, and he continued his exertions to procure a new charter for the colony. Various sums of money were voted, at different times, to be sent to Mr. Clarke.t

At Providence, there seems to have been a spirit among some of the inhabitants, which disturbed the peace of Mr. Williams. Whether they were envious of his influence, or impatient under the restraints which he steadily advo

(

* An interesting account of the fruitless endeavors of the Presbyterians to effect this object, is given in Orme's Life of Baxter, chapter vii.

† August 23, 1659, a rate of fifty pounds was voted for his use, of which Newport was to pay twenty, Providence eleven, Portsmouth ten, and Warwick nine. May 21, 1661, two hundred pounds sterling were voted, of which Newport was to pay eighty-five, Providence forty, Portsmouth forty, and Warwick thirty-five. Subsequent appropriations, to the amount of three hundred and six pounds, are found on the records. The relative size of the towns may be inferred from the above apportionment. Newport was more than twice as large as Providence. A record of the names of the freemen in the several towns, in 1655, states the numbers thus: Newport, eighty-three Portsmouth, fifty-two; Providence, forty-two; Warwick, thirty-eight, -total, two hundred and fifteen.

cated, with the whole weight of his authority, does not now appear. But it is certain, that parties were formed, which, for many years, greatly interrupted the tranquillity of the town; and it was thought necessary, in 1669, to send a Committee of the General Assembly, to settle the difficulties. The boundaries of the town were a fruitful cause of contention, and involved the inhabitants in disputes, which were not adjusted till long after the death of Mr. Williams and of most of his contemporaries. He complains, in a letter, dated July, 1669, that they had "four sorts of bounds at least." He says: some (that never did this town nor colony good, and it is feared never will) cried out, when Roger Williams had laid himself down as a stone in the dust for after comers to step on in town and colony, Who is Roger Williams? We know the Indians and the sachems as well as he. We will trust Roger Williams no longer. We will have our bounds confirmed us under the sachems' hands before us.'

In August, 1659, the following deed was procured from the Narraganset sachems:

"Deed of Scattape and Quoquagunewett, son of Mexham, son of Qunnouone, called by the English Canonicus, uncle to Miantinomo, who made a league of peace with the English in the Massachusetts, for all the Indians in these parts, in the time of the Pequod war with the English, this our grandfather and cousin, these sachems, granted to Roger Williams, agent for the men of Providence and the men of Pawtuxet, a tract of land, reaching from Pawtucket river to Pawtuxet river. All the lands between the streams of those rivers, and up these streams without limits, for their use of cattle, did they grant to the men aforesaid, the men of Providence and the men of Pawtuxet :to whom we establish the lands aforesaid, up the streams of those rivers, and confirm, without limit, or as far as the men abovesaid, of Providence and of Pawtuxet, shall judge convenient for their use of cattle, as feeding, ploughing, planting all manner of plantations whatsoever; we say, all the lands, according to the limits abovesaid, we establish and confirm to the men of Providence and the men of

*R. I. Lit. Rep. for March, 1815, p. 638.