TERRITORY OF RHODE ISLAND IS INCREASED BY THE ADDITION OF BLOCK ISLAND.—DISPUTES BETWEEN BLOCK ISLAND AND THE OTHER COLONIES SETTLED BY ROYAL COMMAND.—STATE OF AFFAIRS IN THE COLONY IN 1667.

The charter came at a fortunate moment, for petition and remonstrance had reached their utmost, and it is difficult to see how the little Colony could have preserved the integrity of its territory much longer against two such powerful neighbors but for the intervention of an authority that was recognized by all. The services of John Clarke must be estimated by the imminence of the danger, and his skill by the difficulty of the negotiation. Meanwhile the territories of Rhode Island were enlarged in another direction.

Block Island has already been mentioned in connection with the Pequot war. In 1658 it was granted by Massachusetts, in whose hands the war had left it, to Governor John Endicott and three others, as a reward for their public services. Endicott and his associates sold it to Simon Ray and eight associates, who, in 1661, entered upon their work of colonization by liquidating the Indian title with a reservation in favor of the natives, and setting apart one-sixteenth of the lands for the support of a minister forever. The new settlement had not yet reached its third year when it passed under the jurisdiction of Rhode Island, and, in the May session of the General Assembly for 1663, was summoned to appear at the bar of the house and be regularly received into the Colony. At the appointed time three messengers presented themselves, bringing the submission of the inhabitants to “his Majesty’s will,” and a petition of householders for the freedom of the island. Three select men were chosen to govern it with power to “call town meetings,” hear causes under forty shillings, and where a greater amount was involved, grant appeals to the General Court of Trials, and “issue warrants in criminal cases.” Their representation in the Assembly was fixed at two, and their attention was called to the clause in the charter declaring freedom of conscience. The question of a harbor for the encouragement of the fisheries soon attracted the attention of the Assembly, and, as early as 1665, we find John Clarke with the Governor and Deputy-Governor examining this important subject on the spot. But it was no work for a feeble Colony, and it was not till two hundred years later and under a rich and powerful national government that it was begun. Meanwhile the population grew and throve under colonial protection. Nine years after its first civil organization Block Island was incorporated under the name of New Shoreham, “as sign,” say the petitioners, “of our unity and likeness to many parts of our native country.”

The conflict of patents did not end with the promulgation of the second charter. Massachusetts and Connecticut still persisted in their claims, and Rhode Island in her resistance. Fortunately for her the final decision lay with the Crown, and, although both of the intruding colonies made repeated attempts to set up governments of their own within the limits of the disputed territory, they were restrained from persistent violence by the knowledge that Rhode Island claimed and was prepared to exercise the right of appeal. An opportunity soon offered of making an important step towards decision. Four Commissioners—Colonel Richard Nichols, Sir Robert Carr, George Cartwright and Samuel Maverick—were ordered to proceed to America, reduce the Dutch provinces, and decide all questions of appeal, jurisdiction and boundary between the colonies. On their arrival in New York harbor, where they made the British fleet their headquarters, Rhode Island sent a deputation of three, with John Clarke at their head, to welcome the Royal Commissioners in the name of the Colony.

They set themselves promptly to their work. The first question that came up for decision was the boundary line between Rhode Island and Plymouth. This they were unable to settle, and reserved it for reference to the King. Next came the vexed question of Narragansett. The submission of the sachems was confirmed, an annual tribute of two wolf-skins imposed, and the right to make war and sell land reserved to the authorities set over them by the Crown. A new division of the territory followed, all of the land west of the Bay, the southern half of the present Kent County, being set apart as King’s Province, under the administration of the Governor and Council of Rhode Island, as magistrates of King’s Province. Last came the bitter Warwick question, which had almost led to bloodshed. This was decided in favor of Rhode Island, upon the ground that no colony had a right to exercise jurisdiction beyond its chartered limits. It would have been well for the three colonies if the dispute had ended here. But neither Massachusetts nor Connecticut was satisfied. It was hard to give up the beautiful Narragansett Bay, “the largest,” say the Commissioners, “and safest port in New England, nearest the sea and fittest for trade.”

The Indian was fast disappearing, and sometimes under circumstances which awaken a natural regret that where adverse civilizations met so little could be done for the individual. The old Sachem Pumham still clung to his home in the woodlands of Warwick Neck, encouraged, it was believed, by the hope of support from Massachusetts. John Eliot, the translator of the Bible, interceded for him. Roger Williams asked for a little delay till the harvest was in. But twenty years experience had shown that his residence there was incompatible with the peace of the Colony. Sir Robert Carr, the Royal Commissioner, met Eliot’s intercession by sending him copies of all the papers relating to the question, and so far satisfied the scruples of Williams as to secure his hearty coÖperation in the removal of this thorn from the side of the struggling Colony. Thirty pounds were paid into the hands of the old chief, a large sum for those days of general poverty, and he removed forever beyond the limits of King’s Province.

The Royal Commissioners on their arrival in Rhode Island had laid before the Assembly five propositions as “the will and pleasure of the King:”

This brought up the delicate question of oaths, which, recurring from time to time, was gradually shaped by successive modifications so as to meet the demands of government without infringing upon the principle of soul-liberty.

This was accepted and the mode of admitting freemen prescribed.

If we interpret the word orthodox according to the Rhode Island standard of theological interpretation, this was already Rhode Island doctrine and required no deliberation.

This, also, was accepted, and a revision of the laws ordered for that purpose.

This, also, struck a familiar cord. Provisions for self-defence had already been made as circumstances called for them. A new militia law was now passed, requiring six trainings a year under heavy penalties, and allowing nine shillings a year for each enlisted soldier. Every man was to keep on hand two pounds of powder and four of lead, and each town was required to maintain a public magazine. To defray the expenses of these magazines Newport was taxed fifty pounds, and the other three towns twenty pounds each.

The Royal Commissioners were well satisfied with the conduct of Rhode Island, and Rhode Island, surrounded by powerful enemies, had every reason to be well satisfied with the Commissioners. Still the encroachments and aggressions of Massachusetts and Connecticut continued. As a prospective means of defence against them John Clarke was again asked to carry the complaints of the suffering Colony to England, and John Greene was chosen to accompany him. In 1672 a new claimant appeared in the lists.

The Council of Plymouth had been lavish of its gifts of land, and in its ignorance of American geography had formed a perplexing map of conflicting claims. In one of its grants it had given the greater part of Maine, together with Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Long Island and the adjacent islands, to the Earl of Stirling. The Earl of Stirling sold his grant to the Duke of York, already proprietor by royal gift of the recently conquered province of New Netherlands. The term adjacent islands would have included Acquidneck and the other islands of Narragansett Bay. Prudence, one of the pleasantest and most valuable of them, had been bought of the Indian proprietors by Roger Williams and John Winthrop. In the course of time it passed by regular sale to John Paine, a Boston merchant, who had won the favor of the Duke of York by contributing liberally to the rebuilding of Fort James, in New York harbor. Governor Lovelace, the Duke’s attorney, felt that such liberality was deserving of a signal reward. Paine was already the owner of Prudence. Lovelace resolved to make it a free-manor by the name of Toply manor, and confer the governership for life on Paine. By a second grant the original quit-rent of two barrels of cider and six pairs of capons was remitted, and this territory of seven miles in length became an untaxed and independent government.

But Rhode Island was an uncongenial soil for feudal tenures. Paine was arrested, indicted and convicted under the law of 1658 against the introduction of a foreign jurisdiction, and Prudence without any formal act of adjustment returned to its original position as a part of Portsmouth. Thus the Rhode Island Colony grew apace. From time to time questions of practical government arose, to be worked out and solved by experience. It was not easy to make citizens feel their duty to the State. More than once the Assembly failed in attendance, to the serious detriment of the public. Fines were imposed, and that some inducement to greater regularity might be held out, a small pay of three shillings a day, which was soon reduced to two, was attached to the function of delegate. To facilitate the expression of opinion voting by proxy was permitted, and to secure the election of the most acceptable candidate it was enacted, “that whereas there may happen a division in the vote soe that the greater half may not pitch decidedly on one certaine person, yett the person which hath the most votes shall be deemed lawfully chosen.” The laws of the Colony had been the growth of circumstances, expressing new wants and representing a progressive society. Committees were appointed on several occasions to revise and harmonize them. On the committee of October, 1664, we find Roger Williams and John Clarke.

The progress of society has established a fundamental distinction between legislative, executive and judicial powers, which was not known to ancient publicists. The Court of Trials was composed of members of the Assembly, and thus the whole body of law-makers was gradually led to exercise judicial authority. The Colony was poor, and the persecutions of Massachusetts and Connecticut compelled it to incur expenses greatly beyond its means. When Roger Williams went on his second mission to England he sold part of his estates in order to raise the money for his expenses. When John Clarke was sent to negotiate the second charter he was obliged to burthen his estate with a mortgage. The whole sum due him by the Colony was but three hundred and forty-three pounds, and yet so hard was it to collect the tax by which this sum was to be paid that it was not until twenty years after his death that the mortgage was lifted.

Internal dissensions and the alarm of foreign war troubled the Colony in 1667. Two names long prominent in Rhode Island, Harris and Fenner, appear at the head of two hostile factions in Providence and continue for a while to disturb the public peace. England, whose wars now found a reËcho in the colonies, was again at war with France and Holland. Efficient measures were taken to put the Colony in a state of defence, and thus new burthens were imposed. A council of war was organized in each town. Ammunition was collected. Officers were commissioned. Cannon were mounted at Newport. Cavalry corps were formed in the towns. The Governor and Council met in frequent deliberations. The Indians were disarmed and sent off the Island. A line of beacons was established from Wonumytomoni Hill, near Newport, to Mooshausick Hill, in Providence. Abundant proof was given of the energy and good statesmanship of the Colony. But the day of real trial was not yet come.

The question of taxation was an early cause of difficulty. The poorer towns felt themselves aggrieved, and often put insuperable obstacles in the way of the collector. Even the tax for the payment of John Clarke was disputed, and Roger Williams drew upon himself a severe condemnation from Warwick by a letter wherein he urged its payment. At last, in 1672, the Assembly took the matter seriously in hand and passed a bill declaring, “that whoever opposed by word or deed, in town meeting or elsewhere, any rate laid, or any other of the acts or orders of the General Assembly should be bound over to the Court of Trials, or imprisoned till it meet, at the discretion of the justice, for high contempt and sedition; and if found guilty, should be fined, imprisoned or whipped, as the court might adjudge.”

It was not altogether without reason that this stringent act was passed, for the aggressions of Connecticut and the alarm of an Indian war made it necessary to strengthen as far as possible the hands of government. But there was a danger in this legislative omnipotence which the people quickly perceived, and the new Assembly of May undid by a comprehensive repeal the work of its predecessor of April.