TROUBLES IN OBTAINING A NEW CHARTER.—PROVISIONS OF THE CHARTER.—DIFFICULTIES CONCERNING THE NARRAGANSETT PURCHASE.—CURRENCY.—SCHOOLS.
The charter of Charles II. was a practical recognition of the right of self-government. The government which it established, like that instituted by the colonists in their first organization, was a pure democracy, emanating from the people and framed for their good. In form it consisted of a Governor, a Deputy-Governor, ten assistants, and a House of Deputies, six of whom represented Newport, four Providence, four Portsmouth, four Warwick, and two each other towns. The first appointments of Governor, Deputy-Governor, and assistants, as preparatory to a permanent organization, were made by the King. The organization once effected, they were chosen annually at Newport, on the first Wednesday in May. The deputies were elected by the people in their respective towns. Thus election day became the great civil festival of the year, bringing the inhabitants of the towns together to interchange thoughts and feelings, and make merry with their wives and children in the chief town of the Colony. Although the new charter was negotiated by John Clarke, it is impossible not to recognize in it the spirit of Roger Williams. The original right of the natives to the soil was acknowledged, practically, in other colonies; but it was acknowledged as subordinate to the right of the King. The royal grant preceded the actual purchase. But in Rhode Island the royal grant followed the Indian title-deed, and was never accepted as sufficient of itself to justify the occupation of Indian territory. This doctrine, so widely at variance with the received doctrine of the age, stood first in the list of heresies for which Massachusetts had driven Roger Williams into exile.
No less prominent in the second charter was that great principle which had formed the leading characteristic of the first. “Noe person,” it says, “within the sayd colonye, at any tyme hereafter, shall be any wise molested, punished, disquieted, or called in question, for any difference of opinion in matters of religion which doe not actually disturb the civill peace of our sayd colonye; but that all and everye person may, from tyme to tyme and at all tymes hereafter, freelye and fullye have and enjoy his and their own judgments and consciences, in matters of religious concernments, through the tract of lande hereafter mentioned, they behaving themselves peaceablie and quietlie, and not using this libertye to licentiousness, and profaneness, nor to the civill injurye or outward disturbance of others.” There was much work for the new Assembly to do, and it addressed itself promptly to the task. The statute book contained laws which, arising from circumstances no longer existing, were “inconsistent with the present government.” To weed these out and replace them by others better suited to the new order of things, was an early object of attention. Hitherto the assistants had not been vested with legislative authority. They now held it by the charter, and henceforth acted in conjunction with the deputies, a change which at a later day led to the division into two houses. The increase of population brought with it an increase of litigation. The original courts were not sufficient to meet the demand for legal protection. They were reorganized.
There were two general courts of trials, composed of the Governor, with or without the aid of the Deputy-Governor, and of a body of assistants whose number was never less than six. Their place of meeting was Newport, the seat of government and largest town, and their regular sessions were held in May and October. Providence and Warwick had each a court of trials—Providence in September and Warwick in March. But in these, as if in indication of their subordinate authority, neither the Governor nor the Deputy-Governor had a seat, and the number of assistants absolutely required to give validity to its acts was reduced from six to three. To complete their organization twelve jurors were added, six from each town. Their decision, however, was not final, and the cases which they had tried could be carried by appeal to the General Court. To quicken the tardy steps of justice any litigant who was willing to bear the expense, might, with the sanction of the Governor or Deputy-Governor, have a special court convened for the immediate decision of his cause.
The grand and petty jurors were chosen from the four towns, five of each from Newport, three from Portsmouth, and two from Providence and Warwick respectively. The same superiority was accorded to Newport in the apportionment of state officers, five of whom were required to live there. In this, however, Providence outranks Portsmouth, having three allotted to her for her portion, while Portsmouth had but two. The duties of coroner were performed by the assistant “nearest the place occasion shall present.”
Another grave question met them on the threshold of their work of organization. The charter left a doubt concerning the manner of choosing the state magistrates. Should they be elected by the freemen in town meeting, or by the General Assembly? The democratic instinct prevailed, and the choice was left to the freemen.
There was a still graver question to be decided, requiring firmness, self-control and skilled diplomacy. Rhode Island had never been looked upon by Massachusetts with friendly eyes. That a banished man should have become the founder of a new colony close upon her borders was irritating to her pride. That his success as a colonizer should have cut her off from the beautiful Narragansett Bay was humiliating to her ambition of territorial aggrandizement. That a freedom of conscience subversive of her theological dogmas should have been the fundamental principle of the new government was irritating to her bigotry. Thus, although she did not hesitate to avail herself of the good offices of Roger Williams to avert a dangerous war, she did not scruple to forbid the sale to citizens of Rhode Island of the powder and arms which they needed for their own protection, and exclude them from the league which the other colonies of New England had formed for their common defence. When, in 1642, four of the principal inhabitants of Pawtuxet factiously put themselves under her protection, she greedily seized the opportunity of securing for herself a foothold in the coveted territory. It was not till 1658 that this dangerous dispute was settled and the perpetual menace of mutilation removed from the northern district of the Colony soon to reappear in the southern. Amid the fresh recollections of this contest, the General Assembly passed a law forbidding, under the penalty of confiscation, the introduction of a foreign authority within the limits of the Colony. Both Massachusetts and Connecticut laid claim to Narragansett, a valuable tract in the southern part of the Colony and controlling the communication with the bay of that name. The claim of Rhode Island was founded upon purchase, and although her physical inferiority left her no hope of success except through an appeal to the King, she was none the less vigilant in defending her rights. The necessity of this watchfulness was soon made manifest, for scarce a year had passed from the passage of the prohibitory law, when, in direct violation of its provisions, a company of aliens purchased Quidneset and Namcook, two large and valuable tracts on Narragansett Bay. It was like throwing down the gauntlet to the little Colony, for it was only by supporting the pretensions of Massachusetts or Connecticut that the purchasers could hope to make their title good. An artful attempt was made to obtain the sanction of Roger Williams’s name by offering him, under the title of interpreter, a liberal grant of land. But the loyal old man refused to connect himself in any way with the illegal act, and warned the company of the dangerous ground whereon they were treading.
The warning was not heeded, and Humphrey Atherton, John Winthrop and their associates, completing their bargain with the Indians, claimed the tracts as theirs by lawful purchase. New complications followed. The very next year the Commissioners of the United Colonies, following up their aggressive policy towards the Narragansetts, imposed upon the feeble remnant of the once powerful tribe a heavy fine for alleged injuries to the Mohegans, and compelled them to mortgage their whole territory for the payment of it. Atherton paid the fine, and held that his claim was strengthened by this act of unjustifiable violence.
For a time hopes were entertained of inducing the company to accept the jurisdiction of Rhode Island, but they were futile. The attempt of either party to exercise legal authority in the disputed territory was a signal for the active intervention of the other. It was soon evident that the decision must be referred to England. Fortunately for Rhode Island, John Clarke was still there.
Agents from Connecticut, also, were there petitioning for a new charter, and their petition was enforced by the wise and virtuous John Winthrop. Court favor came to his aid, and he used it judiciously. The venerable Lord Say and Seal lent him the influence of his name, and the skillful negotiator dexterously reviving the memory of the intercourse between his father and Charles the First, succeeded in touching for a moment the callous heart of Charles II. In the season of that intercourse Charles had given Winthrop a curious and valuable ring, and now when the son of the subject came before the son of the King as a suppliant for a charter for his distant home, he bore that ring in his hand as a record of kind feelings on one side and reverential observance on the other. The plea was successful, and, on the 30th of May, 1662, a charter was granted. In this charter the eastern boundary of Connecticut was extended to Narragansett River, and Narragansett River it was claimed was Narragansett Bay.
Great was the indignation of Rhode Island when the tidings of this arbitrary mutilation of her territory reached her. It was like introducing a foreign jurisdiction into the heart of the Colony, and stripping it by a stroke of the pen of some of the chief advantages which it had promised itself from its long and painful labor of colonization. There was but one hope left, and that lay in the wisdom and firmness of John Clarke. The trust was well placed. Not for a moment did the brave man lose heart or suffer himself to grow weary in his difficult task. Of the details of his negotiations no accurate record has been preserved, but we know that, possessing no means of corruption, even if his noble nature could have stooped to it, he placed his confidence in the justice of his cause. In negotiating for a charter he had presented two elaborate petitions to the King, giving a rapid sketch of the origin and principles of the Colony, and asking for “a more absolute, ample, and free charter of civill incorporation,” as for men who “had it much on their hearts (if they may be permitted) to hold a lively experiment, that a flourishing free state may stand, yea, and best be maintained, and that among English spirits, with a full liberty in religious concernments.” The question of a charter was for the King to decide, and we have already seen how he decided it. But the question of boundaries was within the competence of the agents of the two colonies. After much discussion it was decided to refer it to arbitration. Four arbitrators were chosen, and on the 7th of April, 1663, they rendered their award in four articles, by one of which the Pawcatuck River was made the eastern boundary of Connecticut. The Atherton company was left free to decide under which of the two jurisdictions it would live.
As long as Winthrop remained, although Clarke had much to apprehend from his open opposition, he had nothing to fear from secret intrigues or willful misinterpretation. But not all the advocates of the Atherton purchase were like John Winthrop. False claims will always find base agents, and no sooner was Winthrop gone than one of these willing instruments of wrong pressed eagerly forward to his loathsome office. His name was John Scott, and the record of his meanness has been preserved in his own hand. “Mr. Winthrop,” begins his confidential correspondence with Captain Hutchinson, the corresponding agent of the company, “was very averse to my prosecuting your affairs, he having had much trouble with Mr. Clarke whiles he remained in England; but as soon as I received intelligence of his departure from the Downes, I took into the society a Potent Gentleman and prepared a Petition against Clarke, &c., as enemyes to the peace and well being of his Majestye’s good subjects, and doubt not effecting the premises in convenient tyme, and in order to accomplish yr businesse, I have bought of Mr. Edwards a parcel of curiosityes to ye value of sixty pounds; to gratifye persons that are powerfull, that there may be a Letter filled with Awthorising Expressions to the Collonyes of the Massachusetts and Connecticut, that the proprietors of the Narraganset countrye, shall not only live peaceably, but have satisfaction for Injuryes already received by some of the saide Proprietors and the power yt shall be soe invested (viz) the Massachusetts and Connecticut by virtue of the saide letter will joyntlye and severallye, have full power to do us justice to all intents, as to our Narraganset concernes.”
For a moment it seemed as though this vile intrigue were about to succeed. A letter from the King to the United Colonies was obtained, recommending the interests of the Atherton company to their protection. John Scott’s “curiosityes” had done their work. The “Potent Gentleman” had not failed him. The little Colony lay unarmed at the feet of its powerful enemies. But the triumph was short. John Clarke was carefully bringing his negotiations for a new charter to a close. Surrounded by bitter and unscrupulous adversaries he still kept his own counsel, kept the object of his mission constantly in view, and, after much weary waiting and watching, came out triumphant. The charter of Charles the Second, as I have already stated, which so long served the Colony as a constitution and exercised such a controlling influence upon her development, passed the seals on the 8th of July, 1663. By this charter the western boundary line was fixed at Pawcatuck River, “any Grant or Claim in a late Grant to the Governor and Company of Connecticut Colony in America to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding.” Thus the Pawcatuck River was henceforth to be held as the same with the Narragansett River, and the question of western boundary decided in accordance with the agreement, which, “after much debate,” Clarke and Winthrop had both signed in the names of their respective colonies. It is evident that there was much ignorance, and no very firm principle of action with regard to the colonies in the cabinet of the second Charles.
While these events were passing an important change took place in the commercial medium of the country. When the colonists first began to trade with the natives, they found them already advanced in their buyings and sellings from the primitive barter of product for product to the use of a fixed medium of exchange. This medium, indeed, was of a purely conventional character. There were neither mines of gold, nor mines of silver, nor mines of copper to perform the office of money. But the waters of their rivers and bays yielded an abundant supply of shells, and these they wrought with much ingenuity into beads; the periwinkle furnishing the material for the lower values, six of its white shells being held at an English penny, while the dark eye of the quahog or round clam, smoothed by grinding, and polished and drilled, was rated at twice the value of the white shell. Both were known as wampum or peage. As money belts of wampum were counted by the fathom, three hundred and sixty of the white passing for five shillings sterling, and a fathom of the black being worth twice as much as a fathom of the white. Like the metallic medium of other countries they served also for personal decoration, supplying the Indian belles and beaux with their necklaces and bracelets, and princes with the most valued ornaments of their regalia. When used for this purpose they were wrought into girdles, or worn as a scarf about the shoulders, great pains being taken and not a little skill displayed in arranging the colors in various figures. The mints in which this primitive money was coined were on the sea-shore, where shells were found in great abundance, and so well was this simple article adapted to the wants and the tastes of the aborigines that it passed current six hundred miles from the coast, and was used by the colonists in all their bargains with the natives. But shells like metals and paper are subject to the same inexorable laws of trade. When beaver skins became plenty in the colonial market and wampum was made in larger quantities, it fell from ten shillings a fathom to five, and the Indian hunter thought it hard that an equal number of furs should bring him but half as much wampum as before. Like all money, also, wampum was liable to be counterfeited, and even in that rude commerce there were men who preferred the ill-gotten gain of the counterfeiter to the fruit of honest industry. Fortunately for the native he was quick in detecting the fraud, and never failed to exact full compensation. But wampum, like the race for whom it was made, was unable to hold its ground against the advancing civilization. We have seen it reduced to half its original value by overissues and the increasing supply of furs in the colonial market. Gradually it began to disappear. Rhode Island continued to use it long after it had ceased to be current in colonies where the intercourse with Europe was more direct. Massachusetts had begun to coin silver in 1652, but Rhode Island continued to accept wampum as a legal tender for ten years longer, when it reached its lowest point, and, like the Continental money of a century later, was abolished by statute. Thenceforth all taxes and costs of court were exacted in “current pay” in sterling that is, or in New England coin of thirty shillings New England to twenty-two shillings sixpence sterling.
Nothing has been said thus far of the measures taken by the young Colony for the establishment of schools. Newport, though only in the second year of her settlement, took the lead in 1640, by “calling Mr. Robert Lenthall to keep a school for the learning of youth, and for his encouragement there was granted to him and his heirs one hundred acres of land, and four more for a house lot.” In the same meeting it was voted: “That one hundred acres should be laid forth and appropriated for a school, for the encouragement of the poorer sort, to train up their youth in learning, and Mr. Robert Lenthall, while he continues to keep school, is to have the benefit thereof.” The wise example was followed by Providence in 1663, and at May town meeting a hundred acres of upland and six acres of meadow were reserved for the support of a school.
But in nothing perhaps does the character of the Colony appear to more advantage than in the law of oaths. “Forasmuch,” reads the statute, “as the consciences of sundry men, truly conscionable, may scruple the giving or the taking of an oath, and it would be no wise suitable to the nature and constitution of our place, who profess ourselves to be men of different consciences, and not one willing to force another, to debar such as cannot do so, either from bearing office among us, or from giving in testimony in a case depending; be it enacted by the authority of this present Assembly, that a solemn profession or testimony in a court of record, or before a judge of record, shall be accounted throughout the whole colony, of as full force as an oath.” So strong was the hold which the principle of soul liberty had taken of the public mind.
