Hireling Ministry none of Christ’s—the ministry—controversy with George Fox—other writings—character as a writer—his general character.

In the same year, 1652, in which the last mentioned book was published, Mr. Williams printed a pamphlet, with the title, “The Hireling Ministry none of Christ’s, or a Discourse touching the Propagating the Gospel of Christ Jesus. Humbly presented to such pious and honorable hands, whom the present debate thereof concerns. By Roger Williams, of Providence, in New-England. London. Printed in the second month.” It is a small quarto, of thirty-six pages. No copy is known to the writer to exist in this country, except in the Library of the American Antiquarian Society, in Worcester, which contains a duplicate. One of the copies was loaned to the author, by the politeness of the Librarian.

This pamphlet is valuable, because it contains a more clear exposition of Mr. Williams’ views respecting the ministry, than any other of his works. It begins with an “Epistle Dedicatory, to all such honorable and pious hands, whom the present debate touching the propagating of Christ’s Gospel concerns; and to all such gentle Bereans, who, with ingenious civility, desire to search, whether what’s presented concerning Christ Jesus be so or not.” In this epistle, the author says, “I have not been altogether a stranger to the learning of the Egyptians, and have trod the hopefullest paths to worldly preferment, which, for Christ’s sake, I have forsaken. I know what it is to study, to preach, to be an elder, to be applauded, and yet also what it is to tug at the oar, to dig with the spade and plough, and to labor and travel day and night, amongst English, amongst barbarians.”

The chief purpose of the work is, to oppose a legal establishment of religion, and the compulsory support of the clergy.

The principal points maintained are three: 1. There is now no ministry, which is authorized to preach to the heathen, or to exercise pastoral functions. 2. There ought to be a perfect liberty to all men to maintain such worship and ministry as they please. 3. Ministers ought be supported, by voluntary donations, and not by legal provision.

1. On the first point, he partially stated his views, in his preceding works on the Bloody Tenet; but in this pamphlet, he expounds them more fully. His opinions appear to have rested entirely on a misconception of passages in the Revelations. He believed, that the “white troopers” mentioned in the 6th and 19th chapters of Revelations, were the true ministers, and that they were utterly routed, till after the slaying of the witnesses and their resurrection. “The apostolical commission and ministry is long since interrupted and discontinued, yet ever since the beast Antichrist rose, the Lord Jesus hath stirred up the ministry of prophecy, who must continue their witness and prophecy, until their witness be finished, and slaughters, probably near approaching, be accomplished.” “In the poor small span of my life, I desired to have been a diligent and constant observer, and have been myself many ways engaged, in city, in country, in court, in schools, in universities, in churches, in Old and New-England; and yet cannot, in the holy presence of God, bring in the result of a satisfying discovery, that either the begetting ministry of the apostles or messengers to the churches, or the feeding and nourishing ministry of pastors and teachers, according to the first institution of the Lord Jesus, are yet restored and extant.”—p. 4.

In his “Bloody Tenet made more Bloody,” he says, that “Christ Jesus sends out preachers three ways: 1st. In his own person, as the twelve and seventy. 2dly. By his visible, kingly power, left in the hands of his true churches, and the officers and governors thereof. 3dly. Christ Jesus, as King of the Church and Head of his body, during the distractions of his house and kingdom, under Antichrist’s apostacy, immediately by his own Holy Spirit, stirs up and sends out those fiery witnesses to testify against Antichrist and his several abominations.”—p. 99.

He says, in the work before us: “All (of what rank soever) that have knowledge and utterance of heavenly mysteries, and therein are the Lord’s prophets and witnesses against Antichrist, must prophesy against false Christs, false faith, false love, false joy, false worship and ministrations, false hope and false Heaven, which poor souls in a golden dream expect and look for.

“This prophecy ought to be (chiefly) exercised among the saints, in the companies, meetings and assemblies of the fellow-mourners, and witnesses against the falsehoods of Antichrist. If any come in (as 1 Cor: 14,) yea, if they come to catch, God will graciously more or less vouchsafe to catch them, if he intends to save them.

“But for the going out to the nations, cities, towns, as to the nations, cities, and towns of the world, unconverted, until the downfall of the Papacy, (Rev. 18,) and so the mounting of the Lord Jesus and his white troopers again (Rev. 19, &c.) for the going out to preach upon hire; for the going out to convert sinners, and yet to hold communion with them as saints in prayer; for the going out without such a powerful call from Christ, as the twelve and the seventy had, or without such suitable gifts as the first ministry was furnished with, and this especially without a due knowledge of the prophecies to be fulfilled, I have no faith to act, nor in the actings and ministries of others.”—pp. 21, 22.

He avers, nevertheless, that he had strong desires to labor for the good of all men: “By the merciful assistance of the Most High, I have desired to labor in Europe, in America, with English, with Barbarians, yea, and also, I have longed after some trading with the Jews themselves, for whose hard measure, I fear the nations and England hath yet a score to pay.”—p. 13. He states his opinion, however, that no remarkable conversion of the nations is yet to be expected, because smoke filled the temple till Antichrist was overthrown. Rev. 15: 8.

In the “Bloody Tenet made more Bloody,” he says, on this subject, that though he approved endeavors to teach the Indians, yet, “that any of the ministers spoken of are furnished with true apostolical commission (Matt. 28,) I see not, for these reasons: 1st. The ordinary ministry, is not the apostolical, Eph. 4. 1 Cor. 12. 2dly. The churches of New-England are not pure churches. 3dly. Men cannot preach to the Indians in any propriety of their speech or language.”—p. 219.

These extracts sufficiently explain his views. It is remarkable, that a man, whose mind was so strong and clear, on most subjects, should become perplexed with such difficulties, in relation to the ministry and the church. That the passages in the Apocalypse, to which he refers, do not authorize his conclusions, we need not attempt to prove. He might well deny, that most of the communities which then claimed to be Christian churches, were entitled to the name; and might, with truth, maintain, that a large proportion of those who professed, at that time, to be ministers of Christ, were not sanctioned by his commission. But it did not follow, that no church, formed according to the models furnished in the New Testament, then existed, and that no true ministers could be found. A company of true believers, united in one society, for worship, for mutual watchfulness, for the maintenance of discipline, and for the celebration of the ordinances, is a church. A pious man, who can teach others, and who is moved, by a proper conviction of duty, and is authorized by a church, to preach the Gospel, is a duly appointed minister. It is manifest, from the tenor of the New Testament, that an order of ministers was intended to be continued. The same ends for which the first ministers were appointed,—the conversion of the impenitent, and the edification of believers,—still require, that, ministers be employed in the work of spreading and upholding Christianity. The same means are to be employed,—the declaration of divine truth. The supernatural gifts of the first ministers were necessary, as an attestation of the truth of Christianity; but it was not by the miracles, but by the truth, accompanied by the influences of the Holy Spirit, that men were converted. The experience of modern missions demonstrates, that men can learn to speak “with propriety” the languages of the heathen, and that the Gospel, when preached now, in Burmah, or in Hindostan, or in Greenland, or in our western forests, is “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” Rom. 1: 16.

But it is needless to argue a point, so clear as this. Mr. Williams’ erroneous views on the subject before us, did not affect his feelings on the great question of religious liberty. He was willing, that others should establish churches and maintain ministers, if they chose. This is the second point which we mentioned.

2. He says, “I desire not that liberty to myself, which I would not freely and impartially weigh out to all the consciences of the world beside. And, therefore, I do humbly conceive, that it is the will of the Most High, and the express and absolute duty of the civil powers, to proclaim an absolute freedom in all the three nations, yea, in all the world, (were their power so large) that each town and division of people, yea, and each person, may freely enjoy what worship, what ministry, what maintenance to afford them, their soul desireth.”—p. 19. In a subsequent page, he adds: “All these consciences (yea, the very consciences of the Papists, Jews, &c. as I have proved at large in my answer to Master Cotton’s washings) ought freely and impartially to be permitted their several respective worships, their ministers of worships, and what way of maintaining them, they freely choose.”

3. On the subject of maintenance, he strongly objects to a “stated salary,” by which he evidently means a stipend, fixed and raised by law. He contends, that ministers ought to be supported, like the first preachers, by voluntary donations. He does not fully explain his views, but it does not appear, that he had any objection to a fixed sum, or to any particular mode of collecting it, provided that it was voluntarily paid. The compulsory maintenance of the clergy, by tithes, and other modes of taxation, without any concurrence of the persons taxed, was the system against which he argued. He insisted, nevertheless, that ministers are entitled to a maintenance, and that the members of a church may be compelled, by the proper use of spiritual power, to perform their duty, in contributing to the support of a minister. In the “Bloody Tenet,” (p. 168) he says: “To that Scripture, Gal. 6: 6. ‘Let him that is taught in the word make him that teacheth partake of all his goods,’ I answer, that teaching was of persons converted, believers entered into the school and family of Christ, the Church, which Church, being rightly gathered, is also rightly invested with the power of the Lord Jesus, to force every soul therein by spiritual weapons and penalties to do its duty.”

The doctrines of Roger Williams, on this subject, as well as on the general principle of liberty of conscience, are rapidly gaining the victory over the old system. A legal provision for the clergy, by which all the citizens are compelled to pay for the support of religious teachers, whether they choose to hear them or not, is unjust in principle, and pernicious in practice; producing discontent and odium among the people, and tending to introduce mere worldly and mercenary men into the ministry. Its effects, even in Massachusetts, have convinced men, of all parties, of its inexpediency. It is a coincidence, which the author views with pleasure, that, while this book has been passing through the press, the citizens of Massachusetts have adopted an amendment of the Constitution, which, in its results, will sweep away the last relic of the old system. The principles of Roger Williams will soon be triumphantly established in Massachusetts, and there will not be, even in theory, any dominant and favored sect, in this venerable commonwealth. In every other State in our Union, entire religious freedom is enjoyed. In England, the march is onward. In a few years, her establishment must fall, and religion be placed, where it should be, under the protection of the Saviour, drawing her revenues from the willing hands of his followers, and renewing her strength and beauty, by taking her appropriate station, like the angel in the sun, high above the contaminations of the earth.

The book before us ends, with what the author calls the “summa totalis:”

“1st. The civil state is bound, before God, to take off that bond and yoke of soul oppression [the national establishment] and to proclaim free and impartial liberty to all the people of the three nations, to choose and maintain what worship and ministry their souls and consciences are persuaded of.

“2dly. The civil state is humbly to be implored to provide, in their high wisdom, for the security of all these respective consciences, in their respective meetings, assemblings, worshippings, preachings, disputings, &c. and that civil peace, and the beauty of civility and humanity, be maintained among the chief opposers and dissenters.

“3dly. It is the duty of all that are in authority, and of all that are able, to countenance, and encourage and supply all such true volunteers, as give and devote themselves to the service and ministry of Christ Jesus in any kind; although it be also the duty, and will be the practice, of all such, whom the Spirit of God sends upon any work of Christ’s, rather to work, as Paul did among the Corinthians and Thessalonians, than the work and service of their Lord and Master should be neglected.” pp. 29, 30.

Mr. Williams is said to have published, in London, in the same year, 1652, a work, entitled, “Experiments of Spiritual Life and Health, and their Preservatives.” Of this book, no copy has come to our knowledge.

The only remaining printed book of Mr. Williams, is his narrative of the dispute with the Quakers. It is entitled, “George Fox digged out of his Burrowes, or an Offer of Disputation on fourteen Proposals, made this last Summer, 1672, (so called,) unto G. Fox, then present on Rhode-Island, in New-England, by R. W. As also how (G. Fox slily departing) the Disputation went on, being managed three Days at Newport, on Rhode-Island, and one day at Providence, between John Stubs, John Burnet, and William Edmundson, on the one Part, and R. W. on the other. In which many Quotations out of G. Fox and Ed. Burrowes’ Book in Folio are alleged. With an Appendix, of some Scores of G. F. his simple and lame Answers to his Opposites, in that Book, quoted and replied to, by R. W. of Providence, in N. E. Boston. Printed by John Foster, 1676.” It is a small quarto volume, of 327 pages. Its execution is creditable to the American press, at that early day.

The book is dedicated to the King, Charles II. in a courteous epistle, in which Mr. Williams calls New-England a “miserable, cold, howling wilderness,” yet says, that God “hath made it His glory, your Majesty’s glory, and a glory to the English and Protestant name.”

There is also an epistle “To the People called Quakers,” in which the author says, “From my childhood, (now above threescore years) the Father of Lights and Mercies touched my soul with a love to himself, to his only-begotten, the true Lord Jesus, to his Holy Scriptures, &c. His infinite wisdom hath given me to see the city, court and country, the schools and universities of my native country, to converse with some Turks, Jews, Papists, and all sorts of Protestants, and by books, to know the affairs and religions of all countries, &c. My conclusion is, that Be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee (Matt. 9) is one of the joyfullest sounds that ever came to poor sinful ears.”

He says, “I have used some sharp, scripture language, but not (as commonly you do) passionately and unjustly.”

He adds a letter “to those many learned and pious men whom G. Fox hath so sillily and scornfully answered in his book in folio, especially to those whose names I have been bold to mention in the Narrative and Appendix, Mr. Richard Baxter, Mr. John Owen, &c.” In this letter is this kind and liberal sentence: “As to matters in dispute between yourselves and me, I willingly omitted them, as knowing, that many able and honest seamen, in their observations of this sun (one picture of Christ Jesus) differ sometimes in their reckonings, though uprightly aiming at, and bound for, one port and harbor.”

Then follows the main body of the work, containing an interesting account of the dispute, and a long and tedious examination of numerous points of doctrine, which Mr. Fox and his friends maintained. We cannot present an analysis of the book. It would afford neither profit nor pleasure. Much of the discussion is a dispute about dark questions, and many of Mr. Williams’ objections arose, probably, from the uncouth phraseology with which Mr. Fox obscured his real meaning. Mr. Williams might easily misunderstand his opponents, while they insisted so strongly on the teachings of the inward light, on the formation of Christ in the soul, and other similar doctrines. Mr. Fox, too, assumed some positions, which none of the Friends would now approve. He justified, for example, the abominable conduct of the females who appeared naked in the streets, and contended that they acted under divine inspiration. Mr. Williams said, “You shall never persuade souls (not bewitched) that the Holy Spirit of God should persuade your women and maidens to appear in public streets and assemblies stark naked.” Mr. Fox replied, “We do believe thee in that dark, persecuting, bloody spirit that thou and the New-England priests are bewitched in, you cannot believe, that you are naked from God, and his clothing, and blind. And therefore hath the Lord in his power moved some of his sons and daughters to go naked; yea, and they did tell them, in Oliver’s days, and the Long Parliament’s, that God would strip them of their Church profession, and of their power, as naked as they were. And so they were true prophets and prophetesses to the nation, as many sober men have confessed since, though thou and the old persecuting priests in New-England remain in your blindness and nakedness.”^[382] Mr. Williams might well abhor Mr. Fox’s principles, if this had been a fair specimen of their tendency.

Mr. Williams was accused by Mr. Fox and others of advocating persecution, because he condemned the use of Thee and Thou to superiors, as uncivil, and declared, that “a due and moderate restraint and punishing of these incivilities (though pretending conscience) is as far from persecution (properly so called) as that it is a duty and command of God unto all mankind, first in families, and thence unto all mankind societies.” p. 200. Mr. Williams did not reason on this point with his usual clearness. If a man is conscientious about using the terms Thee and Thou, and wearing his hat, he ought to be allowed to do so, because these customs do not necessarily interfere with any other man’s rights. But Mr. Williams viewed them as offences against civil decorum, and thought that they should be restrained and punished as such. He cannot, therefore, be justly accused of inconsistency in relation to his principles of religious liberty. He probably had in his view the offensive language, which some of the persons called Quakers used toward magistrates and others.^[383] It is, indeed, a curious circumstance, that many of the early Quakers were remarkable for a spirit of bitter railing. Mr. Baxter says: “The Quakers, in their shops, when I go along London streets, say, ‘Alas! poor man, thou art yet in darkness.’ They have oft come into the congregation, when I had liberty to preach Christ’s Gospel, and cried out against me as a deceiver of the people. They have followed me home, crying out in the streets, ‘The day of the Lord is coming, when thou shalt perish as a deceiver.’ They have stood in the market-place, and under my window year after year, crying out to the people, ‘Take heed of your priests, they deceive your souls!’ and if they saw any one wear a lace or a rich clothing, they cried out to me, ‘These are the fruit of thy ministry.’”^[384] Similar scenes were exhibited in this country. There was a remarkable contrast, at that time, between the language and the general demeanor of the Quakers. They used no force, and made no resistance, but they uttered, without stint, the most virulent epithets. It might seem, that they had literally adopted the counsel of Minerva to Achilles—not to unsheathe the sword, but to reproach their adversaries with words:

Mr. Williams, in writing his book, caught some of the same spirit, and used a style of contemptuous bitterness, which was not natural to him. Mr. Fox and Mr. Burnyeat replied in the same strain, though with more coarseness. Their book is a quarto, of 489 pages. It is entitled, “A New-England Firebrand Quenched,” &c. They filled twenty-four pages with words and phrases culled from Mr. Williams’ book, with this preface: “A catalogue of R. W’s. envious, malicious, scornful, railing stuff, false accusations and blasphemies, which he foully and unchristianlike hath scattered and dispersed through his book.” At the end are two letters, the one from Mr. Coddington, and the other from Mr. Richard Scott, in both of which Mr. Williams is spoken of with much harshness.

But we have done with these books. It would be well, for the reputation of all the parties, if they could be forgotten.

We have thus reviewed all the printed books of Mr. Williams, of which we have been able to obtain copies. Two or three treatises, which he wrote, were not, it is presumed, printed. Among these, was the essay concerning the patent, which excited the displeasure of the magistrates in Massachusetts, before his banishment.^[386] At the end of his Key, he says, “I have further treated of these natives of New-England, and that great point of their conversion, in a little additional discourse to this.” This discourse we have never seen. In the letter to Governor Bradstreet, (page 353 of this volume) Mr. Williams speaks of a collection of heads of discourses preached to the “scattered English at Narraganset,” and which Mr. Williams requests the Governor to assist him in printing. It does not appear that it was printed. Dr. Holmes, (Annals, vol. i. p. 411) says, “In the Prince Collection of MSS. are heads of discourses, which he delivered to the Narraganset Indians.” An ineffectual search has been made among the MSS. referred to, for these heads of discourses, which may have been mislaid. They may be the same as those mentioned in the letter to Governor Bradstreet.

There is said to be a MS. of one hundred and six quarto pages, in the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society, entitled, “Esau and Jacob’s Mystical Harmony,” &c. written in 1666, with a memorandum in Dr. Stiles’ hand writing, “I suppose Roger Williams.” We have not had an opportunity to examine this manuscript.

The letters of Mr. Williams were very numerous. He held an extensive correspondence. Many of these letters are preserved, and many others are referred to, which have perished.

Of the character of Mr. Williams, as a writer, those who have read the letters and extracts from his books, contained in this volume, can form a judgment. His style is very original and characteristic. It is the outpouring of a full and ardent mind, too intent on the thought, to be very careful of the expression. It is, consequently, not always correct; but it is always clear and forcible. He exhibits ample learning, and quotations from the classics are scattered through his writings, in an easy and natural manner. He was very familiar with the Scriptures, which he read in the original languages; though he, like most theological writers of that time, was imperfectly acquainted with the laws of interpretation. He had a very active imagination, and his style is full of figures, always striking, and often happy, but not uniformly selected and applied, with a pure taste. This liveliness of his fancy made him fond of puns and quaint expressions, which he used, however, with no design to amuse the reader, but to illustrate and enforce his meaning. He had, indeed, a poetical mind, and some passages of his works remind us of the magnificent periods of Milton and Taylor. The specimens of his verses in his Key, though superior to much of the contemporary rhyme contained in Morton’s Memorial and Mather’s Magnalia, are inferior, in real poetic feeling and expression, to some paragraphs of his prose works. He was one of those poets mentioned by Wordsworth,

His writings, in short, like those of all great minds, are a reflection of his own character, and are marked with his excellencies and his faults.

We must now close this book with a few observations concerning his character. It is unnecessary to dwell minutely on this point, for no man was ever more transparent; and those who have traced his history, have had ample means of forming their own judgment.

His mental faculties were of a high order. His mind was strong, original and independent. The clearness with which he discerned the true principles of religious liberty, and the steadiness with which he maintained them, in opposition to the general theory and practice of that age, show a superior intellect. Few men are far in advance of their contemporaries; and this is a wise arrangement of Providence, for such men are not so immediately useful, as many others of inferior powers. They are not understood—they offend the prejudices, and wound the self-love of men. Their influence is of the nature of prophecy. They plant principles, which are of slow growth, but which will eventually produce rich fruit. Such individuals must be content to live for posterity. They must be steadfast in upholding the truth, though amid ingratitude and opposition, cheered by the bright prospect of future triumph.

Mr. Williams was of this class of men, and his station in that class is a proof of the elevation and vigor of his mind.

It is an evidence, also, of superior moral qualities. It requires a spirit of self-sacrifice, a pure love of truth, a benevolent zeal for the welfare of mankind, an elevation above selfish ends. All these traits of character Mr. Williams possessed. He was sincerely pious. Love to God dwelt habitually in his soul, and controlled his feelings and his actions. In his books and letters, every topic takes a hue from his piety. His magnanimous forgiveness of injuries, his zeal for the welfare of all who sought his aid, his untiring benevolence towards the hapless savages, his patriotic and self-denying toils for the prosperity of his colony, all show the efficacy and fervor of those religious principles which governed him. Mr. Callender said of him, “Mr. Williams appears, by the whole course and tenor of his life and conduct here, to have been one of the most disinterested men that ever lived, a most pious and heavenly minded soul.”^[387] Dr. Bentley says: “In Salem, every person loved Mr. Williams. He had no personal enemies, under any pretence. All valued his friendship. Kind treatment could win him, but opposition could not conquer him. He was not afraid to stand alone for truth against the world, and he had address enough with his firmness, never to be forsaken by the friends he had ever gained. He had always a tenderness of conscience, and feared every offence against moral truth. He breathed the purest devotion. He was a friend of human nature, forgiving, upright and pious. He understood the Indians better than any man of his age. He made not so many converts, but he made more sincere friends.”^[388]

His religious principles were those of Calvin. His views of the ordinances of the Gospel were, undoubtedly, after his baptism, those now held by the Baptists. But he did not acknowledge himself as belonging to any denomination; because he believed, that there are now neither true churches, nor persons authorized to administer the ordinances.

His political principles were decidedly in favor of the rights of the people. He not only displayed them, in the civil constitution of his colony, but he repeatedly stated them in his books. Such passages as the following contain his political creed:

“Kings and magistrates must be considered invested with no more power than the people betrust them with.” “The sovereign power of all civil authority is founded in the consent of the people.”^[389]

The faults of Mr. Williams sprung, in part, from the imperfection of human nature, and in part from his temperament and the constitution of his mind. He was ardent, and his imagination was the most active of his intellectual faculties. He sometimes adopted opinions, rather by a sudden bound of the imagination, than by a regular process of reasoning. His ardor, and his conscientious and fearless love of truth, impelled him to act on his opinions, with a degree of energy and firmness which exposed him to the charge of obstinacy. Such a man will occasionally fall into error, and into rapid transitions, which will give to his conduct the appearance of inconsistency. This was the case with Mr. Williams, in some of his actions, but the inconsistency never affected his great principles. These he never abandoned for a moment. His course was steadily onward, like that of a planet, though disturbing causes occasionally produced slight eccentricities.

In his domestic relations, he seems to have been amiable and happy. His expressions of attachment to his family prove the strength of his conjugal and parental affection. His children grew up to maturity. A numerous posterity have arisen to bless his memory, and to feel pleasure in the contemplation of his character and the diffusion of his fame.

He is dead, but his principles survive, and are destined to spread over the earth. The State which he founded is his monument.^[390] Her sons, when asked for a record of Roger Williams, may point to her history, unstained by a single act of persecution; to her prosperity, her perfect freedom, her tranquil happiness, and may reply, in the spirit of the epitaph on the tomb of Sir Christopher Wren, in St. Paul’s Cathedral, “look around!”