victions of his mind on this point when he said "all the world may see by his Majesty's declaration and engagements before his return, and his declarations and Parliament speeches since, and many suitable actings, how the Father of Spirits hath mightily impressed his royal spirit, though the bishops much disturbed him, with deep inclination of favor and gentleness to different consciences and apprehensions as to the invisible king and way of his worship. Hence he hath vouchsafed his royal promise under his hand and broad seal, that no person in this colony shall be molested or questioned for the matters of his conscience to God, so he be loyal and keep the civil peace. Our grant is crowned with the king's extraordinary favor to this colony as being a banished one, in which his Majesty declared himself that he would experiment whether civil government could consist with such liberty of conscience. This his Majesty's grant was startled at by his Majesty's high officers of state, who were to view it in course before the sealing, but fearing the lion's roaring, they couched against their wills in obedience to his Majesty's pleasure."* What reason have we to rejoice that on this consecrated spot we can lift up our voices today in united testimony, and declare

* Major Mason's Letter, Mass. His. Coll., Vol. 1.

that the great moral experiment which was begun here two centuries ago by an English king has been attended with success; that here without one invasion of liberty of conscience, religion has been upheld, civil order maintained, life and property secured, justice dispensed, education diffused, the peaceful arts cultivated, social concord cherished, and a general concert of action preserved among men of conflicting religious opinions not only to attain the great ends of civil government, but also to promote the progress of society. It is a glorious result to which we bear witness, one which our forefathers saw only by the eye of faith, but saw so clearly, that the blest vision thereof made their hearts strong in the day of calamity; a result which may tell loudly on the moral advancement of our race, and which we would fain proclaim as with the voice of many waters and the voice of mighty thunderings, till it reach the ear of every dweller on the face of the earth, who in the spirit of christian love is toiling to elevate downtrodden and degraded humanity.

Without entering very minutely into the biography of Roger Williams, the knowledge of which, from various sources, is now accessible by all of us, it may be 'well just to glance at an outline of his life. The best accounts of him state that he was born in Wales, in 1599. From

a remark of his own, it seems probable that he became pious in his youth, for in a book written in 1673,* he says, "the truth is, from my childhood, now above three score years, the Father of lights and mercies touched my soul with a love to himself, and to his only begotten the true Lord Jesus, to his holy scriptures." He studied law under the patronage of Sir Edward Coke, but afterwards devoted himself to theology, received Episcopal orders and had the charge of a parish in England. His lot was cast in stormy times, and both his temperament and education fitted him to act some decisive part in passing scenes. Possessing an ardent love for truth and liberty, he was led by his convictions to join the Puritans, and like others of them emigrated to New-England, which had become famous abroad as the home of piety and freedom. He arrived at Nantasket in February, 1631, and on reaching Boston, and finding the church there wielding a sceptre of civil power, at once he declared himself dissatisfied with them because they had not abjured those principles on the ground of which they had been united to the established church of England. Then, he broached the great doctrine, that civil governments, being constituted only for civil and

* George Fox digged out of his burrowes.

secular ends, the magistrate hath no right to interfere in the affairs of conscience. He seems at that time, to have fully matured the truth that a church established by civil law, can not be, as to its outward order, a true church of Christ; that so far as civil authority enforces religious duties, so far the church which allows it becomes a "kingdom of this world," and not the spiritual empire of which Jesus Christ is the only sovereign. Giving offence to the rulers in Boston, by avowing opinions so adverse to their ecclesiastical polity, he went to Salem, where he was well received, and chosen teacher by the church. At this the court in Boston marvelled much, and raised such an excitement against him, that in less than a year, he removed to Plymouth, where he was associated with Mr. Ralph Smith, the Pastor, as an assistant teacher. We have the testimony of Governor Bradford to the excellent character of his ministry, but his distinguishing doctrine of human liberty, which was involved in his idea of the spirituality of the christian dispensation, was the cause of an opposition to him, which disposed him in 1663 to listen favorably to a call from the church in Salem, to return to that place. Of all the churches in Massachusetts, that of Salem was most attached to the principle of independency,

and maintained it most resolutely.* The next year he was ordained their pastor, on which account the court in Boston manifested strong hostility to them, refusing even to hold intercourse with them touching matters of civil justice, until they retraced their steps. Thrice was he called before them to answer to several accusations. One was, impugning the justice of that patent by virtue of which the colony held her lands, inasmuch as it paid no regard to the rights of the Indians. Another was, calling the established church of England antichristian.The third was, saying that an oath ought not to be enforced on an unregenerate man, which assertion being based on the opinion that an oath is an act of worship, was defended by an argument remarkable for its simplicity and strength. But the worst of all was, declaring that "the magistrate ought not to punish the breach of the first table, otherwise than it did disturb the civil peace." His sentiment on that subject is thus expressed in his own words:†"As the civil permission of all the consciences and worship of all men in things merely spiritual, is no ways inconsistent with true christianity and true civility, so, it is the duty of the magis

* Upham's 2d Cent'y Disc. p. 41. + Hireling Ministry, p. 36.