Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Thus the long fight was won in America, and now people generally appreciate the importance of the victory gained. Rhode Island may have hesitated to accept the imperfect Constitution, with its lack of assurance for complete religious liberty. In this connection we should not forget that Massachusetts and Connecticut were the last to ratify the First Amendment.
VII
THE WORLD-WIDE INFLUENCE OF
ROGER WILLIAMS’ IDEAL
“The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon trusted foundations of political liberty.”—President Wilson’s War Message to Congress, 1917.
Till the war-drum throbb’d no longer, and the battle-flags were furl’d
In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world.
There the common sense of most shall hold a fretful realm in awe,
And the kindly earth shall slumber, lapt in universal law.
—Alfred Tennyson.