A short history of Rhode Island

by George Washington Greene

The influence of such a man is quickly felt in a young community, and Berkeley soon gathered around him a body of cultivated men, who joined with him in the discussion of questions of philosophy and the collection of books. These books became the basis of the Redwood Library. Not far from his house among what the modern tourist knows as the hanging rocks is a natural alcove, which opening to the south and roofed with stone commands an extensive view of the ocean. Here, tradition says, Berkeley wrote his Alciphron or Minute Philosopher, which was printed in Newport by James Franklin. But Berkeley had lived too long among men of letters and in large cities to be contented with the limited resources of a colonial town, and after a residence in Newport of two years and a half, he returned to Europe and a broader field of usefulness and honor. His library of eight hundred and eighty volumes he left to Yale. Brown University was not yet established.

Legislation begins to take notice of charitable institutions. Attention had already been called to the condition of the insane, and now a fund was formed for the relief of disabled sailors and their families by deducting sixpence a month from the wages of every seaman in active service. This money was paid over to the town in which he lived and which was bound to support him.

The respect for the rights of conscience which forms the fundamental principle of the colonial polity, still meets us from time to time in some new application. In 1730 the militia law was modified for the protection of the Quakers. Provision was also made for the protection of the Indians by an act requiring the assent of two justices of the peace to give validity to any bond of apprenticeship in which they were concerned.

In 1730 the Board of Trade called for a census. The population was found to have increased six thousand in ten years—numbering fifteen thousand three hundred whites, sixteen hundred and fifty blacks, and nine hundred and eighty Indians—nearly eighteen thousand in all, almost equally divided between the three counties. Of these eighteen thousand nearly nine hundred were enrolled in the militia. Providence was divided into four towns.

The question of paper money still excited the Colony. Governor Jenckes was against it, but it was upheld by a majority of the Assembly. By September, 1731, one hundred and ninety-five thousand three hundred pounds had been issued in bills of credit, of which one hundred and twenty thousand pounds were still outstanding. Silver had risen from eight to twenty shillings an ounce. Yet such was the general infatuation that in this very year a new bank was voted of sixty thousand pounds.

Yet trade increased and the Colony prospered. The shipping had risen in ten years from thirty-five hundred tons to five thousand, manned by four hundred men. Boston was the principal mart for supplies, but two ships came annually from England, two from Holland and the Mediterranean, and ten or twelve from the West Indies. The exports which comprised live stock, logwood, lumber, fish and the products of the field and dairy, amounted to ten thousand pounds a year. The ordinary expenses of the government amounted to two thousand, the extraordinary to twenty-five hundred pounds a year, colonial currency.

The paper money controversy had raised a question as to the governor’s power of veto. The law officers of the crown were consulted by the Board of Trade and declared that he had none. They decided also that the King himself had none.

The publication of the laws had met a public want. The first edition was soon exhausted and a new one called for. For many years small pains were taken to secure accuracy in the text, the preparation of it being left to the clerk. A wide door was thus left open for interpolation, and it was through this door that the clause against Roman Catholics, so contrary to the spirit and policy of the Colony crept into the statute—to be silently dropped as soon as attention was called to it.

We have already seen that provision had been made for the defence of the Colony by building a fort in Newport harbor. Additional provisions were made at the October session of 1732, by imposing a duty of sixpence a ton upon all vessels that entered the harbor except fishermen. We have already seen that several attempts had been made for the suppression of intemperance, and apparently with little success. In 1732 another moral principle was made the subject of legislation, and “these unlawful games called lotteries” suppressed by statute. We shall soon find them legalized and in some instances doing the office of insurance companies. A more legitimate source of gain was found in the whale fishery, which was successfully encouraged by a premium. Whales were often taken in Narragansett Bay. But the first regular whaler that entered Newport harbor was owned by Benjamin Thurston, and brought a hundred and fourteen barrels of oil and two hundred pounds of bone.

It was not till many trials had been made that a satisfactory regulation of the tenure of office was reached. On revising the statutes good behavior was made the term of tenure for the judges and clerks of common pleas. But the democratic element was too strong to allow this prolongation to gain a footing of authority, and a semi-annual election was soon substituted to the more conservative system. The deputies had been chosen semi-annually. In 1733 this also was changed to the whole year, but after a short trial changed back again to the half year. The first printed schedules were distributed in the summer of 1733. The October sessions were to be held alternately at Providence and South Kingstown. The certificates of election were carefully scrutinized and irregular proxies rejected. In 1734 the House consisted of thirty-six deputies, ten assistants and three general officers, a secretary, attorney and treasurer.