“Sir,
“Loving respects, &c. Yours received and the 10s. from your neighbor Elderkin, and letters, which shall carefully be sent. I came from Providence last night, and was able, by God’s merciful providence, so to order it, that I was their pilot to my house here, from whence I have provided a native, who, with Joseph Fosseker, I hope will bring them safe to you. The merciful Lord help you and me to say, as Solomon, all that comes is vanity: all cattle, all goods, all friends, all children, &c. I met Mr. John Clarke, at Providence, recens e carcere. There was great hammering about the disputation, but they could not hit, and although (my much lamented friend) the Governor told him, that he was worthy to be hanged, &c. yet he was as good as thrust out without pay or whipping, &c.; but Obadiah Holmes remains. Mr. Carwithy is gone with his ship to the eastward for masts, and returns, three weeks hence, to set sail for England. Sir, I have a great suit to you, that at your leisure you would fit and send something that you find suitable to these Indian bodies, in way of purge or vomit; as, also, some drawing plaster, and if the charge rise to one or two crowns, I shall thankfully send it; and commending you and yours to the only great and good Physician,[[273]] desire, Sir, to be ever
“Yours in Him, R. W.”
Mr. Holmes was confined in prison till September, when thirty stripes were inflicted on him, with such merciless severity, that he could not, for a considerable time, take any rest, except by supporting himself with his knees and elbows. Two individuals (John Spur and John Hazel,[[274]]) were imprisoned and fined for the grievous offence of exhibiting some sympathy for the sufferer. Mr. Holmes was released, but he continued in Massachusetts, and baptized several individuals. Warrants were again issued to apprehend him, and he returned home to his family.
The recital of these transactions is painful, but we must compel ourselves to contemplate such scenes, if we would suitably feel the contrast between the policy of Massachusetts, at that day, and the tolerant principles of Roger Williams. To that policy must it be ascribed, that wise and good men could thus treat their fellow Christians. It is pleasing to know, however, that this conduct was not unanimously approved, by those who were free from all suspicion of anabaptism. Sir Richard Saltonstall, one of the magistrates of Massachusetts, then in England, wrote thus to Messrs. Cotton and Wilson:
“Reverend and dear friends, whom I unfeignedly love and respect:
“It doth not a little grieve my spirit, to hear what sad things are reported daily of your tyranny and persecutions in New-England, as that you fine, whip and imprison men for their consciences. First, you compel such to come into your assemblies as you know will not join you in your worship, and when they show their dislike thereof, or witness against it, then you stir up your magistrates to punish them for such (as you conceive) their public affronts. Truly, friends, this your practice of compelling any in matters of worship, to do that whereof they are not fully persuaded, is to make them sin, for so the apostle (Rom. 14: 23) tells us, and many are made hypocrites thereby, conforming in their outward man, for fear of punishment. We pray for you, and wish you prosperity every way, hoping the Lord would have given you so much light and love there, that you might have been eyes to God’s people here, and not to practise those courses in a wilderness, which you went so far to prevent. These rigid ways have laid you very low in the hearts of the saints.”
Mr. Cotton replied to this letter. After stating that Mr. Clarke and Mr. Holmes had offended against the “order and government of our churches, established, we know, by God’s law,” he furnishes this remarkable specimen of sophistry: “You think, to compel men in matters of worship is to make them sin. If the worship be lawful in itself, the magistrate compelling him to come to it compelleth him not to sin, but the sin is in his will that needs to be compelled to a Christian duty. If it do make men hypocrites, yet better be hypocrites than profane persons. Hypocrites give God part of his dues, the outward man; but the profane person giveth God neither outward nor inward man. You know not, if you think we came into this wilderness, to practise those courses here, which we fled from in England. We believe there is a vast difference between men’s inventions and God’s institutions. We fled from men’s inventions, to which we else should have been compelled. We compel none to men’s inventions. If our ways (rigid ways, as you call them,) have laid us low in the hearts of God’s people, yea, and of the saints, (as you style them) we do not believe it is any part of their saintship. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, we have tolerated in our churches some anabaptists, some antinomians, and some seekers, and do so still, at this day. We are far from arrogating infallibility of judgment to ourselves, or affecting uniformity. Uniformity God never required; infallibility he never granted us.”[[275]]
There is, in this reply, somewhat more of asperity than Mr. Cotton’s writings usually exhibit. It is easy to perceive, that the good man’s spirit was chafed by the rebuke from one of his own friends. Nothing tries a man’s temper more than reproof, when he is secretly convinced that he has done wrong, and is yet unprepared to acknowledge it. It is a sore task to defend himself, when his conscience is on the side of the accuser. In such a case, a man is apt to resort to confident and emphatic assertions, rather than to calm arguments.
We have mentioned Mr. Coddington’s visit to England, for the purpose of procuring a charter for the islands of Rhode-Island, Canonicut, &c. He procured from the Council of State, which then wielded the executive power in England,[[276]] a commission, dated April 3, 1651, and signed by John Bradshaw, constituting Mr. Coddington governor of the islands, and empowering him to rule them, with a council of six men, nominated by the people, and approved by himself.