hearts of his people, that Endicott, one of the members of the Court of Assistants, publicly cut out the cross from the flag displayed before the governor’s house. So Williams refused to obey the order to return to England, and, leaving the colony with a few of his friends, traveled southward, and planted a settlement which he named Providence. This was in 1636. The following year his new colony was reinforced by another company of religious refugees, who merit more than passing notice.
New England had become the Mecca of all who were estranged from the Established Church at home. Crowds of new settlers flocked thither, lured by the hope of what they called religious liberty. Among these were two especially conspicuous figures—Hugh Peters, the enthusiastic chaplain of Oliver Cromwell, and Henry Vane, son of Sir Henry Vane, a Privy Counsellor in high favor with the King. Vane was received in the colony with great admiration; and indeed, the religious zeal which induced him to relinquish all his prospects in England and embrace poverty and exile for conscience’ sake is to be highly commended. His humility of manner and rigidity in religious observances, as well as his business ability, caused him to be elected governor of the colony about as soon as he arrived. But practical duties occupied little of his attention; he was almost entirely taken up with theological subtleties and doctrinal hair-splittings. These were excited still further by a woman whose influence at that time began to create great disturbance throughout the entire colony. It was the custom in New England for the chief men in the congregations to hold weekly meetings, in order to repeat and discuss the sermon of the previous Sunday. From these meetings women were sternly excluded, and one Mrs. Hutchinson, whose husband was a prominent man in the colony, began to assemble in her house a number of women, who held pious exercises similar to those of the men. At first Mrs. Hutchinson satisfied herself with repeating the sermons and teachings of the clergyman, but soon she began to pick flaws in the discourses and to add opinions of her own. She taught that sanctity of works was no sign of spiritual safety, but that God dwelt personally within all good men, and it was alone by inward revelations and impressions that they received the discoveries of the divine will. It was all very abstract and unhealthy, but so eloquently was it set forth and proclaimed by the prophetess that she gained a vast number of proselytes, not alone among the women, but the men as well. Vane defended and upheld her wildest theories, and, following his example, the interest increased. The dissension grew more bitter with every conference, every day of fasting and humiliation held by the new sect. Finally, in 1637, Mrs. Hutchinson was banished, and many of her disciples withdrew voluntarily and joined the Providence population. Vane returned to England in disgust, and no one lamented his departure.
Roger Williams’s colony, so largely increased, purchased from the Indians a fertile island in Narragansett Bay, to which they gave the name Rhode Island. In this community no religious persecutions were allowed. The humane principles of its founder were firmly instilled into the hearts of the people, and Rhode Island soon became a refuge for the oppressed of all the other settlements.
Connecticut owes its origin to similar causes. The rivalship of two pastors in the Massachusetts Bay settlement resulted in the victory of Mr. Cotton over Mr. Hooker; the latter, however, was not deserted, by any means, and when he proposed establishing a colony of his own at a distance from his rival, a goodly number of his friends and some of Mrs. Hutchinson’s admirers offered to accompany him. The west bank of the Connecticut River was decided upon as an inviting spot, and in 1636 about a hundred men, with their wives and children and chattels, after a terrible march through wildernesses of swamp and forest, arrived there and laid the foundation of a town.
Pennsylvania was granted, in 1681, to William Penn, who had previously been interested in the settlement of Quakers in New Jersey. He soon after obtained a grant of the present State of Delaware, then called “The Territories.” In September, 1682, he set sail for his new province, with a large number of his co-religionists. The story of their peaceful settlement is familiar to all. The code of laws governing them had for its foundation the principle of civil and religious liberty. Penn returned to England in 1684, leaving the city of Philadelphia, which he had founded and named, a prosperous town of three hundred houses and a population of two thousand five hundred. These Quakers, it must be said, had very little in common with the sect which was so persecuted in the New England States. These latter were really a body of separatists, called Ranters, and their excesses were such as to justify the horror and disgust of any community.
The settlement of the southern colonies of the United States maybe dealt with briefly. Georgia was not settled until 1732. The provinces of North and South Carolina were originally one. The earliest permanent settlements were made by emigrants from Virginia in 1650. In 1665 another settlement was made by a party of planters from Barbadoes. A Huguenot colony from France was sent out by the King of England. The city of Charlestown was founded, and was at once made the capital of the colony. The most interesting feature attending the settlement of the Carolinas was the “Grand Model Government” devised by John Locke, the celebrated English philosopher. The object was to make the colony as nearly as possible like the monarchy of which it was a part, and to “avoid erecting a numerous democracy.” The scheme never took root in Carolina. The Grand Nobles, Palatines, Caciques, and other exalted officers were in absurd contrast to the rude cabins and pioneer habits of living. For twenty years efforts were made to establish it, and the discord of which the contest was the cause materially interfered with the rapid growth of the colony.