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Page 8
"When he was driven from Massachusetts," said Laurence, "and began his
journey into the woods, he must have felt as if he were burying himself
forever from the sight and knowledge of men. Yet the whole country has
now heard of him, and will remember him forever."
"Yes," answered Grandfather, "it often happens, that the outcasts of one
generation are those, who are reverenced as the wisest and best of men
by the next. The securest fame is that which comes after a man's death.
But let us return to our story. When Roger Williams was banished, he
appears to have given the chair to Mrs. Anne Hutchinson. At all events
it was in her possession in 1637. She was a very sharp-witted and
well-instructed lady, and was so conscious of her own wisdom and
abilities, that she thought it a pity that the world should not have the
benefit of them. She therefore used to hold lectures in Boston, once or
twice a week, at which most of the women attended. Mrs. Hutchinson
presided at these meetings, sitting, with great state and dignity, in
Grandfather's chair."
"Grandfather, was it positively this very chair?" demanded Clara, laying
her hand upon its carved elbow.
"Why not, my dear Clara?" said Grandfather. "Well; Mrs. Hutchinson's
lectures soon caused a great disturbance; for the ministers of Boston
did not think it safe and proper, that a woman should publicly instruct
the people in religious doctrines. Moreover, she made the matter worse,
by declaring that the Rev. Mr. Cotton was the only sincerely pious and
holy clergyman in New England. Now the clergy of those days had quite as
much share in the government of the country, though indirectly, as the
magistrates themselves; so you may imagine what a host of powerful
enemies were raised up against Mrs. Hutchinson. A synod was convened;
that is to say, an assemblage of all the ministers in Massachusetts.
They declared that there were eighty-two erroneous opinions on religious
subjects, diffused among the people, and that Mrs. Hutchinson's opinions
were of the number."
"If they had eighty-two wrong opinions," observed Charley, "I don't see
how they could have any right ones."
"Mrs. Hutchinson had many zealous friends and converts," continued
Grandfather. "She was favored by young Henry Vane, who had come over
from England a year or two before, and had since been chosen governor
of the colony, at the age of twenty-four. But Winthrop, and most of the
other leading men, as well as the ministers, felt an abhorrence of her
doctrines. Thus two opposite parties were formed; and so fierce were the
dissensions, that it was feared the consequence would be civil war and
bloodshed. But Winthrop and the ministers being the most powerful, they
disarmed and imprisoned Mrs. Hutchinson's adherents. She, like Roger
Williams, was banished."
"Dear Grandfather, did they drive the poor woman into the woods?"
exclaimed little Alice, who contrived to feel a human interest even in
these discords of polemic divinity.
"They did, my darling," replied Grandfather; "and the end of her life
was so sad, you must not hear it. At her departure, it appears from the
best authorities, that she gave the great chair to her friend, Henry
Vane. He was a young man of wonderful talents and great learning, who
had imbibed the religious opinions of the Puritans, and left England
with the intention of spending his life in Massachusetts. The people
chose him governor; but the controversy about Mrs. Hutchinson, and other
troubles, caused him to leave the country in 1637. You may read the
subsequent events of his life in the History of England."
"Yes, Grandfather," cried Laurence; "and we may read them better in Mr.
Upham's biography of Vane. And what a beautiful death he died, long
afterwards! beautiful, though it was on a scaffold."
"Many of the most beautiful deaths have been there," said Grandfather.
"The enemies of a great and good man can in no other way make him so
glorious, as by giving him the crown of martyrdom."
In order that the children might fully understand the all-important
history of the chair, Grandfather now thought fit to speak of the
progress that was made in settling several colonies. The settlement of
Plymouth, in 1620, has already been mentioned. In 1635, Mr. Hooker and
Mr. Stone, two ministers, went on foot from Massachusetts to
Connecticut, through the pathless woods, taking their whole congregation
along with them. They founded the town of Hartford. In 1638, Mr.
Davenport, a very celebrated minister, went, with other people, and
began a plantation at New Haven. In the same year, some persons who had
been persecuted in Massachusetts, went to the Isle of Rhodes, since
called Rhode Island, and settled there. About this time, also, many
settlers had gone to Maine, and were living without any regular
government. There were likewise settlers near Piscataqua River, in the
region which is now called New Hampshire.
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