Note 120 — Chapter III

Works, p. 419. Roger Williams (c. 1600-c. 1684) was himself a remarkable man. He was a native of Wales, was educated at Oxford, and entered into holy orders; but his aversion to the government and discipline of the Church of England led him to seek for greater freedom in America. He was a strenuous asserter of religious toleration at a time when it was little understood and less practised anywhere. His liberty of thinking and speaking led to his being banished from Massachusetts; and, thereupon, he purchased a tract of land from the Indians, and founded a settlement, which he named Providence. At the time when he generously interceded in favour of Sir Thomas Urquhart, he was residing in London as the agent of the new settlement, of which he was afterwards chosen president. He was on intimate terms with Cromwell, Milton, and other leading Puritans, and consequently would be in a position to render great service to his friend Urquhart.