Charter And By Laws Of The Rhode Island Historical Society

Author : Samuel Greene Arnold Rhode Isla Society
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781333992231
Total Pages : 40 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (922 download)

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Download or read book The Spirit of Rhode-Island History written by Samuel Greene Arnold Rhode Isla Society and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2016-10-18 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Spirit of Rhode-Island History: A Discourse, Delivered Before the Rhode-Island Historical Society, on the Evening of Monday January 17, 1853 On the 14th March 1644 the labors of Mr. Williams with the English Commissioners at London were brought to a success ful termination by the grant of the first patent of Rhode Island. This patent was general in its character, conferring absolute independence on the Colony of Rhode Island, under the name and style of The Incorporation of Providence Plantations in Narragansett Bay in New England. The single proviso with which it was fettered, to wit that the laws, constitutions and punishments, for the civil government of the said plantation, be conformable to the laws of England was practically and nulled in the same sentence by the subjoin'ed words, so fares the nature and constitution of that place will admit. Thus the people were left free to enact their own laws, for this quali fying clause in effect defeated the proviso. NO charter had ever been granted up to that time which conferred so ample powers upon a community, and but one as free has ever ema anted since from a throne of the monarch. The Other remarkable feature in this instrument consists not in what it specified but in what it omitted. The use of the word civil, every where prefixed to the terms government or laws wherever they occur in the patent, served to restrict the operation of the charter to purely political concerns. In this apparent restriction there lay concealed a boon of freedom such as man had never known before. A grant so great no language could convey, for the very use of words would imply the power to grant and hence the coordinate power to refuse. Here was the essence of the Rhode Island doctrine. They denied the right of Man to arrogate an attribute of Deity. They held themselves accountable to God alone for their reli gions creed, and no earthly power could bestow on them a right they held from Heaven. Hence the expressive silence of the charter on the subject Ofreligious freedom. At their own request their powers were limited to civil matters. Beyond this a silence more significant than language, more impressive than eloquence, more powerful than an hundred edicts prm claimed the triumph of soul-liberty. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.