'He broached and divulged divers
new opinions against the authority of magistrates, as also wrote letters
of defamation both of the magistrates and churches.'"--_Winthrop's Hist.
of N. E. edit. by Savage, vol. 1, p. 167._

"For a particular account of the causes for which Mr. Williams was
banished, see Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, vol. 1, p. 41;
Dwight's Travels, vol. 1, p. 142; Magnalia, vol. 2, p. 430. As for the
laws subsequently enacted against the Baptists and Quakers, no one most
certainly can justify them. They were oppressive and wrong. But let no
one reproach, too severely, the memory of our fathers, in this matter,
till he is certain, that _in similar circumstances_, he would have shown
a better temper.

"It is allowed that they were culpable; but we do not concede, that in
the present instance, they stood alone, or that they merited all the
censure bestowed on them. 'Laws similar to those of Massachusetts were
passed elsewhere against the Quakers and also against the Baptists,
particularly in Virginia. If no execution took place here, it was not
owing to the moderation of the church.'"--_Jefferson Virg. Query,
XVIII._

"The prevalent opinion among most sects of christians, at that day, that
toleration is sinful, ought to be remembered; nor should it be
forgotten, that the first Quakers in New England, besides speaking and
writing what was deemed blasphemous, reviled magistrates and ministers,
and disturbed religious assemblies; and that the tendency of their
opinions and practices was to the subversion of the commonwealth in the
period of its infancy."--_Holmes' Am. Annals. Hutch. vol. 1, p. 180-9._

"It should be added, that in Massachusetts the law which enacted that
all Quakers returning into the state after banishment, should be
punished with death, and under which four persons were executed, met
with great, and at first, successful opposition. The deputies, who
constituted the popular branch of the legislature, at first rejected it;
but afterwards, on reconsideration, concurred with the magistrates, (by
whom it was originally proposed,) by a majority of only one."--_Chr.
Spect. 1830, p. 266._

"The fathers of New England, endured incredible hardships in providing
for themselves a home in the wilderness; and to protect themselves in
the undisturbed enjoyment of rights, which they had purchased at so dear
a rate, they sometimes adopted measures which, if tried by the more
enlightened and l