rchy; and
although a few years afterwards, when they could do it with less risk
of punishment, they abjured all connection with the Church of England,
yet they dared not at present give any countenance to such individual
boldness as that which Williams had manifested. His uncompromising
principles were, however, in unison with those of the Church of Salem;
and he was invited by that community to be their teacher, as an
assistant to their pastor, Skelton, whose health was then declining.
The rulers of Boston were extremely indignant at this act of
independence on the part of the Salemers; and they addressed to them a
remonstrance, desiring them to take no such steps without the
concurrence of the government of the state of Massachusetts. But the
men of Salem did not withdraw their invitation, which was accepted by
Roger Williams; and in a short time his piety, his eloquence, and the
kind courtesy of his manners, gained for him the esteem and affection
of the whole community.

He was not, however, permitted to remain in peace in his new home. The
suspicion and ill-will of the Boston government followed him to Salem,
and so greatly embittered his life, and interrupted his labors, that he
found it expedient to withdraw to Plymouth, where he found employment
as assistant to the regular pastor, Ralph Smith. His preaching caused
great excitement in New Plymouth, from the fervor of his eloquence, and
the freedom of his opinions, which aroused the sympathy of many of the
Pilgrim Fathers. Governor Bradford was much interested by the young
and enthusiastic minister; and he described him in his journal as 'a
man full of the fear of God, and of zeal, but very unsettled in
judgement.' Certainly, his opinions were peculiar, and his spirit bold
and defying, to a degree that rather shocked and astonished the sober,
severe, and exclusive men of Plymouth; but his sincere piety caused him
to be respected, even by those who shrank from going such lengths as he
did; and his engaging manners won the affection of all who were
admitted to his intimacy.

One cause of the anger of the rulers of Boston against this energetic
young man was an essay which he wrote and addressed to the Governor of
Plymouth, in which he stated his conviction that 'the King of England
had no right whatever to give away these lands on which they had
settled; but that they belonged exclusively to the natives, and must be
bought in by auction from them.' No one who ent