e will of those in
power. But he conversed in private with some of his friends, and
arranged a plan of establishing a new settlement on the shores of
Narragansett Bay.

When information of this design reached Boston in January, 1636, the
authorities, on the plea that an heretical settlement in the
neighborhood might affect the peace of the colony, determined to get
rid of Williams altogether by shipping him to England. An order was
sent to him to come to Boston, which he declined to obey on account of
ill-health. Captain Underhill was then sent to take him by force, but
before the doughty captain could arrive, Williams, getting
intelligence of his purpose, sick as he was, left his wife and two
infant children and hurried away, and no one at Salem would give
Underhill any information.[7]

Thirty-five years later Williams wrote, "I was sorely tossed for one
fourteen weeks, in a bitter winter season, not knowing what bed or
bread did mean." In this extremity he experienced the benefits of the
friendly relations which he had cultivated with the Indians at
Plymouth, for the Pokanokets received him kindly and gave him some
land on the Seekonk River.

The long arm of the Massachusetts authorities reached out for him even
here. He was soon advised by his friend, Governor Winslow, of
Plymouth, that as his plantation was within the limits of the Plymouth
colony he had better remove to the other side of the river, as his
government was "loath to displease the Bay." So Williams, with five of
his friends, who now joined him, embarked in his canoe and established
his settlement in June, 1636, at Providence, where he was joined by
many members of the church of Salem.[8] This was the beginning of
Rhode Island, or, rather, of one of the beginnings of their complex
colony.

The religion of the ruling class in Massachusetts, though bitterly
hostile to the ritual of the English church, was a matter of strict
regulation--there were rules regarding fast days, Sabbath attendance,
prayer-meetings, apparel, and speech. The wrath of God and eternal
punishment formed the substance of every sermon. In the church at
Boston this rigid system found a standard exponent in the pastor, John
Wilson; but the "teacher," John Cotton, a man of far greater ability,
sometimes preached sermons in which he dwelt upon the divine mercy and
love. The result was that the people crowded to hear him, and more
persons were converted and added to the church in Bos