, November 20, 1642, in a letter full of abstruse theology and
rancorous invective.

Nevertheless, he and his party left Patuxet and removed to Shawomet, a
tract beyond the limits of Providence, and purchased in January, 1643,
from Miantonomoh, the great sachem of the Narragansetts.[12] Gorton's
letter had secured for him the thorough hatred of the authorities in
Massachusetts, and his removal by no means ended their interference.
The right of Miantonomoh to make sale to Gorton was denied by two
local sachems; and Massachusetts coming to their support, Gorton was
formally summoned, in September, 1643, to appear before the court of
Boston to answer the complaint of the sachems for trespass.[13] Gorton
and his friends returned a contemptuous reply, and as he continued to
deny the right of Massachusetts to interfere, the Boston government
prepared to send an armed force against him.[14]

In the mean time, a terrible fate overtook the friend and ally of
Gorton, Miantonomoh, at the hands of his neighbors in the west, the
Mohegans, whose chief, Uncas, attacked one of Miantonomoh's
subordinate chiefs; Miantonomoh accepted the war, was defeated, and
captured by Uncas. Gorton interfered by letter to save his friend, and
Uncas referred the question of Miantonomoh's fate to the federal
commissioners at Boston. The elders were clamorous for the death
penalty, but the commissioners admitting that "there was no sufficient
ground for us to put him to death," agreed to deliver the unhappy
chieftain to Uncas, with permission to kill him as soon as he came
within Uncas's jurisdiction. Accordingly, Miantonomoh was slaughtered
by his enemy, who cut out a warm slice from his shoulder and declared
it the sweetest morsel he had ever tasted and that it gave strength to
his heart.[15] Thus fell Miantonomoh, the circumstances of whose death
were "not at all creditable to the federal commissioners and their
clerical advisers."[16]

Massachusetts sent out an armed force against the Gortonists, and
after some resistance the leaders were captured and brought to Boston.
Here Wilson and other ministers urged the death penalty upon the
"blasphemous heretics." But the civil authorities were not prepared to
go so far, and in October, 1643, adopted the alternative of
imprisonment. In March, 1644, Gorton and his friends were liberated,
but banished on pain of death from all places claimed to be within the
jurisdiction of Massachusetts.

They departed