2 Bryant and Gay's History, vol. i. p. 537. Perhaps there is too
much pepper in this criticism, and it needs to be read side by side
with the statement of Mr. Douglas Campbell, in his work, The Puri-
tan in Holland, England, and America. He condemns, and that
strongly, t he int oleranee^oi JHassachusetts. He says : " She was the
only one of the colonies except Connecticut in which witches were
put to death ; she alone hanged the inoffensive (save the mark)
Quakers ; and her records tell the worst tale — with the exception of
those of Virginia — regarding the atrocities committed on the Indians,



THE GKOWTH OF INTOLERANCE IN NEW ENGLAND 345

We have already seen how Eoger Williams was ban-
ished from Massachusetts for having " broached and
divulged divers new and dangerous opinions." As this
furnishes a crucial instance of the charge of exclusiveness
and intolerance brought against the Puritans of Massa-
chusetts, it will be well for us to try and ascertain what
really were the grounds on which the action of the author- g
ities was based in iTieir "treatment of Eoger Williams. This
raises the question,

Was Roger WilUams persecuted on account of his
religious opinions? And we may say at once that
this is one of those questions which probably never ''
will be settled to the satisfaction of every one con-
cerned in it. Opposite conclusions wUl be formed,
and opposite .answers given, according as the standpoint
from which men view it varies, and according as their
minds are swayed by varying prepossessions. On the one
side, it is contended that Eoger Williams suffered what he
did in the cause of soid liberty ; in other words, that it was
his zeal for toleration, the rights and liberty of conscience,
that made him obnoxious to the authorities of Massa-

who were robbed of their land and constantly kidnapped and soM_
as slaves to the sovithern planters. He accounts for her obscurantism
oHTEls wise, on the theory which his work is mainly written to sup-
port, that she had come less than any other colony under the influence ''
»of the Netherlands. He adds : " Much has been said in history aljout
the severe Puritanical laws of Massachusetts. 