1. Mary Dyer of Rhode Island, the QuakerMartyr that was hanged on Boston CommonJune 1, 1660. By Judge Horatio Rogers.
2. A Summer Visit of Three Rhode Islandersto the Massachusetts Bay in 1651: its innocentpurpose and its painful consequences.By Henry Melville King.
3. Samuell Gorton: a forgotten founder ofour liberties; first settler of Warwick.By Lewis G. Janes.
4. Thomas Olney, Junior, Town Clerk. By EdwardField.
“More ideas which have become National, have emanatedfrom the little Colony of Rhode Island, than from all the otherAmerican States.”—George Bancroft, in Address before theNew York Historical Society.
It has been the misfortune of Rhode Islandto have had its earlier history writtenand read under the bias of prejudices engenderedby the controversies which led to itssettlement. Justice has not yet been doneto the prescience and statesmanship of theremarkable men who were the builders ofthe first Commonwealth in the world’s historydedicated to Soul Liberty.
Among these men, none were possessed ofa personality more striking and picturesquethan the subject of this paper, Samuell Gorton.The cordial reception of this brief historicalsketch by the distinguished audiencewhich gave it a hearing before the RhodeIsland Historical Society has induced me toconsent to its publication. It has since beencarefully revised, and a few doubtful pointshave been cleared up as well as the characterof all available data will permit.
I am indebted to Mr. William D. Ely andMr. Charles Gorton, of Providence, and Mr.Adelos Gorton, of Philadelphia, for valuableaid and suggestion in perfecting