This was intolerance of the grossest kind, and soon became the cause of
troubles which led to the founding of Rhode Island and Connecticut.

%41. The Planting of Rhode Island.%--There came to Salem (from
Plymouth), in 1633, a young minister named Roger Williams. He dissented
heartily from the intolerance of the people of Massachusetts, and,
though a minister of the Salem church, insisted

1. On the separation of church and state.

2. On the toleration of all religious beliefs.

3. On the repeal of all laws requiring attendance on religious worship.

To us, in this century, the justice of each of these principles is
self-evident. But in the seventeenth century there was no country in the
world where it was safe to declare them. For doing so in some parts of
Europe, a man would most certainly have been burned at the stake. For
doing so in England, he would have been put in the pillory, or had his
ears cut off, or been sent to jail. That Williams's teachings should
seem rank heresy in New England was quite natural. But, to make matters
worse, he wrote a pamphlet in which he boldly stated

1. That the soil belonged to the Indians.

2. That the settlers could obtain a valid title only by purchase from
the Indians.

3. That accepting a deed for the land from a mere intruder like the King
of England was a sin requiring public repentance.