TROUBLOUS TIMES

The Whole History of Grandfather's Chair

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

TROUBLOUS TIMES, THE WHOLE HISTORY OF GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR by Nathaniel Hawthorne



"ROGER WILLIAMS," said Grandfather, "did not keep possession of the
chair a great while. His opinions of civil and religious matters
differed, in many respects, from those of the rulers and clergymen of
Massachusetts. Now, the wise men of those days believed that the country
could not be safe unless all the inhabitants thought and felt alike."

"Does anybody believe so in our days, Grandfather?" asked Lawrence.

"Possibly there are some who believe it," said Grandfather; "but they
have not so much power to act upon their belief as the magistrates and
ministers had in the days of Roger Williams. They had the power to
deprive this good man of his home, and to send him out from the midst of
them in search of a new place of rest. He was banished in 1634, and went
first to Plymouth colony; but as the people there held the same opinions
as those of Massachusetts, he was not suffered to remain among them.
However, the wilderness was wide enough; so Roger Williams took his
staff and travelled into the forest and made treaties with the Indians,
and began a plantation which he called Providence."

"I have been to Providence on the railroad," said Charley. "It is but a
two-hours' ride."

"Yes, Charley," replied Grandfather; "but when Roger Williams travelled
thither, over hills and valleys, and through the tangled woods, and
across swamps and streams, it was a journey of several days. Well, his
little plantation has now grown to be a populous city; and the
inhabitants have a great veneration for Roger Williams. His name is
familiar in the mouths of all, because they see it on their bank-bills.
How it would have perplexed this good clergyman if he had been told that
he should give his name to the ROGER WILLIAMS BANK!"

"When he was driven from Massachusetts," said Lawrence, "and began his
journey into the woods, he must have felt as if he were burying himself
forever from the sight and knowledge of men. Yet the whole country has
now heard of him, and will remember him forever."

"Yes," answered Grandfather; "it often happens that the outcasts of one
generation are those who are reverenced as the wisest and best of men by
the next. The securest fame is that which comes after a man's death. But
let us return to our story. When Roger Williams was banished, he appears
to have given the chair to Mrs. Anne Hutchinson. At all events, it was
in her possession in 1687. She was a very sharp-witted and well-
instructed lady, and was so conscious of her own wisdom and abilities
that she thought it a pity that the world should not have the benefit of
them. She therefore used to hold lectures in Boston once or twice a
week, at which most of the women attended. Mrs. Hutchinson presided at
these meetings, sitting with great state and dignity in Grandfather's
chair."

"Grandfather, was it positively this very chair?" demanded Clara, laying
her hand upon its carved elbow.

"Why not, my dear Clara?" said Grandfather. "Well, Mrs. Hutchinson's
lectures soon caused a great disturbance; for the ministers of Boston
did not think it safe and proper that a woman should publicly instruct
the people in religious doctrines. Moreover, she made the matter worse
by declaring that the Rev. Mr. Cotton was the only sincerely pious and
holy clergyman in New England. Now, the clergy of those days had quite
as much share in the government of the country, though indirectly, as
the magistrates themselves; so you may imagine what a host of powerful
enemies were raised up against Mrs. Hutchinson. A synod was convened;
that is to say, an assemblage of all the ministers in Massachusetts.
They declared that there were eighty-two erroneous opinions on religious
subjects diffused among the people, and that Mrs. Hutchinson's opinions
were of the number."

"If they had eighty-two wrong opinions," observed Charley, "I don't see
how they could have any right ones."

"Mrs. Hutchinson had many zealous friends and converts," continued
Grandfather. "She was favored by young Henry Vane, who had come over
from England a year or two before, and had since been chosen governor of
the colony, at the age of twenty-four. But Winthrop and most of the
other leading men, as well as the ministers, felt an abhorrence of her
doctrines. Thus two opposite parties were formed; and so fierce were the
dissensions that it was feared the consequence would be civil war and
bloodshed. But Winthrop and the ministers being the most powerful, they
disarmed and imprisoned Mrs. Hutchinson's adherents. She, like Roger
Williams, was banished."

"Dear Grandfather, did they drive the poor woman
into the woods?" exclaimed little Alice, who contrived to feel a human
interest even in these discords of polemic divinity.

"They did, my darling," replied Grandfather; "and the end of her life
was so sad you must not hear it. At her departure, it appears, from the
best authorities, that she gave the great Chair to her friend Henry
Vane. He was a young man of wonderful talents and great learning, who
had imbibed the religious opinions of the Puritans, and left England
with the intention of spending his life in Massachusetts. The people
chose him governor; but the controversy about Mrs. Hutchinson, and other
troubles, caused him to leave country in 1637. You may read the
subsequent events of his life in the History of England."

"Yes, Grandfather," cried Laurence; "and we may read them better in Mr.
Upham’s biography of Vane. And what a beautiful death he died, long
afterwards! beautiful, though it was on a scaffold."

"Many of the most beautiful dear]as have been there," said Grandfather.
"The enemies of a great and good man can in no other way make him so
glorious as by giving him the crown of martyrdom."

In order that the children might fully understand the all-important
history of the chair, Grandfather now thought fit to speak of the
progress that was made in settling several colonies. The settlement of
Plymouth, in 1620, has already been mentioned. In 1635 Mr. Hooker and
Mr. Stone, two ministers, went on foot from Massachusetts to
Connecticut, through the pathless woods, taking their whole congregation
along with them. They founded the town of Hartford. In 1638 Mr.
Davenport, a very celebrated minister, went, with other people, and
began a plantation at New Haven. In the same year, some persons who had
been persecuted in Massachusetts went to the Isle of Rhodes, since
called Rhode Island, and settled there. About this time, also, many
settlers had gone to Maine, and were living without any regular govern-
ment. There were likewise settlers near Piscataqua River, in the region
which is now called New Hampshire.

Thus, at various points along the coast of New England, there were
communities of Englishmen. Though these communities were independent of
one another, yet they had a common dependence upon England; and, at so
vast a distance from their native home, the inhabitants must all have
felt like brethren. They were fitted to become one united People at a
future period. Perhaps their feelings of brotherhood were the stronger
because different nations had formed settlements to the north and to the
south. In Canada and Nova Scotia were colonies of French. On the banks
of the Hudson River was a colony of Dutch, who had taken possession of
that region many years before, and called it New Netherlands.

Grandfather, for aught I know, might have gone on to speak of Maryland
and Virginia; for the good old gentleman really seemed to suppose that
the whole surface of the United States was not too broad a foundation to
place the four legs of his chair upon. But, happening to glance at
Charley, he perceived that this naughty boy was growing impatient and
meditating another ride upon a stick. So here, for the present,
Grandfather suspended the history of his chair.