Newport, Rhode Island

“ It is about forty miles from Plymouth to Newport, Rhode Island, one of the ultra-fashionable summer seaside resorts, and thither our artist repaired to take views of that vicinity. Newport is not only famous for its fine bathing beach, elegant villas, and its harbor specially adapted for yacht-racing; there is much more to recommend the city to visitors than these means of recreation and pleasant vanities. Commercially, Newport is a metropolis of looms ”

“ All the world has heard of Newport in Rhode Island as being the Brighton, and Tenby, and Scarborough of New England. And the glory of Newport is by no means confined to New England, but is shared by New York and Washington, and in ordinary years by the extreme South. It is the habit of Americans to go to some watering place every summer,—that is, to some place either of sea water or of inland waters. This is done much in England; more in Ireland than in England; but, I think, more in the States than even in Ireland. ”

“ NEWPORT A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. There is a magnetism in places which has as strong and subtle a potency as that which belongs to certain persons. Newport, Rhode Island, is not an inapt example of the class of which I speak. The wonderful mildness of the air, coupled with its exhilarating qualities; the fertility of the soil, which throws tropical vegetation over the stern realism of crag and precipice ”

“ I suppose you know, of course, that Newport, Rhode Island, does not, in the least, resemble the Newport that the American people read about in newspapers—that the Newport of the newspapers does not, in fact, exist. To multitudes of our fellow countrymen this would be not only unwelcome, but incredible news. Yet it is a curious truth. The great American people (dear, old, great, American people!) ”

“ NEWPORT, a city, port of entry, county-seat of Newport co., and until 1900 one of the capitals of Rhode Island; on the island of Rhode Island, in Narragansett Bay, and on the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroad; about 30 miles S. E. of Providence. Its principal importance is as a summer resort, to which the coast near by is wholly given up. The bathing facilities are unsurpassed. There are many beautiful summer residences, and during the fashionable season Newport is filled with the wealthiest society of Boston, New York, and other cities. ”

“ During the revolution 8,000 British and Hessian troops were quartered on the town, and its commercial interests have never recovered from the injury which they inflicted. They destroyed 480 houses, robbed the library, then the finest except one in America, burned the shipping, cut down all the groves and orchards for fuel, and carried off the town records. Before this period Newport had been a favorite resort of men of science and letters, and was noted for the opulence and refinement of its inhabitants. ”

“ Other parts of America were only beautiful by anticipation, but Rhode Island was complete. Newport, well and regularly built, contained a numerous population, whose happiness was indicated by its prosperity. It offered delightful circles composed of enlightened men and modest and handsome women, whose talents heightened their personal attractions. ”

“ Narragansett Bay, which occupies the southeastern quarter of the state, contains a number of beautiful islands, on the largest of which, named Rhode Island, is Newport, a famous summer-resort, formerly one of the two capitals. The country is hilly, and the soil rough and stony, being chiefly devoted to pasturage and orchards. ”

“ Its rounded summit is a mass of quartzite rock, almost covered by grass. It is hardly three hundred feet high, but being the most elevated spot anywhere around, has a grand outlook, every town in Rhode Island being visible from it, and all the islands of Narragansett Bay, while far to the southward, upon distant Aquidneck, Newport gleams in the sunlight. Eastward, across Mount Hope Bay, the city of Fall River, with its rising terraces of huge granite mills, is built apparently into the sloping side of a ledge of rocks. ”

“ Men lived like those who carry their lives in their hands and have no hold on the morrow. At last the long looked for day came. Fifty-two transports entered Newport harbor and immediately the work of embarkation began. Six thousand men with their baggage and military stores and a melancholy train of Tories were to bid goodbye to their pleasant quarters. When all was ready the inhabitants were forbidden to venture into the streets on pain of death, and the march to the place of embarkation at Brenton’s Point began. ”

“ There were still dissensions and jars, but the Colony throve and grew in industry and strength. Newport above all increased in wealth and population. In estimating the population, however, we must bear in mind that not every inhabitant was a freeman, nor every resident a legal inhabitant. A probationary residence was required before the second step was reached and the resident became an inhabitant with certain rights to the common lands, the right of sitting on the jury and of being chosen to some of the lower offices. ”

“ Neither does Boston increase by any means in the same proportion as the other towns, which have an extensive trade with the people of the back settlements. For the same cause we do not find that any of the sea-port or other towns in Rhode Island and Connecticut are increasing very fast; on the contrary, Newport, the capital of the state of Rhode Island, and which has a harbour that is boasted of as being one of the best throughout the United States, is now falling to decay. ”

“ In Rhode Island the charter was adroitly put out of his reach by Governor Clarke and not reproduced till he had left Newport. In Connecticut it was hidden in the hollow of an oak. The seal of Rhode Island was broken. The members of the council were constantly changing, and few of them, according to Randolph, cared for the King. “His Excellency has to do with a perverse people.”
We meet some of the questions of our own day. Licenses for the sale of liquor were granted in Newport, but no liquor could be sold in King’s Province. ”

“ CHAPTER II MISS WELLINGTON ENLARGES HER EXPERIENCE
Few places in the well-ordered centres of civilization are so altogether dreary as Wickford Junction, shortly before five o'clock in the morning, when the usual handful of passengers alight from the Boston express. The sun has not yet climbed to the top of the seaward hills of Rhode Island, the station and environment rest in a damp semi-gloom, everything shut in, silent—as though Nature herself had paused for a brief time before bursting into glad, effulgent day. ”

“ Communication between the different parts of the Colony increased with the increase of population. In 1736 a line of stages with special privileges for seven years was established between Newport and Boston. The natural development of trade was preparing the way for a closer union among the colonies. Increased attention was given to the duties and privileges of citizenship. It is sad to find that laws against bribery at elections were called for at an early day. ”

“ Rhode Island seemed no longer a place of safe refuge for her, and the whole family removed into the territory of the Dutch, in the neighborhood of Albany. The Indians and Keift, the Dutch governor, were then at enmity. The former regarded all white people as enemies, and Mrs. Hutchinson and her whole family, except one child, were murdered by the savages, and their dwelling burned. **
So rapid was the increase of the Rhode Island settlement at Pocasset, that another town was projected. Newport was founded in 1639. ”

“ Bellevue avenue, 2 m. long, and lined with villas, is at fashionable hours crowded with elegant equipages; and a fine drive, called the “Ocean drive,” has lately been laid out along the southern shore of the island. A favorite resort is Touro park, given to the town by Judah Touro, who was born here. The Jewish cemetery and synagogue are still carefully preserved through bequests left by him, although there are now no Jews to use them. The commerce of Newport is now very limited, and its manufactures are almost confined to a few cotton mills, a brass foundery, and lead works. ”

“ Among the bad doings of the Assembly was the resumption of the charter of Newport.
It was at this critical moment, when rents were paid in corn and trade seemed about to return to its original form of barter, that the first spinning-jenny in the United States was constructed by Daniel Jackson, of Providence, and the foundations of Rhode Island’s manufacturing prosperity securely laid. History is full of compensations.
We reach the beginning of a still greater struggle. The convention that was to transform the Confederation into a Union was to meet in May. ”

“ And be it further enacted, That for the due collection of the said duties, there shall be in the said State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, two districts—to wit: the district of Newport, and the district of Providence. The district of Newport shall comprehend all the waters, shores, bays, harbors, creeks and inlets, from the west line of the said state, all along the sea-coast, and northward up the Narraganset Bay, as far as the most easterly part of Kinnimicut Point at high water mark;their limits and boundaries ”

“ War with the French and Indians was raging all along the northern frontier. New York was the colony most exposed. Leister, her Governor, called on the other colonies for aid. Rhode Island, whose extensive water fronts left her open to attacks by sea, could not send men, and therefore taxed herself three hundred pounds to send money. The wisdom of this course was soon apparent. Seven French privateers made a descent upon the islands on the coast, committing horrible excesses. Bonfires were kindled at Pawcatuck to alarm the country, and a sloop well manned sent out from Newport to reconnoitre. ”

“ Every man was to keep on hand two pounds of powder and four of lead, and each town was required to maintain a public magazine. To defray the expenses of these magazines Newport was taxed fifty pounds, and the other three towns twenty pounds each.
The Royal Commissioners were well satisfied with the conduct of Rhode Island, and Rhode Island, surrounded by powerful enemies, had every reason to be well satisfied with the Commissioners. Still the encroachments and aggressions of Massachusetts and Connecticut continued. ”

“ Their leaders were William Coddington and John Clarke, under whose wise guidance the little Colony made rapid progress, and soon began another settlement at Newport, in the southern part of the island. Here, breaking roads, clearing up woods, exterminating wolves and foxes, opening a trade in lumber, engaging boldly in building ships, and above all forming a free and simple government, with careful regard to religion and education, they soon found themselves in advance of their elder sister, Providence. In both colonies the principle of religious liberty formed the basis of civil organization. ”

“ Rhode Island was loyal, loving the king and accepting the supremacy of Parliament. But she was quick to discriminate between usurpation, and legal authority. The northern colonies carried on a lucrative commerce with the West Indies and particularly with the French Islands. Upon this trade England had imposed a heavy tax under the title of molasses act and was preparing to increase it. The colonies protested. Newport dealt largely in the distilling of rum and was thus a great consumer of molasses. ”

“ Roads and bridges continue to call for legislation. The Pawtuxet bridge had fallen to decay, and Rhode Island and Massachusetts united, first in pulling it down and soon after in building it up again. A new ferry was established between Portsmouth and Bristol. Lands in Westerly were set apart for an Indian house of worship.
The fortifications of the Colony were not neglected. “A regular and beautiful fortification of stone” was built at Newport and the new King petitioned to give forty cannon for its armament. ”

“ Speculation was active and remorseless, getting control of the market and growing rich on human suffering. An appeal was made to Connecticut for a suspension of her embargo on provisions in favor of Rhode Island. The question how to counteract “engrossers and forestallers,” was one of the most difficult questions which Congress and state legislatures and special conventions were called upon to meet. Two thousand helpless poor were scattered through the State, dependent upon public and private charity for bread. Five hundred pounds were voted for the relief of the poor of Newport. ”

“ The bald appearance of Rhode Island, relieved only by orchards, which showed like dark tufts of verdure in the distance, with a few wind-mills and scattered farm-houses, formed a singular and unfavorable feature in the view as we approached Newport; while upon small islands and the main land appeared the ruins of forts and batteries, indicating the military importance of the waters we were navigating. This was
"Rhode Island, the land where the exile sought rest ”

“ But as for you, brother Williams, you are a good man; you have been kind to us many years; not a hair of your head shall be touched.” Fifty-four houses in the northern part of the town were burned, but the fearless old man was not harmed.
Many of the colonists took refuge on Aquidneck, where the inhabitants of Newport and Portsmouth received them with great kindness. To protect the island a little flotilla of four boats, manned each by five or six men, was kept sailing around it day and night. There was no rest for old or young. ”