There is neither man , woman nor child in New England but has a concern as dear as life in these tidings ; and if John Endicott 's voice be loud enough , man , woman and child shall hear them . -- Soldiers , wheel into a hollow square . -- Ho , good people ! Here are news for one and all of you . '' The soldiers closed in around their captain , and he and Roger Williams stood together under the banner of the red cross , while the women and the aged men pressed forward and the mothers held up their children to look Endicott in the face . A few taps of the drum gave signal for silence and attention . `` Fellow-soldiers , fellow-exiles , '' began Endicott , speaking under strong excitement , yet powerfully restraining it , `` wherefore did ye leave your native country ? Wherefore , I say , have we left the green and fertile fields , the cottages , or , perchance , the old gray halls , where we were born and bred , the churchyards where our forefathers lie buried ? Wherefore have we come hither to set up our own tombstones in a wilderness ? A howling wilderness it is . The wolf and the bear meet us within halloo of our dwellings . The savage lieth in wait for us in the dismal shadow of the woods . The stubborn roots of the trees break our ploughshares when we would till the earth . Our children cry for bread , and we must dig in the sands of the seashore to satisfy them . Wherefore , I say again , have we sought this country of a rugged soil and wintry sky ? Was it not for the enjoyment of our civil rights ? Was it not for liberty to worship God according to our conscience ? '' `` Call you this liberty of conscience ? '' interrupted a voice on the steps of the meeting-house . It was the wanton gospeller .
A sad and quiet smile flitted across the mild visage of Roger Williams , but XXXXX , in the excitement of the moment , shook his sword wrathfully at the culprit -- an ominous gesture from a man like him .
Endicott England Ho Williams churchyards gospeller halloo left meeting-house ploughshares