“Forasmuch, as we are cast among the archers, and know not how soon we may be deprived of powder and shot, without which our guns will advantage us nothing; to the end also that we may come to outshoot these natives in their own bow; Be it enacted by the authority of this present Assembly, that that statute touching archery shall be revived and propagated throughout the whole colony; and that every person from the age of seventeen years to the age of seventy, that is not lame, debilitated in his body, or otherwise exempted by the colony, shall have a bow and four arrows, and shall use and exercise shooting; and every father having children shall provide for every man-child from the age of seven years, till he come to seventeen years, a bow and two arrows or shafts to induce them and to bring them up to shooting; and every son, servant, or master, thus appointed and ordered to have a bow and arrows, that shall be remiss and negligent in the observance hereof and shall be found to lack a bow and so many arrows for the space of a month together after the last of the fourth month, commonly called June, shall forfeit three shillings and four pence; the father shall pay for the son, the master for the servant, and deduct it out of his wages.” At this first assembly, an anchor (to which later was added the motto “Hope”) was chosen as the seal of the province. Appropriate emblem, indeed! Many a storm would the infant colony be called upon to battle with before being grounded firmly in good government. Never before had a group of people greater need of hope and courage than those who were trying out their “lively experiment.” A law was passed, too, forbidding the sale of firearms to the Indians under penalty of a heavy fine. Several years passed and still Providence Plantations failed to become the settled, united colony of Roger Williams’ hopes and dreams. It was a union in name only. As for the position of the founder himself, it was as if he were the head of an unruly school. The four disturbing classes, instead of acting together for the good of the school, were more intent on their own little concerns and differences. The people of Providence quarreled among themselves, while Providence, Newport, Portsmouth and Warwick quarreled with one another. It is true that certain inhabitants of Providence made an agreement that for the common good they would forget their jealousies and bickerings, but, unhappily, the very persons who signed the paper were the ones who had no need of such a pledge to begin with. The liberal, brotherly spirit of Roger Williams was plainly evident in their determination to let “love cover their differences in the grave of oblivion.”