In the midst of all the joyful festivities, one concern filled the minds of everybody. Their right to continued existence must be confirmed. It was clear that Cromwell’s approval was out of date. It would have no weight with the restored Stuart sovereign. A second charter must be obtained, one that would bear the undeniable stamp of royal authority. Thereupon Providence Plantations sent word to her faithful agent, John Clarke, asking him to secure the desired charter. By this time the patient man must have been prepared for any kind of request from over the sea. His success was announced in the year 1663. It would seem that charters were going up in price. According to Roger Williams’ testimony, this second one meant an outlay of about a thousand pounds. It was cheap at that, considering the great privileges it carried with it. Under this precious new document, the colony continued to live for one hundred and eighty years, long after the close of Roger Williams’ life. When finally abandoned, it was the oldest constitutional charter in the world. A “very great meeting of the freemen” of the colony was held to receive the royal paper with due respect and honor. With appropriate ceremony, Captain George Baxter, the bearer, opened the box in which it was kept and read the gracious words of Charles to the assembly, after which the charter was “held up on high and presented to the perfect view of the people,” then safely locked up in the box again. By virtue of this latest document, the colony received a new name--or, rather, a bulky addition to its old one. In this charter it was called “The English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in New England, in America.” From now on, the name “Rhode Island” became more prominent and “Providence Plantations” less so until, in common usage, it was dropped altogether. In 1776, the word “State” was substituted for “English Colony.” Besides a change of name, the charter also provided that henceforth governors should take the place of presidents and the first governor and his assistants were named. Roger Williams was one of the latter and he repeatedly held this office in the years following. The most wonderful part of the whole charter was that section granting perfect liberty of conscience to the colony. It was all the more remarkable and surprising, as King Charles was not noted for either tolerance or liberality. “Our royal will and pleasure is that no person within the said colony any time hereafter, shall be any wise molested, punished, disquieted, or called in question, for any differences in opinion in matters of religion, and do not actually disturb the civil peace of our said colony; but that all and every person and persons may, from time to time, and at all times hereafter, freely and fully have and enjoy his and their own judgments and consciences, in matters of religious concernments, throughout the tract of land hereafter mentioned.”