Another friend whom Sir Thomas Urquhart found in the time of need was
the celebrated Roger Williams, the apostle of civil and religious
liberty, and the founder of the settlement of Providence, Rhode Island,
and missionary to the Indians. In the Epilogue to the _Logopandecteision_
he thus acknowledges his obligations to him: "[I cannot] forget my
thankfulness to that reverend preacher Mr Roger Williams of Providence,
in New England, for the manifold favours wherein I stood obliged to him
above a whole month before either of us had so much as seen other, and
that by his frequent and earnest solicitation in my behalf of the most
especial members both of the Parliament and Councel of State; in doing
whereof he appeared so truely generous, that when it was told him how I,
having got notice of his so undeserved respect towards me, was desirous
to embrace some sudden opportunity whereby to testifie the affection I
did owe him, he purposely delayed the occasion of meeting with me till
he had, as he said, performed some acceptable office worthy of my
acquaintance; in all which, both before and after we had conversed with
one another, and by those many worthy books set forth by him, to the
advancement of piety and good order, with some whereof he was pleased to
present me, he did prove himself a man of such discretion and
inimitably-sanctified parts, that an Archangel from heaven could not
have shown more goodness with less ostentation."[120]
The years 1652 and 1653 form a period of astonishing literary activity
on the part of our author, for no fewer than five separate works were
then published by him, two of which were of very considerable bulk. The
motive that had led him to bring out his two former works--the
_Epigrams_ and _The Trissotetras_--had been a desire to benefit mankind
and to advance the glory of his native land. But now he had to consider
his own interests, and to exert himself to promote them. Accordingly,
his present aim was to convince his captors of his extraordinary merits
and gifts, and of the incomparable glory of that family which he had the
honour of representing.
In 1652 he issued his ΠΑΝΤΟΧΡΟΝΟΧΑΝΟΝ; _or, a Peculiar Promptuary
of Time_, of which a detailed description is given in Chapter V. The
object of this treatise is to show the Protector and the English
Parliament that the family of the Urquharts could be traced back, link
by link, to the red earth out of which Adam was made, and to suggest how
lamentable it would be, if the ruling power extinguished a race which
had successfully resisted the scythe of Time, and was capable of
rendering great services to the State.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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