In 1741 he was again elected to the assembly. The next year he removed to Providence where he was elected to the same body and became Speaker of the House. In 1744 he filled the same station and was appointed a Justice of the Peace for that town. In 1751 he was appointed Chief Justice of the Superior Court and for the fourteenth time elected to the assembly. In 1754 he was a delegate to the Colonial Congress held at Albany, N. Y. for the purpose of effecting a treaty with the Five Nations of Indians in order to gain their aid or neutrality in the French war. A system of union was then and there drawn up by the delegates similar to the Articles of Confederation that governed the Continental Congress which was vetoed by England. In 1755 the Earl of Loudoun in command of the English forces made a requisition for troops upon several colonies and on Rhode Island for four hundred and fifty men to check the triumphant career of the French and Indians then devastating the frontier settlements. Mr. Hopkins rendered efficient aid in this service and had the pleasure of seeing the complement promptly made up. In 1756 he was elected Chief Magistrate of the colony and was found fully competent to perform the duties of the office. In 1757 the loss of Fort William Henry and the sad reverses of the English army made it necessary that the colonies should raise an efficient force for self-protection. A company of volunteers was raised in Providence composed of the first gentlemen of the town and Mr. Hopkins put in command over it. The timely arrival of troops from England deprived them of their anticipated epic laurels. The next year this useful man was again elected Chief Magistrate and served seven of the eleven following years. In 1767 party spirit was rolling its mountain waves over Rhode Island so fearfully that it threatened the prostration of social order and civil law. Anxious for the welfare of the colony this patriotic Roman put forth his noblest efforts to check its bold career. In his message to the Assembly he expressed his deep solicitude for the restoration of harmony and proposed retiring at once from the public service if it would contribute in the slightest degree to heal the political breach. To prove his sincerity he shortly after left the public arena contrary to the wishes of his friends. His picture of that era so much resembles the political map of our country at the present time that an extract may be excused.