The squadron entered the beautiful harbor of Newport with
flying flags and pennons bright with the golden fleur-de-lys of France.
From the earliest days of the colony Newport had taken a prominent
place in its history. Its natural advantages had early singled it out
for both commercial and social distinction. One of the first governors,
Coddington, was its original settler. An openly-avowed freedom from
prejudice was among the first declared principles of Rhode Island.
Quakers and Jews were gladly received, and while the former brought
with them the temperance and moderation peculiar to their tenets, the
latter grafted on Newport commerce the spirit of enterprise which made
the town celebrated in colonial annals for its prosperity and
importance. The Jewish merchants were men of good origin, fine presence
and character. They were many of them of high birth in Spain and
Portugal, and they have bequeathed to posterity a record of stately
hospitality and unblemished integrity. The names of Lopez, Riviera,
Seixas and Touro are honored and respected still in their former home,
and the fine arch that towers over the gay promenade of to-day gives
entrance to their last resting-place, so solemn and so majestic a home
of the dead that it drew from the Nestor of American poets a stirring
apostrophe to the manes of the dead sons of Israel.
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