Skip to main content

Full text of "The life of John Eliot; with an account of the early missionary efforts among the Indians of New England"

See other formats 


I 


^  ->•.     :  > 


v" 

V 

e^-o' 

>>.o< 

>   ^. 

:  ^,^^-<- 

^^''^ 

,,*■ 

•^-, 

.     x't^  °- 

- 

^^^■ 

& 


•<>. 


,/.  .-^^  as 

"•^^         \^'  ''''^         A'       /  ■■       ■'  .''      "^       \\<'      ■> 


-.  ^  --  ^  Pv.  V    ft  n   .     ^^. 


''/ , 


% 


-^  # 


^^  Q^ 


.o^ 


If^ 


■=^_^o< 


.N 


,^^^- 


O        '''' 


*^_ 


"f^c^ 


^ 


'  /    .  .   s  ^        <^ 


.^^^;^;,,-   .  N 


-^ 


% 


c^^- 


^^^a'^    %   .A^' 


3  ^ 


'    ■*  «  /•      ^<^ 


6 


a5  9^. 


.^^ 


-   >: 


%"- 
# 


\.^'- 


i\ 


i 


^  ♦  •  ♦  » 


LIVES 


CHIEF  FATHERS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND. 

The  Lord  our  God  be  with  us,  as  he  was  with  our  fa- 
thers; let  hioa  not  leave  us,  nor  forsake  us. 

1  Kings  8:    57. 

VOL.    III. 


F: 


3 


THE   LIFE 


OF 


JOHN  ELIOT; 


WITH    AN    ACCOUNT 


OF  THE  EARLY  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS 


AMONG 


THE  INDIANS   OF  NEW  ENGLAND, 


By    NEHEMIAH    ADAMS, 

PASTOR      OF      SSSEX      STREET      CHURCH,      BOSTON. 


Written  for  the  Massachusetts    Sabbath  School  Society,   and 
approved  by  the   Committee  of  Publication. 


BOSTON: 

MASSACHUSETTS  SABBATH   SCHOOL  SOCIETV, 

Depository,   No.   13  Cornhill. 

18  47. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1847, 

By    CHRISTOPHER   C.DEAN, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachusetts. 


ADVERTISEMENT 

BY   THE   PUBLISHING   COMMITTEE. 


The  substance  of  this  book  is  a  Lecture  delivered  in 
1842,  before  the  Young  Men's  Missionary  Association 
of  Boston.  On  application  of  the  Publishing  Com- 
mittee, the  author  has  consented  to  enlarge  it  for 
publication,  as  one  of  the  Series  of  the  Lives  of  the 
New  England  Fathers. 


1* 


SEAL    OF    THE 


MASSACHUSETTS  (OR  SALEM)  COLONY. 


TRANSLATION. 


Seal  of  the  Governor  and  Colony  of  Massachusetts 
Bay  in  New  England. 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  ELIOT. 


INTKODUCTORYCHAPTEK. 

Missionary  object  of  the  Pilgrims.  Seal  of  Massachusetts  Colony. 
Reasons  with  the  Pilgrims  for  leaving  Holland.  Extnict  from  the 
Royal  Charter  of  the  Plymouth  Colony.  Charter  of  the  Salem 
Company.  Thoughts  on  this  Continent  as  a  field  for  Missionary 
efforts.  Account  of  the  landing  at  Plymouth,  and  the  first  meeting 
with  the  Indians.  First  Missionary  efforts  among  them.  Man- 
ners and  habits  of  the  New  England  Indians.  Numbers  in  the 
various  tribes.  Reflections  on  the  Missionary  character  and  efforts 
of  the  Pilgrims.    The  May-flower. 

A  PROMINENT  object  with  the  Pilgrim  fathers  in 
coming  hither,  was,  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the 
Indians  of  this  Continent. 

Many  popular  orators  and  writers  represent 
them,  as  it  were,  following  and  worshiping  a 
goddess  of  liberty.  But  it  was  not  for  the  mere 
liberty  of  believing  and  doing  what  they  pleased 
that  they  braved  the  ocean  and  the  perils  of  this 
wilderness.  Two  great  motives  influenced 
them.     For  the  liberty  of  worshiping  God  ac- 


8  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

cording  lo  their  own  consciences,  they  "  went 
out  not  knowing,"  as  the  event  proved,  "  whither 
they  went."  But  this  was  not  all ;  they  had  a 
missionary  object  in  coming  here. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  original  seal 
of  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  who  arrived 
and  settled  at  Salem  in  162S,  had  on  it  a  North 
American  Indian,  with  these  words  proceeding 
from  his  mouth,  "  Come  over  and  help  us." 
This  device  on  the  seal  of  their  colony  pub- 
lished to  the  world  the  fact  that  they  regarded 
themselves  as  foreign  missionaries  to  North 
America.  This  was  also  the  case  with  their 
brethren  of  the  Plymouth  Colony,  who  arrived 
eight  years  before. 

The  Pilgrims  had  fled  to  Holland,  from  the 
persecutions  of  the  English  Church.  In  the 
account  of  their  residence  in  Holland  we  find 
some  records  which  establish  beyond  a  doubt 
the  fact  of  their  missionary  intentions  in  coming 
to  these  shores.  Governor  Bradford,  in  his  His- 
tory of  Plymouth,  speaking  of  the  Pilgrims 
while  yet  in  Holland,  says,  "  This  year,  (1617,) 
Mr.  Robinson  and  his  Church  begin  to  think  of 
a  remove  to  America,  for  several  weighty  rea- 
sons, as  (1.)  The  difficulties  in  Holland  dis- 
couraged many  from  coming  to  them  out  of 
England,    and    obliged   many    to   return.     (2.) 


LIFE      OF      JOilN      ELIOT. 

By  reason  of  these  difliculties  with  tlie  licen- 
tiousness of  the  youth,  and  temptations  of  the 
place,  many  of  their  children  left  their  parents, 
some  of  them  becoming  soldiers,  others  taking 
to  foreign  voyages,  and  some  to  dissoluteness 
and  the  danger  of  their  souls,  to  the  great  grief 
of  their  parents,  and  fear  lest  their  posterity 
through  these  temptations  and  examples  should 
degenerate,  and  religion  die  among  them.  (3.) 
From  an  inward  zeal  and  great  hope  of  laying 
some  foundation  or  making  way  for  propagating 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  to  the  remote  ends  of  the 
earth,  though  they  should  be  but  as  stepping 
stones  to  others." 

They  obtained  letters  patent  from  the  crown 
authorizing  them  to  settle  in  North  Virginia. 
The  following  is  an  extract  from  the  Royal 
Charter,  and  is  of  the  same  purport  with  the 
third  reason  assigned  by  Governor  Bradford  for 
their  removal  to  America.  The  Royal  Charter 
says, — "  We  have  thought  it  fit,  according  to 
our  kingly  duty — to  second  and  follow  God's 
holy  will,  by  which  means  we  may  with  bold- 
ness go  on  to  the  settling  of  so  hopeful  a  work 
which  tendelh  to  the  reducing  and  conversion  of 
such  savages  as  remain  wandering  in  desolation 
and  distress,  to  civil  society  and  Christian  re- 
ligion." 


10  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  Colonists  who 
received  this  Charter,  and  sailed  for  North  Vir- 
ginia, were  driven  into  the  waters  of  Cape 
Cod,  and  thus  unintentionally  landed  and  settled 
at  Plymouth. 

The  Charter  of  "  the  Colony  of  Massachu- 
setts Bay,"  who  settled  a  few  years  after  at 
Salem,  says,  "  To  win  and  incite  the  natives  of 
that  country  to  the  knowledge  and  obedience  of 
the  only  true  God  and  Saviour  of  mankind  and 
the  Christian  faith,  is,  in  our  royal  intention  and 
the  adventurer's  free  profession,  the  principal 
end  of  the  plantation." 

The  Committee  of  the  "  Massachusetts " 
Company,  in  their  letter  dated  at  Gravesend, 
and  addressed  to  Mr.  Endicott,  the  leader,  and 
afterward  the  Governor,  of  the  Massachusetts  or 
Salem  Colony,  say,  "  For  that  the  propagating 
the  Gospel  is  the  thing  we  profess  above  all  in 
settling  this  plantation,  we  have  been  careful  to 
make  plentiful  provision  of  good  ministers.'"^ 


*  See  Laws  of  Mass.  I.,  page  77,  Sect.  8,  9. 

"  Whereas  one  end  in  planting  these  parts  teas  to  propagate  the 
true  religion  unto  the  Indians,  and  that  divers  of  them  are  become 
subject  unto  the  English,  and  have  engaged  themselves  to  be  ready 
and  willing  to  understand  the  law  of  God  :  It  is  therefore  ordered  thai 
such  necessary  and  wholesome  laws  which  are  in  force,  and  may  be 
made  from  time  to  time,  to  reduce  them  to  civility  of  life,  shall  be 
once  a  year,  if  the  times  be  safe,  made  known  to  them  by  such  fit 
persons  as  the  general  court  shall  appoint." 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  11 


It  is  interesting^  to  think  of  this  Continent  as 
having  been  the  object  of  missionary  zeal  and 
efforts  witli  the  pilgrim  fathers.  The  place 
which  this  continent  occupies  on  the  globe  is 
peculiar  and  interesting.  The  numerous  nations 
of  the  old  world  are  crowded  together  in  one 
hemisphere,  and  this  continent  is  the  prominent 
object  of  the  other.  It  did  not  seem  presump- 
tion to  the  pilgrims  to  believe  that  God  laid  its 
deep  foundations  by  itself,  in  the  midst  of  the 
oceans  rolling  between  it  and  the  rest  of  the 
globe,  for  some  purpose  as  singular  as  its  posi- 
tion. In  the  writings  of  ancient  poets  there  are 
remarkable  allusions  to  this  continent,  when  as 
yet  it  was  undiscovered.  Seneca,  a  Latin  writer, 
who  lived  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era, 
has  in  his  *'  Medea"  this  declaration :  "  The 
time  will  come  in  remote  years  when  the  ocean 
will  unloose  the  present  boundaries  of  nature, 
and  a  great  country  wall  appear.  Another  Ty- 
phis will  discover  new  worlds,  and  Thule  will 
no  longer  be  the  limit  of  the  earth. '"^  Homer 
and  Horace  had  sung  of  Islands  west  of  Africa, 
the  Atlantides,  which  were  "  the  Elysian  fields." 

*  "  Venicnt  annis 

"  Secula  seris,  quibus  Oceanus 
Vincula  rerum.  laxet,  el  iiigens 
Paleat  lellus,  Typhis  que  novos 
Delegel  orbes  ;   nee  ail  lenis 
Ultima  Thule  " 

M«dea,  Act,  3.,  v.  375. 


12  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

Hanno,  the  Carthaginian  general  and  great 
navigator,  had  sailed  from  the  pilhirs  of  Hercu- 
les, (the  straits  of  Gibraltar,)  westward,  thirty 
days.  Some  suppose  that  he  must  have  seen 
America,  or  some  of  the  neighboring  islands.* 
Columbus  verified  the  dreams  and  surmises  of 
the  world;  the  Cabots  pursued  his  sublime  dis- 
coveries, and  they,  with  their  Bristol  crews, 
long  accustomed  to  Icelandic  fisheries,  found 
this  continent.  New  adventurers  carried  home 
some  of  the  native  Indians  ;  and,  at  length,  a 
new  Continent,  inhabited  by  wild  men,  became 
the  subject  of  intense  interest  to  the  civilized 
world.  Our  pious  forefathers,  while  yet  in  the 
old  world,  fancied  that  they  heard  the  Macedo- 
nian cry  from  the  Indians  here,  and  it  quick- 
ened their  flight,  as  they  say,  "  to  follow  Christ 
into  a  waste  howling  wilderness." 

Having  been  driven  into  the  waters  of  Cape 
Cod,  instead  of  North  Virginia,  and  making  a 
safe  harbor  on  Saturday,  the  Pilgrims  fell  on 
their  knees  and  blessed  the  God  of  heaven.  The 
Sabbath  came  ;  the  Mayflower  riding  at  anchor, 
and  the  exploring  party  in  the  shallop,  kept  the 
first  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  which,  perhaps,  had 
ever  been  recognized  in  this  region,  since  God 
rested  from  his  works. 


*  "  America  known  to  the  Ancientu."   Bostwn,  177i<, 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  13 

"  Monday,"  says  Prince,  in  his  New  England 
Chronology,    '•  the  people  go  ashore  to  refresh 
thennselves; — the     whales    play    round    about 
them,  and  the  greatest  store  of  fowl  they  ever 
saw.     But  the  earth  here  a  company  of  sand 
hills,  and  the   water  so  shallow  near  the  shore, 
they  were  forced  to  wade  a  bow-shot  or  two  to 
get    to    land,    which    being    freezing   weather, 
afTecteth  them  with  grievous  coughs  and  colds, 
which  after  proves  the  death  of  many.     When 
they  had  marched   a  mile  southward,  they  see 
five  or  six  savages  whom  they  follow  ten  miles 
till    night,    but    could  not   overtake    them,   and 
lodge  in  the  woods.     The  next  day  they  come 
to  a  place  of  graves,  then  to  some  heaps  of  sand, 
when  they  dig  into  them,  and  find  several  bas 
kets    full    of  Indian   corn,  and  take   some,  for 
which  they  purpose  to  give  the  natives  full  sat- 
isfaction as  soon  as  they  could  meet  with  any  of 
them."     Two  days  after,  they  returned  to  bor- 
row more  corn ;  the  ground  had    frozen  a  foot 
deep,  but  they  made  up  their  corn,  says  Gover- 
nor Morton,  to  ten  bushels;  the  next  day  some 
of  the  party,  having  spent  the  night  there,  dug 
again  into  some  little  hillocks,  but  they  found 
that  instead  of  being  cornhills  they  were  graves. 
By  the  overruling  providence  of  God,  the  corn 
which  they  had  thus  borrowed  with  such  good 
VOL.  :ii.  2 


14  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

intent  to  repay,  furnished  them  with  seed  for  the 
ensuing  spring.  Here  we  have  the  first  scene 
of  their  approach  to  the  wild  objects  of  their 
pious  and  benevolent  endeavors. 

During  the  month  of  February,  after  their 
arrival,  the  colony  were  afterw^ards  informed 
that  the  Indians  assembled  all  their  Powwaws,  or 
the  conjurers  of  the  country,  to  curse  them  with 
their  horrid  ceremonies  and  incantations.  They 
held  their  assembly  for  this  purpose  in  a  dark 
and  dismal  swamp. 

On  the  morning  of  March  16th,  however, 
they  say  a  savage  boldly  came  alone  along  the 
houses  straight  to  the  rendezvous,  and  surprised 
them  Avith  calling  out,  "  Welcome,  Englishmen  ! 
Welcome,  Englishmen  !  "  It  seems  that  he  had 
learned  some  broken  English  from  the  fishermen 
of  Nova  Scotia.  He  said  that  his  name  was 
Samoset,  that  he  .was  sagamore  or  lord  of  a 
country  "  a  day's  sail  thence  with  a  great 
wind,"  or  five  days  land  travel.  He  told  them 
that  four  years  ago  all  the  inhabitants  of  the 
place  where  they  then  were,  (now  Plymouth,) 
died  of  an  extraordinary  plague  ;  that  there  was 
neither  man,  woman,  nor  child  remaining.  At 
night  they  lodged  and  watched  him.  A  few 
days  after  he  returned  with  an  Indian  named 
Squanto,  whom  a  man  by  the  name  of  Hunt  had 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  15 

carried  to  Spain  with  nineteen  others,  and  who 
by  some  means  went  to  England,  and  lived  in 
Cornhill,  London,  with  Mr.  John  Slanie,  mer- 
chant. He  could  speak  a  little  English,  and 
thus  he  was  extremely  useful  to  the  colonists  in 
assisting  them  to  trade  and  make  treaties  with 
the  surrounding  Indians.  They  endeavored  to 
conciliate  the  natives,  but  wisely  mingled  inti- 
mations that  they  were  prepared  to  resist  them 
if  attacked. 

The  treacherous  tribe  of  Narragansett  Indians, 
with  five  thousand,  fighting  men,  who  at  first 
made  a  treaty  with  the  settlers,  showed  signs  on 
one  occasion  of  hostility.  Canonicus,  their  chief 
Sachem,  sent  a  bundle  of  arrows,  tied  with  a 
snake's  skin,  which  Squanto  told  them  meant  a 
challenge.  Governor  Bradford  and  his  Council 
sent  them  word  that  if  they  had  rather  have  war 
than  peace,  they  might  begin  when  they  would ; 
they  had  done  the  Indians  no  wrong,  nor  did 
they  fear  them ;  nor  would  the  Indians  find 
them  unprepared.  Then,  with  some  wit,  the 
Governor  sent  them,  by  another  messenger,  the 
snake's  skin  filled  with  powder  and  bullets ;  but 
they  refused  to  receive  it,  and  sent  it  back. 

Thus,  after  various  alarms,  and  treaties,  the 
pilgrims  had  fortified  themselves  in  the  country, 
and   individuals  among  them    had   begun    the 


16  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT. 

pious   work  of  instructing  some  of  the   young 
Indians  in  the  Christian  religion. 

In  1621,  one  year  after  the  arrival  at  Ply- 
mouth, Elder  Robert  Cushman  sent  word  to  his 
friends  in  England  that  many  of  the  Indians, 
especially  the  younger  of  them,  were  teachable  ; 
that  if  the  Colony  had  means  they  would  bring 
up  hundreds  of  them  to  labor,  and  learning,  and. 
that  young  men  in  England  who  desired  to  fur- 
ther the  Gospel  among  these  poor  heathen, 
would  do  well  to  come  over  and  spend  their 
estates,  time,  and  labor,  in  so  doing. 

During  the  few  first  years  after  the  settlement 
at  Plymouth,  several  of  the  natives  gave  evi- 
dence of  conversion,  and  instances  of  happy 
death  occurred  among  them.  But  the  hardships 
and  trials  incident  to  a  removal  into  this  wilder- 
ness delayed  the  systematic  and  general  efforts 
of  the  settlers  to  convert  the  Indians.  Indi- 
viduals, however,  were  laboring  among  them 
with  success.  In  1636,  the  Plymouth  Colony 
enacted  laws  to  provide  for  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  among  the  Indians,  and  ten  years  after, 
the  Massachusetts  Colony  passed  a  similar  act. 

In  1675,  it  was  ascertained  that  the  whole 
number  of  Indians  in  New  England,  beginning 
as  far  east  as  the  St.  Croix  River,  was  about 
fifty  thousand.    Of  these,  about  twelve  thousand 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  17 

were  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Massachusetts 
^and  the  Plymouth  Colonies. 

At  the  settlement  of  this  country  there  were 
five  principal  nations,  or  sachemships,  of  Indians, 
inthispartof  New  England,  viz.  1.  ThePequots; 
2.  The  Narragansetts ;  3.  The  Pawkunnaw- 
kuts ;  4.  The  Pawtucketts ;  5.  The  Massachu- 
setts. Each  of  these  nations  included  several 
tribes,  governed  by  sagamores. 

The  Pequots  formerly  had  4000  warriors ;  in 
1674,  300. 

The  Narragan  setts  formerly  had  5000  war- 
riors ;  in  1674,  1000. 

The  Pawkunnawkuts  formerly  had  3000  war- 
riors ;  in  1674,  nearly  extinct. 

The  Pawtuckets  formerly  had  3000  war- 
riors; in  1674,  250. 

The  Massachusetts  formerly  had  3000  war- 
riors;  in  1674,  300. 

The  Pequots  inhabited  the  most  southerly 
parts  of  New  England,  their  country  for  the 
most  part  fell  under  the  Connecticut  jurisdic- 
tion. Their  principal  sachem  lived  at  or  near 
New  London,  called,  in  their  language  Pequot. 

The  Narragansetts  occupied  Rhode  Island, 
and  other  islands  in  Narragansett  bay. 

The  Paiokunnaivkuts  inhabited  the  region  of 
the  Plymouth  Colony,  and  their  sachem  held 
2# 


18  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

sway  over  the  Sagamores  of  Nantucket,  Martha's 
Vineyard,  and  neighboring  places.  A  few  years 
before  the  arrival  of  the  Pilgrims,  a  great  num- 
ber of  this  nation  of  Indians  as  before  stated, 
were  swept  away  by  a  plague,  and  thus  the 
•way  was  opened  for  the  entrance  of  the  Pil- 
grims. 

The  Pawtuckets  lived  to  the  north,  and 
northeast  of  the  Massachusetts  Indians.  They 
were  almost  wholly  destroyed  by  the  plague 
just  mentioned. 

The  Massachusetts  Indians  dwelt  principally 
about  the  parts  of  Massachusetts  bay  which 
were  first  settled  by  the  English,  and  bordering, 
some  of  them,  on  the  region  of  the  Pawkunnaw- 
kuts.  They  were  very  numerous  and  powerful. 
Their  chief  sachem  held  rule  over  many  petty 
chiefs.  This  people  was  also  visited  by  the 
plague  in  1612-13,  which  destroyed  the  most 
of  them,  and  prepared  the  way  for  the  English 
settlers. 

This  fact  has  often  brought  to  mind  these 
words  of  David  :  "  We  have  heard  with  our 
ears,  0  God,  our  fathers  have  told  us  what 
work  thou  didst  in  their  day,  in  the  times  of 
old.  How  thou  didst  drive  out  the  heathen 
with  thy  hand,  and  plantedst  them;  how  thou 
didst  afflict  the  people  and  cast  them  out.     For 


LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT.  19 

they  got  not  the  land  in  possession  by  their  own 
sword,  neither  did  their  own  arm  save  them; 
but  thy  right  hand,  and  thine  arm,  and  the 
light  of  thy  countenance,  because  thou  hadst  a 
favor  unto  them." 

An  early  New  England  writer^  says,  that  he 
had  not  been  able  to  learn  accurately  the  nature 
of  the  disease  or  plague  which  depopulated  the 
Indian  tribes  in  the  remarkable  manner  already 
described  ;  but  that  he  had  "  discoursed  "  with 
some  old  Indians,  who  told  him  that  the  patients 
were  "  all  over  exceedingly  yellow,"  and  this 
they  described  by  showing  him  a  yellow  gar- 
ment which  the  bodies  of  the  victims  resembled 
in  color,  both  before  and  after  death.  There  is 
a  tradition  that  a  Frenchman,  who  not  long 
before  this  plague,  had  fallen  into  their  hands 
by  shipwTeck,  told  them,  as  some  of  the  surviv- 
ing shipmates  reported,  just  before  he  died  by 
their  hands,  that  "  God  was  angry  with  them 
for  their  wickedness,  and  would  not  only  destroy 
them  all,  but  would  also  people  their  country 
with  men  who  would  not  live  after  their  brutish 
manners."  Those  infidels  then  blasphemously 
replied,  that  God  could  not  kill  them;  which 
blasphemous  mistake  was  confuted  by  an  hor- 
rible and  unusual  plague,  whereby   they  were 

♦  Mather. 


20  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT. 


consumed  in  such  vast  multitudes,  that  our  first 
planters  found  the  land  almost  covered  with  their 
unburied  carcases,  and  they  that  were  left  alive 
were  smitten  into  awful  and  humbler  regards  of 
the  English  by  the  terrors  which  the  French- 
man's prophecy  had  imprinted  on  them. 

When  the  Pilgrims  in  Holland  thought  of 
coming  to  this  country,  some  of  them  hesitated 
for  several  reasons,  and  among  others  through 
their  fear  of  the  savages,  who  they  heard  were 
"  cruel,  barbarous,  and  treacherous,  being  most 
furious  in  their  rage,  and  merciless  where  they 
overcome,  not  being  content  only  to  kill  and 
take  away  life,  but  delight  to  torment  men  in 
most  bloody  manner  that  may  be,  flaying  men 
alive  with  the  shells  of  fishes,  cutting  off  the 
points  and  members  of  others  by  piecemeals, 
and  broiling  them  on  the  coals,  and  causing 
men  to  eat  the  collops  of  their  flesh  in  their 
sight  whilst  they  live  ;  with  other  cruehies  hor- 
rible to  be  related."^  Some  were  therefore  in 
favor  of  settling  in  Guiana,  in  South  America. 
But  they  feared  the  jealousy  of  the  Spaniards, 
and  finally  concluded  to  settle  within  the  juris- 
diction of  the  company  of  Virginia,  where  the 
English,  in  1607,  had  made  a  settlement.  In 
this   way,  they  supposed  that  they  could  also 

♦  Governor  Bradford's  History  of  Plymouth. 


i 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  21 

have  better  access  to  the  savages,  "  to  reduce 
them  to  civil  society,  and  the  Christian  religion." 
But  God  brought  them  by  a  way  they  knew  not, 
having  first  in  part  cut  off  the  heathen  nations 
to  bring  them  in. 

The  May-flower  sailed  from  Holland,  Sep- 
tember 6,  1620,  for  the  Hudson  River.  But 
they  were  driven  into  the  waters  of  Cape  Cod, 
and  it  was  a  current  belief  that  the  shipmaster 
was  bribed  by  the  Dutch  to  change  her  course, 
because  the  Dutch  wished  to  settle  in  the  region 
for  which  the  Pilgrims  embarked.  But  some  of 
the  best  authorities  deny  this,  and  say  that  the 
change  of  their  course  was  accidental. 

There  is  so  much  connection  between  climate 
and  characters  that  we  may  reasonably  suppose 
it  to  have  been  the  intention  of  Providence  to 
plant  the  Pilgrims  in  this  cold  region,  and  on 
this  hard  soil,  that  they  might  be  and  do  that 
which  is  proved  to  have  been  their  high  destiny 
to  be  and  to  accomplish.  Whereas,  had  they 
settled  in  a  warmer  and  more  enervating  lati- 
tude, we  cannot  believe  that  such  a  New  Eng- 
land as  we  now  behold  would  have  arisen  ;  it 
would  have  been  easier  for  the  settlers  to  have 
borne  the  imposition  of  slavery  from  the  mother 
country, whereas  here  in  Massachusetts  the  sturdy 
vigor  and  independence  w^hich  were  borne  and 


22  LIFE      OF      JOIIM      ELIOT. 

nourished  on  this  rocky  and  sandy  soil,  grew 
impatient  of  slavery,  and  soon  threw  it  off,  and 
hence  in  part  the  present  difference  between  the 
North  and  the  South,  in  some  of  the  essential 
elements  of  natural  prosperity.  God  brought 
the  Pilgrims  into  these  bays  and  harbors,  and  to 
this  northern  soil,  because  here  the  qualities 
necessary  to  their  future  usefulness  and  great- 
ness as  a  nation  could  be  most  successfully 
developed  and  strengthened.  Instead  of  reducing 
the  savages  to  slavery  as  they  might  have  done 
had  the  institution  of  slavery  been  fastened  upon 
them  in  southern  regions,  they  "  reduced  the 
savages  to  civil  society,  and  the  Christian  re- 
ligion." Let  us  return  for  a  moment  to  the 
landing  of  the  Pilgrims. 

When  the  May-flower  had  cast  anchor,  the 
Pilgrims  fitted  up  the  little  shallop  which  they 
had  brought  in  their  vessel,  and  coasted  the 
Cape  for  about  a  month  to  determine  on  the  best 
place  for  landing  and  settlement.  Having  at 
length  fixed  on  a  place,  the  shallop,  with  the 
exploring  party  came  to  anchor  on  Saturday,  the 
9th  of  December,  corresponding  to  December 
20,  New  Style.  The  Sabbath  dawned  upon 
them,  but  the  exploring  party  remained  on 
board,  notwithstanding  the  inmates  of  the  May- 
flower were  still  at  anchor,  waiting  to  know  the 


I 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  23 

result  of  the  exploration.  How  beautiful  and 
striking-  was  the  coincidence  of  their  arriving  at 
Plymouth  on  the  eve  of  the  Sabbath.  What  a 
Sabbath  it  must  have  been  to  them.  Not  only 
was  their  comfortless  and  perilous  voyage  in  a 
crowded  vessel,  and  their  anxious  search  for  a 
landing-  place  now  over,  but  their  persecutions 
in  the  old  world,  their  oppressive  treatment  from 
the  Established  Church  for  not  conforming  to 
rites  and  practices  which  the}'-  could  not  observe, 
had  now  come  to  an  end.  Now  they  had  found 
a  new  world  where  they  might  believe  and  wor- 
ship as  they  pleased.  Now  they  would  no 
longer  be  taxed  for  the  support  of  worship  in 
which  they  had  no  share.  Now  their  ministers 
would  no  longer  be  ill-used  or  nick-named,  for 
not  conforming  to  unscriptural  practices  ;  now 
they  would  not  be  obliged  to  keep  Lent,  and 
Ash-Wednesday,  Candlemas,  Christmas,  and 
All-Saints'-day,  in  a  manner  repugnant  to  their 
consciences.  As  they  looked  on  this  great  wil- 
derness, free  from  all  corruptions  of  man  in  the 
worship  of  God,  and  pure  in  that  respect  as  the 
virgin  snows  that  covered  the  evergreens,  and 
sheeted  the  old  sand  wastes,  and  shone  on 
the  distant  hills,  they  could  breathe  freely,  as 
they  said  in  the  words  which  indicate  the  essen- 
tial spirit  of  their  faith,    God  is  a  spirit,  and 


24  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

they  that  worship  him,  must  worship  him  in 
spirit  and  in  truth.  The  world  has  never  seen 
such  a  sight,  before  or  since,  as  that  shallop  and 
the  May-flower  in  Plymouth  Bay,  with  the  pro- 
genitors of  this  great  and  glorious  New  Eng- 
land ;  fleeing  from  the  old  world,  arriving  at 
this  new  world  and  keeping  Sabbath  at  anchor 
in  these  waters.  What  has  ever  happened  to 
be  likened  to  it  since  the  time  when  Noah  and 
his  family  sailed  away  from  the  old  world, 
which  had  corrupted  itself  before  God,  and 
transplanted  the  religion  of  the  true  God  for  a 
new  beginning  ?  It  would  have  been  interesting 
to  have  heard  the  prayers,  and  songs  of  praise, 
and  words  of  Scripture,  with  which  they  kept 
the  Sabbath  in  their  floating  Bethels.  We  no- 
tice here  that  Puritan  regard  for  the  Sabbath 
which  has  ever  characterized  New  England,  and 
on  which  her  safety  so  much  depends.  How 
natural  it  would  have  been  for  the  voyagers  to 
have  leaped  ashore  at  the  first  moment  of  their 
arrival  in  the  harbor  which  they  had  concluded 
to  make  their  home.  How  many  passengers 
now  in  similar  circumstances,  would  deny  them- 
selves the  pleasure  of  exchanging  the  wearisome 
confinement  on  ship-board,  for  the  excitement 
and  satisfaction  of  exploring  their  new  home  ? 
But  the  Pilgrims  would  not  begin   the  work  of 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  25 

their  settlement,  of  removing  any  of  their  effects 
from  the  vessel,  on  the  Lord's  day,  and  since 
the  time  when  God  rested  from  his  work  on  the 
Sabbath,  there  has  not  been  a  more  sublime  act 
of  rest  and  of  worship,  than  was  observed  by 
that  Pilgrim  band. 

All  this  was  in  accordance  with  their  charac- 
ter and  intentions  as  a  missionary  band,  and  for 
its  relation  to  this  view  of  their  character  we 
have  dwelt  at  large  upon  this  incident  in  their 
history. 

It  cannot  be  impressed  too  deeply  upon  our 
minds  that  our  forefathers  did  not  come  here 
merely  to  "enjoy  their  liberty,"  not  merely  to 
flee  from  persecution,  not  to  increase  their 
worldly  estate  ;  they  came  here,  among  other 
good  reasons,  as  they  expressly  declare,  to  ex- 
tend the  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  the  Royal 
Charter  professed  that  the  royal  object  in  grant- 
ing it  was  that  they  might  reduce  such  savages 
as  they  found  wandering  in  desolation  and  dis- 
tress to  civil  society  and  the  Christian  religion. 
Does  any  one  cherish  a  feeling  of  reverence  and 
love  for  these  pilgrims  in  view  of  their  sacrifices 
and  efforts  to  found  these  institutions  which  we 
possess,  who  yet  feels  no  interest  in  the  work  of 
propagating  the  gospel  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  ? 
Let  him  consider  that  a  company  of  Christian 

VOL.    III.  3 


26  LIFE      OF     JOHN     ELIOT. 

missionaries  going  from  this  land  and  settling  in 
India,  or  Africa,  or  Oceanica,  may  be  the 
founders  of  just  such  institutions  as  we  enjoy, 
among  the  people  to  whom  they  are  sent.  Let 
every  missionary  consider  that  in  distant  years 
he  may  be  justly  regarded  as  a  pilgrim-father  to 
some  portion  of  the  earth  for  whom  he  may 
have  done  as  much  as  the  New  England  Pil- 
grims have  done  for  New  England.  The  object 
of  Christian  missions  is  to  re-produce  and  mul- 
tiply our  Christian  institutions  in  heathen  and 
pagan  lands.  The  opportunity  of  laying  founda- 
tions in  heathen  wilds,  similar  to  those  which  the 
Pilgrims  laid  here,  has  not  come  to  an  end. 
Many  a  missionary  bark  may  yet  be,  essentially, 
a  May-flower  to  distant  parts  of  the  earth. 
Some  islands  which  were  filled  with  savages  as 
barbarous  as  our  Indians,  have  had  their  inde- 
pendence recognized  by  Christian  nations,  and 
have  taken  their  place  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth;  and  that  band  of  American  missionaries 
who  left  these  shores  for  the  Sandwich  Islands  in 
1820,  and  who  went  round  Cape  Horn  singing 
the  old  hymn  in  the  tune  of  Melton  Mowbray, 

"Head  of  the  church  triumphant, 
We  cheerfully  adore  thee,"  &c., 

and  who  planted  the  Gospel  on  those  islands, 
will  no  doubt  in  after  times  have  their  names 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  27 

enshrined  by  a  grateful  posterity  in  those  distant 
seas.  The  little  schooner  which  the  Rev. 
John  Williams,  the  martyr  of  Rarotonga,  built 
with  his  own  hand,  to  visit  the  islands  of  the 
Harvey  group,  was  a  real  "May-flower." 
Prophetic  visions  of  the  effects  of  the  Gospel 
we  see  fulfilled  on  these  shores  and  around  the 
globe.  Here,  emphatically,  "  instead  of  the 
thorn  has  come  up  the  fir-tree,  and  instead  of 
the  brier  the  myrtle-tree."  In  what  way  can 
we  cherish  the  memory  of  our  Pilgrim  fathers 
better  than  to  keep  alWe  in  us  and  our  children 
that  zeal  to  spread  the  Christian  religion  and 
Christian  institutions,  which  was  one  of  the 
strong  impulses  that  bore  them  across  the  flood  ? 
As  the  missionary  spirit  was  the  native  air  in 
which  the  pilgrim  faith  was  born  and  nurtured, 
we  may  believe  that  the  same  spirit  will  most 
effectually  cherish  those  institutions  and  laws 
which  are  the  fruit  of  their  wisdom.  That  spirit 
is  a  sincere  desire  to  see  the  glory  of  God 
promoted  in  the  world,  a  willingness  to  make 
efforts  and  sacrifices  "  that  his  way  may  be 
known  on  earth,  his  saving  health  among  all  na- 
tions." 

"  The  May-flower  "  !  That  name  must  have 
been  proposed  by  some  gentle  wife,  or  by  some 
sweet  child,  to  the  man  who  built  that  favored 


28  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

vessel !  She  was,  in  her  seasonableness,  more 
than  a  May-floicer  ;  she  was  the  Crocus  among 
the  eternal  snows  and  the  dreary  winter  of  this 
western  savage  world.  In  the  selection  of  her  for 
the  great  mission  which  she  accomplished,  angels 
might  have  said  to  her,  as  they  came  to  be  min- 
istering spirits  to  those  in  her  who  were  to  be, 
in  more  than  one  sense,  "  heirs  of  salvation," 
as  Gabriel  said  to  ]\Iary,  "  Hail,  thou  that  art 
highly  favored — the  Lord  is  with  thee  !"  The 
name  of  this  vessel  is  one  of  those  instances,  of 
which  we  see  so  many  in  the  word,  the  provi- 
dence of  God,  in  which  "  the  beauty  of  the 
Lord  our  God  "  appears  in  connection  with  his 
acts  of  renown.  To  the  cold  eye  of  reason  that 
name  was  only  a  mercantile  accident ;  the  eye  of 
faith  is  willing  to  be  accounted  visionary  while  it 
sees  in  it  that  same  hand  which,  after  the  deluge, 
selected  the  rainbow  instead  of  a  periodical  tem- 
pest, or  a  Dead  Sea,  as  the  memorial  of  a  cove- 
nant with  the  earth. 

The  painting  of  the  Landing  of  the  Pilgrims, 
by  Weir,  justly  represents  some  of  the  pilgrim 
company  as  of  cultivated  and  even  polished  ap- 
pearance and  manners ;  they  were  not  the 
ofTscouring  of  the  earth.  They  were  men  and 
women  of  whom,  in  their  day,  the  world  was 
not  worthy.     For  scholarship,  intelligence,  and 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  29 


moral  worth,  the  Pilgrims  and  their  associates 
in  the  old  countries  would  have  been  ornaments 
to  the  land  which  chased  them  away.  The 
reader  will  fmd  this  illustrated  in  a  satisfactory 
manner  in  the  Life  of  the  Kev.  John  Cotton,  by 
the  Rev.  A.  W.  M'Clure,  in  the  first  two  vol- 
umes  in  this  series  of  the  Lives  of  eminent  N. 
E.  Puritans. 


3# 


30  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT 


CHAPTER    II. 

Descriplionof  the  Indians,    Their  manners,  habits,  mode  of  life,  <tc. 
Efforts  lo  convert  them,  previous  to  Eliot's  labors. 

Some  account  of  the  manners  and  habits  of 
the  Indians,  as  our  forefathers  and  their  succes- 
sors found  them,  will  be  neces.sary  that  we  may 
appreciate  the  labors  and  self-denial  which  were 
required  of  those  who  instructed  these  sons  of 
the  forest  in  religion  and  civilization.  A  correct 
knowledge  of  their  original  condition  dispels 
the  romantic  associations  which  many  have  with 
the  name  of  a  North  American  Indian.  The 
lowest  degradation  had  been  reached  by  these 
savages.  The  laws  of  a  people  are  a  true  pic- 
ture of  the  people,  and  some  of  the  laws  which 
the  Indians  enacted  when  they  began  to  be  civil- 
ized, reveal  the  misery  and  filthiness  from  which 
they  began  at  last  lo  be  recovered.  This  will 
be  illustrated  as  we  proceed. 

We  will  speak  first  of  tlie  personal  appear- 
ance of   the  Indian. 

Their  skin  was  of  a  tawny  color,  a  yellowish, 
dark  complexion.     Their  form  and  limbs  were 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  31 

well  proportioned,  and  it  was  seldom  that  a 
crooked  person  was  found  among  them.  Their 
hair  was  long,  black,  and  coarse,  without  curl- 
ing;  their  eyes  black,  without  lustre.  In  their 
general  appearance  they  were  so  much  like 
the  Moors  of  Africa,  that  many  have  supposed 
them  to  have  come  originally  from  that  part  of 
the  world. 

They  had  many  wives,  but  one  of  them  was 
chief  in  her  husband's  regard.  They  put  away 
their  wives,  and  the  wife  also  left  her  husband 
when  offended  with  him. 

Their  revengeful  disposition  is  proverbial. 
The  relatives  of  an  injured  or  murdered  Indian 
regarded  his  wrong  as  done  to  them,  and  they 
sought  satisfaction  in  the  death  of  the  offender,  or 
in  the  payment  of  wampum,  (or  shells,)  which 
passed  with  them  for  money. 

They  were  an  idle  race,  especially  the  men. 
Tillage  was  chiefly  performed  by  the  women, 
thous^h  to  but  little  extent.  The  women  also 
carried  burdens,  as  in  removing  from  place  to 
place.     They  also  prepared  the  food. 

Their  wigwams  were  made  with  slim  poles 
fixed  in  the  ground,  bent,  and  fastened  at  the 
top  with  the  bark  of  trees.  The  best  of  them 
were  made  tight  and  warm  with  the  whole 
barks  of  trees,  pressed  when  green  by  a  heavy 


32  LIFE     OF     JOHN      ELIOT. 


weight  of  limber.  A  common  sort  of  bulrushes 
woven  together,  made  mats  for  the  covering  of 
the  poorer  houses.  The  houses  varied  in  size, 
from  twenty  to  forty  feet  square,  and  some  were 
from  sixty  to  a  hundred  feet  long,  and  thirty  feet 
broad.  In  the  smaller  houses  a  fire  was  kindled 
in  the  centre,  but  in  the  larger,  several  fires 
were  made  for  the  convenience  of  the  inmates. 
A  hole  in  the  top  of  the  house  served  the  place 
of  a  chimney,  and  on  the  top  of  the  house  a  mat 
was  suspended,  to  serve  the  purpose  of  a  venti- 
lator to  the  smoke,  being  set  to  the  windward 
side.  Their  bedsteads  were  made  of  rude  boards 
split  from  the  tree,  and  raised  about  a  foot  from 
the  ground,  covered  with  skins,  or  with  mats  of 
woven  grass,  or  bulrushes. 

Their  principal  food  was  a  kind  of  pottage  in 
which  it  would  be  difTicult  to  say  what  article 
prevailed.  Indian  corn,  kidney  beans,  all  kinds 
of  flesh  and  fish,  cut  in  small  pieces  with  the 
bones,  many  kinds  of  roots,  artichokes,  ground- 
nuts, squashes,  oak  acorns,  walnuts,  and  chest- 
nuts, were  boiled  together.  The  nuts  being 
dried,  and  powdered,  were  used  as  flour  to 
thicken  the  mess.  They  made  a  cake  of  parched 
corn,  which  they  called  nokake.  This  they 
took  with  them  in  their  travels,  and  is  said 
to  have  been  so  hearty  a  kind  of  food,  that  they 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  33 

subsisted  on  it  many  days  in  their  wanderings 
from  place  to  place. 

Their  household  utensils  corresponded  in 
simplicity  to  their  food,  and  mode  of  cooking. 
The  pots  were  made  of  clay,  in  the  shape  of  an 
egg  without  the  top.  They  were  glad  to  receive 
pots  of  metal,  as  the  earth  of  which  they  made 
their  brittle  vessels  was  scarce  and  dear.  They 
used  a  kind  of  wood  which  was  not  liable  to 
split,  for  dishes,  spoons,  and  ladles.  Their 
water  pails  were  made  of  birch  bark,  folded 
square,  with  a  handle  or  bail.  Some  of  them 
held  two  or  three  gallons,  and  they  could  make 
one  of  them  in  the  space  of  an  hour.  They, 
wrought  pictures  of  birds,  beasts,  fishes  and 
flowers  of  divers  colors  in  their  baskets,  which 
were  made  of  corn  husks,  silk  grass,  and  wild 
hemp. 

They  formerly  used  no  drink  but  water, 
though  they  soon  learned  from  the  settlers  the 
manufacture  and  use  of  cider.  When  they  be- 
came acquainted  with  intoxicating  drinks,  they 
showed  a  violent  love  for  them,  by  which  their 
savage  passions  and  propensities  were  fearfully 
excited. 

Their  clothing  was,  at  first,  of  skins,  and  some 
had  mantles  of  birds'  feathers,  twilled  together. 
Even  the  most  barbarous   of  them  were  decent 


34  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

in  covering  their  persons,  and  were  never  seen 
naked  in  public. 

One  of  their  principal  remedies  in  sickness 
was,  to  put  the  patient,  and  sometimes  several 
patients  together,  in  a  rude  stone  house,  which 
they  would  heat  by  building  fires  round  it,  and 
having  thus  put  the  sick  into  a  violent  perspira- 
tion, they  would  plunge  them  into  a  neighboring 
brook. 

They  divided  time  into  sleeps,  and  moons, 
and  winters.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  they  called 
the  Constellation,  Charles'  Wain,  by  the  same 
name  with  the  English,  the  Bear.  Like  the 
early  eastern  nations,  they  seem  to  have  pon- 
dered the  face  of  the  heavens,  and  to  have  made 
figures  of  the  stars. 

Their  money  consisted  of  shells,  or  strings  of 
shells,  the  black  being  double  in  value  to  the 
white.  The  Tnints  of  their  money  seem  to 
have  been  at  Block  Island,  and  Long  Island, 
upon  whose  sandy  flats  and  shores,  these  welk 
shells  were  chiefly  found.  It  was  called  wom- 
pompeague,  or,  wompeague,  and  by  contrac- 
tion, wompum,  or,  wampum.  They  redeemed 
captives,  paid  tribute,  made  satisfaction  for 
wrongs,  and  murders,  and  purchased  peace  of 
their  more  powerful  neighbors,  with  strings  of 
this  wampum. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  35 

Their  weapons  were  bows  and  arrows,  clubs, 
tomahawks,  made  of  wood  like  a  pole  axe,  with 
a  sharp  stone  in  the  head.  They  used  targets 
or  shields  of  bark. 

They  formerly  smeared  their  skin  with  bears' 
grease,  but  when  the  English  swine  afforded 
them  lard,  they  used  it  as  a  substitute,  and  thus 
having  anointed  themselves,  they  painted  their 
faces  with  vermilion,  or  red,  and  powdered 
their  heads.  Sometimes  they  painted  one  half 
of  the  face  black,  and  the  other  v.^hite,  and  so, 
with  various  colors,  deformed  their  visages,  the 
women,  especially,  doing  this,  and  the  warriors 
thereby  making  themselves  hideous  in  battle. 
Widows,  mourning  for  their  husbands,  painted 
their  faces  wholly  black.  The  men  preparing  for 
war  put  their  hair  in  a  roll,  and  surmounted  it 
with  turkey's  or  eagle's  feathers,  with  other  fan- 
tastic and  showy  decorations. 

They  took  great  pleasure  in  dancing,  the 
men  only  dancing,  and  they  singly,  (except  in 
the  war  dance,)  with  uncouth  and  antic  gestures 
and  movements  of  the  whole  body,  the  specta- 
tors singing  or  whooping.  The  dancer  took  oft^ 
his  ornaments  one  by  one  as  he  danced,  and 
gave  them  away  to  those  who  looked  on,  and 
when  he  had  given  away  all  that  he  had  upon 
him,  and  was  weary,  another  would  succeed 


36  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT. 

him,  and  thus  succeeding  each  other  they  would 
spend  the  nights  of  a  whole  week  together, 
sleeping  by  day.  At  such  dancings  accompa- 
nied with  revelings,  chiefly  held  after  harvest, 
they  were  addicted  to  many  evil  practices. 

They  were  a  hospitable  race.  Strangers 
were  furnished  with  the  best  food  and  lodging, 
and  were  served  before  themselves. 

Their  government  was  for  the  most  part 
monarchical,  the  chief  sachem  or  sagamore  mak- 
ing his  will  the  law,  though  there  were  chief  men 
associated  with  him  as  counselors.  In  some  of 
the  tribes  the  influence  of  the  head  men  was 
greater  than  in  others,  making  the  government 
a  mixture  of  monarchy  and  aristocracy. 

They  had  no  idols  made  with  hands,  but 
being  ignorant  of  the  true  God,  they  adored 
natural  objects ;  the  sun,  the  moon,  the  earth, 
fire,  and  other  things.  They  supposed  that 
every  thing  in  nature  has  a  god  in  it,  or  belong- 
ing to  it,  but  fire  they  believed  to  be  itself  a 
god.  They  believed  that  there  was  one  god  in 
the  southwest,  who  was  the  chief  deity. 

The  Indians  had  priests  or  powows,  or, 
powaws,  who  were  conjurers,  who,  with  horrid 
rites  and  incantations,  told  their  fortunes,  advised 
them  in  their  aflairs,  yelled  over  them  in  their 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  37 

sick   and    dying   moments,   and  performed  re- 
ligious worship  with  terrific  noises  and  actions, 

"  Like  stabled  wolves  or  tigers  at  their  prey, 
Doing  abhorred  riles  to  Hecate." 

The  Indians  believed  in  the  immortality  of 
the  soul,  that  the  good  are  admitted  to  a  splen- 
did entertainment,  and  the  wicked  wander  in 
agony  forever,  and  that  there  is  no  resurrection 
of  the  body  for  good  or  bad. 

As  to  the  origin  of  the  Indians,  Eoger  Wil- 
liams has  well  expressed  the  truth  on  the  sub- 
ject, in  his  Key  into  the  language  of  the  Indians 
of  New  England."^ 

"  From  Adam  and  Noah  that  they  spring,  it 
is  granted  on  all  hands.  But  for  their  later 
descent,  and  whence  they  came  into  these  parts, 
It  seems  hard  to  find,  as  to  find  the  well-head 
of  some  fresh  stream  which  running  many  miles 
out  of  the  country  to  the  salt  ocean,  hath  met 
with  many  mixing  streams  by  the  way." 

Mr.  Williams  gives  many  particulars  of  their 
manners  and  customs ;  some  of  which  are  here 
added. 

Their  nokake,  or  nokehick,  parched  meal,  w^as 
carried  by  each  man  on  a  journey,  or  in  war,  in 
a  basket,  fastened  to  his  back,  or  in  a  hollow 


♦  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  Coll.  1794.,  p.  206. 
VOL.    III.  4 


38  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT. 

belt.  With  a  spoonful  of  this  meal,  and  a 
spoonful  of  water  from  the  brook,  Mr.  Williams 
says  he  has  many  a  time  made  a  good  supper. 
This  parched  meal,  boiled  with  water,  he  says, 
is  the  wholesomest  diet  they  have.  Nawsaump 
was  a  kind  of  meal  pottage  unparched,  and 
from  this  the  English  derived  their  samp,  or 
Indian  corn,  broken  and  boiled,  and  eaten,  hot 
or  cold,  with  milk  or  butter ;  "  which  are  mer- 
cies beyond  the  natives'  plain  water,  and  which 
is  a  dish  exceeding  wholesome  for  the  English 
bodies." 

Tobacco  was  in  general  use  among  them,  and 
was  the  only  plant  which  the  men  cultivated, 
the  women  attending  to  the  rest.  The  follow- 
ing remark,  by  Mr.  Williams,  is  in  good  illus- 
tration of  former  views  and  feelings  with  regard 
to  the  use  of  spirituous  liquors.  "  I  never  see 
any  take  tobacco  so  excessively  as  I  have  seen 
men  in  Europe;  and  yet  excess  were  more 
tolerable  in  them,  because  they  want  the  re- 
freshing of  beer  and  wine,  which  God  had 
vouchsafed  Europe."^ 

They  made  up  a  fire,  when  they  were  lying 
down  to  sleep,  summer  and  winter.  "  Their 
fire,"  says  Williams,  "  is  instead  of  our  bed 
clothes.      And    so    themselves,   and    any    that 

•  Key,  p.  213. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN     ELIOT.  39 

have  occasion  to  lodge  with  them,  must  be  con- 
tent to  turn  often  to  the  fire,  if  the  night  be 
cold ;  and  they  who  first  wake  must  repair  the 
fire." 

Bad  dreams  they  considered  as  threatenings 
from  God;  and  when  they  happened  to  them, 
they  would  engage  in  prayer  at  all  times  of  the 
night.  An  Indian  once  dreamed  that  the  sun, 
whom  they  worship  as  a  god,  darted  a  beam  into 
his  breast.  This  he  took  for  an  admonition  ot 
his  death.  He  called  his  friends  and  neighbors 
together,  and  prepared  some  refreshment  for 
them  ;  but  himself  remained  awake,  and  fasting, 
for  ten  days  and  nights  in  great  humiliation  and 
distress. 

"  The  women  nurse  all  the  children  them- 
selves ;  yet  a  rich  or  high  woman  maintains  a 
nurse  to  tend  the  child." 

"  They  have  amongst  them  natural  fools,  either 
so  born,  or  accidentally  deprived  of  reason." 

"  The  toothache  is  the  only  pain  which  will 
force  their  stout  hearts  to  cry.  I  have  never 
heard  any  cries  among  them  like  those  of  men 
in  the  toothache.  In  this  pain  they  use  a  cer- 
tain root  dried,  not  much  unlike  our  ginger." 

"  They  are  most  skillful  in  cutting  off  the 
heads  of  their  enemies  in  fight.  I  know  the 
man,  yet  living,  who  pretended  to  fall  from  his 


40  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

own  camp  to  the  enemy,  proflered  his  service  in 
the  front  with  them  against  his  own  army.  He 
drew  ihcm  out  to  battle,  keeping  in  front ;  but, 
on  a  sudden,  shot  their  chief  leader  and  captain, 
and,  in  a  trice,  fetched  off  his  head,  and  returned 
immediately  to  his  own  again.  His  act  was 
false  and  treacherous  ;  yet  herein  appear  policy, 
stoutness,  and  activity." 

"  Their  desire  of  and  delight  in  news,  is  great 
as  the  Athenians.  A  stranger  that  can  relate 
news  in  their  own  language  they  will  style  him 
manittoo,  a  god." 

In  hearing  news  they  sit  in  a  circle,  two, 
three,  or  four  deep.  "  I  have  seen  near  a  thou- 
sand in  a  round  where  English  could  not  well 
near  half  so  many  have  sitten." 

They  frequently  inquired  "  Why  came  the 
Englishmen  hither?"  The  explanation  most 
commonly  believed  among  themselves  at  first 
was,  that  the  English  wanted  fire-wood,  and  so 
removed  to  these  parts,  as  the  Indians  remove 
when  they  have  used  up  the  wood  around  them. 

They  kept  the  time  of  the  day  and  the  night 
with  great  accuracy,  by  observing  the  sun,  moon, 
and  stars.  Living  abroad  in  the  fields  and 
sleeping  much  out  of  doors,  even  the  young 
children  were  expert  in  telling  the  time.  The 
Indians  were  punctual   in   their  promises   as  to 


LIFE      OF      JOHN     ELIOT.  41 


time.  Mr.  Williams  says  they  once  charg-ed 
him  with  lying  for  not  being  punctual,  though 
necessarily  delayed. 

English  travelers  were  struck  with  the  paths 
which  the  bare  and  tough  feet  of  the  Indians  had 
made  in  stony  places.     One  writer  says  that  he 
has  known  many  of  them  to  run  between  eighty 
and  a  hundred  miles  in  a  summer's  day,  and 
return  within  two  days.     He  says  they  were  so 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  interior  of  the 
country  by  means  of  hunting,  that  they  have 
guided  travelers  forty  miles  without  any  path. 
They  coveted  horses  above  other  beasts,  prefer- 
ring the  ease  of  riding  even  to  the  comfort  of 
milk  and  butter  from    the    cow.     On   meeting 
with    one    another   in    travel,    they   were   very 
happy  and  joyful ;  and  striking  fire,  with  stones 
or  sticks,  took   tobacco,  and  set  down  to  talk. 
It  was  quite  rare  to  meet  an  old  man  or  a  lame 
man  with  a  staff,  their  constitutions  being  gen- 
erally robust. 

The  English  settlers  were  greatly  struck  with 
the  purity  of  the  air  and  of  the  water  in  New 
England.^  But  as  New  England  is  about 
twelve  degrees  south  of  England,  the  greater 
cold  of  this  region  is  explained,  Mr.  Williams 
thinks,  by  the  fact  that  main  lands  and  conti- 

*  See  Appendix,  B. 
4# 


42  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT 


nents  are  colder  than  islands.  "  England's 
winds  are  sea  winds,  which  are  commonly  more 
thick  and  vapory,  and  warmer  winds.  The 
northwest  wind,  which  occasioneth  New  Eng- 
land cold,  comes  over  the  cold,  frozen  land,  and 
over  many  millions  of  loads  of  snow.  And  yet 
the  pure  wholesomeness  of  the  land  is  wonder- 
ful, and  the  warmth  of  the  sun  such  in  the 
sharpest  weather,  that  I  have  often  seen  the  na- 
tives' children  run  about  stark  naked  in  the 
coldest  days,  and  the  Indian  men  and  women 
lie  by  a  fire  in  the  woods  in  the  coldest  nights ; 
and  I  have  often  been  out  myself  such  nights 
without  fire,  mercifully  and  wonderfully  pre- 
served." 

It  is  observed  by  many  writers  that  the  In- 
dians had  a  considerable  mixture  of  sadnpss  in 
their  disposition.  Though  nature  here  was 
profuse  in  wild  animals  for  food,  and  fish,  and 
fowl,  and  fruits,  the  savages  were  subject  to 
much  suffering  from  causes  which  they  had  no 
knowledge  to  understand  nor  skill  to  prevent. 
Their  superstitions  joined  with  their  savage 
vices  made  them  afraid.  It  would  seem  also,  in 
noticing  the  proofs  of  this  disposition  to  melan- 
choly, that  the  coming  event  of  their  disappear- 
ance as  a  race  had  cast  its  shadow  upon  their 
spirits.     Mr.  Williams    says   that    they  dislike 


LIFE      OF     JOHN     ELIOT.  43 

cloths  inclining  to  white,  "  but  preferred  to 
have  a  sad  color,  without  any  whitish  hairs, 
suiting  with  their  own  natural  temper,  which 
inclines  to  sadness."^ 

In  the  spirit  with  which  our  forefathers  came 
hither,  seeking  the  conversion  of  the  red  race, 
good  men  from  time  to  time  pursued  different 
measures  for  their  spiritual  good.  But  while 
other  men  deserve  great  praise  for  their  zeal  and 
industry  in  this  benevolent  work,  it  was  reserved 
to  JopiN  Eliot  to  gain  for  himself  the  name  of 
the  Apostle  to  the  Indians.  The  way  in  which 
he  obtained  it  will  now  appear,  and  also  some 
account  of  his  life  and  character,  with  further 
notices  respecting  the  Indians. 

Though  individuals  had  incidentally  labored 
among  the  Indians  for  their  spiritual  good  before 
the  Apostle  Eliot  began  his  efforts  to  give  them 
the  Gospel,  and  some  useful  impressions  had 
been  made  on  some  of  their  minds,  the  first  sys- 
tematic efforts  for  their  conversion  were  made 
by  him.  Roger  Williams'  narrative  was  printed 
in  London,  in  1643.  Eliot  began  to  preach  in 
the  Indian  tongue  in  1646.  Mr.  Williams  says, 
"  Many  solemn  discourses  I  have  had  with 
all  sorts  of  nations  of  them,  from  one  end  of 
the  country  to  the  other,  so  far  as  opportunity, 
and  the  little  language  I  have,  could  reach. 

*  See  Appendix,  C. 


44  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

**  I  know  there  is  no  small  preparation  in  the 
hearts  of  niuliiiudes  of  them.  I  know  their 
many  solemn  confessions  to  myself,  and  one  to 
another,  of  their  last  wandering  conditions. 

"  I  know  not  with  how  little  knowledge  and 
grace  of  Christ  the  Lord  may  save;  and  there- 
fore neither  will  despair,  nor  report  much. 

"  Two  days  before  the  death  of  Wequash,  the 
Pequot  captain,  as  I  passed  up  to  Quunnihticut 
(Connecticut)  river,  it  pleased  my  worthy  friend, 
Mr.  Fenwick,  whom  I  visited  at  his  house  in 
Saybrook  fort,  at  the  mouth  of  that  river,  to  tell 
me  that  my  old  friend  Wequash  lay  very  sick. 
I  desired  to  see  him,  and  himself  was  pleased  to 
be  my  guide  two  miles  where  Wequash  lay. 

"  Amonsrst  other  discourses  concernini^  his 
sickness  and  death,  in  which  he  freely  bequeathed 
his  son  to  Mr.  Fenwick,  I  closed  with  him  con- 
cerning his  soul.  He  told  me  that  some  two  or 
three  years  before,  he  had  lodged  at  my  house, 
where  I  acquainted  him  with  the  condition  of 
all  mankind,  and  his  own  in  particular;  how 
God  created  man  and  all  things ;  how  man  fell 
from  God,  and  his  present  enmity  against  God 
and  the  wrath  of  God  against  him  till  repent- 
ance. Said  he,  your  words  were  never  out  of 
my  heart  to  this  present;  and,  said  he,  *  Me 
much  pray  to  Jesus  Christ.'     I  told  him  so  did 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  45 

many  English,  French,  and  Dutch,  who  had 
never  turned  to  God  nor  loved  him.  He  replied 
in  broken  English  :  '  Me  so  big  naughty  heart: 
me  heart  all  one  stone  ! '  Savoring  expressions 
using  to  breathe  from  compunct  and  broken 
hearts,  and  a  sense  of  inward  hardness  and  un- 
brokenness.  I  had  many  discourses  with  him 
in  this  life ;  but  this  was  the  sum  of  our  last 
parting,  until  our  general  meeting."  ^ 

We  now  come  to  the  history  of  the  man  by 
whom  the  work  of  converting  and  civilizing  the 
Indians  was  carried  out  with  the  most  signal 
success. 


*  Roger  Williams'  Key,  p.  26. 


46  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT 


CHAPTER    III. 

John  Diot.  Birth  ami  Education.  Associated  with  Rev.  Thomas 
Hooker.  Arrivea  at  Boston.  Settles  in  Roxbury.  Anecdote. 
Discorery  of  Spot  Pond.  Marriage.  Christian  and  Ministerial 
character.  His  zeal  for  common  School  Education.  Notices  of 
his  personal  character.  His  Congregational  Sentiments.  Remarks 
upon  tlieni.  Mr.  Eliot's  children.  His  prayers.  His  preaching. 
Infant  Bajitism. 

John  Eliot  was  born  in  Nasing,  Essex,  Engf- 
land,  in  the  year  1604.  All  that  is  known  of 
his  parents  is,  that  they  were  eminently  pious, 
to  which  Mr.  Eliot  bore  testimony,  when  he 
wrote  in  after  life  these  words:  "  I  do  see  that 
it  was  a  great  favor  of  God  unto  me  to  season 
my  first  years  with  the  fear  of  God,  the  word, 
and  prayer." 

He  was  educated  in  England  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Cambridge,  and  was  distinguished  for  his 
love  of  the  languages,  in  which  he  attained  un- 
common skill,  especially  in  Hebrew  and  Greek. 
There  is  a  connection  between  this  fact  and  his 
labors  in  New  England  in  acquiring  the  Indian 
tongue  and  translating  the  Bible  and  other  books 
into  it. 

The   Rev.   Thomas   Hooker,  afterwards    the 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  47 

first  Pastor  of  the  Church  in  Cambridge,  New 
England,  who  afterwards  removed  with  his 
Church  to  Hartford,  Connecticut,  had  been  si- 
lenced for  his  conscientious  scruples  at  certain 
rites  and  observances  in  the  Church  of  England, 
after  exercising  the  ministry  four  years.  At  the 
suggestion  and  request  of  distinguished  indi- 
viduals, he  established  a  school  in  the  town  of 
Little  Braddow,  near  Chelmsford,  in  the  county 
of  Essex,  England.  Mr.  Eliot  was  an  usher  in 
this  school.  In  this  school  several  individuals 
were  trained  up  who  became  eminently  useful. 
Mr.  Eliot  wrote  an  account  of  this  school ;  and 
says  of  it,  and  of  his  connection  with  the  family 
of  Mr.  Hooker,  "  To  this  place  was  I  called 
through  the  infinite  riches  of  God's  mercy  in 
Christ  Jesus  to  my  poor  soul ;  for  here  the  Lord 
said  unto  my  dead  soul.  Live ;  and,  through  the 
grace  of  Christ,  I  do  live,  and  I  shall  live  for- 
ever. When  I  came  to  this  blessed  family,  I 
then  saw,  and  never  before,  the  power  of  godli- 
ness in  its  lively  vigor  and  efficacy." 

By  the  influence  of  Mr.  Hooker,  Mr.  Eliot 
was  led  to  devote  himself  to  the  Christian  minis- 
try. Seeing  the  corruptions  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  the  oppressive  spirit  of  those  in 
authority  towards  all  who  would  not  conform  to 
the  ceremonies  and  practices  of  the  Established 


48  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT. 

Church,  he  resolved  that  he  would  go  to  Amer- 
ica, that  he  might  preach  the  gospel  without 
restraint. 

He  came  to  Boston  in  November,  1631,  in 
the  ship  "  Lyon,"  with  Governor  Winthrop's 
lady  and  children,  and  sixty  others.  There  was 
then  no  minister  at  the  Church  in  Boston,  Rev. 
Mr.  "Wilson,  their  pastor,  having  gone  to  Eng- 
land to  settle  his  affairs.  Mr.  Eliot  joined  the 
Church  at  Boston,  and  preached  to  them  a  part 
of  a  year,  till  the  return  of  Mr.  Wilson,  when 
the  Church  wished  to  make  him  colleague  and 
teacher  with  Mr.  Wilson.  But  he  had  engaged 
with  several  individuals,  in  England,  that  if  they 
should  remove  to  America,  he  would  be  their 
minister.  They  came  the  year  after  his  arrival, 
and  settled  at  Roxbury ;  and  having  formed  a 
Church  there,  secured  the  services  of  Mr.  Eliot. 
He  was  then  twenty-eight  years  old,  and  he 
continued  as  Pastor  of  the  Church  in  Rox- 
bury nearly  sixty  years.  His  meeting-house 
was  on  the  hill  where  the  present  meeting-house 
of  the  First  Church  in  Roxbury  (unitarian) 
now  stands.  Cotton  Mather  has  preserved  an 
anecdote  connected  with  this  hill,  illustrating  the 
art  which  Mr.  Eliot  had  at  spiritualizing.  Go- 
ing up  the  hill  to  his  meeting-house,  in  his  old 
age,  with  much    feebleness    and  weariness  he 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  49 

said  to  the  one  who  led  him,  *'  This  is  very  like 
the  way  to  heaven,  'tis  up  hill ;  the  Lord  by  his 
grace  fetch  us  up."  Spying-  a  bush  near  him 
he  instantly  added,  "  And  truly  there  are  thorns 
and  briars  in  the  way  too !  "  which  instance, 
Mather  says,  "  I  would  not  have  singled  out 
from  the  many  thousands  of  his  occasional  re- 
flections, but  only  that  I  might  suggest  unto  the 
good  people  of  Roxbury  something  for  them  to 
think  upon  when  they  are  going  up  to  the  house 
of  the  Lord."^ 

In  February  of  the  year  after  his  arrival,  Mr. 
Eliot  is  mentioned  as  one  of  the  company  who, 
with  the  governor,  made  an  excursion  into  the 
vicinity  of  Boston,  and  discovered  a  pond  to 
which  they  gave  its  present  name  of  "  Spot 
Pond."t  This  pond  has  of  late  been  a  promi- 
nent candidate  for  the  privilege  of  supplying  this 
city  with  water. 

In  1632,  Mr.  Eliot  was  married  to  the  pious 
yoling  lady  to  whom  he  was  betrothed  in  Eng- 
land, and  who  came  to  America  by  appointment 
the  year  after  Mr.  Eliot's  arrival.  We  shall 
have  occasion  to  speak  of  her  in  the  sequel  of 
this  history. 

In  the  exercise  of  the  Christian  ministry,  Mr. 


#  Mag.  B.  III.  Life  of  Eliot.  Art.  L 

t  Sparks'  Lib.  Am.  Biog.  V.  9.  Francis'  Life  of  Eliot. 

VOL.   in.  5 


50  LIPE     OF     JOHN     ELIOT. 

Eliot  was  remarkable  for  a  deep  sense  of  the  great 
responsibleness  of  his  work.  It  made  him  hum- 
ble ;  he  seemed  to  have  a  peculiar  fear  of  the 
temptations  incident  to  his  profession,  and  to  be 
deeply  impressed  with  the  weight  of  its  duties. 
His  brethren  in  the  ministry  were  struck  with 
this  characteristic  of  his  ministerial  deportment. 

He  bestowed  much  labor  and  diligence  upon 
his  preparations  for  the  pulpit.  It  is  said  that 
when  he  listened  to  a  discourse  which  seemed 
to  have  had  care  and  attention  bestowed  upon  it, 
he  was  accustomed  to  express  his  approbation 
and  thanks  to  the  preacher.  But  while  his  dis- 
courses showed  him  to  be  a  student,  he  placed  a 
higher  value  on  spiritual  gifts  in  preaching  than 
upon  the  greatest  accomplishments  of  art  or  labor. 
He  frequently  exhorted  young  preachers  to  make 
Christ  prominent  in  their  discourses  and  in  all 
their  ministrations. 

He  had  an  elevated  sense  of  the  meaning  and 
privilege  of  church-membership.  With  affection, 
but  also  with  plain  and  faithful  words,  he  never 
ceased  to  rebuke  the  inconsislencies  of  profes- 
sors of  religion.  Mather  says  of  him,  "He 
would  sound  the  trumpet  of  God  against  all  vice 
with  a  most  penetrating  liveliness,  and  make  his 
pulpit  another  Mount  Sinai,  for  the  flashes  of 
lightning  therein  displayed  against  the  breaches 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  51 

of  the  law  given  from  that  burning-  mountain. 
There  was  usually  a  special  fervor  in  the  rebukes 
which  he  bestowed  on  carnality.  When  he  was 
to  brand  the  earthly  mindedness  of  Church  mem- 
bers and  the  allowance  and  indulgence  which 
they  often  give  themselves  in  sensual  delights, 
he  was  a  right  Boanerges.  He  spoke  as  many 
thunderbolts  as  words !" 

He  paid  particular  attention  to  the  young  peo- 
ple of  his  charge,  gave  them  instruction  in  public 
and  private  with  the  help  of  catechisms  com- 
posed by  him  especially  for  their  use.  It  was 
his  familiar  habit,  when  he  visited  a  family,  to 
call  the  young  around  him  and  lay  his  hands  on 
their  heads  with  words  of  kindness  and  prayer. 

He  showed  his  love  of  learning  in  his  zeal  for 
the  establishment  of  common  schools.  The 
grammar  School  at  Roxbury  owed  much  to  his 
care.  At  the  meeting  of  a  Synod  in  Boston,  he 
made  the  schools  of  the  country  a  special  subject 
of  prayer,  beseeching  God  that  he  would  cause 
them  to  be  established  everywhere,  that  schools 
might  flourish,  that  every  member  of  the  Synod 
might  go  home  to  procure  and  encourage  a  good 
school  in  his  town ;  and  that  before  they  should 
die,  they  might  be  so  happy  as  to  see  a  good 
school  established  in  every  part  of  the  country. 

"  God  so  blessed  his  endeavors  that  Roxbury 


62  LIFE      OF      JOHN     ELIOT. 

could  not  live  quietly  without  a  free  school  in 
the  town,  and  the  issue  of  it  has  been  one  thing 
that  has  almost  made  me  put  the  title  of  Schola 
Illustris  upon  that  little  nursery;  that  is,  that 
Roxbury  has  afforded  more  scholars  first  for  the 
College  and  then  for  the  public  than  any  town 
of  its  bigness,  or,  if  I  mistake  not,  of  twice  its 
bigness  in  all  New  England.  From  the  spring 
of  the  school  at  Roxbury,  there  have  run  a  large 
number  of  the  streams  which  have  made  glad 
the  whole  city  of  God.  I  persuade  myself  that 
the  good  people  of  Roxbury  will  forever  scorn  to 
begrudge  the  cost,  or  to  permit  the  death  of  a 
school  which  God  has  made  such  an  honor  to 
them  ;  and  thus  the  rather  because  their  deceased 
Eliot  has  left  them  a  fair  part  of  his  own  es- 
tate for  the  maintaining  of  the  school  in  Rox- 
bury ;  and  I  hope,  or  at  least  I  wish  that  the 
ministers  of  New  England  may  be  as  ungainsay- 
ably  importunate  with  their  people  as  Mr.  Eliot 
was  with  his  for  schools  which  may  seasonably 
tinge  the  young  souls  of  the  rising  generation. 
A  want  of  education  for  them  is  the  blackest  and 
saddest  of  all  the  bad  omens  that  are  upon  us."^ 
One  result  of  his  interest  in  schools  \\as  that 
many  individuals  were  raised  up  under  his  eye 

♦  3Ia5.  BuukIII.,499. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  53 

who  became  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and  some 
of  them  were  eminently  useful. 

He  was  so  engrossed  in  the  affairs  of  his  min- 
istry that  he  hardly  paid  sufficient  attention  to 
his   worldly  affairs,  never  being  anxious  about 
hi,s  support,  depending  wholly  on  the  temporary 
and  voluntary  offerings  of  his  people,  which  va- 
ried with  the  times.     Dr.  Dwight,  in  his  Travels 
in  New    England   and    New    York,^    relates 
an    anecdote    to    illustrate    his    generous    and 
somewhat  improvident  disposition    and  habits. 
•'  The  parish  treasurer  having  paid  him  his  sal- 
ary, put  it  into  a  handkerchief,  and  tied  it  into 
as   many   hard  knots  as  he  could  make  to  pre- 
vent him  from  giving  it  away  before  he  reached 
his  own  house.     On  his  way  he  called  on  a  poor 
family,  and  told  them^that  he  had  brought  them 
some  relief     He  then  began  to  untie  the  knots, 
but  finding  it  a  work  of  great  difficulty,  he  gave 
It  to  the  mistress  of  the  house,  saying,  "Here, 
my  dear,  take  it,  I  believe  the  Lord  designs  it 
all  for  you." 

Like  many  other  ministers,  he  owed  much  to 
the  care  which  his  wife  took  of  him  and  his 
worldly  affairs.  She  of  course  did  not  commend 
him  for  such  reckless  acts  of  charity  as  the  one 
just  named.  One  day  some  cattle  stood  before 
*  Vol.  m.,  p.  15. 
5# 


64  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

theif  door.  His  wife,  to  try  him,  asked  him  to 
whom  they  belonged,  and  though  they  were  his 
own,  he  did  not  know  them. 

His  influence  upon  liis  brethren  in  the  minis- 
try seems  to  have  been  eminently  spiritual.  He 
once  said  in  a  company  of  them,  "The  Lord 
Jesus  takes  much  notice  of  what  is  said  and  done 
among  his  ministers  when  they  are  together. 
Let  us  pray  before  we  depart.''  His  advice  to 
some  who  complained  of  the  conduct  of  Church 
members  towards  them,  was,  "  Bear,  forbear, 
forgive."  On  one  occasion  he  came  into  a 
meeting  of  ministers  who  had  met  as  referees  on 
some  difficulties  between  two  parties.  A  large 
bundle  of  papers  lay  on  the  table,  containing  the 
correspondence  and  other  documents  relating  to 
the  quarrel.  He  put  them  all  into  the  fire,  and 
said,  "  You  need  not  be  astonished  at  what  I 
have  done,  for  I  did  it  on  my  knees  before  I 
came  here." 

He  loved  to  attend  upon  the  ministry  of  his 
brethren  when  they  lectured  during  the  week. 
It  used  to  excite  surprise,  that,  with  his  many 
labors  and  studies,  he  could  find  so  much  time 
to  do  this.  His  appearance  in  the  house  of  God 
as  a  hearer  was  noticeable,  being  always  wake- 
ful and  watchful,  turning  the  pages  of  a  Bible 
to  find  the  texts  referred  to  by  the  preacher,  and 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  55 

on  returning  to  his  home,  he  would  preach  the 
sermon  over  again  to  those  who  walked  with 
him. 

He  is  mentioned  as  remarkable  for  the  value 
which  he  seemed  to  set  on  the  Sabbath,  and  for 
the  high  spiritual  enjoyment  which  its  return 
brought  with  it.  Of  every  Sabbath  it  might 
almost  be  said  with  regard  to  his  enjoyment  of  the 
sacred  hours,  "  That  Sabbath  was  a  high-day." 

He  was  eminently  a  man  of  prayer,  setting 
apart  whole  days  for  special  supplication  and 
communion  with  God,  to  which  he  frequently 
added  fasting.  When  he  had  any  special  diffi- 
culty in  his  private,  or  in  public  affairs,  he  de- 
voted himself  to  special,  secret  prayer  for  some 
time  together,  on  the  principle  related  of  another, 
'*  That  when  we  would  have  any  great  things  to 
be  accomplished,  the  best  policy  is  to  work  by 
an  engine  which  the  world  sees  nothing  of." 
\  When  he  heard  any  special  news  he  would 
sometimes  say,  "  Brethren,  let  us  turn  all  this 
into  prayer."  When  he  paid  a  visit  to  a  family 
with  which  he  w^as  familiar,  he  would  sometimes 
say,  "  Come,  let  us  not  have  a  visit  without  a 
prayer ;  let  us  pray  down  the  blessing  of  heaven 
on  your  family  before  we  go." 

A  pious  woman,  afflicted  with  a  wicked  hus- 
band, complained  to  him  that  she  was  greatly 


66  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

troubled  by  the  bad  company  which  her  husband 
brought  with  him  into  the  house,  and  asked  him 
what  slic  should  do.  He  said  to  her,  "  Take  the 
lioly  Bible  into  your  hands  when  they  come,  and 
you  will  soon  drive  them  away."  The  experi- 
ment is  said  to  have  been  successful. 

One  day  walking  in  his  garden  with  a  friend, 
he  began  to  pluck  up  the  weeds.  His  friend 
pleasantly  said  to  him,  '*  Sir,  you  tell  us  we 
must  be  heavenly-minded,"  as  though  he  would 
draw  from  Mr.  Eliot  some  remarks  on  the  con- 
sistency of  heavenly-mindedness  with  attention 
10  things  about  us.  Mr.  Eliot  replied,  *'  It  is 
true ;  and  this  is  no  impediment  unto  that ;  for 
were  I  sure  to  go  to  heaven  tomorrow,  I  would 
do  what  I  do  to-day." 

He  went  into  a  merchant's  counting  room, 
where  he  saw  his  mercantile  books  on  the  table, 
and  some  books  of  devotion  on  the  shelf.  Upon 
which  he  said,  "  Sir,  here  is  earth  on  the  table, 
and  Heaven  on  the  shelf.  Pray  don't  sit  so 
much  at  the  table  as  altogether  to  forget  the 
shelf." 

Preaching  once  on  holiness  in  all  manner  of 
conversation,  he  said,  "  In  the  morning  if  we 
ask.  Where  am  I  to  be  to-day  ?  our  souls  must 
answer,  In  heaven.  In  the  evening  if  we  ask, 
Where  have  I  been  to-day,  our  souls  may  answer, 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  57 

In  heaven.  If  thou  art  a  believer  thou  art  no 
stranger  to  Heaven  while  thou  livest;  and  when 
thou  diest,  Heaven  will  be  no  strange  place  to 
thee:  no,  thou  hast  been  there  a  thousand  times 
before." 

He  would  say  to  students,  "  I  pray  look  to  it 
that  you  be  morning  birds." 

A  few  years  before  his  death,  he  pressed  his 
people  to  obtain  another  pastor,  and  said,  "  'Tis 
possible  you  may  think  the  burden  of  maintain- 
ing two  ministers  may  be  two  heavy  for  you  ; 
but  I  deliver  you  from  that  fear;  I  do  here  give 
back  my  salary  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
now,  brethren,  you  may  fix  that  upon  any  man 
that  God  shall  make  a  pastor  for  you."  But  his 
Church  kindly  and  generously  told  him  that  they 
should  count  his  very  presence  worth  a  salary, 
when  he  should  be  so  supifennuated  as  to  do  no 
further  service  for  them. 

He  was  an  abstemious  man,  and  yet  far  from 
being  morose  or  censorious,  but  when  invited  to 
a  large  dinner,  it  is  said  that  while  he  eat  but 
very  little  he  would  indulge  in  pleasant  and 
grateful  remarks  with  respect  to  the  plenty  with 
which  God  had  furnished  his  people  in  this 
wilderness.  Having  been  invited  at  a  stranger's 
house  to  take  some  drink,  which  he  was  told 
was   wine  and  water,  he  replied,  "Wine  !  'tis  a 


58  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT. 


noble,  generous  liquor,  and  we  should  be  humbly 
thankful  for  ii ;  but,  as  I  remember,  water  was 
made  before  it,"  and  water  was  his  drink,  to  a 
degree  which  was  far  from  being  common  even 
in  those  days. 

He  was  greatly  displeased  with  the  increasing 
attention  in  his  day  among  the  men  to  the  wear- 
ing of  the  hair,  the  length  of  it  growing  to  ef- 
feminacy, and  false  hair  frequently  being  added, 
when  there  was  no  necessity  for  it  to  cover  the 
head.  He  finally  despaired  of  changing  or 
checking  the  custom,  and  said,  *'  The  lust  is  be- 
come insuperable." 

It  is  said  of  him  that  no  man  ever  had  fewer 
enemies  than  he,  but  still  there  were  those  who 
privately  disliked  him,  and  he  charged  his  wife 
in  her  visits  among  the  people  to  do  good  in  a 
special  manner  to  al|Hwhom  she  found  disposed 
to  speak  against  him,  or  to  entertain  unkind 
feelings  towards  him.  Having  once  displeased 
a  hearer  by  something  in  a  sermon,  the  man 
abused  him  publicly  by  words  and  by  printing 
something  to  his  injury.  The  man  soon  after 
was  wounded.  Mrs.  Eliot  had  considerable 
skill  in  medicine  and  the  treatment  of  wounds, 
and  Mr.  Eliot  sent  her  to  cure  the  man,  which 
she  did,  and  upon  his  recovery  the  man  called 
to  thank  her,  but  she  took  no  reward,  and  Mr. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  59 

Eliot  kept  him  to  dine,  and  took  no  notice  of  his 
evil  conduct,  whereupon  the  man  was  deeply 
affected  and  subdued. 

He  had  much  tact  and  wit  in  suiting  his  ben- 
edictions to  the  conditions  and  circumstances  of 
different  people. 

In  the  days  of  affliction  he  showed  exemplary 
resignation  to  the  will  of  God.  He  followed  to 
the  grave  two  or  three  of  his  sons,  who  were 
ministers  of  the  Gospel.  But  his  patience  and 
submission  under  these  trials  are  spoken  of  with 
great  commendation. 

His  love  for  the  Hebrew  tongue  is  seen  in  the 
foUowins:  enthusiastic  words  :  "  O  that  the  Lord 
would  put  it  into  the  heart  of  some  of  his  relig- 
ious and  learned  servants  to  take  such  pains 
about  the  Hebrew  language  as  to  fit  it  for  uni- 
versal use  !  Consideri^^piat  above  all  lan- 
guages spoken  by  the  lip  of  man,  it  is  most 
capable  to  be  enlarged,  and  fitted  to  express  all 
things,  and  motions,  and  notions  that  our  human 
intellect  is  capable  of  in  this  mortal  life,  consid- 
ering also  that  it  is  the  invention  of  God  himself; 
and  what  one  is  fitter  to  be  the  universal  lan- 
guage, than  that  which  it  pleased  our  Lord  Jesus 
to  make  use  of  when  he  spake  from  heaven  unto 
Paul !" 

In   the   government  of  his  family,  it  is  said 


60  LIFE      OF     JOHN     ELIOT. 

that  there  might  have  been  seen  a  perpetual 
mixture  of  a  Spartan  and  a  Christian  discipline, 
and  that  whatever  decay  there  might  have  been 
in  family  religion  generally,  the  people  *  knew 
how  that  he  would  command  his  children  and 
his  household  after  him,  that  they  should  keep 
the  way  of  the  Lord.' 

He  was  remarkable  for  the  efforts  he  em- 
ployed to  instruct  the  children,  making  catechisms 
for  them  having  reference  to  any  prevailing  er- 
rors. The  effect  of  this  is  certified  in  a  remark 
of  Cotton  Mather,  that  it  is  a  well-principled 
people  that  he  has  left  behind  him.  "  As  when 
certain  Jesuits  were  sent  among  the  Waldenses 
to  corrupt  their  children,  they  returned  with 
much  disappointment  and  confusion,  because  the 
children  of  seven  j^cars  old  were  well-principled 
enough  to  encout^^fche  most  learned  of  them 
all ;  so,  if  any  sedWers  were  let  loose  to  wolve 
it  among  the  good  people  of  Roxbury,  I  am  con- 
fident they  would  find  as  little  prey  in  that  well 
instructed  place  as  in  any  part  of  the  country. 
No  civil  penalties  would  signify  so  much  to  save 
any  people  from  the  snares  of  busy  heretics,  as 
the  unwearied  catechising  of  our  Eliot  has  done 
to  preserve  his  people  from  the  gangrene  of  ill 
opinion."* 


♦  Book  III.  An.  IV. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  61 

It  is  said  of  Mr.  Eliot  that  he  was  not  only  an 
evangelical  minister,  but  a  Protestant  and  a  Pu- 
ritan. "  He  was  a  modest,  humble,  but  very 
reasonable  non-conformist  unto  the  ceremonies 
which  have  been  such  unhappy  apples  of  strife 
in  the  Church  of  England  ;  otherwise  the  dismal 
thickets  of  America  had  never  seen  such  a  per- 
son in  them." 

Mr.  Eliot  was  strongly  attached  to  the  Con- 
gregational form  of  Church  order.  He  spoke  of 
it  as  the  special  gift  of  Christ  to  his  people  who 
followed  him  into  the  wilderness  with  an  earnest 
zeal  for  communion  with  Him  in  a  pure  worship. 
He  regarded  Congregationalism  as  a  happy  me- 
dium to  "rigid  Presbyterianism"  on  the  one 
hand,  and  "  leveling  Brownism  "  on  the  other, 
the  liberties  of  the  people  not  being  disregarded, 
nor  the  authority  of  th^Blders  rendered  in- 
significant, but  a  due  balance  kept  between  them 
both.  He  regarded  the  Platform  of  Church  Dis- 
cipline "  as  being  the  nearest  of  what  he  had  yet 
seen  to  the  directions  of  heaven." 

By  this  it  is  not  to  be  understood  that  Mr. 
Eliot  as  a  true  Congregationalist,  supposed  that 
any  form  of  Church  government  was  imposed 
by  Christ  or  the  Apostles  upon  the  Christian 
Church,  as  being  in  any  way  essential  to  the 
existence  of  a  true  Church  of  Christ.     With  re- 

VOL.    III.  6 


62  LIFE      OF     JOHN     ELIOT. 


gard  to  the  appointment  of  any  special  form  of 
Church  Government,  it  would  seem  that  there  is 
a  wise  silence  in  the  New  Testament.  The 
genius  of  Christianity  forbids  an  adherence  to 
any  form  of  ecclesiastical  order  as  essential  to 
the  existence  of  a  Church  of  Christ.  This  truth 
was  aeclared  by  Christ  at  Jacob's  well  to  the 
Samaritan  woman.  The  Jews  insisted  on  Je- 
rusalem as  the  place  where  men  ought  to  wor- 
ship. The  Samaritans  as  strenuously  maintained 
that  acceptable  worship  could  be  performed  only 
in  their  mountain. 

Christ  said,  The  hour  cometh  when  ye  shall 
neither  in  this  mountain  nor  yet  at  Jerusalem 
worship  the  Father ;  that  is,  no  place  in  prefer- 
ence to  another  shall  be  essential  to  acceptable 
worship.  God  is  a  Spirit,  and  they  that  worship 
him  need  not  reslr^Hhemselves  to  any  hallowed 
place,  but  may  womiip  him  any  where  accepta- 
bly, if  they  worship  Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 

But  if  so  great  a  change  was  allowed  as  the 
abolition  of  sacred  places,  which  once  were  es- 
sential to  acceptable  worship,  and  notwithstand- 
ing all  that  had  been  done  to  make  men  feel  that 
Jerusalem  and  the  Temple  were  the  places  to 
which  the  true  worshipers  must  of  necessity  re- 
sort, it  follows  that  no  forms,  any  more  than 
places,  are  essential  to  the  true  worship  of  God. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  63 

We  may  infer  what  form  of  Church  government 
prevailed  under  the  Apostles,  though  different 
readers  of  the  New  Testament  will  draw  difTer- 
ent  inferences.  This  shows  that  no  form  is 
prescribed  as  being  essential,  otherwise  we  should 
not  have  been  left  in  the  dark  in  so  important  a 
subject.  The  body  of  Moses  and  the  place  of 
his  sepulchre  were  hidden,  because  as  we  gen- 
erally suppose  the  Israelites  would  have  paid  an 
idolatrous  reverence  before  such  a  shrine  as  the 
tomb  of  their  illustrious  leader,  and  in  the  Jew- 
ish Church  the  solemn  farce  of  a  Holy  Sepulchre 
would  have  been  enacted,  in  anticipation  and  in 
countenance  of  the  subsequent  follies  which  have 
been  connected  with  the  Sepulchre  of  Christ. 
We  may  say  of  any  supposed  form  of  Church 
government  as  being  in  any  way  essential,  as  is 
said  of  the  body  of  Moses,  and  for  a  similar 
reason,  "  The  Lord  buried  it,"  and  "  no  man 
knoweth  of  its  sepulchre  to  this  day." 

Our  preference  for  the  Congregational  form 
of  Church  government  is  not  properly  founded 
on  any  prescriptions  in  the  New  Testament,  but 
on  our  convictions  that  this  form  is  most  accord- 
ant with  the  genius  of  Christianity  and  of  repub- 
lican institutions.  But  so  surely  as  we  insist 
on  Congregationalism  as  having  any  "  divine 
right,"   or  authority,  and  we  seek  to  propagate 


64  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT. 

Congregationalism  with  such  convictions,  we  are 
as  surely  High  Churchmen  and  Puseyites  as 
can  any  where  be  found.  To  insist  on  the  ab- 
sence of  all  forms  and  on  the  perfect  simplicity 
of  worship,  with  a  sectarian  spirit,  shows  as  great 
an  attachment  to  a  form  of  worship  as  though 
we  urged  the  adoption  of  all  the  ceremonies  of 
the  Cathedral.  We  may  be  as  bigoted  in  favor 
of  simplicity  as  of  any  thing  else,  and  a  Quaker 
and  a  Congregationalist  may  be  as  much  a  for- 
malist and  a  Churchman  as  any  other.  At  the 
same  time  we  may  believe  that  the  Congrega- 
tional form  of  government  is  nearer  to  the  Spirit 
of  the  New  Testament  than  any  other,  and  this 
is  what  Mr.  Eliot  probably  meant  when  he  said 
that  Congregationalism  was  nearest  in  his  view 
to  the  directions  of  heaven. 

The  influence  which  was  exerted  upon  the 
mind  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  which  he  exerted 
in  the  framing  of  the  Constitution,  by  observing, 
as  he  did,  an  illustration  of  democracy  in  a  Con- 
gregational Baptist  Church  in  Virginia,  is  well 
known. ^ 

We  ought  to  carry  out  the  true  Puritan  doc- 
trine of  liberty  of  conscience  by  not  despising 
any  who  choose  to  worship  under  a  different 
form  and  order  from  our  own.  It  is  an  interest- 
ing illustration  of  the  noble  spirit  in  our  Puritan 

♦  Jefferson's  "  Notes  on  Virginia." 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  65 

institutions  that  all  sects  have  liberty  here  to 
worship  God  with  any  forms  or  in  any  man- 
ner they  please ;  and  he  who  tries  to  hinder 
ihem  any  further  than  by  convincing  them,  or 
feels  sourly  towards  them  in  the  enjoyment  of 
their  liberty  of  conscience  and  religious  prefer- 
ences, has  not  yet  learned  all  that  he  may  of  the 
nature  and  spirit  of  religious  liberty.  But  if  we 
profess  to  be  in  the  true  succession  from  the  Pu- 
ritans and  Pilgrims  as  to  doctrine  and  Church 
order,  let  us  not  mix  any  of  those  things  with 
our  worship  from  which  the  Pilgrims  fled  to 
this  wilderness,  that  they  might  be  rid  of  them. 
We  can  live  peaceably  and  freely  in  the  midst 
of  such  corruptions  and  not  be  persecuted. 
They  could  not.  Let  us  not  abuse  our  liberty, 
by  turning  again  to  those  beggarly  elements  of 
human  appointments  in  Church  government  and 
worship  which  corrupt  the  religion  of  Christ. 
Let  us  not  begin  to  do  so  by  cultivating  the 
spirit  of  bigoted  attachment  to  our  simple  order 
and  forms,  for  thereby  we  as  truly  violate  the 
spirit  of  Christianity  as  though  we  insisted  on  a 
multitude  of  ceremonies  and  a  hierarchy,  as  es- 
sential to  a  Church.  He  who  says  "  No  Church 
without  simplicity  in  worship,"  and  he  who 
says,  "  No  Church  without  a  Bishop,"  are  two 
extremes  which  meet.  At  the  same  time,  we 
6# 


66  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

shall  be  the  degenerate  sons  of  men  who  made 
such  sacrifices  for  purity  in  worship  as  did  the 
Pilgrims,  unless  we  adhere  to  our  simple  and 
beautiful  mode  of  Church  g-ovcrnment  and  wor- 
ship as  preferable  to  any  other. 

The  practice  of  examining  persons  who  seek 
admission  to  the  Church,  was  much  insisted  on 
by  Mr.  Elioi.  The  relation  of  their  experience 
he  says,  "  is  an  ordinance  of  w^onderful  benefit. 
The  devil  knows  what  he  does  when  he  thrusts 
so  hard  to  get  this  custom  out  of  our  churches. 
For  my  part  I  would  say  in  this  case,  Get  thee 
behind  me  Satan  ;  thou  givest  an  horrible  ofl^ence 
to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Let  us  keep  up  this 
ordinance  with  all  gentleness  ;  and  where  we 
see  the  least  spark  of  grace  held  forth,  let  us 
prize  it  more  than  all  the  wit  in  the  world." 

Mr.  Eliot  had  six  children,  a  daughter  and 
five  sons.  The  daughter  became  exemplary  for 
her  piety  and  matronly  deportment.  His  first 
son,  John,  was  "  a  lively,  zealous,  acute  preach- 
er, not  only  to  the  English  at  New  Cambridge,^ 


*  Newion.  Dr.  Homer,  in  his  History  of  Newton  says,  "  This 
son  of  the  apostle  Eliot  was  the  first  minister  of  Newton.  His  abili- 
lies  and  occupation  in  the  ministry  are  said  to  be  pre-eminent. 
Under  the  direction  of  his  father,  he  obtained  considerable  profi- 
ciency in  the  Indian  language,  and  was  an  assistant  to  him  in  the 
missionary  employment,  until  he  settled  at  Newion.  Even  after  his 
ordination  there,  he  imitated  the  manner  of  his  father,  devoting  him- 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  67 

but  also  to  the  Indians  thereabout."  He  died 
early,  and  upon  his  death-bed  uttered  many 
remarkable  things.  The  third  child,  Joseph, 
was  pastor  of  the  Church  in  Guilford,  Conn. 
The  fourth  child,  Samuel,  was  a  candidate  for 
the  ministry,  but  died  young.  The  fifth  was 
Aaron,  who  also  died  very  young.  The  last 
was  Benjamin,  who  became  his  father's  assistant 
in  the  ministry  at  Roxbury,  but  died  before  his 
father.  Of  these  six  children,  Mr.  Eliot  said, 
"  They  are  all  EixftER  with  Christ,  or  in 
Christ." 

Mather  speaks  of  the  singular  and  surprising 
successes  of  Mr.  Eliot's  prayers  ;  '  for  they  were 
such  that  in  our  distresses  we  still  repaired  to 
him  under  that  encouragement.'  "He  is  a  pro- 
phet, and  he  shall  pray  for  thee,  and  thou  shalt 
live."  He  mentions  the  following  fact.  They 
who  are  displeased  at  David's  imprecations 
against  his  enemies,  may  see  in  it  that  a  good  man 
may  pray  for  the  destruction  of  the  incorrigibly 
wicked,  when  great  and  good  ends  will  be  accom- 
plished by  it,  leaving  it  submissively  to  the 
appointments  of  the  all-wise  God.  A  good  man 
never  ventures  to  pray  in  this  manner,  except 


self  to  the  instruction  of  the  Indians,  as  well  as  his  own  flock.  Ac- 
cordingly he  preached  statedly  once  in  a  fortnight  to  them  at  Pe- 
quiraet,  (Sloughton.)  and  sometimes  at  Natick." 


68  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

when  he  is  under  a  strong  influence,  drawing 
him  very  near  lo  God  with  lioly  freedom  and 
boldness.  At  such  times  his  feelings  are  em- 
inently pure  ;  and  it  is  in  such  times  that  good 
men  feci  impelled  to  pray  for  the  removal  of 
those  who  oppose  God,  and  hinder  others  in 
their  salvation.  No  doubt  if  there  were  more  of 
ardent  piety,  there  would  be  more  of  righteous 
indignation  against  the  obstinate  opposers  of 
religion,  and  we  should  find  ourselves  better 
able  to  understand  the  filings  and  language  of 
David,  when  praying  against  the  enemies  of  his 
throne  and  of  the  God  who  ruled  by  him. 
That  language  will  come  into  more  familiar  use 
by  the  people  of  God,  in  their  nearest  approach- 
es to  him,  as  they  go  forth  with  their  King  and 
Saviour  in  his  conflicts  with  his  enemies. 

The  fact  to  which  the  allusion  has  been  made 
was  this : 

There  was  a  pious  gentleman  of  Charlestown 
by  the  name  of  Foster,  who,  with  his  son,  M^as 
taken  prisoner  by  the  Turks.  The  news  being 
spread  in  this  vicinity,  the  good  people  offered 
up  many  prayers  for  his  deliverance.  But  it 
was  reported  that  the  prince,  within  whose  au- 
thority he  was  a  prisoner,  had  resolved  that 
during  his  reign,  no  captive  should  be  set  free. 
The  friends  and  acquaintances  of  this  man  then 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  69 

concluded  that  his  captivity  was  hopeless.  Soon 
after,  Mr.  Eliot  on  some  public  and  solemn 
occasion,  used  these  direct  and  forcible  petitions. 
*'  Heavenly  Father !  work  forth  deliverance  of 
thy  poor  servant,  Foster;  and  if  the  prince 
which  detains  him,  will  not,  as  they  say,  dismiss 
him  so  long  as  himself  lives,  Lord,  we  pray  thee 
to  kill  that  cruel  prince  ;  kill  him,  and  glorify 
thyself  upon  him."  Soon  after  the  prisoners 
returned  and  brought  news  that  in  consequence 
of  the  untimely  death  of  the  prince  they  had 
been  set  at  liberty. 

There  was  one   thing  which   seems  to  have 
pressed  very  heavily  on  the   mind  and  heart  of 
Mr.  Eliot  in  his  ministerial  office.     It  was  the 
care  of  a  Church.     "  He  looked  upon  it,"  says 
one,  "  as  a  thing  no  less  dangerous  than  impor- 
tant, and    attended  with   so    many  difficulties, 
temptations,  and  humiliations,  as  that   nothing 
but  a  call  from  the  Son  of  God  could  have  en- 
couraged him  unto  the   susception  of   it.      He 
saw  that  it  was  no  easy  thing  to  feed  the  souls 
of  such  a  people,  to  bear  their  manners  with  all 
patience,  not  being  by  any  of   their  infirmities 
discouraged  from  teaching  of  them,  and  from 
watching  and  praying  over  them,  to  value  them 
highly  as  the  flock  of  God,  which  he  hath  pur- 
chased with  his  own  blood,  notwithstanding  all 


70  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

their  miscarriages,  and  in  all  to  examine  the 
rule  of  Scripture  for  the  warrant  of  whatever 
shall  be  done,  and  to  remember  the  day  of 
judgement  wherein  an  account  must  be  given  of 
whatever  shall  be  done,  having  in  the  mean- 
time no  expectation  of  the  riches  and  grandeurs 
which  accompany  a  worldly  domination."  This 
seemed  to  be  characteristic  of  the  spirit  with 
which  Mr.  Eliot  discharged  his  duties  as  the 
pastor  of  a  Church. 

An  observation  of  Rev.  Samuel  Ward  has 
been  quoted  as  applicable  to  him  :  "  In  observing 
I  have  observed  and  found  that  divers  great 
clerks  have  had  but  little  fruit  of  their  ministry, 
but  hardly  any  truly  zealous  men  of  God,  though 
of  lesser  gifts,  but  have  had  much  comfort  of 
their  labors  in  their  own  and  bordering  parishes, 
being  in  this  likened  by  Gregory  to  the  iron  on 
the  smith's  anvil,  sparkling  round  about." 

Mather  says,  "  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was 
the  load-stone  which  gave  a  touch  to  all  the 
sermons  of  our  Eliot ;  a  glorious,  precious,  love- 
ly Christ,  was  the  point  of  heaven  to  which  they 
still  verged  unto."  It  is  said,  that  though  he 
printed  many  books  or  pamphlets,  his  heart 
seemed  to  be  in  none  of  them  so  much,  as  in 
his  '  Harmony  of  the  Gospels,  in  the  holy  History 
of  Jesus  Christ.'     It  was    a  standing  piece  of 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  71 

advice  with  him  to  young  ministers,  *'  Pray  let 
there  be  much  of  Christ  in  your  ministry."  On 
hearing  a  sermon  in  which  the  Saviour  had  been 
made  prominent,  he  would  say,  O,  blessed  be 
God,  that  we  hear  Christ  so  much  and  so  well 
preached  in  poor  New  England. 

On  coming  out  of  the  meeting-house  where  he 
had  been  listening  to  a  sermon,  he  said  to  the 
preacher,  "  Brother,  there  was  oil  required  for 
the  service  of  the  sanctuary ;  but  it  must  be 
beaten  oil ;  I  praise  God  that  I  saw  your  oil  so 
well  beaten  to-day  ;  the  Lord  help  us  always  by 
good  study  to  beat  our  oil  that  there  may  be  no 
knots  in  our  sermons  left  undissolved,  and  that 
there  may  a  clear  light  be  thereby  given  in  the 
house  of  God."  Still  it  is  observed  that  he  looked 
for  something  more  than  mere  study  in  a  ser- 
mon ;  he  required  those  things  in  it  which 
would  make  the  hearer  feel  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
was  in  the  sermon  and  with  the  preacher,  and  he 
was  once  heard  to  complain,  "It  is  a  sad  thing 
when  a  sermon  shall  have  that  one  thing,  The 
Spirit  of  God,  wanting  in  it." 

He  had  eminently  spiritual  views  of  the  duty 
and  privilege  of  infant  baptism.  On  giving  the 
Rev.  Cotton  Mather  the  Right  Hand  of  Fellow- 
ship at  his  ordination,  he  said  to  him,  "  Brother, 
art   thou   a   lover  of  the    Lord   Jesus  Christ  ? 


72  LIFE      OF     JOHN     ELIOT. 

Then  I  pray,  feed  his  lambs."  He  was  careful 
to  have  the  lambs  pass  under  the  "  Lord's 
tything  rod."  One  Mr.  Norcott,  a  truly  pious 
man,  published  a  book  against  the  baptism  of 
infants,  which  being  circulated  in  Boston  and 
the  vicinity,  Mr.  Eliot  answered  it  in  a  brief  pub- 
lication, beginning  with  these  words  :  "  The 
book  speaks  with  the  voice  of  a  lamb,  and  I 
think  the  author  is  a  godly  though  erring  bro- 
ther ;  but  he  acts  the  cause  of  a  roaring  lion, 
who  by  all  crafty  ways,  seeketh  to  devour  the 
poor  lambs  of  the  flock  of  Christ."  He  then 
speaks  "  in  the  behalf  of  those  who  cannot 
speak  for  themselves." 

On  one  occasion,  speaking  of  the  Saviour's 
directions  to  Peter,  John  21  :  15,  he  observed. 
That  the  care  of  the  lavibs  is  one  third  'part  of 
the  charge  over  the  house  of  God. 

The  title  of  one  of  Mr.  Eliot's  publications, 
"  The  Divine  Management  of  Gospel  Churches, 
by  the  Ordinance  of  Councils,  constituted  in 
order  according  to  the  Scriptures,  which  may 
be  a  means  of  uniting  those  two  holy  and  emi- 
nent parties,  the  Presbyterians  and  the  Congre- 
gational," shows  that  a  plan  of  union  between 
these  two  sister  denominations  is  not  wholly  of 
modern  origin. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  73 

But  reserving  many  things  respecting  Mr. 
Eliot's  character  and  opinions  for  another  place 
in  this  book,  let  us  now  look  at  him  in  that  re- 
markable work  to  which  God  appointed  him 
among  the  Indians  of  this  vicinity. 


VOL.  m. 


74  LIFE      OF      JOHN     ELIOT 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Nonantum.  Mather's  description  of  the  natives.  The  Lost  Tribes 
of  Israel.  Specimen  of  Indian  words.  Eliot's  first  religious  exer- 
cise at  Nonantum.  Indian  Questions.  Second  visit  to  the  Indians. 
Indian  Questions.  Eliot's  reflections  on  his  interviews.  Anecdotes. 

The  old  turnpike  road  to  "Worcester,  in  Bright- 
on, leaves  Nonantum  hill  on  the  left,  and  a 
private  road  conducts  to  the  summit  of  the 
hill  which  is  crowned  by  two  mansions."^  The 
scenery  from  that  hill  has  a  rare  combination  of 
still  life  and  of  the  busy  world.  The  Charles  Riv- 
er, seen  from  a  distant  part  of  the  hill,  meanders 
to  the  sea  ;  the  quiet,  classic  scenes  of  Cambridge 
are  before  the  eye  ;  soft  undulations  of  hill  and 
dale,  winding  roads  and  aboriginal  woods,  and 
the  quiet  waters  of  the  estuary,  impress  the 
mind  with  sensations  of  repose  which  are  pleas- 
antly broken  by  the  distant  noise  of  travel  upon 
the  bridges,  the  sudden  whistle  of  the  locomo- 
tive, and  an  impressive  view  of  the  neighboring 
city.  That  hill,  extending  as  far  as  Watertown, 
and  Newton,  was  once  the  favorite  residence  of 


♦  Now  owned  and  occupied  by  Warren  Dutton  and  Horace  Gray, 
Eaqrs. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  75 

the  Indians,  in  this  vicinity,"^  and  thither  Eliot, 
the  pastor  of  the  neighboring  Church  in  Kox- 
bury,  directed  his  way,  to  give  the  Indians  the 
word  and  ordinances  of  the  Gospel  in  their  own 
language. 

Cotton  Mather  says,  "  The  natives  of  the 
country  now  possessed  by  the  New  Englanders, 
had  been  forlorn  and  wretched  heathen  ever 
since  their  first  herding  here ;  and  though  we 
know  not  how  these  Indians  first  became  inhab- 
itants of  this  mighty  continent,  yet  we  may 
guess  that  probably  the  devil  decoyed  these 
miserable  savages  hither,  in  hopes  that  the  gos- 
pel of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  would 
never  come  here  to  destroy  or  disturb  his  abso- 
lute empire  over  them.  But  our  Eliot  was  in 
such  ill-terms  with  the  devil,  as  to  alarm  him  by 
sounding  the  silver  trumpets  of  heaven  in  his 
territories,  and  make  some  noble  and  zealous 
attempt  towards, ousting  him  of  his  ancient  pos- 
sessions here.       There   were,  I  think,    twenty 


*  "The  first  place  he  began  to  preach  at  was  Nonantum,  near 
Walertown,  upon  the  south  side  of  Charles  River,  about  four  or  five 
miles  from  his  own  house  ;  where  lived  at  that  time,  Wabon,  one  of 
their  principal  men,  and  some  Indians  with  him."  Gookin,  Mass. 
Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  for  1792,  Vol.  I. 

"  The  place  where  Eliot  first  began  to  preach  to  the  Indians,  was 
at  Nonantum,  a  hill  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Newton,  nearly  where 
Messrs.  Haven's  and  Wiggin's  houses  now  stand."  Moore's  Lif 
of  Eliot. 


76  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

several  nations,  if  I  may  call  them  so,  of  Indians, 
upon  that  spot  of  g^round  which  fell  under  the 
influence  of  our  Three  United  Colonies  ;  and 
our  Eliot  was  willing  to  rescue  as  many  of 
them  as  he  could  from  that  old  usurping  land- 
lord of  America,  who  is,  by  the  wrath  of  God, 
the  prince  of  this  world. "^ 

Some  of  the  interest  and  zeal  which  many  of 
the  first  planters  and  their  successors  felt  with 
regard  to  the  Indians,  was  owing  to  their  belief 
that  they  were  the  Ten  Tribes  of  Israel.  Cotton 
Mather  enumerates  "  some  small  reasons,"  as  he 
calls  them,  which  led  the  English  to  suspect 
that  they  might  be  Israelites.  He  adds,  "  They 
have,  too,  a  great  unkindness  for  our  swine;" — 
but  he  does  not  seem  to  place  much  reliance  on 
that  coincidence  with  the  Jewish  antipathy  to 
swine,  for  he  adds,  "but  I  suppose  that  is  be- 
cause our  swine  devour  their  clams,  which  are 
a  great  dainty  with  them." 

This  supposition  that  the  North  American  In- 
dians are  the  Ten  Tribes  of  Israel,  has  seemed 
even  more  probable  to  many  modern  writers 
than  it  did  to  the  first  settlers  of  the  country. 
Mr.  Catlin,  in  his  interesting  and  valuable  work 
on  the  North  American  Indians,  mentions  many 
curious   facts   in  the  history,  manners  and  cus- 

♦  Mag.  Book  III.,  Part  IV.    See  Appendix,  C. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  77 

toms  of  the  present  race  of  red  men,  in  favor  of 
this  supposition.  But  there  are  so  many  theo- 
ries on  the  subject  of  the  Lost  Tribes  of  Israel, 
and  it  is  so  easy  for  an  ingenious  mind  to  dis- 
cover or  invent  resemblances,  that  neither  this 
theory  nor  any  other  on  the  same  subject  has 
ever  obtained  general  belief. 

It  was  to  a  people  of  rude  speech  and  fierce 
countenance  that  Mr.  Eliot  endeavored  to  give  a 
knowledge  of  the  Gospel  and  the  institutions  of 
civilized  life.  His  first  labor  of  course  was  to 
acquire  their  language.  It  was  the  language  of 
the  Massachusetts  Indians  to  which  he  applied 
himself.  He  found  an  old  Indian  who  could 
speak  English,  took  him  into  his  family,  and  by 
finding  out  one  Avord,  and  expression,  and  sen- 
tence after  another,  he  soon  was  able  to  converse 
in  that  tongue,  and  finally  understood  it  so  well 
that  he  reduced  it  to  rules,  and  made  an  Indian 
grammar.  One  glance  at  this  language  will 
show  that  it  must  have  been  no  easy  task  for  a 
stranger  to  learn  it  well  enough  to  converse  in 
it.  Some  of  the  words  are  of  enormous  length, 
one  of  them  sometimes  filling  a  whole  line. 
The  word  for  "our  loves,"  is  noowoomantam- 
moorkanunornash.  "  Our  question"  is  Kum- 
mogkodonnattootummooetiteaongannunnarash. 

"  One  would  think,"  says  Mather,  "  that  these 
7# 


78  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT 

words  had  been  growing  ever  since  Babel  unto 
the  dimensions  to  which  they  are  now  extended." 
Another  remark  of  his  on  this  subject,  though  it 
may  seem  to  us  to  be  somewhat  in  a  trifling 
mood,  was  undoubtedly  written  with  sober  feel- 
ings, considering  the  prevalent  superstitions  of 
those  times — superstitions  with  regard  to  which 
we  greatly  err  if  we  suppose  them  to  have  been,  in 
those  times,  peculiar  to  America. "^  "I  know  not," 
this  writer  adds,  "  what  thoughts  it  will  produce 
in  my  reader,  when  I  inform  him  that  once  finding 
that  the  demons  in  a  possessed  young  woman 
understood  the  Latin  and  Greek  and  Hebrew 
languages,  my  curiosity  led  me  to  make  trial  of 
this  Indian  language,  and  the  demons  did  seem 
as  if  they  did  not  understand  it." 

The  reason  of  the  great  length  of  these  Indian 
words  is  understood  to  be,  that  instead  of  having 
separate  words  for  pronouns  and  adjectives,  the 
noun  or  verb  expresses  them  by  adding  syllables 
to  itself.  Mather,  who  was  ready  at  anagrams 
and  puns,  says  that  the  name  Eliot  read  back- 
wards, is  t  o  i  I  E,  and  he  thinks  that  the  name 
corresponds  well  with  the  toil  of  reducing  such 
a  language  to  a  grammar.  At  the  close  of  his 
Grammar  Eliot  wrote   these  words :   "  Prayers 

*  He  who  thinks  that  a  belief  ia  witchcraft,  &c.,  was  a  peculiarity 
of  New  England,  should  look  into  Strype's  Ecclesiaatical  Memorials. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN     ELIOT.  79 


and  pains  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,  will  do 
any  thing." 

We  have  from  Eliot's  own  pen  a  narrative, 
called  *'  A  true  relation  of  our  beginnings  with 
the  Indians."  It  was  published  in  London,  in 
1647,  under  this  title,  "  The  Day  breaking,  if  not 
the  Sun-rising,  of  the  Gospel,  with  the  Indians 
in  New  England." 

In  October,  1646,  Eliot,  with  a  few  others, 
having  sought  the  blessing  of  God,  went  to  No- 
nantum,  for  the  purpose,  as  he  says,  of  making 
known  to  the  Indians  the  things  of  their  peace. 
As  they  approached  the  wigwams,  five  or  six  of 
the  Chiefs  met  them  with  English  salutations 
and  bid  them  welcome.  The  principal  wigwam 
had  been  previously  prepared  for  the  meeting, 
and  many  of  the  Indians  were  assembled.  Eliot 
and  his  companions  then  began  with  prayer  in 
the  English  language,  not  being  sufficiently  ac- 
quainted with  the  Indian  tongue  to  make  suita- 
ble religious  impressions  at  first  with  it  upon  the 
minds  of  the  Indians,  and  besides  they  wished 
to  Jet  the  Indians  see  that  they  felt  the  duty  in 
hand  to  be  serious  and  sacred,  and  they  had  a 
desire,  moreover,  as  missionaries  to  offer  up  a 
united  supplication  to  God,  "  with  the  same  re- 
quest and  heart  sorrowes,"  in  that  place  where 
God  was  never  wont  to  be  called  upon. 


80  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

It  Tvas  an  aflfecting  sight,  as  we  may  suppose, 
to  Eliot  and  his  friends,  when  they  ceased  from 
prayer  and  looked  upon  the  company  of  Indians 
sitting  in  silence,  with  a  mixture  of  curiosity 
and  seriousness  and  wildness  in  their  faces.  To 
such  an  audience  Eliot  preached  in  the  Indian 
tongue  from  Ezekiel  37  :  9.  "  Prophesy,  son 
of  man,  and  say  to  the  wind.  Thus  saith  the 
Lord,  Come  from  the  four  winds,  O  breath,  and 
breathe  upon  these  slain  that  they  may  live." 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  name  of  the  man^ 
in  whose  wigwam  they  were  assembled  was 
Waban,  and  Waban  is  the  Indian  name  for  the 
wind,  so  that  it  seemed  to  Waban  that  the  mes- 
sage was  sent  to  him,  and  it  proved  a  means  in 
his  conversion.  The  text  from  which  Mr.  Eliot 
preached  on  this  occasion,  was  not  one  which 
his  hearers  could  at  first  understand,  and  there- 
fore some  have  expressed  surprise  at  the  selec- 
tion of  it.  But  in  reply  to  this,  it  may  be  asked, 
what  passage  of  the  Word  of  God  would  have 
been  immediately  intelligible  to  those  ignorant 
hearers  ?  Besides,  the  text  seems  to  have  been 
chosen  by  Mr.  Eliot  for  a  purpose  which  is  cer- 
tainly  proper  on  special  occasions,  viz  ,  as  a 
warrant  and  encourairement  to  his  own  soul  and 


*  He  waa  not  a  Sachem,  as  frequenlly  slated.    See  Mass.  Hist., 
Col.  IV.,  19. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  81 

that  of  his  helpers,  in  preaching  in  that  valley 
of  dry  bones.  Yet,  after  suitable  religious  im- 
pressions had  been  made,  and  the  hearers  had 
felt  their  lost  and  wretched  state,  and  their  need 
of  divine  power,  in  reflecting  upon  the  text  it 
must  have  seemed  to  the  hearers  peculiarly  ap- 
propriate to  the  occasion  and  to  their  condition. 

An  hour  and  a  quarter  was  occupied  in  the 
discourse.  Mr.  Eliot  gave  the  Indians  first  a 
brief  exposition  of  the  ten  commandments,  show- 
ing the  wrath  and  curse  of  God  against  those 
who  break  the  least  one  of  them.  The  subject 
was  then  applied,  and  the  law  having  been 
brought  to  do  its  work  in  their  hearts,  and  their 
sins  being  pointed  out  to  them,  as  Mr.  Eliot 
says,  with  much  sweet  affection,  Jesus  Christ 
was  preached  to  them  as  the  only  Saviour.  He 
told  them  who  Christ  was,  and  what  he  did,  and 
whither  he  had  gone,  and  how  he  will  come 
again  to  judge  the  wicked  and  burn  the  world. 
The  creation  and  fall  of  man,  the  greatness  of 
God,  heaven  and  hell,  the  pleasures  of  religion 
and  the  miseries  of  sin  were  then  explained  in 
language  and  with  illustrations  suited  to  their 
capacity. 

The  sermon  being  finished,  Mr.  Eliot  pro- 
posed some  questions  to  them,  and  first  inquired 
whether  they  understood  what  had  been  said, 


82  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

and  whether  all  or  only  some  of  them  understood 
it  ?  A  multitude  of  voices  exclaimed  that  they 
all  understood  every  thing  which  had  been  spo- 
ken. Leave  w^as  then  granted  them  to  put 
questions,  and  it  is  interesting  to  notice  the  first 
questions  which  these  children  of  the  wilderness 
proposed.     The  first  questions  were, 

•'  WTiat  is  the  cause  of  thunder  ?" 

"  What  makes  the  sea  ebb  and  flow  ?" 

"  What  makes  the  wind  blow  ?" 

Bat  there  were  some  questions  proposed  by 
them  which  Mr.  Eliot  says  some  special  wisdom 
of  God  directed  them  to  ask,  as,  for  example, 

Hovj  may  we  come  to  knmo  Jesus  Christ  ? 

Mr.  Eliot  told  them  that  if  they  could  read 
the  Bible  they  would  see  clearly  who  Jesus 
Christ  is,  but  inasmuch  as  they  could  not  then 
read,  he  desired  them  to  remember  what  he  had 
told  them  out  of  the  Bible,  and  to  think  much 
and  often  upon  it,  when  they  lay  down  on  their 
mats  in  their  wigwams  and  when  they  rose  up, 
and  to  go  alone  in  the  fields,  and  woods,  and 
muse  on  it,  and  so  God  would  teach  them. 

He  told  them  that  if  they  would  have  help 
from  God  in  this  thing,  they  must  begin  to  pray, 
and  though  they  could  not  make  long  prayers  as 
the  English  did,  yet  if  they  did  but  sigh  and 
groan,  saying,  "  Lord,  mal^e  me  to  know  Jesus 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  S3 

Christ  for  I  know  him  not,"  and  if  with  all  their 
hearts  they  persisted  in  such  prayers,  they  might 
hope  that  God  would  help  them.  But  they  were 
especially  to  remember  that  they  must  confess 
their  sins  and  ignorance  to  God  and  mourn  over 
them  and  acknowledge  how  just  it  would  be  in 
God  to  withhold  from  them  any  knowledge  of 
Christ,  on  account  of  their  sins. 

This  instruction  was  communicated  to  them 
by  Mr.  Eliot  through  the  Indian  interpreter 
whom  he  had  brought  with  him,  but  he  says  he 
was  struck  with  the  fact  that  a  few  words  from 
the  Preacher  had  much  greater  effect  than  many 
from  the  interpreter. 

One  of  them  asked,  whether  Englishmen  were 
ever  at  any  time  so  ignorant  of  God  and  Jesus 
Christ  as  they  themselves  ? 

Another  put  this  question :  Whether  if  the 
father  be  naught  and  the  child  good,  will  God  be 
offended  with  that  child  ?  because  in  the  second 
commandment  it  is  said  that  he  visits  the  sins 
of  the  fathers  upon  the  children. 

They  were  told  in  reply  to  this  that  every 
child  who  is  good  will  not  be  punished  for  the 
sins  of  his  father,  but  if  the  child  be  bad,  God 
would  then  visit  his  father's  sins  upon  him,  and 
they  were  bid  to  notice  that  part  of  the  second 
commandment  which  contains  a  promise  to  the 


84  LIFE^OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

thousands  of  them  that  love  God  and  keep  his 
commandments. 

One  of  them  asked,  How  is  all  the  world  now 
become  so  full  of  people,  if  they  were  all  once 
drowned  in  the  flood  ?  This  led  to  the  story  of 
the  ark  and  the  preservation  of  Noah. 

Mr.  Eliot  then  proposed  some  questions  to 
them,  for  example,  Whether  they  did  not  desire 
to  see  God,  and  were  not  tempted  to  think  there 
is  no  God  because  they  could  not  see  him  ? 

Some  of  them  answered,  They  did  desire  to 
see  Him  if  it  could  be,  but  they  had  heard  from 
Mr.  Eliot  that  he  could  not  be  seen,  and  they 
did  believe  that  though  their  eyes  could  not  see 
him,  he  was  to  be  seen  with  their  soul  within. 

Mr.  Eliot  endeavored  to  confirm  them  in  this 
impression,  and  asked  them  if  they  saw  a  great 
wigwam  or  a  great  house,  would  they  think  that 
racoons  or  foxes  built  it?  or  would  the^  think 
that  it  made  itself?  or  that  no  wise  builder  made 
it,  because  they  could  not  see  him  who  made  it  ? 

Knowing  that  the  doctrine  of  one  God  was  a 
great  stumbling  block  to  them,  Mr.  Eliot  asked 
them  if  they  did  not  think  it  strange  that  there 
should  be  but  one  God,  and  yet  this  God  be  in 
Massachusetts,  and  in  Connecticut,  in  Old  Eng- 
land, in  this  wigwam,  and  the  next,  and  every 
where  at  the  same  time  ? 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  85 

One  of  the  most  sober  of  them  replied  that  it 
was  indeed  strange,  as  every  thing  else  they  had 
heard  preached  was  strange,  and  they  were 
wonderful  things  which  they  never  heard  of  be- 
fore, but  yet  they  thought  "  it  might  be  true,  and 
that  God  was  so  big  every  where."  Mr.  Eliot 
illustrated  the  truth  by  the  light  of  the  sun, 
which,  though  it  was  but  a  creature  of  God,  shed 
its  light  into  that  wigwam,  and  the  next,  in  Mas- 
sachusetts and  Old  England,  at  once. 

He  inquired  of  them  if  they  did  not  find  some- 
thing troubling  them  within  after  the  commission 
of  murder,  theft,  adultery,  lying;  and  what  would 
comfort  them,  and  remove  that  trouble  of  con- 
science when  they  should  die  and  appear  before 
God? 

They  replied  that  they  were  thus  troubled, 
but  they  could  not  tell  what  they  should  say 
about  it,  or  what  would  remove  this  trouble  of 
mind,  whereupon  Mr.  Eliot  enlarged  upon  the 
evil  of  sin  and  the  condition  of  the  soul  which  is 
cast  out  of  the  favor  of  God. 

Having  spent  three  hours  in  this  interview, 
Mr.  Eliot  asked  them  if  they  were  not  weary, 
and  they  said,  no.  But  thinking  it  best  to  leave 
them  with  an  appetite,  Mr.  Eliot  concluded 
the  meeting  with  prayer,  but  before  he  departed 
the  principal  Indian  expressed  a  desire  for  more 

VOL.    III.  8 


86  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

land  to  build  a  Town  upon,  and  Mr.  Eliot  prom- 
ised to  speak  for  them  to  the  General  Court, 
"  that  they  might  possess  all  the  compass  of  that 
hill  upon  which  their  wigwams  then  stood." 

In  the  second  visit  which  Mr.  Eliot  made  to 
the  Indians  at  Nonantum,  he  began  to  catechise 
the  younger  children.  He  framed  three  ques- 
tions only,  that  their  memories  might  not  be 
overloaded.  The  questions  and  answers  were 
these  : 

1.  Who  made  you  and  all  the  world.  Ans. 
God. 

2.  Who  do  you  think  should  save  you  and 
redeem  you  from  sin  and  hell  ?  Ans.  Jesus 
Christ. 

3.  How  many  commandments  hath  God  giv- 
en you  to  keep.     Ans.     Ten. 

By  the  time  that  the  questions  reached  the 
smaller  children,  they  had  learned  the  answers 
perfectly,  from  hearing  the  others  repeat  them, 
and  the  parents  had  become  familiar  with  them, 
and  they  were  requested  to  use  this  Shorter 
Catechism  of  three  questions,  in  teaching  their 
children,  against  the  next  visit. 

The  substance  of  Mr.  Eliot's  address  to  the 
Indians  on  this  occasion  was  this  :  "  We  are 
come  to  bring  you  good  news  from  the  great 
God  Almighty,  Maker  of  Heaven  and  earth,  and 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  87 

to  tell  you  how  evil  and  wicked  men  may  come 
to  be  g^ood,  so  that  while  they  live  they  may  be 
happy,  and  when  they  die  may  go  to  God  and 
live  in  heaven." 

He  then  endeavored  to  give  them  just  impres- 
sions concerning  God,  his  power,  greatness,  and 
goodness,  his  will,  what  he  required  of  all  men, 
even  of  the  Indians,  in  the  ten  commandments, 
the  dreadful  punishment  of  all  who  break  one  of 
these  commandments,  the  anger  of  God  at  sin, 
and  yet  his  compassion  for  sinners  in  sending 
Christ  to  die  for  wicked  men.  He  taught  them 
that  if  they  would  repent  and  believe,  God  would 
love  the  poor  miserable  Indians,  but  that  the 
wrath  of  God  would  burn  against  all  who  neg- 
lected so  great  salvation  as  was  now  offered  to 
them  by  those  whose  only  desire  was  their  sal- 
vation. 

The  power  of  these  words  was  manifestly  felt 
by  one  of  the  Indians,  who  at  the  thought  of  his 
sins  and  of  the  danger  to  which  they  exposed 
him,  wept  aloud,  yet  without  affectation,  but 
striving  to  conceal  his  emotions. 

Perhaps  in  no  way  can  we  communicate  re- 
ligious instruction  in  a  more  simple  and  effectual 
way  to  the  young  who  may  read  this  book,  than 
to  record  here  the  questions  and  answers  which 
Mr.   Eliot  has  preserved  in   his   several  inter- 


88  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

views  with  the  Indians.  Other  writers  who 
lived  at  that  time  have  also  recorded  questions 
and  answers  which  they  heard.  But  it  will  not 
be  necessary  to  state  the  limes,  or  places,  or  the 
hand  by  which  they  were  recorded. 

An  old  man  rose  up  after  Mr,  Eliot  had  fin- 
ished his  sermon,  and  asked  whether  it  was  not 
too  late  for  such  an  old  man  as  he,  who  was 
near  death,  to  repent  or  seek  after  God. 

This  question  aflfected  Mr.  Eliot  and  his  com- 
panions with  compassion.  They  told  him  what 
is  said  in  the  Bible  about  those  who  were  hired 
at  the  eleventh  hour,  and  drew  a  parallel  to 
his  case  by  describing  a  son  who  had  for  very 
many  years  been  disobedient,  and  afterwards 
penitent,  and  the  feelings  of  his  father  towards 
him. 

Question.  How  came  the  English  to  differ 
so  much  from  the  Indians  in  the  knowledge  of 
God  and  Jesus  Christ,  seeing  they  all  had  at 
first  one  father  ? 

Question.     How  may  we  come  to  serve  God  ? 

Question.  How  comes  it  to  pass  that  the  sea 
water  is  salt  and  the  land  water  fresh  ? 

Answer.  This  is  one  of  the  wonderful  works 
of  God.  As  strawberries  are  sweet  and  cran- 
berries sour,  by  the  appointment  of  God,  so  was 
it  in   this  case.     To  this  was  added  some  ac- 


LIFE      OF      JOHN     ELIOT.  89 

count  of  natural  causes  and  effects  in  connection 
with  this  subject,  •'  which  they  less  understood, 
yet  did  understand  somewhat,  as  appeared  by 
their  usual  signs  of  approving  what  they  under- 
stand." 

Question.  If  the  water  is  higher  than  the 
earth,  how  comes  it  to  pass  that  it  doth  not  over- 
flow all  the  earth  ? 

The  missionary  took  an  apple  and  illustrated 
the  shape  of  the  earth,  the  motion  on  its  axis, 
and  round  the  sun  ;  then  showed  them  how  God 
made  a  great  hollow  ditch  for  the  waters,  which 
was  so  deep  as  to  hold  the  waters  by  the  attrac- 
tion of  gravitation,  so  that  notwithstanding  their 
convexity,  they  could  not  overflow  the  earth. 

During  a  recess  in  this  interview,  the  Indians 
were  busily  employed  in  discussing  these  several 
subjects  among  themselves,  their  minds  being 
evidently  excited  by  them,  through  the  effect  of 
new  ideas  upon  subjects  which  were  new  or  had 
always  been  incomprehensible  to  them.  Being 
afterwards  asked  if  they  wished  to  propose  any 
further  questions,  one  asked, 

If  a  man  has  committed  some  great  sins,  (sto- 
len goods,  &c.,)  and  the  Sachem  does  not  punish 
him,  and  he  is  not  punished,  but  he  restores  the 
goods,  what  then  ?  is  not  all  well  now  ?  meaning 
8=^ 


90  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

to  ask  whether  restoration  made  sufficient  amends 
to  the  law  of  God. 

He  was  told  that  though  men  be  not  offended 
at  such  sins,  yet  God  is  angry.  The  holiness  of 
God  was  here  illustrated.  Such  a  sinner  should 
seek  forgiveness  as  much  as  any  other  sinner 
through  the  blood  of  Christ. 

Upon  hearing  this  answer,  the  Indian  who 
proposed  the  question  drew  back  and  hung  down 
his  head,  with  an  appearance  of  great  sorrow 
and  confusion,  and  finally  broke  out  saying, 
*'  Me  little  know  Jesus  Christ,  or  me  should  seek 
hitn  better."  Mr.  Eliot  comforted  him  by  tell- 
ing him  that  as  it  is  early  dawn  at  first  when 
there  is  but  little  light,  but  the  sun  rises  to  per- 
fect day,  so  it  would  be  with  him  and  his  people 
with  regard  to  a  knowledge  of  the  favor  of  God 
if  they  would  seek  Him. 

One  of  the  Indians  who  had  received  religious 
impressions  in  his  acquaintance  with  the  colo- 
nists, said  he  would  propose  this  question.  A 
little  while  since  he  said  he  was  praying  in  his 
wigwam  to  God  and  Jesus  Christ,  that  God 
would  give  him  a  good  heart;  that  in  his  prayer 
another  Indian  interrupted  him  and  told  him 
that  he  prayed  in  vain,  because  that  Jesus  Christ 
could  not  understand  what  Indians  speak  in 
prayer ;  he  had  been  used  to  hear  Englishmen 


LIFE      OF     JOHN     ELIOT.  91 

pray,  and  so  could  well  enough  understand  tlicni, 
but  Indian  language  in  prayer  he  was  not  ac- 
quainted with.  His  question  therefore  was, 
*'  Whether  God  and  Jesus  Christ  did  understand 
Indian  prayers  ?" 

At  the  close  of  one  interview,  Mr.  Eliot  prayed 
for  above  fifteen  minutes  in  the  Indian  tongue, 
that  they  might  feel  that  Christ  understood  such 
prayers.  The  Indians  stood  about  him  in  gro- 
tesque figures,  some  of  them  lifting  up  their  eyes 
and  their  hands  to  accompany  the  prayer,  and 
one  of  them  holding  a  rag  to  his  eyes  and  weep- 
ing violently,  and  after  prayer  retiring  to  a  cor- 
ner of  the  wigwam  to  weep  in  secret ;  which 
one  of  Mr.  Eliot's  companions  observed  and 
spoke  with  him,  and  found  him  to  be  deeply 
affected  with  a  sense  of  his  guilt. 

Mr.  Eliot  makes  several  useful  observations 
in  view  of  his  first  two  visits  to  the  Indians. 

1.  None  of  them  slept  in  sermon  or  derided 
God's  messenger. 

2.  That  there  is  need  of  learning  in  minis- 
ters who  preach  to  Indians  more  than  to  gracious 
Christians,  in  order  to  answer  their  philosophical 
questions. 

3.  That  there  is  no  need  of  miraculous  or 
extraordinary  gifts  in  seeking  the  conversion  of 
the  most  depraved  of  the  human  family. 


92  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

4.  If  Englishmen  despise  the  preaching-  of 
faith  and  repentance  and  humiliation  for  sin,  the 
poor  heathens  will  be  glad  of  it,  and  it  shall  do 
good  to  them. 

He  adds  to  this,  The  Lord  grant  that  the 
foundation  of  our  English  woe  be  not  laid  in  the 
ruin  and  contempt  of  those  fundamental  doc- 
trines of  faith,  repentance,  humiliation  for  sin, 
but  rather  relishing  the  novelties  and  dreams  of 
such  men  as  are  surfeited  with  the  ordinary 
food  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Indians  shall 
weep  to  have  faith  and  repentance  preached, 
when  Englishmen  shall  mourn,  too  late,  that  are 
weary  of  such  truths. 

5.  That  the  deepest  estrangement  of  man 
from  God  is  no  hindrance  to  his  grace,  nor  to 
the  Spirit  of  grace.  What  nation  or  people 
ever  so  deeply  degenerated  since  Adam's  fall, 
as  these  Indians,  and  yet  the  Spirit  of  God  is 
working  upon  them. 

"  It  is  very  likely  if  ever  the  Lord  convert  any 
of  these  natives,  they  will  mourn  for  sin  exceed- 
ingly, and  consequently  love  Christ  dearly  ;  for 
if  by  a  little  measure  of  light  such  heart-break- 
ings have  appeared,  what  may  we  think  will  be 
when  more  is  let  in  ?" 

"  They  are  some  of  them  very  wicked,  some 
very  ingenious.     These  latter  are  very  apt  and 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  93 

quick  of  understanding-,  and  naturally  sad  and 
melancholy,  (a  good  servant  to  repentance)  and 
therefore  there  is  the  greater  hope  of  heart- 
breakings  if  ever  God  brings  them  effectually 
home,  for  which  we  should  affectionately  pray." 

Mr.  Eliot  says,  "  It  is  wonderful  to  see  what 
a  little  leaven  and  that  small  mustard-seed  of 
the  Gospel  will  do,  and  how  truth  will  work 
when  the  spirit  of  Christ  hath  the  setting  of  it 
on,  even  upon  hearts  and  spirits  most  incapable." 
The  night  after  the  Indians  had  heard  the  Gos- 
pel preached  for  the  third  time,  an  English 
youth  lodged  in  Waban's  tent.  He  said  that 
"VVaban  instructed  his  companions  with  regard 
to  the  things  which  they  had  heard  that  day, 
and  prayed  with  them,  and  that  he  awoke  sev- 
eral times  that  night  and  began  to  pray  and 
speak  to  one  and  another  of  the  Indians  of  the 
things  which  they  had  heard.  Mr.  E.  says. 
This  man,  being  a  man  of  gravity  and  chief 
prudence,  a  counsel  among  them,  although  no 
Sachem,  is  like  to  be  a  means  of  great  good  to  the 
rest  of  his  company,  unless  cowardice  or  witch- 
ery put  an  end,  as  usually  they  have  done,  to 
such  hopeful  beginnings. 

Two  young  Indians  being  at  an  Elder's  house 
one  Sabbath  evening,  having  been  previously 
affected   under   Mr.    Eliot's   preaching,  one  of 


94  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

them  began  to  confess  to  the  elder  how  wicked 
he  had  been,  and  declared  that  God  could  never 
look  upon  him  with  love.  The  elder  opened  to 
him  in  a  familiar  manner  the  truth  of  God's 
love  to  the  G:uihy,  his  willingness  to  pardon  the 
vilest  through  the  redemption  made  by  Christ,  and 
illustrated  his  instructions  by  the  discourse  of 
Christ  to  the  Samaritan  woman  at  Jacob's  well, 
and  how  Christ  forgave  her  though  she  was  liv- 
ing in  sin  at  the  moment  when  he  began  to 
speak  to  her.  Whereupon  the  young  man  be- 
gan to  weep  bitterly,  and  the  other  youth,  his 
companion,  disclosing  his  own  guilt,  burst  out 
into  loud  weeping  in  which  they  both  continued 
for  half  an  hour. 

An  old  man  told  Mr.  Eliot  at  one  of  the  meet- 
ings that  he  was  fully  purposed  to  keep  the 
Sabbath,  but  still  he  was  in  fear  whether  he 
should  go  to  heaven  or  hell.  This  was  a  case 
in  which  reliance  on  good  works  gave  as  usual 
no  peace  to  the  conscience.  It  led  Mr.  Eliot  to 
speak  fully  of  the  way  of  justification  by  Christ 
without  works,  "  as  the  remedy  against  all  fears 
of  hell." 

Mr.  Eliot  was  interested  in  the  fact  that  some 
of  the  Indians  who  seemed  to  receive  the  Gos- 
pel most  readily,  and  feel  its  power,  were  able 
to  use  "gracious  expressions,"  as  he  calls  them, 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  95 

which  he  was  confident  they  had  not  heard 
from  him,  nor  from  his  assistants.  He  gives  a 
specimen  of  them  with  the  corresponding  Indian 
words : 

Amanaomen   Jehovah      tahassen     metagh. 
Take  away,      Lord,         my  stony      heart, 

Checheson  Jehovah  kekowhogkovv. 
Wash,         Lord,         my  soul. 

"  What  are  these," he  says,  "but  the  sprinklings 
of  the  spirit  and  blood  of  Christ  Jesus  on  their 
hearts  ?  and  'tis  no  small  matter  that  such  dry, 
barren,  and  long  accursed  ground  should  yield 
such  kind  of  increase  in  so  small  a  time.  I 
would  not  readily  commend  a  fair  day  before 
night,  nor  promise  much  of  such  kind  of  begin- 
nings, in  all  persons,  nor  yet  in  all  of  these,  for 
we  know  how  the  profession  of  many  is  but  a 
mere  paint,  and  their  best  graces  nothing  but 
mere  flashes  and  pangs  which  are  suddenly  kin- 
dled, and  as  soon  to  go  out,  and  are  extinct 
again ;  yet  God  doth  not  usually  send  his 
plough  and  seeds-men  to  a  place  but  there  is  at 
least  some  little  piece  of  good  ground,  although 
three  to  one  be  naught ;  and  methinks  the  Lord 
Jesus   would   never  have   made   so   fit   a  key 


96  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT. 

for  their  locks  unless  he  had  intended  to  open 
some  of  their  doors,  and  so  to  make  way  for  his 
coming  in." 

At  the  fourth  meeting  with  the  Indians,  the 
children  having  been  catechised,  and  the  vision 
of  the  dry  bones,  which  seems  to  have  impressed 
Mr.  Eliot  from  the  first  in  speaking  to  the 
Indians,  being  explained,  they  offered  all  their 
children  to  the  English  to  be  educated  by 
them. 

At  this  time  one  of  them  being  asked,  What 
is  sin  ?  he  answered,  A  naughty  heart.  He  did 
not  seem  to  feel  that  sin  consists  only  in  out- 
ward acts. 

One  of  them  complained  that  some  of  the 
Indians  reviled  him  and  the  more  serious  Indians, 
calling  them  rogues,  and  otherwise  insulting 
them  for  cutting  off  their  long  locks  and  arrang- 
ing their  hair  in  a  modest  manner,  for,  Mr. 
Eliot  says,  "  since  the  word  hath  begun  to  work 
upon  their  hearts  they  have  discerned  the  vanity 
and  pride  which  they  placed  in  their  hair,  and 
have  therefore,  of  their  own  accord  (none  speak- 
ing to  them  that  we  know  of)  cut  it  modestly." 
They  said  that  some  Indians  who  had  heard  the 
news  of  the  great  attention  to  religion  among 
them,  would  come  from  a  distance  and  stay 
with  them  three  or  four  days,  and  one  Sabbath, 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  97 

and  then  they  would  go  from  them,  (implying 
that  they  did  not  like  the  Sabbath),  but  as  for 
themselves,  they  said  they  were  fully  purposed 
to  keep  the  Sabbath. 

Some  of  the  Indians  who  heard  the  Gospel, 
despised  and  rejected  it.  So  it  has  always  been 
and  is  now,  wherever  the  Gospel  is  preached. 
Some  have  their  hearts  opened  to  attend  to  the 
things  of  their  peace,  and  others  are  hardened. 
Mr.  Eliot's  assistant,  learning  that  some  Indians 
had  discouraged  and  threatened  others  with  re- 
gard to  their  attendance  on  the  preaching,  spoke 
to  them  on  one  occasion  about  the  temptations  of 
Satan.  After  sermon  they  proposed  these  ques- 
tions : 

1.  Some  Indians  say  we  must  pray  to  the 
devil  for  all  good,  and  some  to  God  ;  may  we 
pray  to  the  devil  or  no  ? 

2.  What  does  humiliation  mean,  which  we 
hear  used  so  often  by  the  English  ? 

3.  Why  do  the  English  call  us  Indians,  for 
before  they  came  here  we  had  another  name  ? 

4.  What  is  a  spirit  ? 

5.  May  we  believe  in  dreams  ? 

6.  How  did  the  English  come  to  know  God 
so  much,  and  we  so  little  ? 

At  the  close  of  this  interview  they   said  that 

VOL.    III.  9 


98  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT. 

their  great  desire  was  to  have  a  town  and  to 
learn  to  spin. 

They  believed  in  the  existence  of  an  evil 
spirit,  whom  they  called  Ciiepian,  and  who  they 
thought  corresponded  to  the  devil  in  Scripture. 
They  gave  the  following  account  of  their  way 
in  which  conjurers  or  Powows  were  made  : 
Whenever  an  Indian  had  a  strange  dream  in 
which  Chepian  appeared  to  him  as  a  serpent, 
he  would  make  it  known  to  the  rest,  and  for  two 
days  the  Indians  would  dance  and  rejoice  for 
what  the  serpent  had  told  him,  and  he  then  be- 
came a  Powow,  or  one  whom  the  devil  favored 
with  his  communications.  The  reader  will  no- 
tice the  identity  of  the  form  in  which  they  made 
the  devil  to  appear  to  them,  with  the  form  in 
which  he  appeared  to  our  first  parents. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  99 


CHAPTER    V. 

Nonantum  granted  to  the  Indians  by  the  General  Court.  First  Indian 
Laws.  Eliot's  and  Sliepard's  account  of  the  progress  of  the  Gospel 
among  the  Indians.  Concord  Indians.  Their  laws  Nonantum. 
Questions  and  anecdotes.  Cape  Cod  Indians.  The  Synod  at 
Cambridge,  1643,  examine  the  Christian  Indians.  "  Who  made 
Sack?"  Anecdotes  and  Questions.  Order  of  the  General  Court, 
1647.  Regard  for  the  Sabbath.  Power  of  conscience.  Questions. 
Burial  of  a  child.    Settlement  of  Nalick.    Questions. 

The  Indians  were  desirous  of  obtaining-  a 
grant  of  land  for  a  permanent  settlement,  that 
they  might  enter  upon  civilized  life.  They  had 
bartered  their  principal  places  to  the  English. 
The  General  Court  purchased  of  some  of  the 
planters,  who  had  bought  it  of  the  Indians,  the 
place  where  their  meeting  was  held,  and  gave  it 
to  them.  The  Indians  inquiring  what  the  name 
of  the  place  should  be  they  were  told  it  should 
be  Noonatomen  (afterwards  Nonantum)  which* 
signifies  rejoicing,  "  because  they  did  rejoice  at 
the  word  of  God,  and  God  did  rejoice  over  them 
as  penitent  sinners.'' 

The  following  is    a    specimen  of  their   first 
laws : 


100  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

1.  If  any  man  be  idle  a  week,  or  at  most  a 
fortnight,  he  shall  pay  five  shillings. 

3.  If  any  man  shall  beat  his  wife,  his  hands 
shall  be  tied  behind  him,  and  he  shall  be  car- 
ried to  the  place  of  justice  to  be  severely  pun- 
ished. X 

4.  Every  young  xnan,  if  not  another's  servant, 
and  if  unmarried,  shall  be  compelled  to  set  up  a 
wigwam,  and  plant  for  himself,  and  not  live 
shifting  up  and  down  to  other  wigwams. 

5.  If  any  woman  shall  not  have  her  hair 
tied  up,  but  hang  loose  or  be  cut  as  men's  hair, 
she  shall  pay  five  shillings. 

7.  All  those  men  that  wear  long  locks,  shall 
pay  five  shillings. 

Most  of  the  facts  above  narrated  are  contained 
in  a  piece  written  by  Mr.  Eliot,  entitled  The 
Day  Breaking  if  not  the  Sun  Rising  of  the  Gos- 
pel with  the  Indians  in  New  England.  It  was 
printed  in  London,  "  by  Richard  Cotes,  for 
Fulk  Clifton,  and  are  to  be  sold  at  his  shop 
under  Saint  Margaret's  Church,  on  New-fish 
•  Street  Hill,  1647." 

The  same  printer  in  1648,  issued  another 
piece,  written  by  Mr.  Thomas  Shepard,  minis- 
ter of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  at  Cambridge, 
in  New  England,  called,  "  The  Clear  sun-shine 
of  the  Gospel  breaking  forth  upon   the  Indians 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  101 

of  New  England;  or,  An  Historical  Narrative 
of  God's  Wonderful  Workings  upon  sundry  of 
the  Indians,  both  Chief  Governors  and  common 
people,  in  bringing  them  to  a  willing  and  de- 
sired submission  to  the  Ordinances  of  the  Gos- 
pel ;  and  framing  their  hearts  to  an  earnest 
inquiry  after  the  knowledge  of  God  the  father 
and  of  Jesus  Christ  the  Saviour  of  the  world." 
This  piece  was  dedicated  by  Stephen  Marshall, 
Jeremy  Whitaker,  Edmund  Calamy  and  nine 
others,  in  England,  "  to  the  Right  Honorable 
the  Lords  and  Commons  assembled  in  High 
Court  of  Parliament,  That  in  you  the  Represent- 
atives of  this  nation,  England  might  be  stirred 
up  to  be  Rejoycers  in  and  advancers  of  these 
promising  beginnings."  They  looked  upon  the 
success  of  the  Gospel  among  the  Indians  as  a 
fulfillment  in  part  of  the  promise  of  God  the 
Father  to  the  Son,  "Ask  of  me,  and  I  will  give 
thee  the  heathen  for  thine  inheritance,  and  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  possession." 
Psalm  2.  They  remind  the  Parliament  that 
"  God  makes  man's  will  of  sin  serviceable  to  the 
advancement  of  the  riches  of  his  own  grace. 
The  most  horrid  act  that  was  ever  done  by  the 
sonnes  of  men,  the  murther  of  Christ,  God  made 
serviceable  to  the  highest  purposes  of  Grace  and 
mercy  that  ever  came  upon  his  breast.  Hee 
9* 


102  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

suffered  Paul  to  be  cast  into  prison  to  convert 
the  Jaylor,  to  be  shipwrackt  at  Milita  to  preach 
to  the  barbarous.  So  he  suffered  their  (the 
Pilgrims')  way  to  be  stopp'd  up  here,  (in  Eng- 
land) and  their  persons  to  be  banished  hence, 
that  hee  might  open  a  passage  for  them  in  the 
wilderness,  and  make  them  instruments  to  draw 
soules  to  him,  who  had  been  so  long  estranged 
from  Him.  The  end  of  the  adversary  was  to 
suppresse,  but  God's  to  propagate,  the  Gospel, 
as  one  saith  of  Paul,  his  blindnesse  gave  light  to 
whole  world.  '  CoBcitas  Pauli  totius  orbis  illumi- 
natio.'  Acts  9:9.  It  was  a  long  time  before 
God  let  them  (the  Pilgrims)  see  any  further  end 
of  their  coming  over  than  to  preserve  their  con- 
sciences, cherish  their  Graces,  provide  for  their 
sustenance.  But  hee  let  them  know  it  was  for 
some  farther  arrand  that  he  brought  them  here, 
giving  them  some  Bunches  of  Grapes,  some  clus- 
ters of  Figs  in  earnest  of  the  prosperous  successe 
of  their  endeavours  upon  these  poor  out  casts. 
If  the  first  fruits  bee  specimens,  what  will  the 
whole  harvest  bee  ?  When  the  East  and  West 
shal  sing  together  the  song  of  the  Lamb." 

Mr.  Shepard  says  that  the  news  of  what  had 
been  done  for  the  Indians  at  Nonantum,  by  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel,  had  reached  the  Con- 
cord Indians,  and  their   Sachem  was  so  much 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  103 

affected  by  it,  that  he  made  application  to  have 
the  Gospel  and  its  ordinances  made  known  to 
them.  "  They  craved  the  assistance  of  one  of 
the  chiefe  Indians  of  Noonanetum  (Nonantum,) 
a  very  active  Indian,  to  bring  in  others  to  the 
knowledge  of  God." 

Mr.  Eliot  had  already  expressed  his  views'^ 
on  the  subject  of  a  native  ministry  in  these 
words, — "  Nor  doe  I  expect  any  great  good  will 
bee  wrought  by  the  English,  (leaving  secrets  to 
God, — although  the  English  surely  begin  and 
lay  the  first  stones  of  Christ's  Kingdom  and 
Temple  amongst  them)  because  God  is  wont  or- 
dinarily to  convert  Nations  and  peoples  by  some 
of  their  owne  country  men  who  are  nearest  to 
them,  and  can  best  speake,  and  most  of  all  pity 
their  brethren  and  countrimen." 

A  native  ministry  among  the  Indians  began, 
in  an  informal  way,  much  earlier  than  we  have 
seen  it  begin  among  other  heathen  nations. 
The  North  American  Indians,  though  sunk  in 
superstition  and  wickedness,  retained  much 
more  of  intellectual  strength,  were  more  shrewd, 
and  sooner  became  fit  to  teach  their  country- 
men than  has   been  the  case   elsewhere   in  the 


*  The  Day  Breaking  &c.,  p.  15. 


104  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

history  of  modern  missions.  No  doubt  the  cli- 
mate had  much  to  do  with  the  vigor  of  mind 
which  the  Indians  have  exhibited.  They  were 
far  removed  from  the  efleminateness  of  Eastern 
nations,  and  though  indolent  in  their  disposi- 
tions and  habits,  their  minds  when  roused  by  the 
truth  of  the  Gospel,  rose  to  greater  intellectual 
elTorts  than  have  been  commonly  seen  in  tribes 
exposed  to  the  enervating  influences  of  warmer 
latitudes. 

Some  quotations  from  the  introduction  by 
Calamy  and  others,  to  Mr.  Shepard's  piece  above 
referred  to,  will  show  the  spirit  of  those  good 
men,  as  well  as  confirm  the  fact  that  the  Gospel 
had  done  wonders  in  a  short  time  among  the 
Indians.  It  was  published  in  1648,  two  years 
after  Mr.  Eliot  had  begun  his  labors  with  them. 

They  tell  the  readers  of  the  effects  which  the 
Gospel  had  wrought  among  the  Indians.  "  They 
set  up  prayers  in  their  families  morning  and 
evening,  and  are  in  earnest  in  them.  And  with 
more  affection  they  crave  God's  blessing  upon  a 
little  parched  corn,  and  Indian  stalks  than  many 
of  us  do  upon  our  greatest  plenty,  and  abund- 
ance. God  is  making  good  that  promise, 
Zcph.  2:11.  I  will  famish  all  the  gods  of  the 
earth,  (which  he  doth  by  withdrawing  the  wor- 
shipers, and  throwing  contempt  upon  the  wor- 


LIFE      OF      JOJIN      ELIOT.  105 


ship,)  and  men  shall  worship  me  alone,  every 
one  from  his  place,  even  all  the  isles  of  the 
heathens." 

They  call  upon  the  people  of  England  to  read 
and  ponder  this  remarkable  narrative  of  the 
work  of  grace  among  the  North  American 
Savages.  "Let  these  poor  Indians  stand  up 
incentives  to  us,  as  the  Apostle  set  up  the  Gen- 
tiles a  provocation  to  the  Jews  ;  who  knows  but 
God  gave  life  to  New  England  to  quicken  Old, 
and  hath  warmed  them  that  they  might  heat  us  ; 
raised  them  from  the  dead,  that  they  might 
recover  us  from  that  consumption,  and  those  sad 
decays  which  are  come  upon  us." 

"  This  small  Treatise  is  an  Essay  to  that  end, 
an  Indian  Sermon  ;  though  you  will  not  hear  us, 
possibly  when  some  rise  from  the  dead  you  will 
hear  them.  The  main  Doctrine  it  preacheth 
unto  all  is  to  value  the  Gospel,  prize  the  min- 
istry, loath  not  your  manna,  surfeit  not  of  your 
plenty,  be  thankful  for  mercies,  fruitful  under 
means  :  Awake  from  your  slumber,  repair  your 
decays,  redeem  your  time,  improve  the  seasons 
of  your  peace,  answer  to  cals,  open  to  knocks, 
attend  to  whispers,  obey  commands ;  you  have 
a  name  you  live,  take  heed  you  be  not  dead, 
you  are  Christians  in  shew,  be  so  in  deed  :  least 


106  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

as  you  have  lost  the  power  of  religion,  God  take 
away  from  you  the  form  also." 

"And  you  that  are  ministers  learn  by  this  not 
to  despond,  though  you  see  not  present  fruit  of 
your  labors  ;  though  you  fish  all  night  and  catch 
nothing.  God  hath  a  fulness  of  time  to  perform 
all  his  purposes.  And  the  deepest  degeneracies 
and  the  widest  estrangements  from  God  shall  be 
no  bar  or  obstacle  to  the  power  and  freeness  of 
his  own  grace  when  that  time  is  come." 

"  And  you  that  are  merchants,  take  incour- 
agement  from  hence  to  scatter  beams  of  light,  to 
spread  and  propagate  the  Gospel  into  those  dark 
corners  of  the  earth ;  whither  you  traffick  you 
take  much  from  them;  if  you  can  carr}'^  this  to 
them,  you  will  make  them  an  abundant  recom- 
pense. And  you  that  are  Christians  indeed, 
rejoice  to  see  the  Curtains  of  the  Tabernacle 
inlarged,  the  bounds  of  the  Sanctuary  extended, 
Christ  advanced,  the  Gospel  propagated,  and 
souls  saved.  And  if  ever  the  love  of  God  did 
centre  in  your  hearts,  if  ever  the  sense  of  his 
goodness  hath  begot  bowels  of  compassion  in 
you,  draw  them  forth  towards  them  whom  God 
hath  singled  out  to  be  the  objects  of  his  grace 
and  mercy  ;  lay  out  your  prayers,  lend  your 
assistance  to  carry  on  this  day  of  the  Lord  begun 
among    them.      The    Parents   also    and    many 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  107 

Others  being  convinced  of  the  evil  of  an  idle  life, 
desire  to  be  employed  in  honest  labor,  but  they 
want  instruments  and  tools  to  set  them  on  work, 
and  cast  garments  to  throw  upon  those  bodies 
that  their  loins  may  bless  you  whose  souls 
Christ  hath  cloathed.  Some  worthy  persons 
have  given  much ;  and  if  God  shall  move  the 
heart  of  others  to  offer  willingly  towards  the 
building  of  Christ  a  Spiritual  temple,  it  will 
certainly  remain  upon  their  account  when  the 
smallest  rewards  from  God  shall  be  better  than 
the  greatest  layings  out  for  God." 

It  will  be  perceived  that  this  is  an  appeal  in 
behalf  of  foreign  missions.  We  will  consider 
some  of  the  facts  which  Mr.  Shepard  relates, 
and  to  which  this  appeal  is  an  introduction. 

"  The  awakening  of  the  Indians  in  our  Towne," 
says  Mr.  Shepard,  "  raised  a  great  noyse  among 
all  the  rest  round  about  us,  especially  about 
Concord  side,  where  the  Sachim  and  one  or  two 
more  of  his  men  hearing  of  these  things,  and  of 
the  preaching  of  the  Word,  and  how  it  wrought 
among  them  here,  came  therefore  hither  to 
Noonanetum,  (Nonantum,)  to  the  Indian  Lecture, 
and  what  the  Lord  spake  to  his  heart  wee  know 
not,  only  it  seems  he  was  so  farre  affected  as 
that  he  desired  to  become  more  like  to  the  Eng- 
lish, and  to  cast  off  those  Indian  wild  and  sinfull 


108  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT. 

courses  they  formerly  lived  in  ;  but  when  divers 
of  his  men  perceived  their  Sachim's  mind,  they 
secretely  opposed  him  herein,  which  opposition 
being  known,  he  therefore  called  together  his 
chief  men  about  him,  and  made  a  speech  to  this 
efTect  unto  them,  viz.  :  That  they  had  no  reason 
at  all  to  oppose  those  courses  the  English  were 
now  taking  for  their  good,-  for  saith  hee,  all  the 
time  you  have  lived  after  the  Indian  fashion, 
under  the  power  and  protection  of  higher  Indian 
Sachims,  what  did  they  care  for  you  ?  They 
onely  sought  their  owne  ends  out  of  you,  and 
therefore  would  exact  upon  you  and  take  away 
your  skins,  and  your  kettles,  and  3'our  wampam 
from  you  at  their  own  pleasure,  and  this  was  all 
that  they  regarded :  but  you  may  evidently  see 
that  the  English  mind  no  such  things,  care  for 
none  of  your  goods,  but  onely  seek  your  good 
and  welfare,  and  instead  of  taking  away  all, 
are  ready  to  give  to  you." 

The  effect  of  this  speech  seems  to  have  been 
happy.  The  Indians  sought  the  assistance  of  a 
discreet  and  active  Indian  at  Nonantum,  "  in 
making  certain  lawes  for  their  more  religious 
and  civill  government,  and  behaviour."  It  will 
interest  the  reader  to  observe  the  fruit  of  this 
half  civilized  legislator's  advice  and  labors.  Mr. 
Shepard  gives  us  the  "  Conclusions  and  Orders 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  109 

made  and  agreed  upon  by  divers  Sachims  and 
other  principall  men  amongst  the  Indians  at 
Concord,  in  the  end  of  the  eleventh  moneth, 
An.  1646."^  The  following  are  a  good  speci- 
men of  the  whole  : 

1.  Every  one  that  shall  abuse  themselves 
with*  rum  or  strong  liquors,  shall  pay  for  every 
time  so  abusing  themselves  twenty  shillings. 

2.  There  shall  be  no  more  Powwowing 
amongst  the  Indians.  And  if  any  shall  here- 
after Powwow,  both  he  that  shall  Powwow,  and 
he  that  shall  cause  him  to  Powwow  shall  pay 
twenty  shillings  apiece. 

3.  They  do  desire  that  they  may  be  stirred 
up  to  seek  after  God. 

4.  They  desire  they  may  understand  the 
wiles  of  Satan,  and  grow  out  of  love  with  his 
suggestions  and  temptations. 

5.  That  they  may  fall  upon  some  better 
course  to  improve  their  time  than  formerly. 

6.  That  they  may  be  brought  to  the  sight  of 
the  sin  of  lying,  and  whosoever  shall  be  found 
guilty  herein,  shall  pay  for  the  first  offence  five 
shillings,  the  second  ten  shillings,  the  third 
twenty  shillings. 


♦  Shepard's    Clear  Sunshine,  p.  39.     Hisl.  CoU.  Vol.    IV.  3d 
series.    Shaltuck's  Hist.  Concord. 
VOL.    III.  10 


110  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

7.  Whosoever  shall  steale  any  thing  from 
another,  shall  restore  fourfold. 

8.  They  desire  that  no  Indian  hereafter  shall 
have  any  more  but  one  wife. 

9.  They  desire  to  prevent  the  falling  out  of 
Indians,  one  with  another,  and  that  they  may 
live  quietly  one  by  another. 

10.  That  they  may  follow  after  humility, 
and  not  be  proud. 

11.  That  when  Indians  doe  wrong,  they 
may  be  liable  to  censure  by  fine  or  the  like,  as 
the  English  are. 

12.  That  they  pay  their  debts  to  the  En- 
glish. 

13.  That  they  doe  observe  the  Lord's  day, 
and  whosoever  shall  prophane  it,  shall  pay 
twenty  shillings. 

14.  This  order  refers  to  the -disgusting  prac- 
tice of  eating  vermin  gathered  from  their  per- 
sons ;  "  and  whosoever  shall  offend  in  this  case 
shall  pay  for  every  louse  a  penny." 

15.  They  will  weare  their  haire  comely  as 
the  English  do,  penalty  five  shillings. 

16.  They  intend  to  reforme  themselves  in 
their  former  greasing  themselves,  penalty  five 
shillings. 

17.  They  do  all  resolve  to  set  up  prayer  in 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  Ill 

their  wigwams,  and  to  seek  God  both  before  and 
after  nieate. 

20.  Whosoever  shall  play  at  their  former 
games  shall  pay  ten  shillings. 

22.  Wilful  murder  shall  be  punished  by 
death. 

23.  They  shall  not  disguise  themselves  in 
their  mournings,  as  formerly;  nor  shall  they 
keep  a  great  noyse  by  howling. 

25.  No  Indian  shall  take  an  Englishman's 
canooe  without  leave,  penalty  five  shillings. 

26.  No  Indian  shall  come  into  any  English- 
man's house,  except  he  first  knock;  and  this 
they  expect  from  the  English. 

27.  Whosoever  beats  his  wife,  shall  pay 
twenty  shillings. 

28.  If  any  Indian  shall  fall  out  with  and 
beate  another  Indian,  he  shall  pay  twenty  shil- 
lings. 

29.  They  desire  they  may  be  a  towne,  and 
either  to  dwell  on  this  side  the  Beare  swamp,  or 
at  the  East  side  of  Mr.  Flint's  Pond. 

These  orders  were  put  into  form  by  Captain 
Simon  Willard,  of  Concord,  whom  the  Indians 
chose  to  be  their  Recorder.  They  were  very 
solicitous  that  what  they  agreed  upon  might  be 
faithfully    preserved   without   alteration.      The 


112  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

narrative  of  these  conclusions  and  orders  is 
signed  by  Thomas  Flint,  and  Simon  Willard.^ 

Mr.  Shepard  says  that  on  the  3d  March, 
1647,  he  and  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Wilson  of  Bos- 
ton, Allen,  of  Dedham,  and  President  Dunster, 
and  many  Christian  friends,  attended  the  Indian 
Lecture  at  Nonantum.  "  On  which  day,"  he 
says,  "  perceiving  divers  of  the  Indian  women 
well  affected,  and  considering  that  their  soules 
might  stand  in  need  of  answer  to  their  scruples 
as  well  as  the  mens,  and  yet  because  we  knew 
how  unfit  it  was  for  women  so  much  as  to  ask 
questions  publicly  immediately  by  themselves, 
wee  did  therefore  desire  them  to  propound  any 
questions  they  would  be  resolved  about  by 
first  acquainting  either  their  Husbands  or  the 
Interpreter  privately  therewith  ;  whereupon  we 
heard  two  questions  orderly  propounded,;  which 
because  they  are  the  first  ever  propounded  by 
Indian  women  in  such  an  ordinance  that  ever 
wee  heard  of,  and  because  they  may  bee  other- 
wise useful,  I  shall  therefore  set  them  down." 

The  first  question  was  proposed  by  the  wife 
of  one  Wampooas,  a  serious  Indian,  and  was  to 
this  efToct : 

"  Do   I   pray  when   my   husband  prays,   if  I 


♦  Shepard's  Clear  Sunshine,  ic,  p.  41. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  113 

speak  nothing  as  he  doth,  yet  if  I  like  what  he 
says,  and  my  heart  goes  with  it  ?  " 

The  second  was  by  the  wife  of  one  Tothers- 
wampe,  viz.,  "Whether  a  husband  should  do 
well  to  pray  with  his  wife,  and  yet  continue  in 
his  passions  and  be  angry  with  his  wife  ?  " 

Mr.  Shepard  says,  he  had  "  heard  few 
Christians  when  they  begin  to  look  towards 
God,  make  more  searching  questions  than  these 
Indians." 

An  old  Indian  had  an  unruly,  disobedient 
son.  He  asked,  "  What  should  one  do  with 
him,  in  case  of  obstinacy  and  disobedience,  and 
that  will  not  hear  God's  word,  though  his  father 
command  him,  nor  will  not  forsake  his  drunken- 
ness, though  his  father  forbid  him." 

Kev.  Mr.  Wilson  was  much  moved  at  this 
question,  "  and  spake  so  terribly  yet  so  gra- 
ciously as  might  have  affected  a  heart  not  quite 
shut  up,  which  this  young  desperado  hearing, 
(who  well  understood  the  English  tongue,)  in- 
stead of  humbling  himself  before  the  Lord's 
Word,  which  touched  his  conscience  and  con- 
dition so  neare,  hee  was  filled  with  the  Spirit  of 
Satan,  and  as  soone  as  ever  Mr.  Wilson's 
speech  was  ended,  he  brake  out  into  a  loud  con- 
temptuous expression.  "  So  !  "  saith  he  ;  which 
we  passed  by  without  speaking  againe,  leaving 
10* 


114  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

the  Word  with  him,  which  wee  knew  would 
one  day  take  its  effect  one  way  or  other  upon 
him." 

In  1647,  Messrs.  Eliot,  Wilson  and  Shepard, 
were  sent  for  to  Yarmouth,  to  arbitrate  in  some 
difficulties,  by  means  of  which  "  not  only  that 
bruised  Church,  but  the  whole  Towne  "  was 
restored  to  peace.  "  But  Mr.  Eliot,  as  hee  takes 
all  other  advantages  of  time,  so  hee  took  this,  of 
speaking  with,  and  preaching  to  the  poore  In- 
dians in  these  remote  places  about  Cape  Cod." 

The  Indian  dialect  varied  in  forty  or  sixty 
miles,  and  on  this  account,  and  because  the  In- 
dians at  Cape  Cod  "  were  not  accustomed  to 
sacred  language,  about  the  holy  things  of  God, 
wherein  Mr.  Eliot  excels  any  other  of  the  En- 
glish, who  in  the  Indian  language  about  com- 
mon matters  excell  him,"  it  was  difficult  to  make 
them  understand,  yet  by  the  help  of  one  or  two 
interpreters,  they  succeeded. 

There  was  a  Sachem  among  them  of  a  very 
furious  spirit,  whom  the  English  for  that  reason 
called  Jehu,  He  promised  to  attend  the  preach- 
ing on  the  day  appointed,  and  to  bring  his  men 
with  him,  but  that  very  morning  he  sent  his  men 
to  sea  for  fish,  and  although  he  came  late  to 
hear  the  Sermon,  his  men  were  absent.  Yet  he 
feigned  that  he  did  not  understand  what  was 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  115 

said,  though  the  others  said  that  he  did  under- 
stand, and  Mr.  Eliot  by  privately  questioning 
him  found  out  that  he  did.  He  heard,  however, 
"  with  a  dogged  look,  and  a  discontented  coun- 
tenance." How  curious  the  uniform  resemblance 
of  the  human  heart  in  different  classes  of  hear- 
ers in  every  age  and  place,  under  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel.  Who  in  preaching  has  not  seen 
a  face  answering  to  this  Jehu's  face,  and  the 
heart  of  man  to  that  of  this  man  ? 

It  was  found  on  this  visit  to  the  Indians  of 
Cape  Cod,  that  there  was  some  tradition  among 
them  of  the  Gospel  having  been  preached  in 
those  parts  before.  An  aged  Indian  told  the 
ministers  that  the  very  things  which  Mr.  Eliot 
had  taught  them  as  the  Commandments  of  God, 
and  concerning  God,  and  the  making  of  the 
world  by  one  God,  they  had  heard  from  some 
old  men  now  dead.  A  French  ship  was  wrecked 
upon  that  coast  many  years  before,  and  among 
the  passengers  and  crew  was  the  Frenchman 
who,  the  Indian  tradition  said,"^  while  the 
Indians  were  putting  him  to  death,  told  them 
that  God  was  angry  with  them  for  their  sins. 
Mr.  Shepard  speaks  of  "  the  French  preacher 
cast  upon  those  coasts  many  years  since."  This 
man  may  have  been  a  French  Catholic  Priest, 

*  See  page  19. 


116  LIFE      OF     JOHN     ELIOT. 

on  his  way  to  the  French  possessions  in 
Canada.* 

The  presence  of  this  preacher  among'  them 
will  account  for  a  dream  which  one  of  the  In- 
dians related  to  Mr.  Shepard  and  his  com- 
panions, as  having  occurred  to  him  some  time 
ago.  The  tradition  of  what  the  preacher  had 
said,  and  the  account  of  his  appearance  was 
strongly  impressed  upon  his  imagination,!  as  we 
may  suppose,  without  resorting  to  any  other 
explanation  of  the  dream  which  nevertheless  is 
curious  and  interesting. 

He  said  that  two  years  before  the  arrival  of 
the  English,  there  w'as  a  great  mortality  in  that 
region,  and  one  night  when  he  was  much  dis- 
turbed and  broken  of  his  rest,  he  dreamed  that 
he  saw  many  men  arrive  upon  the  coast,  dressed 
in  such  clothes  as  the  English  wear.  Among 
them  there  was  a  man  wholly  in  black,  with  a 
thing  in  his  hand  which  he  now  saw  was  an 
Englishman's  book;  that  the  man  in  black  stood 
on  a  place  higher  than  the  rest,  with  the  English 
around  him,  before  a  great  number  of  the  In- 
dians. This  man  told  the  Indians  that  God  was 
moosquantuniy  or  angry  with  them,  and  would 


♦  See  Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  I. 
t  See   Sir  Waller  Scott's   "  Deinunology  and  Wiichcrafi,"  Let- 
ter II. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  117 

kill  them  for  their  sins.  He  said,  that  he  him- 
self then  stood  up,  and  asked  the  man  in  black 
what  God  would  do  with  him  and  his  Squaw 
and  Papooses.  The  man  would  not  answer  him 
the  first  nor  the  second  time,  but  the  third  time 
he  proposed  the  question,  the  man  smiled  upon 
him,  and  told  him  that  he  and  his  papooses 
would  be  safe,  and  that  God  would  give  them 
victuals  and  other  good  things. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  this  dreamer  who 
seemed  thus  to  have  had  his  dream  fulfilled, 
would  not  come  to  the  sermon  till  it  was  nearly 
finished,  and  then  finding  that  the  man  in 
black  was  yet  speaking,  "away  he  flung,"  and 
was  seen  no  more  by  the  ministers  till  the  next 
day.  Whether  Satan,  or  fear,  or  guilt,  or  the 
world  prevailed,  Mr.  Shepard  says  he  could  not 
say. 

The  next  year  this  writer  says,  he  was  much 
surprised  in  attending  an  Indian  Lecture  at 
Nonantum,  to  see  so  many  Indian  men,  women, 
and  children,  in  English  apparel,  so  that  they 
were  scarcely  known  from  the  English  people. 
Partly  by  gifts,  and  partly  by  their  own  labors, 
some  of  them  had  obtained  means  by  which 
they  were  even  handsomely  dressed. 

June  9,  1648,  was  the  first  day  of  the  Synod's 
meeting  at  Cambridge.    The  forenoon  was  spent 


i 


118  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

in  hearing  a  sermon  preparatory  lo  the  work  of 
the  Synod,  and  the  afternoon  was  occupied  in 
hearing  an  Indian  Lecture.  "  There  was  a  great 
gathering  of  Indians  from  all  parts  to  hear  Mr. 
Eliot,  which  we  conceived  not  unseasonable  at 
such  a  time  ;  partly  that  the  reports  of  God's 
worke  beirun  amonjr  them  mic:ht  be  seen  and 
believed  of  the  chief  who  were  then  sent,  and 
met  from  all  the  churches  of  Christ  in  this  coun- 
try, who  could  hardly  believe  the  reports  they 
had  heard  concerning  these  new  stirs  among  the 
Indians,  and  partly  hereby  to  raise  up  a  greater 
spirit  of  prayer,  for  the  carrying  on  the  work 
begun  upon  the  Indians  among  all  the  churches 
and  servants  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  The  sermon 
was  spent  in  showing  them  their  miserable  con- 
dition without  Christ,  out  of  E[)hes.  2  :  1,  that 
they  were  dead  in  trespasses  and  sinnes,  and  in 
pointing  unto  them  the  Lord  Jesus  who  onely 
could  quicken  them." 

After  sermon,  opportunity  was  given  for  the 
Indians  lo  ask  questions.  Some  of  them  were 
these : 

What  countryman  was  Christ,  and  where  was 
he  born  ? 

How  far  ofl^is  that  place  from  us  here  ? 

Where  is  Christ  now  ? 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  119 

How  may  we  lay  hold  on  Christ,  and  where, 
he  being  now  absent  from  us  ? 

Mr.  Shepard  continues,  "  But  that  which  I  note 
is  this,  that  their  gracious  attention  to  the  Word, 
the  affections  and  mournings  of  some  of  them 
under  it,  their  sober  propounding  of  divers  and 
spiritual}  questions,  their  aptnesse  to  beleeve 
and  understand  what  was  replyed  to  them ;  the 
readiness  of  divers  poore  naked  children  to  an- 
swer openly  the  chief  questions  in  the  Cate- 
chism, which  were  formerly  taught  them,  and 
such  like  appearances  of  a  great  change  upon 
them  did  marvellously  affect  all  the  wise  and 
godly  ministers,  magistrates  and  people,  and  did 
raise  their  hearts  up  to  great  thankfulnesse  to 
God  ;  very  many  deeply  and  abundantly  mourn- 
ing for  joy  to  see  such  a  blessed  day,  and  the 
Lord  Jesus  so  much  known  and  spoken  of 
among  such  as  never  heard  of  him  before  :  So 
that  if  any  in  England  doubt  of  the  truth  of 
what  was  formerly  writ ;  or  if  any  malignant 
eye  shall  question  and  vilifie  this  work,  ihey 
will  now  speak  too  late,  for  what  was  here  done 
at  Cambridge,  was  not  set  under  a  Bushell,  but 
in  the  open  Sunne ;  and  what  Thomas  would 
not  beleeve  by  the  reports  of  others,  he  might  be 
forced  to  beleeve  by  seeing  with  his  own  eyes. 


120  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT. 

and  feeling  Christ  Jesus  thus  risen  among  them 
with  his  own  hands. '"^ 

An  old  Indian  came  to  Mr.  Eliot's  house,  as 
Mr.  Eliot  told  Mr.  Shepard,  and  Mr.  Eliot  told 
him  that  because  he  brought  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren to  meeting  so  constantly,  he  would  give 
him  some  clothes,  for  it  was  cold  weather,  and 
the  old  man  was  quite  destitute.  He  did  not 
understand  this  term  which  Mr.  Eliot  used  for 
clothes,  and  enquired  of  Mr.  Eliot's  Indian  do- 
mestic, and  when  he  understood  that  it  was 
clothing  which  was  promised,  he  broke  out  with 
much  feeling,  saying,  "  God  is  merciful :  " — "  a 
blessed,  because  a  plainhearted,  affectionate 
speech,"  says  Mr.  Shepard,  "  and  worthy  of  Eng- 
lishmen's thoughts  when  they  put  on  their 
clothes ;  to  think  that  a  poor  blind  Indian  that 
scarce  ever  heard  of  God  before,  that  hee  should 
see  not  only  God  in  his  clothes,  but  mercy  also 
in  a  promise  of  a  cast  off  worne  sute  of  clothes, 
which  were  then  given  him,  and  which  he  now 
daily  wears." 

Mr.  S.  says  that  "  Mr.  Edward  Jackson  one  of 
our  Towne,  constantly  attended  Mr.  Eliot's 
Lectures,  and  took  down  the  questions  and  an- 
swers, and  having  sent  me  his  notes,  I  shall 
send  you  a  taste  of  some  of  them,"  viz. : 


•  "  Cleaxe  Sunshine  of  the  Gospel,"  p.  46. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  121 

1.  Why  are  some  so  bad  that  they  hate  those 
men  that  would  teach  them  fjood  thiners  ? 

2.  Was  the  devil  or  man  made  first  ? 

3.  U  a  father  prays  to  God  to  teach  his  sons 
to  know  him,  and   he  doth  teach  them  himself, 
and    they  will   not  learn   to   know   God,  what 
should  such  fathers  do  ?    This  question  was  pu 
by  an  old  man  that  had  rude  children. 

4.  A  Squaw  asked  this  question :  Whether 
she  might  not  go  and  pray  in  some  private 
place  in  the  woods,  when  her  husband  was  not 
at  home,  because  she  was  ashamed  to  pray  in 
the  wigwam  before  company  ? 

5.  How  may  one  know  wicked  men,  who  are 
good,  and  who  are  bad  ? 

6.  To  what  nation  did  Jesus  Christ  come 
first  unto,  and  when  ? 

The  following  question  illustrates  the  old  say- 
ing, that  a  child  or  fool  may  ask  a  question 
which  a  philosopher  cannot  answer.  It  relates 
to  the  solemn  and  fearful  subject  of  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  body  and  soul.  Who  has  not,  at  least 
in  his  earlier  years,  puzzled  himself  with  ques- 
tions about  the  passage  of  a  departing  spirit 
from  the  chamber  of  death  ?  The  question  re- 
ferred to  was  this  : 

7.  If  a  man  should  be  inclosed  in  iron  a  foot 
thick,  and  thrown  into  the  fire,  what  would  be- 

VOL.    III.  11 


122  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT. 

come   of  the   soul  ?   Could  the   soul  come   out 
thence  or  not  ? 

8.  AVhy  did  not  God  give  all  men  good 
hearts,  that  they  might  be  good  ? 

9.  If  one  should  be  among  strange  Indians 
that  know  not  God,  and  they  should  make  him 
to  fight  against  some  whom  he  ought  not  to 
fight  against,  and  he  should  refuse,  and  for  his 
refusal  they  should  kill  him,  what  would  become 
of  his  soul  in  such  a  case  ?  This  question  was 
asked  by  a  "  stout  fellow,"  whose  mind  was 
interested  in  religion,  and  was  connected  with 
the  notion  of  the  Indians  that  all  their  valiant 
men  have  a  reward  after  death.  He  seemed  to 
think  that  his  refusal  to  fight  in  the  case  sup- 
posed, might  prejudice  his  chance  of  reward 
hereafter. 

10.  How  long  is  it  before  men  believe  who 
have  the  word  of  God  made  known  unto  them  ? 

11.  How  may  we  know  when  our  faith  is 
good,  and  our  prayers  good  prayers  ? 

12.  Why  did  not  God  kill  the  devil,  that  made 
all  men  so  bad,  God  having  all  power  ? 

13.  If  we  be  made  weak  by  sin  in  our  hearts, 
how  can  we  come  before  God  to  sanctify  the 
Sabbath  ? 

An  amusing  incident  took  place  at  one  of  the 
public  meetings.     A  drunken  Indian  cried  out. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  123 

*' Mr.  Eliot,  who  made  sack?  Who  made 
sack  ? "  This,  it  will  be  perceived,  was  a  cavil 
about  the  "  origin  of  evil."  It  is  said  that  *'  he 
was  soon  snib'd  by  the  other  Indians,  who  cried 
out  that  it  was  a  papoose  question.  Mr.  Eliot 
seriously  answered  him;  which  hath  cooled 
his  boldness  ever  since." 

The  man  who  took  down  these  questions  says 
that  "  he  had  some  occasion  to  speak  to  Waban, 
(one  of  the  chief  men  at  Nonantum,)  about  the 
time  of  sun-rising,  and  staying  about  half  an 
hour,  as  he  came  back  by  one  of  the  wigwams, 
the  man  of  that  wigwam  was  at  prayer,  at  which 
he  was  so  much  affected  that  he  stopped  under 
a  tree  to  listen ;  and  these  passages  of  Scripture 
came  to  his  mind  while  listening  to  the  voice  of 
devotion  from  the  wigwam :  '  All  the  ends  of 
the  earth  shall  remember  and  turn  unto  the 
Lord.'  *  0  thou  that  hearest  prayer,  unto  thee 
shall  all  flesh  come.'  " 

He  says  that  he  had  seen  an  Indian  call  his 
children  in  from  the  field  where  they  were 
gathering  corn,  when  he  asked  a  blessing  upon 
the  food  before  them,  "  with  much  affection, 
having  but  a  homely  dinner  to  eat."  Mr. 
Shepard  adds,  "  I  wish  the  like  hearts  and 
wayes  were  seen  in  many  English  who  professe 
themselves  Christians,  and  that  herein  and  many 


124  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

the  like  excellencies  they  were  become  Indians, 
excepting  that  name,  as  he  did,  in  another  case, 
except  these  bonds." 

The  following  is  the  substance  of  an  order 
passed  by  the  General  Court  at  Boston,  May 
26,  1647,  concerning  the  Indians. 

"  Upon  information  that  the  Indians  dwelling 
among  us,  and  submitted  to  our  government, 
being  by  the  ministry  of  the  Word  brought  to 
some  civility,  are  desirous  to  have  a  course  of 
ordinary  judicature  set  up  among  them  : 

"  It  is  ordered,  therefore,  by  authority  of  this 
Court,  that  some  one  or  more  of  the  magistrates, 
as  they  shall  agree  among  themselves,  shall, 
once  every  quarter,  keep  a  Court  at  such  place 
where  the  Indians  ordinarily  assemble  to  hear 
the  Word  of  God,  and  may  then  hear  and  deter- 
mine all  causes  civill  and  criminall,  not  being 
capitall,  concerning  the  Indians  only;  and  that 
the  Indian  sachims  shall  have  libertie  to  take 
order  in  the  nature  of  summons  or  atachments,  to 
bring  any  of  their  own  people  to  the  said  Courts, 
and  to  keep  a  Court  of  themselves  every  moneth, 
if  they  see  occasion,  to  determine  small  causes 
of  a  civill  nature,  and  such  smaller  criminall 
causes,  as  the  said  magistrates  shall  refer  to 
them :  and  the  said  sachims  shall  appoint  offi- 
cers to  serve  warrants,  and  to  execute  the  orders 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  125 

and  judgements  of  either  of  said  Courts,  which 
officers  shall  from  time  to  time  bee  allowed  by 
the  said  magistrates  in  the  quarter  Courts,  or  by 
the  Governour :  And  that  all  fines  to  bee  im- 
posed upon  any  of  the  Indians,  in  any  of  the  said 
Courts,  shall  goe  and  bee  bestowed  towards  the 
building  of  some  meeting-houses,  for  education 
of  their  poorer  children  in  learning,  or  other  pub- 
lick  use,  by 'the  advice  of  said  magistrates,  and 
of  Master  Eliot,  or  of  such  other  elder,  as  shall 
ordinarily  instruct  them  in  the  true  Religion. 
And  it  is  the  desire  of  this  court  that  the  said 
magistrates,  and  Master  Eliot,  or  such  other 
elders  as  shall  attend  the  keeping  of  the  said 
Courts,  will  carefully  indeavour  to  make  the  In- 
dians understand  our  most  useful!  Lawes,  and 
the  principles  of  reason,  justice,  and  equity, 
whereupon  they  are  grounded ;  and  it  is  desired 
that  some  care  may  be  taken  of  the  Indians  on 
the  Lord's  dayes." 

Mr.  Shepard  speaks  of  his  brother  Eliot  as  a 
man  "  whom,  in  other  respects,  but  especially 
for  his  unweariednesse  in  this  work  of  God, 
going  up  and  down  among  them,  and  doing 
them  good,  I  think  we  can  never  love  nor 
honor  enough."  Mr.  Eliot  says,  "  That  which 
I  first  aymed  at  was  to  declare  and  deliver 
unto  them  the  law  of  God,  to  civilize  them; 
11# 


126  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

which  course  the  Lord  took  by  Moses,  to 
give  the  law  to  that  rude  company,  because 
of  transgression,  Galatians  3:  19,  to  convince, 
bridle,  restrain,  jind  civilize  them,  and  also 
to  humble  them.  But  when  I  first  attempted 
it  they  gave  no  heed  unto  it,  but  were  weary, 
and  rather  despised  what  I  said.  A  while 
after  God  stirred  up  in  some  of  them  a  de- 
sire to  come  into  the  English  fashions,  and  live 
after  their  manner,  but  knew  not  how  to  at- 
tain unto  it ;  yea,  despaired  that  it  should  ever 
come  to  passe  in  their  dayes  ;  but  thought  that, 
in  40  yeears  more,  some  Indians  would  be  all  one 
English,  and  in  an  hundred  yeears  all  Indians 
hereabout  would  so  bee :  which  when  I  heard, 
(for  some  of  them  told  me  they  thought  so,  and 
that  some  wise  Indians  said  so,)  my  heart  moved 
within  me,  abhorring  that  wee  should  sit  still 
and  let  that  work  alone,  and  hoping  that  this 
notion  in  them  was  of  the  Lord,  and  that  this 
mind  in  them  was  a  preparation  to  embrace  the 
law  and  Word  of  God ;  and  therefore  I  told 
them  that  they  and  wee  were  all  one  save  in  two 
things,  which  make  the  only  difference  betwixt 
them  and  us :  First,  wee  know,  serve,  and  pray 
unto  God,  and  they  doe  not.  Secondly,  we  la- 
bor and  work  in  building,  planting,  clothing  our- 
selves, &c.,  and  they  doe  not;  and  would  they 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  1 27 

but  doe  as  wee  doe  in  these  thin<Ts  they  would 
bee  all  one  with  Englishnien.  They  said  they 
did  not  know  God,  and  therefore  could  not  tell 
how  to  pray  to  him  nor  serve  him.  I  told  them 
if  they  would  learn  to  know  God,  I  would  teach 
them  ;  unto  which  they  being  very  willing,  I 
then  taught  them,  (as  I  sundry  times  had  in- 
deavored  afore,)  but  never  found  them  so  forward, 
attentive,  and  desirous  till  this  time;  and  then  I 
told  them  I  would  come  to  their  wigwams  and 
teach  them,  their  wives  and  children,  which 
they  seemed  very  glad  of;  and,  from  that  day 
forward,  I  have  not  failed  to  doe  that  poore  little 
Avhich  you  know  I  doe." 

Mr.  Eliot  says  that  he  found  the  usual  oppo- 
sition to  religion  among  Indians  which  he  found 
among  white  men.  The  Indians  of  "  Dorches- 
ter Mill,"  for  example,  would  not,  at  first,  regard 
his  instructions ;  "  but  the  better  sort  of  them  per- 
ceiving how  acceptable  this  was  to  the  English, 
both  to  magistrates,  and  all  the  good  people,  it 
pleased  God  to  step  in  and  bow  their  hearts,  to 
desire  to  be  taught  to  know  God."  "  The  Linn 
Indians,"  Mr.  Eliot  said,  "  are  all  naught  save 
one."  This  was  owing  to  the  opposition  of 
their  sachem. 

A  sober  Indian  going  up  into  the  country 
with  two  of  his  sons,  prayed  as  he  used  to  do  at 


\ 


123  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

home,  and  talked  to  the  Indians  about  God  and 
Jesus  Christ ;  whereupon  they  mocked,  and 
called  one  of  his  sons  Jehovah,  and  the  other 
Jesus  Christ. 

The  Nonantum  Indians  early  began  to  ob- 
serve the  Lord's  day.  They  fined  every  violator 
of  tlie  Sabbath  ten  shillings.  One  Sabbath 
morning  the  sachem's  wife  went  to  fetch  water, 
when,  meeting  with  other  Indian  women,  she 
fell  into  worldly  conversation  with  them,  but 
they  reproved  her.  She  insisted  that  it  was  not 
improper,  but  the  other  women  informed  the 
native  Indian  preacher  who  was  to  address  them 
that  day,  and  he  discoursed  to  them  upon  the 
sanctification  of  the  Sabbath,  and  in  his  dis- 
course related  what  he  had  heard  about  the 
sachem's  wife.  After  sermon  they  had  much 
conversation  on  the  subject,  in  which  the  sa- 
chem's wife  insisted  that,  inasmuch  as  her  con- 
versation was  in  private,  and  early  on  the 
Sabbath  morning,  there  was  no  harm  in  it;  and 
then  she  retorted  upon  the  preacher  by  telling 
him  that  he  had  sinned  much  more  than  she  in 
giving  occasion  to  so  much  talk  about  this  sub- 
ject on  the  Sabbath.  The  whole  matter  was,  by 
common  consent,  referred  to  Mr.  Eliot  for  his 
arbitration. 

Towards  evening,  on   another   Sabbath,  two 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  129 

Strangers  came  to  Waban's  tent  (Nonantnm) ; 
and  when  they  came  in,  they  told  him  that, 
about  a  Vnile  ofT,  they  had  chased  a  racoon  into 
a  hollow  tree,  and  that  if  he  would  send  his  ser- 
vants to  fell  the  tree,  they  might  catch  him, 
which  Waban,  in  his  desire  to  entertaia  the 
strangers  with  fresh  game,  accordingly  did. 
Whereupon  the  Indians  were  much  displeased, 
and  this  case  was,  by  request,  made  the  subject 
of  discourse  on  the  next  lecture  day. 

Another  case  was  this.  "  Upon  a  Lord's  day 
their  public  meeting  holding  long,  and  some- 
what late  when  they  came  at  home,  in  one  wig- 
wam the  fire  was  almost  out,  and  therefore  the 
man  of  the  house,  as  he  sat  by  the  fireside,  took 
his  hatchet  and  split  a  little  dry  piece  of  wood, 
which  they  reserve  on  purpose  for  such  use,  and 
so  kindled  his  fire,  which,  being  taken  notice  of, 
it  was  thought  to  bee  such  a  worke  as  might  not 
lawfully  bee  done  upon  the  Sabbath  day,  and 
therefore  the  case  was  propounded  the  lecture 
following  for  their  better  information." 

A  great  improvement  was  soon  visible  among 
them  in  their  treatment  of  their  wives.  A  man 
who  had  offended  in  this  respect  was  brought 
before  the  assembly  at  a  time  when  the  governor 
and  many  of  the  colonists  happened  to  be  present. 
The  man  being  publicly  accused  of  beating  his 


\ 


130  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

wife,  made  no  defence,  but  confessed  his  sin, 
and  being  kindly  admonished  and  instructed,  he 
turned  his  face  to  the  wall  and  wept ;  "  and  such 
was  the  modest,  penitent,  and  melting  behaviour 
of  the  man  that  it  much  aftected  all  to  see  it  in 
a  barbarian,  and  all  did  forgive  him  ;  onely  this 
remained,  that  they  executed  their  law  notwith- 
standing his  repentance,  and  required  his  fine, 
to  which  he  willingly  submitted,  and  paid  it." 

The  power  of  conscience  among  them  is  il- 
lustrated by  Mr.  Eliot  in  the  two  following  an- 
ecdotes. 

The  son  of  a  sachem,  14  or  15  years  old,  had 
been  intoxicated ;  and  being  reproved  by  his 
father  and  mother  for  disobedient  and  rebellious 
conduct,  he  despised  their  admonition.  Before 
Mr.  E.  heard  of  it,  he  had  observed  that  on 
being  catechised,  the  fifth  commandment  being 
required  of  him,  he  reluctantly  said,  "  Honor  thy 
father,"  but  left  out  "  mother." 

George,  the  Indian,  who  asked,  in  a  public 
meeting,  "  Who  made  sack  ?  "  killed  a  cow,  and 
sold  it  at  the  college  for  a  moose.  President 
Dunstcr  was  unwilling  that  he  should  be  directly 
charged  with  it,  but  wished  Mr.  Eliot  to  inquire 
of  him  as  to  the  crime.  But  being  brought  be- 
fore the  assembly,  he  freely  confessed  his  sin. 

The    Indians    were    never    weary  of  asking 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  131 

questions  in  the  public  meetings.  An  old  Pow- 
aw  once  demanded,  Why,  seeing  the  English 
had  been  in  the  land  twenty-seven  years,  they 
had  never  taught  the  Indians  to  know  God  till 
now  ?  He  added,  many  of  us  have  grown  old 
in  sin,  whereas  had  you  begun  with  us  earlier, 
we  might  have  been  good. 

The  answer  was  that  the  English  did  repent 
that  they  were  not  more  earnest  at  the  first  to 
seek  their  salvation,  but  the  Indians  were  never 
willing  to  hear  till  now,  and  as  God  has  now 
inclined  their  hearts  to  hear,  the  English  were 
striving  to  redeem  the  time. 

Another  question  was  of  deep  interest.  One 
of  them  said,  That  before  he  knew  God,  he 
thought  he  was  well,  but  since,  he  had  found 
his  heart  to  be  full  of  sin,  and  more  sinful  than 
it  ever  was  before  ;  and  that  this  had  been  a 
great  trouble  to  him  ;  that  at  that  day  his  heart 
was  but  little  better  than  it  was  at  first,  and  he 
was  afraid  it  would  be  as  had  as  it  was  before^ 
and  therefore  he  sometimes  wished  that  he  might 
die  before  he  should  be  so  bad  again  !  Now, 
said  he,  my  question  is.  Is  this  wish  a  sin? 
Mr.  E.  says  this  question  was  evidently  the 
result  of  his  own  experience  and  seemed  to  be 
sincere. 

Another  question  was  this  : 


132  LIFE      OF     JOHN     ELIOT.  * 

Whither  do  our  little  children  go  when  they 
die,  seeing  they  have  not  sinned  ? 

This  led  to  an  exposition  of  the  depravity  of 
man's  nature,  and  of  the  part  which  it  is  hoped 
dying  infants  have  in  the  redemption  made  by 
Christ,  and  the  covenant  relation  of  the  children 
of  believers,  which  last  doctrine  Mr.  Eliot  says, 
"  was  exceedingly  grateful  unto  them." 

The  whole  assembly  at  one  time  united  and 
sent  a  question  to  Mr.  Eliot  by  his  man,  as  their 
united  question,  viz  : 

"  Whether  any  of  them  should  go  to  heaven, 
seeing  they  found  their  hearts  full  of  sin,  and 
especially  full  of  the  sin  of  lust?"  At  the  next 
lecture  held  at  "  Dorchester  mill,"  occasion  was 
taken  to  preach  to  them  from  Matt.  11  :  28,  29. 
"  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy 
laden,"  &;c.,  when  the  justifying  grace  of  Christ 
to  all  who  are  weary  and  sick  of  sin  was  fully 
and  earnestly  set  forth.  But  at  this  time  they 
repeated  their  fearful  apprehension  that  "  none 
of  them  would  go  to  heaven." 

A  question  which  uniformly  troubled  all  who 
began  to  think  of  embracing  religion  was  this  : 

'*  If  we  leave  off  Powawing  and  pray  to  God, 
what  shall  we  do  when  we  are  sick  ?"  For 
though  they  had  some  knowledge  of  the  medici- 
nal qualities  in  certain  roots  and  herbs,  they  of 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  133 

course  had  no  knowledge  of  the  human  system, 
and  hence  no  skill  in  applying  their  remedies, 
but  relied  on  the  antics  and  unearthly  gestures 
and  incantations  of  their  Powaws  to  make  the 
medicines  take  effect.  Mr.  Eliot  expressed  the 
desire  that  the  Lord  would  stir  up  the  hearts  of 
some  people  in  England  to  give  some  mainte- 
nance towards  a  school  or  academy,  wherein 
there  should  be  "  Anatomies,  and  other  instruc- 
tions that  way."  Mr.  E.  had  himself  showed 
them  an  anatomy,  the  only  one  he  says  the 
English  had  ever  had  in  the  country.  By  a 
course  of  instruction  in  medicine  Mr.  E.  believed 
that  he  could  most  effectually,  and  perhaps,  in 
the  only  way,  "root  out  their  Powaws." 

The  Indians  proposed  this  question  to  Mr. 
Eliot: 

•'  What  shall  we  say  to  some  Indians  who 
say  to  us,  What  do  you  get  by  praying  to  God, 
and  believing  in  Jesus  Christ  ?  You  go  naked 
still,  and  are  as  poor  as  we.  Our  corn  is  as 
good  as  yours  ;  and  we  take  more  pleasure  than 
you  ;  if  we  saw  that  you  got  any  thing  by  pray- 
ing to  God,  we  would  do  so." 

Mr.  E.  answered  to  them  on  this  point  as 
follows  :  "  First,  God  gives  two  sorts  of  good 
things;  1.  little  things,  which  he  showed  by 
his  little  finger,  ('  for  they  use  and  delight  in 

VOL.    III.  12 


134  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

demonstrations  ;')  2.  great  things,  (holding  up 
his  thumb).  The  little  mercies  he  said  are 
riches,  clothes,  food,  sack,  houses,  cattle,  and 
pleasures,  all  which  serve  the  body  for  a  little 
while,  and  in  this  life  only.  The  great  mercies 
are  wisdom,  the  knowledge  of  God,  Christ, 
eternal  life,  repentance  and  faith ;  these  are  for 
the  soul,  and  eternity.  Though  God  did  not 
give  them  so  many  little  things,  through  the 
knowledge  of  the  Gospel,  he  gave  them  the 
greater  things  which  are  better.  This  he 
proved  by  an  illustration  :  when  Foxun^  the 
Mohegan  Counselor,  who  is  counted  the  wisest 
Indian  in  the  country,  was  in  the  Bay,  I  did  on 
purpose  bring  him  unto  you  ;  and  when  he  was 
here,  you  saw  he  was  a  fool  in  comparison  of 
you,  for  you  could  speak  of  God,  and  Christ, 
and  heaven,  &c. ;  but  he  sat  and  had  not  one 
word  to  say  unless  you  talked  of  such  poor 
things  as  hunting,  wars,  &c." 

He  also  told  them  that  they  had  some  more 
clothes  than  the  wicked  Indians ;  and  the  reason 
why  they  had  so  few,  was  because  they  had  so 
little  wisdom ;  but  if  they  were  wise  to  obey 
God's  commands,  for  example,  "  Six  days  shalt 
thou  labor,"  they  would  have  clothes,  houses, 
cattle,  and  riches,  as  the  English  have. 

Many  questions  and  cases  of  dispute  arose 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  135 

out  of  their  old  practice  of  gaming-,  to  which 
they  were  greatly  addicted.  The  irreligious 
Indians  demanded  the  old  stakes  of  some  Avho 
had  heen  convinced  of  the  sin  of  gaming,  and 
had  declined  to  pay  their  forfeits.  The  winners 
however,  insisted  on  being  payed.  Mr.  Eliot 
had  no  little  trouble  in  settling  the  matters  of 
casuistry  and  conscience  which  thus  occurred. 
But  he  took  this  method  in  many  cases.  He 
prevailed  on  the  creditor  to  accept  one  half 
of  his  demand,  having  first  showed  him  the 
sinfulness  of  gaming.  He  then  told  the  debtor 
in  private  that  God  requires  us  to  fulfill  our 
promises  though  to  our  hurt,  and  then  asked 
him  if  he  would  pay  half.  In  this  way  such 
cases  were  many  of  them  settled,  for  the  credit- 
ors refused  Mr.  Eliot's  proposition,  that  whoever 
challenged  a  debt  incurred  by  gaming  should 
go  before  the  Governor  with  his  demand. 

The  demand  upon  Mr.  Eliot  for  agricultural 
and  other  implements  soon  increased  beyond 
his  ability  to  supply  them.  The  women  were 
desirous  of  learning  to  spin  ;  wheels  were  pro- 
cured for  them.  The  men  began  to  supply  the 
English  market  all  the  year  round,  in  the  win- 
ter with  brooms,  staves,  eel-pots,  baskets,  and 
turkies  ;  in  the  spring  with  cranberries,  fish,  and 
strawberries ;  in  the  summer,  with  whortleber- 


136  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

ries,  grapes  and  fish  ;  and  in  tlie  autumn,  with 
cranberries,  fish  and  venison.  Some  of  them 
worked  with  the  English  in  haying  time,  and 
harvest;  but  it  was  hard  work  for. them  with 
their  old  habits  of  indolence.  "  Old  boughs," 
says  Mr.  Eliot,  "  must  be  bent  a  little  at  once ; 
if  we  can  set  the  young  twigges  in  a  better  bent, 
it  will  bee  God's  mercy." 

Mr.  Eliot  fell  in  with  a  Narragansett  Sachem, 
and  having  spoken  to  him  on  the  subject  of 
religion,  asked  him  if  he  did  not  believe  such 
things  ?  The  Sachem  seemed  averse  to  answer, 
and  Mr.  E.  asked  him  why  he  had  not  profited 
more  by  the  instructions  of  a  Mr.  Williams, 
their  teacher  ?  He  answered  that  the  Indians  did 
not  care  to  learn  of  him,  because  he  is  no  good 
man,  but  goes  out  and  works  upon  the  Sabbath 
day.  "I  name  it,"  says  Thomas  Shepard,  "not 
to  show  what  glimmerings  nature  may  have 
concerning  the  observation  of  the  Sabbath,  but 
to  show  what  the  ill  example  of  the  English 
may  do,  and  to  show  lohat  a  stumhling-block  to 
all  religion  the  loose  observation  of  the  Sab- 
bath 2>." 

In  a  few  years  Mr.  Eliot  says  a  visible  im- 
provement had  taken  place  in  many  of  the 
domestic  habits  of  the  Indians,  indicating  an 
advancement  in  the    principles    and  sentiments 


L  I  F  K      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  137 


of  civilization.  Not  only  were  they  as  a  gen- 
eral thing  respectably  clothed,  but  the  common 
wigwams  at  Nonantum  equalled  those  of  Sa- 
chems in  other  tribes,  and  instead  of  herding 
together  in  one  room  they  made  divisions  and 
apartments  in  their  houses  from  feelings  of 
propriety  and  modesty. 

Questions  relating  to  the  plurality  of  their 
wives  perplexed  them,  and  gave  occasion  for  the 
same  judicious  decisions  on  this  delicate  and 
trying  subject  which  are  now  made  by  our  wise 
and  discreet  missionaries  in  lands  where  the 
same  practice  exists.  While  some  good  men 
are  in  favor  of  driving  the  ploughshare  at  once 
among  the  roots  of  this  and  every  other  evil 
in  the  institutions  and  customs  of  corrupt  soci- 
ety, it  is  found  impracticable  to  do  so,  by  those 
who  see  the  complicated  nature  of  these  prac- 
tices, without  occasioning  still  greater  evils. 
Remedial  measures  are  in  operation  among  the 
converts  from  heathenism  and  paganism  by 
which  caste  and  polygamy  and  other  social 
evils  will  in  time,  but  not  in  a  day  or  year,  be 
done  away.  The  process  of  cure  was  more 
rapid  among  the  Indians,  than  it  is  among  the 
Oriental  tribes,  for  reasons  connected  with  the 
character  of  the  people,  the  ascendency  which 
religion  soon  had  among  them,  and  the  absence 
12^ 


138  LIFE      OF      JOHiN      ELIOT 


of  opposing  influences  in  the  government  of  the 
irihos. 

Tlic  text  from  wliich  Mr.  Eliot  preached  liis 
first  sermon  at  Nonantum,  ("  Prophesy  to  the 
wind,"  &c.)  and  wliich  made  Waban,  whose 
name  translated,  is,  the  wind,  liad  produced 
decided  eflect  on  Iiim,  and  he  became  useful  in 
diffusing  the  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  to  other 
tribes,  at  Concord,  at  places  on  the  Merrimack, 
and  elsewhere.  He  remained  steadfast  in  the 
faith,  and  never  ceased  to  think  that  the  Word 
of  God  was  directed  specially  to  himself  in  that 
first  sermon  of  Mr.  Eliot,  though  Mr.  E.  says 
that  he  had  no  design  in  the  coincidence  be- 
tw'een  the  text  and  the  Indian's  name. 

Mr.  Eliot  once  preached  to  the  Indians  from 
these  words,  Ephes.  5:    11,  "Have   no  fellow- 
ship w'ith  the  unfruitful  works  of  darkness,"  &c. 
One  of  the  questions  proposed  after  sermon  was' 
this  : 

What  do  Englishmen  think  of  Mr.  Eliot, 
because  he  comes  among  wicked  Indians  to 
teach  them  ? 

Another  question  was  as  follows  : 

Suppose  two  men  sin.  The  one  knows  he 
sinneth,  and  the  other  doth  not  know  sin,  will 
God  punish  both  alike  ? 

Another  asked,  Suppose  there  should  be  one 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  139 

wise  Indian  that  teacheth  good  things  to  other 
Indians,  whether  should  not  he  be  as  a  father  or 
brother  unto  such  Indians  he  so  teacheth  in  the 
ways  of  God  ? 

One  of  the  Indians  at  Nonantum  had  a  child 
sick  of  consumption.  When  it  was  dead  some 
of  the  Indians  came  to  one  of  the  English  and 
asked  him  the  proper  manner  of  burial.  Where- 
upon the  father  procured  some  pieces  of  board 
and  nails,  and  made  a  decent  coffin  ;  and  about 
forty  of  the  tribe  went  with  the  body  to  the 
grave.  There  having  laid  the  body  in  the 
earth,  in  a  solemn  and  suitable  manner,  with- 
out any  bowlings,  or  heathenish  rites,  or  savage 
gesticulations,  they  made  up  the  mound,  and 
then  of  their  own  accord,  for  it  was  not  the  Eng- 
lish custom,  they  assembled  for  prayer  near  the 
grave,  and  requested  one  of  their  number,  a 
serious  Indian  by  the  name  of  Totherswamp,  to 
pray  with  them,  which  he  did,  "  with  such  zeal 
and  variety  of  gracious  expressions,  and  abun- 
dance of  tears,  both  of  himself  and  most  of  the 
company,  that  the  woods  rang  again  with  their 
sighs  and  prayers." 

Thomas  Shepard  says,  "  I  know  that  some  will 
think  that  all  this  work  among  them  is  done 
and  acted  thus  by  the  Indians  to  please  the 
English,  and  for  applause  from  them  ;    and  it  is 


140  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

not  unlikel)'  Imt  'lis   so  in  man3^  who   doe   but 
blaze  for  a  time  ;    but  certainly  'lis  not  so  in  all, 
but  that  the  power  of  the  Word  hath  taken  place 
in  some,  and  that   inwardly  and  efTectually,  but 
how  far  savingly  time  will  declare.     Some  may 
say  that  if  it  be  so,  yet  they  are  but  few  that 
are    thus   wrought  upon.      Be   it  so  ;    yet   so  it 
hath   ever  been,  many  called,  few  chosen,  and 
yet   withal,  I    believe    the    calling  in  of  a    few 
Indians    to   Christ,   is    the    gathering  home   of 
many  hundreds  more,  considering  what  a  vast 
distance    there   hath    been   between    them    and 
God  so  long,  even  dayes  without  number  ;  con- 
sidering also,  how   precious  the   first  fruits  of 
America  will  be  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  what  seeds 
they  may  be  of  harvests  in  after  times  ;  and  yet 
if  there  was  no  great  matter  seen  in  those  of 
grown   years,    their  children,    notwithstanding, 
are    of   great    hopes,    both    from    English    and 
Indians    themselves,  who  are  therefore  trained 
up    to    schoole,   where    many   are   very   apt   to 
learne,  and  who  are  also  able  readily  to  answer 
to    the    questions    propounded,    containing    the 
principles  and  grounds  of  all  Christian  religion 
in  their  owji  tongue.     I  confesse  it  passeth  my 
skill  to  tell  how  the  Gospel  should  be  generally 
received  by  these  American  natives,  considering 
the  variety  of  languages   in  small   distances  of 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  141 

places  ;  onely  hee  that  made  their  eares  and 
tongues  can  raise  up  some  or  other  to  teach 
them  how  to  heare,  and  what  to  spake ;  and  if 
the  Gospel  must  ride  circuit,  Christ  can  and  will 
conquer  by  weake  and  dispicable  meanes, 
though  the  conquest  perhaps  may  be  somewhat 
long.'"^ 

Mr.  Eliot  wrote  an  interestinof  letter  to  a 
friend  in  England,  dated  Roxbury,  this  12th  of 
Nov.  1648,  and  sent  it  by  the  way  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  through  Spain. 

He  says  that  the  Indians  used  to  abhor  the 
remembrance  of  their  dead  friends,  but  that  now 
they  had  begun  to  receive  profit  from  the  recol- 
lection of  their  dying  counsels,  and  hope  from 
their  confidence  in  the  safety  of  the  pious  dead. 
The  woman  who  asked  the  question,  whether, 
when  her  husband  prayed,  if  she  prayed  in  her 
heart,  but  did  not  speak,  yet  her  heart  liked 
what  he  said,  it  was  prayer  ;  called  her  two 
grown  up  daughters  to  her  when  she  was  dying 
and  said  to  them  :  "  I  shall  now  die,  and  when  I 
am  dead,  your  grand-parents  and  uncles  will 
send  for  you  to  come  live  among  them  and 
promise  you  great  matters,  and  tell  you  what 
pleasant  living  it  is  among  them.     But  do  not 


*  Shepard'3  "  Cleare  Sunshine." 


142  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

believe  them,  and  I  charge  you  never  hearken 
unto  them,  nor  live  among  them  ;  for  they  pray 
not  to  God,  keep  not  the  Sabbath,  commit  all 
manner  of  sins,  and  are  not  punished  for  it. 
But  I  charge  you  live  here,  for  here  they  pray 
unto  God,  the  Word  of  God  is  taught,  sins  are 
suppressed  and  punished  by  laws,  and  therefore 
I  charge  you  live  here  all  your  days."  Soon 
after  it  came  to  pass  as  she  had  said,  and  the 
case  was  propounded  to  Mr.  Eliot,  and  the 
father-in-law  opposed  the  removal  of  the  chil- 
dren, on  the  ground  of  their  mother's  charge. 

The  settlement  of  Natick  took  place  in  the 
following  way.  Many  Indians  in  the  country 
were  desirous  of  hearing  the  Gospel,  but  they 
would  not  remove  into  the  neighborhood  of  the 
English,  "  because  they  had  no  tools  or  skill,  or 
heart  to  fence  their  grounds,"  and  so  their  corn 
was  spoiled  by  the  English  cattle,  and  the  Eng- 
lish refused  to  pay  for  it,  because  the  Indians 
would  not  build  fences.  *'  Therefore,"  Mr.  E. 
says,  "  a  place  must  be  found  (both  for  this  and 
sundry  other  reasons)  somewhat  remote  from 
the  English  ; — but  I  feare  it  will  bee  too  charge- 
able, though  I  see  that  God  delighteth  in  small 
beginnings  that  his  name  may  be  magnified." 

There  was  a  great  fishing  place  at  the  falls  of 
the    Merrimack  where    the    Indians   assembled 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  143 

every  spring-,  and  Mr.  E.  visited  them.  They 
put  a  question  to  him  after  one  of  his  sermons, 
which  all  who  are  interested  in  the  conversion 
of  the  heathen  often  find  occurring  to  them 
with  painful  interest.  "  If  it  be  thus  as  you 
teach,  then  all  the  world  of  Indians  are  gone  to 
hell,  to  be  tormented  forever,  until  now  a  few 
may  go  to  heaven  and  be  saved ;  is  it  so  ?" 

In  the  letter  which  went  so  far  in  getting  to 
England,  Mr.  Eliot  records  some  further  ques- 
tions from  his  Nonantum  Indians,  viz : 

How  many  good  people  were  in  Sodom  when 
it  was  burnt  ? 

Doth  the  devil  dwell  in  us  as  we  dwell  in  a 
house  ? 

When  God  saith,  Honor  thy  father,  doth  he 
mean  three  fathers,  our  father,  our  Sachem,  and 
our  God  ? 

When  the  soul  goes  to  heaven,  what  doth  it 
say  when  it  comes  there.  And  what  doth  a 
wicked  soul  say  when  it  cometh  into  hell  ? 

If  one  sleep  on  the  Sabbath  at  meeting,  and 
another  awaketh  him,  and  he  be  angry  at  it, 
and  say  it's  because  he  is  angry  with  him  that 
he  so  doth,  is  not  this  a  sin  ? 

If  any  talk  of  another  man's  faults  and  tell 
others  of  it  when  he  is  not  present  to  answer,  is 
not  that  a  sin  ? 


144  LIFE     OF     JOHN     ELIOT. 

Why  did  Christ  die  in  our  stead? 

Seeing  Eve  was  first  in  sin,  whether  she  did 
die  first? 

Why  must  we  love  our  enemies,  and  how 
shall  we  do  it  ? 

When  every  day  my  heart  thinks  I  must  die 
and  go  to  hell  for  my  sins,  what  shall  I  do  in 
this  case  ? 

May  a  good  man  sin  sometimes  ?  Or  may 
he  be  a  good  man  and  yet  sin  sometimes  ? 

If  a  man  think  a  prayer,  doth  God  know  it, 
and  will  he  bless  him  ? 

Who  killed  Christ  ? 

If  a  man  be  almost  a  good  man  and  dietli, 
whither  goeth  his  soul  ? 

How  long  was  Adam  good  before  he  sinned  ? 

Seeing  we  see  not  God  with  our  eyes,  if  a 
man  dream  that  he  seeth  God,  doth  his  soul 
then  see  him  ? 

Did  Adam  see  God  before  he  sinned  ?  Shall 
we  see  God  in  heaven  ? 

If  a  wicked  man  pray,  whether  doth  he  make 
a  good  prayer  ?  Or  when  doth  a  wicked  man 
pray  a  good  prayer  ? 

Whether  God  did  make  hell  before  Adam 
sinned  ? 

If  two  families  dwell  in  one  house,  and  one 


LIFE      OF      JOHN     ELIOT.  14*5 

prayeth  and  the  other  not,  what  shall  they  that 
pray  do  to  them  that  do  not  ? 

Did  Abimelech  know  Sarah  was  Abraham's 
wife  ? 

Did  not  Abraham  sin  in  saying  she  was  my 
sister  ? 

Seeing  God  pii^mised  Abraham  so  many 
children,  like  the  stars  for  multitude,  why  did 
he  give  him  so  few  ?     And  was  it  true  ? 

If  God  made  hell  in  one  of  the  six  days,  why 
did  God  make  hell  before  Adam  sinned  ? 

How  shall  I  bring  mine  heart  to  love  prayer  ? 

If  one  man  repent  and  pray  once  in  a  day, 
another  man  often  in  a  day,  whether  doth  one 
of  them  go  to  heaven,  the  other  not  ?  Or  what 
difference  is  there  ? 

I  find  I  want  wisdom,  what  shall  I  do  to  be 
wise  ? 

Why  did  Abraham  buy  a  place  to  bury  in  ? 

Why  doth  God  make  good  men  sick  ? 

How  shall  the  Resurrection  be,  and  when? 

Do  not  Englishmen  spoil  their  souls  to  say  a 
thing  cost  them  more  than  it  did  ?  and  is  not  all 
one  as  to  steal  ? 

You  say  our  body  is  made  of  clay  ;  what  is 
the  sun  and  moon  made  of? 

If  one  be  loved  of  all  Indians,  good  and  bad, 

VOL.    III.  13 


146  LIFE     OF     JOHN     ELIOT. 

another  is  hated  of  all,  saving  a  few  that  be 
good,  doth  God  love  both  these  ? 

I  see  why  I  must  fear  hell  and  do  so  every 
day.     But  why  niust  I  fear  God  ? 

How  is  the  tongue  like  fire,  and  like  poison  ? 

What  if  false  witnesses  accuse  me  of  murther, 
or  some  foul  sin  ?  » 

What  punishment  is  due  to  liars  ? 

If  I  reprove  a  man  for  sin,  and  he  answer, 
"  Why  do  you  speak  thus  angrily  to  me  ?  Mr. 
Eliot  teacheth  us  to  love  one  another  ?" — is  this 
well  ? 

Why  is  God  so  angry  with  murtherers  ? 

If  a  wife  put  away  her  husband  because  he 
will  pray  to  God  and  she  will  not,  what  is  to  be 
done  in  this  case  ? 

If  there  be  young  women  pray  to  God,  may 
such  as  pray  to  God  marry  one  that  will  not 
pray  to  God,  or  what  is  to  be  done  in  this  case  ? 

Whether  doth  God  make  bad  men  dream 
good  dreams  ? 

What  is  salvation  ? 

What  is  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  ? 

If  my  wife  do  some  work  in  the  house  on  the 
night  before  the  Sabbath,  and  some  work  on  the 
Sabbath  night,  whether  this  is  a  sin  ? 

If  I  do  a  sin,  and  do  not  know  it  is  a  sin,  what 
will  God  say  to  that  ? 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  147 

Is  faith  set  in  my  heart  or  in  my  mind  ? 

Why  have  not  beasts  a  soul  as  man  hath, 
seeing  they  have  love,  anger,  &c.,  as  man  hath  ? 

How  is  the  Spirit  of  God  in  us,  and  where 
is  it? 

Why  doth  God  punish  in  hell  for  ever?  man 
doth  not  so,  but  after  a  time  lets  them  out  of 
prison  again.  And  if  they  repent  in  hell,  why 
will  not  God  let  them  out  again  ? 

How  shall  I  know  when  God  accepts  my 
prayers  ? 

How  doth  Christ  make  peace  between  man 
and  God?  and  what  is  the  meaning  of  that 
point  ? 

Why  did  the  Jews  give  the  Avatchmen  money 
to  tell  a  lie  ? 

If  I  hear  God's  word  when  I  am  young,  and 
do  not  believe,  but  when  I  am  old  I  believe, 
what  will  God  say  ? 

In  wicked  dreams  doth  the  soul  sin  ? 

Doth  the  soul  in  heaven  know  things  done 
here  on  earth  ? 

Doth  the  soul  in  heaven  remember  what  it 
did  here  on  earth  before  he  died  ? 

If  my  heart  be  full  of  evil  thoughts,  and  I  re- 
pent and  pray,  and  a  few  hours  after  it  is  full 
again,  and  I  repent  and  pray  again  ;  and  if  after 


148  LIFE      OF     JOHN     ELIOT. 

this  it  be  full  of  evil  thoughts  again,  what  will 
God  say  ? 

Why  did  the  earth  shake  at  Christ's  resur- 
rection ? 

What  if  a  minister  wear  long  hair,  as  some 
other  men  do,  what  will  God  say  ? 

If  a  man  will  make  his  daughter  marry  a 
man  whom  she  doth  not  love,  what  will  God 
say? 

Why  doth  Christ  compare  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  to  a  net  ? 

Why  doth  God  so  hate  them  that  teach  others 
to  commit  sin  ? 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  149 


CHAPTER    VI. 

Letters  respecting  the  Indians,  from  individuals  in  New  England,  to 
tlicir  friends  in  Old  England,  ^^peculations  about  the  lost  tribes  of 
Israel.  Remarks.  Questions.  Samuel  Gorton,  the  Familist.  Two 
Indians  controvert  his  opinions.  Interesting  conversation.  Labors 
of  the  Mayhews  on  Martha's  Vineyard.  Covenant  of  the  Indians 
of  Martha's  Vineyard.  Questions.  Merrimack  Indiana.  Accounts 
by  the  Mayhews  of  their  labors.     Questions. 

Some  of  Mr.  Eliot's  letters  respecting  the  In- 
dians were  published  in  London,  with  an  appen- 
dix by  Rev.  "  J.  D."  As  we  are  interested  and 
entertained  occasionally  by  a  supposed  discovery 
of  the  lost  tribes  of  Israel,  it  may  not  be  useless 
to  give  here  some  of  the  speculations  and  rea- 
sonings of  this  good  man,  on  this  subject  as 
relating  to  the  North  American  Indians.  He 
begins  his  appendix  with  the  following  words  : 

"  The  works  of  the  Lord  are  great,  sought 
out  of  all  them  that  love  them,  saith  the  Psalm- 
ist;  Ps.  Ill:  3.  The  word  which  we,  render 
sought'  out,  hath  a  mighty  emphasis  in  it  : 
'Tis  a  word  used  sometimes  to  denote  the  elab- 
orate care  of  digging  and  searching  into  mines. 
And  sometimes  it's  made  use  of  to  expresse  the 
13^ 


150  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

accurate  labors  of  those  who  comment  upon 
writings.  Indeed,  there  is  a  golden  mine  in 
every  work  of  God  ;  and  the  foregoing  letters  to 
a  gracious  eye,  are  as  a  discovery  of  a  far  more 
precious  mine  in  America,  than  those  gold  and 
silver  mines  of  India  :  For  they  bring  tidings  of 
the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ,  revealed  unto 

poore  soules  in  those  parts I  could  not 

pass  over  so  rich  a  mine  without  digging. 

*<  The  general  consent  of  many 

judicious  and  godly  divines  doth  induce  consid- 
ering minds  to  believe  that  the  conversion  of 
the  Jews  is  at  hand.  It's  the  expectation  of 
some  of  the  wisest  Jews  now  living,  that  about 
the  year  16-50,  Either  we  shall  be  Mosaick  or 
else  that   themselves  Jews   shall  be  Christians. 

There  may  be  at  least  a  remnant  of 

the  generation  of  Jacob  in  America,  (perad ven- 
ture some  of  the  Ten  tribes  dispersions.)  And 
that  those  sometimes  poor  now  precious  Indians 
may  be  as  the  first  fruits  of  the  glorious  harvest 
of  Israel's  redemption.  The  observation  is  not 
to  be  slighted,  (though  the  observer,  Mr.  Shep- 
ard,  said  it  was  more  cheerful  than  deep)  that 
the  first  Text  out  of  which  Mr.  Eliot  preached, 

was  about  the  dry  bones Why  may  we 

not  at  least  conjecture,  that  God  by  a  special 
finger  pointed  out  that  text  to  be   first  opened, 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  151 

which  immediately  concerned  the  persons  to 
whom  it  was  preached?" 

He  then  states  the  reasons  why  the  Indian 
tribes  may  be  of  Jewish  descent,  viz : 

"  1.  They  have  at  least  a  traditional  knowl- 
edge of  God,  as  the  Maker  of  heaven  and 
earth. 

2.  Whatever  they  attribute  unto  others,  this 
they  peculiarly  attribute  unto  God,  viz  :  that 
all  things,  both  good  and  evil,  are  managed  by 
his  Providence. 

3.  Before  they  had  received  any  instruction 
from  the  English,  upon  observation  of  a  bad 
year,  or  other  ill  success,  they  did  meet  and 
weep  as  unto  God,  and  on  the  other  side,  upon 
a  good  year,  or  good  success  in  any  business, 
as  of  War,  they  used  to  meet  and  make  a  kind 
of  acknowledgement  of  thanks  to  God  in  it. 

4.  They  are  careful  to  preserve  the  memory 
of  their  families,  mentioning  Uncles,  Grand- 
parents, &;c.  A  thing  which  had  a  great  tang 
of,  and  affinity  to,  the  Jews'  care  of  preserving 
the  memorial  of  their  Tribes. 

5.  Those  of  them  who  have  been  wrought 
upon,  tell  of  some  face  of  Religion,  wisdom  and 
manners  which  long  agoe  their  ancestors  had, 
but  that  it  was  lost. 

6.  The  better  and  more  sober  of  them  de- 


152  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT. 

light  much  to  expresse  themselves  in  parables, 
a  thing  peculiar  to  the  Jews. 

These  and  the  like  considerations  prevail 
with  me  to  entertain  (at  least)  a  conjecture  that 
these  Indians  of  America  may  be  Jews,  especial- 
ly of  the  Ten  Tribes.  And  therefore  to  hope 
that  the  work  of  Christ  among  them  may  be  as 
preparatory  to  his  own  appearing." 

Some  of  these  reasons  appertain  with  equal 
force  to  other  tribes  of  the  earth  who  have  been 
supposed  by  different  writers  to  be  remnants  of 
the  house  of  Israel.  While  we  should  respect 
the  interest  and  zeal  of  those  who  study  the 
providence  of  God,  with  a  view  to  finding  out 
his  designs,  and  to  be  prepared  for  the  fulfillment 
of  his  promises,  we  should  not  easily  yield  our 
confidence  to  any  hypothesis  which  rests  merely 
on  conjecture,  or  depends  for  support  in  reasons 
which  apply  equally  well  to  theories  inconsistent 
with  it.  This  is  not  the  place  to  remark  at 
large  on  the  interesting  subject  of  the  Jews  and 
their  conversion,  but  the  impression  seems  hap- 
pily to  be  extending  that  the  sooner  we  cease  to 
regard  them  as  destined  to  a  national  conver- 
sion, and  look  at  them  as  sinners  of  the  human 
family,  like  Mohammedans  and  Papists,  and  re- 
frain from  efforts  and  a  treatment  which  foster 
their  spirit  of  separation  and  their  assumption 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  153 

of  superior  dignity  and  special  claims  to  respect 
and  favor,  the  sooner  we  shall  employ  ourselves 
in  efforts  to  address  them  in  a  way  which  will 
be  far  more  likely  to  humble  their  pride,  and 
prepare  them  to  submit  to  the  Gospel,  than  the 
somewhat  adulatory  and  flattering  method  of 
approaching  them  and  speaking  of  them  will 
ever  be. 

The  improvement  which  the  writer  above 
named  makes  of  Mr.  Eliot's  letters  in  the  fol- 
lowing exhortations  is  far  more  obviously  correct 
than  his  speculations  about  the  origin  and  desti- 
ny of  the  Indians.  He  says  the  work  of  grace 
among  them'should  lead  the  people  of  England, 

"  First,  To  study  and  search  into  the  works  of 
the  Lord,  to  see  how  he  counter  plots  the  ene- 
my in  his  designs ;  In  making  the  late  Bishops 
persecuting  of  the  godly  tend  to  the  promoting 
of  the  Gospel. 

Secondly,  To  take  heed  of  despising  the  day 
of  small  things. 

Thirdly,  To  be  ashamed  of  and  bewail  our 
want  of  affection  to  and  estimation  of  that  glori- 
ous Gospel,  and  those  great  things  of  Christ, 
which  these  poor  Heathens  upon  the  little  Glym- 
merings  and  tasts  so  exceedingly  value  and 
improve. 

Fourthly,  Doth    not    the    observation  of   the 


154  LIFE      OF     JOHN     ELIOT. 

preceding  reports  clearly  confirm  the  doctrine  of 
the  Sabbath,  and  the  practice  of  prayer.  0 
tremble,  ye  Sabbath  slighters  and  duty  despis- 
ers,  Christ  hath  witnesses  against  you  in  Amer- 
ica  The  converted    Heathen   in    New 

England  goe  beyond  you,  O  ye  Apostolic 
Christians  in  England. 

Arise  ye  heads  of  our  Tribes  in  Old  England, 
and  extend  your  help  to  further  Christ's  labour- 
ers in  New  England. 

Kouse  up  yourselves,  my  Brethren  !  ye 
preachers  of  the  Gospel,  this  work  concerns  you. 
Contrive  and  plot,  preach  for  and  presse  the  ad- 
vancement hereof. 

Come  forth  ye  masters  of  money,  part  with 
your  gold  to  promote  the  Gospel.  If  you  give 
any  thing  yearly,  remember  Christ  will  be  your 
Pensioner.  If  you  give  any  thing  into  banke, 
Christ  will  keep  account  thereof  and  reward  it." 

The  reader,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  will  not  be 
weary  of  the  Indian  questions,  which  Mr.  Eliot 
sent  to  his  friends  in  England  as  often  as  he 
wrote  to  them.  These  questions  are  not  only 
curious,  but  they  suggest  valuable  thoughts  and 
lead  to  profitable  reflections. 

If  a  man  know  God's  Word,  said  one  of 
them  at  the  Indian  lecture,  but  believe   it  not, 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  155 

and  he  teach  others,  is  that  good  teaching?  and 
if  others  believe  that  which  he  teacheth,  is  that 
believing  or  faith?  Upon  this  question  Mr. 
Eliot  asked  them  how  they  could  tell  when  a 
man  knoweth  God's  Word,  that  he  doth  not  be- 
lieve it  ?  They  answered,  When  he  doth  not 
do  in  his  practice  answerable  to  that  which  he 
knoweth. 

If  I  teach  on  the  Sabbath  that  which  you  have 
taught  us,  and  forget  some,  is  that  a  sin  ?  and 
some  I  mistake  and  teach  wrong,  is  that  a  sin  ? 

Do  all  evil  thoughts  come  from  the  devil,  and 
all  good  ones  from  God  ? 

What  is  watchfulness  ? 

What  should  I  pray  for  at  night,  and  what 
at  morning,  and  what  on  the  Sabbath  day  ? 

What  is  true  Repentance  ?  or  how  shall  I 
know  when  this  is  true  ? 

How  must  I  wait  on  God  ? 

Shall  we  see  Christ  at  the  day  of  judg-ment  ? 

When  I  pray  for  a  soft  heart,  why  is  it  still 
hard? 

You  said,  God  promised  to  go  with  Moses ; 
how  doth  he  go  with  us  ? 

When  such  die  as  never  heard  of  Christ, 
whither  do  they  go  ? 

When    the    wicked  die,  do  they  first  go   to 


156  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

heaven  to    the   judgment-seat    of   Christ  to  be 
judged,  and  then  go  away  to  hell? 

Why  doth  God  say,  I  am  the  God  of  the 
Hebrews  ? 

When  Christ  arose,  whence  came  his  soul  ? 
When  it  was  replied,  From  heaven  ;  they  said. 
How  then  was  Christ  punished  in  our  stead  ? 
or  when  did  he  suffer  in  our  stead,  afore  death, 
or  after  ? 

When  I  pray  every  day,  why  is  my  heart  so 
hard  still,  even  as  a  stone  ? 

If  one  purposeth  to  pray,  and  yet  dieth  before 
that  time,  whither  goeth  his  soul  ? 

Why  must  we  be  like  salt  ? 

Doth  God  know  who  shall  repent,  and  who 
not  ? — why  then  did  God  use  so  much  meanes 
with  Pharaoh  ? 

What  meaneth  that  '  blessed  are  they  that 
mourn  '  ? 

When  I  see  a  good  example,  and  know  that 
it  is  right,  why  do  I  not  do  the  same  ? 

What  anger  is  good,  and  what  is  bad  ? 

Do  they  dwell  in  separate  houses  in  heaven, 
or  all  together,  and  what  do  they  ? 

If  a  child  die  before  he  sin,  whither  goeth  his 
soul?  'By  this  question,'  says  Mr.  E.,  'it  did 
please  the  Lord  to  convince  them  of  original  sin, 
blessed  be  his  name.' 


i 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  157 

If  one  that  prays  to  God  sins  like  him  that 
prays  not,  is  not  he  worse  ?  '  And  while,'  says 
Mr.  Eliot,  'they  discoursed  of  this  point,  and 
about  hating  wicked  persons,  one  of  them  shut 
it  up  with  this  :  They  must  love  the  man  and 
do  him  gdod,  but  hate  his  sin.' 

Why  do  Englishmen  so  eagerly  kill  all 
snakes  ? 

May  a  man  have  good  words  and  deeds,  and 
a  bad  heart,  and  another  have  bad  words  and 
deeds,  and  yet  a  good  heart  ? 

What  is  it  to  eate  Christ's  flesh,  and  drink  his 
blood  ;  what  meaneth  it  ? 

What  meaneth  a  new  heaven  and  a  new 
earth  ? 

If  but  one  parent  believe,  what  state  are  our 
children  in? 

How  doth  much  sinne  make  grace  abound  ? 

What  meaneth  that.  We  cannot  serve  two 
masters  ? 

Can  they  in  Heaven  see  us  here  on  earth  ? 

Do  they  see  and  know  each  other  ?  Shall  I 
know  you  in  heaven  ? 

If  all  the  world  be  burnt  up,  where  shall  hell  be  ? 

Do  they  know  each  other  in  Hell  ? 

What  meaneth,  that  Christ  meriteth  eternal 
life  for  us  ? 

What  meaneth  that,  The   woman  brought  to 

VOL.    III.  14 


158  LIFE      OF     JOHN     ELIOT. 

Christ  a    box  of  oyle,  and  washt   his  feet  with 
tears,  &c.? 

What  meaneth  that  of  the  two  debtors,  one 
oweth  much,  another  but  little  ? 

What  meaneth  God  when  he  sayes,  yee  shall 
be  my  jewels  ? 

If  so  old  a  man  as  I  repent,  may  I  be  saved  ? 

When  we  come  to  believe,  how  many  of  our 
children  doth  God  take  with  us,  whether  all, 
only  young  ones,  or  at  what  age  ? 

What  meaneth  that,  Let  the  trees  of  the  wood 
rejoice  ? 

What  meaneth  that.  The  Master  doth  not 
thank  his  servant  for  waiting  on  him  ? 

When  Englishmen  choose  magistrates  and 
ministers,  how  do  they  know  who  be  good  men 
that  they  dare  trust  ? 

Seeing  the  body  sinneth,  why  should  the  soul 
be  punished,  and  what  punishment  shall  the 
body  have  ? 

If  a  wicked  man  prayeth  and  teacheth,  doth 
God  accept,  or  what  saith  God  ? 

If  a  man  be  wise  and  his  Sachem  weak,  must 
he  yet  obey  him  ? 

We  are  commanded  to  honour  the  Sachem, 
but  is  the  Sachem  commanded  to  love  us  ? 

When  all  the  world  is  burnt  up,  what  shall 
be  in  the  room  of  it  ?     (By  an  old  woman.) 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  159 

Mr.  Eliot  says,  in  a  letter  containing  these 
questions,  "  You  may  perceive  many  of  the 
questions  arise  out  of  such  texts  as  I  handle,  and 
do  endeavour  to  communicate  as  much  Script- 
ure as  I  can.  The  word  of  the  Lord  convert- 
eth,  sanctifieth,  and  maketh  wise  the  simple; 
sometimes  they  aske  weaker  questions  than 
these,  which  I  mention  not;  you  have  the  best, 
and  when  I  am  about  writing-,  I  am  careful  in 
keeping  a  remembrance  of  them  ;  it  may  be  the 
same  question  may  be  again  and  again  asked  at 
several  places  and  by  several  persons.  The 
Lord  teach  them  to  know  Christ,  whom  to  know 
is  eternal  life.  I  shall  entreat  your  supplica- 
tions at  the  throne  of  grace,  under  the  tender 
iving  whereof  I  now  leave  you,  being  forced  by 
the  time,  and  rest, 

Your  respectful  and  loving 

brother  and  fellow-laborer 

in  the  Indian  work, 

John  Eliot." 

Samuel  Gorton,  charged  with  being  a  Fam- 
ilist  and  Antinomian,  was  banished  from 
Plymouth,  Rhode  Island,  and  Massachusetts. 
The  Familists  were  an  Anabaptist  sect,  founded 
in  Holland,  in  1555,  by  Henry  Nicholas,  a 
Westphalian.     They  held  that  the  essence  of 


160  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT. 

religion  consists  in  the  feelings  of  divine  love, 
(and  hence  they  were  called  the  Family  of  love, 
and  faniilists),  that  all  other  religious  tenets, 
■whether  relating  to  matters  of  faith  or  modes  of 
worship,  are  of  no  consequence,  and  that  it 
is  indifTerent  what  opinions  Christians  enter- 
tain concerning  God,  provided  their  hearts  are 
filled  with  the  emotions  of  piety  and  love. 
They  were  confuted  by  Dr.  Henry  More,  and 
by  George  Fox,  the  Quaker.  A  proclamation 
was  issued  against  them  by  Queen  Elizabeth  in 
15S0. 

This  Gorton  in  1650  was  in  Khode  Island. 
Two  of  the  Nonantum  Indians  made  a  visit  to 
Providence  and  Warwick,  and  spent  a  Sabbath 
and  heard  Gorton  and  his  followers  explain  their 
views,  and  afterwards  had  some  conversation 
with  them. 

Upon  their  return,  on  a  lecture  day,  before  the 
people  had  fully  assembled,  these  two  Indians 
addressed  a  question  to  Mr.  Eliot ;  and  the  con- 
versation which  ensued  is  recorded  by  him  as 
illustrating  the  proficiency  in  Christian  knowl- 
edge to  which  some  of  the  Indians  had  attained, 
and  their  ability  to  withstand  false  teachers. 

The  question  was  this :  What  is  the  reason 
that  seeing  those  English  people,  where  they  had 
been,  have  the  same  Bible  that  Mr.  Eliot  has, 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  161 

yet  do  not  speak  the  same  things  ?  Being  asked 
the  reason  of  his  question,  they  said,  They  had 
been  at  Providence  and  Warwick,  and  they 
perceived  by  conversation  with  them  that  they 
differed  from  Mr.  E. ;  they  heard  their  public 
exercises,  but  did  not  understand  what  they 
meant,  though  they  understood  the  English 
language  well.  Being  asked  what  they  said, 
they  replied,  they  said  thus : 

They  (that  is  Mr.  Eliot  and  his  friends)  teach 
you  that  there  is  a  heaven  and  a  hell,  but  there 
is  no  such  matter. 

Mr.  E.  asked  them  what  reason  they  gave  for 
this  assertion. 

Because  there  is  no  other  heaven  but  what  is 
in  the  hearts  of  good  men,  and  no  other  hell  but 
what  is  in  the  hearts  of  bad  men. 

Mr.  E.     What  did  you  say  to  that  ? 

Indians.  We  told  them  we  did  not  believe 
them,  because  heaven  is  a  place  where  good 
men  go  when  this  life  is  ended,  and  hell  is  a 
place  where  bad  men  go  when  they  die,  and 
cannot  be  in  the  hearts  of  man. 

Mr.  E.  approving  this  answer.  What  else 
did  they  say  ? 

Indians.  They  spake  of  Baptism,  and  said, 
they  teach   you   that  infants  must  be   baptized, 

but  that  is  a  very  foolish  thing. 
14# 


162  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT. 

Mr.  E.     What  reason  did  they  give? 

Indians.  Because  infants  neither  know  God 
nor  baptism,  nor  what  they  do,  and  therefore  it 
is  a  foolish  thing  to  do  it. 

Mr.  E.     What  did  you  say  to  that  ? 

India7is.  I  could  not  say  much  ;  but  I  thought 
it  was  better  to  baptize  them  while  they  be 
young,  and  then  they  are  bound  and  engaged; 
but  if  you  let  them  alone  till  they  be  grown  up, 
it  may  be  they  will  fly  of}^,  and  neither  care  for 
God  nor  Baptism. 

Mr.  E.  commended  this  reply.  "What  further 
did  they  say  ? 

Indians.  They  spake  of  ministers,  and  said, 
they  teach  you  that  you  must  have  ministers, 
but  that  is  a  needless  thing. 

Mr.  E.     Why  ? 

Indians.  They  gave  these  reasons :  First, 
ministers  know  nothing  but  what  they  learn  out 
of  God's  book,  and  we  have  God's  book  as  well 
as  they,  and  can  tell  what  God  saith.  Again, 
ministers  cannot  change  men's  hearts,  God  must 
do  that,  therefore  there  is  no  need  of  ministers. 

Mr.  E.     What  d  id  you  reply  ? 

Indians.  I  told  them  that  we  must  do  as 
God  commands  us,  and  if  he  commands  us  to 
have  ministers  we  must  have  them.  And  further, 
I  told  them  I  thoufrht  it  was  true  that  ministers 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  163 

cannot  change  men's  hearts  ;  but  when  we  do  as 
God  bids  us,  and  hear  ministers  preach,  then 
God  will  change  our  hearts. 

Mr.  E.     What  else  did  they  speak  of? 

Indians.  They  said,  they  teach  you  that 
you  must  have  magistrates,  but  that  is  need- 
less. 

Mr.  E.  What  reason  did  they  give  ? 

Indians.  They  said.  Because  magistrates 
cannot  give  life,  therefore  they  may  not  take 
away  life  ;  besides,  when  a  man  sinneth,  he  doth 
not  sin  against  magistrates ;  and  therefore  why 
should  they  punish  them?  but  they  sin  against 
God,  and  therefore  we  must  leave  them  to  God 
to  punish  them. 

Mr.  E.     What  answer  did  you  make  ? 

Indians.  I  said  to  that  as  to  the  former,  we 
must  do  as  God  commands  us.  If  God  com- 
mands us  to  have  magistrates,  and  commands 
them  to  punish  sinners,  then  we  must  obey. 

In  answer  to  the  question,  Why  all  who  have 
the  Bible  do  not  speak  the  same  things.  Mr. 
E.  preached  on  that  occasion  from  2  Thes.  2: 
10,  11.  "Because  they  believed  not  the  truth 
that  they  might  be  saved ;  for  this  cause  God 
shall  send  them  strong  delusions  that  they  might 
believe  a  lie,"  «tec. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Mayhew,  and  his  son  the 


164  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

Rev.  Experience  Mayhevv,  prosecuted  the  work 
of  evangelizing  the  Indians  of  Martha's  Vine- 
yard with  signal  success.  As  the  relations 
which  they  give  respecting  the  Indians,  and  the 
progress  of  the  Gospel  among  them,  correspond 
SO  nearly  with  the  foregoing  narratives,  it  is  not 
thought  necessary  to  speak  of  them  at  large. 
Some  idea  of  the  principles  which  were  incul- 
cated by  the  Mayhews,  and  of  the  influence 
which  they  exerted  upon  the  natives,  may  be 
derived  from  the  following  covenant  which  Mr. 
Thomas  Mayhew  wrote  for  them,  and  in  which 
they  all  with  free  consent  willingly  and  thank- 
fully joined. 

COVENANT    OF    THE     INDIANS    OF    MARTHA's    VINE- 
YARD. 

"  Wee,  the  distressed  Indians  of  the  Vineyard, 
(or  Nope,  the  Indian  name  of  the  Island,)  that 
beyond  all  memory  have  been  without  the  true 
God,  without  a  Teacher,  and  without  a  Law, 
the  very  servants  of  sin  and  satan,  and  without 
peace,  for  God  did  justly  vex  us  for  our  sins  ; 
having  lately,  through  his  mercy,  heard  of  the 
name  of  the  True  God,  the  name  of  his  Son 
Christ  Jesus,  with  the  holy  Ghost,  the  Com- 
forter, three  Persons,  but  one  most  Glorious  God, 
whose  name   is  Jehovah  ;    wee   do  praise  His 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  165 

Glorious  Greatness,  and,  in  sorrow  of  our  hearts, 
and  shame  of  our  faces,  we  do  acknowledge 
and  renounce  our  great  and  many  sins,  that 
we  and  our  Fathers  have  lived  in,  do  run  unto 
him  for  mercy  and  pardon  for  Christ  Jesus' 
sake;  and  wc  do  tliis  day,  through  the  blessing 
of  God  upon  us,  and  trusting  to  his  gracious 
help,  give  up  ourselves  in  this  Covenant,  Wee, 
our  wives  and  children,  to  serve  Jehovah  :  And 
we  do  this  day  chuse  Jehovah  to  be  our  God  in 
Christ  Jesus,  our  Teacher,  our  Lawgiver  in  his 
Word,  our  King,  our  Judge,  our  Kuler  by  his 
magistrates  and  ministers ;  to  fear  God  Himself, 
and  to  trust  in  Him  alone  for  salvation,  both  of 
Soul  and  Body,  in  this  present  Life,  and  the 
Everlasting  Life  to  come,  through  his  mercy  in 
Christ  Jesus  our  Saviour  and  Redeemer,  and 
by  the  might  of  his  Holy  Spirt,  to  whom,  with 
the  Father  and  Son,  be  all  Glory  everlasting, 
Amen." 

Mr.  IMayhew  says,  "  I  observed  that  the  In- 
dians, when  they  chose  their  Rulers,  made 
choyce  of  such  as  were  best  approved  for  their 
godliness,  and  most  likely  to  suppress  sin,  and 
encourage  holiness.  There  was  an  Indian  that 
was  well  approved  for  his  Reformation,  that  was 
suspected  to  have  told  a  plain  Lye  for  his  Gain ; 
the  business  was  brought  to  the  public  Meeting, 


166  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

and  there  it  was  notably  sifted  with  zeal  and 
good  affection  ;  but  at  length  the  Indian  defend- 
ing himself  with  great  disdain  and  hatred  of 
such  evil,  proved  himself  clear,  and  praised  God 
for  it." 

He  also  relates  the  following  anecdote : 
"  My  Father  and  I  were  lately  talking  with  an 
Indian  who  had  not  long  before  almost  lost  his 
life  by  a  wound  his  Enemies  gave  him  in  a 
secret  hidden  way,  the  mark  whereof  he  had 
upon  him,  and  will  carry  it  to  his  grave.  This 
man  understanding  of  a  secret  Plot  that  was  to 
take  away  his  Enemies  life,  told  my  Father  and 
I,  That  he  did  freely  forgive  him  for  the  sake  of 
God,  and  did  tell  this  Plot  to  us  that  the  man's 
life  might  be  preserved.  This  is  a  singular 
thing,  and  who  among  the  Heathen  will  do 
so  ? " 

Again :  "  Myoxeo  also  lately  met  with  an 
Indian  which  came  from  the  May7i,  (the  main- 
land,) who  was  of  some  note  among  them.  I 
heard  that  he  told  them  of  the  great  things  of 
God,  the  sinfulness  and  folly  of  the  Indians,  the 
pardon  of  sin  by  Christ,  and  of  a  good  life;  and 
so  they  were  both  affected,  that  they  continued 
this  discourse  two  half  nights  and  a  day,  until 
their  strength  was  spent.  He  told  him  in  par- 
ticular how  a  Bcleever  did  live  above  the  world, 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  167 

that  he  did  keep  worldly  things  alwaies  at  his 
feet,  (as  he  shewed  him  by  a  sign,)  That  when 
they  were  diminished  or  increased,  it  was  neither 
the  cause  of  his  sorrow  or  joy,  that  he  should 
stoop  to  regard  them,  but  he  stood  upright  with 
his  heart  Heavenward,  and  his  whole  desire  was 
after  God,  and  his  joy  in  Him." 

He  says,  "  Within  two  or  three  weeks  (1652) 
there  came  an  Indian  to  me  in  business,  and  by 
the  way  he  told  me  that  some  Indians  had  lately 
kept  a  day  of  Repentance  to  humble  themselves 
before  God  in  prayer,  and  that  the  word  of  God 
which  one  of  them  spake  unto  for  their  In- 
struction, was  Psal.  66  :  7.  '  He  ruleth  by  his 
Power  forever,  his  eyes  behold  the  nations,  let 
not  the  rebellious  exalt  themselves.'  I  asked 
him  what  their  end  was  in  keeping  such  a  day  ? 
He  told  me  these  six  things.  1.  '  They  desired 
that  God  would  slay  the  rebellion  of  their  hearts. 

2.  That  they  might  love  God  and  one  another. 

3.  That  they  might  withstand  the  evil  words  of 
wicked  men,  and  not  be  drawn  back  from  God. 

4.  That  they  might  be  obedient  to  the  good 
words  and  commands  of  their  Rulers.  5.  That 
they  might  have  their  sins  done  away  by  the 
Redemption  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  Lastly,  That 
they  might  walk  in  Christ's  way.'  " 

In  1651,  thirty  Indian  children  were  at  school 


168  LIFE      OF     JOHN     ELIOT. 

which  began  in  November,  1651.  *'  They  are 
apt  to  learn,"  says  Mr.  M.,  *'  and  more  and  more 
are  now  sending  in  unto  them." 

"  I  was  once,"  says  Mr.  M.,  "  down  towards 
the  further  end  of  the  Island,  and  lodged  at  an 
Indian's  house,  who  was  accounted  a  great  man 
among  the  Islanders,  being  the  friend  of  the  Sa- 
chem on  the  Mayn.  At  this  man's  house  where  I 
sate  awhile,  his  son  being  about  thirty  years  old, 
earnestly  desired  '^.e,  in  his  Language,  to  relate 
unto  him  some  of  the  ancient  stories  of  God.  I 
then  spent  a  great  part  of  the  night  (in  such  dis- 
course as  I  thought  fittest  for  them)  as  I  usually 
do  when  I  lodg  in  their  houses ;  what  he  then 
heard  did  much  affect  him.  And  shortly  after 
he  came  and  desired  to  joyn  with  the  praying 
Indians  to  serve  Jehovah."  He  was  persecuted 
for  this ;  but  he  told  Mr.  M.  "  That  if  they 
should  stand  with  a  sharp  weapon  against  his 
breast,  and  tell  him  that  they  would  kill  him 
presently  if  he  did  not  turn  to  them ;  but  if  he 
would,  they  would  love  him ;  yet  he  had  rather 
lose  his  life  than  keep  it  on  such  terms." 

A  Powaw  once  told  Mr.  M.  that  after  he  had 
forsaken  his  powawing,  and  had  begun  to  serve 
God,  and  to  renounce  his  Imps,  which  he  did  in 
a  public  manner,  the  Imps  still  remained  with 
him  tormenting  him,  so  that  he  could  never  be 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  169 

at  rest,  sleeping-  or  waking.  At  a  Lecture, 
sometime  after,  lie  asked  Mr.  M.  this  question  : 
If  a  Powaw  had  his  Imps  gone  from  him,  what 
he  should  have  instead  of  them  to  preserve  him  ? 
He  was  told  if  he  believed  in  Christ  "he  should 
have  the  Spirit  of  Christ  dwelling  in  him,  which 
is  a  good  and  strong  Spirit,  and  will  so  keep 
him  safe,  that  all  the  Devils  in  Hell,  and  Pow- 
aws  on  earth,  should  not  be  able  to  do  him  any- 
hurt;  and  that  if  he  did  set  himself  against  his 
Imps  by  the  strength  of  God,  they  should  all 
flee  away  like  muskeetooes."  He  replied,  That 
soon  after  he  had  believed  he  was  not  troubled 
with  any  pain  as  formerly  in  his  bed,  nor  dread- 
ful visions  of  the  night,  but  lay  down  with  ease, 
slept  quietly,  waked  in  peace,  and  walked  in 
safety  ;  '*  for  which  he  is  very  glad  and  praises 
God." 

Mr.  Mayhew  also  relates  a  fact,  like  the  one 
already  given  respecting  the  feelings  and  con- 
duct of  the  Christian  Indians  at  the  death  and 
burial  of  their  children.  The  case  already  men- 
tioned, it  will  be  remembered,  occurred  at  No- 
nantum ;  this,  at  Martha's  Vineyard.  Mr. 
Mayhew  says, 

"  I  have  observed  the  wise  disposing  hand  of 
God  in  another  providence  of  his.  There  have 
not,  as  I  know,  any  man,  woman,  or  child,  died, 

VOL.      III.  15 


170  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT. 

of  the  meeting-Indians,  since  the  meeting  began, 
until  now  of  late  the  Lord  took  away  Hia- 
coomes,  his  child,  which  was  about  five  days 
old.  He  was  best  able  to  make  a  good  use  of 
it,  and  to  carry  himself  well  in  it,  and  so  was  his 
wife  also  ;  and  truly  they  gave  an  excellent  ex- 
ample in  this  also  as  they  have  in  other  things; 
here  were  no  black  faces  for  it  as  the  manner  of 
the  Indians  is,  nor  goods  buried  with  it,  nor 
hellish  bowlings  over  the  dead,  but  a  patient 
resigning  of  it  to  him  that  gave  it.  There  were 
some  English  at  the  burial,  and  many  Indians 
to  whom  I  spake  something  of  the  Resurrection  ; 
and  as  we  were  going  away,  one  of  the  Indians 
told  me  he  was  much  refreshed  in  being  freed 
from  their  old  customes,  as  also  to  hear  of  the 
Resurrection  of  good  men  and  their  children  to 
be  with  God." 

One  of  the  '  meeting-Indians'  said  that  '  if  all 
^he  world,  the  riches,  plenty,  and  pleasures  of  it 
were  presented  without  God,  or  God  without  all 
these,  I  would  take  God.' 

Another  said,  '  If  the  greatest  Sagamore  in 
the  land  should  take  him  in  his  arms,  and 
proffer  him  his  love,  his  riches  and  gifts,  to  turn 
him  from  his  ways,  he  would  not  go  with  him 
from  the  way  of  God.' 

One  of  them  was  heard,  of  his  own  accord, 


LIFE      OF      J  0  II  X      ELIOT.  171 

in  complaining  against  head  knowledge  and  lip 
prayers,  without  heart  holiness,  loathing  the 
condition  of  such  a  man,  saying,  I  'desire  my 
heart  may  taste  of  the  word  of  God,  repent  of 
my  sins,  and  lean  upon  the  Redemption  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.' 

The  following  is  a  letter  from  a  good  man  in 
this  country  to  a  friend  in  England,  written 
about  the  year  1650. 

'  The  best  News  I  can  write  you  from  New-Eng- 
land is,  the  Lord  is  indeed  converting  the  Indians^ 
and  for  the  refreshing  of  your  heart,  and  the 
hearts  of  all  the  godly  with  you ;  I  have  sent 
you  the  Relation  of  one  Indian  of  two  yeares 
profession,  that  I  took  from  his  owne  mouth  by 
an  Interpreter,  because  he  cannot  speak  or  un- 
derstand one  word  of  English. 

THE    FIRST    QUESTION    WAS  ; 

Q.  How  did  you  come  first  to  any  sight  of 
sinne  ? 

A.  His  answer  was,  Before  the  Lord  did 
ever  bring  any  English  to  us,  my  Conscience 
was  exceedingly  troubled  for  sin,  but  after  Mr. 
Mayhem  came  to  preach,  and  had  been  here 
some   time,  one   chiefe    Sagamore  did  imbrace 


I 


172  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

the  Gospel,  and  I  hearing  of  him,  I  went  to  him, 
and  prayed  him  to  speake  something  to  me  con- 
cerning God,  and  the  more  I  did  see  of  God,  the 
more  I  did  see  my  sinne,  and  I  went  away 
rcjoycing,  that  I  knew  any  thing  of  God,  and 
also  that  I  saw  my  sinne. 

Q.  I  pray  what  hurt  doe  you  see  in  sinne  ? 

A.  Sin,  sayth  he,  is  a  continuall  sicknesse  in 
my  heart. 

Q.  What  further  evill  doe  you  see  in  sinne  ? 

A.  I  see  it  to  be  a  breach  of  all  Gods  Com- 
mandements. 

Q.  Doe  you  see  any  punishment  due  to  man 
for  sinne  ? 

A.  Yea,  sayth  he,  I  see  a  righteous  punish- 
ment from  God  due  to  man  for  sinne,  which 
shall  be  by  the  Devills  in  a  place  like  unto  fire 
(not  that  I  speake  of  materiall  fire,  saith  he) 
where  man  shall  be  for  ever  dying  and  never 
dye. 

Q.  Have  you  any  hope  to  escape  this  pun- 
ishment ? 

A.  While  I  went  on  in  the  way  of  Indianisme 
I  had  no  hope,  but  did  verily  believe  I  should 
goe  to  that  place,  but  now  I  have  a  little  hope, 
and  hope  I  shall  have  more. 

Q.  By  what  meanes  doe  you  look  for  any 
hope  ? 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  173 

A.   Sayth  he,  by  the  satisfaction  of  Christ. 

I  prayed  the  Interpreter,  to  tell  him  from  mee 
that  I  would  have  him  thinke  much  of  the  satis- 
faction of  Christ,  (and  so  he  told  him)  I  prayed 
him  to  returne  mee  his  Answer. 

A.  I  thanke  him  kindly  for  his  good  Coun- 
sell,  it  doth  my  heart  good,  sayd  he,  to  heare 
any  man  speake  of  Christ. 

Q.  What  would  you  thinke  if  the  Lord  should 
save  you  from  misery  ? 

A.  If  the  Lord,  said  he,  would  save  me  from 
all  the  sinne  that  is  in  my  heart,  and  from  that 
misery,  I  should  exceedingly  love  God,  and,  saith 
he,  I  should  love  a  man  that  should  doe  mee  any 
good,  much  more  the  Lord,  if  he  should  doe  this 
for  mee. 

Q.  Doe  you  thinke  that  God  will  doe  you 
any  good  for  any  good  that  is  in  you  ? 

A.  Though  I  beleeve  that  God  loves  man  that 
leaves  his  sinne,  yet  I  beleeve  it  is  for  Christ's 
sake. 

Q.  Doe  you  see  that  at  any  time  God  doth 
answer  your  prayers  ? 

A.  Yea,  sayth  he,  I  take  every  thing  as  an 
Answer  of  prayer. 

Q.  But  what  speciall  answer,  have  you  taken 
notice  of? 

A.  Once  my  wife  being  three  dayes  and  three 
15=^ 


174  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

nights  in  labour,  I  was  resolved  never  to  leave 
praying  till  she  had  deliverance,  and  at  last  God 
did  it,  and  gave  her  a  sonne,  and  I  called  his 
name  Returning,  because  all  the  while  I  went 
on  in  Indiaiiisme  I  was  going  from  God,  but 
now  the  Lord  hath  brought  mee  to  him  backe 
againe. 

By  this  time  Captaine  Gooking  came  to  us, 
and  he  asked  him  this  Question : 

Q.  What  he  would  thinke  if  he  should  finde 
more  affliction  and  trouble  in  God's  wayes,  than 
he  did  in  the  way  of  Indianisme. 

A.  His  answer  was,  when  the  Lord  did  first 
turne  me  to  himselfe  and  his  wayes,  he  stripped 
mee  as  bare  as  my  skinne,  and  if  the  Lord 
should  strip  me  as  bare  as  my  skinne  againe, 
and  so  big  Saggamore  should  come  to  mee,  and 
say,  I  will  give  you  so  big  Wampom,  so  big 
Beaver,  and  leave  this  way,  and  turne  to  us 
againe :  I  would  say,  take  your  riches  to  your 
selfe,  I  would  never  forsake  God  and  his  wayes 
againe. 

This  is  a  Relation  taken  by  my  selfe, 

William  French.' 

There  was  a  great  fishing  place  at  one  of  the 
falls  of  the  Merrimack,  where  the  Indians  assem- 
bled in  great  numbers  in  the  spring  of  the  year, 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  175 

and  Mr.  Eliot  went  to  meet  them.  He  hired  a 
Nashaway  or  Lancaster  Indian  to  beat  down  a 
path  for  him  from  Roxbury  through  the  woods, 
and  to  notch  the  trees  that  he  might  find  his 
way  through.  His  Church  were  concerned  for 
his  safety,  on  account  of  difficulties  between  two 
tribes  through  which  his  path  lay.  A  Sachem 
with  twenty  men  did  escort  for  him,  and  the 
journey  occupied  three  days.  "  It  pleased  God,'' 
he  says,  "  to  exercise  us  with  such  tedious  rain 
and  bad  weather,  that  we  were  extreme  wet,  in- 
somuch that  I  was  not  dry  night  nor  day  from 
the  third  day  of  the  week  to  the  sixth,  but  so 
traveled,  and  at  night  pull  off  my  boots,  wring 
my  stockings,  and  on  with  them  again.  My 
horse  was  tired,  so  that  I  was  forced  to  let  him 
go  without  a  rider  and  take  one  of  the  men's 
horses,  which  I  took  along  with  me.  Yet  God 
stept  in  and  helped.  I  considered  that  word  of 
God,  '  Endure  hardness  as  a  good  soldier  of  Je- 
sus Christ.'  " 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  questions  proposed 
by  the  Indians  should  have  excited  so  much 
interest  among  their  English  teachers,  and  the 
friends  in  England  to  whom  they  were  commu- 
nicated. Should  similar  questions  be  reported 
to  us  from  a   tribe  of  people  among  whom   our 


176  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

missionaries  had  effected  an  entrance,  we  should 
feel  that  there  was  great  promise  of  success 
among  that  people.  It  seems  that  many  in 
England  doubted  the  practicability  of  converting 
the  North  American  savages.  They  were 
greatly  surprised  at  the  communications  from 
Mr.  Eliot  ;  they  saw  that  nothing  was  too  hard 
for  the  Almighty,  that  Christ  could  save  unto 
the  uttermost,  all  who  come  unto  God  by  him, 
that  the  Gospel  was  suited  to  the  nature  of  man 
in  every  condition,  that  the  story  of  the  cross 
moved  the  heart  of  the  savage  as  well  as  the 
civilized,  and  that  Mr.  Eliot's  reflection  after 
his  first  eflbrts  in  preaching  at  Nonantum  was 
true,  "  That  there  is  no  need  of  miraculous  or 
extraordinary  gifts  in  seeking  the  salvation  of 
the  most  depraved  of  the  human  family." 

The  Sudbury,  Concord,  Lancaster,  Medford, 
and  Dedham  Indians  had  all  in  a  few  years  re- 
ceived the  Gospel  from  Nonantum.  In  visiting 
that  interesting  spot  we  cannot  but  say,  "  From 
you  sounded  out  the  word  of  the  Lord." 

A  pious  Indian  from  Martha's  Vineyard  visited 
the  Indians  of  Merrimack  weare.  After  he  had 
been  there,  the  Merrimack  Indians  stated  this 
case  to  Mr.  Eliot,  for  an  explanation.  '  If  a 
strange  Indian  comes  among  us  whom  we  never 
saw  before,  yet  if  he  pray  unto  God  we  do  ex- 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  177 

ceedingly  love  him.  But  if  my  own  brother, 
dwelling  a  great  way  ofT,  come  unto  us,  he  not 
praying  to  God,  though  we  love  him,  yet  noth- 
ing so  as  we  love  that  other  stranger  who  doth 
pray  unto  God,' 


178  LJFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT 


CHAPTER    VII. 

Natick.  The  Indians  build  abridge.  Scenery  of  Charles  River.  The 
Arsenal  at  Walerlown.  Indian  names.  Mis.  Sigourney's  Lines. 
Gov.  Endicotl's  Letter.  Proceedings  preparatory  to  forming  an 
Indian  Church.  Confessions  ofseveral  Indians.  Indian  Catechism. 
Number  in  the  Indian  Church  at  Natick.  Eliot's  Indian  Grammar. 
His  Indian  Bible.  Remarks  upon  it.  A  copy  sent  to  Charles  II. 
Richard  Baxter's  remark.  Further  observations  on  the  Indian 
Bible.  14  places  of  praying  Indians,  in  1660.  Mr.  Bancroft's 
testimony.     Indian  Youths  at  Harvard  College. 

We  come  now  to  another  stage  in  the  history  of 
the  Indian  mission. 

It  has  already  been  said  that  in  1650  Mr.  Eliot 
obtained  a  grant  of  land  for  the  Indians,  for  the 
purpose  of  building  houses  and  organizing  a 
town  government.  The  place  selected,  was  called 
Natick,  which  means  a  place  of  hills.  There 
the  Indians  began  to  build  houses,  each  house 
having  a  piece  of  land  attached  to  it  for  agricul- 
ture. One  large  building  was  erected  to  be  the 
property  of  the  town,  the  lower  part  to  be  used 
for  a  school-room  and  place  of  worship,  the  up- 
per room  to  be  a  place  of  deposit  for  skins  and 
articles  of  public  property,  with  a  bed  for  Mr. 
Eliot. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  179 

In  one  of  his  letters  to  friends  in  England, 
Mr.  Eliot  says, 

"  There  is  a  great  river  which  divideth 
between  their  planting  grounds  and  dwelling 
place,  through  which  they  easily  wade  in  sum- 
mer, yet  in  the  spring  it  is  deep  and  unfit  for 
daily  passing  over,  especially  of  women  and 
children."  He  proposed  to  the  Indians  that  they 
should  make  a  foot  bridge  over  it,  which  was 
accordingly  built,  and  was  ninety  feet  long  and 
nine  feet  high.  AVhen  it  was  finished,  Mr.  Eliot 
called  the  Indians  together,  prayed,  and  gave 
thanks  to  God,  and  taught  them  out  of  a  portion 
of  Scripture.  He  then  told  them  that  as  it  had 
been  hard  and  tedious  labor  in  the  water,  if  any 
of  them  desired  wages  for  their  work  he  would 
give  it  to  them,  yet  considering  the  work 
was  for  their  own  use,  if  they  should  do  all  that 
labor  in  love,  he  should  take  it  well  and  remem- 
ber it. 

They  replied  that  they  were  far  from  desiring 
any  wages  for  doing  their  own  work,  and  on  the 
contrary  were  thankful  for  their  employment, — 
at  which  Mr.  Eliot  praised  them  for  their  readi- 
ness and  ingenuity  at  such  work.  This  bridge 
is  said  to  have  lasted  longer  than  one  which  the 
English  built  about  the  same  time  at  Dedham. 

It  would  be  interesting  if  we  could   identify 


180  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

some  of  the  favorite  places  of  the  Indians  in 
this  vicinity.  It  is  pleasant  to  think  that  they 
were  often  grouped  together  at  that  most  charm- 
ing point  where  the  Charles  River  bends  round 
the  arsenal  at  Watertown.  No  one  who  has 
stood  on  the  bridge  at  that  place  on  a  summer 
morning  when  the  mists  were  rising  from  the 
stream,  or  in  the  after  part  of  the  day,  when  the 
sun  was  in  the  right  position  over  the  curving 
parts  of  the  stream  to  make  their  outlines  bril- 
liant as  gold  in  the  green  meadow,  can  have 
failed  to  think  that  had  such  scenery  occurred 
to  him  in  Italy  or  Scotland,  he  would  have 
found  it  celebrated  in  the  works  of  the  poet  and 
painter.  We  have  only  to  take  journeys  about 
home  to  find  in  the  part  of  the  country  where 
we  live,  views  and  scenes  both  natural  and  his- 
torical of  thrilling  interest.  It  is  easy  to  imag- 
ine the  light  canoe  borne  rapidly  along  the 
winding  vales  of  the  Charles  River;  we  meet 
with  Indian  names  in  almost  every  village 
which  is  watered  by  that  interesting  stream,  as 
well  as  in  other  places.  Wrentham  has  its  Nuck- 
up  hill ;  Norwich  its  Quenaboag  and  Shetucket 
river  ;  Auburn  its  Boggachoog  brook  ;  Lancas- 
ter its  Weshakum  ponds  ;  and  Natick  its  Pegan 
plain. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 


181 


The  following  lines  by  Mrs.  Sigourney  may 
appropriately  be  introduced  here. 

INDIAN    NAMES. 

"  How  can  the  red  man  be  forgotten,  while  so 
many  of  our  states  and  territories,  bays,  lakes  and 
rivers,  are  indelibly  stamped  by  names  of  their 
giving?" 

Ye  say,  that  all  have  passed  away, 

That  noble  race  and  brave, 
That  their  light  canoes  have  vanished 

From  off  the  crested  wave  ; 
That  'mid  the  forests  where  they  roamed, 

There  rings  no  hunter's  shout  ; 
But  their  name  is  on  their  waters, 

Ye  may  not  wash  it  out. 

'Tis  where  Ontario's  billow, 

Like  Ocean's  surge  is  curled. 
Where  strong  Niagara's  thunders  wake 

The  echo  of  the  world, 
Where  red  Missouri  bringeth 

Rich  tributes  from  the  west, 
And  Rappahannock  sweetly  sleeps. 

On  green  Virginia's  breast. 

Ye  say  their  cone-like  cabins. 

That  clustered  o'er  the  vale, 
Have  fled  away  like  withered  leaves, 

Before  the  autumn  gale ; 
But  their  memory  liveth  on  your  hill», 

Their  baptism  on  your  shore, 
Your  everlasting  rivers  speak 

Their  dialect  of  yore. 

VOL.    III.  16 


182  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

Old  Massachusetts  wears  it 

Within  her  lordly  crown, 
And  broad  Ohio  bears  it 

Amid  her  young  renown  ; 
Connecticut  hath  wreathed  it, 

Where  her  quiet  foliage  waves, 
And  bold  Kentucky  breathes  it  hoarse,  ^ 

Through  all  her  ancient  caves. 

Wachuset  hides  its  linger  ng  voice, 

Within  his  rocky  heart, 
And  Alleghany  graves  its  tone 

Throughout  his  lofty  chart; 
Monadiiock  on  his  forehead  hoar, 

Doth  seal  the  sacred  trust ; 
Your  mountains  build  their  monuments, 

Though  ye  destroy  their  dust. 

The  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel 
among  the  Indians  of  North  America,  an  account 
of  which  will  be  found  in  the  appendix  to  this 
volume,  published  a  letter  addressed  to  them  by- 
Governor  Endicott,  of  Massachusetts.  It  is  inter- 
esting as  a  testimony  to  the  advancement  which 
the  Indians  had  made  in  religion  and  civilization, 
and  as  a  specimen  of  the  personal  interest 
which  good  rulers  in  former  times  took  in  the 
promotion  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  in  the  earth. 
The  letter  is  here  printed  as  it  is  written,  with 
the  Introduction  by  the  Society : 

•'  The  next  Letter  you  meet  withall  came  from 
the  present  Governour  of  the   Massachiisets, 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      K  L  I  O  T  .  183 

directed  to  the  President  of  our  Corporation, 
and  another  of  the  Members  thereof,  which 
wee  thought  good  to  publish,  that  every 
Christian  Reader  may  partake  in  the  same 
consolation,  wherewith  he  and  we  are  com- 
forted ;  and  joyne  willi  us  in  prayer  to  the 
Lord  of  the  Harvest,  that  he  would  provide 
more  Labourers  to  enter  upon  this  soul-saving- 
worke,  and  enlarge  the  hearts  of  all  his  peo- 
ple in  this  Nation  towards  the  same." 

*'  Much  honoured  and  beloved  in  the  Lord  Jesus  : 

I  Esteeme  it  not  the  least  of  God's  mercies 
that  hath  stirred  up  the  hearts  of  any  of  the  peo- 
ple of  God  to  be  instrumentall  in  the  inlarging 
of  the  Kinsfdome  of  his  deare  Sonne  here 
amongst  the  Heathen  Indians^  which  was  one 
end  of  our  comming  hither,  and  it  is  not  frus- 
trated. It  was  prophesied  of  old,  and  now  be- 
gins to  be  accomplished,  Psal.  2:  8.  Neither 
can  I  but  acknowledge  the  unspeakable  good- 
nesse  of  God  that  gives  us  favour  in  the  sight 
of  our  Countreymen  to  helpe  on  with  so  large  a 
hand 'of  bounty,  so  glorious  a  work,  provoked 
thereunto  by  your  worthy  selves,  the  chiefe 
Actors  of  so  good  a  designe,  let  me  (with  leave) 
say  confidently,  you  will  never  have  cause  to 


184  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

repent  it ;  For  the  work  is  Gods  and  he  doth 
owne  it,  the  labour  there  hath  been  yours,  and 
your  Master  will  reward  it.  I  think  Religion 
and  Conscience  binde  me  to  seek  unto  God  for 
you,  and  to  praise  him  with  you,  for  what  is  al- 
ready begun.  The  Foundation  is  laid,  and  such 
a  one  that  I  verily  beleeve  the  gates  of  Hell  shall 
never  prevaile  against.  I  doubt  not  but  the 
building  will  goe  on  apace,  which  I  hope  will 
make  glad  the  hearts  of  Thousands.  Truly 
Gentlemen,  had  you  been  eare  and  eye-witnesses 
of  what  I  heard  and  saw  on  a  Lecture-day 
amongst  them  about  three  weeks  since,  you 
could  not  but  be  affected  therewith  as  I  was. 
To  speak  truly  I  could  hardly  refrain  tears  from 
very  joy  to  see  their  diligent  attention  to  the 
word  first  taught  by  one  of  the  Indians,  who 
before  his  Exercise  prayed  for  the  manner 
devoutly  and  reverently  (the  matter  I  not  so 
well  understanding)  but  it  was  with  such  rever- 
ence, zeale,  good  affection,  and  distinct  utter- 
ance, that  I  could  not  but  admire  it ;  his  Prayer 
was  about  a  quarter  of  an  houre  or  more,  as  we 
judged  it;  then  he  took  his  Text,  and  Mr.  Eliot 
their  Teacher  told  us  that  were  English,  the 
place  (there  were  some  Ministers  and  diverse 
oilier  godly  men  there  that  attended  me  thither) 
his  Text  was  in,  Matth.  13 :  44,  45,  46.     [The 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      K  L  1  O  T  .  185 

kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  treasure,  6cc. 
And  to  a  niercliant  man,  &cc.]  He  continued  in 
his  Exercise  full  halfe  an  hourc  or  more,  as  I 
judged  ii,  iiis  gravity  and  utterance  was  indeed 
very  commendable  ;  which  being  done  Mr.  Eliot 
taught  in  the  Indian  tongue  about  three  quarters 
of  an  hour  as  neer  as  I  could  guesse ;  the  In- 
dians which  were  iri  number  men  and  women 
neer  about  one  hundred,  seemed  the  most  of 
them  so  to  attend  him,  (the  men  especially)  as 
if  they  would  loose  nothing  of  what  was  taught 
them,  which  reflected  much  upon  some  of  our 
English  hearers.  After  all  there  was  a  Psalme 
sung  in  the  Indian  tongue,  and  hidian  meeter, 
but  to  an  English  tune,  read  by  one  of  them- 
selves, that  the  rest  might  follow,  and  he  read  it 
very  distinctly  w'ithout  missing  a  word  as  we 
could  judge,  and  the  rest  sang  chearfully,  and 
prettie  tuneablie.  I  rid  on  purpose  thither  being 
distant  from  my  dwelling  about  thirty  eight,  or 
forty  miles,  and  truly  I  account  it  one  of  the  best 
Journeyes  I  made  these  many  years.  Some  few 
dayes  after  I  desired  Mr.  Eliot  briefly  to  write 
me  the  substance  of  the  Indians  Exercise,  which 
when  he  went  thither  again,  namely  to  Naticke, 
where  the  Indians  dwell,  and  where  the  hidian 
taught,  he  read  what  he  remembered  of  it  first 
to  their  School-Master  who  is  an  Indian,  and 
16=^ 


186  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT. 

teachcth  them  and  their  Children  to  write,  and 
I  saw  him  write  also  in  E?iglish,  who  doth  it 
true  and  very  legible,  and  asked  him  if  it  were 
right,  and  he  said  yea,  also  he  read  it  unto 
others,  and  to  the  man  himselfe,  who  also 
owned  it.  To  tell  you  of  their  industry  and  in- 
genuitie  in  building  of  an  house  after  the  E?ig- 
lish  manner,  the  hewing  aad  squaring  of  their 
tymber,  the  sawing  of  the  boards  themselves, 
and  making  of  a  Chimney  in  it,  making  of  their 
ground-sells  and  wall-plates,  and  mortising,  and 
letting  in  the  studds  into  them  artificially,  there 
being  but  one  English  man  a  Carpenter  to  shew 
them,  being  but  two  dayes  with  them,  is  remarke- 
able.  They  have  also  built  a  Fort  there  with 
halfe  trees  cleft  about  eight  or  ten  inches  over, 
about  ten  or  twelve  foot  high,  besides  what  is 
intrencht  in  the  ground,  which  is  above  a  quar- 
ter of  an  acre  of  ground,  as  I  judge.  They  have 
also  built  a  foot  bridge  over  Charles  Kivers,  with 
Groundsells  and  Spurres  to  uphold  it  against  the 
strength  of  the  Flood  and  Ice  in  Winter  ;  it  stood 
firme  last  Winter,  and  I  think  it  will  stand  many 
Winters.  They  have  made  Drummes  of  their 
owne  with  heads  and  brases  very  neatly  and 
artificially,  all  which  shews  they  are  industrious 
and  ingenuous.  And  they  intend  to  build  a 
Water-Mill   the   next    Summer,  as  I  was  told 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  187 

when  I  was  with  them.  Some  of  them  have 
learnt  to  mow  grasse  very  well.  I  shall  no 
further  trouble  yon  with  any  more  Relation  at 
this  time  concerning  them.  But  a  word  or  two 
further  with  your  patience  concerning  other  hi- 
dians.  The  work  of  God  amongst  the  Indians 
at  Martins  Vineyard,  is  very  hopefull  and  pros- 
perous also.  I  mist  of  Mr.  Mayhew  their 
Teacher,  who  was  lately  at  Boston,  and  there- 
fore cannot  give  you  a  particular  account  thereof 
at  this  present  time ;  yet  I  cannot  but  acquaint 
you  what  other  motions  there  are  touching  other 
Indians.  There  came  to  us  upon  the  20th  of 
this  instant  Moneth,  at  the  Generall  Court  one 
Fummakummim  Sachem  of  Qunnubbdgge, 
dwelling  amongst  or  neer  to  the  NarragaTisets, 
who  offered  himselfe  and  his  Men  to  worship 
God,  and  desired  that  some  English  may  be 
sent  from  the  Massachusets  Government  to  plant 
his  River,  that  thereby  he  may  be  partaker  of 
Government,  and  may  be  instructed  by  the  Eng- 
lish to  know  God.  We  shall  I  hope  take  some 
care  and  course  about  it,  and  I  hope  we  shall 
have  more  help  to  carry  on  that  work  also  ; 
For  there  are  some  Schollers  amongst  us  who 
addict  themselves  to  the  study  of  the  Indian 
Tongue.     The   Lord  in    mercy  recompence    it 


188  LIFE      OF     JOHN     ELIOT. 

into  your  Bosomes,  all  that  labour  of  love  vouch- 
safed to  the  poor  Indians,  which  are  the  hearty- 
prayers,  and  earnest  desire  of,  much  honoured, 
Boston  the  27th  of 
the  Eight.  1651. 

Your  loving  Friend  in  all 
service  of  Christ. 

John  Endecott." 

The  prudence  and  caution  of  Mr.  Eliot  in  his 
proceedings  with  regard  to  the  formation  of  a 
Church  among  the  Indians  are  not  a  little  re- 
markable.    He  says, 

"  In  way  of  preparation  of  them  thereunto,  I 
did  this  Summer  call  forth  sundry  of  them  in 
the  dayes  of  our  public  Assemblies  in  Gods 
Worship ;  sometimes  on  the  Sabbath  when  I 
could  be  with  them,  and  sometimes  on  Lecture 
dales,  to  make  confession  before  the  Lord  of 
their  former  sins,  and  of  their  present  knowledg 
of  Christ,  and  experience  of  his  Grace ;  which 
they  solemnly  doing,  I  wrote  down  their  Con- 
fessions:  which  having  done,  and  being  in  my 
own  heart  hopeful  that  there  was  among  them  fit 
matter  for  a  Church,  I  did  request  all  the  Elders 
about  us  to  hear  them  reade,  that  so  they  might 
give  me  advice  what   to  do  in   this   great  and 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  189 

solemn  business ;  which  being  done  on  a  day 
appointed  for  the  purpose,  it  pleased  God  to  give 
their  Confessions  such  acceptance  in  their  hearts, 
as  that  they  saw  nothing  to  hinder  their  pro- 
ceeding, to  try  how  the  Lord  would  appear 
therein.  Whereupon,  after  a  day  of  Fasting 
and  Prayer  among  ourselves,  to  seek  ihe  Lord 
in  that  behalf,  there  was  another  day  of  Fasting 
and  Prayer  appointed,  and  publick  notice  thereof, 
and  of  the  names  of  Indians  were  to  confess,  and 
enter  into  Covenant  that  day,  was  given  to  all 
the  Churches  about  us,  to  seek  the  Lord  yet 
further  herein,  and  to  make  solemn  Confessions 
of  Christ  his  Truth  and  Grace,  and  further  to  try 
whether  the  Lord  would  vouchsafe  such  grace 
unto  them,  as  to  give  them  acceptance  among 
the  Saints,  into  the  fellowship  of  Church-Estate, 
and  enjoyment  of  those  Ordinances  which  the 
Lord  hath  betrusted  his  Churches  wdthal.  That 
day  was  the  thirteenth  of  the  eighth  month. 

When  the  Assembly  was  met,  the  first  part  of 
the  day  was  spent  in  Prayers  unto  God,  and 
exercise  in  the  Word  of  God  ;  in  which  my  self 
first  and  after  that  two  of  the  Indians  did  Exer- 
cise ;  and  so  the  time  was  spent  till  after  ten  or 
near  eleven  of  the  clock.  Then  addressing  our 
selves  unto  the  further  work  of  the  day,  I  first 
requested  the  reverend  Elders  (many  being  pres- 


190  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

ent)  that  they  would  ask  them  Questions  touch- 
ing the  fundamental  Points  of  Religion,  that 
thereby  they  might  have  some  tryal  of  their 
knowledg,  and  better  that  way,  than  if  them- 
selves should  of  themselves  declare  what  they 
beleeve,  or  than  if  I  should  ask  them  Questions 
in  these  matters :  After  a  little  conference  here- 
about, it  was  concluded,  That  they  should  first 
make  confession  of  their  experience  in  the  Lords 
Work  upon  their  hearts,  because  in  so  doing,  it 
is  like  something  will  be  discerned  of  iheir 
knowledg  in  the  Doctrines  of  Religion :  and  if 
after  those  Confessions  there  should  yet  be  cause 
to  inquire  further  touching  any  Point  of  Religion 
it  might  be  filly  done  at  last.  Whereupon  we 
so  proceeded,  and  called  them  forth  in  order  to 
make  confession.  It  was  moved  in  the  Assem- 
bly by  Reverend  Mr.  Wilson,  that  their  former 
Confessions  also,  as  well  as  these  which  they 
made  at  present,  might  be  read  unto  the  Assem- 
bly, because  it  was  evident  that  they  were 
daunted  much,  to  speak  before  so  great  and 
grave  an  Assembly  as  that  was,  but  time  did  not 
permit  it  so  to  be  then  :  yet  now  in  my  writing 
of  their  Confessions  1  v/ill  take  that  course,  that 
so  it  may  appear  what  encouragement  there  was 
to  proceed  so  far  as  we  did ;  and  that  such  as 
may  reade  these  their  Confessions,  may  the  bet- 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  191 

ter  discern  of  the  reality  of  the  Grace  of  Christ 
in  them." 

He  afterwards  says, 

"  In  the  year  52  I  perceiving  the  grace  of  God 
in  sundry  of  them,  and  some  poor  measure  of 
fitnesse  (as  I  was  perswaded)  for  the  enjoyment 
of  Church-fellowship,  and  Ordinances  of  Jesus 
Christ,  I  moved  in  that  matter,  according  as  I 
have  in  the  Narration  thereof,  briefly  declared. 
In  the  year  53  I  moved  not  that  way,  for  these 
Reasons. 

I  having  sent  their  Confessions  to  be  published 
in  England,  I  did  much  desire  to  hear  what  ac- 
ceptance the  Lord  gave  unto  them,  in  the  hearts 
of  his  people  there,  who  daily  labour  at  the 
Throne  of  grace,  and  by  other  expressions  of 
their  loves,  for  an  holy  birth  of  this  work  of  the 
Lord,  to  the  praise  of  Christ,  and  the  inlarge- 
ment  of  his  Kingdome.  As  also  my  desire  was, 
that  by  such  Books  as  might  be  sent  hither,  the 
knowledge  of  their  Confessions  might  be  spread 
here,  unto  the  better  and  fuller  satisfaction  of 
many,  then  the  transacting  thereof  in  the  pres- 
ence of  some  could  doe.  These  Books  came  by 
the  latter  Ships  (as  I  remember)  that  were  bound 
for  New  England,  and  were  but  newly  out 
when  they  set  saile,  and  therefore  I  had  not  that 
answer    that    year,    which    my    soule    desired, 


192  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

though  something  I  had  which  gave  encourage- 
ment, and  was  a  tast  of  what  I  have  more  fully 
heard  from  severall  this  year,  praised  be  the 
Lord. 

Besides  there  fell  a  great  damping  and  dis- 
couragement upon  us  by  a  jealousie  too  deeply 
apprehended,  though  utterly  groundlesse,  viz. 
That  even  these  praying  Indians  were  in  a  con- 
spiracy with  others,  and  with  the  Dutch,  to  doe 
mischief  to  the  English.  In  which  matter, 
though  the  ruling  part  of  the  People  looked  oth- 
erwise upon  them,  yet  it  was  no  season  for  me 
to  stir  or  move  in  this  matter,  when  the  waters 
were  so  troubled.  This  businesse  needeth  a 
calmer  season,  and  I  shall  account  it  a  favour  of 
God  when  ever  he  shall  please  to  cause  his  face 
to  shine  upon  us  in  it.  Yet  this  I  did  the  last 
year,  after  the  Books  had  been  come  a  season, 
there  being  a  great  meeting  at  Bosto7i,  from  other 
Colonies  as  well  as  our  owne,  and  the  Commis- 
sioners being  there,  I  thought  it  necessary  to 
take  that  opportunity  to  prepare  and  open  the 
way  in  a  readinesse  against  this  present  year,  by 
making  this  Proposition  unto  them ;  namely. 
That  they  having  now  seen  their  confessions,  if 
upon  further  triall  of  them  in  point  of  knoivl- 
edge,  they  be  found  to  have  a  competent  measure 
of  understanding  in  the  fundamentall  points  of 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  193 

Religion;  and  also,  if  there  he  due  testimony 
of  their  conversation,  that  they  walke  in  a 
Christian  manner  according  to  their  light,  so 
that  Religion  is  to  be  seen  in  their  lives ; 
whether  then  it  be  according  to  God,  and  ac- 
ceptable to  his  people,  that  they  be  called  up  unto 
Church  estate?  Unto  which  I  had  I  blesse  the 
Lord,  a  generall  approbation. 

Accordingly  this  year  54  I  moved  the  Elders, 
that  they  would  give  me  advice  and  assistance 
in  this  great  businesse,  and  that  they  would  at  a 
fit  season  examine  the  hidians  in  point  of  their 
knowledge,  because  we  found  by  the  former 
triall,  that  a  day  will  be  too  little  (if  the  Lord 
please  to  call  them  on  to  Church-fellowship)  to 
examine  them  in  points  of  Knowledge,  and  hear 
their  Confessions,  and  guide  them  into  the  holy 
Covenant  of  the  Lord.  Seeinof  all  these  thinfj^s 
are  to  be  transacted  in  a  strange  language,  and 
by  Interpreters,  and  with  such  a  people  as  they 
be  in  these  their  first  beginnings.  But  if  they 
would  spend  a  day  on  purpose  to  examine  them 
in  their  knowledge  there  would  be  so  much  the 
more  liberty  to  doe  it  fully  and  throughly,  (as 
such  a  work  ought  to  be)  as  also  when  they  may 
be  called  to  gather  into  Church-Communion,  it 
may  suffice  that  some  one  of  them  should  make 
a  Doctrinall  Confession  before  the  Lord  and  his 

VOL.    III.  17 


194  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

people,  as  the  rule  of  faith  which  they  build 
upon,  the  rest  attesting  their  consent  unto  the 
same  :  And  themselves  (the  Elders  I  mean,  if 
the  Lord  so  far  assist  the  Indians,  as  to  give 
them  satisfaction)  might  testifie  that  upon  Ex- 
amination they  have  found  a  competency  of 
knowledge  in  them  to  inable  them  unto  such  a 
work  and  state.  Arid  thus  the  work  might  be 
much  shortned,  and  more  comfortably  expedited 
in  one  day.  I  found  no  unreadinesse  in  the 
Elders  to  further  this  work. 

They  concluded  to  attend  the  work,  and  for 
severall  Reasons  advised  that  the  place  should 
be  at  Roxbury,  and  not  at  Natick,  and  that  the 
Indians  should  be  called  thither,  the  time  they 
left  to  me  to  appoint,  in  such  a  season  as 
wherein  the  Elders  may  be  at  best  liberty  from 
other  publick  occasions.  The  time  appointed 
was  the  13  of  the  4  moneth ;  meanwhile  I  dis- 
patched Letters  unto  such  as  had  knowledge  in 
the  Tongue,  requesting  that  they  would  come 
and  help  in  interpretation,  or  attest  unto  the 
truth  of  my  Interpretations.  I  sent  also  for  my 
Brother  Mayku,  who  accordingly  came,  and 
brought  an  Interpreter  with  him.  Others  whom 
I  had  desired,  came  not.  I  informed  the  Indians 
of  this  appointment,  and  of  the  end  it  was  ap- 
pointed for,  which  they  therefore  called,  and  still 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  195 

doe,  when  they  have  occasion  to  speak  of  it 
Natootomuhtede  hesuk,  A  day  of  asking  Ques- 
tions^ or,  A  day  of  Examination.  I  advised 
them  to  prepare  for  it,  and  to  pray  earnestly 
about  it,  that  they  might  be  accepted  among 
Gods  people,  if  it  were  the  will  of  God. 

It  pleased  God  so  to  guide,  that  there  was  a 
publick  Fast  of  all  the  Churches,  betwixt  this  our 
appointment,  and  the  accomplishment  thereof: 
which  day  they  kept,  as  the  Churches  did,  and 
this  businesse  of  theirs  was  a  Principall  matter 
in  their  Prayers." 

It  will  be  useful,  as  well  as  interesting,  to 
give  some  of  the  "  Confessions  of  Indians" 
which  were  made  and  considered  in  preparation 
for  their  entering  into  the  Church  state. 

CONFESSION  OF  TOTHERSWAMP. 

*'  Before  I  prayed  unto  God,  the  English,  when 
I  came  unto  their  houses,  often  said  unto  me, 
Pray  to  God  ;  but  I  having  many  friends  who 
loved  me,  and  I  loved  them,  and  they  cared  not 
for  praying  to  God,  and  therefore  I  did  not :  But 
I  thought  in  my  heart,  that  if  my  friends  should 
die,  and  I  live,  I  then  would  pray  to  God;  soon 
after,  God  so  wrought,  that  they  did  almost  all 
die,  few  of  them  left ;  and  then  ray  heart  feared, 


196  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

and  I  thought,  that  now  I  will  pray  unto  God, 
and  yet  I  was  ashamed  to  pray  ;  and  if  I  eat  and 
did  not  pray,  I  was  ashamed  of  that  also ;  so 
that  1  had  a  double  shame  upon  me  :  Then  you 
came  unto  us,  and  taught  us,  and  said  unto  us, 
Fray  unto  God ;  and  after  that,  my  heart  grew 
strong,  and  I  was  no  more  ashamed  to  pray,  but 
I  did  take  up  praying  to  God ;  yet  at  first  I  did 
not  think  of  God  and  eternal  Life,  but  only  that 
the  English  should  love  me  and  I  loved  them  : 
But  after  1  came  to  learn  what  sin  was,  by  the 
Commandments  of  God,  and  then  I  saw  all  my 
sins,  lust,  gaming,  &;c.  (he  named  more.)  You 
taught.  That  Christ  knoweth  all  our  hearts,  and 
seelh  what  is  in  them,  if  humility,  or  anger,  or 
evil  thoughts,  Christ  seeth  all  that  is  in  the 
heart ;  then  my  heart  feared  greatly,  because 
God  was  angry  for  all  my  sins;  yea,  now  my 
heart  is  full  of  evil  thoughts,  and  my  heart  runs 
away  from  God,  therefore  my  heart  feareth  and 
mourneth.  Every  day  I  see  sin  in  my  heart; 
one  man  brought  sin  .into  the  World,  and  I  am 
full  of  that  sin,  and  I  break  Gods  Word  every 
day.  I  see  I  deserve  not  pardon,  for  the  first 
mans  sinning;  I  can  do  no  good,  for  I  am  like 
the  Devil,  nothing  but  evil  thoughts,  and  words, 
and  works.  I  have  lost  all  likeness  to  God,  and 
goodness,  and  therefore  every  day  I  sin  against 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  197 

God,  and  I  deserve  death  and  damnation :  The 
first  man  brought  sm  first,  and  I  do  every  day- 
add  to  that  sin,  more  sins ;  but  Christ  hath  done 
for  us  all  righteousness,  and  died  for  us  because 
of  our  sins,  and  Christ  teacheth  us,  That  if  we 
cast  away  our  sins,  and  trust  in  Christ,  then 
God  will  pardon  all  our  sins ;  this  I  beleeve 
Christ  hath  done,  I  can  do  no  righteousness,  but 
Christ  hath  done  it  for  me ;  this  I  beleeve,  and 
therefore  I  do  hope  for  pardon.  When  I  first 
heard  the  Commandments,  I  then  took  up  pray- 
ing to  God  and  cast  off  sin.  Again,  When  I 
heard,  and  understood  Redemption  by  Christ, 
then  I  beleeved  Jesus  Christ  to  take  away  my 
sins :  every  Commandment  taught  me  sin,  and 
my  duty  to  God.  When  you  ask  me  why  do  I 
love  God  ?  I  answer,  Because  he  giveth  me  all 
outward  blessings,  as  food,  clothing,  children,  all 
gifts  of  strength,  speech,  hearing;  especially 
that  he  giveth  us  a  Minister  to  teach  us,  and 
giveth  us  Government;  and  my  heart  feareth 
lest  Government  should  reprove  me ;  but  the 
greatest  mercy  of  all  is  Christ,  to  give  us  pardon 
and  life." 


17# 


198  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT 


"  TOTHERSWAMP 

The  Confession  which  he  made  on  the  Fast  day 
before  the  great  Assembly  was  as  folloiceth  : 

I  Confess  in  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  before 
I  prayed,  many  were  my  sins,  not  one  good 
word  did  I  speak,  not  one  good  thought  did  I 
think,  not  one  good  action  did  I  doe  :  I  did  act 
all  sins,  and  full  was  my  heart  of  evil  thoughts ; 
when  the  English  did  tell  me  of  God,  I  cared 
not  for  it,  I  thought  it  enough  if  they  loved  me  : 
I  had  many  friends  that  loved  me,  and  I  thought 
if  they  died  I  would  pray  to  God :  and  afterward 
it  so  came  to  pass  ;  then  was  my  heart  ashamed, 
to  pray  I  was  ashamed,  and  if  I  prayed  not,  I 
was  ashamed ;  a  double  shame  was  upon  me  : 
when  God  by  you  taught  us,  very  much  ashamed 
was  my  heart ;  then  you  taught  us  that  Christ 
knoweth  all  our  hearts  :  therefore  truly  he  saw 
my  thoughts,  and  I  had  thought,  if  my  kindred 
should  die  I  would  pray  to  God  ;  therfore  they 
dying,  I  must  now  pray  to  God ;  and  therefore 
my  heart  feared,  for  I  thought  Christ  knew  my 
thoughts:  then  I  heard  you  teach,  The  first 
man  God  made  ivas  named  Adam,  Sf  God  made 
a  Covenant  with  him,  Do  and  live,  thou  and  thy 
Children;  if  thou  do  not  thou  must  die.,  thou 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  199 

and  thy  Ckildre?i :  And  we  are  Children  of 
Adam  poor  sinners,  therefore  we  all  have  sinned, 
for  we  have  broke  Gods  Covenant,  therefore  evil 
is  my  heart,  therefore  God  is  very  angry  with 
me,  we  sin  against  him  every  day ;  but  tiiis 
great  mercy  God  hath  given  us,  he  hath  given 
us  his  only  Son,  and  promiseth,  That  whosoever 
beleeveih  in  Christ  shall  be  saved :  for  Christ 
hath  dyed  for  us  in  our  stead,  for  our  sins,  and 
he  hath  done  for  us  all  the  words  of  God,  for  1 
can  do  no  good  act,  only  Christ  can,  and  only 
Christ  hath  done  all  for  us;  Christ  hath  de- 
served pardon  for  us,  and  risen  again,  he  hath 
ascended  to  God,  and  doth  ever  pray  for  us ; 
therefore  all  Beleevers  Souls  shall  goe  to  Heaven 
to  Christ.  But  when  I  heard  that  word  of 
Christ,  Christ  said  Repent  and  Beleeve,  and 
Christ  seeth  who  Repenteth,  then  I  said,  dark 
and  weak  is  my  Soul,  and  I  am  one  in  darkness, 
I  am  a  very  sinful  man,  and  now  I  pray  to 
Christ  for  life.  Hearing  you  teach  that  Word 
that  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  said  Why  do  thy 
Disciples  break  the  Tradition  of  the  Fathers  ? 
Christ  answered.  Why  do  you  make  void  the 
Commandinents  of  God  ?  Then  my  heart  feared 
that  I  do  so,  when  I  teach  the  Indians,  because 
I  cannot  teach  them  right,  and  thereby  make 
the  word  of  God  vain.     Again,  Christ  said  If 


200  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

the  blind  lead  the  blind  they  will  both  fall  into 
the  ditch;  Therefore  I  feared  that  I  am  one 
blind,  and  when  I  teach  other  Indians  I  shal 
caus  them  to  fall  into  the  ditch.  This  is  the 
love  of  God  to  me,  that  he  giveth  me  all  mercy 
in  this  world,  and  for  them  al  1  am  thankfuU ; 
but  I  confess  I  deserve  Hell;  I  cannot  deliver 
my  self,  but  I  give  my  Soul  and  my  Flesh  to 
Christ,  and  I  trust  my  soul  with  him  for  he  is 
my  Redeemer,  and  I  desire  to  call  upon  him 
while  I  live. 

This  was  his  Confession  which  ended,  Mr. 
Allin  further  demanded  of  him  this  Ques- 
tion, How  he  found  his  heart,  now  in  the 
matter  of  Repentance? 
His  answer  was ;    I  am  ashamed  of  all  my 
sins,  my  heart  is  broken  for  them  and  melteth 
in  me,  I  am  angry  with  my  self  for  my  sins, 
and  I  pray  to  Christ  to  take  away  my  sins,  and 
I  desire  that  they  may  be  pardoned. 

But  it  was  desired  that  further  Question 
might  be  forborn,  lest  time  would  be 
wanting  to  here  them  all  speak." 

9 

The  following  is  the  Confession  of  Waban, 
(or  the  wind,)  the  man  in  whose  wigwam 
Mr.  Eliot  preached  to  the  Indians  in  the 
beginning  of  his    ministry  among    them,  and 


LIFE      OF      JOHN       ELIOT.  201 

who,  from  Mr.  Eliot's  text,  "  Prophesy  unto  the 
wind,"  &c.,  supposed  that  the  message  of  God 
was  specially  directed  to  himself. 


CONFESSION  OF  WABAN. 

"  Before  I  heard  of  God,  and  before  the  English 
came  into  this  Country,  many  evil  things  my 
heart  did  work,  many  thoughts  I  had  in  my 
heart ;  I  wished  for  riches,  I  wished  to  be  a 
witch,  I  wished  to  be  a  Sachem ;  and  many  such 
other  evils  were  in  my  heart :  Then  when  the 
English  came,  still  my  heart  did  the  same 
things ;  when  the  English  taught  me  of  God  (I 
coming  to  their  Houses)  I  would  go  out  of  their 
doors,  and  many  years  I  knew  nothing ;  when 
the  English  taught  me  I  was  angry  with  them : 
But  a  little  while  agoe  after  the  great  sikness,  I 
considered  what  the  English  do  ;  and  I  had  some 
desire  to  do  as  they  do;  and  after  that  I  began 
to  work  as  they  work  ;  and  then  I  wondered 
how  the  English  come  to  be  so  strong  to  labor; 
then  I  thought  I  shall  quickly  die,  and  I  feared 
lest  I  should  die  before  I  prayed  to  God  ;  then  I 
thought,  if  I  prayed  to  God  in  our  Language, 
whether  could  God  understand  my  prayers  in 
our  Language  ;  therefore  I  did  ask  Mr.  Jackson^ 


202  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

and  Mr.  Mahit,  If  God  understood  prayers  in 
our  Language  ?  They  answered  me  God  doth 
understand  all  Languages  in  the  World.  But  I 
do  not  know  how  to  confess,  and  little  do  I  know 
of  Christ;  I  fear  I  shall  not  beleeve  a  great 
while,  and  very  slowly ;  I  do  not  know  what 
grace  is  in  my  heart,  there  is  but  little  good  in 
me ;  but  this  I  know,  That  Christ  hath  kept  all 
Gods  Commandements  for  us,  and  that  Christ 
doth  know  all  our  hearts ;  and  now  I  desire  to 
repent  of  all  my  sins  :  I  neither  have  done,  nor 
can  do  the  Commandements  of  the  Lord,  but  I 
am  ashamed  of  all  I  do,  and  I  do  repent  of  all 
my  sins,  even  of  all  that  I  do  know  of:  I  desire 
that  I  may  be  converted  from  all  my  sins,  and 
that  I  might  beleeve  in  Christ,  and  I  desire  him  ; 
I  dislike  my  sins,  yet  I  do  not  truly  pray  to  God 
in  my  heart :  no  matter  for  good  words,  all  is 
the  true  heart ;  and  this  day  I  do  not  so  much 
desire  good  words,  as  throughly  to  open  my 
heart :  I  confess  I  can  do  nothing,  but  deserve 
damnation ;  only  Christ  can  help  me  and  do  for 
me.  But  I  have  nothing  to  say  for  my  self  that 
is  good ;  I  judg  that  I  am  a  sinner,  and  cannot 
repent,  but  Christ  hath  deserved  pardon  for  us." 

*  This  Conjession  being  not  so  satisfactory  as 
was  desired,  Mr.  Wilson  testified,  that  he 


LfFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  203 

spake  these  latter  expressions  with  tears, 
which  I  observed  not,  because  I  attended  to 
writing;  but  I  gave  this  testimony  of  hiin, 
That  his  conversation  was  without  offence 
to  the  English,  so  far  as  I  knew,  and  among 
the  Indians  it  was  exemplar  :  his  gift  is  not 
so  much  in  expressing  himself  this  way, 
but  in  other  respects  useful  and  eminent ;  it 
being  demanded  in  what  respects,  I  an- 
swered to  this  purpose.  That  his  gift  lay  in 
Ruling,  Judging  of  Cases,  wherein  he  is 
patient,  constant,  and  prudent,  insomuch 
that  he  is  much  respected  among  them,  for 
they  have  chosen  him  a  Ruler  of  Fifty,  and 
he  Ruleth  well  according  to  his  measure. 
It  was  further  said,  they  thought  he  had 
been  a  great  drawer  on  to  Religion ;  I  re- 
plyed,  so  he  was  in  his  way,  and  did  pre- 
vail with  many ;  and  so  it  rested. 


♦*  CONFESSION  OF  WILLIAM,  OF  SUDBURY. 

I  CONFESS  that  before  I  prayed,  I  committed  all 
manner  of  sins,  and  served  many  gods :  when 
the  English  came  first,  I  going  to  their  houses, 
they  spake  to  me  of  your  God,  but  when  I  heard 
of  God,  my  heart  hated  it ;  but  when  they  said 


204  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT. 

the  Devil  was  my  god,  I  was  angry,  because  I 
was  proud  :  when  I  came  to  their  houses  I  hated 
to  hear  of  God,  I  loved  lust  in  my  own  house 
and  not  God,  I  loved  to  pray  to  many  gods. 
Five  years  ago,  I  going  to  English  houses,  and 
they  speaking  of  God,  I  did  a  little  like  of  it, 
yet  when  I  went  again  to  my  own  house,  I  did 
all  manner  of  sins,  and  in  my  heart  I  did  act  all 
sins  though  I  would  not  be  seen  by  man.  Then 
going  to  your  house,  I  more  desired  to  hear  of 
God ;  and  my  heart  said,  I  will  pray  to  God  so 
long  as  I  live  :  then  I  went  to  the  Minister  Mr. 
Browns  house,  and  told  him  I  would  pray  as 
long  as  I  lived  :  but  he  said  I  did  not  say  it  from 
my  heart,  and  I  beleeve  it.  When  Waban 
spake  to  me  that  I  should  pray  to  God,  I  did  so. 
But  I  had  greatly  sinned  against  God,  and  had 
not  beleeved  the  Word  but  was  proud :  but  then 
I  was  angry  with  my  self,  and  loathed  my  self, 
and  thought  God  will  not  forgive  me  my  sins. 
For  when  I  had  been  abroad  in  the  woods  I 
would  be  very  angry,  and  would  lye  unto  men, 
and  I  could  not  find  the  way  how  to  be  a  good 
man  :  then  I  beleeved  your  teaching,  That  when 
good  men  die,  the  Angels  carry  their  souls  to 
God ;  but  evil  men  dying,  they  go  to  Hell,  and 
perish  for  ever.  I  thought  this  a  true  saying, 
and  I  promised  to  God,  to  pray  to  God  as  long 


LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT.  205 

as  I  live.  I  had  a  little  grief  in  my  heart  five 
years  ago  for  my  sins :  but  many  were  my 
prides  ;  sometime  I  was  angry  with  my  self,  and 
pityed  my  self;  but  I  thought  God  would  not 
pardon  such  a  proud  heart  as  mine  is  :  I  beleeve 
that  Christ  would  have  me  to  forsake  my  anger; 
I  beleeve  that  Christ  hath  redeemed  us,  and  I 
am  glad  to  hear  those  words  of  God ;  and  I  de- 
sire that  I  might  do  al  the  good  waies  of  God, 
and  that  I  might  truly  pray  unto  God  :  I  do  now 
want  Graces,  and  these  Christ  only  teacheth  us, 
and  only  Christ  hath  wrought  our  redemption, 
and  he  procureth  our  pardon  for  all  our  sins ; 
and  I  beleeve  that  when  beleevers  dy,  Gods 
Angels  carry  them  to  Heaven  ;  but  I  want  faith 
to  beleeve  the  Word  of  God,  and  to  open  my 
Eyes,  and  to  help  me  to  cast  away  all  sins ;  and 
Christ  hath  deserved  for  me  eternall  life  :  I  hat'e 
deserved  nothing  my  self:  Christ  hath  deserved, 
all,  and  giveth  me  faith  to  beleeve  it." 


"  CONFESSION   OF   MONEQUASSUN,   THE 
SCHOOLMASTER. 

I  Confess  my  sorrow  for  all  my  sins  against 
God,  and  before  men :  When  I  first  heard  in- 
struction, I  beleeved  not,  but  laughed  at  it,  and 

VOL.    III.  18 


206  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT. 

scorned  praying  to  God ;  afterward,  when  we 
were  taught  at  Cohannet  (that  is  the  place  where 
he  lived)  I  still  hated  praying,  and  I  did  think 
of  running  away,  because  I  cared  not  for  praying 
to  God  ;  but  afterwards,  because  I  loved  to  dwell 
at  that  place,  I  would  not  leave  the  place,  and 
therfore  I  thought  I  will  pray  to  God,  because  I 
would  still  stay  at  that  place,  therefore  I  prayed 
not  for  the  love  of  God,  but  for  love  of  the  place 
I  lived  in  ;  after  that  I  desired  a  little  to  learn 
the  Catechisme  on  the  Lecture  dales,  and  I  did 
learn  the  ten  Commandements,  and  after  that,  all 
the  points  in  the  Catechisme;  yet  afterwards  I 
cast  them  all  away  again,  then  was  my  heart 
filled  with  folly,  and  my  sins  great  sins,  after- 
wards by  hearing,  I  began  to  fear,  because  of  my 
many  sins,  lest  the  wise  men  should  come  to 
know  them,  and  punish  me  for  them  ;  and  then 
again  I  thought  of  running  away  because  of  my 
many  sins :  But  after  that  I  thought  I  would 
pray  rightly  to  God,  and  cast  away  my  sins ; 
then  I  saw  my  hypocricy,  because  I  did  ask 
some  questions,  but  did  not  do  that  which  I 
knew:  afterward  I  considered  of  my  question, 
and  thought  I  would  pray  to  God,  and  would 
consider  of  some  other  Question,  and  I  asked 
this  Question,  How  should  I  get  Wisdom?  and 
the  Answer  to  it  did  a  little  turn  my  heart  from 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  207 


sin,  to  seek  after  God ;  and  I  then  considered 
that  the  Word  of  God  was  good ;  then  I  prayed 
to  God  because  of  the  Word  of  God.  Tlie  next 
Lecture  day  you  taught  that  word  of  God,  If  any 
man  lack  Wisdom^  let  him  ask  it  of  God,  who 
giveth  freely  to  them  that  ask  him,  and  upbraid- 
eth  no  man,  James,  1 :  5.  Then  again  a  little 
my  heart  was  turned  after  God,  the  Word  also 
said,  Repent,  mourn,  and  beleeve  in  Jesus  Christ : 
this  also  helped  me  on.  Then  you  taught,  That 
he  that  heleeveth  not  Christ,  and  repenteth  not  of 
sin,  they  are  foolish  and  wicked ;  and  because 
they  beleeve  not,  they  shall  perish :  then  I 
thought  my  self  a  fool,  because  I  beleeved  not 
Christ,  but  sinned  every  day,  and  after  I  heard 
the  Word  greatly  broke  the  Word.  But  after- 
ward I  heard  this  promise  of  God,  Who  ever  re- 
penteth and  beleeveth  in  Christ,  God  will  for-  ■ 
give  him  all  his  sins,  he  shall  not  perish  ;  then  I 
thought,  that  as  yet,  I  do  not  repent,  and  be- 
leeve in  Christ :  then  I  prayed  to  God,  because 
of  this  his  Promise  ;  and  then  I  prayed  to  God, 
for  God  and  for  Christ  his  sake  :  after  that  again 
I  did  a  little  break  the  Word  of  Christ.  And 
then  I  heard  some  other  words  of  God,  which 
shewed  me  my  sins,  and  my  breakings  of  Gods 
word ;  and  sometimes  I  thought  God  and  Christ 
would  forgive    me,  because  of  the  promise    to 


208  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

them  that  beleeve  in  Christ,  and  repent  of  sin,  I 
thought   I  did    that  wliich    God    spake    in    the 
Promise.     Then  being  called  to  confess,  to  pre- 
pare to  make  a  Church  at  Natick,  I  loved  Co- 
haiinet ;  but  after  hearing-  this  instruction,  That 
we  should  not  only  he  Hearers^  but  Doers  of  the 
Word,  then  my  heart  did  fear.     And  afterward 
hearing  that  in  Matthew,  Christ  saw  two  breth- 
ren mending  their  Nets,  he  said,  Follow  me  and 
I  will  make  you  Fishers  of  men^  presently  they 
followed  Christ;  and  when  I  heard  this,  I  feared, 
because  I  was   not  willing  to  follow  Christ  to 
Natick;   they  followed  Christ  at  his  Word,  but 
I  did  not,  for  now  Christ  saith  to  ms,  follow  Me : 
then  I  was  much  troubled,  and  considered  of  this 
Word  of  God.    Afterward  I  heard  another  word, 
the  blind  men  cried  after  Christ  and  said.  Have 
,  mercy  on  us  thou  Son  of  David,  but  after  they 
came  to  Christ  he  called  them,  and  asked  them, 
What  shall  I  do  for  you  ?  they  said,  Lord  open 
our  eyes;    then  Christ  had  pity  on  them,  and 
opened  their   eyes,  and   they  followed  Christ ; 
when  I  heard  this,  my  heart  was  troubled,  then 
I  prayed  to  God  and  Christ,  to  open  mine  eyes, 
and  if  Christ  open  my  eyes,  then  I  shall  rejoyce 
to  follow  Christ :  then  I  considered  of  both  these 
Scriptures,  and  I  a  little  saw  that  I  must  follow 
Christ.     And  now  my  heart  desireth  to  make 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  209 

confession  of  what  I  know  of  God,  and  of  my- 
self, and  of  Christ :  I  bclceve  that  there  is  only 
one  God,  and  that  he  made  and  rulelh  ail  the 
World,  and  that  he  the  Lord,  giveth  us  al  good 
things  :  I  know  that  God  giveth  every  day  all 
good  mercies,  life,  and  health,  and  all ;  I  have 
not  one  good  thing,  but  God  it  is  that  giveth  it 
me,  I  beleeve  that  God  at  first  made  man  like 
God,  holy,  wise,  righteous  ;  but  the  first  man 
sinned,  for  God  promised  him.  If  thou  do  my 
Commandements,  thou  shall  live,  and  thy  Chil- 
dren;  hut  if  thou  sin,  thou  shalt  die,  thou  and 
thy  children;  this  Covenant  God  made  with  the 
first  man.  But  the  first  man  did  not  do  the 
Commandements  of  God  he  did  break  Gods 
Word,  he  beleeved  Satan ;  and  now  I  am  full  of 
sin,  because  the  first  man  brought  sin ;  dayly  I 
am  full  of  sin  in  my  heart :  I  do  not  dayly  re- 
joyce  in  Repentance,  because  Satan  worketh 
dayly  in  my  heart,  and  opposeth  Repentance, 
and  all  good  Works  ;  day  and  night  my  heart  is 
full  of  sin.  I  beleeve  that  Jesus  Christ  was  born 
of  the  Virgin  Mary;  God  promised  her  she 
should  bear  a  Son,  and  his  Name  should  be 
JESUS,  because  he  shall  deliver  his  people 
from  their  sins :  And  when  Christ  came  to 
preach,  he  said,  Repent,  because  the  Kingdom  of 

Heaven  is  at  hand  ;  again  Christ  taught.  Except 
18# 


210  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

ye  repent  and  become  as  a  Utile  child,  ye  shall 
not  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  ;  there- 
fore humble  your  selves  like  one  of  these  little 
children,  and  great  shall  be  your  Kingdom  in 
Heaven.  Again  Christ  said,  Come  unto  me  all 
ye  that  are  weary  and  heavy  laden  ivith  sin,  and 
I  loill  give  yon  rest :  take  up  my  Cross  and 
Yoak,  learn  of  me  for  I  am  meek,  and  ye  shall 
find  rest  to  your  souls,  for  my  yoak  is  easie  and 
burden  light :  these  are  the  Words  of  Christ 
and  I  know  Christ  he  is  good,  but  my  works  are 
evil :  Christ  his  words  are  good,  but  I  am  not 
humble ;  but  if  we  be  humble  and  beleeving  in 
Christ,  he  pardons  all  our  sins.  I  now  desire 
to  beleeve  in  Jesus  Christ,  because  of  the  word 
of  Christ,  that  I  may  be  converted  and  become 
as  a  little  Child.  I  confess  my  sins  before  God, 
and  before  Jesus  Christ  this  day ;  now  I  desire 
all  my  sins  may  be  pardoned ;  I  now  desire  re- 
pentance in  my  heart,  and  ever  to  beleeve  in 
Christ ;  now  I  lift  up  my  heart  to  Christ,  and 
trust  him  with  it,  because  I  beleeve  Christ  died 
for  us,  for  all  our  sins,  and  deserved  for  us  eter- 
nal life  in  Heaven,  and  deserved  pardon  for  all 
our  sins.  And  now  I  give  my  soul  to  Christ 
because  he  hath  redeemed :  I  do  greatly  love, 
and  like  repentance  in  my  heart,  and  I  love  to 
beleeve  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  my  heart  is  broken 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  211 

by  repentance  :  al  these  things  I  do  like  wel  of, 
that    they    may  be    in    my  heart,    but   because 
Christ  hath  all  these  to  give,  I  ask  them  of  him 
that  he   may  give   me  repentance,  and  faith   in 
Christ,  and  therefore  I  pray  and  beseech  Christ 
dayly  for  repentance  and  faith ;  and  other  good 
waies  I  beg  of  Christ  dayly  to  give  me :   and  I 
pray  to  Christ  for  al  these  gifts  and  graces  to 
put  them  in  my  heart :   and  now  I  greatly  thank 
Christ  for  all  these   good  gifts  which  he  hath 
given  me.      I   know   not  any  thing,  nor  can  do 
any  thing  that  is  a  good  work  :  even  my  heart 
is  dark  dayly  in  what  I  should  do,  and  my  soul 
dyeth  because  of  my  sins,  and  therefore  I  give 
my  soul  to  Christ,  because  my  soul  is  dead  in 
sin,  and  dayly  doth  commit  sin;  in  my  heart  I 
sin,  and  all  the  members  of  my  body  are  sinful. 
I  beleeve  Jesus  Christ  is  ascended  to  Heaven 
through  the  clouds,  and  he  will  come  again  from 
Heaven  :    Many  saw  Christ  go  up  to  Heaven, 
and  the  Angels  said,  even  so  he  will  come  again 
to  judg  all  the  world;  and  therefore  I  beleeve 
Gods   promise.  That    all    men   shall   rise  again 
when  Christ  cometh  again,  then   all  shall  rise, 
and  all  their  souls  comes  again  because  Christ 
is    trusted  with   them,   and    keeps   their   souls, 
therefore   I  desire   my  sins   may  be  pardoned; 


212  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

and  I  beleeve  in  Christ ;  and  ever  so  long  as  I 
live,  I  will  pray  to  God,  and  do  all  the  good 
waies  he  commandeth." 


"  CONFESSIONS  OF  ROBIN  SPEENE. 

I  was  ashamed  because  you  taught  to  praj^  to 
God,  and  I  did  not  take  it  up ;  I  see  God  is  an- 
gry with  me  for  all  my  sins,  and  he  hath  afflicted 
me  by  the  death  of  three  of  my  children,  and  I 
fear  God  is  still  angry,  because  great  are  my 
sins,  and  I  fear  lest  my  children  be  not  gone  to 
Heaven,  because  I  am  a  great  sinner,  yet  one  of 
my  children  prayed  to  God  before  it  died,  and 
therefore  my  heart  rejoyceth  in  that.  I  remem- 
ber my  Pawwawing  [for  he  w^as  a  Paivivaiv]  my 
lust,  my  gaming,  and  all  my  sins ;  I  know  them 
by  the  Commandements  of  God,  and  God  heareth 
and  seeth  them  all;  I  cannot  deliv^er  my  self 
from  sin,  therefore  I  do  need  Christ,  because  of 
all  my  sins,  I  desire  pardon,  and  I  beleeve  that 
God  calls  all  to  come  to  Christ,  and  that  he  de- 
livereth  us  from  sin." 


"  His  Second  Confession. 

I  have  found  out  one  word  more :  great  are 
my  sins,  and  I  do  not  know  how  to  repent,  nor 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  213 

do  I  know  the  evil  of  my  sins  ;  only  this  one 
word,  now  I  confess  I  want  Christ,  this  day  1 
want  him  ;  I  do  not  truly  beleeve  nor  repent :  I 
see  my  sin,  and  I  need  Christ,  but  I  desire  now 
tobe  redeemed:  and  I  now  ask  you  this  Ques- 
tion What  is  Redemption?  "I  answered  him, 
"  by  shewing  him  our  estate  by  Nature,  and 
"  desert,  the  price  which  Christ  paid  for  us,  and 
"  how  it  is  to  be  applied  to  every  particular 
"  person;  which  done,  he  proceeded  in  his  con- 
fession thus  :  I  yet  cannot  tell  whether  God  hath 
pardoned  my  sins,  I  forget  the  word  of  God; 
but  this  I  desire,  that  my  sins  may  be  pardoned, 
but  my  heart  is  foolish,  and  a  great  part  of  the 
Word  stayeth  not  in  my  heart  strongly.  I  de- 
sire to  cast  all  my  sins  out  of  my  heart :  but  I 
remember  my  sins,  that  I  may  get  them  par- 
doned, I  think  God  doth  not  yet  hear  my  prayers 
in  this,  because  I  cannot  keep  the  Word  of  God, 
only  I  desire  to  hear  the  Word,  and  that  God 
would  hear  me." 

"  His   Third  Confession. 

One  word  more  I  cal  to  mind.  Great  is  my 
sin  !  this  saith  my  heart,  I  have  found  this  sin, 
when  I  first  heard  you  teach,  that  all  the  world 
from  the  rising  to  the  sitting  Sun  should  pray  to 
God,  I  then  wondered  at  it,  and  thought,  I  being 


214  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

a  great  sinner,  how  shal  I  pray  to  God  ;  and 
when  I  saw  many  come  to  the  Meeting,  I  won- 
dred  at  it :  But  now  I  do  not  wonder  at  that 
work  of  God,  and  therefore  I  think  that  I  do 
now  greatly  sin :  and  now  I  desire  again  to 
wonder  at  Gods  Works,  and  I  desire  to  rejoyce 
in  Gods  good  waies.  Now  I  am  much  ashamed, 
and  fear  because  I  have  deserved  eternal  wrath 
by  my  sins :  my  heart  is  evil,  my  heart  doth 
contrary  to  God :  and  this  I  desire,  that  I  may 
be  redeemed,  for  I  cannot  help  my  self,  but  only 
Jesus  Christ  hath  done  al  this  for  me,  and  I  de- 
serve no  good,  but  I  beleeve  Christ  hath  deserved 
all  for  us :  and  I  give  my  self  unto  Christ,  that 
he  may  save  me,  because  he  knoweth  eternal 
life,  and  can  give  it ;  I  cannot  give  it  to  my  self, 
therefore  I  need  Jesus  Christ,  my  heart  is  full 
of  evil  thoughts ;  and  Christ  only  can  keep  my 
soul  from  them,  because  he  hath  paid  for  my 
deliverance  from  them." 


*«  CONFESSION   OF   ANTONY. 

Another  who  made  his  Confession  is  named 
Antony,  upon  whom  the  Lord  was  pleased 
the  last  Winter  to  lay  an  heavy  stroke  ;  for  he 
and  another  Indian  being  at  work  sawing  of 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  215 

Board,  and  finishing  the  Peece,  they  laid  it  so 
short,  and  tlic  Kowl  not  so  stedfast,  insomuch 
that  this  man  being  in  the  Pit  directing  to  lay 
the  Piece,  and  the  other  above  ordering  there- 
of, it  slipped  down  into  the  Pit  upon  this  mans 
head,  brake  his  neather  Chap  in  two,  and 
cracked  his  Skull,  insomuch  that  he  was  taken 
up  half  dead,  and  almost  strangled  with  blood  ; 
and  being  the  last  day  of  the  week  at  night  I 
had  no  word  until  the  Sabbath  day,  then  I 
presently  sent  a  Chyrurgion,  who  took  a  dis- 
creet order  with  him  ;  and  God  so  blessed  his 
indeavors,  as  that  he  is  now  well  again, 
blessed  be  the  Lord  :  and  whereas  I  did  fear 
that  such  a  blow  in  their  Labor  might  dis- 
courage them  from  Labor,  I  have  found  it  by 
Gods  blessing  otherwise ;  yea  this  man  hath 
performed  a  great  part  of  the  sawing  of  our 
Meeting-House,  and  is  now  sawing  upon  the 
School-house,  and  his  recovery  is  an  estab- 
lishment of  them  to  go  on ;  yea,  and  God 
blessed  this  blow,  to  help  on  the  Work  of 
Grace  in  his  soul ;  as  you  shall  see  in  his 
Confession,  which  followeth. 

Before  I  prayed  to  God  1  alwaies  committed 
sin,  but  I  do  not  know  all  my  sins,  I  know  but  a 
little  of  the  sins  I  have  committed,  therefore  I 


216  LIFE      OF      JOHN     ELIOT. 

thought  I  could  not  pray  to  God,  because  I  knew 
not  al  my  sins  before  I  prayed  to  God,  and  since 
I  heard  of  praying  to  God  :  formerly  when  the 
English  did  bid  me  pray  unto  God  I  hated  it, 
and  would  go  out  of  their  houses,  when  they 
spake  of  such  things  to  me.  I  had  no  delight 
to  hear  any  thing  of  Gods  Word,  but  in  every 
thing  I  sinned;  in  my  speeches  I  sinned,  and 
every  day  I  broke  the  Commands  of  God.  After 
I  heard  of  praying  to  God,  that  Waban  and  my 
two  brothers  prayed  to  God,  yet  then  I  desired 
it  not,  but  did  think  of  running  away ;  yet  I 
feared  if  I  did  run  away  some  wicked  men 
Avould  kill  me,  but  I  did  not  fear  God.  After 
when  you  said  unto  me,  pray,  my  heart  thought, 
I  will  pray ;  yet  again  I  thought,  I  cannot  pray 
with  my  heart,  and  no  matter  for  praying  with 
words  only :  but  when  I  did  pray,  I  saw  more  of 
my  sins ;  yet  I  did  but  only  see  them,  I  could 
not  be  aware  of  them,  but  still  I  did  commit 
them  :  and  after  I  prayed  to  God,  I  was  still  full 
of  lust,  and  then  a  little  I  feared.  Sometimes  I 
was  sick,  and  then  1  thought  God  was  angry, 
and  then  I  saw  that  I  did  commit  all  sins :  then 
one  of  my  brothers  died,  and  then  my  heart  was 
broken,  and  after  him.  another  friend,  and  again 
my  heart  was  broken  :  and  yet  after  all  this  I 
broke  my  praying  to  God,  and  put  away  God, 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  217 

and  then  I  thought  I  shall  never  pray  to  God  : 
but  after  this  I  was  afraid  of  the  Lord,  because 
I  alwaies  broke  my  praying  to  God  and  then  my 
heart  said,  God  doth  not  hear  my  prayer. 
When  I  was  sick,  and  recovered  again,  I  thought 
then  that  God  was  merciful  unto  me.  Hearing 
that  word  of  God,  If  you  hear  the  Word  of  Godj 
and  he  forgetful  hearers,  you  sin  against  God  ; 
then  I  thought  God  will  not  pardon  such  a  sin- 
ner as  I,  who  dayly  did  so,  and  broke  my 
praying  to  God.  When  I  heard  the  Com- 
mandements,  I  desired  to  learn  them,  and  other 
points  of  Catechism,  but  my  desires  were  but 
small,  and  I  soon  lost  it,  because  I  did  not  desire 
to  beleeve  :  then  sometimes  I  feared  Gods  anger 
because  of  al  my  sins ;  I  heard  the  Word  and 
understood  only  this  word.  All  you  that  hear  this 
day,  it  may  he  you  shall  quickly  die,  and  then  I 
quickly  saw  that  God  was  very  angry  with  me. 
Then  God  brake  my  head,  and  by  that  I  saw 
Gods  anger ;  and  then  I  thought  that  the  true 
God  in  Heaven  is  angry  with  me  for  my  sin, 
even  for  al  my  sins,  which  every  day  I  live,  I 
do.  When  I  was  almost  dead,  some  body  bid 
me  now  beleeve,  because  it  may  be  I  shal  quickly 
die,  and  I  thought  I  did  beleeve,  but  I  did  not 
know  right  beleeving  in  Christ :  then  I  prayed 
unto  God  to  restore  my  health.  Then  I  be- 
VOL.    III.  19 


218  LIFE      OF     JOHN     ELIOT. 

leeved  that  word,  That  we  must  shortly  appear 
before  Jesus  Christ ;  then  I  did  greatly  fear  lest 
if  I  beleeved  not,  I  should  perish  for  ever.  When 
I  was  neer  death,  I  prayed  unto  God,  Oh  Lord 
give  vie  life,  a7id  I  loill  pray  to  God  so  long  as  I 
live,  and  I  said,  I  will  give  my  self  soul,  and  body 
to  Christ :  after  this,  God  gave  me  health,  and 
then  I  thought,  truly,  God  in  Heaven  is  merci- 
ful ;  then  I  much  grieved,  that  I  knew  so  little 
of  Gods  Word.  And  now  sometimes  I  am 
angry,  and  then  I  fear  because  I  know  God 
seeth  it ;  and  I  fear,  because  I  promised  God 
when  I  was  almost  dead,  that  if  he  giveth  me 
life,  I  will  pray  so  long  as  I  live ;  I  fear  lest  I 
should  break  this  promise  to  God.  Now  I  de- 
sire the  pardon  of  all  my  sins,  and  I  beg  faith  in 
Christ,  and  I  desire  to  live  unto  God,  so  long  as 
I  live ;  I  cannot  myself  get  pardon,  but  I  dayly 
commit  sin,  and  break  Gods  Word,  but  I  look  to 
Christ  for  pardon." 


"  CONFESSION   OF   EPHRAIM. 

All  the  daies  I  have  lived,  I  have  been  in  a 
poor  foolish  condition,  I  cannot  tell  all  my  sins, 
all  my  great  sins,  I  do  not  see  them.  When  I 
first  heard  of  praying  to  God,  I  could  not  sleep 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  219 

quietly,  I  was  so  troubled,  ever  I  thought  I  would 
forsake  the  place  because  of  praying  to  God,  my 
life  hath  been  like  as  if  I  had  been  a  mad  man. 
Last  yeer  I  thought  I  would  leave  all  my  sins, 
yet  I  see  I  do  not  leave  off  sinning  to  this  day  ; 
I  now  think  I  shall  never  be  able  to  forsake  my 
sins.  I  think  sometimes  the  Word  of  God  is 
false,  yet  I  see  .there  is  no  giving  over  that  I 
might  follow  sin,  I  must  pray  to  God  ;  I  do  not 
truly  in  my  heart  repent,  and  I  think  that  God 
wil  not  forgive  me  my  sins  :  every  day  my  heart 
sinneth,  and  how  will  Christ  forgive  such  an 
one  ?  I  pray  but  outwardly  with  my  mouth,  not 
with  my  heart ;  I  cannot  of  my  self  obtain  par- 
don of  my  sins :  I  cannot  tell  all  the  sins  that  I 
have  done  if  I  should  tell  you  an  whol  day  to- 
gether :  I  do  every  morning  desire  that  my  sins 
may  be  pardoned  by  Jesus  Christ ;  this  my  heart 
saith,  but  yet  I  fear  I  cannot  forsake  my  sins, 
because  I  cannot  see  all  my  sins :  I  hear.  That 
if  we  repent  and  beleeve  in  Christ,  all  our  sins 
shall  be  pardoned,  therefore  I  desire  to  leave  off 
my  sins. 

This  poor  Publican  was  the  last  which  made 
his  Confession  before  I  read  them  unto  the 
Elders,  and  the  last  of  them  I  shall  now 
publish.  I  will  shut  up  these  Confessions 
with  the  Confession  (if  I  may  so  call  it)  or 


220  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

rather  with  the  Expression,  and  manifesta- 
tion of  faith,  by  two  little  Infants,  of  two 
yeers  old,  and  upward,  under  three  yeers 
of  age  when  they  died  and  departed  out  of 
this  world. 

The  Story  is  this^ 

This  Spring,  in  the  beginning  of  the  yeer,  1652, 
the  Lord  Avas  pleased  to  aftiict  sundry  of  our 
praying  Indians  with  that  grievous  disease  of 
the  Bloody-Flux,  whereof  some  with  great  tor- 
ments in  their  bowels  died;  among  which  were 
two  little  Children  of  the  age  above-said,  and  at 
that  time  both  in  one  house,  being  together  taken 
with  that  disease.  The  first  of  these  Children 
in  the  extremities  of  its  torments,  lay  crying  to 
God  in  these  words,  God  and  Jesus  Christ,  God 
and  Jesus  Christ  help  me  ;  and  when  they  gave 
it  any  thing  to  eat,  it  would  greedily  take  it  (as 
it  is  usual  at  the  approach  of  death)  but  first  it 
would  cry  to  God,  Oh  God  and  Jesus  Christ, 
bless  it,  and  then  it  would  take  it :  and  in  this 
manner  it  lay  calling  upon  God  and  Jesus  Christ 
untill  it  died  :  The  mother  of  this  Child  also 
died  of  that  disease,  at  that  time.  The  Father 
of  the  Child  told  me  this  story,  with  great  won- 
derment at  the  grace  of  God,  in  teaching  his 
Child  so  to  call  upon  God.     The  name  of  the 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      t:  L  I  0  T  .  22 1 


Father   is    Nishohhou,    whose    Confession   you 
have  before. 

Three  or  four  dales  after,  another  Child  in  the 
same  house,  sick  of  the  same  disease,  was  (by  a 
divine  hand  doubtless)  sensible  of  the  approach 
of  death,  (an  unusual  thing-  at  that  age)  and 
called  to  its  Father,  and  said.  Father,  lam  going 
to  God,  several  times  repeating  it,  /  am  going 
to  God.  The  mother  (as  other  mothers  use  to 
do)  had  made  for  the  Child  a  little  Basket,  a  lit- 
tle Spoon,  and  a  little  Tray:  these  things  the 
Child  was  wont  to  be  greatly  delighted  withal 
(as  all  Children  will)  therefore  in  the  extremity 
of  the  torments,  they  set  those  things  before  it,  a 
little  to  divert  the  mind,  and  cheer  the  spirit: 
but  now,  the  child  takes  the  Basket,  and  puts  it 
away,  and  said,  /  loill  leave  my  Basket  .behind 
me,  for  I  am  going  to  God,  I  will  leave  mij 
Spoon  and  Tray  behind  me  (putting  them  away) 
for  I  am  going  to  God:  and  with  these  kind  of 
expressions,  the  same  night  finished  its  course, 
and  died. 

The  Father  of  this  child  is  named  Robin 
Speen,  whose  Confessions  you  have  before,  and 
in  one  of  them  he  maketh  mention  of  this  child 
that  died  in  Faith.  When  he  related  this  story 
to  me,  he  said,  He  could  not  tell  whether  the 
19=^ 


222  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

sorrow  for  the  death  of  his  child,  or  the  joy  for 
its  faith  were  greater,  when  it  died. 

These  Examples  are  a  testimony.  That  they 
teach  their  children  the  knowledg  and  fear  of 
God,  whom  they  now  call  upon ;  and  also  that 
the  Spirit  of  God  co-worketh  with  their  instruc- 
tions, who  teacheth  by  man,  more  than  man  is 
able  to  do." 

Mr.  Eliot  says,  'I  have  now  finished  all  that  I 
purpose  to  publish  at  this  time ;  the  Lord  give 
them  Acceptance  in  the  hearts  of  his  Saints,  to 
engage  them  the  more  to  pray  for  them ;  and 
Oh  I  that  their  judgings  of  themselves,  and 
breathings  after  Christ,  might  move  others  (that 
have  more  means  than  they  have,  but  as  yet 
regard  it  not)  to  do  the  like,  and  much  more 
abundantly.' 

A  meeting  of  the  Elders  of  the  Churches  was 
requested  by  Mr.  Eliot,  as  before  stated,  to  give 
advice  in  view  of  these  Confessions,  and  upon 
further  personal  examination  of  some  of  the  In- 
dians, as  to  the  next  step  to  be  taken  in  organ- 
izing the  Indian  Church.     But  Mr.  E.  says, 

"There  fell  out  a  very  great  discouragement  a 
little  before  the  time,  which  might  have  been  a 
scandall  unto  them,  and  I  doubt  not  but  Satan 
intended  it  so ;   but  the  Lord  improved  it  to  stir 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  223 

up  faith  and  Prayer,  and  so  turned  it  another 
way  :  Thus  it  was.  Three  of  the  unsound  sort 
of  such  as  are  among  them  that  pray  unto  God, 
who  are  hemmed  in  by  Relations,  and  other 
means,  to  doe  that  which  their  hearts  love  not, 
and  whose  Vices  Satan  improveth  to  scandalize 
and  reproach  the  better  sort  withall;  while 
many,  and  some  good  people  are  too  ready  to 
say  they  are  all  alike.  I  say  three  of  them  had 
gotten  severall  quarts  of  strong  water,  (which 
sundry  out  of  a  greedy  desire  of  a  little  gaine, 
are  too  ready  to  sell  unto  them,  to  the  offence 
and  grief  of  the  better  sort  of  Indians^  and  of  the 
godly  English  too)^  and  with  these  Liquors,  did 
not  onely  make  themselves  drunk,  but  got  a 
Child  of  eleven  years  of  age,  the  Son  of  Tote- 
swampy  whom  his  Father  had  sent  for  a  little 
Corne  and  Fish  to  that  place  near  Water towne 
where  they  were.  Unto  this  Child  they  first 
gave  too  spoonfuls  of  Strong-water,  which  was 
more  then  his  head  could  bear ;  and  another  of 
them  put  a  Bottle,  or  such  like  Vessel  to  his 
mouth,  and  caused  him  to  drink  till  he  was  very 
drunk ;  and  then  one  of  them  domineered,  and 
said,  Noiv  we  will  see  whether  your  Father  will 
punish  us  for  drunkennesse  (for  he  is  a  Ruler 
among  them)  seeing  you  are  drunk  with  us  for 


*  See  the  Memorial  of  Mr.  Eliot  to  the  General  Court,  on  this 
subject,  Appendix  L. 


224  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 


company  ;  and  in  this  case  lay  the  Child  abroad 
all  nijjht.  They  also  fought,  and  had  been  sev- 
erall  times  Punished  formerly  for  Drunkennesse. 
When  Tutesxoamp  heard  of  this,  it  was  a  great 
shame  and  breaking  of  heart  unto  him,  and  he 
knew  not  what  to  doe.  The  rest  of  the  Rulers 
with  him  considered  of  the  matter,  they  found  a 
complication  of  many  sins  together. 

1  The  sin  of  Drunkennesse,  and  that   after 
many  former  Punishments  for  the  same. 

2  A  willful  making  of  the  Child  drunk,  and 
exposing  him  to  danger  also. 

3  A  degree  of  reproaching  the  Rulers. 

4  Fighting. 

Word  was  brought  to  me  of  it,  a  little  before 
I  took  Horse  to  goe  to  Natick  to  keep  the  Sab- 
bath with  them,  being  about  ten  dayes  before  the 
appointed  Meeting.  The  Tidings  sunk  my 
spirit  extreamly,  I  did  judge  it  to  be  the  greatest 
frowne  of  God  that  ever  I  met  withall  in  the 
work,  I  could  read  nothing  in  it  but  displeasure, 
I  began  to  doubt  about  our  intended  work :  I 
knew  not  what  to  doe,  the  blacknesse  of  the 
sins,  and  the  Persons  reflected  on,  made  my 
very  heart  faile  me  :  For  one  of  the  ofTendors 
(though  least  in  the  offence)  was  he  that  hath 
been  my  Interpreter,  whom  I  have  used  in  Trans- 
lating a  good  part  of  the  Holy  Scriptures ;  and 
in  that  respect  I  saw  much  of  Satans  venome. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  225 

and  in  God  I  saw  displeasure.  For  this  and 
some  other  acts  of  Apostacy  at  this  time,  I  had 
thoughts  of  casting  him  off  from  that  work,  yet 
now  the  Lord  hath  found  a  way  to  humble  him. 
But  his  Apostacy  at  this  time  was  a  great  Triall, 
and  I  did  lay  him  by  for  that  day  of  our  Exam- 
ination, I  used  another  in  his  room.  Thus  Satan 
aimed  at  me  in  this  their  miscarrying;  and 
Totesicamp  is  a  Principall  man  in  the  work,  as 
you  shall  have  occasion  to  see  anon  God-willing. 

By  some  occasion  our  Ruling  Elder  and  I  be- 
ing together,  I  opened  the  case  unto  him,  and 
the  Lord  guided  him  to  speak  some  gracious 
words  of  encouragement  unto  me,  by  which  the 
Lord  did  relieve  my  spirit ;  and  so  I  committed 
the  matter  and  issue  unto  the  Lord,  to  doe  what 
pleased  him,  and  in  so  doing  my  soul  was  quiet 
in  the  Lord.  I  went  on  my  journey  being  the 
6  day  of  the  week ;  when  I  came  at  Natick,  the 
Rulers  had  then  a  Court  about  it.  Soon  after  I 
came  there,  the  Rulers  came  to  me  with  a 
Question  about  this  matter,  they  related  the 
whole  businesse  unto  me,  with  much  trouble 
and  grief. 

Then  Toteswamp  spake  to  this  purpose,  /  am 
greathj  grieved  about  these  things,  and  now 
God  tryeth  me  whether  I  love  Christ  or  my  Child 
best.      They  say,    They  will  try  me  ;  but  I  say. 


226  LIFE     OF     JOHN     ELIOT. 

God  will  try  me.  Christ  saith,  He  that  loveth 
father,  or  mother^  or  wife,  or  Child,  letter  than 
me,  is  not  worthy  of  me.  Christ  saith,  I  must 
correct  my  Child,  if  I  should  refuse  to  doe  that, 
I  should  not  love  Christ.  God  bid  Abraham  kid 
his  Son,  Abrahain  loved  God,  and  therefore  he 
would  have  done  it,  had  not  God  with-held  him. 
God  saith  to  me,  onely  punish  your  Child,  and 
how  can  I  love  God,  if  I  should  refuse  to  doe 
tJiat?  These  things  he  spake  in  more  words, 
and  much  afleclion,  and  not  with  dry  eyes :  Nor 
could  I  rcfraine  from  teares  to  hear  him.  When 
it  was  said,  The  Child  was  not  so  guilty  of  the 
sin,  as  those  that  made  him  drunk;  he  said, 
That  he  was  guilty  of  sin,  in  that  he  feared  not 
sin,  and  i)t  that  he  did  not  believe  his  counsells 
that  he  had  often  given  him,  to  take  heed  of  cvill 
company  ;  but  he  had  believed  Satan  and  sinners 
more  then  him,  therefore  he  needed  to  be  pun- 
ished. After  other  such  like  discourse,  the  Ru- 
lers left  me,  and  went  unto  their  businesse, 
which  they  were  about  before  I  came,  which 
they  did  bring  unto  this  conclusion,  and  judge- 
ment. They  judged  the  three  men  to  sit  in  the 
stocks  a  good  space  of  time,  and  thence  to  be 
brought  to  the  whipping-Post,  &  have  each  of 
them  twenty  lashes.  The  boy  to  be  put  in  the 
stocks  a  little  while,  and  the  next  day  his  father 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  227 


was  to  whip  him  in  the  School,  before  the  Chil- 
dren there  ;  all  which  Judgement  was  executed. 
When    they  came    to   be  whipt,  the  Constable 
fetcht  them  one  after  another  to  the  Tree  (which 
they  make  use  of  instead  of  a  Post)  where  they 
all  received   their   Punishments:    which  done, 
the  Rulers  spake  thus,  one  of  them  said.  The 
Punishments  for  sin  are  the  Commandements  of 
God,  and  the  loorke  of  God,  and  his  end  was,  to 
doe  them  good,  and  bring  them  to  repentance. 
And  upon    that   ground  he  did  in   more  words 
exhort  them  to   repentance,  and  amendment  of 
life.      When  he  had  done,  another  spake  unto 
them  to  this  purpose,  You  are  taught  in  Cate- 
chisme,  that  the  wages  of  sin  are  all  miseries  and 
calamities  i7i  this  life,  and  also  death  and  eternall 
damnation  in  hell.     Now  you  feele  some  smart 
as  the  fruit  of  your  sin,  and  this  is  to  bring  you 
to  repentance,  that  so  you  may  escape  the  rest. 
And  in  more  words  he  exhorted  them  to  repent- 
ance.   When  he  had  done,  another  spake  to  this 
purpose,  Heareall  yee  people  (turning  himselfe  to 
the  People  who  stood  round  about,  I  think  not 
lesse  then  two  hundred,  small  and  great)  this  is 
the   Commandement  of  the    Lord,  that  thus  it 
should  be  done   unto  sinners;    and  therefore  let 
all  take  warning  by  this,  that  you  commit  not 
such  sins,  least   you  incur   these  Punishments. 


228  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT. 

And  with  more  words  he  exhorted  the  People. 
Others  of  the  Rulers  spake  also,  but  some  things 
spoken  I  understood  not,  and  some  things  slipt 
from  me  :  But  these  which  I  have  related  re- 
mained with  me. 

When  I  returned  to  Roxbury,  I  related  these 
things  to  our  Elder,  to  whom  I  had  before  re- 
lated the  sin,  and  my  grief:  who  was  much 
affected  to  hear  it,  and  magnified  God.  He  said 
also,  That  their  sin  was  but  a  Transient  act, 
which  had  no  Rule,  and  would  vanish.  But 
these  Judgements  were  an  ordinance  of  God, 
and  would  remaine,  and  doe  more  good  every- 
way, then  their  sin  could  doe  hurt,  telling  me 
what  cause  I  had  to  be  thankfuU  for  such  an  is- 
sue :  Which  I  therefore  relate,  because  the  Lord 
did  speak  to  my  heart,  in  this  exigent,  by  his 
words." 

This  difficulty  being  thus  settled,  the  time 
came  for  the  meeting  of  the  Elders.  Mr.  Eliot 
observes, 

"  When  the  assembly  was  met  for  Examination 
of  the  Indians,  and  ordered,  I  declared  the  end 
and  Reason  of  this  Meeting,  and  therefore  de- 
clared. That  any  one,  in  due  order,  might  have 
liberty  to  propound  any  Questions  for  their  sat- 
isfaction. Likewise,  I  requested  the  Assembly, 
That  if  any  one  doubted  of  the  Interpretations 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  229 

that  should  be  given  of  their  answers,  that  they 
would  Propound  their  doubt,  and  they  should 
have  the  words  scanned  and  tryed  by  tho  Inter- 
preters, that  so  all  things  may  be  done  most 
clearly.  For  my  desire  was  to  be  true  to  Christ, 
to  their  soules,  and  to  the  Churches :  And  the 
trying  out  of  any  of  their  Answers  by  the  In- 
terpreters, would  tend  to  the  satisfaction  of  such 
as  doubt,  as  it  fell  out  in  one  Answer  which  they 
gave ;  the  Question  was,  How  they  knew  the 
Scriptures  to  be  the  word  of  God  ?  The  finall 
Answer  was,  Because  they  did  find  that  it  did 
change  their  hearts,  and  wrought  in  them 
wisedome  and  humility.  This  Answer  being 
Interpreted  to  the  Assembly,  my  Brother  Mahu 
doubted,  especially  of  the  word  \Hohpo6onk'\ 
signifying  Humility,  it  was  scanned  by  the  In- 
terpreters, and  proved  to  be  right,  and  he  rested 
satisfied  therein.  I  was  purposed  my  selfe  to 
have  written  the  Elders  Questions,  and  the  In- 
dians Answers,  but  I  was  so  imployed  in  pro- 
pounding to  the  Indians  the  Elders  Questions, 
and  in  returning  the  Indians  Answers,  as  that 
it  was  not  possible  for  me  to  write  unlesse  I  had 
caused  the  Assembly  to  stay  upon  it,  which  had 
not  been  fitting ;  therefore  seeing  Mr.  Walton 
writing,  I  did  request  him  to  write  the  Ques- 
tions and  Answers,  and  help  me  with  a  Copy  of 
VOL.  III.  20 


230  LIFE      OF     JOHN     ELIOT. 

them,  which  I  thank  him,  he  did,  a  Copy  whereof 
I  herewith  send  to  be  inserted  in  this  place,  on 
which,  this  only  I  will  animadvert,  That  the  El- 
ders in  wisdome  thought  it  not  fit  to  ask  them  in 
Catechisticall  method  strictly,  in  which  way 
Children  might  Answer.  But  that  they  might 
try  whether  they  understood  what  they  said, 
they  traversed  up  and  downe  in  Questions  of 
Religion,  as  here  you  see. 

POSTCRIPT. 

Let  the  Reader  take  notice,  That  these  ques- 
tions were  not  propounded  all  to  one  man,  but 
to  sundry,  which  is  the  reason  that  sometime 
the  same  Questions  are  propounded  againe 
and  againe.  Also  the  number  Examined 
were  about  eight,  namely,  so  many  as  might 
be  first  called  forth  to  enter  into  Church- 
Covenant,  if  the  Lord  give  opportunity." 

We  have  a  Catechism,  entitled  "The  Exam- 
ination of  the  Indians  at  Roxbury,  the  13th  day 
of  the  4th  month,  1654.  The  following  are 
some  of  the  questions  and  answers. 

Q.     Have  not  some  Indians  many  Gods  ? 

A.     They  have  many  Gods. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  231 

Q.  How  doe  you  know  these  Gods  are  no 
Gods. 

A.  Before  the  English  came  we  knew  not 
but  that  they  were  Gods,  but  since  they  came 
we  know  they  are  no  Gods  : 

Q.  How  doe  you  know  the  word  of  God  is 
Gods  word  ? 

A.  I  believe  the  word  that  you  teach  us,  was 
spoken  of  God. 

Q.     Why  doe  you  believe  it  ? 

A.  Therefore  I  believe  it  to  be  the  word  of 
God,  because  when  we  learn  it,  it  teacheth  our 
hearts  to  be  wise  and  humble. 

Q.  Whether  are  not  your  sins,  and  the 
temptations  of  Hobbomak  more  strong  since,  then 
before  you  prayed  to  God  ? 

A.  Before  I  prayed  to  God,  I  knew  not  what 
Satans  temptations  were. 

Q.     Doe  you  know  now  ? 

A.  Now  I  have  heard  what  Satans  tempta- 
tions are. 

Q.  What  is  a  temptation  of  the  Devill  in 
your  heart,  doe  you  understand  what  it  is  ? 

A.  Within  my  heart  there  are  Hypocrisies, 
which  doe  not  appear  without. 

Q.  Whether  doe  not  you  find  this  a  princi- 
pall  temptation  from  the  wickednesse  of  your 
heart,  to  drive  you  away  from  Christ,  and  not  to 


232  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

believe  the  gracious  Promises  in  Jesus  Christ? 
Or  whether  when  you  find  wickcdnesse  in  your 
heart,  you  are  not  tempted  that  you  cannot  believe  ? 

A.  My  heart  doth  strongly  desire  to  goe  on 
in  sin,  but  this  is  a  strong  temptation,  but  Faith 
is  the  work  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Q.  "What  doe  you  believe  about  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soule,  and  resurrection  of  the  body  ? 
doth  the  soule  dye  when  the  body  dyeth  ? 

A.  I  believe,  when  the  body  of  a  good  man 
dyeth,  the  Angels  carry  his  soule  to  heaven, 
when  a  wicked  man  dyeth,  the  Devills  carry  his 
soule  to  hell. 

Q.     How  long  shall  they  be  in  that  state  ? 

A.     Untill  Christ  cometh  to  Judgement. 

Q.  When  Christ  cometh  to  judge  the  world, 
what  then  shall  become  of  them  ? 

A.  The  dead  bodies  of  all  men  shall  rise 
againe. 

Q.     Whether  shall  they  ever  dye  any  more  ? 

A.     Good  men  shall  never  dye  any  more. 

Q.  Whether  doe  you  believe  that  these  very 
bodies  of  ours  shall  rise  againe  ? 

A.  This  body  which  rots  in  the  earth,  this 
very  body,  God  maketh  it  new. 

Q.     Who  is  Jesus  Christ  ? 

A.  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God,  yet  borne 
man,  and  so  both  God  and  man. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  233 

Q.     Why  was  Christ  Jesus  a  man  ? 

A.     That  he  might  dye  for  us. 

Q.     Why  is  Christ  Jesus  God  ? 

A.     That  his  death  might  be  of  great  value. 

Q.  Why  doe  you  say,  Christ  Jesus  was  a 
man  that  he  might  dye,  doe  onely  men  dye  ? 

A.     He  dyed  for  our  sins. 

Q.  What  reason  or  justice  is  there,  that 
Christ  should  dye  for  our  sins  ? 

A.  God  made  all  the  world,  and  man  sinned, 
therefore  it  was  necessary  Christ  should  dye  to 
carry  men  up  to  Heaven.  God  hath  given  unto 
us  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  because  of  our  sins. 

The  Question  being  put  to  another  for  further 
Answer,  his  Answer  was.  That  God  so 
loved  the  ivorld,  that  he  gave  his  onely  be- 
gotten Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life. 

Q.  When  you  heare  that  Adam  by  his  sin 
deserved  eternall  death,  and  when  you  hear  of 
the  grace  of  God  sending  Jesus  to  save  you, 
which  of  these  break  your  heart  most  ? 

A.     Pardon  of  sin  goeth  deepest." 

With  regard  to  the   formation  of  the  church, 
one  writer  says  ; 

"  This  great  and  solemne  work  of  calling  up 
20^ 


234  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

these  poor  Indians  unto  that  Gospel  light  and 
beauty  of  visible  Church-estate,  having  now 
passed  through  a  second  Tryall  :  In  the  former 
whereof,  they  expressed  what  experience  they 
had  found  of  Gods  grace  in  their  hearts,  turning 
them  from  dead  works,  to  seek  after  the  li\Tng 
God,  and  salvation  in  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 
In  this  second  they  have  in  some  measure  de- 
clared how  far  the  Lord  hath  let  in  the  light  of 
the  'good  knowledge  of  God  into  their  soules, 
and  what  tast  they  have  of  the  Principles  of 
Religion,  and  doctrine  of  salvation.  Now  the 
Question  remaineth,  What  shall  we  fur  the?'  doe? 
Aiid  ivhen  shall  they  enjoy  the  Ordinances  of 
Jesus  Christ  in  Church-estate  ? 

"  The  work  is  very  solemne,  and  the  Ques- 
tion needeth  a  solemne  Answer.  It  is  a  great 
matter  to  betrust  those  with  the  holy  priviledges 
of  Gods  house,  upon  which  the  name  of  Christ 
is  so  much  called,  who  have  so  little  knowledge 
and  experience  in  the  wayes  of  Christ,  so  newly 
come  out  of  that  great  depth  of  darknesse,  and 
wild  course  of  life  ;  in  such  danger  of  polluting 
and  defiling  the  name  of  Christ  among  their 
barbarous  Friends  and  Countrey-men ;  and  un- 
der so  many  doubts  and  jealousies  of  many  peo- 
ple ;  and  having  not  yet  stood  in  the  wayes  of 
Christ  so  long,  as   to   give   sufficient  proof  and 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      K  I-  I  O  T  .  235 

experience  of  their  stedfastncsse  in  their  hew 
begun  profession.  Being  also  the  first  Church 
gathered  among  thein,  it  is  like  to  be  a  pattern 
and  president  of  after  proceedings,  even  unto 
following  Generations.  Hence  it  is  very  need- 
full  that  this  proceeding  of  ours  at  first,  be  with 
all  care  and  wearinesse  guided,  for  the  most  ef- 
fectual! advancement  of  the  holinesse  and  hon- 
our of  Jesus  Christ  among  them. 

"Upon  such  like  grounds  as  these,  though  I 
and  some  others  know  more  of  the  sincerity  of 
some  of  them,  than  others  doe,  and  are  better 
satisfied  with  them  :  Yet  because  I  may  be  in  a 
temptation  on  that  hand,  I  am  well  content  to 
make  slow  hast  in  this  matter,  remembring  fhat 
word  of  God,  Lay  hands  suddenly  on  no  man. 
Gods  works  among  men  doe  usually  goe  on 
slowly,  and  he  that  goeth  slowly,  doth  usually 
goe  most  surely,  especially  Avhen  he  goeth  by 
counsell.  Sat  cito  si  satheJie^  the  greater  proof 
we  have  of  them,  the  better  approbation  they 
may  obtain  at  last.  Besides,  we  having  had 
one  publick  meeting  about  them  already  this 
summer,  it  will  be  difficult  to  compasse  another, 
for  we  have  many  other  great  occasions,  which 
may  hinder  the  same,  and  it  is  an  hard  matter 
to  get  Interpreters  together  to  attend  such  a 
work,  they  living  so  remote.    The  dayes  also  will 

*  Fast  enough,  if  well  enough. 


236  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

soon  grow  short,  and  the  nights  cold,  which  will 
be  an  hindrance  in  the  attendance  unto  the  ac- 
complishment of  that  work,  which  will  most  fitly 
be  done  at  Natick. 

"  But  above  all  other  Reasons  this  is  greatest, 
that  they  living  in  sundry  Towns  and  places  re- 
mote from  each  other,  and  labourers  few  to  take 
care  of  them,  it  is  necessary  that  some  of  them- 
selves should  be  trained  up,  and  peculiarly 
instructed,  unto  whom  the  care  of  ruling  and 
ordering  of  them  in  the  affaires  of  Gods  house 
may  be  committed,  in  the  absence  of  such  as 
look  after  their  instruction.  So  that  this  is  now 
the  thing  we  desire  to  attend,  for  the  comfort  of 
our  little  Sister  that  hath  no  breasts,  that  such 
may  be  trained  up,  and  prepared,  unto  whom 
the  charge  of  the  rest  may  be  committed  in  the 
Lord.  And  upon  this  ground  we  make  the 
slower  hast  to  accomplish  this  work  among 
them.  Mean  while  I  hope  the  Commissioners 
will  afford  some  encouragement  for  the  further- 
ance of  the  instruction  of  some  of  the  most  godly 
and  able  among  them,  who  may  be  in  a  speciall 
manner  helpfuU  unto  the  rest,  in  due  order  and 
season. 

"  And  thus  have  I  briefly  set  down  our  pres- 
ent state  in  respect  of  our  Ecclesiasticall  pro- 
ceedings.    I  beg  the  prayers  of  the  good  people 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  237 

of  the  Lord,  to  be  particularly  present  at  the 
Throne  of  Grace,  in  these  matters,  according  as 
you  have  hereby  a  particular  Information  how 
our  condition  is.  And  for  me  also,  who  am  the 
most  unfit  in  humane  reason  for  such  a  work  as 
this,  but  my  soule  desireth  to  depend  and  live 
upon  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  fetch  all  help,  grace, 
mercy,  assistance,  and  supply  from  him.  And 
herein  I  doe  improve  his  faithfuU  Covenant  and 
Promises,  and  in  perticular,  the  Lord  doth  cause 
my  soule  to  live  upon  that  word  of  his,  Psal. 
37  :  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  wherein  I  have  food,  rayment, 
and  all  necessaries  for  my  selfe  and  children 
(whom  I  have  dedicated  unto  the  Lord,  to  serve 
him  in  this  work  of  his,  if  he  will  please  to 
accept  of  them)  and  this  supply  I  live  upon  in 
these  rich  words  of  gracious  Promise,  verse  3. 
Trust  in  the  Lord,  and  doe  good,  dv)ell  in  the 
hand,  and  verily  thou  shalt  be  fed. 

Herein  also  I  find  supply  of  grace  to  believe 
the  conversion  of  these  poor  Indians,  &  that  not 
only  in  this  present  season,  in  what  I  doe 
already  see,  but  in  the  future  also,  further  then 
by  mine  eye  or  reason  I  can  see.  Which  sup- 
ply of  grace,  I  live  upon  in  those  words  of  his 
gracious  Promise,  which  I  apply  and  improve  in 
this  particular  respect,  verse  4.     Delight  thy- 


238  LIFE      OF     JOHN     ELIOT. 

selfe  also  in  the  Lord,  a7id  he  shall  give  thee  the 
desires  of  thy  heart. 

"  Herein  also  I  find  supply  of  grace  to  believe, 
that  they  shall  be  in  Gods  season,  which  is  the 
fittest,  brought  into  Church  Estate  ;  faith  fetch- 
ing this  particular  blessing  out  of  the  rich 
Fountaine  of  those  gracious  words  of  Promise, 
Commit  thy  way  luito  the  Lord,  trust  also  in 
him,  and  he  shall  bring  it  to  passe. 

"  Herein  also  my  soule  is  strengthened  and 
quieted,  to  stay  upon  the  Lord,  and  to  be  sup- 
ported against  all  suspitious  jealousies,  hard 
speeches,  and  unkindnesses  of  men,  touching 
the  sincerity  and  reality  of  this  work,  and  about 
my  carriage  of  matters,  and  supply  herein. 
Which  grace  my  soule  receiveth  by  a  particular 
improvement  of  that  rich  treasury  of  the  Prom- 
ise in  these  words,  verse  6.  And  he  shall  bring 
forth  thy  righteoicsnesse  as  the  light,  and  thy 
judgement  as  the  noon  day.  And  herein  likewise 
I  find  supply  of  grace,  to  wait  patiently  for  the 
Lords  time,  when  year  after  year,  and  time  after 
time,  I  meet  with  disappointments.  Which 
grace  I  receive  from  the  commanding  force  of 
that  gracious  Promise,  verse  1 .  Rest  in  the 
Lord,  and  wait  patiently  for  him,  fret  not  thy 
selfe,  either  for  one  cause,  or  another.  Thus  I 
live,  and  thus  I  labor,  here  I  have  supply,  and 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  239 

here  is  my  hope,  I  beg  the  help  of  prayers,  that 
I  may  still  so  live  and  labour  in  the  Lords  work, 
and  that  I  may  so  live  and  dye." 

In  1670,  the  number  of  men  and  women  in 
full  communion  at  Natick,  was  between  forty 
and  fifty,  and  more  than  three  hundred  and  fifty 
had  renounced  their  savage  practices  and  open 
sins,  and  gave  heed  to  the  instructions  of  the 
Gospel. 

Their  meetings  were  notified  by  the  drum. 
In  their  assemblies  they  were  attentive  and  rev- 
erent. A  native  teacher  commenced  worship 
with  prayer,  and  the  English  Christains  assisted 
in  the  business  of  instruction.  There,  as  at 
other  times,  and  in  other  places  among  civilized 
people  God  poured  out  his  Spirit  upon  the  young. 
Several  cases  of  hopeful  piety  in  young  children 
are  mentioned.  The  most  interesting  of  them 
have  already  been  given. 

Mr.  Eliot  having  made  a  grammar  of  the  In- 
dian tongue,  and  a  catechism,  was  proceeding 
with  his  Indian  Bible.  In  1649,  he  said  it  was 
his  earnest  wish  to  translate  some  parts  of  the 
Scriptures  for  the  Indians.  He  probably  labored 
at  this  work,  at  intervals,  for  twelve  years,  and 
he  was  at  least  forty-five  years  of  age  when  he 
began  it. 


240  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  this  work,  un- 
like the  same  employment  of  our  foreign  mis- 
sionaries at  their  first  arrival  at  new  stations, 
was  wholly  in  addition  to  his  labors  as  Pastor  of 
another  people, — the  congregation  at  Roxbury. 
It  was  of  no  direct  use  to  him  in  his  ministerial 
work,  any  farther  than  investigation  and  study 
is  always  profitable  to  the  mind.  It  was  a  labor 
superadded  to  the  cares  and  toil  of  his  pastoral 
and  ministerial  office. 

A  man  who  has  a  taste  for  languages  is  gener- 
ally repaid  for  the  labor  of  acquiring  them,  by 
the  stores  of  learning  which  they  contain.  Cato 
learned  Greek  at  the  age  of  eighty,  and  the  lit- 
erary world  mention  it  to  his  praise.  But  here 
is  a  man  learning  a  language  which  has  no  lit- 
erature. No  tragic  or  heroic  muse  had  left  her 
inspired  strains  in  it.  No  beautiful  old  ballads 
or  legendary  songs  repaid  his  labor, — no  Canter- 
bury Tales,  or  Children  in  the  Wood,  or  Chevy 
Chase,  or  Fairy  Queen,  hymns  of  devotion, 
nor  martial  songs ;  the  language  could  only 
whoop  and  powaw ;  the  great  word,  gathering 
subjunctives  and  adjuncts  into  itself,  like  a 
crowded  wigwam,  was  savagely  ignorant  of  the 
graces,  or  the  concise,  vigorous  expressions  of 
some  barbarous  tongues,  and  Eliot's  researches 
into  it  were  like  digging,  as   the   Plymouth  set- 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  241 

tiers  did,  into  the  mounds  for  corn,  and  finding 
nothing  but  skulls.  But  nothing  could  repress 
the  ardor  of  his  benevolent  mind.  He  was  de- 
termined that  the  Indians  should  have  the  word 
of  God  in  their  own  tongue,  and  the  work  drew 
near  to  its  accomplishment. 

But  how  could  it  ever  be  printed  ?  His  slen- 
der salary  could  not  pay  for  it ;  the  planters 
could  not  subscribe  an  adequate  sum.  In  a  let- 
ter to  England  in  1651,  he  says,  with  much 
sorrow,  "  I  have  no  hope  to  see  the  Bible  print- 
ed in  my  days." 

The  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  came 
to  his  help."^  In  September,  1661,  the  New  Tes- 
tament in  the  Indian  tongue  was  published  at 
Cambridge.  Three  years  after  this,  the  Old 
Testament  was  added,  and  the  whole  Bible, 
with  a  Catechism  and  the  Psalms  of  David  in 
metre,  was  thus  given  to  the  Aborigines  of  this 
desert,  in  their  own  tongue,  in  forty  years  after 
the  settlement  of  the  country. 

This  was  the  first  Bible  printed  on  this  Con- 
tinent. It  was  printed  at  Cambridge,  by  Sam- 
uel Green  and  Marmaduke  Johnson.  A  copy 
handsomely  bound,  was  sent  to  King  Charles  II., 
and  the  Rev.  Richard  Baxter  says  of  it,  "  Such 
a  work  and  fruit  of  a  plantation  was  never  be- 

*  See  Appeodix  E. 
VOL.    III.  21 


242  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

fore  presented  unto  a  king."  Two  hundred 
copies,  in  plain  and  strong  leather,  were  imme- 
diately put  in  circulation  for  the  use  of  the 
Indians.  An  angel  would  almost  have  ex- 
changed his  heavenly  joy  for  the  happiness  of 
Eliot,  when  he  visited  Natick,  and  saw  the  Bi- 
ble in  the  hands  of  the  natives.  Like  old 
Jacob,  strengthening  himself  upon  his  dying 
bed,  he  might  then  have  said,  "  I  have  waited 
for  thy  salvation,  0  Lord;"  or,  like  Simeon, 
*'  Now,  Lord,  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in 
peace,  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation." 

Douglass,  in  his  History  of  America,"^  says, 
"  j\Ir.  Eliot  with  immense  labor  translated  and 
printed  our  Bible  into  Indian.  It  was  done  with 
a  good  pious  design,  but  it  must  be  reckoned 
among  the  otiosorum  hominum  7iegotia,  (works 
of  men  of  leisure).  It  was  done  in  the  Natick 
(Nipmuck)  language.  Of  the  Naticks,  at  pres- 
ent, there  are  not  twenty  families  subsisting, 
and  scarce  any  of  these  can  read.  Cui  bono .?" 
(To  what  profit  ?) 

Those  who  know  how  far  Mr.  Eliot  was 
from  being  a  man  of  leisure,  will  smile  at  the 
suggestion  that  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into 
the  Indian  tongue  was  the  work  of  an  idle  ama- 
teur. The  disappearance  of  the  race  for  whom 
this    translation   was    designed,  so  unexpected, 

*L  172,  Note.  1745. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  243 

and  indeed  so  contrary  to  the  fond  hopes  of  our 
forefathers,  is  very  far  from  showing  the  futility 
of  Mr.  Eliot's  pious  labor.  Many  of  the  Indians 
were  made  wise  unto  eternal  life  by  the  trans- 
lated Bible.  The  good  which  it  accomplished 
was  more  than  an  equivalent  for  the  labor  which 
it  cost. 

Cotton  Mather  says,  "  Behold,  ye  Americans, 
the  greatest  honour  that  ever  you  were  partakers 
of.  This  Bible  was  printed  here  at  our  Cam- 
bridge, and  it  is  the  only  Bible  that  ever  was 
printed  in  all  America,  from  the  very  foundation 
of  the  world.  The  whole  translation  he  writ 
with  but  one  pen ;  which  pen,  had  it  not  been 
lost,  would  have  certainly  deserved  a  richer 
case  than  was  bestowed  upon  that  pen  with 
which  Holland  writ  his  translation  of  Plu- 
tarch. ^ 


*IVIag.  II,  511.  Phihrnon  Holland.  See  Rees'  Encyc,  Aiken's 
Biog.  Mem.  of  Medicine.  He  was  the  translator  general  of  hia  age, 
a  man  of  incredible  industry.  In  Fuller's  Worthies  of  England  we 
learn  that  Holland,  having  written  several  translations  with  one  pen, 
made  the  following  stanza  : 

"  With  one  sole  pen  I  writ  this  book, 
Made  of  a  gray  goose  quill ; 
A  pen  it  was  when  I  it  took. 
And  a  pen  I  leave  it  still." 

A  familiar  story  is  told  of  Gibbon,  in  writing  the  "  Pecline  and 
Fall,"  and  that  he  presented  the  pen  to  the  Duchess  of  Devonshire, 
who  honored  it  with  a  silver  case.    These  stories  are  probably  fabu- 


244  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

The  New  Testament  was  published  first,  and 
then  the  whole  Bible,  Primers,  Grammars, 
Psalters,  Catechisms,  The  Practice  of  Piety, 
Baxter's  Call,  Shepard's  sincere  Convert  and 
Sound  Believer,  soon  appeared  in  the  Indian 
tongue,  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Eliot. 

By  this  time  there  were  fourteen  places  of 
praying  Indians  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Eliot, 
and  about  eleven  hundred  souls  who  were  ap- 
parently converted.  Natick,  Stoughton,  Graf- 
ton, Tewksbury,  Hopkinton,  Oxford,  Dudley, 
Woodstock  (three  villages),  Uxbridge  and  Marl- 
boro', all  had  communities  of  praying  Indians. 

Mr.  Bancroft,  in  his  History  of  the  United 
States,"^  says,  "  No  pains  were  spared  to  teach 
them  to  read  and  write,  and  in  a  short  time  a 
larger  proportion  of  the  Massachusetts  Indians 
could  do  so,  than  recently  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Russia."  The  Indians  of  Cape  Cod,  Martha's 
Vineyard,  and  Nantucket,  amounting  to  about 
twenty -nine  hundred,  also  were,  by  the  labors 
of  the  Mayhews  and  others,  partly  evangelized. 
Mr.  Eliot  says,  in  1673,  that  there  were  six 
churches  gathered   among  the   Indians,  one   at 


lou3.    The  contrivances  which  these  men  must  have  used  to  make  one 
pen,  or  even  one  quill,  do  so  much  work,  would  deserve  the  appella- 
tion above  quoted  from  Douglass,  "  otiosorum  hominum  negotia," — 
or,  the  notions  of  men  who  had  plenty  of  leisure. 
*  II.  94. 


LITE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  245 

Natick,  one  at  Grafton,  one  at  Marshpee,  two  at 
Martha's  Vineyard,  and  one  at  Nantucket.  All 
these  had  religious  teachers  devoted  exclusively 
to  them,  except  the  church  at  Natick,  of  which 
Mr.  Eliot  says,  "  In  modesty  they  stand  off,  be- 
cause they  say  that  so  long  as  I  live,  there  is  no 
need."  They  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to 
have  another  teacher  even  with  the  advantages 
of  his  entire  devotion  to  them,  while  Mr.  Eliot 
was  alive. 

Cotton  Mather  says,^  "  The  number  of 
preachers  to  the  Indians  increases  apace.  At 
Martha's  Vineyard,  the  old  Mr.  Mayhew  and 
several  of  his  sons,  or  grand-sons,  have  done 
very  worthily  for  the  souls  of  the  Indians  ;  there 
were  fifteen  years  ago  by  computation  about  fif- 
teen hundred  souls  of  their  ministry,  upon  that 
one  island.  In  Connecticut,  the  holy  and  acute 
Mr.  Fitch  has  made  noble  essays  towards  the 
conversion  of  the  Indians ;  but  I  think  the  sin- 
ner he  has  to  deal  withal,  being  an  obstinate  in- 
fidel, gives  unhappy  rumor  as  to  the  successes  of 
his  ministry.  And  godly  Mr.  Pierson  has,  if  I 
mistake  not,  deserved  well  in  that  colony  upon 
the  same  account.  In  Massachusetts  we  see  at 
this  day  the  pious  Mr.  Gookin,  the  gracious  Mr. 


*  Magnalia  I,  516.— See  Appendix  G. 

2l# 


246  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

Peter  Thacher,  the  well  accomplished  and  in- 
dustrious Mr.  Grindal  Rawson,  all  of  them  hard 
at  work,  to  turn  these  poor  creatures  from  dark- 
ness to  light,  and  from  Satan  unto  God.  In 
Plymouth  we  have  the  most  active  Mr.  Samuel 
Treat  laying  out  himself  to  save  this  genera- 
tion, and  there  is  one  Mr.  Tupper,  who  uses 
his  laudable  endeavours  for  the  instruction  of. 
them. 

"  "IJ'is  my  relation  to  him  '^  that  causes  me  to 
defer  unto  the  last  place  the  mention  of  Mr. 
John  Cotton,  who  hath  addressed  the  Indians  in 
their  own  language  with  some  dexterity.  He 
hired  an  Indian  after  the  rate  of  twelve  pence 
per  day,  for  fifty  days,  to  teach  him  the  Indian 
tongue  ;  but  his  knavish  tutor  having  received 
his  whole  pay  too  soon,  ran  away  before  twenty 
days  were  out ;  however,  in  this  time  he  had 
profited  so  far  that  he  could  quickly  preach  unto 
the  natives." 

Two  Indians  from  Martha's  Vineyard  were 
entered  at  Harvard  College.  Their  names  were 
Joel  and  Caleb.  Joel  was  lost  on  his  voyage 
from  Boston  to  Nantucket  just  before  taking  his 
degree.     Caleb  was  graduated,  but  soon  died  of 


*  Cotton  Mather'3  mother  was  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Cotton. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  247 

consumption  at  Charlestown.  His  name  now 
stands  on  the  Collecfe  Cataloi^ue  in  this  form  : 
"  1665,  Caleb  Cheesehahteaumuck,  Indus."  Ho 
composed  a  Latin  and  Greek  Eleg^y  on  the 
death  of  an  eminent  minister,  and  subscribed 
them,  "  Cheesehahteaumuck,  Senior  Sophista." 


248  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT 


CHAPTER    VII. 

Disturbance  of  Missionary  clTorts.  Philip's  War.  Removal  of  liie 
Inilians  to  Deer  Isle.  Return.  Conclusion  of  the  History  of  Mis- 
sionary cflTorts  among  the  Indians  of  this  neighborhood.  Reflec- 
tions. 

Civilization  and  the  influence  of  the  Gospel, 
however,  had  their  limits.  The  Narraganset 
Indians,  situated  between  the  Connecticut  and 
Plymouth  Colonies,  refused  the  Gospel,  and  the 
benevolent  intentions  of  the  English.  King 
Philip,  the  famous  warrior  of  Mount  Hope,  (now 
Bristol)  whose  name  was  terrible  to  our  fore- 
fathers, scorned  the  doctrines  of  the  cross.  Mr. 
Eliot  once  had  an  interview  with  him,  explained 
the  way  of  salvation,  and  exhorted  him  to  re- 
pent. The  Indian  chieftain  rose,  took  hold  of 
Mr.  Eliot's  button,  and  told  him,  that  he  cared 
no  more  for  his  Gospel  than  he  did  for  that  but- 
ton. 

The  Indians  under  Philip  were  growing  jeal- 
ous of  English  encroachments  upon  their  hunting 
fields.  Petty  depredations  were  made  by  the 
Indians  upon  the  English  settlements,  then  fol- 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      E  L  I  O  T  .  249 

lowed  a  summons  to  court,  which,  in  process  of 
time,  became  exceedingly  annoying  to  proud, 
untamed  savages.  They  had  bartered  their 
lands  for  English  implements  and  toys;  the 
tools  and  the  toys  were  gone,  and  the  savage 
could  not  be  satisfied  to  abide  by  a  paper,  call  it 
treaty,  bond,  or  contract,  on  which  he  had 
scratched  his  mark.  He  sighed  for  his  old  do- 
mains ;  the  waves  of  civilization  were  coming 
round  him  like  a  flood ;  his  people  were  artfully 
crowded  by  the  English  into  narrow  inlets  be- 
tween the  settlements,  that  they  might  be 
watched  on  all  sides. 

King  Philip  was  summoned  to  Court  in  1674, 
for  some  offence  committed  by  his  tribe.  The 
informer  was  murdered  by  the  angry  savages. 
The  murderers  were  hanged  by  the  English. 
The  massacre  of  eight  or  nine  of  the  English  at 
Swansey  was  the  consequence.  Philip  wept 
when  he  heard  that  the  blood  of  a  white  man 
had  been  shed.  The  Colonists  began  to  arm, 
and  a  universal  panic  prevailed.  The  supersti- 
tion of  those  days  added  much  to  the  general 
terror.  Signs  in  the  heavens  were  reported  to 
have  been  seen,  a  scalp  on  the  disc  of  the  moon 
in  an  eclipse  ;  an  Indian  bow  was  imprinted  on 
the  sky.  Troops  of  horses  were  heard  rushing 
throuirh  the  air.     The  horrors  of  an  Indian  war 


250  LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT. 

made  their  faces  pale  and  their  hearts  faiijt. 
The  scenes  at  Bloody  Brook,  the  burning  of 
Lancaster,  Medfield,  Brookfield,  Weymouth, 
Groton,  Marlborough,  the  ambushments  rising 
on  the  congregation  as  they  returned  from  pub- 
lic worship,  the  massacre  of  wives  and  children 
at  home,  and  the  scalping  of  husbands  and 
brothers  in  the  field,  roused  the  colonies  of 
Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  and  Connecticut  to  an 
exterminating  war. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  the  communities  of  pray- 
ing Indians  could  not  escape  the  influence  of  the 
general  excitement  against  the  Indians.  Some 
of  them  were  accused,  justly  or  unjustly,  of  fa- 
voring the  designs  of  the  enemy.  The  Colo- 
nists were  all  the  time  afraid  that  the  instinctive 
love  of  war  and  carnage  in  the  Indian  bosom 
would  break  through  the  restraints  of  religion, 
and  that  all  which  had  been  done  for  the  Indians 
would  be  only  a  qualification  of  them  as  more 
successful  traitors  and  expert  butchers. 

On  the  other  hand,  King  Philip  was  jealous 
of  the  praying  Indians.  He  used  every  means 
of  persuasion  and  fear  to  enlist  them  on  his  side. 
Their  situation  was  trying  in  the  extreme.  In 
the  excited  state  of  mind  which  an  Indian  war 
created  among  the  English,  a  war  on  the  part  of 
the  savages  of  stratagem,  and  treachery,  it  was 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  251 

natural  that  the  Christian  Indians  should  he 
trusted  and  feared.  Some  of  them  enlisted  with 
the  English  and  did  good  service,  and  some  de- 
serted to  Philip. 

In  1675,  a  number  of  the  Christian  Indians 
were  brought  to  Boston  on  a  charge  of  being 
concerned  in  a  murder  at  Lancaster.  Mr.  Eli- 
ot and  his  friends  interposed  to  save  them,  and 
succeeded  in  showing  that  the  accusation  was 
false  and  malicious.  In  so  doing,  they  incurred 
the  popular  resentment,  and  were  suspected  and 
accused  of  bad  motives  and  treasonable  conduct. 

The  feelings  of  the  people  were  now  so  un- 
reasonable that  the  worst  consequences  to  the 
praying  Indians  were  apprehended.  In  this  state 
of  things  the  General  Court,  as  a  means  of  pro- 
tection to  themselves  and  to  the  Indians,  passed 
an  order  that  the  Natick  Indians  should  be  re- 
moved to  Deer  Island,  in  Boston  harbor,  between 
four  and  five  miles  from  shore.  They  came  to 
the  place  called  the  Pines,  near  Cambridge,  on 
Charles  River,  and  were  thence  conveyed  by 
water  to  Deer  Island.  Mr.  Eliot  met  them  at 
the  Pines,  and  endeavored  to  soothe  and  cheer 
them.  He  was  then  seventy  years  old.  One 
might  question  whether  he  or  the  Indians  suf- 
fered most  in  their  removal. 

A  party  of  Indians  had  fired  a  barn  at  Chelms- 


252  LIFE      OF     JOHN     ELIOT. 

ford.  The  English  imputed  it  to  the  praying 
Indians  at  Tewksbury.  A  party  of  the  English 
went  to  their  wigwams,  called  them  out  and  shot 
one  lad,  and  wounded  several  women  and  chil- 
dren. The  murderers  were  tried,  but  the  jury 
were  overawed  by  the  public  sentiment  and 
cleared  them.  The  Tewksbury  Indians  fled 
into  the  wilderness ;  messengers  were  sent  to 
them  inviting  them  to  return,  but  they  gave  this 
answer  :  We  are  not  sorry  for  what  we  leave 
behind,  but  we  are  sorry  that  the  English  have 
driven  us  from  praying  to  God,  and  from  our 
leader.  We  did  begin  to  understand  a  little  of 
praying  to  God.  When  the  whiter  season  came, 
their  sufferings  forced  them  back  to  their  wig- 
wams, and  the  English  endeavored  in  various 
ways  to  atone  for  the  injuries  they  had  suf- 
fered. 

The  Stoughton  Indians,  for  some  suspicion, 
were  also  removed  to  Deer  Island,  and  the  whole 
number  there  amounted  to  five  hundred.  Mr. 
Eliot  and  his  friends  visited  them,  and  found 
them  patient  and  meek,  exhibiting  the  true  in- 
fluence of  the  Gospel  in  a  satisfactory  degree. 
But  they  were  exposed  to  want  and  suffering  of 
various  kinds.  The  ill-treatment  of  other  com- 
munities of  Indians  followed  in  rapid  succession, 
and  it  was  in  vain  that  they  sought  in  moments 


LIFE. OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  253 


of  contention,  to  repair  the  injuries  which  they 
had  inflicted.  One  party  of  Indians,  for  exam- 
ple, had  been  taken  by  a  Narraganset  Sachem, 
and  had  escaped,  and  were  wandering  in  the 
woods,  when  an  English  scouting  party  met 
them,  taking  from  them,  among  other  things,  a 
pewter  cup  which  Mr.  Eliot  had  given  them  for 
their  communion  service,  and  which  they  had 
kept  and  carried  with  them  with  the  reverence 
of  a  Jew  for  his  sacred  vessels  of  gold  and 
silver.  This  party  were  also  carried  to  Deer 
Island. 

Philip,  the  terror  of  the  English  Colonies  on 
this  continent,  was  finally  destroyed.  The  war 
subsiding,  the  Deer  Island  Indians,  with  the 
permission  of  the  General  Court,  and  by  the 
funds  of  the  society  in  England  for  propagating 
the  Gospel,  were  removed  to  Cambridge,  and 
were  permitted  to  choose  their  places  of  settle- 
ment. Some  of  them  went  to  the  various  falls 
of  Charles  River,  some  to  Brush  Hill  in  Milton, 
some  settled  at  Nonantum,  and  many  of  them 
went  to  Natick. 

But  the  efforts  to  Christianize  the  Indians 
were  never  resumed  with  the  interest  and  zeal 
which  were  formerly  felt.  On  the  part  of  the 
English,  there  was  conscience  of  wrong,  and  on 

VOL.  III.  22 


254  LIFE      OF      JOHN     ELIOT. 

the  part  of  the  Indians  a  remembrance  of  injus- 
tice, and  thus  a  breach  was  made  between  them 
which  was  never  healed.  Some  of  the  Indians 
had  been  made  slaves.  King  Philip's  wife  and 
son  had  been  sold  in  the  West  Indies."^  Mr. 
Eliot  followed  with  his  prayers  and  efforts  those 
of  his  Christian  Indians  who  had  been  sold  into 
bondage.  He  wrote  to  the  celebrated  and  hon- 
orable Robert  Boyle  to  use  his  efforts  in  redeem- 
ing some  who  had  been  left  at  Tangier. 

By  various  means  the  praying  towns  had  been 
reduced  in  16S4,  to  four.  The  tribes  have  dwin- 
dled and  finally  disappeared,  till  a  few  years 
since  one  poor  hut  in  Natick,  inhabited  by  a 
family  of  Indian  and  Negro  blood,  and  the  grave- 
stone of  Daniel  Takawambait  in  the  stone  wall, 
were  the  most  prominent  of  the  memorials 
which  they  have  left  behind  them.  Fragments 
of  their  language  are  imperishably  associated 
with  many  places  and  scenes  throughout  the 
land.  The  rural  retreat,  the  new  town,  the 
gallant  ship,  are  emulous  of  their  names  ;  while 
the  tavern  sign,  the  bank  note,  the  omnibus, 
and  the  tobacconist,  grace  themselves  with  their 
faces  and  implements.     The  New  England  poet, 


♦  See  Appendix,  M. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  255 

historian,  and  orator,  draw  llirillinf^  incidents 
from  Mount  Hope  and  Bloody  Brook,  and  the 
Christian  and  the  phihinthro])ist  will  enshrine 
the  names  of  Nonantum  and  Natick.  West- 
ward and  still  westward,  the  New  England 
tribes  have  receded.  Civilization  has  had  more 
repulsion  and  injury  for  the  savage  than  Christ- 
ianity has  been  able  to  overcome.  There  is  a 
law  of  progress  in  the  affairs  of  nations  ex- 
pressed in  the  prophetic  language  of  the  patriarch 
Noah ;  "  God  shall  enlarge  Japhet,  and  he  shall 
dwell  in  the  tents  of  Shem."  The  savage 
retreats  before  the  civilized  man,  and  while  we 
mourn  over  the  ruin  of  individual  tribes,  we 
cannot  but  stand  in  awe  x)f  that  resistless  meas- 
ure of  God's  providence  by  which  he  is  forcing 
the  Caucasian  race  to  fill  the  earth,  and  suffer- 
ing uncivilized  nations  to  melt  away  like  the 
snow  in  spring. 

But  that  same  vigorous  faith  which  broi»ght 
the  Pilgrims  here  as  missionaries  to  the  Indians, 
has  followed  the  red  man  in  his  wanderings 
over  this  vast  continent.  The  names  of  David 
Brainard,  Samuel  Kirkland,  and  Gideon  Black- 
burn, are  identified  with  the  history  of  Indian 
missions.  The  American  Board  has  pursued 
the  work  of  evangelizing  them  with  much  sue- 


256  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

cess.  The  history  of  the  Cherokees,  the  moun- 
taineers of  America,  is  of  itself  a  tale  of  romantic 
and  thrilling  interest.  The  sketches  of  the 
present  North  American  Indians  by  Mr.  Catlin, 
in  his  valuable  work,  show  that  a  large  field  for 
missionary  effort  on  this  continent  is  yet  spread 
before  the  American  churches. 

When  the  workmen  were  digging  for  the 
foundation  of  some  new  houses  at  the  corner  of 
Tremont  and  Boylston  streets,  in  Boston,  sever- 
al years  ago,  they  found  the  skeleton  of  an 
Indian.  He  had  been  buried  on  his  side,  re- 
clining on  his  arm,  and  was  found  in  that 
posture.  Christian  faith  and  hope,  mingled 
with  a  little  fancy,  would  fain  lead  us  to  hail 
this  incident  as  a  sign  that  the  Indian  race  are 
not  yet  recumbent  in  hopeless  degradation  ;  that 
though  seemingly  buried  in  the  great  wilderness, 
they  are  buried  in  the  posture  of  rising.  Many 
interesting  recollections,  and  our  natural  feel- 
ings towards  an  oppressed  people,  make  us  wish 
that  this  was  more  than  fancy,  and,  as  the  Indian 
on  the  seal  of  the  Massachusetts  colony  had  a 
passage  of  Scripture  proceeding  from  his  mouth. 
Come  over  and  help  us,  would  we  gladly  put 
another  passage  into  the  mouth  of  that  resurrec- 
tion Indian  above  mentioned,  making  him  say, 


LIFE      OK      JOHN       ELIOT.  257 

with  prophetic  ecstasy,  as  he  looks  towards 
Nonanlum  and  surveys  the  scenes  of  his  ancient, 
and  apparently  lost  race,  "  Thy  dead  men  shall 
live,  together  with  my  dead  body  shall  they 
arise  ;  awake  and  singf,  ye  that  dwell  in  dust, 
tor  thy  dew  is  as  the  dew  of  herbs,  and  the 
earth  shall  cast  out  her  dead." 


22=^ 


258  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

Mr.  Eliot's  avowal  of  republicanism,  and  his  retraction  of  it.  His 
connection  with  the  controversy^bout  Mrs.  Hutchinson.  Richard 
Baxter's  Testimony  about  Mr.  Eliot.  Roman  Catholics  instructing 
the  Indians.    Mrs.  Eliot.    Close  of  Mr.  Eliot's  life.    Conclusion. 

Two  events  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Eliot  must  neces- 
sarily be  noticed  in  giving  a  complete  account  of 
him.  One  is  the  publication  and  subsequent 
retraction  of  a  book  called  the  Christian  Com- 
monwealth, and  the  other  is  his  connection  with 
the  controversy  raised  by  that  notorious  woman, 
Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson. 

Mr.  Eliot  wrote  a  book  about  the  year  1650, 
called  the  Christian  Commonwealth.  It  was 
carried  to  England  in  manuscript  and  printed. 
In  1660,  the  Governor  and  Council  of  Massa- 
chusetts condemned  this  book  as  being  "  full  of 
seditious  principles  and  notions  in  relation  to  all 
established  governments  in  the  Christian  world, 
especially  against  the  government  established  in 
their  native  country." 

Mr.  Eliot  wrote  an  acknowledgment  of  error 
as  the  author  of  the  book,  and  presented  his  re- 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  259 

cantation  to  the  General  Court.  He  speaks  in 
it  of  Cromwell  and  his  friends  as  "  the  late  in- 
novators "  in  the  government  of  Great  Britain, 
and  of  the  monarchy  as  restored  under  Charles 
II.,  "  as  not  only  a  lawful  but  eminent  form  of 
government."  The  book  was  suppressed,  and 
Mr.  Eliot's  recantation  was  published  through 
the  colony. 

This  incident  has  been  considered  as  reflect- 
ing on  Mr.  Eliot's  character  for  discretion,  or 
for  decision.  The  book  does  not  survive  in  this 
country  to  speak  for  itself.  The  facts  in  the 
case  seem  to  be  that  during  the  success  of  Crom- 
well, Mr.  Eliot  composed  his  book  in  accordance 
with  what  seemed  to  be  the  tendency  in  Eng- 
land towards  a  settled  republican  form  of  gov- 
ernment. But  upon  the  restoration  of  Charles 
II.,  the  provincial  government  of  Massachusetts 
felt  in  duty  bound  to  show  their  allegiance  to 
the  crown  by  protesting  against  the  sentiments 
of  a  book  which  favored  republicanism.  How 
often  it  is  the  case  that  success  is  regarded  as 
settling  the  question  of  right.  Had  Cromwell's 
plan  succeeded,  the  Massachusetts  government 
would  not  have  felt  obliged  to  condemn  Mr. 
Eliot's  book.  We  may  perhaps  reflect  upon 
him  for  not  maintaining  and  defending  the 
principles  of  his    book ;  but   to    have    done  so 


260  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

would  have  been  treason,  seeing  that  monarchy 
had  again  become  the  established  form  of  gov- 
ernment in  the  mother  country.  Mr.  Eliot, 
perhaps,  felt  that  it  was  right  for  him  to  find 
reasons  for  that  permanent  change  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  Great  Britain  which  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God  seemed  to  be  at  hand.  When  the 
event  proved  otherwise  than  he  expected,  loyalty 
being  then  so  much  a  part  of  religion,  and  "  the 
powers "  in  the  government  of  the  mother 
country  being,  according  to  the  received  opinions 
of  Christians,  and  like  all  other  powers  "  that 
be,"  "  ordained  of  God,"  it  was  a  question  with 
Mr.  Eliot  between  decision  and  boldness, 
amounting  to  a  treasonable  spirit,  and  submis- 
sion to  constituted  authority.  The  ill  suc- 
cess of  Cromwell  no  doubt  made  Eliot  think 
that  he  had  misinterpreted  the  purposes  of 
God.  Men  are  apt  to  feel  and  reason  in  this 
manner.  If  a  colony,  or  province,  or  a  number 
of  men  make  insurrection,  and  succeed  in  over- 
throwing the  government,  men  call  it  a  revolu- 
tion, and  the  independence  of  the  new  state  or 
nation  is  acknowledged.  If  they  do  not  succeed, 
the  attempt  is  called  a  plot,  conspiracy,  insur- 
rection, and  the  actors  who  in  the  event  of  suc- 
cess would  have  been  "  the  fathers  of  their 
country,"  "  the  founders  of  a  nation,"  are  gib- 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  261 

beted  by  tbeir  generation,  and  regarded  as 
traitors  by  the  next,  and  by  the  world.  While 
a  revolution  is  pending,  a  man  may  say  many 
things  as  an  observer  and  thcorizer,  which, 
when  events  contradict  them,  he  will  do  his  best 
to  retract,  or  cover  up.  It  cannot  be  wondered 
at,  that,  amid  the  enthusiasm  which  attended 
the  Restoration,  and  the  implicit  submission  of 
the  Colonial  government  to  the  restored  king, 
and  influenced  by  the  loyal  spirit  of  his  times, 
Mr.  Eliot  should  have  deemed  it  a  Christian 
duty  to  confess  and  retract  that  which  the  prov- 
idence of  God  seemed  to  indicate  was  an  error. 
He  was  not  prepared  to  lift  up  a  standard  against 
the  government  of  Great  Britain  ;  the  appeal 
which  Cromwell  and  his  friends  had  made  to 
the  God  of  nations  and  of  battles,  had  not  been 
answered  in  his  favor,  and  Mr.  Eliot  was  meek 
enough  to  yield  submission  to  that  which,  in  the 
circumstances,  seemed  to  be  a  Christian  obliga- 
tion. What  should  he  have  done  ?  Had  he 
still  believed  that  Cromwell  was  the  anointed  of 
the  Lord,  and  that  Charles  was  the  usurper,  he 
should  have  suffered  any  punishment  rather 
than  falsify  his  sentiments.  It  may  be  charita- 
bly supposed,  however,  that  the  events  of  the 
Restoration  changed  his  opinion,  and  made  him 
satisfied  to  be  still  a  royalist.     We  have  no  evi- 


262  LIFE      OF     JOHN     ELIOT. 

dence  in  any  part  of  his  life,  that  Mr.  Eliot  was 
a  time-server,  or  coward  ;  on  the  contrary,  he 
was  remarkable  for  decision  of  character  and  in- 
dependence. 

In  confirmation  of  what  has  now  been  said 
respecting  Mr.  Eliot's  decision  and  firmness,  we 
may  allude  to  the  part  he  took  in  opposing  the 
sentiments  and  influence  of  that  notorious  dis- 
turber of  the  churches  in  his  day,  Mrs.  Anne 
Hutchinson.  She  was  of  the  sect  of  Antinomi- 
ans,  who  abused  the  doctrines  of  free  grace, 
maintaining  that  the  law  is  of  no  use  or  obliga- 
tion under  the  dispensation  of  the  Gospel,  while 
the  doctrines  they  taught  superseded  the  neces- 
sity of  good  works.  Mrs.  Hutchinson  pretended 
to  immediate  impressions  from  heaven  as  the 
rule  of  conduct,  saying  that  she  knew  God 
*'  spake  to  her,  just  as  Abraham  knew  that  it 
was  the  command  of  Heaven  to  sacrifice  Isaac." 
The  Governor,  Vane,  who  was  an  enthusiast, 
countenanced  this  woman,  and  Eev.  Mr.  Cotton, 
who  took  Mr.  Eliot's  place  in  the  church  at 
Boston,  when  Mr.  Eliot  removed  to  Roxbury, 
was  also  infected  by  her  influence  so  far  as  to 
oppose  his  colleague,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wilson,  and 
the  other  ministers,  who  were  generally  opposed 
to  her.  Had  Mr.  Eliot  remained  the  teacher  of 
the  church  in  Boston,  it  would  have  prevented 


LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT.  263 

that  church  from  being  divided  as  it  was  with 
regard  to  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  through  the  influ- 
ence of  his  successor,  Mr.  Cotton.  Mr.  Eliot, 
with  several  other  ministers,  visited  her,  con- 
versed with  her  upon  religious  subjects  to 
ascertain  her  sentiments  and  spirit,  and  remon- 
strated with  her  for  her  bold  denunciation  of  all 
the  Plantation  except  Messrs.  Cotton  and  Wheel- 
right.  Mr.  Eliot  appeared  as  a  witness  against 
her  on  her  trial  before  the  magistrates,  and  with 
Hugh  Peters  and  Mr.  Weld,  testified  that  she 
said  to  them  that  "  Mr.  Cotton  preached  a  cove- 
nant of  grace,  and  the  other  ministers  a  covenant 
of  works."  Mr.  Eliot  added,  "  I  do  remember 
this  also,  that  she  said  we  were  not  able  and 
faithful  ministers  of  the  new  covenant,  because 
we  were  not  like  the  apostles  before  the  ascen- 
sion." Mr.  Eliot  took  occasion  on  this  trial  to 
bear  testimony  against  yielding  to  impressions 
as  a  rule  of  faith  and  duty.  A  passage  from 
Mr.  Hooker's  sermons  was  quoted  in  justifica- 
tion of  Mrs.  Hutchinson's  statements.  But  Mr. 
Eliot  who  had  been  brought  up  at  the  feet  of 
Mr.  Hooker,  and  knew  his  opinions  well,  insist- 
ed that  the  construction  given  to  the  passage 
was  contrary  to  Mr.  Hooker's  mind  and  judg- 
ment. His  old  friend.  Gov.  Winthrop,  gently 
dissented   from    Mr.    Eliot's    strong   testimony 


264  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

against  impressions.  Mr.  Eliot  said,  "  I  say- 
there  is  an  expectation  of  things  promised ;  but 
to  have  a  particular  revelation  of  things,  as  they 
shall  fall  out,  there  is  no  such  thing  in  the 
Scripture."  Gov.  Winthrop  replied,  "  We  must 
not  limit  the  word  of  God."^  Mrs.  Hutchinson 
was  condemned  and  banished.  Her  end  soft- 
ened the  feelings  of  those  who  condemned  her, 
and  made  them  reflect  upon  the  inexpediency  of 
proceeding  so  strenuously  as  they  did  against 
her.  Such  feelings  always  arise  in  the  minds 
of  good  men  who  have  withstood  prevailing 
errors,  not  to  make  them  regret  the  testimony 
they  bore  for  the  truth,  but  to  mourn  over  hasty 
and  excessive  zeal,  when  patience,  and  perhaps 
a  measure  of  neglect,  might  sooner  have  ended 
a  controversy,  or  have  prevented  it  altogether. 
But  it  is  easier  for  those  who  are  removed,  by 
time  or  place,  from  the  excitements  of  a  contro- 
versy, to  moralize  upon  the  best  way  of  conduct- 
ing it,  than  it  would  have  been  for  them  to  exer- 
cise the  judicious  temper  which  they  recommend 
and  praise,  had  they  themselves  partaken  in  the 
strife.  Mr.  Eliot  showed  himself  in  this  contro- 
versy to  be  no  fanatical  enthusiast,  and  gave 


*  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  1802. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  265 

evidence  that  he  was   a   man  of  decision   and 
courage. 

The  following;  characteristic  letter  was  written 
by  the  famous  Rev.  Richard  Baxter  to  Dr.  In- 
crease Mather  then  in  London.  It  was  occa- 
sioned by  the  receipt  of  Cotton  Mather's  Life  of 
Eliot. 

"  Dear  Brother  : 

I  thought  I  had  been  near  dying  at  12 
o'clock,  in  bed;  but  your  book  revived  me.  I 
lay  reading  it  until  between  one  and  two.  I 
knew  much  of  Mr.  Eliot's  opinions,  by  many 
letters  which  I  had  from  him.  There  was  no 
man  on  earth  whom  I  honoured  above  him.  It 
is  his  evangelical  work  that  is  the  apostolical 
succession  that  I  plead  for.  I  am  now  dying,  I 
hope,  as  he  did.  It  pleased  me  to  read  from 
him  my  case,  [my  understanding  failetk,  mij 
memory  faileth,  my  tongue  failetk,]  (and  my 
hand  and  pen,)  l2ct  my  charity  faileth  not. 
That  word  much  comforted  me.  I  am  as  zeal- 
ous a  lover  of  the  New  England  Churches  as 
any  man,  according  to  Mr.  Noyes',  Mr.  Norton's, 
Mr.  Mitchel's,  and  the  Synod's  model. 

"  I  loved  your  father  upon  the  letters  I  re- 
ceived from  him.  I  love  you  better  for  your 
learning,  labors,  and   peaceable   moderaliou.     I 

VOL.  ITT.  2a 


266  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.         » 

love  your  son  better  than  either  of  you,  for  the 
excellent  temper  that  appeareth  in  his  writings.^ 
O  tliat  godliness  and  wisdom  (may)  thus  in- 
crease in  all  families  !  He  hath  honoured  him- 
self half  as  much  as  Mr.  Eliot.  I  say  but  half 
as  much ;  for  deeds  excel  words.  God  preserve 
you  and  New  England !  Pray  for 
Your  fainting, 

languishing  Friend, 

Ri.  Baxter." 
August  3, 
1691. 

In  contrast  with  the  instructions  which  Mr. 
Eliot  and  other  Protestant  missionaries  to  the 
Indians  gave  the  children  of  the  wilderness, 
Cotton  Mather  alludes  to  the  instructions  given 
to  the  Indians  in  some  parts  of  the  country  by 
the  Popish  missionaries.     He  says, 

"  By  an  odd  accident  there  are  lately  fallen 
into  my  hands  the  manuscripts  of  a  Jesuit, 
whom  the  French  employed  as  a  missionary 
among  the  western  Indians,  in  which  papers 
there  are  both  a  catechism,  containing  the  prin- 
ciples which  those  heathens  are  to  be  instructed 


*  This  testimony  from  Richard  Baxter,  in  favor  of  the  Mathers, 
is  valuaibl*  to  those  who  bare  seen  them  decried  by  soma  modern 
writaro. 


»         LIFE      OF     JOHN      ELIOT.  267 

in,  and  cases  of  conscience  referring  to  their 
conversations.  The  catechism,  which  is  in  the 
Iroquois  language — with  a  translation  annexed, 
has  one  chapter  about  heaven,  and  another 
about  hell,  wherein  are  such  thick  skulled  pas- 
sages as  these." 

Q.     How  is  the  soil  made  in  heaven  ? 

A.  'Tis  a  very  fair  soil,  they  want  neither 
for  meats  nor  clothes  ;  'tis  but  wishing,  and  we 
have  them. 

Q.     Are  they  employed  in  heaven  ? 

A.  No,  they  do  nothing;  the  fields  yield  corn, 
beans,  pumpkins,  and  the  like  without  any  tillage. 

Q.     What  sort  of  trees  are  there  ? 

A.     Always  green,  full,  flourishing, 

Q.  Have  they  in  heaven  the  same  sun,  the 
same  wind,  the  same  thunder  that  we  have  here  ? 

A.  No,  the  sun  ever  shines ;  it  is  always 
fair  weather. 

Q.     But  how  are  their  fruits  ? 

A.  In  this  one  quality  they  exceed  ours, 
that  they  are  never  wasted ;  you  have  no  sooner 
plucked  one,  but  you  see  another  presently 
hanging  in  its  room. 

Concerning  hell,  it  thus  discourses. 

Q.     What  sort  of  a  soil  is  that  of  hell  ? 

A.  A  very  wretched  soil ;  'tis  a  fiery  pit  in 
the  centre  of  the  earth. 


268  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  * 

Q.     Have  they  any  light  in  hell  ? 

A.  No.  'Tis  always  dark ;  there  is  al- 
ways smoke  there ;  their  eyes  are  always  in 
pain  with  it ;  they  can  see  nothing  but  the 
devils. 

Q.  What  shaped  things  are  the  devils  ? 

A.  Very  ill  shaped  things  ;  they  go  about 
with  vizards  on,  and  they  terrify  men. 

Q.  What  do  they  eat  in  hell  ? 

A.  They  are  always  hungry,  but  the  damned 
feed  on  hot  ashes  and  serpents  there. 

Q.     What  water  do  they  drink  ? 

A.     Horrid  water,  nothing  but  melted  lead. 

Q.     Don't  they  die  in  hell  ? 

A.  No  ;  yet  they  eat  one  another  every  day ; 
but  anon,  God  restores  and  renews  the  man  that 
was  eaten,  as  a  cropt  plant  in  a  little  time  re- 
pullulates. 

One  case  of  conscience  is  thus  resolved  by  the 
Jesuit : 

Q.  Whether  an  Indian  stealing  a  hatchet 
from  a  Dutchman  be  bound  to  make  restitution  ? 

A.  If  the  Dutchman  be  one  that  has  used  any 
trade  with  other  Indians,  the  thief  is  not  bound 
unto  any  restitution ;  for  it  is  certain  he  gains 
more  by  such  a  trade  than  the  value  of  many 
hatchets  in  a  year. 

In  the  History  of  the  Early  Jesuit  Missions  to 


^  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  269 

the  Indians  of  this  country,'^  as  well  as  in  all 
other  Jesuit  missions,  there  is  a  degree  of  zeal 
and  devotedness  which  is  truly  wonderful. 
This  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  the  motives  of 
these  men,  nor  the  principle  in  human  nature 
which  leads  to  their  self-sacrifice  in  the  mission- 
ary work.  The  fruits  of  their  work,  however, 
show  that  they  do  not  promulgate  the  Gospel  of 
Christ  in  its  simplicity,  did  we  not  know  this  by 
more  "direct  evidence. 

The  wife  of  Mr.  Eliot  died  three  years  before 
him,  at  the  age  of  84.  She  had  come  to  him 
across  the  ocean,  a  betrothed  bride,  when  he  had 
found  a  home  for  her  in  this  new  world.  During 
her  residence  here,  "  she  had  attained  unto  a 
considerable  skill  in  physick  and  chirurgery 
which  enabled  her  to  dispense  many  safe,  good, 
and  useful  medicines  unto  the  poor  that  had  oc- 
casion for  them ;  and  some  hundreds  of  sick 
and  weak  and  maimed  people  owed  praises  to 
God  for  the  benefit  which  therein  they  freely 
received  of  her."  t 

She  managed  all  the  private  affairs  of  her  hus- 
band for  him  that  he  might  devote  his  whole 
time  and  strength  to  his  arduous  public  labors. 
She  brought   up  his   six  children  of  whom  he 


*  See  Early  Jesuit  Missions,  «5c;c.,  by  Wni.  Ingraham  Kip. 
fC.  Mather. 

23* 


270  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

beautifully  said,  "  they  are  all  in  Christ,  or  with 
Christ,"  and  then  she  smoothed  his  passage  to 
the  tomb  by  going  before  him,  and  making  him 
more  willing  to  depart.  "  That  one  wife,"  says 
Mather,  "  which  was  given  to  him  truly  from 
the  Lord,  he  loved,  prized,  cherished,  with  a 
kindness  that  notably  represented  the  compas- 
sion which  he  thereby  taught  his  church  to  ex- 
pect from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and  after  he 
had  lived  with  her  for  more  than  half  an  hun- 
dred years  he  followed  her  to  the  grave  with 
lamentations  beyond  those  which  the  Jews,  from 
the  figure  of  a  letter  in  the  text,"^  affirm,  that 
Abraham  deplored  his  Sarah  with ;  her  depar- 
ture made  a  deeper  impression  on  him  than 
what  any  common  affliction  could.  His  whole 
conversation  with  her  had  that  sweetness  and 
that  gravity  and  modesty  beautifying  of  it,  that 
every  one  called  them  Zachery  and  Elizabeth."  t 
The  old  gray  haired  apostle  stood  over  her 
coffin,  and  said  to  the  concourse  of  people  who 
had  come  to  the  funeral,  "  Here  lies  my  dear, 
faithful,    pious,    prudent,    prayerful    wife.       I 

*  Mather's  allusion  is  probably  this :  In  Gen.  23  :  2,  where  it  is 
said  that  Abraham  came  to  weep  for  Sarah,  a  letter,  smaller  than  the 
rest,  in  the  Hebrew  word  to  xceep  for  her  is  believed  by  the  Jewish 
critics  to  intimate  that  his  grief  was  somewhat  composed;  ( — "  luc- 
tum  AbrahcE  fuisse  moderatum," — Poole's  Synopsis.) — Ed. 

t  Magnalia  I.  495. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      EL.  lOT.  271 

shall   go   to   her,   but    she    shall    not  return   to 
me." 

Lord  Bacon^  speaking  of  "marriage  and  single 
life,"  tells  us  what  wives  are  to  young  men,  and 
that  "  for  middle  age"  they  are  "  companions," 
and  "  old  men's  nurses."  Men  generally  do 
not  wait  till  old  age  before  they  experience  the 
exquisite  tenderness  and  assiduity  of  woman  io 
their  sickness.  We  all  subscribe  to  the  last  coup- 
let of  the  following  quotation,  but  not  to  the  first; 

"  O  woman  !  in  thine  hours  of  ease 
Deceitful,,  coy.  and  hard  to  please. 

****** 
When  pain  and  sickness  wring  the  brow, 
A  ministering  angel  thou." 

There  is  a  beautiful  passage  in  one  of  Steeled 
papers  in  the  Spectator.  It  purports  to  be  a 
letter  to  his  wife.     He  says. 

"  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  look  back  on  many 
evils  and  pains  which  I  have  suffered  since  we 
came  together,  without  a  pleasure  which  is  not 
to  be  expressed  from  the  proofs  I  have  had, 
in  those  circumstances,  of  your  unmeasured 
goodness.  How  often  has  your  tenderness  re- 
moved pain  from  my  sick  head !  how  often  an- 
guish from  my  afflicted  heart !  With  how  skill- 
ful patience  have  I  known  you  comply  with  the 

*  Essays,  VIII. 


272  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

vain  projects  which  pain  has  suggested,  to  have 
an  aching  limb  removed,  by  journeying  from 
one  side  of  a  room  to  another  !  how  often,  the 
next  instant,  traveled  the  same  ground  again, 
without  telling  your  patient  it  loas  to  no  pur- 
pose to  change  his  situation.  If  there  are  such 
beings  as  guardian  angels,  thus  are  they  em- 
ployed. I  will  no  more  believe  one  of  them 
more  good  in  its  inclinations,  than  I  can  con- 
ceive it  more  charming  in  its  form  than  my  wife." 
As  Mr.  Eliot  became  disabled  by  age  for  the 
ministerial  work,  he  seemed  to  have  the  earnest 
solicitude  about  a  successor  which  Moses  had 
when,  towards  the  close  of  his  life,  he  "cried  to 
the  Lord  "  that  he  would  "  set  a  man  over  the 
congregation."  Mr.  Eliot  more  than  once  as- 
sembled the  people  of  the  town  to  fast  and  pray 
Vv^ith  reference  to  a  successor.  The  Rev.  Nehe- 
miah  Walter  was  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the 
people  associated  with  him  in  the  pastoral 
office,  after  which  it  was  with  difficulty  that  he 
could  be  persuaded  to  conduct  any  public  relig- 
ious service,  saying,  "  It  would  be  a  wrong  to 
the  souls  of  the  people  for  him  to  do  any  thing 
among  them  when  they  were  supplied  so  much 
to  their  advantage."  The  last  time  that  he 
preached  is  said  to  have  been  on  the  occasion 
of  a  public  fast,  when  he  expounded  the  Ixxxiii. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  273 

4 

Psalm,  being,  (as  the  caption  has  it,)  a  com- 
plaint to  God  of  the  enemies'  conspiracies,  and 
a  prayer  against  them  that  oppress  the  church. 
He  concluded  his  exposition  with  an  apology, 
begging  his  hearers  to  pardon  the  poorness  and 
meanness  and  brokenness  of  his  meditations, 
adding,  "  my  dear  brother  here  will  by  and  by 
mend  all." 

He  once  expressed  the  fear  that  his  old  friends 
and  neighbors,  Messrs.  Cotton,  of  Boston,  and 
Mather,  of  Dorchester,  who  had  gone  to  heaven 
before  him,  would  suspect  him  to  have  gone  the 
wrong  way,  because  he  staid  so  long  behind  them. 

Towards  the  close  of  his  life  his  mind  dwelt 
much  on  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and 
whatever  theme  he  began  to  converse  upon,  he 
soon  fell  into  a  strain  of  remarks  upon  this  sub- 
ject. On  one  occasion  some  one  brought  him 
intelligence  of  certain  sad  events  whereby  the 
Churches  of  New  England  were  much  afflicted. 
His  reply  w^as,  "  Behold  some  of  the  clouds  in 
which  we  must  look  for  the  coming  of  the  Son 
of  Man." 

Mr.  Walter  coming  in  to  see  him  on  his 
dying  bed,  Mr.  Eliot  said,  "  Brother,  thou  art 
welcome  to  my  very  soul.  Pray  retire  to  thy 
study  for  me,  and  give  mc  leave  to  be  gone," 


274  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

meaning-  that  he  should  pray  for  his  speedy 
release. 

Being  asked  how  he  did,  he  said,  "  Alas,  I 
have  lost  every  thing ;  my  understanding  leaves 
me,  my  memory  fails  me,  my  utterance  fails 
me  ;  but  I  thank  God  my  charity  holds  out  still ; 
I  find  that  rather  grows  than  fails." 

Speaking  of  the  work  in  which  he  had  been 
engaged  among  the  Indians,  he  said,  "  There 
is  a  cloud,  a  dark  cloud,  upon  the  work  of  the 
gospel,  among  the  poor  Indians.  The  Lord 
revive  and  prosper  that  work,  and  grant  that  it 
may  live  when  I  am  dead.  It  is  a  work  which 
I  have  been  doing  much  and  long  about.  But 
what  was  the  word  I  spoke  last  ?  I  recall  that 
word,  my  doings  !  Alas  !  they  have  been  poor 
and  small,  and  lean  doings  ;  and  I'll  be  the  man 
that  shall  throw  the  first  stone  at  them  all." 

The  Rev.  Increase  Mather  had  gone  to  Eng- 
land on  business  connected  with  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal affairs  of  New  England.  Mr.  Eliot  wrote 
the  following  letter  to  him,  and  it  is  the  last 
writing  of  his  of  which  we  have  any  account. 

"  Reverend  and  beloved  Mr.  Increase  Mather. 

I  cannot  write.  Read  Neh.  2  :  10.  When 
Sanballat  the  Horonite,  and  Tobiah  the  servant, 
the  Ammonite  heard  of  it,  it  g-rieved  them  ex- 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  275 

ceedingly  that  there  was  come  a  man  to  seek 
the  welfare  of  the  children  of  Israel. 

"  Let  thy  blessed  soul  feed  full  and  fat  upon 
this  and  other  Scriptures.  All  other  things  I 
leave  to  other  men,  and  rest, 

Your  loving  Brother, 

John  Eliot." 


One  of  Mr.  Eliot's  last  expressions  was  this, 
Welcome  joy  !  His  last  breath  was  spent  in 
calling  upon  those  who  stood  around  his  dying 
bed  to  "  Pray,  Pray,  Pray."  He  died  in  the 
beginning  of  the  year  1690,  in  the  eighty -sixth 
year  of  his  age. 

Before  his  death,  Mr.  Eliot  had  the  pleasure 
of  seeing  several  faithful  men  raised  up  to  labor 
among  the  Indians  ;  among  whom  were  Daniel 
Gookin,  James  Noyce,  Eowland  Cotton,  Peter 
Thacher,  Grindal  Rawson,  Goddefred  Dettins, 
and  M.  Bondet.  Mather  says,  "about  the  year 
1700,  through  the  blessing  of  God  in  this  one 
Massachusetts  province,  the  Indians  have  most- 
ly embraced  the  Christian  religion.  There  are 
I  suppose,  more  than  thirty  congregations  of 
Indians,  and  many  more  than  three  thousand 
Indians,  in  this  one  province,  calling  on  God  in 
Christ,  and  hearing  of  his  glorious  Word." 


276  LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 

In  writing  these  pages,  I  have  before  me  a 
copy  of  Eliot's  Indian  Bible,  to  which  are  an- 
nexed his  Psalms  and  Hymns,  in  the  Indian 
tongue,  and  a  short  Catechism.  Here  is  the 
monument  of  John  Eliot ;  and  what  monument 
of  earthly  greatness  is  to  be  compared  with  it ! 
The  kings  of  the  earth  sleep  in  the  great  cathe- 
dral ;  the  beautiful,  ivy  grown,  ruined  abbey 
crowns  the  sepulchre  of  the  novelist  and  poet ; 
the  marble  statue  immortalizes  the  name  and 
deeds  of  the  conqueror  by  land  or  sea.  They 
are  but  the  grass  that  withereth,  and  the  flower 
which  fadeth,  "  but  the  word  of  the  Lord  en- 
dureth  forever."  "  Endureth  "  ?  There  is  not 
one  Indian  on  this  continent,  or  on  the  face  of 
the  earth,  that  can  read  this  book.  It  can  never 
guide  another  soul  to  God.  As  j^ou  look  upon 
its  title  page,  written  in  an  unknown  tongue, 
you  see  these  words,  Up-Biblum  God,  the 
Book  of  God.  How  significant,  we  may  say, 
the  appearance  of  those  words  when  we  consider 
the  condition  of  the  book  bereaved  of  the  race 
who  once  read  it.  "  Up-Biblum  God."  Like 
the  man-child  of  the  woman  clothed  with  the 
sun  who  fled  into  the  wilderness,  and  whose 
child  was  caught  up  unto  God,  and  to  his  throne, 
this  book,  having  done  its  office  here,  is,  in  a 
certain  sense,  caug'ht  up  to  God  ;   and  there  it 


1 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT.  277 

"  endurelh  forever,"  in  the  hearts  and  souls  of 
redeemed  savages. 

This  book  will  never,  of  course,  be  reprinted, 
and  copies  of  it  are  becoming-  rare.  But  if  we 
wished  to  send  something  to  a  desponding- 
missionary,  or  an  example  of  condescension  and 
love  for  souls  to  a  minister  who  despises  and 
neglects  his  poor^  humble  people,  no  better  gift 
could  be  selected  than  a  copy  of  Eliot's  Bible. 
What  gentle  rebuke,  what  exhortation  and  en- 
couragement, its  long  barbarous  words  Avould 
speak  oftentimes  in  the  minister's  or  mission- 
ary's study.  We  might  appropriately  inscribe 
on  its  cover  the  third  reflection  of  Mr.  Eliot  on 
returning  from  one  of  his  visits  to  Nonantum, 
and  send  it  to  every  missionary  station  round 
the  globe  :  "  There  is  no  need  of  miraculous  or 
extraordinary  gifts  in  seeking  the  salvation  of 
the  most  depraved  of  the  human  family." 

The  mention  of  this  Bible  may  lead  us  to 
think  of  that  half  million  of  wild  Indians  and 
that  million  and  a  half  of  partly  civilized  Indians 
who  now  occupy  the  wilderness  of  the  west.  It 
bids  us  attempt  their  conversion  ;  it  shows  us 
that  no  difficulties  are  too  mighty  for  the  Gos- 
pel to  overcome,  no  discouragements  too  great 
for  true  Christian  faith  and  courage.     The  ob- 

VOL.  III.  24 


278 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      ELIOT. 


jects  of  our  forefathers'  zeal  and  hope  in  coming 
to  these  shores,  are  now  beyond  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  A  wilderness  still  invites  our  in- 
creasing missionary  efforts,  as  a  wilderness  once 
invited  the  labors  of  the  Pilgrims.  Wronged 
and  driven  away  by  the  white  man,  still  they 
cry  : 


APPENDIX. 


-*    ■»  9  »■ 


A, — See  page  201. 

(Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  1732.) 

"  The  following  fabulous  Traditions  and  Customs 
of  the  Indians  of  Martha's  Vineyard,  were 
communicated  to  Benjamin  Basset,  Esq.  of 
Chilmark,  by  Thomas  Coopek,  a  half  blooded 
Indian,  of  Gay  head,  aged  about  sixty  years ; 
and  which,  he  says,  he  obtained  of  his  grand- 
mother, who,  to  use  his  own  expression,  was 
a  stout  girl,  when  the  English  came  to  the 
island. 

The  first  Indian  who  came  to  the  Vineyard,  was 
brought  thither  with  his  dog  on  a  cake  of  ice. 
When  he  came  to  Gay  Head,  he  found  a  very 
large  man,  whose  name  was  Moshup.  He  had 
a  wife  and  five  children,  four  sons  and  one 
daughter;  and  lived  in  the  Den.  He  used  to 
catch  whales,  and  then  pluck  up  trees,  and  make 
a  fire,  and  roast  them.  The  coals  of  the  trees, 
and  the  bones  of  the  whales,  are  now  to  be  seen. 


250  APPENDIX. 

After  he  was  tired  of  staying  here,  he  told  his 
children  to  go  and  play  ball  on  a  beach  that 
joined  Noman's  Land  to  Gay  Head.  He  then 
made  a  mark  with  his  toe  across  the  beach  at 
each  end,  and  so  deep,  that  the  water  followed, 
and  cut  away  the  beach ;  so  that  his  children 
were  in  fear  of  drowning.  They  took  their  sis- 
ter up,  and  held  her  out  of  the  water.  He  told 
them  to  act  as  if  they  were  going  to  kill  whales ; 
and  they  were  all  turned  into  killers,  (a  fish  so 
called.)  The  sister  was  dressed  in  large  stripes. 
He  gave  them  a  strict  charge  always  to  be  kind 
to  her.  His  wife  mourned  the  loss  of  her  chil- 
dren so  exceedingly,  that  he  threw  her  away. 
She  fell  upon  Seconet,  near  the  rocks,  where 
she  lived  some  time,  exacting  contribution  of  all 
who  passed  by  w^ater.  After  a  while  she  was 
changed  into  a  stone.  The  entire  shape  re- 
mained for  many  years.  But  after  the  English 
came,  some  of  them  broke  off  the  arms,  head, 
&c.  but  the  most  of  the  body  remains  to  this 
day.  Moshup  went  away  nobody  knows  whither. 
He  had  no  conversation  with  the  Indians,  but 
was  kind  to  them,  by  sending  whales,  &c. 
ashore  to  them  to  eat.  But  after  they  grew 
thick  around  him  he  left  them. 

Whenever  the  Indians  worshipped,  they  al- 
ways sang  and  danced,  and  then  begged  of  the 


APPENDIX.  281 

sun  and  moon,  as  they  thought  most  likely  to 
hear  them,  to  send  them  the  desired  favour  ; 
most  generally  rain  or  fair  weather,  or  freedom 
from  their  enemies  or  sickness. 

Before  the  English  came  among  the  Indians, 
there  were  two  disorders  of  which  they  most 
generally  died,  viz.  the  consumption  and  the 
yellow  fever.  The  latter  they  could  always  lay 
in  the  following  manner.  After  it  had  raged 
and  swept  off  a  number,  those  who  were  well 
met  to  lay  it.  The  rich,  that  is,  such  as  had  a 
canoe,  skins,  axes,  &c.  brought  them.  They 
took  their  seat  in  a  circle  ;  and  all  the  poor  sat 
around,  without.  The  richest  then  proposed  to 
begin  to  lay  the  sickness ;  and  having  in  his 
hand  something  in  shape  resembling  his  canoe, 
skin,  or  whatever  his  riches  were,  he  threw  it 
up  in  the  air;  and  whoever  of  the  poor  without 
could  take  it,  the  property  it  was  intended  to  re- 
semble became  forever  transferred  to  him  or  her. 
After  the  rich  had  thus  given  away  all  their 
moveable  property  to  the  poor,  they  looked  out 
the  handsomest  and  most  sprightly  young  man 
in  the  assembly,  and  put  him  into  an  entire  new 
wigwam,  built  of  every  thing  new  for  that  pur- 
pose. They  then  .formed  into  two  files  at  a 
small  distance  from  each  other.  One  standing 
in  the  space  at  each  end,  put  fire  to  the  bottom 
24# 


2S2  APPENDIX. 

of  the  wigwam  on  all  parts,  and  fell  to  singing 
and  dancing.  Presently  the  youth  would  leap 
out  of  the  flames,  and  fall  down  to  appearance 
dead.  Him  they  committed  to  the  care  of  five 
virgins,  prepared  for  that  purpose,  to  restore  to 
life  again.  The  term  required  for  this  would  be 
uncertain,  from  six  to  forty-eight  hours;  during 
which  time  the  dance  must  be  kept  up.  When 
he  was  restored,  he  vvould  tell,  that  he  had  been 
carried  in  a  large  thing  high  up  in  the  air,  where 
he  came  to  a  great  company  of  white  people, 
with  whom  he  had  interceded  hard  to  have  the 
distemper  layed ;  and  generally  after  much  per- 
suasion, would  obtain  a  promise,  or  answer  of 
peace  which  never  failed  of  laying  the  dis- 
temper." 

"  Inscription  copied  from  a  grave  stone  at  Gay  Head. 

1  2  3 

YEUUH'WOHHOK'SIPSIN' 

4  5 

SIL'PAUL'NOHTOBEYONTOK' 

6  7 

AGED'  49 :  YEARS'NUPPOOP'TAH' 
AUGUST'24™1787. 

EXPLANATIONS. 

1.  Here.     2.   The  body.     3.  Lies.     4.  Silas  Paul. 
5.  An  ordained  preacher.    6.  Died.     7.  Then,  or  in, ^' 


APPENDIX.  283 

B. — See  page  41. 

In  connection  with  the  remarks  in  the  forego- 
ing pages  on  the  climate  and  soil  of  New  Eng- 
land, the  following  extract  from  a  piece  by  Rev. 
John  Higginson  of  Salem,  1629,  will  be  read 
with  interest.  It  is  taken  from  the  Collections 
of  the  Mass.  Hist.  Society,  1792. 

NEW-ENGLANDS  PLANTATION. 

Or,  a  short  and  true  Description  of  the  Com- 
modities and  Discommodities  of  that  countrey. 
Written  in  the  year  1629,  by  Mr.  Higge- 
soN,  a  Reverend  Divine,  now  there  resident. 
Whereunto  is  added  a  Letter,  sent  by  Mr. 
Graves,  an  Enginere,  out  of  New-England, 
Reprinted  from  the  third  edition,  London, 
1530. 

Letting  passe  our  voyage  by  sea,^  we  will  now 
begin  our  discourse  on  the  shore  of  New- 
England.  And  because  the  life  and  wel-fare  of 
every  creature  heere  below,  and  the  commodious- 
nesse  of  the  countrey  whereat  such  creatures 
live,  doth  by  the   most  wise  ordering  of  God's 

*  For  the  Journal  of  Mr.  Higginson's  Voyage,  see  Hutchinson's 
Collection  of  Papers,  page  32, 


284  APPENDIX 

providence,  depend  next  unto  biniselfe,  upon  the 
temperature  and  disposition  of  the  foure  ele- 
ments, earth,  water,  aire,  and  fire  (for  as  of  the 
mixture  of  all  these,  all  sublunary  things  are 
composed  ;  so  by  the  more  or  lesse  enjoyment  of 
the  wholesome  temper  and  convenient  use  of 
these,  consistcth  the  onely  well-being  both  of 
man  and  beast  in  a  more  or  Jesse  comfortable 
measure  in  all  countreys  under  ihe  heavens) 
therefore  I  will  indeavour  to  shew  you  what 
New-England  is  by  the  consideration  of  each  of 
these  apart,  and  truly  indeavour  by  God's  helpe 
to  report  nothing  but  the  naked  truth,  and  that 
both  to  tell  you  of  the  discommodities  as  well  as 
of  the  commodities,  though  as  the  idle  proverbe 
is,  travellers  may  lye  by  authorities  and  so  may 
take  too  much  sinfuU  libertie  that  way.  Yet  I 
may  say  of  my  selfe  as  once  Nehemiah  did  in 
another  case  :  Shall  such  a  man  as  I  lye  ?  No 
verily  :  It  becommeth  not  a  preacher  of  truth  to 
be  a  writer  of  falshod  in  any  degree :  And 
therefore  I  have  beene  carefuU  to  report  nothing 
of  New-England  but  what  I  have  partly  seene 
with  mine  own  eyes,  and  partly  heard  and  en- 
quired from  the  mouths  of  verie  honest  and  re- 
ligious persons,  who,  by  living  in  the  countrey  a 
good  space   of  time,  have   had   experience  and 


I 


APPENDIX.  285 

knowledge  of  the  state  thereof,  and  whose  testi- 
monies I  doe  beleeve  as  my  selfe. 

First  therefore  of  the  earth  of  New-England 
and  all  the  appertenances  thereof:  It  is  a  land 
of  divers  and  sundry  sorts  all  about  Masathu- 
lets  Bay,  and  at  Charles  river  is  as  fat  blacke 
earth  as  can  be  seene  any  where  :  and  in  other 
places  you  have  a  clay  soyle,  in  other  gravell, 
in  other  sandy,  as  it  is  all  about  our  plantation 
at  Salem,  for  so  our  towne  is  now  named. 
Psal.  76  :  2. 

The  forme  of  the  earth  here  in  the  superfices 
of  it  is  neither  too  flat  in  the  plainnesse,  nor  too 
high  in  hils,  but  partakes  of  both  in  a  mediocri- 
tie,  and  fit  for  pasture,  or  for  plow  or  meddow 
ground,  as  men  please  to  employ  it :  though  all 
the  countrey  bee  as  it  were  a  thicke  wood  for 
the  general!,  yet  in  divers  places  there  is  much 
ground  cleared  by  the  Indians,  and  especially 
about  the  plantation  :  And  I  am  told  that  about 
three  miles  from  us  a  man  may  stand  on  a  little 
hilly  place  and  see  divers  thousands  of  acres  of 
ground  as  good  as  need  to  be,  and  not  a  tree  in 
the  same.  It  is  thought  here  is  good  clay  to 
make  bricke  and  tyles  and  earthen-pot  as  need 
to  be.  At  this  instant  we  are  setting  a  brick-kill 
on  worke  to  make  brickes  and  tiles  for  the  build- 
ing of  our  houses.     For  stone,  here  is  plentie  of 


286  APPENDIX 

slates  at  the  Isle  of  Slate  in  Masalhulets  bay, 
and  lime-stone,  free-stone,  and  smooth-stone, 
and  iron-stone,  and  marble-stone  also  in  such 
store,  that  we  have  great  rocks  of  it,  and  a  har- 
bour hard  by.  Our  plantation  is  from  thence 
called  Marble-harbour. 

Of  minerals  there  hath  yet  beene  but  little  triall 
made,  yet  we  are  not  without  great  hope  of  being 
furnished  in  that  soyle. 

The  fertilitie  of  the  soyle  is  to  be  admired  at, 
as  appeareth  in  the  aboundance  of  grasse  that 
groweth  everie  where,  both  verie  thicke,  verie 
long,  and  verie  high  in  divers  places :  But  it 
groweth  verie  wildly  with  a  great  stalke  and  a 
broad  and  ranker  blade,  because  it  never  had 
been  eaten  with  cattle,  nor  mowed  with  a  sythe, 
and  scldome  trampled  on  by  foot.  It  is  scarce 
to  bee  beleeved  how  our  kine  and  goates,  horses 
and  hogges,  doe  thrive  and  prosper  here  and  like 
well  of  this  countrey. 

In  our  plantation  we  have  already  a  quart  of 
milke  for  a  penny  :  but  the  aboundant  encrease 
of  corne  proves  this  countrey  to  bee  a  wonder- 
ment. Thirtie,  fortie,  fiftie,  sixtie  are  ordinarie 
here  :  Yea  Joseph's  encrease  in  ^gypt  is  out- 
stript  here  wath  us.  Our  planters  hope  to  have 
more  then  a  hundred  fould  this  yere  :  And  all 
this  while  I  am  within  compasse  ;  what  will  you 


APPENDIX.  2S7 

say  of  two  hundred  fould  and  upwards?  It  is 
almost  incredible  what  great  gaine  some  of  our 
English  planters  have  had  by  our  Indiane  corne. 
Credible  persons  have  assured  me,  and  the 
partie  himselfe  avouched  the  truth  of  it  to  me, 
that  of  the  setting  of  13  gallons  of  corne  hee 
hath  had  encrease  of  it  52  hogsheads,  every 
hogshead  holding  seven  bushels  of  London  meas- 
ure, and  every  bushell  was  by  him  sold  and 
trusted  to  the  Indians  for  so  much  beaver  as  was 
worth  13  shillings  ;  and  so  of  this  13  gallons  of 
corne,  w^hich  was  worth  6  shillings  S  pence,  he 
made  about  327  pounds  of  it  the  ycere  following, 
as  by  reckoning  will  appeare  :  where  you  may 
see  how  God  blessed  husbandry  in  this  land. 
There  is  not  such  greate  and  plentifuU  eares  of 
corne  I  suppose  any  where  else  to  bee  found  but 
in  this  countrey  :  Because  also  of  varietie  of 
colours,  as  red,  blew,  and  yellow,  &c.  and  of 
one  corne  there  springeth  four  or  five  hundred. 
I  have  sent  you  many  eares  of  divers  colours 
that  you  might  see  the  truth  of  it. 

Little  children  here  by  setting  of  corne  may 
earne  much  more  then  their  owne  mainte- 
nance. 

They  have  tryed  our  English  corne  at  New 
Plimmouth   plantation,   so   that    all  our  several 


2SS  APPENDIX. 

graines  will  grow  here  verie  well,  and  have  a 
fitting  soyle  for  their  nature. 

Our  Governor  hath  store  of  greene  pease 
growing  in  his  garden,  as  good  as  ever  I  eat  in 
England. 

This  country  aboundeth  naturally  with  store 
of  roots  of  great  varitie  and  good  to  eat.  Our 
turnips,  parsnips,  and  carrots  are  here  both  big- 
ger and  sweeter  then  is  ordinary  to  be  found  in 
England.  Here  are  store  of  pumpions,  cow- 
combers,  and  other  things  of  that  nature  which 
1  know  not.  Also  divers  excellent  pot-herbs 
grow  abundantly  among  the  grasse,  as  straw- 
berrie  leaves  in  all  places  of  the  countrey,  and 
plentie  of  strawberries  in  their  time,  and  penny- 
royall,  wintersaverie,  sorrell,  brookelime,  liver- 
wort, carvell,  and  watercresses,  also  leekes  and 
onions  are  ordinarie,  and  divers  physicall  herbs. 
Here  are  also  aboundance  of  other  sv^reet  herbs 
delightful  to  the  smell,  whose  names  we  know 
not,  &c.  and  plentie  of  single  damaske  roses 
verie  sweete ;  and  two  kinds  of  herbes  that  bare 
two  kinds  of  flowers  very  sweet,  which  they  say, 
are  as  good  to  make  cordage  or  cloath  as  any 
hempe  or  flaxe  we  have. 

Excellent  vines  are  here  up  and  downe  in  the 
woods.  Our  Governour  hath  already  planted  a 
vineyard  with  great  hope  of  encrease. 


APPENDIX 


289 


Also,  mulberries,  plums,  raspberries,  corrance, 
chesnuts,  filberds,  walnuts,  smalnuts,  hurtle- 
beries,  and  hawes  of  whitethorne  neere  as  good 
as  our  cherries  in  England,  tliey  grow  in  pientie 

here. 

For  wood   there   is    no  better    in   the  world 
I  thinke,  here  being  foure  sorts  of  oke  differing 
both  in  the  leafe,  timber,  and  colour,  all  excel- 
lent good.     There  is  also  good  ash,  elme,  wil- 
low, birch,  beech,  saxafras,  juniper,  cipres,  cedar, 
spruce,   pines,  and  firre   that  will   yeeld  abun- 
dance   of  turpentine,    pitch,    tarre,   masts,   and 
other  materials  for  building  both  of  ships  and 
houses.     Also  here  are   store  of  sumacke  trees, 
they  are  good  for  dying  and  tanning  of  leather, 
likewise  such  trees  yeeld  a  precious  gem  called 
wine   benjamin,  that    they  say  is   excellent  for 
perfumes.    Also  here  be  divers  roots  and  berries 
wherewith   the    Indians  dye  excellent   holding 
colours   that  no  raine   nor  washing  can   alter. 
Also,  wee   have  materials   to  make  sope-ashes 
and  salt-peter  in  aboundance. 

For  beasts  there  are  some  beares,  and  they 
say  some  lyons  also ;  for  they  have  been  seen  at 
Cape  Anne.  Also  here  are  several  sorts  of 
deere,  some  whereof  bring  three  or  four  young 
ones  at  once,  which  is  not  ordinarie  in  England. 
Also  wolves,  foxes,  beavers,  otters,  martins,  great 

VOL.    III.  25 


290  APPENDIX. 

wild  cats,  and  a  great  beast  called  a  molke  as 
bigge  as  an  oxe.  I  have  seen  the  skins  of  all 
these  beasts  since  I  came  to  this  plantation  ex- 
cepting lyons.  Also  here  are  great  store  of 
squerrels,  some  greater,  and  some  smaller  and 
lesser :  there  are  some  of  the  lesser  sort,  they 
tell  me,  that  by  a  certaine  skill  will  fly  from  tree 
to  tree,  though  they  stand  farre  distant. 

Of  the  waters  of  New-England,  with  the  things 
belonging  to  the  same. 

New-England  hath  water  enough,  both  salt  and 
fresh,  the  greatest  sea  in  the  world,  the  Atlan- 
ticke  sea,  runs  all  along  the  coast  thereof. 
There  are  abundance  of  Hands  along  the  shore, 
some  full  of  wood  and  masts  to  feed  swine ;  and 
others  cleere  of  wood,  and  fruitful  to  bear  corne. 
Also  wee  have  store  of  excellent  harbours  for 
ships,  as  at  Cape  Anne,  and  at  Masathulets  Bay, 
and  at  Salem,  and  at  many  other  places :  and 
they  are  the  better  because  for  strangers  there 
is  a  verie  difficult  and  dangerous  passage  into 
them,  but  unto  such  as  are  well  acquainted  with 
them,  they  are  easie  and  safe  enough.  The 
aboundance  of  sea-fish  are  almost  beyond  be- 
leeving,  and  sure  I  should  scarce  have  beleeved 
it,  except  I  had  seene  it  with  mine  owne  eyes. 


APPENDIX.  291 

I  saw  great  store  of  whales,  and  crampusse,  and 
such  aboundance  of  mackerils  that  it  would  as- 
tonish one  to  behold,  likewise  cod-fish  in  abound- 
ance on  the  coast,  and  in  their  season  are  plen- 
tifully taken.  There  is  a  fish  called  a  basse,  a 
most  sweet  and  wholesome  fish  as  ever  1  did 
eate,  it  is  altogether  as  good  as  our  fresh  sam- 
mon,  and  the  season  of  their  comming  was  begun 
when  wee  came  first  to  New-England  in  June, 
and  so  continued  about  three  months  space.  Of 
this  fish  our  fishers  take  many  hundreds  to- 
gether, which  I  have  seen  lying  on  the  shore  to 
my  admiration  ;•  yea  their  nets  ordinarily  take 
more  than  they  are  able  to  hale  to  land,  and  for 
want  of  boats  and  men  they  are  constrained  to 
let  a  many  goe  after  they  have  taken  them,  and 
yet  sometimes  they  fill  two  boates  at  a  time  with 
them.  And  besides  basse  wee  take  plentie  of 
scate  and  thornbacks,  and  abundance  of  lobsters 
and  the  least  boy  in  the  plantation  may  both 
catch  and  eat  what  he  will  of  them.  For  my 
owne  part  I  was  soone  cloyed  with  them,  they 
were  so  great,  and  fat,  and  lussious.  I  have 
seene  some  myselfe  that  have  weighed  16  pound, 
but  others  have  had  divers  times  so  great  lob- 
sters as  have  weighed  25  pound,  as  they  assure 
mee.  Also  heere  is  abundance  of  herring,  tur- 
but,  sturgion,  cuskes,   hadocks,  mullets,  eeles^ 


292  APPENDIX. 


crabbes,  muskles,  and  oysters.  Besides  there  is 
probability  that  the  countrey  is  of  an  excellent 
temper  for  the  making  of  salt :  For  since  our 
comming  our  fishermen  have  brought  home  very 
good  salt  which  they  found  candied  by  the 
standing  of  the  sea  water  and  the  heat  of  the 
sunne,  upon  a  rocke  by  the  sea  shore :  and  in 
divers  salt  marishes  that  some  have  gone 
through,  they  have  found  some  salt  in  some 
places  crushing  under  their  feete  and  cleaving 
to  their  shooes. 

And  as  for  fresh  water,  the  countrey  is  full  of 
dainty  springs,  and  some  great  rivers,  and  some 
lesser  brookes ;  and  at  Masathulets  Bay  they 
digged  wels  and  found  water  at  three  foot  deepe 
in  most  places :  And  neere  Salem  thay  have  as 
fine  cleare  water  as  we  can  desire,  and  we  may 
digge  wels  and  find  water  where  we  list. 

Thus  wee  see  both  land  and  sea  abound  with 
store  of  blessings  for  the  comfortable  sustenance 
of  man's  life  in  New-England. 

Of  the  aire  of  New-England  with  the  temper 
and  creatures  in  it. 

The  temper  of  the  aire  of  New-England  is  one 
speciall  thing  that  commends  this  place.  Ex- 
perience doth  manifest  that  there  is  hardly  a 
more  healthfull  place  to  be  found  in  the  world 


APPENDIX.  293 

that  agreeth  belter  with  our  English  bodyes. 
Many  that  have  been  weake  and  sickly  in 
old  England,  by  comming  hither  have  beene 
thoroughly  healed  and  growne  healthfuU  strong. 
For  here  is  an  extraordinarie  cleere  and  dry  aire 
that  is  of  a  most  healing  nature  to  all  such  as 
are  of  a  cold,  melancholy,  flegmatick,  rheumat- 
ick  temper  of  body.  None  can  more  truly 
speake  hereof  by  their  owne  experience  then  my 
seife.  My  friends  that  knew  me  can  well  tell 
how  verie  sickly  I  have  bin  and  continually  in 
physick,  being  much  troubled  with  a  tormenting 
paine  through  an  extraordinarie  weakncsse  of 
my  stomacke,  and  aboundance  of  melancholicke 
humors;  but  since  I  came  hither  on  this  voyage, 
I  thanke  God,  I  have  had  perfect  health,  and 
freed  from  paine  and  vomiting,  having  a  stom- 
acke to  digest  the  hardest  and  coursest  fare,  who 
before  could  not  eat  finest  meat ;  and  whereas 
my  stomache  could  onely  digest  and  did  require 
such  drinke  as  was  both  strong  and  stale,  now  I 
can  and  doe  often  times  drink  New-England 
water  verie  well ;  and  I  that  have  not  gone  with- 
out a  cap  for  many  yeeres  together,  neither  durst 
leave  off  the  same,  have  now  cast  away  my  cap, 
and  doe  weare  none  at  all  in  the  day  time  :  And 
whereas  beforetirne  I  cloathed  my  selfe  with 
double  cloaths  and  thicke  Avaistcoates  to  keep 
25* 


294  APPENDIX. 

me  warme,  even  in  the  summer  time,  I  doe  now 
goe  as  thin  clad  as  any,  onely  wearing  a  light 
stuffe  cassocke  upon  my  shirt,  and  stuffe  breeches 
of  one  thickness  without  linings.  Besides  I  have 
one  of  my  children  that  was  formerly  most 
lamentably  handled  with  sore  breaking  out  of 
both  his  hands  and  feet  of  the  king's-evill,  but 
since  he  came  hither  hee  is  very  well  ever  he 
was,  and  there  is  hope  of  perfect  recoverie 
shortly  even  by  the  very  wholesomnesse  of  the 
aire,  altering,  digesting  and  drying  up  the  cold 
and  crude  humours  of  the  body  :  And  therefore 
I  thinke  it  is  a  wise  course  for  al  cold  complec- 
tions  to  come  to  take  physick  in  New-England : 
for  a  sup  of  New-England's  aire  is  better  then  a 
whole  draught  of  Old  England's  ale. 

In  the  summer  time,  in  the  midst  of  July  and 
August,  it  is  a  good  deale  hotter  then  in  Old 
England :  And  in  winter,  January  and  Febru- 
ary are  much  colder,  as  they  say :  But  the 
spring  and  autumne  are  of  a  middle  temper. 

Fowles  of  the  aire  are  plentifull  here,  and  of 
all  sorts  as  we  have  in  England,  as  farre  as  I 
can  learn,  and  a  great  many  of  strange  fowles 
which  we  know  not.  Whilst  I  was  writing  these 
things,  one  of  our  men  brought  home  an  eagle 
which  hee  had  killed  in  the  wood :  They  say 
they  are  good  meate.    Also  here  are  many  kinds 


A  r  p^E  N  D  I X .  295 

of  excellent  hawkes,  both  sea  hawkes  and  land 
hawkes :  And  my  self  walking  in  the  woods 
with  another  in  company,  sprung  a  patridge  so 
bigge  that  through  the  heaviness  of  his  body 
could  fly  but  a  little  way  :  They  that  have  killed 
them,  say  they  are  as  bigge  as  our  hens.  Here 
are  likewise  aboundance  of  turkies  often  killed 
in  the  woods,  farre  greater  then  our  English 
turkies,  and  exceeding  fat,  sweet,  and  fleshy,  for 
here  they  have  aboundance  of  feeding  all  the 
yeere  long,  as  strawberries,  in  summer  al  places 
are  full  of  them,  and  all  manner  of  berries  and 
fruits.  In  the  winter  time  I  have  seene  flockes 
of  pidgeons,  and  have  eaten  of  them  :  They  doe 
fly  from  tree  to  tree  as  other  birds  doe,  which 
our  pidgeons  will  not  doe  in  England:  They 
are  of  all  colours  as  ours  are,  but  their  wings 
and  tayles  are  far  longer,  and  therefore  it  is 
likely  they  fly  swifter  to  escape  the  terrible 
hawkes  in  this  country.  In  winter  time  this 
country  doth  abound  with  wild  geese,  wild  ducks, 
and  other  sea  fowle,  that  a  great  part  of  winter 
the  planters  have  eaten  nothing  but  roast-meate 
of  divers  fowles  which  they  have  killed. 

Thus  you  have  heard  of  the  earth,  water  and 
aire  of  New-England,  now  it  may  bee  you  ex- 
pect something  to  bee  said  of  the  fire  proportion- 
able  to   the    rest  of  the    elements.     Indeede  I 


296  A  P  P  E  N«D  1  X  . 

thinke  New-England  may  boast  of  this  element 
more  then  of  all  the  rest :  For  though  it  bee 
here  somewhat  cold  in  the  winter,  yet  here  we 
have  plenty  of  fire  to  warme  us,  and  that  a  great 
deal  cheaper  then  they  sel  billets  and  faggots  in 
London :  Nay,  all  Europe  is  not  able  to  afford 
to  make  so  great  fires  as  New-England.  A 
poore  servant  here  that  is  to  possesse  but  50 
acres  of  land,  may  afford  to  give  more  wood  for 
timber  and  fire  as  good  as  the  world  yeelds,  then 
many  noble  men  in  England  can  afford  to  do. 
Here  is  good  living  for  those  that  love  good 
fires.  And  although  New-England  have  no  tal- 
low to  make  candles  of,  yet  by  the  aboundance 
of  the  fish  thereof,  it  can  afford  oil  for  lampes. 
Yea  our  pine-trees  that  are  the  most  plentifull  of 
all  wood,  doth  allow  us  plenty  of  candles  which 
are  very  useful!  in  a  house  :  And  they  are  such 
candles  as  the  Indians  commonly  use,  having  no 
other,  and  they  are  nothing  else  but  the  wood  of 
the  pine  tree  cloven  in  two  little  slices,  some- 
thing thin,  which  are  so  full  of  the  moysture  of 
turpentine  and  pitch,  that  they  burne  as  cleere 
as  a  torch.  I  have  sent  you  some  of  them  that 
you  may  see  the  experience  of  them. 

Thus  of  New-England's  commodities  :  now  I 
will  tell  you  of  some  discommodities  that  are 
here  to  be  found. 


APPENDIX.  297 


First,  ill  the  summer  season  for  these  three 
months,  June,  July,  and  August,  we  are  troubled 
much  with  little  flyes  called  musketoes,  being 
the  same  they  are  troubled  with  in  Lincolneshire 
and  the  Fens ;  and  they  are  nothing  but  gjiats, 
which  except  they  bee  smoked  out  of  their 
houses  are  troublesome  in  the  night  season. 

Secondly,  in  the  winter  season  for  two  months 
space,  the  earth  is  commonly  covered  with  snow, 
which  is  accompanied  with  sharp  biting  frosts, 
something  more  sharpe  then  is  in  Old  England, 
and  therefore  are  forced  to  make  great  fires. 

Thirdly,  the  countrey  being  very  full  of  woods, 
and  wildernesses,  doth  also  much  abound  with 
snakes  and  serpents  of  strange  colours,  and  huge 
greatnesse :  yea  there  are  some  serpents  called 
rattle-snakes  that  have  rattles  in  their  tailes,  that 
will  not  fly  from  a  man  as  others  will,  but  will 
flye  upon  him,  and  sting  him  so  mortally,  that 
hee  will  dye  within  a  quarter  of  an  houre  after, 
except  the  partie  stinged  have  about  him  some 
of  the  root  of  an  herbe  called  snake-weed  to  bite 
on,  and  then  hee  shall  receive  no  harme :  but 
yet  seldom  falles  it  out  that  any  hurt  is  done  by 
these.  About  three  ye^rs  since,  an  Indian  was 
stung  to  death  by  one  of  them,  but  wee  heard  of 
£ione  since  that  time. 

Fourthly  and  lastly,  here   wants   as   it  were 


298  APPENDIX. 

good  company  of  honest  christians  to  bring  with 
them  horses,  kine,  and  sheepe,  to  make  use  of 
this  fruilfull  land  :  great  pitty  it  is  to  see  so 
much  good  ground  for  corne  and  for  grasse  as 
any^s  under  the  heavens,  to  ly  aUogether  un- 
occupied, when  so  many  honest  men  and  their 
families  in  Old  England  through  the  populous- 
nesse  thereof,  do  make  evry  hard  shift  to  live 
one  by  the  other. 

Now,  thus  you  know  what  New-England  is, 
as  also  with  the  commodities  and  discommodities 
thereof:  Now  I  will  shew  you  a  little  of  the 
inhabitants  thereof,  and  their  government. 

For  their  governors  they  have  kings,  which 
they  call  Saggamores,  some  greater,  and  some 
lesser,  according  to  the  number  of  their  subjects. 

The  greatest  Saggamores  about  us  can  not 
make  above  three  hundred  men,^~  and  other 
lesse  Saggamores  have  not  above  fifteen  sub- 
jects, and  others  neere  about  us  but  two. 

Their  subjects  above  twelve  years  since  t 
were  swept  away  by  a  great  and  grievous 
plague  that  was  amongst  them,  so  that  there  are 
verie  few  left  to  inhabite  the  country. 

The  Indians  are  not  able  to  make  use  of  the 
one  fourth  part  of  the  land,  neither  have  they 
any  settled  places,  as   townes  to  dwell  in,  nor 


*  That  is  fighting  men. 
t  1617. 


APPENDIX. 


299 


any  ground  as  they  challenge  for  their  own  pos- 
session, but  change  their  habitation  from  place 
to  place. 

For  their  statures,  they  are  a  tall  and  strong 
limmed  people,  their  colours  are  tawney,  they 
goe  naked,  save  onely  they  are  in  part  covered 
with  beasts  skins  on  one  of  their  shoulders, 
and  weare  something  before ;  their  haire  is 
generally  blacke,  and  cut  before  like  our  gentle- 
women, and  one  locke  longer  than  the  rest, 
much  like  to  our  gentelmen,  which  fashion  I 
thinke  came  from  hence  into  England. 

For  their  weapons,  they  have  bowes  and  ar- 
rovves,  some  of  them  headed  with  bone,  and 
some  with  brasse  :  I  have  sent  you  some  of  them 
for  an  example. 

The  men  for  the  most  part  live  idely,  they  do 
nothing  but  hunt  and  fish  :  Their  wives  set  their 
corne  and  doe  all  their  other  worke.  They 
have  little  houshold  stufTe,  as  a  kettle,  and  some 
other  vessels  like  trayes,  spoones,  dishes,  and 
baskets. 

Their  houses  are  verie  little  and  homely, 
being  made  with  small  poles  pricked  into  the 
ground,  and  so  bended  and  fastened  at  the  tops, 
and  on  the  sides  they  are  matted  with  boughs 
and  covered  on  the  roof  with  sedge  and  old  mats, 
and  for  their  beds  that  they  take  their  rest  on, 
they  have  a  mat. 


300  APPENDIX 

They  doe  generally  professe  to  like  well  of 
our  coming  and  planting  here ;  partly  because 
their  is  abundance  of  ground  that  they  cannot 
possesse  nor  make  use  of,  and  partly  because  our 
being  here  will  bee  a  meanes  both  of  relief  to 
them  when  they  want,  and  also  a  defence  from 
their  enemies,  wherewith  (I  say)  before  this 
plantation  began,  they  were  often  indangered. 

For  their  religion  they  do  worship  two  Gods, 
a  good  God  and  an  evil  God :  The  good  God 
they  call  Tantum,  and  their  evil  God  whom  they 
fear  will  doe  them  hurt,  they  call  Squantum. 

For  their  dealing  with  us,  we  neither  fear 
them  nor  trust  them,  for  fourtie  of  our  muske- 
teeres  will  drive  five  hundred  of  them  out  of  the 
field.  We  use  them  kindly ;  they  will  come  into 
our  houses  sometimes  by  half  a  dozen  or  half 
a  score  at  a  time  when  we  are  at  victuals,  but 
will  ask  or  take  nothing  but  what  we  give  them. 

We  purpose  to  learn  their  language  as  soon 
as  we  can,  which  will  be  a  means  to  do  them 
good.  * 

Of.  the  present  condition  of  the  Plantation,  and 
what  it  is. 

When  we  came  first  to  Nehum-kek,=^  we  found 
about  half  a   score  houses,  and  a  faire  house 

♦  Or  Naumkeaj .    Salem. 


APPENDIX.  301 

newly  built  for  the  Governor,  we  found  also 
aboundance  of  come  planted  by  them,  very  good 
and  well  liking.  And  we  brought  with  us  about 
two  hundred  passengers  and  planters  more, 
which  by  common  consent  of  the  old  planters 
were  all  combined  together  into  one  body  poli- 
ticke,  under  the  same  Governour. 

There  are  in  all  of  us  both  old  and  new  plan- 
ters about  three  hundred,  whereof  two  hundred 
of  them  are  settled  at  Nehum-kek,  now  called 
Salem :  And  the  rest  have  planted  themselves 
at  Masathulets  Bay,  beginning  to  build  a  towne 
there  which  wee  do  call  Cherton,  or  Charles 
Town. 

We  that  are  settled  at  Salem  make  what 
haste  we  can  to  build  houses,  so  that  within  a 
short  time  we  shall  have  a  faire  towne. 

We  have  great  ordnance,  wherewith  we  doubt 
not  but  we  shall  fortifie  ourselves  in  a  short  time 
to  keepe  out  a  potent  adversary.  But  that  which 
is  our  greatest  comfort,  and  meanes  of  defence 
above  all  other,  is,  that  we  have  here  the  true 
religion  and  holy  ordinances  of  Almighty  God 
taught  amongst  us :  Thankes  be  to  God,  wee 
have  here  plenty  of  preaching,  and  diligent  cate- 
chizing, with  strict  and  carefull  exercise,  and 
good  and  commendable  orders  to  bring  our  peo- 
ple into  a  christian  conversation  with  whom  we 

VOL.  III.  26 


302  APPENDIX. 

have  to  doe  withall.  And  thus  wee  doubt  not 
but  God  will  be  with  us,  and  if  God  be  with  us, 
who  can  he  against  us  ? 

[Here    ends    Master   Higgeson's   relation   of 
New-England.] 

A  letter  sent  from  New  England,  by  Master 
Graves,  Engyiiere,  noiv  there  resident. 

Thus  much  I  can  afHrme  in  generall,  that 
I  never  came  in  a  more  goodly  country  in  all 
my  life,  all  things  considered  :  If  it  hath  not  at 
any  time  been  manured  and  husbanded,  yet  it  is 
very  beautifull  in  open  lands,  mixed  with  goodly 
woods,  and  again  open  plaines,  in  some  places 
five  hundred  acres,  some  places  more,  some 
lesse,  not  much  troublesome  for  to  cleer  for  the 
plough  to  goe  in,  no  place  barren,  but  on  the 
tops  of  the  hils ;  the  grasse  and  weeds  grow  up 
to  a  man's  face,  in  the  lowlands  and  by  fresh 
rivers,  aboundance  of  grasse  and  large  meddowes 
without  any  tree  or  shrubbe  to  hinder  the  sith. 
I  never  saw,  except  in  Hungaria,  unto  which  I 
alwayes  paralell  this  countrie,  in  all  our  most 
respects,  for  every  thing  that  is  heare  eyther 
sowne  or  planted  prospereth  far  better  then  in 
Old-England :  The  increase  of  come  is  here 
farre  beyond  expectation,  as  I  have  seene  here 
by  experience  in  barly,  the  which  because  it  is 
so  much  above  your  conception  I  will  not  men- 


APPENDIX. 


303 


tion.     And   cattle   doe   prosper  very  well,   and 
those  that  are  bredd  here  farr  greater  than  those 
with  you  in  England.      Vines  doe  grow  here 
plentifully  laden  with  the  biggest  grapes  that 
ever   I   saw,   some    I   have    seen   foure    inches 
about,  so  that  I  am  bold  to  say  of  this  countrie, 
as  it  is  commonly  said  in  Germany  of  Hungaria, 
that  for  cattel,  corne,  and  wine  it  excelleth.    We 
have  many  more  hopeful!  commodities  here  in 
this  country,  the  which  time  will  teach  to  make 
good  use  of:  In  the  mean  lime  wee  abound  with 
such  things  which  next  under  God  doe  make  us 
subsist :  as  fish,  foule,  deere,  and  sundrie  sorts 
of  fruits,  as  musk-millions,  water-millions,  In- 
dian pompions,  Indian  pease,  beanes,  and  many 
other  odde  fruits  that  I  cannot  name ;  all  which 
are  made  good  and  pleasant  through  this  maine 
blessing  of  God,  the  healthfulnesse  of  the  coun- 
trie which  far  exceedelh  all  parts   that  ever  I 
have  beene  in  :    It  is  observed  that  few  or  none 
doe  here  fal  sicke,  unless  of  the  scurvy,  that  they 
bring  from  aboard  the  ship  with  them,  whereof 
I  have  cured   some  of  my  companie  onely  by 
labour. 

C— See  page  204.  ^ 

See  Morell's  poem  on  New  England,  Mass. 
Hist.  Coll.,  1792. 


304  APPENDIX. 

D.— See  page  222. 

The  following  letter  to  King  Charles  II.  ac- 
companied the  presentation  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment in  the  Indian  tongue.  The  letter  was 
written  and  sent  by  the  Commissioners  of  the 
United  Colonies  of  Massachusetts,  Plymouth, 
Connecticut  and  New  Haven. 

"  To  the  High  and  Mighty  Prince,  Charles  the 
second,  by  the  grace  of  God,  King  of  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  France,  and  Ireland,  Defender 
of  the  faith,  &c. 
*'  The  Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies  in 
New  England,  wish  increase  of  all  happiness. 

"  Most  dread  Sovereign, 
"  If  our  weak  apprehensions  have  not  misled 
us,  this  work  \vill  be  no  unacceptable  present  to 
your  Majesty,  as  having  a  greater  interest  there- 
in, than  we  believe  is  generally  understood, 
which  upon  this  occasion  we  conceive  it  our 
duty  to  declare. 

"  The  people  of  these  four  colonies  (confed- 
erate for  mutual  defence,  in  the  times  of  the  late 
distractions  of  our  dear  native  country)  your 
Majesty's  natural  born  subjects,  by  the  favour 
and  grace  of  your  royal  father  and  grandfatliBr 
of  famous  m^emory,  put  themselves  upon  this 
great   and   hazardous   undertaking,  of  planting 


APPENDIX 


305 


themselves  at  their  own  charge  in  these  remote 
ends  of  the  earth ;  that  without  offence  or  pro- 
vocation to  our   dear  brethren  and  countrymen, 
we    might   enjoy  that  liberty  to  worship   God, 
which  our  own  conscience  informed  us  was  not 
only  our  right  but  duty ;  as  also  that  we,  if  it  so 
pleased  God,  might  be  instrumental  to   spread 
the  light  of  the  gospel,  the  knowledge  of  the  son 
of  God,   our    saviour,    to    the    poor,  barbarous- 
heathen  ;  which  by  his  late  Majesty,  in  some  of 
our  patents,  is  declared  to  be  the  principal  aim, 
"  These    honest    and   pious    intentions    have 
through  the  grace  of  God  and  our  kings,  been 
seconded  with  proportionable  success.  For,  omit- 
ting the   immunities  indulged  by  your  High- 
ness's  royal  predecessors,  we  have  been  greatly 
encouraged  by  your  Majesty's  gracious  expres- 
sions of  favour  and  approbation,  signified  unto 
the  address  made  by  the  principal  of  our  colo- 
nies;  to  which  the  rest  do  most  cordially  sub- 
scribe ;  though  wanting  the  like  seasonable  op- 
portunity, they  have  been  till  now  deprived  of 
the  means  to  congratulate  your  Majesty's  happy 
restitution,  after  your  long  sufferings ;  which  we 
implore  may  yet  be  graciously  accepted,  that  we 
may  be   equal  partakers  of  your  royal  favour 
and  moderation ;  which  hath  been  so  illustrious, 
that-  to  admiration,  the  animosities  of  different 
26* 


306  APPENDIX. 

persuasions  of  men  have  been  so  soon  composed, 
and  so  much  cause  of  hope,  that,  unless  the  sins 
of  the  nation  prevent,  a  blessed  calm  will  suc- 
ceed the  late  horrid  confusions  of  church  and 
state.  And  shall  not  we,  dread  sovereign,  your 
subjects  of  these  colonies,  of  the  same  faith  and 
belief  in  all  points  of  doctrine  with  our  country- 
men and  other  reformed  churches,  though  per- 
haps not  alike  persuaded  in  some  matters  of 
order,  which  in  outward  respects  hath  been  un- 
happy for  us, — promise  and  assure  ourselves  of 
all  just  favour  and  indulgence  from  a  prince  so 
graciously  and  happily  endowed  ? 

"  The  other  part  of  our  errand  hither  hath 
been  attended  with  endeavours  and  blessing; 
many  of  the  wild  Indians  being  taught,  and  un- 
derstanding, the  doctrine  of  the  christian  re- 
ligion, and  with  much  affection  attending  such 
preachers  as  are  sent  to  teach  them.  Many  of 
their  children  are  instructed  to  write  and  read  ; 
and  some  of  them  have  proceeded  further  to  at- 
tain the  knowledge  of  the  Latin  and  the  Greek 
tongues,  and  are  brought  up  with  our  English 
youth  in  university  learning.  There  are  di- 
vers of  them  that  can  and  do  read  some  parts 
of  the  scripture,  and  some  catechisms  which 
formerly  have   been  translated   into  their  own 


APPENDIX. 


307 


language  :  which  hath  occasioned  the  undertak- 
ing of  a  great  work,  viz.  the  printing  the  whole 
bible :  which,  being  translated  by  a  painful  la- 
bourer among  them,  who  was  desirous  to  see  the 
work  accomplished  in  his  days,  hath  already 
proceeded  to  the  finishing  of  the  new  testament ; 
which  we  here  humbly  present  to  your  Majesty, 
as  the  first  fruit  and  accomplishment  of  the  pious 
design  of  your  royal  ancestors.  The  old  testa- 
ment is  now  under  the  press,  wanting  and  crav- 
ing your  royal  favour  and  assistance  for  the 
perfecting  thereof. 

'*  We  may  not  conceal,  though  this  work  hath 
been  begun  and  prosecuted  by  such  instruments 
as  God  has  raised  up  here  ;  yet  the  chief  charge 
and  cost,  which  hath   supported  and  carried  it 
thus  far,  hath  been  from  the  charity  and  piety  of 
divers  of  our  well  afiected  countrymen  in  Eng- 
land ;  who,  being  sensible  of  our  inability  in  that 
respect,  and  studious  to  promote  so  good  a  work, 
contributed  large  sums  of  money,  which  were  to 
be  improved  according  to  the  direction  and  order 
of  the  then  prevailing  powers  ;  which  hath  been 
faithfully  and   religiously  attended,  both   there 
and  here,  according  to  the  pious  intentions  of  the 
benefactors.    And  we  most  humbly  beseech  your 
Majesty,  that  a  matter  of  so  much  devotion  and 


308  APPENDIX. 

piety,  tending  so  much  to  the  honour  of  God, 
may  suffer  no  disappointment  through  any  legal 
defect,  without  the  fault  of  the  donors,  or  poor 
Indians,  who  only  receive  the  benefit ;  but  that 
your  Majesty  be  graciously  pleased  to  establish 
and  confirm  the  same ;  being  contrived  and 
done,  as  we  conceive,  in  that  first  year  of  your 
Majesty's  reign,  of  this  book  was  begun  and 
now  finished  the  first  year  of  your  establish- 
ment :  which  doth  not  only  presage  the  happy 
success  of  your  Highness's  government,  but  will 
be  a  perpetual  monument,  that  by  your  Majes- 
ty's favour,  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
was  made  known  to  the  Indians ;  an  honour 
whereof,  we  are  assured,  your  Majesty  will  not 
a  little  esteem. 

"  Sir,  the  shine  of  your  royal  favour  upon 
these  undertakings  will  make  these  tender  plants 
to  flourish,  notwithstanding  any  malevolent  as- 
pect from  those  that  bear  evil  will  to  this  Sion ; 
and  render  your  Majesty  more  illustrious  and 
glorious  to  after  generations. 

"  The  God  of  heaven  long  preserve  and  bless 
your  Majesty  with  many  happy  days,  to  his 
glory,  the  good  and  comfort  of  his  church  and 
people.     Amen." 


APPENDIX.  309 

E.— See  page  182. 

The  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel 
among  the  Indians  has  been  mentioned  several 
times  in  this  work. 

About  the  year  1648,  during  the  Protectorate 
of  Cromwell,  when  the  Presbyterians  and  Inde- 
pendents had  influence  in  England,  a  Society 
was  formed  through,  the  influence,  it  is  believed, 
of  Gov.  Winslow,  and  called  the  Society  for 
Propagating  the  Gospel  among  the  Indians  and 
others  in  North  America. 

It  is  somewhere  stated  respecting  Cromwell 
that  he  had  conceived  a  very  extensive  scheme 
for  the  universal  propagation  of  the  Gospel,  bor- 
rowing the  zeal  and  ingenuity  of  the  Jesuits,  and 
intending  to  meet  and  counteract  their  efforts 
everywhere.  This  scheme  perished  with  him 
in  his  early  death.  Even  the  Society  for  Propa- 
gating the  Gospel  among  the  Indians,  &c.,  did 
not  long  survive  the  restoration  of  royalty  in 
1660.  But  during  its  existence  under  the  Com- 
monwealth it  rendered  aid  to  Mayhew,  Eliot, 
and  others,  the  funds  being  applied  here  through 
the  Commissioners  of  the  four  Colonies. 

The  Society  being  dissolved  at  the  Restora- 
tion of  monarchy  under  Charles  II.,  an  urgent 


310  APPENDIX. 

application  was  soon  made  for  another  Society 
having  the  same  name  and  objects.  The  hon- 
orable and  distinguished  Robert  Boyle  was  Pres- 
ident of  the  new  Society.  He  had  great  wealth, 
and  used  it  with  profuse  liberality.  The  cele- 
brated Bishop  Burnet  was  his  almoner  in  many 
private  as  well  as  public  charities.  He  distrib- 
uted a  thousand  pounds  a  year  for  several  years 
before  his  death  among  the  French  refugees  in 
England.  He  also  gave  yearly,  for  a  long  time, 
the  sum  of  three  hundred  pounds  for  the  propa- 
gation of  the  Gospel  in  North  America.  Mr. 
Eliot's  letters  to  his  noble  benefactor,  which  may 
be  found  in  the  Collections  of  the  Mass.  Hist. 
Society,  will  be  read  with  interest. 

The  Indian  School,  at  Cambridge,  was  sup- 
ported by  the  funds  of  this  Society,  and  a  build- 
ing erected  for  it  by  the  same.  In  1665  there 
were  eight  Indian  youths  in  that  school.  Eliot's 
Indian  Bible  was  printed  at  the  expense  of  this 
Society,  and  cost  £500,  or  not  far  from  two 
thousand  dollars. 

For  a  few  years,  the  General  Court  of  Mas- 
sachusetts granted  five  hundred  dollars  towards 
the  object  of  this  Society.  At  the  suggestion  of 
the  Society  the  Governor  issued  a  request  for 
contributions    in    its    behalf  to    the  towns    of 


APPENDIX. 


311 


the    Commonwealth.     About    $1560  were  col- 
lected. 

This  Society  continues  to  this  time.  In  1800, 
its  funds  amounted  to  S20.000.  At  present  they 
are  not  far  from  twice  that  sum.  It  is  in  the 
hands  of  members  of  the  Unitarian  denomi- 
nation.^ 


F. 

Letters  of  Mr.  Eliot  to  Hon.  Robert  Boyle 
may  be  found  in  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  1792.  Also 
two  interesting  letters  from  the  same  in  Fran- 
ces' Life  of  Eliot,  pp.  250  and  267. 


G. 

See,  for  an  account  of  the  Missionary  Labors 
of  the  Mayhews,  Wilson's  Memoirs  of  Eliot,  pp. 
273—9. 


H. 

See  Wilson's  Memoirs  of  E.,  p.  290. 


*  Sea  Smith  &  Choulea'  Hist.  Mis?.  1832,  Vol.  II. 


312 


Mr.  Eliot's  Observations  on  forming  the  In- 
dian Alphabet,  do.  do.,  p.  284. 


K. 


For  an  account  of  Rev.  William  Leverich,  and 
some  other  laborers  among  the  Indians,  see 
Wilson's  Memoirs,  pp.  257-60.  p.  278-99. 


L. — See  page  133. 

The  following  petitions  of  Mr.  Eliot  have  been 
copied  for  this  work  from  the  Mass.  State 
Papers.  The  first  is  a  temperance  document 
which  has  not  lost  any  pertinency  or  force 
by  age. 

Petition  of  John  Eliot  to  the General 

Court  concerning  the  Indians, 
Sheweth, 

That  whereas  the  Indians  have  frequent 
recourse  to  English  townes  and  especially  to 
Boston  where  they  too  often  see  evil  examples 
of  excessive  drinking  with  English  who  are  too 


APPENDIX 


313 


often  disgraced  with  that  beastly  sin  of  drunk- 
enness.    And  themselves  many  of  them  greatly 
delighting  in  strong  liquors,  not  considering  the 
strena-th   and  evil  of  them,  and   also  too  well 
knowing  the  liberty  of  the  law  which  prohib- 
iteth  above  half  a  pint  of  wine  to  a  man  that 
therefore  they  may  without  offence  to  the  law 
have  their  half  pint,  and  when   they  have  had 
it  in  one  place   they  goe  to  another  and  have 
the  like  till  they  be  drunken.     And  sometime 
find  too  much  entertainment  that  way  by  such 
who  keepe  no  ordinary  only  desire  theire  trade 
though  it  be  with  the  hurt  and  perdition  of  their 
soules.     Therefore  my  humble  request  unto  this 
honored  Court  is  this,  that  there  may  be  but  one 
ordinary  in  all  Boston  who  may  have  liberty  to 
sell  v^ine  or  any  strong  drink  unto  the  Indians. 
And  that  whoever  shall  further  them  in  their 
vicious  drinking* for  theire  own  base  ends  who 
keep  no  ordinary  may  not  be  suffered  in  such  a 
sinne  without   due   punishment.     And  that  at 
what  ordinary  soever  in  any  other   towne   as 
well  as  Boston  any  Indian  shall  be  found  drunk, 
having  had  any  considerable   quantity  of  drink 
there,  they  should  come  under  severe  censure. 
These  things  I  am  bold  to  present  unto  you  for 
the  preventing  of  those   scandalous  evils  which 

VOL.    ITT.  27 


314  APPENDIX. 

greatly  blemish  and  interrupt  their  entertain- 
ment of  the  Gospel  through  the  policy  of  Satan 
who  counter  worketh  Christ  with  not  a  little  un- 
comfortable success.  And  thus  with  my  hearty 
desire  of  the  gracious  and  blessed  presence  of 
God  among  you  in  all  your  weighty  affairs,  I 
humbly  take  leave  and  rest  your  servant  to  com- 
mand in  our  Savour  Christ, 

JOHN  ELIOT, 
this  23d  of  the  8th  1648. 


M.— See  page  134. 
The  next  petition  is  exceedingly  interesting. 

To  the  Honorable  the    Governor  and   Council 
sitting  at  Boston  the  \2th  of  the  6th,  1675. 
The  humble  petition  of  John  Eliot, 
Sheweth,  ^ 

That  the  terrour  of  selling  away  such  Indians 
in  the  Hands  for  perpetual  Slaves  who  shall 
yield  up  themselves  to  your  mercy  is  likely  to 
be  an  effectual  prolongation  of  the  warre  and 
such  an  exasperation  of  them  as  may  produce 
we  know  not  what  evil  consequences  upon  all 
the  land.  Christ  hath  said,  "  Blessed  are  the 
merciful,  for  they  shall  obtain  mercy."  This 
[treatment]  of  them   is  worse  than  death,     To 


APPENDIX.  015 

put  to  death  men  that  have  deserved  to  die  is  an 
ordinance  of  God  and  a  blessing  is  promised  to 
it.  It  may  be  done  in  faith.  The  design  of 
Christ  in  these  last  days  is  not  to  extirpate  na- 
tions but  to  gospelize  them.  He  will  spread  the 
Gospel  sound  the  world  about,  rev.  11.  15.  The 
kingdoms  of  the  world  have  become  the  king- 
doms of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ.  His  sover- 
eign hand  and  grace  hath  brought  the  Gospel  into 
these  dark  places  of  the  earth.  When  we  came 
we  declared  to  the  world,  and  it  is  recorded,  yea 
we  are  instructed  by  our  letters  patent  from  the 
King's  majesty  that  the  endeavour  of  the  In- 
dians conversion  not  their  extirpation  was  one 
great  end  of  our  enterprize  in  coming  to  these 
ends  of  the  earth.  The  Lord  hath  so  succeeded 
his  work  as  that  (by  his  grace)  they  have  the 
Holy  Scriptures  and  sundry  of  themselves  able 
to  teach  their  countrymen  the  good  knowledge 
of  God.  The  light  of  the  Gospel  is  risen 
among  those  who  sat  in  darkness  and  in  the  re- 
gion of  the  shadow  of  death.  And  however 
some  of  them  have  refused  to  receive  the  Gos- 
pel, and  are  now  incensed  in  their  spirits  unto  a 
warre  against  the  English,  yet  by  that  good 
promise,  Ps.  1 :  1 — 6,  I  doubt  not  but  the  mean- 
ing of  Christ  is  to  open  the  door  for  the  free  pas- 


316  APPENDIX. 

sage  of  the  Gospel  among  them,  and  that  the 
Lord  will  publish  that  word,  v.  6.  Yet  have  I 
set  my  king  on  my  holy  hill  of  Syon,  though 
some  rage  at  it.  My  humble  request  is  if  you 
would  follow  Christ  his  design  in  this  matter  to 
promote  the  free  passage  of  religion  among 
them  and  not  destroy  them.  To  send  them 
away  from  the  light  of  the  Gospel  which  Christ 
hath  graciously  given  them  unto  a  place,  a  state, 
a  way  of  spiritual  darkness  to  the  eternal  ruin 
of  their  souls  is  as  I  apprehend  to  act  contrary 
to  the  mind  of  Christ.  God's  command  is  that 
we  should  inlarge  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Esay,  54  :  2.  Enlarge  the  place  of  thy  tent.  It 
seemeth  to  me  that  to  sell  them  away  for  slaves 
is  to  hinder  the  inlargement  of  his  kingdom. 
How  can  a  Christian  [soule  yield  to  act] — (these 
words  are  indistinct)  in  casting  away  their 
soules  for  which  Christ  hath  with  an  eminent 
hand  provided  an  offer  of  the  Gospel.  To  sell 
soules  for  money  seemeth  to  me  a  dangerous 
merchandize.  If  they  deserve  to  dy,  it  is  far 
better  to  be  put  to  death  under  godly  [rulers] 
who  will  take  care  if  meanes  may  be  used  that 
they  may  die  penitently.  To  fall  away  from  all 
meanes  of  grace  when  Christ  hath  provided 
meanes  of  grace  for  them,  is  for  us  to  be  active 


APPENDIX.  317 

in  the  destroying  their  soules  when  we  are 
highly  obliged  to  seek  their  conversion  and  sal- 
vation and  have  opportunity  in  our  hands  so  to 
doe.  Deut.  23 :  15,  16."^  A  fugitive  servant 
from  his  Pagan  master  might  not  be  delivered 
to  his  master,  but  be  kept  in  Israel  for  the  good 
of  his  soul.  How  much  less  lawful  is  it  to  sell 
away  souls  from  under  the  light  of  the  Gospel 
into  a  condition  where  their  souls  will  be  utterly 
lost,  so  far  as  appertains  unto  man.  All  men  (of 
reading)  condemned  the  Spaniard  for  cruelty 
upon  this  point  for  destroying  men  and  depopu- 
lating the  land.  The  country  is  large  enough, 
here  is  land  enough  for  them  and  us  to,  Prov. 
14  :  28.  In  the  multitude  of  people  is  the  King's 
honor.  It  will  be  much  to  the  glory  of  Christ 
to  have  many  brought  in  to  worship  his  great 
name.  I  beseech  the  honored  Council  to  par- 
don my  boldnesse,  and  let  the  case  of  conscience 
be  discussed  orderly  before  the  thing  be  acted. 
Cover  my  weaknesse  and  weigh  the  reason  and 
religion  that  laboreth  in  this  great  case  of  con-, 
science. 


*  "  Thou  shall  not  deliver  unto  his  master  the  servant  which  \» 
escaped,"  &c. 

27=^ 


318  APPENDIX. 

N-— See  page  135. 

The  following  petition  of  Mr.  Eliot  illustrates 
the  kind  interest  which  he  took  in  the  com- 
mon and  private  affairs  of  the  Indians.  I 
have  copied  it  from  Mass.  State  Papers,  (In- 
dian Papers)  30.  p.  15.  1639—1705. 

PETITION    THAT    TWO     INDIANS     MAY     HAVE     THE  III 

DUE. 

The  humble  petition  of  John  Eliot  to  this  Hon- 
orable Court. 

First  in  the  behalfe  of  Totherswompe  unto 
whom  one  of  Uncas  his  men  doth  owe  18  fath- 
om of  wampompeague  for  6  beare  skins  and  he 
cannot  obtain  justice  with  ease  and  therefore 
doth  humbly  intreat  this  honored  Court  to  pro- 
cure justice  for  him  in  this  particular.  Phoxon 
well  knoweth  his  demand  is  just  and  true,  as 
Thomas  and  Stanton  can  testify. 

The  other  is  in  behalf  of  Anonganisch,  who 
lost  17  fathom  which  Uncas  and  his  men  tooke 
unjustly  from  him  3  years  since  when  they  fell 
upon  the  Indians  by  Mr.  Winthrop's  plantation, 
and  he  saith  that  when  his  case  was  at  this 
Court  formerly  heard  The  Governour  promised 
him  that  he  should  have  justice,  and  that  doth 
embolden  him  to  sue   again   in  the  case.     The 


APPENDIX.  319 

bringing  them  to  doe  justice  doth  so  far  cause 
them  to  honour  and  acknowledge  God  and  there- 
fore I  humbly  entreat  your  favour  in  further- 
ance of  the  same,  and  so  commending  all  your 
weighty  occasions  to  the  blessing  of  the  Lord. 
Your  worships  servant 

in  Jesus  Christ, 

JOHN  ELIOT/^^ 


O. — See  page  48. 

THE  CHURCH  IN  E.0XBURV. 

(See  Am.  Quarterly  Register,  Vol.  Sih.) 
Thomas  Welde,    the  first  Minister  of  Rox- 
bury,  was  a  minister  in  Essex,  England.     Re* 


*  Those  who  are  interested  in  the  subjects  referred  to  in  other 
petitions  of  Mr.  Eliot  may  find  those  petitions  as  follows  : 

Petition  that  the  Indians  may  have  more  land,  Mass.  State  Papers, 
30,  page  31. 

Petition  in  relation  to  exchange  of  land  with  the  Indians,  do.  do, 
page  81. 

Statement  of  John  Eliot  respecting  lands,      do.    do.      pp.  99,  100, 

Complains  of  wrong  done  to  the  Nipmucks  by  the  Narraganselts, 
do.     do.     page  138. 

Gookin's  and  Eliot's  petition  for  lands  for  the  Christian  Indians, 
do.    do.    p.  286, 

There  are  also  some  original  MSS.  of  Mr.  Eliot's  in  the  Hutchin- 
son papers  in  the  Library  of  the  Mass.  Historical  Society,  but  they 
are  somewhat  illegible  and  of  no  special  pertinency  to  the  present 

WOTk, 


320  APPENDIX. 

fusing  to  conform  to  the  requirements  of  the 
Established  Church,  he  sought  the  quiet  enjoy- 
ment of  the  rights  of  conscience  in  this  country. 
He  arrived  in  Boston,  June  5,  1632,  and  entered 
upon  the  pastoral  office  in  Roxbury,  at  which 
time  the  Church  was  embodied.  In  1641,  he 
was  sent  as  an  agent,  with  Rev.  Hugh  Peters, 
to  England  for  the  Province  and  never  returned. 

John  Eliot  became  teacher  of  the  Church  in 
Roxbury,  Nov.  5,  1632.  The  next  year  he  be- 
came colleague  with  Mr.  Welde. 

Samuel  Danforth  was  colleague  with  Mr. 
Eliot  after  Mr.  Welde  went  to  England.  He 
continued  in  office  24  years. 

Nehemiah  Walter,  born  in  Ireland,  came  to 
Boston  at  the  age  of  16.  Graduated  at  Harvard 
College,  and  was  the  third  colleague  of  Mr. 
Eliot.  He  had  so  good  knowledge  of  the  French 
Language  that  he  preached  to  a  society  of  French 
Protestants  while  their  Pastor  was  absent. 
Whitefield  called  him  "  the  good  old  Puritan." 
A  well  known  publication  of  his  is  called,  "  The 
Wonderfulness  of  Christ." 

Thomas  Walter,  his  son,  became  colleague 
with  his  father,  but  died  7  years  after. 

Oliver  Peabody,  son  of  the  Missionary  at 
Natick  of  the  same  name,  succeeded  Mr.  Wal- 


APPENDIX. 


321 


ter,  but  continued  only  18  months,  and  died 
when  on  the  eve  of  being  married,  aged  27. 

Amos  Adams,  was  Pastor  at  Roxbury  22  years 
and  died  of  the  epidemic  which  prevailed  in  the 
camp  at  Roxbury  and  Cambridge.  The  title  of 
one  of  his  published  Sermons  was,  The  only 
Hope  and  Refuge  of  Sinners. 

Elifhalet  Porter  succeeded  him  and  con- 
tinued in  office  51  years. 

George  Putnam,  the  present  Pastor,  was  or- 
dained colleague  with  him,  July  7,  1830. 

A  Church  was  organized  in  Roxbury,  Sept. 
18,  1834,  composed  of  Members  of  Evangelical 
sentiments,  and  of  the  Orthodox  Congregational 
denomination.     It   took   the    name    of   "Eliot 

Church." 

Rev.  John  S.  C.  Abbott  w^as  ordained  Pastor, 

Nov.  25,  1835. 

Rev.  Augustus  C.  Thompson  was  ordained 
Pastor,  July  27,  1842. 


F, — See  page  51. 

ROXBURY  "  ELTOT  SCHOOL  FUND." 

"  Eliot  School  Fund  had  its  origin  in  the  do- 
nation of  Rev.  John  Eliot,  of  Roxbury,  well 
known  as   the  Apostle  to  the  Indians,  who,  in 


322  APPENDIX. 

the  year  1689,  conveyed  an  estate  of  about  sev- 
enty-five acres  of  land  to  certain  persons  and 
their  heirs,  as  Trustees  for  "  the  maintenance, 
support  and  encouragement  of  a  school  and 
school  master  at  that  part  of  Roxbury,  commonly 
called  Jamaica  or  the  Pond  Plain,  for  the  teach- 
ing and  instructing  of  the  children  of  that  end 
of  the  town  (together  with  such  Indians  and  ne- 
groes as  shall  or  may  come  to  the  said  school) 
and  to  no  other  use,  intent,  or  purpose  what- 
ever. This  is  the  language  of  the  deed."  (The 
fund  was  afterwards  increased  by  donations.) 

"  The  Eliot  school  fund  consists  (1840)  of 
$9,699  94.  The  School  also  possesses  some 
real  estate,  which  yields  an  annual  income  of 
S381." 

Report  of  the  Committee  on  the  School  Fund, 
Roxbury.     Auditor's  Reports,  1S31— 1846. 


The  following  are  the  principal  of  Mr.  Eliot's 
publications.  It  is  remarkable  that  no  entire 
Sermon  of  his  has  been  preserved. 

Answer  to  Norcott's  book  against  Infant  Bap- 
tism. 

The  Harmony  of  the  Gospels  in  the  Holy 
History  of  Jesus  Christ. 


APPENDIX.  823 

The  Christian  Commonwealth. 

The  Divine  management  of  Gospel  Churches 
by  the  Ordinance  of  Councils,  constituted  in  or- 
der according  to  the  Scriptures,  which  may  be  a 
means  of  uniting  those  two  holy  and  eminent 
parties,  the  Presbyterians  and  the  Congrega- 
tional. 

Indian  Bible,  Catechism,  and  Psalms  of  Da- 
vid in  metre. 

Baxter's  "  Call  to  the  unconverted,"  translated 
into  the  Indian  Tongue. 

The  Practice  of  Piety,  translated  into  the 
Indian  Tongue.  This  book  was  written  by 
Lewis  Bayly,  for  some  time  Chaplain  to  James 
the  First.  In  1792,  it  had  reached  the  seventy- 
first  edition.  The  author  was  promoted  to  the 
see  of  Bangor,  1616.  See  Lib.  Am.  Biog.  V. 
245.  Francis'  Life  of  Eliot.  Biog.  Britan. 
Art.     Bayly. 

Thomas  Shepard's  Sincere  Convert,  trans- 
lated into  the  Indian  tongue. 

Thomas  Shepard's  Sound  Believer,  translated 
into  the  Indian  tongue. 

Indian  Primer. 

This  little  book  has  been  of  great  help  to 
linguists  by  the  division  of  syllables  in  it  for 
children,  thereby  giving  learners  of  a  larger 
growth  some  insight  into  the  formation  of  In- 
dian words. 


324  APPENDIX. 


NOTE. 

The  following  appropriate  conclusion  to  this  volume  came  to  hand 
just  as  the  last  pages  were  going  to  press. 

The  Choctaws  to  their  White  Brethren  of 
Ireland. — A  meeting  for  the  relief  of  the  starving 
poor  of  Ireland  was  held  at  the  Choctaw  agency,  on 
the  23d  ult.  Maj.  William  Armstrong  was  called  to 
the  chair,  and  J.  B.  Luce  was  appointed  secretary. 
A  circular  of  the  "  Memphis  committee"  was  read 
by  Maj.  Armstrong,  after  which  the  meeting  contrib- 
uted $  170.  All  subscribed,  agents,  missionaries, 
traders  and  Indians,  a  considerable  portion  of  which 
fund  was  made  up  by  the  latter.  The  "  poor  Indian  " 
sending  his  mite  to  the  poor  Irish  ! 

[Arkansas  Intelligencer,  April  3.] 


\ 


"^^0^ 


^'  Oo      . 


^ 


^    ^^ 


-^  4    -.-mm I  -^^0^    ^^^ii^^<  >^o^ 


^^ 


.^' 


<^'  ^ 


0^' 


dS 


^  f' 


^^Ho^ 


'^^^''"^         V 


'<i 


o 


9d/-o. 


:   '^^o^ 


^^' "f^