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COTTON M A T il K R , • »t-S4M-fSL G. BUAKE. M. A.: ir.^f>. i 'OMprehesmvj: iiv»Gx. by a^otukr h; n>. » »< t it t; I u ti u .tl un. HARTFORD: SILAS ANDEUS AND SON, 185 o. . t:*' i i 1 . I f ^1 w ' 4 MAGiNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA; UR, C|e idesiastical f istoj ai pto-dEnglanb; FROM ITS FIRST PLANTING, IN THE YEAR 1620, UNTO THE YEAR OF OUR LORD lfi08. IN SEVEN B O (3 t S . BY COTTON MATHER, D. D., F. R. S., AND PASTOR OF THE NORTH CHURCH IN BOSTON, NEW-KNGLAND. WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND OCCASIONAL .\OTES, BY THE REV. THOMAS ROBBINS, U. U. ANU I'UANSLATIONS OF THE HEBREW, GREEK, AND LATIN QUOTATION:;, BY LUCIUS F. ROBINSON, LL. B. TO WHICH IS ADDED, A MEMOIR OF COTTON MATHER, BY SAMUEL G. DRAKE, M. A.; ALSO, A COIUPREHEIVSIVE INDEX, BY ANOTHER HA\n, IN TWO VOLUMES. — VOL. I. H ARTFO R D: SILAS ANDRUS AND SON 1855. f'l /"i^l 229019 ENTKRED, ACCORDING TO ACT OK CONGRESS, IN THE YEAU 1852, BY SILAS ANDRUS & S'ON, IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT COURT OF CONNKCTICIT. FOUKDRT OF SILAS ANDRUS AND SON. W, C. Armstrong, Typographer. W. S. WILI.iAMS, rHWTEU, UARTFURD, »UJTEU, ^ A 3eal« o£ £iiirlifltMilr« I' \ roc one > N X' I •^f^'^dli^'i^iL' ^ cOS^ Part or Tarmm. x Ea5T -V*^ Coloflme r <7 TUifr ,. 1^ c«..rf.«4 ^ ^f^xt K***-* ; Haw > .y it ♦• Ai jAB«Kr a^0t fhm > N 4i E w ^^\ 1 '?f#^r*r''^fiW| U ■"^ ^V\ ^^^ ^% CMcoBy ^^S^ftC^T^rfiu Me i^ ^ J^M^jJa^smUtJttw, JImSwm. ^' Jftyer fXUlhn XkiciftnwiOr Xiwv E .N^ }jidf \jSmj/IM \ y y 3^i»*« cJKi ./ ^0^ ASmyt"^ ['HMf ■Xm*''. |Tiipwli r*»r2Wir« Cmth^lftt 0r Cmit/rst bM« «rMUJ ^«& aC^ ¥ J»lm-3IA>^ D rAtgr Cupe Cod »*tJut> ^(f ^* ... ^> x^. bNrdbl r^s: Mr fmA'&k' >CAiet- r^ ( sJM'M/ ^ £oJ Island *^*-C. JtSaitlUt J rr TI if:' I ANTIQUITIES. THE FIEST BOOK or THE NEW-ENGLISH HISTORY: XBrORTlNO THE DESIGN WHERR-OJV, ^ C THR SEVERAL COLONIES THE MANNB:R WHERE-/iV, > ] OF NEW-RNGLAND WERE AND PEOPLE WHERE-:?r, ) f PLANTED. WITH fc A NARRATIVE OF MANY MEMORABLE PASSAGES REI.ATINO TO THE SETTLEMENT OF THESE PL AN T .\ T I ON S, A.ND AN BGCIE8IA8TICAL MAP OP THE COUNTRY. BY THE ENDEAVOUR OF COTTON MATHER. tjijvtje molis brat, pro CIIRISTO COXDERV. gk.vtf.m. tso mighty was the work to found christ's empire herk ] HARTFORD: SILAS ANDRU8 & SON. 1855. PREFACE TO THE FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. f I t ,1 The Publisher of this second Edition of Dr. Mather's Magnalia, has long been Hcnsibio uf the great demand for the Work, both by literary men and all others who wish to be acquainted with the early history of our country. The first Edition was published in London ill the year 1702, in a Folio Volume of 788 pages. A considerable number of Copies were soon brought into New-England ; yet, as many of these are lost, and the work is not to be obtained in England but with difficulty, it has become very scarce. In some instances it has been sold at a great price, but, in most cases, those who have been desirous to possess, or even to read the volume, have been unable to procure it. The Magnalia is a standard work with American Historians, and must ever continue to be such, especially, respecting the affairs of New-England. To this portion of our country, always distinguished for emigrations, a great part of the population of New-York, the most important state in the American confederacy, and of all the western states north of the Ohio, will always trace their origin. Nor will the lapse of ages, diminish their respect for the land of their forefathers. The work now presented to the American public contains the history of the Fathers of New-England, for about eighty years, in the most authentic form. No man since Dr. Mather's time, has had so good an opportunity as he enjoyed to consult the most authentic documents. The greater part of his facts could be attested by living witnesses and the shortest tradition, or taken from written testimonies, many of which have since perished. The situation and character of the author afforded him the most favourable opportunities to obtain the docu- ments necessary for his undertaking. And no historian would pursue a similar design with greater industry and zeal. The author has been accused of credulity. Tliis ch;irge, however, will not be advanced with confidence by those well acquainted with the character of the times of which he treats. The great object of the first Planters of New-England was to form A Christian Common- wealth — a design without a parallel in ancient or modem times. The judicious reader would expect to discover, in the annals of such a people, characters and events not to be found in the history of other eommunitirs. — ^The geography and natural history of the country were not the principjil objects of the author's attention, and, on these subjects, he has fallen into some mistakes. Tlie work is both a civil and an ecclesiastical history. — The large portion of it devoted to Biography, affords the reader a more distinct view of the leading characters of the times^ than could have been given in any other form. The author's language is peculiarly his own. In the rapidity of his manner, he could pay but little attention to his style. Such as it is, it has been thought best to retain it, in VI PREFACES. this Edition, as well as his orthography, unaltered.* The Titles of D. D. and P. R. S. were given to Dr. Mather after the publication of this work, and are now annexed to his name in the title-page. Many omissions in the original work have been recommended, but the publisher concludes to retain the whole. — He is sensible of the risk of publishing so large a work, at the present time. But relying on the utility of tlie object, he entertains a hope tiiat the liberality of the ptiblic will save him from loss. T. R. IfartforA, Connectieul, June Ut, 1880. I PREFACE TO THE PRESENT EDITION. When I encouniged Mr. Andrus, some thirty years since, to republish the Venerable Magnalia, it was supposed that few copies would be sold. A small part of the community, even, know of the existence of the work. It was first printed in England, in 1702. The most of the second edition was soon disposed of, and for some years past has been scarce. The demand for the work is now increasing. The History of New-England cannot bo written without this authority. It is equally important in the department of Biography and History, Civil and Ecclesiastical. It is stated, in the Preface before us, that "The great object of the first Planters of New-England was to form A Christian Commonwealth." That is finely suggested by he Author, in the elegant quotation from the great Latin Poet, with a small variation, " Tantic Molis eral, pro Christo covdere Gentem." And now we may say, by the favour of Heaven, the avork is done. The world looks with amazement on a great Country, united in one territory, more extensive than Rome, a great population in rajjid increase, all looking for Salvation in the name of the Divine Nazarene. Hartford, Sunt 1»«, 1859. THOMAS ROBBINS. • It will be perceived that there is not by any means a uniformity in the orthography of this edition; btit whether the discrepancies are attributable to the author or to the former printers, it is impossible now to deter- mine. Except where palpable errors had been overlooked, the copy of the last edition has been strictly followed in rei^rd to orthography, although many material deviations have been made in the typography. Quotation marks have been introduced, in lieu of putting the numerous quotations in italic, to correspond with the antique style; and a difference has been made in the type for the original text and that for the documentary portion and extracts ; thereby so distinctly marking each, that they caimot be easily confounded.— TyrooRApniR. a TB AN AC1 i A I I ■ TH I . f GENERAL CONTENTS OF THE SEVERAL BOOKS. VOLUME I. BOOK I. AMTIQUITIES. — IN SEVEN CHAPTERS. — WITH AN APPENDIX. BOOK II. CONTAINING THE LIVES OF THE GOVERNORS AND NAMES OF THE MAGISTRATES OF NEW-ENGLAND — IN THIRTEEN CHAPTERS. — WITH AN APPENDIX. BOOK III. THE LIVES OF SIXTY FAMOUS DIVINES, BY WHOSE MINISTRY THE CHURCHES OF NEW>ENGLAND HAVE BEEN PLANTED AND CONTINUED. bnt lirka kle; VOLUME II. BOOK IV. KV ACCOUNT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE IN NEW-ENGLAND — IN TWO PARTS. PART I. CONTAINS THE LAWS, THE BENEFACTORS, AND VICISSITITOES OF HARVARD COLLEGE, WITH REMARKS UPON IT. PART IL THE LIVES OF SOME EMINENT PERSONS EDUCATED IN IT. BOOK V. ACTS AND MONUMENTS OF THE FAITH AND ORDER IN THE CHURCHES OF NEW-ENGLAND, PASSED IN THEIR synods; WITH HISTORICAL REMARKS UPON THOSE VENERABLE ASSEMBLIES, >ND A GREAT VARIETY OF CHURCH-CASES OCCURRING AND RESOLVED BY THE SYNODS OF THOSE CHURCHES. — IN FOUR PARTS. BOOK VI. A FAITHFUL RECORD OF MANY ILLUSTRIOUS, WONDERFUL PROVIDENCES, BOTH OF MERCIES AND JUDGMENTS ON DIVERS PERSONS IN NEW-ENGLAND. — IN EIGHT CHAPTERS. BOOK VII. THE WARS OF THE LORD — BEING AN HISTORY OF THE MANIFOLD AFFLICTIONS AND DIS- TURBANCES OF THE CHURCHES IN NEW-ENGLAND, FROM THEIR VARIOUS ADVERSARIES, AND THE WON. SRFUL METHODS AND MERCIES OF GOD IN THEIR DELIVERANCE. IN SIX CHAP- TERS. TO WHICH IS SUBJOINED, AN APPENDIX OF REMARKABLE OCCURRENCES ^VraCH NEW-ENGLAND HAD IN THE WARS WITH THE INDIAN SALVAGES, FROM THE YEAR 1688 TO THE YEAR 1698. INDEX. [WHEN NO VOLUME IS DESIGNATED, THE REFERENCES ARE TO THE FIRST VOLUME.] A« PAOK Abinqi'id, sat^moro, treacherously killed ^ Cap- tain Chub at Pemuquid, vul. li C33 Adams, Eiiphalel, gr. u. c. ii. 33; minister uf Little Cumpton, 1 87 Adams, HukIi, gr. ii. c. ii 33 Adams, Mrs. burbaroualy murdered at Pumuquid) ii. C^7 Adams, Thomas, 67; ass't mag. of N. K Ml Adams, William, gr. u. c. ii 31 Adderiy, Sain'l, origiiiul patentee o( iMa(<:8 Allen, Juob, gr. u. c. ii 33 Alien, James, inin. of Old South Church, Boston, 87, 3:17 Allen, Thomas, min.ofCharlestown,i. 3.35; returns to England, .588 ; epitaph, 589 Allin, John, gr. h. c. 30 ; minisier ol Du Jlium, 335 ; birth, 401 ; theological character and position at Dedliam, 403 ; death, ib. ; epitaph, 403 Allin, Daniel, gr. ii, c. ii 31 Ailing, J icob, gr. H. c. ii 31 Allyn, John, mag. of Connecticut, ii 163 Allyn, Matthew, mag. of Connecticut, ii 1U3 Allertoii, Isaac, gr. h. c. ii 30 Ambrose, Josua, gr. ii. o. ii 3(1 Ambrose, Nehcmiah, gr. h. c. ii 30 America, Columbina the Just name for, 41 ; Abori- gines of, 44 ; Prophecies of the Church in, 7(1 Amos, Dr. his course at Leyden 47 Ames, William, diverted from emigrating to N. E. 330 ; gr. II. c. ii 30 Andrew, Jeremiah, gr. ii. c. ii 33 Andrew, Lieut, pursues Inds. from Quocheco, ii.. . 60S Andrew, Samuel, gr. ii. c. ii 31 Andros, Sir Edmund, sends a force to quell Indiana at Falmouth, ii. .584 ; orders an army against them, 588 Angler, John, gr. ii.c. ii 30 Angier, Sam'l, min. of Wutertown, 87 ; gr. ii. c. ii. 31 Aosoowo, Abel, an elder of Indian Church at Mar- tha's Vineyard, ii 443 Apparitions: of n ship, 84 Appliiton, MnJ. aids in destroying Indians at Spring- field, ii. 5C5; ut Nurraganeett, .51)7 ; sends aid to Gloceater on the strange alarms there, 033 PAoa Aristotle, speculations on the philosophy of, ii 21 Armitage, Munasseh, gr. h. c. ii 31 Arnold, , minister of Rochesteft BT Arnold, Samuel, minister of Murshfluld, 837 Aahurst, Sir Henry, a benefactor to u. c. ii II Assacombuit, bloody women and children-killor, ii. 543 Astwood, , mag. of Connecticut, 1&! Atherton, Capt. personally threatens Ninigret, the Indian sachem, ii S5B Atherton, Humphrey, ass't mag. 143; maj. guu 144 Atherton, Seranlus, gr, h. c. ii 31 Atkinson, Nathaniel, gr. u. c. ii 31 Atkinson, Thomas, gr. u. c. ii 3i Atwood, John, mag. of New Plymouth II? Avery, John, minister of Marbk-head, 334 ; voyage thither and death by shipwreck, 307; epitaph,.. . IMiH Awonsomeck, sag. signs agreement for peace, ii. . . 6i6 B. Baccalaureus, origin of, ii 13 Bacon, , his remarkable premonitions aud ful- flltnent, ii 4«8 Bacon, Nathaniel, mag. of New Ply mouth, 1 17 BagatawawBngo,a^i«« Sheepscout John, signs agree- ment for peace, ii 696 Bailey, Jacob, gr. u. c. ii 31 Bailey, John, min. of WatertoAii,337; incidents of his life, 603 ; theological character, 604 ; author- ship, 619; religious experience, 631 ; death, 636 Bailey, Thomas, minister of Watertown, 837 Baily, John, remarkable dealh of his wife, ii 470 Baker, Nicholas, his private education, 594 ; excels 88 an arithmetician, SIM Baker, [Sir Riuhard,] often mistuken, 31 Baker, Tliomas, mag. of Connecticut, I6i Bailentine, John, gr. ii. c. ii 33 Bancroft, Caut. saves the garrison at Exeter, ii.... 605 Band, Robert, mag. of Connecticut, lUSt Bapson, Ebenezer, his strange sights at Glocoster, li. 631 Barnard, Tiiomas, gr. u. c. ii. 31 ; minister of Peni- aquid, narrowly escapes the Indians, ii 639 Barnard, Tobias, gr. n. c. ii 30 Barnet, Thomas, minister of New London, 237 Barrows Family, cut off by Indians, ii 587 Batty, John, his escape from Spaniards, ii 351 Baxter, Joseph, min. of Medtlold, 87; gr. h. u. ii.. . 32 Baxter, Richard, letter to Eliot, 583 ; benefactor (o H.c.ii II Beers, Capt. sent to subdue the Indians ii .5ri'l Beggars, their scnroily in New Eiieluiid, IKt Belcher, Joseph, min. of Uedhain, 87 ; gr. ii. c. ii. . 33 xu INDEX. FAOa Beir^ijr,Sain'l,inln.orW.Newbury,87; gr.R.o.ii. 31 BeUlngham, John, Rr. h. c. H 31 Bellliighuin, RIchurd, an originul grunteo of Maasop chUM]ttJ<, U7 ; Ruvernor itf MaHg 137 Bulllnghuin, Suiniiitl, gr. h. c. 11 31 Hennct, Andrew, wuiiderfully presurvod ut Hen, li,. 348 B«rry, Tliomon, gr. II. c. 11 31 Bethel, Sllngsliy, " Interesit of Kiirope," tj9 Bickrord, ThuiniiM, his braver}', 037 Billings, RIchurd, gr. II c. ii 32 Bishop, Jamc8, mug. of Connecticut, 163 Bishops or England, cuinmendt'd nnd reproved,. .. STil Blacttmun, Adum, min. of Stratrord, 333; of Mil- ford, 306; his plain preaching, 397; Melancthon's Epitaph by Beza, applicable to, 397 Blackman, Benjamin, gr. h. c. Ii 31 Blackman, Capt. siizes on the Indians at Saco, ii. . 584 Blackniore, Dr. Richard, his epic poem, 65 Blackslone, William, an episcopullan, 343 Blinman, Richard, mIn. of Gloceater, 235 ; returns to England, 585 Blowers, Thomiui, gr. u. c. 11/. 33 Bomaseen, sagamore, signs treaty of peace, ii 626 Book of Common Prayer, disputed about, 73 Boston, Old, [St. Botolph's town,] 94 Boston, metropolis of the whole English America, 15; N. £. Church gathered at, 79; chief town of N. England, 90 ; called " Lost-town," 91 ; ten fires in, 93; highly favoured of Heaven, 05; guarded by angels, 06 ; Its widows helped, 07 ; its drinking and disreputable houses, ino; idleness in reprov- ed, 103; Are at, 104; Dr. John Owen prevented n-om visiting 345 Bowers, John, gr. H. c. il. :I0; minister of Rye, i... 88 Bowles, John, gr. u. c. ii 31 Bracket, Anthony, escapes from the liidianf, II. 609 ; killed at Casco, 593; services against Indians,. . . 637 Bradford, MaJ. aids In the great battle with the Nar- ragansetts, Ii. 569; subsequent light with IndK.. . 574 Bradford, William, gov. of Plymouth, his life, Ii. 109 ; adventure in a Dutch ship, ib. ; his mastership of languages, 113; his temper and government, t'i. ; epitaph, 114 Bradstreel, Dudloy, gr. H. c. IL 33; his escape from Imllans at Pernaquid, 639 Bradstreet, Madam Ann (Dudley), 135 Bradstreet, Samuel, gr. n. c. 11 30 Bnidstreel, HImon, gr. h. c. ii 33 Bradstreet, Simon, gr. n. c. ii 31 Brainfurd, Connecticut, planted, H3 Brasile, attempts to settle, 39 Brattle, Thomas, gr. H. c. il 31 Brattle, William, tutor and temporary governor of H. c. ii. 19; gr. II. c. 31; min. of Cambridge, i... 87 Brattlebank, Captain ; his slaughter of Indians, and death, ii .571 Brecy, Briicy, min.of Brainford,U35; rel'nstoEng. 588 Rrewsti'r, Niilhaniel, er. u. c. Ii 30 'Brewster, William, his aid at Leyden, 47; elder of thflchurcVi. 63 Bridges, Robert, ass't mng. of MassnchusettH, 141 bndgham, Jiihti, gr. H. c. 11 31 Brigdon, /iichnrlah, gr. H. c. ii 30 Brinsmend, WlUiam, min. of Marlborough, 87 ; 11.. 98 Brock, John, gr. b. c. ii. 30; born at Strud brook, Suff, 35 ; min. of Reading, 36 ; priiyers answered, 38 Bronsdon, Robert, favourable mention of, ii 489 Brown, 'Cujit pursues the Indians at Lancaster, II.. C:l9 PAOI Brown, Edmund, mIn. of Sudbury, 335 Brown, James, mng. of New Plymouth, 117 ; min- ister of Swaiisey, SJ37 Brown, John, 67 ; mag. of New Plymouth, 117 Brown, John, strange sight at Glocosler, ii 031 Brown, John, his family captured by Indian!>, O-ta Brown, Joseph, gr. ii. c. ii 31 Brown, Richard, gr. h. c. 11 33 Brown, Samuel, 67 Brown, Williuin, ass't m-ig Ul Brown, Alexander, ass't mag. of Coimeclicut, 163 Buckingham, Stephen, minister of Norwalk, 68 ; H.c. 11 «f- 33 Buckingham, Thomas, minister of Hartford, 88; of SaybrtMtk, ib.; gr. a. c. ii 33 Bulkley, Gcr8hom,gr. h. c. ii 30 Bulkley, John, gr. u. c. ii 30 Bulkley, Peter, min. of 'Jmicord, 235, 237 ; his ori- gin in Bedfordshire, family, and education, 400; nimconforaiity, ib. ; discord with ruling elders at ConcortI, 402; family, 403; death and epitaph,.. 404 Bidkley, Peter, gr. h. c. ii 31 Bunker, Benjamin, gr. h. c. ii 31 Burden, John, gr. 11. c. ii 30 Burgis, William, secretary, 142 Burniff, Mons. gen. of the French at Wells flghl, il. 614 Burr, Jonathan, his birth and education, 308 ; ploua hibits of life, 370; min. of Dorchester, 373; his modest vow to the service of God, 373 ; approv- ed by Mr. Hooker, 374; death and epitaph, 375; gr. H.c. ii 30 Burr, Samuel, gr. h. c. il 32 Burroughs, George, gr. 11. c. ii 31 Bussio family, cut off by Indians, il 587 Butler, Henry, gr. H. c. 11 30 C. Cabots, early discoveries of the, 43 Canterbury, Archbishop of, favours Puritans, 49 Cape Ann, attempts to settle, 60 Cape Co tion, 400; I elders ut epitaph,.. 404 31 31 30 143 U flKliI, il. 614 108 ; pioua ,373; his ; npprov- laph, 375; 30 33 31 587 ... 30 ... 43 ans, 49 .... 60 .... 44 H. c. ii.. 31 .... 31 .... 237 .... 53 Tisii.... 538 rinine, ii. 586 [d, ii 179 139; her .... 139 famine at .... 643 .... 163 .... 31 |ii 33 .... 31 .... 30 .... 33 .... 30 .... 31 .... 31 citnntp, |hip ind 9e,-IG6; 'esidcnt Din his c. 472; 476 FAoa ChAuneejr, Israel, milliliter of Fsirfleld, . . m Cbeeachaumiik, Culcb, tfr.H.c.H 31 Cheever, 8am1, min. of Msrblehead, b7; gr. h. o. ii. 31 Cheever, Thomnv, gr. h. c. ii 31 Chemical speculations, 105 Children, instances of numerous, in some families, 517 Chub, Pasco, commander at Port Pemaquid ; his treachery and murder of Indian chiefs, il. 633; basely surrenders the furt to French and Indians, 633; himself and wife murdered at Andover,. . . . 039 Church covenant adopted, 71 ; church at Lyn gath- ered, 70 ; remnants of popery in protcstaiit ch'ch, 76 ; church at Roxbury gathered, 70 Church discipline in New England, remarks on, II. 237 Church, Onpt. his severe contest with the Indians at Pocasset, ii. 562 ; further encounters and slaugh- ter, 574— 5T6 ; ordere\ Day, Ezekiel, his strange sights at Glocester, 11. . . . 082 Dean, Francis, min. of Andover, 337 Delft-Haven, embarkation at, 49 Dellius, Godfrey, Dutch min. at Albany, ii 431 Denham, Mr. min. of Rlartha's Vineyard, UT ai7 INDEX. Denlton, Daniel, lua'l ma^. of New England, 141 ; ini^Dr-genernl uf Mnu., U3 ; gr. h. c. II 33 Deniiun, George, gr. ii. o. 11. Si \ with hli company muke grenl slnughter uf Indlanf, 573 Deiiiaoii, Jiilin, sr. ii. c. it 31 Denlaoii, Willluin, gr. u. o. 11 31 Denton, RIchiird, niin. uf 8tainl'ord, Ul.ttaS; provl- oualy uf Wenlhnralleld, 308 ; hla ayilem ordivln- lly, nna opitaph, 3W Donner, Mr. restores i^quaiitu the Indian tu hla • ooun'ry, 55 D<»b()rungh, Jnhn, ipiitc- <>>° Cunnucticiit, 16j Oeiboruugh, Nlcholius Ills connvcliun with evil splrlt^il 452 ; Dovll, peopltHl Amerlcit by Ruiidiiig Indmna ; InUtIt, 43 Devll-womhlp, 13; 11 5i» Oevilism, among Quiikers, II 538 : Dlgby, Sir Kvnelin, ii iK'ncOicior of n. c. 11 11 Dtodorut, tilciiliin, his first nccoiiiil of Americii,. . . 43 : UlfCovery of Amvrlcn, spcculutiuns on the, 43 ' Divorce, eccleslasticnl ruins for, ii S53 Doddridge, John, a boneructor or ii. c. 11 1 1 ' Ooliiver, Richard, etKMstrunge sights lit Uloci-ster, 11. 033 Done, John, mag. of New Plymouth, 117 ' Doney, Robin, siig. signs agreement for peace. It.. . 620 Dorchester, churcli . alhered at, 7U Downing, George, gr. ii. c. ii 30 Downing's daughter, worderful eecnpe from death atKiltery.ll 538 ' Drake, Sir Francis, 43 ' Driver, Robert, his crime and execution, II 406 Dudley, Joseph, his government In New England, 139; Rss't mag. 141; gr. H. c. ii 31 Dudley, Pa<-.l, gr. ii. c. II 33 Dudley, Tnomoji, Eati., deputy gov'r, 73; his birth and parentage, iSi; cimimi^tsioned captain by ' Queen Elizabeth, 133; marriage, 133; steward- ship with the earl of Lincoln, ib. ; his letter to the countLSS, 134 ; death, ib. ; his daughter. Mod. Ann Brndstreet, 133; epitaph, ib.; gr. ii. c. 11... 30 ' Dudley, Thomac, gr. ii. c. II 31 Dummer, ass't mug. of N. Engl»nd, 141 Dnmmer, Shubael, gr. h. c. II. 30; his ministry at York, 613; death by Indians, ib.; epitaph, 613 ' Dunen, Jonathan, a Quaker, his conduct at Marsh- fleld, II 530 Dunster, Henry, min. at Cambridge, 335 ; president of H. c. 11. 10 ; i. 400 ; rcvise^he metrical psalms, ib. ; epitaph, ^. 408 Dnslan, Hannah, captivity aim heroic exploit of, ii. 634 Dutch, their profaneness at Lcyden, 47 Dutten, Wm., suflerings at sen, and deliverance, ii. 347 Dwight, Josiah, ndn. of Woodstock, 87; gr. ii. c. Ii. 33 Dymmock, Captain, of Barnstable, slain by Indiana at Casco Bay, 11 633 E. Enit, David, his escape from Spaniards, II 351 Eastubrook, Benjamin, gr. H. c. II 33 Eostabroiik, Jiisupli, minister of Cimcord, 87 Eaton, Nathaniel, his connection with ii. n. Ii 10 Eaton, Samuel, mIn. of N. Haven, 335; parentage In Cheshire, Eng, .583; burial, 58C; gr. ii. n. ii.. 30 . Eaton, Theophilua, pliintH New Haven, 83; its gov. ib. ; oss't mag. N. Eiigliiiid, 141 ; comes with Mr. Hopkins to New Kngl.ind, 144; favoured by the king of Denmark isi Ebenezer, [see Boston,] go Ecolealaatical Map of Churches In N. England, 80; change* In England, 330 Edgeremelt, with other sagamores, sign a treaty of peace, II. fllO; bis light at Wells, 614; signs an agrecnaeot of peace, 630; treacherously killed by Chub, 03,1 Edwards, Timothy, minister of Andover Furms, 88 ; gr. H. c. II 33 Eliot, Abigail, singular preservation ot, ii IIJO Eliot, John, minister of Roxbury, 335 ; his sons In America, 341; birth, age, and family, .530; con- version and removal to New England, &:iil; onil- noncc for piety, 531 ; care and zeal for (he Lord's day, 535; temperate life, 538; charity, .540 ; inpr- clal attainments, 513; ministerial acconipiii'h- ment8,545; family government, 547; attention to children, 540; church discipline, 553; evangtliiim, 556; success with the Indians, 503; his Indian translation of the Bible, .504 ; latter life and death, 575; Baxter's letter on his charncler, 583; gr. ii. c. II. 30; his preaching refused by tliu Wainpan- oag Indians, tu their destruction, 300 Kliot, John, gr. n. c. il 31 Eliot, Joseph, gr. u. c. II 31 Eliot, Joseph, gr. It. c. ii 31 Eliot, Samuel, gr. h. c. II 31 Eliary, Benjamin, strange sights at Glocester, Ii. . . 033 Emerson, John, minister of Glucestor and Manches- ter, 87 ; gr. II. c. II 30 Emerson, John, gr. ii. c. 11 31 Emerson, John, gr. H. c. il 33 Emerson, John, death by Indians, il .500 Encounter, the flrst with Indian?, 53 Endicot, John, original grantee of Massachusetts, 67; governor, 137; ass't mug. 141; maj. gen. of N. Engl ind, 143; birth-place and parentage, 150; sulTerliig by sickness, 153; death and epitn|)h,. . 155 Endlcott, Capt. sent against the savogen, UUU Epes, Daniel, gr. ii. e. II 31 Epes, Samuel, gr. h. o. II 31 Epigram on the Mathers, 17 E»lerbrook, Benjamin, gr. H. c. ii 33 Eslerbrook, Joseph, gr. u. c. II 31 Esterbrook, Samuel, gr. u. r. II 33 Eveleth, John, gr. u. r. 11 32 Execution of W. C. II. 408; of James Morgan, 4U0 Fairbanks, Mary, taken captive by Indians, ii 643 Famham, Capt. slain by Indians at Pemaquid, ii.. . 501 Feavuur, Nicholas, his crime and execution, 41)8 Fen., Benjamin, mag. of Connecticut, 'I'; Festus, a divine nt Leyden, 47 Filer, John, gr. ii. c. Ii 31 Finch, Mons. his disaster with the natives, 66 Firmin, Giles, his remarks concerning nonconform- ity, 437; his "Real Christian," 588 Fisher, Daniel, a magistrate, 141 Fish, John, minister of Chelmsford, 335; birth and brothers, 4')7 ; embarks for New England in dis- guise, 478; preaches at Salem, ib.; his inllrmi- ' ties, 479; death and epitaph, 480 F'ske, Moses, min. of Braintree, 87; gr. ii. <;. il. . . 31 Fitch, Jubez, gr. ii. r. ii 33 Filch, James, min. of Norwich, Ct., 88, 237 ; mug. . 103 Flag, Lieut, slnln by Indians, ii 607 Flint, Henry, min. of Bruintree, 234 ; names of his twin, 443; epitaph, 443 Flint, Thomas, ass't inng. of N. England, 141 i i * 'I FAUX i'-,i nglund, 80; 830 a trtiiily ut 1; RigiiH nn ly killHd by 63? Fiirms, 8H ; 32 It ;jjO hh notm In ,K\); con' , 5:il); oiiil- llio Lord's f, .'i40 ; h- ' uttuiilloiitu vniiKt'liitn, niiddualh, 583; Kr. II. ^n^l Waiiipari- '9 390 31 31 31 31 I' 9 mt«r, 11... U3!i "'.^H i Maiiclii'S- ' im 30 i ' 4 33 53 SHChllHt^ltl^ ij. gen. of '. itiif,"', ISO; epitiij>li,.. )5S ouo 31 31 17 32 -' 31 32 32 g»li, 4U9 B, li 043 iiUI, li... 591 n, 4(W "i'J 47 - 31 1 ' 66 V oiiform- * 588 141 ■ ,_ rth and ill dis- ■ i,". iiiniml- ' 4 480 <;. ii... 31 32 ■% niiiif.. lp;i M ■M uf his '■•■r 443 -w 141 IM PAOI Flyiil, Henry, (tr- ■• o. i.i 3S Klyn), Juiiah, gr. r. o. li 31 Kloyd, Cnpt. hii flghl with Indian* at Wheelwrigbt't pond, il. 607 ; at Well^ 613 Kordham, Jonah, gr, r. c. II 31 Kordham, Robert, min. of Suuthampton, L. 1 935 Kortiine-tellera, at Port Royal, Jamaica, 09 Foster, Imao, gr. h. o. II 31 Foster, Jolir., gr. h. o. II. 31 ; hli doinga hivourably meiitluiied, 48ff Fox, Jiibiiz, min. of Wobiirn, U? ; gr. r. o. II 31 Fox, John, Martyrologlst, SO Fox, John, im Leyden, 49 Guiifon], Connecticut, planted, 8:1 Gunston, , a benefactor to r. c. il || H. Hadden, George, gr. r. c. ii 38 Haines, John, :hosen gov'r, 135; ass't mag. 141 Hale, John, ro Ulster of Beverly, 87 ; gr. h. c. II. 30; strange th'ngs at Glocesler, 631 Hale, Robe (, gr. r. c. II 38 Haley, , sergeant In the Indian wars, II ffiU Hall, Oapt. Nathaniel, engagement with Inds. il. . . 593 Hambden, Mr. deterred flrom emigrating to N. E. . 79 Hamlin, Giles, ass't mag. of Connecticut, 163 Hammond, John, strange sighta at Glocester, il.. . . 6S8 Hammond, Major, William, taken captive by Inds. at Kittery, II. 031 ; redeemed, 633 Hampshire, f^ast, churches at, 86 Hancock, John, gr. h. c. il 33 Hancock, Mr. minister of York and Wells, 88 Hanley, Joseph, gr. r. c. 11 31 Harriman, John, gr. h. c. 11 31 Harris, Thomas, his Quakerism. >i 539 Harvard Ckillege, preuident o', his caution relative to cases of witchcraft, 3il ; ioatitutlon founded, 337 ; history of, il. 7 ; advance of funds by Gen- eral Court, 0; bequest of John Harvard, 10; laws of, 23 Harvard, John, minister of Charlestown, 335; his agency In founding Harvard college, 237 Harvard, John, his bequest to Harvard eol. 11. 10; Wilson's poem on, 33 Harlakenden, Roger, ass't mag. of New England,. . 141 Hartford, settlement of— commenced trom Cam- bridge, Mass 81 Harwood, George, a grantee, 67 Haselrig, H\t Arthur, deterred from emigrating to New England, 79 Hastings, John, gr. r. c. li 31 Hatheriy, Timothy, mag. of New Plymouth, 117 Hawthorn, John, ass't mag. of New England, 141 Hawthorn, Capt William, ass't mag. of N. E. 141 ; sent to subdue the Indians at Cascu, ii 578 Hnynes, John, gr. r. c. il .« 30 Huynes, John, gr. H. c. ii 33 Haynes, Joseph, gr. h. c. ii 31 Hoard, Elizabeth, surt.rising adventures, and escape iVom Indians, II 591 Hegon, Indian, his singular death, il &10 Henchman, Capt Daniel, his march against Inds. ii. 501 Henfleld, Edmund, rescues Bennet and others at Bea,ii 34(t Hcylin, Dr. Peter, often mistaken, 31 Hibboos, William, ass't mag. of New England, — 141 Higginson, Francis, min. of 8alem, 335; the Noah or Janus of New England, 35S ; education, 356 ; circumstances of his nonconformity, 357; con- demns the drinking of healths, 359 ; called to N. XVI INDEX. 4 Eng. 361 ; hit fkntwell to Engl'd, 309; iMoelalM with 8um'l Skeltun, 303; doath, 364; loiia, 363; •pthtph, 366 Hlgglnioii, Juhn, M* AlUntallun to the MagnallB, 13 — 18 ; recorded in ecclitlMlical mapi 67 MIgKlMoii, NnthMilel gr. u. o. II 31 llllderthnin, Arthur, hit connaetloii with Antlno- miaiiiiiiii, II 908 hill, Cupt. .Tohn, hii works fur defence ofSuco, II. . OM Hill, Jokcph, ■ boneOiclor of H. o. 11 11 lllokley, Tliomoi, miig. of New Plymouth, 117 Hoor, Leoniird, made preild't ot u. o. II. U ; death and epitaph, IS ; gr. H. c. II 30 Hoburt, Oeraluim, min, of Qruton, 87; gr. h. o. II. 31 ; remnrkuble prewrvutlon at Grotun, 637 Hubart, JapliV, gr. b. c. II 31 Hubart, Jeremiah, inlulttur of lluddum, Cunn'l, t)8 ; gr.u.c.li 30 Ilobart, Joshua, gr. u. c. II 30 Hoburt, Nehemiah, minister of Newtown, 87; gr. H.O.II 31 Hubart, Putur, minister of Hingham, 836 ; birth and parentage, -107 ; comes to New England, 40tl ; his hatred of vice and intempentnoe, 409; uAllctiuna and sickness, 500 ; death and epitaph, 301 Hobarl, sons by tlie nuniv In New Englund, 341 Hobbamok, befriends the English, 37 Hodsun, Nulhaniul, gr. ii. c. II 3& Holioke, John, gr. h. o. Ii 31 Holland, Jeremiah, gr. h. o. II 30 Hollanders, their intrigues with the mailer of the May-Flower, SO Hommlus, a divine at Leyden, 47 Hook, William, minister of N. Haven, 336; returna tu England, 586; place of burial, 387 Hooker, 8aro'l, min. of Farmington, 88 ; gr. b. o. II. 30 Hooker, Thomas, emigrates to Hariford, 81 ; peace- able state of his church, 348 ; birth and parentage, 333; his persecutions, SSt); goes to Holland, 330; escape from Englund, 340 ; rebuked by n lad, 345 ; charillea at Hartford, 346; his theology, 347; his closing sermon and death, 350 ; epitaph, 351 Hope-Hood, an Indian, horribly murders a boy, II. 508 ; is sluin by his friend by mistake, 60S Hopkins, Edward, gov. of Connecticut, 143; birth, ib.', devotion to religion, and happy death, 147; epitaph, 148 ; a benefactor of h. o. Ii ..... U Hopkins, Stephen, mag. of New Plymouth, 117 Hopkins, William, mag. of Connecticut, 163 Horniuf, his discourses on the flrst peopling of America, 44 Hornybrook, John, signs a treaty of peace. It 636 Hortado, Antonio, and wife, their troubles with in- Tislbles, 11 453 Hough, Atterton, ass't mag. of New England, Ml Hough, Samuel, minister of Reading,. 337 Howe, Ephratm, his disastrous voyage fVoin New Haven to Boston, ii 343 Howe, James, befltted sayingof, 35 Howe, John, his testimony on the life of Phlpps,. . 161 Howell, John, ass't mag. of Connecticut, 163 Howkins, Anthony, mag. of Connecticut, 163 Rowland, John, mag. of New Plymouth, 117 Hubbard, John, gr. u. c. Ii 33 Hubbard, Nathaniel, gr. b. c. ii 33 Hubbard, Richard, gr. b. c. II 30 Hubbard, William, min. of Ipswich, 87 ; gr. b. c. ii. 30 Huckins, Lieut, de Uruction of his garrison by In- dians, ii 593 Huds4)n's Rivor, deatinatlon of the Pilgrims, 90 Huel, Ephraim, mlnlstur of Windsor, 836 Hugiillnus, Bulgarus, flrst bestowmeut of Doctor's mie, to,il 87 Hull, George, msg. of Coiinectlcul, 103 Hull, John, ass't mag. of N. Eng. 141 ; master of the mint, 314 ; a benefactor to Harvard cullKge, Ii.. . . 11 Hull, , min. of Isle of Blioals, 336 Hulton, Nathimiel, a benefuctor to b. c. Ii II Humphrey, John, grantee, 67; ass't msg. of N. E.. . 141 Hnnfurd, Thomas, minister of Nurwalk, 837 Hungare, Philip, wonderfully saved at sea with his company, II 340 Hunting, Nathaniel, gr. b. c. II 31 Hutching, Jonathan, remarkably preserved IVom ftimin«, 11 643 Hutching, Samuel, a captive with the Indians, II.. . 043 Hulchings, Thomas, grontee, 07 ; ass't mag. of New England, 141 Hutchinson, Ann, her reputation, 11 517 Hutchinson, Capt, Edward, slain by the Nipmuck Indians, II 563 Hutchinson, MhJ. Elisha, ass't iniig.of N. Eng. 141 ; treats with the Indians at Wt-IU, II. 610; his pro- ceedings there as commander-in-chief, 613 I. Idleness, In Boston reprove James, I. King, favours the Puritans, 49 James, John, minister of Derby, Conn 88 James, Thomas, min. of Charlestown, 336 ; of Esst- hampton, SOT Japhet, Indian, pastor of Martha's Vineyard, Ii.,.. 443 Jenney, John, mag. of N. Plymouth, 117 Jesuits' Catechism, for Indians, 578 Johnson, Isaac, grantee, 67; his death, 77; ass't mag. of New Plymouth, 141 ; captain in Philip's war- killed in Narrugansett Bghl, ii 567 Johnson, Lady Arabella, suflerlngs and death of,, . 77 Johnson, Mary, her alleged connection with a dev- il, confession, and execution, ii 436 Johnson, Robert, gr. a. o. 11 30 Johnson, Thomas, gr. u. c. ii 33 Johnson, William, mag. of New England, 141 Jones, John, min. of Fairfield, 336 ; gr. a. c. ii . . . . 30 Jones, John, gr. b. o. 11 33 Jones, John, troubles with spirits or unseen agents at sea, ii 466 Jones, William, mag. of Connecticut, 163 i INDEX. FAOI Pllgrtmi, SO or 8M nuul of DocUir't «7 V »« II ; muler ot Ihe orU college, 11.... 11 936 )U.C.II 11 'Imag-ofN. E... Ml rwalk, *" ad at lea with hit 346 ■■■ 31 t preierved ttom 643 ithelndUni),)!... 643 bmH mag' of New 141 i',Vr.'. 5" I by the NIpmuck 563 iig. of N. Eiiq. 141 ; Id, 11.610; hlspro- In-chier, 8'' 102 ■■'■'. 1«2 '■■*'. 30 ng at Plymouth, 32, 53 llie wjttlera at Ply lerlca by the Devil, maiinera cast away ludson's river, ib ; 38,53; Narragan- i treaty with, 815; mng man who had catechism for, 573; ictioii of the Warn- Ineyard, 443; their •t of Devil-worship [rel with the whlte^ ist,i».; treaty with, 696 K) leace with Inds. 11. 63<'> tans, « Ck>nn 88 >wn, 336; of East- 337 '8 Vineyard, 11.... 442 ith, 1" 579 aih,77; ass'tmag. In Philip's war— 567 iga and death of,. . 77 lectlon with a dev- il 436 30 32 England, 141 ; gr.H. c.li.... 30 32 or unseen agents 466 iiui,".' 18» rA«a Keith, James, minister of Bridgownler, 87, 937 Key, Janxts, son of John, hi* eruul treatment by llupe-lloixl, II 500 KIddor, lllaho). 'chard, an mmour to Ihu church, 950 Kings i>f Frnncr, ;'. magical oxblblllon of thorn, past and future, 130 KiiiKabiiry, Elvnziir, rellgiuui Imposture, II 549 Kirk, Admiral, his succt^ssful expedition against Qucbeck, II 609 Kltternmogi!!, sagiimure, signs agruem't for peace, II. 626 Knup, Llitabeth, her alleged connection with das- miins or splritD, 11 440 Knight, William, min. of TupsHeld, 236 Knowles, John, min, of Watertown, 500; Voyage to Virginia, ib. ; returns to England, 501 ; death oud epitaph, ^ 501 Lnbrucrer, Mons. eommande^ln.chlef of French und Indians at Wells flght, 11 C14 Luiton, William, remarkable deliverance at sea, 11. 340 Lake, Capt. Thos, his murder at Arowaick li^land, 11. 577 Lathrop, dipt. Thomas, sent to subdue the Indiuns, 11. 564 ; his bloody contest at Duurtluld, 565 Lathrop, John, min. of Barniitable 830 Law, Jonathan, gr. ii. o. li 32 Lawson, Uuudate, min. of ficituate, H7 Lay, Wlllintn, a (iodly Indian, healed, 11 442 Leaf, John, a martyr to liie refurmatlon, 108 Lee, Samuel, min. of Bristol, 237; returuH toEng.. 603 Li'ut, Andrew, assH mag. of Oimnoctlciil, 103 Leut, Mr., gov. of Ounniscticut, 140; ciruumslances of his lilV, 158 Leet, Wlllium, ass't mag, of Connecticut, lf)2 Leirus, an early Protestant, 30 Lenthal, Mr. min. of Weymouth, his sicesslon and retraction, 344 Leverett, John, gov. 137; ussH mag. of Mass. 141 ; mnjor-genernl, 142; tutor and temporary gov'r of of H. c.li. 10; gr. u. c 31 I.ieverlck, William, min. of Sandwich, 2:16 Lewis, Ezoklol, gr. H. c. 11 3J Leyden, emigrants to 47 Lilly, Samuel, honourable mention of, ii 4U9 Lindal, Timothy, gr. H. c. 11 32 Lion, Storry, adventures at sea, li. 46G ; death,. . . . 466 LUlle, Ephralm, gr. h. c. ii 32 Little, Thomas, gr. h. c. 11 32 Long, JoBua, gr, u. c. li 30 Lord, Joseph, gr. h. c. 11 32 Ludlow, Roger, asa't mag. of New England, 141 ; of Connecticut, 163 Ludlow, VViiliaro, aas't mag. of Connecticut, 169 Lusher, Eleazer, ass't mag. of N. England, 141 Lyn, church gathered ct,. .' 70 Lynde, Benjamin, gr. H. c. ii 33 Lynde, Nicholas, gr. h. c. II 39 M. Maccarty, Thomas, gr. H. c. !l 32 Moduckuwando, sugumore, at Wells fight, li. 614 ; Bigug treaty of peace, 626 ; death, , 64! Maine, churclies in, 84 Malbon, Richard, mag. of Connecticut, 103 Man, Samuel, min. of Wrentham, 87 ; gr. h. c. ii . . 31 Manning, NIcliolas, signs treaty of peace wltli In- ilians, li 626 Vol. I. — B xvu rAOB MansaeM, Samuel, |r. n. o. II SU Map, Ecclesiastical, of New England, 89 March, Berg't Hugh, killed by IndlanK, II 039 March, Mi^or John, his service against Inda. II. 839, 03T Marriages,wher«ln lawful, according to Scripture, ii. 967 Manhal, Caputln Samuel, in Philip's war, killed In the Narragiinset fight, II 8M Maralon, Bei^umln, gr. n. c. II 99 Martin, M1U7, her unohatllty and vow, II 404 Martyn, Richard, gr. ■■ c. II 31 Mary, Queen, her character, 30 Mason, Captain John, mag. of Connecticut, 169; In Ihe battle with the Narrugansotta, II 567 Masnn. river, 81 Massasoit, his flrti Interview with settlers, SO ; with his son, plot to rebel against the English, 11 538 Mather, Cotton, wrote his history In the midst of many difllcultles, 15 ; one of ten minlstera uf the name In N. Eng., it. ; needed the eyes of Argua and the hands of Briareus to |)erform his labors, 32; 11.689; anticipates revilers, 35 ; gr. n. o. 11.. 31 Mather, Eleuzer, pastor of Northampton, 17 ; his Journal, 457 ; death, it. ; gr. n. c. li 30 Mather Family, God's blessings on, 17; sons of the Mathers in New England, 941 Mather, Increase, aids Gov'r. Phips, 108; waits on King James in aid of New England, 108 ; presi- dent of llarvanl col. II. 18 ; gr. h. c. ii 30 Mather, Nathaniel, pastor In London and Dublin, 17 ; his testimony on the historian of Phips, 164 ; gr. n. c. 11. 30 ; the learning and virtue of hli youth, 154, 484; hli industry, 157; piety, 159; death, 175; epitaph, 176 Mather, Nathaniel, gr. 11. c. ii 31 Mather, Richard, son of Richard, min. of Dorcbe». ter, 236 ; birth and parentage, 444; educatiim, 445 ; schoolmaster and preacher, 44(1 ; min. of Preacolt, Eng. 447 ; suspended for nonconformity, roatoreil, 448 ; motives for removing to New England, 440 ; his account of a hurricane on the coast of New England, ib.; his rules for ministers, 451 ; pub- lications, 453; moderator of a council of minis- ters, 454; sickness and death, 455 Mather, Samuel, stm of Increase, 1'.' ; min of Wind- sor, Ct. 80; gr. H. c. ii 39 Mather, Samuel, son of Timothy, 17 ; gr. n. c. II. . . 32 Mather, Samuel, gr. b. r. II. 30 ; born In Lancashire, Eng. 39 ; returns to Engl'd, 43 ; to Scotland, 44 ; writes a defence of the Protestant against tlie Catholic ftilth, 54; his death, 57 Mather, Warham, son of Eleazer, 17; gr. h. o. 11. . 31 Matthews, Mordecal, gr. h. o. 11 30 Maud, Daniel, min. of Dover, 336 Maverick, John, min. of Dorchester, 936 May, Samuel, religious disturbances, 11. 544; char- acter in author's letter 546 May-Flower, the ship hired for the Pllijfrlms, 49 Mayhew, John, his calling at Martha's Vineyard, li. 431 Mayhew, Thomas, his Interview with an Indian prince, ii. 434 ; provides for his son at Martha'* Vineyard, 49T May nard, Sir John, a benefactor uf b . c. ii II May(s John, min. of Boston, 936 Mend, Matthew, his testimony on the life of Phips, lO-t Mechanics, their devotions, 949 Mede, Joseph, his conjectures ulxiut America, 4t> Melancthon, Norton compared with, 976 xvin INDEX. MpItIII, Aamuel, (r. ■. r. II 39 Mi-rrlninck Klver, BttvnipU lu wllla nl, flO MuMiKluwIt, Hlmon, hli Irrachvry l<> Kli^ur W*l- Uern, II 50O MiRhll, Thomni, gr.u.c.U 31 Mlldmny, Wllllnm, gr. n. o. II 30 Mllel, a Juiiiil, hli cutine wllh the Indians II 430 MllfonI, Connocdcul, plitnUNi, H3 Mlllnr, John, min. ul Yitrniuutli, 'J30 Mlli«, KUwnril, gr. H. c. II 31 Minlitcri of N«w Engliinil, llit>lr lucntlon, 87 ; thilr unltKd advice iiguind Iniponturoi, II 530 Minut, Juc4ib, gr. u. c. II 3t Mllark, mchiim, bli proftiulon uf Chrialianliy nnd death, II. 430; his tbree dimi|bler«, 437 Mitchell, Jonathan, (cr ii. c 11 33 MItchi'll, Mitlhew, mn^. of Coimeclicul, 109 Mllchvlaun, tUlward, gr. n. r. Ii 31 Mix, Hlwplirn, min. of Wuthiraflvld, 88 ; gr. a. c. II. 33 MotKljr, Juahua, min. of Portamuuth, (<8 ; gr. u. r. II. 30; character and death, 135 MuiHly, t>amuel, min. uf Ni'wcoitlle, 88 ; gr. h. c. II. 34 Mutxtcy, Hamuel, gr. h. u. II 33 Morgan, Jamev, his crime, conreulon, and execu- tion, II 409 Morgan, Joaeph, min. omrecuwich, bH Mona, John, gr. h. c. II 33 Mora, Joaeph, min. of r>'acam«lk, CI. CS ; gr. ii. c. II. 33 Morae, William, hia cunmclioii with apirita, and their movinga of material thing*, Ii 450 Morton, Chnrlea, min. of Cliarleatown, 87, 937 Morton, Nicholua, gr. ii. c. II 33 Moaoley, Capt. Baniuil, at the Bght with the Nurra- gnnnelta, II 507 Moxon, (iiiorgp, min. of 8pringfleld, 330 Muxiia, Indian aiignmiire, at VVulla flghl, Ii 013 Muirord, Mr. , mag. of Cunnectlciil, 103 Mylea, Bumuel, gr. h. c. ii 31 N. Nnhnmkcick, name of Salem 08 Nanton, Robert, aecrotnry to King Jamea, 49 Narraganaett Indians their fear of the Ktigliah, SO; refuaal of the ChrlHtinn religion punished, 11 300 Nash, John, mag. of Connecticut, 103 Meat cattle, the drat In N. England, 00 .Neff, Mary, captivity and eaciipo from Indians II.. . 0.14 Nelaon, Philip, gr. ii. c. II 30 Nowbnry, Benjamin, mag. of Connecticut, 103 New England, never without the cliiiatisenrt of God, 14; church hialory of, 15; American deeert, 27, 245 ; minlstera of, their devotion, 87 ; [ships of transportation to, CO ;] towna of, their originals in Engl'd, H!) i famine, alckiiesa and conilngnitiona in, 93; mugs, of, 141; haa had frowns and favours of Heaven, 345 ; the utiermost parts of the earth, 11. 583 New Haven planted, 83; nilsfortunea and discon- tents at, 85; annexed to Connecticut, 85 Newman, Francis, mag. of Conneclicul, 103 Newman, Henry, gr. H. c. II 33 Newman, Snm'l, min. of Relioboth, 2:«5; birth and parentage, 439 ; incident at Dorchester, 430 ; hos- pitality and general character, 433; epitaph, — 433 Newmarnh, John, gr. h. r. 11 S3 New Plymouth, first settlement of, 50; becomes prosperous, 03 ; a whale and calf caught, ib.; Qua- kers and Seekers in, 03 ; reasons for planting, 09 ; mnglslrntea of, 117 Newton, Roger, minister of Milton,. . .*. 337 p.\aa Nicholtit, OharlM, min. of Halam 937 Nitamwniel, aaguinoro, aigna treaty of peace, II 090 Niirria, IMward, min. of Halem, 9M Niirlon, Capt. [WallerT] killed by Indiana, 11 5511 Norton, John, min. of Uoalon, 930; hIa •upcrlorlly and excellence, 947; birth, 110*, and oharaclcr, 980; diaaatera of hia voyage to N. England, 3!'9; miniatur at Ipswich, 390 ; hia agency In petition to the king, 990; death, 997; publUhed aermons 9!IU; theological character, 300; epitaph, 303; II gr, II. c. 31 Nowel, Alexander, gr. n. o, Ii Ul Nowel, Incrt-oxe, 07; nii^or-general of N. Eiiglinid, 113 Nowel, dam'l, scc'y of colony, 141 ; gr. u. c. II.... JO Noyea, Jacob, gr. il. i;. II 31 Noyes James piutor of Utonlngtun, II 4.1H Noyos Moa«s gr- »■"• II 31 Noyet, Nicholas, hia prefatory poem on the Magna- lia, 19 ; minlater of Halem, 87 ; gr, ii. n. II 31 Noyes Oliver, gr. h. r. Ii 33 Noyes , his prophecies, II 653 Noyes James min. of Stonington, 88 ; Newberry, 930 ; birth and parentage, 484 ; life, by hiniHelf and Mr. Parker, ib. ; preacher at Myslic, ib. ; fam- ily connections 485 Noyie, Moms, min. of Lyme, Ct 80 O. Oakos Eranl, gr. ii. c. 11 31 Uakes Thomas, gr. ii. o. II 31 Oakes Urian, gr. h. n. 11, 30; presld't pro tempore of 11. c. II. 10; birth, childhood, and emigration, 114; return to Engl'd, US ; death, 1 10 ; gr. ii. c. 11. 31 Ogilen, John, mag. of Coniuxtlciit, 103 Ogllby, John, his history of America, 80 Oliver, Jacob, gr. h. o. tl 31 Oliver, Captain James in the bloody battle with the Narrnganaotts Ii 5K7 Oliver, John, gr. u. c. 11 30 Oliver, Peler, gr. ii. c. II 31 Osborn, Recompense, gr. ii. c. il 31 Ounaakes Phlll. aquaw, interpreter, II 036 Owen, Doctor John, his character. 90 ; intende Payn, William, gr. u. c. il — 33 Payson, Edward, min. of Rowley, 87 ; gr. it. c. II. . 31 1 Peck, Jeremiah, min. of Waterbury, 88 I INDEX. XIX Pr, IVilllatn, a bxiichi. lor to n. c. It II Piw KimiamI, Ml Putur, II l'rl«iiilly Indian, aldi In the dtittructlon u,' tliii NurraiinniutlD, II S07 PnlwrM, IIiikIi, mill, of HHl«m, 9%; luinu rttfurance ti> Ilia llfi-, an ; loit wordf, 587 Put<•r^ Thoinaa, mlnlitor of Hiiybrook, 33tl; comna til Nuw Kiiifland SH7 Pryot Indian klllud, :I14 ; Ihcy kilt a younK man,. . 3IS PliHJpa, VVIIIIam, mii|{. ol Conni'cllcul, Idti Phllllim, nnurffe, miu. of VViitvrtown, itMi; birth and education, 37H; uccompanies Mr. WInthrop to New Knuland, ih. ; death of hia wife at Hulein, ■A.; commencea a church at Watertnwn, 377; death and epitaph, 370 ; xr. h. n, II 39 Phlllipi, Col. John, of Charlemown, hli aid tu (jov. Phlpa, SIO ; wounded at (^naco Bay, II. tt3t* ; cnm- mlwluned to treat with the liidlani, n49 Philllpii, John, mIn. of Oedham, 330 Pblllipii, rinmuel, Kr. n. c. 11 .' :«* Phlps, Sir Wllllum, commlHuloiie*! (jovernor of New Kimland, Uli; life, 104; chrinlcnl apeviiliitloim on ralaliiR to life the aahoa of anlmula, 105 ; com- purlMin of great men of obncure origin, 100 ; birth and parentage, 1U7 ; learns the trade of Khip-cur- penter, ih- ; commander of a frigate, 100; qiiella ft mutiny, 170; giithora trcnaurea from a Hpanlah wreck, 179 ; obtains advaiitngea for hln colony of King Jami'S, 175; his proceedings In the revolu- tion of lei's, 178; dediirnlion of his devotion to Roil and his people, 183; taking of Port Royiil, 183; attack on Qiiebeck, It*; relief of the colony by the Iwuo of paper money, 10(1 ; exertions with the king for a new charter, 109; miido captain- general and governor of N. Kngianil, 301 ; stops the prosecutions for witclicran, 313; defends the colony against the Indians, 313; who sign an agroein't for peace, 315 ; description of his person, 317 ; his contempt of death, 320 ; the incidents of his life prewritten in London by an astrologer, 333 ; his indifference thereat, considering it the work of the devil, 333 ; nn attempt to Injure his chHnieler, 234 ; called to England for Iriul, 825 ; death and burial in London, 337; sumniiiry of his I'fe and services, 330 ; poetical tribute to bin mem- ory, 3;i0; his expedition against Port Royal, II.. . 000 Phippx, Samuel, gr. H. c, 11 31 Phippsi, Thomas, gr. ii. o. 11 33 PhcciiicianK, their early discovery of America, 43 Pierce, Capt. Michael, his bloody contest with the Indians, and ileath, 11 570 Pierce, Robert, his escape from Spaniards, 11 351 Pierponl, Boi^iamin, gr. ii. c. il 33 Pierpont, Jiicob, gr. H. c. II 31 Pierpont, James, his letter on Iho phantom of a lost , ship, in the air, 84 ; min. of New Haven, P8 Pierpont, Jonathan, mIn, of Reading, 87 Piorson, Abraham, minister of Killingworth, 88; of iHouthainptoD, 330; came to New England from rAua Vurkshlrn, 307 ; Rathert a church at Wimlhamp- ton, L. I, 30H; epitaph, 4nH; gr. n. r. II 31 Pike, John, mIn. of IKiver, fW; II. 541 ; gr. h. o. II. 31 ; hi* account of Indian triiKwIlM, SU Pike, Jimph, Bheritr, kliii-d by Indiana, II MH Pike, Rotiert, om'I niog. of New Kngland, Ml PInchon, (;apt. John, asf't mag. of N. Knglaiiil, 141 ; aids In destroying the' Indliiiis nt Hprlngfleld, 11. . 803 PInchon, William, orl.(lnal grsnte*, 07; aaa't mag. of ^fHW England, Ml Pistorlus, Biriiiiii, hi* epiiaph suited for Braditreel, MO IMalated, Lieut, hi* servlcen against the Inds. II. . . . 000 Plalsted, Mary, wife of James: captivity and rriiel treatment by Indians, 11 SOU Platform of Church Discipline in N. Kngland, Ii.. . 911 PlymoUih, (or Patiixet,) Hrst landing at, 53; flrat house built, it. ; aufferlng, ulcknesa and death at, S4 Plymouth, maglstriUea of, 117 Pocork, John, OMii't mag. of N. Kngland, Ml Piilret, Pierre, or (log and Magog, 46 Polyaniler, a divine at Leyden, 47 Popery, remnants of, In the Protestant Cliiirch of Kngland, 70 Port Royal, expedition to, 183 Potter, , his enormities against the laws, Ii. . . . 403 Prayers for rain and relief from famine, heard and answered, 78 Prentice, Capt. Thomas, lent against Inds. Ii 301 Price, Walter, gr. u. c. 11 39 Prince, Isaac, ticc. of strange sights at Cilocester, II. 639 Priiiu-, Thomiis, mag. of New Plymouth, 117 Prophecies concerning the American Church 70 Providences, remarkable. In New Knglund, il 341 Prudden, John, gr. R. c. II 31 Prndden, Peter, minister of Mllford, 330; his fami- ly and epitaph, 303 Psalms, Metrical, translation of, 407 Pulcifer, llunedlct, his contei'l with an Indian, II.. . 9U7 Puritaiii<, Oivoured by King James, 40; their afllic- tions and fidelity, .50; sail from Koiilhainptoii, I'A.; disniver Onpe Cod, ib. ; their sufferings by slck- i.es8 and death, 54; compared with Peter Martyr, 57; procnutiona against surprise by Indians, ib.; their farewell to the mother-church, 74 Pynchon, Joseph, gr. ii. c. II 31 Q. Qundrigarliis, an early Protestant, 39 "Quakers, Encountered," II 04-1 Quakers and Heekers, account of, 03 Quakerism, Foxiun, 11. 533; Pennian, its dltTeretice, ih. ; Tom Chiisian, its devilisin 528 Qunnoiichet, the great siichem of theNarriigaiiHetIs, taken, II 572 R. Ramus, Peler the Great, 27 Rnwson, Eilw'd, sec'y of colony, 143: gr. u. r. il.. .ID Rawson, Grindiil, pastor of Mendon,33; gr. ii. n. II. 31 ; puKtor of " Menilham," •ISO Raynnr, , mag. of Connecticut, 189 Rayner, John, gr. u. c. il 32 Rend, Jobn, gr. it. c. II 33 Remington, Jonathan, gr. H. c. il 38 Resemblance, of different perwms, 443 Reyner, John, miniiert, murdered by Indiniis, ii 5!)U RdUe, Benjamin, min. of Haveril, 87; gr. ii. c. ii.. 31 Roman authors, allusions to, lio Ross, Mary, her religious assumptions, ii 5:in RoHsitur, tldward, uss't mag, of Now England, 141 Rousi*, Thomasin, esca|)e from Indian?, ii 643 Row, John, account of strange sights at Glocester, ii. 633 Rowden, Captain, captured by Indlanis ii 580 Rowland, Peter, oecape from Spaniards, ij 351 Rowlandson, Joseph, his calamities by Are, deatiis, and captivity of his remaining family, ii 5C!) Roxbury, church gathered at, 79 Ruck, Peter, gr. r. c. ii 32 Rugglra, Benjumin, niir of 9inithflt'lii, 87 Rugglcs, Thomas, min. of Middletown, H8 Russell, Daniel, gr. h. c. ii 33 Riisscl, James, ass't mag. of N. Eng 141 Russell, John, gr. B. c. ii Russfll, Jonathan, minister of Burnstablc, 87; gr. II. c. ii Russell, Noadiah, gr. h. c. ii Ruseiel, Samuel, minister of llruinrord, Connecticut, 88; gr. B. c. ii S. Sadler, John, his prophecies, ii 653 Saltonstal, Gurdon, minister of New London, 88 ; gr. n u. ii Haltonstal, Henr/, gr. H. c. ii ijultoiii-tal, Nuti aiiiel, a»sH mng. of N. EnglM, 141 ; gr. H. o. ii Sultonstnl, 8ir Richard, origiiinl grantee, 67 ; mng. of New England, 141 ; a buiiefaclor to ii. c. ii. 11 ; gr. II. c. ii Salvager, their murder and suppression, ii Sumotlii'?, a Druid, ii 16 Banchpz, eorly diHcoverer of Americii, 43 Sargeant, Capt. his seizure of Indians, ut 8iico, ii. . 5!^6 Sargeant, Thomas, gr. h. c. ii 31 Sarson, Capt. Kiuhord, his witness to facts of witch- craft, ii. 4U6; negotiates with Indians at Murtlia's Vineyaid, 434 8au?amon, a friendly Indian, murdered, ii 559 Savage, Abijii, gr. h. c. ii 31 Savage, Ephiaim, gr. n. c. ii 31 Savage, Hiibijiih, gr. h. c. ii 32 8avai;n, Jiihn, gr. H. c. ii 33 Bavftge, Major Thomas, asc't mag. of N. Eng. 141; 30 31 31 31 31 30 33 33 .Vi9 PAOI Saxton, Peter, minister of Bcituate, 336 ; a nativo of Yorkshire, Eng. 587 ; at Boston, N. E 587 Say and Brook, Lords, their claims and interests ia Coiiiiecticul, 83 Scarlet, Capt. Samuel, preserves Lailon and others at tn'U, 11 350 Schools, their importance truly cliaracterized, ii. . . 055 Scottow, Thomas, gr. u. c. il 31 Sea-dt'Iivorances, wonderful cases of, in New Eng- land, il 343 Sedgwick, Robert, major-general of N. E 143 Serins, Henry, Ills poems, commendatory of Ihu Magimlia, 82 23 Selleck, John, gr. u. c. ii 33 Sequiisson, an Indian prince, plots against the Eng- lish, il 558 Sewall, Samuel, ass't mag. of New England, 141 ; gr. H. c. ii. 31 ; favourably mentioned, 489 , ii. 31 31 33 Shephard, Jeremiah, min. of Lyn, 87 ; gr. n. c. Shepartl, Samuel, gr. ii. c. ii Shepiird, Samuel, gr. h. c. ii Sliepard, Thomaii, min. of Cambridge, 336 ; birth and I'uniily, 380; experience in theology, 381; BCCdinpnnies Mr. Cotton and others to N. EiigI'd, .183; arrives at Boston, 385; his sons, 380; death, ib.; his doctrine of the Sabbath, 3^; theology, and that of the churche!>, 388; his published works, 389; numerous meditations from his jour- nal, 391 ; epitaph, by Peter Bulkly, 394; gr. h. c. ii. 30; died by small-pox, ii. 119; account of a Christian Indian, ' 130 Shepard, Thomas, gr. h. c. ii. 31 ; born at Charles- town, N. E. 143; death and epitaph, 153 Sherborn, Captain Samuel, skirmishes with Hope- Hood the Indian traitor, ii 604 Sherman, Bezaleel, gr. H. c. ii 31 Sherman, James, min. of Sudbury, 87 Sherman, John, min. of Watertown, 337; birth in Dedhum, Essex, 511 ; education, and removal to N. Engl'd, 513; min. of N. Haven, 513; his skill in mathematics, 514; numerous family of child'n, 516; sickness and death,^I7 ; epitaph, 518 Sherman, Samuel, mag. of Connecticut, l(i:) Ships, number of, employed in the settlement of New England, 67 Shipwreck and loss of the flrst ship fitted out from New Haven, 84 Shove, Selh, min. of Danbury, 88 ; gr. h. «;. ii 3J Siely, Capt. Robert, in Philip's war; in the Narra- gunsett swamp fight, ii. 507 ; killed, 5l>8 Skellon, Mr., min. of Salem, «i8, vrjii Skynner, Capt. killed by Indians at Pt^mii<|uid, ii. . .V.tl Smith, Henry, min. of Weathersfleld, 'J3rt Smith, John, the discoverer, 4.) Smith, John, ass't mag. of New England, 141 Smith, Joseph, gr. h. c. ii S'i Smith, Philip, his troubles with invisible spirit^s and death, ii 454 Smith, Ralph, pastor ut Leyden, 60; nt Plymouth. SM Smith, Sarnh, crimes and execution of, ii 419 Southack, Capt. Cyprian, of pn)vincc Galley, ii U4J Southampt ; a natlTo uf E 587 I inloresta io 83 n and others 350 vrized, ii... 655 31 II Nuw Enf^ 3« E 1« utory of tlio S3 33 list the Eiig- 558 n^lund, 141 ; 1 489 gr. n. c. ii.. 31 31 3S , 336; birth )ology, 381; o N. EiigI'd, ,386; death, 7; tlieoU(gy, 18 published -cm his Jour- 194 ; gr. h. c. iccount of a jao n at Charles- 153 with Hope- 604 31 87 37; birth in removal to 13; hisbliill yofchild'n, h 518 163 itllement of 67 ed out from 84 1.0. ii 3,' 1 the Nnrra- sm yjti iiiii|iiitl, ii. . .V.il 'j:Ui 4.» J 141 .TJ ble spirit!!, 454 Plynioutli, San 419 Iley, ii..., M-i 49 Mass 67 32 iionlh, 117 H. r. ii . . . 3*i ao6 (tPiK'riints 40 81 Squanto, a stolen Indian, restored, 55 Stunit'iird, Connecticut, planted, 83 Otaiidish, Miles, plotted against by the natives, 56; iniu;. of New Plymouth, 117 blar, (>>mrort, gr. h. o. ii 30 Slurky, his treason to escape the Indians, ii 590 Bteel, John,mag. of Connecticut, 163 tilevuus, Timothy, min. of Glastenbury, Conn., 88; gr.H.c.ll 32 Slilson, Margaret, befriends Hannah Swartou, a captive in Canada, ii 360 Btirk, George, gr. h. r. ii 30 tJloddard, Antony, gr. h. c. ii 32 Slmldard, Solomon, minister of Northampton, 87 ; gr. H. c. ii 31 Stone, Hugh, crime and execution of, ii 414 Stone, John, gr. ii. c. ii 30 Stone, Capt. John, killed by Indians, ii 553 SUme, Nathaniel, min. of Falmouth, Harwich, &.C., 87; gr. H. c. ii 32 Stone, Samuel, min. of Hartford, 336 ; his education and companions to New England, 434; unhappy difference with his ruling elder, 436 ; his body of divinity, 438 ; death, 438 Stone, Simon, his remarkable wounds, and escape from death, ii 606 Storer, Samuel, commands a sloop at Wells fight, ii. 614 Stoughton, Israel, ass't mag. of N, E. 141 ; captain in the Pequot war, ii 554 Stoughton, William, ass't mag. of N. England, 141 ; a benefactor of h. c. ii. 11 ; gr. b. r. ii. 30 ; favour- able mention of, 489 ; treats with the Indians at Falmouth, 584 Stow, Samuel, gr. H. c. ii 30 Street, Nicholas, min. of New Haven, 336 Street, Samuel, minister of Wallingford, Ut., 88 ; gr. H. c. ii 31 Sutton, Thomas, founder of Charter House, 31 Swan, Henry, gr. H. c. ii '. 33 Swan, Thomais gr. h. c. ii 33 Swarton, Hannah, account of her deliverance fVom Indian captivity, ii 357 Swayn, Dick, his religious imposture, ii 541 Swayn, Mnjor, marches to subdue Indians, ii. 593 ; relieves the garrison at Blue Point, 594 Swayn, William, assH mag. of Connecticut, 163 Sweetmau, Samuel, gr. h. c. ii 31 Swui, John, gr. h. c.ii 33 Syil, Capt. Joseph, captures a number uf Indians at Quocheco, ii 5*8 Symmes, Thomas, gr. u. c. ii 33 Symmes, Zachariah, minister of Bradford, 87 ; of CharIestown,336; his ancestry, 459 ; family, death and epitaph, 460 ; gr. h. c. ii 30 Symonds, John, his singular cure from injury, 356 Bymonds, Samuel, ass't mag. of >r. Ene|land, 141 ; gr. H. c. ii 31 T. Talcot, Samuel, mag. of Conn., 163; gr. h. c. il.. . . 31 Tappan, Christopher, minister uf Newbury, 87; gr, H.c. ii 32 THylj)r, Edw'd, min. of WeslflelJ, 87 ; gr. u. c. ii.. . 31 Taylor, Joseph, gr. h. c. ii 31 Temple, Sir Tliomas, donation to h. c. Ii 15 Thaclier, Oxenbridge, gr. u. c. ii 33 Thacher, Peter, min. of Milton, 87; gr. u. c. ii, 31; Indian teacher at Punkapaug, 439 Thacher, Peter, gr. u. c. ii 33 Thacher, Thomas, minister of Boston, 237; birth In Salisbury, Eug., 488 ; arrival at Boston, 489; mar- riage, ib. ; second marriage, 491 ; death, 494 ; sons, ib. ; epitaph, 490 Thaxter, Capt. aids against the Indians at Wells, 11. 013 Thomas, William, mag. of New Plymouth, 117 Thompson, B., his complimentary poem ou the Magnalia, 30 ; gr. ii. c. 11 31 Thomson, Edward, minister of MarshOeld, 87 ; gr. H. c. il 31 Thunipson, William, minister of Braintree, 936 ; his ecolosiustical character, 439 ; poetical eulogy and * death, 440 Thornton, Thomas, min. of Charlestown, 3a7; of Yarmouth, ii 4ai Thunder, reflections and memouth, ii 453 Waiver, Abraham, gr. u. c. il 30 Ward, A ndrew, mug. of Connecticut, 163 Ward, Jacob, gr. u. c. 11 30 Ward, John, min. of IJuverhill, 336; born lit Hav- erhill, Eng., S3-J ; modesty and temperance, i6. ; ■ettles in lluverhill. New England, ib. ; wife, her character, 533 ; debarred of her fortune by non- conformity, ib. ; deutli and epitaph, 534 ; gr. u. c.ii 32 Ward, Nathaniel, miu. of Ipswich, 336 Warhum, John, miu. of Windsor, 336; remarks on preaching with note?, 441 ; melancholy state of mind, 443 ; death and epitaph, 442 Warumbo, Indian sagamore, at Weils fight, ii 614 Wassambomet, sagamore, signs treaty of peace, Ii. 636 Watertowu, cliiircli gathered at, 79 Watson, Caleb, gr. B. c. Ii 31 Watts, Capt. Thomas, in the great battle with the Norragansetts, ii 567 Web, Henry, u benefactor to H. c. il 11 Webb, Joseph, gr. h. c. Ii 31 Web, Josiah, min. of Fulrfleld, 88 Webenes, sagamore, signs treaty of peace, il 626 Webster, Mr., governor of Connecticut, 148 Weems, Capt. yields the fort to the Indians at Pem- aquld, il 591 Weld, Daniel, gr. u. c. ii 31 Weld, Edmund, gr. h. c. ii , 30 Weld, Hiomos, min. of Roxbury, 336 ; gr. h. c. ii. 31 Wells, Jonn, ass't mag. of Connecticut, 163 Wells, Mr., governor of Coimecticut, 148 Wells, Thomas, mag. of Connecticut, 163 .Welsh, Nathaniel, gr. u. c. ii 33 Wenobson, sagamore, signs treaty of peace, II 636 Wensley, Richard, gr. u. c. ii 31 WequBsh, a friendly Indian i^uide, ii 555 Weston, Mr. Thomas, " a mi^rchant of good note," aids the settlement in New England, 58 ; conduct thereto, ' 59 Westwood, William, mag. of Connecticut, 163 Wethersfleld, Ct., settled from Watertown, 81 Weymouth planted, 57 ; evil conduct at, 50 Wheeler, Capt. Thomas, aids Captain Hutchinson against the Nipmuck Indians, ii SC3 Wheelwright, John, min. of Salisbury, S36 Wheelwright's i'ond, bloody fight near, ii 607 Whetcomb, Simon, original grantee of Mass. Bay, 67 ; ass't mug. of New England, 141 White, Ebenezer, gr. u. c. ii 32 While, Mr. , min. i>f Dorchester, 66 White, John, gr. H. c. ii 32 While, Niithaniel, gr. h. c. ii 30 Whileiiig, John, min. of Lancaster, 87 PAOB Wbiteing, Samuel, min. of Bllerica, 87 WhitfleM, Henry, min. of Guilford, 236 ; birth and family, 593; returns to England, 593 ; epitaph,.. 594 Whiting, Capt. his escape from Inds. at Casco, Ii. . 038 Whiting, John, gr. h. c. Ii. 30 ; pastor of Lancaster, killed, 63U Whiting, John, gr. h. o. il 31 Whiting, Joseph, gr. u. c. ii 31 Whiting, Joseph, gr. ii. c. il 3il Whiting, Samuel, minister of Windham, 88; of Lyn,236; birth at Boston in Lincolnshire, 503; ministry at Skirbick, near Boston, 5(13; second marriage and family, ii.; persecuted for noncou- formity, and comes to N. England, 504 ; inflrml- ties and death, 500 ; poetical eulogy on his char- acter, by B. Thompson, 510 ; epitaph, 511 Whiting, Samuel, gr. h. c. il 30 Whiting, William, mag. of Connecticut, 103 Whitingham, Richard, gr. H. c. il 31 Whitingham, William, gr. h. c. II 31 Whitman, Samuel, gr. h. c. ii 32 Whitman, Zachariah, min. of Hull, 87 ; gr. u. c. ii. 31 Wiggins, Thomas, ass't mag. of N. England, 141 Wigglesworth, Michael, minister of Maiden, 87 ; gr. II. c, il 30 Wightman, , an antinomian or fumilisi, 11 508 Wilkinson, Sarah, her remarkable malady, ii 356 Willard, John, gr. u. c. ii 33 Willard, Josiah, gr. h. c. ii 32 Willard, Major, relieves Quaboag, ii 564 Wiilard, Samuel, gr. u. c. ii 31 Willard, Simon, ass't mag. of New England, 141 ; gr. u. c. ii 32 Willet, Thomas, mag. of New Plymouth, 117 Williams, Daniel, examples of bis remarkable piety in youth, il 485 Williams, John, min. of Deerfleld, 87 ; gr. h. c. ii . . 33 Willium!>, Nathaniel, gr. u. c. ii 33 Williams, Roger, minister of Salem, Ii. 495 ; of Ply- mouth, 496: bis persecutions, 405; some time gov. of Rhixle Island, 499 Williams, William, gr. h. c. ii 31 Willis, Mr., governor of Connecticut, 148 Willis, George, mag. of Connecticut, 163 Willis, Samuel, gr. u. c. ii 30 Willoughby, Francis, ass't mag. of New England, 141 Wiiloughby, Hugh, an early navigator to .\merica, 44 Wilson, John, min. of Charlestown, 79; of Boston, 336; bis excellence, 347; life and character, 303; birth and education, 303 ; advice of his father, 305; flees to New England, 308; shares In the Pequot war, 310; prophecies fulfilled, 315; epi- taph, 331 ; gr. n, c. ii. 3U; his poem on Harvard, 33 Wilson, Lieut., his fight with Indians at Quocbeco woods, Ii 613 Wincal, Capt., pursues the Indians at Winnopiseag P>i ■^nimati ; or, Asslsteiits. With RemarkH, 141 CHAPTER V 1 1 . Publicula Cliristianui ; or, the Life of Edwurd Hopkins, E^q., tho first Govomour of Cunuecticul Colony, 143 CHAPTER VIII. Huncesson, .............. 140 CHAPTERIX. Uumilitat Honorata. The Life of Tbeophilus Eaton, Edq., Governour of New-Haven Colony, . . 149 CHAPTER X. Successors, .............. 155 CHAFTERXI. '' Hermes Christianui. The Lifb of John Winthrop, Esq., flrst Governour of Connecticut and N. Haven, united, 157 CHAPTER X7I. Asslstents, 103 APPENDIX. Pietat in Palriam ; or, the Life of His Excolloiicy, Sir Wiliium Phips, late Governour of New-England. An History fliled with great variety of momurublo m crs, . . . . . , .164 THE THIRD BOOK, mtitul.d, POLTBira It contains tho LivKS of many Divines, by whose evangelical ministry the Churches of Now-Englund have been illuminuted, ............ 831 INTRODUCTION. A General History, De Vires lllustribus, dividing into three classes the Ministers who came out of Old Eng- liiiiil, for llie Fervice of New, ........... SSI'S THE FIRST PART, entitled, Johannes in F.remo, ........ 345 CHAPTER I. Cottonus RedMvut ; or, the Life of Mr. John Cotton, ........ 252 CHAPTERII. \ ffortonus Honoratus ; or, the Life of Mr, John Norton, ........ S86 CHAPTER III. Memoria WiUoniana ; or, the Life of Mr, John Wilson, ....... 303 CHAPTER IV. /•tirrtaniKmw* JVoB-jJit^/icanus ; or, the Life of Mr, John Davenport, . . . • . . 321 APPENDIX. The Light of the Western Churches ; or, the Life of Mr. Thomas Hooker, 332 PAoa V. . . 108 . 1:4 . 117 Colony, iiy ir Brodatreet, . 13| Ul Bctlcut Colony, H3 m "Xi . . 140 . IM !f.Huven, united, 137 . 103 BW-Englond. An . 164 ^-England have 831 out of Old Eng- 33.'! . 245 253 303 331 333 CONTENTS OF VOLUME 1. ^Xvii ' 333 INTRODUCTION. C H A P T K R I . Janut JfovjlHglicanut ; or, the Life of Mr. Francis HiggiiiHun, . n-, CIIAFTERII. (ijgnea Cantio ; or, tlio Death of Mr. John Avery. CHAPTER III. Xctua ad Kxemplar; or the Life of Mr. Jonathan Burr, . ••♦•••• mH CHAPTER IV, Tho Life of Mr. George Phlllpi, CHAPTERV. ., /•iiitor £Bonire/,(;u»; or, the Life Of Mr. Thomaa Hhcpard, • CHAPTERVI. Prudentius ; or, the LIfo of Mr. Peter Prudden, .... CHAPTERVII. MtlancthoH ; or, the Life of Mr. Adam Black man, ' ••••... 300 CHAPTER VIII, The LIfo of Mr. Abraham Plerson, , 3i)7 CHAPTERIX. The LIfo of Mr. Richard Denton, . . 308 CHAPTER X. The Life of Mr. I^ter Bulkly, am CHAPTERXI. \' The Life of Mr. Ralph Partridge . " 404 CHAPTiSR Xn. Paaltts ; or, the Life of Mr. Henry Dunster, ' 405 CHAPTERXMI. The Life of Mr, Ezekiel Rogers, ... 408 CHAPTER XIV. Eulegius ! or, the Life of Mr, Nathaniel Rogers, ■■•'.. 414 APPENDIX. An Extract from the Phry of the famous Old Mr. John Rogers of Dcdham, 423 CHAPTER XV. Uibliander JfovAnglitanus ; or, the Life of Mr. Samuel Newman, . .„„ I '*''' « CHAPTERXVI. Doctor Irrefragnbilis : or, the Life of Mr. Samuel Stone. '*••.... 434 C HA P T E R X V 1 1 , The Life of Mr. William Thompson, 438 CHAPTER XVIII. The Life of Mr, John Warham, 441 CHAPTER XIX. The Life of Mr, Henry Flint, 443 CHAPTER XX, Fu/gcntiu» ; or, the Life of Mr, Richard Mather. ••'•••• 443 xxvm Tliu Life of Mr. Zaohtrtah Symmca, The Lire or Mr. Juhn Allln, . CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. TH AFTER XXI. rAOB 4.VJ CHAPTBR XXII. 40U CHATTER XXIII. Cadmut Amtricanut ; or, the Life or Mr. Charles Chancuy, , , .... -tlU CUAFTERXXIV. ,i Ahcm ,- or, the Life or Mr. John FUk, . . . . 4711 CHAPTER XXV. Scholatticut ; or, the Life or .Mr. Thomaii Parker— With an .\ppoiullx cdiitulniiig Memoirt or Mr. Janu'g NoyuH, 4^0 CHAFTERXXVl. The Lire or Mr. Thomas Thoclittr, , . . . . . , . . .488 CH AFTER XXVII. The Lire or Mr. Peterllobart, 41)7 CHAPTER XXVIII. .\ Man or Goi Bonca ; or, the Lire or Mr. Henry Whitfleld, CHAPTER V. Amain* of the Second Claaeis. ,\nd more largely, the Lire or Mr. John Woodbridge, CHAPTER VI. Remains of the Third Classis. With more punctual accounts or Mr. Juhn Oxonbridge, Mr. Thomas Walley, sni 511 5ld SSI 5S4 530 5r» 58-^ 58!) 509 5!)t and Mr. Samuel Lee, ........ CHAPTER VII. A Good Man making a Good End; or, the Lire and Death or Mr. John Bally, .W? coa ' lii. TAoa 4S'J 40U 4iU 4;!i MEMOIR OF COTTON MATHER, D.D., F.R.S. of Mr. JanU'8 NoyuM, ■lai) BY SAMUEL G. DRAKE, M.A. 488 407 501 Sll Sid 531 524 530 r the gospel among ss-s 5ime not only ers, but they \g matters of irges, to look lee any thing fie in contact itrangely and nalysis of it, who content ons upon the ispecially for )e struck out xr literature, 1 them with v^n for truth, to copy the its in many 3 had no qnps- ould "scourge MRMOIR OF COTTON MATIIEH. parts of the very work in which ho has made that statement; henee it would be very bad logic that would not charge Dr. Douglass with copying errors into his work, knowing them to bo errors. It would bo very easy to point to some writers of our own time, equally obnoxious to the same plain kind of logic; and a late writer, of very good standing, has with great apparent deliberation said, that "it is impossible to deny, that the reputation of Cotton Mather has declined of late years." This may have been his belief; but it is very singular that that same author should, at the samo time, make the largest book on the life of a man, in such a state of decline, that had hitherto appeared I But there need be no concern for the reputation of Cotton Mather, even in the hands of his enemies; and it is not intended to set up a special defence of him or his writings. All his biographer need to do, is to caution those a little who want caution, and save them, if he may, from having the windows in their own houses broken, by the very missiles they themselves have thrown. The genealogy subjoined to this notice will give the necessary statistical facts of births, marriages, &c., in the Mather family; it is not necessary therefore to repeat them here, but to proceed at once to notice some of the prominent events in the life proposed. Cotton Mather graduated at Harvard College in, 1678, being then but sixteen years of age. At this early period he drew up systems of the sciences, and wrote remarks upon the books which he read. He- made an almanack for 1683, which was printed anonymously.* This was unknown to his son (who wrote his life), or he omitted to include it among his works from some other cause. As a proof that it was unknown to his son, other works, of which he is known to be the author, are omitted also. To men- tion but one, ^^ Manuductio ad Mimsterhim — Directions for a Candidate of the Ministry," &c., 12mo. 150 pages. In 1684, at the age of twenty-two, he was ordained minister of the North Church in Boston, as colleague with his father. Two years after, he began his career as an author. His first publication (according to his son's list of his works) was "A Sermon to the Artillery Company in Middlesex." From this time to his death, namely, from 1686 to 1727, no year passed in which he did not publish something; thus, in a period of forty-one years were produced above 283 books and tracts; giving to each year, on an average, about seven works. He understood one or more of the Indian languages, and published some books in one of them, if no more. In 1706 he published one, not found in the catalogue above mentioned. He also published some in Spanish and some in Latin.f In 1692, Dr. Mather published his "Wonders of the Invisible World." This was Ms account of the witchcraft cases of that time. In this he laid himself especially open to the charge of credulity, which, it cannot bo * S(!c N. Eng. H. G. Reg. vii. 345. The authority there indicated is Hon. Judge S. Sewall. t See p. 32, vol. i., of the Magnolia, for some account, by the author, how he composed it M XXX II MEMOIR "V COTTON MATHER. I 1 1: ' (Icnieil, is pretty woU sustained. But something more than bare credulity seom.s to have p()s.sc.s.sc(l liis mind in those times; and he was probably as mnch under the iiinuencc of witchcraft as any to whom that "sect," as Dr. Doughus.s calKs it, was imputed.* Many have reproached Dr. Mather, as though ho was the uUthor of that di.smal and awful delu.si(m. This is singularly unjust. He was himself one of the deluded; and this is the only charge that can lie against him relative to it. All the w(»rld then believed in witchcraft, and people entered into it according to their temperament and circumstances. The delusion was not a native of New England, but an exotic from the father-land; and it had been well if this had been the only one imported thence. Even when prosi'cutions had ceased, there was not a cessation of a belief in the reality of witchcraft; its j)rogress was stayed from a very dift'crent cause, as is now too well known to be entored into or explained. Even to the present day there are tliousands who believe in its reality; and that belief can only be extirj)!ited by the progress of genuine knowledge. Within the remem- brance of the writer, one mijiht ride from Boston, in a single day, with a very moderate horse, into a New England town where the belief in witch- craft was very general, and where many an old horse-shoe could have been seen nailed to half the bedsteads in the town to keep away those vile miscreants who came riding through the air upon broomsticks, or across the lots upon the back of some poor old woman, who perhaps, from some malady, had not left her house for years. How much short of a day's ride by steam or otherwise it would now be necessary to take to reach a place where the belief exists, is left for the conjecture of others. Cotton Mather was undoubtedly the most prominent author who wrote on witchcraft, and in the full belief of it, in his time, in this country; this circumstance accounts for his being singled out by "one Robert Cakf" who attacked him with complete success — complete, because he had reason and truth on his side — in his book, which he called "More Wonders of THE Invisible World," &c. This he published in London, in a quarto volume, in the year 1700. In this book, Calef styles himself "Merchant, of Boston in Keiv England.^'' Now, in the absence of proof to the contrary, it may not be unfair to presume that Calef issued his work quite as soon as be dared to, and quite as soon as public opinion would tolerate a work which had for its aim a deadly blow against a belief in the imaginary crime of witchcraft. For it is known that as soon as Calef 's book did appear, some of Dr. Mather's friends came out with another work against that author, from the title of which alone its contents can pretty well be judged of. It is "Some few Remarks upon a Scandalous Book written by one LloBKRT Calef." But this book and its authors are alike unknown, while Calef occupies a conspicuous place among the benefactors of mankind. * In reckoning up the various religious sects in New England, that author puts down wiichcraft as one of them! Summary, &c. MEMUIK OF COTTON UATHEB. xxxiii credulity abably as t," aa Dr. 3r of that mself one n relative Lered into iision woH id ; and it ven when he reality luse, as is le present f can only )e reinem- ly, with a ' in witch- )uld have those vile or across Tom some d;iy's ride ch a place vho wrote try; this H Cakf," ad reason NDERS OF a quarto Merchant, contrary, as soon te a work ary crime )ear, some It author, udged of. BY ONE wn, while nkind. puts down The foreign correspondence of Dr. Mather was very extensive; "ao that," says his son, ''I have known him at one time to have above Jijiy beyond sea." Among his correspondents were many of the most learned and famous men in Europe; as Sir Kiouard Blackmork, Mr. Wuiston, Dr. DESAauLiiJRs, Mr. Pillionere, Dr. Franckius, Wm. Waller, Dr. ChamuI' ULAiN, Dr. Woodward, Dr. Jurin, Dr. Watts, &o. In a letter whicli ho wrote in 1748, Dr. Watts says "he had enjoyed a happy corres- pondence with Dr. Cotton Mather, for near twenty years before his death, as well as with the Rev. Mr. Samuel Mather, his son, ever since." In 1710, came out a book from the pen of our author, which he entitled ^^Bonifacius: An Essay upon the Good to be devised by those who would answer the great End of Life." In this work are many excellent maxims and reflections, but its popularity has probably been very much enhanced by what Dr. Franklin has said of it. Dr. Mather was well acquainted with Franklin when the latter was a young man ; and when Franklin was an old man, in the year 1784, in writing to Samuel Mather, son of Cotton, he thus alludes to it in his happy style: — "When I was a boy, I met with a book entitled ' Essays to do Qood^ which I think was written by your father. It had been so little regarded by a former possessor, that several leaves of it were torn out; but the remainder gave me such a turn of thinking, as to have an influence on my condu"*. through life ; for I have always set a greater value on the character of a do&r of good than on any other kind of reputation." In the same letter is to be found that oflen-told anecdote of an interview he once had with Doctor Mather. This, too, that it may lose nothing at the writer's hands, is given in its author's own words: "You mention being in your seventy -eighth year; I am in my seventy- ninth; we are gu /n old together. It is now more than sixty years since- I left Boston, but I remember well both your father and grandfather; hav- ing heard them both in the pulpit, and seen them in their houses. The last time I sav your father was in the beginning of 1724, when I visited him after in v first trip to i'ennsylvania. He received me in his library, and ou my taking leave showed me a shorter way out of the house through a narrow passage, which was crossed by a beam over head. We were still talking aa I withdrew, he accompanying me behind, and I turning partly towards him, when he said, hastily, • Stoop, stoop/' I did not understand him till I felt my head hit against the beam. He was a man that never missed any occasion of giving instruction, and upon this he said to me, • You are young, and have the world before you; STOOP as you go through it, and you will miss many hard thumps.^ - This advice, thus beat into my head, has frequently been of use to me; and I often think of it, when I see pride mortified, and misfortunes brought upon people by their carrying their heads too high." This moral, so essentially good in itself, does not need the high recommendation of a Franklin, though but for him it would not, Vol. I.— c I m xxxiv MEMOIR OF COTTON MATHEE. / ! 1 iii probably, have been brought to the knowledge of every youth who has learned or may yet learn to read. It may be too much a custom to dwell on the errors and misfortunes of people while living; and to err, on the other hand, by making their char- acters appear too well after they have passed away; especially if they have been sufficiently conspicuous in life to require a written memorial after their decease. Though Dr. Cotton Mather had enemies while living, his memory has been pursued with more malignity, since his death, than has happened to that of most men ; and, as is conceived, without sufficient rea- son, and which could only be warranted by the most undoubted proofs that he has purposely led his readers into errors, and that he acted falsely on the most important occasions; and that, finally, he was too bad a man to make any acknowledgment of all this, though conscious of it, when he took his final departure with the messenger of his last summons. The following account of Dr. Mather's death and funeral, is taken ver- hatim from the New England Weekly Journal^ of the 19th and 26th of February, 1728: "Last Tuesday in the Forenoon, between 8 and 9 o'clock, died here the very Reverend COTTON MATHER, Doctor in Divinity of Glasco, and Felloio of the Royal Society in Lon. don. Senior Pastor of the Old North Church in Boston, and an Overseer o{ Harvard- College; by whose Death Persons of all Ranks are in Concern and Sorrow. He was perhaps the prin- cipal Ornament of this Country, the greatest Scholar that ever was bred in it. But besides his universal Learning; his exalted Piety and extensive Charity, his entertiining Wit, and singular goodness of Temper recommended him to all, that were Judges of real and distinguished merit. "After having spent above Forty seven years in the faithful and unwearied Discharge of a lively, zealous and awakening Ministry, and in incessant Endeavors to do good and spread abroad the Glory of CHRIST, he finished his Course with a divine Composure and Joy, the day after his Birth Day which compleated his Sixty Fifth year; being born on Feb. 12, 1662-3." "On Monday last the Remains of the Late very Reverend and Learned Dr. Cotton Mather, who deceas'd on Tuesday the 13th Instant, to the great Loss and Sorrow of this Town and Country, were very honourably interred. His Reverend Colleague in deep Mourning, with the Brethren cf the Church, walking in a Body before the Corpse. The six first Ministers of the Boston Lecture supported the Pall. Several Gentlemen of the bereaved Flock took their turns to bear the Coffin. After which followed, first the bereaved Relatives in Mourning; then his Honour the Lieutenant Governour, the Honourable His Majesty's Council, and House of Representatives ; and then a large Train of Ministers, Justices, Merchants, Scholars and other principal Inhabitants, both Men and Women. The Streets were crouded with People, and the Windows fill'd with 3orrowful Spectators, all the way to the Burying Place : where the Corpse was deposited in a Tomb belonging to the worthy Family." [On Copp'a Hill, at the north end of the town.] On the Mather Tomb are the following inscriptions: THE REVEREND DOCTORS I^rc R EA s E, coTTOfr, jijvd s^muel mother WEBE INTERRED IN THIS VAULT. 'TIS THE TOMB OP OUR FATHERS. I. DIED AUG't a-lh, 1723, A\ 81. 0. DIED FEB. 13ih, 17.J7, /K. (iS. S, DIED JUNE S7lh. 1785. A). 79. MEMOIR OF COTTON MATHER. XXXV 1 who lias fortunes of their char- they have lorial after living, his h, than has fficient rea- bted proofs cted falsely bad a man it, when he DS. ,3 taken ver- ,nd 26th of very Reverend Society in Lon- irvard-Colkge; nhaps the prin- But besides his 7il, and singular nguislicd merit. Discharge of a ood and spread (Tui Joy, the day lb. 12, 1662-3." 3TT0N Mather, this Town and arning, with the Vlinisters of the took their turns tlourning; then I, and House of olars and other lith People, and lace : where the Copp's Hill, at Nobody will charge the Rev. Thomas Prince with insincerity in wbat he has said of his co-labourers, and HE says, "Dr. Cotton Mather, though born and constantly residing in this remote corner of America,* has yet for near these forty years made so rising and great a figure in the learned world, as has attracted to him, while alive, the eyes of many at the furthest distance; and now deceased, can't but raise a very general wish to see the series, and more especially the domestic part of so distinguished a lifo exhibited. His printed writings, so full of piety and various erudition, his vast correspondence, and the continual reports of travellers who had con- versed with him, had spread his reputation into other countries. And when, about fourteen years ago, I travelled abroad, I could not but admire to what extent his fame had reached, and how inquisitive were gentlemen of letters to hear and know of the most particular and lively manner, both of his private conversation and public performances among us." Dr. Colman speaks in the highest terms of Dr. Mather, in his Funeral Sermon. "His printed works," he says, "will not convey to posterity, nor give to strangers a just idea of the real worth and great learning of the man." To this, and a great deal more equally commendatory, Mr. Prince subscribes in these words: "Ever\' one who intimately knew the Doctor will readily assent to this description." It would be difficult, perhaps, to produce an example of industry equal to that of Dr. Cotton Mather. In one year, it is said, he kept sixty fasts and twenty vigils, and published fourteen books — all this besides perform- ing his ministerial duties; which duties in those days were something more than nominal. He kept a diary, which has been extensively used by some * This and similar expressions are very common in the New England writers of that day. They seem peculiarly odd in our times, but by another hundred and fifty years they may bo viewed as something more than odd. Having a few others at hand, I will throw them in here as curiosities of those days : In these goings down of the sun; Dr. I. Mather, Brief Hist.,i>. 1. Prince, Pref. to Torrey's Election Ser7non. Remote American parts of the Earth; id. (I. Mather) Praise out of the mouth of Babes. This remote Corner of the Earth ; id. Elect. Sermon. These dark Territories ; id. Cases of Conscience concerning Witchcraft, 45. These Ends of the Earth; id. Pref. to Limng's Ser. at Lexington, (1718.) These Dark Corners of the Earth ; id. Prevalency of Prayer, p. 5. In these Ends of the Earth ; Prince, Pref. N. Eng. Psalm Bonk. *- A desart Wilderness, thousands of leagues by sea; Johnson Wand. Work Prow In this Howling Desart; id. Beyond a dreadful and terrible Ocean 900 leagues in length ; id. This far remote and vast Wilderness; id. This Western End of the World; id. Here I will close the extracts — not, however, for want of others. I am also aware that modern writers sometimes use similar expressions, when speaking of this country. Several instances occur in Trumbull's McFingal. \ XXXV 1 MEMOIR OF COTTON MATHER. ■'■,1 / of his bographers, but it was not sought after on this occasion, as it is said to be scattered in different places 1 How this happened the writer has not been informed. Notwithstanding he published so many works, he le^ nearly tts much unpublished in manuscript; the principal part of whicn is enti- tled, "Biblia Americana," or "The Sacred Scriptures of the Old and New Testament Illustrated." For the publication of this work proposals were issued soon after its author died, but nothing further seems to have been done about it. Of the "Biblia Americana," the Doctor's son remarks, "27ia< is awork, the writing of which is enough constantly to employ a man, unless he be a miracle of diligence, the half of the three-score years and ten, the sum of years allowed to us." It remains now to mention the book by which Dr. Mather is best known, the work for which this memoir is prepared, and which will make his name prominent through all coming time — the reader's mind is already in advanceof thepen— thei£4(?iV.4iZ4 CHRTSTI AMERICANA. This was printed in London, in 1702, in a moderate sized folio volume, in double column, the aggregate of its pages being seven hundred and ninety-four. It is chiefly a collection of what the author had before printed on histor- ical and biographical subjects. The value of its contents has been variously estimated. Some decrying it below any value, while others pronounce it " the only classic ever written in America." At the hazard of incurring the charge of stupidity, it is the decided opinion of the writer, that it has a value between those extremes. But the writer has sufficiently expressed'his mind on the value of the author's works before. There have been two editions of the " Magnalia " before the present ; the last was printed at Hartford, in two volumes, octavo, 1820. Unfortunately, this edition was printed from a copy of that in folio, which had not the errata, and conse- quently abounds with all the errors contained in the original edition. To those who do not understand the matter, this printing an edition of the ^^ Magnalia" without correcting its errata, may seem to incur for the pub- lisher severe reprehension. But the truth appears to be, that the copy used in printing the new edition had not the complete errata attached to it; and that, in fact, but very few copies of the original edition can be found to which it is attached. Now, its rarity is accounted for in this way : Dr. Mather, living in Boston while his work was printing in London, could make no corrections while it was passing through the press ; but when he received his copies afterwards, he found so many errors, that ho was indueod to print an extra sheet of corrections. This extra sheet may not have been Btruck off until most of the copies of the Ma uh- lie, has the advantage of being corrected by Dr. Maiher'a own errata. On the last page of the folio edition of the Magnalia, the following are the three concluding lines : — " Errata. Reader, Carthagenia was of the mind, that unto those thee things which the ancients held impossible, there should be added this fourth, to find a book printed without erratas. It seems the hands of Briareus, and the eyes of Argus will not prevent them," And the additional errata, of which mention has just been made, the author thus pre- faces: "The Holy Bible itself, in some of its editions, hath been aftronted with scandalous errors of the press-work; and in one of them, they so printed those words. Psalms 119, 161, ^Printers have persecuted we," &c. In the book which, before all others, should be found full and ample materials for a genealogy of Dr. Mather's own family, a very meagre and unsatisfactory account only is to be seen; yet, as deficient and meagre as it is, it is of great importance, as containing nothing upon the subject but what the author himself knew. That work is entitled, "The Life of thk VERY Reverend and Learned Cotton Mather, D. D., and F. R. S.," &c., by his son Samuel Mather, M. A., published the next year after the death of the author's father. The sum of what this book contains on our imme- diate subject, is here condensed into a paragraph, as follows: After informing the reader that his father was born on "Thursday, Feb. 12, 1662-3, at Boston, in New England," he continues, "I have no great disposition to enquire into the remote antiquities of his family ; nor, indeed, is it matter of much consequence that in our Coat of Arms, we bear Ermine, Or, A Fess, wavy. Azure, three Lions rampant; or; for a Crest, on a wreath of our Colours a Lion Sedant, or on a Trunk of a Tree ue?-/."* "His mother was Maria, the daughter of the renowned Mr. John Cotton, who was a man of very exalted piety and uncommon learning : Out of respect to this excellent man, he was called Cotton. His education was at the free school in Boston, under the care, first, of Mr. Benjamin Thomp- son, a man of great learning, last, under the famous Mr. Ezekiel Cheever." At the age of sixteen he graduated, and when eighteen years and one-half, received the degree of M. A., from the hands of his own father. Dr. In- crease Mather, who was then President of Harvard College. At the age of twenty-four he was married, and in 1702 his wife died. In somewhat less than a year he married again, "one of good sense, and blessed, with a complete discretion, with a very handsome, engaging countenance; and * This is exnct'ly as we find it, and it is not deemed necessary to reduce it to more intelli- gible heraldic language. We would remark, in this connection, that the above description of the Arms of Mather has scarcely any thing in common with a coat of arms given in u " Mather Genealogy," published by Mr. John Mather, of the Connecticut branch of the family, in 1848, The author of that work has not committed himself by giving a description of the Arms he has published. To it we have been indebted, to some extent, especially in the later generations of the Connecticut Mathers. t I ::::vxviu MEMOIR OF COTTON MATIIEE. one honorably descended and related, 'twas Mrs. Elizabeth Hubbard, who was the daughter of Dr. John ClaRK, who had been a widow four years. He rejoiced in her as havhuj great spoilt By his third wife he had no issue. "By the two former wives he had fifteen children, only two of which are living; one a daughter by the first wife; the other, a son by the second; he is the writer. By his first wife he had nine children, of which but four arrived to man's or woman's estate. By his second, two children only lived to grow up out of six." Such is the account of the children of Cotton Mather by one of those children; and although there were yz/teen, from his account the names of jive only are learned; nor have we been able, fron. all other sources, to make out the names of but thirteen. It is said in the "Mather Genealogy," mentioned in the note, that a daughter of Dr. Cotton Mather, named Jenisha, married a Smith of Suffiold, Ct., and that she was the grandmother of John Cotton Smith, late Gov- ernor of that State; oi^ the authority of Governor Smith himself. This must be an error, if our account of the children be correct, because it is shown that the daughter named Jerusha, died at the age of two and a half years, in the year 1713. Mr. Smith says his grand-mother died in Sharon, Ct, in 1784, in her ninetieth year; hence she was born in 1693-4. Now, Cotton Mather's daughter Abigail was born in 1694 ; therefore it is plain, we think, that Jerusha Mather, who "married a Smith of Sufiield," was not a daughter of Cotton, but perhaps a daughter of Atherton Mather, who lived in Suffield, and had a daughter Jerusha. Cotton and Atherton were own cousins, and a daughter of the latter would be very likely to name a son after so distinguished a kinsman as Dr. Mather; for Governor Smith's father was named Cotton Mather Smith. Few ministers preached a greater number of Funeral Sermons than Dr. Mather ; and when he died, his cotemporaries seemed to have vied with each other in performing the same office for him. Several of their sermons were printed. Some of these with thei. quaint titles are now before us. Foremost among them appears that of the excellent Mr. Prince; he entitled his "The Departure of Elijah lamented. — A Ser- mon occasioned by the Great and Publick loss in the Decease of the very Keverfnd ,"id Learned COTTON MATHEE, D. D., F. E. S., and Senior Pasior of the North Church in Boston. Who left this Life on Feb. 13th, 1727, 8. The morning after he finished the LXV. year of his Age." — From 2 Kinj^s ii. 12, 13. The imprint of this Sermon is, "Boston in New England: Printed for D. Henchman, near the Brick Meeting-House in Cornhill. MDCCXXVIIL" The running title of Dr. Colman's Sermon on the same occasion is, " The Holy Wnlk and Glorious Translation of Blessed ENOCH." His text was Gen. V. 24. It would be difficult to find any thing of the kind, either before or since, which, in our judgment, is superior to this discourse of Uv. MEMOIR OF COTTON MATHER. XXXIX I Hubbard, . widow four I wife he had only two of er, a son by children, of second, two one of those he names of r sources, to note, that a lofSufficld, H, late Gov- nself. This because it is 3 and a half 1 in Sharon, 3-4. Now, 5 it is plain, iffield," was Ion Mather, d Atherton y likely to r Governor ns than Dr. vied with il of their !s are now client Mr. i— A Ser- the very and Senior Feb. 13th, s Age." — ON in New •House in lis, "The s text was nd, either course of Dr. Colnian; but, valuable as it is, we cannot introduce extracts from it here. His allusion, however, to the then past and present state of things connected with his subject, is so happy that we cannot overlook it. "Dr. Mather's brethren in the Ministry here," he says, "are bereaved and weak with him. God has taken their father, as well as his, from their heads this day. He was a Pastor in the town when the eldest of the present Pastors were but children, and long before most of them were born. They are weak indeed when he that is nov speaking to them is the Jirst in years among them, in all respects else the least," &c. The Rev. Joshua Gee,* colleague with Dr. Mather, also preached a Funeral Sermon on his departed friend, entitled, "Israel's Moitrning for Aaron's Death." In this discourse there is the following important note: " Withi 1 a few months past, we have been called to lament the deaths of •two such aged servants of the Lord. The Rev. Mr. Samuel Danforth of Taunton, who died Nov. 14. And my honored father-in-law, the Mr. Peter Thatcher of Milton, who died Dec. 17, 1727: while the days of mourning were scarce over in this town for my dearly beloved friend and brother, the Rev. Mr. William Waldron^ who died Sept. 11, 1727." Dr. Mather's son, "Samuel Mather, M. A., and Chaplain at Castle William," also preached a Funeral Sermon on his father's death. "The Departure and Character of Elijah considered and improved," was its running title. Only about five years before, the deceased preached a ser- mon on the death of his father, in the title-page of which, instead of the author's name, we read, " By one who, as a son with a father, served with him in the Gospel."f There were other discourses on the occasion of Dr. Mather's death, but they are not within our reach; and if they were, we have not room even for their titles. Dr. Mather died intestate, and the order of the Judge of Probate for the distribution of his estate is as follows: — "One third to his widow, Lydia Mather; two single shares or fourth parts to Samuel Mather, Clerk, only surviving son, and one share each to the rest of his children, viz: Abigail Willard, deceased, wife of Daniel Willard, also deceased, their chiMren and legal representatives, and Hannah Mather, Spinster." Dated, 25th May, 1730. The following items, illustrative of the history of the Mather family, are thought to be of sufficient interest to claim an insertion here: "Peter Hix * Who was Joshua Gee, who in 1731 published a third edition of "The Trade and Nav- igation of Great Britain Considered," &c.? In this work there is much relative to the " American Plantations." t Whoever desircH to be further informed respecting the life and character of Dr. Cotton Mather, cannot do better, in our opinion, than to read Dr. Eliot's notice of him in liis New Eng. Biographical Dictionary. For neatness, truthfulness, and elegance, it is nothing short of the superlative degree. The article in Dr. Allen's Amer. Biog. Diet, is also a good and caiulid one. Of the more recent and laboured lives of our subject, we have not room to speak. xl MEMOIR OF COTTON MATHER. V i' t S I . I. t of Dorchester and Sarah his wife, appointed guardians to Katherine Mather, aged about five years, daughter of Joseph Mather, yeoman, late of Dor- chester, deceased. Dated 9 May, 1696.— -Suffolk Wills, vol. XIII. 299." "Petition of Samuel Mather of Boston, Clerk, praying the consideration of the court for the eminent and signal services of his venerable and hon- ored grand-father, with another petition of sundry others of the descend- ants of the petitioner's grand-father." — Jour. H. R. 20 Dec, 1738. On the 29th Dec. following, "The committee reported that, considering the Rev. Dr. Increase Mather not only served his particular church faithfully, and the college as their President with honor, but the province as an agent in procuring the present charter, to the good acceptance of his country ; and that his son, the Rev. Dr. Cotton Mather, and grand-son, the petitioner, his successor in the same church and ministry, have not behaved them- selves unworthy of such an ancestor, and have never had one foot of land granted to either of them, as we can learn, are therefore of opinion, that, notwithstanding the gratification of £200 given him, as is alleged, it may be proper for this court to grant a farm of 500 acres, to the lieirs of the said Dr. Increase Mather, and report accordingly." — ib. The following year there is this entry upon the Journal: — "Petition of the Rev. Mr. Samuel Mather, praying as entered the 12th and 20th of Dec. last, and a petition of Maria Fifield, Elizabeth Byles, and others, heirs of Dr. Increase Mather, praying the consideration of the court on account of their father's public services." — ib. 22 June, 1739. In 1730, a petition of Richard Mather and sundry other inhabitants of Suffield and Enfield was presented to the General Court of Massachu- setts, praying for a tract of land on " Houssatunnic river," for a township. — 16, 1730. " Atherton Mather of Windsor, Ct., appointed administrator on the estate of his sister Katherine, late of Windsor, deceased, intestate, spinster, 14 July, 1694. Inventory presented by Atherton Mather, 19 July, 1694. Real estate in Dorchester to be divided between the tv/o surviving brothers and the children of her deceased brethren, by her brother Atherton Mather; his eldest brother, Samuel, having refused the trust." — Saff. Wills, vol. XIII. 288. "We hear from Halifax, that Dr. Thomas Mather lately died there of a fever. He was a son of the Rev. Samuel Mather of this town, and sur- geon of the Provincial Regiment in Nova Scotia." — Bast. Ev. Post, 20th Dec, 1762. The Portrait of which ours accompanying this volume was engraved is a beautiful mezzotinto, half size, with the following inscription underneath it: in ni CO M ai br nc tl M " Cottonus Matherus S. Theologiee Doctor Regise Societutis Londinensis Socius, et Eeelcsije apud Bostonum Nov-Anglorum miper Propositus. iEtatis Suaj LXV. MDCCXXVII. P. Pelham ad vivum pinxit ab Origin Fecit." MEMOIR OF COTTON MATHER. xli therine Mather, .n, late of Dor- . XIII. 299." e consideration irable and hon- >f the descend- 'ec, 1738. Oil ionsidering the arch faithfully, ace as an agent jf his country; the petitioner, behaved them- ne foot of land ' opinion, that, alleged, it may le heirs of the —"Petition of id 20th of Dec. )thers, heirs of on account of er inhabitants of Massachu- or a township. >r on the estate e, spinster, 14 y,1694. Real brothers and (rton Mather; f Wills, vol. died there of own, and sur- Ev. Post, 20th engraved is a inderneath it: )cius, ct Ecelesine longr e name of Mather has never been so conspicuous in Old as in New England, yet there have probably always existed pei'sons of the name in that country of good standing and respectability.* About the commencement ol the present century, there were the Rev. William Mather, of Dovei, and the Rev. John Mather of Beverley in Yorkshire. Portraits of these gentlemen have been published — of the former in 1817, and of the latter in 1823. How these persons stood related, or to what branch of the M ther family they belonged, we are entirely uninformed, nor have we attempted any investigations for the family in England, other than we have indicated in this article. It may not be improper to remark here, upon the Mather portraits, that that of Dr. Increase Mather in "Palmer's Calamy's Nonconformist's Memorial," is probably a fancy sketch ; as it has no resemblance whatever to the original painting existing in Boston. There is a painting of the Rev. Richard Mather, (father of Increase) at Worcester, of undoubted authenticity. The name Mather is derived from the Saxon math, to mow; mather, a mower; as mill, miller, &c. The family, at the time of emigration to this country, was not entitled to bear coat-armour, being yeomen, though of good estate. A branch of the family in England has lately had a coat of arms and crest granted them,f as follows : Aryns. — Quarterly Argent and Gules, four scythes counterchanged.:|: Crest. — A demi husbandman habited quarterly, Argent and Gules, cap- ped the same, face and hands ppr., holding in the dexter band a horn Or, in the sinister a scythe ppr — Motto (in old English) — ^HloiDt iDarilt^. * There was an Alexander Mather, Member of Parliamant from the city of Norwich, (i Edward VI. (1647.) — George Mather, Esq., resided near New Orleans in 1784. He resided tlicre twenty-two years. t The grant, according to Burke, (Heraldic Register, 32) bears date Feb. 18, 1847, and was "To Thomj's Mather of G!yn Abbot, Co. of Flint, and formerly of Liverpool, Esq., a miigistrate for the Co. of Flint, son .-ind heir of Thomas M. of Mount Pleasant, Liverpool; and grand-son of Daniel Mather of Toxteth Park, to be borne by the descendants of his late father, and his aunt, Sarah Mather of Toxteth Park, spinster, only surviving siater of his late fiither." Ellis Mather was (says the foresaid author) the first settlor in Toxteth, de- scended from a family long seated in the parish of Radcliife and its neighbourhood. They held Toxteth Park from the time of Elizabeth till recently. X Itesearchcs of H. G. Somerby, Esq., in England, communicated to the author. BOSTON, January, 1854. m o l-H I— I w II -^ II S5 I* j0 2.; o i c ^ ® II- j3j >-8unoXp'iidasor ■2^5 «•_,« = « e'5P b: 11 i en ril II li II K II — I •Si «is I' r^? !b\ S Initio F*, »• -g r- -1 -» ■= M 1 -J jf k.- L. JO'P ? If ill ■8. ■.'« 5j -3 Is| ii - a PI Ilii ■Jpf lit -■6S 'ti 2:2 t - n II Tito's t9C/3 av 4> is I" if -05 'Xjqiiqojd 'u<>vi3 -qiV JSaiqdiiinH 8p 'auiTOn'mji i uiiqnn JO "snaAais '"("r Ji$; JO laisw aq J, Ii '■ ■/i lip'' fl ^ 3 *i So «;£Jt- a II cinS S g-o- . I*, -c ;- ^ 3 = r- ISii 3 2 2 SI i,^ mi fill ^ r a ! f » S ^S si*«l| i M g m 2- Ego is is ||l|lg !■* ScV I £ 3-S •w ; I 1 1 i AN ATTESTATION TO THU CHURCH-HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. I •I It hath been deservedly esteemed one ot the great and wonderful works of God in this last age, thut the Lord stirred up the spirits of so many thousands of hia servants, to leave the pkasanl land of England, the land of their nativity, and to transport themselves, and families, over the ocean sea, into a desert land in America, at the distance of a thousaiid leagues from their own country ; and tiiis, mcerly on the account of pure and undefikd Religion, not knowing how they should have thoir daily bread, but trusting in God for that, in the way of seeking first the kingdom of God, and the righteousness thereof: And thot the Lord Wiis pleased to grunt such a gracious presence of his with them, and such a blessing upc n their undertakings, that within a few years a wilderness was subdued before them, and HO many Colonies planted. Towns erected, and Churches settled, wherein the true and living God in Christ Jesus, is worshipped and served, in a place where, time out of mind, hod been nothing before but Heathenism, Idolatry, and Devil-worship ; and that the Lord has added 80 many of the blessings of Heaven and earth for the comfortable subsistence of his people in these ends of the earth. Surely of this work, and of this time, it shall be said, what hath God wrought J And, this is the Lord's doings, it is marvellous in our c^s .' Even so (O Lord) didst thtm kad thy people, to make thyself a glorious name ! ' Now, one generation passeth away, and another cometh. The first generation of our fathers, that begun this plantation of New- England, most of them in their middle age, and many of them in their declining years, who, after they had served the wUl of God, in laying the foundation (as we hope) of many genera- tions, and given an example of true reformed Religion in the faith and order of the gospel, according to their best light from the uiords of God, they are now gathered unto their fathers. There hath been another generation succeeding the first, either of such as come over with their parents very young, or were born in the country, and these have had the managing of the publick affairs for many years, but are apparently passing away, as their fathers before them. There is also a third generation, who are grown up, and begin to stand thick upon the stage of action, at this day, and these were all born in the country, and may call New- England tiieir native land. Now, in respect of what the Lord hath dr ne for these genera- tions, succeeding -iie another, we have aboundant cause of Tlianksgi''".^ to the Lord our God, who hath so increased and blessed this people, that from a day of small things, ho has brought us to be, what we now are. We may set up an Ebenezer, and say, " Hitherto the Lord hath helped us." Yet in respect of our prcsen/ state, we have need earnestly to pray, as we are directed, "Let thy work further appear unto thy servants, and let thy beauty be upon us, and thy glory upon our children; establish thou the works of these our hands; yea, the works of our liands, establisli thou them." 14 AN ATTESTATION TO THIS cnURCII-IIISTORV, ETC. / V \ For, if wc look on the iark siik, the humnrui tuh of tliU work, Ihoro in mucli of himan$ weaknenf, und hnperfiriiim hath nppt'iiri'd hi nil thut hftth been done by man, lui wiw ackiiowU edged by our futhtrs buforo us. Neither was New-England ever without some fatherly chaxlisemenls from CJod; Hhewing that He in not fond of the formaliliet of any people upon earth, but expects the reaUlks of jrractical Gadtirmss, according to our proteMnion und engagement unto him. Much more may we, the children of such fnlherf, lament our grad- uat defreneracy from that life and j^twer of Godliness, that was in them, und tho many proiokinfT etils that uro amongst us; whieh have moved our God severely to witness against us, mon* than in our ,/frs/ times, by his lesser judfrments going before, and his greater judg' menls following after; ho shot off his warning-pieces first, but his murthering-picres have come after them, in so much ns in these calamitous times, tho changes of wars of Europe have had such a malignant intlueneo upon us in America, thut wo are nt this day greatly diminished ami brought loic, through trppression, affliction, and sorrow. And yi't if wo look on tlio light side, the divine, side of this work, wo may yet see, that theg^/ory of God which was with oar fathers, is not wholly departed from us tlieir children; there are as yet many signs of his gracious presence with us, both in the wuy of his provi- dences, and in the use of his ordinances, as also in and with the hearts and souls of n considerable number of his people in New-England, that wo may yet say, as they did, ''Thy name is upon us, and thou art in the midst of us; therefore, Lord, leave us not!" As Solomon prayed, so may we, "The Lord our God bo with us, us he was with our fathers; let him not leave nor forsake us ; but incline our hearts to keep his commandments." And then " that he would niainktin his own, and his people's cause, at all times, as the matter may require." For the Ijord our God hath in his infinite wisdom, grace, and holiness, contrived nnd established His covenant, so ns he will bo the God of his people nnd of their seed witii them, nnd after them, in their generations ; and in the ministerial dispensation of the covenant of grace, in, with, iind to his visible Church. He hath promised covervtnl-mercies on the condition oi covenant-duties: "If my people, who ore called by my name, shall humble them- selves, and pray, nnd seek my face, und turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear their prayers, forgive their sins, and heal their land; nnd mine eyes, nnd mine heart, shall bo upon them perpetually for good!" that so tho faithfulness of God may appear in all generations for ever, that if tliere be any breach be tween tlie Lord and Ids people, it shall nppcar plainly to lye on his people's part And therefore he has taken care, that his own dealings with his people in the course of his providetux, and their dealings with him in the ways of obedience or disobedience, should be recorded, and so transmitted for tho use and benefit of after- times, from generation to generation; as, (Exodus xvii. 14,) "Tho Lord said unto Moses, iprite this for a memorial in a book;^^ and, (Deut. xxxi. 19,) "Write ye this song for you, that it may be a witness for me ag-ainst the children of Israel;" and (Psa. cii. 18,) "This and that shall be written for the generation to come, and the people that shall be created shall praise tho Lord." Upon this ground it was said, (in Psal. xliv. 1,) "Wo have heard with our ears, O God, and our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their dnys in times of old, how thou easiest out tho Heathen, and pinntedst them ;" (so likewise in Psal. Ixxviii. v. 3 to tho 8th). Upon the same necount it may be SJiid, (Psal. xlv. last,) "I will make thy name to bo remembered to nil generations:" and tliis is one reason why the Lord commanded so great n part of tho Holy Scriptures to be written in an historical way, that tho wonderful works of God towards his church and people, and their acting towards him again, might be known unto all generations: nnd after tho scripture-time, so far as the Lord in his holy wisdom hath seen meet, he hatli stirred up some or other to write the acts ami monuments of the church of God in all ages ; especially since the reformation of religion from antichristian darkness, w;i8 vigorously, and in n great measure successfully, endeavoured in the foregoing century, by such learned and pious persons as tho Lord inclined and inabled thereunto. And therefore surely it hath been a duty incumbent upon tho people of God, in this our ■I nuch of humane iiH wiiN ni-ktiowU t BoiTKi fatherly my |wii|)li' upon profV'HHiori und iinuMit our firad- und tliu ninny w itnoHH nffiiiuHt is greater Judff' rinff'pircps Imvo wurs of Kuropo this day greatlif iny yet see, that tliuir children; -uy of his provi' and souls of n ny, lis they did, vo us not!" As ith our fathers; idments." And S as tile matter i, contrived nnd sepj with them, tlie cnienanl of •mercies on tlio 1 humble thein« will I hear their rt, shall bo upon all generations 1 appear plainly eatings with his ays of obedience benefit of after- lid unto Moses, ng for you, that " This and that ited shall praise i with our ears, mes of old, how xviii. V. 3 to the thy name to bo landed so great onderful works night bo known >lij wisdom hath if the church of n darkness, w;is ing century, by 3od, in this our AN ATTESTATION TO THIS '." URCH-HIBTORY, ETC. 15 New-Eiiglund, that there should bo extant, a true history of the wonderful worke of God in the late plantation of this part of America: which wm Indeed planted, not on tin account of any mirUlly inlerett, but on a design of enjoying and advancing the true rrformed rfligiitn, hi A practical way; and also of the good hand of God upon it from the beginning unto tliis day, in granting such a mom o of if nod success, »o for oa we have ottained: luch a woik as this hath been much desir .' ^ . ng ex/iectet/, both at homo and abroad, and too long delayed by us, and fornetl" t hath seemed a hopeless thing over to b served, for the knowledge and imitation of posterity; for the memory of the just is blessed. Sixthly, That the present generation may remember the way wherein the Lord hath led his people in this wilderness, for so many years past;, unto this day; [according to that iu Dcut viii. 2: "Thou shalt remember all the way wherein the Lord hath led thee in the wiU derness this forty years, to humble thee, and to prove thee, and to know whut was in thy heart, whether thou wouldst keep his commandments or no."] All considering persons cannot but observe, that our wi/tfemess-condition hath been full of humblir^, trying, dis- tressir^ providences. We have hod our Massahs and Meribahs; and few of our churches but have hud some remarkable hours e the holy line or those who love and do His work divine ! Thou, Cotton, shining Oom such heavenly heights. Amid a brotherhood of kindred lights, Follow thy sires, whom God hath guided home. Thyself a morning-star to those who yet shHll coine." ^^ written, "Tmt ntioned, are the rER? He is the n happy instru- iivisions. er grandson to V also a publick re even an old i f to a thousand ew-England, to his command- ind truth unto the Father, and rin and with our Lord and kMEN. GINSON. I A PREFATORY POEM, ON THAT EXCELLENT BOOK, ENTITCI.ED , MAGNALIA OHRISTI AMERICANA: WEITTEN BY THE REV. ME. COTTON MATHEE, PASTOR OF A OHDROH AT BOSTON, NEW-BNOLAHD. TO THE CANDID READER: Bnvcx itith huge love, of what to be possest, I much despond, good reader, in the que>t ; Yet help me. If at leneth it mny be said. Who nrst the chambers of the south displayed? Inform me. whence the tasny people came? Who was their fathei-Japhet, Shem, or Cham? And how they 'eyond the sensf And when, and why, anr; where they last broke ground, Whbt rlslcs they ran, where they first anchoring fotmd? Tell me their patriarchs, prophets, priests, and kings? Religion, manners, monumental things : What charters had they?— what immunltie*? What altars, temples, cities, colonies. Did they erect ? Who were their public spirits ? Where may we find the records of their merits? *Vhat instances, what glorious displayes " {eaven's high hand commenced in their dayes? . !c things in black oblivion covered o'er, ,.i2 they'd ne'er been) lye with a thousand more, A vexing thought, that makes me scarce forbear To stamp, and wring my hands, and pluck my hair, To think, what blessed ignorance hath done. What fine threads learning's enemies have spun. How well t>ook8, schools, and colledge may be spar'd, 80 men with beasts may fitly be compar'd I Yes, how tradition leaves na in the lurch. And who nor stay at home, nor go to church : The light-withintnthusiasls, who let fly Against our pen and ink divinity; Who boldly do pretend (but who'll believe It?) If Oenesis were lost, they could retrieve it ; Yea, all the sacred uiril ; pray let them try On the New World their gift of prophecy. For all of them, the n«ie worliCs antiquities, Smother'd In everlasting silence lies; And its first aachims mention'd are no more Than they that Agamemnon llv'd before. The poor Americans are under blame, Like them of old, that from Tel-melnh came, Cowjectur'd once to be of Israel's seed. But no record nppcar'd to prove the deed : And like Habiijah's sons, that were put by The priesthood, holy things to come not nigh, For having lost their genealogy. Who can past things to memory command. Till ono with Aaron's breastplate up shall stand? Mischiefs remediless such sloth ensue ; God and their parents lose their honour due. And children's children sufler on thut iicore, Like bastards cast forlorn at any door ; And they and others put to seek their father. For want of such a «cri6e as Cotton Mathcr ; Whose piety, whose pains, and pevrless pen. Revive* NowEngloud's nigh-lost origin. Heads of our tribes, whose corps are nnder ground, Their names and ihmes in chronicles renown'd, Begemm'd on golden ouches he hath set. Past envy's teeth and time's corroding fVet: Of Death and malice, he has brush'd off the dust. And made a resurrection of the just : And clear'd the land's religion of the gloss. And copper^uts of Alexander Ross. He hath related academic things. And paid their first fruits to the King of kings; And done his .9lma Mater that Just favour, To shew sal gentium'* hath not lost its savour. He writes like an historian and divine. Of Churches, Synods, Faith, and Discipline. Illustrious Providences are display'd. Mercies and Judgments are in colours laid ; Salvations wonderful by sea and land, Themselves are saved by his pious hand. The Churches' wars, nnd various enemies. Wild salvages, and wilder sectaries. Are notify'd for them that after rise. This well-instructed Scribe brings neu> and ot-K And from his mines digs richer things than gold ; Yet Oeely gives, as fountains do their streams Nor more than they, himself, by giving, drains. He's all design, and by his craftier wiles Locks fast his reader, and the time beguiles: Whilst wit and learning move themselves aright, Tliro' ev'ry line, and colour In our sight, bo interweaving profit with delight ; And civiously inlaying both together. That he must needs find both, who looks for either. His preaching, writing, and his pastoral dure. Are very much, to fall to one man's share. This added to the rest, is admirable. And proves the author indefatigable. Play is his toyi, and work his recreation. And his inventions next to inspiration. His pen wa-! taken from some 4ird of light. Addicted to a swift and lofty fiight. Dearly it loves art, air, and eloquence. And hates confinement, save to truth and sense. Allow what's known ; they who write histories, Write many things they see with others' eyus : Tis fair, where nought is feign'd, nor undigested, Nor ought but what is credibly attestt'd. The risk is his ; and seeing others do. Why may not I speak mine opinion <(<<>? The stuff is true, tho trimming neat ,ind spruce, Tiie workman 's good, the work of publick use ; Most piously design'd, a publick store. And well deserves the public thanks, and morn. NICHOLAS NOYF.P, Teacher of the Church iit SiUem. • The salt of the world. ! 20 INTRODUCTORY POEMS, ETC. [Anignma, lie., in tha Original Edition.] KEVERENDO DOMINO, D. CO'XTONO MADEROi liaill DTI JailMI, cm TITCLOI, MAOJfALIA CHRIST! AMERlCAffA, ▲UTBORI DOCTlaallfOi AC DIl.RCTIgalMO, Otto OgdoatioB) et bia duo Anagranimata, dot Idem, H. NOYES. COTTONUS MADERUS. kviLiiX, iEST DUO SANCTORVttf. M'tmina Sanctonini, guv» Scribi$, elara dnonim JVaniiw Oerno 7*110 ; Firtutes I^ector eaadem Candidm inveniet Tecum, Charitatt rtftriat. Doctrina Ezimius Doctoa, Pietate pios^ue 7^1 bene deieribie, deteribere neicit ut alter. Doctorum es Nutua, Domino Spirante Renatut ; Dt bene qimsitiM gaudeto Tertiut Haret ; Jfowun praiagit^ nee nan Anagrammata, vatet, COTTONUS MADERUS. ANARR iUNCTAS IJEMORTUOS. ^"^^^ISENATUS VOCTORUM. Unctas demort'os, deeoratur iMude Senatus Doctorum JUrrita ; fit praseim praterita atat ; Huic ezempla patent, et poetera Progenitoret Aiin ignorabit, patriisque auperbiet Actis ; More, Fide, cultu, quoque patriaaare atudebit; Oratum opua eat DomiAO, Patria nee inutile noatrm; Orbi fruttifieat. Fcr Fertilitatia Honorem, Scribendo Vilaa alienaa, propria aeripta eat. CTrannlatcd exprealjr for thia Ediliml TO THE REVEREND DOCTOR COTTON MATHER, TBI TICRY LIARNEB AND IKLOVED AUTHOR OF A MoaT vacruL work, ■ntitlkd "♦T"** Mighty Workt of Chriat in Amerien," TBItRle TWO aaORT POIMa AHD roVR XNAORAMa ARE DIDICATRD BT NICBOLAa NOYEa, COTTON MATHER. A.>.>.»m« S^ Mtaiata of Two Saints. *"'«™™- I'lhouarta Deacendmd of the Ltarmd. Lot in thy name two aAiHTa' namea I behold— Sainta whoae good deeds aro in thia book enruli'd— Whoae virtuea candid readers can but And Not only in thy book, but In thy mind. Learned and pluus, with a master's eye, Thou canst depicture learned piety. Child op the Learned I noble is thy race, But nobler art thou as a child of grace ; Tliird of thy line I thy heritage receive. And these prophetic Anagrams believe. ' COTTON MATHER. A »■.•»».. S Thou embdimrst the Dead. Anagrams. J^ g^^^ ^ jr„„^ yf^ Thou hast cmialmed the deadi Thy truthnil pmiRO 'Round Learmino's Senate wreathvs immortal buys. Thy magic pen the Past the Present makes. And we seen honoured Tor oiu- Tathers' sakes. Nor shall our pride end here : each future age Shall claim the honours, sparkling on thy page — Shall still revere the founders of the State, Their worship, faith, and virtaes imitate. Thy God shall bless the labour of thy mind — Thy country's boon, a treasure to mankind. Though here thou writest others' lives, yet thine Shall glow resplendent in each living line. [The art of making anagrams, or constructing characteristic sentences by transposing the letters of a person's name, was formerly one of the most papular of learned conceits. Puerile as it now seems to us, it was cultivated by grave scholars with an enthusiasm which would have done honour to a more digniRed employment. Tlieir success was gonenilly indifferent; and even when fortimate, they certainly plumed themselves too much upon their ingtmiily— apparently forgettinB that endless combinotions can be made by the use of a dozen alphabetic churaclers, and tlint all the words of the English language are composed of only tv>mtysix letters. The first of the foregoing specimens, by "Nicholas Noyes, Teacher of the Church at Salem," will compare favourably with its class. Out of a Lntinistic version of our author's name, (Cottoncs Madervs,) he makes " Est duo sancforiim,"— that is, « It (the name) consists of two saints," referring to John Cotton and Richard Mather, both heroes of this history. Little can be said in praise of his other anagrams. The third is very unfortunate ; for the first word (as here intended to be construed) is not Latin, and the second cannot, without a moat ui\JU8tifluble exercise of poetic liconBC, be forced into a hexameter verse.— Translator.] CELEBERRIMI COTTON I MATHERI, CKtKBRATIO; QUI HRROUM VITAS, IN SUI-IPSirS ET ILLORUM MEMORIAM BKMPITERNAM, RSVOCAVIT. Qho(/ patrioa Manes revoeaati a Scdihua altia, Sylvrstres Musa grates, Matbere, rependunt, Hitc nova Progenies, veterum aub Imagine, ectlo Arte Tua Terram visitans, demisaa, salutat. Grata Deo Pittas ; Qratea peraoltimua omnra ; Semper Honoa, J^omenque Tuiim, Matbere, ma»ehold, New-England's crowns excelling Spanish gold. Here be rare lessons set for us to read. That offsprings are of such o goodly breed. The dead onos here, so much alive are made. We think them speaking fhim bless'd Eden's shaae ; Hark I how they chock the madness of this age. The growth of pride, fierce lust, and worldly r.ge. They tell, we shall to clura-banks come again. If Heaven still doth scourge us all in vain. But, sir, upon your merits beap'd will bo. The blessings of all those that here shall see Vertue embalm'd ; this hand seems to put on ^ The lawrel on your brow, so Justly won. TIMOTHY WOODBRIDGE, Jlfiattter of Hartford. m'd, n'd? \ licm sir: ondroim fair; ill lie, ef, late M't, aints ilcxcend, ctt went p«iin'd. m •HOMPbON. 'a AD FOLITiB LITERATCRJS ATQUE SACRARUM LITERARUM ANTISTITEX, ANOLUiQUE AMERICANOS ANTIQCARIim CALLENTISSIMUM, REVERENDUM DOMINUM, D. COTTONUM MATHERUM, AFUD BOSTONENSES, V. D. H. EPIGRAMMA. COTTONUS MATHERUS. An^or. — Tu tantdm Cohort <«. Ipie, valti Tantiim, Tu, mi memorande Matbcre, Hortit fro Chritio Milis, es ipse cobors. [Translation of the above, made for this Edition.] TO THAT ORACLE OF POLITE LEARNINO AND SACRED LITERATURE, AND ACCOMPLISHED HISTORIAN OF NEW-ENOLAND, THE REVEREND MR. COTTON MATHER, MINISTER AT BOSTON. AN INSCRIPTION. COTTONMATHER. Anaoram. — Thou art alone a hoit. Thou, noble Matbir, though thou wouldst not boast, In Christian warfare ART alonr a hoit. A PINDARIC. Art thou Heaven^s TViimpet? sure by the Archangel blown; Tombs cruck, dead start, saints rise, nru seen and known, And shine in coiistelliition ; From ancient flames hero's a new Vhanii flown. To shew the world, when Chritit returns, he 'II not return alooe. *. DANFORTH, V. D. M., Dorttttr. 22 INTRODUCTORY POEMS, ETC. TO THE LEARNED AND REVEREND MR. COHON MATHER, ON HIS EXCELLENT MAGNALIA. Sir;— My muse will now by chymiitry draw forth The ipirit of your name's immortal worth. COTTONIUS MATHERUS. Anaor. — Tuot Tecum ornatti,* * VVbili thus the dead in thy rare pages rise, nine, uitA thy self, thou dost immorta/ite. To view the odds, thy lenrned lives invite, Twixt Eieutherian and £i superainU ila narrein. >la docebunt, da, quot artes, '^>luni, I usus Christi. re spectnim ext. Btllum ueNovorcaesU nrtes. Bellutn, n Orbe et armifi. iginataCamist secundiiin, luuntur. Sectas J ot nthea res oat. bro8, Chrittt jnn» ■isli ? iistres, ula viv<*; Orbem. Belgieut. rrnuulation of the foregoiiig, made (br tUi Editkm.] A P E M, CORCEKNINO THE MIGHTY WORKS OF JESUS CHRIST IN AMERICA, ARRANGED IN SEVEN BOOKS, BY THAT GREAT AND MOST LEARNED MAN, MR. COTTON MATHER, A SERVANT OF JESUS CHRIST. AND THE FIOUS AND MOST ELOQUENT MINISTER OF A CHURCH AT BOSTON IN AMERICA. Thb wondroiM works of God and Chriit abound, Wherever nature reigns or man is found. Some, linown to few, have been revealed before. Beyond the Indies and the AfVic shore. But what God here hath wrought, in this our age. All shall behold, emblazoned on thy page. Strange Is thy dwelling-place. Thy home ^ where Twas thought no creature breathed the vital air. Yet there a mighty future is begun. And men and things a race of empiru run. Btrabo! thy many marvels tell no more, No proud discovery known in ancient lore Can match that wondrous waif Vesputio found, A World— MEW world— at ocean's farthest bound. Let Grotius fancy whence, in ancient time. Came the flrst people of this Western clime. Whence their religion and ancestral line :— Hathkr I a deeper, loftier theme is thine. The rivdge race, who once were masters here. Nor law nor God Inspired with wholesome fear: They no Lycurgus, Numo, Solon knew. To frame their code, and flx its sanctions too. Self-will alone was law : but now we see Our royal charters sent across the sea, To teach our wills their loyal bond to own To England's statutes and our sovereign's throne. Luuk at our courts — our rulers, small and groat — Our civil order and compacted State ; See these where once the lawless savage ranged. And then, like old iGneaa, say, " How changed 1" 'lis well. But not enough are laws and kings To raise our souls to Heaven and heavenly things. We must know Goo, and In his ways be taught; Without such knowledge, men and states are nought. The LoRi> <8 God ! The ancient poets feign Their Pantheon of pagan guds in vain. In vain the unconverted Indians raise Their forest altars in Manitou's praise ; For light shines out of darkness: the Unknown And dreadful God the Indian calls his own. The Indian has his Christian psalms and prayer. His Christian temple, and his pastor there; God speaks the Indian's language, rude and wild. To teach Ills mercy to the forest-child. And more!— though Science older climes befits, And Europe swarms with academic wits, Yet see Bcholai>tic shades these wilds adorn. Such as the Old World may not wisely scorn. That world we left; but Science has made known. Out of the world, a neio world of our own : A hemisphere, imperial yet to rise- In Arts proficient, and in Learning wise. Wh have a Cambridge ; where to rich and poor Young Harvard opvs a hospitable door; Oatcd at Nkw-Yors, 16 October, 1697. Its liberal tests no ban of ignorance flx On Indians or converted heretics. For Wisdom's hall* we need not cross the sea" ; Here Wisdom dwells, and here confers degruus; Since Wisdom ever honours toil and pains, And high degreet true merit always gains, Perchance Philosophy and Science hero Will find new secrets and a broader sphere, I will not, need not tell our marvels o'er; Many exceed belief, and many more Might teach mankind how noble is the pace . In human progress of our exile-race, I need not speak of witchcraft: got despise The devil's arts— his agents and his lies. Here !s the statif^ard of the Cross unftirl'd. And Jews' " Miohty Works " astound the world. Scorn of the gublin horde to be afraid— Shapea without substance, shadows of a shade. How rare is peace! War thunders its alarms; The Age is Iron— with the ring of arms! War sacks great cities ; mars, with sounds of strifoi AH social arts and every Joy of life. Europe is drench'd in blood: War's Iron heel And flery scourge her writhing millions feel. The blood of Frenchmen, Dutch and Germans sluin, Imbrues the soil of Italy and Spain ; While banded kings the sword of slaughter wield, And humbler thrones afford a battle-field. Then In the Old World see how seels uphold A war of dogmas In the Christian fold : Lo! Rome stands flrst; Fanaticism next, And then Arminius with polemic text ; Then Anabaptist Menno, loading on Spinoza, with his law-automaton. Who shall of sects the true meridian learn T — Their latitude and longitude discern? We of the Western World cannot succeed In conjuring up such difference of creed. Or to uncovonanted grace assign (Jo many heretics in things divine. Beloved of God I whose ministry hath bless'd Our Boston anvl the Churches of the West ; Who, without Bteming toil, hast nobly wrought Within thy breasi exhaustless mines of thought, And hire rRRoriJest, as by God's commands, ^'■TheMghty IVorkt of Chri$t in fVenttm Land*;'" Say, 'lost thou not THVSELi^eserve a place Among those "Mighty Works" of Sovereign Grace? Immortal Mather I 'tis thy page alone To Old World minds makes New World wonders known; And while the solid Earth shall flrm remain. New World and Old World shall thy praise retain. HENRY SEUINS, Pattor of a Dutch Reformed Church at AVw- York, •\i' A GENERAL INTRODUCTION. *EpO Si toCto, t^c ruv ivTBy^a/xsvcov 'wq)jXsiac Svsxa,* Dicam hoe propter utilitatem eorum qui Leeturi aunt hoe opua. — Theodosit.* { 1. I WRITE the Wonders of the Christian Religion, flying from the depravations of Europe, to the American Strand; and, assisted by the Holy Author of that Religion, I do with all conscience of Truth, required therein by Him, who is the Truth itself, report the wonderful displays of His infinite Power, Wisdom, Goodness, and Faithfulness, wherewith His Divine Providence hath irnidiated an Indian Wilderness. I relate the Considerable Matters, that produced and attended the First Settlement of Colonies, which have been renowned for the degree of Reformation, professed and attained by Evangelical Churches, erected in those ends of the earth; and a Field being thus pre- pared, i proceed unto a relation of the Considerable Matters which have been acted thereupon. I first introduce the Actors, that have in a more exemplary manner served those Colonies; and give Remarkable Occurrences, in the exemplary Lives of many Magistrates, and of more Ministers, who so lived as to leave unto Posterity examples worthy of everlasting remembrance. I add hereunto, the Notables of the only Protestant University that ever shone in that hemisphere of the New World; with particular instances of Criolians, in our Biography, provoking the whole world with vertuous objects of emulation. I introduce then, the Actions of a more emii;snt importance, that have signalized those Colonies: whether the Establishments, directed by their Synods; with a rich variety of Synodical and Ecclesiastical Determinations; or, the Disturbances, with which they have been from all sorts of temptations and enemies tempcstuated; and the Methods by which they have still weathered out each horrible tempest. And into the midst of these Actions, I interpose an entire Book, wherein there is, with all possible veracity, a Collection made of Memorable Occurrences, and amazing Judgments and Mercies befalling many particular persons among the people of New-England. Let my retidcrs expect all that I have promised them, in this Bill of Fare; and it may bo they will find themselves entertiined with yet many other passages, above and beyond their expectation, deserving likewise a room in History : in all which, there will be nothing but the Author's too mean way of preparing so great entertainments, to reproach the Invitation. } 2. The reader will doubtless desire to know, what it was that -tot Volvere casus Inaignes Pietate Viroa, tot adire Lahorea, Impulerit. t And our History shall, on many fit occasions which will be therein offered, endeavour, with all historical fidelity and simplicity, and with as little offence as may be, to satisfy him. The • "This I Bay for the benefit of those, who moy happen to read the book." t " Drove forth those pious heroes to withstand Tiie sea's rough rage and rougher toU on land."— ViROit's JEntid, J. 9. {alurtd.) 1;;^^ ' -''^vi^ . ■ »-^ n. %m 'V,. ^a M^l 'i ' jt|n ^-' 'Sm 26 GENERAL INTRODUCTION. ! 1 i ■urn of the mntU^r is, that from the very bcjfiiining of the Reformation in tlic English Nation, there huth always been a gonerntion of Godly Men, desirous to purHue the Rcl'iirin. ntion of Religion, according to the Word of Gud, nnd the Exnmplo of the hiiii>i.:lly still had in their hands, not only to stop the progress of the desired Reformation, but hIh i, with innumerable vexations, to persecute those that most heartily wished well unto it. There wore many of the Reformers, who joyned with the Reverend John Fox, in the com- plaints which he then entred in his Martyrology, about the "baits of Popery" yet left in the Church; and in his wishes, " God take tiiem away, or ease us from them, for God knows they be the cause of much blindness and strife amongst men!" They zealously decreed the policy of complying always with the ignorance and vanity of the People; and cried out earnestly for purer Administrations in the house of God, and more conformity to the Law of Christ ond primitive Christianity: while others would not hear of going any further than the first Essay of Reformation. 'Tis very certain, th.it the first Reformers never intended that what they did should lie the absolute boundary of Reformation, so that it should bu u sin to proceed any further; as, by their own going beyond Wicklitl, and changing and grow. ing in their own Models also, and the confessions of Cranmer, with the Scripta Anglicana of Buccr, and a thousand other things, was abundantly demonstrated. But atler a fruitless expectation, wherein the truest friends of the Reformation long waited for to have tii t which Heylin himself owns to have been the design of the first Reformers, followed as it should have been, a party very unjustly arrogating to themselves the venerable name of The Church of England, by numberless oppressions, grievously smote those their Fellow- Ser^-ants. Then 'twos that, as our great Owen hath expressed it, " Multitudes of pious, peacettble Protestants, were driven, by their severities, to leave their n.itive country, ond seek a refuge for their lives and liberties, with freedom for the worship of God, in a wilder- ness, in the ends of the earth." } 3. It is the History of these Protestants that is here attempted: Protestants that highly honoured and otTected the Church of England, and humbly petition to be a part of it: but by the mistake of a few powerful brethren, driven to seek a place for the exercise of the Protestant Religion, according to the light of their consciences, in the desarts of America. And in this attempt I have proposed, not only to preserve and secure the interest of Religion in the Churches of that little country New-England, so fur as the Lord Jesus Christ may please to bless it for that end, but also to offer unto the Churches of the Reformation, abroad in the world, some small Memorials, that may be serviceable unto the designs of Reformation, whereto, I believe, they are quickly to be awakened. I am far from any such boost, concerning these Churches, that they have need of nothing; I wish their works were more perfect before God. Indeed, that which Austin colled " the perfection of Christians," is like to be, until the term for the anti-ehristian apostasic bo expired, " the per- fection of Churches" too; lU agnoscant se nunquam esse perfectas.* Nevertheless, I perswade myself, that so far as they hare attained, they have given great examples of the methods and measures wherein an Evangelical Reformation is to be prosecuted, and of the qualifications requisite in the instruments that are to prosecute it, and of the difficulties which may bo most likely to obstruct it, and the most likely Directions and Remedies for those obstruc- tions. It may be, 'tis not possible for me to do a greater service unto the Churches on the best Island of the universe, than to give a distinct relation of those great examples which have been occurring among Churches of exiles, that were driven out of that Island, into an horrible wilderness, meerly for their being well-vvillers unto the Reformation. When that * To acknowledge their imperfecUoni. OENKUAL INTRODUCTION. 27 tlic English tlio Ucl'nriii- it Rct'oiini'il i Parapliiimc > vof^.iJ^ovrt;, t in till' Hur- ; hatli liet'U r'u goni'iMlly m, but Ills I, cil unto it. ill the ciyrri' >t K'ft ill tiiu God knowH usiy decTct'd nd i-riud out to the Law further than rer intended should bu u g and grow. a Anglicana it a. fruitless o have th t )llov\'ed as it >lo name of heir Fell ow- es of pious, ;ountry, and in a wilder- STANTS that )e a ]>art of ie exercise desarts of the interest Lord Jesus ches of the Ie unto the I am f:ir wish their erfeetion of " the per- I pcrswade lethods and lalifications lich may bo so obstruc' ches on the iples which nd, into an When that I ■■.a; bIcMed Martyr Constantine was carried, with other Martyrs, in a dung-eart, onto the place of execution, he pleasantly said, " Well, yet wo are a precious odour to God in Christ" Though, the Reformed Churches in the American Rcffions have, by very injurious represent- ationi of their brethren, (all which they desire to for|;et and forgive!) been many times thrown into a dung-cart; yet, as they have been a "precious odour to God in Christ," so, I hope, they will be a precious odour unto His people; and not only precinus, but useful also, when the History of them shall come to bq considered. A Reformation of the Church is comingf on, and I cannot but thereupon say, with the dying Cyrus to his children in Xeno- phon, 'Ex Tuv irpoylyfvvriiu.^vwv |uiav^av«T», oIot.^ yip dpi(tTy\ iiiatfxaXia. (Learn from the things that have been done already, for this in the best way of learning.) Tlie reader hath here an account of the "things that have been done already." Bernard, upon that clause in the Canticles, ["O thou fairest among women!"] has this ingenious gloss: Put- chram, non omnimode quidem, sed pulchram inter mulieres earn docet; videlicet cum diftine- time, quatenvs ex hoc iimpUus reprimatur, el iciat quid desit sibi.* Thus, I do not say, that the Churches of New-fjUgland are the most re^u^ar that can be; yet I do sny, and am sure, that they are very like unto those that were in the first oges of Christianity. And if I assert that, in the Reformation of the Church, the state of it in thoso first Ages is to be not a little considered, the great Peter Ramus, among others, has emboldened me. For when the Cardinal of Lorrain, the Miccenas of that great man, was offended at him, for turning Protestjmt, he replied: Inter Opes illaSf quibus me ditdsti, has etiam in atemum recordabor, qiiod lieneficio Poessiaccc Responsionis tutc didici, de quindecim a Chrislo stcculis, primum vere esse aurenm; Reliqua, quo longius abscederent, esse nequiora,atque deteriora: turn igilur cum fieret optio, Aureum S'tculum delegi.j In short, the first Age was the golden Age: to return unto that, will make a man a Protestant, and, I may add, a Puritan. Tis possible that our Lord Jesus Christ carried some thousands of Reformers into the retirements of an American desart, on purpose that, with un opportunity granted unto many of his faithful servants, to enjoy the precious liberty of their Ministry, though in the midst of many tempU ations all their days. He might there, to them first, and then by them, give a specimen of many good things, which He would have His Churches elsewhere aspire and arise unto ; and this being done, he knows not whether there be not all done, that New-England Vfan planted for; and whether the Plantation may not, soon after this, come to nothing. Upon that expression in the sacred Scripture, "Cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness," it hath been imagined by some, that the Regiones exlercc I of America, are the Tenebra exteriores, J which the unprofitable are there condemned unto. No doubt, the authors of those Ecclesiastical impositions and severities, which drove the English Christians into the dark regions of America, esteemed those Christians to be a very unprofitiible sort of crea- tures. But behold, ye European Churches, there are golden Candlesticks [more than twice seven times seven!] in the midst of this "outer darkness:" unto the upright children of Abraham, here hath arisen light in darkness. And, let us humbly speak it, it shall be profit able for you to consider the light which, from the midst of this "outer darkness," is now to be darted over unto the other side of the Atlantick Ocean. But we must therewithal ask your Prayers, that these "golden Candlesticks" may not quickly be "removed out of their place!" Jj 4. But whether New-England may live any where else or no, it must live in our History! History, in general, huth had so many and mighty commendations from the pens of thoso numberless authors, who, from Herodotus to Howel, have been the professed writers of it, * The sncred writer calls her Mr, not in an absolute sense, but ihtr among women ; implying a distinction, in order that hia praiiie may have due qualiflcation, and that she may apprehend her deflciencies. t Amon^ the many Favours with which your bounty has enriched me, I shall keep one in everlasting remem> branci— I meun the leDsim I have learned through your Reply to the Poissy Conference, that of the fifteen centuries since Chriitt, the first wos the trtily golden era of the Church, and that the rest have been successive periods of degeuenicy ; when therefore I bad the power of choosing between them, I preferred the golden age. t Remote region*. | outer dorkneia. 28 GENERAL INTBO DUCTI05. that a tenth part of them transcribed, would bo a furniture for r PalyarUhea in folio.* We, that have neither liberty, nor oucnaion, to quote theao commendationa of History, will con- tent ourselves with tht> opinion of one who was not much of a professed historian, expressed in timt paasa((e, whereto all mniikind subscribe, Histitria ett Testis temporum, Nuntia vetui- talis, Lux veritalis,, vita memoritc, magistra vit- ing that one little Pavilion, the Tabernacle. And when I am thinking what mny be the reason of this ditTerence, mothinka it intimates unto us, that tho Church wherein the service of God is performed, is much more precious than the world, which was indeed created for tho sake and uso of tho Church. 'Tis very certain, that the greatest entortiiinments must needs occur in the History of tho people whom tho Son u! God hath redemied and purified unto himself, as a peculiar people, and whom tho Spirit of God, by supernatural operations upon their minds, does cause to live like strangers in this world, conforming themselves unto the Truths and Rules of his Holy Word, in expectation of a Kingdom, whereto they shall bo in another and a better World advanced. Such a people our Lord Jesus Christ hath procured and preserved in all ages visible ; and the dispensations of his wondrous Providence towards this People, (for, "O Lord, thou dost lift tliem up aild cast them down!") their calamities, their deliverances, the dispositions which they have still discovered, and tho considerable persons and actions found among them, cannot but afibrd matters of admiration and admonition, above what any other story can pretend unto: 'tis nothing but Atheism in the hearts of men, that can perswode tiiem otherwise. Let any person of good sense peruse the History of Herodotus, which, liko a river taking rise where the Sacred Records of tho Old Testament leave off, runs along smoothly and sweetly, with relations that sometimes perhaps want an apology, down until the Grecians drive the Per- sians before thorn. Let him then peruse Thucydides, who, from acting, betook himself to urritijig, and carries tho ancient state of the Grecians down to the twenty-first year of the Pcloponnesian wars, in a manner wliich Casaubon judges to be Mirandum potius quam iotj- tandum-X Let him next revolve Xcnophon, that "Bee of Athens," who continues a narrative of the Greek affairs from tho Pcloponnesian wars to tho battle of Mantinesi, and gives us u Cyrus into tho bargain, at such a rate, that Lipsius reckons the character of a Suavis, Fidus et Circumspecttis Scriptor, { to belong unto him. Let him from hence proceed unto Dio- dorus Siculus, who, besides a rich treasure of Egyptian, Assyrian, Lybian and Grecian, and other Antiquities, in a phrase which, according to Photius's judgment, is jj'Topia fAaXitfra •apiviiar,, [of all most becoming an historian,] carries on the thread begun by his predeces- sors, until the end of the hundred and nineteenth Olympiad ; and where he is defective, let it be supplied from Arrianus, from Justin, and from Curtius, who, in the relish of Golems, is Quoits Tnelle dulcior. \\ Let him hereupon consult Polybius, and acquaint himself with tho birth and growth of the Roman Empire, as far as 'tis described in five of the forty books composed by an author who, with a learned Professor of History, is Pr t(kns Scriptor, si quis alius. IT Let him now run over tlie ttible of tlie Roman affairs, compendiously given by iiucms Florus, and then let him consider the transactions of above three hundred years reported by Dionysius Halicarnassaeus, who, if the censure of Bodin may be taken, Greccos omnes et Latinos superdsse videalur.** Let him from hence pass to Lavy, of whom tho • An anthology. f History is Time's witnefo, tho mcssicngor of Antiquity, tho lamp of Truth, the ombodivd 8oul of Memory, the gnide of Immiui Llt'u."— Ciciku, de Oratore, il. 9. [Slightly transpuMid, Bliuwliig that the writer quotes from recollection.] X Rather to he admired than imitated. ( An agreeable, faithful, and accurate writer, I Sweeter than honey. ^ A sagacious historian, if one ever existed. ** Appears to have outdone all other Greek and the Ijittn authors. GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 29 folio.* We, ory, win con- lan, cxpresBud Nunliii tetun- be confuHHod, uvity, and tlio of the wliolo «, implies but !ra, in di>Hcril>< it may bo the jin the BiTvice ndei'd created iiitertuinmcnU rcdot'iicd iiid y supcrnaturiil d, conforming [)f n Kingdom, ople our Lord iisntionH of liia in up mid cnHt Ihcy htivc still mot but atfurd Lend unto: Vih vise. Lot any ting rise where 1 sweiitly, with drive the Per- ool( himMi'lf to rst year of the ytius quam imi- lUcs a narrative and gives us a I Suavis, Fidui L'ced unto Dio- id Grecian, and ropirt ixaXi(tra. ly his predeces- is defective, let h of Colcrus, is imsclf with the the forty books ens Scriptw, « o\isly given by hundred years talien, Grcccos of whom tho oul of Mumory, the itWmT quotes frum ccurate writer, ever existed. fiimous critick says. Hoc mhim iriffmium ((k Ilittorieit Lnqutrr) jmpulut Romanus par hnprrxn tun ha/iiiit,* and supply those of his Dfc.ad» that are lost, from tho bent fragments of antl- qnitv, in others (and cHpccinlly Dion and Hallimt) tliat lead us on still further In our way. Li't him then pr«KM'od unto tho writers of the Cesarean times, and first rcvolvo Suetonius, then Taeitus, then Ilerodian, then a whole army more of historians which now crowd into our Library; and unto all the rest, let him not fail of adding the incomparable IMutarrh, whose books, they Hny, Theodore (iaza preferred before any in the world, next unto tho inspired oracles of the liiblo : but if the number bo still too little to satisfle an historical appetite, let him ndd I'olyhistor unto tho number, and all the Chronicles of tho following ages. After all, ho must sensibly acknowledge that tho two short books of Reclesiastioal History, written by the evangelist Luke, huth given us more glorious entertainments than all theHc voluminous historians if they were put all together. Tho atchlevements of one Paul particulorly, wliiih that evangelist hath emblazoned, have more true filory in them, than all the nets of those execrable plunderers and murderers, and irresistible f, mditti of the world, which have been dignified by the name of "conquerors." Tacitus courted Ingentia belta, exfugnatinne* vrbium, fiisof captosque regex,f the r iges of war, and the glorious vio- lences, whereof great warriors make a wretched ostentation, to be the rxihlest matter for an historian. But there is a nobler, I humbly conceive, in the planting an 1 forming of Evan- gelical Churelu's, and tho temptations, the corruptions, the >.fIlietionS: which assault thern, and their salvations from those assaults, and the exemplary lives wi thoso tir i He.iveu employs to be patterns of holiness and usefulness upon earth: and unto such ; "s, that I now invite my readers; things, in comparison whereof, tho subjects of many * >'iic Histories are of as little weiglit as the questions about Z, the last letter of ou»" Alphabet, and wh«tli'>v //is to be pronounced with an aspiration, where about whole volt re : .lave boon written, and of no more account than the composure of Didymus. But for 'ho hLinner of my treat- ing this matter, I must now give some account unto him. } 6. Render! I have done tiio part of an impartial historian, albeit not without nil occa. sion perhaps, for the rule which a worthy writer, in his Ilistorica, gives to every reader, Historici leganlur cum mixleratiove et venia, et cogitetur fieri nan posse ut in omnibus circum- ftanlHs sint lijncei. I Polybius complains of thoso historians, who always made either the Cartliagenians brave, or tho Romans base, or e cimtra, in all their actions, ns their affection for their own party led them. I have endeavoured, with nil good conscience, to decline this writing meerly for a party, or doing like tho dealer in History, whom Lucian derides, for always calling the enptiiin of his own party an Achilles, but of the adverse party a Ther- sites: nor have I added unto the just provocations for tho complaint made by the Baron Maurier, that the greatest part of Histories are but so many panegyrioks composed by iutcrested hands, which elevate iniquity to tho heav ■■■'.<*, like Paterculus, and like Maehiavel who propose Tiberius Cesar, and Cesar Borgia, as c ..ir!:,i»lcs fit for imitation, whereas true History would have exhibited them as horrid monsters — as very devils. 'Tis true, I am not of the opinion that one cannot merit tho name of an impartial historian, except he write bare matters of fact without all reflection; for I can tell where to find this given as the defi- nition of History, Hisloria est rerum gestarum, cum laude aut vituperatinne, narratio:\ and if I am not altogether a Tacitus, when ■irhtes or vices occur to be matters of reflection, as well as of relation, I will, for my vindication, appeal to Tacitus himself, whom Lipsius calls one of the prudeiitest (though Tertullian, long before, counts him one of the hjingcst) of them who have enriched the world with History: he says, Prcccipnum munus Annalium reor, ne virtutcs dleantur, utipte pravis Dictis, Factisque ex posteritate el Infamia metus sit. || I have • In him alono (ho far as historlnns are concerned) the Roman people found a genius worthy of their match- less cinpiro, + Orcat wars, sacked cities, kings in fliRht or chains. [every thing. t Readers sliould exercise leniency towards historians, and bear It In mind that they cannot be infallible ia S History is the narration ofi^reat transactions, wllh awards of praise or censure to the actors. I I deem It to bo the hi(ursued with a thousand calumnies." I thank Heaven I hate it with all my heart. But how can the lives of the commendable be written without commending them ? or, is that law of History, given in one of the eminentcst pieces of antiquity we now have in our hands, wholly antiquated, Alax- imeproprivm est Hisloricc, Laudem rerum egregie gestarum persequir* nor have I, on the other side, forbore to mention many censurable things, even in the best of my friends, when the things, in my opinion, were not good; or so bore away for Placcntia, in the course of our story, as to pass by Verona; but been mindful of the direction which Poly bins gives to the historian: "It becomes him that writes an History, sometimes to extol enemies in his praises, when their praise worthy actions bespeak it, and at the sjime time to reprove the best friends, when their deeds appear worthy of a reproof; in-as-mueh as History is good for nothing, if truth (which is the very eye of the animal) be not in it." Indeed, I have thought it my duty upon all accounts, (and if it have proceeded unto the degree of a fault, there is, it may be, something in my temper and nature that has betniycd me therein,) to be more sparing and easie, in thus mentioning of censurable things, than in my other liberty: a writer of Church- History should, I know, be like the builder of the temple, one of the tribe of Naphthali ; and for this I will also plo.id my Polybius in my excuse: "It is not the work of an historian, to commemorate the vices and villanies of men, so much as their just, their fair, th.ir honest actions; and the readers of History get more good by the objects of their emulation, than of their indignation." Nor do I deny that, though I cannot approve the conduct of .Tose- phus; (whom Jerom not unjustly nor inaptly calls "the Greek Livy,") wlu>n he left out of his Antiquities, the story of the golden Calf, and I don't wonder to find Chamier, and Rivet, and others, taxing him for his partiality towards his country-men; yet I have left unmen- tioned some censurable occurrences in the story of our Colonies, .as things no less unuseful than improper to be raised out of the grave, wherein Oblivion hath now buried them ; lest I should have incurred the pasquil bestowed upon Pope Urban, who, employing a committi-e to rip up the old errors of his predecessors, one clapped a pair of spurs upon the heels of the statue of St. Peter; and a label from the stitue of St. Paul opposite thereunto, upon the bridge, asked him, "Whither he was bound?" St. Peter answered, "I apprehend some danger in staying here ; I fear they'll call me in question for denying my Master." And St. Paul replied, "Nay, then I had best bo gone too, for they'll question me also for persecuting the Christians before my conversion." Briefly, my pen shall reproach none that can give a good word unto any good man that is not of their own faction, and shall fall out with none but those that can agree with no body else, except tiiose of their own schism. If I draw any sort of men with charcoal, it shall be because I remember a notable passage of the best Queen that ever was in the world, our late Queen Mary. Monsieur Juvien, that he might justifie the Reformation in Scotland, made a very black representation of their old Queen Mary; for which, a certain sycophant would have incensed our Queen Mary against that Reverend person, saying, "Is it not a shame that this man, without any consideration for your royal person, should dare to throw such infamous calumnies upon a Queen, from whom your Royal Highness is descended?" But that excellent Princess replied, "No, not * It is HlBtory's truost prerogative, to praise noble achievements. GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 81 served it, but lid my judg- judgment, in to wear tho ore mc, hath y Antipodes. II who differ • a rt'forraer ; tion!) wliom m wliom, 'tis and pursued can tiic lives tory, yiven in luated, MaX' , on the other (is, when tlie ourse of our I gives to the in l)is praises, 1 best friends, for nothing, louglit it my lere is, it may e sparing and er of Chureli- iplitlinli; and I historian, to thtir iionest lulatlon, tlian duet of Jose- le left out of er, and Rivet, left unmen- css unuseful them ; lest I f a committi'o the heels of re unto, upon irehend some jr." And St. ir persecuting \at can give a aut with none If I draw fc of the best lat he might ir old Queen against tliat sideration for Queen, from led, " No, not at all; is it not enough that, by fulsome praises, great persons be lulled asleep all their lives; but must flattery accompany them to their very graves? How should they fear the judgment of posterity, if historians be not allowed to speak the truth after their death]" But whether I do myself commend, or whether I give my reader an opportunity to censure, I am careful above all things to do it with truth ; and as I have considered the words of Plato, Dcum indigne el graviter ferre, cum quis ei similem, hoc est, virtute ■prccslantem, vUu- peret, aut laudet contrarium:* so I have had tho Ninth Commandment of a greater law-giver than Plato, to preserve my care of Truth from first to last. If any mistake have been any where committed, it will be found meerly circumstantial, and wholly involunlary ; and let it be remembered, that though no historian ever merited better than the incomparable Thuanus, yet learned men have said of his work, what they never shall truly say of ours, that it con- tains muUa falsissima el indigna.^ I find Erasmus himself mistaking one man for two, when writing of the ancients. And even our own English writers too are often mistaken, and in matters of a very late importance, as Baker, and Heylin, and Fuller, (professed his- torians) tell us that Richard Sutton, a single man, founded the Charter-House; whereas his name was Thomas, and he was a married man. I think I can recite such mistakes, it may be sans number occurring in the most credible writers ; yet I hope I shall commit none such. But although I thus challenge, as my due, the character of an impartial, I doubt I may not challenge thi.t of an elegant historian. I cannot say whetiicr the style wherein this Church- History is written, will please the modern criticks: but if I seem to have used asXajtfTaTii) (fbvra^st ypa:pris, ^ a simple, submiss, humble style, 'tis the same that Eusebius affirms to have been used by Hegesippus, who, as far as we understand, was the first author (after Luke) that ever composed an entire body of Ecclesiastical History, which he divided igto five books, and entltuled, uiroiaviKJiara ruv ^xxXiitfiarfrixwy ffpa^fwv. § Whereas others, it may be, will reckon the style embellished with too much of ornament, by the multiplied references to other and former concerns, closely couched, for tlie observation of the atten- tive, in almost every paragraph ; but I must confess, that I am of his mind who sjiid, Siculi sal modice cibis aspersus Cundit, et gratiam saporis addil, ila si paulum antiquitatis ndmiscu- eris, Oralio Jit lenuslior, \\ And I have seldom seen that way of writing faulted, but by those who, for a certain odd reason, sometimes find fault that "the grapes are not ripe." These embellishments (of which yet 1 only — Veniam pro laude peto^) are not the puerile spoils of Polyanthca's; but I should have asserted them to be as choice^owcrs as most that occur in ancient or modern writings, almost unavoidably putting themselves into the autiior's hand, while about his work, if those words of Ambrose had not a little frighted me, as well as they did Baronius, Unumquemq;ie Fallunt sua scripta,** I observe that learned men have beeu so terrified by the reproaches of pedantry, which little smatterers at reading and learning have, by their quoting Immonrs, brought upon themselves, that, for to avoid all approaches towards that which those feeble creatures have gone to imitate, the best way of writing has been most injuriously deserted. But what shall we say? The best way of writing under heaven shall be the worst, when Erasmus, his monosyllable tyrant, will have it so! and if I should have resigned my self wholly to the judgment of others, what way of writing to have taken, the story of the two statues made by Policletus tells me what may have been tho issue: he contrived one of them according to the rules that best pleased himself, and the other according to the fancy of every one that looked upon his work: tiie former was aftcrwrrds applaided by all, and the latter derided by those very per- sons who hud given their directions for it. As for such unaccuracies as the critical may • It is offoiislve to Deity himself when dishonour U cast on such as resemble Him in the loftlnesa of their virtue, or when praise is bestowed on their opposiles. + Much that is most fulso and unworthy. t The elm plest style of v ritinif. § Memoirs of ecclesiastlcn) transactions. I As a little salt seabo.is food, and Increases its relish, so a spico of antiquity heightens the charm of style. 1 Ask pardon for this self-praise. •• Every writer forms mistaken JudgmooU of his own productions. I 32 GENERAL INTRODUCTION. discover, Opere in longo,* I appeal to the courteous for a favourable construction of them; iind certainly they will be favourably judged of, when tljere is eoiiHldercd the variety of my other imployments; which have kept me in continual hurries, I had almost said like those of the ninth sphere, for the few aionths in which this Work has been digesting. It was a thing well thought, by the wise designers of Chelsey-CoUedge, wherein able historians were one sort of persons to be maintained ; th.it the Romanists do in one point condemn the Protestants; for among the Romanists, they don't burden their Professor with any Par' oehial incumbrances; but among the Protestants, the very same individual man must preach, catechize, administer the Sacraments, visit the afflicted, and m.anage all the pjvrts of Church- discipline; and if any books for the service of Religion be written, persons thus extreamly incumbered must be the writers. Now, of all the Churches under heaven, there are none that expects so much variety of service from their Pastors as those of New-England; and of all the Churches in New-England, there are none that require more than those in Boston, the metropolis of the English America; whereof one is, by the Lord Jesus Christ, com- mitted unto the care of the unworthy hand by which this History is compiled. Reader, give me leave humbly to mention, with him in TwWy, Anlequam de re, Pauca demelj Con- stant sermons, usually more than once, and perhaps three or four times in a week, and all the other duties of a pastoral w."itchfulness, a very large flock has all this while demanded of me ; wherein, if 1 had been furnished with as many heads as a Typhous, as many eyes as an Argos, and as many hands as a Briareus, I might have had work enough to h.ivo employed them all ; nor hath my station left me free from obligations to spend very much time in the Evangelical service of others also. It would have been a great sin in me to have omitted, or abated, my just cares, to fulfil my Ministry in these things, and in a manner give my self tvholly to them. All the time I have had for my Church-History, hath been per- haps only, or chiefly, that which I might have taken else for less profitable recreations; and it hnth all been done by snatches. My reader will not find me tiie person intended in his Liltany, when he says. Libera me ab homine unius negotii:l nor have I spent thirty years in shaping this my History, as Diodorus Siculus did for his, [and yet both Bodinus and Sigonius complain of the tf!s/' matist when he saw guilty folks raving nutd at his lines, could say: Hoe volo; nunc nobis rarmina nostra placent.'i certainly an historian should not be displeased ut it, if the enemiet, cT truth diseov<>r th .>;!• madness at the true and free communications of his history: or;cl therefore the more stones they throw at this book, there will nt^t only be the more proofs that it is a tree w!tii'h hath good fruits growing upon it, but I will bu'ild my self a unonnmciit with thei; , vhcrcou shall be iusci ibod f liut clause in the epitaph of the martyr Sitphen : Exeepil lapides, cui petra Christua erat : t Aloeit per!i;ipa t\w. epitaph, } which the old monks bestowed upon Wickliff, will be rather endeavAured f>i liii;, (if I tun thought worth one!) by the men who will, with all possible mnnkeri/, stii.e io dtave off ?he approaching Reformation, But aiiire an undertaking of this nature must thus encounter so much envy from those who nro under the power of the spirit that works in the thildren of unperswadeahleness, metliinks I might perswade my self, that it will find another sort of entertiinment from those good men who have a better spirit in them: for, as the Apostle James hath noted, (so with Jlofisieur Claude I read it,) "The spirit that is in us lusteth against envy;" and yet, even in us also, there will be the flesh, among whose works one is envy, which will be lusting against the spirit. All good men will not be satisfied with every thing tliat is here set before tliem. In my cwn country, besides a considerable number of loose and vain inhabit- ants risen up, to whom thi. Congregational Church-discipline, which cannot live well where the power of godliness dyes, is become distasteful for the purity of it; there is also a number of eminently godlv persons, who are for a larger way, and unto these my Church- History will give distaste, by the things which it may happen to utter in favour of that Chureh-discipline on some few occasions; and the discoveries which I may happen to maKe of my apprehens'ons, that Scripture, and reason, and antiquity is for it; and that it is not fiir from a glorious • esurrection. But that, as the famous Mr. Baxter, after thirty or forty years hard study, about the true instituted Church-discipline, at last not only owned, but also invincibly proved, that it is the congregational; so, the further that the unprejudiced studies of learned men proceed in this matter, the more generally the Congregational Church-dis- cipline will be pronounced for. On the other side, there are some among us who very strictly profess the Congregational Church-discipline, but at the same time they have an * Happy Luther!. whom tho Lurd signalized with the honour of having the greatest reprobates for his worst enemies. f I'm pleoscd at last : victorious is my wit : The galled jade winces, and my mark is hit. — Martial, Epig, vl. 614, X A specimen of the bad taste for playing upon words, which so much disfigures ancient scholastic literature : He died by atoning, but his Rock was Christ. J Wc fake the effusion alluded to by our author, w ith tho context, from Speed's Chronicle, [p. 7G», cd. 1623.]— " This famous Doctor, dying of a palsie, hath this eharitabte Euloge or Epitaph bestowed on him by a Itloiike ; Tho Divells laslrutnent, Churches Enemy, Peonies Confusion, Hercticks Idoll, Hypocrites Mirrour, Schismos Ilroachcr, Hatreds Sower. I.yes Forger, Flatteries Siiike; who at his death despaired like Cain, B.:d stricken by the horrible Judgment of God, breathed forth bis wicked soulo to the dnrke mansion of the black diveil." GENERAL INTRODDCTION. 37 for his wurst itic literature : unhnppy narrowness of soul, by which they confine their value and kindness too much unto their own party: and unto those my Church-History will bo offensive, because my regard unto our own declared principles does not hinder me from giving the right hand of fellowship unto the valuable servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, who find not our Church-discipline as yet agreeable unto their present understandings and illuminations. If it be thus in my own country, it cannot be otherwise in that whereto I send this account of my own. Lriettj*, as it huth been said, that if all Episcopal men were like Archbishop Usher, and all Pr.'shij- terians like Stephen Marshal, and all Independents like Jeremiah Burroughs, the wounds of the Church would soon be healed ; my essay to carry that spirit through this whole Chi rclu History, will bespeak wounds for it, from those that arc of another spirit. And thire will also be in every country those good men, who yet have not had the grace of Christ so far prevailing in them, as utterly to divest them of that piece of ill-nature which the Comc« dian resents, In homine imperilo, quo nil quicquam injustius, quipin.— Hoeace, Sat. i. I, ver. ISO. OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENOLAND 41 11 pardon Teaching I prevent Religion^ I shall and the certainly I memory that the m of this ded unto self; and ny under- ng at thy ml profit- wl ; so let eatness of VENISTI TANDEM?* OR, DISCOVERIES OF AMERICA; TEXDIXO TO, AND ENDING IN, DISCOVERIES OF NEW-ENOLAND. § 1. It is the opinion of some, though 'tis httt an opinion, and hut of some learned men, that when the sacred oracles of Ucaven assure us, the tilings tinikr the earth are some of those, whose Icnees are to bow in the name of Jesus, by those thi7igs are meant the inhabitants of America, who are Antijjodes to those of the other hemisphere. I would not quote any words of Lactantius, though there are some to countenance this interpret- ation, because of their being so ungeographical: nor would I go to strengthen the interpretation by reciting the words of the Indians to the first lohite invaders of their territories, ice hear you are come from under the world to talce our icorld from us. But granting the uncertainty of such an exposition, I shall yet give the Church of God a cert-^in account of those things, which in America have been believing and adoring the glorious name of Jesus ; and of that country in America, where those things have been attended with circumstances most remarkable. I can contentedly allow that America (which, as the learned Nicholas Fuller observes, might more justly be called Columbina) was altogether unknown to the penmen of the Holy Scriptures, and in the ages when the Scriptures were penned. I can allow, that tliose parts of the earth, which do not include America, are, in the inspired writings of Luke and of Paul, stiled all the ivorld. I can allow, that tlie opinion of Torniellus and of Pagius, about the apostles preaching the gospel in America, has been sufliciently refuted by Basna- gius. But I am out of the reach of Pope Zachary's excommunication. I can assert the existence of the American Antipodes: and I can report unto the European churches great occurrences among these Americans. Yet I will report every one of them with such a Christian and exact veracity, that no man shall have cause to use about any one of them the words which the great Austin (as gi'eat as he was) used about the existence of Antipodes; it is a fable, and nidlA ratione credmdmn.f § 2. If the wic/ced one in ivhom the whole world lydh, were he, who like a dragon, keeping a guard upon the spacious and mighty orchards of America, could have such a fascination upon the thoughts of mankind, that neither this balancing half of the globe should be considered in Europe, till a little more than two hundred j^ears ago, nor the clue that might lead unto it, namely, the Loadstone, should be known, till a Nea- politian 'stumbled upon it, about an hundred years before; yet the over- ruling Providence of the great God is to be acknowledged, as well in the * Ilust thou comu at last? f Utterly incredible. MAONALIA OHRISTI AMERICAKAi concealing of America for so long a time, as in the dis'-fxrinq, of it, when the fulness of time was come for the discovery; ij- v/e may count America to have been concealed, while mankind in the other honiisplKTe had lost all acquaintance with it, if wo may conclude it had any fiDin tlie words of Diodorus Siculus, that Phcenecians were, by great stornia, driven on the coast of Africa, fur westward, iirt iroXXag 'nit-tgae, for vnnii/ dmjs toget/ier, and at hist fell in with an Island of prodigious mngiiitudo; or from the words of Plato, that beyond the pillars of Hercules thoro wu.s an Island in the Atlantick Ocean, afxa Xi/3ut)(; xai A^—W\« of a book. t " I flnt, with canvas to the gale unftirlM, Made the wide circuit of the mighty world." u MAGNALIA CIIRI8TI AMERICANA; acquaintance on the hither side of the Atlantick Ocean. And now I shall drcwn my reader with myself in a tedious digression, if I enumerate all the attempts made by a Willoughby, a Frobisher, a Gilbert, and besides many others, an incomparable Bawleigh, to settle English colonies in the departs of the western India. It will be enough if I entertain him with the History of that English Settlement, which may, upon a thousand accounts, pretend unto more of true English than all the rest, and which alone therefore has been called New-England. § 5. After a discouraging series of disasters attending the endeavours of the P-lnglish to swarm into Florida, and the rest of the continent unto the northward of it, called Virginia, because the first white born in those regions was a daughter^ then born to one Ananias Dare, in the year 1585, the courage of one Bartholomew Gosnold, and one captain Bartholomew Gilbert, and several other gentlemen, served them to make yet more essays upon the like designs. This eaptain Gosnold in a small bark, on May 11, 1602, made land on this coast in the latitude oi forty-three; where, though he liked the wdcoine he had from the Salvages that came aboard him, yet he disliked the weather, so that he thought it necessary to stand more southward into the sea. Next morning he found himself embayed within a mighty head of land ; which promontory, in remembrance of the Codjhh in great quantity by him taken there, he called Cape-Cod, a luime which I suppose it will never lose, till shoals of Cod-fish be seen swimming upon the top of its highest hills. On this Cape, and on the Islands to the south- ward of it, he found such a comfortable entertainment from the fiummer- fruits of the earth, as well as from the wild creatures then ranging the woods, and from the wilihr iK'ople now surprised into courtesie, that ho carried back to England a report of the country, better than what the spies once gave of the land fiowing with milk and honey. Not only did the merchanta of Bristol now raise a considerable stock to prosecute these discoveries, but many other persons of several ranks embarked in such undertakings; and many sallies into America were made; the exacter narrative whereof I had rather my reader should jo?/rc/u?Ae at the expence of consulting Pur^ chas's Pilgrims, than endure any stop in our hastening voyage unto the HlSTOKY OF A NeW-ExGLISH IsRAEL. § 6. Perhaps my reader would gladly be informed how America came to be first peopled; and if Hornius's "Discourses," De origine Qentium Amcricanarum, do not satisfie him, I hope shortly the most ingenious Dr. Woodward, in his Natural History of the Earth, will do it. In the mean time, to stay thy stomach, reader, accept the account which a very sensi- ble Russian, who had been an officer of prime note in Siberia, gave unto Father Avril. Said he, " There is be3'ond the Obi a great river called Kawoina, at the mouth whereof, discharging it self into the Frozen Sea, there stands a spacious Islanu very well peopled, and no less considerable for hunting an auimal, whose teeth are in great esteem. The inhabitants '1 h VVv' OE, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 45 5W I shall ncrato all d besides cs ill the him with thousand ud which ideavours nent unto 1 in those 'ear 1585, tholomcw ore essays n ^Iiiy 11, re, though I him, yet and more rvA within le Codjhh .nic wliich iiing upon the south- ic woods, ic carried spies once morchants scoverics, r takings; 3 whereof ting PuT' unto the •ica came Gentium aious Dr. he mean jry sensi- ave unto er called )zen Sea, sidorable habitants go frequently upon the side of the Frozen Sea to hunt this monster; and because it reqaires great labour with assiduity, they carry their families usually along with them. Now it many times happens that being sur- prized with a thaw, they are carried away, I know not whither, upon huge pieces of ice that break off" one from another. For my part, I am perswadcd that several of those hunters have been carried upon these floating piecns of ice to the most northern parts of America, which is not far Jroni that part of Asia that jutts out into the sea of Tartary. And that which confirms me in this opinion, is this, that the Americans who inhabit that country, which advances farthest towards that sea, have the same P/ii/sio;jnomi/ as those Islanders." — Thus the Vayoc^o of Smolensk o. But all tiie concern of this our history, is to tell how English peojjle first came into America; and what English ^eqpfe first came into that part of America where this History is composed. Wherefore, instead of reciting the many Adventures of the English to visit these parts of the world, I shall but repeat the words ofone Captain Weymouth, an historian, as well as an uudertalxr of those Adventures; who reports, "that one main end of all these undertakings, was to plant the gospel in these dark regions of America." llow well the most of the English plantations have answered i\i\& main, end, it ?»a«'/(/// becomes them to consider: however, I am now to tell mankind, that as for one of these English i)]antations, this was not only a viain end, but the svle end u])()n which it was erected. If'tlicy tliat arc solicitous about the interests of the gospel, would know what and ichere that plantation is; be it noted, tliat all the vast country from Florida to Nova-Kraiicia, was at iirst called Virginia; but this Virginia was distin- guished into North Virginia and South Virginia, till that famous Travel- ler Captain John Smith, in the year 1014, presenting unto tlie court of England a draught of North Virginia, got it called by the name of New- England; which name has been ever since allowed unto my country, as unto the most rescinhlimj daiKjJiter to the cliief lady of the European world. Thus tlie discoveries of the country proceeded so far, that K. James I. did by his kll<'rs p'dnils under the great seal of England, in the eighteenth year of his reign, give and grant unto a certain honourable 'council established at Plymouth, in the county of Devon, for the planting, ruling, and order- ing, and governing of New-England in America, and to their successors and assigns, all that part of America, lying and being in breadth, from fort// der/rees of northerly latitude, from the equinoctial line, to the forti/- e/iy//n f 1 lleini- t at the )ple here rid shnll lurch of riginally bout the ievil will gain the urc; and the later re meant le end of ;he glori- uuto the \mcrican ar as the )on them Y, if they deserving ill deceive iND, ACCOUNT OP TOY AGE, ish nation, ing to the brniers, to 02, in the themselves rst, with a joy all the icedonians, nselves up, first unto God, and then to one another." These pious people finding that their brethren and neighbours in the Church of England, as then established by law, took offence at these their endeavours after a scrtjytural reformation; and being loth to live in the continual vexations which they felt arising from their non-conformity to things which their consciences accounted superstitious and timvarrantable, they peaceably and willingly embraced a banishment into the Netherlands; where they settled at the city of Leyden, about seven or eight years after their first combination. And now in that city this people sojourned, an Holy Chukch of the blessed Jesus, for sev- eral years under the pastoral care of Mr. John Kobinson, who had for his help in the govei-nment of the Chnrch, a most wise, grave, good man, Mr. William Brewster, the ruling elder. Indeed, Mr. John Robinson had been in his younger time (as very good fruit hath sometimes been, before age hath ripened it) soivred with the principles of the most rigid separation, in the maintaining whereof he composed and published some little Treatises, and in the management of the controversie made no .scruple to call the incomparable Dr. Ames himself, Dr. A7niss, for opposing such a degree of separation. But this worthy man suffered himself at length to be so far convinced by his learned antagonist, that with a most ingenious retractation, he afterwards writ a little book to prove the lawfulness of one thing, which his mistaken zeal had formerly impugned several years, even till 1625, and about the fiftieth year of his own age, continued he a blessing unto the whole Church of God, and at last, when he died, he left behind him in his immortal writings, a name very much embalmed among the people that are best able to judge of merit; and even among such, as about the matters of Church-discipline, were not of his perswasion. Of such an eminent character was he, while he lii-ed, that when Armeuianism so much prevailed, as it then did in the low couatries, those famous Divines, Polyandcr and Festus Hommius, employed this our learned liol>i;.?on to dispute publickly iu the ^Jniversity of Leyden against Episcopius, und the other champions of that grand choak-v:eed of true Christianity: and v/hen h^died, not only the Univer- sity, and Ministers of the city, accompanied him to liis grave, with all their accustomed solemnities, but some of 'he chief among them with sorrowful resentments and expressions affirmed, " That all the Churches of our Lord Jesus Christ had sustained a great loss by the death of this worthy man." § 2. The English Church had not been very long at Leyden, before they found themselves encountrcd with many inconveniences. They felt that they were neither for health, nor purse, nor language well accommodated; but the concern which they most of all had, was for their posterity. They saw, that whatever banks the Dutch had against the ir roads of the sea, they had not sufficient ones against a flood of manifold profmeness. They could not with ten years' endeavour bring their neighbours particularly to any suit- able observation of the Lord's Day ; without which they knew that all practical Religion muLst wither miserably. They beheld some of their children, i rri \:i\ 48 MAQNALIA CIIKISTI AMERICANA; I i il i by the temptations of the pluce, were especially given in the licentious wa\'3 of many young people^ drawn into dangerous extravagancies. Moreover, they were very loth to lose their interest in the English nation; but were desirous rather to enlarge their King's dominions. They found themselves also under a very strong disposition of zeal^ to attempt the establishment of CoNGUKGATioxAii CiiURC.iES in the remote parts of the world; where they hoped they should be reached by the lit)yal influence of their Prince, in whose allegiance they chose to live and die; at the same time likewise hoping that the Ecclesiasticks, who had thus driven them out of the king- dom into a New World, for nothing in the world but their non-conformity to certain rites, by the imposers confessed indifferent, would bo ashamed qwgv to persecute them with any further molestations, at the distance of a thou- sand leagues.' These reasons were deeply considered by the Church; and after many deliberations, accompanied with the most solemn humiliations and supplications before the God of Heaven, they took up a resolution, under the conduct of Heaven, to kemove into Amemca; the opened regions whereof had now filled all Europe with reports. It was resolved, thai jjart of the Church should go before their brethren, to prepare a place for the rest; and whereas the minor j^art of younger and stronger men were to go first, the Pastor was to stay with the major, till they should see cause to follow. Nor was there any occasion for this resolve, in any weariness which the States of Holland had of their company, as was basely ichisperedhy their adversaries; therein like those who of old assigned the same cause for the departure of the Israelites out of Egypt: for the magistrates of Leyden in their Court, reproving the Walloons, gave this testimony for our English: "These have lived now ten years among us, and yet we never had any accusation against any one of tliem; whereas 3'our quarrels arc continual." § 3. These good poo])le were now salisj'yed, they had as plain a command of Heaven to attempt a removal, as ever their father Abraham had for his leaving the Caldean territories; and it was nothing but such a .soi/'s/wdw?^ that covdd have carried them through such, otherwise insuperable difficult- ies, as they met withal. But in this removal the terminus ad Quent* was not yet resolved u}ion. The country of Guiana flattered them with the prom- ises of a 2^'')'P<-"tual Spring, and a thousand other comfortable entertainments. Put tlie probable disagreement of so torrid a climate unto English bodies, and the more dangerous vicinity of the Spaniards to that climate, were considerations which made them fear that country would be too hot for them. They rather propounded some country bordering upon Virginia; and unto this purpose, they sent over agents into England, who so far treated not only with the Virginia company, but with several great pr sons about the Court; unto whom they made evident their agreement u'iiu the French Reformed Churches in all things ichaisoever, except in a few small acci- de.ital points; that at last, after many tedious delays, and after the loss of * The duatlnatiou. I il Ji IS ways rcover, lit wore nsclves abment where Prince, likewise 10 king- nformitij 1 tec? ever p a, thou- cli; and liUations n, under regions that par^ i for the jre to go cavisc to ;ss which i by their ic for the ' Leyden English: had any >ntinual." jommand id I'or his xtisfaction •difficult- ^ was not h(5 prom- linnieuts. [i bodies, ate, were )o hot for Virginia; bo so far it pr sons t unlit the mall acci- lie loss of OK, THE niSTOKY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 49 many friends and hopes in tliose delays, they obtained a Patent for a quiet settlement in those territories; and the Archbishop of Canterbury himself gave them some expectations that they should never be disturbed in that exercise of Religion, at wlufih they aimed in theii settlement; yea, when Sir Robert Nanton, then principal Secretary of State unto King James, moved his Majesty to give way "that suoh a people might, enjo_, their liberty of conscience under his gracious protection in America, where rhey would endeavour the advancement of his Majesty's dominions, and the enlarge- ment of tlio interests of the Gospel;" the King said, "it was a good and honest motion." All this notwithstanding, they never made use of that Patent: but being informed of New-England, thither they diverted their design, tliereto iudieed by sundry reasons; but particularly by this, that the coast being extrear.ly well circumstanced for fishing^ they might the ;in have some immed'ate assistance against the hardships of their first encoun- ters. — Their agents then again sent over to England, concluded articles between tlicm and such adventurers as would be concerned with them in their present undertakings — articles, that were indeed sufficiently hard for those poor men that were now to transplant themselves into an horrid wilderness. The diversion of their enterprize from the first state and way of it, caused an unhappy division among those that should have encour- aged it; and many of them hereupon fell off. But the Removers having already sold their estates, to put the money into a common stock, for the welfare of the ichole ; and their stoch as well as their time sj)ending so fast t\s>. to threaten them with an army of straits, if they delayed any longer; they nimbly dispatcht the best agreements they could, and came away furnished with a Resolution for a large Tract of Land in the south-west part of New-England. § 4. All things now being in some readiness, and a couple of ships, one called The Speedwell, the other 2Vie May-Flower, being hired foi- their transportation, they solemnly scu apart a day for fasting and prayer; wherein their Pastor preached unto them upon Ezra viii. 21 : "I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might aflliet our selves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance." After the fervent supplications of this day, accompanied by their affec- tionate friends, they took their leave of the pleasant city, where they had been pilgrims and strangers now for eleven years. Delft-IIaven was the town where they went on board one of their ships, and there they had such a mournful parting from their brethren, as even drowned the Dutch spectators themselves, then standing on the shore, in tears. Their excellent pastor, on his knees, by the sea-side, poured out their mutual petitions unto God ; and having wept in one another's arms, as long as the loind and the tide would permit them, they bad adieu. So sailing to Southamp- ton in England, they there found the other of their ships come from Loa- YoL. I.~4 ■M i ■0 > Id MAGNALIA CHRI8TI AMERICANA; don, with tlie rest of their friends that were to be the companions of the voyage. Let my reader place the chronology of this business on July 2, 1620. And know, that the ftiithful pastor of this people immediately sent after them a pastoral letter; a letter filled with holy counsels unto them, to settle their peace with God in their own consciences, by an exact repent- ance of all sin whatsoever, that so they might more easily bear all the diffi- culties that were now before them ; n.nd then to maintain a good peace with one another, and beware of giving or takmg offences; and avoid all discov- eries of a touchy humour; but use much brotherly forbearance, [where by the way he had this remarkable observation: "In my own experience few or none have been found that sooner give offence, than those that easily take it; neither have they ever proved sound and profitable members of societies who have nourished this touchy humour;"] as also to take heed of fipn'vate spirit, and all retiredness of mind in each man, for his oivn proper advantage; and likewise to be careful, that the hofse of God, which they were, might not be shaken with unnecessary novelties or oppositions ; which Letter after- wards produced most happy fruits among them. § 5. On August 5, 1620, they set sail from Southampton; but if it shall as I believe it will, afflict my reader to be told what heart-breaking disas- ters befell them, in the very beginning of their undertaking, let him glorifie God, who carried thorn so well through their greater aflliction. They were by bad v^eather twice beaten back, before they came to the Land's end. But it waf^t judged, that the badness of the weather did not retard them so much as the deceit of a master, who, grown sick of the voyage, made such pretences about the leakiness of his vessel, that they were forced at last wholly to dismiss that lesser ship from the service. Being now all stowed into "? ship, on the sixth of September they put to sea; but they met with such l* rrible storms, that the principal persons on board had serious deliberations upon returning home again; however, after long beating upon the Atlantick ocean, they fell in with the land at Cape Cod, about the ninth of November following, where going on shore they fell upon their knees, with many and hearty praises unto God, who had been their assurance, when they were afar off upon the sea, and was to be further so, now that they were come to the ends of the earth. But why at thi. Cape' Here was not the port which they intciided: this was not the land lor which they h.Q'^ provided. There was indeed a most wonderful provid/;itce of God, ovei a, pious and a praying people, in this disappointment/ The most crooked way that ever was gone, even that of Israel's peregrination through the wilderness, may be called a right way, such was the way of this little Israel, now going into a wilderness. § 6. Their design was to have sat down some where about Hudson's Eiver; but some of their neighbouxs in Holland having a mind themselves to settle a plantation there, secretly and sinfully contracted with the master of the ship, employed for the transportation of these our English exiles, by tl OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 61 IS of the July 2, jly sent » them, , repent- be diffi- ice with discov- 3 by the 3 few or lily take aocieties a private vantage; e, might ER after- f it shall ng disas- n glorifie le to the ' did not ;k of the ,hat they service, ey put to ersoiis on 3ver, after d at Cape e they fell had been 36 further iided: this ;ed a most lie, in this 'en that of right way, ess. Hudson's themselves the master h exiles, by a more northerly course, to put a trick upon them. 'Twas in the pursuance of this plot that not only the goods, but also the lives of all on board were now hazarded, by the ships falling among the shoals of Cape-Cod; where they were so entangled among dangerous breakers, thus late in the year, that the company, got at last into the Cape-Harbour, broke ojf their intentions of going any further. And yet, behold the watchful providence of God over them that seek him ! this false-dealing proved a safe-dealing for the good people against whom it was used. Had they been carried according to their desire unto Hudson's River, the Indians in those parts were at this time so many, and so mighty, and so sturdy, that in probability all this little feeble number of Christians had been massacred by these bloody salvages, as not long after some others were: whereas the good hand of God now brought them to a country wonderfully prepared for their enter- tainment, by a sweeping mortality that had lately been among the natives. " We have heard with our ears, God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old; how thou dravest out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them ; how thou did'st afflict the people, and cast them out!" The Indians in these parts had newly, even about a year or two before, been visited with such a prodigious pestilence, as carried away not a tenth, but nine parts of tew, (yea, 'tis said, nineteen, of twenty) among them : so that the woods were almost cleared of those per- nicious creatures, to make room for a better growth. It is remarkable, that a Frenchman who, not long before these transactions, had by a shipwreck been made a captive amongst the Indians of thi.5 country, did, as the sur- vivers reported, just before he dyed in their hands, tell those tawny pagans, ''that God being angry with them for their wickedness, would not only destroy them all, but also people the place with another nation, which would not live after their brutish manners." Those infidels then blasphe- mously replyed, "God could not kill them;" which blasphemous mistake was confuted by an horrible and unusual plague, whereby they were con- sumed in such vast multitudes, that our first planters found the land almost covered with their unburied carcases; and they that were hft alive, were smitten into awful and humble regards of the English, by tne terrors which the remembrance of the Frenchman's prophesie had imprinted on them. § 7. Inexpressible the hardships to which this chosen generation was now exposed! Our Saviour once directed his disciples to deprecate a flight in the winter; but these disciples of our Lord were now arrived at a very cold country, in the beginning of a rough and bleak winter; the sun was with- drawn into Sagittarius, whence he shot the penetrating arrows of cold; feathered with nothing but snow, and pointed with hail; and the days left them to behold the/rosi-bitten and iveather-hQdAQU face of the earth, were grown shorter than the nights, wherein they had yet more trouble to get shelter from the increasing inj uries of the frost and weather. It was a relief to those primitive believers, who were cast on shore at Malta, That the har- III. %'mm 19 MAGNALIA 0HRI8TI AMERICANA; harous ipeople showed them no little kindness, because of the present rain, and becans'^ of the cold. But these believers in our primitive times, were more afraid of the barbarous people among whom they were now cast, than they were of the rain or cold; these barbarians were at the first so far from accommodating them with bundles of sticks to warm them, that they let fly other sorts o{ sticks (that is to say, arrows) to wound them: and the very hoks and shouts of those grim salvages, had not much less of terrour in them, than if they had been so many devils. It is not long since I com- pared this remove of our fathers to that of Abraham, whereas I must now add, that if our father Abraham, called out of Ur, had been directed unto the Desarts of Arabia, instead of the land flowing with milk and honey, the trial of his faith had been greater than it was; but such was the tnal of the faith in these holy men, who followed the call of God into desarts full of dismal circumstances. All this they chearfully underwent, in hope that they should settle the worship and order of the gospel, and the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ in these regions, and that thus enlarging the dominion, they should thereby so merit the protection of the crown of Eng- land, as to be never abandoned unto any further persecutions, from any party of their fellow subjects, for their consciencious regards unto the reformation. Their proposal was, Exiguam sedem Sacrig, Litusque rogamus Innocuum, et eunctia undamg; auramq; Patentem.* § 8. Finding at their first arrival, that what other powers they had were made useless by the undesigiied place of their arrival ; they did, as the light of nature it self directed them, immediately in the harbour, sign an instrumenf, as a foundation of their future and needful government; wherein declaring themselves the loyal subjects of the Crown of England, they did combine into a body politick, and solemnly engage submission and obedience to the laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and officers, that from time to time should be thought most convenient for the general good of the Colony. This was done on Nov. 11th. 1620, and they chose one Mr. John Carver, a pious and prudent man, their Governour. Hereupon they sent ashore to look a convenient seat for their intended habitation: and while the carpenter was fitting of their shallop, sixteen men tendered themselves, to go, by land, on the discovery. Accordingly on Nov. 16th, 1620, they made a dangerous adventure; following five Indians, whom they spied flying before them, into the woods for many miles ; from whence, after two or three days ramble, they returned ■"dth some ears of Indian Corn, which were an eshcol for their compan , ^t with a poor and small encouragement, as unto any scituation. When the shallop was fitted, about thirty more went in it upon a further discovery; who prospered little more, than only to find a little Indian Corn, and * We ask a shrine fur faith aiid simple prayer- Freedom's sweet waters and tmtalnted air. OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 58 mn, and re more lan they far from ;y let fly ;he very rrour in I 1 com- mst now ted unto oney, the ial of the 3 full of ope that kingdom ging the of Eng- rom any anto the ;hey had y did, as our, sign 'ernment; England, 3sion and hat from good of one Mr. intended p, sixteen iordingly ving five br many ■ned -^'dth an t it Vheu the iscovery; /orn, and bring to the company some occasions of doubtful debate, whether they should here fix their stakes. Yet these expeditions on discovery had this one remarkable smile of Heaven upon them; that being made before the snow covered the ground, they met with some Indian Com; for which 'twas their purpose honestly to pay the natives on demand ; and this Corn served them for seed in the Spring following, which else they had not been seasonably furnished withal. So that it proved, in effect, their deliver- ance from the terrible famine. § 9. The month of November being spent in many supplications to Almighty God, and consultations one with another, about the direction of their course; at last, on Dec. 6, 1620, they manned the shallop with about eighteen or twenty hands, and went out upon a third discovery. So bitterly cold was the season, that the spray of the sea lighting on their cloaths, glazed them with an immediate congelation; yet they kept cruising about the bay of Cape-Cod, and that night they got safe down the bottom of the bay. There they landed, and there they tarried that night; and unsuccessfully ranging about all the next day, at night they made a little hairicado of boughs and logs, wherein the most weary slept. The next morning, after prayers, they suddenly were surrounded with a crue of Indians, who let fly a shower of arrows among them; whereat our dis- tressed handful of English happily recovering their arms, which they had laid by from the moisture of the weather, they vigorously discharged their muskets upon the Salvages, who astonished at the strange effects of such dead-doing idlings, as powder and shot, fled apace into the woods ; but not one of ours was wounded by the Indian arrows that flew like hail about their ears, and pierced through sundry of their coats; for which they returned their solemn thanks unto God their Saviour ; and they called the place by the name of, I'he First Encounter. From hence they coasted along, till an horrible storm arose, which tore their vessel at such a rate, and threw them into the midst of such dangerous breakers, it was reckoned little short oi miracle that they escaped alive. In the end they got under the lee of a small Island, where, going ashore, they kindled fires for their succour against the wet and cold ; it was the morning before they found it was an Island, whereupon they rendered their praises to Him that "hitherto had helped them;" and the day following, which was the Lord''s day, the diffi- culties now upon them did not hinder them from spending it in the devout and pious exerc^^.es of a sacred rest. On the next day they sounded the harbour, and found it fit for shipping ; they visited the main land also, and found it accommodated with pleasant fields and brooks; whereof they carried an encouraging report unto their friends on board. So they resolved that they would here pitch their tents; and sailing up to the town of Plymouth, [as with an hopeful prolepsis, my reader shall now call it; for otherwise, by the Indians 'twas called Patuxet;] on the twenty-fifth day of December they began to erect the first House that ever was in that o, 4i 54 MAQNALIA CHRI8TI AMKBiOANA; memorable town; an house for tlio general entortainment of thoir persons and estates: and yet it was not long before an unhappy accident burnt unto the groi id their house, ^\ herein some of their prinoipal persons tnou lay sick; who were forced nimbly to fly out of the fired house, or else they had been Down up with the powder then lodged there. After this, they soon went upon the building of more little coitOiTs; and upon the settling of good laws, for the better governing of fuch as were to itilmbit those cottages. They then resolved, that until they could be further strengthened in their settlemciit, by the authority of England, they would be governed by rulers chosen from among themselves, who were to proceed according to the laws of England, as near as thoy could, in the adminis- tration of their government; and such other by-laws, as by common con- sent should be judged necessary for the circumstances of the Plantation. § 10. If the reader would know, how these good people fared the rest of the melancholy winter, let him know, that besides the exercises of lieligion, with other work enough, there was the care of the sick to take up no little part of their time. 'Twas a most heavy trial of their patience, whereto they were called the first winter of this their pilgrimage, and enough to convince them and remind Miem that they were but Pilgrims. The hardships which they encountered, were attended with, and product- ive of deadly sicknesses; which in two or three months carried off more than half their company. They were but meanly provided against these unhappy sicknesses; but there died sometimes two, sometimes tliree in a day, till scaT(Hi fifty of them were left alive; and of those fifty, sometimes there were sf arce five well at a time to look after the sick. Yet their pro- found subitiissioii to the will of God, their Christian readiness to help one anotaor, accompanied with a joyful assurance of another and better world, oavried tbc"i chearfully through the sorrows of this mortality: nor was there heard among them a continual murmur against those who had by unreasonable impositions driven them into all these distresses. And there was this remarkable providence further in the circumstances of this mortality, that if a disease had not more easily fetcht so many of this number away to Heaven, Sl famine would probably have destroyed them all, before their expected supplies from England were arrived. But what a wonder was it that all the bloody salvages far and near did not cut off this little rem- nant! If he that once muzzled the lions ready to devour the man of desires, had not admirably, I had almost said, miraculously restrained them, these had been all devoured 1 but this people of God were come into a tuildemess to worship Him; and so He kept their enemies from such attempts, as wc uld otherwise have soon annihilated this poor handful of men, thus far already diminished. They saw no Indians all the winter long, but such as at the first sight always ran away: yea, they quickly found, that God had so turned the hearts of these barbarians, as more io fear, than to hate his people thus cast among them. This blessed people was as a little flock of kids, w in b d( OB, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 65 they could not hinder those pc masters of the country ; wherei respondence with our new-conn was no enchantment or divinatio. while there were many nations of Indians left still iii kennels of wolves in every corner of the country. And yet the little Jlock suffered no damage by those rapid wolves 1 We may and should say, "This is the Lord's doing; 'tis marvellous in our eyes." But among tl^e many causes to be assigned for it, one was this. It was afterwards by them confessed, that upon the arri val of the English in these parts, the Indians employed their sorcerers, whom they call powaws, like Balaam, to curse them, and let loose their demons upon them, to shipwreck them, to distract them, to poison them, or in any wuy to ruin them. All the noted powaws in the country spent three days together in diabolical con- jurations, to obtain the assistance of the devils against the settlement of these our English; but the devi]!= '* ongth acknowledged unto them, that rom their becoming the owners and Indians resolved upon a good cor- iod convinced them that there ,,iSi ich a people. § 11. The doleful winter broke up sooner than was usual. But our crippled planters were not more comforted with the early advance of the Spring, than they were surprized with the appearance of two Indians, who in broken English bade them, welcome Englishmen ! It seems that one of these Indians had been in the eastern parts of New-England, acquainted with some of the English vessels that had been ioxmnxly fishing there; but the other of the Indians, and he from whom they had most of service, was a person provided by the very singular providence of God for that service. A most wicked ship-master being on this coast a few years before, had wickedly spirited away more than twenty Indians; whom having enticed them aboard, he presently stowed them under hatches, and carried them away to the Streights, where he sold as many of them as he could for Slaves. This avaritious and pernicious fehny laid the foundation of grievous annoyances to all the English endeavours of settlements, espe- cially in the northern parts of the land for several years ensuing. The Indians would never /or^yef av forgive this injury; but when the English afterwards came upon this coast, in their fishing-voyages, they were still assaulted in an hostile manner, to the killing and wounding of many poor men by the angry natives, in revenge of the wrong that had been done them; and some intended Plantations here were hereby utterly nipt in the bud. But our good God so ordered it, that one of the stoln Indians, called Squanto, had escaped out of Spain into England; where he lived with one Mr. Slany, from whom he had found a way to return into his own country, being brought back by one Mr. Dermer, about half a year before our hoiiest Plymotheans were cast upon this continent. This Indian (with the other) having received much kindness from the English, who he saw generally condemned the man that first betrayed him, now made unto the English a return of that kindness: and being by his acquaintance with IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I ■so ■^~ ■(■I I4& Kii 12.2 — 6" 18 L25 iiiiiu mil 1.6 7 /^ ^. 7 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 56 MAGNALIA 0HBI8TI AMERICANA; the English language, fitted for a conversation with them, he very kindly informed them what was the present condition of the Indians; instructed them in the way of ordering their Corn; and acquainted them with many other things, which it was necessary for them to understand. But Squanto did for them a yet greater benefit than all this: for he brought Massasoit, the chief Sachim or Prince of the Indians within many miles, with some scores of his attenders, to make our people a kind visit; the issue of which visit was, that Massasoit not only entred into a firm agreement of peace with the English, but also they declared and submitted themselves to be subjects of the King of England; into which pecux and s^^ecthn many other Sachims quickly after came, in the most voluntary manner that could be expressed. It seems this unlucky Squanto having told his countrymen how easie it was for bo great a monarch us K. James to destroy them all, if they should hurt any of his people, he went on to terrific them with a ridiculous rhodomantado, which they believed, that this people kept the plague in a cellar (where they kept their powder), and could at their plea- sure let it loose to make such havock among them, as the distemper had already made among them a few years before. Thus was the tongtie of a dog made useful to a feeble and sickly Lazarus! Moreover, our English guns, especially the great ones, made a formidable report among these ignorant Indians; and the hopes of enjoying some defence by the English, against the potent nation of Narraganset Indians, now at war with these, made them yet more to court our friendship. This very strange disposi- tion of things, was extreamly advantageous to our distre&^ed planters : and who sees not herein- the special providence of the God w?io disposeth allf \J umL iuOi ii ui £i Jife X X iL e CONAMUR TBNUES 6RANDIA;* OB, A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE DIFnCULTIES, THE DELIVERANCES, AND OTHER OCCURRENCES, THROUGH WHICH THE PLANTATION OF NEW-PLTMOUTH ARRIVED UNTO THE CONSISTENCY OF A COLONY. § 1. Setting aside the just and great grief of our new planters for the immature death of their excellent governour, succeeded by the worthy Mr. Bradford, early in the Spring after their first arrival, they spent their summer somewhat comfortably, trading with the Indians to the northward of their Plantation; in which trade they were not a little assisted by Squanto, who within a year or two dyed among the English ; but before , * Wo attempt great thinga with Blender reioarcet. OB, THE HISTORY OP NEW-ENQLAKD. 67 his death, desired thi m to pray for him, That he might go to the English' marUa God in Heaven. And besides the assistance of Squanto, they had also the help of another Indian, c^led Hobbamok, who continued Mthiul unto the English interests as long as he lived; though he sometimes went in danger of his life among his countrymen for that fidelity. So they jogged on till the day tvelvemonth after their first arrival; when there now arrived unto them a good number more of their old friends from Holland, for the strengthening of their new Plantation; but inasmuch as they brought not a sufficient stock of provisions with them, they rather weak- ened it, than strengthened it. ^ If Peter Mailyr could magnifie the Spaniards, of whom he reports, They led a miserable life for three days together vnth parched grain of maize only, and that not unto satiety; what shall I say of our Englishmen, who would have thought a little parched Indian Com a mighty feast f But they wanted it, not only three days together; no, for two or three months together, they had no kind of Corn among them: such was the scarcity, accompanied with the disproportion of the inhabitants to the provisions. However, Peter Martyr's conclusion may be ours: With their miseries this people opened a way to those new lands, and afterwards other men came to inhabit them with ease, in respect of the calamities which those men have suffered. They were indeed very often upon the very point of starving; but in their extremity the God of Heaven always furnished them with some sudden reliefs; either by causing some vessels of strangers occasionally to look in upon them, or by putting them into a way to catch fish in some convenient quantities, or by some other surprizing accidents; for which they rendered unto Heaven the solemn thanks of their souls. They kept in such good working case, that besides their progress in building, and planting, and fishing, they formed a sort of a fort, wherein they kept a nightly watch for their security against any treachery of the Indians, being thereunto awakened by an horrible massacre, which the Indians lately made upon several hundreds of the English in Virginia. § 2. In one of the first Summers after their sitting down at Plymouth, a terrible drought threatened the ruin of all theh' summer's husbandry. From about the middle of May to the middle of July, an extream hot sun beat upon their fields, without any rain, so that all their corn began to wither and languish, and some of it was irrecoverably parched up. In this distress they set apart a day for fasting and prayer, to deprecate the calamity that might bring them to fasting through /amine; in the morning of which day there was no sign of any rain; but before the evening the sky was overcast with clouds, which went not away without such easie, gentle, and yet plentiful showers, as revived a great part of their decayed corn, for a comfortable harvest. The Indians themselves took notice of this answer given from heaven to the supplications of this devout people; and one of them said, "Now I see that the Englishman's God is a good 68 MAONALIA CHBISTI AMEKICANA; God; for he hath heard you, and sent you rain, and that without such tempest and thunder as we use to have with our rain; wh. li after our Powawing for it, breaks down the corn; whereas your com stands whole and good still; surely, your God is a good God." The harvest which God thus gave to this pious people, caused them to set apart another day for solemn Thanksgiving to the glorious Hearer of Prayers/ § 3. There was another most wonderful preservation vouchsafed by God unto this little knot of Christians. One Mr. Weston, a merchant of good note, interested at first in the Plymouth design, afterwards deserted it; and in the year 1622 sent over two ships, with about sixty men, to begin a plantation in the Massachuset-Bay. These beginners being well refreshed at Plymouth, travelled more northward unto a place known since by the name of Weymouth; where these Westonians, who were Church of England-men, did not approve themselves like the Plymotheans, a pious, honcF', industrious j ople; but followed such bad courses, as had like to have brought a ruin upon their neighbours, as well as themselves. Having by their idleness brought themselves to penury, they stole corn from the Indians, and many other ways provoked them; although the Governour of Plymouth writ them his very sharp disapprobation of their proceedings. To satisfie the exasperated Salvages, divers of the thieves were stockt and whipt, and one of them at last put to death by this mis- erable company ; which did no other service than to afford an occasion for a fable to the roguish Hudibras, for all accommodation was now too forte. The Indians far and near entred into a conspiracy to cut otf these abusive English; and lest the inhabitants of Plymouth should revenge that excision of their countrymen, they resolved upon the murther of them also. In pursuance of this plot, Captain Standish, the commander of the militia of Plymouth, lodging on a night with two or three men in an Indian house, the Indians proposed that they might begin the execution of their malice by the assassination of the Captain, as soon as he should be fallen asleep. However, the watchful Providence of God so ordered it, that the Captain could not sleep all that night; and so tJ"" durst not meddle with him. Thus was the beginning of the plot p v : but the whole plot came another way to be discovered and pro7ftnv..a. Massasoit, the soutli- em Sachim, falling sick, the Governour of Plymouth, desired a couple of gentlemen, whereof one was that good maUj Mr. Winslow, to visit this poor Sachim : whom after their long journey they found lying at tlie point of death with a crue of hellish Powaws, using their ineffectual spells and howls about him to recover him. Upon the taking of some English physiek, he presently revived ; and thus regaining his lost health, the fees he paid his English doctor were, a confession of the plot among several nations ot the Indians, to destroy the English. He said, that they had in vain solicited him to enter into that bloody combination ; but his advice was, that the Governour of Plymouth should immediately take off the principal actors OB, THE HI8T0EY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 59 in this business, whereupon the rest being terrifyed, would soon desist. There was a concurrence of many things to confirm the truth of this information ; wherefore Captain Standish took eight resolute men with him to the Westonian Plantation; where, pretending to trade with the Indians, divers of the conspirators began to treat him in a manner very insolent. The Captain, and his little army of eight men, (reader, allow them for their courage to be called so,) with a prodigious resolution, presently killed some of the chief among these Indians, while the rest, after a short com- bate, ran before him as fast as their legs could carry them ; nevertheless, in the midst of the skirmishes, an Indian youth ran to the English, desiring to be with them; and declaring that the Indians waited but for their fin- ishing two canoos, to have surprized the ship in the harbour, and have massacred all the people; which had been finished, if the Captain had not arrived among them just in the nick of time when he did: and an Indian spy detained at Plymouth, when he saw the Captain return from this expedition, with the head of a famous Indian in his hand, then with a fallen and frighted countenance acknowledged the whole mischief intended by the Indians against the English. Eeleasing this fellow, they sent him to the Sachim of the Massachusets, with advice of what he must look for, in case he committed any hostility upon the subjects of the King of England; whereof there was this effect, that not only that Sachim hereby territied, most humbly begged for peace, and pleaded his ignorance of his men's intentions; but the rest of the Indians, under the same terror, withdrew themselves to live in the unhealthful swamps, which proved mortal to many of them. One of the Westonians was endeavouring to carry unto Plymouth a report of the straits and fears which were come upon them, and this man losing his way, saved his life; taking a wrong track, he escaped the hands of the two Indians, who went on hunting after him; however e're he reached Plymouth, care had been already taken for these wretched "Westonians by the earlier and fuller communications of Massa- soit. So was the peace of Plymouth preserved, and so the Westonian plantation broke up, went off, and came to nothing; although 'twas much wished by the holy Robinson, that some of the poor heathen had been converted before any <3f them had been slaughtered. § 4. A certain gentleman [if nothing in the following story contradict tliat namel was employed in obtaining from the Grand Council of Ply- mouth and England, a Patent in the name of these planters for a con- venient quantity of the country, where the providence of God had now disposed them. This man, speaking one word for thera, spake two for him- self: and surreptitiously procured the patent in his own name, reserving for himself and his heirs an huge tract of the land ; and intending the Plymotheans to hold the rest as tenants under him. Hereupon he took on board many passengers with their goods; but having sailed no further than the Downs, the ship sprang a leak; and besides this disaster, which 10 MAONALIA OHBISTI AMEBIOANA; alone was enough to have stopt the voyage, one strand of their cable was accidentally out; by which means it broke in a stress of wind; and they were in extream danger of being wrecked upon the sands. Having with much cost recruited their loss, and encreased the number of their passengers, they put out again to sea; but after they had got halfway, one of the saddest and longest storms that had been known since the days of the Apostle Paul, drove them home to England again, with a vessel well nigh torn to pieces, though the lives of the people, which were above an hun* dred, mercifully preserved. This man, by all his tumbling backward and forward, was by this time grown so sick of his patent, that he vomited it up; he assigned it over to the company, but they afterwards obtained another^ under the umbrage whereof they could now more effectually carry on the affairs of their new colony. The passengers went over afterwards in another vessel; and quickly after that another vessel of passengers also arrived in the country : namely, in the year 1623. Among these passen- gers were divers worthy and usefiil men, who were come to seeh the welfare of this little Israel; though at their coming they were as diversly affected as the rebuilders of the Temple at Jerusalem : some were grieved when they saw how bad the circumstances of their friends were, and others were glad that they were no worse. § 5. The immature death of Mr. Bobinson in Holhnd, with many ensu- ing disasters, hindred a great part of the English congregation at Leyden from coming over to the remnant here separated Jhun their brethren. Hence it was, that although this remnant of that church were blessed with an elder so apt to teach,, that he attended all the other works of a minister; yet they had not a pastor to dispense the sacraments among them, till the year 1629, when one Mr. Ralph Smith undertook the pastoral charge of this holy flock. But long before that, namely, in the year 1624, the adventurers in England, with whom this company held a correspondence, did send over unto them a minister, who did them no manner of good; but by his treacherous and mischievous tricks, at last utterly destroyed that correspondence. The first neat cattle, namely, three heifers and a bull, that ever were brought into this land, now coming with him, did the land certainly better service than was ever done by him, who sufficiently forgot that scriptural emblem of a minister, the ox treading out the corn. This minister at his first arrival did caress them with such extream showers of affection and humility, that they were very much taken with him ; nevertheless, within a little while, he used most malignant endeavours to make factions among them, and confound all their civil and sacred order. At last there fell into the hands of the governour his letters home to Eng- land, filled with wicked and lying accusations against the people ; of which things being shamefully convicted, the authority sentenced him to be expelled the Plantation, only they allowed him to stay six months, with secret reservations and expectations to release him from that sentence, if OB, THE HISTORY OP NEW-ENGLAND. 61 he approved himself sound in the repentance which he now expressed. Repentance, I say: for he did now publickly in the Church confess with tears, that the censure of the Church was less than he deserved; he acknowl- edged, "Thftt he had slanderously abused the good people, and that God might justly lay innocent blood to his charge; for he knew not what hurt might have come through his writings ; for the interception whereof he now blessed God; and that it had been his manner to pick up all the evil that was ever spoken against the people; but he shut his ears and eyes against all the good; and that if God should make him a vagabond in the earth, he were just in doing so; and that those three things, pride, vain-glory, and self-love, had been the causes of his miscarriages." — These things he uttered 80 pathetically, that they again permitted him to preach among them; and some were so perswaded of his repentance, that they professed they would fall down on their knees, that the censure passed on him should be remitted. But, Oh the deceitful heart of man/ After two months time, he so notori- ously renewed the miscarriages which he had thus bewailed, that his own wife, through her affliction of mind at his hypocrisie, could not forbear declaring her fears, that God would bring some heavy judgment upon their family, not only for these, but some former wickednesses by him committed, ecpecially as to fearful breaches of the Seventh Commandment, which he had with an oath denied, though they were afterwards evinced. Wherefore upon the whole, being banished from hence, because his resi- dence here was utterly inconsistent with the life of this infant-plantation; he went into Virginia, where he shortly after ended his own life. Quickly after these difficulties, the company of adventurers for the support of this Plantation, became rather adversaries to it; or at least, a Be you loarmed and filled; a few good words were all the help they afforded it; they broke to pieces, but the Ood of Heaven still supported it. § 6. After these many difficulties were thus a little surmounted, the inhabitants of this Colony prosecuted their affairs at so vigorous and suc- cessful a rate, that they not only fell into a comfortable way, both of plant- ing and of trading; but also in a few years there was a notable number of towns to be seen settled among them, and very considerable Churches, walking, so far as they had attained, in the faith and order of the Gospel. Their Churches flourished so considerably, that in the year 1642, there were above a dozen ministers, and some of those ministers were stars of the first magnitude, shining in their several orbs among them. And as they proceeded in the evangelical service and worship of our Lord Jesus Christ, so \)^Qy prospered in their secular concernments. When they first began to divide their lands, they wisely contrived the division so, that they might keep close together for their mutual defence; and then their condition was very like that of the Romans in the time of Romulus, when every man contented himself with two acres of land; and, as Pliny tells us, "It was thought a great reward for one to receive a pint of corn from the people 1^ MAONALIA CIIRI8TI AMERICANA; of Rome, vrhioh corn they also pounded in mortars." But since then their condition ia marvellously altered and amended; great farms are now seen among the effects of this good people's planting; and in their ^AiVm/, from the oatohing of an/, and other fish of less dimentions, they are since passed on to the oatohing of tt'Aofes, whose oil is become a staple-commodity of the country; whtdes^ I say, which living and moving islands, do now find a way to this coast, where, notwithstanding the desperate hazards run by the whale-catchers in tlieir thin whale-boats, often torn to pieces by the stroaks of those enraged monsters; yet it has been rarely known that any of them have miscarried. And within a few days of my writing this paragraph, a coto and a ca^ wore caught at Yarmouth in this Colony; the cow was fifty-five foot long, the bona was nine or ten foot wide; a cart upon wheels might have gone in at the mouth of it; the calf was twenty foot long, for unto such vast cnlvts the sea-monsters draw/or^ their breasts. But so does the good God here give his people to suck the abundance of the seas/ § 7. If my reader would have the religion of these planters more exactly described unto him — after I have told him that many hundreds of holy souls, having been riptnai for Heaven under the ordinances of God in this Colony ; and having loft an example of wonderful prayerfulness, watchful- ness, tiiankftilnoss, uacftilness, exact conscientiousness, piety, charity, wean- edness ftom the things of this world, and affection to the things that are above, are now at rest with the blessed Jesus, whose names, though not recorded in this bool\ are yet entered in the Book of life; and I hope there are still many hundreds of their children, even of the third and fourth generation, resolving to "follow them as they followed Christ" — I must refer him to an account given thereof by the right worshipful Edward Winslow, Esq., who was for some time the Governour of the Colony. He gives us to nndcrstand, that they are entirely of the same faith with the reformed Churches in Europe, only in their Church-government they are endeavourers after a ivjbnnation more thorough than what is in many of them; yet without any uncharitable separation from them. He gives instances of their admitting to communion among them the communicants of the French, the Dutch, the Scotch Churches, merely by virtue of their being so; and says, "We ever placed a large difference between those that grounded their pmctice on the Word of God, though differing from us in the exposition and understanding of it, and those that hated such reformers and reformation, and went on in anti-christian opposition to it, and persecu- tion of it:" after which, he adds, "' Tis true, we profess and desire to practice a separation fix)m the world, and the works of the world; and as the Churches of Christ are all saints by calling, so we desire to see the Grace of God shining forth (at least seemingly, leaving secret things to God) in all we admit into ChwxJi-fdlowship with us, and to keep off such as openly wallow in the mire of their sins, that neither the holy things of God, nor the communion of saints, may be leavened or polluted thereby. And if OE, THE HIRTOBY OF NEW-ENGLAND. m any joining to us formerly, either when we lived at Leyden in Holland, or since we came to New-England, have with the manifestation of their faith, and profession of holiness, held forth therewith separation from the Church of England; I have divers times, both in the one place, and in the other, heard either Mr. Robinson our pastor, or Mr. Brewster our elder, stop them forthwith, shewing them that we required no such thing at their hands; but only to hold forth faith in Christ Jesus, holiness in the fear of God, and submission to every ordinance and appointment of God." — Thus he. It is true there have been some varieties among this people, but still I suppose the body of them do with integrity espouse and maintain the principles upon which they were first established; however, I must, without fear of offending, express my fear, that the leaven of that rigid thing they call Brownism, has prevailed sometimes a little of the furthest in the administrations of this pious people. Yea, there was an hour of temptation, wherein the fondness of the people for the prophecyings of the brethren, as they called those exercises; that is to say, the preachments of those whom they called gifted brethren, produced those dicouragements unto their minis- ters, that almost all the ministers left the Colony ; apprehending themselves driven away by the insupportable neglect and contempt with which the people on this occasion treated them. And this dark hour of eclipse, upon the light of the Gospel, in the churches of the Colony, continued until their humiliation and reformation before the great Shepherd of the sheep, who hath since then blessed them with a succession of as worthy ministers as most in the land. Moreover, there has been among them one Church that have questioned and omitted the use of infant-baptism; nevertheless, there being many good men among those that have been of this perswasion, I do not know that they have been persecuted with any harder means than those of kind conferences to reclaim them. There have been also some unhappy sectaries, viz : Quakers and Seekers, and other such En&rgumens,* [pardon me, reader, that I have thought them so] which have given uggly disturb- ances to these good-spirited men in their temple-work; .; "t they have not prevailed unto the subversion of the first interest. Sonjp little controversies likewise have now and then arisen among them in the administration of their discipline; but Synods then regularly called, have usually and presently put into joint all that was apprehended out. Their chief hazard and symptom of degeneracy, is in the verification of that old observation, Religio peperit Divitias, et filia devoravit matrem: "Religion brought forth Prosperity, and the daughter destroyed the mother." The one would expect, that as they grew in their estates, they would grow in the payment of their quit-rents unto the God who gives them power to get weaWi, by more liberally supporting his ministers and ordinances among them; the most likely way to save them from the most miserable apostacy ; the neglect whereof in some former years, began for a while to be pun- * Victims of demoniacal posaenion. MujatuM-j g; 1^ MAOMALIA CnBIBTI AMBBIOANA; isbed with a sore famine of the Word; nevertheless, there ia danger lest the enchantments of this world make them to forget their errand into the vnldemeas: and some woful villages in the skirts of the Colony, beginning to live without the means of grace among them, are still more ominous intimations of the danger. May the God of New-England preserve them from so great t» death! § 8. Ooing now to take my leave of this litUe Colony, that I may con- verse for a while with her younger sisters, which yet have outstript her in growth exceedingly, and so will now draw all the streams of her affairs into their channels, I shall repeat the counsel which their faithAil Robin- son gave the first planters of the Colony, at their parting firom him in Holland. Said he, [to this purpose,] "Brethren: We are now quickly to pnrt flrom one another; and whcUier I may ever live to see your faces on earth any more, the God of Heaven only knows. But whctlior the Lord have appointed that or no, I charge you before God, and before hia blessed angels, that you foUow me no further than you have seen xaefiiOaw the Lord Jesus ChriaL "If God reveal any thing to you by any other instrument of Ais, be as ready to receive it, as ever you were to receive any truth by my ministry; for I am verily pcrswadcd, I am very confident tlie Lord hath more truth yet to break forth out of his holy Word. For my part, I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed Chnrchcs, who are come to ^period in religion; and will go at present no Airthor than tlio instruments of their first Reformation. The Lutherans cannot be drawn to go beyond what Luther saw; whatever part of his will our good God has imparted and revealed unto Culvin, they will rather die than embrace it. And the Calvinists, you see, stick fast where they wore left by that great man of God, who yet saw not all things. " This is a misery much to be lamented; for though they wore 'burning and shining lights* in their times, yet they penetrated not into the 'whole counsel of God;' but were they now living, thoy would be as willing to embrace further light, as that which they /rst received. I beseech you to remember it; it ia an article of your Church^ovenant, 'That you will be ready to receive whatever truth shall be made known unto you from the written Word of God.* Remember that, and every other article of your most sacred covenant But I must herewithal exhort you to take heed what you receive as trtith; examine it, consider it, com- pare it with the other Scriptures of truth, before you do receive it For it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out cf such tliick anti^^hristian darkness, and that perfection nf knowledge should break forth at once. I must also advise you to abandon, avoid and shake off the name of Brownist: it is a mere nick-name, and a brand for the making of Religion, and the professors of religion, odious unto the Christian world. Unto this end, I should be extreamly glad, if some godly minister would go with you, or come to you, before you can have any company. For there will be no difference between the unconformable ministers of England and you, when you come to the practice of evangelical ordinances out of the kingdom. And I would wish you by all means to close with the godly people of England ; study union with them in all things, wherein you can have it without sin, rather than in the least measure to affect a division or separation fVom them. Neither would I have you loth to take another pastor besides my self; in as much as a flock that hath two shepherds is not thereby endangered, but secured." So adding some other things of great consequence, he concluded most affectionately, commending his departing flock unto the grace of God, fhich now I also do the offspring of that holy flock. OB. THE HISTOBY OF NXW-ENOLAMD. 66 most God, CITADTP'D t IT t ' ' ' -' '""^ PAULO NAJORA;* OB, THE ESSAYS AND CAUSES ' WHICH PRODUCED THE SECOND, BUT LARGEST COLONY OP NEW-ENGLAND | AND THE HANNBB WHEREIN THE FIRST CHURCH OF THIS NEW COLONY WAS GATHERED. § 1 Words full of emphasis, are those which my reader may find writ- ten by a learned and pious minister of the Church of England; and I hope I may without offence tender to the reader the words of such an author. '*Some ntnong us (writes he) are angry with Calvin for calling humane rites, tolerabiks Ineptias;j they will not ut the great day be such unto the rigorous imposere, who made them the terms of communion. How will you at that day lift up your faces before your Master and your Judge, when he shall demand of you, ' what is become of those bis lambs which you drove into the wilderness by needless impositions]'" The story of the folks thus " driven into the wilderness " has begun to be related: and we would relate it without all intemperate expressions of our anger against our drivers, before whom the people must needs go, as they did : it becomes not an historian, and it less becomes a Christian, to be passionate. Nevertheless, poetry may dare to do something at the descrip- tion of that which drove those drivers; and with a few lines fetched from the most famous epic poem:}: of Dr. Blackmore, we will describe the fury. • • •A Fury crawl'd ttom out her cell, The bloodiest Minister of Death and hell; A monstrous shnpe, a foul and hideous sight, Which did all hell with her dire looks affright. Huge half-gurged snakes on her lean shoulders hung, And Death's dnrk courts with their loud hissing rung, tier teeth and claws were iron, and hor breath. Like subterranean damps, gave prvsunt death. Flumes, worse than hell's, shot from her bloody eyes. And " Fire ! and sword !" eternally she cries. No certain shape, no feature regular, No limbs distinct in th' odious flend appear. Her squalid, bloated belly did arise, SwoU'n with black gore, to a prodiglouj fWa: Distended vastly by a mighty flood Of slaughter'd tainti^ and constant martyrs' blood. A monster so deformM, so flerc^ as this, It self a hell, ne'er saw the dark abyss I Horror, till now the uggliest shape esteem'd, So much outdone, an harmless figure seem'd. Enty, and Hate, and Malice bluah'd to see Themselves eclipied by such deformity. Her feaverish heat drinks down a soa of blooi, Not of the impiotit, but the jutt and good : 'Gainst whom she bums with unextinguish'd rage, Nor can th' exhausted world her wrath aaswoge. It was Persecution; a. fury which we consider not as possessing the Church of England, but as inspiring a party which have unjustly chal- lenged the name of the Church of England, and which, whenever the Church of England shall any more encourage, her fall will become like that of the house which our Saviour saw built upon the sand. § 2. There were more than a few attempts of the English to people and improve the parts of New-England which were to the northward of New- Plymouth ; but the designs of those attempts being aimed no higher than Vol. I.-^ * Events somewhat more impoaiog.— ViROii, Bueol. iv. 1. t Harmless mummeries. t " '•■VT •Arthur." it , 1 H MAONALIA OIIRISTI AMERICANA; the advancement of some worldly interests^ a constant scries of disasters has confounded them, until there was a plantation erected upon the nobler designs of Christianity; and that plantation, though it has had more adversaries than perhaps any one upon earth ; yet, " having obtained help from God, it continues to this day." There have been very fine settle- ments in the north-east regions ; but what is become of them ? I have heard that one of our ministers once preaching to a congregation there, urged them to approve themselves a religious people from this considera- tion, "that otherwise they would contradict the main end of planting thia wilderness;" whereupon a well-known person, then in the assembly, cryed out, "Sir, you are mistaken: you think you are preaching to the people at the Bay; our main end was to catch fishy Truly 'twere to have been wished, that something more excellent had been the main end of the set- tlements in that brave country, which we have, even long since the arrival of that more pious colony at the Bay, now seen dreadfully unsettled, no less than tvoice at least, by the sword of the heathen, after they had been replenished with many hundreds of people, who had thriven to many thousands of pounds ; and had all the force of the Bay, too, to assist them in the maintaining of their settlements. But the same or the like inau- spicious things attended many other endeavours to make plantations upon such a main end in several other parts of our country, before the arrival of those by whom the Massachuset colony was at last formed upon more glorious aims; all proving, like the habitations of the/ooZw^, "cursed before they had taken root." Of all which catastrophe^ s, I suppose none was more sudden than that of Monsieur Finch, whom in a ship from France, truck- ing with the Massachuset-Natives; those bloody salvages, coming on board without any other arm^^ but knives concealed under flaps, immediately butchered with all his men, and set the ship on fire. Yea, so many fatal- ities attended the adventurers in their essays, that they began to suspect that the Indian sorcerers had laid the place under some fiiscination; and that the English could not prosper upon such enchanted ground, so that they were almost afraid of adventuring any more. § 8. Several persons in the west of England, having by fishing- voyages to Cape Ann, the northern promontory of the Massachuset-Bay, obtained some acquaintance with those parts ; the news of the good progress made in the new plantation of Plymouth, inspired the renowned Mr. White, minister of Dorchester, to prosecute the settlement of such another plant- ation here for the propagation of religion. This good man engaged several gentlemen about the year 1624, in this noble design; and they employed a most religious, prudent, worthy gentleman, one Mr. Roger Conant, in the government of the place, and of their affairs upon the place ; but through many discouragements, the design for a while almost fell unto the ground. That great man, greatly grieved hereat, wrote over to this Mr. Roger Conant, that if he and three honest men more would yet stay upon OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENOLAND. 67 tbo spot, he would procure apatent for them, and send them over friends, goods, provisions, and wlmt was necessary to assist their undertaking^ Mr. Conant, then looking out a scituation more commodious for a loum, gave his three disheartened companions to understand, that he did believe God would make this land a receptacle for h'o people; and that if theij should leave him, yet he would not stir; for he was confident he should not lotig want company; which confidence of his caused them to abandon the thoughts of leaving him. Well, it was not long before the Council of Plymouth in England had, by a deed bearing date March 19, 1627, sold unto some knights and gentlemen about Dorchester, viz: Sir Uenry Rowsel, Sir John Young, Thomas Southcott, John Humphrey, John Endi- cott, and Simon Whetcomb, and their heirs and assigns, and their associ* ates for ever, that part of New-England which lyes between a great river called Merrimack, and a certain other river there called Charles' River, in the bottom of the Maasachuset-Bay. But shortly after this, Mr. White brought the aforesaid honourable persons into an acquaintance with several other persons of quality about London ; as, namely. Sir Richard Salton- stall, Isaac Johnson, Samuel Adderly, John Ven, Matthew Cradock, George Harwood, Increase Nowel, Richard Perry, Richard Bellingham, Nathaniel Wright, Samuel Vassal, Theophilus Eaton, Thomas Gofl', i'homaa Adams, John Brown, Samuel Brown, Thomas Hutchings, William Vassal, William Pinchon, and George Foxcraft. These persons being associated unto the former, and having bought of them all their interest in New- England aforesaid, now consulted about settling a plantation in that coun- try, whither such as were then called Non-conformists might, with the grace and leave of the Kir .if, make a peaceable secession, and enjoy the liberty and the exercise of their own perswasions about the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. Whereupon petitioning tlie King to confirm what they had thus purchased with a new patent, he granted them one, bearing date from the year 1628, which gave them a right unto the soil, holding their titles of lands, as of the mannor of East Greenwich in Kent, and in common soccage. By this Charter they were empowered yearly to elect their own governour, deputy -governour and magistrates ; as also to make such laws as they should think suitable for the plantation : but as an acknowledgment of their dependance upon England, they might not make any laws repug- nant unto those of the kingdom; and the fifth part of all the oar of gold or silver found in the territory, belonged unto the crown. So, soon after Mr. Cradock being by the company chosen governour, they sent over Mr. Endicott in the year 1628, to carry on the plantation, which the Dorches- ter-agents had lookt out for them, which was at a place called Nahumkeick. Of which place I have somewhere met with an odd observation, that the name of it was rather Hebrew than Indian; for D"]nj, Nahum, signifies comfort, and pin, Keik, signifies an haven; and our English not only found it an Haven of Comfort, but happened also to put an Hebrew name upon 0) MAGNALIA 0HBI8TI AMERICANA; it; for they called it Salem, for the peace which they had and hoped in it ; and so it is called unto this day. § 4. An entrance being thus made upon the design of planting a coun- try of English and Eeformed Churches; they that were concerned for the plantation, made their application to two non-formists ministers, that they would go over to serve the Cause of Qod and of Religion in the beginning of those Churches. The one of these was Mr. Higginson, a minister in Leicestershire, silenced for his non-conformity ; the other was Mr. Skelton, a minister of Lincolnshire, suffering also for his non-conformily ; both of which were men eminent for learning and virtue, and who, thus driven out of their native country, sought their graves on the American-Strand, whereon the Epitaph might be inscribed that was on Scipio's: Ingrata Patria, ne Mortui quidem habebis Ossa* These ministers came over to Salem in the summer of the year 1629, and with these there came over a consider- able number of excellent Christians, who no sooner arrived, but they set themselves about the Church-work, which was their errand hither. 'Tis true, there were two other Clergy-men, who came over about the same time; nevertheless, there has been very little account given of their circumstances ; except what a certain little Narrative-writer has offered us, by saying, "there were two that began to hew stones in the mountains, for the building of the temple here ; but when they saw all sorts of stones would not fit in the building, the one betook himself to the seas again and the other to till the land;" for which cause, burying all further mention of them among the rubbish, in the foundation of the Colony, we will pro- ceed with our story ; which is now to tell us, that the passage of these our pilgrims was attended with many smiles of Heaven upon them. They were blessed with a company of honest seamen; with whom the ministers and passengers constantly served God, morning and evening; reading, ex- pounding and applying the word of God, singing of his praise, and seeking of his peace; to which exercises they added on the Lord's day two sermons, and a catechising: and sometimes they set apart an whole day for fasting and prayer, to obtain from Heaven a good success in their voyage, espe- cially when the weather was much against them, whereto they had very remarkable answers; but the seamen said, "that they believed these were the first sea-fasts that ever were kept in the world." At length. Per varios Casus, per Tot Discrimina Berum^f they landed at the haven of rest pro- vided for them. § 5. The persecuted servants of God, under the English Hierarchy, had been in a sea of ice mingled with fire; though the /re scalded them, yet such cakes of ice were over their heads, that there was no getting out; but the ice was now broken, by the American offers of a retreat for the pure wor- shippers of the Lord into a wilderness. * "UDgniteftil country of 1117 birth ! thou shalt not poMess eren my Ufeleaa bones." t Through perils, toU, and rough adventure passed. OR, THE UISTOBY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 0^ The report of the charter granted unto the governour and company of the Massaohuset-Bay, and the entertainment and encouragement which planters began to find in that Bay, came with a — Patrias age, desere Sedes* and caused many very deserving persons to transplant themselves and their families into New-England. Gentlemen of ancient and worshipful families, and ministers of tae gospel, then of great fame at home, and merchants, husbandmen, artificers, to the number of some thousands, did for twelve years together carry on this transplantation. It was indeed a banishment rather than a removal, which was undergone by this glorious generation, and you may be sure sufficiently afflictive* to men of estate, breeding and conversation. As the hazard which they ran in this undertaking was of such extraordinariness, that nothing less than a strange and strong impression from Heaven could have thereunto moved the hearts of such as were in it: so the expense with which they carried on the undertaking was truly extraordinary. By computation, the passage of the persons that peopled New-England, cost at least ninety-five thousand pound; the transportation of their first small stock of cattle, great and small, cost no less than twelve thousand pound, besides the price of the cattle themselves; the provisions laid in for subsistence, till tillage might produce more, cost forty-five thou- sand pounds; the materials for their first cottages cost eighteen thousand pounds; their arms, ammunition and great artillery, cost twenty-two thou- sand pounds; besides which hundred and ninety -two thousand pounds, the adventurers laid out in England what was not inconsiderable. About an hundred and ninety-eight ships were employed in passing the perils of the seas, in the accomplishment of this renowned settlement; whereof, by the way, but one miscarried in those perils. Briefly, the God of Heaven served as it were a summons upon the spirits of his people in the English nation ; stirring up the spirits of thousands which never saw the faces of each other, with a most unanimous inclination to leave all the pleasant accommodations of their native country, and go over a terrible ocean, into a more terrible desert, for the pure enjoyment of all his ordinances. It is now reasonable that before we pass any further, the reasons of this undertaking should be more exactly made known unto posterity, especially unto the posterity of those that were the undertakers, lest they come at length to forget and neglect the true interest of New-England. Wherefore I shall now transcribe some of them from a manuscript, wherein they were then tendred unto consideration. i GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE PLANTATION OF NEW-ENOLAND. " First, It will be a service unto the Church, of great consequence, to carry the Gospel into those parts of the world, and raise a bulivark against the kingdom of anti-chriat, which the Jesuites labour to rear up in all parts of the world. " Secondly, All other Churches of Europe have been brought under desolations; and it may * A call to leave their country and their home. ■ il\ I .mj> I 70 MAGNALIA CUKISTI AMERICANA; be feared that the like judgments are coming upon us ; and who knows but God hath provided this place to be a refuge for many, whom he means to save out of the General Destruction. " Thirdly, The land grows weary of her inhabitants, insomuch that man, whicli is the most precious of all creatures, is here more vile and base tlian the earth he treads upon: children, neighbours and friends, especially the poor, are counted the greatest burdens, wliicii if things were right would be the chiefest earthly blessings. " Fourthly, We are grown to that intemperance in all excess of riot, as no mean estate almost will suffice a man to keep sail with his eijuals, and he that fails in it, must live in acorn and contempt: hence it comes to pass, that all arts and trades are carried in that deceit- ful manner, and unrighteous course, as it is almost impossible for a good, upright man to maintain his constant charge, and live comfortably in them. *^ Fifthly, The schools of learning and religion are so corrupted, as (besides the unsniJ- portable charge of education) most childrenj even the best, wittiest, and of the fairest hop.s, are perverted, corrupted, and utterly overthrown, by the multitude of evil examples and licentious behaviours in these seminaries. " Sixthly, The whole earth is the Lord's garden, and he hath given it to the sons of Adam-, to be tilled and improved by them: why then should we stand starving here for places of habitation, and in the mean time suifer whole countries, as profitable for the use of man, to lye waste without any improvement ? " SevetUhly, What can be a better or nobler work, and more worthy of a Christian, tlian to erect and support a reformed particular Church in its infiincy, and unite our forces with Buch a company of faithful people, as by a timely assistance may grow stronger and pros- per; but for want of it, may be put to great hazards, if not be wholly ruuicd? " Eighthly, If any such as are known to be godly, and live in wealth and prosperity here, shall forsake all this to join with this reformed church, and with it run the hazard of un hard and mean condition, it will be a example of great use, both for the removing of scandal, and to give more life unto the faith of God's people in their prayers for the plantation, and also to encourage others to join the more willingly in it." § 6. Mr. Higginson, and Mr. Skelton, and other good people that arrived at Salem, in the year 1629, resolved, like their father Abraham, to begin their plantation with "calling on the name of the Lord." The great Mr. Hildersham had advised our first planters to agree fully upon their form of church government, before their coming into New-England; but they had indeed agreed little further than in this general principle, "that the reformation of the church was to be endeavoured according to the written word of God." Accordingly ours, now arrived at Salem, consulted with their brethren at Plymouth, what steps to take for the more exact acquaint- ing of themselves witli, and conforming themselves to, that written word; and the Plymotheans, to their great satisfaction, laid before them what warrant, they judged, that they had in the laws of our Lord Jesus Christ, for every particular in their Church-order. Whereupon having the concurrence and countenance of their deputy- governour, the worshipful John Endicott, Esq., and the approving pres- ence of the messengers from the church of Plymouth, they set apart the sixth day of August, after their arrival, for fasting and prayer, for the set- tling of a Church State among them, and for their making a Confession of their Faith, and entering into an holy Covenant, whereby that Church State was formed. OR, THE H18T0EY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 71 Mr. Higginoon then became the teaclicr, and Mr. Skelton the pastor, of the church * i constituted at Salem ; and they lived very peaceably in Salem togeti, •, till the death of Mr. Higginson, which was about a twelve- month after, and then of Mr. Skelton, who did not long survive him. Now, the Covenant whereto these Christians engaged themselves, which was about seven years after solemnly renewed among them, I shall here lay before all the Churches of God, as it was then expressed and inforced : " We covenant with our Lord, and one with another ; and we do bind our selves in the presence of God, to walk together in all his ways, according as he is pleased to reveal himself unto us in his blessed word of truth; and do explicitly, in the name and fear of God, profess and protest to walk asfolloweth, through the power and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. " We avouch the Lord to be our God, and our selves to be his people, in the truth and simplicity of our spirits. " We give our selves to the Lord Jesus Christ, and the word of his grace for the teaching, ruling and sanctifying of us in matters of worship and conversation, resolv- iitg to cleave unto him alone for life and glory, and to reject all contrary ways, canons, and constitutions of men in his worship. " We promise to walk with our brethren, with all watchfulness and tenderness, avoiding jealousies and suspicions, back-bitings, censurings, provokings, secret risings of spirit against them ; hit in all offences to follow the rule of our Lord Jesus, and to bear and forbear, give and forgive, as he hath taught us. "In public or private, we will willingly do nothing to the offence of the church; but willing to take advice for our selves and ours, as occasion shall be presented. " We loill not in the congregation be forward either to show our own gifts and parts in speaking or scrupling, or there discover the weakness or failings of our brethren ; but attend an orderly call thereunto, knowing how much the Lord may be dishonoured, and his gospel, and the profession of it, slighted by our distempers and weaknesses in public. " We bind our selves to study the advancement of the gospel in all truth and peace ; both in regard of those that are within or without ; no way slighting our sister churches, but using their counsel, as need shall be ; not laying a stumbling' block before any, no, not the Indians, whose good we desire to promote ; and so to converse, as we may avoid the very appearance of evil. " We do hereby promise to carry our selves in all lawful obedience to those that are over us, in Church or Commonwealth, knowing how well pleasing it will be to the Lord, that they should have encouragement in their places, by our not grieving their spirits through our irregularities. " We resolve to approve our selves to the Lord in our particular callings ; shun- ning idleness as the bane of any state ; nor will we deal hardly or oppressingly with any, whe zin we are the Lord^s stewards. "Promising also unto our best ability to teach our children and servants the knowledge of God, and of His Will, that they may serve Him also ; and all this not by any strength of our own, but by the Lord Christ : whose blood we desire may sprinkle this our Covenant made in his name." y: lit 72 MAGNALIA 0HBI8TI AMERICANA; By this instrument was the Covenant of Grace explained, received, and recognized, by the Jirst Church in this Colony, and applied unto the evan- gelical designs of a Church-estate before the Lord: this instrument they afterwards often read over, and renewed the consent of their souls unto every article in it ; especially when their days of humiliation invited them to lay hold on particular opportunities for doing so. — So you have seen the nativity of the first Church in the Massachuset-colony. § 7. As for the circumstances of admission into this Church, they left it very much unto the discretion and faithfulness of their elders, together with the condition of the persons to be admitted. Some were admitted by expressing their consent unto their confession and covenant; some were admitted after their firat answering to questions about Religion, propounded unto them ; some were admitted, when they had presented in ivriting such things as might give satis/action unto the people of God concerning them; and some that were admitted, orally addressed the people of God in such terms, as they thought proper to ask their communion with; which diver' sity was perhaps more beautiful than would have been a more punctiliotu uniformity; but none were admitted without regard unto a blameless and holy conversation. They did all agree with their brethren of Plymouth in this point, "That the children of the faithful were Church-members, with their parents; and that their baptism was a seal of their being so;" only before their admission to fellowship in a particular Church, it was judged necessary that, being free from scandal, they should be examined by the elders of the Church, upon whose approbation of their fitness, they should publickly and personally own the covenant; so they were to be received unto the table of the Lord: and accordingly the eldest son of Mr. Higginson, being about fifteen years of age, and laudably answering all the characters expected in a communicant, was then so received. § 8. It is to be remembered, that some of the passengers, who came over "With those of our first Salemites, observing that the ministers did not use the "Book of Common-Prayer " in their administrations; that they admin* istered the baptism and the supper of the Lord, without any unscriptural ceremonies; that they resolved upon using discipline in the congregation against scandalous offenders, according to the word of God ; and that some scandalous persons had been denied admission into the communion of the Church ; they began (Frankford fashion) to raise a deal of trouble here- upon. Herodiana Malitia, nascentem persequi Religionem /* Of those there were especially two brothers ; the one a lawyer, the other a merchant, both men of parts, estate and figure in the place. These gathered a com- pany together, separate from the publick assembly; and tJicre, the Comnion- Prayer-Worship was after a sort upheld among such as would resort unto them. The governour perceiving a disturbance to arise among the people on this occasion, sent for the brothers; who accused the ministers, as * Herod-llke malice, bent on crushing the inlhnt Church. I JOHN WIKTHROP. 1 > OE, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 1$ departing from the orders ofOie Church of Fngland; adding, "That they were Separatists, and would be shortly Anabaptists;" but for themselves, "They would hold unto the orders of the Church of England." The answer of the ministers to these accusations, was, " That they were neither Separatists nor Anabaptists; that they did not separate from the Church of England, nor from the ordinances of God there, but only from the cor- ruptions and disorders of that Church: that they came away from the Common-Prayer and Ceremonies, and had suffered much for their non- conformity in their native land; and therefore being in a place where they might have their liberty, they neither could nor would use them; inasmuch as they judged the imposition of these things to be a sinful vio- lation of the worship of God." — ^The governour, the council, the people, generally approved of the answer thus given by the ministers ; but these persons returned into England with very furious ihreatnings against the Church thus established; however the direatned folks have lived so long, that the Church has out-lived the grand dimacterical year of humane age ; it is now flourishing, more than sixty-three years after its first gathering, under the pastoral care of a most reverend and ancient person, even Mr. John Higginson, the son of that excellent man who laid the foundations of that society. FESEGRINI'DEO CDBl;* OR, THE PROGRESS OP THE NEW COLONY; WITH SOME ACCOUNT OP THE PERSONS, THE METHODS, AND THE TROUBLES, BY WHICH IT CAME TO SOMETHING. § 1. The Governour and Company of the Massachuset-Bay, then in London, did in the year 1629, after exact and mature debates, conclude, that it was most convenient for the government, with the charter of the plantation, to be transferred into the plantation it self; and an o-der of court being drawn up for that end, there was then chosen a new govern- our, and a new deputy-governour, that were willing to remove themselves with their families thither on the first occasion. The governour was John Winthrop, Esq., a gentleman of that wisdom and virtue, and those mani- fold accomplishments, that after-generations must reckon him no less a glory, than he was a patriot of the country. The deputy-governour was Thomas Dudley, Esq., a gentleman, whose natural and acquired abilities, joined with his excellent moral qualities, entitled him to all the great * strangers are pMuUar objects of God's care. I , ■ 74 MAGNALTA OHRISTI AMEBICAXA; respects with whioU his country on all opportunities treated him. Several most worthy assiskmts were at the same time chosen to be in this trans- portation ; moreover, several other gentlemen of prime note, and several famous ministers of the gospel, now likewise embarked themselves with these honourtxble adventurers; who equipped a fleet consisting of ten or eleven ship% whereof the admiral was. The Arabella (so called in honour of the right honourable the Lady Arabella Johnson, at this time on board), a ship of three hundred and fifty tuns; and in some of the said ships there were two hundred passengers ; all of which arrived before the middle of July, in the year 1630, safe in the harbours of New-England. There was a time when the British sea was by Clements, and the other ancients, called wxietvrof ciirspfuvrof, die unpassabk ocean. What then was to be thought of the vast Atlantiok sea, on the westward of Britain ? But this ocean must now bo passed ! An heart of stone must have dissolved into tcdra at the aftoctionateylorircZ which the governour and other eminent persons took of thoir friends, at a feast which the governour made for them, a little before their going oif ; however, they were acted by principles that could carry them through kars and oceans; yea, through oceans of tears: princi- ples that enabled them to leave, Dulda Liinina, atque amabHem Larem, • quern et ^nwtttt!>in memoriae atque t^si^is (to use Stupius' words) Infamioe Rudimenta Vonfirmant,* Some very late geographers do assure us, that the breadth of tlio Atlantick sea is commonly over-reckoned by six, by eight, by ten degrees. But let that sea be as narrow as they please, I can assure the reader the passing of it was no little trial unto those worthy people that were now to pass it. § 2. But the most notable circumstance in their farewel, was their com- posing and publishing of what they called, "The humble request of his Majesties loyal subjects, the Governour and Company lately gone for New- England, to the rest of their brethren in and of the Church of England ; for the obtaining of their prayers, and the removal of suspicions and mis- co.istructions of their intentions." In this address of theirs, notwithstand- ing the trouble they had undergone for desiring to see the Church of England nfwmed of several things, which they thought its deformities, yet they now called the Church of England their dear mother; acknowl- edging that such ho}\e and part as they had obtained in the common salvation they had sucked ftvin her breasts ; therewithal entreating their many reverend fathers and bretftren to recommend them unto the mercies of God, in their constant prayers, as a Church now springing out of their own bowels. "You are not ignorant (said they) that the Spirit of God stirred up the Apostle Paul, to make a continual mention of the Church at Philippi which was a colony iVoni Rome ; let the same spirit, we beseech you. put you in mind, that are tlie Lord's remembrancers, to pray for us, without ceasing, * Their tweet imUv« »h«n>« mh! cherished flreatde* ; cherished the more for the sake of their pareiits' memories •nd the ewrly lewou thent imbibed in the very prlucipleB which now malie them objects of persecution. OB, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 76 who are the weak colony from your selves." And after such prayers, they concluded, *' What goodness you shall extend unto us, in this or any other Christian kindness, we your brethren in Christ shall labour to repay, in what duty we are or shall be able to perform ; promising so far as God shall enable us, to give him no rest on your behalfs; wishing our heads and hearts may be fountains of tears for your everlasting welfare, when we shall be in our poor cottages in the wilderness, overshadowed with the spirit of supplication, through the manifold necessities and tribulations, which may not altogether unexpectedly, nor we hope unprofitably, befall us." § 8. Reader, If ever the charity of a right Christian, and enlarged soul, were examplarily seen in its proper expansions^ 'twas in the address which thou hast now been reading; but if it now puzzle the reader to reconcile these passages with i)xQ principles declared, i\iQpract,ces followed, and the per- secutions undergone, by these American Reibrmerr,, let him know, that there was more than one distinction, whereof theso excellent persons were not ignorant. First, they were able to distinguish between the Church of England, as it contained the whole body of the faithful, scattered throughout the kingdoms, though of dififerent perswasions about some rites and modes in religion; many thousands of whom our Nor-Angels knew could comply with many things, to which our consciences, otherwise enlightened and per- swaded, could not yield such a compliance and the Church of England, as it was confined unto a certain constitution by canons, which pronounced Ipso Facto,'* excommunicate all those who should affirm that the worship contained in the " Book of Common-Prayer and administrations of sacra- ments," is unlawful, or that any of the thirty-nine articles are erroneous, or that any of the ceremonies commanded by the authority of the church might not be approved, used and subscribed ; and which will have to be accursed, all those who maintain that there are in the realm any other meetings, assemblies or congregations of the King's born subjects, than such as by the laws of the land are allowed, which may rightly challenge to them- selves the name of true and lawful Churches; and by which all those that refuse to kneel at the reception of the sacrament, and to be present at pub- lick prayers, according to the orders of the church, about which there are prescribed many formalities of responses, with bowing at the name of Jesus, are to be denied the communion; and all who dare not submit their children to be baptized by the undertaking of god-fathers, and receive the cross as a dedicating badge of Christianity, must not have baptism for their children : besides an et-caetera of how many more impositions/ Again, they were able to distinguish between the Church of England, as it kept the true doctrine of the Protestant religion, with a disposition to pursue the reforma- tion begun in the former century, among whom we may reckon such men as the famous assembly of divines at Westminster, who all but eight or nine, and the Scots had before then lived in conformity; and the Church of * By tbelr very act. 76 MAQNALIA CHRI8TI AMERICANA; England, as limiting that name unto a certain faction^ who, together with a discipline very much unscriptural, vigorously prosecuted the tripartite plot of Arminiapism and conciliation with Kome, in the church, and unbounded prerogative in the state; who set themselves to cripple as fast as they could the more lenrncd, godly, painful ministers of the land, and silence and ruin such as could not read a book for sports on the Lord's days; or did but use a. prayer of their own conceiving, before or after sermon; or did but preach in an afternoon^ as well as in a morning, or on a lecture^ or on a market, or in aniwise discountenance old superstitions, or new extravagancies; and who at last threw the nation into the lamentable confusions of a civil war. By the light of this distinction, we may easily perceive what Church of England it was, that our New-England exiles called, tJieir Mother; though their mother had been so harsh to them, as to turn them out of doors, yet they highly honoured her; believing that it was not so much their mother, but some of their angry brethren, abusing the name of their mother, who so harshly treated them; and all the harm they wished her, was to see her put off those ill trimmings, which at her first coming out of the popish Babylon, she had not fully so laid aside. If any of those envious brethren do now call these dissenters, as not very long since a great prelate in a sermon did, the bastards of the Churcf> of England, I will not make the return which was made upon it by a person of quality then present; but instead thereof humbly demand, who are the truer sons to the Church of England; they that hold all the fundamentals of Christianity embraced by that Church, only questioning and forbearing a few disciplinary points, which are confessed indifferent by the greatest zealots for them ; or they that have made Britain more unhabitable that the Torrid Zone? for the poor non-conformists, by their Jiot pressing of those indifferencies, as if they had been the only necessaries, in the mean time utterly subverting Xhe faith in the important points oi predestination, free-will, justification, perseverance, and some other things, which that Church requires all her children to give their assent and consent unto? If the former, then, say I, the planters of New-England were trrier sons to the Church of England, than that part of the church which, then by their misemploying their heavy church-keys, banished them into this plantation. And, indeed, the more genuine among the most conformable sons of the church, did then accordingly wish all pros- perity to their New-English brethren ; in the number of whom I would particularly reckon that faithful man, Mr. Edward Symons, minister of Rayn in Essex; who in a Discourse printed Anno 1637, does thus express himself: " Many now promise to themselves nothing but successive happi- ness at New-England; which for a time, through God's mercy, they may enjoy ; and I pray God, they may a long time, but in this world there is no happiness perpetual." Nor would I on this occasion leave unquoted some notable words of the learned, witty and famous Dr. Fuller, in his comment on Ruth, page 16: "Concerning our brethren which of late lefl OB, THE niSTOBY OF MEW-ENOLAND. 77 this kingdom to advance a plantation in New-England, I think the counsel best tliat King Joash prescribed unto Amaziah, ^ Tarry at homef yet as for those that are already gone, far be it from us to conceive them to be Buoh i( whom we may not say, Qod speed: but let us pity them, and pray for them. I conciade of the two Englands, what our Saviour saith of the two wines: 'No man having tasted of the old, presently desireth the new; for he saith, the old is better.' " § 4. Being happily arrived at New-England, our new planters found the difficulties of a rough and hard wilderness presently assaulting them: of which the worst was the sickliness which many of them had contracted by their other difficulties. Of those who soon dyed after their first arrival, not the least considerable was the Lady Arabella, who left an earthly par- adise in the family of an Earldom, to encounter the sorrows of a wilderness, for the entertainments of a pure worship in the house of God; and then immediately left that wilderness for the Heavenly paradise, whereto the compassionate Jesus, of whom she was a follower, called her. We have read concerning a noble woman of Bohemia, who forsook her friends, her plate, her house, and all ; and because the gates of the city were guarded, crept through the common -sewer, that she might enjoy the institutions of our Lord at another place where they might be had. The spirit which acted that noble woman, we may suppose carried this blessed lady thus to and through the hardships of an American desart. But as for her virtu- ous husband, Isaac Johnson, Esq., • « « • • Helry'd To live without her, lik'd it not, and dy'd. His mourning for the death of his honourable consort was too bitter to be extended a year; about a month after her death Jiis ensued, unto the extream loss of the whole plantation. But at the end of this perfect and upright man, there was not only ^eace but joy; and his joy particularly expressed it self "that God hath kept his eyes open so long as to see one church of the Lord Jesus Christ gathered in these ends of the earth, before his own going away to Heaven." The mortality thus threatning of this new Plantation so enlivened the devotions of this good people, that they set themselves by fasting and prayer to obtain from God the removal of it; and their brethren at Plymouth also attended the like duties on their behalf: the issue whereof was, that in a little time they not only had health restored, but they likewise enjoyed the special directions and assistance of God in the further prosecution of their undertakings. § 5. But there were two terrible distresses more, besides that of sickness, whereto this people wore exposed in the beginning of their settlement: though a most seasonable and almost unexpected mercy from Heaven still rescued them out of those distresses. One thing that sometimes extreamly exercised them, was a scarcity of provisions ; in which 'twas wonderful to 78 UAONALIA CIIRISTI AMERICANA; see their dependance upon God, and God's mindfulness of them. When the parching droughts of the summer divers titnos tliruatned them with an utter and a total consumption to the fruits of the earth, it was their man* ner, with heart- melting^ and I may say, lltaven-mdtiitrf devotions, to fust and pray before God; and on the very days when they poured out the water of their tears before him, he would shower down the water of his rain upon their fields; while they were yet speaking^ he would hear them; inso- much that the salvages themselves would on that occasion admire the Englishman's God ! But the Englishmen themselves would celebrate their days of Thanksgiving to him. When their stock was lilvowiso wasted so far,which divers times it was, that they were come to the last meal in the barrel, just then, unlooked for, arrived several ships from other parts of the world loaden with supplies; among which, one was by the hrd-deputy of Ireland sent hither, although he did not know the necessities of the country to which he sent her; and if he had known them, would have been thought as unlikely as any man living to have holpt them: in these extremities, 'twas marvellous to see how helpful these good people were to one another, following the example of their most liberal governour Win- throp, who made an equal distribution of what he had in his own stores among the poor, taking no thought for to-morroivf And how content they were; when an honest man, as I have heard, inviting his friends to a dish of clams, at the table gave thanks to Heaven, who "had given them to suck the abundance of the seas, and of the treasures hid in the sands I" Another thing that gave them no little exercise, was the fear of the Indians, by whom they were sometimes alarmed. But tliis fear was won- derfully prevented, not only by intestine wars happening then to fall out among those barbarians, but chiefly by the small-pox, which proved a great plague unto them, and particularly to one of the Princes in the Mas- sachuset-Bay, who yet seemed hopefully to be christianized before he dyed. This distemper getting in, I know not how, among them, swept them away with a most prodigious desolation, insomuch that although the Eng- lish gave them all the assistances of humanity in their calamities, yet there was, it may be, not one in ten among them left alive; of those ^eiy that lived, many also fled from the infection, leaving the country a meer Golgotha of unburied carcases ; and as for the rest, the English treated them with all the civility imaginable; among the instances of which civility, let this be reckoned for one, that notwithstanding the patent which they had for the country, they fairly purchased of the natives the several tracts of land which they afterwards possessed. § 6. The people in the fleet that arrived at New-England, in the year 1630, left the fleet almost, as the family of Noah did the ark, having a whole world before them to be peopled. Salem was already supplied with a competent number of inhabitants; and therefore the governour, with most of the gentlemen that accompanied him in his voyage, took their OR, THE HISTORY Or NRW-ENOLAND. 79 first opportunity to prosecute further settlomcntfl about the bottom of the Moa«ftchuHct-Hay; but w lure-ever they flat down, they were ho mindful of their errand into tlie wilderncfis, tlmt still one of their firat works wom to gather a church into the rnvennnt and order of the gospel. First, there was a church thus gathered at (Jharles-town, on the north side of Charles's river; where, keeping , solemn i.wt on August 27, 1630, to implore the conduct and blessing ot lienvcn on their ecelcsiastical proceedings, they chose Mr. Wilson, a most holy and zealous man, formerly a minister of Sudbury, in the county of Suffolk, to be their teacher ; and although ho now submitted unto an ordination, with an imposition of such hands as were by the church invited so to pronounce the benediction of llcuven upon him ; yet it was done with a protestation by all, that it should be only OS a sign of his election to the charge of his new flock, without any intention that he should thereby renounce the ministry ho had received in England. After the gathering of the church at Charles-town, there quickly followed another at the town of Dorchester. And after Dorchester there followed another at the town of Boston, which issued out of Charles-town ; one Mr. James took the care of the Church at Charles-town, and Mr. Wilson went over to Boston, where they that formerly belonged unto Charles-town, with universal approbation became a distinct Ch urch of themselves. To Boston soon succeeded a church at Roxbury ; to Roxbury, one at Lyn ; to Lyn, one at Watertown ; so that in one or two years' time there were to be seen seven Churches in this neighbourhood, all of them attending to what the spirit in the Scripture said unto them; all of them golden candlesticks, illustrated with a very sensi- ble presence of our Lord Jesus Christ among them. § 7. It was for a matter of twelve years together, that persons of all ranks, well affected unto Church-reformation, kept sometimes dropping, and sometimes flocking into New-England, though some that were coming into New-England were not suffered so to do. The persecutors of those Puri- tans, as they were called, who were now retiring into that cold country from the heat of their persecution, did all that was possible to hinder as many as was possible from enjoying of that retirement. There were many counter- mands given to the passage of people that were now steering of this western course; and there was a sort of uproar made among no small part of the nation, that this people should not be let go. Among those bound for New- England, that were so stopt, there were especially three famous persons, whom I suppose their adversaries would not have so studiously detained at home, if they \\w\. foreseen events; those were Oliver Cromwell, and Mr. Hambden, and Sir Arthur Haselrig ; nevertheless, this is not the only instance oi persecuting church-mens not having the spirit of prophesy. But many others were diverted from an intended voyage hither by the pure providence of God, which had provided other improvements for them ; and of this take one instance instead of many. Before the woeful wars which ■^: 80 MAGNALIA CHRI8TI AMERICANA; I . broke forth in the three kingdoms, there were divers gentlemen in Scotland, who, being uneasie under the ecclesiastical burdens of the times, wrote unto New-England their enquiries. Whether they might be there suffered freely to exercise their Presbyterian church-government? And it was freely answered, ** That they might." Hereupon they sent over an agent, who pitched upon a tract of land near the mouth of Merrimack river, whither they intended them to transplant themselves: but although they had so far proceeded in their voyage, as to be half-seas through ; the manifold crosses they met withal, made them give over their intentions; and the providence of God so ordered it, that some of those very gentlemen were afterwards the revivers of that well-known solemn league and covenant which had so great an influence upon the following circumstances of the nations. However, the number of those who did actually arrive at New-England before the year 1640, have been computed about four thousand; since which time far more have gone out of the country than have come to it ; and yet the God of Heaven so smiled upon the Plantation, while under an easie and egrual government, the designs of Christianity in well-formed churches have been carried on, that no history can parallel it. That saying of Eutropius about Rome, which hath been sometimes applied unto the church, is capable of some application to this little part of the church : Nee Minor ab Exordio, nee major Incrementis ulla* Never was any plantation brought unto such a considerableness, in a space of time so inconsiderable ! an howling wilderness ill a few years became ti pleasant land, accommodated with the necessaries — yea, and the conveniences of humane life ; the gospel has carried with it a fulness of all other blessings; and (albeit, that mankind generally, as far as we have any means of enquiry, have increased in one and the same given pro- portion, and so no more than doubled themselves in about three hundred and sixty years, in all the past ages of the world, since the fixing of the present period of humane life) the four thousand first planters, in less than fifty years, notwithstanding all transportations and mortalities, increased into, they say, more than an hundred thousand. CHAPTEH ?L aUI TRANS MARE GURRUNTif OR, THE ADDITION OF SEVERAL OTHER COLONIES TO THE FORMER; WITH SOME OTHER CONSIDERABLES IN THE CONDITION OF THESE LATER COLONIES. § 1. It was not long before the Massachuset Colony was become like an hive overstocked with bees; and many of the new inhabitants entertained thoughts of swarming into plantations extended further into the country, * Never waa any (bing more mean in Inception or more mighty in progreaa. f I'Thoae who crou the lea. m OB, THE HISTOBY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 81 iteB. The colony might fetch its own description from the dispensations of the great God, unto his ancient Israel, and say, "0, God of Hosts, thou hast brought a vine out of England; thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it; thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land; the hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars; she sent out her boughs unto the sea." But still there was one stroak wanting for the complete accom- modations of the description; to wit, "She sent forth her branches unto the river;" and this therefore is to be next attended. The fame of Con- necticut river, a long, fresh, rich river, (as indeed the name Connecticut is Indian for a long river,) had made a little Nilus,* of it in the expectations of the good people about the Massachuset-bay: whereupon many of the planters belonging especially to the towns of Cambridge, Dorchester, Watertown and Koxbury, took up resolutions to travel an hundred miles westward from those towns, for a further settlement upon this famous river. When the learned Fernandius had been in the Indies, ke did in hia preface to his Commentaries afterwards published, give this account of it: Deo sic volente, prodii in remotissimos tisque Indos, tarn non avidus lucis et glorice, ut earn vere dixerim, ultro elegerim inei ipsitts adhuc viventis verissimam Sepidluram.\ Keader, come with me now to behold some worthy, and learned, and genteel persons going to be buried alive on the banks of Con- necticut, having been first sUiin by the ecclesiastical impositions and per- secutions of Europe. § 2. It was in the year 1635, that this design was first formed; and the disposition of the celebrated Mr. Thomas Hooker, with his people now in Cambridge, to engage in the design, was that which gave most life unto it. They then sent their agents to view the country, who returned with so advantageous a report, that the next year there was a great remove of good people thither: on this remove, they that went from Cambridge became a church upon a spot of ground now called Hartford; the^ that went from Dorchester, became a church at Windsor; they that went from Watertown, sat down at Wethersfield ; and they that left Eoxbury were incburohed higher up the river at Springfield, a place which was after- wards found within the line of the Massachuset-charter. Indeed, the first winter after their going thither, proved an hard one; and the grievous disappointments which befel them, through the unseasonable freezing of the river, whereby their vessel of provisons was detained at the mouth of the river, threescore miles below them, caused them to encounter with very disastrous difficulties. Divers of them were hereby obliged in the depth of winter to travel back into the Bay; and some of them were frozen to death in the journey. However, such was their courage, that they prosecuted their Plantation- • Nile. t By God's permission, I penetrated into tho remotest parts of India, actuated less by curiosity or ambition, than by a desire to say, with truth, that I had voluntarily sought out a spot whero I was in reality buried alire. Vol. I.— 6 S2 MAONALIA CHRI8TI AMEBICANA; work with speedy and blessed successes; and when bloody salvages in their neighbourhood, known by the name of Pequots, had like to have nipt the plantation in the bud, by a cruel war, within a year or two after their settlement, the marvellous providence of God immediately extin- guished that war, by prospering the New-English arms, unto the utter subduing of the quarrelsome nation, and affrightning of all the other natives. § 8. It was with the countenance and assistance of their brethren in the Massachuset-bay, that the first Planters of Connecticut made their essays thus to discover and cultivate the remoter parts of this mighty wilderness; and accordingly several gentlemen went furnished with some kind of commission from the government of the Massachuset-bay, for to maintain some kind of government among the inhabitants, till there could be a more orderly settlement. But the inhabitants quickly perceiving themselves to be without the line of the Massachuset-charter, entered into a combination among themselves, whereby with mutual consent they became a body-politick, and framed a body of necessary laws and orders, to the execution whereof they chose all necessary officers, very much, though not altogether, after the form of the colony from whence they issued. So they jogged on for many years; and whereas, before the year 1644, that worthy gentleman, George Fenwick Esq., did, on the behalf of several persons of quality, begin a plantation about the mouth of the river, which was called Say-brook, in remembrance of those right hon- ourable persons, the Lord Say and the Lord Brook, who laid a claim to the land thereabouts, by virtue of a patent granted by the Earl of War- wick; the inhabitants of Connecticut that year purchased of Mr. Fenwick this tract of land. But the confusions then embarrassing the aflFairs of the English nation, hindred our Connecticotians from seeking of any further settlement, until the restoration of K. Charles II., when they made their application to the King for a charter, by the agency of their hon- ourable governour, John Winthrop, Esq., the most accomplished son of that excellent person who had been so considerable in the foundations of the Massachuset-colony. This renowned virtuoso had justly been the darling of New-England, if they had only considered his eminent quali- ties, as he was a Christian, a gentleman, and a philosopher, well worthy to be, as he was, a member of the Royal- Society ; but it must needs further endear his memory to his country, that God made him the instrument of obtaining for them, as he did from the King of England, as arajsly privi- ledged a charter as was ever enjoyed perhaps by any people under the cope of heaven. Under the protection and encouragement of this charter they flourished many years ; and many towns being successively erected among them, their churches had "rest, and walked in the fear of God, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit." § 4. The church-order observed in the churches of Connecticut, has been the same that is observed by their sisters in the Massachuset-bay ; and in OR, THE HISTORY OP NEW-ENGLAND. 83 )rivi- |r the larter rected iGod, I been id in this order they lived exceeding peaceably all the eleven years that Mr. Hooker lived among them. Nevertheless there arose at length some unhappy contests in one town of the colony, which grew into an alienation that could not be cured without such a parting, and yet, indeed, hardly so kind a parting, as that whereto once Abraham and Lot were driven. However, these little, idle, angry controversies, proved occasions of enlarge- ments to the church of God ; for such of the inhabitants as chose a cottage in a vnhierness, before the most beautiful and furnished edifice, overheated with the fire of contention, removed peaceably higher up the river, where a whole county of holy churches has been added unto the number of our congregations. § 5. But there v/as one thing that made this colony to become very considerable ; which thing remains now to be considered. The well-known Mr. Davenport, and Mr. Eaton, and several eminent persons that came over to the Massachuset-bay among some of the first planters, were strongly urged, that they would have settled in this Bay; but hearing of another Bay to the south-west of Connecticut, which might be more capable to entertain those that were to follow them, they desired that their friends at Connecticut would purchase of the native proprietors for them, all the land that lay between themselves and Hudson's Eiver, which wns in part effected. Accordingly removing thither in the year 1637, they seated themselves in a pleasant Bay, where they spread themselves along the sea- coast, and one might have been suddenly as it were surprized with the sight of such notable towns, as first New-Haven ; then Guilford ; then Milford ; then Stamford ; and then Brainford, where our Lord Jesus Christ is wor- shipped in churches of an evangelical constitution; and from thence, if the enquirer make a salley over to Long-Island, he might there also have seen the churches of our Lord beginning to take root in the eastern parts of that island. All this while this^t«-//t colony wanted the legal basis of a charter to build upon ; but they did by mutual agreement form them- selves, into a body-politick as like as they judged fit unto the other colonies in their neighbourhood; and as for there church-order, it was generally secundum usum Massachusettensem.* % 6. Behold, a fourth colony of New-English Christians, in a manner stolen into the world, and a colony, indeed, constellated with many siars of the first magnitude. The colony was under the conduct of as holy, and as prudent, and as genteel persons as most that ever visited these nooks of America ; and yet these too were tryed with very humbling circumstances. Being Londoners, or merchants and men of traffick and business, their design was in a manner wholly to apply themselves unto trade; but the design failing, they found their great estates sink so fast, that they must quickly do something. Whereupon in the year 1646, gathering together almost all the strength which was left them, they built one ship more, * After the Maawobuwtts model. t 84 MAGNALIA CHRI8TI AMERICANA; which they fraighted for England with the best part of their tradable estates; and sundry of their eminent persons embarked themselves in her for the voyage. But, alas! the ship was never after heard of: she foun- dred in the sea; and in her were lost, not only the hopes of their future trade, but also the lives of several excellent persons, as well as divers mantiscripts of some great men in the country, sent over for the service of the church, which were now buried in the ocean. The fuller story of that grievous matter, let the reader with a just astonishment accept from the pen of the reverend person who is now the pastor of New-Haven. I wrote unto him for it, and was thus answered : "Reverend and Dear Sir : In compliance with your desires, I now give you the relation of that apparition of a ship in the air, wliieh I have received from the most cnnliblo judicious, and curious surviving observers of it. "In the year 1647, besides much other lading, a far more rich treasure of pjussengers, (five or six of which were persons of chief note and worth in New-Haven) put themselves on board a new ship, built at Rhode-Island, of about 150 tuns; but so walty, th.it the master (Lamberton) often said she would prove their grave. In the month of January, cutting their way through much ice, on which they were accomp.inied with the Reverend Mr. Daven- port, besides many other friends, with many feara, as well as prayers and tciirs, they set sail. Mr. Davenport in prayer, with an observable emphasis, used these words: »Lt>rd, if it be thy pleasure to bury these our friends in the bottom of the sea, they are thine: sjive them.' The spring following, no tidings of these friends arrived with the ships from England: New-Haven's heart began to fail her: tliis put the godly }H;ople on much pniyer, both publick and private, 'that the Lord would (if it was his pleasure) let tliom ho:ur what he had done with their dear friends, and prepare them with a suitiible submission to ius Holy Will.' In June next ensuing, a great thunder-storm arose out of the north-west after which (the hemisphere being serene) about an hour before sun-set, a Ship of like dimensions with the aforesaid, with her canvas and colours abroad (though the wind north- emly) appeared in the air coming up from our harbour's mouth, which lyes southward from the town, seemingly with her sails filled under a fresh gale, holding her course nortli, and continuing under observation, sailing against the wind for the space of half an hour. "Many were drawn to behold this great work of God; yea, the very children cryed out, •There's a brave ship!' At length, crowding up as far as tiiere is usually water sutKcient for such a vessel, and so near some of the spectjitors, as that they imagined a man might hurl a stone on board her, her main-lop seemed to be blown off, but letl hanging in the shrouds; then her mizzen-top ; then all her masting seemed blown away by the boanl: (juickly after the liulk brought unto a careen, she overset, and so vanislied into a smoaky cloud, which in some time dissipated, leaving, as everywhere else, a clear air. The admiring speofcitors could distinguish the several colours of each part, the principal rigging, and such prt>por- tions, as caused not only the generality of persons to say, ♦This was the mould of tlieir ship, and thus was her tragick end,' but Mr. Davenport also in publick declared to this effect, 'That God had condescended, for the quieting of their afflicted spirits, this extniordi- nary account of his sovereign disposal of those for whom so many fervent prayers were made continually.' Thus I am Sir, "Your humble servant, "James PiERroNX." Reader, there being yet living so many credible gentlemen, that were eye-witnesses of this wonderful thing, I venture to publish it for a thing as undoubted as 'tis wonderful. OR, THE HISTORY OP NEW-ENGLAND. 86 out, 'lit for hurl |ouda ; al\or Ik'h in Itiitors opor- tlicir this liordU were kverc IgftS I But let us now proceed with our story. Our colony of New-Haven apprehended themselves disadvantageously seated for the affairs of hus- bandry; and therefore upon these disasters tbey made many attempts of removing into some other parts of the world. One while they were invited unto Delaware-bay, another while they were invited unto Jamaica; they had offers made them from Ireland also, after the wars there were over; and they entred into some treaties about the city of Galloway, which they were to have had as a small province to themselves. But the God of Heaven still strangely disappointed all these attempts; and whereas they were concerned how their posterity should be able to live, if they must make husbandry their main shift for their living; that posterity of theirs, by the good providence of God, instead of coming to beggary and misery, have thriven wonderfully: the colony is improved with many wealthy husbandmen, and is become no small part of the best granary for all New- England. And the same good Providence has all along so preserved them from annoyance by the Indians, that although at their first setting down there were few towns but what wisely perswaded a body of Indians to dwell near them: whereby such kindnesses passed between them that they always dwelt peaceably together; nevertheless there are few of those towns but what have seen their body of Indians utterly extirpated by nothing but mortality wasting them. § 7. But what is now become of New-Haven colony? I must answer, It is not: and yet it has been growing ever since it first ivas. But when Connecticut-colony petitioned the restored King for a Charter, they pro- cured New-Haven colony to be annexed unto them in the same charter; and this, not without having first the private concurrence of some leading men in the colony ; though the minds of others were so uneasie about the coalition, that it cost some time after the arrival of the Charter for the colony, like Jephtha's daughter to bewail her condition, before it could be quietly complied withal. Nevertheless they have lived ever since, one colony^ very happily together, and the God of hve and peace has remarka- bly dwelt among them: however, these children of God have not been without their chastisements, especially in the malignant fevers and agues, which have often proved very mortal in most or all of their plantations. § 8. While the south-west parts of New-England were thus filled with new colonies, the north-east parts of the country were not forgotten. There were ample regions beyond the line of the Massachuset-patent, where new settlements were attempted, not only by such as designed a fishing-irade at sea, or a ^ver-trade on shore ; not only by some that were uneasie under the Massachuset-government in a day of temptation, which came upon the first planters; but also by some very serious Christians, who propounded the enlargement and enjoyment of our Lord's evangelical interests in those territories. The effect of these excursions were, that sev- eral well-constituted churches were gathered in the province of East- 88 MAONALIA CHRISTI AMEBICANA; Hampshire, besides one or two in the province of Mam, whereto were added a large number of other congregations, wherein weekly prayers and sermons were made, although the inhabitants belonging to those congregii- tions, proceeded not so far as to all the ordinances of a more compleat Church-State among them. That which contributed more than a little to the growth of Christianity in those parts of New-England, was the appli- cation, which the people being tired with many quarrelsome circumstances about their government, made unto the general court of the Massachuset- bay, to be taken under their protection; which petition of theirs being answered by that general court, surely after a more charitable and accountable manner, than such authors as Ogilby in his America have represented it, [Vos magis Historicis, LectoreSy Credite verisF]'* xhere followed many successful endeavours to spread the effects and orders of the gospel along that coast. But thus was the settlement of New-England brought about; these were the beginnings, these the foundations of those colonies, which have not only enlarged the English empire in some regards more than any other outgoings of our nation, but also afforded a singular prospect of churches erected in an American corner of the world, on purpose to express and pursue the Protestant Reformation. CHAPTER ?n. HECAT0HP0LI8;t OB, A FIELD WHICH '"IE LORD HATH BLESSED. A MAP OF THE COUNTRY. It is proper that I should now give the reader an Ecclesiastical Map of the country, thus undertaken. Know, then, that although for more than twenty years, the blasting strokes of Heaven upon the secular affairs of this country have been such, as rather to abate than enlarge the growth of it ; yet there are to be seen in it, at this present year 1696, these Colonies, Counties, and Congregations. IT The Numbers and Places of the Christian Congregations, now worshipping our Lord Jesus Christ, in the several Colonies of New.England, and the Names of the Ministers at this time employed in the service of those Congregations. Notandum, Where the name of any minister hath H. C. added unto it in our catalogue, it is to be understood that Harvard-Colledge was the mother in whose arms that minister was educated. I. In Plymouth colony there are three counties; and the several con gregations therein are thus accomodated: * Beaden. rather trart truthAil hisloriau than such. f A city of sacrillM. OB, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENOLAMD. 87 our isof PLYMOUTH Bridgeiaatert Mr. James Keith. Duzbury, •• Ichabod WIswul, H. C. JUttri\field, u Edward Thompion, H, C. COUNTY MINISTERS. Middleiury, Mr. Plfmoutk, >* Ji'hn Cotton, H.O. Sei(ita(«, vkiek hath two ehureket, Mr. Jeremiah Ciuhlllgt H. C. and Mr. Deodate Lawaon. BAKNSTABLB COUNTY MINISTERS. Bantitable, £a«(Aam, IhimoulJi^Harmck i and JUanavufet, J Briitol, Dartmouth, Freetown, Marthu'a Fineyard, JVantueket, Mr. Jonathan Rusael, II. C. u Samuel Treat, II. C. « Nathaniel Stone, II. 0. BRISTOI. Mr. John Sparhawk, H. C. PBRiamNO WITHOUT VlllON. Mr. Rechitler, Sandieich, Yarmouth, COUNTY MINISTERS. I LitUe-Comptn, ISwamif, Tanton, Mr. ^— Arnold, u Rowland Cotton, n. 0, •> John Cotton, H. 0. Mr. EUphelet Adams, H. 0. " Samuel Donforth, H. 0. Hereto an ecvlesinstical reckoning may annex the Islandg of— Mr. Ralph Thatcher, Mr.Denham, busidea Indian churches and paatora. ntueket, Indian Paatora. | AVwporC, in Rhodfliland, Mr. Nathaniel Clap, H. 0. II. In Massachuset colony are four counties, and the several congrega- tions in them are so supplied: THE COUNTY OF SUFFOLK MINISTERS. , C or the Old church, Mr. James Allen, Mr. BenJ. Wadsworth, H. C. Botton, < or the AortA church, Mr. Increase Mather, President of the CoUedge, and his son Cotton Mather, H. C. i Of the South church, Mr. Samuel VVilward, H. 0. Besides these, there is in the town a small congregation that worship God with the ceremonies of the Church of England ; served generally by a change of persons, occasionally visiting these parts of the world. And another small congregation of Antipedo-Baptists, wherein Mr. Emblin is the settled minister. And a French congregation of Protestant Refugees, under the pastoral cores of Monsieur DaiUe. Braintree, Mr. Moses Fisk, H. C. Mendon, Mr. Grindal Rawson, H. a Dilkam, " Joseph Belcher, 11. C. Milton, « Pet6r Thacher, H. C. Dorchester, « JohnDanforth, H.C. Rozbvry, « Nehemiah Walter, H. C. Ilingham, « John Norton, H. C. IVeyiHouth, " Samuel Torrey, H. 0. Hull, u Zecha.-iah Whitman, H.C. Woodstock, «> JosiabPwight,H.C. Mei(field, u Joseph Baxter, H. C. tTrentham, « Samuel Man, H. C. THE COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX MINISTERS. Billerica, Mr. Samuel Wliiteing, H. C. MiiBtown, Mr. Nehemiah Hobart, H. 0. Cambriilge, u William Brattle, H. C. Oxford, Chartes-toien, «» Charles Morton. Reading, « Jonathan Pierpont, H. 0. Chelmsford, « Thomas Clark, H. C. Sherbom, " Daniel Gookin, H. C. Concord, u Joseph Ettstabrook, H. C. Stoa, Dunstable, u Thomas Weld, H. C. Sudbury, <> James Sherman. Groton, « Gershom Ilobart, H. C. IVatertoan, I ; East, Mr. Henry Gibs, H. 0. ; Wist, Mr. Samuel Angler, H. 0. Lancaster, « John Whiteing, H. C. Malborough, " William Brinsmead, H. C. Wobnm, Mr. Jabez Fox, H. C. Maiden, « Michael Wigglesworth, H. C. Worcester, Medford, " Simon Bradstroet, II. C. fHE COUNTY OF ESSEX MINISTERS. JImtsbury, Mr. [Barnard, H. C. Manchestnr, Mr. John Emerson, H. C. JIndover, « Francis Dean, and Mr. Thomaa Marbleh'.ad, " Samuel Cheever, H. C. Beverly, •< John Male, H.C. Jfewbury. ; East, Mr. Tappln, E. C. \ West, Mr. Samuel Belcher, H.C. Mr. Edward Payron, H. C. Borford, Bradford, tL «' Zechariah Symmos, H. C. Rouly, Oloceater, " John Emerson, H. C. Salem, " John Higginson, and Nicholas Haneril, « Benjamin Rolfe, H. C. ^nd village. « Saml. Paris, H. C. [Noyes,H.C. 'psuiic/i. « Wra. Hubbard and John Rog- Salsbury, « Caleb Cushing, H.C. Jlnd village. " John Wise, H.C. [er8,H.C. Topsfield, « Joseph Copen, H. C. Lyn, « Jeremiah Shopard, II. C. ffenham. " Joseph Gerish, H. C. THE COUNTY OF HA MPSHIRE MINISTERS. Deerfield, Mr. John Williams, H.C. fTorthampton, Mr. Solomnn Stoddard, H. C. Knijield, Springfield, « Daniel Brewer, H.C. Natfetd, « Wililom Williams, H. C. Southfield, >* Benjamin Ruggles, H. C. Uadlcy, " Wcslfidd, « Edward Taylor, H. C. i ■;) MAONALIA CIIRISTI AMERICANA; Utmftmty Tt »kitK if W aM tU CngrtgliMU in Pit fUpia, Mr. Jithit Plk^ H. C. w John Clark, II. C. M John OtUun, II. a « RuniMl MiHid«y, II. 0. M Jothw Muodey, H. 0. Jtnd in the Pravintt of Mitini, Ml of Skoiu, Mr. Kiltert, " trillt, York, « Hancock, H. a III. In Connootiout colony there are four counties, and the several con- gregations thoruiu are illuminated by these preachers of the gospel: HARTFORD COUNTY MINISTERS. Amji^ft#% Mr. Pamurl Hooker, II. C. tHofttnhurft *^ HoMam, •« Jiartfvr4,McMufth, <* Do. MOW 4«, >• JHUlMnnt, u Timothy Slovonn, II. C. Joivmlnh llobari, H. C. Tlim4hy Wotxlirldge, II. C. Thi4nM nuckhigham, II. G. NoMdlah RuMCI, H. a SimiiuTTh fVaterbury, fTetker^etd, JVindoQrt Jind Firmly Windham^ KiUifigortky Linno, AbncKA) Br*inf»r4t Ouiffonit Danturf, fkirJiM, Fairjitiil vUiogo, CtmntcitMf MtrmUkt Mr. Abmhiim Plerson, II. C. « Mo*r«Noyte,II.C. w Uonton 8iUtoii»Ul, H. a «« JMUwHtch. NBW LONPON COUNTY MINIST'^IS. Peatamtik, Pretton, Saybrooky Stonington, NEW-HAVEN COUNTY MINISTERS. Mr. 8«m«K4 Riusael, II. 0. u John Jnuioi>, H. C. M ThmnM Ruggloa, H. 0. MUford, JVeiB'Httvtnt Wallingforif FAIRFIELD COUNTY MINISTERS. Mr. Svlh 8hoT(s H, a « Jo«»f the upper have , been accompanied with the blessings of the nethe-^-sp-ings. Memorable also is the remark of Slingsby Bethel, Esq., in his most judicious book of The Interest of Europe: "Were not the cold climate of New-England supplied by good laws and discipline, the barrenness of that country would never have brought people to it, nor have advanced it in consideration and for- midableness above the other English plantations, exceeding it much in fertility, and other inviting qualities." ^ 4. Well may New-England lay claim to the name it wears, and to a room in the tenderest affections of its mother, the happy Island/ for as there are few of our towns but what have their namesakes in England, so the reason why most of our towns are called what they are, is because the chief of the first inhabitants would thus bear up the nam^ of the particular places there from whence they came. § 5. I have heard an aged saint, near his death, cheerfully thus express himself: "Well, I am going to heaven, and I will there tell the faithful, who are gone long since from New-England thither, that though they who gathered our churches are all dead and gone, yet the churches are still alive, with aa numerous flock of Christians as ever were among them." Concerning the most of the churches in our catalogue, the report thus carried unto heaven, I must now also send through the earth; but if with as numerous, we could in every respect say, as gracious, what joy unto all the saints, both in heavou and on earth, might be from thence occasioned! were enty ichu- 3ver- the d no that were veral qual ivers sick; I the not that id in THE BOSTONIAN EBENEZER. SOME HISTORICAL REMARKS ON THE STATE OF BOSTON, THE CHIEF TOWN OF NEW-ENGUND, AND OF THE ENGLISH AMERICA. WITH SOME AGREEABLE METHODS FOR PRESERVINQ AND PROMOTING THE GOOD STATE OF THAT, AS WELL AS ANY OTHER TOWN IN THE LIKE CIRCUMSTANCES. ^ HUMBLY OFFERED BY A NATIVE OF BOSTON. 1,1 I THF NAME OF THE CITY FROM THAT DAY SHALL BE, "THE LORD IS THERE."— iriM xlviU. 31 '*Urbs Metropolii, ut tit maxima ^uctoritatit, eoHttitnmlur pr»tif tittm piiUtit Kxtrnfluw -t Sicnritm!'* Aphoh. Polit. THE HISTORY OF BOSTON RELATED AND IMPROVED. AT BOSTON LECTURE, T D. 9 M., 1698. Eemarkable and memoraLle was the time, when an army of terrible destroyers was coming against one of the chief towns in the land of Israel. God rescued the town from the irresistible fury u id approach of those destroyers, by an immediate liand of heaven upon them. Upon that miraculous rescue of the town, and of the whole country, whose fate was much enwrapped in it, there followed that action of the Prophet Samuel which is this day to be, with some imitation, repeated in the midst of thee, Boston, thou helped of the Lord. Then Samuel took a utone, ond eel it up, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, soying, Hitherto the Lord hath helped us. — 1 iSeim. vii. 13. The thankful servants of God have used sometimes to erect monuments of stone, as durable tokens of their thankfulness to God for mercies received in the places thus distinguished. Jacob did so; Joshua did so; and Samuel did so ; but they so did it, as to keep clear of the transgression forbidden in Lev. xxvi. 1 : "Ye shall not set up an image of stone in your land, for to bow down unto it." The Stone erected by Samuel, with the name of Ebenczer, which is as much as to say a stone of help; I know not whether any thing might be writ upon it, but I am sure there is one thing to be now read upon it, by * A metropjlitBn city, in order to command the widest influence, ahouM become a special cxcmplur and depository of piety. II! roN, OTHEB 3& rrible ri srael. ^. those '« that B woa li*! MUEL thee, fmg. nents rcies d so; ssion your is as it bo t, by lar and OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENOL ^D. 91 (ll.S- our selves, in the text whore we find it: namely, thus much, "That people whom the God of Heaven hath remarkably helped in their tresses, ought greatly and gratefully to acknowledge what help of heaven they have received." Now 'tis not my design to lay the scone of my discourse as far off as BetKcar, the placo where Samuel set up his Ebenezer. I am immediately to transfer it into the heart of Boston, a place where the remarkable help received from Heaven by the people, does loudly call for an Ebenezer. And I do not ask you to change the name of the town into that of Help- atone, as there is a town in England of that name, which may seem the English of Ebenezer; but my Sermon shall be this day, your p]b('iiezer, if you will with a favourable and a profitable attention entertain it. May the Lord Jesus Christ accept me, and assist me now to glorifie him in the town where I drew my first sinful breath ; a town whereto I am under great obligations for the precious opportunities to glorifie him, which I have quietly and publickly enjoyed therein for near eighteen years together. "0, my Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me this once, to speak from thee unto thy people!" And now, sirs, that I may set up an Ebenezer among you, there are these things to be inculcated. I. Let us thankfully, ftnd agreeahly, and particularly acknowledge what HELP we have received from the God of Heaven, in the years that have rouled over us. While the blessed Apostle Paul was, as it should seem, yet short of being threescore years old, how affectionately did he set up an Ebenezer, with an acknowledgment in Acts xxvi. 22: "Having obtained help of God, I continue to this dayl" Our town is now three- score and eight years old ; and certainly 'tis time for us, with all possible affection, to set up our Ebenezer, saying, "Having obtained help from God, the town is continued until almost the age of man is passed over itl" The town hath indeed three elder sisters in this colony, but it hath won- derfully outgrown them all; and her mother, Old Boston, in England also; yea, within a few years afler the first settlement, it grew to be The Metropolis of the whole English America. Little was tJiis expected by them that first settled the town, when for a while Boston was proverb- ially called Lost-toivn, for the mean and sad circumstances of it. But, O Boston ! it is because thou hast obtained help from God, even from the Lord Jesus Christ, who for the sake of his gospel, preached and once prized .here, undertook thy patronage. When the world and. the church of God had seen twenty-six generations, a psalm was composed, wherein that note occurs with twenty-six repetitions: "His mercy endureth for ever." Truly there has not one year passed over this town, Ab Urbe Go7idita* upon the story whereof we might not make that note our Ebenezer: "His mercy endureth for ever." It has been a town of great sxperiences. * Since the city was founded. I MAONALIA CHRIST' AMERICANA; There have been several yearn wherein the terrible famine hath terribly stared the town in the face; we have been brought sometimes unto the hat meal in the barrel; we have cried out with the disciples, "We have not loaves enough to feed a tenth part of us!" but the feared /amine las always been Kept oft'; always we have had seasonable and euftlcient dup- plies after a surprizing manner sent in unto us: let the thioe last years in this thing most eminently proclaim the goodness of our heavenly Shop* herd and Feeder. This has been the help of our God; because "his mercy endureth for everl" The angels of death have often shot the arrows of death into the midst of the town ; the small-pox has especially four times been a great plague upon us: how often have there been bills desiring prayers for more than an hundred sick on one day in one of our assem- blies? in one twelve-month, about one thousand of our neighbours have one way or other been carried unto their long home : and yet we are, after all, many more than seven thousand souls of us at this hour living on the spot. Why is not a "Lord, have mercy upon us," written on the doors of our abandoned habitations? This hath been the help of our God, because " his mercy endureth for ever." Never was any town under the cope of heaven more liable to be laid in ashes, either through the care- lessness or through the wickedness of them that sleep in it. That such a combustible heap of contiguous houses yet stfinds, it may be called a standing miracle; it is not because "the watchman keeps the city; perhaps there may be too much cause of reflection in that thing, and of inspection too; no, "it is from thy watchful protection, O thou keeper of Boston, who neither slumbers nor sleeps." Ten times has the Jire made notable ruins among us, and our good servant been almost our master; but the ruins have mostly and quickly been rebuilt. I suppose that many more than a thousand houses are to be seen on this little piece of ground, all filled with the undeserved favours of God. Whence this preservation? This hath been the help of our God; because "his mercy endureth for ever!" But if ever this town saw a year of salvations, transcendently such was the last year unto us. A formidable French squadron hath not shot one bomb into the midst of thee, thou munition ofroclcs! our streets have not run with blood and gore, and horrible devouring flames have not raged upon our substance: those are ignorant, and unthinking, and unthankful men, who do not own that we have narrowly escaped as dread- ful things as Carthagena, or Newfoundland, have suifered. I am sure our more considerate friends beyond-sea were very suspicious, and well nigh despairing, that victorious enemies had swallowed up the town. But " thy soul is escaped, Boston, as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers." Or, if you will be insensible of this, ye vain men, yet be sensible that an English squadron hath not brought among us the tremendous pestilence, under which a neighbouring plantation hath undergone prodigious desola- tions. Boston, 'tis a marvellous thing a plague has not laid thee desolate ! OR, TUE HISTORY OF NEW-ENULAND. 98 Our deliverance from our friends has been ns full of astoninhing mercy, aa our (Icliverance from onrfoes. We read of a certain city in Isa. xix. 18, cull*'"!, "Tlie city of Destruction." Why so? some say, because deliv- ered from destruction. If that bo so, then hast thou been a city of destruction: or I will rather say, a city of salvation: and this by the hdp of (rod; because "his mercy endureth for ever." Shall I go on? I will. We hn ,0 not had the bread of adversity and the water of ajjlidion, like many other ])laccs. But yet all this while "our eyes have seen our teachers. ' Here are several "golden candlesticks" in the town. "Shining and burning lights" have illuminated them. There are gone to shine in an higher orb seven divines that were once the stars of this town, in the pastoral charge of it; besides many others, that for some years gave us transient influences. Churches flourishing with much love, and pence, and many "comforts of the Iloly Spirit," have hitherto been our greatest glory. I wish that some sad eclipse do not come ere long upon this glory 1 The dispensations of the gospel were never enjoyed by any town with more liberty and purity for so long a while together. Our opportunities to draw near unto the Lord Jesus Christ in his ordinances, cannot be paralleled. Boston, thou hast been lifted up to heaven; there is not a town upon earth which, on some accounts, has more to answer for. Such, such has been our help from our God, because "his mercy endureth for ever." II. Let us acknowledge whose help it is that we have received, and not " give the glory of our God unto another." Poorly helped had we been, I may tell you, if we had none but humane help nil this while to depend upon. The favours of our superiors we deny not; we forget not the instruments of our help. Nevertheless, this little outcast Zion shall, with my consent, enr we the name of no man upon her Ebenezerl It was well confessed in Psal, cviii. 12, "Vain is the help of manl" It was well counselled in Psal. cxlvi. 3, " Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in -whom there is no help." Wherefoi , lirst, let God in our Lord Jesus Christ have the glory of bestowing > m us all the help that we have had. When the Spirit of God came upon a servant of his, he cried out unto David, in 1 Chron. xii. 18, " Thy God helpeth thee." This is the voice of God from heaven to Boston this day, "Thy God hath helped thee: thou hast by thy sin destroyed thy self, but in thy God hath been thy help." A great man once building an edifice, caused an inscription of this importance to be written on the gates of it: "Such a place planted me, such a place watered me, and Caesar gave the increase." One that passed by, with a witty sarcasm, wrote under it. Hie Dens nihil fecit; i. e. "God, it seems, did nothing for this man." But the inscription upon our Ebenezer, owning what help this town hath had, shall say, "Our God hath done all that is done!" Say then, helped Boston", say as in Psal. cxxi. 2, "My help is from the Lord which made heaven and earth." Say as in Psal. xciv. 17, "Unless the Lord had been iC 94 MAGNALIA CIIRISTI AMERICANA; my help, my soul had quickly dwelt in silence." And boldly say, '"Tis only because the Lord has been my helper, that earth and hell have never done all that they would unto me." Let our Lord Jesus Christ be praised as our blessed helper! that stone which the foolish builders have refused, Oh I set up that stone; even that high rock: set him on high in our praises, and say, that ^Uhat is our Eben- ezer." 'Tis our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his infinite compassions for the town hath said, as in Isa. Ixiii. 5, "I looked, and there was none to help; therefore my own arm hath brought salvation unto it." It is foretold con- cerning the idolatrous Eoman Catholicks, that together with the Lord Jesus Christ, they shall worship other Mauzzim; that is to say, other protectors. Accordingly, all their towns ordinarily have singled out their protectors among the saints of heaven ; such a saint is entitled unto the patronage of such a town among them, and such a saint for another : old Boston, by name, was but Saint Botolph's town. Whereas thou, Boston, shalt have but oxiQ protector in heaven, and that is our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh ! rejoice in him alone, and say, "the Lord is my fortress and my deliverer!" There was a song once made for a town, which in its distresses had been helped wonderously ; and the first clause in that song, (you have it in isa. xxvi. 1,) may be so rendered : " We have a strong town ; salvation [or Jesus the Lord, whose name hath salvation in it] will appoint walls and bulwarks." Truly what help we have had we will sing, '"Tis our Jesus that hath appointed them." The old pagan towns were sometimes mighty solicitous to conceal the name of the particular god that they counted their protector, Ke ah hostihus Uvocalus, alio commigraret* But I shall be far from doing my town any damage by publishing the name of its protector; no, let all mankind know, that the name of our protector is Jesus Christ: for "among the gods there is none like unto thee, O, Lord: nor is any help like unto thine : and there is no rock like to our God." Yea, when we ascribe the name of hel2}er unto our Lord Jesus Christ, let us also acknowledge that the name is not sufficiently expressive, emphat- ical and significant. Lactantius of old blamed the heathen for giving the highest of their gods no higher a title than that of Jupiter, or Juvans pater, i. e. an helping father ; and he says, Nbn intelligit Divina Beneficia, qui se a Deo tantummodo Jxivari putat: (the kindnesses of God are not understood by that man who makes no more than an helper of him.) Such indeed is the . penury of our language, that we cannot coin a more expressive name. Nevertheless, when we say, the Lord Jesus Christ hath been our helper, let us intend more than we express; "Lord, thou hast been all unto us." Secondly, Let the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ most explicitely have the glory of purchasing for us all our help. What was it that pro- cured an Ebenezer for the people of God? We read in 2 Sam. vii. 9, "Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it a burnt-offering wholly unto * Leat, beguiled by the prayera and offerings of the enemy, he Bhoutd take up a reuidenco elsewhere. I m'? OB, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 95 sater, se a htood 3ed is lame. 3lper, I us." 3ite]y pro- lii. 9, junto 'P the Lord; and Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard him." Shall I tell you? Our Lord Jesus Christ is that lamb of God ; and he has been a lamb slain as a sacrifice ; and he is a sacrifice pleadable not only for persons, but also for peoples that belong unto him. To teach us this evangelical and comfortable mystery, there was a sacrifice for the whole congregation prescribed in the Mosaic Psedagogy. 'Tis notorious that the sins of this town have been many sins, and mighty sins; the "cry thereof hath gone up to heaven." If the Almighty God should from heaven rain down upon the town an horrible tempest of thuderbolts, as he did upon the cities "which he overthrew in his anger, and repented not," it would be no more than our unrepented sins deserve. How comes it then to pass that we have had so much help from Heaven after all? Truly the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ has been pleaded for Boston, and therefore say, therefore it is that the town is not made a sacrifice to the ven- geance of God. God sent Jielp to the town that was the very heart and life of the land that he had a pity for: but why so? He said in Isa. xxxvii. 85, "I will defend this town, to save it for my servant David's sake." Has this town been defended ? It has been for the sake of the beloved Jesus: therefore has the daughter of Boston shaken her head at you, ye calami- ties that have been impending over her head. 0, helped and happy town I thou hast had those believers in the midst of thee, that have pleaded this with the great God: "Ahl Lord, thou hast been more honoured by the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ, than thou couldst be honoured by overwhelming this town with all the plagues of thy just indignation. If thou wilt spare, and feed, and keep, and help this poor town, the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ shall be owned as the prize of all our help." 'Tis tJits that hath procured us all our help : 'tis this that must have all our praise. Thirdly, Let the Lord be in a special manner glorified for the ministry of his good angels, in that help that has been ministered unto us. A Jacob, lying on a stone, saw the angels of God helping him. We are setting up an Ebenezer ; but when we lay our heads and our thoughts upon the stone, let us then see, the angels of God have helped us. When Macedonia was to have some help from God, an angel, whom the apostle in Acts xvi. 9, saw habited like a man of Macedonia, was a mean of its being brought unto them. There is abundant cause to think that every town in which the Lord Jesus Christ is worshipped, hath an angel to watch over it. The primitive Christians were perswaded from the scriptures of truth to make no doubt of this. Quod per Civitates distributee sunt Angelorum jirafecturoi.^ When the capital town of Judea was rescued from an invasion, we read in 2 Kings xix. 85, "The angel of the Lord went out, and smote the camp of the Assyrians." It should seem there was an angel which did reside in, and preside over the town, who went out for that amazing exploit. And is it not likely, that the angel of the Lord went out for to smite * That aogel-guanlit were atationod Blong the vorioua cities where they dwelt. MAGNALIA CHEISTI AMERICANA: the fleet of the Assyrians with a sickness, which the last summer hindered their invading of this town? The angel of Boston was concerned for it! Why have not the destroyers broke in upon us, to prey upon us with sore destruction? 'Tis because we have had a wall of fire about us; that is to say, a guard of angels; those flames of fire have been as a wall unto us. It was an angel that helped a Daniel when the lions would else have swallowed him up. It was an angel that helped a Lot out of the fires that were coming to consume his habitation. It was an angel that helped an Elias to meat when he wanted it. They were angels that helped the whole people of God in the wilderness to their daily bread; their manna was angel's food: and is it nothing that such angels have done for this town, think you? Ohl think not so. Indeed, if we should go to thank the angels for doing these things, they would zealously say, "See thou do it not!" But if we thank their Lord and ours for his employing them to do these things, it will exceedingly gratifie them. Wherefore, "Bless ye the Lord, ye his angels ; and bless the Lord, O my town, for those his angels.^^ III. Let the help which we have hitherto had from our God, encourage us to hope in him for more help hereafter as the matter may require. The help that God had given to his people of old was commemorated, as with monumental pillars, conveying down the remembrance of it unto their children. And what for? We are told in Psal. Ixxviii. 7, "That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God." I am not willing to say how much this town may be threatned, even with an utter extirpation. But this I will say, the motto upon all our Ebenezers is, Hope in God! Hope in God! The use of the former help that we have had from God, should be an hope for future help from him, that is "a present help in the time of trouble." As in the three first verses of the eighty-fifth Psalm, six times over there occurs, "Thou hast," "Thou hast," all to usher in this, "Therefore thou wilt still do so," O let our faith proceed in that way of arguing in 2 Cor. i. 10, "The Lord hath delivered, and he doth deliver, and in him we trust that he will still deliver." We are to-day writing, "Hitherto the Lord hath helped us;" let us write under it, "And we hope the Lord has more help for us in the time of need!" It may be some are purposing suddenly and hastily to leave the town through their fears of the straits that may come upon it. But I would not have you be too sudden and hasty in your purposes, as too many have been unto their after-sorrow. There was a time when people were so discouraged about a subsistence in the principal town of the Jews, that they talked of plucking up stakes, and flying away; but the minister of God came to them, (and so do I to you this day!) ^aying, in Isa. xxx. 7, "I cried concerning this, their strength is to sit still!" Boston was no sooner come to some consistence threescore years ago, but the people found themselves plunged into a sad non-plus what way to take for i subsistence. God tlien immediately put them into a way, and "hitherto the Lord has I ^ J c V f< ii J h u tl j« at w OB, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 97 us .» the y to In it. bs, as Bople lews, lister txx. Is no lund ience. has i^ hflped usl" The town is at this day full of widows and orphans, and a multitude of them are very helpless creatures. I am astonished how they livel In that church whereof I am the servant, I have counted the wid- ows make about a sixth part of our communicants, and no doubt in the whole town the proportion differs not very much. Now stand still, my friends, and beho.d the help of God! Were any of these ever starved yet? No: these widows are every one in some sort provided for. And let me tell you, ye handmaids of the Lord, you shall be still provided for! The Lord, vrhose family you belong unto, will conveniently and wonder- fully provide for you; if you say, and Ohl say of him, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear!" What shall I say? When Moses was ready to faint in his prayers for his people, we read in Exod. xvii. 12, "They took a stone, and put it under him." Christians, there are some of you who abound in prayers, that the help of God may be granted unto the town; the town is much upheld by those prayers of yours. Now, that you may not faint in your prayers, I bring you a stone: the stone, 'tis our Ebenezer; or, the relation of the help that hitherto the Lord hath given us. IV. Let all that bear public office in the town contribute all the help they can, that may continue the help of God unto us. Austin, in his Con- fessions, gives thanks to God, that when he was a helpless infant, he had a nurse to help him, and one that was both able and willing to help him. Infant-Boston, thou hast those whom the Bible calls nursing-fathers. Oh, be not froward, as thou art in thy treating of thy nurses ; but give thanks to God for them. I forget my self; 'tis with the fathers themselves that I am concerned. When it was demanded of Demosthenes, what it was that so long pre- served Athens in a flourishing state, he made this answer: "The orators are men of learning and wisdom, the magistrates do justice, the citizens love quiet, and the laws are kept among them all." May Boston flourish in such happy order 1 And first, you may assure yourselves that the ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ among you will be joyful to approve themselves, as the Book- of God has called them, "The helpers of your joy." O, our dear flocks, we owe you our all; all our love, all our strength, all our time; we watch for you as those that must give sn account; and I am very much mistaken if we are not willing to die for you, too, if called unto it. If our Lord Jesus Christ should say to us, "My servant, if you'll die to-night, you shall have this reward: the people that you preach to shall be all converted unto me I" I think we should with triumphing souls reply, "Ah! Lord, then I'll die with all my heart." Sirs, we should go away "rejoycing witii joy unspeakable and full of glory." I am satisfied that the most furious and foul-mouthed reviler that God may give any of us to be buffeted withal, if he will but come to sober thoughts, he will say, That there is Vor. L-7 98 UAGNALIA GHRISTI AMERICANA: not any one man in the town, but the ministers wish that man as well as they do their own souls, and would gladly serve that maix by day or by night, in any thing that it were possible to do for him. Wherefore, our beloved people, I beseech you leave off, leave off to throw stones at your Ebenezers. Instead of that, ^myybr W5, and "strive together with us ia your prayers to God for us." Then with the help of Christ we'll promise you we will set our selves to observe what special truths may bo most needful to be inculcated upon you, and we will inculcate them. We will set our selves to observe the temptations that beset you, the afflictions that assault you, and the duties that are incumbent on you ; and we will accom- modate our selves unto them. We will set ofr selves to observe what souls among you do call for our more particular addre *ses, and we will address them faithfully, and even travel in hirth for them. Nor will we give over praying, and fasting, and crying to our great Lord for y®u until we die. Whatever other helpers the town enjoys, they shall have that convenience in Ezra v. 2, " With them were the prophets of God, helping them." Well, then, let the rest of our worthy helpers lend an helping hand for the promoting of those things wherein the weal of the town is wrapped up! When the Jews thought that a defiling thing was breaking in among them, in Acts xxi. 28, *' They cried out, Men of Israel, help 1 " Truly there is cause to make that cry, " Men of Boston, help 1" for ignorance, and prophaneness, and bad living, and the worst things in the world, are breaking in upon us. And now will the Justices of the town set themselves to consider, How they may help to suppress all growing vicea among us? Will the Constables of the town set themselves to consider. How they may help to prevent all evil orders among us? There are some who have the eye of the town so much upon them, that the very name of Towns-men is that by which they are distinguished. Sirs, will you also consider how to help the affairs of the town, so as that all things may go well among us? Moreover, may not School-masters do much to "nstil principles of religion and civility, as well as other points of good education, into the children of the town? Only let the town well encourage its well-deserv- ing school-masters. There aie sc ne officers; but concerning all, there are these two things to be desired: First, it is to be desired that such officers as are chosen anu)ng us, may be chosen in the fear of God. May none but pious and prudent men, and such aS love the town, be chosen to serve it. And, secondly, it is to be desired that officers of several sorts would oflen come together for consultation. Each of the sorts by themselves, may they oflen come together to consult, "What shall we do to serve the town in those interests which are committed unto our charge?" Oh! what a deplorable thing will it be for persons to be entrusted with talents, (your opportunities to servo the r t t t u 0( ai O] te I OR, THE HISTOKY OF NEW-ENQLAND. 99 I as by OUT fO\XX IS ia mise most I will that ;com- what will ill we r y*u have God, ud an of the i£j was Israel, hclpl" ings iu insider, w they m, that, uished. as that pics of [ito tlie leserv- tliings I among l)n\dent idly, it ;r for )gether which In it be tvo the It*' town are so many talents !) and they never seriously consider, " What good biiall I do with my talents in the place where God hath stationed me?" And will the Rkpresentatives of the town be considered among the rest, as entrusted with some singular advantages for our help? The Lord give you understanding in all things! V. God help the town to manifest all that piety, which a town so helped of him is obliged unto 1 When the people of God had been carried by his help through their difficulties, they set up sUmes to keep in mind how he had helped them; and something was written on the stones: but what was written? see Josh. viii. 82, "Joshua wrote upon the stones a copy of the law." Truly upon those Ebenezers which we set up, we should write the law of our God, and recognize the obligations which the help of our God baa laid upon us to keep it. We are a very unpardonable town, if, after all the help which our God has given us, we do not ingenuously enquire, "What shall we render to the Lord for all his benefits ?" Render I Oh 1 let us our selves thus answer the enquiry: "Lord, we will render all possible and filial obedience unto thee, becaiise hitherto thou hast helped us: only do thou also help us to render that obedience 1" Mark what I say: if there be so much as one prayerless house in such a town as this, 'tis inexcusable 1 How inexcusable then will be all flagitious outrages ? There was a town ('twas the town of Sodom!) that had been wonderfully saved out of the hands of their enemies. But after the help that God sent unto them, the town went on to sin against God in very prodigious instances. At last a provoked God sent a fire upon the town that made it an eternal desolation. Ah, Boston, beware, beware, lest the sins of Sodom get footing in thee ! And what were the sins of Sodom ? We find in Ezek. xvi. 49, " Behold, this was the iniquity of Sodom ; pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and the needy ; " there was much oppression there. If you know of any scandal- ous disorders in the town, do all you can to suppress them, and redress them ; and let not those that send their sons hither from other parts of the world, for to be improved in virtue, have cause to complain, " That ailer they came to Boston, they lost what little virtue was before budding in them; that in Boston they grew more debauched and more malignant than ever they were before !" It was noted concerning the famous town of Port-Royal in Jamaica, which you know was the other day swallowed up in a stupendous earthquake, that just before the earthquake the people were violently and scandalously set upon going to Fortune-telkrs upon all occasions: much notice was taken of this impiety generally prevailing among the people : but none of those wretched Fortune-tellers could foresee or forestal the direful catastrophe. I have heard that there are Fortune- tellers in this town sometimes consulted by some of the sinful inhabitants. I wish the town could be made too hot for these dangerous transgressors. 100 MAONALIA CIIRISTI AMEBICAKA: 1 I am sure the preservation of the town from horrendous earthquakes, is one thing that bespeaks our Ebenezers; 'tis from tlie merciful help of our God unto us. But beware, I beseech you, of those provoking evils that may expose us to a plague, exceeding all that are in the catalogue of the twenty -eighth of Deuteronomy. Let me go on to say, What! shall there be any bawdy-houses in such a town as thisl It may be the neighbours, that could smoke them, and rout them, if they would, are loth to stir, for fear of being reputed ill neighbours. But I say unto you, that you are ill neighbours because you do it not. All the neighbours are like to have their children and servants poisoned, and their dwellings laid in ashes, because you do it not. And, Oh ! that the drinking-houses in the town might once come under a laudable regulation. The town has an enormous number of them ; will the haunters of those houses hear the counsels of Heaven? For you that are the town-dwellers, to be oft or long in your visits of the ordinary, 'twill certainly expose you to mischiefs more than ordinary. I have seen certain taverns, where the pictures of horrible devourers were hanged out for the signs; and, thought I, 'twere well if such signs were not sometimes too significant: alas, men have their estates devoured, their names devoured, their hours devoured, and thfiir very souls devoured, when they are so besotted that they are pot. ^'u their element, except they be tipling at such houses. When once a man is bewitched with the ordinary, what usually becomes of him? He is a gone man; and when he comes to die, he will cry out, as many have done, "Ale- houses are hell-houses 1 ale-houses are hell-houses!" But let the owners of those houses also now hear our counsels. "Oh! hearken to me, that God may hearken to you another day ! " It is an honest, and a latoful, though it may not be a very desirable employment, that you have under- taken : you may glorifie the Lord Jesus Christ in your employment if you will, and benefit the town considerably. There was a very godly man that was an innkeeper, and a great minister of God could say to that man, in 8 John 2, "Thy soul prospereth." O let it not be said of you, since you are fallen into this employment, "Thy soul withe) eth!" It is thus with too many : especially, when they that get a license perhaps to sell drink out of doors, do stretch their license to sell within doors. Those private houses, when once a professor of the gospel comes to steal u living out of them, it commonly precipitates them into an abundance of wretch- edness and confusion. But I pray God assist you that keep ordinaries, to keep the commandments of God in them. There was an Inn at Bethle- hem where the Lord Jesus Christ was to be met withal. Can Boston boast of many such? Alas, too ordinarily it may be said, "there is no room for him in the Inn!" My friends, let me beg it of you, banish the unfruitful works of darkness from your houses, and then the sun of right- eousness will shine upon them. Don't countenance drunkenness, revelling, and mis-spending of precious time in your houses; let none have the snares OB, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 101 kes, is )f our Is that of the I there .hours, tir, for ou are io have ashes, 3 town ormous isels of n your re than lorrible well if : estates ry souls element, switched le man; p, "Ale- owners me, that lawful^ under- it if you ily man at man, lU, since is thus to sell Those a living wretch- laries, to Bethle- Boston e is no ish the if right- ivelling, lo snares of death laid for them in your houses. You'll say, "I shall starve then!" I say, "Better starve than sin:" but you shall not. It is the word of the Must High, "Trust in the Lord, and do good, and verily thou shalt bo fed."' And u noi peace of conscience, with a little, better than those riches that will shortly melt away, and then run like scalding metal down the very bowels of thy soul ? f What shall I say more? There is one article of piety more to be recommended unto us all; and it is an article Avhich all piety does exceed- ingly turn upon, that is, the sanctification of the Lord's day. Some very judicious persons have observed, that as "they sanctify the Lord's day, remissly or carefully, just so their affairs usually prospered all the ensuing week." Sirs, you cannot more consult the prosperity of the town, in all its affairs, than by endeavouring that the Lord's day may be exem- plarily sanctified. When people about Jerusalem took too much liberty on the Sabbath, the ruler of the town contended with them, and said, "Ye bring wrath upon Israel, by prophaning the Sabbath." I fear — I fear there are many among us, to whom it may be said, "Ye bring wrath upon Bos- ton, by prophaning the Sabbath." And what wrath? Ah, Lord, prevent it! But there is an awful sentence in Jer. xvii. 27, "If ye will not hearken unto me, to sanctifie the Sabbath day, then will I kindle a fire on the ioixm, and it shall devour, and shall not be quenched." Finally, Let the piety of the town manifest it self in a due regard unto the Institutions of Him whose heljf has hitherto been a shield unto us. Let the ark be in the town, and God will bless the town 1 I believe it may be found, that in the mortal scourges of heaven, which this town has felt, there has been a discernable distinction of those that have come up to attend all the ordinances ol the Lord Jesus Christ, in the communion of his churches. Though these have had, as 'tis fit they should, a share in the common deaths, yet the destroying angel has not had so great a pro- portion of these in his commission, as he has had of others. Whether tliis be so, or no, to uphold, and support, and attend the ordinances of the Lord Jesus Christ in reforming churches, this will entitle the to yn to the help of heaven; for, "Upon the glory there shall be a defence!" There were the victorious forces of Alexander, that in going backward and for- ward, passed by Jerusalem without hurting it. Why so? Said the Lord in Zech. ix. 8, "I will encamp about my house, because of the army." If our God have an hotise here, he'll encamp about it. Nazianzen, a famous minister of the gospel, taking his farewel of Constantinople, an old man that had sat under his ministry, cried out, "Oh! my father, don't you dare to go away: you'll carry the whole Trinity with you!" How much more may it be cried out, "If we Jose or slight the ordinances of the Lord Jesus Christ, we forego the help of all the Trinity with them!" VI. Extraordinary equity and charity, as well aa piety, well becomes a town that hath been by the help of God so extraordinarily signalized,, 102 UAONALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA; I A town marvellously helped by God, has this foretold concerning it, in Isa. i. 28, "Afterwwd thou shalt be called, the city of righteousness, the faithful city." May the Ebenezers of this town render it a town of equity, and a town of charity I Oh I there should be none but fair dealings in a town wherewith Heaven has dealt so favourably. Let us deal fairly in bargains; deal fairly in taxes; deal fairly in paying respects to such as have been benrffaotors unto the town. 'Tis but equity, that they who have beou old staut Oportetf Quanto Honuriiut et Dinitate avtceellant. — Panorinitan. \\n re!)|i«ct tu men in authority, it is needful that they should surpons private citizens In LfiiueiiB of character, as much aa they excel them in dignity of station.] Jtfundum hue, quit nunc tenet Saculutn, J^Tegliffentia Dei Fenerat. — Liv. I. 3. [That forgntfUlness of the Deity, which marks the present af a, bad not yet begun to appear.] Optimut quisqut ^ohiliaaimua, — Plato. [He is most honoured who is most virtuous.] HARTFORD: SILAS ANDKU8 & SON. 1853. , 11 I ■i: I INTRODUCTION. 'TwiRR to b« wished fhat there might never be any English translation of that wiclced position in Mocliiavei, Non requiri in Principe veram pielalem, ted tujicere illiui qnandam umbram, et sinmllatumem Externam,* It muy be thoro never was any region under heaven happier timii poor New-England hutli heen in Mug! itrates, whose true piety was worthy to be mndo the example of oiler-agesi Hnppy host thou been, O lund! in Magistrates, whoso disposition to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, unto whom they still considered themselves accountable, answered the good rule of Agupetus, " Quo quit in Republica Majorem Dignitatis gradum adeptua est, eo Deum CtiltU Sulmissius :"^ Magistrates, whose disposition to serve the people that chose them to rule over them, nrgued them sensible of that great stroak in Cicero, *^ Nulla re propiut Hominet ad Deum Accedunt, quam salute Hominibus danda:\ Magistrates, acted in their administrations by the spirit of a Joshua. When the wise man observes unto us, '*That oppressions make a wise man mad," it may be worth coiiHidering, whether the oppressor is not intended rather than the oppressed in the observation. Tls very certain that a disposition to oppress other men, does often make those that are otherwise very wise men, to forget the rules of reason, and commit most unreasonable uxorbitancies. Rchoboam in some things acted wisely ; but this admonition of his inspired father could not restrain him from acting madly, when the spirit of oppression was upon him. The rulers of New-England have been wise men, whom that spirit of oppression betrayed not into this madness. The father of Themistoeles disswading him from government, showed him the old oars which the mariners had now thrown away upon the sea-shores with neglect and contempt ; and said, "That people would certainly treat their old rulers with the same contempt." But, reader, let us now take up our old oars with all possible respect, and see whether we cannot still make use of them to serve our little vessel. But this the rather, because we muy with an eosie turn change the name into that of pilots. The word Government, properly signifies the guidance of a ship: Tully uses it for that purpose; and in Plutarch, the art of steering a ship, is, Tt^vit nvffifvnrinii. New-England is a little ship,, which hath weathered many a terrible storm ; and it is but reasonable that they who have sat at the helm of the ship, should be remcmbred in the history of its deliverances^ Prudentius calls Judges, "The great lights of the sphere;" Symmachus calls Judges, "The better part of mankind." Reader, thou art now to be entertained with the Lives of Judges which have deserved that character. And the Lives of those who have been called speaking laws, will excuse our History from coming under the observation made about the work of Homer, That the word Law, is never so much as once occuring in them. They are not written like the Cyrus of Xenophon, like the Alexander of Curtius, like Virgil's JEneas, and like Pliny's Trajan: but the reader hath in every one of them a real and a faith- ful History, And I please my self with hopes, that there wUl yet be found among the sons of New-England, those young gentlemen by whom the copies given in this History will be written after; and that saying of old Chaucer be remembred, "To do the genteel deeds, that makes the gentleman." * True pioljr is superfluous in a prince: It is enough if he assume ila ssmblance and outward show. t Thu lontur the station one reaches in the government, the truer should be his devotion to the service of God. X Mou approach nearest to the character of God In doing good tu mankiDd. li I ECCLESIARUM CLYPEI. THE SECOND BOOK OF THB NEW-ENGLISH HISTOEY. 6AIEACIU8 SECUNDUS.* THE IIFE OF WILLIAM BRADFORD, ESa, GOVERNOUR OF PLYMOUTH COLONY. Omnium Somnot illiua vigilantia defendit; omnium oiium, illiua Labor; omnium Delitias, illiut Induatria ; omnium vacationem, illiua occupatio.* § 1. It has been a matter of some observation, that although Yorkshire be one of the largest shires in England; yet, for all the ,^res of martyrdom which were kindled in the days of Queen Mary, it afforded no more fuel than one poor Leaf; namely, John Leaf, an apprentice, who suffered for the doctrine of the Eeformation at the same time and stake with the famous John Bradford. But when the reign of Queen Elizabeth would not admit the Eeformation of worship to proceed unto those degrees, which were proposed and pursued by no small number of the faithful in those days, Yorkshire was not the least of the shires in- England that afforded suffering witnesses thereunto. The Churches there gathered were quickly molested with such a raging persecution, that if the spirit of separation in them did carry them unto a further extream than it should have done, one blameable cause thereof will be found in the extremity of that persecution. Their troubles made that cold country too hot for them, so that they were under a necessity to seek a retreat in the Low Countries; and yet the watchful malice and fury of their adversaries rendred it almost impossible for them to find what they sought. For them to leave their native soil, their lands and their friends, and go into a strange place, where they must hear foreign language, and live meanly and hardly, and in other imployments than that of husbandry, wherein they had been educated, these must needs have been such discouragements as could have been conquered by none, save those who "sought first the kingdom of God, and the righteousness there- of." But that which would have made these discouragements the more * The second ihield-bearer. t Hia watchfUlnees guards others' slumbers; his toll secures others' rest; his diligence protect! others' ei\Jo]r- mcnts; his constant application, others' leisure. I OR, THE HI8T0KY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 109 fT. itias, illiut orkshire .rtyrdom tiore fuel fered for famous [Ot admit ch were |se days, luffering lolested [hem did ameable Their e under atchful them sir lands foreign is than ids have le, save , there- to more hen* ei\Joy- -♦■''^ unconquerable unto an ordinary faith, was the terrible zeal of their ene- mies to guard all ports, and search all ships, that none of them should be carried off. I will not relate the sad things of this kind then seen and felt by this people of God; but only exemplifie those trials with one short story. Divers of this people having hired a Dutchman, then lying at Hull, to carry them over to Holland, he promised faithfully to take them in between Grimsly and Hull; but they coming to the place a day or two too soon, the appearance of such a multitude alarmed the officers of the town adjoining, who came with a great body of soldiers to seize upon them. Now it happened that one boat full of men had been carried aboard, wjiile the women were yet in a bark that lay aground in a creek at low water. The Dutchman perceiving the storm that was thus beginning ashore, swore by the sacrament that he would stay no longer for any of them ; and so taking the advantage of a fair wind then blowing, he put out to sea for Zealand. The women thus left near Grimsly-common, bereaved of their husbands, who had been hurried from them, and forsaken of their neighbours, of whom none durst in this fright stay with them, were a very rueful spectacle; some crying for /ear, some shaking for cold, all dragged by troops of armed and angry men from one Justice to another, till not knowing what to do with them, they even dismissed them to shift as well as they could for themselves. But by their singular afflictions, and by their Christian behaviours, the cause for which they exposed themselves did gain considerably. In the mean time, the men at sea found reason to be glad that their families were not with them, for they were surprized ^ith an horrible tempest, which held them for fourteen days together, in seven whereof they saw not sun, moon or star, but were driven upon the coast of Norway. The mariners often despaired of life, and once with doleful shrieks gave over all, as thinking the vessel was foundred: but the vessel rose again, and when the mariners with sunk hearts often cried out, "We sink! we sink!" the passengers, without such distraction of mind, even while the water was running into their mouths and ears, would chearfully shout, "Yet, Lord, thou canst save! Yet, Lord, thou canst save!" And the Lord accordingly brought them at last safe unto their desired haven : and not long after helped their distressed relations thither after them, where indeed they found upon almost all accounts a new ivorld, but a world in which they found that they must live like straijgers and pilgrims. § 2. Among those devout people was our William Bradford, who was born A71710 1588, in an obscure village called Ansterfield, where the people were as unacquainted with the Bible, as the Jews do seem to have been with part of it in the days of Josiah; a most ignorant and licentious people, and like unto their priest. Here, and in some other places, he had a comfortable inheritance left him of his honest parents, who died while he was yet a child, and cast him on the education, first of his grand 110 MAGNALIA CHRI8TI AMERICANA; c i « parents, and then of his uncles, who devoted him, like his ancestors, unto the affairs of husbandry. Soon a long sickness kept him, as he would afterwards thankfully say, from the vanities of youth, and made him the fitter for what he was afterwards to undergo. When he was about a dozen years old, the reading of the Scriptures began to cause great impressions upon him; and those impressions were much assisted and improved, when he came to enjoy Mr. Bichard Clifton's illuminating ministry, not far from his abode; he was then also further befriended, by being brought into the company and fellowship of such a vere then called professors; though the young man that brought him into it did after become a prophane and wicked apostate. Nor could the wrath -of his uncles, nor the scoff of his neighbours, now turned upon him, as one of the Puritam, divert him from his pious inclinations. § 3. At last, beholding how fearfully the evangelical and apostolical church-form, whereinto the churches of the primitive times were cast by the good spirit of God, had been deformed by the apostacy of the suc- ceeding times; and what little progress the Eeformation had yet made in many parts of Christendom towards its recovery, he set himself by read- ing, by discourse, by prayer, to learn whether it was not his duty to with- draw from the communion of the parish-assemblies, and engage with some society of the faithful, that should keep close unto the written loord of God, as the rvh of their worship. And after many distresses of mind concerning it, he took up a very deliberate and understanding resolution, of doing so; which resolution he chearfuUy prosecuted, although the pro- voked rage of his friends tried all the ways imaginable to reclaim him from it, unto all whom his answer was: "Were I like to endanger my life, or consume my estate by my ungodly courses, your counsels to me were very seasonable; but you know that I have been diligent and provi- dent in my calling, and not only desirous to augment what I have, but also to enjoy it in your company; to part from which will be as great a cross as can befal me. Nevertheless, to keep a good conscience, and walk in such a way as God has prescribed in his Word, is a thing which I must prefer before you all, and above life it self. Wherefore, since 'tis for a good cause that I am like to suffer the disasters which you lay before me, you have no cause to be either angry with me, or sorry for me; yea, I am not only willing to part with every thing that is dear to me in this world for this cause, but I am also thankful that God has ^ven me an heart to do, and will accept me so to suffer for him." Some lamented him, some derided him, all disswaded him : nevejthe- less, the more they did it, the more fixed he was in his purpose to seek the ordinances of the gospel, where they should be dispensed with most of the com'manded purity; and the sudden deaths of the chief relations which thus lay at him, quickly after convinced him what a folly it had been to have quitted his profession, in expectation of any satisfaction from them. So to Holland he attempted a removal. § 4. Having with a great company of Christians hired a ship to tranS' #^ OR, THE HISTORY OT NEW-ENGLAND. Ill 3veythe- to seek th most elations it had sfaction trans' port them for Holland, the master perfidiously betrayed them into the hands of those persecutors, who rifled and ransacked their goods, and clapped their persons into prison at Boston, where they lay for a month together. But Mr. Bradford being a young man of about eighteen, was dismissed sooner than the rest, so that within a while he had opportunity with some others to get over to Zealand, through perils, both by land and sea not inconsiderable; where he was not long ashore ere a vipdr seized on his hand — that is, an officer — who carried him unto the magis- trates, unto whom an envious passenger had accused him as having fled out of England. When the magistrates understood the true cause of his coming thither, they were well satisfied with him; and so he repaired joyfully unto his brethren at Amsterdam, where the difficulties to which he afl«rwardi stooped in learning and serving of a Frenchman at the working of silks, were abundantly compensated by the delight where- with he sat under the shadow of our Lord, in his purely dispensed ordi- nances. At the end of two years, he did, being of age to do it, convert his estate in England into money ; but setting up for himself, he found some of his designs by the providence of God frowned upon, which he judged a correction bestowed by God upon him for certain decays of inter' nal piety, whercinto he had fallen; the consumption of his estate he J ought came to prevent j, consumption in his virtue. But after he had Vv ?ided in Holland about half a score years, he was one of those who bore a part in that hazardous and generous enterprise of removing into New-England, with part of the English church at Leyden, where, at their first landing, his dearest consort accidentally falling overboard, was drowned in the harbour; and the rest of his days were spent in the services, and the temptations, of that American wilderness. § 5. Here was Mr. Bradford, in the year 1621, unanimously chosen the ^overnour of the plantation: the difficulties whereof were such, that if he had not been a person of more than ordinary piety, wisdom and courage, he must have sunk under them. He had, with a laudable indus- try, been laying up a treasure of experiences, and he had now occasion to use it: indeed, nothing but an experienced man could have been suitable to the necessities of the people. The potent nations of the Indians, into whose country they were come, would have cut them ofi*, if the blessing of God upon his conduct had not quelled them; and if his prudence, jus- tice and moderation had not over-ruled them, they had been ruined by their own distempers. Ono specimen of his demeanour is to this day particularly spoken of. A company of young fellows that were newly arrived, were very unwilling to comply with the governour's order for working abroad on the publick account; and therefore on Chriitmas-day, when he had called upon them, they excused themselves, with a pretence that it was against their conscience to work such a day. The governour gave them no answer, only that he would spare them till they were better d^ MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICAI7A; informed; but by and by he found them all atplay in the street, sporting themselves with various diversions; whereupon commanding the instru- ments of their games to be taken from them, he effectually gave them to understand, '■^ That it ivas against his conscience that they should play whilst others ivere at work: and that if they had any devotion to the day, they should show it at home in the exercises of religion, and not in the streets with pastime and frolicks;" and this gentle reproof put a final stop to all such disorders for the future. § 6. For two years together after the beginning of the colony, whereof he was now governour, the poor people had a great experiment of "man's not living by bread alone ;" for when they were left all together without one morsel of bread for many months one after another, still the good providence of God relieved them, and supplied them, and this for the most part out of the sea. In this low condition of affairs, there was no little exercise for the prudence and patience of the governour, who chear- fully bore his part in all : and, that industry might not flag, he quickly set himself to settle propriety among the new-planters; foreseeing that while the whole country laboured upon a common stock, the husbandry and business of the plantation could not flourish, as Plato and others long since dreamed that it would, if a community were established. Cer- tainly, if the spirit which dwelt in the old puritans, had not inspired these new-planters, they had sunk under the burden of these difficulties; but our Bradford had a double portio.i of that spirit. § 7. The plantation was quickly thrown into a storm that almost over- whelmed it, by the unhappy actions of a minister sent over from England by the adventurers concerned for the plantation ; but by the blessing of Heaven on the conduct of the governour, they weathered out that storm. Only the adventurers hereupon breaking to pieces, threw up all their concernments with the infant-colouy ; whereof they gave this as one reason, " That the planters dissembled with his Majesty and their friends in their petition, wherein they declared for a church-discipline, agreeing with the French and others of the reforming churches in Europe." Whereas 'twas now urged, that they had admitted into their communion a person who at his admission utterly renounced the Churches of Eng- land, (\v]'xich person, by the way, was that very man who had made the complciints against them,) and therefore, though they donied the name of Brownists, yet they were the thing. In answer hereunto, the very words written by tlie governour were these: " Whereas you tax us with dissembling about the French discipline, you «!o us WTong, for we both liold nnd practice thu discipline of the French and other Reformed Churches (as they have published the same in the Harmony of Confessions) according to our means, in effect and substance. But whereas you would tie ua up to the French discipline in every circumstimce, j ou derogate frow the liberty we have in Christ Jesus. The .Apostle Paul would have none to follow him in any thing, but wherein he follows Christ; much less ought OB, THE HISTORY OF NEW-EI'GL AND. 118 ortlng instra- lem to streets p to all thereof "man's without \Q good for the I was no lO chear- quickly ;\ng that isbandry id others Bd. Cer- rcd these Ities; but lost over- England ossing of lat storm, all their is as one lir friends agreeing Europe." immunion IS of Eng- imade the e name of cry words Is wrong, for pmrclws (as lir means, in |ini> in every \posUo Paul Ih less ought any Christian or church in the world to do it. The French may err, we may err, and other churches may err, and doubtless do in many circumstances. That honour thefefore belongs only to the infallible Word of God, and pure Testament of Christ, to be propounded and followed as the only rule and pattern for direction herein to all ihurches and Christians. And it is too yreat arrogancy for any msin or church to think that he or they hpvc so sounded the Word of God unto the bottom, as precisely to set down the church's discipline without error in substance or circumstance, that no other without blame may digress or differ in any thing from the same. And it is not difficult to sliew that the Reformed Churches differ in many circutnstaiKes among themselves. By which words it appears how far he was free from that rigid spirit of separation, which broke to pieces the Separatists themselves in the Low Countries, unto the great scandal of the reforming churches. He was indeed a person of a well-tempered spirit, or else it had been scarce possible for him to have kept the affairs of Plymouth in so good a temper for thirty-seven years together; in every one of which he was chosen their governour, except the three years wherein Mr. Winslow, and the two years wherein Mr. Prince, at the choice of the people, took a turn with him. § 8. The leader of a people in a wilderness had need be a Moses; and if a Moses had not led the people of Plymouth Colony, when this worthy person was their governour, the people had never with so much unanim- ity and importunity still called him to lead them. Among many instances thereof, let this one piece of self-denial be told for a memorial of him, wheresoever this History shall be considered: The Patent of the Colony was taken in his name, running in these terms: "To William Bradford, his iieirs, associates, and assigns." But when the number of the freemen was mucli increased, and many new townships erected, the General Court there desired of Mr. Bradford, that he would make a surrender of the same into their hands, which he willingly and presently assented unto, and confirmed it according to their desire by his hand and seal, reserving no more for himself than was his proportion, with others, by agreement. But as he found the providence of Heaven many ways recompensing his many acts of self-denial, so he gave this testimony to the faithfulness of the divine promises: "That he had forsaken friends, houses and lands for the sake of the gospel, and the Lord gave them him again." Here he prospered in his estate ; and besides a worthy son which he had by a for- mer wife, he had also two sons and a daughter by another, whom he married in this land. § 9. He was a person for study as well as action ; and hence, notwith- standing the difficulties through which he passed in his youth, he attained "nto a notable skill in languages: the Dutch tongue was become almost as vernacular to him as the English; the French tongue he could also manage ; the Latin and the Greek he had mastered ; but the Hebrew he most of all studied, "Because," he said, "he would see with his own eyes the ancient oracles of God in their native beauty." He was also well skilled in History, in Antiquity, and in Philosophy; and for Theology he Vol. 1. — 8 114 MAQNALIA CHRI8TI AMERICANA; became so versed in it, that he was an irrefragable disputant against tbe errors, especially those of Anabaptism, which with trouble he saw rising in his colony; wherefore be wrote some significant things for the confuta- tion of those errors. But the crown of all was his holy, prayerful, watchful, and fruitful walk with God, wherein he was very exemplary. § 10. At length he fell into an indisposition of body, which rendred him unhealthy for a whole winter; and as the spring advanced, his health yet more declined ; yet he felt himself not what he counted sick, till one day; in the night after which, the God of heaven so filled his mind with ineffable consolations, that he seemed little short of Paul, rapt up unto the unutterable entertainments of Paradise. The next morning he told his friends, "That the good Spirit of God had given him a pledge of his happiness in another world, and the first-fruits of his eternal glory ;" and on the day following he died. May 9, 1667, in the 69th year of his age — lamented by all the colonies of New-England, as a common blessing and father to them all. O mihi ri Similit Contingat Clausula Vitit /* Plato's brief description of a governour, is all that I will now leave as his character, in an „ EPITAPH. I Nof*Suc Tpoipoff d.ys'Krig av6puifivi/iS''f Men are but flocks: Bradford beheld their need. And long did them at once both rule and feed. Li iLiL ibOt Ji X lu Jill Ji X • 8UCGE8S0B8. Inter omnia qua Eempublicam, ejuaque falicitatem conservant, quid utilius, quid prastantiug, qudm Viroa ad Magiatratua gerendoa Eligere, aumma prudentia et Virtute preditoa, quigue ad Honorea obtinendoa, turn Atnbitione, noti Largitionibua, ted Virtute et Modeatia aibi parent adytum. 't § 1. The merits of Mr Edward Winslow, the son of Edward Winslow, Esq., of Draughtwioh, in the county of Worcester, obliged the votes of the Plymothean colony (whereto he arrived in the year 1624, after his prudent and faithful dispatch of an agency in England, on the behalf of that infant colony) to chuse him for many years a magistrate, and for two * O, that life's end may be as sweet to me I f A shepherd-guardian or his human fold. % Amongst all such things as tend to the stability and happiness of a commonwealth, what is more salutary or more glorious than to select men for office who will acquire renown, not by an ambitious chase for honour, or by popular arts, but by vktue and self-control. U J against, the saw rising the confuta- prayerful, emplary. ch rendred I, his health ck, till one mind with pt up unto ng he told ;dge of his lory;" and [" his age — lessing and w leave as prastantius, OS, quique ad % sibi parent "Winslow, votes of after his behalf of d for two uman fold, ore salutary or honour, or by i\ ■:-■■ GOV. EmVARI) WIXSI.OW v-'^^v:--::. OR. TUK HISTORY OP NEW-ENGLAND. 115 ^S^fe-; f \ or three their governour. Travelling into the Low-Countries, he fell into acquaintance with the English church at Leyden, and joining himself to them, he shipped himself with that part of them which first came over into America; from which timp he was continually engaged in such extra- ordinary actions, as the assistance of that people to encounter their more than ordinary difficulties, called for. But their publick affairs then requiring an agency of as wise a man as the country could find at White- hall for them, he was again prevailed withal, in the year 1635, to appear for them at the Council-board ; and his appearance there proved as qffectual, as it was very seasonable, not only for the colony of Plymouth, but for the Massachusets also, on very important accounts. It was by the bless- ing of God upon his wary and proper applications, that the attempts of many adversaries to overthrow the whole settlement of New-England, were themselves wholly overthrown ; and as a small acknowledgment for his great service therim, they did, upon his return again, chuse him their governour. But in the year 1646, the place of governour being rfiassumed by Mr. Bradford, the Massachuset-colony addressed themselves unto Mr. Winslow to take another voyage for England, that he might there pro- cure their deliverance from the designs of many troublesome adversaries that were petitioning unto the Parliament against them ; and this Hercules having been from his very early days accustomed unto the crushing of that sort of serpents, generously undertook another agency, wherein how many good services he did for New-England, and with what fidelity, dis- cretion, vigour and success he pursued the interests of that happy people, it would make a large history to relate — an history that may not now be expected until the "resurrection of the just." After this he returned no more unto New-England ; but being in. great favour with the greatest per- sons then in the nation, he fell into those imployments wherein the whole nation fared the better for him. At length he was imployed as one of the grand commissioners in the expedition against Hispaniola, where a disease (rend red yet more uneasie by his dissatisfaction at the strange miscarriage of that expedition) arresting him, he died between Domingo and Jamaica, on May 8, 1655, in the sixty-first year of his life, and had his body hon- ourably committed unto the sea. § 2. Sometimes during the life, but always after the death of Governour Bradford, even until his own, Mr. Thomas Prince was chosen Governour of Plymouth. He was a gentleman whose natural parts exceeded his acquired; but the want and worth of acquired parts was a thing so sensible unto him, that Plymouth never had a greater Mecaenas of learning in it: it w^as he that, in spite of much contradiction, procured revenues for the support of grammar-schools in that colony. About the time of Govern- our Bradford's death, religion it self had like to have died in that colony, through a libertine and Brownistick spirit then prevailing among the people, and a strange disposition to discountenance the gospel-ministry, mat 116 UAONALIA 0I1RI8TI AMERICANA; I ' by setting up the "gifts of private brethren" in opposition thereunto. The good people being in extronin distress from the prospect which this* matter gave to them, saw no way so likely and ready to save the churches from ruin, as by the election of Mr. Prince to the place of governour; and this point being by the gracious and marvellous providence of the Lord Jesus Christ gained at the next oloution, the adverse party from that very time sunk into confusion. He had sojourned for awhile at Eastham, where a church was by his means gathered ; but after this time he returned unto his former scituation at Plymouth, whore ho resided until he died, which was March 29, 1678, when he was about seventy-three years of age. Among the many excellent qualities whit-h adorned him as governour of the colony, there was much notice taken of that intojntif, wherewith indeed he was most exemplarily qualified: whence it was that as he ever would refuse any thing that looked like a bribe; so if any person having a case to be heard at Court, had sent a present unto his family in his absence, he would presently send back the value thereof in money unto the person. But had he been only a private Christian, there would yet have been seen upon him those ornaments of prai/erfuhicsSy and pmceahkncss, and profound resignation to the conduct of tho Word of God, and a strict tvallc with God, which might justly have been made an eocamplr to a whole colony. § 3. Reader, if thou wouldest have seen the true picture of ivisdom, cour- age, and generosity, the successor of Mr. Tliomas Prince in the government of Plymouth would have represented it. It was the truly honourable Josiah Winslow, Esq., the first governour that was born in New-England, and one well worthy to be an example to all that should come after him ; a true English gentleman, and (that I may say all at once) the true son of that gentleman whom we parted withal no more than two paragraphs ago. His education and his disposition was that of a gentleman ; and his many services to his country in the field, as well as on the bench, ought never to be buried in oblivion. All that Homer desired in a ruler was in the life of this gentleman expressed unto tho life; to be. Fortes in Ilostes, and Bonus in Gives* Though he hath left an oft'-spring, yet I must ask for one daughter to be remembred above tho rest. As of old, Epaminondas being upbraided with want of issue, boasted that he left behind him one daughter, namely, the battel of Leuctra, which would render him immortal ; so our general Winslow hath left behind him his battel at the fort of the Narragansets, to immortalize him : there did he with his own sword make and shape a pen to write his history. But so large afield of merit is now before me, that I dare not give my self tho liberty to range in it lest I lose my self. He died on Dec. 18, 1680. Jam Cinis eat, et tie tarn magno rtatat Achille Ntacio quid; parvam quod non bene compleat urnam.\ * Breve agniiut tho onoroy— kind lo hU subjects. t Behold Achilles' dual ! tho iasui' leiirn I Thow mighty relics now a paltry urn Of that heroic will : | Ciui scarcely fill. ■a OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 1 117 ereunlo. lich thw ^hurcbes ^ernour ; e of tho Tom that Eastham, returned he died, rs of age. jrnour of ,th indeed rer would [)g a case J absence, lie person. been seen I profound loalJc with B colony. sdom, cour- overnment honourable v-England, after him; ,ruc son of graphs ago. X his many ight never s in the life Ilostes, and ust ask for laminondas id him one 1 immortal ; fort of the word make aerit is now it lest I lose § 4. And what successor had he? Methinks of the two last words in the wonderful prediction of the succession, oracled unto King Henry VII., Leg, Nullus,* the first would have well suited the valiant Winslow of Plymouth ; and the last were to have been wished for him that followed. ijXl^blLJtrjjJlliUjtJtla FATRES GONSCRIPTI;t OR, ASSI8TENTS. The Govefnours of New-England have still had "righteousness the girdle of their ioins, and faithfulness the girdle of their reins" — that is to say, righteous and faithful men about them, in the assistance of such magis- trates as were called by the votes of the freemen unto the administration of the government, (according to their charters) and made the judges of the land. These persons have been such members of the churches, and such patrons to the churcli-'s, and generally been such examples of courage, wisdom, justice, goodness and religion, that it is fit our Church-History should remember them. The blessed Apollonius, who in a set oration generously and eloquently pleaded the cause of Christianity before the Roman Senate, was not only a learned person, but also (if Jerom say right) a Senator of Rome. The Senators of New-England also have pleaded the cause of Christianity, not so much by orations, as by practising of it, and by stijfering for it. Nevertheless, as the Sicyonians would have no other epitaphs written on the tombs of their Kings, but only their names, that they might have no honour but what the remembrance of their actions and merits in the minds of the people should procure for them ; so I shall content my self with only reciting the names of these worthy persons, and the times when I find them first chosen unto their magistracy. MAGISTRATES IN THE COLONY OF NEW-PLYMOUTH. The good people, soon after their first coming over, chose Mr. William Bradford for their governour, and added five assistents, whose names, I suppose, will be found in the catalogue of them whom I find sitting on the seat of judgment among them, in the year 1633. Edward WlnsIow, Gov. MilcH Standlsh. John Alden. Stephen Hopkins. Williiun Bradfnrd. John Ilowland. John Done. William Gilson. AFTERWARDS AT SEVERAL TIMES WERE ADDED, Thomas Prince, 1634. Edmund Freeman, 1640. William Bradford, F. 1558. Willium Collier, 1C34. Willium Thomas, 1643. Thomas Ilinkley, 1658. Timothy Hatherly, 1636. Thomas Willet, 1631. James Brown, 1605. John Brown, 16.16. Thomas SouthwortV 1, 1652. John Fruemnn, ](i60. John Jenny. 1637. Jnmes Ctidwurth, 1656. Natlmuacl Bncon, 1667. John Atwood, 1638. Joslah Winslow, 1657. i paltry um * First a hon— then, a nobody. t Seuuton. V.«1 118 IIAONALIA CIIRIBTI AMEBIOANA; , Thus far we find in a book entituled, New-ErujUind^a Memorial which was published by Mr. Nathanaol Morton, the Secretary of Plymouth colony, in the year 1669. Since then there have been added at several times. OoMUnt Boulhwortb, 1670. Outol BlnlU^ 1074. Barnahiu lA>thrDp, Jobn Tbktoher, 1081. Jobn Walley, . NEHEMIA8AMERICANUS.* THE LIFE OP JOMN WINTIIHOP, ESQ., GOVERNOR OF THE MASSACHUSET COLONY. .. Quicunque Vtnti erunt, Art nostra eerte non aberit. — CicERo.t § 1. Let Greece boost of her patient Lycurgus, the lawgiver, by whom diligence, temperance, fortitude and wit wore made the fa.shion8 of a therefore long-lasting and renowned commonwealth : let Rome tell of her devout Numa, the lawgiver, by whom the most famous commonwealth saw peace triutofiphing over extinguished war and cruel plunders; and murders giving place to the more mollifying exercises of his religion. Our New-England shall tell and boast of her Winthrop, a lawgiver as patient as Lycurgus, but not admitting any of his criminal disorders ; as devout as Numa, but not liable to any of his heathenish madnesses; a gov- ernour in whom the excellencies of Christianity made a most improving addition unto the virtues, wherein even without those he would have made uparallel for the great men of Greece, or of Rome, which the pen of a Plutarch has eternized. § 2. A stock of heroes by right should afford nothing but what is hero- teal; and nothing but an extream degeneracy would make any thing less to be expected from a stock of Winthrops. Mr. Adam Winthrop, the son of a worthy gentleman wearing the same name, was himself a worthy, a discreet, and a learned gentleman, particularly eminent for skill in the law, nor without remark for love to the gospel, under the reign of King Henry VIII., and brother to a memorable favourer of the reformed reli- gion in the days of Queen Mary, into whose hands the famous martyr Philpot committed his papers, which afterwards made no inconsiderable part of our martyr-books. This Mr. Adam Winthrop had a son of the same name also, and of the same endowments and imployments with his father; and this third Adam Winthrop was the father of that renowned John Winthrop, who was the father of New-England, and the founder of a colony f which, upon many accounts, like him that founded it, may eh ail- lenge the first place among the English glories of America. Our John * The American Nebemlah. t Wbaterer winds may blow, tbia art of ours can never be lost. OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 110 'ial which th colony, times, lOLONT. by whom bions of a tell of her monwealth iders; and is religion, awgivcr as borders; as ses ; a go v- improving have made i pen of a lat is Aero- thing less op, the son worthy, a ill in the n of King rmed reli- us martyr nsiderable on of the s with his renowned bunder of may chail- lOur John Iver be lost. WiNTHUop, thus born at tho niaiision-houae of his ancestors, at Groton in Suffolk, on Juno 12, 1587, enjoyed afterwards an agreeable education. But though he would rather have devoted himself unto the study of Mr. John Calvin, than of Sir Edward Cook; nevertheless, the accomplish- nuMits of a lawyer were those wherewith Heaven made his chief oppor- tunities to be serviceable. § 8. Being made, at the unusually early age of eighteen, a justice of peace, his virtues began to fall under a more general observation; and he not only so bound himself to the behaviour of a Christian, as to become exemplary for a conformity to the laws of Christianity in his own conver- sation, but also discovered a more than ordinary measure of those quali- ties which adorn an ofRcer of humane society. His justice was impartial, and used the ballanee to weigh not the rashy but the cast: of those who were before him: prosopohtria* he reckon ;'d as bad as idolatna:'\ his wis- dom did exquisitely temper things according to the art of governing, which is a business of more contrivance than the aevem arts o." the schools; oyer still went before terminer in all his administru ions : Ki couraf made him dare to do right, and fitted him to stand among the lions that i ave some- times been the supporters of the throne: all which virtues he rendred the more illustrious, by emblazoning them with 1/.i constant libei Ity and hospitality of a gentleman. This made him the ir.ror of the wicked, and the ddight of the sober, the envy of the many, but the hope of those who had any hopeful design in hand for the common good of the nation and the interests of religion. § 4. Accordingly when the noble design of carrying a colony of chosen people into an American wilderness, was by some eninent persons under- taken, this eminent person was, by the consent of all, chosen for the Ikloses, who must be the leader of so great an undertaking: and indeed nothing but a Mosaic sinrit could have carried him through the tempta- tions, to which either his farewel to his own land, or his travel in a strange land, must needs expose a gentleman of his education. Where- fore having sold a fair estate of six Oi ;; ■ 'en hundred a year, he trans- ported himself with the effects of it ii.,A> New-England in the year 1680, where he spent it upon the service of a famous plantation, founded and formed for the seat of the most rpformed Christianity: and continued there, conflicting with temptations of all sorts, as many years as the nodes of the moon take to dispatch a revolution. Those persons were never concerned in a new plantation, who know not that the unavoidable diffi- culties of such a thing will call for all the prudence and patience of a mortal man to encounter therewithal ; and they must be very insensible of the influence, which the just wrath of Heaven has permitted the devils to have upon this world, if they do not think that the difficulties of a new plantation, devoted unto the evangelical worship of our Lord Jesus Face-worship, or respect of persons. t Idol-worship. ywmgmwawMal 120 MAGNALIA CHRI8TI AMERICANA; Christ, must be yet more than ordinary. How prudently, how patiently, and with how much resignation to our Lord Jesus Christ, our brave Win- throp waded through these difficulties, let posterity consider with admi- ration. And know, that as the picture of this their governour was, after hih death, hung up with honour in the state-house of his country, so the wisdom, courage, and holy zeal of his life, were an example well-worthy to be copied by all that shall succeed him in government. § 5. Were he now to be considered only as a Christian, we might therein propose him as greatly imitable. He was a very religious man; and as he strictly kept his heart, so he kept his house, under the laws of piety ; there he was every day constant in holy duties, both morning and evening, and on the Lord's days, and lectures; though he wrote not after the preacher, yet such was his attention, and such his retention in hearing, that he repeated unto his family the sermons which he had heard in the congregation. But it is chiefly as a govei'nour that he is now to be considered. Being the governour over the considerablest part of New- England, he maintained the figure and honour of his place with the spirit of a true gentleman ; but yet with such obliging condescention to the circumstances of the colony, that when a certain troublesome and malicious calumniator, well known in those times, printed his libellous nick-names upon the chief persons here, the worst nick-name he could find for the governour, was John Temper-ioell ; and when the calumnies of that ill man caused the Arch-bishop to summon one Mr. Cleaves before the King, in hopes to get some accusation from him against the country, Mr. Cleaves gave such an account of the governour's laudable carriage in all respects, and the serious devotion wherewith prayers were both pub- lickly and privately made for his Majesty, that the King expressed him- self most highly pleased therewithal, only sorry that so worthy a person should be no better accommodated than with the hardships of America. He was, indeed, a governour, who had most exactly studied that book which, pretending to teach politicks, did only contain three leaves, and but one word in each of those leaves, which word was. Moderation. Hence, though he were a zealous enemy to all vice, yet his practice was according to his judgment thus expressed: "In the infancy of plantations, justice should be administered with more lenity than in a settled state ; because people are more apt then to transgress; partly out of ignorance of new laws and orders, partly out of oppression of business, and other straits. [Lento Gradu]* was the old rule ; and if the strings of a new instrument be wound up unto their heigh th, they will quickly crack." But when some leading and learned men took offence at his conduct in this matter, and upon a conference gave it in as their opinion, " That a stricter disci- pline was to be used in the beginning of a plantation, than after its being with more age establish'^d and confirmed," the governour being readier • By slow degroea. OE, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 121 atiently, ive Wiu- th admi- iras, after y, so tlie il-worthy ve might )U3 man; c laws of •ning and not after I hearing, xrd in the lOW to be b of New- with the mention to ssome and 3 libellous he could calumnies Lves before 3 country, jarriage in DOth pub- issed him- a person America, that book !5, and but Hence, according ns, justice because ce of new ler straits, nstrument But when is matter, cter disci- its being g readier to see his own errors than other men's, professed his purpose to endeavour their satisfaction with less of lenity in his administrations. At that con- ference there were drawn up several other articles to be observed between the governour and the rest of the magistrates, which were of this import: "That the magistrates, as far as might be, should aforehand ripen their consultations, to produce that unanimity in their publick votes, which miffht make them liker to the voice of God ; that if differences fell out among them in their publick meetings, they should speak only to the case, without any reflection, with all due modesty, and but by way of question ; or desire the deferring of the cause to further time; and after sentence to imitate privately no dislike; that they should be more familiar, friendly and open unto each other, and more frequent in their visitations, and not any way expose each other's infirmities, but seek the honour of each other, and all the Court ; that one magistrate shall not cross the proceed- ings of another, without first advising with him ; and that they should in all their appearances abroad, be so circumstanced as to prevent all con- tempt of authority; and that they should support and strengthen all under officers. All of which articles were observed by no man more than by the governour himself. § 6. But whilst he thus did, as our New-English Nehemiah, the part of a ruler in managing the public affairs of our American Jerusalem, when there were Tobijahs and Sanballats enough to vex him, and give him the experiment of Luther's observation, Omnis qui regit est tanquam signum, in quod omnia jacula, Satan et Mundus dirigunt;* he made himself still an exacler ^jaraWe^ unto that governour of Israel, by doing the part of a neigh- bour among the distressed people of the new plantation. To teach them the frugality necessary for those times, he abridged himself of a thousand com- fortable things, which he had allowed himself elsewhere : his habit was not that soji raiment, which would have been disagreeable to a wilderness; his table was not covered with the superfluities that would have invited unto sensualities : water was commonly his own drink, though he gave wine to others. But at the same time his liberality unto the needy was even beyond measure generous; and therein he was continually causing " the blessing of him that was ready to perish to come upon him, and the heart of the widow and the orphan to sing for joy." but none more than those of deceased Ministers, whom he always treated with a very singular compassion; among the instances whereof we still enjoy with us the worthy and now aged son of that reverend Higginson, whose death left his family in a wide world soon after his arrival here, publickly acknowledging the charitable Winthrop for his foster-father. It was oftentimes no small trial unto his faith, to think how a table for the people should be furnished when they first came into the wilderness ! and for very many of the people his own good works were needful, and accordingly employed for the * A man in authority ig a target, at which Satan and the world launch all their dorta. kH ' iJiW 12S MAGNALIA CHRI8TI AMERICANA; answering of his faith. Indeed, for a while the governoiir was the Joseph, unto whom the whole body of the people repaired when their com failed them ; and he continued relieving of them with his open-handed bounties, as long as he had any stock to do it with; and a Wxoij faith to see the return of the "bread after many days," and not starve in the days that were to pass till that return should be seen, carried him chearfuUy through those expences. Once it was observable that, on February 5, 1630, when he was dis- tributing the last handful of the meal in the barrel unto a poor man distressed by the "wolf at the door," at that instant they spied a ship arrived at the harbour's mouth, laden with provisions for them all. Yea, the governour sometimes made his own private purse to be the puhlick : not by sucking into it, but by squeezing out of it ; for when the publick treasure had nothing in it, he did himself defray the charges of the pub- lick. And having learned that lesson of our Lord, "that it is better to give than to receive," he did, at the general court, when he was a third time chosen governour, make a speech unto this purpose : " That he had received gratuities from divers towns, which he accepted with much com- fort and content ; and he had likewise received civilities from particular persons, which he could not refuse without incivility in himself: never- theless, he took them with a trembling heart, in regard of God's word, and the conscience of his own infirmities ; and therefore he desired them that they would not hereafter take it ill if he refused such presents for the time to come." 'Twas his custom also to send some of his family upon errands unto the houses of the poor, about their meal time, on pur- pose to spij whether they loanted; and if it were found that they wanted, he would make that the opportunity of sending supplies unto them. And there was one passage of his charity that was perhaps a little unusual: in an hard and long winter, when wood was very scarce at Boston, a man gave him a private information that a needy person in the neighbourhood stole wood sometimes from his pile; whereupon the governour in a seeming anger did reply, " Does he so? I'll take a course with him ; go, call that man to me; I'll warrant you I'll cure him of stealing." When the man came, the governour considering that if he had stolen, it was more out of neces- sity than disi'osition, said unto him, "Friend, it is a severe winter, and I doubt you are but meanly provided for wood ; wherefore I would have you supply your self at my wood-pile till this cold season be over." And he then merrily asked his friends, "Whether he had not effectually cured this man of stealing his wood?" § 7. One would have imagined that so good a man could have had no enemies, if we had not had a daily and woful experience to convince us that goodness it self will make enemies. It is a wonderful speech of Plato, (in one of his books, De RepiiMica,) "For the trial of true vertue, 'tis neces- sary that a good man (iriSev a^ixwv, do^av sj^si rwv fisyi Tvv dStxias • Though OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 123 Joseph, •n failed aounties, ) see the [ays that through was clia- )oor man 3d a ship ill. Yea, e publick: e pixblick ■ the pub- , better to as a third aat he had much coin- particular lelf: never- ;od's word, ssired them )resents for his family uc, on pur- Ley wanted, em. And unusual: jton, a man ;hbourhood a seeming ill that man man came, lut of neces- jnter, and I ould have er." And [ually cured ive had no jsonvince ua [ch of Plato, le, 'tis neces- ■ Though he do no unjust thing, should suffer the infamy of the greatest injustice." The govemour had by his unspotted integrity procured himself a great reputation among the people; and then the crime of popularity was laid unto his cliarge by such, who were willing to deliver him from the danger of having all men speak well of him. Yea, there were persons eminent both for figure and for number, unto whom it was almost essential to dislike every thing that came from him; and yet he always maintained an ami- cable correspondence with them ; as believing that they acted according to their judgment and conscience, or that their eyes were held by some temptation in the worst of all their oppositions. Indeed, his right works were so many, that they exposed him unto the envy of his neighbours; and of such power was that envy, that sometimes he could not stand be/ore it; but it was by not standing that he most effectually loithstood it all. Great attempts were sometimes made among the freemen to get him left out from his place in the government upon little pretences, lest by the too frequent choice of one man, the government should cease to be by choice; and with a particular aim at him, sermons were preached at the anniver- sary Court of election, to disswade the freemen from chusing one man twice together. This was the reward of his extraordinary serviceahleness f But when thf^se attempts did succeed, as they sometimes did, his profound humility appeared in that equality of mind, wherewith he applied himself chearfully to serve the country in whatever station their votes had alloted for him. And one year when the votes came to be numbered, there were found six less for Mr. Winthrop than for another gentleman who then stood in competition : but several other persons regularly tendring their votes before the election was published, were, upon a very frivolous objection, refused by some of the magistrates that were afraid lest the election should at last fall upon Mr. Winthrop: which, though it was well perceived, yet such was the self-denial of this patriot, that he would not permit any notice to be taken of the injury. But these trials were nothing in comparison of those harsher and harder treats, which he some- times had from the frowardness of not a few in the days of their parox- isms; and from the faction of some against him, not much unlike that of the Piazzi in Florence against the family of the Medices: all of which he at last conquered by conforming to the famous Judge's motto, Prudens qui Patiens* The oracles of God have said, "Envy is rottenness tp the bones;" and Gulielmus Parisiensis applies it urto rulers, who are as it were the hones of the societies which they belong unto: "Envy," says he, " is often found among them, and it is rottenness unto them." Our Win- throp encountred this envy from others, but conquered it, by being free from it himself. § 8. Were it not for the sake of introducing the exemplary skill of this wise man, at giving soft answers, one would not chuse to relate those * He IB prudent who Is patient. ^> ! t r i " 124 MAONALIA CIIRISTI AMERICANA; instances of wrath which he had sometimes to encounter with; but he was for his gentleness, his forbearance, and longanimity, a pattern so worthy to be written after, that something must here be written of it. He seemed indeed never to speak any other language than that of Theodosius : "If any man speak evil of the governour, if it bo through lightness, 'tis to be contemned; if it be through madness, 'tis to be pitied; if it be through injury, 'tis to be remitted." Behold, reader, the "meekness of wisdom" notably exemplified ! There was a time when he received a very sharp letter from a gentleman who was a member of the Court, but he delivered back the letter un1< tl. - messengers that brought it, with such a Christian speech as this: "1 aa not willing to keep such a matter of provocation by me! Afterwards the same gentleman was compelled by the scarcity of provisions to send unto him that he would sell him some of his cattle ; whereupon the governour prayed him to accept what he had sent for as a token of \i\s good will; but the gentleman returned him this answer: "Sir, your overcoming of 3'^ourself hath overcome me:" and afterwards gave demcnstration of it. The French have a saying, That Un fumiftte hoinmCy est un homme mesh! — a good man is a mixt man; and there hardly ever was a more sensible mixture of those two things, resolution and comiesrention, than in this good man. There was a time when the court of election being, for fear of tumult, held at Cambridge, May 17, 1637, the sectarian part of the country, who had the year before gotten a governour more unto their mind, had a project now to have confounded the election, by demanding that the court would consider a petition then tendered before their j»ro- ceeding thereunto. Mr. Winthrop saw that this wjis only a trick to throw all into confusion, by putting olf the choice of the governour and jvssistcnts lentil the day should be over; and therefore he did, with a strenuous reso- lution, procure a disappointment unto that miscliievous and ruinous con- trivance. Nevertheless, Mr. Winthrop himself being by the voice of the freemen in this exigence chosen the governour, and all of the other party left out, that ill-affected party discovered the dirt and mire^ which remained with them, after the storm was over; jjarticularly the Serjeants, whose oflice 'twas to attend the governour, laid down their halberts ; but such was the condescention of this governour, as to take no present notice of this anger and contempt, but only order some of his own servants to take the hal- berts; and when the country manifested their deep resentments of the affront thus offered him, he prayed them to overlook it. But it wj;s not long before a compensation was made for these things by the doubled /r.v/xvte which were from all parts paid unto him. Again, there was a time when the suppression of an antinomian and famdistical faction, which extreamly threatned the ruin of the country, was generally thought much owing unto this renowned man ; and therefore when the friends of that iaction could not wreak their displeasure on him with any j^^olilick voxations, they OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 125 ; but he \ttern so if it. He eodosius : ess, 'tis to Q through wisdom" 'cry sharp delivered t Christian ocation by scarcity of his cattle; ;nt for as a iwcr: "Sir, vards gave !ste honime, iardly ever tmicsccntion, etion being, rian part of B unto their 1 demanding their pro- c to throw n\ sv«isistcnt3 nuous rcso- uinous con- oice of the other party \i remained whose oflice ich was the f this anger ce the hal- ents of the fiS not long bhd n!'>,ny judgment in the case." However, in the 'lebatd o" this matter, tlie negative of the upier-honse upon the hirer in thai Coiui, v. as brought upon the stage; and agitatcii with so hot a icf^al, that a little more, and all had been in the fire. In these agitations, the governour Wvis informed that an offence had been takea by some eminent persons nt certain passag.^s in a discourse by him written thereabout; wlicreup^m, with hia ustjai conile- scendency, \\\\vn he next came into the Geniiral Court, he mide a speech of this import: "I unuTstiind that Rnme have tiiken oifencu nt something tiuil I have hitcly written; whit'Ii '.ffl'K.; ! de.'ii;' lo remrivii now, and begin this year in a reconciled state with you ail. As for the man.pr oi* my writing, I liad the concurrence of my brethren; it is a point of judg- ment V, hich is 1 u'. .«t, my ci\mi disposing. I have examined il over and over again by such light as God has ^'.xm\ me, from the rules of religion, retison and custom; and I see no cause to retract aiiy thing of it: wherefore I must enjoy my liberty In that, as you do your selves. But for the manner, tliis, and all that wjis blame-worthy in it, was wholly ray own ; and whatsoever I might alledge for my own justification therein liefore men, I wave it, as now setting my self before another Judgment seat. However, what I wrote was upon great provocation, and to vindicate my self and others from great aspeisiion; yet that was no suf- ficient warrant for me to allow any distemper of spirit in my self; and I doubt I have been too prodigal of my brethren's reputation; I might have maintained my cause without casting any blemish upon others, when I made that my conclusion, 'And now let religion and sound reason give judgment in the case;' it looked as if I arrogated too much unto my self, and too little to others. And when I made that profession, ' That I would maintain what I wrote before all the wor' 1,' though such words might modestly be spoken, yet I perceive an unbeseeming pride of my own heart breathing in them. For these failings, I ask pardon of God and man." Sic ait, et dicto citiua Tumida JEqaora placat, Collectasque fugat Nubes, Solemque reducit.* This acknowledging disposition in the governour made them all acknowledge, that he was truly "a man of an excellent spirit." In fine, the victories of an Alexander, an Hannibal, or a Ctesar over other men, were not so glorious as the victories of this great man over himself, which also at last proved victories over other men. ^ § 9. But the stormiest of all the trials that ever bcfel this gentleman, was in the year 1645, when he was, in title, no more than Deputy -govern- our of the colony. If the famous Cato were forty-four times called into * He gponkB— but era the word is said, Each mounting billow droops Us bead. And briglilnninc; clouds one moment stay To pioneer returning dny. 1 OB, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENOLAND. 127 town in a fourth bat there A. certain h a claim s' hvniing \, into the mpossiile «»/o;* or from discouraging some things which are agreeable enough to nuKst that wear the name of gentlemen. Hereof I will give no instances, but only op})ose two passages of his life. In tlio year 1632, the governour, with his pastor, Mr. Wilson, and some other gentlemen, to settle a good understanding between the two colonies, travelled as fur as Plymouth, more than forty miles, through an howling wildornosa, no better accommodated in those early days than the princes that in Solomon's tiine saw "servants on horseback," or than genus and sjmcici) in the old epigram, "going on foot." The difficulty of the ivalk, was abundantly compensated by the honourable, first reception, and then disinission, which they found from the rulers of Plymouth; and by the giwd correspondence thus established between the new colonies, who were like tho floating bottels wearing this motto: Si Collidimur Frangimur.f But there were at this time in Plymouth two ministers, leavened so far with the humours of the rigid separation, that they insisted vehemently upon the unlawfulness of calling any unregenerate man by the name of "good-juan such an one," until by their indiscreet urging of this whimsey, tho place began to be disquieted. The wiser people being troubhd at thovso trillos, they took the opportunity of Governour Winthrop's being there, to have tho thing publickly propounded in the congregation ; who in answer thereunto, distinguished between a theological and a moral good- ness; adiling, that when Juries were nrst used in Eigland, it was usual for the crier, after the names of persons fit for that service were called over, to bid them all, "Attend, good men and true;" whence it grew to be a cicil custom in the English nation, for neighbours living by one another, to call one another " good man such an one ;" and it was pity now to make" a stir about a civil custom, so innocently introduced. And that speech of Mr. Winthrop's put a lasting stop to the little, idle, whim- sical conceits, then beginning to grow obstreperous. Nevertheless, there was one civil custom used in (and in few but) the English nation, which thi'. gentleman did endeavour to abolish in this country; and that was, tlte vmge of drinking to one another. For although by drinking to one another, no more is meant than an act of courtosie, when one going to drink, does invite another to do so too, for the same ends with himself; Hy yUOilIng tlio point. t If tre come into collision, we breolc. OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 129 dissolvecl, the people ark in any him, as to less of soul^ ellapplied, f him from IS, namely, ible enough ,0 instances, n, and some wo colonies, an howling the princes n genus and of the ivalk, .on, and then i and by the es, who were Frangimur.f tvened so far vehemently the name of [his whimsey, troubh^d at [hrop's being igation: who moral good- it was usual were called ince it grew [iving by one it was pity uced. And I, idle, whim- |theless, there lation, which m\ that was, ^king to one me going to ith himself; bion, we break. nevertheless the governour (not altogether unlike to Cleomenos, o. whom 'tis reported by Plutarch, «l*iovri iSne l 180 MAONALIA 0URI8TI AMERICANA; 8ome had such things in their heads aa publickly to reproach this chari* tablest of men as if the voice of the Ahnighty had rebuked, I know not what oppression, which they judged him guilty of; which things I would not have mentioned, but that the instances may fortifie the expectations of my best readers for such afflictions. § 12. He that had been for his attainments, as they said of the blessed Macarius, a *oi5op(oy«pwv, (an old won, whik a young one,) and that had in his young days met with many of those ill days, whereof he could say, he had "little pleasure in them;" now found ohiage in its infirmities advancing earlier upon him, than it came upon his much longer-lived progenitors. While he was yet seven years off of that which wo call "the grand climac- tericol," he felt the approaches of his dissolution ; and finding he could say, tfon Ilubilua, non ^»m Color, Non Grtuut Eunti$, Non Specie* Eadem, fua fuit ante, manet ;* He then wrote this account of himself: "Ago now comes upon me, and infirmities therewithal, which makes me apprehend, that the time of my departure out of this world is not far olF. However, our times are all in the Lord's hand, so as we need not trouble our thoughts how long or short they may be, but how we may bo found faithful when we are called for." But at last when tliat year came, ho U )k a cold which turned into a feaver, whereof he lay sick about a month, and in that sickness, as it hath been observed, that there was allowed unto the serpent the "bruising of the heel;" and accordingly at the heel or the close of our lives the old serpent will be nibbling more than ever in our lives before; and when the devil sees that we shall shortly be, " where the wicked cease from troubling," that wicked one will trouble us more than ever ; so this eminent saint now underwent sharp conflicts with tlio tempter, whose wraOi grew great, as the fame to exert it grew short; and he was butVeted with the disconsolate thoughts of black and sore desertions, wherein he could use that sad rep- resentation of his own condition: Nuper eram Juil r; Jam Judiror: Ante Tribunal Subeiitint paveo ; Judieor ipae modo.f But it was not long before those clouds were dispelled, and he enjoyed in his holy soul the great consolations of God! While he thus lay ripen- ing for heaiven, he did out of obedience unto the ordinance of our Lord, send for the elders of the church to pray with him; yea, they and the whole church /(fcsfec? as well ixa prayed i'or him; and in thai fast the vener- able Cotton preached on Psal, xxxv. 13, 14: "When they were sick, I humbled my self with fasting; I behaved my self as though he had been my friend or brother; I bowed down heavily, as one that mourned for his mother:" from whence I find him raising that observation, "The sick- > I am not what I was In form or fkce, In healtbfiil colour or in vigorous pace. I once Judgvd others . but now tt«nbUng stand UeAN« a dnwd tribunal, to aa Judged. "5 st- OK, THE HI8T0RY OF NEW-ENQLAMD. 181 this cbari- know not ^ I would ctations of he blessed bat had in iild say, he advancing trogenitors. md climac- 5 could say, on me, and time of my 3 are all in ong or short called for." nto a feaver, b hath been ising of the 5 old serpent m the devil troubling," it saint now ew great, as disconsolate lat sad rep- ness of one that is to u^ \s a fVlend, a brother, a mother, b a just occasion of deep humbling our bouls with fasting and prayer;" and making this application: , " Upon this occasion we arc now to attend thiH duty for a govcmour, who hot been to ua aa a fHend in his cauruel for nil thingH, nnd help for our bodies by ffiytick, for our estatea by taw, and of whom there wua no fear of his tieconiing an enemy, like the frienda of David : a govornuur who has been unto us as a brother; not usurping authority over the church; often speaking his udvice, and often contradicted, even by young men, and some of low degn^e; yet not replying, but oiTering satisfaction also when any supposed oiTencos have arisen ; a governour who has been unto us aa a mother, parent-like distributing his goods to brethren and neighbours at hia first coming; and gently bearing our infirmitiea without taking notice of them." Such a governour, after he had been more than ten several times by the people chosen their governour, was New-England now to lose ; who hav- ing, like Jacob, first left his council and blessing with his children gathered about his bed-side ; and, like David, *' served his generation by the will of God," he "gave up the ghost," and fell asleep on March 26, 1649. Having, like the dying Emperour Valentinian, this above all his other victories for his triumphs. His overcoming of himself. The words of Josephus about Nehemiah, the governour of Israel, we will now use upon this governour of New-England, as hia EPITAPH. 'Av»)p 'sysvsro XP'lS'of t^Iv (puffjv, xai Jixaiof, Kat ifSfi me ofiiosdvSig ^iXorifjioraro; MvTjfAsrov aiuviov auru xaraXiir'aiv, ra ruv 'ISpOrfoXufAWV TS(Jf»).* VIR FUIT INDOLE BONUS, AC JirSTtTS: ET FOFULARIUM GLORIiE AMANTISSIMUS : QUIBUS ETERMUM RELIQUIT MONUMENTVM, Novanglorum M(Enia.* he enjoyed us lay ripen- )f our Lord, hey and the H the vener- were sick, I le had been mourned for "The sick- trembUng Bund judged. SUCCESSORS. § 1. One as well acquainted with the matter, as Isocrates, informs us, that among the judges of Areopagus none were admitted, btX^iv ii xaKug ysyovoTSs, xai ■aoWmv apsrriv xai o'wippoo'uvigv ^v ru j3iu ivSsSstyiism (unless they were nobly born, and eminently exemplary for a virtuous and a sober life). The report may be truly made concerning the Judges of New- • Ho was by nature a man, at orce benerolent and Just! mort zealoiu for the honour of his countrymen ; and to them he left an imperishable monument— the walls of Jenualem. [The Latin paraphrase subsUtutes AVi». England for Jenualem.] 'm m MAONALIA CIIRISTI AMERICANA; England, though they were not iiobli/ bom, yet they WiC (^ci.crnlly ndl honi; and by being eminenlly exemplar y for a virtuous c. ■>' % ac'-t life, gave demonstration that they were mw-boni. Some accoun: ni them ia now more partieularly to bo endeavoured. We read concerning Saul, (1 Sam. xv. 12,) "He set up himself a place." The Hebrew word, T, there used, signifies a monumental pillar. It ia accordingly promised unto them who please God, (Isa. Ivi. 5,) "That they shall have a place and a name in the house of God; that is to say, a pillar erected (or fame in the church of God. And it shall bo fulfilled in what shall now be done for our govcrnours in this our Church-History. Even while the Massachmcttensiana had a Winthrop for their governour, they, could not restrain the channel of their affections from running towards another gentleman in their elections for the year 1(>84, particularly when they chose unto the place of governour Thomas Dudley, Esq., one whom, after the death of the gentleman above mentioned, they again and again voted into the chief place of government. Ho was born at the town of Northampton, in the year 1574, the only son of Captain Kogcr Dudley, who being slain in the wars, left this our Thomas, with his only sister, for the "Father of the orphans" to "take them up." In the family of the Earl of Northampton he had opportunity perfectly to learn the points of good behaviour; and hero having fitted himself to do many other ben- efits unto the world, he next became a clerk unto Judge Nichols, who being his kinsman by the mother's side, therefore took the more special notice of him. From his relation to this judge, he had and used an advantage to attain such a skill in the law, as was of great advantage to him in the future changes of his life; and the judge would have preferred him unto the higher imployments, whereto his prompt wit not a little recommended him, if he had not been by death prevented. But before he could appear to do much at the j)en, for which he was very well accomplished, he was called upon. to do something at the sivord; for being a young gentleman well-known for his ingenuity, courage and conduct, when there were soldiers to be raised by order from Queen Elizabeth for French service, in the time of King Henry the Fourth, the young sparks about Northampton were none of them willing to enter into the service, until a commission was given unto our young Dudley to be their captain; and then presently there were fourscore that listed under him. At the head of these he went over into the Low Countries, which was then an academy of arms, as well as arfe; and thus he came to furnish himself with endowments for theJieM, as well as for the bench. The post assigned unto him with his company, was after at the siege of Amiens, before which the King himself was now encamped; but the providence of God so ordered it, that when both parties were drawn forth in order to battel, a treaty of peace was vigorously set on foot, which diverted the battel that was expected. Captain Dudley hereupon returned into England, and settling OR, THE niBTORY OP N EW-ENO LAN I). 188 a place." ;r. It ia 'hat they ^, a pillar [ in what y. Even our, they. ; towards irly when ne whom, vnd again I town of r Dudley, nly sister, family of the points other ben- jhols, who 3re Bpecial I used an vantage to ^referred ot a little Jut before very well for being conduct, ;abcth for ng sparks service, r captain ; At the then an nself with gned unto which the o ordered treaty of that was d settling himself about Northampton, ho married a gentlewoman whoso extraction and estate were consideruble ; and the scituation of his habitation after this helped him to enjoy the ministry of Mr. Dod, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Win- ston, and Mr. Ilildersham, all of them oxoellont and renowned men : which ])iirita)i miniDtri^ so .seasoned his heart with a sense of religion, that ho was a devout and serious Christian, and a follower of the ministers that most cllectually preached real Christianity, all the rest of his days. The spirit of real Christianity in him now also disposed him unto sober non-con- formity; and from this time, although none more hated the fanaticisms and enthufiiasms of wild opinionists, he became a judicious Dissenter from the unscri])tural ceremonies retained in the Church of England. It was not long after this that the Lord Say, the Lord Compton, and other per- sons of quality, made such observations of him, as to commend him unto the service of the Earl of Lincoln, who was then a young man, and newly come unto the possession of his earldom, and of what belonged thereunto. The grandfather of this noble person had left his heirs under vast entan- glements, out of which his father was never able to extricate himself; so that the difficulties and incumbrances were now devolved upon this The- ophilus, which caused him to apply himself unto this our Dudley for his assistances, who proved so able, and careful, and faithful a steward unto him, that within a little while the debts of near twenty thousand pounds, whereinto the young Earl found himself desperately ingulphed, were hap- pily waded through ; and by his means also a match was procured between the young Earl and the daughter of the Lord Say, who proved a most vir- tuous lady, and a great blessing to the whole family. But the Earl find- ing Mr. Dudley to be a person of more than ordinary discretion, he would rarely, if ever, do any matter of any momept without his advice ; but some into whose hands there fell some of his manuscripts after his leaving of the Earl's family, found a passage to this purpose: "The estate of the Earl of Lincoln I found so, and so, much in debt, which I have discharged, and have raised the rents unto so many hundreds per annum; God will, I trust, bless me and mine in such a manner. I can, as sometimes Nehe- miah did, appeal unto God, who knows the hearts of all men, that I have with integrity discharged the duty of my place before him." I had prepared and intended a more particular account of this gentle- man ; but not having any opportunity to commit it unto the perusal of any descended from him (unto whom I am told it will be unacceptable for me to publish any thing of this kind, by them not perused) I have laid it aside, and summed all up in this more general account. It was about nine or ten years that Mr. Dudley continued a steward unto the Earl of Lincoln ; but then growing desirous of a more private life, he retired unto Boston, where the acquaintance and ministry of Mr. Cotton became no little satisfaction unto him. Nevertheless, the Earl of Lincoln found that he could be no more without Mr. Dudley, than Pha- 134 MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA; 1' 1 i ■;! i' i! raoh without his Joseph, and prevailed with him to resume his former imployment, until the storm of persecution upon the non-conformists caused many men of great worth to transport themselves into New-Eng- land. Mr. Dudley was not the least of the worthy men that bore a part in this transportation, in hopes that in an American wilderness they might peaceably attend and enjoy the pure worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. When the first undertakers for that plantation came to know him, they soon saw that in him, that caused them to chuse him their deputy -go vernour, in which capacity he arrived unto these coasts in the year 1630, and had no amall share in the distresses of that young plantation, whereof an account, by him written to the Countess of Lincoln, has been since pub- lished unto the world. Here his wisdom in managing the most weighty and thorny affairs was often signalized: hia justice was a perpetual terror to evil-doers: his courage procured his being the first major-general of the colony, when they began to put themselves into a military figure. His orthodox piety had no little influence unto the deliverance of the country from the contagion o{ the famalistical errors, which had like to have over- turned all. He dwelt first at Cambridge ; but upon Mr. Hooker's removal to Hartford, he removed to Ipswich ; nevertheless, upon the importunity and necessity of the government for his coming to dwell nearer the center of the whole, he fixed his habitation at Roxbury, two miles out of Boston, where he was always at hand upon the publick exigencies. Here he died, July 31, 1653, in the seventy-seventh year of his age; and there were found after his death, in his pocket, these lines of his own composing, which may serve to make up what may be wanting in the character abeady given him : Dim eyes, deaf ears, cold stomach, shew My dissoluttou is in view. Eleven times seven near lived have I, And now God calls, I willing die. My shuttle 's shot, my race is run, My sun is set, my day is done. My span is measured, tale is told, My flower is faded, and grown old. My dream is vanish'd, shadow 's fled, My soul with Christ, my body dead. Farewel, dear wife, children and friends Hate heresle— make blessed ends. Bear poverty ; live with good men ; So shall we live with joy agen. Let men of God in courts and churches watch O'er such as do a toleration hatch. Lest that ill egg bring forth a cockatrice, To poison all with herosie and vice. If men be left, and otherwise combine, My EpitapVa, I dv'd ho ubkrtini. But when I mention the poetry of this gentleman as one of his accom- plishments, I must not leave unmentioned the fame with which the poems of one descended from him have been celebrated in both Englands. If the rare learning of a daughter was not the least of those bright things that adorned no less a Judge of England than Sir Thomas More ; it must now be said, that a Judge of New-England, namely, Thomas Dudley, Esq., had a daughter (beside; other children) to be a crown unto him. Reader, America justly admires the learned women of the other hemisphere. She has heard of those that were tutoresses to the old professors of all philosophy : she hath heard of Hippatia, who formerly taught the liberal * OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 135 is former )nformist3 N'ew-Eiig- re a part tiey might us Christ, him, thev overnour, , and had liereof an ince pub- t weighty aal terror sral of the ure. His B country ave over- 's removal portunity tht! center •f Boston, •e he died, bere were )mposing, character ds s watch it s accom- le poems nds. If things it must Dudley, nto him. lisphere. rs of all liberal arts; and of Sarocchia, who more lately was very often the moderatrix in the disputations of the learned men of Eome: she has been told of the three Corinna;s, which equalled, if not excelled, the most celebrated poets of their time : she has been told of the Empress Endocia, who composed poetical paraphrases on divers parts of the Bible; and of Eosuida, who wrote the lives of holy men ; and of Paraphilia, who wrote other histories unto the life: the writings of the most renowned Anna Maria Schurnian have come over unto her. But she now prays, that into such catalogues of authoresses as Beverovicius, Hottinger, and Voetius have given unto the world, there may be a room now given unto Madam Ann Bradstreet, the daughter of our Governour Dudley, and the cc isort of our Governour Bradstreet, whose poems, divers times printed, have afforded a grateful entertainment unto the ingenious, and a monument for her memory beyond the stateliest marbles. It was upon these poems that an ingenious person bestowed this epigram : Now I believe tradition, which doth call The Muses, Virtues, Graces, Temales all. Only they ar^not nt'nr, eleven, or three; Our autlCrna proves them but an unity. Mankind, take up some blushes on the score ; Monopolize perfection hence no more. In your own arts contess your selves outdone ; The moon hath totally eclips'd the aun : Not with her sable mantle muflling him, But her bright silver makes his gold look dim : Just as his beams force our pale lamps to wink, And earthly ^rrs within their ashes shrink. What else might be said of Mr. Dudley, tbe reader shall construe from the ensuing EPITAPH, Morum aerit Censor, validus Defensor amansque Et Sana! et Cnna Catholics fidei. Jingli-novi Culumen Summum Decus atque Senatus; Thomas Dudleius, eonditur hoc Tamulo. *—E. R. Helluo T.ibrorum, Leetorvm Bibliotheca Communis, Sacra Syllabus Historia. .id Mrnsam Comes, hine facundus. Rostra disertuj, (A'on Cumulus verbis, pond us, Acumen erat,) § 2. In the year 1635, at the anniversary election, the freemen of the colony testified their grateful esteem of Mr John Haines, a worthy gen- tleman, who iiad been very serviceable to the interests of the colony, by chusing him their governour. Of him in an ancient manuscript I find this testimony given: "To him is New-England many ways beholden; had he done no more but stilled a storm of disscntion, which broke forth in the beginning of his government, he had done enough to endear our hearts unto him, and account that day happy when he took the reins of govern- ment into his hands." But this pious, humble, well-bred gentleman, remov- ing afterwards into Connecticut, he took his turn with Mr. Edward Hopkins in being every other year the governour of that colony. And as he was a great friend of peace while he lived, so at his death he entered into ihat In books a prodlital, they say ; A living cyclopiedia; or hirttoiics of church and priest A full compendium, at least ; A tablti-tnlkcr, rich in sense, And witty without wit's pretence; An able champion in debate. Whose words kicked tiuinber but not weight In character a critic bold ; And of that fitith, both sound and old — Both CATiiotic and Christian too, A soldioi' trusty, tried and true; Now-Knuliuid's Senate's crowning grace, In merit truly ns In pinrc, Condeimiud to share ih'^ common doom, Reposes here in Dudlkv'b tomb. m fn 1 ! .■ i ! ! : nili : i ■I I ;■' 186 MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA; peace which attends the end of the perfect and upright man, leaving behind him the character sometimes given of a greater, though not a better man, (Vespasian) Bonis Legihus multa correxit, sect exemplo prohce vitce plus effecit apiid populum* § 3. Near twenty ships from Europe visited New-England in the year 1635, and in one of them was Mr. Henry Vane, (afterwards Sir Henry Vane,) an accomplished young gentleman, whose father was much against his coming to New-England; but the King, upon information of his dis- position, commanded him to allow his son's voyage hither, with a consent for his continuing three years in this part of the world. Although his business had some relation to the plantation of Connecticut, yet in the year 1636, the Massachuset colony chose him their governour. And now, reader, I am as much a seeker for his character as many have taken him to be a seeker in religion, while no less persons than Dr. Manton have not been to seek for the censure of a wicked book, with which they have noted the Mystical Divinity, in the book of this knight, entituled, " The retired man's Meditations^ There has been a strange variety of translations bestowed upon the Hebrew names of some animals mentioned in the Bible : Juppod, for instance, which we translate a bittern, E. Salomon will have to bo an owl, ■ Luther will have it be an eagle, while Paynin will have it bo an hedge \>j, but E. Kimchi will have it a snail; such a variety of opinions and resentments has the name of this gentleman fallen under; Avhile some have counted him an eminent Christian, and othcr.s liave counted him almost an heretick; some have counted him a rono^vned patriot, and others an infamous traitor. If Barak signifie both to bless and to curse; and EuXoysivf be of the same significancy with BXaC^c/jitiv.:}: in such philology as that of Suidas and Hesychias ; the usage which the memory of tliis gentleman has met withal, seems to have been accommodated unto that indifferency of signification in the terms for such an usage. On the one side, I find an old New-English manuscript thus reflecting: "His election will remain !i3 a blemish to their judgments who did elect him, while New- England remains a nation ; for he coming from Old-England, a young \mcxperienced gen- tleman, (and as young in judgment as he was in years,) by the industry of some that could do much, and thought by him to play their own game, was presently elected governour; and before he was scarce warm in liis seat, began to broach ne " tenets; and these were agitated with as much violence, as if the welfare of New-England must have been sacrificed rather than these not take place. But the wisdom of the state put a period to his govcm- inent; necessity caused them to undo the works of their own hands, and leave us a caveat, that all good men are not fit for government." But on the other side, the historian who has printed, "The Trial of Sir Henry Vane, Knt. at the King's Bench, 'Westminster, June 2, and 6, 1662, with other Occasional Speeches; also his Speech and Prayer on the scaf- * Refurnied many obiiecs by means of wiso laws, but occomplished much more for bis people by Betting them BD exumple urextraurdiuary virtue. * To eulogize. i To malign. lU. ng behind better man, plus effecit fewi 1 the year 3ir Henry ch against of his dis- a consent hough his yet in the And now, :en him to e not been noted the tired man's I bestowed 3: Kippod^ Q to be an e it be an »f opinions ,vhile sorie Linted him and others urse : and Dhilology >ry of til is unto that reflecting: while New- rienced gen- tlmt could goveniour; these were en saerlficed lis govcm- is a caveat, 4P .■■■'1 SIR HENRY V-iNE. ial of Sir d 6, 1662, the scaf- ' setting them I 1 i v; I li *1 * ' 1^ GOV. JOHN ENDICOTT, THE ORIGINAL GRAN EOF MASSACHUSEl IS. OR, THE JIISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 187 fold," has given us in him the picture of nothing less than an hcroe. He seems indeed by that story to have suffered hardly enough, but no man can deny that he suffered bravely: the English nation has not often seen more of Roman (and indeed more than Roman) gallantry, out-facing death in the most pompous terrours of it. A great royalist, present, at his dec- ollation, swore, "He died like a prince:" he could say, "I bless the Lord I am so far from being affrighted at death, that I find it rather shrink from me, than I from it!" He could say, "Ten thousand deaths rather than defile my conscience; the chastity and purity of which 1 value beyond all this world ; I would not for ten thousand worlds part with the peace and satisfaction I have in my own heart." When mention was made of the difficult proceeding against him, all his reply was, " Alas, what ado do they keep to make a poor creature like his Saviour!" On the scaffold they did, by the blast of trumpets in his face, with much incivilit}', hinder him from speaking what he intended; which incivility he aforehand sus- pecting, committed a true copy of it unto a friend before his going Jiither; the last words whereof were these : "As W^ last words, I leave this with you, that as the present storm we now lye under, and the dark clouds that yet hang over the reformed churches of Christ, (which are coming thicker and thicker for a season) were not unforeseen by me for many years pnst; (as some writings of mine declare) so the coming of Christ in these clouds, in order to a speedy and sudden revival of his cause, and spreading his kingdom over the face of the wliolc earth, la most clear to the eye of my faith, even that faith in which I die." His execution was June 14, 1662, about the fiftieth year of his age. § 4. After the death of Mr. Dudley, the notice and respect of the colony fell chiefly on Mr. John Endicot, who, after many services done for the colony, even before it was yet a colony, as well as when he saw it grown into a populous nation, under his prudent and equal government, expired in a good old age, and was honourably interred at Boston, March 23, 1665. The gentleman that succeeded Mr. Endicot was Mr. Richard Belling- ham, one who was bred a lawyer, and one who lived beyond oighty, well esteemed for his laudable qualities, but as the Thebans made the statues of their magistrates without hands, importing that they must be no takers; in this fashion must be formed the statue for this gentleman; for among all his virtues, he was noted for none more than for his notable and per- petual hatred of a hrihe, which gave him, with his country, the rej)utation of old claimed by Pericles, to be, (piXocroXig « xai j^prifAarwv xpeitfrfwv .• Civitatis Amans et ad pecuniae Invidus* And as he never tooh any from any one living; so he neither could nor would have given any to death; bui in the latter end of the year 1672 he had his "soul gathered, not with sinners, whose right hand is full of bribes," but with such as "walk in their uprightness." The gentleman that succeeded Mr. Bellingham was Mr. John Leveret, • A true patriot, superior to the temptations of giun. i •A m 'i ft.' b'^^i 138 MAONALIA CIIEISTI AMERICANA; one to whom the affections of tlio freemen were signalized, in his quick ndvnnocs through the lesser stages of office and honour unto the highest in tl'.o country ; and one whose courage had been as much recommended by martial actions abroad in his younger years, as his wisdom and justice wore now at home in his elder. The anniversary election constantly kept him at the liolm from the time of his first sitting there, until March 16, 1678, wluMi morhiUty having first put him on severe trials of his passive-courage, (mutU more difficult than tlie active) in pains of the stone^ released him. : : I PATER PATRIJl;-' OF., THE LIFE OF SIMON BBADSTREET, IH. — Exlinctus atnabitur idem.f The gentleman that succeeded Mr. Leveret was Mr. Simon Bradstreet, the son o( a minister in Lincolnshire, who was always a non-conformist at homo, as well as when preacher at Middleburgh abroad. Him tl»e New- Knglandors, in their addresses fiiU of profound respects unto him, have with j-Dod reason called, "The venerable Mordecai of his country." He was born at Ilorbling, March, 1603. His father (who was the son of a SulVolk gentleman of a fine estate) was one of the first fellows in Immanuel Citlletlgo, under Dr. Chaderton, and one afterwards highly esteemed by Mr. Cotton and by Dr. Preston. Our Bradstreet was brought up at the grannnar-sohool, until he was about fourteen years old; and then the death of his iaihor put a stop for the present unto the designs of his further education. But according to i\\(i faith of his dying father, that "he should be well provided for," he was within two or three years after this taken into tlio roligious family of the Earl of Lincoln, (the best family of any nitbloiiiau then in England,) where he spent about eight years under the diivi'tion of Mr. Thomas Dudley, sustaining successively divers offices. Dr. Proston tluMi (who had been my lord's tutor) moved my lord that Mr. Hradstroot might liave their permission to come unto Immanuel Colledge, in tlu> t'lipacity of governour to the Lord llich, the son of the Earl of ^Val•\viv'k; whicli they granting, he went with the Doctor to Cambridge, who provided a chamber for him, with advice that he should apply him- self to study until my lord's arrival. But he afterwards, in a writing of his, now in my hands, made this humble complaint: "I met with many obstacles to my study in Cambridge; the Earl of Lincoln had a ler there, w iio often called me forth upon pastimes. Divers masters of art, and other scholars also, constantly met, where we spent most part of the afternooits matiy times in discourse to little purpose or profit; but that seemed an easie and pleasant life then, which too late I repented," My * The ('^thor of his Country. f Though duad, he shall nunc the leas be luved. OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 189 lis quick 3 highest nrnendcd nd justice .ntly kept > 16, 1678, j-courage, ed him. T, EH. Bradstreet, iformist at tl»e New- him, have ntry." He le son of a I Immanuel iteemed by up at the n the death lis further "he should this taken nily of any under the rers offices, rd that Mr. 3l Colledge, he Earl of Cambridge, apply him- writing of with many a ler iters of art, part of the it; but that nted." My less be luved. Lord Rich not coming to the University, Mr. Bradstreet returned after a year to the Earl of Lincoln's; and Mr. Dudley then removing to Boston, his place of steward unto the Earl was conferred on Mr. Bradstreet. Afterwards he with much ado obtained the Earl's leave to answer the desires of the aged and pious Countess of AVarwick, that he would accept the stewardship of her noble family, which as the former he discharged with an exemplary discretion and fidelity. Here he married the daughter of Mr. Dudley, by whose perswasion he came in company with him to New-England, where he spent all the rest of his days, honourably serving his generation. It was counted a singular favour of Heaven unto Richard diamond, Esq., one of England's worthies, that he was a Justice of Peace near threescore years; but of Simon Bradstreet, Esq., one of New-Eng- land's worthies, there can more than this be said; for he was chosen a magistrate of New-England before New-England it self came into New- England ; even in their first great voyage thither, Ayino 1630, and so he continued annually chosen; sometimes also their secretary, and at last their governour, until the colony had a share in the general shipwreck of charters, which the reign of King Charles II. brought upon the whole English nation. Mr, Joseph Dudley was placed, Amio 1685, as president over the territory for a few months, when the judgment that was entred against the charter gave unto the late King James II. an opportunity to make what alterations he pleased upon the order of things, under which the country had so long been flourishing. But when the short president- ship of that New-English and well accomplished gentleman, the son of Mr. Thomas Dudley above mentioned, was expired, I am not in a disposition here to relate what was the condition of the colony, until the revolution vrhereto their condition compelled them. Only I have sometimes, not without amazement, thought of the representation which a celebrated magician made unto Catherine de Medicis, the French Queen, whose impi- ous curiosity led her to desire of him a magical exhibition of all the Kings that had hitherto reigned in France, and yet were to reign. The shapes of all the Kings, even unto the husband of that Queen, successively showed themselves, in the enchanted circle, in which that conjurer had made his invocations, and they took as many turns as there had been years in their government. The Kings that were to come, did then in like manner suc- cessively come upon the stage, namely, Francis IL, Charles IX., Henry III., Henry IV., which being done, then two cardinals, Richlieu and Mazarine, in red hats, became visible in the spectacle : but after those cardinals, there entred wolves, bears, tyg-rs and lions, to consummate the entertainment. If the people of New-England had not imagined that a number of as rapacious animals were at last come into their government, I suppose they would not have made such a revolution as they did, on April 18, 1689, in conformity to the pattern which the English nation was then setting before them. Nevertheless, I have nothing in this paragraph of our History i *. ri 41 .^.X m 140 MAONALIA OIIRISTI AMERICANA; to report of it, but thnt Mr. Brmlstreot wns at this time alive; whose paternal compassions for a country thus remarkably ^is own, wou'd not permit liii to decline his return unto his former seat in the government, upon the unanimous invitation of the people thereunto. It was a remark then generally made upon him, "That though he v.ero then well towards ninety years of age, his intellectual force was hardly abated, but he retained a vigour and wisdom that wnild have recommended a younger man to the government of a greater colony." And the wonderful difliculties through which the colony under bin discreet conduct waded, until the arrival of his Excellency Sir William Phips, a itb a commission fur the government, and a new charter in the year 1G'.)2, gave a remarkable dem- onstration of it. Yea, this honourable Nestor cf New-England, in the year 1696, was yet alive; and as Georgius Lcontinus, who lived until he was an hundred and eight years of age, being asked by what means he attained unto such an age, answered, "By my not living voluptuously;" thus this excellent person attained hia good old age, in part, by living very temperately. And the New-Knglanders would have counted it their satisfaction, if, like Arganthonius, >\ ho had been fourscore years the gov- ernour of the Tarte.ssians, ho might have lived unto the age of an hundred and twenty; or, even unto the age of Johannes de Tcmporibus, who was knighted by the Emperour Charlemaign, and yet was living till the Emperour Conrade, and saw, they say, no fewer years than three hundred threescore and one. Though, "to be dissolved and be with Chri.st," was the satis- faction which this our Maerobius himself was with a weary soul now waltiig and longing for; and Christ at length granted it unto him, on ^faicii 27, 1697. Theii it was, that one of the oldest servants that God and the King had upon earth, drew his Ar*Y, in the very place whi' 9 he drew his /??•«<, American breath. llt> dieil at Salem, in a troublesome time, and entred into everlasting peace. And in imitation of what the Eoman orator said upon the death of Crassiis, I will venture to say, Fia't hoc, luduosuni 5?as, Acerbitvi Patria; (iravc Jiom's Omnibus: scd it iamen Rein- puhlicam casus Secuti sunt, ui mihi non Krepta Bradstreeto Vita, sed donata mors esse videatur.* The epitaph on that famous lawyer, Simon Pistorius, we will now imploy for this eminently prudent and upright administrator of our laws: EPITAPH. SIMON BRAPSTREET. Quod Mortale j'tit, Tellus tenet ; Inrlyla t\ima JVomi'nis haud vllo itat riulandc JJie.i AND ADD, F.ttinettim Ivget quern lota JVue-Jlvglia fatrem, O fNiiHtMm Claudit pnrvula Terra FirumIX * HiH denlh wag mournriil to his household, n hlllcr low to his c«)unlry, n honvy blow to nil good men: and yet Buch calamitieg have since then bcfUllon our Republic, that it dtM>« not seem as if [Dradstrect] was bereft of life, but 08 if death were cunrurrcd upon I'Sni as u boun,— Cickro, OratloH for Crc.astit. t Earth holdR his mortal part : his honoured name Shall put Time's impious hand to open shatue. X Hore lies New-England's father. Woe the day! How utlngles mightiest dust with meanest clay! ■i A: ■' i OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENOLAND. 141 vc; whose wouM not overmncnt, IS a remark ell towards ho retained ger man to difliculties 1, until the lion lor the rkable dem- and, in the ed until he it means he uptuously ;" rt, by living nted it their ars the gov- ' an hundred us, who was 'ing till the 7/ree hundred Christ," was weary soul unto him, its that God ce who he esoine time, the lloman Fuit hoc, tamen Rem- sed donata now imploy laws: nglia ratrem, ra yirumIX ;ood men : and yet was bereft of, life, Woe the day ! 1 meanest clay! CHAPTER Yl. mi "hvi, Td est, VI RI ANIMATI;* OR ASSISTENTS. The freemen of New-Kngland liad a great iirioty of worthy men, among whom they might j)ick and ehuse a number of MAGiSTK.vrKS to be the assistants of their GoVKUNouiw, both in directinj^ the general affairs of the land, and in dispensing of justice unto the people. But they wisely made few alterations in their annual elections; and they thereby shewed their salisdvction in the wise and good conduct of those whom tlioy had elected. If they called some few «'' ' -ir magistrates from the ploicjh to the hoich, so the old Eomans did ^ kings in the world once carried j Ilowever, the inhabitants of New- inhabitants of Norcia, a town sear •1 their dictators; yea, the greatest •>■ on the top of their sccjiters. .ever were so unhappy as the h lies from Home; where they do at this day chusc their own magi. Urates, but use an exact care, "That no man who is able to write, or to read, shall be capable of any share in the government," The magistrates of New-England have been of a better education. Indeed, several deserving persons, who were joined as associ- ates and commissioners unto these, for the more cflcetual execution of the laws in emoycncies, cannot be brought into our catalogue; but the names of all our magistrates, with the limes when I find their first advancement unto that character arc these: MAOISTKATES OF THE MASSACHUSET-COLONY. John \Viiithrop, Oovernur, Thomas Uudlry, Drpiilij-iror. Matthew Criiddck, lOiill. Th(iiniw(..)(r, 1020. Hir Kichiii-d .Sallonstnl, 1629. Isunc John»un, llisg. Siimuel Aldersloy, lOill. John Venn, IC'JO. John Iluinfioy, Ifi-Rt. Shnon Whorcomb, 1C29. Increase Nowel, 1020. Rlchiird Pi;riy, 1029. Niithimuel Wriylit, 1029. Siiiniiel Vussiil, 1029. Theo|ihilu9 Kiiton, 1029. Thonms Adams, 1029. Thouiiis lliilchins, 1029. OcoiRo Koxciofl, 1029. WilHnm Vassal, 1029. William Pinclion, 1029. John I'ocock, 1029. Christopher Cowlson, 1029. William Coddiiii{tun, 1029. Bimon ilradstreot, 1029. Thomas Sharp, 1629. Roger Ludlow, 1030. Edward Hosslter, 1030. John Endicol, 1030. John WInthrop, ./un., 1039. John fluilies, 1634. Richard llllllni{ham, 1035. Attorton iloii'^li, 1035. Ricliiird Duininer, 1035. Henry Vane, 1036. Roger liurtackenden, 1030. Israel Stoughton, 1037. Richard Saltonstal, 163*. Thomas Flint, 1643. Sumuul Symons, 1043. William liibhons, 1043. William Tyngo, 1043. Ilorhert Pulham, 1645. Robiu-t Bridges, lli47. Francis VVilloiighby, 105(>. Thomiu VViggan, 1650. Edward Gibbons, 1050. John Clover, 1052. Daniel (iookin, 1052. Daniel Denison, 1054. Simon Willard, 1054. Humphrey Athertoii, 10.54. Richard Riissel, 1659. Thomas Diinforth, 1659. William Hawthorn, 1002. Eleazer Lusher, 1062. John Leveret, 1665. * Liviiig men. John Tinchon, 1605. IMwnrd Tyng, 1668. William Stoughton, 1I>7I. Thomas Clark, 1673, Joseph Dudley, 1676. Peter llulkley, 1077. NalhanacI Sidtoiistal, 1079. Humphrey Davy, 1079. Jumi.'S Russel, liifl'l. Samuel Now I, lOriO. Peter Tiltoii, l«(jO. John Uichurds, 1680. John Hull, 1680. Ujirtholomow (Jidnoy, lOBO. Thomas Savage, 1080. William Brown, 1080. Samuel Applelon, 1081. Robert Pike, 1082. Daniel Fisher, 1093. John VVoodbridge, 1(>83. Elisha Cook, 1084. William Johnson, 1084. John Hawthorn, 1684. Elisha Hutchinson, 1084. Samuel Sewal, 1684. Isaac Addington, 1680. John Smith, 1686. 5/ i m K t IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^s ^%^ 1.0 I.I 11.25 l^|28 |2.5 |50 ■^~ ■■■ UUU U IIIIII.6 v] yl ^^■^ ^..'^' V 7 ^:^" .^ <2> '/ /A Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 !n 142 MAGNALIA CHEISTI AMERICANA; MAJOR-GENERALS OF THE MILITARY FORCES IN THE COLONY, 8VCCESSFULLY CHOSEN. Thomas Dudley. Edward Olbboni. Humfry Atherton. John Leveret. John EndicoU liobert Sedgwick. Daniel Deniaon. Daniel Gookln. William Burgis. SECRETAIUES OF THE COLONY, SUCCESSFULLY CHOSEN. Simon Bradstreet. IncresM NoweL Edward IUttsod. That these names are proper and worthy to be found in our Church- History, will be acknowledged, when it is considered, not only that they were the members of Congregational churches, and by the members of the churches chosen to be the rulers of the Commonwealth; and that their exemplary behaviour in their magistracy was generally such as to "adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour," and, according to the old Jewish wishes, prohibitum est Ilomini, instar principis Dominari super populum et cum ela- tione Spiritus, sed, nK"|i| ni3;ra cum mansuettidine ac Timore;* but also that their love to, and zeal for, and care of these churches, was not the least part of their character. The instances of their concern for the welfare of the churches were innumerable. I will single out but one from the rest, because of some singular subserviency to the designs of our Church-History, therein to be proposed. I'll do it only by transcribing an instrument, published Anno 1668, in such terms as these: To the Elders and Miniatere of every Town within the Jurisdiction of the Massachusets in New- England, the Governour and Council sendeth Greeting. "Reverend and Beloved in the Lord: We find in the examples of holy Scripture, that magistrates have not only excited and commanded nil the people under their government, * to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and do the law and commandment,' (2 Chron. xiv. 3, 3, 4; Ezra vii. 25, 26, 27,) but also stirred up and sent forth the.Levitcs, accompanied with other principal men, to * teach the good knowledge of the Lord throughout all the cities,' (2 Chron. xvii. 6, 7, 8, 9,) which endeavours have been crowned with the blessing of God. "Also we find that our brethren of the Congregational perswasion in England, have made a good profession in their book, entituled, 'A declaration of their faith and order,' (page 59, sect 14,) where they say, 'That although pastors and teachers stand especially related unto their particular churches, yet they ought not to neglect others living within their parochial bounds ; but besides their constant public preaching to them, they ought to enquire after their profiting by the word, instructing them in, and pressing upon them, (whether young or old) the gnmt doctrines of the gospel, even personally and particularly, so far as their strength and time will permit' "We hope that sundry of you need not a spur in these things, but are conscientiously careful to do your duty. Yet, forasmuch as we have cause to fear that there is too much neglect in many places, notwithstanding the laws long since provided therein, we do there- fore think it our duty to emit this declaration unto you, earnestly desiring, and, in the bowels of our Lord Jesus, requiring you to be very diligent and careful to catechise and instruct nil people (especially the youth) under your charge, in the sound principles of Christian religion; and that not only in publick, but privately 'from house to house,' as blessed Paul did; (Acts XX. 20,) or at least three, four, or more families meeting together, ns time and strength may permit ; taking to your assistance such godly and grave persons as to you may seem most expedient: and also that you labour to inform your selves (as much as niay * It is forbidden to man to rule lilcea prince over a people, and with a pruud Bplrit: ho should exercise authority In meekness and fear. OB, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 148 ROSEN. Leveret. IGookln. rdRanfwn. ir Church- r that they lembers of d that their I to "adorn rish wishes, et cum ela- it also that )t the least irches were ise of some lerein to be lisht. Anno huseta in NeW' Scripture, that ir government, (2 Chron. xiv. i, accompanied it all tlie cities,' ssing of God. and, have made •der,' (page 69, y related unto their parochial J enquire after ivhether young so far as their conscientiously is too much , we do there- d, in the bowels ie and instruct es of Christian .3 blessed Paul cr, m time and sons as to you IS much as niay ho should exorcise be meet) how your hearers do trofit by the word of God, and how their conversations do agree therewith; and whether the youth are taught to read the English tongue: taking all occasions to apply suitable exhortations particularly unto them, for the rebuke of those that do evil, and the encouragement of them that do well. "The effectual and constant prosecution hereof, we hope will have a tendency to promote the salvation of souls; to suppress the growth of sin and profaneness; to beget more love and unity among the people, and more reverence and esteem of the ministry: and it will assuredly be to the enlargement of your crown, and recompence in etemnl glory. "Given at Boston, the 10th of March, 1668, by the govemour and council, and by them ordered to be printed, and sent accordingly. "Edward Rawson, Secretary." FUBIICOIAGHRISTIANUS. THB LIFE OF EDWARD HOPKINS, ESa, GOVERNOR OF CONNECTICUT COLONY. Superiorea aint, qui auperiorea eaae aciunt.f § 1. When the great God of heaven had carried his "peculiar people" into a wilderness, the theocracy, wherein he became (as he was for that reason stiled) "the Lord of Hosts," unto them and the four squadrons of their army, was most eminently displayed in his enacting of their laws, his directing of their wars, and fits electing and inspiring of their judges. In some resemblance hereunto, when four colonies of Christians had marched like so many hosts under the conduct of the good spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ into an American wilderness, there were several instances wherein that army of confessors was under a theocracy ; for their laivs were still enacted, and their wars were still directed by the voice of God, as far as they understood it, speaking from the oracle of the Scriptures: and though their judges were still elected by themselves, and not inspired with such extraordinary influences as carried them of old, yet these also being singu- larly furnished and offered by the special providence of God unto the government of his New-English people, were so eminently acted, by his graces, and his precepts, in the discharge of their government, that the blessed people were still sensibly governed hy the Lord of all. Now, among the first judges of New-England, was Edward Hopkins, Esq., in whose time the colony of Connecticut was favoured with "judges as at first:" and put under the power of those with whom it was a maxim, Gratius est pigtatis Nbmen, quam potestatis.X § 2. The descent and breeding of Mr. Edward Hopkins, (who was born I think near Shrewsbury, about the year 1600,) first fitted him for the ♦ Tho Christian Patriot. f They should be superior, who fee! that they are superior, t Tlio reputation of piety is dearer than the fune of power. 144 MAONALIA CHBISTI AMERICANA; condition of a Turkey-merchant, in London : where he lived several years in good fashion and esteem, until a powerful party in the Church of Eng- land, then resolving not only to separate from the communion of all the faithful that were averse to certain confessedly unscriptural and uninsti- tuted rites in the worship of God, but also to persecute with destroying severities those that were non-conformists thereunto, compelled a consider- able number of good men to seek a shelter among the salvages of America. Among these, and with his excellent father-in-law, Mr. Theophilus Eaton, he came to New-England; where, then removing from the Massachuset- bay unto Hartford upon Connecticut River, he became a ruler and pillar of that colony, during the time of his abode in the country. § 3. In his government he acquitted himself as the Solomon of his colony, to whom "God gave wisdom and knowledge, that he might go out and come in before the people ;" and as he was the head, so he was the heart of the people, for the resolution to do well, which he maintained among them. An unjust judge is, as one says, "a cold fire, a dark sun, a dry sea, an ungood God, a contradictio in adjecto."* Far from such was our Hopkins ; no, he was, uxaiov ^|x4'Uxov,-|" a meer piece of living justice. And as he had no separate interests of his own, so he pursued their interests with such an unspotted and successful fidelity, that they might call him, as the tribe of Benjamin did .their leader in the wilderness, Abidan; that is to say, "our fiither is judge." New-England saw little daivnings, and emblems, and earnests of the day, "that the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given unto the people of the saints of the Most High," when such a saint as our Hopkins was one of its governours. And the felicity which a great man has prognosticated for Europe, "that God will stir up some happy governour in some country in Christendom, indued with wisdom and consideration, who shall discern the true nature of God- liness and Christianity, and the necessity and excellency of serious religion, and shall place his honour and felicity in pleasing God and doing good, and attaining everlasting happiness, and shall subject all worldly respects unto these high and glorious ends:" this wa.? ' exemplified in America. § 4. Most exemplary was his piety and h? ^-rity; and while he gov- erned others by the laws of God, he did himself yield a profound subjection unto those laws. He was exemplarily watchful over his own behaviour, and made a continual contemplation of and preparation for death, to be the character of his life. It was his manner to rise early, even before day, to enjoy the devotions of his closet ; after which he spent a considerable time in reading, and opening, and applying the word of God unto his family, and then praying with them : and he had one particular way to cause attention in the people of his family, which was to ask any person that seemed careless in the midst of his discourse, "What was it that I read or spoke last?" whereby he habituated them unto such an attention, that A pnnulux. t JuBtice iDcarnate. OB, THE HISTORY OP NEW-ENGLAND. 145 they were still usually able to give a ready account But as for his prayers, they were not ovUy Jrequent, but so fervent also, that he frequently fell a bleeding at the nose through the agony of spirit with which he laboured in them. And especially when imploring such spiritual blessings as, " that God would grant in the end of our lives, the end of our hopes, even the salvation of our souls," he would be so transported, that the observing and judicious hearers would say sometimes upon it, "Surely this man cannot he long out of heaven." Moreover, in his neighbourhood he not only set himself to encourage and countenance real Godliness, but also would him* self kindly visit the Meetings that the religious neighbovrs privately kept for the exercises of it; and where the least occasion for contention was offered, he would, with a prudent and speedy endeavour, extinguish it But the poor he so considered, that besides the daily reliefs which with his own hands he dispensed unto them, he would put considerable sums of money into the hands of his friends, to be by them employed as they saw "opportunity to do good unto all, especially the household of faith." In this thing he was like that noble and worthy English General, of whom 'tis noted, "he never thought he had any thing but what he gave away;" and yet, after all, with much humility he would profess, as one of the most liberal men that ever was in the world often would, "I have often turned over my books of accounts, but I could never find the great God charged a debtor there." § 6. But suffering as well as doing belongs to the compleat character of a Christian ; and there were several trials wherein our Lord called this eminently patient servant of his to suffer the will of God. He conflicted with bodily infirmities, but especially with a wasting and a bloody cough, which held him for thirty years together. He had been by persecutions driven to cross an ocean, to which he had in his nature an antipathy; and then a wilderness full of such crosses as attend the beginning of a plantation, exercised him. Ne\ertheless, there was one affliction which continually dropt upon him abo\ e all the rest, and that was this, he mar- ried a daughter which the second wife of Mr. Eaton had by a former husband; one that from a child had been observable for desirable qualities. But some time aftei she was married, she fell into a distempered melan' choly, which at last issued in an incurable distraction, with such ill-shaped ideas in her brain, as use to be formed when the animal spirits are Jired by irregular particles, fixed with acid, bilious, venemous ferments in the blood. Very grievous was this affliction unto this her vvorthy consort, who was by temper a very affectionate person ; and who now left no part of a tender husband undone, to ease, and, if it were possible, to cure the lamentable desolation thus come upon "the desire of his eyes;" but when the physi- cian gave him to understand that no means would be likely to restore her sense but such as would be also likely to hazaid her life, he replied, with tears, "I had rather bear my cross unto the end that the Lord shall give I" Vol. L— 10 ^i i li lit 146 MAONALIA OHRISTI AMERICANA; but upon this occasion he said unto her sister, who, with all the rest related unto her, were as dear unto him as his own, "I have often thought, what would be the meaning of the Lord, in chastising of me with so sharp a rod, and with so long a stroke," whereto, when she replied, "Sir, nothing sin- gular has, in this case, befallen you ; God hath afflicted others in the like way ; and we must be content with our portion ;" he answered, " Sister, this is among the Lord's rarities. For my part, I cannot tell what sore to lay my hand upon : however, in general, my sovereign Lord is just, and I will justifie him for ever: but in particular, I have thought the matter might lye here : I promised my self too much content in this relation and enjoyment; and the Lord will make me to know that this world shall not aftbrd it me." So he wisely, meekly, ft-uitfuUy bore this heavy affliction unto his dying day ; having been taught by the affliction to die daily as long as he lived. § 6. About Governour Eaton, his father-in-law, he saw cause to say unto a sister-in-law, whom he much valued, "I have often wondred at my father and your father; I have heard him say. That he never had a repenting, or a repining thought, about his coming to New -England: surely, in this matter he hath a grace far out-shining mine. But he is our father! I cannot say, as he can, I have had hard work with my own heart about it." But upon the death of his elder bi other, who was warden of the fleet, it was necessary for him to return into England, that he might look after the estate which then fell unto him; and accordingly, after a tempestuous and a terrible voyage, wherein they were eminently endan- gered hy fire, accidentally enkindled on the ship, as well as by water, which tore it so to pieces, that it was towed in by another ship, he at length. Per Varioa Casus; per tot Discrimina Serum,* arrived there. There a great notice was quickly taken of him : he was made warden of the fleet, commissioner of the admiralty, and the navy office, a parliament-man ; and he was placed in some other considerable stations : in all which he more than answered the expectations of those who took him to be a person eminently qualified for public service. By these employments, his design of returning to New-England, with which he left it, was diverted so far, that he sent for his family ; and about the time that he looked for them, he being advantaged by his great places to employ certain frigots for their safety on the coast, by that means had them safely brought unto him. When they were with him in London, one of them told him how much his friends in New-England wished and prayed for his return : and how that passage had been used in our publick supplications for that mercy, "Lord, if we may win him in heaven, we shall yet have him on earth:" but he reply ed, " I have had many thoughts about my return, and my affections have been bent very strongly that * Through peril, toil, and rough adventure paiaed. OE, THE HISTORY OP NEW-ENGLAND. 147 ;st related ght, what arp a rod, thing sin- n the like d, "Sister, bat sore to } just, and the matter jlation and d shall not y affliction lie daily as luse to say vvondred at ever had a wEngland: But he is ith mv own was warden aat he might [)gly, after a gntly endan- water, which It length. urn : he was id the navy considerable ons of those service. By with which about the lat places to means had in London, wished and our publick heaven, we any thoughts strongly that . w way; and though I have now, blessed be God, received my family here, yet that shall be no hindrance to my return. I will tell you, though I am little worth, yet I have that love which will dispose me to serve the . Lord and that peopie of his. But as to that matter, I incline to think they will not win it in heaven; and I know not whether the terrors of my dreadful voj'^age hither might not be ordered by the Divine Providence to stake me in this land, being in my spirit sufficiently loth to run the hazard of such another. I must also say to you, I mourn exceedingly, and I/ear, I/ear, the sins of New-England will ere long be read in its punishments. The Lord has planted that land with a noble vine; and blessed hast tJiou been, land, in thy rulers I But, alasl for the generality they have not consid- ered how they were to honour the rules of God, in honouring of those whom God made rulers over them ; and I fear they will come to smart by having them set over them, that it will be an hard work to honour, and that will hardly be capable to manage their affairs." § 7. Accordingly he continued in England the rest of his days, in several places of great honour and burden faithfully serving the nation ; but in the midst of his publick employments most exactly maintaining the zeal and watch of his own private walk with God. His mind kept continually mellowing and ripening for heaven; and one expression of his heavenly mind, among many others, a little before his end, was, *' How often have I pleased niy self with thoughts of a joyful meeting with my father Eaton! I remember with what pleasure he would come down the street, that he might meet me when I came from Hartford unto New- Haven: but with how much greater pleasure shall we shortly meet one another in heaven!" But as an heavenly mind is oftentimes a presaging mind, so he would sometimes utter this presage unto some that were near and dear unto him: "God will shortly take the Protector away, and soon after that you will see great changes overturning the present constitution, and sore troubles come upon those that now promise better things unto themselves." However, he did not live to see the fulfilment of this prediction. § 8. For the time now drew near that this Israelite was to die! He had been in his life troubled with many fears of death ; and after he fell sick, even when he drew very near his death, he said, with tears, "Ob! pray for me, for I am in extream darkness!" But at length, on a Lord's day, about the very time when Mr. Caryl was publickly praying for him, his darkness all vanished, and he broke forth into these expressions: "Oh! Lord, thou hast kept the best wine until the last! Oh! friends, could you believe this? I shall be blessed for ever; I shall quickly be in eternal glory. Now let the whole world count me vile, and call me an hypocrite, or what they will, I matter it not; I shall be blessed; there is reserved for me a crown of glory. Oh! blessed be God for Jesus Christ! I have heretofore thought it an hard thing to die, but now I find that it is not 148 IIAONALIA CHBISTI AMERICANA; BO. If I might have my choice, I would now chuse to die. Oh I my Lord, I pray thee send me not back again into this evil world, I have enough of it; no, Lord, now take me to glory, and the kingdom that is prepared for me I" Yea, the standers by thought it not possible for them to utter, exactly after him, the heavenly words which now proceeded from him; and when one of them said, "Sir, the Lord hath enlarged your faith ;" he replied, "Friend, this is sense; the Lord hath even satisfied my sense; I am sensibly satisfied of everlasting glory I" Two or three days he now spent in prayers and praises, and in inexpressible joys; in which time, when some eminent persons of a very publick station and imployment came to visit him, unto them he said, " Sirs, take heed of your hearts while you are in your work for Gk)d, that there be no root of bitterness ^vithin you. It may be pretended your desires are to serve God, but if there are in you secret aims at advancing of your selves, and your own estates and interests, the Lord will not accept your services as pure before him." But at length, in the month of March, 1657, at London he expired; when being opened, it was found that his heart had been unaccountably, as it were, boiled and wasted in water, until it was become a little brittle skin, which, being touched, presently dropped in pieces. He had oflen wished, upon some great accounts, that he might live till the beginning of this year; and now when he lay a dying, he said, "Lord! thou hast fulfilled my desires according to thy word, that thou wilt fulfil the desires of them that fear thee." Now, firom the tombstone of another eminent person, we will fetch what shall here be a proper EPITAPH. fAKT OF BDWARD BOrXINS, ESQ. But Amvm, not brooking UtttUMMrUihouMihare | luiendi to lue out, by a ii«ie nri't*, Is the least atom of « piece so rare, His habtat terpnt at the grand aiiit*. SUCCESSORS. § 1. Alternately, for the most part every other year, Mr. Haines, whom we have already mentioned elsewhere, took a turn with Mr. Hopkins in the chief place of government. And besides these, (reader, the oracle that once predicted government unto a ©, would now and here predict it unto a Wy) there were Mr. Willis, Mr. Wells, and Mr. Webster, all of Whom also had opportunity to express their liberal and generous dispositions, and the governing virtues of wisdom, justice and courage, by the election of the freemen in the colony before its being united with New-Haven. Had the OB, THE HISTOBY OF NEW-EMOLAMD. 149 surviving relations of these worthy men sent in unto me a tenth part of tlie considerable and imitable things which occurred in their livee, they might have made more of a figure in this our history; whereas I must now sum up all, with assuring my reader, that it is the want of knowledge in me, and not of desert in them, that has confined us unto this brevity. § 2. After the union of Connecticut with New-Haven, there were in chief government Mr. Leet, whom we have already paid our dues unto: and Mr. Treat, who is yet living, a pious and a valiant man, and (if even Annosa Quercus* be an honourable thing!) worthy to be honoured fbr an hoary head found in the way of righteousness; besides, Mr. Winthrop, of whom anon, reader, expect a compleater history. ' L Jti iHi Jk X ill jii 1 lAi • \. . HUMIIITA8 HONORATi.f THE LIFB OF THEOPHIIUS EATON, ESa, GOVERNOUR OP NEW-HAVEN COIONT. Juttitia Cultor, Eigidi Snvator HoHt§ti, In Commune Bonum.t § 1. It has been enquired why the Evangelist Luke, in the first sacred history which he addressed unto his fellow-citizen, gave him the title of "The most excellent Theophilus," but in the next he used no higher a stile than plain Theophilus! And though several other answers might be given to that enquiry, 'tis enough to say, that neither the civility of Luke, nor nobility of Theophilus, were by age abated; but Luke herein considered the disposition of Theophilus, as well as his own, with whom a reduced age had rendered all titles of honour more disagreeable superfcvities. Indeed, nothing would have been more unacceptable to the govei ■ .'>r of our New- Haven colony, all the time of his being so, than to have i een advanced and applauded above the rest of mankind, yet it must be now published unto the knowledge of mankind, that New-England could not of his qual- ity show a more excellent person, and this was Theophilus Eaton, Esq., the first govemour of that colony. Humility is a virtue whereof Amyraldus observes, "There is not so much as a shadow of commendation in all the pagan writers." But the reader is now concerned with writings which will commend a person for humility; and therefore our Eaton, in whom the shine of every virtue was particularly set off with a more than ordinary degree of humility, must now be proposed as commendable. § 2. 'Tis reported, that the earth taken from the banks of Nilus, will * An aged oak. t Humility in honour. X Exact in JusUoe— Iioneat, humble, plain— Hia private virtues were the public'* gain. 160 HAQMALIA GHRISTI AMERICANA; i very strangely sympathize with the place from whence it was taken, and grow moist or dry according to the increase and the decrease of the rivor. And in spite of that Popish lie which pretends to observe the contrary, this thing has been signally moralized in the daily observation, that the sons of ministers, though betaking themselves to other employments, do ordinarily carry about with them an holy and happy savour of their ministerial edu- cflticr, tliat observers have aflirmed, "They never saw an house ordered with more wisdom 1" lie kept an honourable and hospitable table; but one thing that still made the enter- tainment thereof the better, was the continual presence of his aged mother; by feeding of whom with an exemplary piety till afie died, bo ensured hia own prosperity as long as he lived. His children and servants he would mightily encourage unto tho study of tho Scriptures, and countenance their addresses unto himself with any of their enquiries; but when he discerned any of them sinfully negligent about tho concerns either of their general or partiuu' r callings, he would admonish them with such a penetrating eflicacy, th \ they could scarce forbear fulling down at his feet with tears, A word of his was enough to steer them ! § 8. So exemplary was he for a Christian, that one who had been a servant unto him, could many years after say, "Whatever difficulty in my '■ - • * The Roman people selected iaetr magisirates as if they were to be stf wards of the Republic. Profloiency, in other departments, it it existed, they gladly tolerated ; bur if snch additional accomplishments were lacking, they were content with the Tirtue and honesty of their public servants. PIETAS IN PATRIAM.* THE LIFE OF HIS EXCELLENCY SIR WILLIAM PHIPS, KNT., LATE CAFT'N-OENERAL AND OOVERNOUR IN CHIEF OF THE PROVINCE OF THE HASSACHU8BT BAT. CONTAIMINO THE MEMORABLE CHANGES UNDERGONE, AND ACTIONS PERFORMED BY HDL WRITTEN BY ONE INTIMATELY ACQUAINTED WITH UIM. Diteite Virtutem ex Hoe, verumque Laborem.i The author of the followinjr narrative, is a person of such well-known integrity, prudence and veracity, that there is not any cause to question the truth of what he here relates. And moreover, this writing of his is adorned with a very grateful variety of learning, and doth contain such surprizing workings of Providence, as do well deserve duo notice and observa> tion. On all which accounts, it is with just confidence recommended to the publick by Nath. Mather, John Howe, jpHi 87, iao7. Matth, Mead. To hit Exeelleney the Earl of Bellomont, Baron v' Coloony in Ireland, General Governour of the Province of Matsaehusete in New England, and the Province* annexed. Mat it please your Excellency: The station in which the hand of the God of heaven hath disposed his Majesty's heart to place your honour, doth so manifestly entitle your Lordship to this ensuing narrative, th.it its being thus presented to your Excellency's hand, is thereby both apologized for and justified. I believe hud the writer of it, when he penned it, had any knowledge of your Excellency, he would himself have done it, and withal would have amply and publickly congratulated the people of New-England on ncuount of their huvhig such a governour, and your Excellency on account of your being mnde governour over them. For though as to some other things it may possibly be a place to some perfions not so desirable, yet I believe this character may be justly given of them, that they ore the best people under heaven ; there being among them not only less of open profaneness, and less of lewdness, but also more of the serious profession, practice, and power of Chris- tianity, in proportion to their number, than is among any other people upon the face of the whole earth. Not but I doubt there are many bod persons among them, nnd too many dis- tempered humours, perhaps even among those who are truly good. It would be a wonder if it should be otherwise; for it hath of late years, on various accounts, and some very singular and unusual ones, been a day of sore temptation with that whole people. Never- theless, as I took upon it as a favour from God to those plantations, that he hath set your Excellency over them, so I do account it a favour from God to your Excellency, that he hath committ«d and trusted in your hand so great a part of his peculiar treasure and pre- cious jewels, as are among that people, Besides, that on other accounts the Lord Jesus hath more of a visible interest in New-England, than in any of the outgoings of the English nation in America. They have at their own charge not only set up schools of lower learn- ing up and down the country; but have also erected an University, which hath been the happy nursery of many useful, learned, and excellently accomplished persons. And more- over, from them hath the blessed gospel been preached to the poor, barbarous, savage heathen there; and it hath taken such root among them, that there were lately four-and- • DoToted love of ooTmUy. t From him leam virtue and lifet truest work. OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENOLAND. 165 twenty sMcmblict In which the name of the Lord htm wm constantly called en, and cele- brated In their own language. In theae things Now.£ngland outahineth all the colonies of tlio EngUah In tiioae goings down of the sun. I know your Excellency will Ikvour and countenanco tli t University, and olso the propagating of the gospel among the natives; for the Interest of Christ in ''ut port of the earth la much concerned in them. That the Ood of the Hpirlts of all flesli would abundantly replenish your Exi'ellemr.*f»nw6on, in the faith whereof the Jews, returning from the graves of their friends, pluck up the grass from the earth, using those wonls of the Scripture thereupon, "Your bones shall flourish like an herb:" 'tis likely, that all the observa- tions of such writers as the incomparable BoroUus, will find it hard enough to produce our belief that the essential salts of animals may be so prepared and preserved, that an ingenious man may have the whole ark of Noah in his own study, and raise the fine shape of an animal out of its ashes at his pleasure: and that, by the like method from the easenfial salts rf humane dust, a philosopher may, without any criminal necromancy, call up the shape of any dead ancestor from the dust whereinto his IkhIv has been incinex-ated. The resurrection of the dead will be as just, as great an arti- cle of our creed, although the relations of these learned men should pass for incredible romances : but yet there is an anticipation of that blessed resurrection, carrying in it some resemblance of these curiosities, which is performed, when we do in a hook, as in a glass, reserve the history of our departed friends; and by bringing our ivann ajfectioi^ unto such an history, we revive, as it were, out of their asJies, the true shajie of those friends, and bring to a fresh view what was memorable and imitable in them. Now, in as much as mortality has done its part upon a considerable person, with whom I had the honour to be well acquainted, and a person as memorable for the wonderful changes which befel him, as imitable for his virtues and actions under those changes; I shall endeavour, with the 166 MAUN A LI A CIIUISTI AMERICANA} chymistry of an impartial historian, to mUe my friund bo far out of bis ashes, as to shew him again unto the world; and if the character of horo- ick virtue bo for a man to deserve well of mankind, and be great in the purpose and success of essays to do so, I may venture to promise my reader such example of heroick virtue, in the story whereto I invito him, that he shall say, it would have been little short of a vice in me to have withheld it from him. Nor is it any partiality for the memory of my deceased friend, or any other sinister design whatsoever, that has invited me to this undertaking; but I have undertaken this matter from a sincere desire that the ever-glorious Lord Jesus Ciiuist may have the glory of his poiver and goodness, and of his providence, in what he did for such a person, and in what he disposed and assisted that person to do for him. Now, may he assist my writing, even he that prepared the subject whereof I am to write ! § 2. So obscure was the original of that memorable person, whose actions I am going to relate, that I must, in a way of writing like that of Plutarch, prepare my reader for the intended relation, by first searching the archives of antiquity for a parallel. Now, because we will not parallel him with Eumenes, who, though he were the son of a poor carrier, became a gov- ernour of mighty provinces; nor with Marius, whose mean parentage did not hinder his becoming a glorious defender of his country, and seven times the chief magistrate of thcichiefest city in the universe; nor with Iphicratcs, who became a successful and renowned general of a great peo- ple, though his father were a cobler ; nor with Dioclesian, the son of a poor scrivener; nor with Bonosus, the son of a poor school-master, who yet came to sway the scepter of the Roman empire; nor, lastly, Avill I compare him to the more late example of the celebrated Mazarini, who, though no gentleman by his extraction, and one so sorrily educated that he might have wrote man before he could write at all ; yet ascended unto that grandeur, in the memory of many yet living, as to umpire the most important affairs of Christendom: we will decline looking any further in that hemisphere of the world, and make the "hue and cry" througout the regions of America, the New World, which he that is becoming the subject of our history, by his nativity, belonged unto. And in America, the first that meets me is Francisco Pizarro, who, though a spimoits offspring, exposed when a babe in a church-porch, at a sorry village of Navarre, and afterwards employed while he was a boy in keeping of cattel, yet, at length, stealing into America, he so thrived upon his adventures there, that upon some discoveries, which with an handful of men he had in a desperate expedition made of Peru, he obtained the King of Spain's com- mission for the conquest of it, and at last so incredibly enriched himself by the conquest, that he was made the first Vice-roy of Peru, and created Marquess of Anatilla. To the latter and highest part of that story, if any thing hindred his OB, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENOLAND. 167 Excellency Sir William Pirrrs from affording of a parallel, it woa not the want either of design, or of counige, or of conduct in himself, but it was t' ; fate of a premature imrtality. 1? or my reader now being satisflcd that a person's being obscure in his drij^inal is net always a just prejudice to an expectation of considcru')!© mature from him, I siuill now inform him that this our Phips was bor, February 2, A. D. 1050, at a despicable plantation on the river of Kenncbc(!k, and ahnost the furthest vilhigt; of the eastern settlement of New-Englund. 1 'id as the father of that man which was as great a blessing as England had in the age of that man was a smith, so a gun-smith — namely, James Phij)8, once of Bristol — had the honour of being the father to him wiiom we shall presently see made by the God of Heaven as great a blessing to New-England as that country could have had, if they themselves had pleased. His fruitful mother, yet living, had no less than twenty-six children, whereof twenty-one were sons; but equivalent to them all was William, one of the youngest, whom his father, dying, left young with his mother, and with her he lived, "keeping of sheep in the wilderness," until he was eighteen years old; at which time he began to feel some further dispositions of mind from that providence of God which "took him from the sheepfolds, from following tho ewes great with young, and brought him to feed his people." Header, enquire no further who was his father? Thou shalt anon see that he was, as the Italians express it, "a son to his own labours I" § 8. His friends earnestly solicited him to settle among them in a plant- ation of the east ; but he had an unaccountable impulse upon his mind, perswading him, as he would privately hint unto some of them, "that he was born to greater matters." To come at those "greater matters," his first contrivance was to bind himself an apprentice unto a ship carpenter for four years; in which time he became a master of the trade that once, in a vessel of more i\\a.n forty thousand tuns, repaired the ruins of the earth; Noah's, I mean ; he then betook himself an hundred and fifty miles fur- ther a field, even to Boston, the chief town of New-England ; which being a place of the most business and resort in those parts of the world, he expected there more commodiously to pursue the Spes Majorum et Melio- rum* — hopes which had inspired him. At Boston, where it was that he now learned first of all to read and write, he followed his trade for about a year; and, by a laudable deportment, so recommended himself, that he married a young gentlewoman of good repute, who was the widow of one Mr. John Hull, a well-bred merchant, but the daughter of one Captain Roger Spencer, a person of good fashion, who, having suffered much damage in his estate, by some unkind and unjust actions, which he bore with such patience, that for fear of thereby injuring the publick, he would not seek satisfaction, posterity might afterward see the reward of his patience, in what Providence hath now done for one of his own. posterity. * Hopes of greater and better things. 168 MAGNALIA QHBISTI AMEBICANA; 1:11 Within a little while after his marriage, he indented with several persons in Boston to build them a ship at Sheeps-coat River, two or three leagues eastward of Kennebeck; where having launched the ship, he also pro- vided a lading of lumber to bring with him, which would have been to the advantage of all concerned. But just as the ship was hardly finished, the barbarous Indians on that river broke forth into an open and cruel war upon the English ; and the miserable people, surprized by so sudden a storm of blood, had no refuge from the infidels but the ship now finish- ing in the harbour. Whereupon he left his intended lading behind him, and, instead thereof, carried with him his old neighbours and their fami- lies, free of all charges to Boston ; so the first action that he did, afl«r he was his own man, was to save his father's house, with the rest of the neigh- bourhood, from ruin ; but the disappointment which befel him from the loss of his other lading, plunged his affairs into greater embarrassments with such as had employed him. § 4. But he was hitherto no more than beginning to make scaffolds for further and higher actions/ . He would frequently tell the gentlewoman his wife that he should yet be captain of a King's ship; that he should come to have the command of better men than he was now accounted him- self; and that he should be owner of a fair brick-house in the Green-lane of North-Boston ; and that, it may be, this would not be all that the prov- idence of God would bring him to. She entertained these passages with a sufficient incredulity ; but he had so serious and positive an expectation of them, that it is not easie to say what was the original thereof. He was of an enterprizing genius, and naturally disdained littleness: but his dispo- sition for business was of the Dutch mould, where, with a little shew of wit, there is as much wisdom demonstrated, as can be shewn by any nation. His talent lay not in the airs that serve chiefly for the pleasant and sud- den turns of conversation ; but he might say, as Themistocles, "Though he could not play upon a fiddle, yet he knew how to make a little city become a great oup." He would prudently contrive a weighty undertaking, and then patiently pursue it unto the end. He was of an inclination cut- ting rather like a hatchet than like a razor; he would propose very consid- erable matters to himself, and then so cut through them, that no difficulties could put by the edge of his resolutions. Being thus of the true temper for doing of great things, he betakes himself to the sea, the right scene for such things ; and upon advice of a Spanish wreck about the Bahamas, he took a voyage thither; but with little more success than what just served him a little to furnish him for a voyage to England; whither he went in ' a vessel, not much unlike that which the Dutchmen stamped on their first coin, with these words about it: Inccrtum quo Fata ferant.* Having first informed himself that there was another Spanish wreck, wherein was lost a mighty treasure, hitherto undiscovered, he had a strong impression upon * Nono can tell where Fate will bear me. kl OB, THE HISTORY OF AEW-ENGLAND. f#9 persons leagues Iso pro- been to Snisbed, id cruel I sudden w finish- ind him, eir fami- after he he neigh- from the :as3ments iffolds for tlewoman ae should Qted him- jreen-lane the prov- sages with xpectation ; He was his dispo- lew of wit, ttiy nation. ; and sud- " Though little city idertaking, nation eat- ery consid- difficulties rue temper ht scene for ahamas, he just served he went in ' n their first laving first sin was lost ession upon his mind that he must be the discoverer; and he made such representations of his design at White-Hall, that by the year 1688 he became the captain tfa King's ship, and arrived at New-England commander of the Algier- ilose, a frigot of eighteen guns and ninety -five men. § 5. To relate all the dangers through which he passed, both by sea and knd, and all the tiresome trials of his patience, as well as of his couv' age, w'aile year after year the most vexing accidents imaginable delayed the success of his design, it would even tire the patience of the reader: for very great was the experiment that Captain Phips made of the Italian observation, " He that cannot suffer both good and evil, will never come to any great preferment." Wherefore I shall supersede &\\ journal of his voyages to and fro, with reciting one instance of his conduct, that showed him to be a person of no contemptible capacity. While he was captain of the Algier-Rose, his men growing weary of their unsuccessful enterprize, made a mutiny, wherein they approached him on the quarter-deck, with drawn swords in their hands, and required him to join with them in run- ning away with the ship, to drive a trade of piracy on the South Seas. Captain Phips, though he had not so much of a weapon as an ox-goad, or a jaw-bone in his hands, yet, like another Shamgar or Samson, with a most undaunted fortitude, he rushed in upon them, and with the blows of his bare hands, felled many of them, and quelled all the rest. But this is not the instance which I intended : that which I intend is, that (as it has been related unto me) one day while his frigot lay careening, at a des- olate Spanish island, by the side of a rock, from whence they had laid a bridge to the shoar, the men, whereof he had about an hundred, went all but about eight or ten to divert themselves, as they pretended, in the woods; where they all entred into an agreement, which they signed in a ring, That about seven o'clock that evening they would seize the captain, and those eight or ten which they knew to be true unto him, and leave them to perish on this island, and so be gone away unto the South Sea to seek their fortune. Will the reader now imagine that Captain Phips, having advice of this plot but about an hour and half before it was to be put in execution, yet within two hours brought all these rogues down upon their icnees to beg for their lives? But so it was! for these knaves considering that they should want a carpenter with them in their villanous expedition, .sent a messenger to fetch unto them the carpenter, who was then at work upon the vessel; and unto him they shewed their articles: telling him what he must look for if he did not subscribe among them. The carpenter being an honest fellow, did with much importunity prevail for one half hour's time to consider of the matter; and returning to work upon the vessel, with a spy by them set upon him, he feigned himself taken with a fit of the cholick, for the relief whereof he suddenly run unto the captain in the great cabbin for a dram; where, when he came, his business was only, in brief, to tell the captain of the horrible distress which he wjis H r m MAGNALIA CIIKISTI AMERICANA; fallen into; but the captain bid him as briefly return to the rogues in the woods, and sign their articles, and leave him to provide for the rest. The carpenter was no sooner gone but Captain Phips, calling together the fev friends (it may be seven or eight) that were left him aboard, whereof ihe gunner was one, demanded of them, whether they would stand by hitn in the extremity which he informed them was now come upon him; whereto they replied, "They would stand by him, if he could save them;" and he answered, "By the help of God he did not fear it." All their provisions had been carried ashoar to a tent, made for that purpose there; about which they had placed several great guns to defend i6, in case of any assault from Spaniards, that might happen to come that way. Where- fore Captain Phips immediately ordered those guns to be silently drawned and turned; and so pulling up the bridge, he charged his great guns aboard, and brought them to bear on every side of the tent. By this time the army of rebels comes out of the woods ; but as they drew near to the tent of provisions, they saw such a change of circumstances, that they cried out, "We are betrayed I" And they were soon confirmed in it, when they heard the captain with a stern fury call to them, "Stand off, ye wretches, at your peril!" He quickly saw them cast into a more than ordinary confusion, when they saw him ready to fire his great guns upon them, if they offered one step further than he permitted them : and when he had signified unto them his resolve to abandon them unto all the des- olation which they had purposed for him, he caused the hrideje to be again laid, and his men begun to take the provisions aboard. When the wretches beheld what was coming upon them, they fell to very humble entreaties; and at last fell down upon their knees, protesting, "That they never had any thing against him, except only his unwillingness to go away with the Bang's ship upon the South-Sea design : but upon all other accounts, they would chuse rather to live and die with him than with any man in the world: however, since they saw how much he was dissatisfied at it, they would insist upon it no more, and humbly begged his pardon." And when he judged that he had kept them on their knees long enough, he having first secured their arms, received them aboard; but he immediately weighed anchor, and arriving at Jamaica, he turned them off. Now, with a small company of other men he sailed from thence to Ilispaniola, where, by the policy of his address, he fished out of a very old Spaniard (or Por- tuguese) a little advice about the true spot where lay the wreck which he had been hitherto seeking, as unprosperously as the chymists have tlieir aurisick stone: that it was upon a reef of shoah^ a few leagues to the north- ward of Port de la Plata, upon Hispaniola, a port so called, it seems, from the landing of some of the shipwrecked company, with a boat full of plate, saved out of their sinking frigot: nevertheless, when he had searched very narrowly the spot, whereof the old Spaniard had advised him, he had not hitherto exactly lit upon it. Such thorns did vex his affairs while he OB, THE HI8T0EY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 171 waa in the Rose-frigot; but none of all these things could retund the edge of his expectations to find the wreck; with such expectations he returbed then into England, that he might there better furnish himself to prosecute a new discovery; for though he judged he might, by proceeding a little further, have come at the right spot; yet he found his present company too ill a crew to be confided in. § 6. So proper was his behaviour, that the best noblemen in the king- dom now admitted him into their conversation ; but yet he was opposed by powerful enemies, that clogged his affairs with such demurrages, and such disappointments^ as would have wholly discouraged his designs, if his patience had not been invincihle. " He who can wait, hath what he desireth." Thus his indefatigable ^aiie/ice, with a proportionable diligence, at length overcame the difficulties that had been thrown in his way; and prevailing with the Duke of Albemarle, and some other persons of quality, to fit him out, he set sail for the fishing-ground, Avhich had been so well baited half an hundred years before: and as he had already discovered his capacity for business in many considerable actions, he now added unto those discoveries, by not only providing all, but also by inventing many of the instruments necessary to the prosecution of his intended fishery. Captain Phips arriving with a ship and a tender at Port de la Plata, made a stout canoo of a stately cotton-tree, so large as to carry eight or ten oars, for the making of which periaga (as they call it) he did, with the same industry that he did every thing else, imploy his own hand and adse, and endure no little hardship, lying abroad in the woods many nights together. This periaga, with the tender, being anchored at a place con- venient, the periaga kept busking to and again, but could only discover a reef of rising shoals thereabouts, called "The Boilers," — which, rising to be within two or three foot of the surface of the sea, were yet so steep, that a ship striking on them, would immediately sink down, who could say how many fathom, into the ocean? Here they coulJ get no other pay for their long peeping among the boilers, but only such as caused them to think upon returning to their captain with the bad news of their total dis- appointment. Nevertheless, as they were upon the return, one of the men looking over the side of the periaga, into the calm water, he spied a sea feather, growing, as he judged, out of a rock; whereupon they bad one of their Indians to dive, and fetch this feather, that they might, however, carry home something with them, and make, at least, as fair a triumph as Caligula's. The diver bringing up the feather, brought therewithal a sur- prizing story, that he perceived a number of great guns in the ivatery ivorld where he had found his feather; the report of which great guns exceedingly astonished the whole company ; and at once turned their des- pondencies for their ill success into assurances that they had now lit upon the true spot of ground which they had been looking for; and. they were further confirmed in these assurances, when, upon further diving, the li iM s;- 11 I'' 172 MAGNALIA CIIRI8TI AMERICANA; Indian fetcht up a soiv, as they stiled it, or a lump of silver worth perhaps two or three hundred pounds. Upon this they prudently buoyed the place, that they might readily find it again ; and they went back unto their cap- tain, whom for some while they distressed with nothing but such bad news as they formerly thought they must have carried him : nevertheless, they so slipt in the sow of silver on one side under the table, where they were now sitting with the captain, and hearing him express his resolutions to wait still patiently upon the providence of God under these disappoint- ments, that when he should look on one side, he might see that odd thing before him. At last he saw it ; seeing it, he cried out with some agony, "Why! what is this? whence comes this?" And then, with changed countenances, they told him how and where they got it. "Then," said he, "thanks be to God! we are made;" and so away they went, all hands to work ; wherein they had this one further piece of remarkable prosperity, that whereas if they had first fallen upon that part of the Spanish wreck where the pieces of eight had been stowed in bags among the ballast, they had seen a more laborious, and less enriching time of it : now, most happily, they first fell upon that room in the wreck where the bullion had been stored up ; and they so prospered in this neio fishery^ that in a little while they had, without the loss of any man's life, brought up thirty- two ttins of silver; for it was now come to measuring of silver by tuns. Besides which, one Adderly, of Providence, who had formerly been very helpful to Captain Phips in the search of this wreck, did, upon former agreement, meet him now with a little vessel here ; and he, with his few hands, took up about six tuns of silver; whereof, nevertheless, he made so little use, that in a year or two he died at Bermudas, and, as I have heard, he ran distracted some while before he died. Thus did there once again come into the light of the sun a treasure which had been half an hun- dred years groaning under the loaters : and in this time there was grown upon the plate a crust like limestone, to the thickness of several inches; which crust being broken open by iron contrived for that purpose, they knocked out whole bushels of rusty pieces of eight which were grown thereinto. Besides that incredible treasure of plate in various forms, thus fetched up, from seven or eight fathom under water, there were vast riches of gold, and peayfe and jewels, which they also lit upon ; and, indeed, for a more comprehensive invoice, I must but summarily say, "All that a Spanish frigot uses to be enriched withal." Thus did they continue ^/ii'ny till their provisions failing them, 'twas time to be gone ; but before they went. Captain Phips caused Adderly and his folk to swear, that they would none of them discover the place of the wreck, or come to the place any more till the next ycr, when he expected again to be there himself. And it was also remarkable, that though the sows came up still so fast, that on the very last day of their being there they took up twenty, yet it was aflerwards found, that they had in a manner wholly cleared that room of the ship where those ma.isy things were stowed. OE, THE III8T0KY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 178 But there was one extraordinary distress which Captain Phips now found himself plunged into: for his men were come out with him upon seamen's wages, at so much per month; and when they saw such vast litters of silver sows and^ij/s, as they called them, come on board them at the captain's call, they knew not how to bear it, that they should not share all among themselves, and be gone to lead "a short life and a merry," in a climate where the arrest of those that had hired them should not reach them. In this terrible distress he made liis vows unto Almighty God, that if the Lord would carry him safe home to England with what he had now given him, "to suck of the abundance of the seas, and of the treasures hid in the sands," he would for ever devote himself unto the interests of the Lord Jesus Christ and of his people, especially in the country which he did himself originally belong unto. And he then used all the obliging arts imaginable to make his men true unto him, especially by assuring them that, besides their wages, they should have ample requitals made unto them ; which if the rest of his employers would not agree unto, he would himself distribute his own share among them. Relying upon the word of one whom they had ever found worthy of their love, and of their trust, they declared themselves content; but still keeping a most careful eye upon them, he hastened back for England with as much vioney as he thought he could then safely trust his vessel withal ; not counting it safe to supply himself with necessary provisions at any nearer port, and so return unto the wreck, by which delays he wisely feared lest all might be lost, more Avays than one. Though he also left so much behind him, that many from divers parts made very considerable voyages of gleanings after his harvest; which came to pass by certain Bermudians compelling of Adderly's boy, whom they spirited away with them, to tell them the exact place where the wreck was to be found. Captain Phips now coming up to London in the year 1687, with near three hundred thousand pounds sterling aboard him, did acquit himself with such an exemplary honesty, that partly by his fulfilling his assurances to the seamen, and partly by his exact and punctual care to have his employers defrauded of nothing that might conscientiously belong unto them, he had less than sixteen thousand pounds left unto himself; as an acknowledgment of which honesty in him, the Duke of Albemarle made unto his wife, whom he never saw, a present of a golden cup, near a thou- sand pound in value. The character of an honest man he had so merited in the whole course of his life, and especially in this last act of it, that this, in conjunction with his other serviceable qualities, procured him the favours of the greatest persons in the nation; and "he that had been so diligent in his business, must now stand before Kings, and not stand before mean men." There were indeed certain mean men — if base, little, dirty tricks, will entitle men to meanness — who urged the King to seize his whole cargo, instead of the tenths, upon his first arrival ; on this pretence, that he had not been rightly informed of the true state of the case when he granted ;i:l 174 MAGNALIA CIIRI8TI AMERICANA; the patent, under the protection whereof these particular men had made themselves masters of all this mighty treasure; but the King replied, that he had been rightly informed by Captain Phips of the whole matter, as it now proved; and that it was the slanders of one then present ^vhich had, unto his damage, hindred him from hearkning to the information ; wherefore he would give them, he said, no disturbance; they might keop what they had had got; but Captain Phips, he saw, was a person of that honesty, fidelity and ability, that he should not want his countenanco. Accordingly the King, in consideration of the service done by him, in bringing such a treasure into the nation, conferred upon him the honour of knighthood; and if we now reckon him a knight of the golden fleece, the stile might pretend unto some circumstances that would justifie it. Or call him, if you please, "the knight of honesty;" fi^r it was honesty with industry that raised him ; and he became a mighty river, without the run- ning in of muddy water io make him so. Reader, now make a pause, and behold one raised by God/ § 7. I am willing to employ the testimonies of others, as much as may be, to support the credit of my history : and therefore, as I have hitherto related no more than what there are others enough to avouch ; thus I shall chuse the words of an ingenious person, printed at London some years ago, to express the sum of what remains, whose words are these: "It has always been Sir Willinm Phips' disposition to seek the wealth of his people with as great zeal and unweariedness, ns our publicans use to seek their loss and riiitu At first it seems they were in hopes to gain this gentleman to their party, as thinking him good- natured, and easie to be Hi.ttered out of his understanding; and the more, because they hud the advantage of some no very good treatment, that Sir William had formerly met with from the people and government of New-Engliind. But .r William soon shewed them that what they expected would be his temptation to lead them into their little tricks, he embraced as a glorious opportunity to shew his generosity and greatness of mind; for in imitation of the ;reatest worthies that have ever been, he rather chose to join in the defence of his coun- try, with some persons who formerly were none of his friends, than become the head of a faction, to its ruin and desolation. It seems this noble disposition of Sir William, joined with that capacity and good success wherewith he hath been attended, in raising himself by such an occasion as it may be, all things considered, has never happened to any before him, makes these men apprehensive ; — and it must needs heighten their trouble to see that he neither hath, nor doth spare himself, nor any thing that is near and dear unto him, in pro- moting the good of his native country." When Sir William Phips was, pei' ardua ct aspera* thus raised into an higher orb, it might easily be thought that he could not be without charm- ing temptations to take the way on the left hand. But as the grace of God kept him, in the midst of none of the strictest company, unto which his affairs daily led him, from abandoning himself to the lewd vices of gaming, drinking, swearing, and whoring, which the men "that made England to sin" debauched so many of the gentry into, and he deserved the salutations of the Roman poet: * Along steep find nigged paths. OB, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 176 Cuta Tu, inter gcabiem tantam et Contagia Lucri, Nil purvum aapiaa, et adhuc Subltmia cure:* Thus he was worthy to pass among the Instances of heroick vertue for that humility that still adorned him : he was raised, and though he pru- dently accommodated himself to the quality whereto he was now raised, yet none could perceive him to be lifted up. Or, if this were not heroick, yet I will relate one thing more of him that must certainly be accounted so. He had, in his own country of New-England, met with provocations that were enough to have alienated any man living, that had no more than flesh and blood in him, from the service of it; and some that were enemies to that country now lay hard at him to join with them in their endeavours to ravish away their ancient liberties. But this gentleman had studied another way to revenge himself upon his country, and that wius to serve it, in all its interests, with all of his, even with his estate, his time^ his care, \\\s, friends, and his very life! The old heathen vertue of PiETAfj IN PATRiAM, or, Lovc to one's country, he turned into Christian; and so notably exemplified it, in all the rest of his life, that it will be an essential thread which is to be now interwoven into all that remains of his history and his character. Accordingly, though he had the Oij.-rs of a very gainful place among the commissioners of the navy, with many other invitations to settle himself in England, nothing but a return to New- England would content him. And whereas the charters of New-England being taken away, there was a governour imposed upon the territories with as arbitrary and as treasonable a commission, perhaps, as ever was heard of — a commission, by which the governour, with three oi four more, none of whom were chosen by the people, had power to make what laws they would, and levy taxes, according to their own humours, upon the people — and he himself had power to send the best men in the land more than ten thousand miles out of it, as he pleased; and in the execu- tion of his power, the country was every day suffering intoUerable inva- sions upon their proprieties, yea, and the lives of the best men in the territory began to be practised upon : Sir William Phips applied himself to consider what Wf'.a the most significant thing that could be done by him for that poor people in their present circumstances. Indeed, when King James offered, as he did, unto Sir William Phips an opportunity to ask what he pleased of him, Sir William generously prayed for nothing but tins, "That New-England might have its lost priviledges restored." The King then replied, " Any thing but that!" Whereupon he set him- self to consider what was the next thing that he might ask for the service, not of ^imself^ but of his country. The result of his consideration was, that by petition to the King, he obtained, with expence of some hundreds of guineas, a Patent, which constituted him the high-sheriff of that country; • Thnt sprendiii? leproeiy, the I.uat ofnain, Thy iioblur spirit dares not to pollute ; But wiser wishes in thy henrt remain, And dignify thy life's sublime pursuit,— HoR. I 176 UAQNALIA CIIRI8TI AMERICANA; hoping, by his deputies in that office, to supply the country still with consciencious juries, which was the only method that the New-Englandera had left them to secure any thing that was dear unto them. Furnished with this patent, after ho had, in company with Sir John Narborough, made a second visit unto the tvreck^ (not so advantageous as the former, for a reason already mentioned,) in his way he returned unto New-Eng* land in the summer of the year 1688, able, after five years' absence, to entertain his lady with some accomplishment of his predictions ; and then built himself a *' fair brick house" in the very place which we fore- told, the reader can tell how many sections ago. But the infamous gov- ernment then rampant there, found a way wholly to put by the execution of his patent; yen, he was like to have had his person assassinatied in the face of the sun, before his own door, which, with some further designs then in his mind, caused him within a few weeks to take another voyage for England. § 8. It would require a long summer's day to relate the miseries which were come, and coming in upon poor New-England, by reason of the arbitrary government then imposed on them; a government wherein, as old Weudover smys of the time, when strangers were domineering over subjects in Enghmd, Judicia committehantur Injustis, Leges Exlegibiis, Pax Discoi-ihntibus, Justith fujunosis;*^ end foxes were made the administrators of justice to the jf)o»//»ry; yet some abridgment oi them is necessary for the better understanding of the matters yet before us. Now, to make this abridgment imp;i 'tial, I shall only have recourse unto a little book, printed at London, under the title of "T'/ie -Revolution of New-England Justified ;^^ wherein wo have a "narrative of the grievances" under the maleadministrations of that government, written and signed by the chief gentlemen of the governour's council ; together with the sworn testimo- nies of many good men, to prove the several articles of the declaration, which the New-Englanders published against their oppressors. It is in that book demonstrated : "Thiit tlio govornour, noglcctiiig the greater number of hia council, did adhere principally to the advice of a few stntngers, who were persona without any interest in the country, but of declared prejudice against it^ and had plainly laid their designs to make an unreasonable profit of the poor people: and four or five persons had the absolu*-e rule over a territory, the most considerable of any belonging to the crown. That when laws were proposed in the council, though the major part at any time dissented from them, yet, if the governour wore positive, there was no fair counting the number of counsellors consenting, or dissenting, but the laws were immediately engrossed, published and executed. That this Junto made a law, which prohibited the inhabitants of any town to meet .ibout their town aiTaira above once in a year; for fear, you must note, of their having any oppor- tunity to complain of grievances. That they made another law, requiring all masters of vessels, even shallops and wood- boats, to give security that no man should be transported in them, except his name had been • Btgbts wero untnutmt lo iiivait(>rs of rtKlit— Inwa to Ihu lo\vIos»— peace to poace-bruukcrs— and jiistico to tlic unjust. OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENOLAND. 177 1 witli andera nished rough, former, w-Eng* bsenee, is; and ve fore- US gov- :ecution i in the designs voyage !S which 1 of the wherein, ing over bus, Pax listrators issary for to make ;le book, ■England nder the the chief testimo- edaration, It is in 3 principally Eountiy, but nreasonable a territory, ne dissented number of d, publislied meet about J any oppor- s and wood- mc had been Icp to lUo unjust. ■0 many days posted up : whereby the pockets of a few leeches hbd been filled with feex, but the whole trade of the country destroyed; and all attempts to obtain a redrew of these things obstructed ; and wlicn this act had been strenuously opposed in coun *; Boston, they carried it as far as New-York, where a crew of them enacted it. That without any assembly, they levied on the people a penny in t!ie pound of all their estates, und twenty-pence per head as poll-money, with a penny in the pound for goods imported, besides a vast excise on wine, rum, and other liquors. . That when among the inhabitants of Ipswich, some of the principal persons modestly gave reasons why they could not chuso a commissioner to tax the town, until the King should first be petitioned for the liberty of an assembly, they were committed unto gaol for it, as an "high misdemeanor," and were denied an habeas corpus, and were dragged many mik's out of their own county to answer it at a court in Boston ; where jurors were pickt for the turn, that were not freeholders — nay, that were nicer sojourners; and when the prisoners pleaded the priviledges of Englishmen, "That they should not be taxed without their own consent;" they were told, "That those things would not follow them to the ends of the earth;" as it had been before told them in open council, no one in the council contradicting it, " You have no more priviledges left you but this, that you are not bought and sold for slaves :" and, in fine, they were all fined severely, and laid under great bonds for their good behaviour; besides all which, the hungry officers extorted fees from them that amounted unto an hundred and threescore pounds; whereas in England, upon f j like prosecution, the fees would not have been ten pounds in all. After which fivshion the townsmen of many other places were also served. That these men, giving out that the charters being lost, all the title that the people had unto their lands was lost with them ; they began to compel the people evoiy where to take patenla for their lands: and accordingly torits of inimsion were issued out against the chief gentlemen in the territory, by the terror whereof, many were actually driven to petition for patents, that they might quietly enjoy the lands that had been fifty or sixty years in their possfssion ; but for these patents there were such exorbitant prices demanded, that fifty pounds could not purchase for its owner an estate worth two hundred, nor could all the money and moveables in the territory have defrayed the charges of patenting tiie lands at the hands of these crocodiles ; besides the considerable quit-rents for the King. Y'ca» the governour caused the lands of particular persons to be measured out, and given to his creatures: and some of his council petitioned for the commons belonging to several town»; and the agents of the towns going to get a voluntary subscription of the inhabitants to maintain their title at law, they have been dragged forty or fifty miles to answer aa criminals at the next assizes; the officers in the mean time extorting three pounds per man for fetching them. Tliat if these harpies any time, were a little out of money, they found ways to imprison the best men in tlie c> ry; and there appeared not the least information of any crime exhibited against them, yet they were put unto intolerable oxpences by these greedy oppressors, and the henefit of an habeas corpus not allowed unto them. That packt and pickt juries were commonly made nsc of when, under a pretended y;;rrn of law, the trouble of some honest and worthy men wiis aimed at; and these also were hurried out of their own counties to be tried, when juries for the turn were not like to be found there. The greatest rigour being used still towards the soberest sort of people, whilst ii\ the mean time the most horrid enormities in the world, committed by others, were overlooked. That the publick ministry of the gospel, and all schools of learning were discountenanced unto the utmost." And several more such abominable things, too notorious to be denied, even by a Randolphian impudence it self, are in that book proved against that unhappy government. Nor did that most ancient set of the Phoeni- Vol. I.— 12 ^V^l ■- ■ i ft 178 MAQNALIA CHRISTI AMEBIOANA; cian shepherds, who scrued the government of Egypt into their hands, as old Manethon tells us, by their villanies, during the reigns of those tyrants, make a shepherd more of an abomination to the Egyptians in all after ages, than these wolves under the name of shepherds have made the remem- brance of their French government an abomination to all posterity among the Nevv-Englanders: a government, for which, now, reader, as fast as thou wilt, get ready this epitaph : Nulla gured, as to any of its igland, he he eastern inghsii in lad imme- that was turned, he cil, and all le inhabit- 1 ants; while at the same time he dispatolied some of his oreatures upon secret errands unto Canada, and set at liberty some of the most murder- ous Indians which the English had seized upon. This conduct of the governour, which is in a printai remonstrance of some of the best gentlemen in the Council comphiinetl of, did cxtreamly dissatisfie the suspicions people; who were doubtk\ss more extroam in some of their suspicions, than there was any m?/ tHxttsion for: but the governour at length raised an army of a tliousand English to conquer this himdred Indians; and this army, whereof some of the chief commanders were Papists, underwent the fatigues of a long and a cold winter, in the most Caucasiean regions of the territory, till, without tho killing of one Indian, there were more of the poor people killed than they had enemies there alive ! This added not a little to tho dissatisfaction of the people, and it would much more have done so, if they had seen what tho world had not yet seen of the suggestions made by the Irish Catholicks ujjto the late King, published in the year 1691, in the "Aceoutit of the state of the Protestants in Ireland, licensed by the Earl of Nottingham," whereof one article runs in these express terms, "That if any of the /mA cannot have their lands in specie, but money in lieu, some of them ma}' transport themselves into America, possibly near New-England, to check tho growing Indepeiuhnts that country :" or if they had seen what was afterwards seen in a letter from K. James to his Jfolincss (as they stile his /(X)/*'.s7i »&>>•) the Pope of Kome; that it was his full purpose to have set up Kiunan-Catholick religion in the English plantations of America: though, after all, there is cause to think that there was more made of the susju'cioiut then tlying like wild-fire about the country, than a strong clutriti/ would have countenanced. When the people were under these /rights^ they had got by the edges a little intima- tion of the then Prince of Orange's glorious undertaking to deliver England from the feared evils, which were already /i7/ by New-England; but when the person who brought over a copy of the Prince's thvhimtion was impris- oned for bringing into the country a tretisomthk paj)ei\ and the governour, by his proclamation, required all persons to use their utmost endeavours to hinder the landing of any whom the Prince might send thither, tJu's put them almost out of patience. And one thing that plunged the more con- siderate persons in the territory into uneasie thoughts, was t\ic faulty action of some soldiers, who upon the common suspicions, deserted their stations in the army, and caused their friends to gather together here and there in little bodies, to protect from the demands of the governour their poor children and brethren, whom they thought bound for a Wo late, make you wish you had siccepted of the favour tendered. "Your answer positive in an hour, returned by your own trumpet, with the return of mine, is required, upon the peril that will ensue." The summons being delivered unto Count Frontenac, his answer was: "That Sir William Phips and those with him were hercticks and traitors to their King, and liud taken up with that Ihiirjwr the Prince of Orjinge, and had made a revolution, which, if it had not been made, New-England and the French had been all om : and that no otiier answer wa8 to be expected from him but what should be from the moufli of his cannon" OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 187 General Phips now saw that it must cost him dry bhws, and that he must roar his perswasions out of the mouths of gi-eat guns, to make himself master of a city which had certainly surrendered it self unto him, if he had arrived but a little sooner, and summoned it before the coming down of Count Frontenac with all his forces, to command the oppressed people there, who would have been, many of them, glader of coming under the English government. Wherefore on the seventh of October, the English, that were for the land service, went on board the lesser vessels, in order to land; among which there was a bark, wherein was Captain Ephraim Savage, with sixty men, that ran a-ground upon the north shoar, near two miles from Quebeck, and could not get off, but lay in the same distress that Scaeva did, when the Britains poured in their numbers upon the bark wherein he, -.vith a few more soldiers of Csesar's army were, by the disad- vantage of tht tide, left ashoar : the French, with Indians, that saw them lye there, came near, and fired thick upon them, and were bravely answered ; %nd when two or three hundred of the enemy at last planted a field-piece against the bark, while the wind blew so hard that no help could be sent unto his men, the general advanced so far as to level two or three great guns conveniently enough to make the assailants fly ; and when the flood came, the bark happily got off, without the hurt of one man aboard. But so violent was the storm of wind all this day, that it was not possible for them to land until the eighth of October: when the English, counting every hour to be a week until they were come to battel, vigorously got ashoar, designing to enter the east end of the city. The small-pox had got into the fleet, by which distemper prevailing, the number of effective men which now went ashoar, under the command of Lieutenant General Walley, did not amount unto more than fourteen hundred ; but four com- panies of these were drawn out asfoi-lorns, whom, on every side, the enemy fired at ; nevertheless, the English rushing with a shout at once upon them, caused them to run as fast as legs could carry them : so that the whole English army, expressing as much resolution as was in Caesar's army, when they first landed on Britain, in spight of all opposition from the inh".bitants, marched on until it was dark, having first killed many of the French, with the loss of but four men of their own ; and frighted about seven or eight hundred more of the French from an ambuscado, where they lay ready to fall upon them. But some thought that by staying in the valley, they took the way never to get over the hill: and yet for them to stay where they were till the smaller vessels came up the river before them, so far as by their guns to secure the passage of the army in their getting over, was what the council of war had ordered. But the violence of the weather, with the general's being sooner plunged into the heat of action than was intended, hindred the smaller vessels from attending that order. And this evening a French deserter coming to them, assured them that nine hundred men were on their march from Quebeck to meet ll " 1 'I ? i '...,. 1 • -; , 1 1 !'■ ' li \ ; ; '■' ' ^' » 1 P.ii J M 188 MAQNALIA CIIBISTI AMERICANA; them, already passed a little rivulet that lay at the end of the city, but seeing them land so suddenly, and so valiantly run down those that first encountered them, they had retreated: nevertheless, that Count Frontenac was come down to Quebeck with no fewer than thirty hundred men to defend the city, having left huififiy soldiers to defend Mount-Real, because they had understood, that the English army on that side were gone back to Albany. Notwithstanding this dis-spiriting information, the common soldiers did with much vehemency beg and pray that they might be led on; professing that they had rather lose their lives on the spot, than fail of taking the city ; but the more wary commanders con- sidered how rash a thing it would be for about fourteen hundred raw men, tired with a long voyage, to assault more than twice as many expert sold'ers, who were Oalli in suo sterquilinio, or "cocks growing on their own dunghil." They were, in truth, now gotten into the grievous case which Livy describes when he says, Ibi grave est helium gerere, nhi non consistendi aut procedendo locus, quocumque aspexeris Hostilia sunt omnia ;^- look on the one side or the other, all was full of hostile difficulties. And, indeed, whatever popular clamour has been made against any of the com- manders, it is apparent that they acted considerately, in making n pause upon what was before them; and they did a greater kindness to their soldiers than they have since been thanked for. But in tiiis time General Phips and his men of war, with their canvas icings, flew close up unto the west-end of the- city, and there he behaved himself with the greatest bravery imaginable; nor did the other men of war forbear to follow his brave example; who never discovered himself more in his element than when, (as the poet expresseth it,) , The slaughter-breathing brass grew hot, and spoke In flames of lightning, and in clouds of smoke. He lay within pistol-shot of the enemies' cannon, and beat them from thence, and very much battered the town, having his own ship shot through in almost an hundred places with four-and- twenty pounders, and yet but one man was killed, and only two mortally wounded aboard him in this hot engagement, which continued the greatest part of that night and several hours of the day ensuing. But wondring that he saw no signal of any effective action ashore at the east-end of the city, he sent that he might know the condition of the army there; and received answer that several of the men were so frozen in their hands and feet as to be disabled from service, and others were apace falling sick of the small-pox. Whereupon he ordered them on board immediately to refresh themselves, and he intended then to have renewed his attack upon the city, in the method of landing his men in the face of it, under the shelter of his great guns; having to that purpose provided also a considerable number of well * tt bi'comes n xriovoiiB thing: to pnieecute a war, when there ii no opportunity either to go forward or draw buck ; and whtui, wherever we luuic, we nre conrronled with signs of hostiltty. I OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 189 but shaped wheel-barrows, eacli of them carrying two Petarraros apiece, to march before the men, and make the enemy fly, with as much contempt as overwhelmed the Fhilistines, when undone hy foxes with torches in their tails; (remembred in an anniversary diversion every April among the ancient Eomans, tauglit by the Phenicians.) While the measureu to be further taken were debating, there was made an exchange of prisoners, the English having taken several of the French in divers actions, and the French having in their hands divers of the English, whom the Indians had brought captives unto them. The army now on board continued still resolute and courageous, and on fire for the conquest of Quebeck; or if they had missed of doing it by storm, they knew that they might, by possessing themselves of the isle of Orleans, in a little while have starved them out. Incredible damage they might indeed have done to the enemy before they embarked, but they were willing to preserve the more undefensible parts of the country in such a condition as might more sensibly encourage the submission of the inhabitants unto the Crown of England, whose protection was desired by so many of them. And still they were loth to play for any lesser game than the immediate surrender of Quebeck it self But ere a full council of ivar could conclude the next steps to be taken, a violent storm arose that separated the fleet, and the snow and the cold became so extream, that they could not continue in those quarters any longer. Thus, by an evident hand of Heaven, sending one unavoidable disaster after another, as well-formed an enterprize as perhaps was ever made by the New-Englanders, most happily miscarried; and General Phips under- went a very mortifying disappointment of a design which his mind was, as much as ever any, set upon. He arrived November 19, at Boston, where, although he found himself, as well as the pnblick, thrown into very uneasie circumstances, yet he had this to comfort him, that neither his courage nor his conduct could reasonably have been taxed; nor could it be said thai any man could have done more than he did, under so many emharassments of his business, as he was to fight withal. He also relieved the uneasiness of his mind by considering that his voyage to Canada diverted from his country an horrible temj^est from an army of Boss-Lopers, which had prepared themselves, as 'tis afiirraed, that winter, to full upon the New-English colonies, and, by falling on them, would probably have laid no little part of the country desolate. And he further considered that, in this matter, like Israel engaging against Benjamin, it may be, we saw yet but the hcjjiuniiig of the matter: and that the way to Canada now being learnt, the foundation of a victory over it might be laid in what had been already done. Unto this purpose likewise he was heard sometimes applying the remarkable story reported by Bradwardine : "There was an hermit, who, being vexed with blasphemous injections about the justice and wisdom of Divine Providence, an angel in humane shape iiiyited him to travel with i 11 190 MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA; him, 'that ho might bpo tho hidden jtidf^ments of God.' Lodging nil night nt the house of a man who kindly iMilortaincd them, tho nngol toolc away a valuable cup from their hoHt, nt their going away in tho morning, and bentowcd this cup upon a very wicked man, w ith whom they KMlgod tho night ouHUing. Tlio third night they wero most lovingly treated ut the liouRo of a very godly man, fVom whom, when they went in the morning, tho angel, meeting n servant of his), tlirew him over tho bridge into tho water, where he was drowned. And the fourth, lioing in like manner most courteously treated at the house of a very godly man, tho angel bef«iro niornii',g did unaccountably kill his only child. Tho companion of the journey being wonderfiilly oflendcd nt these things, would have left his guardian: but the ungi'l then thus addressed him: 'Understand now tho secret judgments of God! The Ifirst man that ontert^iined us, did inordinately affect that cup which I took from him; 'twas for tae advantage of his intorinur that I took it away, and I gave it unto the impious man, as tho present n^ward of his good works, which is all tho reward ho is like to have. As for our third host, the servant which I slew had formed a bloody design to have slain his mas- tor; but now, you see, I have saved tho life of the muster, and prevented something of growth unto the eternal punishment of tho murderer. As fur our fourth host, before his child was born unto him, he was a very lilH>rnl and bountiful person, and ho did abundance of good with his esttte ; but when ho saw ho was like to leave such an heir, he grew covet- ous; wherefore the soul of the infant is translated into paradise, but the occasion of sin is, you see, mervifully ttiken away from tho piu^nt.'" Thus General Phips, though he had been used unto diving in his time, would say, "That tho things which had befallen him in this expedition, were too deep to bo dived into!" § 12. From tlie time that General Pen made his attempt upon Ilispaniola, with an army that, like the New-English forces against Canada, miscarried after an expectation of having little to do but to possess and plunder; even to this day, tho general disaster which hath attended almost every attempt of the European colonies in America to make any considerable encroach- ments upon their neighbours, is a matter of some close reflection. But of the disaster which now bofel poor New-England in particular, every one will easily conclude none of the least consequences to have been the extream debts which that country was now plunged into; there heing forty thousana pounds, more or less, now to be paid, and not a penny in the treasury to pay it withal. In this extremity they presently found out an expedient, which may serve as an example for any people in other parts of the world, whose distresses may call for a sudden supply of money to carry them through any iniportant expedition. The general assembly first passed an act for the levying of such a sum of money as was wanted, within such a term of time as was judged convenient; and this act was a. fund, on which the credit of such a sum should be rendered passable among the people. Hereupon there was appointed an able and faithful committee of gentlemen, who printed, from copper-plates, a just number of bills, and flourished, indented, and contrived them in such a manner, as to maVe it impossible to counterfeit any of them, without a speedy discovery of the counterfeit: besides which, they were all signed by the hands of three belonging to that committee. These bills being of several sums, from two shillings to ten 81 i- OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 191 pounds, did confess the Mnssachuset-coiony to be endebtcd unto the person in whose hands they were, the sums therei'^ expressed; and provision was made, that if any partrcular bilk were irrecoverably lost, or torn, or worn by the owners, they might be recruited without any damage to the whole in general. The public . Jebts to the sailors and soldiers, now upon the point o{ mutiny, (for, Arma Tenenti, Omnia dat, qui Jnsta negat!)* were in these bills paid immediately: but that further credit might be given thereunto, it was ordered that they should be accepted by the treasurer, and all officers that were subordinate unto him, in all publick payments, at five per cent, more than the value expressed in them. The people knowing that the tax-act would, in the space of two years at least, fetch into the treasury as much as all the bills of credit thence emitted would amount unto, were willing to be furnished with bills, wherein it was their advantage to pay their taxes, rather than in any other specie ; and so the sailors and soldiers put off their bills, instead of money, to those with whom they had any dealings, and they circulated through all the hands in the colony pretty comfortably Had the government been so settled, that there had not been any doubt of any obstruction, or diversion to be given to the prosecution of the tax-act, by a total change of their afiaira, then depending at White-Hall, 'tis very certain, that the bills of credit had been better than so much ready silver; yea, the invention had been of more use to the Ncvv-Englanders, than if all their copper mines had been opened, or the mountains of Peru had been removed into these parts of America. The Massachuset bills of credit had been like the bank bills of Venice, where, though there were not, perhaps, a ducat of money in the bank, yet the bills were esteemed more than twenty per cent, better than money, among the body of the people, in all their dealings. But many people being afraid that the government would in half a year be so over- turned as to convert their bills of credit altogether into waste paper, the credit of them was thereby very nmch impaired ; and they who first received them could make them yield little more than fourteen or sixteen shillings in the pound; from whence there arose those idle suspicions in the heads of many more ignorant and unthinking folks concerning the use thereof, which, to the incredible detriment of the province, are not wholly laid aside unto this day. However, this method of paying the publick debts did no less than save the publick from a perfect ruin : and ere many months were expired, the governour and council had the pleasure of seeing the treasurer burn before their eyes many a thousand pounds worth of the bills which had passed about until they were again returned unto the treasury ; but before their being returned, had happily and honestly, without a far- thing of silver coin, discharged the debts for which they were intended. But that which helped these bills unto much of their credit, was the gener- ous offer cf many worthy men in Boston to run the risque of selling their " Those who refuse Just indemaity when it Is simply demanded, ore ready to surrender every thing io armnd force. ii •.. Ld 192 MAGNALIA CIIRI8TI AMERICANA; goods reasonably '^ tLem ; and of these I think I may say that General Phips was in some sort the leader; who, at the very beginning, meerly to recommend the credit of the bills unto other persons, cheerfully laid down a considerable quantity of ready money for an equivalent parcel of them. And thus in a little time the country waded through the terrible debts which it was fallen into: in this, though unhappy enough, yet not so unhappy as in the loss of men., by which the country was at the same time consumed. 'Tis true, there was very little blood spilt in the attack made upon Quebeck, and there was a great hand of Heaven seen in it. The churches, upon the call of the government, not only observed a general fast through the Colony, for the welfare of the army sent unto Quebeck, but also kept the wheel of prayer in a continual motion, by repeated and successive agreements for days of prayer with fasting in their several vicinities. On these days the ferventest prayers were sent up to the Qod of armies, for the safety and success of the New-English army gone to Canada: and though I never understood that any of the faithful did in their prayers arise to any assu- rance that the expedition should 2irosper in all respects, yet they sometimes, in their devotions on these occasions, uttered their perswasion that Almighty God had heard them \vi.tliis thing, "that the English army should not fall by the hands of the French enemy." Now they were marvellously delivered from doing so; though the enemy had such unexpected advan- tages over them ; yea, and though the horrid winter was come on so far, that it is a wonder the English fleet, then riding in the river of Canada, fared any better than the army which a while since besieged Poland, wherein, of seventy thousand invaders, no less i\iVLn forty thousand suddenly perished by the severity of the cold, albeit it were but the month of November with them. Nevertheless, a kind of campfever, as well as the small-pox, got into the fleet, whereby some hundreds came short of home. And besides this calamity, it was also to be lamented that although the most of the fleet arrived safe at New-England, whereof some vessels indeed were driven off by cross winds as far as the West-Indies before such arrival, yet there were three or four vessels which totally miscarried : one was never heard of, a second was wrecked, but most of the men were saved by another in company ; a third was wrecked, so that all the men were either starved, or drowned, or slain by the Indians, except one, which a long while after was by means of the French restored; and a. fourth met with accidents which, it may be, my reader will by and by pronounce not unworthy to have been related. A brigantine, whereof Captain John Rainsford was commander, having about threescore men aboard, was in a very stormy night, October 28, 1690, stranded upon the desolate and hideous island of Antecosta, an island in the mouth of the mighty river of Canada; but through the singular mercy of God r. ^o them, the vessel did not immediately stave to pieces, which, if it u„.. happened, they must have one way or another OB, THE UI8T0RT OF NEW-ENGLAND. 193 cneral jrly to I down ' them. I which ppy aa sumed. lebeck, pon the ,gh the ept the sements so days ) safety I never ly assu- [letimes, Imighty >uld not ■ellously 1 advan- n so far, Canada, Poland, uddeuly lonth of II as the of home. 3ugh the s indeed arrival, ras never another starved, lile after accidents iTorthy to r, having tober 28, costa, an ough the ely stave another quickly perished. There thoy lay for divers days, under abundance of bitter weather, trying and hoping to get oil' their vessel; and they sol- emnly set apart one day for prayer with /listing, to obtain the smiles of Heaven upon them in tho mitlst of their distresses; and this especially, that if they must go ashoar, they nugiit not, by any stress of storm, lose the provisions which they were to C4irry with tliein. Thoy were at last convinced that thoy must continue no longer on IknirI, and therefore, by the seventh of November, they applied themselves, all hands, to got their provisions ashoar upon the dismal island, where thoy had nothing but a sad and cold winter before them ; which being accomplished, their vessel overset so as to take away from them all expectation of getting off tho island in it. Ilere they now built themselves nine small chimnryless Uuwjs that they called houses; to this purpose employing such boanls and planks as they could get from their shattered vessel, with the help of trees, whereof that squalid wilderness had enough to servo them; and they built a particular store-house, wherein thoy can^fuUy lodged and locked the poor quantity of provisions, which, though scarce enough to serve a very abstemious company for one month, must now be so stintetl as to hold out six or seven; and the allowance agreed among them could bo no better than for one man, "two biskets, half a pound of jn^rk, half a pound of flower, one pint and a quarter of jioaso, and two salt fishes per week." This ]i'*le handful of men were now a sort of comnionuxulth, extraordi- narily and miserably separated from all the rest of nninkind ; (but I believe they thought little enough of an Utopia:) whorefoi-e they consulted, and concluded such laws among themsolvos i\s thoy judged nceossiiry to their subsistence, in the doleful condition whereinto tho providence of God had cast them ; now — Penitua toto divito* Otbe,* they set up good orders, as well as they could, among themselves; and besides their daily devotions, they observed tho Ix>rd'3 da3's with more solemn exercises of religion. But it was not long before thoy began to feel the more mortid eflecta of the straits whereinto they had been reduced: their short commons, their drink of snow-water, their hard, and wot, and smoaky lodijings, and their grievous despair of mind, overwhelmed some of them at such a rate, and so ham-stringed them, that sooTier than bo at the pains to go abroad, and cut their own fuel, they would lye after a sottish manner in the cold ; these things quickly brought sicknesses among them. Tho fi -st of their number who died was their doctor, on the 20th of Doeeniber; and then they dropt away, one after anotiior, till between thirty and forty of the sixty were buried by their disconsolate friends, whereof every one looked still to be the next that should lay his bones in that foi'saken region. These poor men did therefore, on Monda}', the 27th of January, keep a * Sopiirattnl lh)in tho whole world. Vol. I.— 13 i, '■ 1, r-a 1 ." 194 MAONALIA CIIBISTI AMKBIOANA; sacred fast (as they did, in some Hort, a civil one, every day, all this while) to beseech of Alrniglity Ood that his anger might be turned from them, that ho would not go on to cut them off in his anger, that the extremity of the season might be mitigated, and that they might be prospered in some essay to get relief as the spring should advance upon them ; and they took notice that God gave them a gracious answer to every one of these petitions. But while the hand of God was killing so many of this little nation (and yet uncapable to become a nation, for it was lies unius yl'Jtatis, ^/jpu- lus viromml)* they apprehended that they must have been under a most uncomfortable necessity to kill one of their company. Whatever penalties they enacted for other crimes, there was one for which, like that of parricide among the antients, they would have prom- ised themselves that there should not have been occasion for any punish- ments; and that was the crime of stealing from the common-stock of their provisions. Nevertheless they found their store-house divers times broken open, and their provisions therefrom stolen by divers unnatural children of the Leviathan, while it was not possible for them to preserve their feeble store-house from the stone-wall-breaking madness of these unreason- able creatures. This trade of stealing, if it had not been stopped by some exemplary severity, they must in a little while, by lot o^c force, have come to have cannibally devoured one another ; for there was nothing to be done, either at fishing, or fowling, or hunting, upon that rueful island, in the depth of a frozen winter; and though they sent as far as they could upon discovery, they could not find on the island any living thing in the world besides themselves. Wherefore, though by an act they made stealing to be so criminal that several did run the gauntlet for it, yet they were not far from being driven, afler all, to make one degree and instance of it capital. There was a wicked Irishman among them, who had such a vora- cious devil in him, that afler divers burglaries upon the store-house, com- mitted by him, at last he stole, and eat with such a pamphagous fury, as to cram himself with no less than eighteen biskets at one stolen meal, and he was fain to have his belly stroked and bathed before the fire, lest he should other- wise have burst. This amazing, and indeed murderous villany of the Irish- man brought them all to their wit's ends how to defend themselves from the ruin therein threatened unto them ; and whatever methods were proposed, it was feared that there could be no stop given to his furacious exorbi- tancies any way but one; he could not be past stealing, unless he were past eating too. Some think therefore they might have sentenced the wretch to die, and after they had been at pains, upon Christian and spiritual accounts, to prepare him for it, have executed the sentence by shooting him to death: concluding matters come to that pass, that if they had not shot him, he must have starved them unavoidably. Such an action, if it were done, will doubtless meet with no harder a censure, than that of the seven * A commonweaUh but a tiogle ceotury old— yet a nation of beroes. a U OB, THE UI8T0BY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 105 bile) tliat f tho 383Uy notice IS. latton , most no for prom- mnish- [ their )roken hildren e their reason- ly some 3omo to >e done, , in the Id upon e world nling to v^ere not ce of it I a vora- ise, com- r?/, as to 1 he was Id other- le Irish- from the roposed, exorbi- yrere past e wretch spiritual shooting not shot f it were ;he seven Englishmen, who, being in a boat corried off to sea from St. Christoplicra, with but oiie day's provision aboard for seventeen, singled out some of their number by lot, and slew them, and ate them ; for which, when they were afterwards accused of murder, the court, in consideration of the inevitable necessity, acquitted them. Truly the inevitable necessity of starving, without such an action, sufficiently grievous to them all, will very much plead for what was done (whatever it werel) by these poor Antecostians. And .starved indeed they must have been for all this, if they had not contrived and per- formed a very desperate adventure, which now remains to be related. Tliere was a very diminutive kind of boat belonging to their briguntine, which they recovered out of the wreck, and cutting this boat in two, they made a shift, with certain odd materials preserved among them, to lengthen it so far, that they could form a little cuddy, where two or three men might be stowed, and they set up a little mast, whereto they fastened a little sail, and accommodated it with some other little circumstances, according to their present poor capacity. On the twenty-fifth of March, five of the company shipped themselves upon this doughty jly-hoat, intending, if it were possible, to carry unto Boston the tidings of their woeful plight upon Antecosta, and by help from their friends there, to return with seasonable succours for the rest. They had not sailed long before they were hemmed in by prodigious cakes of ice, whereby their boat sometimes was horribly wounded, and it was a miracle that it was not crushed into a thousand pieces, if indeed a tJiousand pieces could have been splintered out of so minute a cock-boat. They kept labouring, and fearfully weather-beaten, among enormous rands of ice, which would ever now and then rub formidably upon them, and were enough to have broken the ribs of the strongest frigot that ever cut the seas ; and yet the signal hand of Heaven so preserved this petty boat, that by the eleventh of April they had got a quarter of their way, and came to an anchor under Cape St. Lawrence, having seen land but once before, and that about seven leagues off, ever since their first setting out ; and yet having seen the open and ocean sea not so much as once in all this while, for the ice that still encompassed them. For their support in this time, the little provisions they brought with them would pot have kept them alive; only they killed scale upon the ice, and they melted the upper part of the ice for drink ; but fierce, wild, ugly sea-horses would often so approach them upon the ice, that the fear of being devoured by them v»-as not the least of their exercises. The day following, they weighed anchor betimes in the morning, but the norvvest winds persecuted them, with the raised and raging waves of the sea, which almost continually poured into them ; and monstrous islands of ice, that seemed almost as big as Antecosta it self, would ever now and then come athwart them. In such a sea they lived by the special assistance of God, until, by the thirteenth of April, they got into an island of land, where 1 1 u 196 MAGNALIA CIIBISTl AMERICANA; they made a fire, and killed some fowl and some seale, and found some goose-eggs, and supplied themselves with what billets of wood were neces- sary and carriageable for them ; and there they stayed until the seven- teenth. Here their boat lying near a rock, a great sea hove it upon the rock, so that it was upon the very point of oversetting, which if it had, she had been utterly disabled for any further service, and they must have called that harbour by the name which, I think, one a little more north- ward bears, " the Cape without hope." There they must have ended their weary days! But here the good hand of God again interposed for them; they got her off; and though they lost their compass in this hurry, they sufficiently repaired another defective one they had aboard. Sailing from thence, by the twenty-fourth of April, they made Cape Britioon ; when a thick fog threw them into a new perplexity, until they were safely gotten into the Bay of Islands, where they again wooded, and watred, and killed a few fowl, and catched some fish, and began to reckon themselves as good as half ivay home. They reached Cape Sables by the third of May, but by the fiflh all their provision was again spent, and they were out of sight of land; nor had they any prospect of catching any thing that lives in the Atlantick: which, while they were lamenting one unto another, a stout halibut comes up to the top of the water, by their side ; whereupon they threw out the fishing-line, and the fish took the hook ; but he proved so heavy, that it required the help of several hands to hale him in, and a thankful supper they made on it. By the seventh of May seeing no land, but having once more spent all their provision, they were again grown almost wholly hopeless of deliverance, but then a fishing shallop of Cape Ann came up with them, fifteen leagues to the eastward of that cape. And yet before they got in, they had so tempestuous a night, that they much feared perishing uj)on the ;'ocks after all: but God carried them into Boston hjirbour the ninth of May, unto the great surprize of their friends that were in mourning for them : and there furnishing themselves with a vessel fit for their undertaking, they took a course in a few weeks more to fetch home their brethren that they left behind them at Antecosta. But it is now time for us to return unto Sir William I § 13. All this while Canada was as much written upon Sir William's heart as Callice, they said once, was upon Queen Mary's. He needed not one to have been his daily monitor about Canada; it lay down with him, it rose up with him, it engrossed almost all his thoughts; he thought the subduing of Canada to be the greatest service that could be done for New- PJngland, or for the crown of England, in America. In pursuance whereof, after he had been but a few weeks at home, he took another voyage for England, in the very depth of winter, when sailing was now dangerous; conflicting with all the difhculties of a tedious and terrible passage, in a very little vessel, which indeed was like enough to have perished, if it had not been for the help of his generous hand aboard, and his fortunes in the bottom. OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 197 Arriving — j^^'' tot Discrimina* — at Bristol, he hastned up to London; and made his applications to their Majesties and the principal Ministers of State for assistance to renew an expedition against Canada, concluding his representation to the King with such words as these: " If your IMiijfsty shall grnciuusly please to commission and assist me, I am ready to ven- ture my life again in your service. And I doubt not, by the blessing of God, Cnnuda may be added unto the rest of your dominions, whiuh will (ull ciruumstunces considered) be of mure advantage to the crown of England, than all the territories in the West Indies are. ^ " The Reatons here subjoined, are humliy offered unto your Majesty's consideration: " First, The success of this demgn will greatlv add to the glory and interest of the Eng- lish crown tind nation ; by the addition of the Bever-trade, and securing the Hudson's bay company, some of whose factories have lately fallen into the hands of the French; and increase of English shipping and seamen, by gaining the fishery of Newfoundland ; and by consequuncc diminish the number of French seamen, and cut off a great revenue from the French crown. " Secondly, The cause of the English in New-England, their failing in the lote attempt upon Canada, was their waiting fur a supply of ammunition from England until August; their long passage up that river; the cold season coming on, and the small-pox and fevers being in the army and fleet, so that they could not sfciy fourteen days longer; in which time probably they might have tiken Quebeck ; yet, if a few frigots be speedily sent, they doubt not of an hnppy success ; the strength of the French being small, and the planters desirous to be under the English government. " Thirdly, Tiie Jcsuites endeavour to seduce the Maquas, and other Indi.in3 (as is by them affirmed), suggesting the greatness of King Lt;wis, and the inability of King William to do any thing against the French in those parts, thereby to engage them in their intercEts: in which, if they should succeed, not only New-England, but all our American plantations, would be endangered by the great increase of shipping, for the French (built in New-EngKand at eiisie rates) to the infinite dishonour and prejudice uf the English nation." But now, for the success of these applications, I must entreat the patience of my reader to wait until we have gone thro' a little more of our history. § 1-i. The Reverend Increase Mather beholding his country of New- England in a very deplorable condition, under a governour that acted by an illegal, arbitrary, treasonable commission, and invaded lihertij awdi prop- erty after such a manner, as thut no man could say anything was his own^ he dill, with the encouragement of the principal gentlemen in the country, but not without much trouble and hazard unto his own person, go over to Whitehall in the summer of the year 1688, and wait upon King James, with a full representation of their miseries. That King did give him liberty of access unto him, whenever he desired it, and with many good ivorils promised him to relieve the oppressed people in many riisiances that were proposed: but when the revolution had brought the Prince and Princess of Orange to the throne, Mr. Mather having the honour divers times to wait upon the King, he still prayed for no less a favour to New-England, than the full restoration of their charter-priviledgcs: and Sir William Phips * Aftur 8u inniiy vurivlivs uf rortuna. 198 MAGNALIA CHRI8TI AMERICANA; happening to be then in England, very generously joined with Mr. Mather in some of those addresses: whereto his Majesty's answers were always very expressive of his gracious inclinations. Mr. Mather, herein assisted also by the Right Worshipful Sir Henry Ashurst, a most hearty friend of all such good men as those that once filled New-England, solicited the leading men of both houses in the Convention-Parliament, until a bill for the restoring of the charters belonging to New-England, was fully passed by the Commons of England: but that Parliament being prorogued and then dissolved, all that Sisyphaean labour came to nothing. The uisap- pointments which afterwards most wonderfully blasted all the hopes of the petitioned restoration, obliged Mr. Mather, not without the concurrence of other agents, now also come from New-England, unto that method of petitioning the King for a neio charter, that should contain more than all the priviledges of the old; and Sir William Phips, now being again returned into England, lent his utmost assistance hereunto. The King taking a voyage for Holland before this petition was answered : Mr. Mather, in the meanwhile, not only waited upon the greatest part of the Lords of his Majesty's most honourable Privy Council, offering them a paper of "reasons for the confirmation of the charter-priviledges granted unto the Massachuset-colony ;" but also having the honour to be introduced unto the Queen, he assured her Majesty that there were none in the world better affected unto their Majesties' government than the people of New- England, who had indeed been exposed unto great hardships for their being so; and entreated that, since the King had referred the New-English affair unto the two Lord Chief Justices, with the Attorney and Solicitor General, there might be granted unto us what they thought was reasonable. Whereto the Queen replied, that the request was reasonable : and that she had spoken divers times to the King on the behalf of New-England ; and that for her own part, she desired that the people there might not meerly have justice, but favour done to them. When the King was returned, Mr. Mather, being by the Duke of Devonshire brought into the King's presence on April 28, 1691, humbly prayed his Majesty's favour to New- England ; urging, that if their old charter-priviledges might be restored unto them, his name would be great in those parts of the world as long as the world should stand ; adding, " Sir : Your suLjects there have been willing to venture their lives, that they may enlarge your dominions; the expedition to Canada was a great and noble undertaking. "May it please your Majesty, in your great wisdom also to consider the circumshmces of that people, as in your wisdom you have considered the circumstances of England and of Scotland. In New-England they differ from other plantations; they are called 'Congrega- tional* and 'Presbyterian.' So that such a governor will not suit with the people of New- England as may be very proper for other English plantations." Two days after this, the King, upon what was proposed by certain Lords, was very inquisitive, whether he might, without breach of law, OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 199 set a governour over New-England; whereto the Lord Chief Justice and some others of the council, answered, that whatever might be the merit of the cause, inasmuch as the charter of New-England stood vacated by a judgment against them, it was in the King's power to put them under yfhat/orm of government he should think best for them. The King then said, "That he believed it would be for the advantage of the people in that colony, to be under a governour appointed by him- self: nevertheless, (because of what Mr. Mather had spoken to him,) he would have the agents of New-England nominate a person that should be agreeable unto the inclinations of the people there: and notwithstanding this he would have charter-priviledges restored and confirmed unto them." The day followiag, the King began another voyage to Holland; and when the attorney general's draught of a charter, according to what he took to be his Majesty's mind, as expressed in council, was presented at the council-board, on the eighth of June, some objections then made, pro- cured an order to prepare minutes for another draught, which deprived the New-Englanders of several essential priviledges in their other charter. Mr. Mather put in his objections, and vehemently protested, that he would sooner part with his life than consent unto those minutes, or anything else »,L '*■ should infringe any liberty or privilege of right belonging unto his i n'lt /: but he was answered, that the agents of New-England were not ^Lu^occntiaries from another sovereign state; and that if they would not submit unto the King's pleasure in the settlement of the country, they must "take what would follow." The dissatisfactory minutes were, by Mr. Mather's industry, sent over unto the King in Flanders ; and the ministers of state then with the King were earnestly applied unto, that every mistake about the good settlement of New-England might be prevented ; and the Queen her self, with her own royal hand, wrote unto the king that the charter of New-England might either pass as it was drawn by the attorney general, or be deferred until his own return. But after all, his Majesty's principal secretary of state received a signi- fication of the King's pleasure that the charter of New-England should run in the main points of it as it was now granted : only there were sev- eral important articles which Mr. Mather by his unwearied solicitation obtained afterwards to be inserted. There were some now of the opinion, that instead of submitting to this new settlement, they should, in hopes of getting a reversion of the judg- ment against the old charter,, declare to the ministers of state that they had rather have no charter at all, than such an one as was now proposed unto acceptance. But Mr. Mather advising with many unprejudiced per- sons, and men of the greatest abilities in the kingdom, noblemen, gentle- men, divines and lawyers, they all agreed that it was not only a lawful, but, all circumstances then considered, a needful thing, and a part of duty ■f|; ' ■ ■ .11 M! 200 MAONALIA OHBISTI AMEBICAI7A; and wisdom to accept what was now offered, and that a peremptory refusal would not only bring an inconveniency, but a fatal and perhaps a final ruin upon the country ; wt-jreof mankind would lay the blame upon the agents. It was argued, that such a submission was no surrender of any thing; that the judgment, not in the court of King's-bench, but in chancery against the old charter, standing on record, the patent was thereby annihihited ; that all attempts to have the judgment against the old charter taken off, would be altogether in vain, as men and things were then disposed. It wid further argued, that the ancient charter of New-England Avas in the opinion of the lawyers very defective, as to several poiversy which ^ et were absolutely necessary to the subsistence of the plantations ; it gave the government there no more power than the corporations have in Eng- land ; power in capital cases was not therein particularly expressed. It mentioned not an house of deputies, or an assembly of representatives; the govemour and company had thereby (they said) no power to impose taxes on the inhabitants that were not freemen, or to erect courts of admi- ralty. Without such powers the colony could not subsist; and yet the best friends that New-England had of persons most learned in the law, proiessed, that suppose the judgment against the Massachuset-charter might be reversed, yet, if they should again exert such powers as they did before the Quo Warranto against their charter, a new writ of Scire Facias would undoubtedly be issued out against them. It was yet further argued, that if an act of parliament should have reversed the judgment against the Massachuset-charter, without a grant of some other advantages, the whole territory had been, on many accounts, very miserably incommoded: the Province of Main, with Hampshire, would have been taken from them ; and Plymouth would have been annexed unto New-York ; so that this colony would have been squeezed into an atom, and not only have been rendered insignificant in its trade, but by having its militia also, which was vested in the King, taken away, its insignificancies would have become out of measure humbling; whereas now, instead of seeing any relief by act of parliament, they would have been put under a govemour, with a commission, whereby ill men, and the King's and country's enemies might probably have crept into opportuni- ties to have done ten thousand ill things, and have treated the best men in the land after a very uncomfortable manner. It was lastly argued, that by the new charter very great privileges were granted unto New-England ; and in some respects greater than what they 'formerly enjoyed. The colony is now made a province, and their general court has, with the King's approbation, as much power in New-England, as the King and parliament have in England. They have all English liberties, and can be touched by no law, by no tax, but of their own making. All the liberties of their holy religion are for ever secured, and their titles to their lands, once for want of jorae forms of legal convey- OR, THE HISTOKY OF NEW-ENGL At, D. 201 anco, contested, are now confirmed unto them. If an ill governour should happen to be imposed on them, what hurt could he do to them? None, except they themselves pleased; for he cannot make one counsellor, one judge, or one justice, or one sheriff to serve his turn : disadvantages enough, one would think, to discourage any ill governour from desiring to be sta- tioned in those uneasie regions. The people have a negative upon all the executive part of the civil government, as well as the legislative, which is a vast priviledge, enjoyed by no other plantation in America, nor by Ire- land — no, nor hitherto by England it self. Why should all of this good be refused or despised, because of somewhat not so good attending it? The despisers of so much good will certainly deserve a censure, not unlike that of Causabon, upon some who did not value what that learned man counted highly valuable: Vix illis optari quidquam pejus potest^ quam ui fatuitate sua fruantur :* — Much good may do them with their madness I All this being well considered. Sir William Phips, who had made so many addresses for the restoration of the old charter, under which he hrtd seen his country many years flourishing, will be excused by all the world from any thing of a fault, in a most unexpected passage of his life, which is now to be related. Sir Henry Ashurst and Mr. Mather, well knowing the agreeable dispo- sition to do good, and the King and his country service, which was in Sir William Phips, whom they now had with them, all this while prosecuting his design for Canada, they did unto the council-board nominate him for the GOVERNOUR of New-England. And Mr. Mather being by the Earl of Nottingham introduced unto his Majesty, said : "Sir: I do, in the behalf of New-England, most humbly thank yoar Maji^sty, in that you have been pleased by a Charter to restore Englisli Liberties unto them, to confirm them in their properties, and to grant them some peculiar priviledgcs. I doubt not, but that your subjects there will demean themselves with that dutiful aflfeetion and loyalty to yoi^r Majesty, U8 that you will see cause to enlarge your royal favours towards them. And I do most humbh thnnk your Majesty in that you have been pleased to give leave unto those that are coii. crned fur New-England to nominate their Governour. "Sir William Phips has been accordingly nominated by us at the Council-Bourd. He hath done a good service for the crown, by enlarging your dominions, and reducing of Nova Scotiu to your obedience. I know that he will faithfully serve your Majesty to the utmost of his capacity ; and if your Majesty shall think fit to confirm him in that place, it will be a further obligation on your subjects there." The effects of all this was, that Sir William Phips was now invested with a commission under the King's broad-seal to be captain -general and governour in chief over the province of the Massachuset-bay in New-Eng- land: nor do I know a person in the world that could have been proposed more acceptable to the body of the people throughout New-England, and on that score more likely and able to serve the King's interests among the * One could hardly wiih them txsj wonie fortuno than to enjoy the frulta of their own fully. 202 UAGNALIA OHBISTI AMEBICANA; people there, under the changes in some things unacceptable, now brought upon them. He had been a Gideon, who had more than once ventured his life to save his country from their enemies: and they now, with uni- versal satisfaction said, " Thou shalt rule over us." Accordingly, having with Mr. Mather kissed the King's hand on January Sd, 1691, he hastned away to his government; and arriving at New-England the I4th of May following, attended with the Non-such frigot, both of them were welcomed with the loud acclamations of the long shaken and sAa/^ec? country, whereto they were now returned with a settlement so full of happy priviledges. § 15. When Titos Flaminius had freed the poor Grecians from the bondage which had long oppressed them, and the herald proclaimed among them the articles of their freedom, they cried out, " A saviour! a saviour 1" with such loud acclamations, that the very birds fell down from heaven astonished at the cry. Truly, when Mr. Mather brought with him unto the poor New-Englanders, not only a charter, which though in divers points wanting what both he and they had wished for, yet for ever delivers them from oppressions on their Christian and English liberties, or their ancient possessions, wherein ruining writs of intrusion had begun to invade them all, but also a governour who might call New-England his own • country, and who was above most men in it, full of affection to the inter- ests of his country; the sensible part of the people then caused the sence of the salvations thus brought them to reach as far as heaven it self. The various little humours then working among the people, did not hinder the great and general court of the province to appoint a day of solemn Thanksgiving to Almighty God, for "granting" (as the printed order expressed it) "a safe arrival to his Excellency our Governour, and the Reverend Mr. Increase Mather, who have industriously endeavoured the service of this people, and have brought over with them a settlement of government, in which their Majesties have graciously given us distinguish- ing marks of their royal favour and goodness." And as the obliged people thus gave thanks unto the God of heaven, so they sent an address of thanks unto their Majesties, with other letters of thanks unto some chief ministers of state, for the favourable aspect herein cast upon the province. Nor were the people mistaken, when they promised themselves all the kindness imaginable from this governour, and expected, "under his shadow we shall live eaaie among the heathen :" why might they not look for hal- cyon-days, when they had such a Xing' s-fisher for their governour? Governour Phips had, as every raised and useful person must Lave, his envious enemies; but the palest envy of them who turned their ■worst enmity upon him, could not hinder them from confessing, "That, according to the best of his apprehension, he ever sought the good of his country :" his country quickly felt this on innumerable occasions; and they had it emi- nently demonstrated, as well in his promoting and approving the council's OB, THE BISTORT OF NEW-ENOLAND. 208 choice of good judges, justices and sheriffs, which, being once established, no sticcessor could remove them, as in his urging the general assembly to make themselves happy by preparing a body of good laws as fast as they could, which being passed by him in his time, could not be nulled by any other after him. He would often speak to the members of the General Assembly in such terms as these: "Gentlemen, you may make your selves as easie as you will for ever; consider what may have any tendency to your welfare; and you may be sure, that whatever bills you offer to me, consistent with the honour and interest of the Crown, I'll pass them readily; I do but seek opportunities to serve you: had it not been for the sake of this thing, I had never accepted the government of this province; and whenever you have settled such a body of good laws, that no person coming after me may make you uneasie, I shall desire not one day longer to continue in the government." — Accordingly he ever passed every act for the welfare of the province proposed unto him ; and instead of ever putting them upon buying his assent unto any good act, he was much forwarder to give it, than they were to ask it; nor indeed had the hungtir of a salary any such impression upon him as to make him decline doing all possible service for the publick, while he was not sure of having any proportionable or hon- ourable acknowledgments. But yet he minded the preservation of the King's lights with as careful and faithful a zeal as became a good steward for the crown ; and, indeed, he studied nothing more than to observe such a temper in all things as to extinguish what others have gone to distinguish — even the pernicious notion of a separate interest. There was a time when the Roman empire was infested with a vast number of governours, who were infamous for infinite avarice and villany ; and, referring to this time, the apostle John had a vision of "people killed with the beasts of the earth." But Sir William Phips was none of those governours ; wonderfully con- trary to this wretchedness was the happiness of New-England, when they had Governour Phips, using the tenderness of a father towards the people ; and being of the opinion, Ditare magis esse Regmm quam Ditescere* that it was a braver thing to enrich the people, than to grow rich himself. A father, I said; and what if I had said an angei too? If I should from Clemens Alexandrinus, from Theodoret, and from Jerom, and other? among the ancients, as well as from Calvin, and Bucan, and Peter Martyr, and Chemnitius, and BuUinger, and a thousand more among the moderns, bring authorities for the assertion, "That each country and province is under the special care of some angel, by a singular deputation of heaven assigned thereunto ; " I could back them with a far greater authority than any of them all. The Scripture it self does plainly assert it : and hence the most learned Grotius, writing of commonwealths, has a passage to this * It it more truly princely to enrich than to be enriched. 204 MAQNALIA C1IRI8TI AMEBICANA; purpose: Hia singulis suos AUn'butos, esse Angelas, ex Dantete, magno con- sensu, et Judm et Chmtiani veteres colligebant.* But New-England had now, besides the guardian-angel who more invis- ibly intended its welfiire, a governour that became wonderfully agreeable thereunto, by Ills whole imitation of such a guurdian-angel. He employed his whole strength to guard his people from all disasters which threatncd them either by sea or land ; and it was remarked that nothing remarkably disastrous did bofal that people from the time of his arrival to the govern- ment, until there arrived an order for his leaving it: (except one thing which was begun before he entred upon the government:) but instead thereof, the Indians were notably defeated in the assaults which they now made upon the English, and several French ships did also very advan- tageously fall into his hands; yea, there was by his means a peace restored unto the province, that had been divers years languishing under the hectio feaver of a lingring war. And there was this one thing more that rendred his government the more desirable: that whereas 'tis impossible for a meer man to govern without some error, whenever this governour was advised of any error in any of his administrations, he would immediately retract it, and revoke it with all possible ingenuity ; so that if any occasion of just complaint arose, it was usually his endeavour that it should not long be complained of. — (>,/m tbe book of DanieL ■ocording tu the unaiiimoii* JiidKinwil of both the Jews and the Chrittiana of the early ages, t O thrleo-bU>iM>il NfW-Kni^laniltM'a, if they but uuderttood their own good fortunel X The Wuudruua Wwrkt of tbo Splriu OB, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 205 Advocaverint — the Jew3, by the frequent use of magical tricks, called in th« devils arnong them. It is very certain, there were hardly any people in the world grown more fond of sorceries than that uribappy people: the Talmuds tell us of the little parchments with words upon them, which were their common amulets, and of the charms which they muttered over loounds, and of the various enchantments which they used against all sorts of disasters whatso- ever. It is affirmed in the Talmuds, that no less than twenty-four scholars in one school were killed by witchcraft; and that no less than fourscore persons were hanged for witchcraft by one judge in one day. The gloss adds upon it, " That the women of Israel had generally fallen to the prac- tice of witchcrafts;" and therefore it was required, that there should be still chogen into the council one skilful in the arts of sorcerers, and able thereby to discover who might be guilty of those black arts among such as were accused before them. Now, the arrival of Sir William Phips to the government of New-Eng- land, was at a time when a governour would have had occasion for all the skill in sorcery that was ever necessary to a Jewish Counsellor; a time when scores of poor people had newly fallen under a prodigious possession of devils, which it was then generally thought had been by witchcrafts introduced. It is to be confessed and bewailed, that many inhabitants of Nevz-England, and young people especially, had been led away with little sorceries, wherein they "did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God;" they would often cure hurts with spells, and practice detestable conjurations with sieves, and keys, and pease, and nails, and horse-shoes, and ^iher implements, to learn the things for which they had a forbidden and impious curiosity. Wretched books had stoln into the land, wherein fools were instructed how to become able fortune-tellers : among which, I wonder that a blacker brand is not set upon that fortune-telling wheel, which that sham-scribler that goes under the letters of R. B. has promised in his ^'^ Delights for the Ingenious,^^ as an honest and pleasant recreation: and by these books, the minds of many had been so poisoned, that they studied this finer witchcraft; until 'tis well if some of them were not betrayed into what is grosser, and more sensible and capital. Although these diabolical divinations are more ordinarily committed perhaps all over the whole loorld, than they are in the country of New-England, yet, that being a country devoted unto the worship and service of the Lord Jesus Christ above the rest of the world, he signalized his vengeance against these wickednesses, with such extraordinary dispen- sations as have not been often seen in other places. The devils which had been so played withal, and, it may be, by some few criminals more explicitly engaged and imployed, now broke in upon the country, after as astonishing a manner as was ever heard of. Some scores of people, first about Salernj the centre and first-born of all the 206 llAONALIA OHBIBTI AMERICANA; ! ! towns in the colony, and afterwards in several other places, were arrested with many preternatural vexations upon their bodies, and a variety of cruel torments, which were evidently inflicted from the dtemons of the invmble world. The people that were infected and infested with such daomons, in a few days' time arrived unto such a refining alteration upon their eyes, that they could see their tormentors: they saw a devil of a little stature^ and of a tawny colour ^ attended still with spectres that appeared in more humane circumstances. Tliese tormentors tendred unto the afflicted a book, requiring them to sign it, or to toiich it at lenst, in token of their consenting to be listed in the service of the devil ; which they refusing- to do, the spectres under the command of that hlachnan, as they called him, would apply themselves to torture them with prodigious molestations. The alflicted wretches were horribly distorted and convulsed; they were pinched black and blue : pins would be run every where in their flesh ; they would be scalded until they had bliaters raised on them ; and a thou- sand other things before hundreds of witnesses were done unto them, evidently preternatural: for if it were preternatural to keep a rigid fixst for nine, yea, for fijleen days together; or if it yrcre preternatural to have one's hands ti/id close together with a rope to be plainly seen, and then by unseen hands presently pulled up a great way from the earth before a croud of people; such jtreternatural things were endured by them. But of all the preternatural things which bcfel these people, there were cone more unaccountable than those wherein the prestigious dajmons would ever now and then cover the most corporeal things in the world with a finscinating mist of invisibility. Aa now; a person was cruelly assaulted by a spectre, that, she said, run at her with a spindle, though no body else in the room could see either the spectre or the spindle r at last, in her ago- nies, giving a snatch at the spectre, she pulled the spindle away ; and it was no sooner got into her hand, but the other folks then present beheld that it was indeed a real, proper, iron spindle ; which, when they locked up very safe, it was nevertheless by the dcemons taken away to do farther mischief. Again, a person was haunted by a most abusive spectre, which came to her, she said, with a sheet about her, though seen to none but her self. After she had undergone a deal of teaze from the annoyance of the spectre, she gave a violent snatch at the sheet that was upon it ; where-from she tore a corner, which in her hand immediately was beheld by all that were present, a palpable corner of a sheet: and her father, which was now hold- ing of her, catched, that he might keep what his daughter had so strangely seized ; but the spectre bad like to have wrung his hand off, by endeav- ouring to wrest it from him; however, he still held it, and several times this odd accident was renewed in the family. There wanted not the oaths of good credible people to these particulars. OB, THl HISTORY OP NEW-INOLAR t>. 207 Also, it is well known, that tkcso wicked (tpeotrea did proceed so far as to steal several quantities of money firom divers people, part of which individual money was dropt sometimes out of the air, before suillcient spectators, into the hands of thu nflliuted, while the 8{)cctrc8 were urging them to subscribe their covenant with death. Moreover, poiaoua to the 8tanders*by, wholly invisibly, were sometimes forced upon the afllicted; which when they have with much retuotanoy swolloweil, they have suxtln presently, so that the common medicines for poisons have been found necessary to relieve them: yea, sometimes the spectres, in the strugrjles, have so dropt the poisons, that the standers-by have smelt them, and viewed them, and beheld the pillows of the miserable stained with them. Yet more: the miserable have complained bitterly of burning rags run into their forceably distended mouths; and though nolxxly could see any such clothes, or indeed any fires in the chambers, yet presently the scalds were seen plainly by every body on the mouths of the complainers, and not only the smell, but the smoke of the burning sensibly filled the chamber*. Once more: the miserable exclain\ed extreamly of branding irons heat- ing at the fire on the heartl\ to mark them. Now, though the standers-by could see no irons, yet they could see distinctly the print of them in the ashes, and smell them too as they were carried by the not-seen furies unto the poor creatures for whom they were intended ; and those poor creatures were thereupon so stigmatized with them, that they will bear the marks of them to their dying day. Nor are these the tenth part of the prodigies that fell out among the inhabitants of New-England. Flashy people may burlesque these things, but when hundreds of the most sober people in a country where they have as much motJier-iuit cer- tainly as the rest of mankind, know them to be triw, nothing but the absurd and froward spirit of Sadducism can question them. I have not yet mentioned so much as one thing that will not bo justified, if it be required by the oaths of more considerate persons than any that can ridi- cule these odd phenomena. But the worst part of this astonishing tragedy is yet Iwhind; wherein Sir William Phips, at last being dropt, as it were from the machin of heaven, was an instrument of easing the distresses of the land, now "so darkened by the wrath of the Lord of Hosts." There were very worthy men upon the spot where the assaidt from hell was first made, who apprehended themselves called from the God of heaven to sift the business unto the bottom of it; and, indeed, the continual impressions, which the outcries and the havocks of the afflicted people that lived nigh unto them caused on their minds, gave no little edge to this apprehension. The persons were men eminent for wisdom and virtue, and they went about their enquiry into the matter, aa driven unto it bv a conscience of duty to God and the world. They did in the first place take it for granted that there are witches, or wicked children of men, who upon covenanting 208 MAONALIA CilRISTI AMERICANA; with, and commissioninfj of evil spirits, are attended by their ministry to accomjjlish the things desired of them: to satisfie them in which pe^ Bwasion, they had not only the aaaertiona of the holy Scriptures — assertions which the witch-advocates cannot evade without shifts, too foolish for the prudent, or too profane for ony honest man to use — and they had not only the well-attested relations of the gravest authors, from Bodin to Bovet, rnd from Binsfield to Brombal and Baxter — to deny all which, would bo as reasonable as to turn the chronicles of all nations into romances of ^^Don Quij'ote" and the ^^ Seven Champions f^ but they had olso an ocular demon- stration in one who, a little before, had been executed for witchcraft, when Joseph Dudley, Esq. was the chief-judge. There was one whose magical imatjes were found, and who, confessing her deeds, (when a jury of doctors returned her compos mentis) actually shewed the whole court by what cer- emonies used unto them she directed har familiar spirits how and where to cruciate the objects of her malice; and the experirnent being made over and over again before the whole court, the effect followed exactly in the hurts done to the people at a distance from her. The existence of such witches was now taken for granted by those good men, wherein so far the generality of reasonable men have thought they ran well; and they soon received the confessions of some accused persons to confirm them in it: but then they took one thing more for granted, wherein 'tis now as generally thought they tvent out of the ivay. The afllicted people vehemently accused several persons in several places that the spectres which afflicted them, did exactly resemble them; until the importunity of the accusations did provoke the magistrates to examine them. When many of the accused came upon their examination, it was found that the dcemons then a thou- sand ways abusing of the poor afflicted people, had with a marvellous exactness represented them; yea, it was found, that many of the accused, but casting their eye on the afflicted, the afflicted, though their faces were never so much another way, would fall down and lye in a sort of a swoon, wherein they would continue, whatever hands were laid upon them, until the hands of the accused came to touch them, and then they would revive immediately; and it was found, that various kinds oi natural actions, done by many of the accused in or to their own bodies, as leaning, bending, turning awry, or squeezing their hands, or the like, were presently attended with the like things preternaturally done upon the bodies of the afflicted, though they were so far asunder, that the afflicted could not ut, all observe the accused. It was also found, that the flesh of the afflicted was often bitten at such a rate, that not only the print of teeth would be left on their flesh, but the very slaver of spittle too; and there would appear just such a set of teeth as was in the accused, even such as might be clearly distinguished from other peoples. And usually the afflicted went through a terrible deal of seem- ing difflculties from the tormenting spectres, and must be long waited on OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 209 iding, Ut all such It the eeth as other I seetn- led on l>eft)ro they could get a breathing space from thoir tormeiita to give in their testimonies. Now, many good men took up an opinion, that the providence of God would not perinit an innocent person to come under such a spectral repro- Bcntntion; and that a concurrence of so many circumstances would prove an accused person to bo in a confederacy with the diemons thus afllicting of the neighbours; they judged that, except these things might amount unto a conviction, it would scarce be possible ever to convict a ivitc/i: and they hud some philosophical schemes of toitchcraji, and of the method and manner wherein irnvjical poisons operate, which further supported them in their opinion. Sundry of the accused persons were brought unto their trial, while this opinion was yet prevailing in the minds of the judges and the juries, and perhaps the most of the people in the country, < icn mostly suffering; and though against some of them that were tried there came in uo much other evidence of their diabolical compacts, that some of the most hidicious, and yet vehement opposers of the notions then in voi;'ie, puV'-ckly de"'ared, "Had they themselves been on the bench, they could not have ac 'itted them;" nevertheless, divers were condemned, against whom ihi chief evidence was founded in the spectral exhibitions. And it happening that some of the accused coming t>> confess them- selves fjnilty, their shapes were no more seen by any of th>^ afllieted, though the confession had been kept never so secret, but instead thereof the accused themselves became in all Vexations just like the afflicted; this yet more confirmed many in the opinion that had been taken up. And another thing that quickened them yet more to act upon it, was, that the afllieted were frequently entertained with apparitions of f^iosts at the same time that the spectres of the supposed witches troubled them; which ghosts always cast the beholders into far more consternation than any of the spectres; and when they exhibited themselves, they cried out of being murdered by the witchcrafts, or other violences of the persons represented in the spectres. Once or twice V r'^e apparitions were seen by others at the very same time that they shewt- i : icmselves to the afflicted; and seldom were they seen at all but when something unusual and suspi- cious had attended the death of the party thus appearing. The afflicted people many times had never heard any thing before of the persons appearing in gliost, or th o persons accused by the apparitions; and yet the accused upon examination have confessed the murders of those very persons, though these accused also knew nothing of the apparitions that had come in against them ; and the afflicted persons likewise, without any private agreement or collusion, when successively brought into a room, have all asserted the same apparitions to be there before them: these murders did seem to call for an enquiry. On the other part, there were many persons of great judgment, piety Vol. I.— 14 210 MAQNALIA CIIRISTI AMERICANA; 'I and experience, who from the beginning were very much dissatisfied at these proceedings; they feared lest the devil would get so far into the faith of the people, that for the sake of many truths which they might find him telling of them, they would come at length to believe all his lies; where- upon what a desolation of names — ^yea, and of lives also — would ensue, a man might, without much witchcraft, be able to prognosticate; and they feared, lest in such an extraordinary descent of wicked spirits from their high places upon us, there might such principles be taken up, as, when put into practice, would unavoidably cause the righteov^ to perish with the wiclced, and procure the blood-shed of persons like the Gibeonites, whom some learned men suppose to be under a false pretence of witchcraft, by Saul exterminated. However uncommon it might be for guiltless persons to come under such unaccountable circumstances, as were on so many of the accused, they held "some things there are, which, if suffered to be common, would sub- vert government, and disband and ruin humane society, yet God sometimes may sufier such things to evene, that we may know thereby how much we are beholden to him for that restraint which he lays upon the infernal spirits, who would else reduce a world into a chaos." They had already known of one at the town of Groton hideously agitated by devils, who in her fits cried out much against a very godly woman in the town, and when that woman approached unto her, though the eyes of the creature were never so shut, she yet manifested a violent sense of her approach : but when the gracious woman thus impeached, had prayed earnestly with and for this creature, then, instead of crying out against her any more, she owned, that she had in all been deluded by the ckvil. They now saw, that the more the afflicted were hearkened unto, the more the number of the accused encreased; until at last many scores were cried out upon, and among them, some who, by the unblameableness — yea, and serviceableness — of their whole conversation, had obtained the just reputation of good people among all that were acquainted with them. The character of the aiflicted likewise added unto the common distaste; for though some of iliein too were good people, yet others of them, and such of them as were most flippent at accusing, had a far other character. In fine, the country was in a dreadful ferment, and wise men foresaw a long train of dismal and bloody consequences. Hereupon they first advised that the afflicted might be kept asunder in the closest privacy ; and one particular person, (whom I have cause to know,) in pursuance of this advice, offered himself singly to provide accommodations for any six of them, that so the success of more than ordinary grayer with fasting might, with patience, be experienced, before any other courses were taken. And Sir William Phips arriving to his government, after this ensnaring horrible storm was begun, did consult the neighbouring ministers of the province, who made unto his Excellency and the council a return, (drawn li OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 211 Tip at their desire by Mr. Mather the younger, as I have been informed) wherein they declared: , "We judge, that in the prosecution of these and all such wUckcrafls, there is need of a very critical and exquisite caution : lest by too much credulity for things received only upon the deviJ!s authority, there be a door opened for a long train of miserable consequences, and Satan get an advantage over us ; for we should not be ignorant of his devices. " As in complaints upon wilchcrafls, there may be matters of enquiry, which do not amount unto matters of presumption; and there may be matters of presumplion, which yet may not be reckoned matters of conviction; so 'tis necessary that all proceedings thereabout be muff- aged with an exceeding tenderness towards those that may be complained of: especiiiliy if they have been persons formerly of an unblemished reputation. "When thejirst enquiry is made into the circumstances of such as may lye under any just suspicion of witchcrafts, we could wish that there may be admitted as little as is possible of such noise, company, and openness as may too hastily expose them that are examined : and that there may nothing be used as a test for the trial of the suspected, the lawfulness whereof may be doubted among the people of God: but that the directions given by such judicious writers as Perl^ins and Bernard, be consulted in such a case. " Presumptions, whereupon persons may be committed, and much more convictions, where- upon persons may be condemned as guilty of witchcrafts, ought certainly to be more consider- able, than barely the accused person's being represented by a spectre to the afflicted: inasmuch ns it is an undoubted and a notorious thing, that a dicmon may, by God's permission, appear oven to ill purposes in the shape of an innocent, yen, and a virtuous man : nor can we esteem alterations made in the sufferers, by a look or touch of the accused, to be an infallible evidence of guilt: but frequently liable to be abused by the devits legerdemains, " We know not whether some remarkable affronts given to the devils, by our dis-believing of those testimonies whose whole force and strength is from them alone, may not put a period unto the progress of a direful calamity begun upon us, in the accusation of so many persons, whereof, we hope, some are yet clear from the great transgression laid unto their charge." • The ministers of the province also being jealous lest this counsel should not be duly followed, requested the President of Harvard-Colledge to compose and publish (which he did) some cases of conscience referring to these difficulties: in which treatise he did, with demonstrations of incom- parable reason and reading^ evince it, that Satan may appear in the shape of an innocent and a virtuous person, to afflict those that suffer by the diabolical molestations: and that the ordeal of the sirjht^ and the touchy is not a conviction of a covenant with the devil, but liable to great exceptions against the lauifulness, as well as the evidence of it: and that either a free and fair confession of the criminals, or the oath of two credible persons proving such things against the person accused, as none but such as have a familiarity with the devil can know, or do, is necessary to the proof of the crime. Thus, Cum migit Natura Feras, et Monstra per Orbem, Misit et Alciden qui f era Monstra domet.* The Dutch and French ministers in the province of New- York, having likewise about the same time their judgment asked by the Chief Judge of * Twns Nature sent these monslers; Nature, too, Bent Hercules, the mousters to subdue. 212 MAGNALIA CIIKISTI AMERICANA; that province, who was then a gentleman of New-England, tney gave it in under their hands, that if we believe no vemfick witchcraft, we must renounce the Scripture of God, and the consent of almost all the world ; but that yet the apparition of a person afflicting another, is a very insuffi- cient proof of a witch; nor is it inconsistent with the holy and righteous government of God over men, to permit the affliction of the neighbours, by devils in the shape of good men ; and that a good name, obtained by a good life, should not be lost by meer spectral accusations. Now, upon a deliberate review of these things, his Excellency first reprieved, and then pardoned many of them that had been condemned; and there fell out several strange things that caused the spirit of the country to run as vehemently upon the acquitting of all the accused, as it by mis- take ran at first upon the condemning of them. Some that had been zeal- ously of the mind, that the devils could not in the shapes of good men afflict other men, were terribly confuted, by having their own shapes, and the shapes of their most intimate and valued friends, thus abused. And though more than twice twenty had made such voluntary, and harmonious, and uncontroulable confessions, that if they were all sham, there was therein the greatest violation made by the efficacy of the invisible world, upon the rules of understanding humane affairs, that was ever seen since "God made man upon the earth," yet they did so recede from their confessions, that it was very clear, some of them had been hitherto, in a sort of a, preternatural dream, wherein they had said of themselves, they kneio not ivhat themselves. In fine, the last courts that sate upon this thorny business, finding that it was impossible +o penetrate into the whole meaning of the things that had happened, and that so many unsearchable cheats were interwoven into ' the conclusion of a mysterious business, which perhaps had not crept there- into at the beginning of it, they cleared the accused as fast as they tried them ; and within a little while tiie afflicted were most of them delivered out of their troubles Jilso; and the land had peace restored unto it, by the "God jf peace, treading Satan under foot." Erasmus, among other historians, does tell us, that at a town in Germany, a daemon appeared on the top of a chimney, threatned that he would set the town on fire, and at length scattering some ashes abroad, the whole town was presently and horribly burnt unto the grou <1. Sir William Phips now beheld such daemons hideously scattering fire about the country, in the exasperations whicn the minds of men were on these things rising unto ; and therefore when he had well canvased a caitse, which perhaps might have puzzled the wisdom of the wisest men on earth to have managed, without any error in their administrations, he thought, if it would be any er7'or at all, it would certainly be the safest for him to put a stop unto all future prosecutions, as far as it lay in him to do it. lie did so, and for it he had not only the printed acknowledgments of the New-Englanders, who publicUly thanked him, "As one of the tribe of OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGL ANi>. 218 "God Zebulun, raised up from among themselves, and spirited as well as commis- sioned to be the steers-man of a vessel befogged in the mare irortuum of tvitchcraft, who aow so happily steered her course, that she escaped ship- wrack, and was safely again moored under the Cape of Good Mope; and cut asunder the Circaean knot of enchantment, more difficult to be dissolved than the famous Gordiau one of old." But the Queen also did him the honour to write unto him those gracious letters, wherein her Majesty commended his conduct in these inexplicahle matters. And I did right in calling these matters inexplicable. For if, after the kingdom of Sweden (in the year 1669, and 1670,) had some hun- dreds of their children by night often carried away by spectres to an hellish rendezvous^ where the monsters that so spirited them, did every way tempt them to associate with them ; and the Judges of the kingdom, after extra- ordinary supplications to Heaven, upou a strict enquiry, were so satisfied with the confessions of more than twenty of the accused, agreeing exactly unto the depositions of the afflicted, that they put several scores of witches to death, whereupon the confusions came unto a period; yet after all, the chiefest persons in the kingdom would question whether there were any %oilchcrafts at all in the whole affair; it must not be wondered at, if the people of New -England are to this hour full of doubts, about the steps which were taken, while a tear from the invisible world was terrifying of them ; and whether they did not kill some of their oion side in the smohe and noise of this di;{jadful war. And it will be yet less wondred at, if we consider, that we have seen the whole English nation alarumed with a plot, and both Houses of Parliament, upon good grounds, voting their sense of it, and many persons most justly hanged, drawn, and quartered, for their share in it: when yet there are enough who to this day will pretend that ih^y cannot comprehend how much of it is to be accounted credible. However, having related these wonderful passages, whereof, if the vei'ocity of the relator in any one point be contested, there are whole clouds of wit- nesses to vindicate it, I will take my leave of the matter with an wholesome caution of Lactantius, which, it may be, some other parts of the world besides New-England may have occasion to think upon : Ejjiciunt Doemo- nes, ut quce non sunt, sic tamen, quasi sint, conspiciznda Hominihus exhibeant* But the devils being thus vanquished, we shall next hear, that some of his most devoted and resembling children are so too. § 17. As one of the first actions done by Sir William, after he came to the age of doing, was to save the lives of many poor people from the rage of the diabolical Indians in the eastern parts of the country, so now he was come to the government, his mind was very vehemently set upon recovering of those parts from the miseries which a new and a long war of the Indians had brought upon them. His birth and youth in the east, had rendered him well known unto the Indians there; he had hunted * It U one uf the chief arts of evil spirits, to make things which have .'lo reality seem real to those who witness them. n 1 lE fl \\ 214 MAGNALIA CHKISTI AMERICANA; and fished many a weary day in his childhood with them; ana when those rude salvages had got the story by the end, that "he had found a ship full of money, and was now become all one-a-kingi" they were mightily aston- ished at it: but when the}'- farther understood that he was become the governour of New-England, it added a further degree of consternation to their astonishment. He likewise was better acquainted with the scitiia- tion of those regions than most other men ; and he considered what vast advantages might arise to u^ less than the whole English nation, frcjni. the lumber, and fishery, anr n. ^ al-stores, which those regions might soon supply the whole nation v ha , if once they were well settled with good inhabitants. Whene'ure Governour Phips took tho first opportunity to raise an army, with which he travelled in person, under the East-Country, to find out and cut off the barbarou?, enemy, which had continued for near four years together making horrible havock on the plantations that lay all along the northern frontiers of New-England; and having pursued those worse than Scythian wolves till they could be no longer followed, he did with a very laudable skill, and unusual speed, and with less cost unto the crown than perhaps ever such a thing was done in the Avorld, erect a strong fort at Pemmaquid. This fort he contrived so much in the very heart of the country now possessed by the enemy, as very much to hinder the several nations of the tawnies from clannmg together for the common disturbance; and his design was, that a sufficient garrison being here posted, they might from thence, upon advice, issue forth to surprize that ferocient enemy. At the same time he would fain have gone in person up the Bay of Funda, with a convenient force, to have spoiled the nest of rebellious Frenchmen, who, being rendezvouzed at St. Johns, had a yearly supply of ammunition from France, with which they still supplied the Indians, unto the extream detri- ment of the English ; but his friends for a long time would not permit him to expose himself unto the inconveniences of that expedition. However, he to„k such methods, tho,t the Indian Kings of the East, within a little while had their stomachs brought down to sue and beg for a peace: and making their appea'-ance at the new-fort in Pemmaquid, August li, 1693, they did there sign an instrument, wherein, lamenting the miseries which their adherence to the French counsels had brought them into, they did for themselves, and with the consent of all the Indians from the river of Merrimack to the most easterly bounds of all the prov- ince, acknowledge their hearty subjection and obedience unto the Crown of England, and solemnly covenant, promise and agree, to and with Sir William Phips, Captain General and Governour in Chief over the province, and his successors in that place, "That they would for ever cease all acts of hostility towards the subjects of the Crown of England, and hold a constant friendship with all the English. That they would utterly aban- OK, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 215 don the Frencli interests, and not succour or conceal any enemy Indians, from Canada or elsewhere, that should come to any of their plantations within the English territories: that all English captives, which they had among them, should be returned with all possible speed, and no ransom or payment be given for any of them: that their Majesties' subjects the English, now should quietly enter upon, and for ever improve and enjoy all and singular their rights of lands, and former possessions, within the eastern parts of the province, without any claims from any Indians or being ever disturbed therein : that all trade and commerce, which hereafter might be allowed between the English and the Indians, should be under a regulation stated by an act of the General Assembly, or as limited by the governour of the province, with the consent and advice of his Council. And that if any controversie hereafter happen between any of the Eng- lish and the Indians, no private revenge was to be taken by the Indians, but proper applications to be made unto his Majesty's government, for the due remedy thereof: submitting themselves herewithal to be governed by his Majesty's laws." And for the manifestation of their sincerity in the submission thus made, the hi/ppcritical ivretches deWvered hostages for their fidelity : and then set their marks and seals, no less than thirteen Sagamores of them, (with names of more than a Persian length) unto this instrument. The first rise of this Indian war had hitherto been almost as dark as that of the river Nil us : 'tis true, if any wild English did rashly begin to provoke and affront the Indians, yet the Indians had a fairer way to obtain justice than by bloodshed: however, upon the New-English revolution, the state of the tear became wholly 7iew: the government then employed all possi- ble ways to procure a good understanding with the Indians; but all the English offers, kindnesses, courtesies were barbarously requited by them, with new acts of the most perfidious hostility. Notwithstanding all this, there were still some nice people that had their scruples about the "justice of the v/ar;" but upon this new submission of the ludians, if ever those rattle-snakes (the only rattle-snakes which, they say, 'vore ever seen to the northward of Merimack-river) should stir again, the most scrupulous per- sons in the world must own, that it must be the n\ost unexceptionable piece of justice 'in the icorldfor to extinguish them. Thus did the God of heaven bless the unwearied applications of Sir "William Phips, for the restoring of peace unto New-England, when the country was quite jut of breath in its endeavours for its own preservation from the continual outrages of an inaccessible enemy, and by the poverty coming in so lib' an armed man, from the unsucces."fp.iness of their former armies, that it could not imagine how to take one .tep further in its wars. The most happy respite of peace beyond Meririack-river being thus pro- cured, the governour immediately set himself to use all possible methods, that it might be "peace like a river," nothing short oi everlastivg. ft;'' m 216 MAONALIi^ OIIRISTI AMERICANA; He therefore prevailed with iwo or three gentlemen to join with him in sending a supply of necessaries for life unto the Indians; until, the Gen- eral Assembly oould come together to settle the Indian-trade for the advan- tage of the publick, that the Indians might not by necessity be driven again to become a French propriety; although by this action, as ihe gen- tlemen themselves were great h!;trs in their estates, thus he hinisclF deolarmi unto the members of the Gcnei;*! Assembly, that he would upon " ,' !,h giv3 an account unto them of all hia own gains, and coimt hinisolf a jrniner, if in lieu of all they would give him one heaver-hat. The sr-ijie generosity also caused him to take many a tedious voyago, accoinpanie' I sometimes with his Fidus Achates* and veiy dear fiiond, kinsman and neighbour, Colonel John Philips, between Boston and i*cmmaquid ; and this in the bitter weeks of the New-English, which is almost a Russian v.'inter. He was a sort of confessor under such tormenfa of coM, as once made the ifJMj'tyrdom of Muria, and others, commemorated ia orationa of O^a an^'isnts; and Lhc auow and ice which Pliny calls, 'Tlu; punishment of mountains," he r-hoorfuUy endured, without any other pro/i<: unto himself, but only the putcsure of thercly establishing and continuing unto the people, the liberty to shrp quietly in their warm nests at home, while he was thus coneornod per treatments ; but he also furnished him- self with an Indian preacher of the gospel, whom he carried unto the eastward, with an intention to teach them the principles of the Protestant religion, and unteach them the mixt Paganry and Popery which hitherto diabolued them. To unteach them, I say; for they had been taught by ihe French priests this among other things, that the mother of our blessed Saviour was a French lady, and that they were Englishmen by whom our Saviour was murdered ; and that it was therefore a meritorious thing to destroy the English nation. The name of the preacher whom the govern- our carried with him, was Nahauton, one of the natives ; and because the passing of such expressions from the mouth of a poor Indian may upon some accounts be worthy of remembrance, let it be rememberedj that when the governour propounded unto him such a mission to the eastern Indians, he replied, "I know that I shall probably endanger my life by going to * FaitbfUI adviser. OB, THE HISTORY OP NEW-ENGLAND. 217 preach the gospel among the Frenchified Indians; but I know that it will be a service unto the Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore I will venture to go." God grant that his behaviour may be in all things, at all times, accord- ing to these his expressions! While these things were doing, having intel- ligence of a French man of war expected at St. Johns, he dispatched awav the Non-such frigot thither to intercept him ; nevertheless, by the grosi.^ neglijeii'C, and perhaps cowardice of the captain, who had lately come from England with orders to take the command of her, instead of one who had been by Sir William a while before put in, and one who had signalized himself by doing of notable service for the King and country in it, the Frenchman arrived, unladed, and went away untouched. The governour was extremely offended at this notorious dejiciency; it cust him into a great impatience to see the nation so wretchedly served; and he would himself have gone to Saint Johns with a resolution to spoil that harbour of spoj,ler$^ if he had not been taken off, by being sent for home to Whitehall, in the very midst of his undei !;akings. But the treacherous Indians being ^oiso>ierf with the French enchantments^ and furnished with brave new coats, and new arms, and all new incentives to war, by the mail of war newly come in ; they presently and perfidiously fell upon two English towns, and butchered and captived many of the inhabitants, and made a neio war, which the Nev/'-Englanders know not whether it will end until either Canada become an English Province, or that state arrive, vherein they "shall beat swords into ploughshares, and spears into pruning-hooks." And no doubt, the taking off Sir William Phips was no small encouragement unto the in' uis in this relapse into the villanies and massacres of a new invasion upon the country. § 18. Reader, 'tis time for us to view a little more to the life, the picture of the person, the actions of whose life we have hitherto been looking upon. Know then, that for his exterior, he was one tall, beyond the common set of men, and thick as well as tall, and strong as well as thick: he was, in all respects, exceedingly robnst, and able to conquer such difficulties of diet and of travel, as would have killed most men alive: nor did ihefct, whereinto he grew very much in his later years, take away the vigour of his motions. He was well set, and he was therewithal of a very comely, though a very manly countenance: a countenance where any true skill in physiog- nomy would have read the characters of a generous mind. Wherefore passing to his interior, the very first thing which there offered it self unto observation, was a most incomparable generosity. And of this, besides the innumerable instances which he gave in his usual hatred of dirty or little tricks, there was one instance for which I must freely say, "I never saw three men in this world that equalled him:" this was his wonderfully /orr/tViH.^ spirit. In the vast variety of business, through which he raced in his time, he met with many and mighty inju- ries: but although I have heard all that the most venemous malice could 11 218 MAONALIA CIIRISTI AMERICANA; ver Jiiss at his memory, I never did hear unto this hour that he aid ever once deliberately ivventje an injury. Upon certain njjhmts ho has made sudden returns that have shewed chokr enough, and he hj\s by blow, as well as by ivord, chastised incivilities : he was, indeed, sufheiontly impatient of being put upon; and when base men, surpri/ing him at some disadvantiujes (for else few men durst have done it) have sometimes drawn upon him, he has, without the wicked mad- ness of a formal duel, made them feel that he knew how to correct fools. Nevertheless, he ever declined a deliberate revenge of a wrong done unto him; though few men upon earth have, in their vicissitudes, been fur- nished with such frequent opportunities of revenge as Heaven brought into the hands of this gentleman. Under great provocations, he would commoriy say, "'Tis no matter; let them alone ; some time or other they'll see their weakness and rashness, and nave occasion for me to Jo them a kindness; and they shall then see I have quite forgotten all their baseness." Accordingly, 'twas remarkable to see it, that few men ever did him a mischief, but those men afterwards had occasion for him to do tliem a kindness: and he did the kindness with as forgetful a bravery, as if the mischief had never been done at all. The Emperor Theodosius himself could not be readier to forgive; so worthily did he verilio that observation : Quo quisque fat mtyor, mngis est placabilia ira, Et fatilet motus mcna generoaa eapit.* In those jilaces of power whereto the providence of God by several degrees raised him, it still fell out so, that before his rise thereunto he under- went such things as ho counted very hard abuses, from those very persons over whom the Divine Providence afterwards gave him the ascendant. By such trials, the wisdom of Heaven still prepared him, as David before him, for successive advancements; and as he behaved ? jmself with a marvellous lonfj-suijerinff, when he was tried by such mortifications, thus when he eamo to be advanced, he convinced all mankind that he had perfectly buried all the old olfences in an eternal amnesty. I was my self an ear-nu'tncss that one who was an eye-witness of his behaviour under such probations of his patience, did, long before his arrival to that honour, say unto him, "Sir, forgive those that give you these vexations, and know that the God of heaven intends, before he has done with you, to make you the governour of New-England !" And when he did indeed become the govori' jur of New-England, he shewed that he still continued a gov- ernour of himself, in his treating all that had formerly been in ill terms with him, with as much favour and frealom as if there had never happened the least exjwperations: though any governour that kens Hobbianism, can easily contrive ways enough to wreak a spite, where he owes it. • Tlu' luihlost wml Ib nc'ur rejenlful long, Ami with on easy iiiHtliict pardons wrung. OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 219 can It was with some Christian remark that he read the Pagan story of the renowned Fabius Maximus, who, being preferred unto the highest office in the commonwealth, did, through a zeal for his country, overcome the greatest contempts that any person of quality could have received. — Min- utius, the master of the horse, and the next person in dignity to himself, did first privately tru'ace him, as one that was no soldier, and less poli- ticmi; and he afterwards did, both by speeches and letters, prejudice not only the army, but also the senate against him, so that Minutius was now by an unpresidented commission brought into an equality with Fabins. All this while the great Fabius did not throw up his cares for the com- monwealth, but with a wondrous equality of mind endured equally the malice of the judges and the fury of the commons; and when Minutius a while after was with all his forces upon the point of perishing by the victorious arms of Hannibal, this very Fabius, not listening to the dictates of revenge, came in and helped him, and saved him ; and so, by a rare virtue, he made his worst adversaries the captives of his generosity. One of the antients, upon such an history, cried out, "If heathens can do thus much for the glory of their name, what shall not Christians do for the glory of Ileavenl" And Sir William Phips did so much more than thus much, that besides his meriting the glory of such a name, as PiiiP- Pius Maximus, he therein had upon him the symptoms of a title to the glory of heaven, in the seal of his own pardon from God. Nor was this generosity in his Excellency the Governour of New-England, unac- companied with many other excellencies; whereof the piety of his carriage towards God is worthy to be first mentioned. It is true, he was very zealous for all men to enjoy such a liberty of con- science as he judged a native right of mankind: and he was extreamly troubled at the over-boiling zeal of some good men, who formerly took that wrong way of reclaiming hereticks by persecution. For this gener- osity, it may be, some would have compared him unto Gallio, the gov- ernour of Achaia, whom our preaohers, perhaps with mistake enough, think to be condemned in the Scripture for his not appearing to be a judge in matters which indeed fell not under his cognizance. And I shall be content that he be compared unto that gentleman; for that Gallio was the brother of Seneca, who gives this character of him: "That there was no man who did not love him too little, if he could love him any more;" and, "that there was no mortal so dear to any, as he was to all;" and, "that he hated all vices, but none more than flattery." But while the generosity of Sir William caused him to desire a liberty of conscience, his piety would not allow a liberty of prophaneness, either to himself or others. He did not affect any mighty sliow of devotion ; and when he saw any that were evidently careful to make a show, and espe- cially if at the same time they were notoriously defective in the duties of m^&i 220 MAGNALIA OIIRISTI AMERICANA; common justice or goodness, or the duties of the relations wherein God had stationed them, he had an extream aversion for them. Nevertheless he did show a conscientious desire to observe the laws of the Lord Jesus Christ in his conversation; and he conscientiously attended upon the exercises of devotion in the seasons thereof, on lectures, as well as on Lord's days, and in the daily sacrifice, the morning and evening service of his own family; yea, and at the private meetings of the devout people kept every fortnight in the neighbourhood. Besides all this, when he had great works before him, he would invite good men to come and fast and pray with him at his house for the success thereof; and when he had succeeded in what he had undertaken, he would prevail with them to come and keep a day of solemn timnhsgiving with him. His love to Almighty God, was indeed manifested by nothing more than his love to those that had the image of God upon them ; he heartily, and with real honour for them, loved all godly men ; and in so doing, he did not confine godliness to this or that party, but wherever he saw the/e«r of God, in one of a Congregational, or Presbyterian, or Antiptedobaptist, or Episcopalian perswasion, he did, without any difference, express towards them a reverent affection. But he made no men more welcome than those good men whose office 'tis to promote and preserve goodness in all other men ; even the ministers of the gospel: especially when they were such as faithfully discharged their office: and from these, at any time, the least admonition or intimation of any good thing to be done by him, he entertained with a most obliging alacrity. His religion, in truth, was one principle that added virtue unto that vast courage which was always in him to a degree heroical. Those terrible nations which made their descents from the northern on the south- ern parts of Europe, in those elder ages, when so to swarm out was more frequent with them, were inspired with a valiant contempt of life, by the opinion wherein their famous Odin instructed them: "That their death was but an entrance into another life, wherein they who died in warlike actions, were bravely feasted with the god of war for ever;" 'tis inex- pressible how much the courage of those fierce mortals was fortified by* that opinion. But when Sir William Phips was asked by some that observed his "valiant contempt of death," what it was that made him so little afraid of dying, he gave a better grounded account of it than those Pagans could ; his answer was, "I do humbly believe, that the Lord Jesus Christ shed liis precious blood for me, by his death procuring my peace with God : and what should I now be afraid of dying for?" But this leads me to mention the humble and modest carriage in him towards other men, which accompanied this his piety. There were certain pomps belonging to the several places of honour through which he passed ; pomps that are very taking to men of little souls: but although he rose from OB, THE IIISTOKY OF NEW-ENQLAND. 221 ired hi3 afraid could ; led his d: and BO little^ yet ho discovered a nuirvelloua contempt of tLoso niry things, and, as far as he handsomely could, ho declined Iwing ceremoniously, or any otherwise than with a Dutch modesty, waited uiwn. And it might more truly be said of him, than it wi\a of Aristidcs, " lie was never seen the prouder for any honour that was done him from his countrymen." Hence, albeit I have read that complaint, made by a worthy man, "I have often observed, and this not without some blushing, that even good people have had a kind of shame upon them to acknowledge their low beginning, and used all arts to hide it, I could never olvservo the least of that fault in this worthy man; but ho would sjwak of his own lou) kijin- ning with as much freedom and fivquency, as ii' ho hail been afraid of having it forgotten. It was counted an humility in King Agathocles, the son of a potter, to be served therefore in earthen tvAwfe, as Plutarch hath informed us: it was counted an humility in Archbishop Willigis, the son of a Wheelright, therefore to have wheeb hung about his bed-chamber, with this inscription, Becole ^lmle Veneris, i. e. "Remember thy original." But such was the humility and hicliness of this mm// nmn! Not only did he after his return to his country in his greatness, one day, make a splendid feast for the shi/p-carpcnters oi 'RosXow, among whon\ he was willing at his table to com- memorate the mercy of God unto him, who had once lieen a ship-carpenter himself, but he would on all occasions inrmit, yea, stmiy to have his mean- nesses remembered. Hence, upon frequent occasions of uneasiness in his government, he would chuse thus to express himself: ''Gentlemen, were it not that I am to do service for the publick, I should be much easier in returning unto my broad-ax again I" And hence, according to the affhltle courtesie which he ordinarily used unto all sorts of persons, ((juito contrary to the asperity which the old proverb expects in the misetl,) he would particularly when sailing in sight of Kennebeck, with armies under his command, call the young soldiers and sailors upon deck, and speak to them after this fashion: "Young men, it was upon that hill that I kept sheep a few years ago; and since you see that Almighty tiod has brought me to soniething, do you learn to fear God, and be honesty and mind your business, and follow no bad courses, and you don't know what you may come to!" A temper not altogether unlike what the advanced shepherd hud, when he wrote the twenty-third Psalm; or when he imprinted on the coin of his kingdom the reinembrance of his old condition ; ft>r Christianus Gerson, a Christian- ized Jew, has informed us that on the one side of David's coin were to be seen his old pouch and cro(^k, the instrument of shepherdy; on the other side were enstamped the towel's of Zion. In fine, our Sir William w as a person of so sweet a temper, that they who were most intimately acquainted with him, would commonly jiro- uouuce him, "The best conditioned gentleman in the world!"' And bv the •'IP m 222 MAUNALIA CIIU18TI A M KK IC A N A{ continual discoveries niul expressions of such n temper, ho s*. incvl tho hearts of them who waited upon him in any of his expeditions, that tiiey would commonly i)rofe8a themselves willing still, "to have gone with him to the end of the world." But if all other people found him so kind a neighbour, we may easily infer what an husband ho was unto his lady. Leaving unnientioned that virtue of his chastity, which tho prodigious deijravation brought by tho late reigns upon the manners of the nation has made worthy to be men- tioned as a virtue somewhat extraordinary, I shall rather pass on to say, that tho love, even to fondness, with which he always treated her, was a matter not only of! oLseri'ii I ion, but even of audi adininition, that every one said, "the age aflbrded not a kinder husband!" But wo must now return to our story. § 19. When persons do by studies full of cunoniti/ seek to inform them- selves of things about wiiieh the God of Heaven hath forbidden our curious euquiries, there is a marvellous imitression, which the diemons do often make on tho minds of those their votaries, about the future or secret matters unlawfully enquired after, and at last there is also an horrible possetifiion, which those Fatkiic dicmons do take of them. The snares of hell, hereby laid for miserable mortals, have been such, that when I read the laws wiiich Angellius affirms to have been made, even in Pagan Borne, against tho Vuticinatores* I wonder that no English nobleman or gentleman signalizes his regard unto Christianity, by doing what even a Roman Tully would have done, in promoting an Act of Parliament against that Paganisli practice of judicud mtrology, whereof, if such men as Austin were now liv- ing, they would assert, " The devil first found it, and they that profess it are enemies of truth and of God." In the mean time, I cannot but relate a wonderful experience of Sir William Phips, by the relation whereof something of an antidote may bo given against ajioison which tho diahoWnxl fi'jure-Jlinijers and fortune-tellera that swarm all the world over may insinuate info the minds of men. Long before Mr. Phips came to be Sir AVilliam, while ho sojourned in London, there came into his lodging an old ostroloycr, living in the neigh- bourhood; who, making some observation of him, though he had small or no conversation with him, did (howbeit by him wholly undesircd) one day send him a paper, wherein he had, w ith pretences of a rule in astrology for each article, distinctly noted the most material passages that were to befal this our Phips in the remaining part of his life; it was particularly asserted and inserted, that he should be engaged in a design, wherein, by reason of enemies at Court, he should meet with much delay; that nevertheless in the thirty-seventh year of his life, he should find a mi'jhty-treasure ; that in the forty-first year of his life, his King should employ him in as great a trust beyond sea as a subject could easily have; that soon after this he should • Astrulugttrs. OB, THE H18T0HY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 228 undergo an hard storm fVom the endeavours of UIh adversaries to roproach him and ruin him; that his adversaries, though tiioy should go very near gaining the point, should yet rniis of doing so; that ho shoukl hit upon a vostly richer vmttcr than any ho had hitherto met withal ; that ho should continue thirteen years in his {)ublick station, full of aetion and full of hurry; and the rest of his days he should spend in the satislUetion of a jieacfdhle retirement, Mr. Phips received this undesired paper with trouble and with contfrnpt,' and threw it by among certain loose papers in the bottom of a trunk, where his lady some years after accidentally lit upon it. Ili.s lady with admiration saw, step after step, very much of it acconiplished; but when she heard from England that Sir William was coming over with a commis- sion to be governour of New-England, in that very year of his life which the paper specifled, she was afraid of letting it lyo any longer in the house, but cast it into t\io fire. Now, the thing which I must invite my reader to remark is this, that albeit Almighty God may permit the devils to jiredict, and perhaps to /;er- form very many particular things to men, that shall by such a "presump- tuous and unwarrantable juggle as astrology" (so Dr. Hall well calls it!) or any other divination, consult them, yet the devils which foretel many true things, do commonly /yrete^ some that ura/ahie, and, it may be, propose by the things that are true to betray men into some fatal misbelief and mis- carriage about those that are false. Very singular therefore was the wisdom of Sir William Phips, that as ho ever treated these prophesies about him with a most pious neylect, so when he had seen all but the two last of them very punctually fulfilled, yea, and seen the beginning of a fulfdment unto the last hut one also, yet when I pleasantly mentioned them unto him, on purpose to t)'i/ whether there were any occasion for me humbly to give him the serious advice necessary in such a case to anticipate the devices of Satan, he prevented my advice, by saying to me, "Sir, I do believe there might be a cursed snare of Satan in those prophesies: I believe Satan might have leave to foretel many things, all of which might come to pass in the beginning, to lay me asleep about such things as are to follow, especially about the main chance of all; I do not know but I am to die this year: for my part, by the help of the grace of God, I shall endeavour to live as if I were this year to die." And let the reader now attend the event! § 20. 'Tis a similitude which I have learned from no less a person than the great Basil: that as the eye sees not those objects which are applied close unto it, and even lye upon it; but when the objects are to some dis- tance removed, it clearly discerns them: so we have little sense of the good which we have in our enjoyments, until God, by the removal thereof, teach us better to prize what we once enjoyed. It is true, the generality of sober and thinking people among the New-Englanders, did as higlUy I ! it 224 MAGNALIA CIIEISTI AMERICANA; I!' I I ' i' i m value tlie government of Sir William Phips whilst he lived, as they do his memm-y since his death ; nevertheless, it must be confessed, that the bless- ing which the country had in his indefatigable zeal to serve the publick in all its interests, was not so valued as it should have been. It was mentioned long since as a notorious fault in Old Egypt, that it was Loquax et ingeniosa in contumeliam prcBfectorum provincia: si quis forte vitaverit culpam^ "ontumeliam non effugit:* and New-England has been at "♦the best always too faulty, in that very character, "a province very talk- ative, and ingenious for the vilifying of its publick servants." But Sir William Phips, who might in a calm of the commonwealth have administered all things with as general an acceptance as any that have gone before him, had the disadvantage of being set at helm in a time as full of storm as ever that province had seen ; and the people having their spirits put into a tumult by the discomposing and distempering variety of disasters, which had long been rendring the time calamitous, it was natural for them, as 'tis for all men then, to be complaining; and you may be sure, the rulers must in such cases be always complained of, and the chief com- plaints must be heaped upon those that are commanders in chief. Nor has a certain proverb in Asia been improper in America, "He deserves no man's good word, of whom every man shall speak well." Sir William was very hardly handled (or tongued at least) in the liberty which people took to make most unbecoming and injurious reflections upon his conduct, and clamour against him, even for those very actions which were not only necessary to be done, but highly beneficial unto them- selves; and though he would ordinarily smile at their fvwardness, calling it his country 2>ay, yet he sometimes resented it with some uneasiness; he seemed unto himself sometimes almost as bad as rolled about in liegulus' barrel; and had occasion to think on the Italian proverb, "To wait for one who does not come; to lye a bed not able to sleep; and to find it impossible to please those whom we serve; are three griefs enough to kill a man." But as froward as the people were, under the epidemical vexations of the age, yet there were very few that would acknowledge unto the very last, "It will be hardly possible for us to see another governour that shall more intirel y love and serve the country :" yea, had the country had the choice of their own governour, 'tis judged their votes, more than forty to one, would have still fallen upon him to have been the man : and the General Assembly therefore on all occasions renewed their petitions unto the King for his continuance. Nevertheless, there was a little party of men who thought they must not "sleep till they had caused him to fall:" and they so vigorousl}^ prose- cuted certain articles before the Council-board at Whitehall against him, * A province, very free-spoken and ingenious in dispnrai^ingf its public (ifflcers: so that if one uf tliem should be 80 furtiiMulH us to avoid iil conduct, he would not bo Jucliy enough to escapo un ill name. IIB'I OR, THE HISTOBY OP NEW-ENGLAND. 225 sy do his he bless- ■publick t, that it luis forte been at ery talk- iltb have bat have a time as ing their ariety of iS natural J be sure, liief com- Nor has lerves no le liberty eflections y actions ito them- j.s, calling uess; he Kegulus' wait for o find it [lough to ns of the cry last, lall more le choice Y to one, General the King ley must 3I3' prose- inst him, them should « that they imagined they had gained an order of his Majesty in Council to suspend him immediately from his government, and appoint a committee of persons nominated by his enemies, to hear all depositions against him; and so a report of the whole to be made unto the King and Council. But his Majesty was too well informed of Sir William's integrity to permit such a sort of procedure ; and therefore he signified unto his most honourable Council that nothing should be done against Sir William, until he had opportunity to clear himself; and thereupon he sent his royal com- mands unto Sir William to come over. To give any retorting accounts of the principal persons who thus adversaried him, would be a thing so contrary to the spirit of Sir William Phips himself, wh^ at his leaving of New-England bravely declared that he "freely forgave them all;" and if he had returned thither again, would never have taken the least revenge upon them, that this alone would oblige me, if I had no other obligations of Christianity upon me, to forbear it; and it may be, for some of them, it would be "to throw water upon a drowned mouse." Nor need I to produce any more about the articles which these men exhibited against him, than this: that it was by most men believed that, if he would have connived at some arbitrary oppressions too much used by some kind of officers on the King's subjects, /e«/; perhaps, or none of those articles hjid ever been formed; and that he apprehended himself to be provided with a full defence against them all. Nor did his Excellency seem loth to have had his case tried under the brazen tree of Gariac, if there had been such an one as that mentioned by the fabulous Murtadi, in his prodigies of Egypt, a tree which had iron branches with sharp hooks at the end of them, that when any false accuser approached, as the fabel says, immediately flew at him, and stuck in him, until he had ceased injuring his adversary, AVherefore, in obedience unto the King's commands, he took his leave of Boston on the seventeenth of November, 1694, attended with all proper testimonies of respect and honour from the body of the people, which he had been the head unto; and with addresses unto their Majesties, and the chief Ministers of State from the General Assembly, humbly imploring that they might not be deprived of the happiness which they had in such an head. Arriving at Whitehall, he found in a few days that, notwithstanding all the impotent rage of his adversaries, particularly vented and printed in a viUanous h'bel, as well as almost in as many other ways ns there are mouths, at which Fyal sometimes has vomited out its infernal fires, he had all humaw assurance of his returning in a very few weeks again the governour of New-England. Wherefore there wore especially two designs, full of service to the whole English nation, as well as his own particular country of New-England, which he applied his thoughts unto. Fir'^t, he had a new scene of action Vol. I.— 15 Mm m ^ hi ' > ^fi li 223 MAGNALIA CHRI8TI AMERICANA; I I ! t' I. opened unto him, in an opportunity to supply the Crown with all naval stores at most easie rates, from those eastern parts of the Massachuset prov- ince, which, through the conquest that he had made thereof, came to be inserted in the Massachuset-charter. As no man was more capable than he to improve this opportunity unto a vast advantage, so his inclination to it was according to his capacity. And he longed with some impatience to see the King furnished from his own dominions with such floating and stately castles, those "wooden- walls of Great Britain," for much of which he has hitherto traded with foreign kingdoms. Next, if I may say next unto this, he had an eye upon Canada ; all attempts for the reducing whereof had hitherto proved abortive. It was but a few months ago that a considerable fleet, under Sir Francis Wheeler, which had been sent into the West-Indies to subdue Martenico, was ordered then to call ai New-England, that being recruited there, they rnight make a further descent upon Canada ; but Heaven frowned upon that expedition, especially by a terrible sickness, the most like the plague of any thing that has been ever seen in America, whereof there died, ere they could reach to Boston, as I was told by Sir Francis himself, no less than thirteen hundred sailors out of twenty-one, and no less than eighteen hundred ^.iers out of twenty-four. It was ^vv thei'cfore his desire to have satisfied the King that his whole interest in America lay at stake while Canada was in French hands; and therewithal to have laid before several noblemen and gentlemen how ben- eficial an undertaking it would have been for them to have pursued the Canadian-business, for which the New-Englanders were now grown too feeble; their country being too far now, as Bedc says Plngland once was, Omni Milite d floridar Juventutis Alacritate spoliata* Besides these tivo designs in the thongiits of Sir William, there was a third, which he had hopes that the King would have given him leave to have pursued, after he had continued so long in his government, as to have obtained the more general welfare which he designed in the former instances. I do not mean the making of New-England the seat of a Spanish trade, though so vastly profitable a thing was likely to have been brought about by his being one of an honourable company engaged in such a project. But the Spanish wreck, where Sir William had ma(^e his first good voyage, was not the only, nor the richest wreck, that he knew to be lying under the water. He knew particularly that when the ship which had Governour Boadilla aboard, was cast away, there was, as Peter Martyr says, an entire table of gold of three thousand three hundred and ten pound toeight. The Duke of Albermarle's patent for all such wrecks now expiring. Sir William thought on the motto which is upon the gold medal, bestowed by the late King, with his Knighthood upon him, Semper 'l%i pendeat * Drained o( all ite aoUlicry niiU \U young und active cUlzviia. ! OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 227 ill naval set prov- ne to bo xhle than nation to led from wooden - ded with eye upon abortive, r Francis 'artenico, ere, they led upon le plague died, ere f, no less 1 eighteen bis whole lids; and how ben- sued the own too )nce was, re was a leave to s to have nstances. \\ trade, ;ht about 'ojcct. rst good je lying ich had Martyr )i pound ring. Sir )cstowed pe)ideat i % ffamus;* and supposing himself to have gained sufficient information of the right way to such a wreck, it was his purpose, upon his dismission Irom his government, once more to have gone unto his old fishing-trade^ upon a mighty shelf of rocks and banks of sands that lye where he had informed himself. But as the prophet Ilaggai and Zechariah, in their psalm upon the grants made unto their people by the Emperors of Persia, have that reflection, "Man's breath goeth forth, he returns to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish," my reader must now see what came of all these consid- erable thoughts. About the middle of February, 1694, Sir William found himself indisposed with a cold, which obliged him to keep his chamber; but under this indisposition he received the honour of a visit from a very eminent person at Whitehall, M^ho upon sufficient assurance, bade him " Get well as fast as he could, for in one month's time he should be again dispatched away to his government of New-England." Nevertheless, his distemper proved a sort of malignap+ feaver, whereof many about this time died in the city; and it suddenly put an end at once unto his days and thoughts, on the eighteenth of February ; to the extream surprize of his friends, who honourably interred him in the church of St. Mary Woolnoth, and with him, how much of New England's happiness I § 21. Although he has now "no more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun," yet justice requires that his memory he not for- gotten. I have not all this while said he was faidtless, nor am I unwilling to use for him the words which Mr. Calamy had in his funeral sermon for the excellent Earl of Warwick, "It must be confessed, lest I should prove a flatterer, he had his infirmities, which I trust Jesus Christ has covered with the robe of his righteousness: my prayer to God is, that all his infirm- ities may be buried in the grave of oblivion, ;md that all his virtues arid graces may supervive;" although perhaps th<. .e were no infirmities in that noble person, which Mr. Calamy counted so. Nevertheless, I must also say, that if the anguish of his publick fatigues threw Sir William into any faults of p.^'^sion, they were hwtfaidts o^ passion soon recalled: and spots being soonest seen in ermin, there was usually the most made of them that could be, by those that were least /ree themselves. After all, I do not knov/ that I have been, by any personal obligations or circumstances, charmed into any partiality for the memory of this worthy man ; but I do here, from a real satisfliction of conscience concern- ing him, declare to all the world, that I leckon him to have been really a very worthy man; that few men in the world, rising from so mean an original as he, would have acquitted themselves with a thousandth part of his capacity or integrity; that he left unto the world a notable example of a disposition to do good, and encountred and overcame almost invincible temptations in doing it. • Let the barb hang from thee always. ^: m m t I m i|:L:i 228 MAQNALIA CIIEISTI AMERICANA; And I do most solemnly profess, that I have most conscientiously endeavoured the utmost sincerity and veracity of a Christian, as w«!ll as an historian, in the history which I have now given of him. I have not written of Sir William Phips, as they say Xenophon did of Cyrus, Non ad llistoricn Fidem, sed ad Effifjiem veri iinpcrii:* what sliotdd have been, raiher than what really ivas. If the envy of his few enemies be not now quiet, I must freely say it, that for many weeks before he died, there was not one man among h\9, personal enemies whom he would not readily and chearfully have done all the kind offices of a friend unto: wherefore, though the gentleman in England that once published a vindication of Sir William Phips against some of his enemies, chose to put the name of publicans upon them, they must in this be coimted worse than the Public- ans of whom our Saviour says, "They love those that love them." And I will say this further, that when certain persons had found the sladl of a dead man, as a Greek writer of -epigrams has told us, they all fell a weeping, but only one of the company, who laughed and flouted, and through an unheard-of cruelty, threw stones at it, which stones won- derfully rebounded back upon the face of him that threw them, and miserably wounded him: thus, if any sliall be so unchristian^ — ^yea, so inhumane — as libellously to throw stones at so deserved a reputation as this gentleman has died withal, they shall see n,jusi reho^ind of all their calumnies. But tlic name of Sir William Phips will be heard honourably men- tioned in the trumpets of immortal fame, when the names of many that antipathic.d him will either be buried in eternal oblivion, without any sacer lafesf to preserve them; or be remembered, but like that of Judas in the gospel, or Pilate in the creed, with eternal infamy. The old Persians indeed, according to the report of Agathias, exposed their dead friends to be torn in pieces by wild beasts, believing that if they lay long nnuwried, they had been nmcorthy persons; but all attempts of surviving malice to demonstrate in that wa}' the worth of this dead gen- tleman, give me leave to rate off with indignation. And I must with a like freedom say, that great was the fault of New- England no more to value a person whose opportunities to serve all their interests, though vcr}'' eminent, yet were not so eminent as his inclinntions. If this wliolc continent carry in its very name of America an unaccount- able iiif/ntiitKde unto that brave man who first led any numbers of Euro- peans thither, it must not be wondred at, if now and then a particular country in tliat continent afford some instances of ingratitude: but I must believe that tlie ingratitude of many, both to God and man, for such benefits as that country of New-England enjoyed from a governour of their f^wn, by whom they enjoyed, great quietness, with very ivortlii/ deeds done %adu that nation hy his providence, was that which hastned the removal of such a beneflictor from them. * N'^t with hirttoric accuracy, but to iMustrale his Idoa of a well-governed empire. t Consccrnted bard. OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 229 entjously 8 wtill as have not Tus, Non ive been, not now ;here was idily and therefore, cation of name of e Public- I. bund the i, they all I flouted, ones won- hem, and — yea, so [on as this ;alumnies. Eibly nicn- nany that hout any of Judas , exposed at if they cmpts of dead gen- of New- all their ch'.naiions. naccount- of Euro- particular e: but I man, for r^overnour ^•/Jii/ deeds. .) removal 'iited bard. "^^ « However, as the Cyprians buried their friends in Aojiey, to whom they gave gall when they were born; thus whatever gall might be given to this gentleman while he lived, i hope none will be so base as to put any thing but honey into their language of him now after his decease. And, indeed, since 'tis a frequent thing among men to wish for the presence of our friends, when they are dead and gone, whon, while they were present with us, we undervalued; there is no wry for us to fetch back our Sir William Phips, and make him yet livinj; with us, but by setting up a statue for him, as 'tis done in these pages, that may out-last an ordinary inonument. Such was the original design of erecting statues, and if in Venice there were at once no less than an hundred and sixty-two marble, and twenty- three brazen statues, e re-ted by the order, and at the expence of the pub" lick, in honour of so mo.iy valiant soldiers, who had merited well of tha , commonwealth, I tm sure New-England has had those whose merits call for as good an acknowledgment; and, whatever they did be/ore, it will be well, if after Sir William Phips, they find many as meritorious as he to be BO acknowledged. Now I cannot my self provide a better statue for this memorable per- son, than the words uttered on the occasion of his death in a very great assembly, by a person of so diffused and embalmed a reputation in the church of God, that such a character from him were enough to immor- talize the reputation of the person upon whom he should bestow it. The Grecians employed still the most honourable and considerable per- sons they had among them, to make a funeral oration in commendation of soldiers that had lost their lives in the service of the publick: and when Sir William Phips, the Captain-G-^neral of New-England, who had often ventured his life to serve the publick, did expire, that reverend per- son, who was the president of the only University then in the P]nglish America, preached a sermon on that passage of the sacred writ, Isa. Ivii. 1: "Merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous are taken away from the evil to come;" and it gave Sir William Phips the following testimony: "This province la beheaded, and lyes a bleeding. A Governour is taken away, who was a merciful man ; some think too merciful ; and if so, 'tis best erring on that hand ; and a right- eous man; who, when he had great opportunities of gaining by injuslice, did refuse to do so. "He was a known friend unto the best interests and unto the Churches of God: not ashamed of owning them. No: how often have I heard him expressing his desires to be an instrument of good unto theio! He was a zealous lover of his country, if any man in the world were ho: he exposed himself to serve it; he ventured his life to save it: in that, iitr\i& Nchemiah, a governour that "sought the welfare of his people." " He was one who did not seek to have the government cast upon him : no, but instead thereof, to my knowledge, he did several times petition the King that this people might always enjoy the 'great privilege of chusing their own governour;' and I heard him express his desires that it might be so to several of the chief ministers of stsite in the Court of England. "He is now dead, and not capable of being Jlatlered : but this I must testifio concerning him, that though by the providence of God I have been with him at homo and abroad, near P ij » I 1 I'll! MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA; at home and afar off, by land and by sea, / never saw him do any evil action, or heard him speak any thing unbecoming a Christian. "The ciruumstanccs of Ina death seem to intimate the anger of God, in that he was 'in the midst of his days' removed; and I know (though few did) that he had great purjmses in his heart, whioh probably would have taken eifect, if he had lived a few months longer, to the great advantage of this province ; but now ho is gone, there is not a man living in the world capacitated for those undertakings; New-England knows not yet what they have lost!" The recitation of a testimony so great, whether for the author or the mat- ter of it, has now made a statue for the governour of New-England, which Nee poterit Ferrum, nee edax abolere telustaa." And there now remains nothing more for me to do about it, but only to recite herewithal a well-known story related by Suidas, That an envious man, once going to pull down a statue which had been raised unto the memory of one whom he maligned, he only got this by it, that the statue, l.uling, knocked out his brains. But Poetry as well as History must pay its dues nnto him. If Cicero's poem, intituled, ^'Quadrigce,^' wherein he did with a poetical chariot extol the i.xploits of Cajsar in Britain to the very skies, were now extant in the world, ' would have borrowed some flights of that at least, for the subject now to be adorned. But instead thereof, let the reader accept the ensuing Elegy. UPON THE DEATH OF SIR WILLIAM PHIPS, KNT. [ATE CAPTAIN GENERAL AND GOVERNOUR IN CHIEF OF THE PROVINCK OF THK MASSACHUSET-iJAY IN NEW-ENGLANU, WHO EXPIRKD AT LONDON, FEBRUARY, lBM-6. And to Mortality a sacrifice Falls lie, whuse deeds must him immortalize'. Rsjoin, McetxeuTi ; NetopB, rejoice ; HiB truv, Ye Philistines, none will rejoice but you ; Ijuving of alt he dy'd ; who love Aiin not Now, huve the gnice of puhlicuns forKOt. Our AliiinnackB foretold a great eclipse, This they foresaw not. of our greater Pnipa. Phips our (treat friend, our wonder, and our iflor". Th',' terror of our I'oeu, the world's rare story. England will boiuit him loo, whose noble mind Impell'd by Anzelf- diJ those treasures flud, Ijong in the bottom of the ocean laid, Which her three bandred thousand richer made, By silver yet nc'w canker'd. nor defli'd By Honour, nor Ixetruyert whcr Forluuc smil'd. Since this brii^t Phcebus visile.' nur shonr. We saw no /cm but what were rais'd boforf : Tho»e vanish'd t4M»; hara»s'd by bliHidy warsi Our land saw peace, by his most Keiierous cares. The wiiltl!d unto all, whether they would or no. To make us good, g.-ual, wine, and all things else, lie wanted but the gift of miracles. On him. vain Mob, thy mischiefs cease to throw; Bad, but alone in this, the times were so. Htout to a prodigy ; living in pain To send bacic Q'lebeck-buliets once again, ThiiiKler, his niiiHick, swwUer than the spheres, Cliim'd roaring canons in his martial ears. Frigaui of armed men could not withstand, 'Twos tryed, the force of his one iwordless hand — Hand, which in one, all of Briareus hod. And Herculus' twelve toils but pleasures made. Too humble ; in brave stature not so tall. As low in carriage, stooping unto all, Rais'd in estate, in figure and renown. Not pride ; higher, and yet not prouder grown. Of pardons full ; ne'er to revenge at all, Was that which he would satisfaction call. True to his mute ; from whom though often flown, A stntnger yet to every love but one. Write him not childless, whose whole people were Son.i, orphans now, of his paternal care. Now le.it ungrateful brands we should incur. Your jalary we'll pay in tears, orkat Sir! To England ofti'ii blown, and by ti\» Prlnc0 Often sent laden with prrfrrments uheiice. Preferr'd each time he went, when all was done That earth could f.t, heaven I'etch'd him to a cn>wn. 'TIS he : with him inlerr'd how great designs I Stand fearless now, ye eastern firs and pines. With naval stores not to enrich the nation. Stand, for the universai conflagration. Mines, opening unto none but him, now stay Ckjse under lock and key, till the last day : In thiF like to the grand aurijic'c stone, By a: ut ^rraf .tou/t not to bt known, Aud iiDii, rich table, with Kodllla lost, 'ii tne liiir (lale funeral. Write wiiv Ai» epitaph, 'twill be thine own. Lei it be this, a i-rni.irE spirit's oonk. Or, hut name P111P.S ; more needn not \k exprest; Both Eoglands, a.id next ages, tell the rest. • "Nor aword, nor rust of time shall o'er destroy."— Uviu. Met*morph. XV. BY L P O L y B I u s. THE THIRD BOOK OF THE NEW-ENGLISH HISTORY: CONTAINING THE LIVES OF MANY REVEREND, LEARNED, AND HOLY DIVINES, (ARRIVING SUCH FROM EUROPE TO AMERICA,) BY WHOSE EVAKGELICAL MINISTRY THE CHURCHES OF N. ENGLAND HAVE BEEN ILLUMINATED. BT COTTON MATHER. Tettor, Christianum dt Christiano vera freftrre. [I bear witness that a Christian here relates the truth concerning other Christians,] TIaiirci)i> Kara Qtov wo\tTtvaanevo>v 'o 0tos rois ivat^tar.v 'u^tXi/itiirarof, 't^' ^noitiyna fiovor 4\Xa KOt napan'Xriatt, iwap^uv irpos dpiriju. — Simton Metapkrast. in Vila Chr^iestomi. [The livex of those who rule in the fear of God are profitable to pious men, inasmuch as the; are not only exemplars of virtue, but incentives to it.] Equidtm efftror ttudio Patrea vestros, quoi eolui, et dilezi, videndi, ["I urn transported with a desire to see your fiUbers, whom I have cherished and lovtKl."] OlcCRO, di SentetuU. HA'RTFORD: SILAS ANDBUS & SON. 1853. 1:;- II !l'i i! !• '11! INTRODUCTION. What was it that obliged Jerom to write his book, De Viris lUxutribusI* It was the com* nion reproach of old cast upon the Christians, "That they were all poor, weak, unlearned men." The sort of men sometime called Puritans, in the English nation have been reproached with the same character; and as a malignant Stapleton counted the terms of an ass, iind a fool, good enough to treat our incomparable Whitaker. No less basely are the best of Protestants often termed and thought, by the men who know no Christianity but ceremony. There hath been too much of that envy, that Sapientior sis Socrate, Doctior Augustiiw, Calvenianus si modd dicare, clam, vel propalam, mox Tartans, Moscis, Afris, Tvrcisque sa:vientibus,jacebis execratior.\ A wretchedness often seen in English; I shall not Englisii it. This is one thing that has laid me under obligation here to write a book* De Viris Illustribus: in tho whole whereof I will, with a most conscientious and religious regard of truth, save our hintory from any share in that old complaint of Melchior Canus, DolerUer hoc dico, muUd d Laertio severius Vitas Philosophorum scriptas esse, qiidm A Chris- lianis. Vitas Christianorum ;{ the lives of philosophers more truly written, than the lives of Christians. Reader, behold these examples; admire and follow what thou dost behold exemplary in them. They are ofl'ered unto the publlck, with the intention sometimes mentioned by Greg> ory: Ut qui Prccceptis rum accendimur, saltern Exemplis incitemur; atque ac Appelitu Recti- tudinis nil sibi mens nostra difficile mstimel, quodperfecle peragi ab aliis videt:\ that patterns may have upon us the force which precepts have not. If a man were so absurd as to form his ideas of the primitive Christians from the mon- strous accusations of their adversaries, he would soon perswade himself, that their God was the Deus Christianorum Anonychites,\\ whose image was erected at Rome. And if a man should have no other ideas of the Purit^in Christians in our days, than what the tory-pens of the sons of Bolsecus have given them, we would think that it was a just thing to banish them into the cold swamps of the North-America. But when truth shall have liberty to speak, it will be known, that Christianity never was more expressed unto the life, than in the lives of the persons that have been thus reproached among the legions of the accuser of the brethren. It speaks in the ensuing pages! Here, behold them, of whom the world was not worthy, wandring in desarts! Arnobius was put upon an apology, against our particular calumny, among the rest, "That at the meetings of the Christians, a dog, tyed unto the candlestick, drew away the light, whereupon they proceeded unto the most adulterous confusions in the world." And a great ■|.F« :i .4 P * Concerning Illustrious Men. f Though you are wiser than Socrates, morn accomplished than Augustine, if you are only called a Calvinist, secretly or openly, you will soon be more execrably odious than Tartars, Muscovites, Moors, and bloody Turks. X I confess with grief, that the Lives of Philosophers are written by liaertius with a far more strict adherence to tntth, than the Lives of Christians by Christians. % So that, if not influenced by precepts, we may be affected by examples, and that in our zeal for virtue we miiy esteem nothing too difficult for us to achieve, which has already been exemplified by others. I The God without claws. \ ^ |: 234 INTBODUrnON. mun in hU writings does affirm, " I have hear/i thia very thing, told more than once, with no ■nutll confidence concerning the Puritans." Reader, thou shult now nee what sort of men they were: Zion is not n city of fouln. As Ignatius, in his famous cpi-^tles to the Trallians, mentioning their pastor, I'olybiust, reports him, "A mun of so good and just a reputation, that the very Atheists i!! J ttand in fuur of him," I liope our Polybius, will afford many deserving such a characti^r. It was mentioned as the business and blessedness of John Baptist, "To turn the hcnrts of the fathers to the children." AfU'T a deal of more ado about the sence of the pnttsnge thus translated, I contented my self with another translation, " to turn the liearts of the fathers with the children;" becitiiMo I iind the preposition, 'nn, as well as the prteiix 3, in Mai. iv. 6, whence the passage is taken, to be rundred with, rather than ^>. The sencc there- fore I took to be, that John should convert both old and youiy^. But further thought Imtli offered unto me a further gloss upon it: "to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children," is to turn the children by putting the hearts of the fathers into them; to gi\e them suiii hearts as were in Abraham, and others of thuir famous and faithful /a/hers. Reader, the book now in tiiy hands is to managit^ the design of a John Baptist, and convey the hearts o{ the fathers unto- the children, Archilocus being denirous to give prevailing and effectual advice unto Lycambes, by an elegant Prosajxtpaia, brought in his dead father, us giving the advice he was now writing, and as it were put liis pen into nis /a/Aer's hands. Cicero being to rend a lecture of temper- ance ond modesty unto Clodiii, raised up her father A plus Cuius from the gmve, and in his name delivered his directions. And now by introducing the fathers of Mew- England, with- out the least fiction, or figure of rlietorick, 1 hope the plain history of their lives will be a powerful way of propounding their fatherly counsels to their posterity. A stroke with the hand of a dead man, has before now been a remedy for a malady not easily remedied. THE THIRD BOOK. DE VIRIS ILLUSTRIRUS. IN POUR PARTS. CONTAININ9 THE LIVES OF NEAR F!FTY DIVINES, CONSIDEnAlir.K IX THE CHI" '^J* OP NKW-KXOIAND. Credunt de nobit qua non probantur, el noluni abtmtur non tttt, f uit malunt CTtdidii**.* — ' '* Having entertained my readers witii a more imperfect catalogue "Of „ many persons whose memories deserve to be entbalmed in aciV(7 history j*^ 'M I must so far consider, that it is an wdt mistical history which I have under- taken, as to hasten unto a fuller and larger account of those persons who have been the ministers of the gospel, that fed the "flocks in the wilder- ness ;" and, indeed, New-England having been iu some sort an ecclesias- tical country above any in this world, those men that have here appeared most considerable in an ecclesiastical capacity, may most reasonably chal- lenge the most consideration in our histor}'. Take then a catalogue of New-England's first ministers, who, though they did not generally affect the exercise of church-government, as confined unto classes, yet shall give me leave to use the name of classes in my mar- shal ling of them. THE FIUST CLASSI3. It shall be of such as were in the actual exercise of their ministry when they left England, and were the instruments of bringing the gospel into this wilderness, and of settling churches hero according to the order of the gospel. UM'^VH'] oniDPi: OR, ovR FIRST GOOD MRN. 1. Mr. Thomas Allen, of CkarUf-tuien, 2. » Juhn Allen, of liedham. 3. « Avory, of MarUrkead, 4. " Adam Blackmail, of Stntfonl, 5. " Richard Bllninaii,o/O\f Ckmbriilft, 17. " SaniiH>l Katun, •/ A>ir-//a>(ii, 18. u John Klliot, i^f Hotbxrs. la. » John Fisk, •/ CAfimsforJ. 90. » llttnry Klint, nf Rramtrt*. 91. " — — Fonlhain, •/ '^outkampton. 99. u iintn, ^f Hnulinf. 93, " John Harvard, of Cknntt^oiKn. 94. " Fnuicl* llljiKinsun, ^f Saltm. • They [the people of Rome] believe of us [Christians] things that arc not provoil, auU the Imth of which Uiey are reluctant tu test, lest they should Hud that tu be ftilse which they love to believe. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I l^|18 |2.5 tii Uk 12.2 Hi 140 2.0 1.8 11.25 nil 1.4 - 6" L"** Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716)872-4503 ^ i/.A :\ \ <\ 286 UAONALIA CHBISTI AMESIGANA; as. Mr. WUIIrai Hook, »t MmffTavt*. \ 83. Mr. Philips, of Dtdham. 30. •« Thomu Hooker, of Martftrd. 53. " Abraham Pierson, of Sovtiiampton, m. ** F^er Hobvt, 0/ Uingkam. 54. •< Peter Prudden, «/ .HiV/vrd as. « Ephraim Huet, •/ mndtor. 55. « Reyner, •/ P/|r«iaiit*. ». u Hull, of the Mt of Skolot. 50. » Ewkiel Rogers, •/ liM«{y. 30. u Junes, 0/ CkaWwtom. 57. « Nathaniel Rogers, «/l>«wieA. 31. 58. <• Baxton, •/ &i(iial«. VL •• Kn^g^tt, of Top^eld. 50. w Thomas Bhepard, of Cambridfe. S3. 00. M Zaeharjr Symms, of CharltM-toun. 34. 3S. 01. •» 8kelton,«/5ai(iii. « Ralph Smith, «/ P/ysioiiiA. M John Lotbrop, areJk««(er. 03. " Bmlih, of mthtrsjldd. 37. 04. u Samuel Stone, •//larVor<(. 3B. •• Mnytiriek, of Dorthuttr. OS. « Nicholas Street, g/AVw/laiira. SB. » John Umjo, of Botton. 00. « William Thompson, of Brtintree. M. « John Millar, of Yarmotitk. 07. '< William Waltham,«/JirarM«*(a<<. 41. <* Moxon, of SpringJlM. 08. M Nathanael Ward, of Ipiwieh, and his 4S. Mr. John Want, of Haverkil. 43. « Itorrih of Salewk 00. « John Wcrbam, •/ fTfaibvr. 44. <• John Norton, «/ it»«(«ii. 70. « Weld,i>/li«z»ary. 4S. * James Nojrse, of M'ewberrji. 71. " Wheelright,«/&/»»«fy. 40. ** Thomas Parker, a/JVewtcrry. W. " Henry Whitfleld, of Guilford. 47. <* Ralph Partridge, of Dtzburf. 73. " Samuel Whileing, «/ /.ya. 48. « Peck, •/ WivAaM. 74. <' John Wilson, o/JlMtini. 49. « Hugh Peters, of Saltm. 75. " Witherel, of Seituate. 801 ** Thomas Peters, of Safbrook 70. o WiUiam Worcester, «/ 5aiif»ary. 51. M George PhiUips, •/ HUM-tMcii. 77. ** Young, «/S(.»a(>/