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Les diegrammes suivsnts illustrent la mAthode. ata iura. 1 iX 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 i j <* Bi ^'^fmc^. * // --K. # ^i f OR, THE ECCLESIASTICAL fflSTORY OF NEW- rROM ITS FIRST PLANTING IN THE YEAR 1620, UNTO THE YEAR OF OUR LORD, 1698. m SEVEN BOOKS. =^ By THE Revkrend and Learned COTTON ]^THEL, D.D.— F.R.S. And Pastor of the North Church in Boston, Jiew-Engtand, IN TWO VOLUME^.' o "■ cX*>:'- -.^^h^s:. rx VOL.I.„g^ ,i,^^ FIRST AMERICAN COITION, FROM THE iXkHDOViniTION OVAIOfJIi HARTFORD: J:^ :b PUBLISHED BY SILAS ANDRU«. Roberts k £urr, Priolera. 1820. ■^ L>- 1 GENERAL CONTENTS OP THE SEVERAL BOOKS. ' >! VOL. I. I. Aiitiquilies. In seven chapters. With an Appendix. II. Containing the lives of the Gov* ernours, and names of the Ma- SBtratcs of New England. In irtecn chapters. With an Ap- pendix. III. The Live* of sixty Famous Di* vinesj by whose ministry the Churches of New-England have been planted and continued. VOL. II. IV. An account of the University of Cambridge in New-England ; in TwoParts. The first contains the Laws, the Benefactors, and Vicissitudes of Harvard College; withremarksupoa.it. The se- cond part contains the Lives of some eminent persons educa- ted in it. V. Acts and Monuments of the Faith and Order in the Churches of Kte^TEqi^land, passed in their Synods ; tnth Historical Re- marks upon thos^yeperable as- semblies ; and a great variety of Church-cases occurring, and re- solved by the Synods of those Churches. In four Parts. VI. A Faithful Record of many il- lustrious, wonderful Providen- ces, both of mercies and judg- ments, on divers persons in New- England. In Eight Chap- ters. VII. The Wars of the Lord. Be- ing an History of the manifold Afflictions and Disturbances of the Churches in New-England, from their various adversaries, and the wonderful methods and mercies of God in their deliver- ance. In six Chapters. To which is subjoined, an Appen- dix of Remarkable Occurrences which New-England had in the wars with the Indian salvages, from the year 1688, to the year 1698. ■k.'^'^' .ii^>y^' ii'Mf'rli:^''^ .!" ^ '•' ^ Jp • PREFACE TO THE PRESENT EDITION. THE Publisher of this second Edition of Dr. MatherV Magnalia, has long been sensible of the great demand for tlie Work, both by lite- rary men and all others who wish to be acquainted with the early history of our country. The first Edition was published in London in 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 hare been desirous to possess, or even to read, the volume, have been unable to procure it. ^ The Magnalia is a standard work with Anericafi Historians, and must * ever continue to be such, especially, respecting the affairs of New Eng- land. To this portion of our country, always distinguished for emigra- tions, 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, dimin- ish 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 authen- tic form. No man since Dr. Mather's time, has had so good an oppor- tunity, 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 documents necessary for his undertaking. And no historian would persue a similar design with greater industry and zeal. The author has been accused of credulity. This charge, however, will not be advanced with confidence by those well acquainted with the char- acter of the times of which he treats. The great object of the first Plan* ters of New-England was to form A Christian Commonwealth. A de- sign without a parallel in ancient or modern times. The judicious read- er would expect to discover, in the annals of such a people, characters and events not to be found in the history of other communities. — The geography and natural history of the country were not the principal ob- jects of the author's attention, and, on these subjects, he has fallen into some mistakes. I #' l» ♦ -^ .* ^ FRBrACB TO THE TtLtttOllf BDITIOK. The work ii both a civil and '^ eccleiiastical hiitory.— The large portfwn of it devoted to Biography, affords the reader a more diatinct ▼iew of the leading characters of the timesi than could have been given in any other form. The anthor'a language is peculiarly his own. In the rapidity of hit manner, he could pay but little attention to his style. Such as it is, it has been thought best to retain it, in this Edition, as well as his orthog- raphy, unaltered. The Titles of D. D. and F. R. S. were given to Dr. Mather after the publication of this work, and are now annexed to hie 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, ^t the present time. But relying on the utility of the object, he entertains a hope that the liberality of the public will save him from loss. HARTronp, CoffABCTicvT, June Ist 1820. .•>*«4'A.':iaif:#l',1f^-, Vii»SA)r*«'i> ^'■■■» -ii" . ^■^- ■-,^•1 rj Hi»*<«^>«s#^#i^'«-.-.'.ii;^<^-iM . ?*. , ;. ■ ■ 4i^ia£^- i -^ii ;j <^nf::.4 ..,__ ■ '-■% •^':i^H -i 'i % • : # A '4 I TIQUITIBS. THE FIRST BOOK or THE ITffilT^BIKDILSSat OSSS V ■- .■ii:A: ■jrttV -ir/^-k^ ••. 4' S -.Jl«uf^4i«> * >V -tiM** 3*«» ft J t ifc *" «-*)t* ™ --» ' lj^wj^i««l*S£>yMwXjr*»**'. ,,-*4i-.»«vi « -J**«^*'. -.Wf*v*.m*7 »«,<*J»,^9«* tA».v MV^V f # • # t AN ATTESTATION ^ TO THIS CHURCH-HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND, ^/ It hath been deservedly esteemed, one of the great and wonderful works of God in this latt age, that the Lord stirred up the spirits of so many thousands of his servants, to leave the pleatant land of England, the land of their nativity, and to transport themseleves, and families, over the ocean sea, into a desert land in America, at the distance of a thousand leagues from their own country ; and this, meerly on the account of pure and undefihd Religion, not knowing how they should have their daily bread, but trusting in God for that, in the way o( seeking first the kingdom of God, and the riglUeoutness thereof: And that the Lord was pleased to grant such a gracious presence of his with them, and such a blessing upon their undertakings, that within a few years a wilderness was subdued be> fore them, and so many Colonies planted. Towns erected and Churches set- tled, wherein the true and living God in Christ Jesus, is worshipped and served, in a place where time out of mind, had been nothing before but Heathenism, Idolatry, and Devil-worship ; and that the Lord has added so 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 ? And, this is the Lord*s do- ings, it is marvellous in our eyes! Even so (0 Lord) didst thou lead thy peo- pie, to make thyself a glorious name! Now, one generation passeth away, and another cometh. The first generation of our fathers, that began this plan- tation of JWw-JEn^/ant/, most of them in their middle age, and many of them in their declining years^ who, after they had served the will of God, in laying the foundation (as we hope) of many generations, and given an example of true reformed Religion in the faith and order of the gospel, according to their best light from the iverds of God, they are now gath' 8 AN ATTESTATION TO THIS CHURCH-HISTORY. A. ered unto thtirfatheri. There hath been another generation lacceediDg the Jirit, either of such ai come over with their parents very young, or were bom in the country,and these have had the managing of the poblick affair* for many yean, but are apparently patting away, aa their fathert before them. There ia also a thxrd generation, who are grown up, and begin to stand thick upon the stage o( action, at this day, and these were all born in the country, and may call ^few-England their native land. Now, in re- spect of what the Lord hath done for these generations, succeedi % one another, we have aboundant cause of Thanksgiving to the Lord our Ood, who hath so increased and bir.ssed this people, that from a day of tmall thingt, he has brought us to be, what we now are. We may set up a> Ebbnezer, and »»y, hitherto the Lord hath helped ut. Yet in respect of our present ttate, we have need earnestly to pray, as we are directed, Let thy work farther appear unto thy tervantt, and let thy beauty be upon ut, and thy glory upon our children ; eilabliih thou the workt ofthete our handt; yea, the worJu of our handt, eitablish thou them. For, if we look on the dark side, the humane side of this work, there is much o( humane weakneti, and imperfection hath appeared in all that hath been done by man, as was acknowledged by our fathert before us. Neither was New-England ever without tome fatherly chattiiementt from God ; shewing that He is not fond of the formalitiet of any people upon earth, but expects the realitiei of practical Oodlinett, according to our profession and engagement unto him. Much more may we, the children of auch fathers, lament our gradual degeneracy from that life and power of OodhnesSf that was in them, and the many provoking evilt that are amongst us ; which have moved our God severely to witness against us, more than in our Jirst limes, by his lesser judgments going before, and h'u great- er judgments following ufler ; he shot off his waming-piecei first, but his murthering pieces have come after them, in so much as in these calami- tous times, the changes of wars of Europe have had such a malignant in- fluence upon us in America, that we are at this day greatly diminished and brought low, through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. And yet if we look on the light side, the divine side of this work, we may yet see, thut the glory of God which was with our fathers, is not wholly departed from ua their children ; there are as yet many signs of his gracious presence with us, both in the way of his providences, and in the use of his ordinances, aa also in and with the hearts and souls of a con- siderable number of his people in New-England, that we 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 be with us, as 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 maintain his own, and hispeopWs cause, at all times, as the matter may re- quire. For the Lord our God hath in his infinite wisdom, grace, and holiness, contrived and established His covenant, so as he will be the God of his people and of their seed with them, and afler them, in their generations ; and in the ministerial diapensation of the covenant of grace, in, with and to his visible Church, He hath promised covenant-mercies on the condition of covenant-duties. If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will J hear their prayers, forgive their sins, and heal their land ; and mine eyes, and mine heart, shall he upon them perpetually for good ! that so AN ATTESTATION TO THIS CHURCH-HISTORY, kc. 9 and mess, )f his tions ; and iditioD umhle iht/aithfulmu of Ood may wppear id all generations for ever, that if there he any breach between the Cord and hia ptoplt^ it ahall appear plainly to lye on hit porials, he hath, in the issue, within a few months, contrived, composed, and methodized the same into this form VOK. I, 40 AN ATTESTATION TO THIS CHURCH-HISTORY, and frame which we here «ee : ao that it deserres the vM/tn of, THE CHVRCH'HISTORV OF NmWBJfQLAND. But as 1 behold this exen)plary son of Afew- England, while thus youiig and tender, at such a rate baiMiag the Temple of Ood, and in a few months dispatching such a piece of TVmpfe'Work as this is ; a work so notably adjusted and adorned, it brings to mind the epigram npon young borellut : Cum Juveni tantam dedit Experientia Lueem, Tale ul protnat opus, quam Dabit ilia Seni ? if' ■ Aa for my $elt\ having been, by the mercy of God, now abore sixty eight yean in Neite-En^emd, and served the Lord and his people in my weak measure, sixty yean in the ministry of the gospel, I may now say in my old age, I have seen all that the Lord hath done for his people in New-Bngland, and have known the beginning and progress of these churches unto this day ; and having read over much of this history, I cannot but in the love and fear of God, bear witness to tbe truth of it ; viz. That this present church-history of New-England, compiled by Mr. CoUon Mather, for the substance, end and scope of it, is, as farifs i have been acquainted therewithal!, according to truth. The manifold advantage, and usefulness of this present hisiory, will ap- pear, if we consider the great and good ends onto which it may be serviceable ; as. First, That a plain scriptarat duty of recording Me works of Ood unto after-times, may not any longer be omitted, but performed in the best manner we can. Secondly, That by the manifestation of the truth of things, as they have beet and are amongst us, the misrepresentations of Ne«D-£Rj;(an« may be removed and prevented ; for. Rectum est sui 4* obliqui Index. '^ Thirdly, That the true original and design of this plantation may not be lost, nor buried in fublivion, but known and remembered for ever, [Psal. 1 1 1. 4. He hath fnade his wonderful works to be remembered. Psal. 105. 5. Rememher ye the marvellous works which he hath done.] Fourthly, That God may have the glory of the great and good works which be hath done for his people in these ends of the earth, [As in Isai- ah 63. 7. I will mention the loving kindness of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all the great goodness and mercy he has be- stowed on us.] fifthly. That the names of such eminent persons as the Lord made use of, as instruments in his hand, for the beginning and carrying on of this work, may be embalmed, and preserved, for the knowledge and imitation of posterity ; for the memory of the just is blessed. Sixthly, That the present generation mny remember the way wherein the Lord hath led his people in this wilderness, for so many years past unto this day ; [according to ttmt in Deut. 8. 2. Thou shalt remember aU the way wherein the Lord hath led thee in the wilderness this forty years, to humble thee, and to prove thee, and to know what was in thy heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or no.] All considering persons cannot but observe, that our wilderness-condition hath been i\ill of humbhng, trying, distressing providences. We have had our Massahs and Meribahs ; and few of our churches but have had some remarkable hours of temptation passing over them, and God's end in all has been to .' .-.'u u* 4feN ATTESTATION TO THIS CHURCH-HISTORY, lie. 11 prove a*, ivllftber, according to onr profeuiou, and /Wn expectation^ yre would keep ki$ eomtnandmenUf or not. . Seoentmv, That the generaHone to come in New'Enghnd, may kaow the God of Aeir /ather$, and may terve him with a perfect heartland willing mind ; as especially the firtt generaliotk did before them ; aod that they may »et their hope m Gx>d, and not forget hit works, but keep his commandments. (PubH. 78. 7.) Eighthly, And whereas it may be truly said, (as Jer. 23. 21.) Tkai token this people began to follow the Lord into this wilderness, they were, holi- ness to the Lord, and he planted them as a noblevine ; yet if ia process of tiiiie, when they are greatly increased and taulliplied , they should so far degenerate, as to forget the religious design ot their fathers, and ibr- sake the holy ways of God, (as it was said of them in Hosea 4. 7. ^s they were increased, so they sitmed against the Lord) and so that many evils aRd||roubles wiU befall them j then this Book may be for a witness against them ; and yet through the mercy of God, may be .also a means to reclaim them, and cause them to return again unto the Lord, and his holy ways, that he may return again in mercy unto them ', even unto the many thousands of New-England. JVintUy, That the little daughter of JSTew-England in America, may bow down herself to her mother England, in Europe, presenting this memorial unto her ; assuring her, that though by some of her angry brethren, she was forced to make a local secession, yet not a separation, but hath always retained a dut'ful respect to the Church of God in Eng- land ; and giving some account to her, how graciously the Lord has dealt with . herself in a remote wilderness, and what she has been doing all this while ; giving her thanks for all the supplies she has received from her i and because she is yet in her mtnor%,she craves her farther blessing and favour as the case may require : being glad if what is now presented to her, may be of any use, to help forward the union and agree' iiient of hAr brethren, which would be some satisfaction to her for her un- desired local distance from her dear England ; and finally promising all Ihiit reverence and obedience which is due to her good mother, by virtue of the fifth commandment. And Lastly, That this present history may stand as a monument, in relation to future times, of a fuller and better reformation of the Church of God, than it hath yet appeared in the world. For by this Essay it may be seen, that a farther practical reformation than that which began at the first coming out of the darkness of Popery, was aimed at, andenideavour- ed by a great number of voluntary exiles, that came into a wilderness for that very end, that hence they might be free from humane additions and inventions in the worship of God, and might practice the positive part of di- vine institutions, according to the word of God. How far we have attained this design, may be judged by this Book, But we beseech our brethren, of our own and of other nations, to believe that we are far from think- ing that we have attained a perfect reformation. Ob, no ! Our fathers did in their time acknowledge, there were many defects and imperfections in our way, and yet we believe they did as much as could be expected from learned and godly men in their circumstances ; and ym, their sue- cessors, are far short of them in many respects, meeting with many t^^- ctUties which they did not ; and mourning under many rebukes from our God which they had not, aod with trembling hearts observing the grad- ual decliuings that are amongst us from the holy ways of God ; we are, forced to cry out, and say, Lord, what will become of these churches in US' 18 AN ATTESTATION TO THIS CHURCH-HISTORY, ty and athvfBS A W ON THAT EXCBLLBNT BOOK, KMTITULBO MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA . Writtek by the Rev. Mr. COTTON MATHER, Pastor of a Church at Bostoti^ Kna-England, TO THE CANDID READER. Struck with huge love, of what to be poaaest, I much deapond, good reader, in the quest ; Yet help me, if at length it may be aaid, Who first the chambers of the south diaplay'd ? Inform me, whence the tawny people came ? Who was their fether, Japhet, Shem, or Cham? And how they stradd?')d to th' Antipodes, To look another world beyond the eeaa ? And when, and why, and where they last broke ground, What risks they rau, where they firat anchoring found ? Tell me their patriarchs, prophets, priests, and kings, Religion, manners, monumental things : What charters had they ? What immunities ? What altars, temples, cities, colonies, Did they erect ? Who were their publick spirits ? Where may we find the records oftheir merits ? What instances, what glorious displayes Of heav'ns high hand, commenced in their dayes ? These things in black oblivion covered o'er^ (As theyM ne'er been) lye with a thousand more, A vexing thought, that makea 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 books, schools, and coUcdge may be spar'd. So men with beasts may fitly be compar'd ! Yes, how tradition leaves us in the lurch. And who, nor stay at home, nor go to church : » The light-within-enthusiasts, who let fiy Against our pen and ink divinity ; Who boldly do pretend (but who'll believe it ?) If Genesis were lost, they could retrieve it ; Yea, all the sacred writ ; pray let them try On the New World, their gift of prophecy. For all them, the new world's antiquities, Smother'd in evejrlastnig silence lies ; ■V.i? m iVil INTRODUCTORY POEMS, &c. II ^ its first saehinu mention'd are no more, Than they that Jlgamemmm liv'd before. The poor .^tnerteaiw are under blume, Like them of old, that from Tel-melah came, Conjectur''d once to be of Israel* s seed. But no record appear'd to prere the deed : And like Habajah's sons, that were pat b^ ^ The priesthood, holv things to come not nigh, > For having lost their genealogy. j Who can past things to memory command, Till one with Aaron's breast-plate up shall stand ? Mischiefs remediless such sloth ensue ; God and their parents lose their honour due. And children's children suffer on that score, . Like bastards Cast forlorn at any door ; And they and others put to seek their &ther, For want of Such a scribe as Cotton Mather ; Whose piety, whose pains, and peerless pen. Revives New- England* s nigh>lost origin. Heads of our tribes, whose corps are under ground-, Th<';ir rames and fames in chronicles renown'd, Begemm'd on golden ouches he hath set, Past envy's teeth and time* corroding fret : Of Death and malice, he has brusb'd off the dust, And made a resurrection of the just : And clear 'd the land's religion of the gloss, AnA eopper'Cuts of Alexander Ross. He hath related academic things. And paid their Jirst fruits to the King of kings ; And done his Alma 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 displayed. Mercies and judgments are in colours laid ; Salvations wonderful by sea and land , Themselves are saved by bis pious hand. The Churches* wars, and various enemies, \ Wild salvages, and wilder sectaries, S Are notify'd for them that after rise. ) This well-instructed Scribe brings new and old. And from his mines digs richer things than gold ; Yet freely gives, as fountains do their streams, Nor mof e than they, himself, bv 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, ^ Thro' ev'ry line, and colour in our sight, S So interweaving pro/!< with delight ; ) And curiously inlaying both together, That he must needs find both, who looks for either. His preaching, writing, and his pastoral care, Are very much, to fall to one man's share. This added to the rest, is admirable, m INTRODUCTORY POEMS, kc. %' And proves the mthor indefatigable. Play is his toyl, and work bis recreation, And his invenUone next to inspiration. His|»eti was taken from some bird of light. Addicted to a swift and lofty flight. Dearly it loves art, air, and eloquence. And lutes eot^nement, save to tnUh and teni*. Allow what's kqown ; they who write histories Write many things they see with others' eyes ; ^Tis fair, where nooght is feign'd, nor undigested, Nor ought, but what is credibly attested. The risk is his ; and seeing others do, Why may not I speak mine opinion too t The itijff"w true, the trimming neat and spruce. The workman 's good, the work of publick use ; Most piously designed, a publick store. And well deserves the publick thanks, and more. Nicholas Notbs, Teacher of the Church at Salem, BEVBREHnO DOMIITO, D. ayrroM) MjiDERo, ^ iiibri utilissimi, cui Titulus, Maf^nalia Chritti Americana, Authori Doctissimo, ac Dilectissimo, Dqo Ogdoastica, & bis duo Anagrammata, dat Idem, JV. J^oyes. COTTONUS MADERUS. . C Est duo Sanctorum, ^^' \ Mtttu es Doctorum, Nomina Sanctorum, mtoa Scribie, clara duorun JVbmtne Cemo Tuo; Virtutes Lector easdem CandiduB inveniet Tecum, Charitate refertaa, Doctrina Eximius Doctos, Pietate piosque Tu bene describia, deacribere neacit at alter, Doctorum es Natus, Domino Spirante Renatua ; De bene quasitis gaudeto Tertius Hares j Momen prcesagit, nee non Jinagrammata, votes. • COTTONUS MADERUS.. . ( Unctaa demortuos, °''* \ Senatus Doctorum, Unctas demort'os, decoratur Laude Senatus Doctorum, Merita, fit praaena praterita ataa^ Huic exempla patent, poatera Progenitorjes INTRODUCTORY POEMS, &c. jVon ignorabit, patriitque $t^«rbitt Actit ; More^ FHdef otdtu, yuo^ patristare itudebU ; Oratum opuB t$t Dmmno^ Patria nee inutile no$tr0f Orbifructijicat, Fer Fertilitatit Honorumf Scribendo Viiaa alinuu, propria teripta ctf., , 17 CELKBBIUIIMI COTTOJil MATHERi, CBLKBRATIO ; Qui Heroom ViUik, in iui-ipai«i k illohtm Me|ioriam sempiteraun, revocavit. Quod patriot Manes revoeaati a Sedibtu altit, Sulvestres Masa gratety Mathere, rependunt* Hcec nova Progenies^ veterum tub Imagine, calo Arte Tua Terram viaitana, demiaaa, aalutat. Grata Deo Pietaa ; Gratea peraolvimua omnea f Semper HonoSj Mnntnque Tuum, Mathere, manelmnt. Is the bless'd MATtoaa neeromatuer tern'd, To raise his eoantries father's ashes urm'd ? Eliaha't dast, life to the dead ini|Huris ; This prophet by his more /amt7«ar arlr, Unaeatt our Aieroet* tombs, and gif ^s them air; They rise, they walk, they talk, look wond'roQS fhir ; Each of them in aa orb of light doth shine. In liveries of glory most divine. When ancient names I in thy pages met, Like gems on Aaron*a cosUy breast-plate set ; Methinks Heaven's open, while great aainti descend, To wreathe the brows, by which their acta were penn'd. B. THOMPSON. Vnr.. T. :,t^ ■«:>'«. ji ^>y ^^ TO THE REVEREND MR, COTTON MATHER, ON HIS HISTORY OF JVEW'ENGLAXD. In this hard age, when men such slackness show, To pay Lmt't debts, and what to Truth we owe, You to step forth, and such example shew, In paying what's to God and country due. Deserves our thanks : tnt'ne I do freely give ; 'Tis fit that with the raiitd ones you live. Great your attempt. No doubt some sacred spy, That Leiger in ybtar sacred cell did ly, Nurs'd your first thoughts, with gentle beams of light, And taught your hand things past to bring to sight : Thus led by secret sweetest Influence, You make returns to God's good providence : Recording how that mighty hand war nigh, To trace out paths not known to mortal eye, To those brave men, that to this land came o'er, And plac'd them safe on the Atlantick $hore : And how the same hand did them after save, And say, jR«(urn, oA; on the brink o' th' grave ; ''* And gave them room to spread, and bless'd their root, Whence, hung with fruit, now, many branches shoot. Such were these AeroM, and their /aftouri such. In their just praise, sir, who can say too much ? Let the remotest parts of earth behold, New-Englanefi crowns excelling Spanish gold. Here be rare lessons set for us to read, . ,. ■ '- That offsprings are of such a goodly breed. The dead ones here, so much alive are made, We think them speaking from bless'd Eden's shade ; Hark ! how they check the madness of this age, The growth of pride, fierce lust, and worldly rage. They tell, we shall to clam-banks come' again, If Heaven still doth scourge us all in vain. But, sir, upon your merits heap'd will be. The blessings of all those that here shall see Vertue embalm'd ; thii hand seems to put on - i . The lawrel on your brow, so justly won. Timothy WoooBniooE, Minister of Hartford. INTRODUCTORY POEMS, kc. If AD PO&ITUM LITBRATURJE, ATqUB lACRAIitni LITBRATUROIf ARTIITITBl^, AITGLIX^VE AMERICAN JC AlfTIQUARIOM CALLCITTIMIMUM, RBVKREIfOUM DOMINVII, D. COTTONUM mTHERUM, APOD BOSTORENIBa, V. O. M. IPIORAMMA. GOTTONUS MATHERUS. Anagr. **»• ' Tu tantum Cohors es» EPIORAMMA. Ipte, vale$ Tantum, Tu, mi ntemtrande Mathere, Fortii pro Chri$to Milit, es tpi« cohors. A PINDAR.TC. ' Art thou Heavtn't Trumpet ? sure by the Arckangtl blown ;. Tombs crack, dead start, saints rise, are seen and known* And (At'ne in constellation ; , /^ From ancient flames here's a new Phanix flown. To shew the world, when. Christ returns, hell not return alone. J. DANFORTH, V. D. M. Dore*$tr. TO THE LEARNED AMD REVEREND MR. COTTON MATHER. ON HIS EXCELLENT MAGNALIA. Sir, Mr muse will now by chymistry draw forth The spirit of your name's immortal worth. J: COTTOKIUS MATHERUS. Anagr. Tuos Tecum omasti. While thus the dead in thy rare pages rise, V TAtne, ivith thy self, thou dost immortalize. To view the odds, thy learned live* iiqfite, 'Tmxt £^eutherian and Edomite. But all succeeding ages shall despinr, A fitting monument for thee to rear. Thy own rich pen (peace, silly Momus, peace I) , , Hath given thena a lasting writ of ease. Grindal Rawson, Pastor of Jlf(en<{on. IN jBtiT camsTi MAONALIA AMERICANA, DIOBSTA IN SEPTIM LIBROS, FBR MAGNUM, DOCTISSIMUMdUB VIRUM, D. COTTOJWM MATUEEVM, J. CHMITI BCRVCM, ECCLESlJEtiVC AMBRICANO BOITONIBNSII MIHMXKVM riUM & DISCRTIBSIHUM. Sunt Jlliroc/aJ^M, c^nt &iJI/agnaito CAm(t,t ^ Qua patet Orbu , knot uUra Goromanlcu, & /ndoli Manwna^ quae paucis licuit cognoncere. Sed, quae Cernis in Amtrica, procul unvB-^aiique videbit. Vivii, ubi fertur nuUain viyiMe. Videaque Mtlle homiQet, res n^AltaSy Incunabtula jnirQ. Siraho sile, qui Maff;no, refers. VtvpyAinu. aatem Primis scire AoviMfi potuit copalibus Or6em.r £( dum JIfagMa, docet te GfottiM, Upde repletos Eece per ^^Mertirom, volucresque^ bominesqae, Deosque. Deumque libet, tibi scire licet Nofta viscera rerum. hiullus erat, nisi brutus homo : Sine lege, Deoque. Muma dat Antiquis, Solonque &, Jara Lycurgus. Hie nihil, & nullae (modo sic sibi vivere) Leges. Jam decreta vide, & Regum diplomata, curque, Ne sibi vivat bopiOf.nostrorum vivere Regi est. Die, tot habendo Deos, legisque videndo peritos^ Centenosque virps» celebres virtute, Statumque Quf ja Aovu« Orbis habet ; Quantum tnutatus abtllo es! 1 .es bona. Nee sat erit, & Rege Si Lege beatum, Pojse vehi anper As^ra. Deum tibi noscere, fas est. dH Mil Lex, nil Solon, nil ti Sine Aiimtn« Numa, Sit Deus ignotosque D«o»fQge. Molta Poetx De Jove finxenint, Aeptfino & Marie, Diisque Innumerabilibus. JUagntque Manitto, pependit Non eonvarsa Deo Gens Americana^ Manitto, Quern velut.4r(?^cem,colit,v&cett JVuiimii adorat. E tenebris Lux est. In abysso cernere Caelum est); Ignolumqne Dmtn, ootum Indis, BibliaSancta Jndtca, Tetnpla, Preeei, P$almo$, mdltosque Ministros. Ut Chriitum discant, bidorum Idiopiate Aitmen Utitur, Ut sese pate^c^ ubique locornm. Plura canam. Veterem Senola. Bit dispersa per OrhetnJ^ Et tot Athenais scatet Ang!us,.Belga^ Polonus, Germanui, Oalluique. Sat est Academia nostra. Extra Orbem ATomu Orbis habet, qaOd habetar in Orhe. 'ff't INTRODUCTORY PO£MS, iic. Dat Cantdtrigia Domu$ Harvardina Cathedrua Cuilibet, U cur non daret lndi$, Proaelytiaqae ? Trana Mare non opua eat ad P 1997. > HENR1CU8 SELIJN8, Eeeleti^e Ka»Eboraeentit MinUter Belgieiu. -5 I- ■r- " A* GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 'tftt h rir; tin rmt f»riv|«/M*«w '«f iAfi«< Mum, Dicam hoc propter utilitatem eorum qui Ltcturi sunt hoc opua, Theodorit. § 1. I WRITE the Wonder I of the Christun Relioioit, flying frooi the depravation! of Eur<^e, to the Atnerican Strand : and, aaaisted by the Holv Author of that Religion, I do, with all conscience of Truth, required therein bv Him, who is the Truth itralf, report the wonderful ditplayt of His innnite Power, Wisdom, Goodness, and Faithfulness, wherewith His Divine Providence hath irradiated an Indian Wildemeit. 1 relate the Coniiderahle Matteri, that produced and attended the First Settlement of Colonies, which have been renowned for the degree of Refohmatiok, professed and attained by Evangelical Churches, erected in those ends of the earth: and a Field being thus prepared, 1 proceed unto a relation of the Considerable Matters which have been acted there* upon. I first introduce the Actors, that have, in a more exemplary manner served those Colonies ; and give Remarkable Occurrences, in the exem- plary Lives of many Magistrates, and of more Ministers, who so lived, M 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 JVew World ; with particular in- stances of Criolians, in our Biography, provoking the whole world, with vertuoas objects of emulation. I introduce then, the Actions of a more eminent importance, that have signalized those Colonies: whether the Establishments, directed by their Synods ; with a rich variety of Synodical and Ecclesiastical Determina- tions ; or, the Disturbances, with which they have been from all sorts of temptations and enemies tempestuated ; 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, n Collection made, of Memorable Oc' currences ; and amazing Judgments and Mercies, befalling many particu- lar persons among the people of Ne-w-England. Let my readers expect all that I have promised them, in this Bill of Fare ; and it may be they will find themselves entertained with yet many other passages, above and beyond their expectation, deserving likewise n room in Historv : in all which, there will be nothing, but the Author'n too mean way of preparing so great entertninments, to reproach the In- vitation. 24 GENERAL INTRODUCTION. § 2. The reader will doabtleu desire to know, what it was that tot Vohere casus Jnsignes Pietate Viros, tot adire Labores, Impulerit. And our History sUaU, on many fit occasions jvl;^c^ will be therein offer- ed, endeavour, with all hi8 r< 'w jrM«nwri Ttt ^ut wmAimm7««. They think they do nothing right in the service of God, but what they do according to the eommand of God. And there hath been another generation of men, who have still employed the power which they have generally still had in their hands, not only to stop the progress of the desired Reformation, but also, with innumerable vexations, to per<^ secute those that most heartily wished well unto it. There were many of the JReform^rs, who joyned with the Reverend John Fox, in the com- plaiiUs which he then entred in his Martyrology, aboqt the baits of Po- P*J^ yet left in the Church ; aiid in his wishes, God take them away, or ease- us fnm them, for God knows they be the cause of much blindness and strife among^ men ! They zealously decreed the policy of complying al- ways with the ignorance and vanity of the People ; and cried out ear- nestly for purer Administrations in the house of God* and more con- formity to the Law of Christ, and primitive Christianity : while others would not hear of going any further than the^rst Essay of Reformation. 'Tis very certain, that the jirst Reformers never intended, that what they did, should be the absolute boundary of Reformation, so that it should be a sin to proceed any further ; as, by their own going beyond Wicklift, and changing and growing in their own Models also, and the confessions of Cranmer, with the Scripta.inglicana of Bucer, and a thousand other things, was abundantly demonstrated. But afler a fruitless expectation, wherein the truest friends of the Reformation long waited, for to have that which Heylin himself owns to have been the design of the first Re- formers, followed as it should have been, a party very unjustly arrogat- ing to themselves, the venerable name of, The Church of England, by numberless oppressions, grievously smote those their Feilow-Servants. Then 'twas that, as our great Owen hath expressed it, " Multitudes of pious, peaceable Protestants, were driven, by their severities, to leave their native country, and seek a refuge for their lives and liberties, with freedom, for the worship of God, in a wilderness, in the ends of the earth." * I 3. It is the History of these Protestants, that is here attempted : Protestants that highly honoured and affected the Church of England, and humbly petition to be a part of it : but by the mistake of a few pow- erful 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. Apd in this attempt 1 have proposed, not only to preserve and secure the interest of Religion, in the Churches of that little coun- try New-Enolan*, so far as the Lord Jesus Christ may please to bless it GENERAL INTr6dUCTI0N. f6 for that end, but also to offer uoto the Churehes of the Refonuationt abroad ia the world, some small Memorials, that may hb serviceable ao- to the designs of RejoTmationt whereto, 1 believe, they are qaickly to be awakened. I am far from any such boast, concerning these Churches, that they have need of nothing, I wish their works were more perfect be- fore God. Indeed, that which Austin called the petfettion of ChrietianSf is like to be, until the term for the antichristian apoitasie be |e»pii€d, the perfection of Churches too ; vi Agnoicant $e nunquam eue penecta*. Nevertheless, I perswade myself, that to far at they /tave attained^ they have given great examples of the methods and measures, whereiq. an Evangelical Reformation is to be prosecuted, and of the qualifications requisite in the instruments that are to prosecute it, and of the difficul* ties which may be most likely to obstruct it, and the most likely JDtreco tions and Remedies for those obstructions. It may be, 'tis not possible for me to do a greater service unto the Churches on the bett Island , have, by very injurious representations oftheir brethren (all which they desire to forget and foi^ive !) been many times thrown into a dung- carl ; yet, as they have been a preciout odour to Ood in Christ, so, I hope, they will be a precious odour unto His people; and not only pre- cious, but useful also, when the History of them shall come to be censid* ered. A Reformation of the Church is coming on, and I cannot but there- upon say, with the dying Cyrtis to his children in Xenophon, 's»i-«t ^f«V*y*nni»nin fiMitmnTi, ^mrrn ymf ^ttfi^fln hftinu^m. Learn from the things that have 6«'e» done already, for this is the best way of learning. The reader hath here an account of the things that have been done already, Bernard upon that clause in the Canticlet, [0 thou fairest among women] has this ingenious gloss, Pulehram, non omnimode quidem, ted pulchram inter mulieres earn docet, videlicet cum distinctione, quatenus ex hoc amj^iut repriinatur ; k sciat quid desit tibi. Thus I do not a.iy, that the Churches of J^ew-England are the most regular that can be ; yet I do say, and am sure, that they are very like unto those that were in the first ages of Christianity. And if I assert, that in the Reformation of the Church, the state of it in those 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 JUixcenat of that great man, was offended at him, for turning Protestant, he replied, /njdations of His* tory, will content ourselves with the opinion of one who was not much of a professed historian, expressed in that passage, whereto all mankind subscribe, Historia est TmIis temporum, Muntia vetustatis, Lmx verUatiSi vita memaruBf magistra vita. But of all History it must be confessed, that the palm is to be given unto Church History ; wherein the dignity, the suavity, and the ^ity of the subject is transcendent. I observe, that for the description of the whole witrld in the Book of Genesis, that first-bom of all historians, the great Moses, implies but one or two chap- ters, whereas he implies, it may be seven times a^ many chapters, in de- scribing that one little Pavilion, the Tabernacle. And when 1 am thinking , what may be the reason of this difference, methinks it intimates unto us, that the Church wherein the service of God is performed, is much more precious than the world, which was indeed created for the sake and use of the Church. 'Tis very certain, that the greatest entertainments must needs occur in the History of the people, whom the Son of God hath redeemed and purified unto himself, as a peculiar peopU, and whom the Spirit of God, by, supematurcU operations upon their minds, does cause to live like stranger* in this world, conforming themselves unto the Truths and Rules of his Holy Word, in expectation of a Kingdom, whereto they shall be in another and a better World advanced. Such a people our Lord Jesus Christ hath procured and preserved in all ages visible ; and the dis- pensations of his wonderous Providence towards this People (for, O Lord, thou do'st lift them up, and cast them downf) their calamities, their deliv- erances, the dispositions which they have still discovered, and the con- siderable persons and actions found among them, cannot but afford matters of admiration and admonition, above what any other story can pretend unto : 'tis nothing but Atheism in tbe hearts of men, that can perswade them otherwise. Let any person of good sense peruse the History of Herodotus, which, like a river taking rise, where the Sacred Records of the Old TestannetU leave off, runs along smoothly and sweetly, with rela- GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 27 tiona that flomAtimes perhaps want an apology^ down until the Qreeiam drive the Persians hetbre them. Let him then peruse Tkiuydidit* wb« from acting betook himself to writing, and carries the ancient state of the Oreciatu, down to the twenty first year of the Peloponnesian wars in a manner, which Casaiibon judges to be Mirandum potius quam imitandum. Let him next revolve Xtnophitn^ that Bm of AtherUf who continues a nax- rative of the Greek affairs, from the Peloponnesian wars, to the battle of Mantinea, and gives us a Cyrus into the bargain, at such a rate, that Lip' tins reckons the character of a Suavi, Fidus ^ Circumspectus Saiptor, to belong unto him. Let him from hence proceed unto Diodorus Siadus, who, besides a rich treasure of Egyptian, Assyrian, Lybian and Grecian, and other Antiquities, in a phrase which according to Photim's judgment, is 'rrtfiti /Miurrm vfnrwti, of all most becoming an historian, carries on the thread begun by bis predecessors, until the end of the hundred and nineteenth Olympiad ; and where he is defective, let it be supplied from ^rianus, from Justin, and from Curtitts, who in the relish of Q)lerut is, Quovis medle dulcior. Let him hereupon consult Polybiua, and acquaint himself with the birth and growth of the Roman Empire, as far as 'tis described, in^ve of the/orty books composed by an author, who with a learned Professor of History is, Prudens Scriptor, si quis alixu. Let him now run over the table of the Roman affairs, compendiously given by Lucius Flonu, and then let him consider th€ transactions of above tbre« hundred years reported by Dionvsius Halicamassaus, who, if the censure of Bodin may be taken, Grmcos omnes S[ Latinos super asse videatur. Let him from hence pass to Livy, of whom the famous critick says. Hoc aohum ingenium {de Historicis Loquor) popultu Ramanus par Imperio tuo habuit, and supply those of his Decads that are lost, from the best fragments of antiquity, in others (and especially Dion and Sahut) that lead us on still further in our way. Let him then proceed unto the writers of the Cc- saretm times, and first revolve Suefonhu, then Tacitiu, then Heredian, then a whole army more of historians, which now crowd into our Li- brary ; and unto all the rest, let him not fail of adding the incomparable Plutarch, whose books they say, Theod0re Gaza preferred before any in the world, next unto the inspired oracles of the Bible: but if the num-^ ber be still too little to satisfie an historical appetite, let him add Polyhit- tor unto the number, and all the ChronicUs of the following ages. After all, he must sensibly acknowledge, that the two short books of JE2cc2«n« astical History, written by the evangelist Luke, hath given us more glo* rious entertainments, than all these voluminous historians if they were put all together. The cUchievements of one Paul particularly, which that evangelist hath emblazoned, have more true glorj in them, than all the acts of those execrable plunderers and murderers, and irresistible banditti of the world, which have been dignified by the name of conque- rors. Tacitus counted Ingentia belta, Expugnationes urbium, fusoh cap- tosque Reges, the rages of war, and the glorious violences, whereof great warriors make a wretched ostentation, to be the noblest matter for an historian. But there is a nobler, I huiTibly conceive, in the planting and forming of Evang'eZictt^ Churches, and the temptations, the corruptionf, the afflictions, which assault them, and their salvations from those as- 8aulta« and the exemplary lives of those that Heaven employs to be pat- terns of holiness and itgefukuss upon earth : and unto such it is, that I now invite my readers ; things, in comparison whereof, the subjects of many other Histories, are of as little weight, as the questions about Z, the last letter of our Alphabet, and whether H is to be pronounced with # n GENERAL INTRODUCTION. % an aspiration, where about whole volumes have been written, and of no mure account, than the composure of DidymM. But for the tnanner of my treating this nuitter, 1 must now give some account unto him. § 6. Reader / 1 have done the part of an impartial historian, albeit not without all occasion perhaps, for the rule which a worthy writer, in his Historica, gives to every reader, Historici Legantur cunt Modertitione 8f venia, ^ cogitetur Jieti non puaae ut in omnibus drcumstanliis sint Lymei. Polybius complains of those historians, who always made either the Cartha- geniana brave, or the Romans base, or e amtra, in all their actions, as their * affection for their own party led them. I have endeavoured, with all good conscience, to decline this writing meerly for a party, or doing like the deal- er in History, whom Lucian derides, for always calling the captain of his own party tknAchilhi, but of the adverse party a Thersites: nor have I added unto the just provocations for the complaint made by the Baron Manner, tbiit the greatest part of Histories are but so many panegyricks composed by interested hands, which elevate iniquity to the Heavens, like Patercw lus, and like Machiavel, who propose Tiberius Cesar, and Cesar Borgia, as examples 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 the 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 definition of Hii-tory, Historia est rerum gesta- rum, cum laude aut vituperatwne, Jiarratio : and if 1 am not altogether a Tacitus, when vertues or vices occur to be matters of reflection, as well as o( relation, I will, for my vindication, appeal to Tacitus himself, whom Lipsius calls one of the prudentest (though Tertullian, long before, counts him one of the lyingesl) of them who have inriched the world with His- tory : he says, Prcecipuum munus Annalium rear, ne virtutes sileantur, ittque pravis Dictis, Factisque ex posteritate fy Infamia metus sit. I have not commended any person, but>when I have really judged, not only that he deserved it, but al'^o that it would be a benefit unto posterity to know, wherein he deserved it : and my judgment of desert, hath not been hi' assed, by persons being of my own particular judgment in matters of dis- putation, among the Churches of God. I have been as willing to wear the name of Simplicius Verinus, throughout my whole undertaking, as he that, before me, hath assumed it : nor am I like Pope Zachary, impa- tient so much as to hear of any Antipodes. The spirit of a Schlusselber- gius, who fulls foul with fury and reproach on all who differ from him ; the spirit of an Heylin, who seems to count no obloquy too hard for a Reformer; and the spirit of those (folio-writers there are, some of them, in the English nation !) whom a noble Historian stigmatizes, as, Those hot-headed, passionate bigots, from whom, 'it's enough, if you be of a Re- ligion contrary unto theirs, to be defamed, condemned and pursued 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 eminentest pieces of antiquity we now have in our hands, wholly antiquated, Maxime pro- prium est Historiee Laudem rerum egregie gestarum p :rsequi ? 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 Placentia, in the course of ouc story, as to pass by Verona ; but been mindful of the direction which Polybius 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 same GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 19 time to reprove the be$t friends^ when their deeds appear worthy of a re- proof; in-as much as History is good for nothing, if truth (which is the very eye of (/reful 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 committee to rip upthe o/J errors of bis predecessors, one clapped a pair of spurs upon the heels of the statue of St. feter; and a label from the statue of St. Pa%d opposite thereunto, upon the bridge, asked him. Whither he was bound? St. Peter answered, I apprehend some danger %n staying here ; I fear theyUl call me in question for denying my Master. And St. Paul replied, S'ay, then I had best be gone too, for theyHl question nu also, for persecuting the Chris- tians 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, ex- cept those of their own schism. If I draw any sort of men with char- coal, it shall be, because I remember a notable passage of the best Queen that ever was in the world, our late Q.ueen Mary. Monsieur Ju- vien, 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 mon, without any consideration for your Royal Person, should dare to throw such infanwus calumnies upon a Queen, from whom your Royal Highness is descended? But that excel- lent Princess replied, JVb, not at all; is it not enough that by fulsome praises great persons be lulVd asleep all their lives; but must flattery ac- company 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 my self commend, or whether I give my reader an op- portunity to censure, 1 am careful above all things to do it with truth ; and as I have considered the words of Plato, Deum indignc ^ graviter ferre, cum quis ei similem hoc est, virtute prcestantem, vituperet, aut laudet contrarium : so I have had the J^inth Commandment of a greater law-giver than Plato, to preserve my care of Truth from first to last. If any mis- take have been any where committed, it will be found meerly circum- stantial, and wholly involuntary; and let it be remembred, that though n« historian ever merited better than the incomparable Thuanus, yet learn- ed men have said of Ats work, what they never shall truly say of o«rs,that it contains multa falsissima fy indigna. I find Erasmus himself mistaking 30 OKNERAL INTRODUCTION. # MM man for (wn, when writing of the ancients. And efeu our own English writers too are often mistaken, und in matters of a ver^ late im- portance, as Baker, and Haylin, and ICuUer, (professed historians) tell us, that Richard Sutton, » single man, founded the Charter-HouH ; wheraas bin name was Thomas, und ' he was a married man. 1 think 1 can re Jte such mistakes, it may be $an$ number occurring in the most credible writers ; yet 1 hope 1 shall commit none such. But although 1 thus ohal* lenge, as my due, the character of an impartial, 1 doubt 1 may not chal- lenge that of an elegant historian. I cannot say, whether the style, wherein this Oturch'History is written, will please^ the modem critice i but if I seem to have used «vAtfr7«r« rvfr«{i< yfH^nu a simple, submiss, humble style, 'tis the same that Eusebiua atfiruis to have been used by Hegesippus, who, as far as we understand, was the first author (aAer Ldike) that ever composed an entire body of Eccletiaetical History, which he divided into^ve books, and entitled, 'wntummTm rut ^simimrtmrJtmSt *smind who said, SicHti sal modiee cibis asperms Condit, 4* grattam saporis addit, ita si paulum antiquilalis admiscueris, Oratiojit venustior. And 1 have seldom seen that way of writing faulted, but by thofie, who, for a certain odd reason, sometimes find fault, i(Ao< the grapes are not ripe. These embel- lishmeuts (of which yet I only — Fentam pro laude peto) are not the pue- rile spoils of Polyanthea^s ; but I should have asserted them to be as choice flowers as most that occur in ancient or modern writings, almost unitvoidabiy putting themselves into the author's hand, while about his work, if those words of Jlmhroae had not a little frighted me as well as they did Baronius,' Unumquemque Fallunt sua scripta. 1 observe that learned men have been so terrified by the reproaches of pedantry, which lidle smatterers at rending and learning have, by their quoting humours brought upon themselves, that, for to avoid all approaches towards that which those feeble creatures have gone to imitate, the best way of wri< ting has been most injuriously deserted. But what shall we say ? The beot way of writing, under heaven, ahull be the worst, when Ercwnue 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 the 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 : the former was afterwards applauded by all, and the latter derided by those very persons who had given their di- rections for it. As for such vnaccuracies as the critical may discover, Opere in longo^ I appeal to the courteons, fur a favourable construction of them ; and certainly tliey will be favourably judged of, when there is considered the variety of my other employments; which have kept me in continual hurries, 1 had almost said, like those of the ninth sphere, for the few months in which this Work has been digesting. It was a thing well thought, by the wise designers of Chelsey-Colledge, wherein able historians were one sort of persons to be maintained ; that the Roman- ists do in one point condemn the Protestants ; for among the Romanists, they don't burden their Professors with any Parochial incundtraticet ; but among the Protestants, the very same individual man must preacA, eatC' chise, administer the Sacraments, visit the afflicted, and' manage all the GENERAL INTRODUCTION. U parts of C^ureh'diicipline ; and if any booka for the service of Religion, be written, persons tbus extreamly incumbred muotbe tbe writers. Now, of all tbe Churches under heaven, there are none that expect so much variety of service from their Pastors, as those of New-Eni^land ; and of alf tbe Churches in Ntw-EHglandy there are none that require more than those in Botton, the metropolis of the English Amtrica; whereof one is, by the Lord Jesus Christ, committed unto the care of tbe unworthy hand, by which this Hitdory is compiled. Reader, give me leave humbly to mention^ with him in Tti/Zy, Antequam de Re, Pauca de Mei Constant iermotu, usually more than once, and perhaps three or four times, in a week, and all the other duties of a pa$toral watehfulneti, a very large flock has all this while demanded of me ; wherein; if I had been furnished with as many headt as a Typheut, as many eyei as an Ar- gbt, and as many hands as a Briareus, I might have had work enough to have employed them all ; nor hath my station left me free from obliga* tions 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 wholly to them. AH the time 1 have had for my Church-History, hath been perhaps only, or chiefly, that, which I might have taken else for less profitable recreations ; and it hath all been done by snatches. My read- er will not find me the person intended in his Littany, when he says, Idbera me ab homine unius Kegotis : nor have I spent thirty years in shaping this my History, as Diodorus Siculus did for his, [and yet both fiodtnus and Sigonius complain of the «-^«A^7« attending it.] But I wish I could have enjoyed entirely for this work, one quarter of tbe little more than two years which have rolled away since 1 began it ; whereas I have been forced sometimes wholly to throw by the work whole months together, and then resume it, but by a stolen hour or two in the day, not without some hazard of incurring the title which Coryat put upon his History of his Travels, Crudities hastily gobbled up in five months. Pro- togenes being seven years in drawing a picture, Apelles upon tbe sight of it, said. The grace of the work was much allayed by the length of the time. Whatever else there may have been to take off the grace of the work, now in the reader's bands, (whereof the joicturea of great and good men make a considerable part) 1 am sure there hath not been the lengi*>ofthe time to do it. Our English Martyrologer, counted it a sufficient apology, for what meanness might be found in the first edition of his acts and mo- numents, that it was hastily rashed up in about fourteen months : and I may apologize for this collection of our acts and monuments, that I should have been glad, in the little more than two years which have ran out, since I entered upon it, if I could have had one half of about fourteen months to have entirely devoted thereunto. But besides the time, which the daily services of my own first, and then many other Churches, have neccssar'y oalled for, 1 have lost abundance of precious time, through the feeble aid l^roken state of my health, which hath unfitted me for Aord study ; I can do nothing to purpose at lucubrations. And yet, in this time also of the two or three years last past, I have not been excused from the further diversion of publishing (though not so many as they say Mercurius Trismegistus did, yet) more than a score of other books, upon a copious variety of other subjects, besides the composing of several more, thai are not y(3t published. Nor is this neither all the task that I have in this while had lying upon me ; for (though I am very sensible of what /erom said, .Von icnc ,/?<, ss GENERAL INTRODUCTION. ^uod Qccupato Animofit ; and of Quinh'/tan'i remark, Aon timulin nmUa intendert Animui totum pot«$t ;) when 1 applied my mind unto this way of serving the Lord Jrsur Christ in my generation, 1 set upon another and a greater, which has had, I suppose, more of my thmght and hope than this, and wherein there hath passed me, for the most part, J^ulla atit ftne Hnta. I considered, that all sort of learning might be made glorious- ly subservient unto the illustration of the $acred Scripture ; and that no professed commentaries had hitherto given a thousandth part of so much Utustration unto it, as might bo given. 1 considered, that multitudes of particular texts, had, especially of later years, been more notably t'Wtt»- trated in the scattered books of learned men, than in any of the ordinary commentators. And I considered, that the treasurek of illustration for the Bible, dispersed in many hundred volume!*, might be fetched all together by a labour that would resolve to conquer all things ; and that all the im- provements which the later-ages have made in the sciences, might be also, with an inexpressible pleasure, called in, to Christ the illvstratton of the holy oracles, at a rote that hath not been attempted in the vulgar Annota- tions ; and that a common degree of sense, would help a person, who should converse much with these things, to attempt sometimes also an illustration of his own, which might expect some attention. Certainly, it will not be ungrateful unto good men, to have innumerable Antiquities, Jexuish, Chaldee, Arabian, Grecian and Roman, brought home unto us, with a sweet light reflected fbom them on the word, which is our light ; or, to have all the typical men and things in our Book of Mysteries, accom- modated with their Antitypes: or, to have many hundreds of references to our dearest Lord Messiali, discovered in the writings which testi/ie of Him, oftner than the most of mankind have hitherto imagined : or, to havfL the histories of all ages, comirg in with punctual and anrprKing fulfillments of the divine Prophecies, as far as they have been hitherto fulfilled ; and not meer conjectures, but even mathematical and incontestible demonstra- tions, given of expositions oflcrcd upon the Prophecies, that yet remain to be accomplished : or, to have in one heap, thousands of those remarkable discoveries of the deep things of the Spirit nfOod, whereof one or two, or a few, sometimes, hiive been, with good success accounted materials enough to advance a person into Authorism ; or to have the delicious euriosties of Orotius, and Bochart, and Mede, and Ldghtfoot, and Selden, and Spencer, (carefully selected and corrected) and many more giants in knowledge, all set upon one Table. .'*'' Travellers tell us, that at Florence there is a rich table, worth a thou- sand crowns, made of precious stones neatly inlaid ; a table that was tiflecn years in making, with no less than thirty men daily at work Upon it; even such a table could not afford so rich entertainments, as one that should have the soul-feasting thoughts of those learned men togeth* er set upon it. Only 'tis pity, that instead of one poor feeble American, overwhelmed with a thousand other cares, and capable of touching this work no otherwise than in a digression, there be not more than th!rty men daily employed about it. For, when the excellent Mr. Pool had finished his laborious and immortal task, it was noted by some considerable per- sons, " That wanting assistance to collect for him many miscellaneous criticisms, occasionally scattered in other authors, he left many better things behind him than he found." And more than all this, our Essay is levelled, if it be not anticipated with that Epitaph, agnis tamen excidit nusis. Designing accordingly, to give the Church of God such displays of his blessed word, as may be more entertaining for the rarity and no- GENERAL INTRODUCTION. S3 velty of them, than any thut have hitherto been seen together in any E»po$ition ; and yet such as may be acceptable unto the most jiididons, for the demonstrative truth of them, and unto the most orthodox, fur the regard had unto the Analogy of Faith in all, i have now, in a fetv months, gOt ready an huge number of golden keys to open the pandects of Heav- en, and 8ome thousands of charming and curious and singular notes, by the new help whereof, the word of Christ may run and be ghtifiea. If the God of my life, will please to spare my life [my yet sinful, and slothful, and thereby forfeited life 1] as many years longer as the barren Jig-tree had in the parable, 1 m.iy make unto the Church of God, an hnm- bltt tender of our Biblia Amkricana, a volume enriched with better things than all the plate of the /nt/tes ; yet not i, but the Gracr of Chhist with me. My reader sees, why I commit the fault of a wifimvriM, which appears in the mention of these minute passages ; 'tis to excuse whatever other fault of inaccuracy, or inadvertency, may be discovered in an History, which hath been a sort of rupsody made up (like the pa- per whereon His written !) with many little rags, torn from an employ- ment, multifarious enough to overwhelm one of my small capacities. Magna dabit, qui magna potest ; mibi parva potenti, Parvitque poscenti, parva dedisse tat est. § 6. But shall I prognosticate thy fate, now that, Parve (sed invideo) tine me, Liber, ibitin Urbem. Luther, who was himself owner of such an heart, advised every historian tt) get the Heart of a Lion; and the more 1 consider of the provocation, which this our Church' History must needs give to that roaring Lion, who has, through all ages hitherto, been tearing the church to pieces, the more occasion I see to wish my self a Cceur de Lion. But had not my heart been trebly oak'd and brass'd for such encounters as this our his- tory may meet withal, I would have worn the silk-worms motto, Operi- tur dum Operatur, and have chosen to have written Anonymously ; or, as Clauditis Salmasius calls himself Walo Messalinvs, as Ludovicus Molinmus calls himself Luc^tomcEus Colvinus, as Carolus Scribanins calls himself C7a- rus Bonarscius, (and no less men than Peter du Moulin and Dr. Henri/ More, stile themselves, the one Hippolytus Fronto, the other Franciscus Paleopolitanus) Thus 1 would have tried whether I could not have Anagrummatized my name into some concealment ; or I would have re- ferred it to be found in the second chapter of the second Syntagm of Selden de Diis Syris. Whereas now 1 freely confess, 'tis Cotton Ma- ther that has written all these things ; Me, me, ad sum qui scripsi ; tu me convertite Ferruin. I hope 'tis a right work that I have done ; but we are not yet arrived unto the day, wherein God will bring every work into judgment (the day of the kingdom that was promised unto David) and a Son of David hath as truly as wisely told us, that until the arrival of that happy day, this is one of the vanities attending humane affairs ; For a right work a man shall be envied of his neighbour. It will not be so much a surprise unto me, if I should hve to see our Church- Hi story v«'Xcd with anie mad-ver- sions of calumnious writers, as it would have been unto Virgil, to rea^ Vol. !. .,- ..,„- .,& 34 GENERAL INTRODUCTION. his Bucolickt repronched by the Antiliwiolica of a oamelevs scribbler, and his JEneidi travestied by the Xneidomattix of Ciir6Wiu« : or Herenniu$ taking pains to make a collection of the fauU$, and FautlinuB of the thefti, in his- incomparable composures : yea, Pliny, and Seneca them- selves, and our Jerom, reproaching him, as a man of no judgment, nor skill in sciences ; while Ptedianut affirms of him, that he was himself, U$qu« adeo invidia Expert^ ul «t quid trudite dictum impictret alteriuM, non minu$ gauderet ac ft suum euet. How should a book, no better la- boured than this of ours, escape Zoilian outrages, when in all ages, the most exquisite works have been as much vilified, as PUtto't by Scaligtr, and AriitotU^s by Lactantiu$ ? In the time of our K. Edward VI. there was an order to bring in all the teeth of St. Apollonia, which the people of his one kingdom carried about them for the cure of the tooth ach ; and they were so many, that they almost filled a tun. Truly tmy hath as many teeth as madam Apollonia would have had, if all those pretended reliques had been really hers. And must all these teeth be fastned on thee, my Book? It may be so ! and yet the Book, when ground be- tween these teeth, will prove like IgfULtiui in the teeth of the furious ty- gers, The whiter manchel for the Churches of Ood. The greatest and fiercest rage of envy, is that which I expect from those Idumjians, whose religion is all ceremony, and whose charity is more for them who deny the most essential things in the articles and homilies of the Church of England, than for the most .conscientious men in the world, who manifest their being so, by their dissent in some little ceremony ; or those per- sons whose hearts are notably expressed in those words used by one of them ['tis Howel in h'u familiar Letters, vol. 1. sec. 6. lett. 32.] / rather pitty, than hate, Turk or Infidel, for they are of the same metal, and bear the same stamp, as I do, though the inscriptions differ ; if / hate any, *fis those schismaticks that puzzle the sweet peace of our Church ; so that I could be content to see an Anabaptist go to hell on a BrownisCs back. The writer whom I l<^8t quoted, hath given us a story of a young man in High- Holbourn, who being after his death dissected, there was a serpent with divers tails, found in the left ventricle of hit heart. I make no question, that our Church-History will find some reader disposed like that writer, with an heart as full of serpent and venom as ever it can hold : nor in- deed will they be able to hold, but the tongues and pens of those angry folks, will scourge me aa with scorpions, and cause me to feel (if I will feel) as many lashes as Cornelius Agrippa expected from their brethren, for the book in which he exposed their vanities. A scholar of the great JuELS, made once about fourscore verses, for which the Censor of Cor- pus Christi Colledge in the beginning of Queen Maries reign, publickly and cruelly scourged him, with one lash for every verse. Now in those verses, the young man's prayers to the Lord Jesus Christ, have this for part of the answer given to them. Respondet Dominua, spectans de sedibus altiSf % ■'•, Ne dubites rede credere, parve puer. Olim sum passus mortem-, nunc occupo dextram Patris, nunc summi sunt mea regnapoli. Sed tu, crede mihi, vires Scnptura resumet, Tolleturque suo tempore missanequam. In English. S'he Lord beholding from bis throne, reply'd, Doubt not, O Youth, firmly in me confide : I i GENERAL INTRODUCTION. J^ 1 dy'd long itince, now lit At the right band Of my bleis'd Father, and the world command. ] Believe me, Scripture shall regain her sway, And wicked Mom in due time fiide away. Reader, I also eipect nothing oat $eourge» from that generation, to whom the mati-book is dearer than the BibU : but I hare now likewise confessed another expectation, that shall be my consolation under all. They tell ui, that on the highest of the Capiian mountains in Spaint there is a lake, whercinto if you throw a stone, there presently ascends a smoke, which forms a dense cloud, from wheaee issues a tempest of rain, hail, and horrid thunder-claps for a good quarter of an hour. Our Church-History will be like a stone cast into that lake, for the furious tempest which it will raise among some, whose Ecclesiastical dignities have set t^em, as on the top of Spanish mountains. The Catbolick spirit of communion wherewith 'tis written, and the liberty which 1 have ta- ken, to tax the schismatical impositions and persecutions of a party, who have al.■■ -• \ ii-A . 'tv M A: Mf^^ i*»»ji*6*(M,J ■ • '♦-.r t'.' '''' , ' ^ ^y- '««, ,->^,. 'H <4^ \% -■jt'* 1^,1,; ' ,■.. i,>>t.i'^ i') * ■>,• THE FIRST BOOK. ANTICtUITIES: OR, A FIELD PREPARED FOR CONSIDERABLE THINGS TO BE ACTED THEREUPON. ■,..fi ■. , ". • »:■:., THE INTRODUCTION. n ' .V It toas not long ago, as about the middle of the former centunfj that under the influences of that admirable hero and martyr, of thepro- testant religion, Gasper Coligni, the great Admiral of France, a noble and learned knight called Vtllagagnon, began to attempt the Settlement of some Colonies in Aufitiic A, {as it was declared) for the propagation of that religion. He sailed with several ships of no small burthen, till he arrived at Brasile ; where he thought there were now shown him quiet seats, for the retreat of a people harrassed already with deadly persecutions, and threatned with yet more calamities. Thence he wrote home letters unto that glorious patron oj the reformed churches, to inform him, that he had now a fair prospect of seeing those churches erected, multiplyed and sheltered in the southern regions of the new world ; and requested him, that Geneva might supply them with Pas- tors for the planting of such churches in these New Plantations. The blessed Calvin, with his colleagues, thereupon sent of their number tzDO worthy persons, namely Richerius and Quadrigarius, to assist this undertaking ; and unto these were joined several more, especially Leirus, and who became a leader to the rest, Corquillerius, an eminent man, for the cause of Christianity, then residing at Geneva. Embarked in three ships, well ft ted, they came to the American country , whi- ther they had been invited ; ana they soon set up an evangelical church order, in those comers of the earth where God in our Lord Jesus Christ had never before been called upon. But it was not long before some unhappy controversies arose among them, which drove their principal ministers into Europe again, besides those three that were murthered by their apostate Governour, whose martyrdom Lerius procured Cris- pin to commemorate in his history, but I now omit in this of ours, JVe me Crispini scrinia lecti, compitasse putes, and asjor the people that staid behind, no other can be learned, but that they are entirely lost, either in paganism or disaster : in this, more unhappy sure, than that hundred 40 MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA [Book I. thousand of their brethren who were soon after butchered at home^ in ihat horrible massacre, which then had not, but since hath, known a parallel. So has there been utterly lost in a little time, a country intended for a receptacle of Protestant Churches on the American Strand. It is the most incomparable De Thou, the honourable Presi- dent of the Parliament at Paris, an Historian whom Casaubon pro- nounces, A singular gift of Heaven, to the last age, for an example of piety and probity, that is our author, {besides others) for this History. 'TVs now time for me to tell my reader, that in our age there has been another essay made not by French, but by English Protestants, fofll a certain country in America with Reformed Churches ; noth- ing in doctrine, little in discipline, different from that of Geneva. Mankind toill pardon me, a native of that country, if smitten with a just fear of incroaching and ill-bodied degeneracies, I shall use my modest endeavours to prevent the loss of a country, so signalized for the profession of the purest Religion, and for the protection of God upon it, in that holy profession. I shall count my country lost, in the loss of the primitive principles, and the primitive practices, upon tohich it was at first established : but certainly one good way to save that loss, would be to do something that the memory of the great things done for us by our God may not be lost, and that the story of the cir- cumstances attending the foundation and fornftation of this country, and of its preservation hitherto, may be impartially handed unto pos- terity, THIS is the undertaking whereto I now address myself f and now, Grant me thy gracious assistances, O my God ; that in this my undertaking I may be kept from every false way : but that sin- cerely aiming at thy glory in my undertaking, I may find my labours made acceptable and profitable unto thy Churches, and serviceable unto the interests of thy gospel ; so let my God think upon me for good ; and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy in the blessed Jesus, ^wn CHAPTER I. Venisti tandem ? or discoveries of America, tending to, and ending discoveries of New-England. m. §. 1. It is the opinion of some, though 'tis but an opinion, and but of some learned men, that when the sacred oracles of heaven assure us, the things under the sarth are some of those, whose knees are to bow in the nanm of Jesus, by those things are meant the inhabitants of America, who are Antipodes to those of the other hemisphere. I would not quote any words oi Lactantivs, though there are some to countenance this interpre- tation, because of their being so vngeographical : nor would I go to strengthen the interpretation by reciting the words of the Indians to the first white invaders of their territories, we hear you are come from under the world to take our world from us. But granting the uncertainty of such an exposition. 1 shall yet give the Church of God a certain account of Book I. Book I.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. m it home, , known country \merican h Presi' )on pro- example for this here has SSTANTS, is ; noth- Geneva. en Toith a I use my tlizedfor ii of God )st, in the ;e8, upon ly to save 3at things of the cir- y country, unto pos- telf; and at in this that sin- ly labours Irviceable n me for •cy in the \nding in, Lnd but of Ire us, the \tv in the \rica, who luote any pnterpre- 1 go to |ins to the under jfy of such [■count of those things, which in Jlmerica have been believing and adoring the glo- rious name of Jesus ; and of that country in Ameriot, wliere tliose things have been attended with circumstances most remarkable. I can con- tentedly allow that America (which as the learned Nicolas Fuller ob- serves, 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 those parts of the earth, which do not include America, are in the inspired writings of L»fce, and of Paul, stil- ed, all the world. I can allow, that the opinion of Torniellus, and of Pa- gius, about the apostles preaching the gospel in America, has been suflS- ciently refuted by Basnagius. But 1 am out of the reach of pope Zach- aty^s excommunication. I can assert the existence of the American Anti- podes: and 1 can report unto the European churches great occurrences among these Americans. Yet 1 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 (us great as he was) used about the existence of Antipodes; it is a fable, and, nulla ratione credendum. § 2. if the wicked one in whom the whole world lyeth, 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 ballancing half of the globe should be considered in Europe, till a little more than two hundred years ago, nor the clue that might lead unto it, namely, the Loadstone, should be known, till a JVea- politan stumbled upoh it, about an hundred years before ; yet the over- ruling Providence of the great God is to be acknowledged, as well in th6 concealing of America for so long a time, as in the discovering of it, when the fulness of time was come for the discovery : for we may count America to have been concealed, while mankind in the other hemisphere had lost all acquaintance with it, if we may conclude it had any from the words of Diodorus Siculus, thsi Phanecians were by great storms drivea on the coast of Africa, far westward, Jti xoMen 'tifu^an^for many days to- gether, and at last fell in with an Island of prodigious magnitude ; or from the words of Plato, that beyond the pillars of Hercules there was an Island in the Atlantick Ocean, c^fui A(j3t/iw x«i Ao-<«(f jkk^*", larger than Afri- ca and Asia put together : nor should it pass without remark, that three most memorable things which have born a very great aspect upon hu- mane qff'airs, did near the same time, namely at the conclusion of the ^fifteenth, and the beginning of the sixteenth century, arise unto the world : the first was the resurrection of literature ; the second was the opening of America ; the third was the Reformation of Religion. But, as proba- bly, the devil seducing the first inhabitants of America into it, therein : aimed at the having of them and their posterity out of the sound of the silver trumpets of the Gospel, then to be heard through the Roman Em- pire; if the devil had any expectation, that by the peopling of America, he should utterly deprive any Europeans of the two benefits, Literature and Religion, which dawned upon the miserable world, one just before, the other j'jst after, the first famed navigation hither, 'tis to be hoped he will !/:; disappointed of that expectation. 1 he Church of God must no longet- be wrapped up in Slrabo's cloak ; Geography must now find work for a Christiano-graphy in regions far enough beyond the bounds wherein the Church of God had through all former ages been circumscribed. Renowned Churches of Christ must be gathered where the Ancients once derided them that looked for any inhabitants. The mystery of our Lord's garments, made /o«r parts, by the soldiers that cast lots f«r them, Vor.. F. 'a 42 MASNALIA CFIRISTI AMERICANA [Book f. is to be accomplished in the good sence put upon it by Austin, who if he had known America could not have given a better Quadripartita vestis Domini Jesu, quadripartitam Jlguravit ejus Ecclesiam, toto scilicet, qui quatuor partibus constat, terraram orbe dy^usam, § 3. Whatever truth may be in that assertion of one who writes ; if we may credit any records besides the Scriptures, I know it might be said and proved well, that this new world was known, and partly inhabited by Britains, or by Saxons from England, three or four hundred years before the Spaniards coming thither ; which assertion is demonstrated from the discourses between the Mexicans and the Spaniards at their first arrival ; and the Popish reliques, as well as British terms and words, which the Spaniards then found among the Mexicans, as well as from undoubted passages, not only in other authors, but even in the British annals also: nevertheless, mankind generally agree to give unto Christopher Coluni' bus, a Genoese, the honour of being the first European that opened a way into these parts of the world. It was in the year 1492, that this famous man, acted by a most vehement and wonderful impulse, was carried into the northern regions of this vast hemisphere, which might more justly therefore have received its name from him, than from Americus Fesputius a Florentine, who in the year 1497, made a further detection of the more southern regions in this continent. So a world, which has been one great article among the Res dcperditce of Pancirollus, is novi found out, and the affairs of the whole world have been affected by the finding of it. So the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ, well compared unto a ship, is noiv victo- riously sailing round the globe after Sir Francis Drake''s renowned ship, called, The Fictory, which could boast, /^ Prima ego velivolis ambivi cursibus orbem. And yet the story about Columbus himself must be corrected from the in- formation of De la Fega, That one Sanchez, a native of Helva in Spain, did before him find out these regions. He tells us, thai S.tnchez using to trade in a small vessel to the Canaries, was driven by a furious and tedi- ous tempest over unto these western countries ; and at his return he gave to Colon, or Columbus, an account of what he had seen, but soon after died of a disease he had got on his dangerous voyage. However, 1 shall expect my reader e're long to grant, that some things done since by Almighty God for the English in these regions, have exceeded all that has been hitherto done for any other nation : if this new world were not found out first by the English ; yet in those regards that are of all the greatest, it seems to be found out more /or them than any other. § 4. But indeed the two Cabots, father and son, under the commission of our King Henry VII. entering upon their generous undertakings in the year 1497, made further discoveries of America, than either Columbus or Fesputius; in regard of which notable enterprizes, the younger of them had very great honours by the Crown put upon him, till at length he died in a good old age, in which old age King Edward VI. had allowed him an honourable pension. Yea, since the Cabots, employed by the King uf England, made'a discovery of this continent in the year. 1497, and it was the year 1498 before Columbus discovered any part of the continent ; and Fesputius came a considerable time after both of them ; I know not why the Spaniard should go unrivalled in the claim of th'is new world, which from the first finding of it is pretended unto. These discoveries of the Cabots were the fomdation of all the adventures, with which the Book I.] OR, THE HISTORY OP NEW-ENGLAND. 4G English nation have since followed the sun, and served themaelves into as acquaintance on the hither side of the Atlantick ocean. And now I shall drown my reader with my self in a tedious digression, if I enumerate all the attempts made by a Willougkby-, a Frobisher, a Gilbert, and besides many othtir», an incomparable Rawlcigh, tp settle English colonies in the desarts ef the western India. It will be enough if I entertain him with the History of that Etiglish Settlement, which may, upon a thousand ac- counts, pretend unto more of true English than all the rest, and which alone therefore has been called New-England. § 6. After a discouraging series of disasters attending the endeavours ef the English 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 burn to one Ananias Dare, in the year Ibiib. The courage of one Bartholomew Gosnold, and one captain Bar- tholomew Gilbert, and several other gentlemen, served them to make yet more essays upon the like designs. This captain Gosnold in a small bark, on May 11, 1602, made land on this coast in the latitude of forty- three ; where, though he liked the welcome 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 Cod-Jish in great quantity by him taken there, he called Cape-Cod, a name which 1 suppose it will never lose, till shoals of Cod-Jish be seen swimming upon the top of its highest hills. On this Cape, and on the Islands to the southward of it, he found such a com- fortable entertainment from the summer-fruits of the earth, as well as from the wild creatures then ranging the woods, and from the wilder peo- ple now surprised into courtesie, that he carried back to England a re- port of the country, better than what the spies once gave of the land flowing with milk and honey. Not only did the merchants of Bristdl now raise a considerable stock to prosecute these discoveries, but many other persons of several ranks embarked in such undertakings ; and many sal- lies into America were made ; the exacter narrative whereof I had ra- ther my reader should purchase at the expeace of consulting Purchases Pilgrims, than endure any stop in our hastening voyage unto the History OF A New- English Israel. §. 6. Perhaps my reader would gladly be informed how America came to be first peopLd ; and if Homius's Discourses, D» origine Gentium Americanarum, 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 sen* sible Russian, who had been an officer of prime note in Siberia, gave un- to father Avril. Said he, ' There is beyond the Obi a great river called ' KawoinOf at the mouth whereof, discharging it self into the Frozen Sea, ' there stands a spacious Island very well peopled, and no less consider- ' able for hunting an animal, whose teeth are in great esteem. The in- ' habitants go frequently upon the side of the Frozen Sea to hunt this mon- ' ster ; and because it requires great labour with assiduity, they carry ' their families usually along with them. Now it many times happens ' that being surprized 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 perswaded that several of those hunters have been ' carried upon these floating pieces of ice to the most northern parts of ' America, which is not far from that part of Asia that jutts out into the 44 MAGNALIA cnft ISTI AMERICANA (BookI; * Bea 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 Physiognomy as those Islanders.' I'hue the Vayode of Smotensko. But aM the concern of this our history, is to tell bow English people first came into America ; and what English people first came into that part of America, where this History ia composed. Wherefore instead of reciting the many Adventures of the English to visit these parts of the world, I shall but repeat the words of one Captain Weymouth, an historian, as well as an under" taker of those Adventures; who reports, that one main end of all these un- dertakings, was to plant the gospel in thesi dark regions of America. How well the most of the English plantations have answered this - main end, it mainly becomes them to consider : howeverj 1 am now to tell mankind, that as for one of these English plantations, this was not only a main end, but the sole end upon which it was erected. If they that are solicitous about the interests of the gos- pel, would know what and where that plantation is ; be it noted, that all the vast country from Florida to J^ova-Franda, was at first called Vir- ginia ; but this Virginia was distinguished into JVorih Virginia and South Virginia, till that famous Traveller Captain John Smith, in the year 1614, presenting unto the court of England a draught of JVorth Virginia, got it called by the name of New-England ; which name has been ever since allowed unto my country, as unto the most resembling daughter, to the chief lady of the European world. Thus the discoveries of the country proceeded so far, that K. James I. did by his letters patents under the great seal oi England, in the 18th 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 ordering, and governing of New-England in America, and to their successors and assigns, all that part of America, lying and being in breadth, from forty degrees of north- erly Isititude, from the equinoctial line, to the forty-eighth degree of the suid northerly latitude inclusively ; and the length of, and within all the breadth aforesaid, throughout all the frm lands from sea to sea. This at last IS the spot of earth, which the God of heaven spied out for the seat of such evangelical, and ecclesiastical, and very remarkable transac- tions, as require to be made an history; here 'twas that our blessed Jesus intended a resting place, must I say ? or only an hiding place for those reformed Churches, which haye given him a little accomplishment of his eternal father's promise unto him ; to be, we hope, yet further ac- complished, of having tlie utmost parts of the earth for his possession? §. 7. The learned Joseph Mede conjectures that the American Hem- isphere will escape the conflagt ation of the ear/A, which we expect at the descent of our Lord Jesus Christ from Heaven : and that the people here will not have a share in the blessedness which the renovated world shall enjoy, during the thimsand years of hdy rest promised unto the Church of God : and that the inhabitants of these regions, who were originally Scijtiieuns, and therein a notable fulfilment of the prophecy, about the eidait wither miserably. They beheld some of their children, by the temptations of the place, which were especially given in the licentious ways of many young peo- ftle, drawn into dangerous extravagancies. Moreover, they wer« very oth to lose their interest in the English nation; but were desirous ra- ther to enlarge their King's dominions. They found themselves also under a very strong disposition of zeal, to attempt the establishment of CoNoREOATioNAL Churches in thc remote parts of the world ; where they hoped they should be reached by the Royal influence of their Prince,. in whose allegiance they chose to live and die ; at the same time likewise hoping that the Ecclcsiaalicks, who had thus driven them out of the king- dom into a M'ew World, for nothing in the world but their non-conformity to certain rites, by the imposers confessed indifferent, would be ashamed ever to persecute them with any further molestations, at the distance of a thousand 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 remove into America ; the opened regions whereof had now filled all Europe with reports. It was resolved, that par^ of the Church should go before their brethren, to prepare a place for the rest ; and whereas the minor part of younger and stronger men were to go Hrst, 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 com- pany, as was basely whispered by 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 English have lived now ten years among us, and yet we never had any accusation against any mie of them ; whereas your quarrele are continual. I 3. These good people were now satisfyed, they had as plain a com- mand 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 sat- isfaction that could have carried them through such, otherwise insupera- ble difficulties, as they met withal. But in this removal the terminus ad (^uem was not yet resolved upon. The country of Guiana flattered Hif'm with the promises of a perpetual Spring, and a thousand other com- ti Book I.) OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. m fbrtable entertainments. But the probable disagreement of so torrid a climate unto English bodies; and the more dangerous Ticinity t' the Spaniards to that climate ; were considerations which made them fear that country would be too hot for them. They rather propounded aome country bordering upon Virginia ; and unto this purpose, they sent over agents into England, who so far treated not only with the Virginia Com- pany, but with several great persons about the Court ; unto whom they made evident their agreement with the French Rtformed Churches in all things whatsoever, except in a few small accidental points ; that at last, after many tedious delays, and after the loss of many/rtend« and hopes in those delays, they obtained a Patent for a quiet settlement in those ter- ritories ; and the Archbishop of Canterbury himself gave them some ex • pectations that they should never be disturbed in that exercise of Re- ligion, at which they aimed in their settlement ; yea, when Sir Robert M'anton, then principal Secretary of State unto King James, moved his Majesty to give way , that such a people might enjoy their liberty ofconseienct under his grcusious protection in America, where they would endeavour the ^ advancement of his Majesty* s dominions, and the enlargement of th» inter- ests of the Gospel; the King said, it was a good and honest motion. All this notwithstanding, they never made use of tha* Patent : but being in- formed of HKw-EsoLAinn, thither they diverted their design, thereto in- duced by sundry reasons ; but particularly by this, that the coast being extreamly well circumstanced for fishing, they might therein have some immediate assistance against the hardships of their tirst encounters. — Their agents then again sent over to England, concluded articles be- tween them 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 hor- rid wilderness. The diversion of their enterprise from the ^rst state and way of it, caused an unhappy division among those that should have encouraged 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 whole ; and their stock as well as their time, spend- ing so fast as 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 parts of New-England. § 4. All things now being in some readiness, and a couple of ships, one called The Speedwell, the other, The May-Flawer, being hiredTor^their transportation, they solemnly set apart a day for fasting and prayer ; wherein their Pastor preach 3d unto them upon Ezra 8. 21 , / proclaim- ed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might afflict our selves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for fill our substance. After the fervent supplications of this day, accompanied by their affectionate friends, they took their leave of the pleasant city, where they had been pilptmi and strangers now for eleven years. Delft-Ha- ven 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 wind and the tide would permit them, they bad adieu. So sailing to Southa7npttfn in England, they there foand the other of MAONALIA CIIRISTI AMERICANA [Book I. their ships come from London, wilh .the rest of their friends that were to be the eompaniom of the voyage. Let my reader phico the chronolo* gy of this business on July 2, 1G2(). And know, that the faihtful pastor of this people immediately sent ufler them a pastoral letter ; a letter tilled with holy counsels unto them, to settle their peace with God in their own consciences, by an exact repentance of all sin whatsoever, that so they might more easily bear all the ditliculties that were now be> fore them ; and then to maintain a good peace with one another, and be- ware of giving or taking iffencea ; and avoid all diHcoverics of a touchy humour; but \x»b m\xc)\ brotherly forbearance , [whereby the way he had this remarkable observation ; In my own experience few oi m^ne have been found that sooner give offence, than those that easily take it ; neither have they ever proved sound and profitable membeis of societies who have nourished this to*',ny humour ;] as also to take heed of a private spirit, and all retired uss of mind in each man, for his own proper advantage ; and likewise io be careful, that the house of God which they were, might not be shaken with unnecessary novelties or oppositions : which Letter afterwards produced most happy fruits among them. < § 6. On August 5th, 1620, they set sail from Southampton ; but if it shall, as I believe it will, afflict my reader to be told what heart-breaking disasters befel them, in the very beginning of their undertaking, let him glorifie God, who carried them so well through their greater affliction. They were by bad weather twice beaten back, before they came to the Land's End: But it Vvas 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 theleakineas of his vess^el. that they were forced at last wholly to dismiss that lesser ship from the service. Being now all stowed into one ship, on the sixth of September they put to sea ; but they met with such terrible storms, that the principal per- sons 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 J^ovember following, where go- ing 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 vi'as to be further so, now that they were come to the ends of the earth. But why at this Cape ? Here was not the port which they intended : thvi was not the land for which they had provided. There was indeed a most wonderful providence of God, over a pious and a praying people, in Was disappointment ! The most croo&ed wai/ that ever was gone, even that ofhraeVs 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 River ; but some of their neighbours in Holland having a mind them- selves to settle a plantation there, secretly and sinfully contracted with the master of the ship, employed for the transportation of these our Eng- lish 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 ship.'^ 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 off their intentions of going any further. And yet beliold the watchful providence of God over them that seek him ! this //iZse-r/ea/Mig- proved a safe-dealing for the good people against whom it was used. Had they been Book 1] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. '^t carried Recording to their desire unto lludson'x River, the hvdianu in tbost partn were ut thia tioie so m.iny , and no mighty, and so sturdy, thnt in pro- babiiity all this little feeble number of Christians had been intisaac red by these bloody salvages, us not long nflur some others were : whereas th« good hand of God now brought them to a country wonderfully prepared for their entertainment, by a sweeping ini>rt,il(iy that had lately beea among the natives. H'e liitve heard with oui earn, O God, our fathers have told ua, what work thou didst in their days, in thr times 0/ old; how thou dravest out the heathen with thy hand, and plaittedst them ; lu/iv thuu did'st afflict the. people, and cast llmin out/ 'I'he Indians in these parts had newly, even about a year or two before, been visited with such a prodi- gious pestilence ; as carried away not a tenth, but nine parts of ten, (yea, 'tis said, ninet^'tn of twenty) among them : so that the woods were almost cleared of those pernicious creatures, to m'ike room for a better growth. It is remarkable, that a Frenchman who not long before these transactions, had by a shipwreck been m:ide a captive among the Indians of this country, did, as tlie survivers reported, just before he dyed in their hands, tell those tawny pagans, that God being angry with tkemfor their wivkediuss, would not only destroy tfum all, but also people tlie place with anothtr nation, which would not. live after tlieir brutish manners. Those inhdels then blasphemously replyed, God could itot kill them ; which blasphemous mistake was confuted by an horrible and unusual plague, whereby they were consumed in svch vast multitudes, that our j£«'«< /)Zun/er8 found the land almost covered with their unburied carcases ; and they that were left alive, were smitten into awful and bumble re- gards of the English, by the terrors which the remembrance of the /r«nc/iiftan'« prophesie had impriuted on them. § 7. Inexpressible the hardships to which this chosen generation was now exposed ! Our Saviour once directed his disciples to deprecate a jlighl 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 withdrawn into Sagittarius, whence he shot the penetrating ar- rows of cold; feathered with nothing but snow, and pointed with Aat'Z; and the days left them to behold the yh/s/-bitten and weather-beaten face of the eart/i, were grown shorter than the nights, wherein they had yet more trouble to get shelter from the increasing injuries of the/tos^and weather. It was a relief to those primitive believers, who were cast on shore at Malta, That the barbarous people s/iowed them no litfl^lfindness, because of the present rain, and be-cause 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 barhari' ans were at the first so far from accommodating them with bundles of sticks to warm them, that they let fly other sorts of sticks (that is to say, arrows) to wound them : and the very looks and shouts of tliose grim, sal- vages, had not much less of terrom >n them, than if they had been so many devils. It is not long since I compared 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 o{ Arabia, instead of the land flowing with milk and honey, thetrial of his faith had been greater than it was ; but such was the trial of the faith in these holy men, who followed the call of God into desarts full of dismal circumstan- ces. All this they chearfully underwent, in hope, that they should set- tle the worship and order of the gospel, and the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ in these regions, and that thus enlarging the d&minion, they Vol. I. 7 4MAUNALIA CIIKIbTl AIIEKICANA : [Book 1. ohonid thereby ro merit the prottotion of the crown of England, na to bv never ubandoned unto uny i'nrXher pentcutuma, from any j)iirty oftheiryi^ tow tuh}tct», for the irconiciencioiis regards unto llie r$JormvtioH. Their propoaal woe, ' Kxigttan tedem SacriSt Littuaqm rogamus, Innoiuum, Sf atnctis undamq ! uuramq ; Fattnttm. ^ 0. Finding ul their Innt iirrivnl, thiit what other powers they had. were made uhoIom by the undeaigned place of their arrival ; they did, ns the light of naturt it self directed them, immediately in the harbour, xign an intirumtnt, as a foundation of their future and needful guvtrn- ment ; wherein declaring themselves the loyal subjects of the Crown of England, they did combine into a body politick, and solemnly engage sub* mission and obedience to the laws, ordtnancei, actt, con$tilutioni and qffi- cen, that from time to time should he thought most convenient for the general good of the Co/ony. This was done on JVov. 1 1th, 1G20, and they chose one Mr. John Carver, a pious and prudent man, their Gov- crnour. Hereupon they sent ashore to look n convenient 'eat for their intended habitation : and while the carpenter was fitting of their shallop, tixteen men tendered themselves, to go, by land, on the discovery. Accordingly on JVov. 16lh, Iti'iO, they made n dangerous adventure ; following Bve Indiana, whom they spied tlying before them, into the wootis for many miles ; from whence, after two or three days ramble, they returned with some ears of hdian Corn, which were an eshcul for their company ; bat with a poor and small encouragement, as unto any scituation. When the shallop wits fitted, about thirty more went in it upon a further discovery ; who prospered little more, than only to find a little Indian Corn, and bring to the company some occasions of doubtful debate, whether they hhould here fix their stakes. Yet these expeditions on discovery had this one remarkable smile of Heaven upon them ; that being made br fore the snow covered the ground, they met with some Indian Corn ; for which, 'twas their purpose honestly to pay the natives on demand ; and this Corn served them lor seed in the Spring following, which else they had not been seasonably furnished withal, bo that it proved, in effect, their deliverance from the terrible famine. § 9. The month of November being spent in many supplications to Al- mighty (>od, and consultations one with another, about the direction of their course; at last, on Dec. 6, 1620, they manned the shallop witli 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 deaths, 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 barricado of boughs and logs, wherein the most weary slept. The next morning after prayers, tiiey suddenly were surrounded with a crue of Indians, who let fly a shower of arrows among them ; whereat our distressed handful of English happily recovering their arms, Vrhich they had laid by from the moisture of the weather, they vigo- rbusly discharged their muskets upon the Salvages, who astonished at Utc strange effects of such dead-doing things, as powder and shot, fled apace intc the woods ; but not one of ours was wounded by the Indian arrows ^hat flew like hail about their ears, and pierced through sundry of their DooK r] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-RNQLAND. |M roati: for tvhioh they returned their •olemn tlinnks unto Ood their Sm- vioiir ; and tbry cnllcd thu |«lace by the niimo of, Tht Fint Uncounler. From hence they cuaiited Hlong, till an horrible storm nroiie, which tore their veuel utsuch ii rate, nnd threw them into the midst ol'auch danger- QUI breaktri, it waa reckoned little short of miracle that they escaped nlive. in the end they got under the lee of a Hmull hlanU, where going ashore, they kindled Ares for their succoiirjngninst the wet nnd cold ; it was the morning before they found it was an hland, whereupon they ren- drcd their praises to Him, ihnt hitherto had helped them; and the day fol- lowing, which was, the Lord's Day, the difliculties now upon them, did not hinder them from spending it in the devout and pious exercises of a *a- ered rett. 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 tields and brooks ; whereof they curried 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 j for otherwise, by the Indium 'twas called Patuxet ,-J on the twenty-tiAli day of December they began to erect the^rit Houte that ever was in that memorable town { an house for the general entertainment of their persons and estates : and yet it was not long before an unhappy accident burnt unto tho ground their house, wherein some of their principal persons then lay sick ; who were forced nimbly to fly out of the tired house, or else they hud been blown up with the powder then lodged there, iiler this, they soon went upon the building of more little cottage* ; and upon the settling of good law$, fur the better governing of such as were to inhabit tbose cottager. They then resolved, that until they could be further strengthened in their settlement, by the authority of England, they would be governpd by ruleri chosen from among themselves, who were to proceed accord- ing to the laws' of England, as near as they could, in the administration of their government ; and such other by laws, as by rmnmon consent should be judged necessary for the circumstances of the t'lantation. § 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 Religion, 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, 'vhereto they were called the first winter of this their pilgrim- age, and enough to convince them, and remind them, that they were but Pilgrims. The hardships which they encountered, were attended with, and productive o( deadly sicknesses; which in two or three months carried otf more than half their company. They were but meanly pro- vided against these unhappy sicknesses; but there died sometimes two, sometimes three in a day, till scarce Jifty of them were left alive ; and of those^t^, sometimes there were scarce Jive well at a time to look after the sick. Yet their profound submission to the will of Qod, their Christian readiness to help one another, accompanied with a joyful as- surance of another and better world, carried them chearfully through the sorrows of this mortality : nor was there heard among them a con- tinual murmur against those who had by wireasonable 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, a famine would probably have destroyed them all, before their expected supplies ^Vom England were arrived. But what a wonder was it that all the »,u. ;t MAGNALIA ClIRISTI AMERICANA : [Book I. bloody salvnges ftir nnd near did nut cut off this tittle remnant ! If he that once muzzled the lions ready to dcvuur the man of desires, hnd not ad- mirably, 1 had almost said, miraculously restrained them, thene had been all devoured ! but this peopio of Uod were come into a wilderness to worship liim ; and so He kept tnelr enemies from such attempts, as would otherwise have soon annihilated this poor handful of men, thus far already diminished. They saw no Indians all tlie winter long, but such us at the first sight always ran uwuy ; yen, they quickly found, that God had so turned the hearts of these babarians, as more to /e«, like lialnam, to cvrse them, and let loose their t/cinoHs upon them, to shipwreck them, to distract them, to poison them, or any way to ruin them. All the noted /lowoa's in the country spent three days together in diabolical conjurations, to obtain the assistance of the devils against the settlement of these our English ; but the devils at length acknowl- edged unto them, that they could not hinder those people from their be- coming the owners nnd masters of the country ; whereupon the Indians resolved upon a good correspondence with our new-comers ; and God convinced them, that there was no enchantment or divination iigainstsuch a peopio § 1 1. 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 thoy were surprized with the appearance of two Indians, who in broken English bade tltem, welcome Englishmen ! It seems that one of these Indians had been in the eastern parts of J\'ezv- England, ac- quainted with some of the English vessels that had been formerly^s/ijwg there ; but the other of the Indlann, and he from whom they had most of service, was a person provided by tl»e 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 batches, and carried them away to the Streights, where he sold as many of them as he could for Slaves. This avaritioue and pernicious felony laid the foundation of grievous annoyances to all the English endeavours of settlements, especially in the northern parts of the land for several years ensuing. The Indians would never forget or forgive this injury ; but when the En{!;lish afterwards came upon this coast, in their ^«/«Mg- yoyages, 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. Detmer, about half a year before our honest 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 Book I.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. &S that first betrayed him, now made unto the English a retarn of that kindness : nnd being by his acquiiintance with the English language, fit- ted for a conversation with them, he very kindly informed thein what was the present condition of the Indians ; instructed them in the way of ordering their Corn; and acquainted them with many other things, \vhicb it was necessary for them to understand. But Squanto did for them a yet greater bcnetlt than all this: for he brr.u^ht ./W««su$ni<, the chief Sachim or Prince of the Indians within many miles, with some scores of his attenders, to make our people a kiud vii^it ; the issue of which visit was. that Massasott not only enlred 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 peace and subjeriiiA many other bachims 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 so great a monarch as K James to de- stroy them all, if they should hurt any of his people, he went on to ter- rifie 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 pleasure let it loose to make such havock among them, as the distemper had already made among them a few years before. Thus was the tongue of a dog made useful tb a feeble and sickly Laza- rus! Moreover, our English ,guns, ctspecially the ,^rea{ ones, made a formidable report among these ignorant Indians ; and the hopes of enjoy- ing some defence by the English, against the potent nation of JS'arragan- set Indians, now at w!ir with these, made them yet more to court our friendship. This very strange disposition of things, was extreamly advan- tageous to our distressed p/rt«<<;rs : and who sees not herein the special providence of the God who disposeth all ? CHAPTER III. Conamur Tenues Grandia : or, a brief account of the difficulties, the de- liverances, and other occurrences, through which the Plantation of New- Plymouth arrived unto the corisistency ojf 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 wor- thy 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 as- sisted by Squanto, who within a year or two dyed among the English ; but before his death, desired them to pray for him. That he might go to the Et^lishman's God in Heaven. And besides the assistance of Squanto. they had also the help of another Indian called Hobbamok, who con- tinued faithful unto the English interests as long as he lived ; though he sometimes went in danger of his life among his countrymen for that fi- delity. So they jogged on till the day twelvemonth after their first arri- val ; 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 sufiicient stock of provisions with them, they rather weakened it, than strengthened it. 54 MA&NAtIA CHRIST} AMEKICANA [Book I. If Pettr Martyr could magniiie the Spaniards, of whom he report:9, Tk*y led a miserabU life for three days together with parched grain of nnize only, and that not unto satiety ; what shall I say of our Englishmen, who would have thougUt a little parched Indian Com a mighty feast ? Bat they wanted it, not only three days together ; no, for two or three months together, they hud no kind of Com 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 fur- nished 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 Jish in some convenient quantities, or by some other sur- prising accidents ; for which they rendered unto Heaven the solemn thanks of their souls. They kept in such good working case, that be- sides their progress in building, and planting, and fishing, they formed n sort of a fort, wherein they kept a nightly watch for their security against any treachery of the /nutans, 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 SdiAmers after their sitting down at Plymouth, a terrible drought threatened the ruin of all their 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 com 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 famine ; in the morn- ing 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 sAowers, 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 de. vout people ; and one of them said, now I see that the Englishman's God is a good 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 ; which after ii thev coruc nt length to forg<:tand neglect (he trueinlereit of New-En|g;lnnd. Wherefore I ahall now transcribe loine of them from n munuicript, wherein they were then teiidred unto con- sideration. General Considerations for the Plantation of New>England. ' First, It will be a service unto the Church of great consequence, ' to carry the Gospel into those parts of the world, and rnirie a bvlwark * against the kingdom of antichrist, which the Jesuites labour to rear up * inall parts of the world. ' Secondly, All other Churches of Europe have been brought under * desolations ; and it may be feared that the like judgments are coming * upon us ; and who knows butCiod hath provided this place to be a re- */uge for many, whom he means lu save out of the General Destruction. * Thirdly, The land grows weary of her inhabitants, insomuch that ' man, which is the most precious of all creatures, is here more vile and ' base than the earth he treads upon : children, luiglibnurn aad/riends, es- ' pecially the poor, are counted the greatest burderu, which 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 equals, and ' he that failo in it, must live in scorn and contempt : hence it comes to pass, ' that all arts and trades are carried in that deceitful manner, and unright- * eous course, as it is almost impossible for a good upright man to main- ' tain his constant charge, and live comfortably in them. ' Fifthly, The schools of learning and religion are so corrupted, as (be- ' sides the unsiipportable charge of education) most children, even the ' best, wittiei^t, and of the fairest hopes, are perverted, corrupted, and ut- ' terly overthrown, by the multitude of evil examples and licentious be- ' havionrs in these semintiries. * ' Sixthly, The whole earth is the Lord's garden, and he hath given it to ' the sons olAdatn, to be tilled and improved by them : why then should ' we stand starving here for places of habitation, and in the mean time ' suffer whole countries, as profitable for the use of man, to lye waste * without any improvement ? ' Seventhly, What can be a better or nobler work, and more worthy of a ' christian, than to erect and support a reformed particular Church in its ' infancy, and unite our forces with such a company of faithful people, as ' by a timely assistance may grow stronger and prosper ; but for want of ' it, may be put to great hazards, if not be wholly mined. ' 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 an hard and mean condition, it will be an ' 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 »t 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. ntZ- dersham had advised our first planters (o agree fully upon their form of church government, before their coming into New-England ; but they had Vol. I. 9 I<» MAUNALIA CIIRISTI AiM£UICANA : [Uook I. iiuleeil ugreetU ittle (urihur tliiiii in ttiia general principle, that th$ rr/unna- tion o/tht church was tu be tiuteavoured according to the wrMtm toord o/God> Accordingly ours, now urrivud ut &'a/(f/i, cuntultod with their brothren at Ptjimouthf what aleps to take for thu more exact acquainting of them* solve* with, and confcrming thomselvoH to, tliitt writltn word : uiid the Ply- mothtam, to their great satidtaction, laid before them what warrant, they Judged, that they hud in the laws o( our Lord Jesus Christ, for every par- ticular in their Church'Order. Whereupon having the concurrence and countenance of their deputy governour, the worshipful John Endicott, Ksq ; and the approving pre- sence of the messengers from the church o( Plymouth, they set apart the sixth day of Attgutt, atler Iheir arrival, for/a«(mff and prayer, for the settling of a Church State among them, and for their making a Conftision of thur Fnithf and entering into an holy Covenant, whereby that C/turr/i- &at« was formed. Mr. Higginaon then became the teacher, and Mr. Sketton the pastor, of the church thus constituted ixiSuleini and they lived very peaceably in SaUtn together, till the death of Mr. Higgimon, which was about a twelvemonth after, and then uf Mr. SkcUon, who did not long survive him. Now the Covenant whereto theifie Chrisiiani engaged themselves, which was about seven years aAer solemnly renewed among them, I shall here lay before all the Churckei of God, as it was then expressed andin- ibrced. H'e CovemiNf with vur Lwd^ and one xeith another ; and we do bind our a«lve$ in the presence of Clod, to xeatk together in all his ways, according us he is pleased to reveal himself unto us in his blessed word of tntth ; and do explicitly, in the name and fear of God, profess and protest to malk as follow' eth, through the power and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We avouch the Lnrd to be our God, and our selves to be his people, in the truth and simplicity hs, and constitutions of men in his worship. ff V juromiJte to walk with mtf" brethren, with all watchfulness and tender- ness, avoiding jealousies and suspicions, back-bidngs^censtaings, provok' ings, secret risings of spirit agatnst them ; but in alt offences to follow the rwe of our liord Jesus, and to bear and forbear, give and forgive, as he hath taught us. In public or private, we will willingly do twtliing to the t^ff'-nce of the thurtk ; but will be willing to take advice for our selves and ours, as occa- tioH shall be presented. IVe will not in the cottgregntion beforwara either to show our own gift:> and parts in speaking or scrupling, or there discover the weakness or fail- ings of our brethren ; but,atleHd <^n orderly call thereunto, knowing how tnvch the Lord may be dishonoured ^ and his gospel, and the profession of it. slighted by our distempers and weaknesses in public. iVe bind our sehes to study the advancetnent of the gospel in all trutit and peatc ; both in regard of those that are within or without ; no way ilighting our sifter churches, but using their counsel, as need shall be ; not laying a stumbling-block before any, no, not the Indians whose good we de- tt're (o proMotr ; and so to converse, as we may avoid the very appearance of «t>i7. -■-:-,■. t m^ UooK I.J OR, THE HISTORY OP NEW-ENQLAND. m We do hereby promiie to carry our ielvee in all lawful obedinu* to lAoM that are over i«, in Church or Commonwealthf knowing how well-pleonng it will be to the Lord, that they ehould have encouragement in their plaeeit by our not grieving their sj^iriti through our irregularitiei. IVe resolve to approve our selvei to the Lorain our particular callinge; shunning idleneit as the bane of any tlate ; nor wtll we deal hardly or op* preuingly with any, wherein we are the Lord's itewardt. Promising aim unto our best ability to teach our children and tervantt the knowledge of God, and of lii» Will, that tluy may serve Him also ; and all this not by any strength of our own, but by the Lord Christ : whott blood we desire may sprinkle this our Covenant made in His name. By tliis instrument wus the Covenant of Grace explained, received, and recognized, by the first Church in this Colony, and applied unto the evangelical designs of a Church-estate before the Lord : this instrumet^ they afterwards often read over, and renewed the consent of their souls unto every article in it ; especially when their days of humiliation in> vited 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, togeth* er with the condition of the persons to be admitted. Some ivere admit* ted by expressing their consent unto their confession and covenant ; some were admitted after tl\eir iirst answering to questions about Religion, pro- pounded unto them ; some were admitted, when they had presented in writing such things, as might give satisfaction unto the people of God concerning them ; ynd some that were admitted, orally addressed the j)eople of God in such terms, as they thought proper to ask their com- munion with ; which diversity was perhaps more 6eaM(t/u/,than would have been a more punctilious uniformity : but none were admitted with- out regard unto a blameless and holy conversation. They did all agree with titcir brethren of Plymouth in this point. TTiat 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 li particular Church, it was judged necessary, that being free from scan- dal, 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. Htgginson, 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 administered the baptism and the supper of the Lord, without auy un- scriptural ceremonies ; that they resolved upon using discipline in the congregation against scandalom^ 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-fushion) to raise a deal of trouble hereupon. Herodiana Malitia, nascentem persequi Reli' gionem! Of these there were especially two brothers ; the one a lawyer, the other a merchant, boik men of parts, estate and figure in the place. These gathered a company together, separate from the publick assem- bly ; and there the Common-Prayer-Worship was after a sort upheld 08 MAONALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA : IBOOK 1. among such as would resort unto them. The governour perceiving a disturbance to iiriso nmong the people on this occasion, sent for the brotlur${ who iiccused the ministers, us departing from the orders of the Church of Engliind ; uddiug, That they were Sep/aratisti, and would be ihortty Anabuptiati ; but for themselven, They would hold unto the orders of the Church nf Knghind. The answer of the ministers to these accu- sations, was, 'i hat tliey were neither Separatists nor Anabaptists ; that they did not separate froinfthe Church of England, nor from the ordinances of Qod there, but only from the eorruptions and disorders of that f'hurch: that thei/ came away from the Comuiun-Prayer and Ceremonies, and had titfferrd 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 «».i them ; inasmuch as they judged the imposition of these things to be a sinful violation of the worship of Cod. Tiie guvernour, the coun- cil, the people, generally approved uf the answer thus given by the min- isters ; but these pursuns returned into England with very furious threat- nings against the Church thus established ; however the thrcatned folks have lived so long^ that the Chxtrch has out lived the grand climacterical year of humane age ; it now Hourishing more than sixty-three years after Its tirst gathering under the pastoral care of amofit reverend and ancient person, even Mr. John liigginson, the son of that excellent man who laid the foundations of tliat soci'oly. CHAPTER V. Peregrini Deo Curte ; or, the progress of the New-Colony ; with some Account of ihe Persons, the Methods, and the Troubles, by which it eatne to iSomcthing. §1. The Gor«rn our and Company of the Massachuset-Bay then in London, did in the year 1629, after t-xact and mature debates, conclude, that it was most ronvenicnt for the govermnent, with the charter of the plantation, to he transferred into the plantation itself; and an order of court being drawn up for that end, there was then chosen a new govern- our, and a new dep'ity- governour, XUat were willing to remove themselves with their tamilies thither on the first occasion. The governour was JoAn H'inthrop, Esq ; a gentleman of that wisdom and \irtue, and those manifohl accomplishments, that after-generati ns must reckon him no Ifss a glory, thitn he wis a patriot of the country. The deputy-govern- ourwHS Thomas Dudley, Esq ; a gentleman, whose nafural and acquired abilities, joined with his excellent nwral qualities, entitled him to all the grC'it respects with which his country on all opportunities treated him. Several most worthy assistants were at the same time chosen to be in this transpo la ion; moreover, several other gentlemen of prime note, and flcveral fliinous ministers of the gospel, now likewise embarked them- selves with those lionourable adventurers: who equipped a ^«(, con- sistint; of ton or eleven ships, whereof the admiral was, The Arabella (so culled in honour of the rischt honourable the lady Arabella Johnson, at this time on board) a ship of three hundred and lifty tuns ; and in some of the 8-ud ships there were two hundred passcncers ; all of which ar- rived before the middle of July, in the year l(i30, safe in the harbours of jWw- England. There was a time when the British sea was by Clem- Boob I.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 69 Brcciving u nt for the dert of the I would be a the orderi lIlCSC HCCU- I ; that theij •dinances of at Church : IB, and had nd therefore tr could nor tae things to , the coun- by the min- rious threat- coined J'olki iitnacterical t yenra after iind ancient lun who laid irernour was e, and those kon him no inty-govern- tnd acqxtire.d im to all the reated him. to be in this c note, and irked them- n fleets con- 'he Arabella >lla Johnson, and in some f which ar- |he harbours as by dem- enti, and the other ancients, called ^mumtrtf "'mmfturt, ike iMpautfble ocean. What then was to be thought of the vu8t Jltlantick sea, on the west- ward of Britain ? but this ocean must now be jtassed ! An heart of stone must have dissolved into tears at the utlectionate/arewe/ which the govern- our and other emirlent persons took of their friends, at a /east which the governour made for them, a little before their going off; however they were acted by principles that could carry them through tears and oceans ; yea, through oceans of tears: principles that enabled them to leave, Dulcia Limina, atq ; amabilem Lnrem, quern 6r pareiitum meinoria, atq ; ipsius (to use Stupius^ words) Infamia Rudimenta Conjirmant. Some ve- ry late geographers do assure us, that the breadth of the Jltlantick sea is commonly ^ver-reckoned by six, by eight, by ten degrees, but let that sea be as narrow as they please, 1 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 composing and publishing of what they culled. 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- constructions of their intentions. In this address of theirs, notwithstand- ing the trouble they had undergone for desiring to !*ee the Church of England reformed of several things, which they thought its deformities, yet they now called the Church of iJng/onrf their dear toother ; acknowl- edging that such hope and part as they had obtained in the common sal- vation they had sucked from her breasts ; therewithal entrcuting their many reverend fathers and brethren 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 Sjtirit of God stir- red up the apostle Paul, to make a continual mention of the cliurch at Phi- lippi, wAicA was a colony from Rome ; let the same npirit, we beseech you, putjyou in mind, that are the Ijord^s remembrancers, to pray for us without ceasing, who are the weak co\ony from your selves. And after such pray- ers, they concluded, What goodness you shall extend unto us, in this or any other Christian kindness, we your brethren in Christ shall labour to re- pay, in ivhat duty we are or shall be able to perform ; promising so far as God shall enable us, to give him no rest on your behaifs ; wishing our luads 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 altogtther unexpectedly, nor we hope unprofitahhj, befal vs. § 3. Reader, If ever the charity of a right christian, and enlarged soul, were examplarily seen in its proper caTJcnssons, 'twas in the address which thou hast now been reading : but if it now puzzel the reader to reconcile these passages with the principles declared, the practices fol- lowed, and the persecutions undergone, by these American Reformers, let him know, that there was more than one distinction, whereof these ex- cellent persons were not ignorant. First, thsy were able to distinguish between the Church of England, as it contained the whole body of the faith- ful, scatered throughout the kingdoms, though of different perswasions about some rites and modes in religion ; many thousands of whom our JS'or-Angels knew could comply with many things, to which our con- sciences otherwise enlightened and perswaded could not yield such a compliance : and the Church of England as it whs confined unto r certain constitution by cano»s, which pronounced Ipso Facto, excommunicate all to MAGNALIA CURISTI AMERICANA [Book I. those who should affirm that the worship contained in the book of Com- mon-Prayer, and ttdminiatrationt of sacramentt, is unlawful, or th£tt 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 main- tain that there are in the realm any other meetings, assemblies or congre- gations of the King's born subjects, than such as by the laws of the land are allowed, which may rightly challenge to themselves 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 publick prayers, ac- cording to the orders of the church, about which there are prescribed many formalities o{ 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 o{ Christianity, must not have baptism f()T their children: besides an Et-ctetera of how mary more imposiiions ! Again, they were able to distinguish between the Church of England, as it kept the true doctrine oftlieprostestant religion, with a disposition to pursue the refor- mation begun in the former century, among whom we may reckon such men, as the famous assembly of divines at Westminster, who all h\it eig^ or nine, and the Scots, had before then lived in conformity ; and the Church ofEnglandi as limiting, that name unto a certain faction, who to- gether with a discipline very much anscriptural, vigorously prosecuted the tripaftite plot of Arminianism and conciliation with Rome, in the church, aad unbounded prerogative in the state ; who set themselves to cripple as fast as they could the ipore learned, godly, painful ministers of the land, and silence and ruin such as could not{read a book for sports on the hordes 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 morn- ing, or on a lecture, or on a market, or m aniwise discountenance old superstitions, or new extra\ ugancies ; and who at last threw the nation into the lamentable confusions of a civil war. By the light of this dis- tinction, we may easily perceive what Church of England it was, that OUT JVew- England exiles called, their Mother; though their mother had been so harsh to them, as to turn them out of doors, yet they highly hon- oured her ; believing that it was not so much their mother, but some df their angry brethren; abusing the name of their mother, who so harshly treated them ; and all the harm they wished her, wap to see her put otf those ill trimmings, which at her first coming out of the popish Babylon, she had not so fullj 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 Church of England, I will not make the return which was made upon it by a person of quality then present ; but in- stead thereof humbly demand, who arc 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 than the Torrid Zone ? for the poor non-comformists, by their hot pressing of those indifferencies, as if they had been the only necessaries, in the mean time utterly subverting iha faith in the important pointaof 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 /ormcr ; then, say I, the Brst planters of JVew-England were irwer sons to the Church of ^V Book I.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEVV-ENGLAND. 71 England, than that part of the church, which, then by their mis^ai' ploying their heavy church-keys, banished them into this pbatation. And indeed, the more genuine among the most conformable lona of th* church, did then accordingly wish all prosperity to their J^ew-English brethren ; in the number of whom I would particularly reckon that faithful man, Mr. Edward Stfnunu, minister ofRayn in Essex; who in a Discourse printed Anno 1637, -does thus express himself ; Many novo promiss to thetnselves nothing but successive happiness at New-England ; tohichfor 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 perpetucd. Nor would 1 on this occasion leave unquoted some notable words of the learned, witty and famous Dr. Fuller, in his comment on Rulhf^age 1^. Concerning our brethren tohic/i of late left this kingdom to advance a plan- tation in New-England, I think the counsel best, that King Joash prescribed unto Amaziah, Tarry at home ; yet as for those that are already gone, far b» it from us to conceive them to be such, to whom we may not say, God speed : but let us pity them, and prayfot them. I conclude of the two Englands, what our Saviour saith of the two unnes ; 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 aickliness which many of tbem had contracted by their other difficulties. Of those who soon dyed after their first arri- val, not the least considerable was the lary Arabella, who left an earthly paradise in the family of an Earldom, to encounter the sorrows of a wilderness, for the entertainments of » 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 r 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 virtuous husband, Isaac Johnson, Esq ; -He try''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 tier death his ensued, unto the extream loss of the whole plantation. But at the end ofthiaperfect andupright man there was not only peace but joy ; and his joy particularly expressed it self ;Aoi! God had kept his eyes open so long as to see one church of the Lord Je- sus Christ gathered in these ends of the earth, before hisown goingaway to Hea- ven. The molality 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 Ply- mouth 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 like- wise 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 sicit- nws,' whereto this people were exposed in the beginning of their settle- 72 MAGNALIA CHlilSTI AMEKICANA [Book I. m ent : though a most seasonable and almost iincxpected mercy from Heaven still rescued them out of those distresses, pne thing that some- times extreamly exercised them, was a scarcity of provisiont ; in which 'twas wonderful to see their dependance upon God, and God's mindfulnesi of them. When the parching droughts of the summer divers times threat- ned them with an utter and a total consumption to the fruits of the earth, it was their manner, with heart-melting, and 1 may say. Heaven-melt- ing devotions, to fast and pray before God ; and on the very days, when they poured out the water of their tears before him, he would shower dawn the water of his rain upon their fields ; while they were yet speaking he would hear them ; insomuch that the salvages themselves would on that occasion admire the Englishman's God i But the £ng/isAmen themselves would celebrate their days of Thanksgiving to him. When thei.r stock was likewise wasted so far, which divers times it was, that, they were come to the last meal in the barrel, just then, unloolied for, arrived sev- eral ships from other parts of the world loaden with supplies ; among which, one was by the lord 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 helpt 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 Winthrop, who made an equal distribution of ivh&t he had in his own stores among the poor, taking no thought for to-morrow ! And how content they were ; when an honest man, as I have heard, inviting his friends to a dish of clam^j 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 ! Another thing that gave them no little exercise, was the fear of the In- dians, by whom they were sometimes alarmed. But this 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 Massachuset-Bay, who yet seemed hopefully to he 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 English 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 jeu) 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 pat- ent 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 9.1 New- England, in the year 1630, left the fleet almost, as X\iQ 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 first opportunity to prosecute further settlements about the bottom of the Massachuset-Bay : but wbere-ever they sal down, they were so mindful of their errand into the wilderness, that still one of their ^rs/ works was to gather a church into the covenant and order of the gospel. First, there was a church thus gathered at Charles-town, on the north side of Charles's river ; where keeping a solemn fast on August 27, 1630, [Book i- ercy from hat soine- in which indfvintn es threat- iu of the avtH'tntlt- lays, when lid shower :t speaking uld on that hemselvcs their stock they were riived sev- es ; among Ithoogh he sent her ; unlikely as ties, 'twas le another, ithrop, who among the they were ; a dish of n to suck the irof the In- ir was won- n to fall out 1 proved a inces in the d before he lem, swept ut although calamities, of those e country a he English nstances of ing the pat- the natives in the year i., having a dy supplied Igovernour, ^yage, took I the bottom ey were so . their ^rs< I the gospel. In the north 1st 27, 1630, Book I.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 73 to implore the conduct and blessing of Heaven on their ecclesiastical proceedings, they chose Mr. Wilson, a most holy and zealous man, for- merly a minister of Sudbury, in the county of Sifffolk, to be their teach- er { and although he now submitted unto an ordination, with an imposi- tion of such hands as were by the church invited so to pronounce the benediction of Heaven upon him ; yet it was done with a protestation by all, that it should be only as a sign of his election to the charge of his new flock, without any intention that he should thereby renounce the ministry he had received in England. After the gathering of tiie church at Charles-town, there quickly followed another at the town of Dorches- ter. 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 church 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 scrip- ture said unto them ; all of them golden candlesticks, illustrated with a very sensible 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-nformation, kept sometimes droppings and somelimes^oc^ktng' into New-England, though some that were coming into New-England were not suffered so to do. The persecutors of those Puritans, as they were called, who were now retiring into that cold coun- try from the heat of their persecution, did all that was possible to binder as many as was possible from enjoying of that retirement. There were many countermands given to the passage of people that were now steer- ing 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 hot have so studiously detained at home, it they had foreseen events ; those were Oliver Cromwell, and Mr. Hambden, and Sir Arthur Haselrig : neverthe- less, this is not the only instance of persecuting chiirch-mens not having the spirit of prophecy. But many others were diverted from an intend- ed 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 woful wars which broke forth in the three kingdoms, there were divers gentlemen in Scotland, who being uneasie under the ec- clesiastical burdens of the times, wrote unto New-England their enquiries, Whether they might be there suffered freely to exercise their Presbyte- rian 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 Merimack river, whither they intended then to trans- plant themselves : but although they had so far proceeded in their voy- age, as to be half-seas thorough ; the manifold crosses they met withal, made them give over their intentions ; and the providence of God so or- dered it, that some of those very gentlemen were afterwards the revivers of that well-known solemn league and covenant, which had so great an in- fluence 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 /our thousand; since which time Vol.. I. 10 74 MAGNALIA CIllUSTI AMERICANA IBOOK 1. fur more hnvc gone out of the country than have come to it ; and yet the (]o(i of Heuvcii 80 itmiled upon tlio rluntation, while under an eo«te and tqual govornmeut, the designs of Christianity in well-formed churches huvo bcuD carried on, that no hiittory can parallel it. That saying of Eulropiua nbuut liomtt which hath been sometimes applied unto the church, is capable of some applicHtion to this little part of the church : JVec Minor ab Exor ^lo, iicc trnj^or Incrementii ulla. Never was any plan- tation brought unto such a considorublaness, in a space of time so incon- niderable I an honilwif nitderness in a few years became a pleatatU land, accommodated with the necensariei, yea, and the conveniences of humane life ; the gospd has carried with it n fulness of all other blessings ; and (albeit, that munkiiid generally, as far us we have any means of enquiry, have increu»cd, in one and the same given proportion, and so no mort* 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 hu- mane life) the four thousand^rsf planters, in less than filly years, notwith- standing all transportations and mortalities, increased into, they tiay, more than an hundred thousand. CJIAFTER VI. — Qjui Transmure Currunt.— Or, The Addition of several other Colonies Iv the former ; with some other Considerables I'u the Condition of these later Colonies. § 1. It was not long before the Massachtutet Colony was become like an Atve, overstocked with bees : and many of the new inhabitants enter- tained thoughts of swarming into plantations extended further into the country. The colony might fetch its own description from the dispensa- tions of the great God, unto his ancient Israel, and say, O God of Hosts, titou hast brought a vine out of England ; thou hast cast oM 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 compleat ac- commodations of the description ; to wit. She sent forth her branches unto th* 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 M'ilus 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, fVa- tertowti and Roxbury, 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, he did in his prefecc to his Commentaries aAerwards publisht..', give this account of it ; Deo sic votetUe, prodii in remotissimos usq ; Indos, tarn non avidua lucis ^gloria, ut earn vere dixeritn, lUtro clegcrim mei ipsius adhuc viven- tis verissinutm Sepulluram. Reader, come with mc now to behold some worthy, and learned, and genteel persons going to be buried alive on the banks of Connecticut, having been first shin by the ecclesiastical imposi- t-ions and persecutions of Europe. *'t Book I.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 76 § 2. It WH8 in the yenr 1635, that this design wtis firit fbrmcd ; 9nd the diapoaition of the celebntcd Mr. Thomas Hooker, with hi> people now in Cambridge, to engage in the design, wits that which gare moat life unto it. Tiicy then sent their ngents to view the country, who returned with 80 advantageous a report, thitt the next year there was a great remove of good i^eople thither : on thia remove, they that went from Catnb^ridge became a church upon a spot of ground now cnllcd Hartford; they that went from Dorchester becumd a church at Windsor ; they that went from IVatertown »ai down at Weth(r«Jield ; and they that leftlioxhury were in- churched higher up the rivei: ai Springfield, a place which was afterwards found within the line of the Ma ssaclumt -charier. Indeed ihejirst win- ter after their going thither proved an hard one ; and the grievous dia- appointments which befel them, through the unseasonable freezing of the river, whereby their vessel of provisions was detained at the mouth uf 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 Planta- tion-work with speedy and blessed successes ; and when bloody salvages in their neighbourhood, known by the name ofPequots, had like to have nipt the plantation in the bud by a cruel war, within a yeir or two after their settlement, the marvellous providence of God immediately extin- guished that war, by prospering the J\'ew-English arms, unto the utter subduing of the quarrelsome nation, and affrightning of all the other natives. § 3. It was with the countenance and assistance of their brethren in the Massachuset-bay, that the first Planters of Connecticut made their es- says thus to discover and cultivate the remoter parts of this mighty wil- derness ; and accordingly several gentlemen went furnished with, some kind of commission from the government of the Mcssuchnset-bayl for to maintain some kind of government among the inhabitants, till there could be a more orderly settlement. But the inhabitants quickly perceiving theuiselves to be without the line of the Massachuset-charter, entred into ii combination among themselves, whereby with mutual consent they be- came 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- mick ; the inhabitants of Connecticut that year purchased of Mr. Fenwick this tract of land. But the confusions then embarassing the affairs of the English nation, hindered 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-co\ony. This renowned virtuoso had justly been the darling of .Yew-England, if they had only considered his eminent quali- tic. a? he was a Chnstian, a gentleman, and a philosopher, well worthy to m MAUNALIA CHRiSTl AMERICANA IBooK 1. be, ai> he wa«, a member ot the Royal-Societif ; but it niuvt needafurtbei eDdenr his memory to hit country, that ( over to the Massachutet-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 ca- })able to entertain those that were to follow them, they desired that their i-iends at Connecd'cut wouldpurchase of the native proprietors for t^m, all the land that lay between themselves ^md Hudson's River, which was 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 supprized with the sight of such notable towns, as first New-Haven ; then Guilford ; then Milford; then Stamford; and then Brainford where our Lord .'esut Christ is worshipped 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 fourth colony wanted the legal basis of a charter to build upon ; but they did by mutual agreement form themselve.s, into a body-politick as like as they judged fit unto the other colonies in their neighbourhood ; and as for their church-order, it was generally secvndum vsvm MassacUusettensem,. § 6. Behold, a fjurth colony of j\ew-Eny;lish Christians, in a manner stolen into the world, and a colony, indeed, constellated with many stars of t!.e ^raf inag:>it'ide. The colony was under the conduct of as holy, and as prudent, and as genteel persons as most that ever visited these nooks of Jimrricu ; and yr* these too were tryed with very humbling circam- stancea. Being Londoners, or merchants and men of trnffick and buisness, their design was in a manner wholly to apply themselves unto trcule ; but the design failing, they found their £:reat estates sink so fast, that they must quickly do something. Whereupon in the year 1646, gathering together Book I.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. W almost all the strength which was left theui, they built one thip more, which they fraighted for England with the best part of their tradable es- tates ; and sundry of their eminent persons embarked themselves in her for the voyage. But, alas, the ship was never after beard of! she found- red in the sea ; and in her were lost, not only the hopes of their future trade, but also the livu of several excellent persons, as well as divers mantucripta of some great men in the country, sent over for the service of the church, which were now buried in the ocean. The/ulltr $tory of th^t grievous matter, let the reader with a just astonishment accept from the pen of the reverend person, who is now the pastor of M'ew-Hav4n. 1 wrote unto him for it, and was thus answered. Reverend and Dear Sir, * Iw compliance with your desires, I now give you the relation of that < appaiiiion of a ship in tht air, which I have received from the most credi- ' ble, judicious and curious surviving observers of it. ' In the year 1647, besides much other lading, a far more rich treasure ' of passengers, (five or six of which were persons of chief note and worth * in ATew-Haven) put themselves on board a new ship, built at Rhode-Island, * of about 150 tuns ; but so walty, that the master, {Lamberttn) often said ' she would prove their grave. In the month of Janttary, cutting their < way through much ice, on which they were accompanied with the Rev- * erend Mr. Davenport, besides many other friends, with many fears, as ' well as prayers and tears, they set sail. Mr. Davenport in prayer with ' an observable emphasis used these words, Lord, if it be thy pleaawe to ' bttry these our friends in the bottom of the sea, they areAinef save them ! < The spring following, no tidings of these friends arrived with the ships ' from England : New-Haven's heart began to fail her : this pot the godly ' people on much prayer, boc publick and private, that the Lord would * (if it was his pleasure) let them hear what he had done with their dear * friends, and prepare them with a suitable submission to his Holy fVill. * 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 canvass and co- ' lours abroad (though the wind northernly) 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 ' north, and continuing under obser^'ation, 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, crouding up as far ' as there is usually water sufficient for such a vessel, and so near some of ' the spectators, as that they imagined a man might hurl a stone on board ' her, her main-top seemed to be blown off, but lefl banging in the ' shrouds ; then her missen-top ; then all her masting seemed blown away * by the board: quickly after the hulk brought unto a careen, site overset, ^ and so vanished into a smoaky cloud, which in some time dissipated, ' leaving, as everywhere else, a clear air. The admiring spectators ' could distinguish the several colours of each part, the principal rigging, ' and such proportions, as caused not only the generality of persons to ' say. This was the mould of their ship, and thus was her tragick end : but * Mr. Davenport also in publick declared to this effect, Tltat God had * condescended, for the quieting of their a^icted spirits, this extraordinary 78 MAUNALIA CliKlSTl AMEKICANA lUooK I. * account of his $ov$r«ign diapotal of thou for whom to many ftrvtnt pray- ' «rt were nutde continually. Thui I am, Sir, Your humble lorvant, James PiKftpoNT.' Render, there being yet living so many credible gentlemen, that were eye-witnesses of this wonderful thing, 1 venture to publish it for a thing M undoubted, as 'tis wonderful. But let us now proceed with our story. Our colony of New-Haven ap- prehended themselves disadvantageously seated for the afl'airs of hut- handry ; and therefore upon these disasters they 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 thev were to have had as a small province to themselves. But the God of Heaven stili strtingely disappomted all these attempts ; and whereas they were concerned how their posterity should be able to live, if they must make husbandry their mr^in 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 husbandtnen. and is become no small part of the best granary for n\\ M'ew-Ktigland, And the same good providence has all along so pre- served 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 M'ew-Haven colony ? I must answer, It is not : and yet it has been growing ever since it first was. But when Connecticut-colony petitioned the restored King for a Charter, they pro- cured New-llaven colony to be annexed unto them in the same charter ; and this, not without having first the private concurrence of some lead- ing 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 Char- ter for the colony, like Jeplitah''s daughter, to bewail her condition be- fore it could be quietly complied withal. Nevertheless they have lived ever since, one colony, very happily together, and the God of love and peace has remarkably dwelt among them : however, these children of God have not been without their chastisements, especially in the malig- nant fevers and agues, which have often proved very mortal in most or all of their plantations. § 8. While the soutk-west parts otJ^ew- England were thus filled with new-coionies, the north-east parte of the country were not forgotten. There were ample regions beyond the line of the Masaachuset-patent, where new settlements were attempted, not only by such as designed n ^sAing- trade at sea, or a Bever-trade on shore ; not only by some that were unoasie under the Massachmet-government in a day of temptation, which came upon the first planters ; but also by some very serious >-.hristians, who propounded the enlargement and enjoyment of our Lord's evangelical interests in those territories. The effect of these excursions were, that several well-constituted churches were gathered in the pro- vince of Easf-IIampshirc, bcs'u\es one or two in the province of JWani, Book 1.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENQLAND. T» whereto were added a large number of other congregations, wherein weekly prayers and sermotu were nrtade, although the inhabitant belong- ing to thoic congregiitionH, proceeded not so far as to all the ordinances of n more compleat Church State among them. That which contributed more than a little to the growth o( chriatianity in those parts of JVtw- England, was the application, which the people being tired with many quarrelsome circumstances about their government, made unto the general court of the Mataad^tuet-bay, to be taken under their protection ; which petition of theirs being answered by that general court, surely aAcr n more char- itable and accountable manner, than such authors as Ogilby in his Ameri- ca have represented it, [f^ua magia Hiatorkia, Lectorea, Credite veria /] there followed many successful endeavours to upread the good effects and orders of the goapel along that coast. But thus was the settlement of J^ew-England brought about ; these were the bcginninga, these the foundationa of those colonics, which have not only enlarged the English empire in some regards more than any oth- er outgoings of our nation, but also afforded a singular prospect of churches erected in an American corner of the world, on purpose to ex- press and pursue the Protestant Reformation. CHAPTER VII. IJecatompoIiH -. or, a field which the Lord hath blessed. A MAP OF THE COUNTRY, It is proper that I should now give the reader an Ecclesiaatical 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 i yet there are to be seen in it at this present year 1696, these Colo- nies, Counties, and Congregations. IT The Numbers and Places of the Christian Congregations, now worship- ping 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. .Yotandum, Where the name of any minister hath H. C. added unto ittf ' our catalogue, it is to be understood that Harvard-Colledge was t^ "^ mother, in whose arms that minister was educated. 4. I. In Plymouth colony there are three counties; and the several congre- gations therein are thus accommodated. PLYMOUTH COUNTY MINISTERS. Bridgewater, Mr. James Keith. Puxbury, Mr. Ichabod Wiswul, H. C. Marshfield, Mr. Edward Thompson, H. C. Middlebury, Mr. Plymouth, Mr. John Cotton, H. C. Scituate \ which hath two churches, Mr. Jeremiah Cashing, ' i H. C. Mr. Deodale Lawson. # •0 ^ MAUNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA : [Book I. Earnttuble, EaatEiam, Falmouth, Harwich, MiiQaiDoyet, Rochester, Sandwich, Yarmouth, Bristol, Dartmouth, Freetown, Little-Comptou, Swansy, Tanton, > BARNSTABLE COUNTY MINISTRRS. Mr. Jonathan Rutiel, H. C. Mr. Samuel Treat, U. C. Mr. Jiathaniel Stone, H. C. > ' Mr. Arnold, Mr. Rowland Cotton, U. C. Mr. John Cotton, H. C. BRISTOL COVNTY MINISTERS. Mr. John Sparhawk, H. C. Perishing without vision. Mr. Elipheltt Adams, H. C. Mr. Samud Danforth, H. C. Hereto an ccclcdiusticHl reckoning may annex the Islands of Martha's Vine- } Mr. Ralph Thucher, Mr. Denham, besides It iian- yard, Nantucket, NeifrportinRode- Island, churches and pastors. Indian Pastors. Mr. jYathaniel Clap, H. C. 1 1 II. In M&ssadmset colony are four counties, and the several congrega- tions in them are so supplied. THE COUNTY OF SUFFOLK MINISTERS. Boston, s of the old church, Mr. Jatnes Allen, Mr. Benj. Wads' worth, H. C. of the north church, Mr. Increase Mather, President of the CoUedge, and hi^i son Cotton Mather, H. C. of the south church, Mr. Samuel IVilward, H. C. Besides these, there is in the town ii 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. Em- blin is the settled minister. And a French congregation of Protestant Refugees, under the pastoral cares of Monsieur Daille. Braintree, Mr. Moses Fisk, H. C. Dedham, Mr. Joseph Belcher, H. C. .-. y Dorchester, Mr. .^/m Dr.u/or/A, H. C. Hingham, Mr. John JVurton, H. C. Hull, Mr. Zechariah Whitman, H. C. Medficld, Mr. Joseph Baxter, H. C. i /,M,v:.i Mendon, Mr. Grindal Rawson, H. C. lii^^tji' Milton, Mr. Peter Thacher, H. C. r ■<■■ : U2 s MAGNALIA CilRISTI AMERICANA. [Book 1. Southtield, 'i Mr. Benjamin Rugglea, H. C. ♦ Westfield, 3Ir. Edward Taylor, H. C. To which, if we add the congregations in Piscataqna Dover, Exeter, Hampton, Newcastle, Portsmouth, Isle of Sholes Kittery, Weils, York, Mr. John Pikcr H. C. Mr. John Clark, H. C. Mr. John Cotton, H. C. Mr. Samuel Moodey, H. C. Mr. Joshua Moodey, H. C. And in the Province of Maine Mr, Hancock, H. C. :f-i.,;_ -i'i' III. In Connecticut-co/oni/ there are four counties, and the several cort- gregations therein are illuminated by these preachers of the gospel. B'armington, Glastonbury, Madliam, Hartford. Middletown, Simsbury, VVaterbury, Wethersfield, Windsor, And Farme, Windham, Killingworth, Lebanon, Linne, New-London, Norwich, Pescamsik, Preston, Saybrook, Stonington, Brainford, Derby, Guilford, Milford, Ne»v-H»ven, Wallingford, Danbury, Fairfield, HARTFOno COUNTY MINISTERS. Mr. Samuel Hooker, H. C. . ? .:, Mr., Timothy Stevens, H. C. Mr. Jeremiah Hobart, H. C. old church, Mr. Timothy Woodb ridge, H. C. new church, Mr. Thomas Buckingham, H. C. Mr. JVoadiah Russel, H. C. Mr. Dudly Woodbridge, H. C. Mr. Jeremiah Peck, H. C. i Mr. Steven Mix, H. C. • . Mr, Samuel Mather, H. C. Mr. Timothy Edwards, H. C. Mr. Samuel Whiting. XEW- LONDON COUNTV MINISTERS. Mr. Abraham Pierson, H. C. ' •' Mr. Moses jYoyse, H. C. Mr. Gordon Sallonstal,li. C. Mr. James Fitch. Mr. Joseph Mors, H. C. . .' ' Mr. Samuel Tread, H. C. Mr, Thomas Buckingham. Mr, James JVoyse, H. C. NBW-IIAVEN COUNTY MINISTERS Mr. Samuel Russel, H. C. Mr. John James, H. C. Mr. Thomas Ruggles, H. C. Mr, Samuel Andrews, H. C Mr. James Pierpoint, II. C. Mr. Samuel Street, H. C. FAIRF/ELD COUNTY MINISTERS. Mr. Seth Shove, H. C. Mr. Joseph Web, H. C. ' them.' port thui Book 1.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 83 Fairfield village, Greenwich, Norwalk, Rye, .Stamford, Stratford, Woodbury, Mr. Charles Chauncey, H. 0. Mr. Joseph Mori^an. Mr- Steven Bucking ham, H. C. Mr. Bowers, H, C. Mr. John Davenport, H C. Mr. Israel Chauncey, H. C. Mr. Zachariah Walker, H. C. "Jr REMARKS UPON THE CATALOGUE OF PLANTATIONS. § 1. There are few towns to be now seen in our list, but what were existing in this land before the dreadful Indian war. which befel us twen- ty years ago ; and there are few towns broken up within the then Massa- chuset-line by that war, but what have revived out of their ashes. Nev- ertheless the many calamities, which have ever since been wasting of the country, have so niptthe growth of it, that its later progress hath held no proportion with what was from the beginning ; but yet with such variety, that while the trained companies of some towns are no bigger than they were thirty or forty years ago, others are as big again. ' § 2. The calamities that have carried ofl' the inhabitants of our several towns have not been all of on« sort ; nor have all our towns had an equal share in any sort. Pestilential sicknesses have made fearful havock in rMJ^ EBEXEZER. $.M~»r»ii SOME HISTORICAL REMARKS ON THE STATE OF BOSTON, THE CHIEF TOWJ^ OF NEW-ENGLAND, AND OF ENGLISH AMERICA. . , , WITH SOME AGREEABLE METHODS THE rOR PRESERVING AND PROMOTING THE GOOD STATE OP THAT, AS WELt AS ANY OTHER TOWN IN THE LIKE CIRCUMSTANCES. HUMBLY OFFERED BY A NATIVE OF BO^IO^. Ezek. XLViii. 35, The name of the City from that day shall be, the lord IS THERE. Urbs Metropolis, ul sil maxima: Aiirtoj-itutis, constilualur prrxipuum piclalis Exctn- plum & Haciarium. Aphor. I'olit. THE HISTORY OF BOSTON RELATED AND IMPROVED. Jit Boston Lecture, 7 d. 2 m. 1G90. Remarkable and memorable 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 and approach of those destroyers, by an immediate hand 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, O Boston, thou helped of the Lord. J SAM. VII. 12. Then Samuel took a stone, and set it up,— -and called the name of it, Eb- enezer, saying, Hitherto the Lord hath helped us. The thankful servants of God have used sometimes to erect monu- ments of stone, as durable tokens of their thankfulness to God for mer- cies 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 trans- Book I.J THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 86 gression forbidden io Lev. xxvi. 1. Ye shf.U not setup an image of stone in your land, for to bow dorvn uuto it. The Stone erected by Samuel, with the name of Ebenezer, 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 our selves, iu the text where we find it : namely, thus much. That a people whom the God of Heaven hath remarkably helped in their distresses^ ought greatly and gratefully to acknowledge what help of Aea- ven they have received. Now 'tis not my design to lay the scene of my discourse as far off as Bethcar, the place 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 1 do not ask you to change the name of the town into that of Help- stone, 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 Ebenezer, 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 undei- great obligations for the precious opportunities to glorifie him, which I have quietly and publickly enjoyed therein for tiear eighteen years to- gether. O my Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me this once, to speak from thee wito thy people ! And now, sirs, that I may set up an Ebenezf.r among you, there are these things to be inculcated. I. Let us thankfully, and agreeably, 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 obtain- ed help of God, I continue to this day ! Our town is now threescore 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 towv is continued until almost the age uf man is passed over it ! The town hath indeed three elder sisters in this colony, but it hath wonderfully outgrown them all ; and her mother, Old Boston, in England also ; yea, within a few years after the first settlement it grew to be. The Metropolis of THE WHOLE Engmsh America. Little was this expected by them thai: first settled the town, when for a while Boston was proverbially called, Lost-town, 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 not*; occurs with twenty-six repetitions ; His mercy endnreth for ever. Truly there has not one year passed over this town, Ab Urhe Condita, upon the story whereof we might not make that note, our Ebenezer; His mercy en- dureth for ever. It has been a town of great experiences. There have been several years wherein the terrible /amine hath terribly stared the town in the face : we have been brought sometimes unto the la'it meal in the bar- rel ; we have cryed out with the disciples, We have r.nt loaves enough to feed a tenth part of us ! but the feared famine has always been kept off; always we have had seasonable and sufficient supplies af^er a surprizing manner sent in unto us : let the three last years in this thing most emi- 06 MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA [lioOK 1. nently proclaim the goodness of our heavenly Shepherd and Feeder. This has been the help of our God ; because his mercy endurethfor ever/ The aui^els of death have often shot the arrows of death into the midst of the town ; the small-pox has especially fvur times been a great '|ilague upon us : how often have there been bills desiring prayers for more than nn hundred sick on one day in one of our assemblies ? in one twelve-month, about one thousand of our neighbours have one way or other been car- ried 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 meraj upon us, written on the doors of our abandoned habita- tions ? 'J'his hath been the help of our God, because his mercy endureth for ever. Never wys any town under the cope of heaven more liable to be laid in ashes, eitlu'.- tJiiough the carelessness, or through the wicked- ness of them that sleLf in it. That snch a combustible heap of contiguous houses yet stands, it £:. 'y be called, a standing miracle ; it is not because! the tvatdiman keeps thr 'fy: perhaps there may be too much cause of re- flection in that tliinjj;, , I'l of inspection too; no, It is from thy watchful protection, C thc\ "eper f Boston, icho neither slumbers nor sleeps. Ten TIMES has the /'?. iiadu notable ruins among us, and our good servant been almost oui )/:a .' r ; but the ruins have mostly and quickly been re- built. I suppose, tii^* iij \v more than a thousand houses are to be seen on this little piece oi :" und, all filled with the undeserved favours of God, Whence this preservation ? This hath been the hdp of our God : because his mercy endureth forever ! But if ever this town saw a year of salvations, transceudently such was the last year unto us. A for^iidable French squadron hath not shot one bomb into the midst of thee, O thou munition of rocks ; 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 dreadful things, as Carthagena, or Newfound- land, have suffered. I am sure our more considerate friends beyond-sea were very suspicions, and well nigh despairing, that victorious enemies had swallowed up the town. But thy soul is escaped, O Boston, as a bird out of the snare of the fotolers. Or if you will be insensible of this, ye vain men, yet be sensible, that an English squadron hath not brought among us the tremondous pestilence, under which a neighbouring planta- tion hath undergone prodigious desolations. Boston, 'tis a marvellous thing a plague has not l^id thee desolate ! Our deliverance from our friends has been as full of astonishing mere//, as our clelive-jtuce from our foes. We read of a certain city in Isa. xix. 18, t, ' 3d, I'he City of De- struction. Why so ? some say, because delivered from destruction. \i that be so, then hast thou been a city of desiruciiof : or I will rather say. a city of salvation : and this by the help of God ; because his mercy en- dureth for ever. Shall I go on ? I will. We have not had the bread of adversity and the ^t:atef of affliction, like many other places. But yet all this while our eyes have >se.en our teachers. Here are several golden can- dlesticks in the town. Shining and burning lights have illuminated them. There arc gone to shine in an higher orb seven divines that wore once the stars of this town, in the pastoral charge of it; besides many others, that for some years <^ave us transient influcnceii. Churches flourishing with much love, and peace, and many comforts of the Httly Spirit, have hitherto been our greatest glory. 1 wish that some sad eclipse do not come e're long upon this glory ! The dispensations of the gospel were never cnjoye'l by any town ^vith more liberty and purily for fco long « Book I] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 87 while together. Our opportunities to draw near unto the Lord Jesus Christ in bis ordinance*, cannot be parallelled. Boston, thou hast been lifted up lo heaven; there is not a town upon earth, which, on some ac- counts, has more to answer for. Such, O such has been our help from our God, because hie mercy endureth for ever. II. Let us acknowledge whose help it is that we have received, and QOt give the glory of our God unto another. Poorly helped had we been , I may tell you, it* we had none but humane help all this while to depotnl upon. The favours of our superiors we deny not : we forget not the instruments of our help, Nevertheless, this little outcast Zion, shall, wiih my consent, engrave the name of no man upon her Ebmezer ! It was well confessed in Psal. cviii. 12, Vain is the help of man! It was well counselled in Psal. cxivi. 3, Put not your trust in princes, nor in the sun of man, in whom there is no lielp. Wherefore, first, let God in our Lord Jesus Christ, have the glory of bestoioing on us all the help that we have had. When the Spirit of God camt' upon a servant of his, he cried out unto David, in 1 Chron. xii. 18, Thy God helfieth thee. This is the voice of God from heaven to /;ft»s/«rt this day, Thy God hath helped thee: thou hast by thy sin destroyed Ihy self, hut in thy God hath been ihy help. A great man once building an edilice, 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 in- crease. One that passed by with a witty sarcasm, wrote under it. Hie Deus 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, O helped Boston, say as in Psal. cxxi. 2, My help is from the Lord which made heaven and earth. Say as in Psa/. xciv. 17, Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had quickly dwelt in silenre. And boldly say, Tis only because the Lord has been my helper, that earth and hell have never done all that they zvould unto me. Let our Lord Jksus Christ be praised as our blessed helper : that stone which the foolish builders have refused. Oh ! set up that stone ; even that high rock ; set him on high in our praises, and say, that Ihut is our Ebenezer. 'Tis our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his infinite com- passions for the town hath said, as in Isn. Ixiii. 5, I looked, and there was none to help ; therefore my own arm hath bright salvation unto it. It is foretold concerning the idolatrous Roman Catholicks, that together witli the Lord Jesus Christ, they shall 7vorship other Maiizzim ; that is to say, other protectors. Accordingly, all their towns ordinarily have singled out their protectors among the saints of hoaven ; such a saint is entituled untb the patronage of such a town among them, and such a saint for an- other : old Boston, by name, was but saint Botolph's town. Whereas thou, O Boston, shalt have but one 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 wondrously ; and the tirst clause in that song, [you have it in Isa. xxvi. 1,] may be so rendred, JVe have a strong town ; salvation [or Jesus the Lord, whose name hath salvation in it] will appoint walls and buhvarks. Truly what help we have had we will sing, 'T'is our Jesus that hath appointed them. The old pr ui towns were sometimes mighty solicitous to conceal the name of the par* ^ular God that they counted their protector, JVe ab hostibus Evocatus, alio commigraret. Bnt I shall be far from doing my (own any damage, by publishing the .;^_^.s 88 MAGNALIA CHKISTI AMERICANA [Book I 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, OLord: nor is any help like vnto thine : and there is 710 rock like to our God. Yea, when we ascribe the name o( helper unto our Lord Jesus Christ, let us also acknowledge that the name is not sufficiently expressive, em- phatical 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, JVon intelligit Divina benefi- cia, qui se a Deo tantummodo Juvari putat : the kindnesses of Qod 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 Jksus Christ hath been our helper, let us intend more than we ex^/ress ; Lord, thou hast been all unto us. Secondly, Let the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ most explicitely have the glory o( 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. d. Sam- uel took a sucking lamb, and off'ered it a burnt-offering wholly unto the Lord; and Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard him. Shall I tell you 1 Our Lord Jssus 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 'johole congregation prescribed in the Mosaic Paedagogy. '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 Hea- ven rain down upon the town an horrible tempest of thunderbolts, as he did upon the cities which he overthrew in his anger, and repented not, it would be no mor<: than eur unrepented sins deserve. How comes it then to pass tha', we have had so much help from Heaven after all ? Tru- ly 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 vengeance of God. God sent help 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. ■io, I will defend this town, to save it for my servant David's sake. Has this town been defended ? It has been for tf e sake of the beloved Jesus : therefore has the daughter of Boston shaken /wr head at you, O ye calami- ties that have been impending over her head. O helped and happy town ! Thou hast had those believers in the midst of thee, that have plead- »^d this with the great God ; J)h ! Lord, thou hast been more honoured by fhe sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ, than thou couldst be honoured by iiverwhelming this town with all the plagues of thy ju - indignation. If ihou wilt spare, and feed, and keep, and help this poor lown, the stifferings '>( our Lord Jesus Christ shall be ozoned as the prize of all our help. 'Tis riiis that hath procured u* 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 ministred 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 jis. Whnn Macedonia was to have some help from God, an angel, wliom the apostle in Jicts xvi. 9, saw habited like a wan ©/"Macedonia, was a mean of its being brought unto Book I.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEWENGLAND. |g^ them. There is abundant cause to think, tliat every town in which the Lord Jeaus Christ is worshipped, hnth nn angel to watch over it. The primi- tive chriHtians were perswaded from the scriptures of truth to maice no doubt of this, ^uod per Civitales diBtributa sunt Angelorvm prafecturce. When the capitil town of Judea was rescued from an invasion, we read in 2 Kings xix. 35, The angel of the Lord went out, and smote the tamp of the Assyrians. It should seem there was an angel which did residt in, and preside over the town, who went out for that amazing exploit. And is it not likely, thni the angel of the Lord went out for to smke thefleet of the Assyrians with a sickness, which the last summer hindred their in> vading of this town ? The angel o/'Boston was concerned for it! Why have not the destroyers broke in upon us, to prey upon us with sore de- struction ? 'Tis because wo have had o -wall of fire about us ; that is to say, a guard of angels, those flames oi fire have been as a wall unto us. It was an angel that helped n Daniel when the lions would else have swallowed him up. It was an angel that helped a Lot oiit 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 man' na was angel's food : and is it nothing that such angels have done for this town, think you ? Oh ! think not so. Indeed if we should go to thank the angels for doing these things, they would zealously say, iSes 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 bias the Lord, O my town, for those bis angels. 111. Let the help which we have hitherto had from our God, encour- age 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 litter 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 Fsalm six times over there occurs. Thou hasty Thou hast : all to usher in this ; Therefore thou wilt still do so. O let our faith pro- ceed 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 ua write under it, Jlnd 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-sot' row. There was a time when people were so discouraged about a sub- sisttnce 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 1 to you this day!] saying, in ha. xxx. 7, I cried concerning this, their strength is to sit still ! Boston was no sooner come to some consist- ence threescore years ago, but the people found themselves plunged into a sad nonplus what way to take for a subsistence. God then immediately put them into a way, and hitherto the Lord has helped us ! The town is af^ Vor. f. 12 9ft MAONALIA CllKlhll AMERICANA [Book I. tliia (lay lull oi' widuw$ and orphans, and a inultitmlu of tliein arc very helpl(.'»8 creatures. 1 am aslotii^livd li'e Lord, whose family yon belong unto, will conveniently and wonderfully prm ide foryou$ if you say, and Oh ! say of him. The Lon' is my helper, I will not /ear ! What shall I say ? When jMases was ready to faint in Ui» prayers for his people, we read in Exod. xvii. 12, '/'/c)/ took a stone, and put it under him. Christians, there are some of you who abound in prayns. that the help of God may he granted unto the town ; the town is uuich up- held by those prayers of your*. Now that you may not faint in your prayers, 1 bring you a stone : the stinw, 'tis our Ebemzer ; or, the rela- tion of the help that hitherto the Lord hath i:iven uh. IV. Let all that bear ruiii ic okficc in the tovvu contribute all the help they can, that may cnutinue the help of God unto up. Austin in his confessions gives thanks to God, that wlien he was an 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 ihe fathers themselves ihat I am concerned. When it was demanded of Demosthenes, what it was that so long pre- served Athens in a flourishing state, he mad*:, this answer, The orators are men of learning and Zx-'isdotn, i!i(, magisliates do justice, the citizens love quiet, and the laws are kept among litem alL May Boston flourish in such happy order ! And first, you may assure yourselves that ihe ministers of the Lord •Tosus Christ among you will be joyful to approve themselves, as the k of God has called them. The helpers of your joy. O our dear ,'c' ' ; ' owe you our all j all our love, all our strength, all our time; A for you as those that must give an account : and 1 am very much if we are not willing to die for you too, if called unto it. If c>,i oii( Jesus Christ should say to us, My servant, if yo'll die to night, you shall have this reward ; the people that you preach to shall be alt cun- vf-rted mto me! I think we should with triumphing souls reply, Ah! Lord, then Fll die with all my heart. Sirs, we should go away rejoycing with joy unspeakable and full of glory. I am satif *ied, that the most fu- rious and foul-mouthed reviler that God may give any of us to be buf- feted withal, if he will but come to sober thoughts, he will say, That there is 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 man by day or by night, in any thing that it were possible to do for him. Where- fore, O our beloved people, I beseech you leave off, leave off to throw stones at your Ebenezers. Instead of that pray for us, and strive together with us in 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 be 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 ajtlctions that assault you, and the duties that are incumbent on you ; and we will accommodate our selves unto them. We will set our selves Hook I.] OR, TIE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGT,AND. ni to observe what souls among you do call for our more |iartir,ulnr address- ei, iinil we will address theui fdithfully, aiic! even travel in birth for them. So/ will we give over praying, and fasting, and crying to our prcat Iic-uij for you until we die. Whatever other hcli>cr» the town enjoys, tliey shall hiive that convenience .in Ezra v. 2, With them, were Ihr prophets of God, helpinf^ them. Well then, let the rest oi our worthy helptrs lend an helping hand for the promoting of those things wherein the weal of the town is wrapped up ! When the Jews thought thai a de- liling thing was breaking in among them, in Acts xxi. 28, They cried out. Men (f Israel, help. 'Jiuly there is cause to ntake that cry, JV/en q/" Bos- ton, help! for ignorance, and prophaneness, and oud living, and the worst things in. the world, arc breaking in upon us. And now will the Jusxicns of the town set themselves to consider, How they may help to suppress all growing vices among ns ? Will the CoNSTABLKS 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 Ihem, that the very name of TowiVS-men is that by which they are distinguish- ed. 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-mastf.hs do mufch to instil principles of religion and civility, as well as other points of good education into the children of the tott!«. 5* Only let the town well encourage its well-de- serving school-masters. There are some officers ; but concerning all, there are these two things to be desired. First, it is to be desired, that such officers as are chosen among us, may be chosen in the /ear IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 1.1 11.25 Hi Ki u 2.0 m 1.4 11 1.6 c? '^.^'^' > Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. MS80 (716) 872-4503 •^ \ qv ^\ fv '<^A ^ o^ > \ o^ 'e^ 62 MA6NALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA [Book I. flagUiout outrage*? There was a town, ['twas the town of Sodom !'\ tbikt had been wonderfulijr saved out of the hands of their enemies. But of* ter 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^re upon the town that made it an eternal deeoiation. Ah, Boston^ beware, beware, lest the 8int> 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 Sociom; pride, fulness of bread, andabundance oj idleness was in her ; neither did she strengthen the handofthepoor and the needy ; there was much oppres- sion there. If you know of any scandaloM 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 partd of the world, for to be improved in virtue, have cause to complain. That after they came to Boston they tost what lUtte viittu was before budding in them ; that in Boston they grew more debaudud 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-tellers 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-tclhrs in this town sometimes con- sulted by some of the sinful inhabitants. 1 wish the town could be made too hot for these dangerous transgressors. I am sure the preservation of the town from horrendous earthquakes, is one thing; that bespeaks our Ebenezers ; 'tis from the 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 Deuterono- my Let me go on to say, What, shall there be any bawdy-houses in such a town as this ! 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 I 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 toion-dvillcrs, to be oft, or long in yourvmt* of the ordinary, Hwill certainly expose you to mischiefs more than ordinary. I have seen certain taverns, where the pictures of horrible devourers were banged out fur the signs ; and, thought 1, 'twere well if such signs were not sometimes too significant : alas, men have their estates dievourecf, their names devoured, their hours devoured, and their very souls devour- ed, when they are so besotted, that they are not in 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-lumsts art heU-hi>uses! ak-houses are hell-houses ! But let the ovsners of those houses also now hear ' our counsels. Oh! hearken to me, that God may hearken to you another day! ' I'i is an honest, and a lanful, though it may not be a very desirable employ- ment, that you have undertaken : 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 inkeeper, and a great minister of God could say to that man, in 3 John 2, Thy soul prospereth. O let it not bp Book I.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 93 said of you, since you are fallen into this employment, Thy aoul wither- eth ! It is thus with too many : especially, wlien they that get a /tcense perhaps to seil drink out of doors, do stretch their license to sell within doors. Those private houses, ivhen once a professor of tLe gospel comes to steal a living out of them, it commonly precipi- tates them into an abundance of wretchedness and confusion. But 1 pray God assist you that keep ordinaries, to keep the commandments of God in them. There was an Inn at Bethlehem where the Lord Jesus Christ was' to be met withal. Can Boston boast of many such ? Alas, too ordi- narily it may be said, there is no room Jor hitA 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 righieousntss will shine upon them. Don't counten- ance '(ir«nA;enne««, revelling, and mis-spending of precious time in your houses ; let none have the snares of death laid for them in your houses. You'll say, I shall starve then / I say, better starve ihandn : but yovi shall not. It is the word of the Most High, trttst in the Lord, and do good, and verily thou shalt be Jed. And is not peace of conscience, with a little, bet- ter than those riches, that will shortly melt away, and then run like . scalding metal down the very bowels of thy soul ? What shall I 8a> more ? There is one article of piety more to be re- commended unto us all ; and it is an article which 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, remisly 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 exemplarily 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 eabbatk. I fear, I fear there are many among us, to whom it may be said, Ye bring wrath upon Boston, 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 Jire on the town, one/ 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 help has hitherto been a shield jato us. Let the ark be in the town, and God will bless the town ! 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 of 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 proportion of these in his commission, as he has had of others. Whe- ther this be so, or no, to uphold, and support, and attend the ordinances of the Lord Jesus Christ in reforming churches, this will entitle the town 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 forward, passed hy Jerusalem without hurting it. Why so.'* Said the Lord in Zech. ix. 8. I will encamp about my house, because of the ar- my. If our God have an house here, he'll encamp about it. J^azianzen, a famous minister of the gospel, taking his fiirewel of Constantinople, an old man that had sat under his ministry, cried out. Oh! my father. donU you dare to go away, you'll carry the whole Trinity with you ! How much 94 MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA [Book I. more may it be cried out, // we lose or slight the ordinances of the Lord Jesus Christ, we forego the help of all the Trinity with them ! VI. Extraordinary equity and charitv, as well as fiety, well be- comes a town that bath been by the help of God so. extraordinarily sig- nalized. A town marvellously helped by God, has this foretold concern- ing it, in ha. i. 26, Afterward thou shalt be called, the city of righteous- ness, the faithful city. May the Ebenezers of this town render it a town of equity, and a town of charity ! Oh ! there should be none but fair dealings in a town wherewith heaven has dealt so favourably. Ldt us tl^l fairly in ' bargains ; dial fairly in taxes ; deal fairly in paying re- specia to such as have been benefactors unto the town. 'Tis but equity, that they who have been old slanders in the town, and both with person and est.tte served the town unto the utmost for many years together, should on all proper occasions be considered. For charity, 1 may in- deed speak it without flattery, this town has not many equals on the face of the earth. Our Lord Jesus Christ from heaven wrote unto the good people of a town in the lesser Asia, [Rev. ii. 19.] I know thy works and charity. From that blessed Lord I may venture to bring that message unto the good p. aple of this town ; the glorious Lord of heaven knows thy works, O Boston, and all thy charity. This is a poor town, and yet it may be wiiid of the Bostonians, as it was of the Macedonians, their deep pov- erty hath ahoutided unto the riches of their liberality. Oye bountiful peo- ple of Go^, ail your daily bounties to the needy, all your subscriptions to send the biead of life abroad unto places that are perishing in wicked- nus'^, ;)|| your collections in your assemblies as often as they are called for ; all these alms are come up far a memorial before God! The Lord Jesus Christ in heaven hnth beheld your helpfulness, >md readiness to every good work ; and he hath requited it with his helpful Ebenezers. It was said, in ha. xxxii. 8, The liberal deviselh liberal things, and by libe- ral things he shalt stand. There arc some in this town that are always devising liberal things, and our Lord Jesm Christ lets the town stand for the sake of those ! Instead of exhorting you to augment your charity, I will rather utter an exhortation, or at least a supplication, that you may not abuse your charily by misapplying of it. I remember I have read, that an inhabitant of the city Pisa being asked why their town so went, as it then did, unto decay ? If '"tched a deep sigh, and •aid. Our young men are too prodigal, our r en are too affectionate, and we have no punishment for those that j^. . their years in idleness. Ah ! the last stroak of that complaint I must here sigh it over again. Idleness, alas ! idleness increases in the town exceedingly ; idleness, of which therfe never came any goodness ! idleness, w^ich is a reproach to any people. We work hard all summer, and the drones count themselves wronged if they have it not in the winter divided among them. The poor that can't work, are objects for your liberality. But the poor that can work and won't, the best liberality to them is to make them. I be- seech you, sirs, rind out a method quickly, that the idle persons in the town may earn their bread ; it were the best piece of charity that could be shown unto them, and equiiy unto us all. Our beggars do shamefully grow upon us, and such beggars too as our Lord Jesus Christ himself hath expressly forbidden us to countenance. I have repd a printed ser- mon which was preached before both Houses of Parliament, the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London, and the Assembly nf Divines ; the great- est audience then in the world : and in that sermon the preacher had this passage ; I have lived in a country a7tere in seven years I never saw Book I.J OR, THE HI&TORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 96 a beggar, nor heard an oath, nor looked upon a drunkard. Shall I loll you where that Utopia was? 'Twas. New-England ! But they th.a ^o from hp.Qce must now tell another story. Vll. May the cha7iges, and especially the jWg7n«n/s that iiavc came upon the town, direct us what help to petition from the Qjd *>f our salva- tions. The Israelites had formerly seen dismcU things, \vher« tiiey now det up their Ebenezer : the Philistines had no less than twice beatun thctu there, and there taken from them the Jlrk of God. -Now wc arc setiiiig up our Elfenezer, let us a little call to mind some dismal things that we have seen ; the Ebenezer will go up the better for it. We read in 1 Sam. vi. 18, conceraiag ilie g: eat stone a/ Abel. Some say, that Adam erected that itone, as a grave-stone for his Abel, and wrote that epitaph upon it. Here was poured out the blood of the righteous Abel. I know nothing; ofthis ; the names, I know, differ in the original ; but as we may erect many a stone for an Ebenezer, so wc may erect many a great stone of Abel, that is to say, we may write mourning and sorrow, upon the condition of the town in various examples. Now from the stones of Abel, we will a little gather what we should wish to write upon the atones of our Ebenezer. What changes have we seen in point of religion ? It was noted by Lu- ther, he could never see good order in the church last more thanjifteen years together in the purity of it. Blessed be God, religion hath here flourished in the purity of it for more th^a fifteen years together. But certainly the power of Godliness is now grievously decayed among us. As the prophet of old Exclaimed in Joel i. 2, Hear this ye old men, and give eav, ye ithha- bitants; has this been in your days ? Thus may I say, Hear this, ye old men, that are the inhabitants of the torrn : can't you remember that in your dayr^ a prayerful, a watchful,a fruitful christian, and a well governed family, was a more common sight, than it is now in our days ? Can't you remember that in your days those abominable things did not shoxi) their heads, that are now barefaced among us ? Here then is a petition to be made unto our God ; Lord, help «s to remember whence we are fallen, and to repent, and to do the first works. Again, What changes have we seen in point o£ mortality ? By mortali- ty almost all the old race of our first planters here are carried off; the old stock is in a manner expired. We see the fulfilment of that word in Eccl. i. 4, One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh. It would be no unprofitable thing for you to pass over the several streets, and call to mind, who lived here so many years ago ? Why ? In that place lived such an one. But, where are they now ? Oh ! they are gone ; they are gone into that eternal world, whither we must quickly follow them. Here is another petition to be made unto our God ; Lord help us to num- ber our days, and apply our hearts unto wisdom, that when the places that 710W know us, do know us no more, we may be gone into the city of God. Furthermore, What changes have we seen in point of possessions ? If some that are now rich, were once low in the world, 'tis possible, more that were once rich, are now brought very low. Ah ! Boston, thou hast seen the vanity of all worldly possessions. One fatal morning, which laid fourscore of thy dwelling-houses, and seventy of thy ware-houses, in a ruinous heap, not nineteen years ago, gave thee to read it in fiery char- acters. And an huge fleet of thy vessels, which they would make if they were all together, that have miscarried in the late war, has given thee to read more of it. Here is one petition more to be made unto our God. 96 MAUN ALIA CHKISTI AMEKICANA [Book I. Lord help u» to enture a better and a lotting substance in Heaven, and tiie good part that cannot be taken away. In fine, how dreadfully have the young people o( Boston perished un- der the judgments of God I A renowned writer, ; mong the Pagans could make this remark ; there was a town so irreligious and atheistical, that they did not pay their j^rst-fruits unto God ; (which the light of nature taught the Pagans to do !) and, says he. they were by a sudden desolation so strangely destroyed, that there were no remainders either of the per- sons, or of the houses, to be seen any more. Ah, my young folks, there are (evr first fruits paid unto the Lord Jesus Christ among you. From hence it comes to pass, that the consuming wrath of God is every day upon you. New-England has been like a tottering house, the very foun- dations of it have been shaking ; but the house thus over-setting by the whirlwinds of the wrath of God, hath been like Jo6'f house ; It falls upon • ¥ ■ vi 4 n»i'S.n i ^ • and yet the watchful malice and fury of their adver- saHcs rendred it almost impossible for them to fnd what they sought. For them to leave their nativf noil, their laiids and their friends, and go into a strange place, where they must hear foreign language, and live meanly and harilly, and in other imployments than that of husbandry, wherein they had been educated, these must needs have been such dis- cow ugentfnts as could haw been conquered by none, save those who sough* fist tlie kingdom if Gnd, and tlw lighteowiuess thereof. But that which would have made these discouri^ements the more unconquerable unto an ordinary f lith, was che terrible zeal of their enemies to guard all poits, and search all shipi, that none oi them should be carried off. I will not relate the sad things of this kind, then neen and felt by this peo- Book II.) THE HISTORY OF NEWENGLAND. 101 , Governour pie of God ; but only eiemplifie thote tricUa with one short story. Di> ▼ers of this people having hired a Dulchmun then lying at Hull, to carry them over to Holland, he promined faithfully to take them in between Orinuly and Hull ; but they coming to the place a day or two too soon, the appearance of soch a multitude alarmed the oj/icers of the town *d- joining, fvho came with a great body of aoldiert to seize upon them. Now it happened that one boat full of nun had been carried aboard, while the wonun were yet in n bark that lay aground in a creek at low water. The Dutchman perceiving the storm that was thus beKinning a$hore, swore by the tacranunt that he would stay no longer for utiy o? them ; and so taking the advantage of a fair wind then bloiving. he put out to 8ta for Zealand. The women thus left near Grimsty-aiminon, be- reaved of their husbands, who had been hurried from them, and fors^tken of their neighbours, of whom none duret 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 disuiisged them to shift as well as they could for themselves. But by their singular ajfflictions, and by their christian behaviours, the cause for which they ex- posed themselves did gain considerably. In the mean time, the men at Hea found reason to be glad that their families were not with them, for they were surprized with on horrible tempest, which held them for four- teen days together, in seven whereof they aaw not sun, moon or star, but were driven upon the coast of JSTotway. The mariners often despaired of life, and once with doleful shrieks gave over all, as thinking the ves- sel was foundred : but the vessel rose again, and when the manners with sunk hearts often cried out, fVe sink ! We sink ! the passengers without such distraction of mind, even while the wate^* ./as 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 onto their desired haven: and not long ufter helped their dis- tressed relations thither after them, where mdeed they found upon almost all accounts a new world, but a world in which they fou-^d that they must live like strangers and pilgrims. § 2. Among those devout people was our William Bradford, who wai boi'n iinno 1688, in an obscure village called Ansterjield, where the peo- ple were as unacquainted with the Bible, as the Jews do seem tr have been with part of it in the days otJosiah; 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, tirst of his grand parents, and then of his uncles, who devoted him,>like his ances- tors, unto the affairs of husbandry. Soon and long sickness kept him, as he would afterwards thankfully say, from the vanities of youth, and made him the litter for what he was afterwards to undergo. When ho 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. Richard CUfton's illuminating ministry not far from his abode ; he was then also further befriended, by being brought into the company and fellowship of such as were then called professors ; though the young man that brought him into it, did after become a prophaoc and wicked apostate. Nor could the wrath of his uncles, nor the scoffs of |iis neighbours now turned upon him, as one of the /jwrftons, divprt him from bis piouR inclinations. ■.., „,, ,_ m MAGNALIA ClIRM 11 AMEHICANA 10 b k § S. A( iMt b«hul(ling hotv reHrfuily the rvnogelicnl ond npottolicul elmnih/iMm, whercinto Ui« churcliva uf Die j/rimittv* tinut wtrn cHitt by lh« good npirit of (lod, Imd btcn d$Jorm«d by the apottacy of (he tuc- e$$ding tinui } and what Jittlo progrmit the JUj(trmation had yet made in oiany parts of CKrintttidont towarda ita recovery, he ict hiniaelf by ri>«id« ingt by diacourae, by iruyer, to learn whether it was not hit duty \owUk- dreni) from the communion of the vu uh-ausemblUi, and engage with Home socUty of the faithful, that ithould keep cloae unto the writt$n wtrd uf C>oles3ed Jlpollovius, who in a set oration generously and eloquently pleaded the cause of Christianity before the Roman Senate, was not only a leaincd person, but 10^ kAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA : [Book II. also (if Jerom say right) a Senatot' of Rome. The Senators of JVettr- England also haVe |/)eacled the cause of Christianity, not so much by oration*, as by practising of it, and by sitffering for it. Nevertheless, as the Sicyonians would have no other epitaphs written on the toroba of their Kings, but only their name*, that they might have no honour but ivhat the remembi^nce of their actions and merits in the mindia of the ])eople should procure for them ; so I shall content my s6lf vi^ith only reciting the names of these worthy persons, and the titMt ivhen I find them first chosen unto their magistracy. . MAGISTRATES IN THE COLONY OF NEW-PLTltOVTH. The good people, soon after their first coming o^er, chose Mr. Wil- tidm Bradford for their governoUr, and added five assistenls, whose names, I suppose, will be found in the catalogue of them, whom I find sitting on the seat of jndgiaent among them, in the y^ar 1633. Edward Witui/ow, Gov. John Alden. •■.,»t'i'-w tVi/liam Btadford. John Done. Miles Si andish. ,, .. •' .■ .'.-■i Stephen Hopkins. John Rowland. , -: r : '' <''-!.>' ■ :,': William Gilson. Afterwards at sever al times were added, 'x'hnmas PrinUy 1634. Thomas Southworth, 1662 Wtlliam Collier, 1634 James Cudworth, 1666 Timothy Hatherly, 1636. Jvsiah Winslow, 1637 John BruWHf ,^. ,,,, . 1636. William Bradford, F. 1668 Sohn Jenny, i . 1637. Thomas Hinkley, 1668 John Atwoodi 1638. James Brown, 1666 Edmund Frer.mar^, 1640. John Freeman, i y. , 1666. William Thomas, 1642. Nathanael Bacon, , . . 1667. Thomas WiUet, 1661. Thus far we find in a book entituled, J^ew-Evgland's Memorial, v^hich was published by Mr. M'athanael Morton, the Secretary of Plym,outh col- ony, in the year 1669. Since then there have been added at several times, ' ' :-. w- . - j.^ , Constant Southworth, Daniel Smith, Barnabas Lothrop, 1670. 1674. 1681. John Thatcher, John Walley. r ' "f- .'•• . . • ' CHAPTI ZR IV. M Nehemias Americanus. The Life of John Winthrop, Esq, Governour of (he Massachvs£t Colony. Quicunq ; Venti erunt, Ars nostra certe non aberit. Cicer. § 1. Let Greece boast of her patient Lycurgus, the lawgiver, by whom diligence, temperance, fortitude and wit were made the fashions of a therefore long-lasting and renowned commonwealth: let Rome tell of her devout Jfumu, the lawgiver, by whom the most famous commonwealth Book It. of JVe*- much by erthelees, J tombs of onour but iidB of the with only hen I fin** le Mr. Wil- •nls, whose hom 1 fin* 1662. 1656. 1657. 1658. 1658. 1665. 1666. 1667. orial, «*rhich Plymouth col- at several ». Governow ;;icer. uer, by whom fashions of a gnu tell of her lommonwealth l^oK IK) OR, tut WSTORY OF NEW-ENG'.AND. left saft p^O£e triamphiAg over extinguished war, and cruel plundtrs f and mwdin giving i^atie to the more mollifying exercises of his nHgion. Our J^ew^Etigland shall tell and boast of her Winthrop, a lawgiver, as patiebt as L§curgtn, but not admitting any of ku criminal disorders ; as devout as JVuMHi, but not liable to any of his heathenish madnesses ; a govemout ih whom the excellencies of cAnsU'ani/y made a most improving addition unto the virtues, wherein even without those he would have made a parallel for the great men of Qreect, or of Awme, which the pen of a Plutarch has eternized. § 2. A stock of herots by right should afford nothing but what is hero- ical; and nothing but an extream degeneracy would make anything less to be expected frond a stock of Winthrops. Mr. ^dam fVinthrop, the son of a worthy gefttleman wearing the same name, was himself a worthy, a discreet, and a learned gentleman, particularly eminent for skUl in the iawj nor without rfemark for love to the gospel, under the reign of King Henr^ Vlll. ; and brother to a memorable favourer of the reformed reli- gion in the days of Queen Mary, into whose hands the famous martyr Philpot coihmitted his papers, which afterwards made no inconsiderable part of our martyr-books. This Mr. A^am Winthrop had a son of the same name also, tUid of the satfte endowments and imployments with his fatheif ; and this third Adam Winthrop was the father of that renowned John Winthrop, who W» the father of jVew-England, and the founder of a colony, which upon many accounts, like him that founded it, may chaU lenge the first place among the English glories of Atnerica. Our John Winthrop thus born at the mansion-house of his ancestors, at Groton in Sv^olk, on June 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- ments of a lawyer^ were those wherewith heaven made his chief oppor- tnhies to be serviceable. § 3. Being made, at the unusually early age of eighteen, a justice of peace, his virtues began to fell 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 bis own conver- sation, but also discovered a more than ordinary measure of thoiie quali- ties, which adorn an officer of humane society. His justice was impar- tial, and used the ballance to weigh not the cash, but the case of those who were before him : prosopolatria, he reckoned as bad as idolo- latria : bis wisdom did exquisitely temper things according to the art of governing, which is a business of more contrivance than the neven arts of the schools : dyer still went before terminer in all his ad- ministrations : his courage made him dare to do right, and fitted him stand among the lions that have sometimes been the supporters of the throne : all which virtues he rendred the more illustrious, by emblazon- ing them with the constant liberality and hospitality of a gentleman. This made him the terror of the wicked> and the delight 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 eminent persons under- taken, d and ilinued £ nodei uever le diifi- ice of a lensible iC devil* les of a d Jesus atiently, ive W»n- th admi- 89, after f, so the l-worthy ve migbt ous man ; e laws of rning and B not after a hearing, jard in the Lo be con- of JVew- with the \cention to >8ome and libellous , he could calumnies lues before J country, ;arriage in both pub- sssed him- a person America. that bodk, •s, and but |N. Hence, las accord- Ions, j«so«i- tion, said unto him. Friend, it is a severe winter, and I doubt jfou 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, th&t goodness it self will make eqemies. It is a wonderful speech of Plato, (in one of his books, De Repvblica) For the trial of true vertue, 'tis necessary that a good nukn fiiii'n miiicmt i>»l»¥ 'tx*' 1"* /tuyii7«* "tiiiMMt • Though he do no unjust thing, should suffer the injumy oj the greatest in- justice. The governour had by his unspotted integrity, procured himself n great reputation among the people ; and then the crime of popularity was laid unto his charge by such, who were willing to deliver him from the danger of having all men speak well of him. Yea, there were per- sons 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 amicable 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 some- times he could not stand before it ; but it was by not standing that he most effectually withstood 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 anniversary Court of election, to dissvyade the y)e«rtert from chusing one man twiqe.to^ethM- BooE II.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. MH the har- ivernour , tucking I hadno- [id hayiog ) receive, iveroour, tiet from ; and he could not ha tremb- )n infirnti- • take itiU ;o^ also to poor about I if it were of sending ty that was I wood was hat a needy I hi$ pile; Ooei he to ? oarrant yqu lOur confiid- han di$pon- ,ubt jfou are , mppiy I/O"*" \en mertily n of ««oKng This waa (he reward of his exttaordihary aervieeablenen .' Bat wrh«i these attempts dtd sticceed, as they toriietimes did, his profoahd humiKtif appeared in that equality of mind. Wherewith he applied himtelf cheer* fully to serve the country in whatever station their votei had allotted for him. And one year when the volet came (o be numbered, there weri found six less for Mr. Winihrop, than for nnother gentleman ^ho thrift stood in competition : but several other persons regularly tendring th^ii- votei before the election wiM published, were, upon a Very frivblous ob- jection, refused by iome of the magistrates, that were afraid l^ii the election should at last fall upon Mr. Winthrop : which though it Was weA perceived, yet such was th« telf-denial of this patriot, that he w6uld not permit any notice to be tatcen of the injury. But these trials weri noth- ing in comparison of those harsher and harder treats, which he ioin^ times had from the frowardness of not a few in the days of thei^ paro:i- i»mi ; and from the faction of some againiit him, not much m^like that of the Piazzi in Florence ngainst the family of the Medices : all of whic& he at last conquered by coiifonbing to the famous Judge* t mdtto, Pru- dent qui Patiens. The oracles of God have said, Envy i$ rottenneat to the bones; and Qulielmus Parisiensis applies it unto rulers, who are as it were the bones of the societies which they belong unto : Envy, says he, is often found among them, and it is rottenness unto them. Our Winthrop encountred this envy from others, but conquered it, by being free from it htoiself. § 8. Were it not for the sakd of intrbducing the exemplary ttkill of this wise man, at giving soft Answeri, one woul.l not chuse to relate thos^ instances of Wrath> which h^ had som^timesf to encounter With ; but h^ was for his gentleness, hitf forbearance, and longanithitv, A' pattern so worthy (o be written after, ttiM something miist here be written of it. He seemed indeed never to speak any othi^r language than that of Theo' don'tis. If any man speak evil of the govtmout, tf it be through lightness, Uis to be eofitemned; if it be through madness, Uis to be pitied; if it be through injury, Uisto be remitted. Behold, reader, the meekness of mi- dom notably exemplified ! There was a time when he received n very sharp letter from' a gentltimaUj who was a member of the Coilrt, but he delivered back the letter unto the messengers that brought it, with Such a christian Speech as this, / am not willing to keep such a matter of pro- vocation by me! Afterwards the same gtintlemah Was compelled by the scarcity of provisions to send unto him that hd would sell him some of his cattel ; whereilpon thegOvernour praydd him to aiftiiieptwhat he had sent for as a token of his good will ; but the gentleman returned him this answer. Sir, your overcoming of yourself hath overcome me ; and after- wards gave demonstration of it. The /VencA have a saying. That Uti Honeste Homme, est un Homme mesle ! a godd man is a mixt man ; and' there hardly ever was a more sensible mixtur^e of those two things, res- olution and condescenti&n, than in this good man. Thete Was a ftme' 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 be- fore gotten agovernour more unto their mind j had a project lioW to have confounded the eZech'on,by demanding that the «ourl 'would consider a pe- (t'tton then tendered before their proceedir^ thereunto. Mr. Winlh-np saw that this was only a trick to throw all into confusion, by putting oft the choice of the governowr oaA assistents until the day should be over ; and therefore he did, with a strenuous resolution, procure a disappoint- ment unto that mischievous and ruinous contrivance. Nevertheless, Vol.. I. 15 114 MAQNALIA CHRISTI AMCUICANA [Book II Mr. fFinthrop himself being by the voice ol' the freemen in thia exigence chosen the govnnour, und all of the other party left out, that ill-affected party discovered the dirt aad mire, which remained with them, after the $tt>rm wut over ; particularly the Serjeants, whose office 'twas to attend the govenuntr, laid down their hnlberts ; but such was the condfscention of this governour, us to take no present notice of this anger and con- tempt, but only order some of his own servants to take the halberts : and when the country niunifested their deep resentments of the affront thus offered him, lu prayed them to overlook it. But it was not long be- fore a compensation was made for these things by the dm*bled rtapects which were from nil parts paid unto him. Again, there was a time when the suppression of nn antiTwmian and /amili$tical faction, which extream- ly threatned the ruin of the country, was generally thought much owing UDto this renowned man ; and therefore when the friends of that faction could not wreak their displeasure on him with any politick vexations, they set themselves to do it by ecclesitutical ones. Accordingly when a sentence of banishment was passed on the ringleaders of those disturb- ances, who — Maria Sf Terras, Calumq; profundum, Quippe Jerant, Rapidi, secum, vertantq; per Auras ; many at the church of Boston, who were then that way too much inclin- ed, most earnestly solicited the elders of that church, whereof the governour was a member, to call him forth as an offender for passing of that sentence. The elders were unwilling to do any such thing ; but the governour understanding the ferment among the people, took that occa- sion to make a speech in the congregation to this effect, ' Brethren, un- ' derstanding that some of you have desired that I should answer for an ' offence lately taken among you ; had I been called upon so to do, I ' would, ^rst, have advised with the ministers of the country, whether ' the church had power to call in question the dvil covrt ; and I would, ' secondly, have advised with the rest of the court, whether I might dis- ' cover their counsels unto the church. But though I know that the ' reverend elders of this church, and some others, do very well appre- ' hend that the church cannot enquire into the proceedings of the court ; * yet for the satisfaction of the weaker who do not apprehend it, I will * declare my mind concerning it. If the church have any such power, ' they have it from the Lord Jesus Christ ; but the Lord Jesus Christ ' hath disclaimed it, not only by practice, but also by precept, which we ' have in his gospel, Mat. xx. 2d, 26. It is true indeed, that magistrates, ' as they are church-members, are accountable unto the church lor their ' failings ; but that is when they are out of their calling. When Uzziah * would go offer incense in the temple, the officers of the church called ' him to an account, and withstood him ; but when Jlsa put the prophet ' in prison, the officers of the church did not call him to an account for ' that. If the magistrate shall in a private way wrong any man, the * church may call him to an account for it ; but if he be in pursuance of < a course of justice, though the thing that he does he unjust, yet he is not < accountable for it before the church. As for my self I did nothing in ' the causes of any of the brethren, but by the advice of the elders of the ^church. Moreover, in the oa^/» which I have taken there is this clause, ' In all cases wherein you are to give your vote, you shall do as in your 'judgment and comscience you sliall see to be just, and for the publick good. Book II.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLANI) llA ' And I am latiRfied, it ia most for the glory of God, and the public good, ' that there haa been such a nentence passed ; yea, those brethren are ao ' divided from the reit of the country in their opinions and practicea, * that it cannot stand with the publick peace for them to tontinue with ' us ; Abraham saw that llagar and hhnuiel must be sent aivay.' By such a speech he marvellously convinced, aatisticd and mollified the «m- easie brethren of the church ; Sic cunctm Pelagi vecidft fVngor— . And ai\er a little patient waiting, the differences all so wore away, that the church, meerly as a token of reapect unto the govcrnour, when he had newly met with some lo»»ea in his estate, sent him u present of several hundre^h of pounds. Once more there was a time, when some active spirits among the deputies of the colony, by their c-ndeavonrs not only to make themselves a Court of Judicature, but also to take awiiy the nega- tive by which the magistrates might check their votes, had like by over- driving to have run the whole government into something too democrat- ical. And if there were a town in Spain undermined by coneys, another town in Thrace destroyed by moles, a third in Greece ran versed \*y frogs, a fourth in Oermany subverted by rats ; 1 mu»t on this occasion add, that there was a country in America like to be confounded by a sa- Qn there followed such ao enchantment upon the roiods of the depMties in the General Court, tliat upon a scnndalous petition of the delinquenta unto them, wherein u pretended invasion made upon the libertiet of the peoplf was complained of the Deputy-OQvernour, was most irregularly call- ed forth unto an ignoiuinous hfuring before them in a vast assembly ; whereto with a sagacious hnmilitude he consented, although be shewed them how he might have rrj'used it. The result of that httaring was, that hottvithstaning the ioxichy jealomie of the peopU about their liberties lay dt the bottom of all this prosecution, yet Mr. fVinthrop was publickly ac- quitted, and the offenders were severally Hned and censured. But Mr. Wtnthrop then resuming the place of Deputy-Govermtur on the bench, saw cause to speak unto the root of the matter after Ibis manner. ' I shall not * now speak any thing about the past proceedings of this Court, or the ' persons therein concerned. Only 1 bless God that 1 see an issue of this ' troublesome affair. 1 am well satistied that I was publickly accused, and ' that I am now publickly acquitted. But though 1 am justified before ' tnen, yet it may be the Lord hath seen so much amiss in my administra- ' tions, as calls me to be humbled ; and indeed for me to have been thus ' charged by men, is it self a matter o( humili(^ion, whereof I desire to * make a right use before the Lord. {(Miriam's father spit in her face, ' she is to be ashamed. But give me leave before you go, to say some- * thing that may rectifie the opinions of many people, from whence the * disttnftpers have risen that have lately prevailed upon the body of this ' people. The questions that have troubled the country have been about * the authority of the magistracy, and the liberty of the people. It is you * who have called us unto this office ; but being thus called, we have our ' authority from God ; it is the ordinance of God, and it hath the image of ' Gi>d stamped upon it ; and the contempt of it has been vindicated by * God with terrible examples of bis vengeance. I entreat you to consid- ' er, that when you chuse magistrates, you take them from among your * selves, men subject unto like passions with your selves, if you see our in- * firmities, reflect on your own, and you will not be so severe censurers < otours. We count him a good servant who breaks not his covenant: the ' atvenant between its and yu, is the oath you have taken of us, which is * to this purpose, that we shall govern you, and judge your causes, accord- ' ing Io God's laws, and our own, according to our best skill. As for our ' sMl, you must run the hazard of it ; and if there be an error, not in the ' will, but only in the skill, it becomes you to bear it. Nor would I have * you to mistake in the point of your own liberty. There is a liberty of \ Book H.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENOLAND. <* • corrupt naturo, which i» affected both by mtn and b$futs, to do wl ' they lilt ; vnd tbia Hbtrty ia ioconsiRient with autlvrritu^ impatient ofil! » reatraint ; by thia lih0rty, Bumm Oinn. Dtttrioru ; 'tia th» grand enemy ' orral goodness ; adding, that when Juries were first used in England, 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 ctvt7 custom in the English nation, forncighbours 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, whimsical conceits, then beginning to grow obstreperous./^ Nevertheless there was one civil custom used iti (and in few but) the English nation, which this gentleman did endeavour to abolish in this country; and that was, the usage of drinking to one another. For although by drinking fn fW^'. BIAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA : [Book II. one anotlitr, do more is meant than an act of courtesie, when one going to dritik, does invite another to do so too, for the same ends with him- self} nevertheless the governour (not altogether unlike to Cleomenes, of whom 'tis reported by Plutarch, ivin ^tti'ns mri^in irfTt^tfty No- lenti poculam nunquam prabvii,) considered tlie imperttnency and inmgr nificancy of this usage, as to any of those endf that are usually pretended for it ; and that indeed it ordinarily served for no ends at all, but only to provoke persons unto unseasonable, ani perhaps unreasona6/e drinking, and at last produce that abominable health-drinking, which the fathers of old so severely rebuked in the Pagans, and which the Papists the'^selves do condemn, when their casuists pronounce it, Peccatum mortale, provocare ad JEquales Calices 4" Nefas Respondere. Where- fore in his own most hospitable house he left it off ; not out of any silly or stingy fancy, but meerly that by his example a greater temperance, vr'Ah liberty of drinking, might be recommended, and sundry inconve- niences in drinking avoided ; and his example accordingly began to be much followed by the sober people in this country, as it now also begins to be among persons of the highest rank in the English nation it self ; until an order of court came to be made against that ceremomy in drinking, and then, the old wont violently returned, with aXiitimurin Vetitutn. § 11. Many were the afflictions of this righteous man ! He lost much of his estate in a ship, and in an house, quickly after his coming to Jiew-Eng land, besides the prodigious expence of it in the difficulties of his firsi coming hither. Afterwards his assiduous application unto the publick af- fairs, (wherein Ipse se non habuit, postquam Respublica eum Gubernatorem habere ciepit) made him so much to neglect his own private interests, that an unjust steward ran him 2500 I. in debt before he was aware ; for the payment whereof he was forced, many years before his decease, to sell the most of what he had left unto him in the country. Albeit, by the observable blessings of God upon the posterity of this liberal man, his children all of them came to fair estates, and lived in good fashion and credit. Moreover, he successively buried three wives ; the first of which was the daughter and heiress of Mr. Forth, o{ Much-IStambridge in Essex, by whom he had wisdom with an inheritance ; and an excellent son. The second was the daughter of Mr. William Clopton of London, who died with her child, within a very little while. The third was the daugh- ter of the truly worshipful Sir John Tyndal, who made it her whole care to please, first God, and then her husband ; and by whom he had four sons, which survived and honoured their father. And unto all these, the addition of the distempers, ever now and then raised in the country procured unto him a very singular share of trouble ; yea, so hard was the measure which he fo\:v.d even among pious men, in the temptations of a wilderness, that when the thunder and lightning had smitten a wtrid- mill, whereof he was owner, some had such things in their heads as pub- Mckly to reproach this charitablest of men as if the voice of the Almighty 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 for- tifie the expectations of my best readers for such afflictions. § 12. He thai had been for his attainments, as they said of the blessed Macarius, a irtuS'eipic'yeptii , an old man, while 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 old age in its infirmities advanc- ing ear/ter upon him, than it came upon his much longer lived progeni- tors. While he was yet seven years off of that which we call the grand Book II.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 119 clitnacterical, he felt the approaches of his dissolution; and fiodinghe could say, jVon Habitus, non ipse Color non Gressus Euntis, JVbn Species Eadem, qumfuit ante, manet. He then wrote this account of himself, Age novo comes upon me, and tU' firmities therewithal, which makes me apprehend, that the time of my de- parture out of this world is not far off". However our times are all in the Lord's hand, so as we need not trouble ottr thoughts how long or short they may be, but how we may be found faithful when we are called for. But at last when that year came, he took a cold which turned into a/eorer, 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 ac- cordingly at the heel or the close of our lives the old serpent will be nib- bling 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 noiv underwent sharp conflicts with the tempter, whose wrath grew great, as the time to exert it grew short ; and he was buffetted with the disconsolate thoughtp of black and sore desertions, wherein he could use that sad representa- tion of his own condition. ^ Nuper eram Judex ; Jam Judicor; Ante Tribunal, Subsistens paveo, Judicor ipse modo. 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 heaven, 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 fasted as well as prayed for him ; and in that fast the ve- nerable 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 ; / bowed down heavily, as one that mourned for his mo- ther: from whence 1 find him raising that observation, The sickness of one that is to us as a friend, a brother, a mother, is a just occasion of deep humbling our souls with fasting and prayer; and making this application, ' Upon this occasion we are now to attend this duty for a governour, who ' has been to us as a friend in his counsel for all things, and help for our ' bodies by physick, for our estates by law, and of whom there was no ' fear of his becoming an enemy, like the friends of David: a governour ' who has been unto us as a brother ; not usurping authority over the ' church ; often speaking his advice, and often contradicted, even by ' young men, and some of low degree ; yet not replying, but offering) ' satisfaction also when any supposed offences have arisen ; a governour ' who has been unto us as a mother, parent-like distributing his goods to ' brethren and neighbours at his first coming ; and gently bearing our ' infirmities 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 having, like Jacob, first left his council and blessing with his children gather- ed 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. !80* *; MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA [Boob II. like the dying Emperour Falenfinian, this above all his othel' victories for his triumphs, His overcoming of himself. The words of Josephus about JVehemiah, the governour of tirael, we will now use upon this governour of J^etv-England, as his EPITAPH. ■* *Ar$f 'lyifif* Xfif** »W» ^va-it, mm hiutm, Kmi mfi T«t '•^ih$n ^ man ; but not having any opportunity to commit it unto the perusal of any descended from him, (unto whom 1 am told it will be unacceptable for me to publish any thing of this kind, by them not perused) 1 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 P/ta> raoh without his Joseph, and prevailed with him to resume his former employment, until the storm of persecution upon the non-conformists caused many men of great worth to transport themselves into J^ew-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 govern- our, in which capacity he arrived unto these coasts in the year 1630, and had no small 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 oflen signalized : his justice was a perpetual ter- ror to evil doers : his courage procured his being the first major-general of the colony, when they began to put themselves into a military Jigure. His orthodox piety had no little influence unto the deliverance of the country, from the contagion of the famalistical errors, which had like to have overturned all. He dwelt first at Cambridge ; but upon Mr. Hooker's removal to Hartford, be 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 liox- bury, two miles out of Boston, where he was always at hand upon the publick exigencies Here he died, Ju/^ 31, 1653, in the seventy-se- venth year of his age ; and there were found afler his death, in his pocket, these lines of his own composing, which may serve to make up what may be wanting in the character already given him. - 1- ': i / Dim eyes, deaf ears, cold stomach, shew My dissolution is in view. ^^ •, Eleven times seven near liv'd have I, And now God calls, I willing die. .,•.., My shuttle's shot, my race is run, «-s 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. •', -- Fafewel dear wife, children and friends. Hate heresie, make blessed ends. « Bear poverty, live with good men ; ' Vf «' So shall we live with joy agen. Let men of God in courts and churches watch O're such as do a toleration hatch, - . ■-■ ,- Book II.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 128 Lest that ill egg bring forth a cockatrice, To poison all with heresie and vice. If men be left, and otherwise combine, My Epitaph*a, 1 dy'd no libertine. But when I mention the poetry of this gentleman as one of bis accom-> plishments, I must not leave unmentioned the fame wi|h which the poenu of one descended from him have been celebrated in both Englanda. 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 JSTew- England, namely, Thomas Dudley, Esq. had n daughter (besides other children) to be n crown unto him. Reader, America justly admires the learned women of the other hemis' phere. 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 arts ; and of Sarocchia, who more lately was very often the mo- deratrix in the disputations of the learned men of Home : she has been told of the three Corinnass, which equalled, if not excelled, the most celebrated poets of their time : she has been told of the Empress Endo- cia, who composed poetical paraphrases on divers parts of the jBt6/« : and of Romida, who wrote the lives of holy men ; and of PamphiliOf who wrote other histories unto the life : the writings of the most re-' nowned Anna Maria Schurnian, have come over unto her. But she now prays, that into such catalogues of authoresses, as Beverovicius, Hottingert and Foetius, have given unto the world, there may be a room now given unto Madam Ann Bradstreet, the daughter of our governour Dudley^ and the consort of our governour Bradstreet, whose poems, divers times printed, have afforded a grateful entertainment unto the ingenious, and ft 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, females all. Only they are not nine, eleven, or three ; Our authWess proves them but an unity. Mankind, take up some blushes on the score ; • '. Monopolize /?er/ech'on hence no more. /. ir' ,, ^ ■_'. -'' In your own arts confess your selves outdone ; •;. The moon hath totally eclips'd the sun : '. Not with her sable mantle muffling him. But her bright silver makes his gold look dim : Just as his beams force our pale lamps to wink, And earthly ^res within their ashes shrink. What else might be said of Mr. Dudley, the reader shall constrije from the en&uing ; , .;. - /* EPITAPH. I «lt Helluo Lihrorum, Lectorum Bibliotheca Communis Sacrm Syllabus Historic. Ad Mensan Comes, hinc facnndiis, Rostra disertus, (J{on Cumulus verbis, 2)ondus, Acumen erat,) i m m^ MAi^NALIA CHUISTI AMERICANA. [Book II. Monun aeris Censor, validus De/entor amanaq; Et SufUB ^ Cana Catholicajidei. Attgli-novi Culunun Sumntum Deeua atq; SmaiuB ; Thomas Dudleius, conditur hoc Tumuh. £. R. § 9,. In the year 1635, at the anniversary election, the freemen of the colony testified their greatful esteem of Mr. John Haines, a worthy gen- tleman, who had been very fl«rvicable to the interests of the colony, by chusing him their govemour. Of him in an ancient manuscript I find this toationy given ; to him is New-England many ways beholden-; had he done no more but stilled a storm of dissention, mhich broke forth in the be- ginning of his government ; he had done enough to endear our hearts unto him, and account that day happy when he took the reins ofgoverment into his hands. But this pious, humble, well-bred gentleman, removing afterwards into Connecticut, he took his turn with Mr. Edward Hopkins, in being every oth«;r year the govemour of that colony. And as he was a great friend of peace while he lived, no at his death he entred into that peace which attends the end of the perfect and upright man, leaving behmd him the chHracter sometimes given of a greater, though not a better, man, [Vespa- sian] bonis Legibus multa correxit, sed exemplo proba vita plus ^ecitapud populum. § 3. Near twenty ships from Europe visited New-England in the year 1635, and in one of them was Mr. Henry Fane, (afterward Sir Henry Vane) an accomplished young gentleman, whose father was much against his cotaing to ^few- England; but the King, apon information of his disposition, 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 J)fas»acAu»€^ colony chose him their goT^emoitr. 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 animnls mentioned in the Bible: Kippod, for instance, which we translate a 6tVn of the thy gen- ilony, by ipt 1 find ; had he n the bt' unto him^ his hands, mrds into ng e^ery eat friend ace which Ihim the n, [Vespa- ^ecit apud in the year Sir Henry iwaa much irmation of her, with a 1 Although yet in the And now, ken hitn to tre not been I noted the tired man's 8 bestowed e: Kippod, ive to be an ve it be an )f opinions ler ; while ^e counted latriot, and id to curse ; [such philo- lo^y of his Uuio that reflecting, 1(2 elect him, T-England, a las in years) Vo play their \carce wann fiith as inuch deed rathfT Boofcll.l OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND: 125 than thest not take place. But the wisdom of the state put a period to his sovemment ; necessity caused them to undo tfie works of their own hands, and leave ns a caveat, that all go d men are not Jit for government. But on the other side, the historian who has printed, 2Vte trial of Sir Henry Vane, Knt. at the King's Bench, Westminster, June 2, and G, 1662, with 6ther occasional speeches ; also his speech and prayer on the scaj^old, has given us in him the picture of nothing less than an heroe. He seems in- deed 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 Homan) gallantry, out-f.icing death in the most prmpous terrours of it. A great royalist, present, at his decollation, awore, He died like a prince : he could say, / bless the Lord I am so far from being affrighted at death, that J find it rather shrink from me, than / from it ! he could say. Ten thousand deaths rather than defile my conscience ; the chastity and purity of which I value beyond all this world ; I would not for ten thousand worlds part vrith the peace and satisfaction I have in my own heart. When mention was made of the difficuU proceeding against him, all his reply was, Mas what ado do they keep to make d poor creature like his Saviour! On the scaffold they did, by the blast of trumpets in bis face, with much incivility, hinder him from speaking what he intend- ed ; which incivility be aforehand suspecting, committed n true copy of it unto a friend before his going thither ; the last words whereof were these, as my last words t leave this with you, that as the present storm we mm 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 un- foreseen by me for many years past ; (as some writings of mine declare) so the coining 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 whole earth, is most clear to the eye of my faith, even that faith m which I die. His execu- tion was June 14, 1662, about the fiftieth year of his age. § 4. After the death of Mr. Dudley, the notice and respect of the colo- ny 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 eighty, 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 nota- ble and perpetual hatred of a 6ri6e, which gave him, with his country, the reputation of old claimed by Pericles, to be, ^iMTe^^ n k»i xf^t*^- r«ii xftirtnn. Civitatis Amans, ^ ad pecunias Invictus. And ns \w nev- er took any from any one living; so he neither could nor would have given any to death; but in the latter end of the year 1672, he had fii^ soul gathered not with sinners, whose right hand isfidl of bribes, but with such as walk in their uprightness. The gentleman that succeeded Mr. BeUingham, was Mr. .Tohn Leverrt. one to whom the affections of the freemen were signalized, in liis quick advances through the lesser stages of office and honour unto tli«.' Iii<;;lie«>! in the country ; and one whose courage had been as much recommended by martial actions abroad in his younger years, as hia nn'sifom and jimiir' 126 MAGNALIA CHRtSTI AMERICANA [Book II. were now at home in hid elder. The anniversary election connUintly kept bimattbe helm from the time of his first sitting there, until March )G, 1678, when mortality haviafi dnt put him on severe triuU of his paisive-courage, (much more difficult than the active) in pains of the stone, released him. Pater Patriae : or, the Life of Simon Bradstreet, Esq. — Extinctus ainahitur idem. The gentleman that succeeded Mr. Leveret, was Mr. Simon Bradstreet, the son of a minister in Lincolnshire, who wa- FUILY CHOSEN. Thomas Dudley. John Endicot. Edward Gibbons. Robert Sedgwick. Humfry Atherton. Daniil Denison. John Leveret. Daniel Gookin. SECRETARIES OF THE COLOIfr, SUCCESSFUI.i;.Y CHOSEN. William Burgis. \ Increase JVWei. Simon Bradstreet. Edward Rawson. That these name* are proper aqd worthy to be History, will he acknowledged, when it is coneidei Vol. I. 17 ^ .- -- found in our Church' considered, not only that they 130 MAGNALIA CHRISTl AMERICANA: [Boor II. were (he members of Congregaiiotial ehurehe$, and by the membere of the churchet chosen to be the rv'£r$ of the Commonwealth ; and that their ex- emplary behaviour io their magistracy was generally such ai to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour, and according to the old Jewiih wishei. prohibitum eit Homini, inttar principii Dotninari tuner populum, ^ cum elatione Spiritut, $ed, DKIU HIHl^J <:u>n imin*ii«(udtti« ae Timore : but alio that their love to, and sseal 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. 1 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 Jnnt) 1668, in such terms lU these. To the Elders and Ministers of every town within the jurisdiction of the Massachusets in New-England, the Govemour and Council sendeth Greeting. REVEREND AND BELOVED IN THE LORD, * We Bnd in the examples of holy scripture, that magistrates have not * only excited and commanded all the people under their government, to * seek the Lord God of their fathers, and do the law and commandment, ' (2 Chron. xiv. 2, 3, 4. Ezra vii. 26, 26, S7,) but also stirred up and ' sent forth the Lttites, accompanied with other principal men, to teach ' Uu 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 '4 England, have made a good profession in their book, entituled,.^ decla- * ration 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 great doctrines of ' the gospel, even personally and particularly, so far as their strength and * time will permit. % * We hope that sundry of yon 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, notwith- ' standing the laws long since provided therein, we do therefore 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 all people (especially the ytM^h) under * your charge, in the sound principles of christian religion ; and that not >* only in publiel^^ but privately /rom house to house, as blessed Paul did ; * {Acts XX. 20,) or at least, three, four, or more families meeting together, *;a8 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 may be meet) how your * hearers do profit by the word of Uod, and how their conversations do 4 agree therewith ; and whether the youth are taught to read the English ' tongue : taking all occasions to apply suitable exhortations particularly booK Il.J OK, THK HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. ttt ' unto them, for tkt rebuke of tho$e that do evil, and Iht encouragement of- ' Ihem that do well. * The effectaal and constant prosecution hereof, we hope ivill have n < tendency to promote t>> ' nalvation of tou/i ; to auppreaa the growth of ' tin and profiineneM ; to beget more love and unity among the people, * and more reverence nnd eitcem of the minittry : and it will aB8uredi)i ' be to the enlargement of vour crown, and recomper\ce in eternal glory. Oiven at Botton, the lOth of March, 1668, by the govemour andeounr > (tV, and by them ordered to be printed, and tent accordingly. Edward Kawson, Secretary. CHAPTER Vn. yublicola Chriatianufl. The Life of Edward Hopkins, Etq. Qavernour of Connecticut-Colony. Superiores tint, qui mperiores «fse teiunt. § 1. When the great God of heaven had carried his peculiar people into a wildemeit, the theocracy, wherein he became (as he was for that reaton stiled) the Ijord of Hottt, unto them and the four squadrons of their army, was moat eminently displayed in his enacting of their laws, his directing of their wars, and his electing and inspiring of their jud|^et. 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 in- stances wherein that army of confessors was under a theocracy : for thei# laws 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 scrip- tures: and though tiieir judges were still elected by themselves, and not inspired with such extraordinary influences as carried them of old, yet these also being singularly furnished and offered by the special providence of God unto the government of his NeW'Knglish people, were so emi- nently acted by kis graces, and his precepts, in the disolMi|;e of their i^overnment, that the blessed people were still sensibly ranemed by the Lord of all. Now among the first judges of New-England, was Edward Hopkins, Esq. in whose time the colony o( Connecticut was favoured with judges as at the first ; and put under the power of those with whom it was a maxim, Gratius est pietatis Nomen, quam potestatis. § 2. The descent and breeding of Mr. Edward Hopkins, (who was horn, I think near iS/trows6ury, about the year 1600,) first fitted him for the condition of a Ttirkey-Merchant , in London ; where he lived several years in good fashion and esteem, until a powerful party in the Church of England, then resolving not only to separate from the communion of ull the faithful that were averse to certain confessedly unscriptural and nninstituted rites in the worship of God, but also to persecute with destroy- ing severities those that were non-conformists thereunto, compelled a con- siderable number of good men to seek a shelter among the salvages of America. Among these, and with his excellent father-in-law, Mr. The- ophilus Eaton, he came to JVew-England ; where then removing from the Mnssachsuet-ha.y unto Hartford upon Connecticut River, he became a ma MAQNALIA CHKISTI AMERICANA [Book II. ruler iind pillar oi'tlmt colony, during the time of his abode in the coun- try. § 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 comt in before the people ; and us he was the head, so he was tiie heart of of the people, for the reeiolution to do well, which he maintained among them. An unjmt judge is, as one says, a cold fire, a dark tun, a dry tea, ati utigood God, a roiilniiliitio in adjcclo. Far from such was our/fop- knu< i no, he was, hxttw 'iii».yl>»xi**f '* meer piece of living justice. And as he hiid no separate mterenta of hm own, so he pursued their interests with such uii unspotted and successful lidclity, that they might call him as the tribci oi Benjamin did their leader in the wilderness, Midan, that 18 to say, ourj'ttther is judge. A'ew- England saw little dawningt, and em- blems, and cdrnents of tlae day, that the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heavin shall be given unto the people, oj'the saints oj'the Most High, when such a saint us our Hofkins was one of its governours. And the felici- ty which u great man has prognosticated for Europe, that God. will stir up some hiippji governonr in some country in Christendom, indued with wisdom and roiisidrration, who shall discern the true nature of Godliness and Chris- tianity 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 nil worldly respects unto these high and glorious emis: this was now exemphtied in Jlmcrica. § 4. Most exemplary was his piety and his charity; and while he governed others by the laws of God, he did Atmsi'// yield a profound sub- jection unto those laws. He was exemplarily watchful over his own be- haviour, and made a continual i;onfcm;;/a/t»?» of, am\ preparation for death, to be the character of his life. It was his manner to rise early, even be- tiirc day, to enjoy the devotions of his closet : after which he spent a con- siderable 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 il that I read or spoke last ? wereby he habituated them unto such an atten- tion, that they were still usually able to give a ready account. But as for bis prayers, tliey were not only frequent, but so fervent also, that he fre- quently fell a bleeding at the nose through the agony of spirit with which he laboured in them. And especially when imploring such s}nritual bles- :sings as, that God would grant in the end rf our lives, the end of our hopes, even the salvation of our souls, he would be so transported, that the observ- ing and judicious hearers would say sometimes upon it. Surely this man cannot be long out of heaven. Moreover, in his neighbourhood he not only set himself to encourage and countenance real Godliness, but also would himself kindly visit the .Meetings that the religious neighbours pri- vately kept for the exerrisies of it ; and where the least occasion for con- tention w. otVered, he would, with a prudent and speedy endeavour, ex- tinguish it. But the poor he so considered, that besides the daily relief which with his own hands he dispenced unto them, he would put consid- erable sums of money into the hands of his friends, to be by them employ- ed as they saw opportunity to do good unto all, especially tlu houshold of faith. In this* thing he was like (.liiit noltle and worthy English General, of whom 'tis noted, he never thou^iit he had any thing but what he gave away ; and yet aiivf all. n iUi much humility he /ould profess, as one of ihe most liUcrr^l men 'haf over was in the world often would, / have often Book II.] OR, THE HISTOKY OF NEW-KNGLAN1>. lii:i turned wer my books of accountt, but I could never find tlie great Qod charged a debtor there. § &. 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 sujer 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 fresecutlvns 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 plan- tation, exercised him. Nevertheless there was one alHiction which co;i- titmally dropt upon him above all the rest, and that was this, he married a daughter which the second wile of Mr. Eaton had by a former hus- band ; one that from a child had been observable for desirable quali- ties. But some time after she wsis married, she fell into n distempered melancholy, which at last iasued in an ineurable dtiilr„^:lion, ivilh such illshaped ideas in her brain, as use to be formed when the animal spirits are fired by irregular particles, fixed with acid, biiiouH, veu- enious ferments in the blood. Very grievous was this aflliction unto this her worthy consort, who was by temper a very nil'ectionate person : and who now left no part of a tender husband undone, to eaue, and, if it wPTe possible, to cure the lamentable desolation thus come upon, the desire of his eyes ; but when the physician gave him to understand, that no means would be likely to restore her sense, but such as would be also likel)' to hazard her /t/'e, he replied with tears, Uiad rather bear my cross unto '.he end that the Lord shall give ! but upon this occasion he said unto her sister, \vho, with all the rest related unto lur, were as dear unto him as his oum ; I have often thouglit, what slioiild be tlic meaning of the Lord, in chastising of tne with so sliarp a rod, and with so long a stroke ; where- to, when she replied. Sir, nothing singular has, in this case, bif alien you; God liath afflicted others in the like way ; and we must be content with our jtortion ; he answered, Sister, this is among the Lordh rarities. For my part I cannot tell what sore to lay my hand upon : hmvever, in general, my novereign Lord is just, and I will justifie him for ever : but in partkularfl Juioe thouglit the- mcUter might lye litre : / promised my selj too much con- tent in this relation and enjoyment ; and the Lord will make me to kiunv that this world shall not afford it me. So he wisely, meekly, fruitfully bore this heavy afiliction unto his dying day; having been taught by the aflliction to die daily, as long as he lived. § (j. About governour Eaton, his father-in law, he saw cause to say unto a sister-in-law, whom he much valued j / have often wondred at my father and your father ; I have heard him say. Thai lie never had a repent- ing, or a repining thought, about his cominsr to New-Eugland : surely, in this matter he hath a grace Jar otU-shining mine. But he is our father ! I cannot say, as he can, I have lutd hard work with my oan heart about it. But upon the death of his elder brother, who was warden of the feet, it wa^ necessary for him to return into England, that he miglit look after thn estate which then fell unto him; and accordingly, after a tempestuou? and a terrible voyage, wherein they were eminently endangered by fire. accidentally enkindled on the ship as well as by zi-oter, which tore it ft^ to pieces, that it was towed in by another ship, he at length, Per Varios Casus ; per tot Discriminu Rerum. V arrived there. 77jere a great notice was quickly taken of him : he wa^ MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA; [ItooK 11. made warden of the fleet, commissioner of the admiralty, and the navy- office, a parliaiiienthall yet have hiin on earth: but be replyed, //lave had vtany thoughts about my return, and my affections have been bent very strongly that way ; and tlwugh 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 tne to serve the Lord, and that peoph of his. But as to that matter, I incline to think they will not win it in heaven ; and I kitatv not whether the terrors of my dreadful voyage hither might not be ordered by the divine providence, to stake me in this land, being in my spirit sxifficiently loth to run the hazard of such another. I must also say to you, I mourn exceedingly, and I fear, 1 tear, the sins of New-England will t'Ve long be read in its punishments. The Lord has planted that land with a noble vine ; and blessed hast thou been, O land, in thy rulers ! But, alas ! for the generality they lutve not considered how they were to honour the rules of God, in Iwnouring of those whom God made rulers oruer them ; and I fear they will come to smart by having them set over them, that it will be an hard work to honour, ajid that will hardly be capable to manage their af- fairs. § 7. Accordingly he continu ginning 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 dS' sires of them that fear thee. Now from the tombstone of another eminent person, we will fetch what shall here be a proper EPITAPH. .V Part of Edward Hopkins, Esq. But heaven, not brooking that the earth should share ■< In the least atom of a piece so rare, i :i Intends to sue out, by a nesu revt«e, *■ , . .(v <„,.,, His habeas corpus at the grand assize. '<- ■ ' ■ ■ l>!;V.r-!-.» ■ ly';. (' ','1 ■ '•>«<• CHAPTER VIll. SUCCESSORS. § 1. Altrrnatelv, for the most part every other year, Mr. Haim, whom we have already mentioned elsewhere, took a turn with Mr. Hop- kins in the chief place of government. And besides these, (reader, the oracle that once predicted government unto a e, would now and here predict it unto a W,) there were Mr. Willis, Mr. Wells, and Mr. Web- ster, all of whom also had opportunity to express their liberal and gene- rous dispositions, and the governing virtues of wisdom, justice and cour- ag«> by the election of the freemen in the colony before its being united with fiew-Haven. Had the surviving relations of these worthy men sent in unto me a tenth part of the considerable and imitable things which or- MAGNALIA CHRIStI AMERICANA [Book If. fiurred in their lives, they might have made more of a figare in this our history ; whereas I must now sum up all, with assuring my reader, that it is the want of knowledge in m«, and not of desert in them, that has con- fined 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 for an hoary head found in the way of righteousness : besides, Mr. Winthrop, of whom anon, reader, expect a compleater history. ^I»! i^-'m >*" ■■' -■'' A\ CHAPTER IX. - Humilitas Honorata. The Life of Theophilvs Eaton, Esq. Govemour of New-Haven Colony. Jxistitia Cultor, Rigidi Senator Honesti, In Commune Bonum. § 1. It has been enquired, why the evangelist Luke'm the Jirst sacred his- tory which he addressed unto his fellow-citizen, gave him the, title of *rhe most excellent Theophilvs, 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 no' bility of Theophilus, were by age abated ; but Imke herein considered the disposition of Theophilus, as well as his own, with whom a reduced age had rendered all titles of honour more disagreeable superfluities. Indeed nothiv;^ woul<^ have been more unacceptable to the govemour of our New'Haven colony, all the time of his being so, than to have been advan- ced and applauded above the rest of mankind ; yet it must be now pub- lished unto the knowledge of mankind, that New-England could not of his quality show a mxne 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 new 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 commend- able. § 3. 'Tis reported, that the earth taken from the banks of Nilus, will 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 river. 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 imploy- ments, do ordinarily carry about with them an holy and happy savour of their ministerial education. 'Twas remarkably exemplified in our Theoph- ilus Eaton, who was born at Stony-Stratford in Oxfordshire, the eldest son to the faithful and famous minister of the place. But the words of old used by Philostratus concerning the son of a great man, .As for his son I have nothing else to say, but that he was his son ; they could not be used concerning our Theophilus, who having received a good education from Book II.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. Hi. his pious parents, did live many years to answer that education in hit> OWD piety and usefulness. , § 3. His father being removed unto Coventry, he there at school fell into the intimate acqu-untance of that worthy John Davenport, with whom the providence of God many years after united in the great under- taking of settling a colony of chrintian and reformed churches on th^ American strand. Here his ingenuity iind proficiency rendered him no* table ; and ?o vast was his memory, ihat although hk wrote not at the church, yet when he came home, he would, at his father's call, repeat unto those that met in his father's house, the sermons which had been publickly preached by others, as well as his own ~ ^her, with such ex- actness, as astonished all the neighbourhood. But in ..neir after improve- ments, the hands of divine providence were laid across upon the heads df Theophilus Eaton, and John Davenport; for £)aren/)or^. whose father was the mayor of Coventry, became a minister ; and Eaton, whose father was minister of Coventry, contrary to his intentions, became a merchant. His parents were very loth to have complied with his inclinations ; but their compliance therewithal did at last appear to have been directed by a special favour of heaven unto the familjf, when after the death of his father, he, by this means, became the Joseph, by whom his mother was maintained until she died, and his orphan brethren and sisters had no small part of their subsistence. § 4. During the time of his hard apprenticeship he behaved himself wisely; and his wisdom, with God's /avour, particularly appeared in his chaste escape from the snares of a young woman in the house where he lived, who would fain have taken him in the pits by the wise man cau- tioned against, and who was herself so taken only with his most comely person, that she dyed for the love of him, when she saw him gone too far to be obtained : whereas, by the like snares, the apprentice that next succeeded him was undone for ever. But being a person herewithal most signally diligent in his business, it was not long before the maxim of the mse Tnan was most literally accomplished in his coming to stand be- fote princes ; for being made a /reeman of Lion(ion, he applied himself unto the East-Country trade, and was publickly chosen the deputy-go- vernour of the company, wherein he so acquitted himself as to become considerable. And afterwards going himself into the East-Country, he not only became so well acquainted with the affairs of the Baltick-sea, but also became so well improved in the accomplishments of a man of business, that the King of England imployed him as an agent unto the King of Denmark. The concerns of bis agency he so discreetly man- aged, that as he much obliged and engaged the East-Land company, (who in token thereof presented his wife with a bason and ewer double gilt, and curiously wrought with gold, and weighing above sixty pound,) so he found much acceptance with the King of Denmark, and was afterwards used by that prince to do him no little services. Nevertheless he kept his integrity amongst the temptations nf that court, whereat he was now a resident ; and not seldom had he most eminent cause to acknowledge the benignity and interposal of heaven for his preservations ; once par- ticularly, ivhen the King of Denmark was beginning the King of Eng- land's health, while Mr. Eaton, who disliked such health-drinking, was in his presence ; the King fell down in a sort of a 6t, with the cup in his hand, whereat all the nobles and courtiers wholly applied themselves to convey the King into his chamber, and there was no notice- taken who Vot. I. • Ifi 138 MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICAI^A : [Book II was to pledge his health ; whereby Mr. Eaton was the more easily de- livered from any share in the debauch. § 5. Having arrived unto a fair estate, (which he v/m Jirst willing to do,) he married a most virtuous gentlewoman, to whom he had iirst es- poused himself after he had spent three years in an absence from her in the Eatt-Country. But this dearest and greatest of his temporal enjoy- ments proved but a temporal one ; for living no longer with him than to render him the father of two children, she almost killed him with her own d^ath ; and yet at her death she expressed herself wondrous willing to be dissolved, and to be with Christ, from whom (she said) I would not be detained one hour for all the enjoyments upon earth. He afterwards mar- ried a prudent and pious widow, the daughter of the bishop of Chester ; unto the three former children of which widow, he became a most exem- plary, living and f lithful father, as well as a most worthy husband unto herself, by whom he afterwards had five children, two sons and three daughters. But the second of hischiMren by his latter wife dying some while before, it was not long before his two children by his former wife were smitten with the plague, whereof the elder died, and his house thereupon shut up witli a, Lord have mercy! However the Lord had this mercy on the family, to let the distemper spread no further ; and so Mr. Eatort spent many years a merchant of great credit and fashion in the city of London. § 6. At length conformity to ceremonies humanely invented and impos- ed in the woriihip of God, was urged in the Church of England \yith so much rigour, that Mr. Davenport was thereby driven to seek a refuge from the storm in the cold and rude corners of America. Mr. Eaton had already assisted the new Massachuset-colony, as being one of the patentees for it ; but had no purpose of removing thither himself, until Mr. Dav- enport, under whose excellent ministry he lived, was compelled unto a share in this removal. However, being fully satisfied in his own con- science, that unlawful things were now violently demanded of him, he was willing to accompany his persecuted pastor in the retreat from vio- lence now endeavoured, and many eminent Z^ne^oners chearfu I ly engaged with him in this undertaking. Unto New-England this company of good men came in the year 1637, where chusing to be a distinct colony by themselves, more accommodated unto the designs of mercliandize than of husbandry, they sought and bought a large territory in the southern parts of the country for their habitations. In the prosecution hereof, the chief care was devolved upon Mr. Eaton, who with an unexempled pa- tience took many tedious and hazardous journies through a desolate wil- derness full of barbarous Indians, until upon mature deliberation he pitched upon a place now called New-Haven, where they soon formed a very regular town ; and a number of other towns along the sea side were quickly added thereunto. But by the difficulties attending these journies, Mr. Eaton brought himself into an extream sickness ; from which he recovered not without a fistula in his breast, whereby he underwent much affliction. When the chirurgeon came to inspect the sore, he told him. Sir, I know not how to go about what is necessary for your cure; but Mr. Eaton answered him, God calls you to do. and me to suffer! And God accordingly strengthened him to bear miserable cuttings and launciqgs of his flesh with a most invincible patience. The chirurgeon indeed made so many wounds, that he was nc^t able to cure what he had made ; anoth- er, and abetter, hand was necessarily imployed for it ; b\it in the mean Book II.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND, 139 while great wc-re the trials with which the God of heaven exercised the faith of this hia holy servant. § 7. Mr. Eaton and Mr. Davenport were the Mosca and Mron of the christian colony now erected in the south-west parts of New-England ; and Mr. Eaton being yearly and ever chosen their governour, it was the admiration of all spectators tu behold the discretion, the gravity, th^ equity with which he still managed all their publick a^airs. He carried in his very countenance a majesty which'cannot be described ; and in his dispensations of justice he was a mirrour for the most imitable impar' tiality, but ungainsayable authority of his proceedings, being avrnilly sensible of the obligations which the oath of a judge lays Upon him. lis sont plus tenvs de raison de garder Leur Serment, doubter mort, o« au' cutie forfeiture : and hence he, who would most patiently bear hard things oiTered unto his person in private cases, yet would never pass by any pubHck affronts, or neglects offered, when he appeared under the character of a magistrate. But he still was the guide of the blind, the staff of the lame, the helper of the widow and the orphan, and all the distressed ; none that had a good cause was afraid of coming before him : on the one side, in his days did the righteous flourish ; on the other side, he was the terrour of evil doers. As in his government of the common- wealth, so in the government of his family, he was prudent, serious, happy to a wonder ; and albeit he sometimes had a large family, consist* ingof no less than thirty persons, yet he managed them with such an evtn temper, that observers have affirmed. They never saw an house or- dered with more wisdom ! He kept an honourable and hospitable table ; but one thing that still made the entertainment thereof the better, was the continual presence of his aged mother, by feeding of whom with an exemplary piety till she died, he ensured his own prosperity as long as he lived. His children and servants he would mightily encourage unto the study of the scriptures, and countenance their addresses unto himself with any of their enquiries ; but when he discerned any of them sinfully uegligent about the concerns either of their general or particular callings, he would admonish them with such a penetrating efficacy, that they could scarce forbear falling 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 ser- vant unto him, could many years after say, Whatever difficulty in my daily zealk I now meet withal, still something that I either saw or heard in my blessed master Eaton's conversatif*n, helps me through it all ; I have reason to bless God that ever I knew him! It was hb custom when he first rose in a morning, to repair unto his study ; a study well perfumed with the medi- tations and supplications of an holy soul. After this, calling his family together, he would then read a portion, of the scripture among them, and after some devout and useful reflections upon it, he would make a prayer not long, but extraordinary pertinent and reverent ; and in the evening some of the same exercises were again attended. On the Saturday morning he would still take notice of the approaching sabbath in his prayer, and ask the grace to be remembring of it, and preparing for it ; and when the evening arrived, he, besides this, not only repeated a ser- mon, but also instructed his people, with putting of questions referring to the points of religion, which would oblige them to study for an answer ; and if their answer were at any time insufficient, he would wisely and gently enlighten their understandings ; all which he concluded with sing- ni^ of a psalm. When the Lord's day came, he called his family togeth- lit MAONALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA : [Book II. er at the time for the ringing of the first bell, and repeated a sermon, whereunto he added a fervent prayer, eapeciully tending unto the sanctifi- cation of the day. At noon he sang a psalm, and at night he retired an hour into his closet; advising those in his house to improve the same time for the good of their own souls. He then called his family together again, and in an obliging manner conferred with them about the things with which they had been entertained in the house of God, shutting up all with a ;^rayer for the blessing of God upon them all. For solemn days of Au- t.Miation, or of thanksgiving, he took the same course, and endeavoured still to make those that belonged unto him, understand the meaning of the services before them. He seldom used any recreations, but being a great reader, all the time he could spare from company and business, he commonly spent in hia beloved study ; so that he merited the name which was once given to a learned ruler of the English nation, the name of Beauclerk: in conversing with his friends, he was affable, courteous, and generally pleasant, but grave perpetually ; and so cautelous and cir- cumspect in his discourses, and so modest in his expressions, that it be- came a proverb for incontestable truth, Govemour Eaton said it. But after all, his humility appeared in his having always but low expectO' tions, looking for little regard and reward from any men, after he had merited as bi^ihly as was possible by his universal serviceableuess. § 9. Hit eldest son he maintained nt the Colledge until he proceeded master of aria; and he was indeed the son of his vows, and a son of great hopes. But a severe catarrh diverted this young gentleman from the work of the ministry whereto his father had once devoted him ; and h malignant fever then raging in those parts of the country, carried off him with his wife within two or three days of one another. This was counted the sorest of all the trials that ever hefel hn father in the days of the years of his pilgrimage ; but he bore it with a patience and compo- sure of spirit which was truly admirable. His dying son looked earnestly on him, and said, Sir, what shall we do! Whereto, with a well-ordered countenance, he replied. Look tip to God! And when he passed by his daughter drowned in tears on this occasion, to her he said, Remember the sixth commandment, hurt not your self with immoderate grief; remember Job, who said. The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord ! You may mark what a note the spirit of God put upon it; in all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolish- ly : God accounts it a charging of him foolishly, when we don't submit unto his will patiently. Accordingly he now governed himself as one that had attained unto the rule of weeping as if we wept not ; for it being the Lord's day, he repaired unto the church in the afternoon, as he had been there in the forenoon, though he was never like to see his dearest son alive any more in this world. And though before the first prayer began, a messenger came to prevent Mr. Davenport's praying for the sick per- son, who was now ({eon,yet his affectionate father altered not his course, but wrote after the praacher as formerly ; and when he came home he held on his former meUiods of divine worship in his family, not for the excuse of Aaron, omit ing any thing in the service of God. In like sort, when the people bar jeen at the solemn interment of this his worthy son, he did with a very unpassionate aspect and carriage then say. Friends, I thank you all for your love and help, and for this testimony of respect unto me and mine : the Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken ; blessed be the name of the Lord! Nevertheless, retiring hereupon into the chamber where bis daughter then lay sick, some tears were .■ i - Book U] OK, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 141 observed falling from him while he uttered these words, There m a dif^ ference betwuen a tuUen nletwe or a $tuy' semtUitnesM utuUr the hand of God, and a ehitd-like iubmi$non thereunto. & 10. Thus continually be, for about ■ score of years, was the glory ana pillar of Netv-Haven colony. He would often aay. Some covmt it a great matter to die well,| but I am itire Hie a great matter to live tfell. AU our care should be while we have our life to uie it well, and $o when death puts an end unto that, it will put an end unto all our cares. But baV' iog excellently managed his care to live well, Qod would have him to die well, without any room or time then given to take any care at all ; for he enjoyed a death sudden to every one but himself! Having worshipped God with his family after his usual manner, and uoon some occasion wiUi much solemnity charged all the family to carry u well unto tlieir mis- tress who was now confined by sickness, he sapped, and then took a turn or two abroad for his meditations. After that he came in to bid his wife good-nighty before he left her with her watchers; which when he did, she said, Methinks you look sad! Whereto he replyed, The ddfferetues risen in the church of Hartford make me so ; she then added, Let us even go back to our nattve country again; to which he answered. You may, [and so she did] but I sk-ll die here. This was the last word that ever she heard him speak ; for now retiring unto his lodging in another cham- ber, he was overheard about midnight fetching a groan ; and unto one, sent In presently to enquire how he did, he answered the enquiry with only saying. Very ill! and without saying anymore, he fell asleep inJe- MS, in the year 1657, loosing anchor from J^ew-Haven for the better. Ostendunt. -Sedes, ubi Fata, Quietus Now let his gravestone wear at least the following EPITAPH. New-Enoland's glory, full of warmth and light. Stole away (and said nothing) tn(Ae mg/tf. CHAPTER X. SUCCESSORS. § 1 . When the day arrived in the anniversary course for thO' freeman of the colony to elect another governour in the place of the deceased Ea- ion, Mr Davenport preached on that passage of the divine oracle, in Josh. i. 1,2, JVbtt) after tiie death o/* Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto 3 oahuR, the son of Sun, M,oaea* minister, saying, JVow arise thou and all this people. The colony was abundantly sensible that their Eaton had been a man of a Mosaic spirit ; and that while they chose him, as they did every year of his life among them to be their gov- ernour, they could not chuse a better. But they now considered that Mr. Francis ATewman, who had been for many years the secretary of the colony, was there a minister to their Moses, as he had been otl^snvisc his intimate friend, neighbour, companion and connsellor. For thi<$ ranxt; Ufi MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA [Boot II. the unaniinoua choice of the freemen fell upon this gentleman to succeed in the government. And 1 shall here give a sufficient history of his gov- ernment ; vvhich through death was md suffered to continue above three or four years, by only saying, That he walked exactly in the steps of his predecessor. § 2. Upon the setting of Mr. Francis liewtnan, there arose Mr. IVil' Ham Leet, of whom let not the reader be displeased at this brief account. This gentleman was by his education a lawyer, and by his imployment (k register in the Bishop'' s Court. In that station, ut Cam6rtdg<, he observed that there were summoned before the court certain persons to answer fur the crime of going to hear sermons abroad, when there were none to be heard in their own Darish churches at home ; and that when any were brought before them {^fornication or adultery, the court only made them- selves merry with their Peccadillos ; and that these latter transgressions were as favourably dealt witttal, as ever the wo/^was when be came with an auricular confession of his murders to his brother/ox for absolution : but the former found as hard measure as ever the poor ass, that had only taken a straw by mistake out of a pilgrim^s pad, and yet upon confession, was by Chancellour Fox pronounced unpardonable. This observation extreamly scandalized Mr. Leet, who always thought, that hearing a good aetmon had been a lesser fault than lying with one's neighbour's wife : and had the same resentments that Austin sometimes had of the iniquity which made the transgression of a ceremony more severely reprehended than a transgression of the law of God ; but it made an everlasting impres- sion upon his heart, when the judge of the court furiously demanded of one then to ^3 censured. Hew he durst be so bold as to break the laws of the church, in going from, his own parish to hear sermons abroad ? And the honest man answered. Sir, how should I get faith else? For the apostle saith. Faith comes by hearing the word preached ; which faith is necessary to salvation ; and hearing the word is the means appointed by God for the ob- taining (fnd encreasing of it : and these means I must use, whatever I staffer for it in this world. These words of that honest man were blessed by God with such an effect upon the mind of Mr. Leet, that he presently left his office in the Bishop's Court, and forsaking that untoward genera- tion of men, he associated himself with such as would go hear the word, that they might get faith ; and in hearing he did happily get the like pre- cious faith. On this, and for this, he was exposed unto the persecution, which caused him to retire into Kew-England with many worthy minis- ters and other christians, in the year 1639. In that country he settled himself under the ministry of the excellent Mr. Whitfield at Guilford, where being also chosen a magmf rate, and then govemour of the colony ; and being so at the juncture of time, when the Royal Charter did join Connecticut and New-Haven, he became next unto Govemour Winthrop, the deputy-governour of the whole ; and after the death of Mr. Winthrop, even until his own death, the annual election for about a decad of years together, still made him govemour. But in his whole government he gave continual demonstrations of an excellent spirit, especially in that part of it where the reconciliation and th^ coalition of (he spirits of the people under it was to be occomplished. Mr. Robert Treat is the follower of his example^ as well as the successor in his government. Book II.) OR, THE HISTORY OF NEVV-ENGLAND: 145 «r. mi' account. jyment ft observed > answer » none to any were ade them- sgressions came with htolution : it had only confeinon, bservation ing a good wife : and lie iniquity hended ^an lOg imprea- emanded of : the law of t And the the apostle necetiary to for the ob- wer I sufftT < blessed by e presently 'irrf genera- \r the word^ .le lihe pre- Vpersecution, 'frthy minis- ) he settled A Guilford, [the colony ; Her did join |r Winihrop, . Winthropt ad of years |ent he gave Ihat part of ^ the people follower of CHAPTER XI. Hermes Chiislianus. The Life of John Wintiirop, Eiq. Governonr of Connecticut and New-Havkn united. — Et.J^os aliguod JSTointnq ; Decusq ; Gessimus. — § 1. If the historian could give that character of the best Roman Etn- peror, that he was Bonus a Bono, Pius a Pio, the ton of a father like him- self, our history may aflirm concerning a very good J^ew-tlnglish govem- our also, that he was the father of a son like himltelf. The proverb of the Jews which doth observe, That vinegar is the son of wine ; anil the proverb of the Greeks, which doth observe, That the sons of heroes are trespassers, has been more than once contradicted in the happy experi- ence of the New-Englanders : but none of the least remarkable contra* dictions given to it has been in the honourable family of our Winthrops. § 2. The eldest son of John Winthrop, Esq; the governour of one- colony, was John Winthrop, Esq; the governtur of another, in, therefore happy, Neva- England, born Feb. 12, 1605, at Groton in England. His glad father be&towed on him a liberal education at the university, first of Canwridge in Englrnd, and then of Dublin in Ireland ; and because travel has been esteemed i.o little accomplisher of a young gentlenuin, he then accomplished himself by travelling into France, Holland, Flanders, Italy, Germany, and as far as Turky it self; in which places he so improved his opportunity of conversing with all sorts of learned men, that he return- ed home equally a subject of much experience, and of great expectation. § 3. The son of Scipio Africanus proving a degenerate person, the people forced him to pluck off a signet-ring, which he wore with his father's face engraven on it. But the son of our celebrated Governour Winthrop, was on the other side so like unto his excellent father for early wisdom and virtue, that arriving ai New-England with his father's fami- ly, jVov. 4, 1631, he was, though not above twenty-three years of dge. by the unanimous choice of the people, chosen a magistrate of the colo- ny, whereof his father was the governour. For this colony he afterwards, did many services, yea, and he did them abroad as well as at home ; very particularly in the year 1634, when returning for England, he was by bad weather forced into Ireland, where being invHed unto the bouse of Sir John Clotworthy, he met with many considerable persons, by conferring with whom, the affairs of New-England were not a little promoted ; but it was another colony for which the providence of heaven intended him to be such another /a(Aer, as his own honourable /a tempers that annoy humane bodies, and procure an universal rest unto the archoeus on all occasions of distjroance, than he was in those christian qualities, which appear upon the cure of the distempers in the minds of men, by the effectual grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. § 8. In the year 1643, after divers essays made in some former years, the several colonies of New-England became in fact, as well as name, vtfiTEo COLONIES. And an instrument was formed, wherein having de- clared. That we all came into th. .^t: parts of America with the same end and aim, namely, to advance the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, and et^joy the liberties of the gospel with purity and peace, it was firmly agreed be> tween the several jurisdictions, that there should yearly be chosen two commissioners out of each, who should meet at fit places appointed for that purpose, with full powers from the Genera I Courts in each, to con- cert and conclude matters of general concernment for peace or war of the several colonies thus confederated. In pursuance of this laudable con- federacy, this most meritorious gavernour of Connecticut colony accepted the trouble of appearing as a commtsstoner for that colony, with the rest met at Boston, in the year 1676, when the calamities of the Indian-war were distressing the whole country : but here falling sick of a fever, he dyed oi< ,9pril 6, of that year, ana was honourably interred in the same tomb with ttis honourable father. § 9. His father, as long.ago as the year 1643, had seen cause to write unto him an excellent letter, wherein there were these among other passages. ' You are the chief of two families ; I had by your mother three sons ' and three daughters, and f had with her a large portion of outward e8» ' tate. These now are all gone : mother gone ; brethren and sisters ' gone ; you only are left to see the vanity of these temporal things, and ' learn tmsdom thereby, which may be of more use to you, through the ' Lord's blessing, than all that inlieritance which might have befallen von : Vol. I. 19 * 146 * MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA : [Book II. and for which this may stay and quiet your heart. That God is able to give you more than this; and that it being spent in the furtherance of his work, which hath here prospered so well, through his power hitherto, you and yours may certainly expect a liberal portion in the prosperity and blessing ihereof hereafter ; and the rather, because it wais noi forced from you by a father's power, but freely resigned by your self, out of a liv- ing and filial respect unto me, and your own readiness unto the work it self. From whence as I do often take occasion to bless the Lord for you, so do I also commend you and yours to his fatherly blessing, for a plentiful reward to be rendred unto you. And doubt not, my dear son, but let your faith be built upon his promise and faithfulness, that as he hath carried you'hitherto through many perils, and provided liberally for you. so he will do for the time to come, and will never faif you,nor forsakt you. My son, the Lord knows how dear thou art to me, and that my care has been more for thee than for my self. But / know thy pros- perity depends not on my care, nor on thine own, but upon the blessing of our Heavnfii Father; neither doth it on the things of this world, but on the /tg/t^u/ (iod's countenance, through the merit and mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is that only which can give us peace of conscience with contentation ; which can as well make our lives happy and com- fortable in a mean estate, as in a great abundance. But if you weigh things aright, and sum up all the turnings of divine providence together, you shall find great advantage.— The Lord hath brought us to a good land ; a land, where we enjoy outward peace and liberty, and above all, the blessings of the gospel, without the burden of impositions in matters of religion. Many thousands there are who would give great estates to enjoy our condition. Labour therefore, my good son, to increase our thankfulness to God for all bis mercies to thee, especially for that he hath reveale 1 his everlasting good-will to thee in Jesns Christ, and join- ed thee to the visible body of his church, in the fellowship of his peo- ple, and hath saved thee in all thy travails abroad, from being infected with the ■Dices of these countries where thou hast been, (a mercy vouch- safed but unto few young gentlemen travellers.) Let /tiVn have the ho- nour of it who kept thee. He it was who gave thee favour in the eye« of all with whom thou hadst to do, both by sea and land ; he it was who saved thee in all perils ; and he it is who hath given thee a gift in un- derstanding and art ; and he it is who hath provided thee a blessing in marriage, a comfortable help, and many sweet children; and hath hith- erto provided liberally for you all : and therefore I would have you to love ii'im ?gain, and serve him, and trust him for the time to come. Love and prize that word of truth, which only makes known to you the pre- cious and eternal thoughts and councils of tho light inaccessible. Deny your own wisdom., that you may find his ; and esteem it the greatest honour to lye under the simplicity of the gospel of Christ crucified, without wliich you can never enter into the secrets of his tabernacle, nor enjoy those sweet things which Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor can the heart of man conceive ; but God hath granted unto some few to know them even in this life. Study well, my son, the saying of the apostle, Knowledge pujfeth up. It is a good gift of God, but when it lifts up the mind above the cross of Christ, it is the pridn nf life, and the high way to apostacy, wherein many men of great learning ami hopes have perish- ed. — In all the exercise of yo\ir gifts, and improvement of your talents, have an eye to your master's ejtd, more than yonr wn; and to the day of your account, that you may tiien have your Qwiettts est, even, Well Book II.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-DNGLAND. 147 * done, good and faithful servant ! But my last and chief request to yon, ' iii, that you be careful to have your children brought up in the knowU ' edge and fear of ,God, and in the faith of our Lord Jeaus Christ. This ' will give you the best comfort of them, and keep them sure from any ' want or miscarriage : and when you part from them, it will be no smuU 'joy to your soul, that you shall meet them again in heaven!* . Doubtless, the reader considers the historical passages in this extract of the letter thus recited. Now, but by making this, reflection upon the rest, that as the prophetical part of it was notably fulfilled in the estate, whereto the good providence of God recovered this worthy gentleman and his family, so the monitory part of it was most exemplarily attended in his holy and useful conversation. I shall therein briefly sum up the life of a person whom we shall call a second unto none of our worthies, but as we call him our second! Winthrop. EPITAPHIUM. Abi Viator ; Et Luge plures magistratus in Uno periisse. Redi Viator. JVon Periit, sed ad Calestem Societatem Rtgia Magis Regiam, Fere Adeptus, Miit: WiNTHROPUs, Non minor magnis Majoribus. ^ CHAPTER Xn. A S S I S T E N T S. Magistrates of Connecttcut-colony, before New-Haven colony was ac>^ tually annexed unto it, were, ^besides the two alternately, for the most part, elected governours, Hopkins, and Hains.) Roger Ludlow, 1636. John Steel, 1636. William Phelps, 1636. William Westwood, 1636. Andrew Ward, 1636. Thomas Wells, 1637. William Swayn, 1637. Matthew Mitchel, 1637. George Hull, . 1637. William Whiting, .. 1637. John Mason, 1637. George Willis, 1639. John Webster, , 1639. William Ludlow, 1640. William Hopkins, , 1642. Henry Woolcot, 1643. George Fenwick, 1644. Cosmare, 1647. John Howel, 1647. John Cullick, 1648. Henry Clark, 1660. John Winthrop, it 1661. Thomas Topping, 1661. John Talcot, 1654. John Ogden, 1666. J^athan Gold, 1657. Matthew Allyn, 1668. Richard Treat, 1668. Thomas Baker, 1668. Mnlford, 1658. 148 MAGNALIA CHRIStI AMERICANA : [Book It. Alexander Knawles, 1658. John Allyn, 1662. John Weill, 1658. Daniel Clark, 1662. Robert Band, ' 1659. Samuel Sherman, 1662. Rayner, 1661. John Young, 1664. Maoirtrates of New-Haven colony, before Connecticut-colony could ac- complish its coalition therewith, were, (besides the govemours else- where mentioned.) Stephen Ooodyeavf Thomas Grigson, Bichard Malbon, William Leet, John Desborough, Tajpp, William fowler, Trancis Newman, Magistrates after the two colonies were content, according to their charter, to become one, were, 1837. Asiwood, 1653. 1637. Samuel Eaton, 1654. 1637. Benjamin Fen, 1654. 1637. Matthew Gilbert, 1658. 1637. Jasper Crane, Robert Treat, 1668. 1637. 1659. 1637. William Jones, 1662. 1653. John Winthrop, Gov. .1665. James Bishop, 1668. John Mason, 1665. Anthony Hawkins, 1668. Matthew Allyn, 1665. Thomas Wells, 1668. Samuel Willys, 1665. John Nash, 1672. Nathan Gold, 1665. Robert Treat, 1673. John Talcot, 1665. Thomas Topping, 1674. Henry Woolcot, 1665. Matthew Gilbert, 1677. John Allyn, 1665. Andrew Leet, 1678. Samuel Sherman, .■.. ;. 1665. John Wadsworthf 1679. James Richards, 1665. Robert Chapman, 1681. William Leet, 1665, James Fitch, 1681. William Jones, 1665. Samuel Mason, 1683. Benjamin Fen, 1665. Benjamin Newbury, 1685. Jasper Crane, 1665. Samuel Talcot, 1685. Daniel Clark, 1666. Giles Hamlin, 1685. Alexander Bryans, 1668. While the colonies were clusters of rich grapes, which had a blessing in them, such leaves as these (which is in the proverbs of the Jewish nation, a name for magistrates) happily defended them from the storms that molest the world. Those of the least character among them, yet came up to what the Roman commonwealth required in their magistrates. Populus Romanus delegit Magistratus, quasi Reipublica Villicos, in qui- bus, si qua praterea est Ars, facile patitur ; sin minus, virtute eorum 4* Innoeentia Contentus est. Cic. Orat. PraPlan. .. iy.r -SV41-..,,. [Book It. 1662. 1662. 1662. 1664. ay could ac- mours else- m^mm*: PIETAS IN PATRIAM: THE 1653. 1654. 1654. 1658. 1658. 1659. 1662. ding to their 1668. 1668. 1668. 1672. 1673. 1674. 1677. 1678. 1679. 1681. 1681. 1683. 1685. 1685. 1685. had a bleating )f the Jewish om the storms n to what the tHicos, in qui- rtute eorum^ LIFE OF HIS EXCELLENCY SIR WILLIAM PHIPS, KNT. LATE CAPTAIN GENERAL, AND OOVERNOVR IN CHIEF OF THE PROVINCE OF THE MASSACHUSKT-BAY, NBW*ENOLAND.— CONTAINING THE MEMORABLE ^CHANGES UNDERGONE, AND ACTIONS PERFORMED BY HIM. ■iX ■k- wk:t^ ; BY oKe intimately acquainted with him; y,r^fi' DUeite FirlUlem ex tiocy verumque Laborem. The author of the following narrative, is a person of sach 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 due notice and observation. On all which accounts, it is with just confidence recommended to the publick by Nath. Mather. . • John Howe, ' Matth. Mead. April 27, 1697. To his Excellency the Earl of Bellomont, Baron of Coloony in Ireland, General Governour of the Province of Massachusets in New-England^ and the Provinces annexed. MAY 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, that its being thus presented to your Excellency's hand, is thereby both apologized for and justified. I be- lieve, had 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 publickiy congratulated the people of New-England, on ac- # 150 MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA [Boor If. count 6r their having such a governour, and your Excellency, on ac- count of your heini; made governour over them. For though as to some other things it may possibly be a place to some persons not so ilcsirable, yet I believe this character may be justly giv'^n of thcDi, that they arc the best people un■/• '-'?vV'. J.i -^ •■*.:^.:'fi*» tf I f f ■ '■iikl'i/iiXini -.hf^i THE LIFE or HIS EXCBtLBNCy SIR WIILLIAM PHIPS, KNT. § 1. If such R renowned chymist, as Quercetanus, with a whole tribe of labourers in ihtfire, since that learned man, find it no easie thing to make the common part of mankind believe, that they can take a plant in its more vigorous consistence, and aAer a due maceration, fermentation and separatibn, extract the salt of that plant, which, as it were, in a chaos, in- visibly reserves the form of the whole, with its vital principle ; and, that keeping the salt in a glass hermetically sealed, they can, by apply- ing a soft fire to the glass, make the vegetable rise by little and little out of its ashes, to surpriste the spectators with a notable illustration (of that resurrection, in the faith whereof the Jews returning from the graves of their friends, pluck up the grast from the earth, using those Words of the scripture thereupon. Your bones shall flourish like an herb : 'tis likely, that all the observations of such writers, as the incomparable Borellus^ will tind it bard 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 J^'oah 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 essential salts of humane dust, a philosopher may, without any criminal necromancy, call up the shape of any dead ancestor from the dust whcreinto his body has been incinerated. The resurrection of the dead, will be as just, as great an article of our creed, although the rela- tions 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 book, as in a glass, reserve the history of our departed friends ; and by bringing our warm affections unto such an history, we revive, as it were, out of their ashes, the true shape of those friends, and bring to a fresh view, what was memorable and imitable in them. Now, in as much as mortality hi\fi done its part upon a considerable person, with whom I had the tiononr to be well acquainted, and a person as memorable for the wonderful changes which befel him, sis imitable for his virtues and actions under those changes ; 1 shall endeavour, with the chymistry of an impar- tial historian, to raise my friend so far out of hisasAej, as to shew him again unto the world ; and if the character of heroick virtue be for a man to describe well of mankind, and he great in the purpose and success of es- says to do so, I may venture to promise my reader such example of hero- ick virtue, in the story whereto I invite him, that he shall say, it would have been little short of a vice in mc, 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 IM NAUNA1.IA CHUIHTI AMCKICANA: [Book If ltnv« unilnrlnkmi thin innUar iVom n ainonrt ildiiru, tlmt the ovtr*([loriou« l«or«i •iHxm CiiniMt miiy hnvn tho Klory of lii« pnwtr iind gooilntii, and of lii« fit'uvUtPHe^, ill wiiNl tip «ll(l i'ur iu«:li ii iivinun, tind in wTiiit ha diNpoiied und MMNiatad thul {K^mun tndo lor him. Nnw, may h« a$ii»t my writing, «wit H« thnt prtfmrttl th» mhjti'l, whn'0»f I tun t» wriVo / ^ t, 8n vbtmtn whh tho uHffintU of thiU nKunornldn itttraon, whoie ac- H«Hii I Nin KDiitg to rrliit«, thnt I muit, in ii WHy of writing, Uk« thnt of r/MltinA, |>r(*j|>nr« iti>> mudur Ibr Iho iiitiMidfld I'ldtition. hy Hrat ■tMrnhing Ihn artiAJMN or Hnli<|tlily fhi* ii fHtralUl, Now, hvoiiuiie w(i will notfxira//«« him with KitmtHtMy who, (hoHgli ho wnro tliu ion of u poor cnrrior, 'b«- CMNio H govurnour of niiKhty (trnvincoa ; nor with Murius, who«a m«nn |i«r«ntNK0 did not liiiidor liiit hocoiiiing ii Kloriotnt dofondor of hit country, Andaovon tiinu* thi^ iihirf mNKiatrttto of tho ohiufitat city in tho univorae : nor with //«Ai(ir«i/#«, who hncunio n auceeaaful nnd ranowiied general of a grffnt |t«o|>le, though hia fiithor were »mbUrf nor with /iiWasian, (lie aon ol a poor nomtMri nor with I/immmm, theaon of n pooricAuoi- MM«^«^)'«*» there, that upon aomo diacoverio», which with an handtUI of men he had in a dcuporato oxpedilion made of Peru, he obtain* •d the King of .S/uuM'jt commt«»ion ibr the conqoust of it. and at Inst ao incredibly onriuhod him!tt>U by tho oonqunat. tiiat ho waa made the firat Vice*roy of /VrM, and crt>at«d Maniuoaa of Anatilh, To the latter and higheat part of that atury, if any thing hindrod hia Kucellency Sir Wh.mam Piin>a, fi\>ni ntVortling of ii pamlltl, it wan not the want either of (/«<«^'n, or of i;hi in lust unirtnii/, is) not alwaya a just pri. ouoc of iJmfoi, had the honour of lH>ing tho t»lh«r to him, whom we shall presently see. made bv (bo IumI of lleaven as great a blessing to .\'e:i'' England ^ us (hat country could have hiul, if they themselves had pleased. His frtiitful fMiVAf (*. yet living, had no less than im^nty'six children, whereof fc(vi»fi!4« wert> sons : but equivalent to them ull was Wilijam, one of the youngest, whom bis /«ifA«r dying, let\ young with his HiofAer, and with her he livetl, kt*tHhi( oV sk**p in tht v^iidfrntsf. until he was eighteen Years old ; at wbioii time he bogixn to feel some further di|iositions of mind tVom that tfn>vidcxi« of tjod which totjk ';m» ft\>m the ^ttpt'oldf. frfim /ol- m. UooK U] OR, TlIK IIISTOUY OF NEW-ENCiLAND. IM lowinff tht cwf* f(reat with young, and brought him to f««d /m« peopl*. Hea^ d«r, enquire no I'lirther who wiw hitj'ather 'f i'tiou >hiilt auon sec, that h« WM| M* til* Italiant exprenH it, a ion to hii otvn labour$ f § 3. liii frifinda earneittly Holic.ited him to settie iimong them in a plantation of tho cant ; but he had an unaccountnblo impaltt upon hiit mind, preawading him aa ho would privately hint unto Home of them, that he ivai born to gr$ater matter$, 'i o come at tho»u greater matteni, hi» lirMt contrivance waa to hind himielf an apprentice unto a ihip carpenter for four yean ; in which time be became u matter of the trade, that once in a vMsei of more than '>' tit id tunt, repaired the ■■ ■"- of tho narth ; ./V<;o/t'«, I moan ; hi. i..tin b«.c Simself an hiindre.l at. ' 'U^ milea further a liold, even to lioiton, the Ci.vf town of New-Kngland; which boinK a place of the moit buoinoafl and retort in thooe partti of the world, he expected there more commodinutdy to pmtite the Sptu Majormn 4* MelioruM, hope* which had intpired him. At lioBlon, where it waa that he now learned, lirMt of all to r«aii and tDii/0, ho followed bis trade for about a year ; and by a laudable deportment, no recommended himaelf, that he raarried a young gentlewoman of good repute, who wat the wid- ow of one Mr. John i/u^/, a welUbrcd merchant, but the daughter of one Captain Roger Spenier, a person of good fathion, who having suffered much damage in hix eatate, by some unkind and unjuitt actions, which he bore with such patience, that for fear of thereby injuring tho publick, he would not seek satisfaction, posterity might afterward see the reward of his pati$nce, in what providence hath now done for one of his own posterity. Within a little while ailer his marriage, he indented with sev- oral persons in lioslon, to build them a ship at Sheeps'wat Kiver, two or three leagues eastward of Kennebeck; where having launched the ship, he also provided n 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 Indiana on that river, broke forth into an open and crnci war upon the EngUth ; and the miserable people, sur- prized by so sudden a storm of blood, had no refuge from the iniidcla, but the ship now finishing in the harbour. Whereupon he left his in- tended lading behind him, and instead 'thereof, carried with him his old neighbours and their families, free of all charges to Boston ; so the Jirst action that he did, ader he was his own man, was to save his father's home, with tho rest of the neighbourhood, from ruin ; but the disap- pointment which befcl him from the loss of his other lading, plunged his afl'airs into greater embarasments with such as had employed him. § 4. But he was hitherto no more than beginning to make scaffolds for lurther and higher actions! He would frequently tell the gentlewoman his wife, that he should yet be captain of a King^s shipi 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 Oreen- lane, of North-Boston; and, that, it may be, this would not be all that ihe providence of God would bring him to. She entertained these pas- saged with a sufficient incredulity ; but he had so serious and positive an expectation of them, that it is not easic to say, what was the original thereof. He was of an enterprizing genius, and naturally disdained lit- ihims : but his disposition for business was of the Dutch mould, where, with a little shew of teit, there is as much wisdom demonstrated, as can be shewn by any nation. His talent lay not in the airs that serve chiefly tor the pleasant and sudden turns of converwtion; but he might say, as Thtmistorles. Though he rovtd itot play npnn a fiddle, yet he knew how to Voi. I. on " " I«4 MAGNALIA CHRISTl AMERICANA [Book II. make a little city become a great one. He would prudently contrive a weighty undertaking, and then patiently pursue it unto the end. He was of an iuclinution, cutting rather like a hatchet, than like a razor ; he would propose very considerable matters to himself, and then so cut through them, that no ditiiculties could put by th$ edge of his resolutions. Being thus of the true temper, for doing of great things, he betakes him> self 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, Incertum quo Fata ferant. Having tirst inlormed himself that there was another Spanish wreck, wherein was lost a mighty treasure, hitherto undiscovered, he hrtd a strong impression upon his mind that he must be the discoverer ; and he made audi representations of his design at White- Hall, that by the year 1683, he became the captain of a King"'* ship, and arrived at JVew-England commander of the Mgicr-Ross, a frig- ot of eighteen guns, and ninety-five men. § 5. To relate all the dangers through which he passed, both by sea and land, and all the tiresome trials of his patience, as well as of his tourage, while year after year the most vexing accidents imaginable de- layed the success of his desigp, it would even tire the patience of the reader : for very great was the experiment that captain Phips made of the Italiaa observation. He that cannot suffer both good and evil, will never corns to any great preferment. Wherefore I shall supersede all 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 Mgier-Rose, his men growing weary of their unsuccess- ful enterprize, made a mutiny,, wherein they approached him on the quarter-deck, with drawn swords in their hunds, and required him to join with them in running 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 h jaw-bone in bis hands, yet like another iS%am- gar 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 desolate 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 agree- ment, which they signed in a ring. That about seven o'clock that eve- ning they would seize the captain, and those ei^ht 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 read- er 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 knees 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 Book H.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEWENGLAND ; Ib^ consider of the matter ; and returning to work upon the vessel, with » spy by them set upon him., he feigned himself taken with a fit of the ehol- i(k, for the rehef whereof he suddenly run unto the captain in the grent cabbin for a dram ; where, when he came, his business was only in brief, to tell the captain of the horrible distress which he was fallsn into ; but the captain bid him as briefly return to the rogues in the woodt, and sign their articles, and leave him to provide for the rest. The carpenter was no sooner gone, but Captain Pkips calling together the few friends (it may be seven or eight) that were left him aboard, whereorthe gunner was one, demanded of them, whether they would stand by him in th« eitremity, which he informed them was now come upon him ; whereto they replied. They would stand by him, if he could save them ; and he an* swered, by the help of God he did not fear it. All their provisions had heett carried ashoar to a tent, made for that purpose there ; about which they bad placed several great guns to defend it, in case of any assault from Spaniards, that might happen to come that way. Wherefore Captain Phips immediately ordered those guns to be silently drawned and turn- ed ; 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! And they were soon confirmed in it, when they heard the captain with a stern fury call to them. Stand off, yo ■wretches, at your peril ! He quickly saw them cast into a more than or- dinary 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 desolation which they had purposed for him, he caused the bridge 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 King'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 armA, 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 Hispaniola, where by the policy of his address, he fished out of a very old Spaniard, (t)r Portuguese) a little advice about the true spot tvhere lay the wreck which he bad been hitherto seeking, as unprosperously, as the chymists- have their aurisick stone : that it was upon a reef of shoals, a few leagues to the northward 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 was in the Rose-frigot ; but none of nil these things could retund the edge of his expectations to find the wreck; with i»z\\ expectations he returned then into England, that he might there 'letter furnish himself to prosecute a new discovery; for though he judged: 166 MAGNALIA CHRISTI AAIERICANA [Book 11. he might, by proceeding a little further, have come at the right spot, y«t he fouod hi* present company too ill a crew to be confided in. § 0. So proper wns his behaviour, that the best noble men in the king* dom now admitted him into their converHation ; but yet he was opposed by powerful enemies, that clogged his afl'airs with such demurrages, and such diitappointtnenti, us would have wholly discouraged his designs, if his patience had not been invincible. He who can wait, hath what he de- aireth. This hiH indefatigable patience, with a proportionable diligence, at length overcame the ditliculties that had been thrown in his way ; and prevailing wich the Duke of Albemarle, and some other persons of quali- ty to fit him out, he set sail for i\\e fishing- ground, which had been so welt baited hiilf an hundred years belore : and as he had already discov- ered his capacity for business in many considerable artions, he now added unto those discuveries, by not only providing all, but also by inventing many of the iiiAti-uinents necessary to the prosecution of his intended fishery. Ca|)lim /or some while they distressed with nothing but sw^ bad nezcs. 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 disnppointraents, that when he should look on one side, he might see th?it odd thing before him. At last he saim 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 eot it : T: en, said he, thanks be to God! we are made; and so away they went, all hands to work ; wherein they had this onf liooK 11.) OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 157 further piece of remarkable prosperity, tbut whereus if they had firtt fallen upon that part of the Spaniah wreckt where the piucci of eight bail been stowed in bags among the ballast, they had seen a more laborious, and less enriching time of it : now, moiit happily, they firat fell upon that room in the wreck where the bullion hud been stored up ; and they so prospered in this new Jiihery, that in a little while they had, without the loss of any man's life, brought up ihirty-tvoo turn of «ilver ; ibr it was now rodoe to measuring of silver by tuni. Besides Which, one Adderly of Providenct, 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 tunt of silver ; whereof nevertheless he made fo little use, that in a year or (wo 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 hundred years groaning un- der ihe waters : and in this time there was grown upon the plate a cruKt like limestone, to the thickness of several inches ; which crust being bro- ken open by irons contrived for that purpose, they knocked out whole bushels of rusty pieces of eight which were grown thereinto. Besides thiit incredible treasure of plate in various forms, thus fetched up, from seven or eight fathom under water, there were vast riches of gold, and pearls, and jewels, which they also lit upon ; and indeed, for a more com- prehensive invoice, I must but summarily say. All that a Spanish frigot uses to he enriclud withal. Thus did they continue fishing till their pro- visions failing theti, 'twits time to be gone ; but before they went. Cap- tain 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 year, 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 af- terwards found, that they had in a manner wholly cleared that room of the ship where those massy things were stowed. But there was one extraordinary distress which Captain Phips now found himself plunged into : for his men were come out with him upon seamens' wages, at so much per month ; and when they saw such vast lit- ters of silver sows and pigs, as they call 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 am^rry, in a climate where the arrest of those that had hired them should not reach them. In this terrible distress he made his vows unto Almighty God, that if the Lord would carry him safe home to England with what he had now friven 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 bis people, especially in the country which he did him- self originally belong unto. And he then used nil the obliging arts ima- ginable 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 him- self distribute his own share among them. Relying upon the word of oaf whom they hud 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 money as he thought he could then safely trust his vessel withal ; not counting it safe to sup- ply himself with necessary provisions at any nearer port, and so return 16l HAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA : [Book II unto the wreck, by wliicli delays he wisely feared iMt nil ini|ht be loit, more wayt than one. 'J'hougb he alio left to much behind him, that many from divers parts made very considerable voyages of gUaningi •Acr hit harvest : which cnmo to puss by certain Bermudiani, compel- ling of Adderly's boy, whom they spirited away with them, to tell them the exact place where the wreck was to be found. Captain Phipt nov/ coming up to London in the year 1687, with nenr three hundred thousand pounds sterling aboard him, ifid acquit himself with such an exemplary honesty, that ]>urtly by his fulfilling his assurances to the seamen, and partly by hit exact and punctual care to have his employers defrauded of nothing that might con»cienciously belong unto them, he had lest than nixtten thousand pounds left unto himself: as an acknowledgment of which honesty in him, the Duke oi Albemarle made unto hia wife, whom he never naw, a present of a golden cup, near a t>^ fusand pound in value. The r.haractef 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 per- sons ia the nation ; and he that had been so diligent in hia business, must now stand before Kings, and not stand before mean men. There were in- deed certain mean men, if base, little, dirty tricks, will eutitle men to meanness, who urged the King to seize his whole cargo, instead of the tenths, upon his first crvival ; on this pretence, that he hud not been right- ly informed of the true nidtcofthe case, when he granted the patent, under the protection whereof these /lar/tcu/ai' men had made themselves masters of all this mighty treasure ; but the King replied, that he bad been right- ly informed by Captain Phips of the wliole matter, ns it now proved ; and that it was the slanders of one then present, which had, unto his damsige, hindred him from hearkning to the information : wherefore he would give them, he said, no disturbance ; they might keep what they had got ; but Captain Phips, he saw, was a person of that honesty, fidelity and abili- ty, that he should not want his countenance. Accordingly the King, in consideration of the service done by him, in bringing such a treasure in- to 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 Home circumstances that would justifie it. Or call him, if you please, the knight of honesty ; for it was honesty with industry that raised him ; and he became a mighty river, without the running in of muddy water to make him so. Reader, bow make a pause, and behold one raised by God ! § 7. 1 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 hither- to related no more than what there are others enongh to avouch ; thus I shall chuse the words of an ingenious person printed at London some years ago, to express the sura of what remains, whose words are these ; 'It has always been Sir William Phips'' disposition to seek the ' xvealth of his people with us great zeal and unweariedness, as our publi- ' cans use to seek their loss and ruin. At tirst it seems they were in hopes ' to gain this gentleman to their partyt as thinking him good natured and ' easie to be flattered out of his understanding ; and the more, because ' they had the advantage of some, no very good, treatment that Sir fVil- ' Ham had for»T>erlymet with from the people and government of JVea>-JEng- * land. But Sir fVilliam 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 Ihe greatest worthies that have ever been, he rather ;be lott, lim, that gleaning* , compel- t«U them r;»ipi nov/ d llwuiand exemplary Mmen, und (lefrnuded ,d lets than [jt of which m he never due. The >ur8e of his an with hid reatest per- siness, must ire were in- litle men to Btead of the t been ripht- latent, under ■Ives m«8tev9 d been rif^ht- proved ; and p his daniiige, •e he would ley had got ; ity and abili- the King, in treasure in- .; and if we pretend unto you please, raised him ; jddy water to lised by God ! much as may have hither- to avouch ; d at London ie words are to seek the as our publi- lere in hopes natured and jre, because that Sir Wil- ofJVea)-fing- ley expected be embrsiced less of mind ; sn, he rather Book II] OR, THE HISTORY OF xNEW-ENGLAND. l|f •chose to join ill the defence of his country, with some p«nons who * formerly were none of his friends, than become the head of a faction, * to its ruin and dttsoiation. It seems this noble disposition of sir IVil- ' Ham, jomed with that capacity and good success wherewith he hnth ' been altendcd, in raising himself by such an occasion, as it may be, all ' things considered, has ntver hapftened 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 promoting the good of his native country. When Sir IViUiatn Pkipt was per ardua ^ a/pera, 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 grare of God kept him in the midst of none of the strictest company, unto .>hich his affairs daily led him, from abandoning himself to the lewd vices o( gam- ing, drinking, swearing, and whoring, which the men that made England <© sin, debauched so many of the gentry into, and he deserved the salutations of the Roman poet : Cum Tu, inter scabiem tantam, ^ Contngia Lvcri, Xfil parvvm sapias, 4" adhuc Sublimia cures. 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 lie was now raised, yet none could perceive him to be lifted up. Or, if this were not hero' ick, yet I will relate one thing more of him that must certainly be ac- counted 80. He had in his own country of New-England, met with provocations that were enough to have alienated any man living, that hod 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 ancimt liberties. But this gen- tleman had studied another way to revenge himself upon his country, and that was to serve it in all its interests, with all of his, even with his estate, liis time, his care, h'la friends, and his very life ! The old heathen virtue of piETAS IN PATRiAM, or, Ltovc to oucs country, he turned iu > ■^l:ristian ; and so notably exemplified it, in all the rest of his life, thai t \ ill 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 offers of a very gainful place anongthe commissioners of the navy, r.ith many other invitations to settle himself in England, nothing but a return to JVew- England would content him. And whereas the ;h;irters of JVew-Eng- land being taken away, there was a governour imposed upon the territo- ries with as arbitrary and as treasonable a commission, perhaps, as ever was heard of; a commission, by which th^ governour, with three or four more, none of whom were chosen by the people, had power to make what laws thry 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 execution of his power, the country was every day suflFering intollc- vMe invasions 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 was the most significant thing that could be done by him for that poor people in their present circumstances. In- deed, when King James offered, as ho did, unto Sir William Phips an 1 *▼ 4;-; MAGN/LIA CHRISTI AMERICANA Book If. opportunity to ask what he plased of hicn, Sir William generously prayed for nothing but this, That New-England might have its lost priviledges re- stored. The King then replied, Any thing but that ! Whereupon he set himself to consider what was the next thing that he might ask for the ser- vice, not of himself, but of his country. The result of his considera- tion 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 ; hoping, by his deputies in that oflice, to supply the country still with consciencious juries, which was the only method that the New- Englanders had left them to secure any thing that was dear unto them, l^urnished with this patent, after he had, in company with Sir John Narbo- rough, made a second visit unto the wreck, (not so advantageous as the former for a reason alrcudy mentioned) in his way he returned unto JVew-England in the summer of the year 1688, able, after five years ab- Hence, to entertain his lady with some accomplishment of his predictions ; and then built himself a /hiV 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 this patent ; yea, he was like to have had his person assassinated in the face of the sun, before his own door, which with some further de- signs 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 Wendover 9ays of the time, when strangers were domineering over mbjects in England, Judicia committebantur Injustis, Leges Exlegibus, Pax Discordantibus, Justitia Injuriosis ; ?a\A foxes were made the administra- tors of justice to thepouhrty ; yet some abridgment of them is necessary for the better understanding of the matters yet before us. Now to make this abridgment impartial, I shall only have recourse unto a little book, printed at London, under the title of The Revolution of New-England Justified ; wherein we have a narrative of the grievances under the male administrations of that government, written and signed by the chief gentlemen of the governours''s council ; together with the sworn testimo- niesof 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. That the governour neglecting the greater number of his anmcil, did adhere pricipally to the advice of a few strangers, who were persons without any int'rest in the country, but of declared prejudice against it, and had plainly i.iid their designs to make an unreaonable pt'ifit of the poor people : and four or j^ve persons had the absolute rule uv er a tcrritfl~y, the most considerable qf any belonging to the crown. Tlu-l when laws were proposed in the covncii, thouch : he major part at any time dissented from them, yet if the governour were positive, there was no (aiT counting the number of councellors consenting, or diss-enting^ but the laws were immediately engrossed, published and executed. That this Junto made a law, which prohibited the inhabitHnts of any to-ui:n to meet about their town-affairs above once in a year ; for frar, you must note, of their having any opportunity to complain oi grievances. That thp.y made another /aw. requirinc. all masters of vessels, -even shal- lops and zvood-boats, to give security, that no man shoul-l be transported in t.hom,rvcppt hi* name had been so many days posted up : whereby the Book II.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 161 isly prayed vUedgea re- upon he set for the ser- considera- nce of some gh sheriff of the country hat the New- ' unto them. John Narbo- igeous as the eturned unto jve years ab- j predictions ; liich we fore- infatnous gov the execution jsinated in the le further de- take another . the miseries cJ, by reason ot nmeni wherein, mineering over Exlegibus, Pax the administra- sin is necessary , Now to make |o a little book, / New-England [under the male d by the chiel k sworn testtino- the declaration, lasors. It is in pockets of a few leeches had been filled with/ees, but the whole trade Of the country destroyed ; and all attempts to obtain a rednss of thetie things obstructed ; and when this act had been strenuously opposed in council at 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 the pound of all their estates, and twenty-pence per head, aa poll-money, with a penny in the pound for goods imported, besides a vast excise un wine, rum, and other liquors. That when among the inhabitants of Ipswich, some cf the principal persons modestly gave reasons why they could not chuse a commissioner to tax the town, until the King should first be petitioned for the liberty of an assembly, they were committed unto goal for it, as an high misdemean- our, and were denied an habeas corpus, and were dragged many miles out of their own county to answer it at a court in Boston ; wUere jurors were pickt for the turn, that were not freeholders, nay, that were meer so- journers; and when the prisoners pleaded the priviledges of Englishmen, That they should not be taxed without their owti 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 offi- cers extorted/ees from them that amounted unto an hundred and three- score pounds ; whereas in England, upon the like prosecution, the/ee$ would not have been ten pounds in all. Ailer which fashion the towns- men 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 com- pel the people every where to take patents for their lands : and accord- ingly writs of intrusion 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 possession ; but for these patents there were such exorbitant prices demanded, that fifty pounds could not purchase for its owner an estate not worth two hundred, nor could all the money and moveables in the territory have defrayed the charges of patenting the lauds at the hands of these crocodiles : besides the considerable quit-rents for the King. Yea, 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 towns ; and the agents of the towns going to get a voluntary subscription of the inhabitants to maintain their title at law, they hare been dragged forty or fifty miles to answer as criminals at the next assizes ; the ofiicers in the mean time (ixtorting three poaada per man for fetching them. That if these harpies, at any time^ were a little out of money, they found ways to imprison the best men in the country ; and there appeared not the least information of any crime exhibited against them, yet they were |>ut unto intoUerable expences by these greedy oppressors, and the ben- «^lit of ail habeas corpus not allowed unto them. That packt and pickt juries were commonly made use of, when under a pretended /ornt o/"/ai«), the trouble of some honest and worthy men was 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. Vol. f. 21 The ma 3IAGNAL1A CHRISTI AMERICANA [Book II. grealeit rigour being used still towards the soberest sort of people, whilst in 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 be deni- ed, even by a Randolphian impudence it self, are in that book proved against that unhappy government. N or did that most ancient set of the Phoenician shepherds, who scrued the government o( Egypt into their hands, as old Manelhon tells us, by their vUlanies, during the reigns of those ty- rants, make a shepherd more of an abomination to the Egyptians in all af- ter ages, than these wolves under the name of shepherds have made the remembrance of their French government an abomination to all posterity among the JVew-Englanders ; a government, for which, now, reader, as fast as thou wilt, get ready this epitaph : Nulla quwsita Scelere Potentia diuturna. It was under the resentments of these things that Sir William Phips re- turned into England in the year 1688, in which twice wonderful-year such a revolution was wonderfully accomplished upon the whole government of the English nation, that New-England, which had been a specimen of what the whole nation was to look for, might justly hope for a share in the general deliverance. Upon this occasion Sir William offered his best assistances unto that eminent person, who a little before this revolution betook himself unto White-Hall, that he might there lay hold on all op- portunities to procure some relief unto the oppressions of that afflicted country. But seeing the New- English affairs in so able an hand, he thought the best stage of action for him would now be New-England it 'Self ; and so with certain instructions from none of the least considerable persons at White-Hall, what service to do for his country, in the spring of the year 1689, he hastened buck unto it. Before he left London, a messenger from the abdicated king tendered him the government oi New- England, if he would accept it ; but as that excellent attorney general, Sir William Jones, when it was proposed that the plantations might be governed without assemblies, told the King, that he could no more grant a commission to levy money on his subjects there, zvithout their consent by an assembly, than they could disclutrge themselves from their allegiance to the JEnglish crown. So Sir William Phips thought it his duty to refuse n gov- ernment without an tssembly, as a thing that was treason in the very es- sence of it ; and instead of petitioning the succeeding princes, that hia patent for lagh sheriff' might be rendred effectual, he joined in petitions, that New-England might have its own old patent so restored, as to render ineffectual that, and all other grants tliat might cut short any of its ancient priviledges. But when Sir I^t7/tam arrived at New-England, he found a new face of things ; for about an hundred Indians in the eastern parts of the country, had unaccountably begun a war upon the English in July, 1688, and though the govemour then in the western parts had immedi- ate advice of it, jet he not only delayed and neglected all that was ne- cessary for the /)«6/icfc de/encc, but also when he at last returned, he manifested a most furious displeasure against those of the council, and ail others that had forwarded any one thing for the security of the inhabitants ; while at the sune time he dispatched some of his creatures upon secret Book II.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. e be deni- ,k proved iet of the leir hands, f those ty- is in «ll s»f- made the 1 posterity der, asfast m Phipa re- d-year such government ipecimen of r a share in jred his best } revolution d on all op- that afflicted an hand, he O'England it considerable I the spring ft London, a »ent of JVetJj- ley general, ins might be more grant « Y>ment by an igiance to the 1 refuse a got)- the very es- Ihathis/ja^ent [etitions, that ks to render of its ancient \nd, he found eastern parti ^glish in July, had immedi- 1 that was ne- [returned. he (until, and rH 3 inhabitants ; s upon secret errands unto Canada, and set at liberty some of the most murderous Iti- dians which the English had seized upon. This conduct of the governour, which is in a printed remonstrance of some of the best gentlemen in the Council complained of, did extreamlj dissatisfie the suspiciotis people : who were doubtless more extream in some of their suspioiotis, than there was any real occasion for : but the governour at length raised an army of a thousand English to conquer this hundred Indians ; and this army, whereof some of the chief com- manders were Papists, underwent the fatigues of a long and a cpid win- ter, in the most Cancascean regions of the territory, till, without the kill- ing of one Indian, there were more of the poor people killed, than they had enemies there alive ! This added not a little to the dissatisfaction of the people, and it would much more have done so, if they had seen what the world had not yet seen of the suggestions made by the Irish Catholicks unto the late King, published in the year 1691, in the Account of the state of the Protestants in Ireland, licensed by the Earl of JVotting- ham, whereof one article runs in these express terms. That if any of the Irish cannot have their lands in specie, but money in lieu, some of them may transport themselves into America, possibly near New-England, to clieck the growing Independants of that country : or if they had seen what was afterwards seen in a letter from K. James to his Holiness, (as they stile his foolishness) the Pope of Rome ; that it was his full purpose to have set up Roman-Catholick religion in the £ng/isA plantations otAmert' ca : though after all, there is cause to think that there was more made of the suspicions then flying like wild-iire about the country, than a strong charity would have countenanced. When the people were under these frights, they had got by the edges a little intimation of the then Prince of Grangers glorious undertaking to de'".ver England from the feared evils, which were already /ett by New-England ; but when the person who brought over a copy of the Prince's declaration was impris- oned for bringing into the country a treasonable paper^ and the govern- our, by his proclamation, required all persons to use their utmoU endeav- ours to hinder the landing of any whom the Prince might send thither, this put them almost out of patience. And one thing that plunged the more considerate persons in the territory into uneasie thoua;hts, was the 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 gov- ernour their poor children and brethren, whom they thought bound (m a bloody sacrifice ; and there were also belonging to the Rose-frigot some that buzzed surprising stories about Boston, of many mischiefs to be thence expected. Wherefore, some of the principal gentlemen in Bos- ton consulting what was to be done in this extraordinary juncture, they all agreed that they would, if it were possible, extinguish all essays in the people towards an insurrection, in daily hopes of orders from England for their cafety : but that if the country people by any violent motions pushed the matter on so far, as to make a revolution unavoidable, then to prevent the shedding of blood by an ungoverned mobile, some of the gentlemen present should appear at the head of the action with a decla- ration accordingly prepared. By the eighteenth oil April, 1689, things were pushed on so far by the people, that certain persons first seized the captain of the frigot, and the rumor thereof running like lightning through Boston, the whole town was immediately in arms, with the most tinaniinous resolution perhaps th:»t ever »va(? known to have inspired any 104 MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA: [Book II. people. They then seized those wretched men, who by their innume- rable extortions and abuses had made themselves the objects of universal hatred ; not giving over till the governour himself was become their ;)n.mite me with a deep sence of my • miserable condition, who had lived until then in the world, and had ' done nothing for God. I did then begin to think.wAa^ / shaald do ie b& ' saved ? and did bewail my youthful days, which I had spent in vain : I ' did think that I would begin to mind the things of God. Being theo^ ' some time under your father's ministry, much troubled with my burden, ■ but thinking on that scripture, Come unto me, yon that are weary and ' heavy laden, and I will give you rest ; I had some thoughts of drawing • as near to the communion of the Lord Jesus as I could ; but the ruins ' which the Indian u^ars '^•'ought on my affairs, and the entanglements ' which my following the sea laid upon me, hindrcd my pursuing the welfare of my awn soul as I ought to have done. At length God was ;)lea8cd to smile upon my outward concerns. The various providences, ■ both merciful and afflictive, which attended me in my travels, were sanctified unto me, to make me acknowledge God in all my ways. I have divers times been in danger of my life, and I have been brought to see • that I owe my life to him that has given a life so often to me : I thank God, he hath brought me to see my self altogether unhappy, without ' an interest in the Lord Jesus Christ, and to close heartily with him, ' desiring him to execute all his offices on my behalf. I have now, foi some time, been binder serious resolutions, that I would avoid whatever 1 should know to be displeasing unto God, and that I would serve him all ■ the days of my life. I believe mo man ■will repent the service of such a master. I jind my self unable to keep such resolutions, but my serious 166 « MAGNALIA CHRISTl AMERICANA fBoOK II. ' prayers are to the Most High, that he would ena6/e me. God hath done * 80 much for me, that I am sensible I owe my self to him ; to him would ' I give my self, and all that he has given to me. I can't express bis mercies ' to me. But as soon as ever God hnd smiled upon me with a turn of my ' affairs, 1 had laid my self under the vows of the Lord, Tltat I would ' set my sey to serve his people, and churches here, unto the utmost of my * capftcity. I have had gre»t offers made me in England ; but the church- * es of New England were those which my heart was most set upon. 1 ' knew, tliat if God had a people any where, it was here : and 1 resolved to * rise and fall with them ; neglecting very great advantages for my world- < ly interest, that I might come and enjoy the ordinances of the Lord Je- ' «U8 here. It has been my trouble, that since I came home I have ' made no more haste tfi get into the house of God, where / desire to be : ' especially having heard so much about the evil of that omission. I can ' do little for God, but I desire to wait upon him in his ordinances, and * to live to his honour and glory. My being born in a part of the coun- * try, where 1 had not in my infancy enjoyed the first sacrament of the ' JVew-Testament, has been something of a stumbling-block unto me. But ' though 1 have hacV profers ofbaptism elsewhere made unto me, I resolved ' rather to defer it, until I might enjoy it in the communion of these ' churches ; and 1 have had awful impressions from those words of the * Lord Jesus in Matth. viii. .38, Whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of < my words, of himalso shall the Son of Man be ashamed. When God had < blessed me with something of the world, I had no trouble so great sts ^ this, lest it should not be in mercy ; and I trembled at nothing more than * being put off" with a portion here. That I may make sure of better things, * I now offer my self unto the communion of this church of the Lord < Jesus.' Accordingly on March 23, 1690, after he had in the congregation of North-Boston given himself up, Jirst unto the Lord, and then unto his peo- ple, he was baptized, and so received into the communion of the faithful there. § 10. Several times, about, before and after this time, did I bear him express himself unto this purpose : / have no need at all to look after any further advantages for my self in this world; I may sit still at home, if I will, and enjoy my ease for the rest of my life; but I believe that I should o^end God in my doing so : for I am now in the prime of my age and strength, and, I thank God, I can undergo hardship : he only knows how long I have to live ; but I think His my duty to venture my life in doing of good, before an useless old age comes upon me : wherefore I will now expose my self while lam able, and as far as I am able, for the service of my country : I was born for others, as well as my self 1 say, many a time have I heard him so express himself: and agreeable to this generous disposition and resolution was all the rest of his life. About this time New-England was miserably briared in the perplexities of an Indian war ; and the salva- ges, in the east part of the country, issuing out from their inaccessible swamps, had for many months made their cruel depredations upon the poor English planters, and surprized many of the plantations on the frontiers, into ruin. The New-Englanders found, that while they con- tinued only on the defensive part, their people were thinned, and their treasures wasted, without any hopes of seeing a period put unto the In- dian tragedies ; nor could an army greater than Xerxes^ have easily come at the seemingly contemptible handful of tawnies which made all this disturbance ; or, Tamerlain, the greatest conqueror that ever the worW Book II.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 167 aavr, have made it a business of no trouble to have conquered them i they found, that they were like to make no weapons reach their enswamped adversaries, except Mr. MiltoncouU have shown them how I.I To have pluckt up the hills with all their load, Rocks, waters, woods, and by their shaggy tops. Up-lifting, bore them in their hands, therewith The rebel host to've over-whelm'd So it was thought that the English subjects, in these regions of Antericit, might very properly take this occasion to make an attempt upon the French, and by reducing them under the English government, put an eternal period at once unto all their troables from the Frenchified pagans. This was a motion urged by Sir Willam Phips unto the General Court of the Masaachuset-colony ; and he then made unto the court a brave offer of bis own person and estate, for the service of the publick in their present extremity, as far as they should see cause to make use thereof. Whereupon they made ajirst essay against the French, by sending a naval force, with about seven hundred men, under the conduct of Sir William Phips, against L'Acady and JVbva Scotia ; of which action we shall give only this general and summary account ; that Sir William Phips set sail from J^aniascot, April 28, 1690, arriving at Port-Royal, May 11, and had the fort quickly surrendered into his hands by the French enemy, who de- spaired of holding out against him. He then took possession of that province for the English Crown, and having demolished the fort, and sent away the garrison, administred unto the planters an oath of allegiance to King William and Queen Mary, he left what order he thought conven- ient for the government of the place, until further order should be ta- ken by the governour and council of the Massachuset'Co\ooy , unto whom he returned May 30, with an acceptable account of his expedition, and accepted a place ainong the magistrates of that colony, to which the free- men had chosen him at their anniversary election two days before. Thus the country, once given by King James the first unto Sir William Alexander, was now uy another Sir WiUiam recovered out of the hands of the French, who had afterwards got the possession of it ; and there was added unto the English empire, a territory, whereof no man can read Monsieur Denys* description Geographique Sf Historiqm des Costes de I* Amerique SeptentrioncUe, but he must reckon the conquest of a regioa so improvable, for lumber, for Jishing, for mines, and for furrs, a very cosiderable service. But if a smaller service has, e*er now, ever merited a knigntlwod. Sir WiUiam was willing to repeat his merits by actions of the greatest service possible : Nil Actum credens si quid superesset agendum. §11. The addition of this French colony to the English dominion, was no more than a little step towards a greater aetion, which was first is the design of Sir WiUiam Phips, ani which was, indeed, the greatest aC' Hon that ever the Nevo-Englanders attempted. There was a time when the Philistines had made some inroads and assaults from the northward, upon the skirts of Goshen, where the Israelites had a residence, before their coming out of Egypt. The Israelites, and especially that active colony of the Ephraimites, were willing to revenge these injuries upon tbeir wicked neighbours ; they presumed themslvcs powerful and nu- 168 j«,MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMEHiCANA: [Book If. merouB enough to encounter the CanaemHts, even in their own country ; and they formed a brisk expedition, but caoie off unhappy lowers in it ; the Jexioish Rabbins tell us, they lost no less than eight tkotuaud men. The time was not yet come ; there was more /umle than good apted in the attempt ; they were not enough concerned for the counsel and pre- sence of Uod in the undertaking ; they mainly propounded the plutuler to be got among a people, whose trade was that wherewith beaste enriched them ; so the business miscarried. This history the Psalmist going to recite, says, I will utter dark sayings of old. Mow that what befel Sir William Phips, with his whole country of Ntw-Engluud, may not be almost forgotten among the dark sayings of old, 1 will here give the true report of a very memorable matter. It was Canada that was the chief source of New-England's miseries. There was the main strength of the French; theie the Indians were mostly supplied with ammunition ; thence issued parties of men, who uniting with the salvages, barbarously murdered many innocent JVew-Englanders, without any provocation on the New-English part, except this, that New- England had proclaimed King William and Q. Maiy, which they said were usurpers ; and as Cato could make no speech in the senate with- out that conclusion, Delenda est Carthago ; so it was the general con- clusion of all that argued sensibly about the safety of that country, Can- ada must be reduced. It then became the concurring resolution of all New-England, with New-York, to make a vigorous attack upon Canada at once, both by sea and land. And a fleet was accordintrly fitted out from Boston, under the command of Sir William Phips, to fall upon Quebeque, the chief city of Canada. They waited until August for some stores of war from England, whither they had sent for that purpose early in the spring ; but none at last ar- riving, and the season of the year being so far spent, Sir William could not, without many discouragements upon his mind, proceed in a voyage, for which he found himself so poorly provided. However, the ships being taken up. aud the m n on board, his usual courage would not per- , mit him. to desist from the entcrprize ; but he set sail from Hull near Boston, August 9, 1690, with a fleet of thirty-two ships and tenders ; whereof one, called the Six Friends, carrying forty-four great guns, and two hundred men, was admiral. Sir William dividinne back to Albany. Notwithstanding this dis-spiriting information, the common sol- diers did with much veliemency beg and pray, that they might he led on ; professing, that they hnd rather lose their lives on the spot, than fuil of taking the city ; but the more wary commanders considered how rash a thing it would be, for about fourteen hundred raw men, tirctl with a long voyage, to assault more than twice as many expert soldierd, who were Ualli in suo sterquilinio, or cocks growing on their orcn dunghil. They were, in truth, now gotten into the grievous case which Livy describes when he says, Ibi grave est Bellum gerere, ubi non consistcndi aut proce- dendi locus ; quocumque aspexeris Hostilia sunt omnia ; look on one side or the other, all was full of hostile difficulties. And indeed, whatever popular clamour has been made against any of the commanders, it is ap- parent thut they acted considerately, in making a pause upon what was before them ; and they did a greater kindness to their soldiers than they have since been thanked for. But in this time, General Phips and his men of war, with their canvas wings, 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 ey^r pie : who never discovered himself more in bis 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 sig- nal of any effective action ashoar 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 servicej 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 nnmber of well-shaped wheel-ba^rows, each of them carrying two Pe- tarraros apiece, to march before the men, and make the enemy fly, with as much contempt hs overwhelmed the Philistines, when undone by foxes with torches in their tails ; (remembred in an anniversary diversion eve- ry April among the ancient Romans, taught by the Phenicians.) While the measures to be further taken were debating, there was made an exchange of prisoners, the English having taken several of tho- nt MAONALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA IBoji li. French in diten actioni, and (he French having in their hands divert ol' the Eitglith, whom the Indtane 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 thiit they might, by posseiising themselves of the isle of Or- leant, 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 •uch a condition, as might more sensibly encourage the submission of the inhubitiints 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 ^uebeck it selt. But e're a full council of war could conclude the next steps to be taken, a violent ttorm arose that separated the fleet, and the snow and the cold became so ez- tream, 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 JVew-Englanderg. most unhappily miscarried ; and General Phipi un- derwent a very mortifying disappointment of a design, which his mind W'lH, as much as ever any, set upon. He arrived JVov. 19, at Boston, where, although he found himself, as well as the publick, thrown into very umatie circumstances, yet be had this to comfort him, that neither his courage nor his conduct could reasonably have been taxed ; nor could it be said that any man could have done more than he did, under so many embarattmentt of hit 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 tempest from an army of boss- lepers, which had prepared themselves, as Uis affirmed, that win- ter, to fall upon the New-English colonies, and by falling on them, would probably have laid no little part of the country desolate. And he fur- ther considered, that in this matter, like Israel engaging against Benja- min, it may be, we saw yet but the beginning of the matter : and that the way to Canada now being learnt, the K)undation 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 Brad- wardine. * There was an hermit, who being vexed with blasphemous injections < about the justice and wisdom of Divine Providence, an angel in humane * shape invited him to travel with him, that he might see the hidden judg- * menls of God. Lodging all night at the house of a man who kindly en- * tertained them, the angel took away a valuable cup from their host, at * their going away in the morning.and bestowed this cup upon a very ivicked ' tnan,with whom they lodged the night ensuing. The third night they were ' most lovingly treated at the house of a very godly man, from whom, ' when they went in the morning, the angel meeting a servant of his, ' threw him over the bridge into the water, where he was drowned. ' And the fourth, being in like manner most courteously treated at the < house of a very godly man. the angel before morning did unaccountably ' kill his only child. The companion of the journey being wonderfully ' offended at these things, would have left his guardian: but the angel < tbenft-tbus addressed him, Understand nofw the secret judgments of Gwll * Tht fint man that entertained us, did inordinately affect that cup which I ' took from him ; Uwas for the advantage of his interiour that J took il ' away, and I gave it unto the impious man, as the present re7i'ard of hi% liven oi ». The I on fire ly btorm, le of Or- age tbey but they ountry in ion 01 the It desired my lewer 're a full lent itorm me flo ex- cr. le disnster sr made by I Phipt un- h hie mind at Boston, lirown into that neither taxed ; nor id, under so ,1. He also is voyage to inn army of (1, that win- hem, would l^nd he fur- linst Benja- and that the ver it might likewise, he id by Brad- RooR II.) OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 173 « good work$, which t« all the reward he ii like to have. At for o^r third ' hott, the eervant which I ilew had fanned a bloody design to have ilain hi» * matter, but now, you fee, lUave tared the life of the matter , ami prevented ' tomething of growth unto the eternal punitiment of the murderer. At for * our fourth Aoi(, before hit child wat bom unto htm, he was a very liberal ' and bountiful perton, and he did abundance of good with hit ettate ; but ' wAen he taw he wat like to leave tuch an heir, M grew cpvetous ; wherefore * the toul of the infant it trantlated into paradite, but the occation of tin it, ' you «ee, 'mercifully taken away from the parent. Thus General Fhipt, though he had been used unto diving in his time, would say. That the thingt which had befallen him in thit expedition, werr. too deep to be dived tn(o / § 12. From the time that General Pen made his attempt upon Hitpani- ola, with an army that, like the JVew-Englith forces against Canada, mis- carried after an expectation of having little to do but to poitett and plunder; even to this day, the general disaster which hath attended almost every attempt of the European colonies in America, to make any considerable encroachments upon their neighbours, is a matter of some close reflection. But of the disaster which now befel poor JVew-Eng- land in particular, every one will easily conclude none of the least con- sequences to have been the extream drltt which that country was now plunged into ; there being/oWy thousand pounds, more or less, now to be paid, and not a penny in the treasury to pay it withnl. In this ex- tremity they presently found out an expedient, which may serve as an ex- ample for any people in other parts of the world, whose distresses may call for a sudden supply of money to carry them through any important 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 judg- ed convenient ; and this act was a fund, on which the credit of such a sum should be rendered patsable among the people. Hereupon there was appointed an able and faithful committee of gentlemen, who printed, from copper-platet, a just number of bills, and flourished, indented, and contrived them in such a manner, as to make it impossible to countt>rfeil any of them, without a speedy discovery of the counterfeit : besides which, they were all signed by the hands of three belonging to that com- mittee. These 6t7/9 being of several sums, from two shillings, to tm pounds, did confess the Mastachuset-colony to be endebted unto the per- ;ion in whose hands they were, the sums therein expressed ; nnr! provision was made, that if any particular bills were irrecoverable lost . or torn, or worn by the owners, they might be recruited without any damage to the whole in general. The public debts to the sailors and sol- diers, now upon the point of mutiny, (for, Arma Tenenti, Omnia dat, qvi Jmia negat .') were in these bills paid immediately : but that further erf (Jtt might be given thereunto, it was ordered that they should be accept- ed 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 ivould, in the space of two years at least, fetch into the treasury as much as all the billt of credit, thence emitted, would amount unto, tverc willing to be furnished with bills, wherein it was their advantage to pay their ie army which id invaders, no of the cold, aV- •theless, ak'"^ n of camp-fever, as v/nW as the small-pox, got into the deet, 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 a\ New-Eng- land, whereof some vessels indeed were driven off by cross-winds as far as the fVest-Indies^ before such arrival ; yet there were three or four vesr sels which totally miscarried : one was never beard of, a second was wrecked, but most of the men were saved by another ii\ 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 aAer 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 re- lated. A brigarUine, whereof Captain John Rainsford was coiamander, hav- ing 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 lingular mercy of God unto them, the vessel did not, immediately, sta\'e to pieces, which if it had happened, they must have, one way or another, quickly perished. There they lay for divers days, under abundance of bitter weather, trying and hoping to get ofl* their vessel ; and they sol- emnly set apart one day for prayer with fasting, to obtain the smiles of heaven upon them in the midst of their distresses ; and this especially, that if they must go ashoar, they might not, by any stress of storm, lose the provisions which they were to carry with them. They ^ero at last convinced, that they most continue no longer on board, and therefore, by the seventh of November, they applied themselves, all hands, to get their provisions ashoar upon the dismal island, where they had nothing but a sad and cold winter before them ; which being accomplished, their vessel over- set so, as to take away from them all expectation of getting ofl* the island in it. Here they now built themselves nine small chimney-less things that they called houses ; to this purpose employing such boards and planks as they could get from their shattered vessel, with the help of trees, whereof that squalid wilderness had enough to serve them.; and they built a particular store-house, wherein they carefully lodged and locked the poor quantity of provinons, which though scarce enough to serve a ve^y abstemious company for one month, must now be so stinted, as to hold out six or seven ; and the allowance agreed among them could be no better than for one man, two biskets, half a pound of pork, half a pound of flower, onfifint and a quarter of pease, and two salt fishes per week. This little handful of men were now a sort of commonwealth, extraordinarily and miiai^bly separated from all the rest of mankind ; (but I bel'eve, they thought little enough of an Utopia : wherefore they consulted and concluded such Zaws among themselves, as they judged necessary to their .sab- sistence, in the doleful condition whereinto the providence of God had rastthem ; now ^,« .«,. -^ , n- ...n^' .>,. . ■- , ■^^'-^r >' ^>. ' *. '^ » . — Penitus tola divisos Orbe. .- They set up good orders, as well as they could, among themselves ; and besides their daily devotions, they observed the Lord^s Daysf with more solemn exercises of religion. But it was not long before they begun to feel the more mortal eflects of the strait^ whereinto they had been reduced: their «ftor< comT^ons, their driok of snow-water, their hard, and wet, and smoaky lodgings, {ind w-f 176 IMfAGNALIA CHRtSTI AMERICANA: [BooxII. V iheir grievous despair of mind, overwhelmed some of them, at such u rate, and so ham'Stringed them, that sooner than be 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. The first of their number who died was their doctor, on the iOth of December; and then they dropt away, one after another, till between thirty ani forty of the tixty were buried by their disconsolate friends, whereof every one look- ed still to be the next that should lay his bones in that forsaken region. These poor men did therefore, on Monday the twenty seventh of Janua- ry, keep a sacred fast (as they did, in some sort, a civU one, every day, all this while) to beseech of Almighty God, that his anger might be turned from them, that he 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 pros- pered 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 eve- ry 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 Res unius JEtatis, populus vtVorum/) 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 punishments; 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 /^rovtmns therefrom stolen by divers un- natural children of the Leviathan, while it was not possible for them to preserve their feeble store-house from the stone'wall-hreaking madness of these unreasonable creatures. This trade of stealing, if it had not been stopped by some exemplary severity, they must in a little while, by lot or 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 gantlet for it, yet they were not far from being driven, after all, to make one degree and instance of it capital. There was a wicked Irishman among them, who had such a voracious devil in him, that after divers burglaries upon the store-house, committed 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 otherwise have burst. This amazing, and indeed murderous villany of the Irishman, brought them all to their wit's ends, how to defend themselves from the ruin therein threatned unto them ; and whatever fnet^ocis were proposed, \t 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 spir- itual accounts, to prepare him for it, have executed the sentence, by shooting him to death : concluding matters come to that pass, that if theti had fiot shot him, it>e nust have starved them unavoidably. Such an ac' (ign, rf it were doj c, v»ill doubtless meet with no harder a censure, than «» Book H.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 177 at such u lains to go I manner in The first :einber ; and \ forty of the py one look- ken region, thof Jon«o- veryday.all ht be turned ger, that the ight be pros- jvance upon iswer to eve- le nation (and talis, populus inder a most was one, for id have prom- asion for any common-stock e-kouse divers by divers un- e for them to ■aking madness if it had not little while, by . another ; for ig, or hunting, ; and though not find on the ,. Wherefore, [hat several did ■iven, after all, was a wicked him, that aftei I at last he stole, If with no less lin to have his •therwise have the IrishrMn, lelves from the pvere proposed, [ractows exorbi- mless he were sentenced the istian and spir- ie sentence, by lass, thatifthej/ t. Such an ac- a censure, than that of the seven Eugliahmen, who being in- a boat carried oif to sea from St. Christophers, with but one day's provision aboard for seventeen, singled out some uf their number by lot, and slew them, and eat them ; for which, when they were afterwards accused of murtier, the court, in con- sideration of the inevitable necessity, acquitted them. Truly the inevitable necessity of starving, without such an action, sufiiciently grievous to them all, will very much plead for what was done (whatever it were !) by these poor Anteco3tians. And starved indeed they must have been for all this, if they had not contrived and performed a very desperate adventure, which now remains to be related. 'J'here was a very diminutive kind of boat belonging to their brigantine, 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 ^y-ioaf, intending, if it Were possible, to carry onto Boston the tidings of their woful 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 woun i, and it was a miracle that it was not crushed into a thousand pieces if indeed a thousand pieces could have been splintred 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 » '-'arter of their way, and came to an anchor under Cape St. Lawrence, hbv>; .gseen land but once before, and that about seven leagues o£i', ever s isce thoir first setting out ; and yet having seen the open and ocean sea n'd so vmck as once in nil this while, for the ice that still encompassed them. For their support in this time, the little provisions they brouj^ht with them would not have kept them alive ; only they killed scale i-;:on 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 be- ing devoured by them was not the least of their exercises. The day .following they weighed anchor betimes in the morning, but the norv:esf. 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 assist- ance of God, until, by the thirteenth of April, they got into an island of land, where they made a fire, and killed some fowl, and some seale, and I'ound some goose-eggs, and supplied themselves with what billets of wood were necessary and carriageable for them ; and there they stayed until the seventeenth. 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 iiud, she had been utterly disabled for any further service, and they must have called that harbour by the name, which, 1 think, one a little more northward bears, the Cape without hope. There they must have ended their weary days ! But here the good hand of God again interposed for Vnr. I. ■ 23 . 17^ Jl MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA. [Book II. |#i them ; they got her off ; and though they lost their compass in this hurry, they tufficieatly repaired, another defective one they had ahoard. Sailing from thence, by the twenty-fourth of J\pril, they made Cape Brittoon ; when a thicii fog thre- England in a very deplorable condition, under a governour that acted by an illegal, arbitrary, trsasonable commission, and invaded liberty and property after such a manner, as that no man could say any thing was his own, he did, 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 words promised him to relieve the oppressed people in many instan- ces that were proposed : but when the revolution had brought the Prince and Princess of Oiunge to the throne, Mr. Mather having the honour di- vers times to wait upon the King, he still prayed for no less a favour to New-England, than the full restorsition of their charter-priviledges : and Sir William Phips happening to be then in England, very generously joined with Mr. Mather in some of those addresses : whereto his Majes- ty's answers were always very expressive of his gracious inclinations. Mr. Mather, herein assisted also by the Right Worshipful Sir Henry .Ishurst, a most hearty friend of all such good men as those that once tilled New-England, solicited the leading men of both houses in the Con- vention-Parliament, until a bill for the restoring of the charters belong- ing to New-England, was fully passed by the Commons of England ; but that Parliament being prorogued, and then dissolved, aU that Sisyphceah labour came to nothing. The disappointments whicii 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 tuat method of petitioning the King for a new charter, that should contain more than all the priviledges of the old ; and Sir William Phips, now being again returned into England, lent his ut- most assistance hereunto. U9 MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA [Book 11. ;>Jr The Kiog taking a. voyage (ot Holland before this petition was answer- ed ; Mr. Mather, in the mean while, not only waited upon the greatest part of the Lords of iiis MHJesty'b most honourable Privy Council, of- fering them a paper of rtatonafar the confirmation of the charter-privi- ledgtis granted unto the Mattsachuset-colony ; but also having the honour to be introduced unto the Hueen, he assured her Majesty, that there 'Vere none in the world better uDected 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 hud referred the JVew-Engliali aflair unto the two Lord Chief Justices^ with the Attorney and Solicitor General, there might be granted unto ns wh<)t they thought was reasonable. Whereto the Queen replied, that thu request was reasonable : and that she had spoken divers times to the King on the behalf oi' JS'ew- England ; and that for her o\vn part, she dedired that the people there might not meerly have justice, hut favour done to ih«jm. When the King was returned, Mr. Mather, beiiig by the Duke of Devonshirs hrou^hi into the King's presence on April 28, 1601, humbly prayed his Mitjtsty's favour to New-England; urging, that i* their old charter priviledges might be restored unto them, his M(tm« would ' land his own country, and who was above most men in it, full of affection to the interests 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 peo-r • pie, did not hinder the great and general court of the province to appoint a day of solemn Thanksoiving to Almighty God, (or granting (as the printed order expressed it) a safe arrival to his Excellency our Governour, '^ and the Reverend Mr. Increase Mather, who have industriously endeavour- '^ ed the service of this people, and have brought over with them a settlement f of government, in which their Majesties have graciously given us distinguish- ing marks of their royal favour and goodness. And as the obliged \3ople 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 easie among the heathen : why might they not look for halcy- on days, when they had such a King'' s-fisher for their governour ? Governour Phips had, as every raised and useful person must have, his envious enemies ; but the palest envy of them, who turned their worst 181 MAGNALIA CHRISTl AMERICANA [Book II. # enmity upun him, cuuld not hinder them from confeaiing, That according to the beit of h auprehention, he ever sought the good of hit crvntry : his country quickly felt thin on innumcrnble occHHion* ; and tliey ha'l it emi- nently demon«trut«d, as well in his proinuting ond approving i!ici coonciPs choice of good ju(^.i(£ti, juttictt and sheriffs, which being once established no successor covild remove them, as in his urgitii; the general assembly to make themselves happy by proparin^ " body of irood laws as fast as they could, which being passed by liii in hiH time, ruuld not be nulled by any other after him. fit: would otten speak io the members of the General Assembly in such term^ an these, Gentlemen, you may make your selves at eaiie at you will for ever; consider what may have ">ty tendency to your welfare ; and you may be surf, that whatever bills you itff'er to me, consistent with the hon- our ^nd interest of the Crown, I'll pass them readily ; I do but seek oppor- tunities lit serve you : had il not been for the sake of this thing, I had never accepted the government of (iiis pmrince ; and whenever you have settled such a body of good laws, tluit no person coming after me may make youuneasie, J shall desire not one day longer to continue in the government. Accord- ingly 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 hunger of «' 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 honourable acknowl- odgments. But yet be m'i«dcd the pres'^rvation of the King's rights with as care- ful am] faithful a r.o.al as became a good steward for the crown : and, in- deed, he «iudied nothing more than to observe such a temper in all things, as to eiinguish 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 intinite avarice and villany ; and referring to this time, the apostle John 'lad a vision of people killed with the beasts of the earth. But Sir V/illiam Phips was none of those governours ; wonderfully contrary to this wretchedness was the happiness of JVew-England, when they had Governour Phipj, using the tenderness of a father towards the people ; tmd being of the opinion, Ditaremagis esse Regium quatn Dites- cere, that it was a braver thing to enrich the people, than to grow rich himself. A father, 1 said ; and what if I had said an angel too? If I should from Clemens ALxandrinus, from Theodoret, and from Jerom, and others among the ancients, as well as from Calvin, and Bucan, and Peter Martyr, and Chemnitfus, and Bullinger, and a thousand more among the modems, bring authorities for the assertion, That each country and prov- ince 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 lliis purpose. His singulis, suos Attributos, esse Angelos, ex Daniele, magno consensu, fy Judvei 4* Christiani veteres colligebant. But Jiew-England had now, besides the guardian-angel, who more in- visibly intended its welfare , a governour that became wonderfully agree- able thereunto, by his whole imitation of such a guardian-angel. He employed his whole strength to guard his pc^^lc from all disasters, which threatned them either by sea or land ; ai; remarked, that nothing [BonK li. Book II] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 185 Kat according Cfvniry : hiu y hal iit «ini- ilie coancil's ce established al atttmbly to D* fast as they nuU«d by any I Assembly in a» taiie a» yow rwelfart} and t( voith the hon- but $eek oppor- ng, I had never lare tettled tucji tike yowuneaiie, nent. Accord- vince proposed his assent unto I were to ask it : sBion upon him. B publick, while arable acknowl- nts with as care- crown : and, in- a temper in all ruish -, even the time when the lours, who were to this time, the ' the earth. rs ; wonderfully J.England, when ther towards the ium quam Dites- ban to grow rich Lngei too ? If • [from Jerom, ami Ifiucon, and Pettr 1 more among the \wntry and profv- lar deputation oj fcreater authority Ky assert it : and fcj, has a passage tlo», ex Danielt, \el, who more ia- Uderfully agree- i-dian-angel. He |\ disasters, which Iked, that nothing remarkably disastrous did beful that people from the time of his arrival to the government, until there arrived an order for his leaving it : (ex- cept one thing which was begun before he entred upon the government ;) but instead thereof, the Indians were notably defeated in the assai'lts which they now made upon the tlv^lish, and several French ships did also very advantageously full into his hiinds ; yea. there was by his means a peace restored unto the province, that had been divers years languishing under the hectic feaver of a lingring war. And there was this one thing more that rendred hi more desirable ; that whereas 'tis impossible for » without some error ; whenever this governour Wi. in any of his administrations, he would immediately it with all possible ingenuity ; so that if any ocou>i> arose, it was usually his endeavour that it should not lon^ overnmcnt the ui:m to govern " ■9' V W PhotDgraphic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 '^^^ 180 MA6NALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA. [Book il. time when scores of poor people bad newly fallen under a prodigioas pouessioh of devils, which it was then generuliy thought had been by "wilchcrafts introduced. It is to be confessed and bewailed, that many in- habitants of New-England, and young people especially, had been led away with little torcerita, wherein they did secretly those things that were not right against the. Lord their God ; they would often cure hurts with ' apetls, and practise detestable conjurations with sieves, and keys, and pease, and nails, add horse-shoes, and other 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 for- tune-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 letter'' 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 jSner witchcraft ; until, 'tis well, if some of thera were not betrayed into what is grosser, and more sensible ■ and capital. Although these diabolical divinations are more ordinarily cofnmitted perhaps all over the whole world, 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 signal- ieed his vengeance against these wickdinesses, with such extraordinary dispensations 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 moreexplicitely Engaged and imployed, now brokt: in upon the country, after as astonishing a manner as was ever heard of. Some ijcores of people, first about Salem, the centre hnd first-bom of all the towns in the colony, and afterwards in several other places, were arrest- ed with many preternatural vexations upon their bodies, and a variety of cruel torments, which were evidently inflicted from the damons of the invisible world. The people that were infected and infested with such damons, 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 ap- peared in more humane circumstances. These torm^entors tendred unto the afflicted a book, requiring them to iign it, or to touch it at least, 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 blackman, as they called him, would apply them- selves to torture them with prodigious molestations. The afflicted wretches were horribly distorted end convulsed} they were pinched black and blue : pins would be run every where in their flesh ; they would be scalded until f:hey had blisters raised on them ; and a thousand other things before hundreds of witnesses were done- unto them, evidently prefenii3(<«rfl/ : for if it were preternatural to keep a rigid fast for nine, yea, for fifteen days together ; or if it were preter- natural to have one's hands tyed 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 pretema^itra/ things were endured by them. But of all the preternatural things which befel these people, there were none more unaccountable than those, wherein the prestigious da- mons would ever now and then cover the most corporeal things in the world with a fascinating mist of invisibility. As now ; a person was cruelly assaulted by a spectre, that, she said, run at her with a spindle, OK 11. Book II.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW -ENGLAND. 1*7 Jigioas ien by any in- een led at were rts with Apeaie, ings for oka had tble for- }et upon ider the ID honest iiadbeen , well, if seneible * rdinarily 5 country rship and he signal- lordinary ^ by some e in upon if. Some of all the ire arrest- variety of Dfis of the with such ition upon evil of a that ap- them to listed in res under ply Ihem- Lle, there Igious da- Igs in the Irson was la tpindlt, though no body else in the room could see either the specire or the spin- dle : at last, in ber agonies, giving a snatch at the spectre, she puUei* the spindle away ; and it was no sooner got into her hand, but the other ibilis then present beheld that it viae indeed a real, proper, iron spindie; which when they locked up very safe, it was nevertheless by the damons taken away to do farther mischief. iv:>«$ Again, a person was haunted by a most abusive «pectre, which cabie^o her, she said, with a sheet about her, though seen to none but herself. After she had undergone a deal of teaze from th6 annoyance of the »ec- tre, 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 %vere present, a palpable corner of a sheet : and her father, which was now holding of bci^i catched, that he might keep what his daughter had so strangely seized ; but the spectre had like to.have wrung his hand off, by endeavouring 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. Also, it is well known, that these wicked spectres did proceed so ht a^ to steal several quantities of money from divers people, part of which individual money was dropt sometimes out of the air, before sufficient spectators, into the hands of the afflicted, while the spectres were urging them to subscribe their covenant with death. Moreover, poisons to the standers-by, wholly invisibly, were sometimes forced upon the afflicted ; which when they have with much reluctancy swallowed, they have neo/n presently, so that the common medicines for poisons have been found ne- cessary to relieve them : yea, sometimes the spectres in the struggles have so dropt the poisons, that the standers-hy have smelt them, and viewed the«i' and beheld the pillows of the miserable stained with them. Yet more, the miserable have complained bitterly of burning rags run i.-ito their forceably distended mouths ; and though no body could see any such clothes, or indeed any^res in the chambers, yet presently the scalds were seen plainly by every body on the mouths of the complainers, and not only the smelt, but the smoke of the burning sensibly filled the cham- bers. Once more, the miserable exclaimed extreamly of branding irons heating at the fire on the hearth to mark them ; now though the standers- by could see no irons, yet they could see distinctly the print of them in theashes, 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 ns much mother-wit certainly as the rest of mankind, know them to be true, 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 justitied, if it be re- quired by the oaths of more considerate persons than any that can ridi- cule these odd phanomena. But the worst part of this astonishing tragedy is yet behind ; wherein Sir fVUliam Phips, at List being dropt, as it were from the machin of heaven, was an instrument of easing the distresses of the land, now so darkened by tlie wrath of the Ijord of Hosts. There were very worthy men upon the spot where the assault from hell was first made, who ap- 19B MAQNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA [BookH. ]^rehended themselveB called from the Ood of Heaven, to sift the bosineM unto the bottom of it ; and indeed, the continaal impreMsiona, which the oatcries 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, as driven unto it by a conacienee of duty to God and the world. They did in the first place take it for granted, that there are witchet, or wicked children of men, who upon covenanting with, and conuniasioning of evil spirita, are attended by their OHnistry to accomplish the things desired of them : tosatisfie them in which perswasion, they had not only the asaertiona of the holy acrvp- turea i assertions which the witch^dvoeatea cannot erade without shifts, too foolish for the prudent, or too profane for any honeat man to use ; and they had not only the well-attested relatione of the gravest authors frOm Bodin to Bovet, and from Binsfield to Brombal :.jd Baxter; to deny all which, would be as reasonable as to turn the chronicles of all naticns into romances of Don Qwtxof and the Seven Charipiona ; but they had ako an ocular demonatration in one, who a little before had been executed for witchcraft, when Joaeph Dudley, Esq. was the chief-judge. There was one whose magical images were foi^nd^ and who confeating her deeda, (when ^ jury of doctors returned her compos mentis) actually shewed the whole couk't, by what ceremonies used unto them, she directed her fa' miliar ^irita how and where tu cruciate the objects of her malice ; and the experiment being made oVer and over again before the whole court, the ^eet followed exactly in the hurts done to the people at a distance from her. The existence of such witches wna 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 confeanona of some accused persons to confirm them in it : but then they took one thing more for granted, wherein 'tis now as generaUy thought they went out of the way. The afflicted 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 ex- amine them. When many of the accused came upon their examination, it was found, that the damans then a thousand ways abusing of the poor <\fflicted people, had with a marvellous exactness represented them ; yea, it was found, that many of the accused, but casting their eye on th ' > ^''c(- ed, the afflicted, though their faces were never so much anotl f y, would fall down and lye in a sort of a swoon, wherein they woulu . uo- ue, whatever bands were laid upon them, until the hands cf the accused came to touch them, and then they would revive immediately ) and it was found, that various kinds o{ 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 pre- tematurally done upon the bodies of the afflicted, though they were so far asunder, that the afflicted could not at 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 i^ould be left on iheirjlesh, but the very s/aver of spittle too ; and there wouldappear justsuchaseto/'tee^ftaswasia the accused, even such as might be clearly distinguished from other peo> pies. And usually the afflicted went through a terrible deal of seeming difficulties from the tormenting spectres, and must be long waited on, be- fore they could get a breathing space from their torments to give in their testimonies. BooE II.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 189 Now mady good men took op an opiDion,that the promdenc* of Ood would not permit an iiutocetUper$on to come under such a spectral repreHtUatiom ; and that a concurrence of w many circumstances would prove an oeeut- ed person to be in a cm^edtracy with the dmmont thus afflicting of the neigb< boon ; they judged, that except these things might amount unto a cwn' victiony it would scarce be possible ever to etmvictawiteh ; and they hcd some philosopkieal lehetnes of witehcrtft, and of the method and manner wherein magical poiaona operate, which further supported them in their opinion. y: Sundry of the aceuaed persons were brought unto their triaii while this opinion was yet prevailing in the minds ofthe^'uc/g^esand the juries, and perhaps the most of the people in the country, then mostly suffering ; and though against some of them that were tried there came in so much other evidence .of their diabolical compacts, that some of the most judi- cioua, and yet vehemetU opposers of the notions then in vogue, pubUckly declared, Had they themaehea been on the bench, they could not have acquit- ted ihemi nevertheless, divers were condemned, against whom the chief evidence was founded in the spectral exhibitiims. And it happening, that some of the euscused coming to confess them- selves gih/^y, their shapes were no more seen by any of the afflictad^ though the confession bad been kept never so secret, but instead there* of the accuaed themselves became in all vexations just like the affiietad} this yet more cofirmed many in the opinion that had been taken up. ■»-■ And another thing that quickened them yet more to act upon it, wai, that the afflicted were frequently entertained with apparitions of ghosts 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 per* sons represented in the spectres. Once or twice these apparitions were seen by others at the very same time that they shewed themselves to the afflicted ; and seldom were they seen at all, but when something; un- usual and suspicious 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 ghost, or the persons accused by the apparitions ; and yet the accused upon examination have confessed the murders of thoxe very persons, though these accused also knew nothing of the appa- ritions 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 tn'^rder* did seem to call for an enquiry. On the other part, there were many persons of great judgment, piety and experience, who from the beginning were very much dissatisfied at these proceedings ; they feared lest the devil would get so fkr 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 bis lies, whereupon what a desolation of name«, yea, and of lives also, would enr sue, a man might without much witchcraft be able to prognosticate ; and they feared, lest in such an extraordinary descent ofividced spirits from their fttgAjv/aees upon us, there might such prmctp^es be taken up, as, when put into practice, would unavoidably cause the righteous to perish with the wicked, and procure the blood-shed of persons like the Gibeonites, whom some learned men suppose to be under a false pretence of witch' craft, by Saut exterminated. 190 MAGNALIA CHUISTl AM£RICANA : [Book If. However oncoinm< < it might be for gutitlfM ptnona to come under •ucb unaccountable circumstances, as were on so many of the accused, they held some tkit%g8 there are, which if Buffered to be CMnmon, would eub- vert government, cdtd dieband and ruin humane sodeiyt yet God 8ometit$u$ may suffer such things to evens, that we may hnovo thereby how nttich we ire bsholden to him /nr that restraint which he lays upon the in/irnal spirits, who would else reduce a world into a chaos. They bad already krown of •ne at the town of Groton hideously agitated by devils, vf ho in her fits cried out much tigninst a very godly woman in the town, and when thait woman approached unto her, though the eyes of the creature were ne> ▼er so shut, she yet manifested n violent sense of her approach : but when the gracious woman thus impeached, had prayed earnestly with and for this creaire cried oiU ■ea, and wr- it reputation The charac- for though lucb of them men foresaw they first ad- est privacy ; in pureuauce itions for any with /asking, ourses were lis ensnaring [sters of the [turn, (drawn -n informed) icrafts, thtn \uch credulity door opened fvantage oroer 1 of enquiry, \may be mat- I conviction ; It an exceed- Hally if tfuy \h at may lyf iere tnay he ppenness, a» ty nothing vhereof tnay liven by wc/i I a case. Book II.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND i Idi FreiMmptioM, whereupon persons may be committed^ and nmeh more con- victions, whereupon persons may be condemned as guilty of witchcraAs, nuglU certainly to be more considerable, than barely the accused person's be- ing represented 6;/ a spectre to the afflicted : inasmuch as it is an undoubt- ed and a notorious thing, that a daemon may, by QodU pertnission, appear even to ill purposes in the shape of an innocent, yea, and a virtuous man : nor can we esteem alterations made in the sufferers, by u lock or touch iof the accused, to be an infallible evidence of guilt ; but frequently liable tobe- abused by the devil's legerdemains. fVe know not whether some remarkable affronts given to the devils, by f*ur dis-believing of those testinumies whose whole force and strength is from them tdone, 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 cotin««I 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 difiBculties : in which treatise he did, with demonstrations of in- comparable reason and reading, evince it, thati^iSSaton may appear in the shape of an innocent and a virtuous person, to afflict those that suffer by the diaboliccU molestations: and that the ordeal of the sight, and the touch, is not a conviction of a covenant with the devil, but liable to great exceptions against the lawfulness, as well as the evidence of it : and that either a free and fair confession of the criminals, or the oath of two credi- ble 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 misit JVatura Feras, 4* Monstra per Orbem, Misit 4* Alciden qui fera Monstra domet. The Dutch and French ministers in the province of JVew-York, having likewise about the same time their judgment asked by the Chief Judge of that province, who was then a gentleman of JVew-England, they gave it in under their hands, that if wc believe no venefick 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, in 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 ppirit of the country to run as vehemently ijpon the acquitting of all tHe accused, af it by mistake ran at first upon the condemning of them. Some that had been zealously 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 19£ MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA : [Book II. ever seen since God made tnan upon the earth, yet they did ao recede from their con/einoni, that it was very clear, some of them had been hitherto, in a sort of a preternatural dream, wherein they had said of thenudvei, they knew not what thetnaehes. In fine, the last courts that sate upon this ttwrny but{.ne$t, finding that it was impossible to penetrate into the whole meaning of the things that had happened, and that so many untearehable cheate were interwoven into the conclution of a mysterious busineis, which perhaps had not crept thereinto at the beginning of it, they cleared the aeeueed as fast as they tried tLem ; and within n little while the afflicted were most of them de- livered out of their trouble* also : and the land had peace restored unto it, by the Qod of peace, treading Satan under foot. Erasmus, among other historians, does tell us, that at a town in Germany, a damon ap- peared on the top of a chimney, threatned that he would set the town on Jire, and at length scattering some ashes abroad, the whole town was presently and horribly burnt unto the ground. Sir William Phips now beheld such damons hideously scattering Jire about the country, in the exasperations which the minds of men were on these things rising unto ; and therefore when he had well canvwed a cause, which perhaps might have puzzled the wisdom of the wisest men en earth to have managed, without any error in their administrations, he thought, if it would be any error at all, it would certainly be the st^est for him to put a stop unto all futuie prosecutions, as far as it lay in him to do it: He did so, and for it he had not only the printed acknowledgments of the J^ew-Englanderi, who publickly thanked him. As one of the tribe of Zebulun, raised vp from among themselves, and spirited as well as com- missioned to be tlie steers-man of a vessel befogged in the mare mdrtuumof witchcraft, who now so happily steered her course, that she escaped ship- wrack, and was safely again moored under the Cape of Good Hope ; and cut asunder the Circaean knot of enchantment, more difficult to be dissolved than the famous Gordian one of old. But the QjDEEN also did him the honour to write unto him those gra* cious letters, wherein her Majesty commended his conduct in these inex- plicable matters. And I did right in calling these matters inexplicable. For if, after the kingdom of &weden (in the year 1669, and 1670,) had some hundreds of their children by night often carried away by spectres to an hellish rendezvous, where the monsters that so spirited them, did evei^ way tempt them to associate with them ; and the Judges of the kingdom, after extraordinary supplications to heaven, npon a strict en- quiry, were so satisfied with the confessions of more than twenty of the accused, agreeing exactly unto the depositions of the affiicted, that they pot 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 witchcrafts at all in the whole affair ; it must not be wondred at, if the people of J^ew-England are to this hour full of doubts, about the steps which were taken, while a a;ar from -the invisible world was terrifying of them ; and whether they did not kill some of their own side in the smoke and notse of this dreadful 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 Parlia- ment, upon good grounds, voting their sense of it, and many persons most justly hojnged, drawn and quartered, for their share in it : when yet there are enough, who to this day will pretend, that they cannot com- OOK II- Book II.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW.ENGLAND. 199 recede td been I «aid of ig Ihot it ings that >Ten into sot crept M they them de- )red uoto IS, amoDg (Ewon ep- the town town waa tering fir« men were canvased a wisest men rations, be ) the mf»*i lay inhiin idgments of the dians; hut 9il the English offers, kindnesses, courtesies were barbarously requited by them, with new acts of the most perfidious hostility. Mot- withstanding all this, there were still some nice people that had their scruples about the jwtice of the war ; but upon this new submission of the Indians, if ever those rattle-snakes (the only rattle-makes, which, they say, were ever seen to the northward of Merimack-river) should -stir again, the most scrupulous persons in the world must own, that it must be tlie most unexceptionable pi^ce of justice in the world for to extin- .guishtkem. Thus did the God of heaven bless the unwearied applications of Sir William Pkips, for the restoring of jieai-e unto JVetv-£flg'/an(i, when the country was quite out of breath, in its endeavours for its own preservu- tion from the continual outrages of an inaccessible enemy, and by the jioverty coming in so like an armed tnan, from the unsuccessfulness of their former armies, that it could not imagine how to take one step fur- ther in its wars. The most happy respite of peace beyond Merimack- ■rivtr being thus procured, the governour immediately set himself to use «li possible methods, that it might be peace, like a river, nothing short ot everlasting. 300K II* Is of all Dce onto !e, to and lief ov«»r I for ever England, would ut- iny enemy y of their captives, ble speed, nr Majei- id for ever >rmer pos- any claims le and com- i$h and the :he Qentral th the con- le hereafter ate revenge e made unto tiiUing th«m- % thus made, f : and then them, (with it as dark as jhly begin to r way to ob- iglish revolu- snt then em* with the J«i^ barbarously tility. Not- it had their ibmission of ikes, which, Iver) should own, that it For to extin- lotions of Sir i, when the in preserva- I and by the Issfulness of Ine step fur- Merimadt' nself to use Ling short ot Book II.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. ^ He therefore prevailed with two or three gentlemen to join with him, in sending a supply of Mcessarie$ for life unto the Indians; antil'the General Assembly could come together to settle the Indian-trade for the advantage of the publick, that the Indians might not by necessity be drir* en again to become a French propr!>s,in all respects, exceedingly robwt, and able to conquer sach dif- ficulties of ^t and of travel, as would have killed most men alive : nor did the fat, 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 com«/y, though a very manly countenance : a countenance where any true skill in pkyri- ognomy would have read the characters of a generous mind. Wherefore pafpsing to his «n(ertor, the very first thing which there offered it self unto observation, was a roost incomparable generosity. And of this, besides the innumerable instances which he gave in his usual hatred o( dirty or little tricks, there was one instance for which 1 must freely say, I never saw three men in this world that equalled him ; this was his wonderfully forgiving spirit. In the vast variety of Justness, through which he raced in his time, he met with many and mighty inju- ries ; bat althoogh I have heard all that the most venemous malice could ever Atss at his memory, I never did hear unto this hour, that he did ever once deliberately revenge an injury. Upon certain affronts he has made sadden returns that have shewed duUer enough, and he has by blow, as well as by word, chastised incivili- ties : he was, indeed, sufficiently impatient of being put upon ; and when base men, surprizing him at some disadvantages (for else few men dent have done it) have sometimes drawn upon him, he has, without the witk* ed madness of a formal duel, made them feel that he knew how to eorrea fools. Nevertheless, he ever declined a ddiberate revenge of a wroi^ done unto him ; though few men upon earth have, in their mcissitudts, been furnished with such frequent opportunities of revenge, as htaven brought into the hands of tbia gentleman. Under great provocations, he would commonly say, *Tit no matter, l*i fAem alone ; some time or other theyll see their weakness and rashness, and have occasion for me to do them a kindness : and they shall then see I have quite forgotten all their baseness. Accordingly 'twas remarkable to see it, that raw men ever did him a mischief, but those men afterwards had oc- Book It* \ country id. Th« y ; it OMt ved; and inot/ that for home h tneha«t- 01 now m- ■eotly and I captivcd Ml EngH^ nto p'oVf*" ing off Sir in this re- npOD th« ft, the fie- been look* beyond the ell as thick : ler •uch dif* alive : nor I, take away y, though a ill in phjfii- Wherefore it self unto gave in his for which 1 Uhim; this of butineu, lighty inju' lice could he did ever are shewed Ised incivili- and when men derst lut the witk' \vr to correct lof a wrwig 1 vicittitudu, as Atoven matter, M IwfcneM. and see I have lie to see it. Lrde had oc* Boon II.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-CNOLAND. IQT casion for him to do them a Jk*iwiiiM« ; and he did the kintkun with as for- cetful a 6rov«ry, as if tho mitehie/ had never been done at all- The Emporor Theodeteiui himself could not be readier to forgive ; so wor- thily did he verifie that observation. Quo qmequt e$t Major, magit ett Pheabatie Ira, Et Faeitee Motue, Mene generoia eapit. ' > In those places of power whereto the providence of God by several degreee raised him, it still fell out so, that before his rite thereunto he underwent such things as ho counted very hard abuses, from those very persons over whom the Divine Providence nftenvards guvo him the o«- cendani. By such triah, the wisdom of iieaven still prepared him, as David before him, for eucceeiive advaucemcnti ; and as he behaved himself with a marvellous long-euffering, when he was tried, by such mortifications, thus when he came to be advanced, he convinced all mankind, that he had perfectly hUried all the old offences in an eternal amnesty. I was my self an ear'witnete, that one, who was an eye-witneu of his behaviour under such pro6aUon« of his patience, did, long before his arrival to thai honour, say unto him. Sir, forgive tkoee that give you theie vexationt, ami. iiinow that the Ood of heaven intende, before he hat done with you, to mal^ you the gffvemour of New*England ! And when he did indeed become the governour of New-England, he shewed that he still continued a gov- emour of himeelf, in his treating all that had formerly been in ill terms with him, with as much favour and freedom, as if there had never hap- pened the least exasperations : though any governour that kens Hobbi- anism, can easily contrive ways enough to wreak u spite, where he owes it. It was with some christian remark, that he read the Pagan-story of the renewed Fabius Maximus, who being preferred unto the highest office iu the commonwealth, did, through a zeal for his country, overcome the greatest contempts that any person of quality could have received.— AfiHtih'nf the master of the horse, and the next person in dignity to him* Helf, did first privately traduce him, as ouo that was no soldier, and less politician ; and he afterwards did both by speeches and letters prejudice not only the army, but also the senate against him, so that Minutiut was now by an unpresidented commission brought into an equality with Fo' bins. 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 Minutiut 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 dic- tates 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 anticnts upon such an history, cried out. If heathent can do thus much for tlie glory of their name, what thall not chrittiant do fo\r the glory of heaven ! And Sir fVilh'am Phipt did so much more than thut much, that besides his meriting the glory of such a name, as Phippius Maximus, he therein had upon him the symptoms of a title to the glorv of heaven, in the seal of his own pardon from God. Nor was this gene- rosity in his Excellency the Governour of New-England, unaccompanied 198 MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA: [Book H. with many other excellencies ; whereof the piety of his carriage towards God is worthy to be 6r8t mentioned. it is true, he was very zealous for all men to enjoy each a liberty of conscience J as he judged a native right of mankind : and he was eztreamfy troubled at the over-boiling zeal of some good men, who formerly took that wrong way of reclaiming herelicks by persecution. For this gene- rosity, it may be, some would have compared him unto Gallio, the gov- ernour of Achaia, whom our preachers, perhaps with mistake enough, think to be condemned in the scripture, for his not appearing to be a jddge, in matters which indeed fel! not under his cognizance. And I shall be content that he be compared unto that gentleman ; for that Gallio was the brother of Setteca, who gives this character of him. That tliere was no man who did not love him too little, if he could love him anymore ; and, that there was no mortal so dear to any, as he was to all; and, that lie 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 tiiighty show of devotion ; and when he saw any that were evidently careful to make a show, and es* pecially, if at the same time they were notoriously defective in the du> ties of common justice or goodness, oi- the duties of the relations ivherein God had stationed them, he had an an extream aversion for them. Nevertheless he did show a conscientious desire to observe the laws of the Lord Jesus Christ in tiis conversation ; and he conscientiously at- tended 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 eve- ning 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 go>')d men to come and fast and pray with him at his house for the suc- cess thereof; and when he had succeeded in what he had undertaken, he would prevail with them to come and keep a day of solemn thanks- giving 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; be 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 where- ever he S3w the fear of God, in one of a Congregational, or Presbyterian^ or Antipmdobapiist, or Episcopalian perswasion, he did, without any dif- ference, 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 mdnistcrs 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 religioii in truth, was one principle that ai- Sedvirtue 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 southern pans 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 inexpressible how much the courage of those fierce mortals v/a"! fortified by thiit opinion. ,, ..^.. ,^, ,^ ,-«^»., ., • Sj^- x*^* [Book II- ;e towards X liberty of eztreamly aerly took this g«ie- », the gov- le enough, ng to he a leman; for ter of him, dd love him was to oil} ire a liberty tneas, either if devotion ; flow, and es- e in the du« ions wherein them. rve the laws ientiously at- f, on lecture*, ning and evc- etings of the would invite ! for the 9UC- undertaken, llemn thanks- knifested by upon them; ..ten; and in I, but where- ^retbyterian, lout any dif- 1 wen, whose L ; even the fas faithfully It admonition lained with a tple that ad- [to a degree Ms from the r when so to lith a valiant I instructed wherein ifi^y d of wor fof tree mortals ^ooK II.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 199 But when Sir William Phipa was asked by some that observed his val- iant contempt of deoA, what it was that made him so little afraid of dyings he gave a better grounded account of it than those Pagans cou!d ; his answer was, / do humbly believe, that the Lord Jesus Christ shed his pre- cious blood for me, by his death procuring my peace with God : and suhut should I mm be afraid of dying for ? But this leads tas. to mention the humble ^nd modest carriage in him to- wards other men, which accompanied this his pieiy. There were certain pomps belonging unto the several places of honour, through which he passed ; pomps that are very taking to men of little souls : but although he rose ^om so little, yet he discovered a marvellous contempt of 4hose airy things, and as far as he handsomely could, he declined, being cere- moniously, or any otherwise than with a Dutch modesty waited upon.. And it might more truly be said of him, than it was of Jiristides, He was never seen the prouder for any honour that was done him from his coun- trymen. Hence, albeit I have read that complaint, made by a worthy man, / have often observed, and this not without some blushing, that even good peo* pie have had a kind of shame upon them, to acknowledge their low beginning, and used all arts to hide it. 1 could never observe the least of that fault in this worthy man ; but he' would speak of his own low beginning with. as much freedom and frequency, as if he had 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 vessels, as Plutarch hath informed us : it was counted an humility in Archbishop fVilligis, the son of a Wheelright, therefore to have wheels hung about his bed-chamber, with this inscrip' . tion, Recole undo Veneris, i. e. Remember thy original. But such was tk j humility and lowliness of this rising man ! Not only did he after his return to his country in his greatness, one day, make a splendid feast for the ship'car- jienters of Boston, among whom he was willing at his table to commemorate the mercy of God unto him, who had once been a ship-carpenter himself, but he would on all occasions permit, yea, study to have his meannesses remembred. Hence upon frequent occasions of uneasiness in his government, he would chuse thus to express himself, Gentleman, were it not that I am to do service for the publick, I should be much easier in returning unto my broad ax again ! And hence, according to the affable courtesie which he ordi- narily used unto all sorts of persons, (quite contrary to the asperity which the old proverb expects in the raised) he would particulai^ly when mailing in sight of Kennebeck, with armies under bis command, call the young soldiers and sailors upon de'ck, 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 God has brought me to something, do you learn to/ear God, and be honest, and mind your business, and follow no bad courses, and |ou don't know what you may come to ! A temper not altogether unlike what the advanced shepherd had, when he wrote the twenty-third Psalm ; er when he imprinted on the coin of his kingdom the remembrance of his old condition ; for Christiantu Gerson, a christianized Jew, has informed as, that on the one side of David's coin were to be seen his old pouch and crook, the instruments of shepkerdy; on the other side were enstamped the towers of Zion. In fine, our Sir William was a person of so sweet a temper, that they who were most intimately acquainted with him, would commonly pro- 8U0 MAG^ALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA ; [Book It. nounce him, The be$t conditioned gentleman in the world f Anil by the cootiDual discoveries and expressious of such a temper, he so gained the hearts of them who waited upon him in any of his expeditions, that they would commonly profess 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 lie was unto his lady. Leaving unmentioned that virtue of his chastity, which the prodigious depravation brought by the lute 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 tihe love even to fondness, with which he always treated her, was a matter not only of observation, but even of such admiration, that every one said, ^e age afforded not. a kinder husband ! ^ But we must now return to our story. § 1 9. When persons do by studies full of curiosity, seek to inform themselves of things about which the God of Heaven hath forbidden our curious enquiiies, there is a marvellous impression, which the desnums do often make on the minds of those their votaries, about the/tUure or secret matters unlawfully enquired after, and at last there is also an horrible possession, wbic:'i those Fatidic damons do take of them. The snares of hell, hereby laid for miserable mortals, have been such, that when 1 read the laws, which Angellius affirms to have been made, even in Pagan Rome, against the Vaticinatores ; \ wonder that no English nobleman or gentleman signalizes bis regard unto Christianity, by doing what even a Roman Tully would have done, in promoting an Act of Parliament against that Paganish practice of judicial astrolt^y, whereof, if such men as Austin were now living, 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 somethig of an antidote may be given against a poison, which the diabolical ^gure^tngers and /orlune- tellers that swarm all the world over may insinuate into the minds of men. Long before Mr. Phips came to be Sir William, while he sojourned io London, there came into his lodging an old astrologer, 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 undesired,) one daj send him a paper, wherein he had, with pretences of a rule in astro- logy 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 par- ticularly asserted and inserted, that he should be engaged in a design, wherein by reason of enemies at Court, be should meet with much de- lay ; that nevertheless in the thirty-sevMith year of his life, he should find, a mighty-treasure ; that in the forty first year of his life, his Kin^ sh' uld employ him in as great a trust beyond sea, as a subject could easi- ly have : that soon after this he should undergo an hard storm from the endeavours of his adversaries to reproach him and ruin him ; that bis adversaries, though they should go very near gaining the point, should yet miss of doing so ; that be should hit upon a vastly richer matter than any he had hitherto met withal ; that he should continue thirteen yean in hia publick station, full of action, and full of hurry ; and the rest of his days he should spend in the satisfaction of a peaceable retirement. Mr. Phips received this undesired paper with trouble and with con> tempt, and threw 'A by among certain loose papers in the bottom of a trunk, where his lady some years after accidentaUy lit upon it. His Book II.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NFF \^GLAND. 201 lady with admiration lavr, step after step, verj ^uuch of it accomplished ; but when she heard from &tgland, that Sir fViUiam was coming over with a commission to be go?emoar of Neat-England,, in that very year of his Ufe, which the paper specified ; she was afraid of letting it lye any longer in the house, bat cast it into the^re. Now the tiling which I must invite my reader to remark, is this, that albeit Almighty God may permit the deviU to predict, and pei'baps to jnef' form very many particalar things to men, that shall by such aprtiumntU' out and unwarrantable juggle as astrology (so Dr. Hall well calls it ! ) or any other divination, consult them, yet the devils which /ore(e{ many true things, do commonly /ore<«/ some that are false, and it may be, propose by, Uie things that are true to betray men into some fatal misbelief and miscarriage about those that are false. Very singular therefore was the wisdom of Sir William Phips,Xhat as he ever treated these prophesies about him with a most pious ^eglect, so when he had seen all hot the two last of them very punctually fulfilled, yea, and seen the beginning of a fulfilment unto the last but one also, yet when I pleasantly mentioned them unto him, on purpose to try 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 ; / do not know but I am to die this year : for my part, by the help of the grate of God, I shall endeavour to Itve as if I were this year to die. And let the reader now attend the event ! § 20. 'Tis a similitude which 1 have learned from no less a person than the great Basil i that as the eye sees not those objects which are ap- plied close unto it, and even lye upon it ; but when the objects are to some distance removed, it clearly discerns them : so, we hav« little sense of the good which we have in our enjoyments, until God, by the remo- val thereof, teach us better to prize what we once enjoyed. It is true, the generality of sober and thinking people among the New-Eglanders, (lid as highly value the government of Sir William Phips, whilst he lived, as they do his memory, since his death ; nevertheless it must be confes- sed, that the blessing 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 4* Ingeniosa in CoiUumeliam Prafectorum Provincia : si quis forte vitaverit Culpam, Contumeliam non effugit : And New-England has been at the best always too faulty, in that very character, a province very falkative, and ingenious for the vilifying of its publick servants. But Sir William Phips, who might in a calm of the commonwealth have administred 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 provi7ice bad seen ; and the people having their spirits put into a tumult by the discomposing and distempering va* riety 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 ca^es be always complained of, ind the chief complaints must be heaped upon those that are commandtr^ Vor„ J. 26 'f*^- ?•» y 802 MAGNALIA CHRISTl AMERICANA [Book II. in chit/. Nor has n certain proverb in .Ana been improper in America, He deterveg no man's good word, of whom every man shall speak well. Sir fVilliam was very hardly hatidled (or tongued at least) in the lib^ erty which people took to make most unbecoming and injurious reflec- tions upon his conduct, and clamour against him, even for those very actions which were not only necessary to be done, but highly beneficial unto themselves ; and though he would ordinarily smile at their /roword- Hest, calling it hit country pay, yet he sometimes resented it with some uneasiness ; he seemed unto himself sometimes almost as bad as rolled about in Regulus* barrel ; and had occasion to think on the Italian prO' verb, 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 aa froward as the people were, under the epedemical vexations of the age, yet there were very few that would acknowledge unto the very last, Jt will be hardly possible for us to see another governour that shall more in- tirely 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 vigorously prosecuted certain articles before the Council-board at Whitehall against him, 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 bis 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 Wil- liam, until he had opportunity to clear himself; and thereupon he sent his royal commands unto Sir William to come over. To give any re- torting accounts of the principal persons who thus adversaried him, would be a thing so contrary to the spirit of Sir William Phips himself, who at his leaving of New-England bravely declared that he freely for- gave 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 mc, 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, /cq) perhaps, or none of those articles had 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 l.een such an one, as that men- tioned 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. \Yherefore in obedience unto the King's commands,, he took his leave of Boston on the seventeenth of November, 1694, attended with all proper [Book U. n .America, Ic well- in the lib- ioos reflec- tbose very iV beneficial sir/roword- , with some kd as rolled Italian pro- hie to sleep ; three gneft ca<»ons of the he very last, hall more in- [he choice of forty to one, 1 the General jnto the King jht they must ily prosecuted inst him, that n Council, to nt a committee s against him; Council. 's integrity to ified unto his ainst Sir Wil- upon he sent give any re- ^rsaried him, Phips himself, he freely for- i never have tblige me, if I jar it ; and it ion a drowned |ch these men believed, that ^0 much used Ls, or none of pnded himself tried under as that men- la tree which |hat when any ' at him, and ;ok his leave tth all proper Book II.] OR, THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND f03 testimonies of rcnncct and honour from the body of the people, which be had been the head unto ; and with addresses unto their Majesties, aAd the chief Ministers of State from the General Assembly, humbly im- ploring, that they might not be deprived of the happiness which they had in such an head. Arriving nt Whitehall, he found in a few days, that notwithstanding all the impotent rage of bis adversaries particularly vented and printed in a villanous libel, as well as almost in us many other ways as there are mouths, at which Fyal sometimes bus vomited out its infernal fires, he had all humane assurance of his returning in a very few weeks again the governour of J^ew-England. Wherefore there were especially fwo designs, full of service to the whole English nation, as well as his own particular country ofJVew-Eng- land, which he applied his thoughts unto. First, he had a new scene of action opened unto him, in an opportunity to supply the Crown with ail naval stores at most easie rates, from those eastern parts of the Massachu- set provincoi which through the conquest that he had made thereof, came to be inserted in the Massachuset-chmrter. As no man was more capable than he to improve this opportunity unto a vast advantage, so his tnc/tna* tion 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 stiitely castles, those wooden- zmalls of Great Britain, for much of which he has hitherto traded with foreign kingdoms, JS'ext, if 1 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 Fran- cis fVheeler, which had been sent into the West-Indies to subdue MartC' nico, was ordered then to call at Nevo-England, that being recruited there, they might 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, e'er 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 soldiers out of twentyfour. It was now therefore 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 >befo re several noblemen and gentle- men, bow beneficial an undertaking it would have been for them to have parsued the Canadian-business, for which the JVew-Englanders vrere now grown too feeble ; their country being too far now, as Bede says Eng- land once was, Omni Milite Sfjloridce Juventutis Alacritate spoliata. Besides these two designs in the thoughts 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 lo 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 made his first gO(fd voy- itge, was not the only, nor the richest wreck, that he knew to he lying under the water. He knew particdlarly, that when the ship which had Governour Boadilla aboard, was cast away, there was, as Peter Martyr il04 MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA IbooK 11. says, an entire table of g
ao. J Church- i I heard beml He were bo ; , : in that, \opU- ipon him : ^s petition [ottedge of Is desires, ;e in the lis I must (od I have lar off, by \speakany of God, Lough ftw ould have advantage fing in the vs not yet lauthor or of New- it only to in envious unto the Ihe italve Book 11.) OR, THE HI^TOHY OF NEW-KNGLAND. %07 But Poetry as well as Hittory must pay its dues unto him. \i Cicero's poem, intituled, Quodngw, wherein he did with a poetical chariot extol the exploits of Ccciar in Britain to the very skies, were now extant in the world, I would have borrowed some flights of that at least, for the subject now to he adorned. ^ But instead thereof let the reader accept the ensuing Elegy. ,( UPON THE DEATH or Sm WILLIAM PHIPS, Knt. LATE CAPTAIN GENERAL AND OOVKKKOUR IN CHIEF OF THE PROVINCE OF THE MASSACHUSET-BAY IN NEW-ENQLAND, WHO EXPIRED AT LONDON, FEB. 1694—5. Jnd to Mortality a sacrifice ^' Falls he, whose deeds must him immortalize ! Rejoice Messieurs ; Netops rejoice ; 'tis true, Ye Philistines, none will rejoice butj/ou.* Loving of all be dy'd ; who love him not Now, have the grace of publicans forgot. Our Mmanacks foretold a great eclipse. This they foresaw not, of our greater PHIPS. PHIPS our great /rt'end, our wonder, and our glory, The terror of our/oc», the world's rare story. England will boast hira too, whose noble mind ImpelI'd by Angels, did those treasures find, Long in the bottom of the ocean laid. Which her three hundred thousand richer made, By silver yet ne'er canker'd, nor defil'd By Honour, nor betray'd when Fortune smil'd. Since this bright Phoebus visited our shoar. We saw no fogs but what were rais'd before : Those vanish'd too ; harassed by bloody tears Onr land saw peace, by his most generous cares. The wolvish Pagans at his dreaded name, Tam'd, shrunk before him, and his dogs became ! Fell Moxus and fierce Dockawando fall, Charm'd at the feet of our brave general. Fly-blow the dead, pale Envy, let him not (What hero ever did ?) escape a blot. All is distort with an inchanted eye. And heighth will make what's right still stand awry. He was, Oh that he was ! his/au^^5 we'll tell, Such/au/t$ as these we knew, and lik''d them well. . Just to an injury ; denying none Their dues ; but self-denying oft his own-. «0{l MAONALIA tHRlSTt AMEklCANA : Ctood to a miracle ; r«solv*d to do Oood onto all, whether thev would ori)o« To make «« good, great, wise, and all things else, He wanted but the gift of mraclu. On him, vain Jlfo6, thy mischiefs cease to throw ; Bad, but alone in tin$, the timet were ao. Chri$tianwn de Chri$tiano vera pro/em. Simeon MetapfiraH. ia Vit& Chry$o$tami. Equidem effetor studio Patres vestrot, quo$ colvi, if diUxit vidtndi. HARTFORD : PRINTED FOR SILAS ANDRUS. 1820. Vol. I. S7 M m ^^■. I n ' T^^ ^^ '>i INTRODUCTION. WHAT wu U that obligtd J«rom to write hi$ book, De Viris IlloiUi- bui ? It waa the common reproach of old ca«l «pori the chri$tianf, Tb«t they w«re all poor, weak, unlearned men. The $ort of men wmetime called Puritani, in the English nation have been reproached with, the eamt. character ; and at a malignant Stapleton, counted the terme of an a«a, and a fool, good enough to treat our incotnparable Whitaker. jVo les$ baeely are the beat of Protestants often termed and thought, by the men, who knofw no Christianity but ceremony. There hath been too much of that envy, that. Sapientior sis Socrate Doctior Auguttino, Ca/venwifii(«, Si mod6.aictr«, clam, vel propalam, mox Tartaris, Moacis, Afris, Turcisque, sBVienti- bus, jacebis execratior. Awretekedneu often leen in English ; hhalinol Ens;li«h t^ Tki$ i$ one thing that ha$ latd me. under obligation, here to.- write a- book, De Viris lUustribus : in the. whole whereof, I will withamott contcientiout and religious regard^ truth, eave our hi»tovy from any thare m that old complaint o/'MelchiorCfaous, Dolentcr hoc dico, multd i Laer* tio severius Vitas Philosophorum scriptas esse, qu4m i Christiaois, Vitaa Chrintianorum : the liyes of philosophers tnore truly written, than the lives of Christians. Reader, behold these examples ; admire and follow what thou dost behold exemplary t» (^m. They are tiered unto the publick, with the intention sometimes mentioned by Gregory : Ut qui Praceptis non accendimur, aaltem Exemplis incitemur ; atque ac Appetitu Rectifudinis nil sibi meus nostra difficile 8B«timet, quod perfecte 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 ideM of the primitive christians, from the monstrous accusations of their adversaries, he would soon perswade himself, that their God was the Deus Christianorum Ononychites, whose image was erected at Rome. And if a man should have no other ideas of the Puritan christians tn our days, than what the tory pens of the sons of Bolsecus ^ve given them, we wotdd 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, Aat Christianity never was more ex' pressed unto the life, than in the lives of the^pfrsons that have been thus re- proached, among the legions of the accuser of the brethren. It speaks in the ensuing pages ! Here, behold them, of whom the world was not wor- thy, 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 man in hie wri- tings does affirm, I have heard this very thing, told more than once, with no small confidence concerning the Puritans. Reader, thou shalt now see, what sort of men they were : Zion t« not a city of fools. As Ignatius in his famous epistles to the Trallians, mention- ing their pastor, Polybius, reports him, A man of so good and just a repu- tation, that the very Atheists did stand in fear of him. / hope our Po- (VBius, will afford many deserving such a character. i i 218 INTRODUCTION. .# It wat mentioned at the bunnets and blestednesi o/* John Baptist, To turn tbe hearts of the fathers to the children. After a deal of more ado about the tence of the pat$age thut translated, I corUented my self rvith another tramlation, to turn the hearts of the fathers with the children ; because IJlnd the preposition, 'itri, as well as the prmfix ^; in Mai iv. 6, whence ih* passage w taken to be rendred with, raUier than to. The sence there- fore I took to be, that John should convert both old and young. But further ^ught hath offered unto me a further gloss upon it : to turn the hearts of the mthers to the children, is to turn the children by putting the hearts of the fathers into them ; to give them such hearts as were in Abraham, and others of their famous and faithful fathers. Reader, the book nou in thy hands, is to manage Ae design of a John Baptist, and convey the hearts of the fathers unto the children. Archilocus being desirous to give prevailing and eff'ectual advice urUo Lycambes, by an elegant Prosopopoeia, brought in his dead father, as giv- ing the advice he was now writing, and as it were put his pen into his fa- thers hands. Cicero being to read a lecture of ier^perance and modesty unto Clodia, raised up her father Appius Caius /rom the grave, and in his name delivered his directions. And now by introducing the fathers of New- England, without the lead fiction, or figure of rbetorick, / hope the plain history of their lives, will be a powerful way of propounding their fetherly counsels to their posterity. A stroke with the hand of a dead man, has be- fore now been a remedy for a malady not easily remedied. •V!* >f*^- =* "•^>'' ••'■'V • - ^^ rV. ^ rv ■ ij "• ■ .» >ii-.-- " ' . 1^ ■■;■■ .H- •■ ■-■.■yl'.'ii''.'!' '-:'^.ii-.k-i. ' '■ i ' • ■ Vi- ' ' t. ,, -',■■','■■ 'it: -It ii0, i,^,; '^. it, ^< '••'■;< '-■'.. r"'. : ■. , -. •. ,' :■-;•. ; • i t'. - • ■ " .- . ■ .' \, .■ . . • -i^v*.'' >V •^., •■.., _,u..u:.Q .■_..> -J i.\ »- ** ;• ', i*,i ' ,". ■ ■ ;--■ ■ •■■ . -■i-\. -^fi^ryy..: -../.-. 'S' ' ■■^.^' i(> •■ i- .■,:■•.-;■.■. ,v ;/ ,1^ ;. . ,..,,.■, ,, , .. ;--.,.• i ■■■\,'i:-i' . ( ■* . ( ,(, r-^t .,,-.■ * , : , !'■ "-■ *■'■ •' ;4; -yl , 'M-^ # u:n t, To turn ! ado about ith another Q ; because , 6, whence »ence there- But further e hearts of \e hearts of rahaiD) and I of a John advice unio ither, atgiv- n into his fa- I and modesty ve, and in his hers of New- hope the piain their fetherly I man, ha» be- .-.^-^t. •:^- ' THE THIRD BOOK. DE VIRIS ILLUSTRIBU&. IN FOUR PARTS. CONTAINING THE LIVES OF NEAR FIFTY DIVINES, CONSIDERABLE IN THE CHURCHES OF NEW-ENGLAND. Credunt de nobis qum non probantur, ^ nohint inquiri, ne probentur non esse, qu(B malunt credidisse. Tert. Apol. -,i*i. -..1. Having entertained my readers with a more imperfect catalogue, * Of ' many persons whose memories deserve to be embalmed in a civil his- < tory ;' I must so far consider, that it is an ecclesiastical history^ which I have undertaken, 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 wilderness : and indeed, fifew-England having been in some sort an ecclesiastical country above any in this world, those meti that have here appeared most considerable in an ecclesiastical capacity^ may most rea- sonably challenge the most consideration in our history. Take then a catalogue of New-England's first ministers, who though they did not generally affect the exercise of church-government, as con- fined unto classes, yet shall give me leave to use the name of classes in my marshalling of them. THE FIRST CLASSIS. 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 here according to fhe order of the gospel. ni'^^yiU^I nyVUU • or* our/r«< Good Men. , ^ \. Mr. Thomas Allen, of Charles-town. 2. Mr. John Men, of Dedham. - 3. Mr. ./Ivery, of Marblehead. -.^,'- r .> 4. Mr. Adam Blackman of Stratford. ■■ f' ■*'^ 5. Mr, Richard Blinnian, of i^\QCP,ntev. # •* ■*, 214 THE HISTORY 6F NEW-ElioLAND. £Book HI. 6. Mr. * Bifmcy, of Brainford. 7. Mr. Edmund Brown, of Sudbury. 8. Mr. Peter Bulkly, of Concord. 9. Mr. Jonathan Burr, of Dorchester. 10. Mr. Charles Chatmcey, of Scituate. 11. Mt. ^homas Cobbet, of hyn. 12. Mr. John Cotton, of Boston. 13. Mr. Timothy Dalton, of Hampton. ° 14. Mr. /oAn Davenport, of New-Haven. 15. Mr. Richard Denton, of Stamford. 16. Mr. JF/ienr^ Dunstar, of Cambridge. 17. Mr. iSamue/ £o• 18. Mr. JoAn £//to(, of Roxbury. >r' ;,^ 19. Mr. John Fisk, of Coelmsford. 20. Mr. flienry F/tnt, of Braintree.' 21. Mr. /orc^Aam, of Southampton. ' "' 22. Mr. Green, of Reading. . ..v 23. Mr. /o/tn Harvarc^, of Charles-town. ■'\>f 24. Mr. Francis Higginson, of Salem. 25. Mr. William Hook, of New-Haven. •; .r. :.. 26. Mr. Thomas Hooker, of Hartford. . i' 27. Mr. Peter Hobart, of Hingham. .. .- , . . • •• ; •• 28. Mr. Ephraim Huet, o£ Windsor. mi. ..'v%.. .l<- 1 'j, 29. Mr. Hull, of the Isle of Sholes. - > - 30. Mr. James, of Charles -town. 31. Mr. Jones, of Fairfield. 32. Mr. Knight, of TopafiV ^ i ■ j 34. Mr. Leverick, of Sandwich. ? 35. Mr. JoAn IiotAro/7, of Barnstable. tu.. .-. ^ 36. Mr. Tiic/iord JWo 38. Mr. Muverick, of Dorchester. 39. Mr. John Mayo, of Boston. 40. Mc. John Millar, of Yarmouth. 41. Mr. JWoxon, of Springfield. f 42. Mr. SotmMc/ JVca>mnn, of Rehoboth. 43. Mr. J^Torris, of Salem. 44. Mr. John Jiorton, of Boston. 45. Mr. James JVoyse, of Newberry. 46. Mr. Thomas Parker, of Newberry. 47. Mr. Ralph Partridge, of Doxbury. 48. Mr. Peck, of Hingham. 49. Mr. Hug/i Peters, of Salem. 50. Mr. Tliomas Peters, of Saybrook. 51. Mr. George Phillips, of Watertown. ; , 52. Mr. Philips, of Dedham. 53. Mr. Mraham Pierson, of Southampton. 64. Mr. Peter Prudden, of Milford. 55. Mr. Reyner, of Plymouth. 56. Mr. Ezckiel Rogers, of Rowly. • 57. Mr. NaOhaniel Rogers, of Ipswich. ■ .j8. Mr. Saxton, of Scituate. . . > • 59. Mr. Tftomfls .SAe/jarrf, of Cambridge, 1 1 -H ?» ) K '4V- .i..,,f f*> B...ln.J THE HISW OP ^W-ENOUND fin IW- 7>.-L_„ r. - _ tfc 'm 60. Mr. 61. Mr. 62. Mr. 63. Mr. 64. Mr. 66. Mr. 66. Mr. 67. Mr. 68. Mr. 21$ 69. Mr. 70. Mr. 71. Mr. 72 Mr. 73. Mr. 74. Mr. 76. Mr. 76. Mr. 77. Mr. ZacAa^j^^, f Charles-town. , i>kelton, of Salem. ■> ^a/pA SmiVA, of Plymouth 5m>A, of Wethersfield. Jamwe/ Stone, of Hartford. 2/ ;; «"» Thompson, of Brnintree * ^««;e«m Wau£m, of Marb ehead JVathanael Ward, of In«»j^K J •.- of Haverhil. ' ^'""'**' '"'*' l^*' 'O". Mr. /oA» ^.rrf, ^oA« WJirAam, of Windsor. «i ^i^'i"^*^ of Salisbury John fVthon, of Boston W'lr '^*f*/''"'' of Scituate. »^t//.amfrorce,*,,, „f Salisbury yo«n^, of Southold name amoDsihe «„!;„ ,1 ' "'•. ''^'™"» -S»i«, thatJL j?°; ""'° "« •'"- Its' 4^-1™^^^^^^^^^^ doctor, was dpoiimin^ « .> "'*"»*. »rre/raffflA/i. „« ?/' ''"^n that was hindred bTthaTlpo*li'''°*P°^* himself Cf^^; ^^ ^''"i «»*««««; the charge of ^kt'Ila^J^ZZ^^^^^^^^^ "'T'^'*- ever, all the £;„ j ' LTh "'*''' ^'^^'^^ <>«« of SeseZ^ ^^^'^P"*" this pme„, «.//Zr i.'^'u^foT "°*" ^''^'"' ^«« "een to SvT ' J*^^" now write unon .11 ♦!. . ? ^"6 spirits of just fru>« j ^^ *hem from the ap"stIeTa?h left''" "^ministers ofiill^^iZX^^^M. I ^ not suffered to rlf P?" ^^e jonert, of the OW r Z**^ ^P'*«Ph 'vhich THE SECONn ciASSIS. ■ ^''^*^'' «'y, of ConcQ^d. --^ '''y.^iiv:'^^^^ 'W m 4ei6 ^THE HISTORY OF NEW-lBNOLANI). {Boo« UI. ,'4 •ytt- 4. Mr. Cofter, of Woburn. 5. Mr. Francis Dean, of Andover. 6. Mr. James Fitch, of Norwich. 7. Mr. Hunford, of Norwalk. 8. Mr. John Higginson, of Salem. 9. Mr. Hough, of Reading. 10. Mr. James, of Eastbampton. 11. Mr. Roger NevoUm, of Milford. 12. Mr. Joim Sherman, of Watertown. 13. Mr. Thomas Thacher, of Boston. 14. Mr. John Woodbridge, «f Newberry. :>\. Of these ,'■'; Thomas Walley, of Barnstable. William Woodr op, of hvacveiov. It is -well known, that quickly after the revival of the English Hierar- chy, those, whose consciences did not allow Ihem to worship God, in some ways and modes then by lam established, were pursued with a violence, which, doubtless many thousands of those whom the Church of England, in its national constitution acknowledges for her sons, were so far from ap- proving or assisting, that they abhorred it. What spirit acted the party that raised this persecution, one may guess from a passage, which 1 find in a book of Mr. Giles Firmius. A lady assured him that she signifying un- cart incli wherj of lb( and] were sary enauci best p Parlia ihnt non-coi union i prize 1 riiis V Rome ; sliipwn I/. '. horrid ' a wiide in the ( Vol. Book >IU- , hy far the } the church iders, did re- whence the r, the streami England had « tfcen, from ler from £«• I, cowing over gland after the England, asd on-con/orffw'**' .... , ,..v'i 'kip God, in some ivith a violence, IrchofEngUiiid, tsofarfromflp- [acted the party 'kc which 1 find he9igaifying«°' Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. in to a parliament-man, her dislike of the act of uniformity, when theyVere about it, and saying, / see you are laying a snare in the gate, he replied, j9y, if we can find any way to catch the rogues, we wiU have them ! It ia well known that nearj^ve and twenty hundred faithful minisiters of the Gospel, were now silenced in one black day, because they could not comply with some things, by themselves counted sinful, but by the impos.ers confessed indifferent. And it is affirmed, that by a raoJest calculation, thii^ perffscution procured the untimely denth of three tlioiisand non-conformiHts, and the ru- ine of threescore thousand families, within five and twenty years. Many retired into New-England, that they might have a little rest at noon, with the flocks of our Lord in this wilderness ; but setting aside some eminent persons of a JVew-fing/ts^ jriginal, which were driven back out of Europe into their own country again, by that storm. These few were the most of the ministers, that fled hither from it. 1 will not presume to give the reasons, why, no more ; but observing a glorious providence of the Lord Jesus Christ, in moving the stars to shine, where they were most wanted, I will conclude, lamenting the disaster of New-England, in the interruption which a particular providence of heaven gave unto the designs of that in- comparable person Dr. John Owen, who had gone so far as to ship himself, with intents to have taken this country in his way to his eternal rest : it must have been our singular advantage and ornament, if we had thus en- joyed among us one of the greatest men, that this last age produced. REMARKS. Especially upon the First Class, in our Catalogue of Ministers. I. All, or most, of the ministers that make up our two first classes, came over from England within the two first lustres of years, afterthe first settle- ment of the country. After the year 1 640, that part of the Church of Eng- land, which took up arms in the old cause of the long Parliament, pad which among all its parliament-men, commanders, lord-lieutenants, ma- jor-generals, and sea-cnptains, had scarce any but conformists ; I say, that part of the Church of England, knowing the Puritatu to be generally inclinable unto those principles of such writers as Bilson and Hooker, whereupon the Parliament then acted ; and seeing them to be generally of the truest English spirit, for the preservation of the English liberties and properties, for which the Parliament then declared, (although there were some non-conformists in the King's army also :) it was found neces- sary to have the assistance of that considerable people. Whereupon ensued such a change of times, that instead of Old England^s driving its best people into New, it was it self turned into New. The body of the Parliament and its friends, which were conformists in the beginning of that miserable tvar, before the war was ended, became such as those old non-conformists, whose union with them in political interests produced an union in religious. The Romanizing Laudians miscarried in their enter- prize ; the Anglicane church could not be carried over to the Gallicane. fliis was not the first instance of a shipwrack befalling a vessel bound for Rome ; nor will it be the last : a vessel bound such a voyage, must be shipwrackKd, though St. Paul himself were aboard. 11- The occasion upon which these excellent ministers retired into an horrid wilderness of America, and encountred the dismal bardshijis of such a wilderness, was the violent persecution, wherewith a prevailing party in the Church of England harassed them. In their own land they were Vol. l, ' 2S sit THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book HI. hereby deprived, not only of their livings, but also of their liberty to ex- ^ ^ erciae their ministry, which 'Wns dearer to them than their livings, yea, than their very lives : and they were exposed unto extreme sufferings^ because they conscientiously dissented from the use of some things in the worship of God, which they accounted sins. But I leave it unto the consideratiqa of mankind, whether {hi» forbidding of such men to do their duty, were no ingredient of that iniquity, which imraedintely upon the de- parture of these good men brought upon Great Britain, and especially upon the greatest authors of this persecution, a wrath unto the uttermost, in the ensuing desolations. All that I shall add upon it, is, that, 1 re- member, the prophet speaking of wliHt had been done of old, by the Assy- rians, to the land ot'iheChaldcrans, uses an expression, which we trans- late. In Isa. xxiii. 12. He brought it unto ruine : but there is a Fume word, Mapatra, which old Fesltis (and Servius) affirm to signify, cottages; ac- cording to Philargyrivs, it signifies. Casus in Eremo habitantium : now that is the very word here used, jl^SQ '"><' ^^^ condition of cottagers in a wilderness, is meant, by the ruine, there spoken of. Truly, such was the ruine, which the ceremonious persecutors then brought upon the most conscientious non- conformists, unto tl..' '^nscriptural ceremonies. But as the kingdom of darkness uses to be always at length overthrown by its own policy, so will be at last found no advantage unto that party in the Church of England, that the orders and actions of the churches by them thus produced, become an history. HI. These ministers of the gospel, which wer«^ (without nny odi- ous comparison) as faithful, painful, useful ministers, as most in the na- tion, being thus exiled from a sinful nation, there were not known to be left so many non-conformist ministers, as there were counties in England : and yet they were quickly so multiplied, that a matter of twenty years after, there could be found far more than twenty hundred, that were so grounded in their non- conformity, as to undei^o the loss of all things, rather than make shipwrack of it. When Antiochus commanded all the books of sacred scripture to be burnt, they were not only preserved, but presently after they appeared out of their hidden places, being translated into the Greek tongue, and carried abroad unto many other patrons. It was now thought, there was effectual c.'^ ■ ^ > 1 Book HI. «/, ihathe f seduced lately still sby unto a ock, upon ention one lar 1637> ; vvheretia, Dm whence alio he set le common rein all the them ; for iierein they ch-refonna' , in opposi- linisterB be- rbances, by evil, in thus ras followed kd a laudable er in the an- on hint' JOHANNES IN EltEMO. MEMOIRS, I , AELATINU TO THR . LIVES, V OF THE EVCR-MEMORABLE Mr. JOHN COTTON, who died 23 d. 10 m. 1652. Mr. JOHN NORTON, who died 6 d. 2 m. 1663. Mr. JOHN WILSON, who died 7 d. 6 m. 1667. Mr. JOHN DAVENPORT, who died 15 d. 1 m. 1670. REVCRENO AND RENOWNED MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL, ALL, IN THE MORE IMMEDIATE SERVICE OF ONE CHURCH, IN BOSTON. ANi> Mr. THOMAS HOOKER, who died 7 d. 5 m. 1647. PASTOR OF THE CHURCH AT HARTFORD, NEW-ENOLANn.. PRESERVED BY COTTON MATHER. THE FIRST PART. Forte nimis Videor Laudes Cantare Meorum \ Furie nimis cineres Videor cclebrare repostos ; JVon ita me Facilem Sine Vero Credite ! TO THE READER, That little part of the earth which this age has known by the name of jYew- England, has been an object of very signal, both frowns and favours of heaven. Besides those stars of the first magnitude, which did some- times shine, and at last set in this horizon, there have been several men of renown, who were preparing and fully resolved to transport them- selves hither, had not the Lord seen us unworthy of more such mercies. It is still fresh in the memory of many yet living, that that great man. Dr. John Owen, had given order for his passage in a vessel bound for Boston ; being invited to succeed the other famous Johns, who had been burning and shining lights in that which was the first candlestick, set up in this populous town ; but a special providence diverted him. Long before that, Dr. Ames, (whose family, and whose library JVew-England 984 THE HISTOPY OF NEW-ENGLANl). [Book III has had) wnft upon the wing for thin Jltncrican deiart : but God then took him to the heavenly Cunaini. Whether he lei\ his follow upoo eurth 1 know not : such acutenesa oi' jwtgmfnt, ami Hflo':(ionate zea/, as he eX" celled in, seldom does meet togotiter in the same person. I have oAen thought of Mr. Paui Ihijne, his furcwcl words to Dr. Jhna, when going for Holland; Mr. liaiine perccivinfr him to be u man of extraordinary parts, Beu/Ore Oi,n6 he) nf a strong headland a cold heart. It is rare for a scholantical wft, to be jnined with an heart xvarm in religion: but in him it was fiu. He has sometimes suid, that he could be willing to.walk twelve miles on his ft^ct, on condition he might have an opportunity to preach a sermon : and he seldom did preach a sermon without tears. V> hen he lay on his death bed, he had such tastes of the Jirst-fruita of glory, as that a learned phyHitian (who was n Papist) wondring. said, Aurn Protes- tantea tic aolent inuri : is the latter end of Protestants like this man's ? But although some excellent persons have, by a divii>e hand been kept from couiing into these ends of the earth, yet there have been others, who whiUt living made this land (which before their arrival was an hell of darkness) to be a place full of light and glory ; amongst whom the champions, whose livcH are here described, are worthy to be reckoned as those that have attained to the first three. There are many who have (and some to good purpose) endeavoured to collect the memorable passages that have occurred in the lives of emi< nent men, by means whereof posterity has had the knowledge of them. Hieront of old, wrote Dc Viris lllustribus : the like has been done by Gennadius, Epiphanius, Isidore, Prochorus, and other ancient authors. Of later times, Schopfius, his Jlcademia Christi; Meursius his Athenat Ba- tavoe ; Ferheidev, his Elogia Theologorum, Melchier Adams, Lives of mo- dern Divines, have preserved the memories of some that did worthily, and were in their day famous. There are two learned men who have very lately engaged in a service of this nature, viz. Paulus Freherus, who has published two volumes in folio, with the title of, Theatrum viroram Eruditione clarorum, ad hwc vsque Tetnpora. He proceeds as far as the year 1680. The other is Ilenningus Hitten, who has written, Memorim Theologorum nostri seculi. It is a trite lyet a true) assertion, that histo- rical studies are both profitable and pleasant. And of all historical nar- ratives, those which give a faithful account of the lives of eminent saints, must needs be the most edifying. The greatest part of the facred wri- tings are historical ; and a considerable part of them is taken up in rela- ting the actions, speeches, exemplary lives, and dealhs, of such as had been choice instruments in the hand of the Lord, to promote his glory in the world. No doubt but that the commemoration of the remarkable providences of God towards his servants, will be some part of their work in heaven for ever, that so he may have eternal praises fbr the wonders of his grace in Christ towards them. It must needs therefore be in it self, a thing pleasing to God, and a special act of obedience to the Fifth Commandment, to endeavour the preservation of the names, and honour of them, who have been fathers in Israel. On which account, I cannot but rejoice in what is here done. Although J\fexv -England has been fa- voured with many faithful and eminent ministers of God, there are only three of them all, whose lives have been as yet published, viz. Mr. Cotton, whose life was written by his immediate successor Mr. A''orton; and my father Mather, whose was done by another hand, and is repub- lished in Mr. Sam. Clark's last volume ; and Mr. Eliot whose was done by the same hand which did these, and has hppq several times reprinted LiUK III Dooi 111.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 186 ten took I eurth I ) he ex* ive often icu going lordinary rare for lut in liim Ik twelve 1 preach u A^hen he ■ glory, as m Proles- it mnn's I been kept en others, vas an hell whom the ! reckoned deavoured ves of eini' e of them, in done by it authors. Alhena Ba- ives of mo- d worthily, who have herus, who nffi virorum far as the Memoricc. that hiito- lorical nar- nent saints, tacred a-rt- up in rela- uch as had ,e his glory reinarkable their work le wonders jre be in it Lo the Fifth ind honour it, 1 cannot 89 been fa- |re are only , vis. Mr. r. Xorton ; is reput- [e was done reprinted in London. Here the reitder hat preiented to him Jive of them, who were amongut the chief of the /a(A«rt, in the churches of New England. The tame hand hat done the like office of love und duty, for many olhert who were the worthies of fiew- England, not only in the churchet, but in thif civil state, whom the Lord Christ »aw mei t to use us instrumontt, in planting the heavens, and laying the foundation of the earth, in thit new world. If these 6nd a candid acceptance, those may possibly see the light in due time. Whcthertfwhatis herewith emitted and written by my son, be as to the manner of it, well performed, I have nothing to sny, but shall leave it unto others to judge, as they »hall see cause ; only as to the matter of the history, 1 am ascertained that things are truly related. For although I had little of personal acquaintance with Mr. Cotton, being a child not above thirteen years old when he died. I shall never forget the last sermon which he preached at Cambridge, and his particular application to the scholars there, amongst whom I was then a student newly admit' ted ; and my relation to his family since, has given me an opportunity to know many observable things concerning him. Both Bostons have reason to honour hit memory ; and New- England- Boston most of all, which oweth its name and being to him, more than to any one person in the world : he might say of Boston, much what as Augustus said of Rome, Lateritiam reperi, marmoream reliqui : he found it little better than a wood or wilderness, but left it a famous town with two churches in it. 1 remember. Dr. Lightfoot, in honour to his patron, Sir Roland Cotton, called one of his sons. Cotton : it doth not repent me, that I gave my eld- est son that name, in honour to his grandfather : and the Lord grant that both of us may be followers of him, as he followed Christ. As for the other three worthies who have taught the word of God in this place, they had their peculiar excellencies. Mr. Wilson (like John the apostle) did excel in love; and he was also strong in faith. In the time of the Peifuod war, he did not only hope, but had assurance, that God would make the English victorious. He de< clared, that he was as certain of it, as if he had with his eyes seen tUi victories obtained ; which came to pass according to bis iliith. t well remember, that I heard him once say, that when one of his daughters was sick, and given up as dead, past recovery, he desired Mr. Cotton to pray with that child ; And (said he) whilest Mr. Cotton was praying, I was sure that child should not then die, but live. That daughter did live to be the mother of many children ; two of which are now usefuflninisteni of Christ : and she is still living, a pious widow, another Anna, serving Qod day and night. When Mr. Norton was called from the church of Ipswich to Boston, Mr. Nathanael Rogers (that excellent man, who was son to the famiMe shrink in all orders of men among us, from that greatness, and that goodness, which was in the first grain, that our God brought from three sifted kingdoms, into this land, when it was a land not sown ; that while the Papists in Europe have grown better of late years, by the growth of Jansenism among them, the Protestants have prodigiously waxed worse, for a revolt unto Pelagianism, and Socinianism, or what it half way to it, has not been more surprising to me, than to see that in America, while those parts which were at first peopled by the refuse of the English na- tion, do sensibly amend in the regards of sobriety and education, those parts which were planted with a more noble vine, do so fast give a pros- pect of affording only the degenerate plants of a strange vine. What should be done for the stop, the turn of th\a degeneracy ? It is reported of the Scythians, who were, doubtless, the ancestors of the Indians first inhabitins; these regions, that in battels, when they came to stand upon the graves of their dead fathers, they would there stand immovable, 'till they dyed upon the spot : and, thought 1, why may not such a meth- od now effectually engage the English in these regions, to stand fast in their /fli/A and their orrfer, and in the power of godliness? I'll shew them the graves of their dead, fathers ; and if any of them do retreat unto a contempt or neglect of learning, or unto the errors of another gospel, or unto the superstitions of will-worship, or unto a worldly, a selfish, a little conversation, they shall undergo the irresistible rebukes of theiv progenitors, here fetched from the dead, for their admonition ; and I'll therewithal advertise my New-Englanders, that if a grand-child of a Moses become an Idolater, he shall, [as the Jews remark upon Judg. xviii. 30,] be destroyed, as if not a Moses but a Manasseh, had been his father. Besides, Plus Vivitur Exemplis quam prieceptis! § 3. Good men in the Church of England, I hope, will not be offended at it, if the unreasonable impositions, and intolerable persecutions, of cer- [>01C iii. Bool III.] THE HISTORY OF IHEW-ENGLAND. 229 Iderneii, tiled and i instito- ildemets, church of rears, we I conduct efreshiog elebrated ood Shep- nes$, with B commoD ade many like those y of those their lives itation, es- ke death nf I the great irful degen,' hurches; I ill points in le essentials es ; I saw a ess, and that it from three , that while le growth of \caed worse, If way to it, lertca, while English na- ition, those ;ive a pros- tne. What is reported Indians fint stand upon immovable, |uch a meth- itand fast in I'll shew do retreat ■s of anothtT worldly, a rebukes of tnition ; and id-child of a .Jwdg.xviii. In his father. I be offended iions, of cer- tain little-souled ceremony mongers, which drove these worthy men out of their native contry, into the horrid thickets of Jimerica, be in their lives complained and resented. For distinguishing between a Bomanizing faction in tlie Church of England, and the trite Protestant Reforming Church of England, (things that are different as a jewel, from a hey- lin, or a Grindal from a Laud .') the first planters of New-England, at their first coming over, did in a piiblick and a printed addresD, call the Church of £flgtond, their dear mother, desiring their friends therein, to recommend them unto the mercies of God, in their -constant prayers, as a Church now springing out of their own bowels : nor did they think, that it was their mother who turned them out of doors, but some of their angry brethren, abusjagthe name of their mother, who so harshly treated them. As for the Romanizing faction in the Church o/'England, or that party, who resoVving (altogether contrary to the desire of the most eminent persons, by whom the common-prayer was made English) that the reformation should never proceed one jot further than the^rst essay of it, in the for- mer century ,^did make certain unscriptural canons, whereby all that could not approve, subscribe, and practise, a multitude of, (by themselves con- fessed purely humane) inventions in the worship of God, were accursed, and ipso facto excommunicate ; and by the ill-obtained aid of bitter laws to back these canons, did by fines and goals and innumerable violences, contrary to the very magna charta of the nation, ruine many thousands of the soberest people in the kingdom ; and who continually made as many Shibboleths as they could, for the discovering and the extinguish- ing of all real godliness, and never gave over prosecuting their tri- partite plot, of Arminianism, and a conciliation with the patriarch of the west, and arbitrary government in the state, until at last they threw all into the lamentable confusions of a civil war ; the churches of New- England say Come not into their secret, O my soul. We dare not be guilty of the schism, which we charge upon that party in the Church of England : and if any faction of men will require the assent and consent of other men, to a vast number of disputable and uninstituted things, and, it may be, a mathematical falshood, among the first of them, and utterly re- nounce all christian communion with all tliat shall not give that assent and consent, we look upon those to be separatists ; we dare not be so narrow- tipirited ; the churches of Aea» England i>ro(>}fs to make only the siibstan- tials of the christian religion to be the terms of our sacretJ f<.^llov\'sbip : we dare make no difference between a Presbyterian, a Congregational, an Epis- copalian, and an Jintipaido-baptist, where their visible piety, makes it probsi- ble that the Lord Jestis Christ has received them. And such reverend names as HaU and Kidder, most worthy Bishops now adorning the English Clmrcb , as well as the names of such reverend and excellent persons among thr Dissenters, as Bates, Annesly, How, Mead and Alsop, (with many others) are, on that score, together precious unto this part of the christian Jimeri- ca. On the other side, the true Protestant Reforming Church of England. contains the whole body of the faithful, scattered through the English do- minions, though of different perswasions about some r?Ves and modes, and Ipffur points of religion : and all the friends of the last reformation, who, whether they think there needs a further progress in that work or no, yet: are willing l«j make the word of God the rule of their serving him, do come under this denomination. Those divines, who, with Arch-Bishop Ushxr in the head of them, did more than fifty years h2;o, cive in a paper touching the innovationi oi toctrine nnd of discipline in the Chvrch of England, and m;ike. rcat fovtr 230 THE HISTORY OF NEWENGLAND. [Book HI. exceptions against things in the Liturgy, were still as good members of tli»t church, HS they that hated to be reformed; and the assembly of di* vines at Westminster, which made the catechisms now used among us, were as genuine tons of the church after they became non-conformiiti, as while they lived in conformity, which every one of them, except eight or nine, did when they lirst cnmc together. One who is at this day a Right Reverend Bishop, has in hin Irenicnm, well expressed the sense which I believe, the biggest party of christians in the realm, three to one have of fhose matters, which have been, the apples of strife among us : • Thnt • Christ, who came to take away the insupportable yoke of the Jewish ' ceremonies, certainly did never intend to gall the necks of the dtse»- ' pies with another instead of it ; and it would be strange, the church ' would require more than Christ himself did, and make more terms of ' communion, than our Saviour did of disciple-ship. The grand commis- ' sion the apostles were sent out with, was only to teach, rvJiat Christ had ' commanded them ; not the least intimation of any power, given them to ' impose or reqnirf! any thing, beyond what he himself had spoken to ' them, or they wore directed to, by the immediate guidance of the spirit • of God.' And, [speaking of the reason, why our first compilers of the common-prayer, took in so much of the Popish service] ' Certainly, '^ those holy men, who did seek by any means, to draw in others, at such • a distance from tlieir principles, as the Papists were, did never intend, ' by what they did for that end, to ex'clude any truly tender consciences, ' from their communion ; that which they laid as a bait for them, was ' never intended by them as an hook for those of our own profession.' And if this be the trne Church of England, give me leave to say, the churches of JVezv-England, are no inconsiderable part of it ; and that accordingly we may have a room in it, I may safely in the name of them all, offer, (as did the. renowned author of our Martyr- Books, when they demanded subscription from him.) to subscribe the New Testament. Upon the whole (hen, if ..ny be displeased at my report of the unjust impositions and pei-secudons, which drove into America, as good christians, :md protcsta7its, as .'my that were left behind them, it will not be the true Church of England ; for why should that be called, the Church of England, which has caused thousands of as real and thorough christians, as any up- on earth, tp say. It is no belter to dwell in the wilderness, tlianwith such an ■•ontentious and angry one ! That Church of England, which alone is wor- thy to be called so, will bewail, as I know divers excellent persons now in the Episcopal Sees have done, the injuries offered unto our puritan fathers. , 5 '1. Let my reader, thus prepared, nov^ entertain himself, as far as he pleases, with our four Johns, to whose lives, I have upon the counsel and command of an ever-honoured parent, nppendiced the life of a famous Thomas in this publication ; Johns, with whom among the five or six hundred noted persons of that name, celebrated by one historian, I find not many that were worthy to be compared ; Johns, fuller of light and grace and the good spirit, than all those four or f ve and twenty of that name, who have sat in the chair that pretends to infallibility. And, if he pleases, let him see that old little observation confirmed, that as the uame Henry has been happy in kings, Elizabeth in queens, Edward in lawyers, William in physicians, Francis'm scholars, Robert in soldiers and state-men, so John hns been happy in divines. Even a divine Jehojadah, when he comes to be reckoned among the priests of the Lord, must have put uponbim, the name of John [1 C'hron. vi, 9.] But let him consider [Book HI- nembers of mbly of di- among us, ifvrmist$t as ;ept tight or day a Right nse which I one have of ; us : • Thnt f the Jewish of the disci- i, the church »re terms of rand commis- at Christ had iven them to ad spoken to e of the spirit compilers of ] » Certainly, thers, at such never intend, r consciences, for them, was »n profession.' ye to say, the f it ; and that name of them Jkj, when they iment. ft of the unjust 'ood christians, not be the trut ■ch of England, ns, as any up- in with such an alone is wor- it persons now [o our puritan Book HI.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 891 these lives, as tendered unto the publick, upon an account no less tbnn that of keeping alive, as tiir as this poor essay may contribute thereunto, the interests of dyi7ig religion iu our churches. 1 remember u learned man's conjecture, that [in 1 Tim. iii. 15.] it is Timothy, and nol^Ae church, which is culled, The pillar and ground of Faith: such able, holy, and faithful ministers as Timvihy, are the great procluiiners and preservers of truth, for the Church of God : such were these famous John while they lived, and now they are dead, I have done oiy endeavour that they may still be such unto the churches, unto whom 1 owe -my all. I'll say but this, the last words of the most renowned prebend of Canterbury, Dr. Peter du Moulin, who died a very old man, about eleven years ago, were, Since Calvinism is cried down [Actum est de Religione Christi apud An- glos] Christianity is in danger to be lost in the English riation. Alluding to what he said, about his John Calvin, I will take leave to say with re- spect unto our John Cotton, and the rest that here accompany him, Chris- tianity will be lost among us, if their faiih and zeal, rnnsl all be buried with them: which, God forbid ! as there would be an hazard, that the early and better times o{ JVew-England would have the true storj/ thereof, with- in a while, as irrecoverably lost, us the story of the world, relating to those times, which Varro distinguished unto Incognit, and fabulous, pre- ceding the historical, and we should shortly have as wretched narratives of the first person j and actions in this land, as Justin gives of the Jews, when he makes Moses the son of their Joseph, and the sixth of their kings, or when he makes them expelled from Egypt, because the Gods would not otherwise allay a plague that raged there, or such as are giv- en by Pliny, when he makes Moses a magician, or Strabo, that makes him an Egyptian priest ; if no speedy care be taken to preserve the memora- bles o£ oar first settlement; so I wish, the laudable pnnci/^/es and practices of that^rst settlement, may be kept from utterly being lost in our aposta- sies, by the care which is now taken thus to preserve what wus memora- ble, of the men that have delivered them down unto us. ^ 5. Finally ; when the apostles bad set before christians the saints, which were a cloud of witnesses, by imitating of whose exemplary behav- iour we might enter into rest, he concludes with a looking unto Jesus ; or, iiccording to the emphasis of the original, a looking off" (from them) unto Jesus, as the incomparably most peifect of all. So, let my reader do, when all that was imitable in the lives of these worthy men, has had his contemplation ;>nd admiration ; they all yet had their defects, and there- lore, look off unto Jesus; following them no'farther than ihey followed him. It is a notable passage, [in Luke vii. 28.] which we mis-translate ; The least in the kingdom of God, is greater than John. In the Greek, what we translate, The least, is, he that is lesser ; that is, he that is younger. [Minor still has been the same with jtinior,] Our Lord means himself, who was lesser, that is, younger than John his fore-runner ; but, greater than he ! Truly, whatever was excellent iu these our Johns, I would pray, that the minds of all that see it, may be raised still to think, our precimis Lord Jesus Christ, is greater than these Johns : all their excellen- cies are in him tranacendantly, infinitely ; as they were from him derived. High thoughts of the Lord Jesus Christ, provoked by reading the descrip- tions of these his excellent servants, that had in them a little of him, and were no farther excellent than as they had so, will make me hu abundant recompence, for all the difficulties, and all the temptations, with which iny 7(!riting is attended. And as it quickens the joys of my hastening death. «32 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book IIL when I have through ^^race, a pro»pect of being then in that state where- to the spirits ofthenejust men made perfect, are all of them gaUured, to I would have this now to out-do all those joys, to be with Jesus Christ, that Burely, is by far the best of all. Monumenta Sepulchralia Justis non faciunt, nam Dicta eorum Sunt Memo-^ ria Eorum. Sentent. Judaic, in Dereschit. Rabba. CHAPTER I. CoTTONUS liedivivus: or, The Lifk of Mr. John Cotton. In quo Lumen Religionis <$■ Devotionis, Fumus generalus ex Lumine Scien- tice nonextinguit, tile perfectus est: SedQitis est Hie, ul adoremus eumi' Algazel, in Libro Staterae. Resp. Hie. est ! —- § 1. Were I master of the pen, wherewith Palladius embalmed hit . Chrysostom, the Greek patriark, or Posidonius eternized his .Austin, the Latin oracle, among the ancients ; or, were I owner of the quill where* with among the moderns, Beza celebrated his immortal Calvin, or Fabiui immortalized his venerable Beza ; the merits oi John Cotton would oblige me to employ it, in the preserving his famous memory. If Boston be the chief seat of JVew-England, it was Cotton that was the father and glo- ry of Boston: upon which account it becomes apiece of puro justice, that the life of him, «vho above all men gave life to his country, should bear no little tigure in its intended history ; and indeed if any person in this town or land, had the blessedness which the Roman historian long since pronounced such, even, to do things worthy to be writ, and to write things worthy to be read, it was he ; who now claims a room in our pages. If it were a comparison sometimes made of the reformers, Pomeranus was a ^anraiarian, Justus Jonas was an orator, Melancihon was a logician, but Luther was all : even that proportion, it may without envy be acknonr- ledged, that Cotton bore to the rest of oar JVew- English divines ; he that, whilst he was living had this vertue extraordinarily conspicuous in him. that it was his delight always, to acknowledge the gifts of God, in other nun, must now be is dead, have other men to acknowledge of him what Eras- mus does of Jeroin, In hoc uno conjunctum fuit ^ Eximium, quicquid in aliis partim admiramur. § 'L There was a good heraldry in that speech of the noble Romania, It is not tie blood of my progenitors, but my christian profession that makts me noble. But our John Cotton, besides the advantage of his christian profession, had a descent from honotir.ible progenitors, to render him doubly honourable. His immediate jjro^entVors being by some injustice, deprived of great revenues, his father Air. Roland Cotton had the educa- tion of a lawyer bestowed by his friends upon him, in hopes of hi» being the better capacitated thereby to recover the estate, whereof bis family had been wronged ; and so the profession of a lawyer, was that unto which this gentleman applied himself all his days. But our John Cotton, in this happier than Austin, whose father was carcfuUer to make an ora- tor than a christian of him, while his gracious mother was making him od greater accotints, a son of her many tears, had a very pious father in this worthy lawyer, as well as a pious mother, to interest him ia the covenant [Book UL ;ate where- 'oUured, so Chrittt that Sunt Memo^ ba. :tom. jumine Scitn- oremus turn f tmbalmed hi? 18 Austin^ the quill where- vin, or Fabiw i would oblige If Botton be alher and glo- rej«»tice, that «, should bear jperaon in this in long since to rurite thing* r pages. If »t meranus was a I logician, but y be acknow- ines ; he that, icuous in him. I, in other mtn, im what Eras- n, quicquid in oble Romanui, sion that maiui i{ bis chrittian to render him jome injustice, Ihad the educa- les of hi9 being Ireofbis family Iwas that unto ir John Cotton, make an ora- [making him on Is father in this in the ce^enfl"' Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. S33 of God. That worthy man was indeed very singular in two most imita- hle practice$. One was, that when any of his neighbours desirous to su^ one another, addressed him for council, it was his manner, in the most perswadive and obliging terms that could be, to endeavour a reconcilia- tion between both parties ; preferring the coniolations of a peace-maker ^ before all the/ee«, that he might iiave got by blowing up of differencee. Another was, that every night it was his custom to examine himself, with reflections on the transactions of the day past; wherein, if he found that he had not either (2one good unto others, or got goodvnto his own soul, he would be as much grieved as ever the famous Titus was, when he cuuld complain in the evening, Jlmici Diem Perdidi ! Of such parents was Mr. Mm Cotton born, at the town o( Derby, on the fourth of December} in the year 1586 § 3. The religious parents of Mr. Cotton, were solicitous to have him indued with a learned as well as a pious education ; and being neither so rich, that the Mater Artis could have no room to do her part, nor so poor that the Res Anguata Domi, should clog his progress, they were well fitted thereby, to bestow such an education upon him. His first instruc- tion was under a good school-master, one Mr. Johnson, in the town of Derby: whereon the intellectual endowments of all sorts, with which the God of our spirits adorned him, so discovered themselves, that at tho; age of thirteen, his proficiency procured him admission into Trinity-C/tanue/-Colledge, Mr. Co(/on was not only removed unto that Colledge, but also preferred unto a fellowship in it ; in order whereunto, he did according to the critical and laudable statutes of the house, go through a very severe examen of his fitness for such a 6ta> tion ; wherein 'twas particularly remarked, that the Poser trying his He- brew skill by the third chapter of Isaiah, a chapter which, containing more hard words than any one paragraph of the bible, might therefore have puzled a very good Hebrician, yet lie made nothing of it. He was afterwards the Head Lecturer, the Dean, the Catechistt in that famous Vol. I,, 30 Sii4 THE HISTOUY OF NEW -ENGLAND. [Book 111. Colledge ; and became a 7« end and renowned preacher of righteousness, Mr. Perkins ; but he resist- ed and smothered those convictions, through a vain perswasinn, that if he became n godly man, 'twould spoil him for being a learned one. Yea, 80ch was the secret enmity and prejudice of an unregenerate soul, against real holiness, and such the torment, which our Lord's witnesses give to the consciences of the earthly-minded, that when he heard the bell toll for the funeral of Mr. Perkins, his mind secretly rejoiced in his deliverance from that powerful ministry, by which his conscience had been so oft beleagured : the remembrance of which thing afterwards, did break his heart exceedingly ! But he was, at length, more effectually awakened, by a sermon of Dr. Sibs, wherein was discoursed the misery of those, who had only a negative righteousness, or a civil, sober, honest blameless- ness before men. Mr. Cotton became now very sensible of his own mis- erable condition before God ; and the arrows of these convictions, did stick so fast upon him, that after no less three year''s disconsolate apprehen- sions under them, the grace of God made him a thoroughly renewed ebristian, and filled him with a sacred joy, which accompanied him unto the fulness of joy for ever. For this cause, as persons truly converted unto God have a mighty and lasting affection for the instruments of their conversion ; thus Mr. Cotton'' s veneration for Dr. Sibs, was after this very ^ particular and perpetual : and it caused him to have the picture of that great man, in that part of his house, where he might oftenest look upon h. But so the yoke of sore temptations nnd afflictions and lonp spiritual trials, fitted him to be an eminently useful servant of God in his gene- ration ! § 6. Some time after this change upon the soul of Mr. Cotton, it came unto his turn again to preach at St. Maries ; and because he was to preach, m- BooK III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 33a Bved liOUB :ade- lever , and to be thing ough- 8, the ter of ady to 1 untQ herein ins. ns jlom of inre of to di8roiir»p;e his being there ; only he could ob- ject nothing, but, That Mr. (/otton being a young man, he was not to Jit upon that teore, to be over such a numerous and such a factious people. And Mr. Cotton hnving learned no otherwise to value himself, than to concur with the apprehensions of the Bishop ; intended therefore to return unto Cambridge : but some of his friends, ngninst his inclination, knowing the 4rue ■w.ry of doing it, soon charmed the Biihop into a declared opinion, that Mr. Cot'on was an honest, and a learned mxn. Thus the admission of Mr. Cjtton unto the exercise of his ministry in Boston, was accom- plished § 8. Mr. Cotton found the more peaceable reception among the people, through hi:4 own want of internal peace ; and because his continual exer- ieises, from his internal temptations and afflictions, made all people see, that instead of serving this or that party, his chief care was about the salvation of his own soul. But the stirs, which had been made in the town, by the Anninian controversies, then raging, put him upon further exercises ; whereof he has himself given us a narrative in the ensuing words : ' When 1 was first called to Boston in Lincolnshire, so it was, that * Mr. Baron, son of Dr. Baron, (the divinity reader of Cambridge) first ' broached, that which was then called Lutheranism, since Arminianism; ' as being indeed himself, learned, acute, plausible in discourse, and fit * to insinuate into the hearb of his neighbours. And though he were * a physitian by profession (and of good skill in that art) yet he spent the * greatest strength of his studies, in clearing and promoting the Arminian * tecents. Whence it came to pass, that in alt the great feasts of the * town, the chiefest discourse at the table, did ordinarily fall upon Armin- * tan points, to the great offence of godly ministers, both in Boston, and * nejghbour-towns. I coming among them, a yovng man, thought it a part * both of modesty and prudence, not to speak much to the points, at first, * among strangers and ancients : until afterwards, after hearing of many * discourses, in public meetings, and much private discourse with the ' doctor, I had learned at length, where all the great strength of the doc- ' tor lay. And then observing (by the strength of Christ) how to avoid ' such expressions as gave him any advantage in the expressions of others, * I began publickly to preach, and in private meetings to defend the doc- * trine of God's eternal election, before a\\ foresight of good or evil, ia * the creature ; and the redemption (ex gratia) only of the elect ; the ef- ' fectual vocation of a sinner. Per irresistibilem Gratia: vim, without ail * respect of the preparations of free will ; and finally, the impossibility * of the fall of a sincere believer, either totally or finally from a state of ' grace. Hereupon, when the doctor had objected many things, anH ' heard my answers to those scruples, which he was wont most plausibly * to urge ; presently after our publick feasts and neighbourly meetings, •^ were silent from all further debates tiboiit predestination, or any of the ' points which depend thereupon, and all matters of religion were car- ' ried on calmly and peaceably.' Al'ont half a year after, Mr. Cotton had been at Boston, thus usefully employed, he visited Canihri(^ge, that he might then and there proceed Batr.heUor of Divinity ; which he did : and his Concioad Clsrum, on Mat, iooK IH. Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. laflf 1 the dec- ind, which r. Cotton in lop of the 'uritanitm, 5 could ob- 1$ not to Jit tople- And D to concur return unto nowing the ed opinion, e admiasioD /vas accom- the people, ilinual exer- people »ee, IB about the made in the jpon further the ensuing it was, that nbridge) first IrmiMtanism ; urse, and fit jgh he were he spent the ;he Jirminia* feasts of the upon ^rmtii- n Boston, and jught it a part oints, at first, jring of many irse with the ,„ of the doc- how to avoid ^ons of othrt, Jend the doc- \od or evil, in dect ; the ef- , without all impossibility [rom a state of |y things, anH lost plausibly r'y meetings, ir any of the ion were car- I thus usefully lere proceed rum, on Mo^ V. IS, Fos estis Sal Terrce, was highly esteemed by the judicious. Nor was he less admired for his very singular acutcness in disrmtation, vi\tfio he answered the divinity act in the schools ; wherein he liad for his op- ponent a most acute antagonist, namely Dr. Chappel, who was afterwards Provost of Trin% Colledgc in Dvblin ; and one unhappily successful in promoting the new Pelagianism. § 9. Settled now at Boston, his dear friend, holy Mr. Bayns, recom- mended unto him a pious gentlewoman, one Mrs. Elizabeth Ilorrockt, the sister of Mr. James Horrocks, a famous minister in-Lancashire, to become his consort in a married estate. And it was remarkable, that on the very day of his wedding to that eminently vertuous gentlewoman, he first re- ceived that assurance of God's love unto his own soul, by the spirit of God, effect'ially applying his promise of eternal grace and life unto him, which happily kept with him all the rest of his days : for which cause he would afterwards often say, God made that day, a day of double mar- riage tome! The wife, which by the favour of God he had now found, was a very great help unto him, in the service of God ; but especially upon this, among many other accounts, that the people of her own sex, observing her more than ordinary discretion, gravity, and holiness, would still improve the freedom of their address unto her, to acquaint her with the exercises of their own S|>irits ; who acquainting her husband with convenient intimations thereof, occasioned him in his publick ministry more particularly and profitably, to discourse those things that were of everlasting benefit. § 10. After he had been three years in Boston, his careful studies and prayers brought him to apprehend more of evil remaining wireformed in the Church of England, than he had heretofore considered ; and fiom this time he became a conscientious non- conformist, unto the tinscriptw ral ceremonies and constitutions, yet maintained hy that church ; but such was his interest in the hearts of the people, that his non-conformity instead of being disturbed, was indeed embraced by the greatest part of the town. However, at last, complaints being made against him unto the Bishop^s courts, he was for a while, then put under the circumstances of a silenced minister ; in all which while, he would still give his presence at the publick sermons, though never at the common prayers of the cnn- formable. He was now offered, not only the liberty of his ministry, but very great preferment in it also, if he would but conform to the scrupled rites, though but in one act, and but for one time : nevertheless, his tender soul, afraid of being thereby polluted, could not in the least comply with such terr-ptations. A storm of many troubles upon him, was now gather- ing; but it was very strangely diverted ! For that very man who had occasioned this a£9iction to him, now became heartily afflicted for his own sin in doing of it ; and a stedfast, constant, prudent friend ; presenting a pair of gloves to a proctor of an higher court, then appealed unto that proctor without Mr. Cotton's ) ..owledge, swore. In Animam Domini, that Mr. Cotton was a conformable man : which things issued in Mr. Cotton's being restored unto the exercise of his ministry. § 11. The storm of persecution being thus blown over, Mr. CoWon en- joyed rest for many years. In which time he faithfully employed his great abilities, not in gaining men to this or thnt party of christians, but in acquainting them with the more essential and substantial points of Christianity In the space of twenty years that he lived at Boston, on the Lord\ days in the afternoons, he thrice went over the body of divinity in ^ catcrhistical reay ; and gave the heads of his discourse to young scho- 838 THK HISTORY OF NEW-ENOLAND. [Book III lars, and others in the town, that they might aniwer to bit queitiona in the congregation ; and the answers he op«ned and applied unto th« gen- eral advantage o( the hearerd. Whilst he was in this way handling the aixth coinmandtnent, the words of Uod which he uttered were so quick and powerful, thit a womnn among his hearers, who had been married sixteun years to u second Uitshand, now in horror of conscience, openly confessed her murdering her former husband, by poison, though there- by she exposed herself to the extremity of being burned. In the fore- noons of llie Lord's dayn, he preiiclied over the first six chapters in the Gospel ofJolin, the whole book of EccUsiastes ; the prophecy of Zepka- niah. th«> prophecy of Zcrfiariah, and many other scriptures. When the Lord's Slipper wms uitiniiiiHtrcd, which was once a month, he handled the eleventh chapler in the first epistle to the Corinthians, and the thir- teenth chnpter in the second book of the ClironicUs ; and some otbei pertinent pani^raplm uf the Bible. In his Uciures, he went through the whole fust and second iOpiritles of John ; the whole book of Holomon'i Song ; the Parables of our Saviour to the seventeenth chapter of Matthew. His house aUo was full of young students ; whereof some were sent un- to him out of O'erj/ftn^, some out o( Holland, hut most out ofCambridge : for Dr. Preston would still advise his near Hedged pupils, to go live with Mr. CoKon, that they might be fitted for publick service ; insomuch that it was grown almost a proverb, That Mr. Cotton was Dr. Preston's sea- soiling c'essd : aid of those that issued from this learned family, famous and useful in their generation, the well-known Dr. Hill was not the least. Moreover, he kept a daily lecture in his house, which, as very reverend enr-witnesses have expressed it, He performed with much grace, to the edification of (he hearers : and unto this lecture many pious people in the town, would constantly resort, until upon a suspicion of some inconven- tency, which might arise from the growing nuvierousness of bis auditory, be left it oil'. However, besides his ordinary lecture every Thursday, he preached t/tnce more ; every week, on the week-days; namely on Wednesdays and Thursdays, early in the morning, and on Saturdays at three in the afternoon. And besides these immense labours, he was frequently employed on extraordinary days, kept Pro Temporis ^ Causis, whereon he would spend sometimes no less than six hours in the word and prayer. Furthermore, it was his custom, once a year, to visit bis native-town of Derby, where he was a notable exception to the general rule of, A prophet withotU honour in his own country ; and by bis vigilant care.s, this town was fur many years kept supplied with able and faithful ministers of the gospel. Thus was this good man a most indefatigable doer of good. § 12. The good spirit of God, so plentifully and powerfully accom- panied the ministry of this excellent man, that a great reformation was thereby wrought in the town of Boston. Profaneness was extin- guii^hed, superstition was abandoned, religion was embraced and prac- ti-sed among the body of the people ; yea, the mayor, with most of the magistrates, were now called Puritans, and the Satanical party was become insignificant. As to the matter o{ non-conformity, Mr. Cotton wigniU'fition, xi'hnrrhy he may be edified ; or words to the like OKiU. Book HI.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. tf3& tiona in i« gen- liog the quick married openly 1 there- he l'orc> :• in the i Zepha- /hen the hundlfd the thir- ne otbei ough the 'iolomon't Matthew. sent un- mbridge : hve with nuch that jton'u »««• ^, famous t the least. reverend tee, to the >ple in the inconven- I auditory, Thuridny, tamely on iturdayK at he wafr ^ Causis, the word visit bis le general js vigilant [nd faithful lefatigable lly accom- \eformation ^■ras extin- and prac- |h most of party was Cotton w.»» England ; i(. The sii^- jfCommon- up the dull •otable and the like I, ' purpose. The second was the limitation o( church-power, even of the ' highest apoittolical commission, to the obtervation of the cotnmandmente ' ofChriit, Mat. xxviii, SO. Which made it appear to me utterly unl •W' * ful for any church-power to enjoynthe observation odndiff'erent ceremo' 'niea, which Christ had not comtmnded : and all the ceremonies were * alike destitute of the commandment of Christ, though they had been m- ' different otherwise ; which, indeed others have justly pleaded they ' were not.' But this was not all : for Mr. Cotton was also come to be- lieve, that scripture bishops were appointed to rule no larger a dioccsa than a particular congregation ; and that the ministers of the Lord, with the keys of ecclesiastical government, are given by him to a congrega- tional church. It hence came to pass, that our Lord Jesus Christ was now worshipped in Boston, without the use of the liturgy, or of those vestments, which are by Zanchy called Execrabites Vestes ; yea, the sign of the cross was laid aside, not only in baptism, but also in the mayor^t mace, as worthy to be made a Nehushtanl^ because it had been so much abused unto idolatry. And besides all this, there were some scores of pious people in the town, who more exactly formed themselves into an Evatt' gelical Church-State, by entring into covenant with God, and with one another, to follow after the Lord, in the purity of his worship. However, the main bent and aim of Mr. Colon's ministry tvas, to preach a crucified Christ ; and the inhabitants o( Boston observed, that God blessed them in their, secular concernments, remarkably the more, through his dwelling among them : for many strangers, and son. e too, that were gentlemen of good quality, resorted unto Boston, and Some removed their habitations thither, on his account ; whereby the prosperity of the place was very much promoted. § 13. As his desert of it was very high, so the respect which he met withal was far from low. The best of his hearers loved him greatly, and the worst of i\i%m feared him, as knoxdng that he was a righteous and an holy man. Yea, such was the greatness of his learning, his wisdom, his ho- liness, that great men took no little notice of him. A very honourable person rode thirty miles to see him ; and afterwards professed, That he had «s lieve hear Mr. Cotton's ordinary exposition in his family, as any minis- ter'' s publick preaching that he knew in England. Whilst he continued iq Boston Dr. Preston would constantly come once a year to visit him, from his exceeding value for Mr. Cotton'' s friendship. Arch-Bishop Williu ins did likewise greatly esteem him for his incomparable parts ; and when he was keeper of ilie great seal, he recommended Mr. Cotton to the royal favour. Moreover,the Earl ofDorchester andofLindsey, had much regard unto him: which happened partly on this occasion ; the Earl's coming into Lincoln- shire, about the dreining of some fenny grounds. Mr. Cotton was then in his course of preaching on Gal. ii. 20. Intending to preach on the duties of living by faith in adversity , but considering that these noblemen were not much acquainted with afflictions, he altered his intentions, and so ordered it, that when they came to Boston, he discoursed on the duties o( living by faith in prosperity : when the noblemen were so much taken with what they heared, that they assured him, if at any time he should want a friend at court, they would improve all their interest for him. And when Mr. Cotton did plainly, but wisely admonish them, of certain /)astuns, which though they did not amount nnto the keat and ftelghth of those that happened between Chrysoitom and Epiphanius, or betvveen Hierom and Fuffinus, yet they inclined him to meditate a removal into, another colony. But a certain scandalous writer, having publickly reproached Mr. Cotton, witli his former inclination to remove, there was thereby provoked his publick and patient answer ; which being a sum- mery narrative of this whole business. I shall here transcribe it. * 'J'here was a generation of Familists in our own, and other towns. * who under pretence of holding forth what I had taught, touching union * with Chritst, and evidencing that union, did secretly vent sundry and ' dangerous errors and heresies, denying all inherent righteousness, and ' all evidencing of a good estate thereby in nny sort, and some of them * also denying ike immortality' of the soul, and the res%irrt"''>'nn of the body. * When they were questioned by some brethren about those ihings, they * carried it, as if they had held forth nothing, but what they had received * from me : whereof, when I was advised to clear my self, I publickly * preached against those errors. Then said the brethren to the erring * party. See your teacher declares himself clearly to differ from you. Ab * matter (say the other) what he saitk in publick, we understand him other- * wise, and we know what he saith to us in private. Yea, and 1 my self * could not easily believe, that those erring brethren and sisters, were so * corrupt in their judgments as they were reported ; they seeming to * me forward christians, and utterly denying any such tenents, or any * thing else, but what they received from my self. All which bred in * sundry of the country, a jealousie that I was in secret a fomenter of the .* spirit of familism, if not leavened my self that way. Which I dii>cem- * ing, it wrought in me thoughts (as it did in many^ other sincerely and * godly brethren of our church) not of a separation from the churches, * but of a removal to New-Haven, as being better known to the pastor, * and some others l/tere, than to such as were at that time jealous of me * here. The true ground whereof was an inward loathuess to be trouble * some unto godly minds, and a fear of the unprofitableness of my minis- * try there, where my way was suspected to be doubtful and dangerous. * I chose therefore rather to meditate a silent departure in peace, than by * tarrying here, to make way for the breaking forth of temptations. But * when, at the Synod, I had discovered the corruption of the judgment of • * the erring brethren, and saw their fraudulent pretence of holding forth * no other, but what they received from me (when as indeed they plead * for gro«s errors contrary unto my judgment) 1 thereupon did bear wit- ' * ness against them ; and when in a private conference with some chief * magistrates and elders, I perceived, that my removal upon such differ- * ences was unwekome to them, and that such points need not to occa '"'* sioD any distance (neither in place nor in heart) amongst brethren, I Iher '^'" '-'■ ■ ='■ ■-■..:.i,^j..J.,-,..-ii.i:...^r.:..:'....^^.^.::. ■ OK m. Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENOLAND. 246 of their ng upon tinopoli' ishing of Mr. Co*- i contro- hfiT mln- whereby •oxisfM in lalous and heat and ianiva, or a T^mOval poblickly there was ing a Bum* it. ^;'«»w, her towfi«, ;hing union sundry and usness, and ne of them Djf the body. hing8, they ad received 1 publickly p the erring n you. JVb d him other- d I my self ers, were 80 seeming to jnts, or any ich bred in menter of the ;h I difcem- incerely and le churches, the pastor, 'alous of me to be irovbk if my minis- J dangerous, ■ace, than by lations. But judgment of holding forth ;d they plead did bear wit- h some chief such differ- not to occa- (thren, I then < rested satisfied in my abode amongst them, and so have contioaed, by the * grace of Christ unto this day.' 'Tis true, such was Mr. Cotton^a holy ingenuity, ^ jhat when he per- ceived the advantage, which erroneous and heretical persons in bis church, bad from his abused charity,, taken to spread their dangerous opinions, before he was aware of them, be did publickly sometimes with teart bewail it, That the enemy had sown so many tares "uibiist he had bpen asleep. Nevertheless 'tis as true, that nothing ever could be baser than the disingenuity of those pamphletteers, who took advantage hence, to catch these tears in their venomous ink horns, and employ them for so many blots upon the memory of a righteous man, worthy to be had in ever- lasting remembrance. § 22. When the virulent and violent Edwards had been after a roost unchristian manner, bespattering the excellent Burroughs, that reviled saint, in his answer, had that passage ; The extreme eagerness of some to asperse our namesj makes us to think, that God hath made more use of our nanus, Aan we were aware of. — —fVe see by their auger even almost to madness, bent that way, thai thty had little hope, to prevail with all their argument against the cause we profess, till they could get down our estum (such as it was) in the hearts of the people. But our names are not in the power of their tongues and pens ; thty are in the hands of God, who wilt preserve them so far, as he hath use of them ; and further, we shall have no use of thtm our selves. That bitter spirit in Ba^y, must for such causes expose the name of the incomparable Cotton., unto irreparable in- juries : for, from the meer hearsays of that uncharUable writer, hastily published unto the world, the learned and worthy Dr. Hoombeck, not much less against the rules of charity, printed a short account of Mr. Cotton i whereof an ingenious author truly says, there was in it, Quotfere Verba, tot Errores famosissimi ; neque tantum quot Capita, tot Carpenda, sed tfuot fere Sententiarum punctula, tot Dispungenda. That scandalous ac- count, it is pity it should be read in English, and greater pity that ever that reverend person should make it be read in Latiii ; but this it was ,- Cottonus, horrore Ordinis Episcopalis, •j.n Aliud Exlremum prolapsus, Om- niaplebi absque Vinculo Ecclesiarum concedebat. Cottonus iate,primvm in Anglia, alterius Longe Sentential fuerat unde, 4* plurimorum Errorum Heresiumque Reus, Maximus Ordims iatius, vel polius Ataxias, promotor extitit ; habuitqiie iecum, quemadmodum Montanus olim Maximillam, suam Hutchinsooam, de quavari ir prodigiosa multa referunt. From these mis- erable historians, who would imagine what a slur has been abroad cast upon the u&aie of as holy, as learned, as orthodox, and eminent a servant of our Lord, in his Reformed Churches, as was knosvn in his age ! Among the ref>t, it is particularly observable how a laborious and ingenious for- eigner, in his Bihliolheca Jlnglorum Theologica, having in his index men- tioned a book of this our Mr. Cotton, under the style of Johannis Cottoni, Via Vitae, Liber Uiilissimus, presently adds, Jllius Johannes Cottonus mal(f JVotffi Homo: whereas 'twas only by the misrepresentations of conten- tious and unadvised men, that John Cotton, the experimental author of such an useful book, must be branded with a note of infamy. But if the reader will deal justly, he must join these gross calumnies upon Cotton, with the fables of Luther''s devil, ZuingUus^ dreams, Ca/vtn'« brands, and Junius' cloven foot. If Hoombeck ever saw Cotton's mild, but full reply to Baily, which as the good spirited Beverly says, would haVe been es- teemed a sufficient refutation of all these wretched slanders, JV*m Fra- trum quorundam aures ervnt ad veritatem,tanquamAspidum, obturata, 'tis 5? V' «46 THE HlSTORy OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book IIL imposiiible to excuse liis wrongful deulings with a venerable loiDiater of our Lord ! Pray, Sir, churge not our Cotton with an Horror Ordinis Epiicopalii; until you h^ve chastised vour friend /lonoriw Heggiui, thnt is Georgiu$ Homius, for Celling uti, as yoeliu$ quotes it ; Multorwn Avi- tnoi Subiit Hecordatio illius^ quod VenerubilU Bezn. non sine Piophetia Spiritu, olim rcscripait Knoxo, Eccletia Scotica Refomtatori : Sicut Epis' copi Fapalum pepererunt, ita OeuUt pane ipaiajam cernitur, Pmedo Epit- ropos, papatus keliquiat, Epicureismurn TerrU Invecturos, Atque hac pttemittere Visum, ut eo manifeatiui esact Britanniam diutiua Episcopoa non potuitte ftrre, niai in Papiamum 4* Jllheiamum Labi vellel. Charge not our Cotton with an Omnia Plebi absque Vincuh Aliarvm Ecclesiarwn con- cedebat ; until, besides the whole scope und scheme of his ecclesiastical writings, which allow no more stUI unto the fraternity, than Parker, Ames,Carf^n'ght; und advance no other than that ariatocraaie, that Bexa, Zanchy, Whitaker, Bucer, and Blondel pleaded for ; you have better con- strued his words in his golden preface to Jiorton^s answer unto the Syllo- g« Qua>«(tonuin, JSfeque nos Regimen proprie dictum alibi quam penes Pres- by teres stabilendum Cupimus: Convenimus ambo inSubjecto Regiminii Ec- clcaiastici : Convenimus eliam in Regula Reminis, ut Administretitur Omttia Juxta Canoncm Sacrarum Scriptarum : C'onvenimus etiam in Fine Rtgtmi- ■nis, ut Omnia Tranaigaulur ad Edijicationem Ecclesite, nou ad Pompam aut Luxum Secularem : Hynodoa nos, una P'obiscum, cum opus fuertt, 4* Suscipimua <$* veneramur, (^nantillum est, quod Restat, quod Distatl Ac' tus Kegiminis, quos vos a Synodia peragi Velletia, eos a Sytiodis porrigi Ec- clesiis ^ ab Eixlesiis, ex Synodali Diorthosisi peragi peteremus. Chaif;e nut our Cotton with an Ataxias Promotor Extitit until you, your self, Doctor, have revoked your own ttuo concessions, which are all the Atax^ ies that ever could, with so much as the least pretence, be imputed unto this renowned person ; Ecchsia particularis qualibet Subjeclum est Ada- quaiiim <$* proprium plena poteslatis Ecclesiasttca ; nee Congrue dicitur ejvs Synodo Dependentia, and, JVeque enim Synodi in alias Ecclesias potes tatem habent Imperantem, qua: Superiorum esty in Inferiores sibi Subditoa ; Aon* Commwnionis Sententia Potestatcm ^uvimam denotat. As for the Cotttmus Plurimcrum Errorum Haresiumquc Reus, were old Austin alive, he would have charged no less a crime than that of sacriledge upon the man, that thus without all colour, should rob the church of a name which would justly be dear unto it ; for as the great Caryl hath expressed it. The name of Collon is as an ointment poured forth. But for the top of all these calumnies, Cottoni Hvtchinsona, instead of a resemblance to Montani Maximilian the truer comparison would have been, Mulier ista, iptm per Calumniam notissimam Objiciebatnr Alhanasio ; all the favour which that prophetess of Thyatira had from this angeliial man, was the same, that the provoked Paul showed unto the Pythoniss. In fine, the his- tories which the world has had of the JVcw- English churches, under the influence of Mr. Cotton, I have sometimes thought much of a piece, with what we have in the old histories of Lysimachus ; that when a leprous, a »cabby sort of people were driven out of Egypt into the wilderness, there was a certain man called Moses, who counselled them to march on in a body, till they came to some good soyl. This Moses commanded them to be kind unto no man ; to give bad advice rather than good, upon all oc- casions ; and to destroy as many temples as they could find ; so, after much travel and trouble, they came to a fruitful soyl, where they did all the mischief that Moses had recommended, and built a city, which was at lirst called Hierosyla, from the spoiling of the temples : but afterwards, to OOK 111. Book HI.] THE HISTORY OF NEWENGLAND. 847 WBter oi" Ordinu [till, thui 117/1 •nm* Pj opketia cut Epii- tdo Epi*- \lque hac copoi non large not irum con' leaiatttical n Varker, that Bega, etter con- , the Syllo- tenet Fret- imini* Ec- \tur Omnia ne htgimi- d Pompam s fver^l. ir Uatat! Ac- porrigi Ec- J. Charge your self, 1 the Atax' puted unto irn est Ma- Hcitur ejvt poles tatetn litos; JVbn. he Cottonut ahve, he in the man, lame which pressed it, the top of imblance to lulier iita, the favour ,n, was the |ne, the his- under the piece, with ]a leprous, a •ness, there ■ch on in a led them to ipon all oc- ; so, after [hey did all jich WM »'■ [erwards.to shun the disgrace of the occasion, they changed it into Hierdtidytie't tM bore the name of Hicroiolymitans. But thm must n bad report, as well, as a good report, follow such a roan as Mr. Cotton, whose only fault after all, was that, with which that memorable ancient Nazienzen was taxed sometimes ; namely, the fault of Mantuetude. § 23. These clouds being thus happily blown over, the rest of his dayn were spent in n more settled peace ; and Mr Cottou^s growing and spread- ing fame, like Joseph's bough, ran over the wall of the Atlantic oceun, un- to such a degree, that in the year 1641, some ^''^at pc'-'^ns in England, were intending to have sent over a ship on p ^ se -tch him over, for the take of the service, that such a man as ke, migh en do to the church of God, then travelling in the nation. But although their doubt of his vjillingnets to remove, caused them to forbear that metAod of obtain- ing him, yet the principal members in both houses of parliament wrote Uhto him, with an importunity for his return into England; which had prevailed with him, if the dismal showers of blood, quickly after break- ing upon the nation, had not made such afflictive impressions upon him, as to prevent his purpose. He continued therefore in Boston unto bis dying day ; counting it a great favour of Heaven unto him, that he was delivered from the unsettledness oj" habitation, which was not among the least of the calamities that exercised the apostles of our Lord. J^ineteen years and odd months he spent in this place, doing of good publickly and privately, unto all sorts of men, as it became agoodmanfull of faith, and of the Holy Ghost. Here in an expository way, he went over the Uld Testa- ment once, and a second time as far as the thirtieth chapter of Isaiah; and the whole JS'ew Testament once, and a second time, as far as the eleventh chapter to the Hebrews. Upon Lord^s-days and lecture-days, he preach- ed thorow the Acts of the Apostles ; the prophesies of Haggai and Zecha- riah, the books of £2rffl, the Revelation, Ecclesiastes, Canticles, second and third Epistles of John, the Epistle to Titus, both Epistles to Timothy ; the Epistle to the Romans ; with innumerable other scriptures on inci- dental occasions. Though he had also the most remarkable faculty, per- haps of any man living, to meet every remarkable occasion, with pertin- ent reflections, whatever text he were upon, without ever wandring out of sight from his text : and it is possible there might sometimes be a par- ticular operation of providence, to make the works and words of God meet in the ministry of his holy servant. But thus did he abound in the works of the Lord! § 24. At length, upon desire, going to preach a sermon at Cambridge,, (which he did, on Isa. liv. 13. 7'% children shall be all taught of the Ifjord ; and from thence gave many excellent councils unto the studenti of the colledge there) he took wet in his passage over the ferry ; but he presently felt the effect of it, by the failing of his voice in sermon-time ; which ever until now, had been a clear, neat, audible voice, and easily heard in the most capacious auditory. Being found so doing, as it had often been his declared wish, That he might not out live his work! (saying upon higher principles than once Cnrius Dentalus did, Malle esse se Mor- tuum, quam Vivere; that he had rather 6e dead, than Irve dead: and with Seneca, Ultimum malorum est ex vivorum JVumero exire, ante quam moria- ris :) his illness went on to an inflammation in his lungs ; from whence he grew somewhat asthmatical ; but there was a complication of other scorbutic affects, which put him under many symptoms of his approaching end. On the eighteenth of November, he look in course for his text, thfi four last vorses of the second Epistle to Timothy, giving this reason 248 THE HISTORY OF N£W.ENOLAND. (fioox III, for his inaitting on so mtny verses at ooce, bteauu elu (he said) / dmll not live to make an end of thi$ Epiitle ; but he chiefly insisted on those words, Grace be with you all. Upon the Lord's day following, he preach- ed his last sermon on Joh. i. 14. aboat thatg^ory of the LordJeem Chrirt, from the faith to the $ight whereof, he was now hastening. After this in that study, which had been perfumed with many such days before, he now spent a day in secret humiliationi and supplications, before the Lord ; seeking the special assistances of the Holy Spirit, for the great work of dying, that was now before him. What glorious transactions might one have heard passing between the Lord Jesus Christ, and an excellent ser- vant of his, now coming unto him, if he could have had an hearit^ place behind the hangings of the chamber, in such a day I But having finished the duties of the day, he took his leave of his beloved study, saying to bis consort, / shall go into that room no more ! And he had all along pre- sages in bis heart, that God would by his present sickness, give him an entrance into the everlasting kingdomofthe Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore, setting his house in order, he was now so far from unwilling to receive the mercy-stroke of death, as that he was desirous to be with Him, with whom to be, it by far the best of all. And although the chief ground of his read- iness to be gone, was from the unutterably sweet and rich entertainments, which he did by foretast, as well as by promise, know that the Lord had reserved in the heavenly regions for him, yet he said, it contributed un- to this readiness in him, when he considered the saints, whose company and communion he was going onto ; particularly Perkins, Ames, Preston, Ilildersham, Dod, and others, which had been peculiarly dear unto him- aelf ; besides the rest, in thatgen«ra/ assembly. ' §25. While he thus lay sick, the magistrates, the ministers of the country, and christians of all sorts, resorted unto him, as unto a public father, full of sad apprehensions, at the withdraw of such ». publiek bles- sing; and the gractous words that proceeded out of his mouth, while he had strength to utter the profitable conceptions of his mind,^caofied them to reckon these their visits the gainfulest that ever they had made. Among others, the then president of the college, with many tears, desired of Mr. Cotton before his departure, to bestow his blessing on him ; saying, / know in my heart, they whom you bless shall be blessed. And not long be fore his death, he sent for the elders of the church, \?bereof Ae himself ady,l>rother! •ious covenant [the might be f his appHca- breathed his twenty third jwn age : an^ [in the lectvre, I churches ol fmher, he m ge of people. and the most grievous and solemn /unera/ that was ever known perhaps upon the American strand ; and the lectures in his church, the whole winter following, performed by the neighbouring ministers, were but so many funeral sermons upon the death and worth of this extraordinarif person : among which, the tirst, I think, was preached by Mr. Richard Mather, who gave unto the bereaved church ol Boston this great charac- ter of their incomparable Cotton, Let us pray, that God ivould raise ^p some Eleazar to succeed this Aaron : bvt you can hardly expect, that so large a portion of the spirit of God should duiell in any one, as dwelt in this blessed man ! And generally in the other churches through the country* the expiration of this general blessing to them pU, did produce funeral sermons full of honour and sorrow ; even as many miles above an hun- dred, as J^ew-Haven was distant from Massachuset-\my, when the tidings of Mr. Cvtton's decease arrived there, Mr. Davenport with many tears bewailed it, in a public discourse on that in 2 Sam. i. 26, / om distresae4 for thee, my broilur Jonathan, very pleasant hast thou been unto me. Tiea, they speak of Mr. Cotton in their lamentations to this day I It is a memorable saying oiAlgazel, In quo Luriten Religionis 4r Devo- tionis, Fumus generatus ex Lumine Scientite non exlinguit, ille perfeclus est : Sed quis est hie, ut adoremus eum ? Reader, 1 will show thee such a man ; one in whom the Itght of learning accompanied the^re of goodness^ met in an high degree : but thou shalt adore none but the Lord Jesus Christ, who made htm such a man. § 26. How vast a treasure of learning was laid in the grave, which was opened on this occasion, can scarce credibly and sufficiently be rela- ted. Mr. Cotton was indeed, a most universal scholar, and a living system of the liberal arts, and a walking library. It would be endless to recite all his particular accomplishments, but only three articles of observation shall be offered. First, for his grammar, be had a very singular skill in those three languages, the knowledge whereof was the inscription on the cross of our Saviour, proposed unto the perpetual use of his church. The Hebrew he understood so exactly, and so readily, that he was able to dis' course in it. In the Greek he was a critick, so accurate and so well versed, that he need not, like Austin, to have studied in his reduced age. Thus, if many of the ancients committed gross mistakes in their interpretations of the scriptures, through their want of skill in the originals, Mr. Cotton was better qualified for an interpreter. He both wrote and spoke Latin also with great facility ; and with a most Ciceronian elegancy, exemplifi- ed in one published composure. Next, for his logic he was compleatly furnished therewith to encounter the subtilest adversary of the truth. But although he had been educated in iheperipatetick way, yet like the other puritans of those times, he rather iifiected th^ Raman discipline ; and chose to follow the methods of that excellent Ramus, who like Justin of old, was not only a philosopher, but a christian, and a martyr also ; rather than the more empty, trifling, altercntive notions, to which the works of the Pagan Aristotle derived unto us^ through the mangling hands of the apostate Porp/ti/n'e, have disposed his disciples. Lastly, for hi» Tkeologie, there 'twas that he had his greatest extraordinariness, and most of all, his Textual Divinity. His abilities to expound the scriptures, caus- ed him to be admired by the ablest of his hearers. Although his incom- parable modesty would not permit him to speak any more than the least of himself, yet unto a private friend he hath said, That he knew not of any difficult place in all the whole Bible, which he not weighed, some what unto satisfaction. And hence, though he ordinarilv bestowed much pains up- VoL. 1.. 32 • tt60 'J'HE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. (Book III. on hit publick termon$, yet he hath Hometimeii preached moat admirably, without any warning ni ail ; and n new note upoo a text before him, oc- curring to his mind, but just ns he wns going into the a«»emlby, hat taken up his discoure ibr that hour, so pertinently und judiciously, that the most critical of his auditorn, imsigined nothing extemporaneoun. Indeed his li- brary was vast, und vast was his acquaintance with it : but although amongst his rendingH, he had given a special room unto the fathers, and unto the tchool-men, yet at hist, he preferred one Calvin nbovo them ail. If Eratmus, when ufl'ered a Bishoprick to write against Luther, could Hnswer, There ■was more dix'inity in a page of Luther, than in all Thoma!* Aquinas : 'tis no wonder that Salmasius could so venerate Calvin, as to say, That he had rather be the author of that one book, the Institutions writ- ten hyCahin, than have written all that was ever done by Grotius. Even such a Calvinist was our Cotton ! Said he, / have read the fathers and the tcool-men, and Calvin loo ; but I find, that he that has Calvin has them all. And being asked, why in his latter days he indulged nocturnal studies more than formerly, he pleasantly replied. Because I love to sweeten my mouth with a piece of Calvin before I go to sleep, § ST. Indeed in his common preacjiing, he did as Basil reports of Ephrem Syrus, Plurimmn distare a Mundana Sapientia : and though he were a great scholar, yet he did sonscientiously forbear making to the common people any ostentation of it. He had the art o( concealing kit art ; and thought with Sobinus, JVon minus est Virluas Populariter quam Argute Loqui, and Mr. Dod, That Latin for the most part was flesh in a sermon. Accordingly, when he was handling the deepest subjects, a speech of that import was frequent with him, / desire to speak so as to be understood by the meanest capacity! And he would sometimes "Ive the same reason for it, which the great Ju«/in gave, If I preach more scholaatically, then only the learned, and not the unlearned, can so understand as to profit by me ; but if I preach plainly, then both learned and unlearned tdll under- ^stand me, and so I shall profif all. When a golden key of oratory would not so •.veil open a mystery of Christianity, be made no stick to take an iron one, that should be less rhetorical. You should hear few terms of art, few latinities, no exotic or obsolete phrases, obscuring of the truth, which he was to bring unto the people of God. Nevertheless his more judicious and observing hearers, could by his most tmtrimmed sermons perceive that he was a man of more than ordinary abilities. Hence when a Dutchman of great leamiUg,, heard Mr. Cotton preach at Boston, in England, he professed, That he never in his life saw such a conjunction of learning and plainness, cu there was in the preaching of this worthy mm. The glory of God, and not his own glory, was that at which he aimed in his labours ; for which cause, at the end of his notes, he still inserted that clause, TibiDomine: or. For thy glory, O God! For liis delivery, though it were not like FareVs, noisy and thundering, yet it hid in it a very awful mAtjesty, set off with a natural and becoming motion of his right hand ; and the Lord was in the still '.■Ji'-e at such a rate, that Mr Wilson would say, Mr. Cotton preaches with such authority, demonstration, and life, that methihks, when he preaches out of any prophet, or apostle, I hear not him ; I hear that very prophet and apostle ; yea, I hear the Lord Jesus Christ himself speaking in my heart. And the success which God gave to thete plain labours of his faithful, humble, diligent servant, was beyond what most ministers in the country ever did experience : there have been few that have seen so many and mighty effects, given to the traveli of their souls, ^ . . . . ■ ^ i'S'., >0K lU. booE III.] THE HISTORY OF NEVVENOLAND. 26 1 nirably, liiin, oc- as takcB the most id his />* Although hers, nnd them all. ■r, could I Thomas i}in, U8 to ttotis writ- 8. Even •« and the t thtm all. tdiei more my «io« tinuance. And, indeed, the work which lay upon him, could not have been performed, without a labour more than ordinary. For besides his constant preaching, more than on:e every week, many cases were brought unto him Dir and near, in resolving whereof, us he took much time, so he did much good, being a most excellent casuist. He was like- wise very deeply concerned in peaceable and effectual disquisitions of the controversies about church-government, then agitated in the Church of Qod. And though he chiefly gave himself to reading, and doctrine, and exhortation, depending much, on the ruling elders to inform him, concerning the state of his particular Hock, that he might the better order himself in the word and prayer, yet he found his ehurch-work, in this regard also, to call for no little paiofulness, watchfulness, and faith- fulness. § 29. He was one so clothed with humility, that according to the em- phasis of the apostolical direction, by this livery his relation as a disciple to the lowly Jesus, was notably discovered ; and hence he was patient and peaceable, even to a proverb. He had a more than common excel- lency in that cool spirit, which the oracles of wisdom describe, as the excellent spirit in the man of understanding ; and therefore Mr. Norton would parallel him with Moxe;, among the patriarchs, with Melacthon among the reformers. He was rather excessive than defective in self- denial, and had the JVimta Humilitas, which Luther sometimes blamed in Staupicius : yea, he was at last himself sensible, that some fell very deep into the sin of Corah, through his extreme forbearance, in matters rela- ting to his own just rights in the church of God. He has, to a judicious friend, thus expressed himself, Angry men have an advantage above m« ; the people dare not not set themselves against such men, because they know it viont be born ; but some care not what they say or do about me, because they know I wont be angry with them again. One would have thought the in- genuity of such a spirit should have broke the hearts of men, that had indeed the hearts of men in them; yea, that the hardest^rnfs would hav*' ^-i 252 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENQLAND. [Book HI. been broken, as is usual, upon such a soft bng of Cotton / But alas ! he found it otherwise, even among 8otn« who pretended unto high attain- tnenti in cbriftinnity. Once particulnrly, Hn humorous and imperious brother, following Mr. Cotton home to liin house, after his publick !•• bours. instead of the grateful respects with which those holy labours were to have been encouraged, rudely told him, that his ministry was be< come generally, either dark, or flat : whereto this meek man, very mild> ly and gravely, made only this answer : Both, brother, it may be, both: let me lutve your prayers that it may be otherwise. But it is remarkable, that the man sick thu* of wanton singularities, iiftcrwards died of those damnable heresies, for which he was deservedly excommunicated. — Another time, when Mr. Cotton had modestly replied unto one that Tirould much talk and crack of his insight into the revelations : Brother, I must confess my self to want light in those mysteries. The man went home, and sent him a pound of candles : upon which action this good man be- stowed only a silent smile. He would not set the beacon of his great soul on fire, at the landing of such a little rock-boat. He learned the lesson of Gregory, It is heUer, many times, tojlyfrom an injury by silence, than to overcome it by replying: and he uded that practice oi Grynaus^ To re^ venge wrongs by christian taciturnity, 1 think, I may not omit,- on this occasion, to transcribe a remarkable passage, which that good man, Mr. Flavd, reports, in asermon on gospel- unity. His words are these : ' * A company of vain wicked men, having inflamed their blood in a * tavern at Boston, and seeing that reverend, meek, and holy minister of * Christ, Mr. Cotton, coming along the street, one of them tells bis com- * panion, ni go, (saith he) and put a trick upon old 'Cotton. Down he ' goes, and crossing his way, whispers these words into his ear. Cotton * (said he^ thou art an old fool, Mr. Cotton replied, / confess I am so: * the Lord make both me and Ihee wiser than we are, even wti« uiUo salva- * Hon. He relates this passage to his wicked comps^iions, which cast a ' great damp upon their sports, in the midst of a frolick.' And it may pass for a branch of the same temper in him, that he ex* tremely hated all Jlllotrio- Episcopacy : and though he knew as practically as most men in the world, That we have a call to do good, as often as wt have power and occasion ; yet he was slow of apprehending any occnsion at all, though he might have had never so much power to meddle for good, any where, but within the sphere of his own proper calling. As he understood that Leontius blamed Constantine, for interposing too far in ecclesiastical affairs, thus Mr. Cotton, on the other side, had a great aver- eiou from engaging in any civil ones. He would religiously decline ta- king into his cognisance all civil controversies, or umpirages, and what- ever looked heterogeneous to the railing of one, whoseSwhole busineu 'twas to feed the flock of God. Nevertheless, in the things of God, of Christ, of conscience, his condescending temper did not hinder him from the most immovable resolution. He would not so follow peace with all men, as to abandon or. prejudice, one jot. the interests of holiness. § 30. His command over his own spirit, was particularly observable in his government of his family, where he would never correct any thing in a passion , but first, with much deliberation shew what rule in the holy vord of God, had bt^cn violated, by the fault lately committed. He was indeed one that ruled well his own house. He therein morning and evening read a chapter, with a little applicatory expo»ilion, before and after which he made a prayer ; but he was very short in all, ac- [Book II I • utalatl he high aUain- I imperioui publick It- loly laboun stry WBH b«- , very miW* ay 6e, both : remarkHble, lied of those nunicated. — ito one that ( : Brother, I II went home, good man be- hiB greot soul led the lessoa Hence, than to rynaut, To re' a remarkable noon on goipel- ?ir blood in a oly minister ol" I tells bis com- )n. Down he his ear. Cotton nfe$s I am to: lise unto $alva- ,, which cast a Book 111.1 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 263 counting as Mr. Dod, Mr. Bains, and other great saints did beibre biUt That it wa$ a thing inconvenient many wayt to be tediinu in family dutitt. He also read constantly a portion of the scriptoi ) alone, and he prayed over what he read : prayed I say ; for h« was very much in prayer, a very man of prayer ; he would rarely sit down to study, without a prayer over it, referring to the presence of Ood accompanying what be did. It was the advice of the ancient, iSi vi* e$ie Semper cum Deo, Semper Ota, Semper Lege : and agreeably hereunto, Mr. Cuiiun might suy with David^ Lord, I am itill wi«(.• ■■«S;^' •??•-'» 1 .T*^*- Ml' THE HISTORY OF NEVV-ENGLAND. [Book HI. §31. Without /tfr«ra/t7t/ and hospitality, he had been really as unde- serving of the character of a minister of the gospel, as the sacrilegions niggardliness of the people, does often endeavour to make ministers ud- capnble of answering that character. But Mr. Cotton was most exem- plary for thi!) virtue : wherein there are of his children, that have also learned of him. Tlie stranger and the needy were still entertained at his table, Episcopaliur 4* Brnigne, as was the phrase instructively used, for H charitable entertainment of old. It might be said of him, as once if was of the generous Corinthian, Semper aliquis in Cottoni Domo: he was ever shewing of kindness to some-body or other. What Potidonius re- lates of Austin, and virhat Peter Martyr affirms of Bucer, was very true of our Cotton : his house xcas like an inn, for the constant entertainment which he gave upon the account of the gospel. And he would say, If a man want an heart for this charitij, it is not Jit such a man should be ordadned a min- ister : consenting therein to the <;reat canonist, Hospitalitas usque adeo Episcopis est necessaria, ut si uh ea inveniantur alieni, Jure prohibentur or- dtnari. While he lived quietly in England, he was noted for his boun- tiful disposition, especially to ministers driven into England by the storms of persecution, then raging in Germany : for which cause Libingut, Sau- mer, Jhlner, and others of the German sufferers, in their accounts of him, would stile him,, Fautor Doctissimus, Clarissimus, Fidelissimus, plu- rimiimque Honorandus. It was remarkable, that he never omitted invi- ting unto bis house, any minister travelling to, or through the town, but only that one man, who perfidiously betrayed Mr. Hildertham, with his non'Conformist associates, into the hands of their enemies. And after he came to New-England, he changed not his mind with his air ; but with a Quantum ex Quantillo! continued his beneficence upon all occasions, though his abilities for it were much diminished ; which brings to mind a most memorable story. A little church, whereof the worthy Mr. White was pastor, being by the strange and strong malice of their prevailing adversaries, forced of Barmudas in much misery, into a desart of Ameri- ca, the report of their distresses came to their fellow -sufferers, though not alike sufferers, at New-England. Mr. Cotton immediately applied himself to obtain a collection, for the relief of those distressed saints ; and a collection of about 700/. was immediately obtained, whereof two hundred was gathered in that one church of Boston, where there was no man who did exceed, and but one man who did equal, (his deviser of liberal things, in that contribution. But behold the wonderful providence of God ! Thin contribution arrived unto the poor people on the very day, after they had been brought unto a personal division of the little m^al then left in the barrel ; upon the spending whereof, they could foresee nothing but a lingring death ; and on that very day, when their pastor had preached unto them, upon that most suitable t xt, Psal. xxiii. 1, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. § .32. Tile reader that is inquisitive after the prosopography of this great man, may b«r inform, i, that he was a clear, fair, sanguine complex- ion, and like David of a ruddy cotintenance. l\e was rather low than tall, and rather fat than lean, but of a becoming mediocrity. In his younger years his foaiVwas brown, but in his latter years as white as the driven snow. In his countenance there was an inexpressible sort of majesty, which commanded reverence from all that approached him : this Cotton was indeed the Cato of hi^ age, for his gravity ; but had a glory with it which Ca it was com- BooK III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND, 266 iDonly observed, that the worser sort of serpents, would from the awe of his presence keep in their poisons. As the keeper of the inn, where he did u»e to lodge, when he came to Derby, would proiimely say to hia companions, that be wished Mr. Cotton were gone out of hi« house ; for he was not able to swear, while that man was vnder his roof. So other wicked persons could not show their wickedness, whilst this holy and righteous man was in the company. But the exacter picture of him, is to be taken from his printed works, whereof there are many, that praise him in the gates, though few of them were printed with his own knowledge or consent. We will mention a catalogue of his works, because (as it was said of Calvin's,) ^ Chara quibus fuerat Cottoni Vita,' /aiorwm 4 Gratior ejnsdem Vita perennis erit. ...,% •L The children of New-England are to this day most usually fed with his excellent catechism, which is entituled. Milk for Babes. His well-known sermons on the First Epistle of John, in folio, have had their acceptance with the church of God ; though being preached in his youth, and not published by himself, there are some things therein, which he would not have inserted. There are also of his abroad, sermons on the thirteenth of the Revela- tions, and on the vials, and on Rev. xx. 5, 6. and 2 Sam. vii. last in quarto. As also, a savory treatise, entituled. The way of Life. The reverend prefacer whereto saith, Ever since I had any knowledge of this judicious author, I have looked upon him as one intrusted with as great a part of the church's treasure, as any other whatsoever. vt Several volumes of his expositions upon Ecclesiastes and Canticles, arc also published in octavo. As likewise, A treatise of the jVew Covenant : which being only a post- humous piece, and only notes written after him, is accordingly to be judged of. And there have seen the light, an answer to Mr. Ball, about forms of prayer. A discourse about the grounds and ends of infant-baptism. A discourse about singing of psalms, proving it a gospel-ordinance. An Ab- stract of laws in Christ's "kingdom, for civil government. A treatise about the holiness of church-members ; proving, that visible saints are the matter of a church. Another discourse upon things indifferent, proving that no church-governours have power to impose indifferent things upon the consciences of men. Add hereto, the way of the churches in JVexa- England : and that golden discourse of The Kv.ys of the Kingdom of Hea- ven: in a written copy whereof, yet in onr hands, there were some things which were never printed, maintaining, that in the government of the church, authority is peculiar to th»^. elders only; and answering all the Brownistical arguments to the contrary. But whereas there may oc- cur a passage in his book of The Way of the Lhnrches, which may have in it a little more of the Morellian tang, reader, 'twas none of Mr. Cotton's; Mr. Cotton was troubled when he saw such a passage, in an imperfect copy of his writings, exposed unto the world, under his name, against his mil: and he took an opportunity, in the moat publick manner, to de- clare as much unto the world. He was also sometimes put upon writing yet more polemically. In- deed there was one occasion of so writinff, which ho declined meddling 256 THE HlbTOKV OF NEVV-ENGLAND. [Book III, ' withal ; and that was this : Mr. Cotton havintg in his younger years, written to a private friend some things, tending (at hi? desire) to clear the doctrine of reprobates, from the exceptions of the Jlrminiana ; and this manuscript falling into Dr. Tvoiss' hand, that learned man published it, with his oivn confutation of certain passages in it, which did not agree so well with the doctor's own Supralapsarian scheme. Now when Mr. Cotton saw himself reviled for this cause by Baily, as being Pelagian, he only made this meek reply : / hme God will give me opportunity e'er long to consider of this, the doctors lahour vf love. I bless the Lord, who has taught me to be willing to be taught, of a far meaner disciple, than such a doctor, whose sclvolastical acuteness, pregnancy of wit, solidity of judgment, mad dexterity of argument, all orthodox divines do highly honour, and whom all Arminians and Jesuites do fall down before, with silence. God forbid I siiould shut my eyes against any light brought to me by him. Only I desire I may not be condemned as a Pelagian, or Arminian, before I be heard. Moreover, Mr. Cawdry fell hard upon him ; to whom he prepared an answer, which was aAerwards published and seconded by Dr. Owen. But besides these, he was twice compelled unto some other Eristical writings : once in answer to Baily ; another time in answer to Williams : in both of which, like Job, he turned the books which his adversaries had written against him, into a crown. I believe, never any meer man, under such open and horrid injuries, as these two reporters heaped upon Mr. Cotton, did answer with more christian patience : his answers are hideed a pattern for all answerers to the world's end. But it was particularly remarkable, that in this matter, certain, persons, who had fallen under the censures of the civil authority in the country, singled out Mr. Cotton for the object of their displeasure, although he had, most ofcUl nun, de- clined interesting himself in the actions of the magistrate, and had also done more than all men, to obtain healing and favour for those ungrateful delinquents. However, the Tenomous tongues all this while, only lick- ed a file, which made themselves to bleed ; his fame, like the file, re- mained invulnerable ; and if Mr. Cotton would from his own profitable experience, have added another book unto this catalogue, it might have been on the subject handled by Plutarch De Capienda ex Hostibus Utilitate. This is the Elenchus of Mr. Cottons published writings ; wheupon we might make this conclusion. »; ■ , .v.. , .,4 ,«, »; DignaLegi Scribis, Fads <$• Dignissima Scribi; ». Scripla probant Uoctum, Te, Tua, Facta, probum. § 33. The things which have been Cotton an extraordinary person. lated, cause us to account Mr. Dives eras Donis, etiamgue Fidelis in Vsu, Lucratus Domino multa Talenta tuo, Midtus eras Studiis, mnltusq ; iMboribus, vno ■^ Te, Fora, Templa,Domus, Te, cupierefrui. Multa Laborabas Scribendo, Multa Docendo, Invigilans Operi, JVocte Dieque, Dei. Multa Laborabas Scribendo, Multa Ferendo. > , Quce nisi Cottono, vix Subeundaforent. Tu non unus eras, sed Multi ; Mvltus in uno. Multorum Donis prmditus Unus eras. < .( •? Uno Te amisso, Multos Amisimusin 3'c, Sedncqiie per MvHos Restitvendv; <'ri-\ ■^i!< .a- /:,^! •i*. **■ SK III. BdoK III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAlfrtJ. 257 years, ;o clear m; aod iblished >t agree ten Mr. grtan, he e'er long who has tn such r. Owen. Eristical Williams : •saries had lan, under upon Mr. are indeed larticularly lien under Mr. Cotton ^l men, de- id had aUo ungrateful only \ick- }ie file, re- i profitable might have us Utilitate. heupon we These were some of the lines, which the renowned Bulkly >ju8t|y wept upon his grave. Yea, we may, on as many accounts as these da)fs will nllofv, reckon him to have been a prophet of the Lord : and when we have entertained ourselves with a memortible demonstration of it, in one i^urprising and stupcndious article of our church history, we will put a period unto this part of it. At the time when some unhappy persons wet^e just going from hence to England, with certain petitions, which had a tendency to disturb the ju;ood ordet* of things in both church and state, then settling among us, Mr. Cotton in the ordinary course of his lectures on the Canticles, preach- ed on Cant. ii. 15. Take us the foxes, the little foxts, which destroy thevinet. Having thence observed. That when God has delivered his church from tki dangers of the persecuting bear and lyon, then there were foxes that would seek by policy to \indermine it : and, that all those who go by a fox-like poli' ty to undermine the churches of the Lord Jesus Christ, shall be taken and overtaken by his judgments. He came at length to his application^ where with a more than ordinary majesty and fervency, he atter this manner expressed himself. ' First, Let such as live in this country take heed, how they go about * in any indirect way or course to prejudice the churches of the Lord ' Jesus Christ in the land, or the government of the land. If you do, the ' keeper of Israel, who neither slumbereth nor sleepeth, will not take it ' well at your hands. He that brought this people hither, and pre- ' served them firom the rage of persecution, and made this wilderness an ' hiding-place for them, whilst he was chastising our nation, with the 'other nations round about it, and has manifested his gracious presence ' in the midst of these his golden candlesticks, and secured us from the ' plots of the late Archbishop, and his confederates abroad, and from the ' plots of the heathen here at home ; there is no question but he will de- * fend us from the underminings of false brethren, and such as are joined ' with them. Wherefore let such know, that this is, in many respects, ' IinmanueVs land, and they shall not prosper that rise up against it, hut ' shall be taken every one of them in the snares they lay for it. -This I ' speak as a poor prctphet of the Lord, according to the word of his grace ' nova before us ! But in the second place, whereas many of our brethren ' are going to England, let me direct a word unto them also. I desire ' the gracious presence of our Gnd may go with you, and his angels guard ' you, not only from the dangers of the seas, while you are thereupon, ' but also from the errors of the times, when you arrive. Nevertheless, ' if there he any among you, my bcethren, as 'tis reported there are, that 'have a petition to prefer unto the High Court of Parliament, that ' may conduce to the distraction and annoyance of the peace of our church- ' «},and the weakening the government of the land where we live, let such * know, the Lord will never suffer them to prosper in their subtil, mali* ' cious, desperate undertakings against his people, who are as tender ' unto him as the apple of his eye. But if there be any such among you, ' who are to go, I do exhort you, and I would advise you in the fear of ' God, that when the terrors of the Almighty shall beset the vessel where- ' in you are, when the heavens shall frown upon you, and the billows of ' the sea shall swell above you, and the dangers of death shall threaten ' you, as I am verily perswaded they will, I would have you then to con- ' sider your ways. I will not give the counsel that was taken concern- 'iag Jonas, to cast such a person into the sea ; God forbid ! but I counsel ' such to come then unto a resolution in themselves to dmst riom their Vol. I. 33 UM THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book 111. ' enterpi'i/es, and cast their petitions into the sea. It may be, that hard- * ness of heart and stoutness of spirit muy cause you to persist, and ' * yet in mercy to some gracious persons among you, the Lord may dcliv- ' er the ship from utter destruction for their sakes. But the Lord hath * further judgments in store : he is the God of the land, as well as of the '* sea. 1 speak this also, as an unworthy prophet of the Lord T These things were then uttered by n person, that was as little of an enthusiast, as most men in the world. Now attend the event ! That ship, aAer many stresses of weather in the harbour, puts out to sea ; but at sea it had the terriblest passage, perhaps, that ever was heard of; the mariners not being able to take any observation of either tun or star, for seven hundred leagues together. Certain well disposed persons aboard, now calling to mind the words of Mr. Cotton, thought it necessary to admonish the persons, who were carrying over the malignat papers against the country ; and some of those papers were by them thereupon given to the seamen, who immediately cut them in pieces and threw them over-board. The stortn forthwith abated ; however there afterwards came up new storms, which at last hurried the ship among the rocks of iSci'% ; where they yet received a deliverance, which most of them that considered it, pronounced miraculous. When the rude Cornish men saw how miraculously the vessel had escaped, they said, God was a good man to save them so ! but the most instructed obliged passengers kept a day of solemn Thanksgiving to God ; in which even the profanest per- sons' on board, under the impression of what had happeaed, then bore a part. However, the corn-fields in New-England, still stood undisturbed, notwithstanding the various names affixed unto the tailet of petitions against their liberties. For, as Mr. Cotton elegantly expressed it, God then rocqued three nations, with shaking dispensations, that he might procure some rest unto his people in this wilderness ! § 34. This was Mr. Cotton ! what more he was, let these lines, taking no license but from the real truth, delineate. Upon the tomb of the most Reverend Mr. John Cotton, late Teacher of th Church of Boston in New-Englaud. Here lies magnanimous humility ; Majesty, meekness; christian o/>ai<^ .nto Accepted, that they be :.,,; ;„„.^i>^v»utm^^mii^ >K HI. 1 one by bad the m. nerobant not long ive many iving, the e Mather, :hurcb in his daugH- smaU'pox, ter of the J the faiih ideed most I find, that 861 ,'^ Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NE\t-ENGLAND. That thoa hast took them, in thine arms, ' '^ " Aad OQ them ptU thine hand, • And bltsted them with sight of thee, Wherein our bleesit^s stand. But he has at this day Jive grandson$, all of them employed in the |»ub- b'ck service of the gospel ; whereof, let the reader count him the mean- est, that is the writer of this hi$tory ; and accept further one little piece of hiitory, relating hereunto. The gathering of the second church in Boston, was evidently very much to the disadvantage of Mr. Cotton, in many of his interests. But be was a John, who reckoned his joy fulfilled in this, that in his own de- create the interests of the Lord Jesus Christ would increase ; and there- fore, with an exemplary self-denial, divesting himself of all carnal re- ipects, he set himself to encourage the foundation of that church, out of respect unto the service and worship of our common Lord. Now, it has pleased the Lord so to order it, that many years after his decease, that telf-denial of his holy servant, has turned unto some account, in the op- portunities which that very church has given unto his children, to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, in the conduct of it : his son-in-law has been for more than thrice ten years, and his grandson for more than twice seven years, the ministers of the gospel, in that very church, accommodated with happy opportunities, to serve their generation. EPITAPHIUM. Johannes Cottonus, Cujus Ultima Laus est, Quod fuerii inter Nov-Anglos Pr//n«s,, 'A ■■*» .A - CHAPTER !J. NoRTONUs Ho«ora^tt», the Life of Mr. John Norton. § 1. There was a famous John whose atchievements arc by our Lord emblazoned in those terms ; He was a bttming and a shining light. In the tabernacle of old, erected by the order and for the worship of God, there were those two things, a candlestick and an altar ; in the one a light that might never go out, in the other nflre that might never be extin- guished ; and yet such an affinity between these, that there was a^re in the liglu of the one, and a light in ♦he^re of the other. Such a mixture of both faith and love should be in those that are employed about the service of the tabernacle : and though the tabernacle erected for our Lord in this wilderness, had many such burning and shining lights ; yet among the chief of them is to be reckoned, that John which we bad in our blessed JVorton. § 2. He was born the sixth of May, 1606, at Siarford in Hartfordshire; descended of honourable ancestors. In his early childhood he discov- ered a ripeness of wit, which gave just hopes of his proving extraordi- nary: and under Mr. Strange in the school of fiwnmngybrd, he made such a proficiency, that he could betimes write good Latin, with a more than 26S THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book HI. common cicgnncy and invention. At fourteen years of nge, being sent uittu Peter-House, he staid there, till uiler his taking of his firtt degree ; wn(:) a Rwnish emissary, taking a curious and exact observation of his ri'jUiblo. iiccomplithments, used all the methods he could think of, to have s(^oii(.o(l him over unto the liomhh irreligion : but God intending him to Vte a fiUar in his own temple, mercifully prevented his hearkening unto any temptations to become a support unto the tower of Babel. § 3. In his youth he was accustomed unto some youthful vanitiee; es- pecially unto card-playing ; an evil which he did first ponder and reform upon a serious admonition, which a servant of his father's gave nnto him. \Vhen he came to consider that a lot is a solemn appeal unto the God of heaven, and even by the rudest Gentiles counted a sacred thing, he thought that playing with it, ivas a breach of the lliird Commandment in the laws of our Goil ; it should be used, he thought, rather prayerfully than sportfully. He considered, that the Papists themselves do not allow these games in ecclesiastical persons, and the fathers do reprove them with a vehement xeal in all sorts of persons. He considered, that when the Roman empire became christian, severe edicts were made against these games, and that our Protestant reformers have branded them with an infamous character ; wherefore inclining now to follow whatsoever things are of a good report, he would no longer meddle with games that had so much of a scandal in them. § 4. An extreme disaster befalling his father's estate, he left the Uni- versity ; and became at once usher to the school, and curate in the church at Slnrford: where a lecture being maintained by a combination of seve- ral godly and able ministers, he on that occasion fell into acquaintance with several of them ; especially Mr. Jeremiah Dyke, of Epping, by whoso ministry the Holy Spirit of God gave him a discovery of his own manifold sinfulness and wretchedness in an unregenerate state, and awa- kened him unto such a self-examination, as drove him to a sorrow little short of despair ; but after some time, the same Holy Spirit enabled him to receive the Christ and grace, tendered in the promises of the gospel, with an unspeakable consolation. Whereupon he thought himself con- cerned in that advice of heaven, When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren! § 5. Hii-'inj; before this been well studied in the tongues and arts, lie was the better fitted for the higher studies of divinity ; whereto he now wholly addicted himself: and being in his own happy experience ac- quainted with faith, and repentance, and holiness, he did from that expe- rience now make lively sermons on those points unto his hearers. He soon grew eminent in his ministry ; setting off the truths he delivered, not only with such ornaments of laconic and well contrived expression, as made him worthy to be called, the master of sentences, but alsowith such "xpcrimental passages of devotion, as made him admired for a preacher seeking out acceptable words. § 6. His accomplishments rendered him as capable of preferments, as most in his age ; but preferments were then so clogged with troublesome and scruplesome impositions, that Mr. JSTorton, as well as other conscien- tious young ministers, his contemporaries, declined medling with them. His tticra/on, and indeed antipathy to Jlrminianism (after he was, as Bradwardin speaks., Gratia Radio Visitatun,) and his dislike of the cere- monies, particularly hindered him from a considerable benefice, whereto his unkle might have helped him. Dr. Sibs also, the master of Aai/janW Hall in Cambridge, taken with his abilities, did earnestly solicite him, to Kill. g sent egree ; of his ohave him to ig unto es; es« reform ito him. God of ling, he Iment in tyerfully lot allow ve them jat when a agninst lem with jhatsoever amea that t the Unt- ie church 1 of seve- l^aaintance \pping, by f his own md awii- rrow little tabled him \e gospel, nself con- ngthen thy A arts, he to he now rience ac- that expe- rers. He delivered, xpression, also with ired for a J;rmen<«, M (oublesome conscien- nth them. le was, 08 If the cere- ;, whereto ■ Katharine lite him, t*^ Book 111.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 203 have accepted of a fellowship in that College ; but hia conscience being now satisfied in the utUawfulness of some things then required in order thereunto, would not permit him to do it. One asked onco a gre.u pre- late at court, how it came to puss, that such a preacher (an ancient chap- lain there) a wise, grave, holy man, did not rise ? meaning by way of preferment : the prelate answered him, Truly, let 7ne tell you, that I verity think, he never will rise tintil the resurrection. Truly, let me now tell the world, that such were the principles of Mr. J^orton, there was no likeli- hood of his rising in this world, as things theh went in the world. Wherefore he contented himself with a more private life, as chaplain in two Knights' house at: Ht ny, applied themselves unto fervent praver, whereto the Almighty God gave npri.'!1vanced and embraced in another Synod, more than twice seven years aftor, many people did ignorantly count them novelties. Moreover, whea the Synod first assembled, it was a thing of some unhappy conse- quence, that the church of Boston would not send any messengers unto it : but Mr. JVbrton preaching the next lecture there, wherein he handled the nature of councils, and the power of civil magistrates to call such assem- blies, and the duty of the churchen in regarding their advice, the church of Boston were therewithal so satisfied, as to testifie their communion with the rest of the churches, by sending three messengers to accompa- ny their elders now in the Synod. And when the result of the Synod Ciime to try its acceptance in the churches, he did his part, especially in his own, with a prudent and pious diligence to obtain it ; which was hap- pily accomplished. § 17. There was yet one comprehensive service more, which this learned man here did for the church of God ; and that was this : a gen- tleman of New-England had written a book,, cntituled *^he marilorious •price of man's redemption : whereiii he pretends to prove. That Christ Kuffered not for us those tinuttf table tormenis of God's ftratt, which CtW'England ; the things that were judged opposite hereunto, in the renowned Richard Baxter'' t apfioritmt of juttification, did then give a great and just offence unto the fiiithful in this country : yea, they looked upon many things in his writings, to be, as Photius has it, upon some llriags in Qement Alexandrinut ; that is to say, thingt expreited, W 'uym, nottafely and toundly; albeit, the other more practical and savory books of that Iwly man, were highly valued in these American regions ; and not a few have here blessed God for him, and for his labours. And as in those elder days of J^ew-Englattd^ |^e esteem which our churches had £»r.that eminent man, did not hlQ4
-«« ' Feigning Ood to mabe Jidann, not only the natural father and ro«t of ' maniiiQU, bu! «l«o arbitrarily, • con$titut«d rtprtitfUtr ti( all tbepersoas ' that should spring from him. VV hence they infer, that Christ was ^ ' God's imposition, and his own sponsion, made the Itgal ny^t Mn ta t h t * person of every one of the elect, taken singularly : so that what be * did for tbem, God reputeth them to have done by him. Hereby they ' fiilsly make the person of the Mediator, to be the hgal ptrton of tb« ' sinner. ' They forge a Inw, tliat God never made, that saith, TTtou or tki/nf' ' ty, ihall obey petfeetly, or die. * They feign God to have made an eternal eovenctnt with bit Sod. * They Teign Christ to have made such an exchange with the eleet, u ' that having taken all their sine, he hath given them all Ms righteotuitetti * not only the fruit of it, but the tking in it self. * They say, that by the imputation of Christ's righnMnmess, haHtual ' and actual, we are judged perfectly juit. ^' They talk of juttijication in meer ignorant confuaida ; ■ They ' say, that iojwtifie is not to make righteous, but to judge righteoite. * They err grosly, saying, that by [faith imputed for righteoueneet] and ' [our beit^ juttified by faith] is not meant, the act, or habit of faith, bat * the object, Christ's righteousnest : not sticking thereby to turn such ' texts into worse than nofuence.' [All these are Mr. Baxter'M words, ia bis Defence of Christy chap. S.] These things, which our churches with amazement, behold Mr. Bax- ter thus calling Jictiont, falsehoods, forgeries, ignorant eonfutione., and gross errors, were defended by Mr. J^orton, as the faith once deliveMd unto the saints : nor do our churches at this day cousider themi 09 any other, than glorious truths of the gospel ; which, as they were maintained by Mr. Norton. So two divines, which were the scholars of Mr. Aor- ton, well known in both Englands, JVathanael, and Increase Mather, {JFra- trum dulce Par;) and a third, a worthy minister of the gospel, Mr. iSSam- uf.l Willard, now living in the same house from whence Mr. J^orton went, unto that not made with hands, have in their printed laboara oaost accurately expressed them, and confirmed them. Hence, although as on thn one side, I have this passage of Mr. Baxter's, in a letter from him. written but a few months before he died, / avn as xealous a lover of the New-England chnrches as any man, according to Mr. Norton's ana the Synod^s model : sO on the other side, the memory of Mr. Baxter'u on many accounts zealously loved among the churches of J^ew-England^ yet espousing the principles for their establishment, wherein Mr. Norton had appeared : nevertheless, inasmuch aa Mr. Baxter, just before his en* trance into his everlasting rest, requested of my parent then in London : ^^> if youknow of any errors in any of my writitigs, I pray yom to confute them after lam dead. I thought it not amiss, to regard ao far the gospel- truths of justification at this day labouring, as to take occasion from the mention of Mr. Norton's book, to say, that in that one book of his, there is a confutation of Mr. Baxter, who seems to oppose those things, which the churches of New- En gland judge cannot be denied without corrupting 261 * THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book III* t^ ehrit tianity^ and tubvetting etf the gotpel. But waving any further meo* tion of tbe bode, I cannot leave unmentioned a couple of passages in the pteface of itjgwhich is dedicatory to the General Court of the Ma$s in the ifsachtiMt ru2 $ober' ive voice iUgt'on, do 1 of «>ery of magis* way; no itration to n orthodot ties of tbe ilisbed in a ies theab* od, and the iliim; and the 'aint$ ; preface to %re fit to be .g under the »$ do ipeak; line quibus, This book close of his ur glory and npared with the miniiters ur exiles, o» ,for therein yourprovo* !tn of JV«w- BooK III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW.ENQLANi>. 369 the church at Boston^ made this motion to the church of A>ime&, tlMre was nuch debate about it ; wherein at length an honest nrother miide this proposal : Brethren, a eate in tome thingt like to thi$, om $nce that way detemuned : we will call the damsel, and enqittre at her md (on, of all New-England. However divers lesser councils, that were suc- cessively called on this occasion, could not comfortably procure this dit- mission, till at lust the governour and magistrates of the colony called a council for Ibis end ; in their order for whi*ch, they intimate their con^ cern, lest while the too churches were contending, which of them should enjoy Mr. Norion, they should both of them, and the whole country tvith them, lose that reverend person, by his prosecuting his inclination to re" move into England. Hereupon such a dismission could not be denied ; but now .Boston joyfully receiving Mr. Norton, /pswtcA applied themselves' unto Mr. Cobbet, who afterwards continued a rich blessing among them. And Mr. Norton did indeed, the part of a surviving brother for Mr. Cot- ton, in raising up, or at least keeping up the name of that great man, by publishing a most elegant account of his life, part whereof was after- wards transcribed by Sam. Clarke into hi^ collections. § 20. Mr. Norton being now transplanted into that garden which our Lord bad in Boston, did there bring forth much of that fruit wherehy the Heavenly Father was glorified. There he preached, he wrot*^, he prayed, and maintained without any prelatical Episcopacy, a care of all the church' es. And NeW'England being a coqntry whose interests were most re- markably and generally enwrapped in its ecclesiastical circumstances, there were many good offices, which Mr. Norton did for the peace of the whole country, by his wise counsels upon many occasions, given to its counsellors. In truth, if he had never dore any thing, but that one thing of preventing by his wise interposition, the acts of hostility, which were likcto^tass between our people, and the Dutch at Manhatoes, that alone were well worth his coming into the station which he now had at Boston. But the service which now roost signalized him, was, his agency at White-hall ; for it being found necessary to address the restored King ; the worshipful Simon Bradstreet, Esq. and this reverend Mr. John Norton, were sent over as agents from the colony, with an address unto his Ma- jesty; wherein there were, among others, the following passages. ' We supplicate your Majesty for your gracious protection of us, in ' the continuance both of our civil, and of our religious liberties ; ac- ^ "IJIPf 270 THE HISTORY OF NEV^-ENOLAND. [Boo« III ' cordinc (o the grante««' knoirn Md of suing for th« patent, ccnaftrrad ^ upon this plantation by your royal father. Our liberty to ivott in ih$ *f(ailk of th$ gotfl, with all good eonidtnce, according to th ordor ^ tht * gotpoU waf' the cause of our transporting our selves, with our wiveii * our little ones, and our substance, from that pleasant land, over the Jit- * laniick oc«(in, into the vast wilderness ; choosing rather the pure sotip< * ture-wor»hip, with Hgoodconieience, in this remote wilderness, thai) the * pleasures or England, mih submissions to the impositiont of the then * so disposed, and so far prevailing hierarchy, which we could not do * without an evil conscience. We are not seditious as to the interests * of Caior, nor schismatical as to the matters of religion. We distin- * guish between churches, and their impurities.— —we could not live * without the publtek u)orihip of Ood, nor be permitted the ptAlic wor- ' thtp, without such a yoke of tubseription and conformity, as we could not ' constint unto without sin. That we might, therefore, eiyoy divine wor- * ship, free from human mixtures, without offence to Ood, man, and our ' own consciences, we, with Uavt, but not without teart, departed from ,*|our country, kindred, and fathers' houses, into this Patmoi.*'—^ It was in Februar^f 1861-3, that they began their voyage, and it was in Sept Which lines accompanied with Mr. ^t7son*sanagrammatiaingof Johai*' NEs NoATONVs into JVonne is Horonatus? will give him his deserved character. * § 23. He that shall read the tragical romances, written by that brazen faced lyar Bolsecus, concerning the deaths of such men as Calvin and fieza, or such monstrous writings as those of Tympius, Cochleus,Qenebard, and some others, who would bear the world in band, that Jjuther and Oecolampadius learned the protestant religion of the devil, and were at list killed by him ; and that Bucer had his guts ptiUed out and cast about by the devt'i ; will not wonder if 1 tell him, that after the death of Mr. Norton, the quakers published a libel, by them called, A representation to King and Parliament ; wherein, pretending to report some rmarkable judgments upon their persecutors, they insert this passage, ' John J^'orton, ' chief priei^t in Boston, by the immediate power of the Lord, was smitten, ' and as he was sinking down by the lire-side, being under just judgment, he * confessed the hand of the Lord was upon him, and so he died.' — Which they mention, as a judgment upon a persecutor. VVhcreas, the death of this good man, was attended with no circumstances, but what unto a j^ood man might be eligible and comfortable, aad circumstanced far otherwise than it was by those revilers represented. But it was necessary for that enchanted people, thus to revenge themselves upon one, who amongst bis other services to the church ofGod, already mentioned, had, at the de- sire ofthe General Court, written a book, entituled, 2%e heart o/'New-Eng- land rent at the blasphemies of the present generation ; or a brief tractate concerning the doctrine ofthe quakers ; which doctrine was in this tractate solidly confuted. And perhaps, it hitd been better if this had been all the confutation ; which 1 add, because I will not, 1 cannot make my self a vindicator of all the severities, with which the zeal of some eminent men bath sometimes enraged and increaied, rather thao reclaimed those . r. 378 THE HISTOliY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book Hi. miserable kereticks : but wish^that the quakers may be treated as Queen Elixabetk directed the Lord President of the North to treat the Papists ; when ffhe advised him to coiivince them with argument, rather thap suppresf them with violence ; to that purpose using of the words of the prophets, Nolo Mortem Peccaioris. ^ S4. Not long after bis death, his friends published three sermons of his, which for the circumstances of them could have been entituled, Thesi were the last words tf that servant of the Lord. The first of the sermons, was the la^: sermon, which he preached at the Court of Election at Boston. It is on Jer. x. IT, entituled, iSion the out-cast healed of her ■wounds : and there are two or three passages in it, which I cannot but recommend unto the peculiar consideration of the present generation. " To differ from our orthodox, pious, and learned brethren, is such an " affliction to a christian and an ingenuous spirit, as nothing but love to *' the truth could arm a man of peace against. Our profession being in a *' way differing from these and those, it concerns us, that our walking be '* very cautelous, and that it be without giving any just offence." Again, In matters of state and church, let it be shown that we are his disciples, who said, give unto Ccesar the things that are Casar's, and give unto God the things that are God's ; and in matters of religion, let it be known, that we are for reformation and not for separation. Once more, — / may sa/y thus much {and pardon my speech) a more yielding ministry unto the people than ours, I believe is not in the world. / beseech you, let no< Caesar be killed in the senate, after he hath conquered in the lield. Let us acknowledge the order of the eldership in our churches, in their way, and the order of councils in their ivay, duely backed and encouraged : va-ithout which experience will witness that these churches cannot long consist. The second of the sermons, was the last sennon which he preached on the Lord's day. It is on Job. xiv, 3, entituled. The believers con- solation in the remembrance of his heavenly mansion, prepared for him by Christ. The third of the sermons was the last sermon, which be preached on his lecture. It is on Heb. viii. 5, entituled. The Evangelical Worshipper, subjecting to the prescription and sovereignty of scripture pattern. § 25. The three sermons thus published as the last, or the dropt mantle of this Elias, arc accompanied with the translation of a letter, which was composed in Latin by Mr. Norton, and subscribed by more than forty of the ministers, on this occasion. The famous John Dury having from the year 1636, been moat indefatigably labouring for apa- creation, between the reformed churches in Europe, communicated his design to the ministers of New-England, requesting their concurrence and countenance unto his generous undertaking. In answer to him, this letter was written ; and there are one or two passages, which I cbuse to transcribe from it, because as well the spirit of our Norton, as the story of our country, is therein indigitated. Redeunt in Memoriam, ^ redeunt quidem non xine Sanctiori Sympat}ita, Beatce ilia Anima, Melancthonis fy Parei ntn en Arioiz, bic inter Re- formates, »W« in^crEvangelicos, Vir Consummatissimus, (Quorum Alter Hnganoam iter facicns, ita Ingcmuit. >■ Viximus in Synodis, & jam moriemur in illis. Alter Vera, Super Erisiica Eucharistica Medilabundus, in hac Verba Brvpit, Dofe«««»3 sum Dioputando. .Yiwirvm, ilJi? Judicibvs, Orandnm Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 273 potiusqiiam — Disputandum ; Vivcndum non Litigandum. Forsttan ^ Con- silia Pacis, Sttmulanti recenti Ira kactenus, minus grata fvere, utri'us^ue partis Theologi Rixis diulurnioribus aliquando fessi 4* Subacti, aquis animis Suscipere^ nou moleste ferunt : Mare pacilicuai Aquis Meribanie, Longo Rerum usu Edocti, anteferentes. < We may here call to mind, and not without some sacred sympathy, * those blessed souls, Melancthon and Parens, now among the blessed, the ' one no less famous among the Reformed, than the other among the ' Evangelicks. Of these, the one going towards Haganoa, with sighs ' altered these words, In Synods hitherto we lived have, ^ And now in them, return unto the grave. ' The other seriously meditating on the controversy of the Eucharist, ' brake forth into these words ; / am weary with disputing. Thus, if ' these might be judges, we ought rather to pray than dispute, and study ' to live, rather than contend. And perhaps the divines of either part, ' after they have been wearied and broke in their spirits with daily and ' continual contention, will more readily accept of the cousels of peace, " which hitherto have been less acceptable, while the sense of anger ' has been spurring of them : after they have been taught by long use, ' they may prefer the waters of the Pacific Sea, before those of Meribah. Grntias agimus Domino Dureo, cui Josephi Longe terra mnrique a fratribus Dissiti, meminisse Cordi fuit : Qui nos Misellos, in Cilicio, Cili- cio dutem ipsi confidimus Evangelico, Militantes, tarn Jiuspicato JVuncio invisere dignatus est : Qui Novam Angliam, quasi particulam aliqumm Fim- bricE Vestimenti Aronici, nnguento prcediviti' delibutam, in Album SyncrB' tismi Longe celebcrrimi, adscribere, non adspernatur : Qwt porro Litterif ad Syncretismum hortatoriis, subinde nobis Ansam priebuit Testimonium. hoc, quale quale, perhibcndi Communionis nostroB fratemce, cum tmiversa Cohorte Protestantium, Jtdem Jesu Christi profitentium. Ingenue enim fntemur, tranquiUa tarn quum erant Omnia, nee Signa Minantia signis ad hue nobis conspiciebantur ; quippe qnihus, Episcopis, ilia Tempestate Re- ruin Dominis, publico Ministerio Defungi nedum Sacrisfrui, sine Subscrip- tiaae 4r conformitate, (ut loqui solent) utque adeo Humanarum Adinven- fionum, in Divinis Commixtione, non Liceret, Sf satius x>isum est, vel in Longinquas, ^ Jncultas Terrarum Oras, Oiltus purioris Ergo concessisse, (juam Oneri Hierarchico, cum Rattm Omnium Affiuentia, Conscientio! av- ion Dispendio, svxcubuisse. At patriam fugiendo, nos Ecclesiarum Evan- Selicarum Commundoni J{uncium misisse, hoc vera est quod fidenter «^ Sande pernegamus, ' We give thanks to Mr. Dttry, into whose heart it came to remem- ■ ber, Joseph seperate frym his brethcren at so great a distance both by • sea and land : and who hath vouchsafed with so comfortable a message ' to visit us poor people, cloathed in sackcloth, for our warfare ; yet, as we trust, the sackcloth, of rtie gospel : who hath not refused to put ' JVeza-England as part of the skirt of Aaronh garment, upon which ' liath descended some of the precious oyl, into the catalogue of the so ■ much famed agreement : and who hath by his letter exhorting to such ■ iiiireement given us an occasion to bring in thig testimony, such as it ' is, for our brotherly communion with the whole company of Protestants ■ professing the faith of Christ Jesus. For we must ingenuously con- ■ tt'ss, tliat tlien, when all things were quidt, and no threatning giigna of Vnr,. !•. ~ ,15 S74 THE HtSTOUV OF NEVV-KNCLAND. [Dook fll. * war Appeared, seeing we could not be permitted by tbe Eishopi, at tbat ' time prevailing to perform tbe otbce of tbe ministry in pvblick, nor * yet to enjoy the boly ordinances, without subscription and conformity * (as they were wont to epeak) nor without the mixf jre of humane in- * vcntions with divine instilvtions, we chose rather to depart into tbe rc- * mote and unknown parts of the earth, for tbe sake ol'npurer worship, than * to ly down under the Hierarchy in the abundance of all things, but * with jjrc/Mdice of conscience. 13ut that in flying from our country, * WG should renounce commvnion with such churches, i.s profess the * gospel, is a thing, which we confidently and solemnly deny.' (^uoscunque apvd Catus,pir L'nivenvm Krangelicorum cnorum, Funda- inentalia Doctrinaj <)(• lOssentialiu Ordinis, rigeant, quamvis in plerisque Controversiae T.'ieolopica;, Apicibus nobiscvm jvxta minus Seniiant, itlos tamcn ad unu.i' Ouincs, pro Fratibus agnosc/jnws. Usque artcra pacijicis, ic Ordinate inced' lious, i^£XIA}>K0INI2NIA£ in Domino porrigerc^ paratissi- mos,nos esseh palamfacimus. * In kvhu>,ev'^. ■ assemblies amongst the whole company of those that ' profoSij *Vp j^ospf t, the fundamentals of doctrine, and essentials o{ order, * are t,.: -i . noil hough in many niceties of controversal divinity, they ' are at c ■ njrr( cment with us, we do hereby make it manifest, that we. ' do ajknowl .1' 'hem all, and every one for brethren, and that we shall ' be ready to ^ - ' unto them the right hand of fellowship in the Lord, iV ' in other things iiiey be peaceable, and walk orderly.' § 2G. This was our Norton! and we might have given yet a fuller ac- count of him, if we could have seen the Diary, which he keptjof iiis daily walk. However he was well known to be a great example of lioliness, ■watchfulness, and extraordinary a>isdom ; and though he left no children, yet he has a better name than that of sons and of daughters. Moreover, there was one considerable part of ministerial work, wherein he not only vent beyond most of his age, but also proved a /cfliZer unto many followers. Though the ministers of New-England counted it unlawful for them, or- dinarilij to perform their ministerial acts of solemn and publick prayer by reading or using any forms of prayer composed by other perso7is for them ; they reckoned on ability to express the case of a congregation in prayer, to be a ministerial gift, which our Lord forbids his ministers to neglect ; they supposed thiit a minister, who should only read forms of sermons composed for him, would as truly discharge the duty of preaching, as one that should only read such forms of prayers, would the duly of praying, in it : they could not f'nd, that any humane forms of prayers, were much used in fs!' pai , of tlie church, un- •or more til about four hundred years after Chris*, nor any made than some single province, until six huvf-'d years ; nor j.i>y impos- ed until eight hundred, when all mannti of ill-formed things began to be found in the temple of God ; nevertheless very many of our great- est ministers, it our more early times, did not use to expatiate with such n sigaiiicant and admirable variety in their prayers before their sermons, as many of our later times have attained unto ; nor indeed then did they, nor still do we, count all/orwisq/'praycr simply unlawtul. But the more general improvements and expressions of the 'gift of prayer, in our min- isters have since been the matter of observation ; and particularly Mr Norton, therein was truly admirable! It even transported the souls of li^s hearers to accompany him in his devotions, wherein his graces uouW make wonderful salle- 1 into the vmstfield of entertainments, and acknowledg- vicnts, with which we are furnished in the nczv-corcncmt, for ourprfi/f i '• OK III. Book HI.] THE HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 21b , nt that lick, noi' nformit}) 1(1 ne in- • the re- hip, than ngs, but country, jfess the I, Funda- plerisque iant, illos acificis, 4' paraiisii- a fuller ac- of ijis daily of holiness, 10 children, Moreover, le not only y follozecrs. r them, or- , prayer hy jersoJis for i-regation in ninistcra to read forms he duty of ycrs, would ly humane iurch, un-
•, ■'-*-', EPITAPHIUM. JOHANN-ES NORTONUS. '* ^uis fuerat. Ultra si qutcras^ Digmis es qui Nescias. ,^*'i«:> ' At;;j# ; CHAPTER 111. • ^ • ' Memoria Wir.soNiA, the Life of Mr. John Wilson. § 1 . Such is the natural tendency in humane minds to poetry, that as 'tis observed, the Roman historian, in the very first line of his history, fell upon a verse, ". ,' w .. » • Urbcm Romam, In Principio Reges hahucre ; '1 > . ^1/, 1 ^^.^ So the Roman orator, though a very mean poet, yei making an oration for a good one, could not let his first sentence pass him, without a perfect hexameter, ■ • • - - In (^ua me non Inficior, mediocriter Esse. "- ^imam*'* If therefore, I were not of all men the most unpoetical, my reader might Kow expect an entertainment altogether in verse ; for I am going to write the life of that New-English divine, who had so nil. le a faculty of puUins; his devout thoughts into verse, that, ha signalized imself by the ^reiitest /i'e^we?^"?/, perhaps, that ever man used, of sending /joemstoall person", in all place?', on all occapion? ; and upon this, as well as upon "greater accounts, was a Dn.-i.dnnU> the y?erA"'! of our Lord iu the w*i- tiU THE HISTORY OF NEVV-ENGLAxNU. L*^«>ok 111. %-': Quicquid tentabat Dicer e. Versus erat ; Wherein, if the curious relished the piety sometimes rather than the poetry, the capacity of the tnosl, therein to be accommodated, must be considered. But I intend no further account of this matter, than what is given by his worthy son, (reprinting at Boston in the year 1680, the verses of his father, upon the famous deliverances of the English nation printed at London, as long ago as the year 1626,) whose words are, What volumes hath he penned, for the help of others, in their several changes of condition ? How was his heart full of good matter ? And his verses past, like to the handkerchiefs carried from Paul to uphold the disconsolate, and heal their wounded souls ? For indeed this is the least thing that we have to relate of that great saint ; and accordingly, it is under a more consid- erable character, that I must now exhibit him, even as a father to the iutiint colonies of New-England. § 2. Mr. John Wilson, descending from eminent ancestoi's, was born at Windsor in the wonderful year 1588, the third son of Dr. William Wilson, a prebend of St. Paul's, of Rochester and of Wiusor, and rector of Cliff": having for his mother, a neece of Dr. Edmutid Grindal, the most worthily renowned Arch-Bishop of Canterbury. His exact education under his parents, which betimes tinged liim with an aversation to vice, and above all, to the very shadow of a lye, fitted him to undergo the further educa- tion, which he received in Eaton Colledge, under Udal (and Langley) whom now we may venture, after poor Tom Tusser, to call, the severest of men. Here he was most remarkably twice delivered from drowning ; but at his book, he made such proficiency, that while he was the least boy in the school, he was made a propositor ; and when the Duke of Biron, Embassador from the French King Henry IV. to Q,ueen Elizabeth, visited the school, he made a X(, calloil The Seven Treatises; which when he had read, he so affected, not only the matter, but also tbe author of the book, that he took a journey uoto fVethersJield, on purpose to hear a sermon from that Boanerges. When he had heard the heavenly passages that fell from the lips of that worthy man, privately, as wdl as publickly, and compared therewithal the wri- tings of Greenkam, of Dod, and of Dent, especially, Tlie Pathway to Heaven, written by the author last mentioned, he saw that they who were nicknamed Purilansj were like to be the desirablcst companions, for one that intended his own everlasting happiness ; and pursuant unto the advice which he had from Dr. Ames, he associated himself with a i))ious company in the university ; who kept their meetings in Mr. Wil- son^ s chamber, for prayer, fasting, holy conference, and the exercises of true devotion. § 4. But now perceiving many good men to scruple many of the rites practised and imposed in the Church of England, he furnished himself with all the booh that be could lind written on the case of conformity, both pro and con, and pondered with a most conscientious deliberation, the arguments on both sides produced. He was hereby so convinced of tbe evil in conformity, that at length, for his obser able omission, of cer- tain uninstituted ceremonies in the worship of God, the Bishop of Lt»- r.oln then visiting the university, pronounced upon him the sentence of Quindenumi that is, that besides other mortitications, he must within//i!eeH days have been expelled, if he continued in his offence. His father be- ing hereof advised, with all paternal affection, wrote unto him to con- form ; ahd at the same time interceded with the Bishop, that he might have a quarter of a year allowed him ; in which time, if he could not be reduced, he should then leave his fellowship in the CoUedge. Here- upon he sent him unto several Doctors of great fame, to get his objec- tions resolved ; but when much discourse, and much writing, had passed between them, he was rather the more confirmed in his principles about church-reformation. Wherefore his father, then diverting him from the designs of the ministry, disposed him to the inn.i of court ; where he fell into acquaintance with some young gentlemen, who associated with him in constant exercises of devotion ; to which meetings the repeated ser- mons of Dr. Gouge were a continual entertainment : and here it was, that lie came into Che advantageous knowledge of the learned Scultetua, chap- lain to the Prince Palatine of the Wane, then making some stay in Eng- land. § 5. When he had continued three years at the inns of court, his father discei'iiing his disposition to be a minister of the gospel, permitted his nroceeding Master of Arts, in the university of Cambridge; but advised iiim to address another CoUedge, than that where he had formerly met .vith difficulties. Dr. Cary, who wp.s then Vice-Chancellor, understand ing his former circumstances, would not admit him without subscription ; but he refused to subscribe. In this distress he repaired unto his father. at whose house there happened then to be present, the Countess of Bed- ford's chief gentleman, who had business with the Earl of Northampton. the Chancellor of the university. And this noble person, upon the in- lormatiou which thai gentleman gave him of the matter, presently wrote a letter to the Vice-Chancellor, on the behalf of our young Wilson; whereupon he received his degree, and continued a while after this, in /■JmauMeZ-Coliedge : from whence he made frequent and useful visits unto his friends in the counties adjoining, and became further fitted for his in ended service. But while he was passing under these changes, he lnek 27a THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book Ilf. np a rtiolalion whicii he thus expressed before the Lord : That if the Lord wauid grant him u libert>i of conscience, with purity of teorship, he would be content, yea, thankful, nnirh it rvere at the furthermoit end of the world. A most prophetical n -iolution ! § 6. At length preaching his first sermon at JVen'port, he set his hand vnto that plough, from whence he never afterwards looked hack : not very long after which, his father lyins; on his death-bed, he kneeled, in his turn, before him for his blessing, and brought with him for a Hharc in that blessing, the vertuous young gentlewoman, the daughter of tho, lady Mansfield, (widow of Sir John Ahn^Jteld, master of the Minories, and the Queen's surveyor) whom h<> designed afterwards to marry : whereupoa the old gentleman said. Ah, John, / have taken much dire about thee, such time as thou wast in the univi r»ity, because thou wouldcst not conform; I would fain hare brought thee to some higher preferment i mn thou hast yet. attained unto : I see hy conscience is r^ry scrupulous, concerning some things that have been observed and imposed in the church : nevertheless, I have rejoiced to see the grace and fear of (ji d in thy heart ; and seeing thou hast kept a good conscience hitherto, and zvalked according to thy light, so dr> still ; and go hy the rules of God's holy word : the Lord bless thee, and her, whom thou hast chosen to be the companion of thy life ! Among othrr places where he now preached, Moreclake was one ; where his non-conformity exposed him to the rage of persecution ; but by the friendship of the Justice, namely Sir William Bird, u kinsman of his wife, and by a mistake of the informers, the rage of that storm was mode- rated, § 7. After this he lived as a chaplain successively, 'in honourable and religious iiimilies ; and at last wn.^ invited unto the house of the most pious lady Scudamorr.. Here Mr. Wilson observmg the discourse of the gentry at the table, on the t-ord's day, to be too disagreeable unto the devout frame to be mainiiined on snch a day, at length he zealously stood. up at the table, with v/nrds to this purpose, I will make bold to speak a word or two: this is the Lord's holy day, and we have been hearing his word, and after the zvord preached, every one should think, and speak about tch things as have been delivereil in the name of God, and not lavish out . time in discourses about hazi'ks and hounds. Whereupon a gentleman •n present made this handsome and civil answer : Sir, we deserve all of uS to be thus reproved by you ; this is indeed the mbbath-day, and we should surely have better discourse ; I hope it will be a earning to us. Notwith- standing this, the next Lord's day, the gentry at the table were at their old notes ; which caused Mr. ^'e/so/i again to tell them, That the haxvks which they talked of, were the birds that pickc^ up the seed of the word, after the sowing of it ; and prayed them, That their talk might be (f such things, as might sanctifie the day, and edifia their own soxds : which caused the former gentleman to renew his former thankfulness for the admonition. But Mr. Leigh, the lady's husband, was very angry ; whereof when the lady advised Mr. Wilson, wishing him to say something that might satisfic liim, he replied, Good madam, I know not wherein I have given any just offence; and therefore I know of no satisfaction that I owe : your ladyship has invited mc to preach the good word of God among you ; and so I have endeavoured according to my ability : now such discourse as this, on the Lord's day, is profane and disorderly : if your husband like me not, I will be gone. When the lady informed her husband how peremptory Mr. Wil- »'o?} was in this matter he mended his countenance and carriage ; and the (OOK III. liooK ill.] THE HISTORY OF NEW -ENGLAND. vm hat if the )r»hip, /if •nd of the his hand not very >(), in hi<< , Hharc in f the lady !s, and the hereupon ! thee, mch onform; I ou hast yet ,:lU'i t of this reproof was, that unsuitable diticoursc, on the Lord's day, was cured umong them. § 8. Uemoving from this family, aAcr he had been a while at Henly, he continued for three years together, preaching at four places, by turns, which lay near one another, on ^he edges of Snff'olk, namely liumsted, Stoke, dure, and Candish. Here some of Sitdbury happening to hear him, they invited him to succeed the eminent old Mr. Jenkins, with which invitation he cheerfully complied, and the more cheerfully because of hir) op|>ortunity to be near old Mr. Richard Rogers, from whom afterward* when dying, he received n blessing among his children ; yea, to cncour age his acceptance of this place, the very reader of the parish did sub scribe, with many scores of others, their desires of it ; and y^t he ac ceptcd not the pastoral charge of tlic place, without n solemn day o- prayer with fasting, (wherein the neighbouring ministers assisted) at hi election : great notice was now taken of the success, which God gave unto his labours, in this famous town ; among other instances whereof, one was this : a tradesman much given to stealing, as well as other pro- flme and vicious practices, one day seeing people flock to Mr. IVilson^s lecture, thought with himself. Why should I tarry at home to Zi'ork, when so many go to hear a sermon ? Wherefore, for the sake of company, he went unto the lecture too ; but when he came, he found a sermon, as it were, particularly directed unto himself, on Eph. iv. 28, 1 ,et him that hath stole, steal no more ; and such was the impression thereof upon his heart, that from this time he became a changed and pious man. § 9. But if they that will live godlily miist suffer persecution, a peculiar share of it must fall upon them, who are zealous and useful instruments to make others live so. Mr. Wilson had a share of this persecution; and one A — n, was a principal author of it. This A — n had formerly keen an apprentice in London, where the Bishops detained him seme years, under an hard imprif^onmcnt, because he refused the oath ex offi- cio, which was pressed upon him to tell, IVhether he had 7ievir heard his master pray against the Bishop ? The charity of well-disposed people now supported him, till he got abroad, recommended by his hard sufl'erings, unto the good affections of the Puritans, at whose meetings he became so conversant, and thereupon such a forward and zealous processor, that at length he took upon him, under the confidence of some L«<«h?Vvi whereof he was owner, to be a sort (^f preacher among them. This man would reverence Mr. Wilson as his fa- ther, and yet upon the provocation of seeing Mr. Wilson more highly valued and honoured than himself, he not only became a conformist him- self, but also, as apostates use to be, a malignant and violent persecutor of those from whom he had apostatized. By his means Mr. Wilson was put into trouble in the Bishop's courts ; from whence his deliverance 'vas at length obtained by certain powerful mediators. And once by his lucks, the most noted pursivant of those times, was, employed for the seizing of Mr. Wilson ; but though he seized upon many scores of the people coming from the lecture, he dismissed the rest, because he could not meet with Mr. Wilson himself, who by a special providence, went out of his direct way, to visit a worthy neighbour, and so escaped this mighty hunter. Afterwards an eminent lady, happening innocently to make some com- parisons between the preaching of Mr. Wilson, and one Dr. B. of B. the angry Doctor presently applied himself unto the Bishop of London, who for a whilf suspended him. And when that storm was over, hf-: IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 no Wuu ME V] ? Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 873-4503 i-V ^Q V •i>^ <> .V o\ 4- ■^ 280 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book HI. with several other worthy ministers, came to be wholly silenced in an- other, that was raised upon complaints made by one Mr. Bird^ unto the Bishop of Normeh against them. Co^icerning this ill Bird, there hap- pened one passage hereapun, which had in it something extraordinary. Falling very sick, he had the help of a/nmous and skilful physician, one Dr. Duke m Colcheite*" ; who having left his patient, in his opinion, safely recovered, gave Mr. Wilton a visit, with an account of it. Recovered ! says Mr. fVtl$on, you are mistaken, Mr. Doctor ; he's a dead man ! The Doctor answered, If ever I recovered a sick man in my life, that man is recovered. But Mr. Wilson replied, No, Mr. Doctor, he*s a dead man, he shall not live : mark my words ! The doctor smiled ; but for all that, before they parted, the news was brought them, that the man was dead indeed, and the Lard known by the judgment which he executed. But at last Mr. Wilson obtained from the truly noble Earl of Warwick, to sign a letter, which the Earl bid himself to draw up, unto the Bishop, on bis behalf; by the operation of which letter, his liberty, for the exercise of his ministry, was again procured. This Bishop was the well-known Dr. Harsnet, who a little while after this, travelling northward, upon designs of mischief against the reforming pastors and christians there, certain ministers of the south set apart a day for solemn fasting and prayer, to implore the help of heaven against those designs ; and on that very day, he was taken with a sore and an odd fit, which caused him to stop at a blind house of entertainment on the road, where he suddenly died. § 10. At last, being persecuted in one country, he must flee into another. The plaotatioD of a New-English colony was begun : and Mr. W'\s»>i God, Christ, and saints, accept, but Wilson sent it.. Which way so e'er the propositions move, The ergo of bis syllogisms love. So bountiful to all ; but if the poor Was christian too, all's money went, and more. His coat, rug, blanket, gloves ; he thought their due Was all his money, garments, one of two. , . ^ But he was most set upon the main business of this new plantation ; which was, to settle and enjoy the ordinances of the gospel, and worship the Lord Jesus Christ according to his own institutions : and, accordingly, be, with the governour, and others that came with him on the same account, combined into a church-state, with all convenient expedition. § 11. Mr. Wilson^ s removal to New-England, was rendred the more difficult, by the indisposition of his dearest consort thereunto ; but he hoping, that according to a dream which he had before his coming hither, That he saw here a little temple rising out of the ground, which by degrees increased into a very high anfl large dimensions, tlte Lord had a temple to build in these regions ; resolved never to be discouraged from his un- dertaking. Wherefore having Qrst sent over an encouraging account of the good order, both civil and sacred, which now began to be establish- ed in the plantation, he did himself return into England, that he doight further pursue the effect thereof; and accordingly he made it his busi- ness, where-ever he caate, to draw as many good men as he could, into tills country with him. His wife remained unperswadable, till upoo prayer with fanting before the Almighty turner of hearts, he received an answer, in her becoming willing to accompany him over an ocean into a wilderness. A very sorrowful parting they how had from their old friends inSudbury, but a safe and quick passage over the Atlantic; and whereas the church of Boston, observing that he arrived not at the time expected, had set apart a day of humiliation on his behalf, his joyful arriVatbefore the day, caused them to turn it into a day of thanksgiving. But Mrs* Wilson being thus perswaded over, into the difficulties of an American (lesart, I have heard, that her kinsman, old Mr. Dod, for her consolatioa under those difficulties, did send her a present, with an advice, which he had in it, something of curiosity. He sent her, at the same lime, a brass counter, a silver crown, and a gold jacobus ; all of them severally wrap- ped up : with this instruction unto the gentleman who carried it : that he should first of all deliver only the counter, and if she received it with any shew of discontent, he should then take no further notice of her ; but if she gratefully resented that small thing, for the sake of the hand it came from, he should then go on to deliver the silver, and so the gold : but withal assure her. That such would be the dispensations of God unto her, and the other good people of New-England : if they would be content and thankful with such little things, as God at first bestowed vpon them, they should, in time, have silver and gold enough. Mrs. Wilson accordingly, by her cheerful entertainment of the least remembrance from good old Mr. Dud, gave the gentleman occasion to go through with his whole present, and the annexed advice ; which hath in a good measure been accom- plished. § 12. It was not long before Mr. Wilsoti's return to Englattd once more, was obliged by the death of his brother, whose will, because it bequeath- ed a legacy of a thousand pounds unto New-England, gave satisfaction unto Vol. I, 30 282 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book UJ our Mr. Wilson, though it was otherwise injurious unto himself. A te- dious and winter- voyage he now had ; being twice forced into /re/«in(/, where tirst at Galloway, then at Kingsale, afterwards at Bandon- Bridge, he occasionally, but vigorously and successfully served the kingdom of God. At last he got safe among his old friends at Sudbury ; according to the prediction which he had let fall in his former farewel unto them ; It may be John Wilson may come and see Sudbury once again. From whence, visiting Mr. Nathanael Rogers, at Assington, where he arrived before their morning prayers ; Mr. Rogers asked him to say something upon the chapter that was read, which happened then to be the first chapter in the first book of Chronicles ; and from a paragraph of meer proper names, that seemed altogether barren of any edifying matter, he raised so many fruit- ful and useful notes, that a pious person then present, amazed thereat, could have no rest, without going ovt into America after him. Having dispatched his aflfairs in England, he again embarked for New-England, in company with four ministers and near two hundred passengers, whereof some were persons of considerable quality : but Ihey had all been lost by a large leak sprang in the .ship, if God had not, on a day of solemn /asf- ing, and prayer, kept op board for that purpose, mercifully discovered this dangerous leak unto them. § 13. That Ph(snix of his age, Dr. Ames would say, That if he might liave his option of the best condition that he could propound unto himself on this side heaven, it xvould he, that he might be the teacher of a congregation- al church, whereof Mr. Wibon should be the pastor. This happiness, this priviledge, now had Mr. Cotton in the church of Boston. But Satan en- vious at the prosperity of that flourishing church raised a storm of .^h- tinomian, and Familistical errors, which had like to have thrown all into an irrecoverable confusion, if the good God had not remarkably blessed the endeavours of a Synod ; and Mr. Wilson, for a while, met with hard measure for his early opposition to those errors, until by the help of that Synod, the storm was weathered out. At the beginning of that as- sembly, after much discourse against the unscriptural enthusiasms, and revelations, then by some contended for, Mr. ^zVson proposed. You that are against these things, and that are for the spirit and the word together, hold up your hands ! And the multitude of hands then held up, was a comfortable and encouraging introduction unto the '^th'tr proceedings. At the conclusion of that assembly, a catalogue of t^ ., >rs to be con- demned, was produced; whereof when one asked, shall be done with them ? the wonted zeal of Mr. Wilson made this blunt answer, Ltt them go to the devil of hell, from whence they cams. In the midst of these temptations also, he was by a lot, chosen to ac- company the forces, then sent forth upon an expedition against the Pequod Indians ; which he did with so much faith and joy, that he pro- fessed himself as fully satisfied, that God would give the English a victory over those enemies, as if he had seen the victory already obtained. And the tvhole country quickly shared with him in the consolations of that re- markable victory. § 14. In the wilderness he met with his difficulties; for besides the loss of houses, divers times hy/ire, which yet he bore with such a cheer- ful submission, that once one that met him on the road, informing of him, Sir, I have sad news for you; while you have been abroad, your house is burnt. His lirst answer was. Blessed be God : he has burnt this house, be- cause he intends to give me a better. (Which accordingly came to pass.) DOK ili- Hook I II. J THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLANi). S83 Ate- Ireland, -Bridge, igdom oj )rding to them; /( fchence. id before upon the ter in the Dimes, that any fruit- d thereat, Having •England, I, whereof sen lost by lemnfast- liscovered f he might himself on igregation- piness, this t Satan en- orno of .^«- >wn all into bly blessed t with hard he help of of that as- siasms, and You that \rd together, up, was a Iroceedings. to be con- loW be done Inswer, Let iosen to ac- lagainst the liat he pro- Lh a victory \ And the of that re- Ibesides the Ich a cheer- Jiingof him, Ittr house « \is house, be- ne to pass.) He was also put upon complying with the inclinations of his eldest son to travel ; who accordingly travelled, first into Holland, then into Italy, where he proceefied a doctor of physick, and so returned into England, excellently well adorned with all the accomplishments of n most pious and useful gentleman. But this worthy person died about the year 1668. And this hastened the death of his mother, e'er the year came about $ which more than doubled the grief nf his father. And these afflictions \rere yet further embittered by the death of his eldest daughter Mrs. Rogers, in child-bed with her first child ; at whose interment, though he could not but express a deal of sorrow, yet he did it with so much pa- tience, that /n token, he said, of his grounded and joyful hopes, to meet her again in the morning of the resurrection, and of his willingness to resign her into the hands of him who would make all things work together for gom, he himself took the spade, and threw in th^ first shovelful of earth upon her. And not long after, he buried three or four of his grand children by another daughter, Mrs. Danforth (yet living with her worthy son-in- law Edward Bromjield, Esq. in Boston) whereof one lying by the walls, on a day of publick thanksgiving, this holy man then preached a most sa- voury sermon on Job i. 21 , The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord. The next child, although so weakly that all despaired ot its life, his prophetical grand-father said. Call him John, / believe in God, he shall live, and be a prophet too, and do God service in his generation ! which is, at this day, fulfilled in Mr. John Danforth, the present pastor to the church of Dorchester. Encountring with such, and many- other exercises his years rolled away, till he had served New-England, three years before Mr. Cottonh coming over, twenty years with him ; ten years with Mr. Nortor and /our years after him. § 15. In his younger time, he had been used unto a more methodical way of preaching, and was therefore admired above many, by no kss auditors than Dr. Goodw^, Mr. Burroughs, and Mr. Bridge, when they travelled from Cambridge into Essex, on purpose to observe the minis- ters in that county ; but after he became a pastor, joined with such illuminating teachers, he gave himself a liberty to preach more after the primitive manner ; without any distinct propositions, but chiefly in exhortations and admonitions, and good wholesome councils, tending to excite good motions in the minds of his hearers ; (but upon the same texts that were doctrinally handled by his colleague instantly before :) and yet sometimes his pastoral discourses had such a spirit in them, that Mr. Shephard would say, Methinks I hear an apostle, when I hear this man : yea, even one of bis ex-tempore sermons, has been since his death, counted worthy to be published unto the world. The great lecture of Boston, being disappointed of him, that should have preached it, Mr. Wilson preached that lecture on a text occuring in the chapter that had been read that morning in his family, Jer. xxix. 8, — JVeither hearken to your dreams, which you cause to be dreamed ; from whence he gave a reasonable warning unto the people against the dreams, wherewith sundry sorts of opinionists, have been endeavouring to seduce them. ft was the last Boston lecture that ever he preached (Nov. 16, 1665,) »nd one who writ after him, in short hand, about a dozen years after published it. But his last sermon he preached at Roxbury lecture, lor his most worthy son-in-law Mr. Danforth ; and after he bad read his text, which was in the beginnings and conclusions of sundry of the last psalms, with a seraphical voice, he added, If I were sure this were ihe last sermon that ever I should preach, and these the last words that $u THE HISTOHY OK NKW-ENGLANU. [Book llf. 0ver lihould ipeak, t/et / would still my, Hnllelujah, Hulleliijah, praise ye the Lord I 'i'hiis he ended hia miniitry on enrtli, thus he began hit po$- »e»$ion of hcnven with Hallehijnhs, & 16. Inilocd, if the picture of thifl s;ond, and therein great mnn, were to bi G e exactly K>vt!n, great zeal, with great love, would be ihe two princi- al Htrokex, that joined with orthodoxy, should make up his pourtraiture. e had the zeal of n Phineas, I had nImoHt said of a teraphim, in testifying against every thing that he thought oflcnsive nnto Ciod. The opinionuta, whicli attempted at any time to debase the scripture, or confound the or- d«r, embraced in our churches, underwent the most pungent animadver- sions of this his devout zeal ; whence, when n certain nasembly of people, which he approved not, had «et up in Boston, he charged all his family, that they should never dnrc, so much as once to enter into that assembly; I charge you, said he, that yov do not once go to hear them ; for whatsoever they %mnj pretend, they will roh you of ordinances, rob you of your swls, rob you of your (iod. But though he were thus, like John, a Sou of Thunder a);ainst seducers, yet he was like Ibut blessed and beloved apostle also, all made up of love. He was full of affection, and ready to help and relieve and comfort Ibe distressed ; liis house was renowned for hospitality, and his purse was continually emptying it self into the hands of the needy : from which disposition of love in him, there once happened this passage ; when he was beholding a great muster of soldiers, a gentleman then present said unto him, Sir, Vll tell you a great thing ; here's a mighty body of people, and there is not seven of them all, but uhat loves Mr. Wilson ; but that gracious man presently and pleasantly replied. Sir, I'll tell yott as good a thing as that, here's a mighty body of people, and there is not so muck as one of them all, but Mr. Wilson loves him. Thus ho did, by his own example, notably preach that lesson, \vhich a gentleman found in the an^1gran^ of his name. Wish no one ill : and tl^s did he continue, to do exyery one good, until his death gave the same gentleman occasion thus to elegize upon him : V "' , ■ ■ • •■' >>' • ' ' i • , .. , Now may celestial spirits sing yet higher, ^ ' Since one more's added to their sacred quire ; ,' Vv Wilson the holy, whose grW nrtwic doth still, '^ • In language sweet, bid us [Wish no ill.] ^ 17. He was one, that consulting not only his own edification, but the encouragement of the ministry, and of religion, with an inde-i fatignble diligence visited the congregations of the neighbouring- towns, at their weekly lectures, until the weaknesses of old age rendered him uncapable. And it was a delightful thing then to see upon every recur- ring opportunity, a large company of christi'ms, and even magistrates and ministers among them, and Mr Wilson in the head of them, visiting the lectures in all the vicinai>:e, with such heavenly discourses on the road, us caused the hearts of the disciples to bum within them: and in- deed it was remarked, that though the christians then spent less time in the shop, orjield, than they do noxv, yet they did in both prosper more. But for Mr. Wilson, I am saying, that a lecture was a treasure unto him ; he prized it, he sought it, until old age at length brought with it a sick- ness, which a long while confined him. In this illness he took a solemn farewel of the ministers, who had their weekly meetings at his hospitable house, and were now come together from all parts, at the anniversary ehcHon for the government of the colony. They asked him to declare OOK III' irninf ye h>8 po$- nn, were princi- rtrHitwre. tcRtifying oinioniifB, 1(1 the or- limuJver- )f people, lis family, DHfiembly; whatsoever • S !«<«, Tob f Thunder le niflo, all ind relieve iUj, antl his .edy : from 18 pHBsnge ; cinan then mighty body W. Wilson -, // tell you as 1 not so tniich hy hia own bund in the inue, to do lion thus to Book HI.] THE HISTORY OF NEWENGLAND. 286 solemnly, what bethought might be the stns, which provoked thcr dis- pleasure of God ngninst the country. Whereto his answer wa9, ihave long feared several sins ; whereof, one, ho said, was Corahism; " That " is, when people rise up as Corah, against their ministers, as if they took ' THE HIsrORV OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book III. on thy poor unworlhy servant in most christian kindness ; Oh ! do it not I And then turaing himself about unto Mr. Jldams, Brother (said he) / trust your daughter shall live, J believe in God she shall recover of this sickness' ' And so it marvellously came to pass, and sbu is nowr the fruitful mothe- of several desirable children. A Pequot- Indian, in a canoo, was espied by the English, within gun- shot, carrying away an English maid, with a design to destroy her or abuse her. The soldiers fearing to kill the maid if they shot at the Indian, asked Mr. Wilson's counsel, who forbad them to fear, and assured them, God will direct the bvllet I They shot accordingly ; and killed the Indian, though then moving swiftly upon the water, and saved the maid frep from all harm whatever. Upon the death of the first and only child (being an infant) of his daughter Mrs. Danforth, he made a poem, whereii\ were these lines among the rest, What if they part with their beloved one, Their Jirst begotten, and their only son ? What's this to that which father Jlbram sufl'er'd, When bis own hands his only darling offer'd, In whom was bound up all his joy in this Life present, and his hope of future bliss ? And what if God their other children call. Second, third, fourth, suppose it should be all ? What's this to holy Job, his trials sad. Who neither these nor t'other comforts had ? vi) His life was only given him for a prey, v Yet all his troubles v/ere to heav»n the way ; Yea to far greater blessings on the earth, The Lord rewarding all his tears with mirth. And behold, as if that he had been a Fates, in both senses of it, a poet and a prophet, it pleased God afterwards to give his daughter a second, a third, and a fourth child, and then to take them all away at once, even in one fortnight's time ; but afterwards, happily to make up the loss. ,Once passing over the ferry unto a lecture, on the other side of the water, he look notice of a young man in the boat, that worded it very unhandsomely unto his aged fatJier : whereat this faithful seer, beinp: much troubled, said unto him, Young man, I advise you to repent of your undutiful rebellious carriage towards your father ; I expect else to hear, that God Juts cut you off", before a twelve-month come to an end! And be- fore this time expired, it came to pass, that this unhappy youth going to the southward, was there hacked in pieces, by the Pequvd Indians. A company of people in this country, were mighty hot upon a project of removing to Providence, an island in the West-Indies ; and a venerable assembly of the chief magistrates, and ministers in the colony, was ad- dressed for their council about this undertaking ; which assembly laid be- fore the company very weighty reasons to disswade them from it. A prime ringleader in that business, was one Fenner a cooper of Sa/'emr the mad blade, that afterwards perished in a nonsensical uproar, which lie, with a crew of Bedlamites, possessed like himself, made in London. This Fenncr, with some others, now stood up and said, That notwithstand- ing what had been offered, they were clear in their call to remove : where- upon Mr. Wilson' stood up and answered. Jly, do you come to ask counsel in Book HI.] THE HISTORY OF NEW.ENQLAND. 367 .to weighty a matter aa this, and to have help from an ordinance of God in it ? and are you aforehand resolved, that you will go on ? Well, you may go, if you will; but you shall nut prosper. What i do you make a mock of Clod's ordinance ? And it came to pass accordingly ; the enterprize was not lung after dnshed in pieces ; and Venner'^s precipitating impulses, after- wards carried him to a miserable end. A council sitting at a town, where some ecclesiastical differences called for the assistances of the neighbours to compose Ihem, these was one man observed by Mr. Wilson, to be extrearoly perverse, and most unrea- sonably '.roublesome and mischievous to Ihe peace of the church there ; whereupon Mr. Wilson told the council, be was confident, That the jeal- ousy of God would set a mark upon that man, and that the ordinary death of men should not befal him. It happened shortly after, that the man was barbarously butchered by the salvages! While Mr. Wilson was minister of Sudbury in England, ther« was a noted person who had been absent for some while among the Papists. This man returning home, offered himself to the communion; whereat Mr. Wilson in the open assembly, spoke unto him after this manner ; " Brother, you here present your self, as if you would partake in the " Holy Supper of the Lord. You cannot be ignorant of what you have , " done in withdrawing your self from our communion, and how you have '^ been much conversant for a considerable while, with the Papists, '* whose religion is antichristian. Therefore, though we cannot so abso- " lutely charge you, God knows, who is the searcher of all hearts ; and " if you have defiled your self with their worship and way, and not re- " pented of it, by offering to partake at this time in the Holy Supper *' with us, yo\i will eat and drink your own damnation ; but if you are " c'ear, and have nothing wherewith to charge your self; you your self " Know, upon this account you may receive." The man did then par- take at the Lord's ^able, (.rofessing his innocency. But as if the devil had entered into him, he soon went and hanged himself. In the circumstances of his a-^n children, he saw many effects of an extraordinary faith. His eldest son, Edmund, while travelling into the countries, which the bloody Popish inquisition has made a clime too torrid for a Protestant, was extreamly exposed : but the prayers of the young gentleman's con- tinually distressed father, for him, tvere answered with signal preserva- tions. When he was under examination by the inquisitors, a friend of the chief among them, suddenly arrived ; and the inquisitor not having seen this friend for many years before, was hereby so diverted and mol- lified, that he carried the young Mr. Wilson to dinner with him ; and, though he had passed hitherto unknown by his true name, yet this in- quisitor could now call him, to his great surprize, by the name of Mr. Wilson, and report unto him the character of his father, and his father's industry in serving the hereticks of Kew-England. But that which I here most of all design, is an account of a thing yet more memorable and unaccountable. For, at another time, his father dream't himself transported into Italy, where he saw a beautiful person in the son's, chamber, endeavouring with a thousand enchantments, to debauch him ; whereupon the old gentleman made, and was by his bed-fellow over- heat'd making, first, prayers to God full of agony , and then warnings unto his tempted son, to beware of defiling himself with the daughter of a strange God. Now, some considerable while after this, the young gen- tleman writes to bis father, that on such a night (which was upon enquiry mh- THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Dook 1H, found the very satne night,) a gentlewoman bad cnreaaed him, thua and •o ( juat according to the vision,) and that his chaitity had been conquer- ed, if he had not been atrongly posHcaaed with a aense of hia father's prayeri over him, and warning! unto him, for hia escape from the pita, whareintodofall iha abhorred of the Lord. Ilia other son, John, when a child, fell upon his head from a loft four stories high, into the street ; from whence he waa taken up for deod, and so battered and bruised and bloody with his fall, that it struck hor- ror into the beholders : but Mr. Wilson had a wonderful return of hia prayers in the "ecovery of the child, both unto life and unto sense ; inso- iBUch, tliat he continued unto Md age, a faithful, painful, useful minister of the hospel ; and but lately went from the service of the church in Medfield, unto the glory of the church triumphant. After Mr. Wilson''s arrival at New-England, his wife, who had left off bearing of children for many years, brought him another daughter; which lamb was indeed unto him as a datigfiter ; and he would present her unto other uiiniaters, for their blessing, with great affection, aaying, This is my New-England token t But this child fell sick of a malignant fever, wherein she was gone so far, that every one despaired of her life ; except her father, who called in several ministers, with other christians, unto a fast on that occasion ; and hearing the prayers of Mr. Cotton for her, found his heart so raised, that he confidently declared. While I heard Mr. Cotton at prayer, I was confident the child should live ! And the child accordingly did live ; yea, she is to this day alive, a very holy wO' man, adorned like them of old time, with a spirit (f great price ! The blessings pronounced by Mr. Wilson, upon many persons and af- fairs, were observed so prophetical, and especially his death-bed bles- sings upon his children and grand-children were so, that the most con- siderable persons in the country thought it not much to come from far, and bring their children with them, for the enjoyment of his patriarchal benedictions. For which cause, Mr. Thomas Sliepard, in an elegy upon him, at bis death pathetically thus expressed it ; •.; ,,^ i Whoso of Abraham, Moses, Samuel, reads,, > . ''•:■ Or of Elijah's or Elisha^s deeds, Would surely say, their spirit and jjower was hisi, t And think there were a Metempsychosis. 'It A :[,. As aged John, th' apostle us'd to bless The people, which they judg'd their happiness. So we did count it worth our pilgrimage \ ' ' - - , Unto him for his blessing, in his age. These were extraordinary passages ; many of them, nre things which ordinary christians may more safely ponder and wonder, than expect in our days ! though sometimes great reformers, and great sxifferers, must be signalized with them. I know very well what lAvy says, Datur hcec Ve- nia Antiqtiitatis, ut miscendo Humana Divinis, Primordia Urbium Angus- tiorafaciat : but I have been far from imposing the least fable upon the world in reporting such extraordinary passages of Mr. Wilson, or any other great confessor, by whom the beginnings of this country were made illustrious ; there are witnesses enough, yet living of them. § 20. There is a certain little sport of wit, in anagrammatizing the names of men ; which was used as long ago at least o- ninister irch in left off lughter ; present saying, alignaiit tier life ! iristians, 'otton for e / heard And the ' holy wo- 18 and af- bed bies- nost con- from far, itriarchal egy upow igs which \ect in our must be |r h(ec Vi- Augw I upon the y», or any lere made lizittg the lyg of old \inonitoT}jt as AUtedius by his just admirers chaoged into SeMitai ; or very chijirac- teriiing, lu Henatus CarUtiut, by his disciples turned into, Tu tcis re$ Jhfa- titra ; or very lalyrical, as when Satan nUeih me, was found in the trans- posed name of a certain active pei-secutor : and when, Lo, « damned trew, was found in the nttRie of one that made a figure among the Popish plotters agiiinst the nation. Yea, 'tis possible, that they who affect such grammatieul curiositiegi, will he willing to plead a prtscription of much hit^her and elder antiquity for them ; even the tenmrah, or mutation, with which the Jerei do criticise upon the oracles of the Old Tettament. There, they say, you'll find the anagram'oi our fir tt father's name Ha adam, to express Jldamah, the name of the earth, whence he had his original. An anagram of a ,gnod signification, they'l show you [Gen. ri. 8,] and of a bad one [Gen. xxxviii. 7,] in those glorious oracles ; and they will endeavour to pcrswade you, that Jlfa/eacAt in Exodus ia ana- grammaticully expounded Michael, in Daniel. But of all the anagram' matiitrs that have been trying their fancies, for the two thousand years which have run out, fince the days of Lycophron, yea, or for the more than live thousand, since the days of our first father, I believe there never was man, that made to many, or no nimbly, as our Mr. Wilson} who, together with his quick turns, upon the names of his friends, would ordi- narily /e mon about the glories of our Lord Jesus Christ, Mr. Wilson immediately guve him that anogram upon his name, Crescentius Matherus, anagr. En I Christus Merces tua : so there could scarcely occur the name of awy re- markable person, at least, on any remarkable occasion unto him, without an anagram raised thereupon ; and he made this poetical, and peculiar disposition of his ingenuity, a subject whereon he grafted thougUs far more solid and solemn and useful, than the stock it self. Wherefore me- thoughts, it looked like » piece of injustice, that his own funeral produ- ced (among the many poems afterwards printed) no more anagrams upon liis name, who had so often thus handled the names of others ; and some thought the Muses looked very much dissatisfied, when they saw t'lese lines upon bis heurse. , . JOHN WILSON. Anfigr. John Wilson. Oh I change it not ; no sweeter name or thing, Throughout the world, within our ears shall ring. There was a little more of humour, in the fancy of Mr. Ward, the well-known simple cobler of Agawam, as that witty writer stiled himself, who observing the great Aospt^tt/tVy of Mr. WUson, in conjunction with his me justly be reckoned the name's sake of that John, the Bishop of Jllexandria, who was called not only Johannes EleemosynariuSy but also HuinilU Johannes. Hcitce 'twas, that when his voice in his age did so fail him, that his great congregation could be no longer edified by his puhlick labours, he cheerfully and painfully set himself to do all the good that he could by his private visits ; and such also as he could not reach with sermons he ot\en found with verses : hence 'twas that when that plea was used with the church of Ipswich, to resign Mr. JVorton unto the church of Boston, after the death of Mr. Cotton ; because it was said, Let him that hath Ixvo coats, give to him that hath none : and a person of quality replied, Boston hath one, [meaning Mr. Wilson :] this good man answered. Who ? me ! lam nothing ! Yea, hence 'twas, that when male- factors had been #penly scourged upon the just sentence of authority, he would presently send for them to his house, and having first expres- sed his bounty to them, he would then bestow upon them such gracious admonitions and exhortations, as made them to become, instead of despe- rate, remarkably penitent. Indeed, I know not whether his humility might not have some excess, in some instances charged upon it ; at least once, when he had promised unto a neighbouring minister, to preach a sermon for him, and afler his promise came in season to that minister, saying. Sir, I told you, that I would preach for you, but it was rashly done of me ; I have on my knea begged the pardon of it, from the Lord ; that I should offer thus to deprive his people of your labours, which are so much better than any of mine can be : wherefore. Sir, I now come seasonable to tell you, that I shall fail you ! And accordingly, there was no perswading of him to the contrary. But from the like humility it was, that a good kinsman of his, who dp- serves to live in the same story, as he now lives in the same heaven with him, namely Mr. Edward liawson, the honoured secretary of the Massa- chusct colony, could not by all his intreaties perswade him to let his picture be drawn ; but still refusing it, he would reply. What ! sttch a poor viU creature as I am ! shall my picture be drawn? I iay, no ; it never shall! And when that gentleman introduced the limner, with all things ready, vehemently importuning him to gratifie so far the desires of his friends, as to sit a while, for the taking of his effigies, no importunity could ever obtain it from him. However, being bound in justice to employ my hand, for the memory of that person, by whose hand I was myself bap- tised, I have made an essay to draw his picture, by this account of hif life ; wherein if I have missed of doing to the life, it might be made uf with several expressive passages, which I find in elegies written and printed upon his death : whereof there were many composed, by those whose opinion was well signified by one of them : Sure verse/ess he does mean, to's grave to go. And well deserves, that now no verse can shozv. KooK III] THE HISTORY OF NKW-ENOLAND. tdl But waving the rest, let the following poem, never before printcd^offer nuino odoum for the reader's further entertiiinmcnt. Some nlfffi to embalm the mrmory of (he truly reverend and renowned JoH^ Wilson ; the first pastor of Boston, in Ncw-Knglnnd : interred (anrf a great part of his countnfs glory with him) August II, 1667, aged 79. MioiiT Jlaron^s rod (such funerals mayn't be dry) But broach the rork, 'twould mish pure elegy. To round the wiltlerness with purling lays. And tell the world, the great saint Wilsmi's praise. Here's one {pearls are not in great clusters found) Here's one, the skill of tongues and arts had crown'd ; Here's one (by frequent marhjrdom was try'•;«». 'Tis one (when will it rise to number two ? The world at once can but one Pho'nix show :) For trttlh a Paul, Cephas for zeal, for love A John, inspir'd by the coclestial tiove. Abram^s true son for faith ; and in his tent Angels oft had their table and content. So humble, that alike on's charily, Wrought extract gent ; with extract rudii. Pardon this fardt ; hia great excess lay there. He'd trade for heaven, with all he came a near ; His meat, clothes, cash, he'd still for ventures send Consign'd, per Brother Lazarus, his friend. Mighty in prayer, hi hands uplifted reach'd Mercy''s high throne, and thence strange bounties fetch'd, Once and again, and oft : so felt by all. Who weep his death, as a departing Paul. All, yea, baptiz'd with tears, lo children come, (Their baptism he maintain'd !) unto his '. It should out-shine the brightest so/arrci^. - > Sacred his verse, writ with a eheniVs quill ; But those wing'd choristers of Zzon-hill, Pleas'd with the notes, call'd him a part to bear ' With them, where he his anagram did hear, I pray come in, heartily welcome. Sir. ' -!'! EPITAPHIUM. Thinking what epitaph I should offer unto the grave of this worthy man, I called unto mind the fittest in the world, which was directed for him, immediately upon his death, by an honourable person, who still con- tinues the same lover, as well as instance, of learning and vertue, that he was, when he then advised them to give Mr. Wilson this l - , ^ EPITAPH. ..,■ ! '.: fr _ :^ : * And now abided faith, hope, and charity, , But charity's the greatest of the three. To which this might be added, from another hand : Aurea, qua {ohstupeo referens /) Primava V^etustas Candida Jlrcano, bsBcula Apostolica, Officiis, Donisque itidem Sanctissimus Heros, WiLSONus, taciiis Protulit ex Tenebris. V. , . CHAPTER IV. ,. y Puritanismus JVov-Anglicamts. The Lifk of Mr. John Davenport. § I. A NOTED author of more than twice seven treatises, and chaplain to two successive Queens of England, was that Christopher Davenport, whose assumed name was, Franciscus & Sancta Clara. And in Mr, Rush- worth's collection of speeches, made in the celebrated parliament, 1640, I find Sir Benjamin Hvdyard using these words : ' Sancta Clara hath * publiched, that if a Synod were held, JVonintermixtis Puritanis, setting ' Puritans aside, our articles and their religion would soon be agreed. lOi; UK Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEVV-ENGLAND. :;i: his worthy lirected for lo still con- ue, that he . A- IvESPORT. iid chaplain \Davtnfort, Mr. ^«s''- jient, 1640, ^lara hath In's, setting [be agreed. < They have eo brought it to pass, that under the name of Puritans, all < our religion is branded. Whoaoovcr squares his actions by any ru^e, ' cither divine or humane, he is n Puritm : whosoever would be govern- • ed by the King's laws, he is a Puritan.' Whether this account of matters be allowed or no ; there was, though not a brother (as a certain woodden historian, in his AtheiKe Oxonientes, has reported) yet a kinsman of thatiSancfa Clara, who was among the most eminent Puritans of those days: and this was our holy and famous Mr. John Davenport: one of. whom I may, on many accounts, use the elogy, with which tho learned still mention Salmasius, P'ir nunguam satis Laudatus, nee Temere sine Laude nominanduf. § 2. Mr. John Davenport was born at Coventry, in the year 1597, of worthy parents ; a father who was mayorof the city, anil a pious mother, who having lived just long enough, to devote him, as Hannah did her Samuel, unto the service of the sanctuary, left him under the more im- mediate care of heaven to fit him fot* that service. The grace of God Eanctified him with good principles, while he had not yet seen two sevens of years in an evil world; and by that age he had also made such attain- ments in learning, aa to be admitted into Brasen-Nose Colledge, in Ox- ford. From thence, when he was but nineteen years old, he was called unto publick and constant preaching in the city of London, as an assistant unto another divine ; where his notable accomplishments for a minister, and his couragious residence with, and visiting of his flock, in a dreadful plague'time, caused much notice to be quickly taken of him. His degree of Master of Arts, he took not, until, in course, he was t( proceed Batchellor of Divinity: and then with universal approbation, he received both of these laurels together. § 3. This pious man was both an hard student, and a gieat preacher. His custom was to sit up very late at his Ivcuhrations ; whereby, though he found no sensible damage himself, and never felt his head ach, yet his counsel was, that other students would not follow his example. But the eftects of his industry were seen by all men, in his approving himtjolt' upon all occasions, an universal scholar. As for the sermons wherewith he fed the church of God, he wrote them for the most part, more largely than the most of ministers ; and he spoke them with a gravity, an en- ergy, an acceptableness, whereto few ministers ever have arrived : in- deed his greatest enemies, when they heard him, would acknowledgi^ him to be among the best of preachers. The ablest men about London were his nearest friends ; among whom he held a very particular corres- pondence with Dr. Preston : he, when he dyed, left his notes with Mr. Davenport, by him to be published ; and accordingly with Dr. Sibs, you'll find Mr. Davenport signing some of their tiedications. § 4. About the year 1626, there were several eminent persons, among whom were two Doctors of Divinity, with two other divines, and four la-di!ijers, whereof one the King's Serjant at law, and four citizens, where- of one the Lord Mayor of L'mdon, engaged in a design to procure n pur- chase of impropriations, and with the profits thereof to maintain a con- stant, able, and painful ministry, in those parts of the kingdom, where there was most want of such a ministry. The divines concerned in this design, were Dr. Gouge, Dr. Sibs, Mr. Offspring, and our Mr. Davenport; and such an incredible progress was made in it, that it is judged, all the impropriations in England ivould have been honestly and easily recover- ed unto the immediate service of the reformed religion. But Bishop Laud looking with a je:»!ous eye on this undertaking, lenst it might in 2J)4 THK HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [lioOK III. time give n necret growth to non-conformity, he obt.iined a bill to be ex- hibited in the Exchcipicr Chamber, by the King's Attorney-General, agiiiniitthe Feoff'ef.n, that had the maniigoment of it. Upon this occasion, I find thia great man writing in his great Bible, the ensuing passages : • Feb. 11, 10.32. The business of the Jfojfecs being to be heard the ' third time ut the Exchequer, 1 prayed earnestly, that God would assist ' our counsellors, in opening the case, and be pleased to grant, that they ' might gel no advantage against us, to punish us iis evildoers ; promising ' to observe what annwcr he gave. Which seeing he hath graciously * done, and delivered mcfroin the thing I fearid, I record to these «nds : * 1. To be more induitrious in my familij. '" " '2, To check my vnthnnkfvlncss. . m .: • • 3. To quicken my self to thankfulness. ' '1. To awaken my self to more watdifitlness for the lime to come, iit • remembrance of his mercy. ' V/ Inch 1 beseech the Lord to grant ; upon whose faithfulness in his ' covenant, 1 cast my self, to be made faithful in my covenant. ' John Davenport.' The is.'itifi of the business was this : the court condemned their pro- coedingH as ttangrrmis to the church and state ; pronouncing the gifts, feriffmrnts, nnAco.itrivances, made to the uses aforesaid, to be illegal, and so dissolved the same, conliscating their money unto the King's use. Yet the criminal part referred unto, was never prosecuted in the star-chain- her ; because the design was generally approved, and multitudes of dis- creet and devout men, extreamly resented the mine of it. § 5. It hiippencd that soon after this, the famous Mr. John Cotton v/ag i'iiWcn under such a storm of persecution for his non-conformity, as made it uecegsary for him to propose and purpose a removal out of the liind : whereupon Mr. Davenport, with several other great and good men, con- sidering the eminent learning, prudence, and holiness of that excellent person, could be at no rest, until they had by a solemn conference inform- ed themselves of what might move him to such a resolution. The issue of the conference was, that instead of their disswading him from exposing himself to such sufl'erings, as were now before him. he convinced them of the truth in the cause for which he suffered ; and they became satistied both of the evil in sundry matters of n-orship and order, imposed upon thorn, and of the duty which lay upon them, in their places to endeavour the rrj'ormalinn of things in tho church, according to the word of God. Mr. UavcnporCa inclination to nnn-conformity from this time, fell under the notice and anger of his diocesan ; who presently determined the marks of his vengeance for him : of which being seasonably and sufBcient- Jy advertised, he convened the principal persons under his pastoral charge in Coleman- street, at a general vestry, desiring them on this occasion to declare, what they would advise ; for acknowledging the right which they had in him, as their pastor, he would not, by any danger, be driven from any service, which they should expect or demand at his hands ; but he would imit.nte the example of Luther, who upon letters from the "liurch o( Wittenberg, from whence he had withdrawn for his security, upon the direction of the Duke of Saxtniy, returned unto the couragious nxcrcisc of his ministry. Upon a serious deliberation, they discharged »6k iir. Book HI. J THE HISTCIIY ( ,EW ENGLAND. 295 be ex- General, jccasion , jges : leard the luUlassiRt that they promising ;racioualy ese ends : come, 111 Iness in his PORT. their pro- ; the gifts, illegal, and 's use. Yet star -chain- des of dis- Ills conscientious obligation, by agreeing with him, that it would be best for liim to resign ; but although he now hoped for something of a quietlife, liiij hope was disappointed ; for he was continually dogged by raging bu- flie pursivants, from whom he had no safety but by retiring into Hol- land. § G. Over to Holland he went, in the latter end of the year 1633. Wiicre the messengers of the church, under the charge of Mr. Paget, met him in his way to Amsterdam, inviting him to become the collegue of their aged pastor. But Mr. Davenport had not been long there, be- fore his indisposition to the promiscuous baptising of children, concerning whom there was no charitable or tolerable testimony of their belonging to christian parents, was by Mr. Paget so improved against him, as to procure him the displeasure of the Dutch classes in the neighbourhood. The contention on this occasion proceeded so far, that though the Dutch ministers had under their hands declared We desire nothing more, than that Mr. Davenport, whose eminent learning, and singular piety is much approved and commended of all the English our brethren, may be lawfully promoted unto the minstry of the English church : we do also greatly ap- prove of his good zeal and care, of his liaving some precedent private exam- ination of the parents, and sureties uf children to be baptised iti the christian religion. Yet the matter could not be accommodated ; Mr. Davenport could not be allowed, except he would promise to baptize the children of such whose parents and sureties were, upon examination, found never so much unchristianizcd, ignorant, or scandalous. He therefore desisted from his publick ministry in Amsterdam, about the beginning of the year 16.'35, contenting himself to set up a catechetical exercise in the family, where he sojourned on the afternoon of the Lord''s days, an hour after the publick sermons were over. But some considerable number of people, at length, resorting to this exercise, a jealousie was pretended by his ad- versary, that the design of it was to promote such sects, as indeed the chief design of it Wiis to prevent ; and upon this pretence he was hin- dered, even from this lesser opportunity of doing service also. The fuller story of these uncomfortable and unreasonable branglcs, the rea- der may find in an apologelical discourse of Mr. Davenport's, published for his own vindication ; wherein he does with a learned pen, handle several points much controverted in the reformed churches, and shew himself a divine well studied in the controversies of the present and the former ages. But the upshot of all was, that he returned back to London ; where he told his friends, That he thought God carried him over into Holland, on purpose to bear witness against that promiscuous baptism , xtj/ucft at least bor- dered very near upon a profanation of the holy institution. § 7. He observed, that when a reformation of the church has been brought about in any part of the world, it has rarely been afterwards carried on any one step further, than the Jirk reformers did succeed in their^rst endeavours ; he observed that as easily might the ark have been removed from the mountains of Ararat, where it first grounded, as a people get any ground in reformation, after and beyond the first remove of the reformers. And this observation quickned him to embark in a design ot reformation, wherein he might have opportunity to drive things in the first essay, as near to the precept and pattern of scripture, as they could be driven. The plantation of JVcw-L'ng/and afforded him this op- portunity, with the chief undertakers whereof he had many consulta- tions, before he had ever taken up any purpose of going himself into Ibal part of the world ; and he had, indeed, a very groat stroke in the 'i9Q THii: HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book HI, encournging and enlivening of that noble undertaking. He was one oi' those by whom the patent for the Massachuset colony was procured ; and though his name were not among the patentees, because he himself desir- ed it might be omitted, lest his enemy, the Bishop of London, then of the King's privy council, should upon his account appear the more fiercely against it ; yet his purse was in it, his time was in it, and he con- tributed unto it all manner of assistances : this he did before his going to Holland. And while he was in Holland, he received letters of Mr. Cotton, from the country whereto he had thus been a father ; telling him, That tlie order of the churches, and the common-wealth was now so settled in New-England, by common consent, that it brought into his mind the new heaven, and the new earth, wherein dwells righteousness. Wherefore, soon after his return for London, he shipped himself, with several emi- nent christians, and their families, for J^ew-England ; where, by the good hand of God upon them, they arrived in the summer of the year 1637. § 8. Mr. Cotton welcomed Mr. Davenport, as JIfosesdid Jethro, hoping that he would be as eyes unto them in the wilderness. For by the cunning and malice of Satan, all things ia this JVew-English wilderness, were then surprised, into a deal of confusion, on the occasion of the Jlntinomian opinions then spread abroad ; but the learning and wisdom of this worthy man in the Synod then assembled at Cambridge, did contribute more than a little to dispel the fascinating mists which had suddenly disordered all oar affairs. Having done his part in that blessed work, (as we have elsewhere more fully related) he, with his friends, who were more lit for Zebulon's ports, than for Issachar's tents, chose to go farther west- ward ; where they began a plantation and a colony, since distinguished by the name of New-Haven ; and endeavoured according to his under- standing, a yet stricter conformity to the word of God, in settling of all matters, both civil and sacred, than he had yet seen exemplified in any oth- er part of the world. There the famous church ofJVew-Haven, as well as the other neighbouring towns, enjoyed his ministry, his discipline, his gov- ernment, and his universal direction for many years together : even till after the restoration of King Charles H. Connecticut and New- Haven, were by one charter incorporated. And here, with what holiness, with whatwatch- fulness, with what usefulness he discharged his ministry, it is worthy of a remembrance among all that would propose unto themselves a worthy example. Nevertheless, all that I shall here preserve of it, is this one article. A young minister once receiving of wise and good councils from this good and wise and great man, he received this among the rest, That he should be much in ejaculatory prayer : for indeed, ejaculatory prayers, as arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are they, happy is the man that has his quiver fnll of them! And it was believed, by some cu- rious observers,- that Mr. Daveitport himself, was well used unto that sacred skill of walking with God, and, having his eyes ever towards the Lord, and being in the fear of the Lord all the day long, by the use of ejaculatory prayers, on the innumerable occasions, which every turn of oar lives does bring for those devotions. He was not only constant in more settled, whether social or itcret prayers ; btitalso in the midst of all besieging incumbrances, tying the wishes of his devout soul unto the ar- rows of ejaculatory prayer-^ he would shoot them away unto the heavens, from whence he still expected all his help. With such a glory, with such a defence, was JVew-Haven blessed ! § 9. But his influences were not confined unto his own colony of New- Haven ; they were extended as far as his general and generous care of all Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENXSLAND. 297 tlie churches, could carry him. And hence, I find him in a particular ipan> ner, expressing his good afl'ections unto the Jrenio designs and studies, which were in those days managing by some great men, for the Mstoring o( communion among the divided churches of the reformation. Perhaps, I cannot give an exacter character of this eminent person's disposition, than by my transcribing and my translating of a few passages in a letter to the famous Dury, by him composed, and by the rest of the ministets ia his colony subscribed. Flagrante Schismatis Incendioy Ecclesias, qitas oportebat Arctisnmo Pads ^ Unitntis Vinculo Colligari, misera in settas Invisa Deo Laccrabat £ri- nuys i usque adeo ut qui muiuam contra communes Hostes opem confirrewt, prob dolor ! Concertationes Midianiticas invicem agunt ; Sicut enim Juve- MS qnos ad Dimicandum Abnerus Provocabat, se mutuis Vulneribus Confe- cerunt ; sic, quorundam Vitio, qui partes potius agunt male Disputantium, quam bene Evangelizantium, Jurgia, Lites, Animorum Divortia, Schismata j^ Scandala, in Ecclesiis Evangelicis, Suboriunlur, nan sine gravi Infirmo' rum Off'endiculo, nee sine summ« quod sincere dt Errortmi Judicnre, ^ Errores tamen in Fratribus lnjirtni$ Tolerare, Uu rumque Jiidicainus esse Apostolicm Doctrinif, Consonum. Tolerntio Vero Fratrum liifinnoyum, non debet esse adsqiie Kedargulione, Sed tantum aO- absque Kejectione. ^NeverthelesH, 'tis not to be made an article of complaint against the ' orthodox, as if they would hinder or delay the peace desired so nunch *■ among the reformed churches, because they do, as necessity shall call ' for it, use that liberty of refuting errors, which peace ought to be no bar ' unto ; and by their example, would rescue the future peace from the ' extremes wherewith it would be rendred faulty. For we reckon ' that as well to judge what things are errors, as to bear with such er- * rors in weaker brethren, are both of them agreeable to what we have ' been taught by the apostles. The toleration of our erroneous breth- ' ren, should not be without rebuking, but it should be without rejecting ' of those brethren. § 10. It is a notable expression, and a wonderful concession of that great Cardinal Bellermine, the last Goliah of the Romish Philistines ; Kcclesia ex Intentione Fideles tantum Colligit, 4* si nosset Impios Sf incredu- los, eos aut nutiquam admitteret, aut casu Admissos Excluderet : ' The ' church (he says) intentionally gathers only true believers, and if she ' knew who were wicked and faithless, either she would not admit them ' at all, or if they were accidentally admitted, she would exclude them.' Our Davenport conceiving it a shame, that any Protestant should protest for less church purity, than what the confessions of a learned Papist al- lotved e'er he was aware, to be contended for, did now at Kew-Haven, make church purity to be one of his greatest concernments and endeav- ours, it was his declared principle, that more is required of men, in order to th6ir being members of an instituted church, than that they pro- fess the christian /aid by h» X, do not ' his may also been ince pub- > Meuia*' inni versa- nd among ■ other au- Ider'a Dai- lofc, a» the iver, there rregatiowl this t^me ty of Lon- ertain it it, r, not only nuch read- 's and cries tnorecon- itiy as bore lictions, on , lived, ani published, ie design is n, is, by a y transcri- and elabo- >f the gen- the death Iven of the lot mention Ithat in the ce, beUeve M reigning L dead live [counted it Le but such Book HI.] THE HISTORY OF NEWENGLAND. 301 ns were counted hereticks. 'Tis evident from Justin Martyr, that Ibis doctrine of the Chiliad, wm in hia days embraced, among all orthodox christians ; nor did this kingdom of our Lord, begin to be doubted, until the kingdom of antichrist began to advance into a considerable figure } and then it fell chiefly under the reproaches of such men, as were fain to deny the divine authority of the book of Revelation, and of the second Epistle of Peter. He is a stranger to antiquity, who does not find and own the ancients generally of the perswasion, which is excellently summed np in those words of Lactantius, Veniet Suifimi 4* maximi Dei Filiua. Ve- rumillt, eum deleverit injustitiam, Judiciumque maximum fecerit, ac Justos, (jui a Principio fuerunt, ad vitam Refiauraverit, Mille Annis inter Homines Versabitur, eosque Justissimo Imperio rcget. Nevertheless, at last men came, not only to lay aside the modesty expressed, by one of the first considerable .^ntams,. namely Jsrom, when he said. Qu■ ; ' In Poi^^tum Delatus. V^ivus Nov-Anglim, ac Ecclesice Ornamentum, ET ■^ rv^^- Mortuus, Utriusque Triste Desiderium. W^' . V". •♦n 'Ji ^^v/:v' *-v.7i.!¥ 1 " ^: sr ^«5ti.n. OooK APPENDIX. Tke Light of the tVeslern Churches : or the Life of Mr. Thomas iiooKicft, tlic renowned Pnstor of Hartford Church, and Pillar of Connecticut Colony, in New-England. Essayed bv Cotton Matheh. Qu»d si digna Tua minus est mea Pagina Laude, ' At voluisse sat est. To the Churches in the Colony of Connecticut. ALTHOUGH the providence of heaven, ruherehy the bounds of people are set, hath carried you so far westward, that some have pleasantly said, the last conflict with antichrist, must be in your colony : yet, I believe, you do not reckon your selves reftwved beyond the reach of temptation and cor- ruption. *Tis a great work that you have done, for our Lord Jesus Christ, informing a colony of evangelical churches for him, where Satan alone had reigned without contrnul in all former ages : but your icomparable Hooker, who was one of the greatest in the foundation of that work, was in his day, well aware, that Satan would make all the hast he could, unhappily to get all buried in the degeneracies of ignorance, worldliness, and profanity. To advise you of your dangers, and uphold the life of religion among you, I presume humbly to lay before you, the life of tfuit excellent man, who for learning, wisdom, and religion, was a pattern well worthy of perpetual con- sideration. Having served my own province, with the history of no less than four famous Johns, all fetched from one church, I was for certain special causes, unwilling to have it complained, as once it was of the disciples, Thomas was not with them : wherefore I was willing to make this appen- dix unto that history, confessing that through want of information I have under- done in this, more than in any part of the composure ; yet so done, that I hope the good hand of the Lord, whom I have designed therein to glorifie, will make what is done, to be neither unacceptable, nor unprofitable unto his people. ' H- . <•■, Cotton Mather. ^tio-1r,f r«y 'ExxAve-iwq UvnifMt, The LiFE of Mr. Thomas Uooker. § 1. When Toa;an's met with his countryman .^nacfcoms, in jJifcerw, he vave him this invitation, Come along with me, and I will shew thee at once all the wonders o/* Greece : wherupon he shewed him Solon, as the per- son in whom there centered all the glories of that city, or country. ^ shall now invite my reader to behold at once the wonders of Ntw-Eng- B£ BooE in.] THE HISTORY • or NEW-KNGLAND. 303 land, and it is one Thomaa Hoooker that he shall behold them : eveiv in that Hooker, whom a worthy writer would needs call, Saint Hooker, for the tame reason, (he 8uid^ and with the »amt freedom litat Latimer would speak ofSaint Bilney, in his commemorations. 'Tis that Hooker, of whom 1 may venture to say, that the famous Romanist, who wrote a book, De Tribus Thomii ; or, Of three Thomas's ; meaning Thomas the Apostle, 'ITiom- as Becket, and Sir Thomat More, did not a thousandth part so well sort his Thomases, as a New'Englainder mighk if he should write a book, Dk Duobut Thomis, or Of two Thomases ; and with Thomas the Apostle, joyn our celebrious Thomas Hooker : my oneThdmas, even our ifpostolical //oo/c- «r would in just ballances, weigh down two of iSVape/ton's robcllioud Arch- bishops, or bigotted Lord Chancellor*. 'Tis he, whom I mny call, as Theodoret called Irenaus, The light of the western churches. § 2. This our Hooker was born at Marjield, in Leicestershire, about the year 1586, of parents that were neither unable, nor unwilling to bestow upon him a liberal education ; whereto the early and lively sparkles of wit observed in him, did very much encourage them. His natural temper was cheerful and courteous ; but it was accompanied with such a ttensi- We grandeur of mind, as caused his friends, without thehelp of astrology, to prognosticate that he was born to be co-^siderable. The Influence which he had upon the reformation of some growing abuses, when hevras one of the proctors in the university, was a thing that more eminently signalised him, when his more publick appearance in the world was coming on: which was attended with an advancement unto a fellowship, in Emanuel Col- ledge, in Cambridge ; the students whereof were originally designed for the study of divinity. § 3. With what ability and fidelity he acquitted himslf in hia fellowship, it was a thing sensible unto the whole university. And it was while he was in this employment, that the more effectual grace of God, gave him the experience of a true regeneration. It pleased the spirit of God very powerfully to break into the soul of this person, with such n sense of hia being exposed unto the just wrath of heaven, as filled him with most unusual degress of horror and anguish, which broke not only his rest, but his heart also, and caused him to cry out. While I suffer they ter- rors, O Lord, I am distracted ! While he long had a soul harassed with such distresses, he had a singular help in the prudent and piteous car- riage of Mr. Ash, who was the Si/.cr, that then waited upon him ; and attended him with such discreet and proper compassions, as made him afterwards to respect him highly all his days. He afterwards gave this account of himself, That in the time of his agonies, he could reason him- self to the rule, and conclude that there was no way but submission to God, and lying at the foot of his mercy in Christ Jesus, and waiting hum- bly there, till he should please to perswade the soul of his favour : 7iev- trtheless when he came to apply this rxde unto himself in his own con- dition, his reasoning would fail him, he was able to do nothing. Having been a considerable while thus troubled with such impressions for the spirit of bondage ns were to fit him for the great services and enjoy- ments, which God intended him ; at length he received the spi^'it of adop- tion, with well-grounded perswasions of his interest in the new covenant. It became his manner, at his lying down for sleep, in the evening, to single out some certain promise of God, which he would repeat and pon- 'ler, and keep his heart close unto it, until he found that satisfaction oi soul wherewith he could say, I will lay me down in peace, and sleep ; for '/lOTi, Lord, viakest me dwell in asmtrancr. And he wonld aftornardf n04 t THE HISTOUY OF NEW-ENGLANI). [Book III. counsel other* to take the iiaiUR couno ; telliog them, That the promiat vai th« boat, which wa$ to carry a perishing tinntr over «»i/o ilu Lord Jtnu Chritt. § 'I. Mr. Hooker being now well got through the $torm of loul, which had helped him unto n roost exneriinental acquaintance with the truths of of the gospel, nnd the way ot cmplo^iit!;, and applying those truths, he was willing to serve the Church of God in the ministry, whereto he wns devoted. At his first leaving 4)f the university, he sojourned in the bouse of Mr. Drake, n gentleman of great note, tiot fur from l/tn^on; whoiie worthy consort being viiiited with such distreHses uf soul, as Mr. Hooker himself had pasHcd through, it proved an unspeakable advantage unto both of them, that he had that opportunity of being serviceable ; for indeed he no^ had uo tuperiourrdnA scarce any equal, for the skill of treating a troubled soul. When he Iclt Mr. Drake's tamiiy, he did more publickly and freauciitly preach about London ; and in a little time he grew famous for hin niiuioterial abilities, but especially for his notable faculty at the wise and fit management of wounded spirit*. However, he was not ambitious to exercise his ministry amons the great ones of the world, from whom the most of preferment might be expected ; but in this, imitating the example and character of our blessed Saviour, of whom /tiH notnd, that according to the prophetic of /«aiaA, by him, The poor had the gospel preached unto them ; he chose to be where great numbers oi the poor might receive the gospel from him. § 5. About this time it was, that Mr. Hooker grew into a most intimate acfquaintance with Mr. liogers of Dedham ; who so highly valued him for his multifarious abilities, that he used and gained many endeavours to get him settled nt Colchester ; whereto Mr. Hooker d'u\ very much incline, be- cause of its being so near to Dedham, where he might enjoy the lubovn and lectures of Mr. Jiogers, whom he would sometimes call, Tlie prince of all the preachers in England. But the providence of God gave an ob- struction to that settlement ; and, indeed, it ^as an observation which Mr. Hooker would somt.'timcs afterwards use unto his friends, That the providence of God often diverted him from employment in snch places as he himself desired, and still directed hint to such places, as he had no thoughts of. Accordingly, Chelmsford in Essex, a town of great concourse, want- ing one to break the breai of life unto them ; and hearing the fume of Mr. //bofcer' J powerful ministry, addressed him to become their lecturer: and he accepted their ufl'cr about the year 1626, becoming not only their lecturer, but also on the Lord's days, an assistant unto one Mr. Milchel, the incumbent of the place, who though he were a smaller, yet being a godly person, gladly encouraged Mr. Hooker, and lived with him in a most comfortable amity. § 6. Here his lecture was exceedingly frequented, and proportionably succeeded ; and the light of his ministry shone through the whole county of Essex. There was a rare mixture of pleasure and profit in his preaching ; and his hearers felt those penetrK 111. Hook III.J THE HISTORY OF NEW-KNGLAHD, 806 romut which uthi of tka, he he will in the , ■■ Mr. Vintage cenble \ e skill of id more time he notable ever, he >8 of the ; but in riour, of by him, ere great t intimate d him for urs to get cline, be- lahovrt prince of ve an ob> {on which That iht \aces at he \o thoughts •se, want- lie of Mr. [lecturer ■• inly their . Milchel, it being a in a most jrtionably ole county It in his bns of "'* [lim, as » applica- Lien CM of {the best at wrought. U whereot lospel, by the rest^ would oAen retort from far to hiiaiiembly ; pnrtiruliuly the tnilv noble Karl of Wttrwtck, whoie countenance of good tn'oisicrs, pi.^i nred more praveri to God for him, than moat noble-men in / upland. When he tirst let np hi* lecture, there wni more profuneneit than de- cotion in the town; and the multitude uf inns and shopa in the town, produced one porticulur dii order, of people's filling the streets with un- Muitablo behaviour, after the publick services of the Lord's day were over. But by the power of his ministry in publick, and by the pro- rience of his carriage in private, ho quickly cleared the streets of this disorder, and the sabbath came to be very visibly sanctified among the people. § 7. The joy of the people in this light was hut for a teaton. The conscientious non-conformity of Mr. i/ooAc^r, te some rites of the Church of England, then vigorously pressed, especially upon such able and use- till ministers, as were most likely to be laid aside by their scrupling of those rites, made it necessary for him to lay down hiiT ministry in Ckelmi' ford, when he had been about four years there employed in it. Here- upon, at the request of several eminent persons, he kept a school in his own hired hou$e, having one Mr. JoAn Ehot for his usher, at little Bad' ilow, not fur from Chelmsford ; where he managed his charge with such discretion, with such authority, and such efficacy, that able to do more with a word, or a look, than most other men could have done by a se- verer discipline, he did very great service to the church of God, in the education of such, as afterwards proved themselves not a little servicea- ble. I have - in my hands, a manuscript, written by the hands of our blessed Eliot, wherein he gives a very great account of the little academy then maintained in the house of Mr. Hooker; and among other things, he Niiys, To this place I was called, through the infinite riches of Ood's mercy in Christ Jesus to my poor soul : for here the Lord said unto my dead soul, live ; and through the grace of Christ, I do live, and I shall live for ever .' When Icameto tliis blessed family, I then saw, and never before, the power of t^odlincss, in tts lively vigour, and efficacy. § 8. While he continued thus in the heart of Essex, and in the hearts of the people there, he signalized his usefulness in many other in- stances. The godly ministers round about the country, would have recourse unto him, to be directed and resolved in their difficult cases; and it was by his means that those godly ministers held their monthly meetings, for fasting and prayer, and profitable conferences. 'Twas the effect of his conudtations also, that such godly ministers came to be here and there settled in several parts of the country ; and many others came to be bet- ter established in some greet points of Christianity, by being in his neigh- bourhood and acquaintance. He was indeed a general blessing to the church of God ! But that which hindred his taking his degree o( Baich- cllor in Divinity, must also, it seems, hinder his being a preacher of Di- vinity; namely, his being a non-conformist unto some things, whereof true divinity could not approve. And indeed that which made the si- lencing of Mr. Hooker more unaccountable was, that no less than seven and forty conformable ministers of the neighbouring towns, understand- ing that the Bishop of London pretended Mr. Hooker''s ministry to^ be in- jurious or offensive to them, subscribed a petition to the Bishop for his 'continuance in the ministry at Chelmsford; in which petition, though he was of a perswasion so different from them, yet they testifie in so many 'vords. That they esteem and know the said Mr. Thomas Hooker, to be for Vor.. 1, ■ .so .•^'v 30C 'J'liE lIlfciTOKY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book III. doctrine, orthodox ; Jor lift and convcmaliun , lionest ;for disposition, peacea- ble, (tnd in no wise lurbulenl or Juclivus. And yet all would not avail : Bonus vir Hookerus, sed ideo inalus, quia Puritunus. § 9. The ground-work of his knowledge, and study of the arts, was in the tables of Mr. Alexander Richardson , whom he closely followed, ad- miring him for a man of transcendent abihly, and a most exalted piety ; and would say of liiin, Th'it In; was a master of so much understanding, tlutt like, the great army q/' Gideon, he was too many to be employed in doing wluit was to be d-jne for the church of God. This most eminent Richard- son leaving the university, lived a private life J" Essex, whither inaDy stadent!> in ^'^mbridge resorted unlo him, to be illuminated in the ab- struser parts of learning ; and from him it was, that the incomparable Doctor Ames imbibed thos« principles both in philosophy, and in divinity, which after»vards not only gave clearer methods and measures to all the liberal artt, but also fed the whole church of God with the choicest marrow. Nevertheless, this excellent man, as he lived, so he died in a most retired ob&curity ; but so far as a metempsyclMsis was attainable, the soul of him, I mean the notions, the accomplishments, the dispositions of that great acul, transmigrated into our most Richardsonian Hooker. § 10. As his person was thus adorned with a well-grounded learning, so his preaching was notably set off with a liveliness extraordinary : inso- much that I cannot give n fuller, and yet briefer description of him, than that which I fmd given of Bucholtzer, that pattern of preachers, before him ; Vivida in eo omnia fuerunt, vivida vox, vividi oeuli, vividtc manus, gestus omnes vividi : he was all that he was, and he did all that he did, unto the life! He not only had that which Quintilian calls, A natural moveublencss of soul, whereby the distinct images of things would come 80 nimbly, and yet so filly into his mind, that be could utter them with fluent expressions, as the old orators would usually ascribe unto a special assistance of heaven, [Deum tunc Adfuisse, veretes Oratores aibant] and counted that men did therein theios i.eoein, or speak divinely ; but the rise of this lluency in him, was the divine relish which he had of the things to be spoken, the sacred panting of his holy soul after the glori- ous objects of the invisible world, and the true zeal o{ religion givingfre to his discourses. Whence, though the ready and noisy performances of many preachers, when they are as Plato speaks, theatrou mestoi, or full of the theatre, acting to the height in the publick for their applause, may be ascribed unto very mechanical principles ; yet the vigour in tlic ministry of our Hooker, being raised by a coal from the altar of a most real devotion, touching his heart; it would be a wrong unto the good Spirit of our God, if he should not he acknowledged the author of it. That Spirit accordingly gave a wonderful and unusual success, unto tho ministry wherein he breathed so remarkably. Of that success there were many instances ; but one particularly 1 lind mentioned in ClaiVs exam- ples, to this purpose. A profane person designing therein only an un- godly diversion and merriment, said unto bis companions, Come, let us go hear what that bawling Hooker will say to us ; and thereupon with an in- tention to make si)ort, unto Chelmsford lecture they came. The man hud not been long in the church, before the quick and powerful word ol God, in the mouth of his faithful Hooker, pierced the soul of him ; he came out with an Hwakened and a distressed soul, and by the further blessing of God upon 3Ir. Hooker'' s ministry, he arrived unto a (rue con- version ; for which cause he would not afterwards leave that blessed ministry, but went a thousand leagues to attend it, and enjoy it. Another [111. Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 30- '.acca- tvail : ivus in d, ad- piety ; tiding , I doing 'chard- ■ many the ab- )arable ivinilyf all the ;hoice8t led in a ble,tbe itioDS of r. earning, y : inso- im, than s, before £ mantis, t he did, I nature/ jld come lem with a special bafit] and ; but the id of the ;he glori- ;iving/re lances of ,sTOi, or applause, ]«r in the |of a most the good Ibor of it. unto the liere wert' ;'s exiim- ily an un- I, let us go ith an in- JThe man li word of him ; he le further true con- it blessed Another memorable thing of thifl kind, wn^ this ; it was Mr. Hooker^s manner once ay^ar to visit his native county : and in one of those visits, he had un invitation to preach in the great church of Leicester. One of thft chief burgesses in the town much opposed his preaching there ; and when he could not prevail to hinder it, he set certain _^(//«rs at work oodxvin, not long after. That great man lay wind-bound in hourly suspicions that the perse.vnnts would stop his voyage, and seize his person before tlio wind would liivonr his getting ■mny for Holland, It; this distrcs.-i, humbly ])raying to the Lord .Tesus (^'hrist, for a more propitious wind, he v'-t said. Lord, if thou hast at this !ime,nny poor servant of tliine, that rcdnln this 'i.ind, more than I do avoth- "r, I do not ask for the chousrin;.^ of it ; I ^-nlnnit nnfo it. And imnicdintcly the wind came about, unto the, ri^ht point ; and carried liirw oicar from hi? pursuers. § 12. Arriving in Holland, ho was invitnl unlo a r the si UooK III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 309 ' me, as one wave follows another, have driven me to an amazement : ' his paths being too secret and past finding out by such an ignorant, ■ worthless worm as my self. 1 have looked over my heart and life, ac- ' cording to my measure ; aimed and guessed as well as I could : and ' entreated his Majesty to make known bis mind, wherein I missed ; and ■ yet methinks 1 cannot spell out readily the purpose of his proceediogs ; ' which I confess have been wonderful in miseries, and more than won- - derful in mercies to me and mine.' Wherefore, about this time, under- standing that many of his friends in Essex, were upon the wing, for a wil- derness in America ; where they hoped for an opportunity to enjoy and practise the pure worship of the Lord Jesus Christ, in churches gathered according to his direction, he readily answered their invitation to accom- }>any them in this undertaking. Dr. .^es had a design to follow Mr. Hooker ; but he died soon after Mr. Hooker's removal from Rotterdam. (lowever his widow and children afterwards came to New-England ; where having her house burnt, and being reduced unto much poverty and affliction, the charitable heart of Mr. Hooker (and others that joined with him) upon advice thereof, comfortably provided for themo § 14. Returning into England in order to a further voyage, he was ijuickly scented by the pursevants ; who at length got so far up with him, u3 to knock at the door of that very chamber, where he was now dis- coursing with Mr. Stone ; who was now become his designed companion and assistent for the New-English enterprize. Mr. Stone was at that in- stant smoking of tobacco ; for which Mr. Hooker had been reproving him, i\s being then used by few persons of sobriety ; being also of a sudden and pleasant wit, he stept unto the door, with his pipe in his mouth, and juch an air of speech and look, as gave him some credit with the officer. The officer demanded, Whether Mr. Hooker were not there ? Mr. Stone replied with a braving sort of confidence. What Hooker ? Dn you mean Hooker that lived once at Chelmsford! The officer answered. Yes, hef Mr. Stone immediately, with a diversion like that which once helped ■ Ithanasius, made this true answer, If it be he you look for, I saw him about iin hour ago, at such an house in the town ; you had best hasten thither after kini. The officer took this for a sufficient account, and went his way ; Imt Mr. Hooker, upon this intimation, concealed himself more carefully and securely, till he went on board,' at the Downs, in the year 163.3, the ^hip which brought him, and Mr. Cotton, and Mr. Stone to New-England : where none but Mr. Stone was owned for a preacher, at their first comine; iboard ; the other two delaying to tak? their turns in the publick wor- ship of the ship, till they were got so far into the main ocean, that they might with safety, discover who they were. § 15. Amongst Mr. Fenner's works, I find some imperfect and shatter- 0(1, and I believe, injurious notes of a farczvcl sermon upon Jer. xiv. 9, We are called by thy name, leave vs not: which far ewcl sermon was indeed Mr. Hooker^s, at his leaving of England. There are in those fragmejiis of a sermon, some very patheticnl and most prophetical passages, where iome are thc^e. - ;■ . ■ il -.~^rrfiiS«Af'K!i» ■ It is not gold and prosperity which 7nakes God to be our God ; there i.> 'iwre gold in the West-Indies, than there is in all Christendom ; but it ir 'iod^s ordinances in the vertnc of them, that show the presence of God. Again, knot England ripe '.' h shn not -a-enryof God? .Yay. sh«i!:fe«' '^ntfor the slaughter. , 310 THE IJISTORY OF NEVV-ENGLAND. [Book HI. iiuOK Once more, Enghmd hnth nccn Iter best flays, and now evil dayit arc be- falling us. And, thou, England, xehkli hnsl heenlified up to heaven with means, shall be abased and brought dorvn to hell; for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Indin or Turkey, they wotUd have re- pented e^er this. . - ' * ' '■'', .■ These passages I quote, i^land after them, that the plantation of A'ch- Town became too straight for them ; and it was Mr. Hooker's advice, that they should not incur the danger of a Sifna, or an Esek, where tliey might have a Rchobolh. Accordingly in th«> month of June, 16.36, they removed an hundred miles to the westward, with a purpose to settle upon the delightful banks of Cnnnecticvt River : and there were about an hun- dred persons ia tlie first company flint made this rrmovnl : who not brinsr iioOK HI. THE HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 311 iiblu to walk above ten miles i\ dtiy, took up near a fortnight in the jonr- iicy ; having no pillows to take their nightly rest upon, but such as their father Jacob found in the way to Padan-Aram. Here Mr. Hooker was the chief instrument of beginning another colony, as Mr. CoUon, whom he left behind him, was, of preserving and perfecting that colony where ho left hiia ; for, indeed each of them were the oracle of their several colonies. § 17. Though Mr. Hooker had thus removed from the Massachuset-bay, yet he sometimes came down to visit the churches in that bay : but when ever he came, he was received with an affection, like that which Paul found amr-^g the Galatians ; yea, 'tis thought, that once there seem- c.A some intimation froni heaven, as if the good people had overdone in that atl'ection : for on May 26, 1639, Mr. Hooker being here to preach that Lord's day in the afternoon, his great fame had gathered a vast mul- titude of hearers from several other congregations, and among the rest, tho governour himself, to be made partaker of his ministry. But when he came to preach, he found himself so unaccountably at a loss, thatafler ijome shattered and broken attempts to proceed, he made a full stop ; saying to the assembly, That every thing rehich he zaould have spoken, was lakcn both out of his mouth, and out of his mind also ; wherefore he de- sired them to sing a psalm, while he withdrew about half an hour from them : returning then to the congregation, he preached a most admirable sermon, wherein he held them for two hours together in an extraordina- ry strain both of pertinency and vivacity. After sermon, when some of his friends were speaking of the Lord's thus withdrawing his assistance from him, he humbly replied, We daily confess, that we have nothing, and can do nothing, without Christ ; and what if Christ will make this manifest in us, and on us, before our congregations? Wkat remains, but that we be humbly contented ? and what manner of dis- couragement is there in all of this ? Thus content was he to be nullified, that the Lord might be magnified ! § 18. Mr. Hooker that had been born to serve many, and was of such apublick spirit, that I lind him occasionally celebrated in the life of Mr. .1»g^er, lately published for one, who would be continually inquisitive how it fared with the church of God, both at home and abroad, on purpose. that he might order his prayers and cares accordingly : [which, by the way, makes me think on Mr. Firmhi's words : / look on it (saith he) as an act of a grown christian, whose interest in Christ is well cleared, and his heart walking close with God, to be really taken up with the publick interest of Christ.'} He never took his opportunity to serve himself, but lived a sort of exile all his days, except the last fourteen years of his life, among his own spiritual children at Hartford; however, here also he was an exile. Accordingly, whereever he came, he lived like a stranger in the world ! When at the Land's-cnd, he took his last sight of England, he said, Farewel England ! I expect noxv no more to see that religious zeal, and po;eer of godliness, which I have seen among professors in that land ! And he had sagacious and prophetical apprehensions of the declensions which would attend reforming churches, when they came to enjoy a place oi" Uljcrhi : he said, 2'hat adversity had slain its thousands, but prosperity would day its ten thousands ! He feared, Tlutt they ri7io had been lively Chris- tians in the fire of persecution, woidd soon become cold in the midst of uni- versal peace, except some few, whom God by sharp tryals, would keep in a faithful, watchful, humble, and praying frame. But under these pre-ap- prehen!»ioti«} it was his own endeavour to beware of abating his own tirst 312 THE HISTORY OF NEVV-KNGLAND. [Book III love ! and of so watchful, so prayerful, so fruitful a spirit was Mr Hooker, that the spirit of prophecy it self, did seem to grant him some singular afflations. Indeed, every wise man is a prophet ; but one sr* eminently acquainted with scripture and reason, and church-histoiy, an our Hooker, must needs be a seer, from whom singular prognostication*) were to be expected. Accordingly, there were many things prognosti- cated by him, wherein the future state of New-England, particularly of Connecticni, has been so much concerned, that it is pity they should be forgotten. But 1 will in this history, record only two of his predictions. One was, That God would punish the wanton spirit of the professor$ in I'/mV country, with a sad want of able men in all orders. Anotiier was. That vi certain places of great light here sinned against, there would break forth such horrible sins, as would be the amazement of the world. § 19. He was a man of prayer, which was indeed a ready way to be- come a man of God. He would say, That prayer was the principal pari of a minister''t work ; Hwas by this, that he was to carry on the rest. Ac- cordingly, he still devoted one day in a month to private prayer, with fasting, before the Lord, besides ... publick fasts, which often occurred unto him. He would say, That such extraordinary favours, as the life oj religion, and the potoer of godliness, nuist be preserved by the frequent use of such extraordinary means, as prayer with fasting ; and that if profes- sors grow negligent of these means, iniquity will abound, and the love of many wax cold. Nevertheless, in the duty of prayer, he affected strength rather than length ; and though he had not so much variety in his pub- lick praying, as in his publick preaching, yet he always had a seasonable respect unto present occasions. And it was observed, that his prayer was usually like Jacob's ladder, wherein the nearer he came to an end. the nearer he drew towards heaven ; and he grew into such rapturous pleadings with God, and praisings of God, as made some to say. That lib the master of the feast, lie reserved the best wine until the last. Nor was thr wonderful success of his prayer, upon special concerns, unobserved by the whole colony ; who reckoned him the Moses, which turned away the wrath of God from them, and obtained a blast from heaven upon thcii Indian Amalekites, by his uplifled hands, in those remarkable deliverance* which they sometintes experienced. It was very particularly observed.. when there was a battel to be fought between the Narraganset, and tht .Monliegin Indians, in the year 1643. The Narraganset Indians had corn- plotted the mine of the English, but the Monhegin were confed«!'rate with us ; and a war now being between those two nations, much notice was taken of the prevailing importunity, wherewith Mr. Hooker urged for the accomplishment of that great promise unto the people of God, 1 tvill blf.ss them that bless thee, but I will curse him that curses thee. And the effect of it was, that the Narragansets received a wonderful overthrow from the Monhcgins, though the former did three or four to one foi number, exceed the latter. Such an Israel at prayer, was our Hooker And this praying pastor was blessed ; as, indeed, such ministers use to be, with a praying people : there fell upon his pious people, a double por lion of the Spirit, which they behejd in him. § 20. Tliat reverend and excellent man, Mr. Whitfield, having spent many years in studying of books, did at length take two or three years to Ktudy men ; and in pursuance of this design, having acquainted himself with the most considerable divines in England, at last he fell into the ac- quaintance of Mr. Hioker ; concerning whom, he afterwards gave this testimony: ' That he had not thougiit there had been such a man on OK in Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 313 ;as Ml m some one 80 toiy, as lic«tion»> •ognosti- ularly ot lould be dictions. ir» tn tlm , That in eak forth ay to bfi- npul pari rest. Ac- lyer, with I occurred the life oj i-equmt use »/ profes- the lovtoj jd strength in his p«h- seasonablc his prayer to an end. rapturous r, Tkatlih [or was thp jserved by ;d away thf J upon their leliveranceK L observed. \iet, and the fis bad com- ;onfed^atc inch notice wlctr urged of God, J |e. And the overthrow to one foi [ur Hoohr Isters use to {double por Uing spent fee years to l»ted himselt (into the ac- Ig gave this a man on ' earth ; a ntan in whom there shone so many excellencies, at were in < this incomparable Hooker ; aman in whom lemning arvl wisdom were ' io tempered with zeal, holinese, and watch/vlness/ And the same ob< •ierver having exactly noted Mr. Hooker, made this remark, and gave this report more particularly of him, That he had the best command of hia own spirit, which he ever saw in any man whatever. For though he were a man of a cholerick disposition, and had a mighty vigour and fervour of spirit, which as occasion served, was wondrous useful unto him, yet he had ordinarily as much government of hischoler, as a man has of a mas- tiff dog in a chain ; he could let out his dog, and pull in his dog, as he pUased. And another that observed the heroical spirit and courage, with which this great man fulfilled his ministry, gave this account of him, Ht was a person who while doing his master'' s work, would put a king in hit pocket. Of this there was an instance, when the Judges were in their circuit, present at Chelmsford, on a fast kept throughout the nation, Mr. Hooker then, in the presence of the Judges, and before a vast congregation, de- Glared freely the sins of England, and the plagues that would come for such sins ; and in his prayer he besought the God of heaven, to set on the heart of the King, what his own mouth had spoken, in the second chapter of Malachy, and the eleventh and twelfth verses, [in his prayer he so distinctly quoted it !] An abomination is committed, Judah hath mar- tied the daughter of a strange God, the Lord will cut off the man tlutt doetk this. Though the Judges turned unto the place thus quoted, yet Mr. Hooker came into no trouble ; but it was long ) efore the kingdom did. § 21. He was indeed of a very condescending spirit, not only towards his brethren in the ministry, but also towards the meanest of uny chris- tians whatsoever. He was very willing to sacrifice his own apprehen- sions into the convincing reason of another man ; and very ready to ac- knowledge any mistake, or failing, in himself. I'll give one example : there happened a damage to be done unto a neighbour, immediately whereupon, Mr. Hooker meeting with an unlucky boy, that oflen had his name up, for the doing of such mischiefs, he fell to chiding of that boy, as the doer of this. The boy denied it, and Mr. Hooker still went on in an angry manner, charging of him ; whereupon said the boy. Sir, I see you are in a passion, Pll say no more to you : and so ran away. Mr. Hooker, upon further enquiry, not finding that the boy could be proved guilty, sent for him ; and having first by a calm question, given the boy opportunity to renew his denial of the fact, he said unto him : Since I cannot prove the contrary, I am bound to believe ; and I do believe lohat you say: and then added, indeed J was in a passion, when I spake to you he- fore ; it was my sin, and it is my shams, and lam truly sorry for it : and I hope in God I shall be more watchful hereafter. So giving the boy some good counsel, the poor lad went away extreamly affected with such a carriage in so good a man ; and it proved an occasion of good unto the soul of the lad all hig days. On this occasion it may be added, that Mr. Hooker did much abound in acts of charity. It was no rare thing for him to give sometimes five pound, sometimes ten pound at a time, towards the support of widows aud orphans, especially those of deceased ministers. Thus also, when the people at Southampton, twenty leagues from Hart- ford, wanted corn, Mr. Hooker, and some few that joined with them, 5ent them freely a whole bark's load of corn, of many hundred bushels. Vol. I. 40 314 THE HlSiOltV 01' iNEW-ENGLAND. [Book III, Book to relieve Ibem. Thus he hiul thoae thnt Chrysostom calls ivAAiyir^t itti^TtfffiTVi, unansrverable sylogisins, to dcmonstrule Christianity. § 2'i. He had n singular ability, at giving answers to cases of con- ■cickice ; whereof happy was the experience of some thousands : and for this work he usually set apart, the second day of the week ; where- in he admitted all sorts of pennons in their discourses with him, to reap the benetit of the extraordinary experience which himself had found of Satan's devices. Once particularly, Mr. Hooker was addressed by u student in divinity, who entring upon his ministry, was, as the most use- ful ministers, at their entrance thereupon, use to be horridly buffeted with temptations, which were become almost intolerable : repairing to Mr. Hooker in the distresses and anguishes of his mind, und bemoaning hiH own overwhelming fears, while the lion was thus roaring at him, Mr. Hooker answered, / can compere with any man living for fears ! My advice to you is, that yoti search out, and anulise the humbling causes of them, and refer them to their proper places ; then go and pour them out be- fore the Lord ; and they shall prove more profitable to you than any books you can read. But Mr. Hooker in his dealing with troubled consciences, observed that there were a sort of crafly and guileful souls, which be would find out with an admirable dexterity ; and of these he would say, as Paul of the Cretians, They must be reproved sharply, that they may be foundin the faith; sharp rebukes make sound christians, indeed, of some he had compassion, making a difference; and others, he saved with fear, pulling them out of the fire. § 23. Although he had a notable hand at the discussing and adjusting of c«introversal points, yet he would hardly ever handle any polemical divtmVi/ in the pulpit ; but the very spirit of his ministry, lay in the points of the most practical religion, and the grand concerns of a sinner's preparation for, implantation in, and salvation by, the glorious Lord Je- sus Christ. And in these discourses he would frequently intermix most affectionate warnings of the declensions which would quickly befal the churches o( J^ew- England. His advice to young ministers, may on this occasion be fitly mention- ed. It was, that at their entrance on their ministry, they would with careful study preach over the whole body of divinity methodically, (even in the Amesian method) which would acquaint them with all the more intelligible and agreeable texts of scripture, and prepare them for a fur- ther acquaintance with the more ditHcult, and furnish them with abili- ties to preach on whole chapters, and all occasional subjects, which by the providence of God, they might be directed unto. Many volumes of the sermons preached by him were since printed : and this account is to be given of them. While he was fellow of £manu«^College, he entertained a special in- clination to those principles of divinity, which concf rned, the applica- tion of redemption ; and that which eminently fitted him for the handling of those principles, was, that he had been from his youth trained up in the experience of those humiliations and consolations, and sacred com- munions, which belong to the new creature ; and he had most critically compared his own experience, with the accounts which the quick and powerful word of God, gives of those glorious things. Accordingly he preached first more briefly on these points, whilst he was a catechist in Emanuel'C oWege, in a more scholastic way ; which was moi^t agreeable to his present station ; and the notes of what he then delivered were so esteemed, that many copies thereof were transcribed and preserved. Book HI.] THE HISTORY OF NEW.ENGLAND. 916 Afterwards he preached more lorgely on those pointtt, in a more popu- lar way at Chelmnford, the product of which were those books ofprtpa- rationfor Christ, contrition, humiliation, vocation, union with Christ, ond communion, and the rest, whicli go under his name ; fur many wrote af- ter him in short-hand ; and some were so bold as to publish many of them, witiiout his consent or knoivludge ; whereby his notions rame to be deformedly misrepresented in multitudes of passages ; amopg which I will suppose that crude passage, which Mr. Giles Firmin, in his Htal Christian, so well confutes, That if the smtl be rightly humbled, it is content to bear the state of dumuatvm. But when he came to New-England, ma- ny of his church, which had been his old Estsex hearers, desired him once more to go over the points of God^s regenerating works up subject also. Upon this occasion, he wrote his excellent book, which is entituled, Jl Stir-vey of Church Discipline ; wherein, having in the name of the other ministers in the country, ns well as his own, professed his concurrence with holy and learned Mr. Rutherford, as to the number and nature of church-offi- cers ; the right of people to call their own officers ; the unfitness of scandalous persons to be members of a visible church ; the unwarrant- Kbleness of separation from churches for certain defective circumstances ; the lawfulness, yea, needfulness of a consociation among churches ; and calling in the help of such consociations, upon emerging difficulties ; and the power of such consociations to proceed against n particular church, pertinaciously offending with a sentence of non-communion : he then proceeds to consider, a church congregational comphathj consti- tuted with all its officers, Itavi'ig fidl power in its self to exercise all church discipline, in all the censures thereof ; and the interest, which the consent of the people is to have in the exercise of this discipline. The first fair and full copy of this book was drowned in its passage to England, with .^10 THE HISTORy OF NEW-ENGLANU. [Book III. many serious and eminent cliristians, which were then buried by ibip- wruck in the occnn : for which cun^c (here whh another copy sent after- wurds, which through the |)i'c-inuturc death of the author, was n«t bo perfect m the former ; but it was n reth^ction, which Dr. Goodniin mnde upon it, The destiny which hath attrnded tnis book, hath visited my thoughts with an apprcheimon of something like omen to the cause it self: that after the overwneliiiing if it with a flood of obloquies, and disadvantages and mis- representations, and injurious opyressiims cast out after it, it might in the titne, which God alone hath put in his own power, be again emergent. He adds, / have looked for this ; that this truth and all that should be said of it, was ordained as Christ of whom every truth is a ray, to be as rt seed corn, ivhich unless it fall to the ground and die, and this perhaps together with some of the persons that profess it, it brings yet forth much fruit. Howev- er, the ingenious Mr. Stone who was collegue to Mr. //ooA;£r, accompani- ed this book, with u little epigram, wliereof these ^vere the concluding disticks. If any to this platform can reply .. ■ ■ .-,-(, r With better reason, let this volume die ; But better arguments, if none can give, Thtn Thomas Hooker's policy shall live. § 25. In his administration of church discipline there were several things as iiriilable, as observable. As he was an hearty friend unto the consociation of churches ; and hence all the time that he lived, the pastors of the neighbouring churches held their frequent meetings for mutual consultation in things of common concernment ; so, in his ow i (>articu- lar church, he was very careful to have every thing done with a chris- tian moderation and unanimity. Wherefore he would have nothing pub- lickly propounded unto the brethren of the church, but what had been lirst privately prepared by the elders ; and if he feared the happening of any debate, his way afnrehand was, to visit some of the more noted and loading brethren, and having engaged them to second what he should move unto the church, he rarely missed of a full concurrence : touhich purpose he would say, The elders must have a church in u rhurch, if they would preserve the peace of the church: and he would say, the dcbutipg matters of difference, first b^^-ethc zcholc body of the church, will doubtless break any church tnpieces,]lfi deliver it up unto loathsome contempt. But if any difficult or divided agitation was raised in the church, about any matter offered, he would ever put n stop to that publick agitation, h\/ delaying the vote until another mooting ; before which time, he would ordinarily by private conferences, gain over such as wiire unsatisfied. As for the admission of communicants unto the Lord's table, he kept the examination of them unto the elders of the church, as properly belong- mg unto their work und charge ; and with his elders he would order them to make before the whole church a profession of a repenting faith, as the}' were able, or willing to do it. Some, that could unto edifica- tion do it, he put upon thus relating the manner of their conversion to God ; but usually they only answered unto certain probatory questions, which were tendered them : and so after their names had been for a few weeks before signified unto the congregation, to learn whether any ob- jection or exception could be made against them, of any thing scandalous m their conversations, now consenting unto the covenant, they were acfmitted into the church communion. As for ecclesiastical censures. Hooi III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 1*11^ he was very watchful to prevent all proceeduret unto them, as far as was consistent with the rules of our Lord ; for which cause (except in grosser abominations) when offences happened, he did his utmost, that the notice thereof might be extended no further, than it was when they first were laid before him ; and having reconciled the offenders with sen- •lible and convenient acknowledgments of their miscurriHgcs, he would let the notice thereof be confined unto such as were atbrehnnd there- with acquainted ; and hence there was but one person admonished in, .' and but one person excommunicated from the church of Harlford, in all the fourteen years, that Mr. Hooker Tived there. He was much troubled at the too frequent censures in some other churclics ; and he would say, ' Church censures arc things, wherewith neither we, nor . ■our father's have been acquainted in the practice of them ; and there- •fore the utmost circumspection is needful, that we do not spoil the or- '(linances of God, by our management thereof.' In this point he Was like Beza, who defended the ordinance of excommunication against Eras- tus ; aud yet, he with his collcgues, were so cautelous in the use of it, that in eleven years, there was but one excommunication passed in all Geneva. § 26. He would ssy , that he shmild esteem it a favour from God, if he might live no longer than he shoidd be able to hold up lively in the work of hii place ; and that- when the time of his departure should come, God would shorten the time : and he had his desire. Some of his most observant hearers observed an astonishmg sort of a cloud in hi.s congregation, the last Lord's day of hi:, publick ministry, when he also administred the Lord's Supper among them ; and a most unaccountable heaviness and sleepi- ness, even in the most watchful christians of the place, not unlike the drowsiness of the disciplus, when our Lord was going to die ; for which, one of the elders publickly rebuked them. When those devout people afterwards perceived that this was the last sermon and sacrament wherein they were to have the presence of the pastor with them, 'tis in- expressible how much they bewailed their unattentiveness unto his fare- ■i'd dispetisations ; and some of them could enjoy no peace in their own soul9, until they had obtained leave of the elders to confess before the whole congregation with many tears, that inadvertency. But as for Mr. Hooker himself; an epidemical sickness, which had proved mortal to many, though at tirst small or no danger appeared in it, arrested him. In the time of his sickness he did not say much to the standers by ; but being asked, that he would utter his apprehensions about some important things, especially about the state of Kew-England, he answered,/ have not that work now to do; I have already declared the counsel of the Lord: and when one that stood weeping by the bed side said unlo him, Sir, you arc going to receive the rcwai-d of all your labours, he replied, Brother, I iim going to receive mercy! At last he closed his own eyes with his own hands, and gently stroaking his own forehead, with a smile in his counte- nance, he gave a little groan, and so expired his blessed soul into the arms of his/eZ/ow servants, the holy angels^ on July 7, 1647. In which last hours, the glorious peace of soul, which he had enjoyed without any interruption for near thirty years together, so gloriously accompanied him, that a worthy spectator then writing to Mr. Cotton a relation there- |if, made this reflection, Trttly Sir, the sight of his death, will make me have more pleasant thottghts of death, than ever I yet had in my life ! ") 27. Thus lived and tliiis died one of the first three. He, of whom llio {Treat Mr, Cntfon %nyo tlii«! rharacter, that he did. Jlgmen durerc Sr do- M THt HIST6RV OF NEWENOLAND. (Booic III. minari t'n Coneionibut, gmtia Spiritu$ Sunrti ^ virtute pUni$ : and that he WM, yir Solertii 4" Accerrimi judkU ; and at length uttered bis lanienta tions in a funeral tiegy, whereof some lines were these. 'Twas of Geneva's worthies snid with wonder, (Those rvorthie* three) Farel was wont to thunder, yiret like rnin on tender grasn to show'r, But Calvin, lively oracles to pour. -\ A]\ these in Hooker*$ Spirit did remain, A son of ihundtr, nnd a show'r of rain ; A pourer forth of lively oracles, In saving soul, the summ of miracles. This was he, of whom his pnpil Mr. Jlsh, gives this toslimony ; /'or his great abilitifs and glorious services, both in this and in the oikr England, 1u deserves a place m the first rank of them, whose lives an oflat,' ncordtd. And this was he, of whom his reverend contemporary, Mr. tlzekiel Rogers, tendered this for an epitaph ; in every line whereof, methinlcs the writer deserves a reward equal to what Virgil had, when for every line, referring to Marcellus in the end of his sixth JEntid, he received a sum not much less than eighty pounds in money, or as ample a requital as cardinal Rich' lieu gave to a poet, when he bestowed upon him two thousand Sequins for a witty conceit in one verse of but seven words, upon his coat of arms. America, although she do not boast Of all the gold and silver from that coast, Lent to her sister Europe's need or pride ; (For that repaid her, with much gain beside. In one rich pearl, which heaven did thence ntford, As pious Herbert gave his honest word ;) Yet thinks, she in the catalogue may come With Europe, Africk, Asia, for one tomb. But as Ambrose could say concerning Theodosius, Nun Totus receisit; reliquit nobis Liberos, in quibus eum debemus agnnscere, ^ in quibus turn Cernimus fy Tenemus ; thus we have to this day among us, our dead Hooker yet living in his worthy son, Mr. Samuel Hooker, an able, faithful, useful minister, at Farmington, in the Colony of ConnectictU. ., ; , EPITAPHIUM. ; , :. Thomas Hooker. Heu ! Pittas; Heu .' prisca Fides. Or, for a more extended Epitaph, we may take the abridgcmciil of his Life, as offered in some lines of Mr. Elijah Corlet, that memorable old school-master in Cambridge., from whose education our colledge and country has received so many of its worthy men, that he is himself o'oWAi/ to have his name celebrated in no less a paragraph of our church history, than that wherein I may introduce him, endeavouring to celebrate the name of our great Hooker, unto this purpose. K HI. liooK III] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLANI). 310 , hat he iuenla ny ; fc England, rtcordtd. 4 Hogtn, he writer referring not much final Rich- id StqutM t of arms. iSn m«a cum veitri$, valuiment vota, Nov Aogli, Hookerus Tarda vi$erut Mira Qradu. To, Reverende Senex, Sic te diUximut omnti, Ipta Invi$a forent ut tibi Jura poli. Mortt Tua Injhndum Cogor Renmare dolorem, i^uippe TuHvideat Terra Nov-Angla tuam. DigituB ercB, Aquilu n'mt/is, Renovane Juventam, Kt Fato in Ttrrit Condidiorefrui, Tu Domua Emnnuel, &iror Augustitsima, Mater MUle Prophetarum, Tu milti Tcitis em. Te Testem apello, quandam ChelmBfordia, Cwlit Proxitna ; Tepraco Suatulit Hie Tuus, Non tulil ,ha:c Ctihlcas, Arcis Fhubique SacerdoM, JVarn pnpulo Sperni lie sua lacra videt, Vidit «J" ex Rostris Oenti priedicere vatem Bella, quod in Chrislum Tola Rebellis erat. Qtiem Patria exegitj'erui Hottis Episcopus ; Hostts Hunc tninutt in fiatuvis, vexat amara Febris, Po$t various casus, Quassata Nov-Anglia, tandem Ramifer' inde Tibi Diva Columba venit. Hie Tuos Caetus Ornat, pascilque F'ideles, Laudibus Innumerii addit ^ Hie Tuts. Dulcis Amicus erat, Pastorque Insignis, ^ Alius Dotibus, Eloquio, Moribus, Ingenio. Prob Pudor! Lreptum te vivi vidimus, 4" non Excessura AnimcB Struximus Insidias I Insidias precibus, Lacrymisque perrennibus, unde Semita Calestis sic tibi clausa foret, Sed Frustra hac meditor ! — Lustra per Hookerus ter quinque Viator, erat ; jam Calcstem patriam Possidet Hie svam. \s receifid Uibns turn our dead I, faithful, \ ■ \ jridgcmcnt .jiemorablc plledge and \rch hiitory< iebrate the ♦ '■ ■i' ' '■ ... (,. .ii, ; ^. MI^^^I»S^' '"-■t .^*«w; V SEPHER JEREIM, i. e. LIBER DEUM TIMENTIUM OR, DEAD ABEL'S YET SPEAKING, AND SPOKEN OF. IN THE HISTORY OF Mr. F'rancis Higgikson, Mr. John Avery, Mr. Jonathan Burr, Mr. George Philips, Mr. Thomas Shepabd, Mr. Peter .Pruoden, and several others of New-Haven colony. Mr. Peter Bulklv, Mr. Ralph Partridge, Mr. Henry Dunster, « Mr. Ezekiel Rogers, Mr. Nathanael Rogers, Mr. Samuel Newman, Mr. Samuel Stone, Mr. William Thompson, Mr. John Warham,^ Mr. Henry Flint, Mr. Richard Mather, Mr. Zechariah Symhes, Mr. John Allin, Mr. Charles Cuauncey, Mr. John Fisk, Mr. Thomas Parker, Mr. James Noyes, Mr. Thomas Thacher, Mr. Peter Hobart, Mr. Samuel Whiting, Mr. John Sherman,! Mr. Thomas Cobbet, Mr, John Ward. EHiiaent Ministers of the Gospel in the Churches of New-England. By Cotton Mather. THE SECOND PART. , * Solus Honor Merito qui datur, ille datur. Thus shine, ye glories of your ace, while we Wait to fill up your martyrologie. Bono estate Jlnimo, {Dilecti Fratres') appropinquat Tempus quandS erit No- minum (eque ac Corparum Resurrectio. Wilkinson. Concion. ad Academic. INTRODUCTION. WHEN the incomparable Hevelius was preparing for the world, his new, and rare, and most accurate Selenography, his design was, to advance into the heavens, the names of the most meritorious astronomers, by naming from them the several distinguishable parts of the planet, "'jhich was to be described by him ; " I sas THK HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Booa III ,M,,^:i^.i«' '1//'- -v.'.' CHAPTEU I. V ..i-yv ./(inu« JVov-AngUcanui. The Life of Mr. Francis HiaoiNsun. Semper Honor, Komenque Tuum,Laudesgue Manebunt. § 1. Without recourse to any fabulous, whether E^t/z^d'an or Grecian •haiDfl of antiquity, we have other intimations enough, that our father JVoah, after a new world began to be peopled from him, did remove with bis eldest son Japhet, from his own, and his old country of Ogyge, or Palestine, into the country which is now called Italy. And it is particu- larly remarkable, that his great grandson Dodanim, removing with a col- ony of his increasing posterity, into Epirus, he built a city, which with the whole province, was called by the name of Dodona; where he built a city, which with the whole province, was called by the name of Do- dona; where he built a temple, in which the people did assemble to worship God, and hear the precepts of the Patriarch preached upon. But it was not long before a fearful degeneracy overtaking the posterity of these planters, they soon left and lost the religion of their progeni- tors ; and in that very place where Dodanim had his church, there suc- ceeded the Dodoniean oracles. Now among the memorable names, which in other monuments of antiquity, besides those of Tuscany, exposed by Inghiramius, we And put upon our illustrious father JVuah, one is that of JanuB, which at lirst they pronounced Janes, from the Hebrew word, |1^ Jajin, for rvine, which was the true original of it ; and so his famous vineyard was therein commemorated. For which cause Cato also tells us, Janus primus invenil Far «$• Finum, <$• ob id ductus fuit Priscus Oeno- trius : and Jlntinrlius Syracusanus, mentions the Oenoirii, which AoaA car- ried with him. Of this Janus, the Thuicians employed a ship, as a me- murinl ; they had a ship on his coins, doubtless with an eye ti< the ark ot J^oah ; but there was also on the reverse^ as Ovid relates, Altera Forma liiceps ; and this double face was ascribed unto Janus, because of the view which he had of the two worlds, the old and the new. The cove- nant which God established with JVoa/t, was by after-ages referred unto, when they feigned Janus to be the president of all covenant and concord; nnd the figure which JVoah made among mankind was confessed by them, tvhen thev gave Janus the sir-name of Pater, as being so to all the heroes, who obtained a place among the gods. Moreover, the mythical writers tell us, that in the reign of this Janus, all the dwellings of men were hedged in with piety and sanctity ; in which tradition the exemplary right- Musneis of J^oah seems to have been celebrated : and hence in their old rituals, he was called Cerus, Manus, which is as much as to say, Sanctus 4" Bonus. But without pursuing these curiosities nay further, 1 will now lay before my reader the story of that worthy man ; who when 'tis con- sidered, that he crossed the sea with a renowned colony, and that having seen an old world in Europe, where a flood of iniquity and calamity Cui ricd all before it, he also saw a new world in America ; where he appear? the first in n cotalogue of heroes, and where he with his people were admitted into the coveiiant of God ; whereupon an hedge of piety sni sanctity continued about thai people as long as he lived ; may therefore be called the AToah, or Janus of New-England. This was Mr. Franeif HigginsoHf Ill Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW^F.NGLAND. Si'o § 2. If in the history of the church for more ihaa four thousand years, coutained in the scriptures, there ii* not recorded either the birlli' day of any one saint whatever, or the birth-day of him that is the Lord of all saints ; 1 hope it will be accounted no defect in our history of thi« worthy man, if neither the day, nor tlic place of his birth csn be recov- ered. We will therefore begin the history of his life, where we find that he began to live. Mr. Francis Iliggimou, after he had l)ecn educated at £mcfrtuc/-CoI- ledge, that seminary of Puritans in Cambridge, until ho was Master of Arts: and after that, the true Emanuel, bur Lord Jesus Christ, had by the work of regeneration upon his heart, instriv^ted him in the better and nobler arts, o( living unto God; he was by the special providence of heaven, made a servant of our Emanuel, in the ministry of the gospel, at one o( the five parish-churches in Leicester. The main scope of hie ministry, was now to promote, first, a thorough conversion, and then a godly conversation, among his people : and besides his being as the famous preacher in the xeitderness was, a voice, and preaching lectures of Chris- tianity by his whole christian, and most courteous and obliging behaviour, he had also a most charming voice, which rendred him unto his hearers, in all his exercises, another Ezekiel : for, Lo, he was unto them, as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well upon an in- ' A considerable number of wealthy and worthy merchants, ob- ven! taining a charter from K. Charles 1. whereby they were incorporated by the name of, The Govemour and Company of the Massachutet-Bay in JVew- Kngland ; and intending to send over ships with passengers for the 6e> thinning of a plantation there, in the beginning of the year 1629. And resolving to send none upon their account, but godly and hontst men, professing that religion, ivhich they declared was the end of this planta- tion : these were informed of the circumstances whereto Mr. Higginton was now reduced ; and accordingly they dispatched a couple of messen- gers unto him, to invite him unto a voyage into New-England, with kind promises to support him in the voyage. These two messengers were ingenious men ; and understanding ihni purtevanti were expected every hour, to fetch Mr. Higginson up to London, they designed for a while to act the parts of pursevants : coming therefore to his door, they knocked roundly and loudly, like fellows equipped with some authority ; and saidt Where is Mr, Higginson ? we must speak with Mr. Iligginsop ! insomuch that his affrighted wife ran up to him, telling him that the pursevant$ were come, and praying him to step aside out of their way, but Mr. Higginson said, JVo, / mil go flown and speak with them ; and the will of the Lord be done! When the messengers were come into the hall, they held out their papers unto him, and with a certain roughness nnd boldness of ad- dress told him, Sir, we come from London, and ortr business is to fetch you lip to London, as you may see by these papers! which they then put into his hands ; whereat the people in the room were contirmed in their opinion, that these blades were pursevants; and Mrs. Higginson herself said, / thought so: and fell a weeping. But when Mc. Higginson had lookt upon the papers, he soon perceived, that they were letters from the governour and company inviting him to New-England ; with a copy of the charter, and propositions for managing their design of establishing and propagating reformed Christianity in the new plantation : whereupon he bad them welcome ! nnd there ensued a pleasant conversation betwixt him, and his now undisguised friends. In answer to this invitation, Mr. Higginson, having first consulted heaven with humble and fervent suppli- cations, for the divine direction about so great a turn of his life, be ad- vised then with several ministers ; especially with his dear friend Mr. Hildersham, who told hira, That were he himself a younger man, and un- der his case and call, he should think he had a plain invitation of heaven vnto the voyage ; and so he came unto a resolution to comply thereivithnl. § 11. When Mr. Higginsonh resolution came to be known, it made so much noise among the Puritans, that many of them receiving satisfac- tion unto the many enquiries which they made on this occasion, resolved, that they would accompany him. And now it was not long before bis farewel sermon was to be preached !. before he knew any thing about an offer of a voyage to New-England, In his meditations aboiit the state of England, he had strange and strong apprehensions that God would short- ly punish England with the calamities of a war, and he therefore com- posed a sermon upon those words of our Saviour, LuAiexxi. 20, 21, When you see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then flee to the mountains. Now after he was determined for New-England, he did, in a vast assembly, preach accompanied. Having formerly born his testimony to, The cause of God, and his people M Book III.] TH£ HISTORY OF NEVV-£NGLAND. Wi in New-England, in h sormon so entituled, which he preached on (he greatest anniversary solemnity, which occurred in the land, nameiyi the anniversary tieclion ; wlifn he thought, that the advances of old age up- on him directed him to Hue in the hourly cipectation of death, he put)* lislied a most savoury book, on Our dying {iaviour$ Legacy of Peace to his disciples in a troublesome world ; zvith a Discourse on the Duty of Chris- tianSy to be witnesses unto Christ ; unto wkick is added, tome Help to Self' Examination. Nevertheless, this true Simeon is yet wailing for the consolation of Is' rael. This good old man is yet alive ; (in the year 1696) arrived un- to the eightieth year of his devout age, and about the dixtieth year of his publick work, and he, that /rem a chUd knew the hdy scriptures, does at tliose years wherein men use to be twice children, continue preaching them with such a manly, pertinent, judicious vigour, and with so little decay of his intellectual abilities, ns is indeed a matter of just admiration. But there was a famous divine in Germany, who on his death bed whea gome of his friends took occasion to commend his past painful, faithful, and fruitful ministry, cried out unto them [.flufi:rte Iguem adhuc enitn. puleus habeo !] Ok ! bring not the sparks of your praises near me, as long as I have any chaff left in me! And 1 am sensible that 1 shall receive the like check from this my reverend father, if I presume to do him the^u*- fice, which a few months hence will be done him, in all the churches ; nor would I deserve at his Kands, the blow which Consiantine gave to him, who Imperatorem ausus est, in Os Beatum dicere. § 16. At the same time, that Mr. Francis Higginson was persecuted for his non'Conformity in Leicesiersiiire, there was one Mr. Samuel Skel» ton, who underwent the like persecution in Lincolnshire ; and by means hereof they became /e//orv-(rave//er9 in their voyage to NeW'England, mi fellow labourers in their service here. All the remembrance that I can recover of this worthy man is, that he survived his coUeagiie, a good ' and faithful servant of our Lord, well doing, until Aug. 2, 1634, and re- tired from an evil world, then to partake With him in the joy of their Lord. < *, EPITAPHIUM. '• '" Jacet sub hoc Tumulo, Mortuus, ' .■• Faanciscus Higqinsonus : .facer et 4* ipsa Virtus, si mori posset. Abi Viator. Et sis hvjus Ordinis Franciscanu^. •■.} CHAPTER II. The Death of Mr. John Averv. Thb divine oracles have told us, Tliat the judgments of God are a ^reat deep : and indeed it is in the deep, that we have seen some oflbose ,/u%men<» executed. 3Sf THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book lU. It has been remarked, (hnt there miscarried but one vttiel of nil those great fleets which brought passengers unto JV>w-/'Jng/an(/ upon the pious and holy designs of the tirst settlement ; which vessel also was but a piniace ; nevertheless richly laden, as having in it Mr. Avery. Mr. Avery, a worthy minister, coming into Aew-ICngtaudf was invited unto Marble-head ; but there being no church there, and the finhermen being there generHlly too remiss to form a church, he went rather to A«w< berrtj, intending there to settle. Nevertheless, both the magistrates and the ministers of the country urging the common good, that would arise from his being at Jtlar6/e-Aar- oxi'sm. It wag judged by some of the brethren in the church, that Mr. Burr had exprefsed himself erroneously in certain points, then much agitated throughout the country ; and Mr. Mather, upon their desire, examining the propositions which this good man had written, thought he copld not altogether clear them from exceptions. Hereupon grew such aliena- tions, that they could not be well re-united, without calling in the help of neighbouring churches in a council ; which council directing both Mr. Mather and Mr. Burr, to acknowledge what misunderstandings were then discovered in this business, those two good men set apart a dny for the reconciliation ; and with such exemplary expressions of humility and af- fection, rectified all that had been out of joint, that God was exceedingly glorified, and the peace of the church efiectually restored and maintained. § 12. This true Barnabas was not only to give the churches of JVew> England a consolatory visit, in his passage unto glory, that he might leave them an examp!e of that love, patience, holiness, and fruitfulness, which would make (hem an happy people. Though he had not persecution to try him in this wilderness, yet he was not without his trials : for, as 'tis well observed in the -'•^-'ourse, De Duplici Martyrio, which goes under the name of Cyprian • S. -^'c^ff Tyrannus, si Tortor, si Spoliator, non deerit concupiscentia. Martyr," I'eriam, quotidianam nobis exhibens. The next year after he came, o '.w- England, he was taken sick of the small- pox ; out of which he nevertheless recovered, and came forth as gold that had been tryed in the fire. He then renewed and applied the coroenant of grace, by the suitable recognitions of the following instrttment. ' I Jonathan Burr, being brought in the arms of Almighty God over ' the vast ocean, with my family and friends, and graciously provided for ' in a wilderness ; and being sensible of my own unprofitableness and ' self-seeking ; yet of infinite mercy, being called unto the tremendous ' work o( feeding souls, and being of lipite with my family delivered out ' of n great affliction of the small-pox ; and having found the fruit of that ' affliction ; God tempering, ordering, mitigating the evil thereof, so as I ' have been graciously and speedily delivered ; I do promise and vnw to * Hint, that hath done all things for me ; First, That I will aim only at his ' glory, and the good of souls, and* not my self and vain glory : and that, ' Secondly, I will walk humbly, with lower thoughts of my self, considering ' what a poor creature I am ; a puff of breath, sustained only by the ^ power of His grace; and therefore, ThircUy, I will be more watchful ■ over my heart, to keep it in a due frame of holiness and obedience, with- ' out running out so far to the creature ; for 1 have seen, that he is mine ' only help in time of need ; Fourthly, that I will put more weight upon ' that firm promise, and sure truth, that God is a God hearing prayer ; ' Fifthly, th.;t I will set up God, more in my family, more in my self, wife, ' children and servants ; conversing with them in a more serious and con- ' stant manner ; for this, God aimed at, in sending his hand into my family ' at this time. v Memento Moti. ' /« Meipso Nihil ; in C'hristo Omne.^ Nor was his heavenly conversation afterwards disagreeable to these grate- ful resolutions of his devout soul. By the same token, that the famous Mr. Thomas Hooker, being one of his auditors, when he preached in a Vol. I. .43 , 338 THE HlSTOIiy OF NEW-ENGLAND. [iiooK III. great audience at CAaWe^tovun, had this expression about him. Surely, this man wont be lot^ out of heaven, for he preaches as if he were there al- ready. And the most experienced christians in the country, found Mill in his ministry, as well as in his whole behaviour, the breathing of such a spirit, as was very greatly to their satisf iction. They could not but call him, as Dionysius was once called, Ilirttw reif 'a&^mh, the bird of heaven. Had it not been old Adatn's world, so innocent, so excellent, so heavenly a person, could not have met with such exercises as he and others like him, then sometimes did, even from their truest brethren. § 13. Having just been preaching about the redemption of time, he fell into a sickness often days continuance ; during which time, he express- ed a wonderful patience, and submission, upon all occasions. His wife perceiving his willingness to die, asked him, whether he were desirous to leave her and his children ? Whereto his answer was. Do not mistake me, I am not desirous of that ; but I bless God, that now my icill is the Lord's will : if he will have me to live yet with my dear wife and children, lam wil- ling. I will say to you my dear wife and children, as the apostle says. It is better for you, that I abide with you ; but it is better for me to be dissolved and to be with Christ. And perceiving his wife's disconsolation, he ask- ed her, if she could not be willing to part with him; whereupon, when she intimated how hard it was, he exhorted her to acquiesce in that God, who would be better than ten husbands : addinsf, our parting is but for a time, I am sutc we shall one day meet again. Bei>'>g discouraged by find- ing himself unable to put on his clothes, one of his friends told him, his work was now to lie still : at which he complained, / lie slugging a bed, when others are at work ! But being minded of G ence of the accomplishment, which God had given unto that fiiith <^her dying husband : who at bis death commended his family to God, in strains not unlike thoAe of the dying rf'tt/erus; CHRISTE, tibi soli mea pignora Viva relinquoy QfiorwH post Mortem Tu Pater esto steam. , ,■ Qi« euuctis Vita: miserum inejngiter Annis Pavisti, TMrgam dans Mihi semper opem ; .1^. Tu quoq; Pasce ineos defende, tuere, doceq; Et tandem ad Culi gaudla transfer. .Amen. EPITAPHIUM. 'l Mortwus hie Jacet, qui in Omnium Cordibus Vivit. Omnes Virtutes, qua Vivunt post Funera, In Unius Burri Funere invenerunt Sspulchirum. To make up his epitaph, 1 will borrow a line or two from the tomib- stone of Volkmarus. Hie Jacet Exutis nimium cito Bunnius Annis, ,^ Adjuga Suggesius, Magne Matherk, Tui Si magis Annosam licuisset condere Vitam, Ac Scriptis Animum notificare Lihris, Tot Verbis non esset opus hoc Sealpere Saxuvt, Sufficerent Qitatuor, Burrius hie situs est. CHAPTER IV. The Life of Mr. George Philips. Vita Ministri est Censura 4* Cynosura. § 1. Not only the common sign-posts of every town, but also some ikiaous orders of knighthood in the most famous nations of Europe, have entertained us with traditions of a certain champion, by the name of St. George dignified and distinguished. Now whilst many do with Calvin, reckon this notable St. George, with his brother St. Kit, among the Larva and fables of the romantic monks ; others from the honourable mention of him in so many liturgies, do think there might be such a man ; but then, he must be no other, neither better nor worse, in the most probable opinion of Rainolds, than George the Arrian bishop of Alexan- dria, the antagonist and adversary ofAthanasius; of this memorable trooper, the Arrians feigned miracles, and with certain disguises, injipo- sed the fame of him upon the orthodox. But the churches o{ J^ew-Eng- land being wholly unconcerned with any such a St. George, and wishing that they had been less concerned with many quakers, whose chief apos- tles have been so many of them called Georges, but in effect so many ^ons, there was one George \yho was indeed among the first saints ^^ THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. IBook Hi. of New-England ! and that excellent tnan of our land was Mr. George Philips. § 2. He was born at Raytnundt il the county of Norfolk ; descended of honest parenta, who were encouraged by his great proficiency at the graoauiar- school, to send him unto the university ; where his good tn* tendon, strong memory, and »o\\A judgment, with the blessing of God up- on ail, attained a degree of learning that may be called eminent. The diligent reading of the fathers, while he was yet himself among young men, was one of the things that gave a special ornament unto that skill in theology, whereto he attained ; but that which yet further fitted him to become a ditine, was his being made partaker of the divine nature, by the sanctification of all his abilities for the service of God, in a true re- generation. § 3. Devoting himself to the work of the miitistry, his employment be- fel him at Boxford in Essex ; whereof he found much acceptance with good men ; as being a man mighty in the scriptures. But his acquaint- ance with the writings and persons of some old non-conformists had in- stilled into him such principles about church-government, as were like to make him unacceptable unto some, who then drove the world before them. Some of these principles he had intimated in his publick preach- ing ; whereupon some of his unsatisfied hearers repaired unto old Mr. Rogers of Dedham, with some intimations of their dissatisfaction. But Mr. Rogers, although he had not much studied the controversy, yet had 80 high a respect for Mr. Philips, that he said, he believed Mr. Philips would preach nothing -without some good evidence for it from the word of God, and therefore they should be willing to regard whatever Mr. Philips flight, from that word, make evident unto them. And as for Mr. Philips, the more he was put upon the study and searching of the truth, in the matter controverted, the more he was confirmed in his own opinion of it. § 4. When the spirit of persecution did at length with the extreamest violence, urge a conformity to ways and parts of divine worship, consci- entiously scrupled by such persons as our Mr. Philips. He, with many more of his neighbours, entertained thoughts of transporting themselves and their families into the desarts of America, to prosecute and propa- gate the glorious designs of the gospel, and spread the light of it in those goings down of the sun^ and being resolved accordingly to accompany the excellent Mr. Winthrop in that undertaking, he with many other devout christians, embarqned for JVetv-Eng'/ane^, where they arrived in the year 1630, through the good hand of God upon them. Here, quickly after his landing, he lost the desire of his eyes, in the death of his desirable con- sort, who, though an only child, had cheerfully left her parents, to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, with her husband, in a terrible wilderness. At Salem she died, entering into the everlasting peace ; and was very so- lemnly interred near the Right Honourable the lady Arabella ; the sister of the Earl of Lincoln, who also took Kew-England in her way to heaven. § 5. Mr. Philips, with several gentlemen, and other christians having chosen a place upon C^arZes -River, for a town which they called Water- Town, they resolved that they would combine into a church-fellowship there, as i\\e\v first work; and build the house of God. before they could build many bowses for themselves ; thus they sought, first, the kingdom oj God ! And indeed, Mr. Philips being better acquainted with the true church-discipline, than most of the minijtters that came with him into the country, their proceedings about the gathering and ordering of theiT Book III.] THE HISTORY UF NEW-ENGLAND. J41 church, were methodical enough, though not made in all tbingi i j»3W«m tor all the rest. Upon a day aet apart for solemn fatting and prUyer, the very next month after they came ashore, they entred into this holy July 30, 1630. < We whose names are hereto subscribed, having through God's mer- < cy. escaped out of pollutiona of the world, and been taken into the so- ' ciety of his people, with all thankfuh«s8 do hx^eby both with heart and ' hand acknowledge, that his gracious 'oe d fatherly care, toward * U9 : and for further and more full aeclaratio' ;reof, to the present 'and future ages, have undertaken (for the promoting of his gf4)ry and ' the church's good, and the honour of our blessed Jeaua, in our n^ore ' full and free subjecting of our selves and ours, under his gracious gtw- ' ernment, in the practice of, and obedience unto all his holy ordinances ' and orders, which he hath pleased to prescribe and impose upon us) a ' long and hazardous voyage from east to west, from Old England in Eu- ' rope, to JVeW'Engtand in America ; that we may walk before him, and - stroe him without /ear in holiness and righteousness, all the days of our ' lives : and being safely arrived here, and thus far onwards peaceably ■ preserved by his special providence, that we may bring forth our inten- * tiuns into actions, and perfect our resolutions, in the beginnings of some ■just and meet executions; we have separated the d«y above written ■ from all other services, and dedicated it wholly to the Lord in divine ' employments, for a day of afflicting our souls, and humbling our selves 'before the Lord, to seek him, and at his hands, a way to walk in, by ^fasting and 'prayer, that we might know what was good in his sight : and ■ the Lord was intrented of us. ' For in the end of that day, after the finishing of our publick duties, ' we do all, before we depart, solemnly and with all our hearts, personal- * ly, man by man for our selves and ours (charging them before Christ ' and his elect angels, even them that are not here with us this day, or ' are yet unborn, that they keep the promise unblameably and faithfully ' unto the coming of our Lord Jesus) promise, and enter into a sure cove- ' nant with the Lord our God, and before him with one another, by oath ' and serious protestation made, to renounce all idolatry and superstition, ' will-worship, all humane traditions and inventions whatsoever, in the ' worship of God ; and forsaking all evil ways, do give our selves wholly ' unto the Lord Jesus, to do him faithful service, observing and keeping ' all his statues, commands, and ordinances, in all matters concerning our ' Tfformation ; his worship, administrations, ministry, and government; * and in the carriage of our selves among our selves, and one towards ' auOther, as he hath prescribed in his holy word. Further swearing to ' cleave unto that alone, and the true sense and meaning thereof to the ' utmost of our power, as unto the most clear light and infallible title, * and all-sufficient canon, in all things that concern us in this our way. In ' witness of all, we do exanimo, and in the presence of God, hereto set ' our names or marks, in the day and year above written. About forty men, i!?hereof the frst was that excellent Knight Sir Richard Saltonstal, then subscribed this instrument, in order unto their coalescence into a church- estate ; which I have the more particularly re- cited, because it was one of the first ecclesiastical transactions of this nature managed in the colony. But in nfter time, they that joined nnto ,, TliE HiSTOKV OV N EW-KNOLAW D. LUook ill. the church, subscribed u form of the covenant, aomewhat altered, with a confe$$iun qfj'aith annexed UDto it. § 6. A church uf believers being thus gathered at Watertovm, this reverend wan continued for divers years among them, faithfully discharg- ing the duties of his ministry, to the Jlock, whereof he was made the (yveV' seer ; and as a faithful steward giving to every one their miat in due season. Herein he demonstrated himself to be a real divine : but not in any thing more, than in his most intimate acquaintance with the divine oracles of the scripture : being fully of Jeromes perswasion, JIma Scientiam Scrip- turarum, ^ Vitia Carnis non ainabis. He had so thoroughly perused and pondered them, that he was able on the sudden to turn unto any text. without the help of Concordances ; and they were so much his delight, that as it has been by some of his family affirmed, he read over the whole Bible six times every year : nevertheless he did use to say, That every time he read the Bible, he observed or collected something, which he never did before. There was a famous prince of Transylvania, who found the time to read over the Bible no less than twenty-seven times. There was a famous King of Arragon, who read over the Bible fourteen times, with Lyra's Commentaries. A religious person, who was a close prisoo- «r, in a dark dungeon, having a candle brought him, for the few minutes in the day when his poor meals were to be eaten, chose then to read a little of his Bible, nnd eat his necessary food, when the candle was gone. Yea, the Emperour Theodosius wrote out (he New Testament with his own hand ; and Bonaventure did as much by the Old ; and some have, like Zuinglius and Beza, lodged vast paragraphs of it in the memories. Among such memorable students in the scriptures, our Philips deserves to have some remembrance : who was fully of the opinion expressed by Luther, If the letters of Princes are to be read three times over, surely then God^s letters {as Gregory calls the scriptures) are to be read seven times thrice, yea, seventy times seven, and if it could be a thousand times over; and he might say with Ridley, giving an account of how much of the Bi- ble he had learnt by heart, Thougli in time a great part of the study de- parted from me, yet the sweet smell thereof I trust I shall carry with me tv heaven. Indeed being well skilled in the original tongues, he could see further into the scriptures than most other menj and thereby being made wise unto salvation, he also became a man of God, thoroughly fur- nished unto all good works. § 7. Hence also, he became an able disputant ; and ready upon all occasions, to maintain what he delivered from the word of God ; for which cause his hearers counted him, the irrefragable Doctor; though he were so humble and modest, as to be very averse unto disputation, until driven thereto by extream necessity. One of his hearers after some conference with him about infant-baptism, and several points of church-discipline, obtained a copy of the arguments in writing for his fur- ther satisfaction. This copy the man sends over to England, which an Anabaptist there published with a pretended confutatian ; whereby the truth lost notliing, for Mr. Philips hereupon published a judicious treatise, cntituled, A Vindication of Infant-Baptism, whereto there is added another, Of the Church. This book was honourably received and mentioned, by the eminent assembly of London ministers ; and a preface full of honour was thereto prefixed by the famous Mr. Thomas Shepard ; notwithstanding the difference between him and Mr. Philips, upon one or two points, whereabout those two learned neighbours managed a con- ^oversy with so much reason, and yet candor and kindness, that if all Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 343 theological controvermi, had been so handled, wc need not so much wish, Liherari ab liaplacabilibut Tiuologoruvi Odiit. ' ^ 8. Aboat fourteen years continued he in his ministry at Watertofom ; in v?hich time bis ministry was bjessed, for the conversion of many unto God, and for the edi/ication and confirmation of many that were convert- ed. He was, indeed, a good man, and full of faith, and of the Holy Ghoit : and for that cause he was not only in publick but in private also, very full of holy discourse on all occasions ; especially on the Lord's day ut noon, the time intervening between the twu exercises, he would spend in conferring with such of his good people, as rc:iorted unto his house, at such a rate, as marvellously tninis:ered grace unto the hearers ; Dot wanting any time then, as it seems, for any further preparations, than what he had still aforehand made, for the publick sermons of the af- ternoon. § 9. He laboured under many bodily infirmities : but was especially liable unto the cholick ; the extremity of one fit whereof, was the wind which carried him afore it, into^the haven of eternal rest, on July 1, in the year 1644, much desired and lamented by his church at Watertowi%.; who testified their affection to their deceased pastor, by a special care to promote and perfect the education of his eldest son, whereof all the country, but especially the town otRowly, have since reaped the benefit. EPITAPHiUM. Hie Jacet Georoius Philiffi. Fir Incomparabilis, nisi Samvf.<.em genuisset. upon aH Jod ; for ; thoMgh iputatioD, ers after points of r his fur- I, which whereby judicious ) there is >ived and a preface Shepard ; ipon one ed a con- bat if »" CHAPTER V. Pastor Evangelicus. The Life of Mr. Thomas Shepabo. -JVec Mireris, Jlnimam tarn Subito in CWlum avolasse, nam ticem Jllarum sibi supplerunt Preces ma Sf susjnria. § 1. It was the gracious and savoury speech uttered by one of the greatest personages in England, and perhaps in all Europe, unto a grave minister : / have (said he) passed through many places of honour and (rust, both in church and state, more than avy of my order in England, /or stmnty years he/ore. But were I assured that by my preaching, I had con- verted but one soul unto God, I shtmld herein take more comfort, than in all the honours and offices that have ever been bestoiced upon me. Let my rea- der now go with me, and I will show him one of the happiest men, that Pver we saw j as great a converter of souls, as has ordinarily been known in our days. § 2. Amongst those famous, whereof there were diverse, ministers of .Yew-England, which wftre born in or near the first lustre of King James' reign, one of the least inconsiderable was our Mr. Thomas Shepard; whose father Mr. William Shepard, called him Thomas, because his birth was J^ov. 6, Anno 160"., as near as could be guessed, at the very hour. ivhen the blow should have been given in the execrable gun-povi'der trea- 344 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Dock 111. «on; avillnny, concerning which he said, Thii child of his would hardly be able to believe, that ever svch a vnckedncH could be attempted by the $ons of men. His father hod sit daughters und three sons, whereof this Thom- as born in Towcester, near Northampton, was the jronngest ; and as hn lived a prudent, so he died a pious man, while his youngest son was but a youth. Our Thomas had in his childhood, laboured under the discour- agements, first of n bitter step-mother, and then of a cruel school-master, till Ood stirred up the heart of his elder brother, to become a father unto him, who, for the use of his portion, brought him up. § 3. Bending his mind now to study, he became fit for the university, at nfteen years of age; where he was placed under the tuition of Mr. Cockrel, a Northamptonshire man, fellow of Immanuel Colledge. But when he hud been upwards of two years in that col'edge, (his young man, who had been heretofore under more ineffectual operations of the divine word upon him, was now more effectually called unto a saving acquaintance with him, that is our true Immanuel. The ministry of Mr. Chaderlon and Mr. Dickinson, struck his heart with powerful con- victions of his miseries in his nnregeneracy ; and while he shook off those convictions, it pleased God that a devout scholar walking with him, fell into discourses about the miseries of an unregenenite man, whereby the arrows of God were struck deeper into him. At another time, fnll* ing into a pious company, where they conferred about, the wrath of God, and the extremity and eternity of it, this added nnto his awakenings ; and though profane company afterwards caused him to loose much of the .sense, which he had of these things, yet when Dr. Preston came thither, his' first sermon on that [Be renewed in 'he spirit of your mind] so renewed the former impressions, which had been upon him, that he soon approv- ed himself a person truly renewed in his own spirit, and converted unto God. From this time, which was in the year 1C24, he set himself espe- cially on the work of daily meditation, which he attended every evening before supper ; meditating on, the evil of sin, the terror of God^s wrath^ the day of death and judgment, the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the deceitfulness of his own heart, until he found the transforming influence of those things upon his own soul ; a course which afterwards, he would mightily commend unto others that consulted him ; and he rested not un- til coming to see, that in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, there was laid tip the full supply of all spiritual wants, he found the grace of God enabling him to accept of that precious Lord, and rejoice in that rvisdom, and righteotisness, and sanctijication, and redemption, which He is made unto us : whence afterwards, drawing up a catalogue of the divine favours un- to him, he had therein these passages among the rest, which are from thence now transcribed. The Lord is the God that sent, I think, the best ministers in the world to call me ; Dr. Preston ai d Mr. Goodwin. The words of the first, nt the first sermon he made, v:hen he came into the col- lege, as master of it ; and dtVt. ; that he preached at that time, did open my heart, and convince me of my unbelief, and my total emptiness of all, and enmity against all good. And the Lord made me honour him highly, and love him dearly, though many godly men spake against him. And he is the God that in these ordinances convinced me of my guilt and filth of sin, espe- cially self seeking, and love of honour of men in ali'l did ; and humbled me ■utuler both, so as to make me set an higher price upon C hrist, and grace, and loath my self the more, and so I was eased of a world of discourage- ment. He also showed me the rvorth of Christ, and made my soul satisfied wilh him, and cleave to him, heravsp God had made him rightr.ousTiess ; and UooK HI.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENQLAND. Mi} hence al$o revenled hit free justification^ and gave me nup'tort and rest up- on and in his promises made to them that receive him as Lord and King ; which I found my heart lung unwilling to. And this was the ground, or rather occasion of many horrid temptations of Atheism, Judaism, Familism, I'opery, Despair, as having sinned the unpardonable sin ; yet the Ijord. at last, made me yield up my self to his condemning will, as good; which govt me great peace and quietiuss of heart, through the blood and pity of Christ. I have met withalikindsoftemptalionstbut after my conversion. I was never tempted io Arminianism, my own experience so sensibly confuting the ireedom of will. § 4. One Dr. Wilson, having n purpose, with a most noble and pioua charity, to maintain a lecture, the ministers of Esse-^, in one of iheir monthly /as a tnivcller could have wished for ; am) nfter hS'(M- urdatj-night, before he ci«/ here, would not allow him any liberty ior his ministry, without a aubicription, which his better infonned conscience could not make ; and this occa- sioned his removal upon a call, unto a town of Northtimherhnd, called Heddon ; where his labours were prospered nnto the souls of many peo- ple. One of the houses which he then hired, was haunted with n devil. M was commonly conceived ,he Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, in reconciling of a sinner unto God. And, as in the preface to that book, he gives that reason for his writing it, ' I considered my weak body, and my short time of sojourn- ' ing here, and that I shall not speak long to children, friends or God's ' precious people ; / am sure not to many in England, to whom I owe al- ' most my whole self, and whom I shall see in this world no more ; I have < been therefore willing to take the season, that I might leave some part of * God's precious, iruth on record, that it might speak (Oh ! that it might be ' to the heart) among whom I cannot, and when I shall not be :' so the next book of his occurring to our notice, is a posthumous one. And that is a volume in folio, opening and applying the parable of the ten virgim: hnd handling the dangers incident unto the most Nourishing churches or christians ; which book is from the author's notes, a transcript of ser- mons preached at his lecture, from June 1626, to May 1640, Whereol the venerable names of Greenhil, Calamy, Jackson, Ash, Taylor, have sab- scribed the testimony. That though a vein of serious, solid and hearty piety run through all this author^ s works, yet he hath reserved the best wine till the last. These were the works of that man, whose death in the Lord has now carried him to a rest from his labours. § 17. As he was a very studious person, and a very lively preacher; and one who therefore took great pains in his preparations, for his pub- lick labours, which preparations he would usually tinish on Saturday, by two a clock in the afternoon ; with respect whereunto he once used these words, God will curse that /nan's labours, that lumbers up and down ill the world all the ztieek, and then upon Saturday in the afternoon goes tohis study ; when as God knows, that time were little enough to pray in and weef in, and get his heart into a fit frame for the duties of the approaching Sab- Imth. So the character of his daily conversation was a trembling walk with God. Now to take true measures of his conversation, one of the best glasses tliatcan be used, is the diary, wherein hedid himself keep the remembrances of many remarkables that passed betwixt his Godani himself; who were indeed a siijicient theatre to one another. It would give some inequality to this part of our church-history, if all the holy me- moirs left in the private writings of this walker with God, should hert be transcribed : but 1 will single out from thence a few passages, which might be more agreeably and profitably exposed unto the world. § 18. We will begin with what his eminent successor Mr. Mitchel en- tred in his own diary, as reported by Mr. Shepard unto himself; which runs in these Latin terms, Olim Cantabrigiie, Ego florrore 4" Ttnebris of # x^ Book IH.J THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 353 [reacher ; . his pub- irday, by [nee used ind dowi roes iohii and Txeef thing Sai- ling wo/fc le of the self keep God and It would holy me- 1 hefe be js, which jitchel en- which tiebris op- pletm, An ad Mensam Domini accederem, tnaxime Dubitavi ; Tandem autem accessi utcunq;. Cutnvero Panis ^ Vinwrn jam essent Communican- da, mihi Exeundem putavi ; tantO. confusione fid oppressus ! Sed Dtus me ibi retinuit, ac tandem hue me adegit, ut. Licet, ego nihil passim in accipi- endo Christo ; ad ilium tamen respicercm, ul IHe me prehenderet <$• ad me veniret. Sfatim, tarn perspicue, sensi Christum Hlucescentem Animo, quam solem Orientem sentire possum. Hoc ianlopere me evexit, 4" de vita fidei hac usq; Erudivit, ut non possuin non magnipendire. Mr. MitcheL hsiH thisof Mr. S/ic/jard, Aug. 13, 1G46. § 19. How experimentally acquainted he himself was with ihe practice and import of the doctrine wherein he chiefly insisted, in his preaching unto others, will be illustrated from this most edifying record in his diary. * April 10. I had many thoughts which cp.me in, to press me to give ' up my self to Christ Jesus, which was the dearest thing I had: and I < saw, that if when I gave my self to Christ, he would give himself to me « again, it would be a wonderful change ; to have the bottomless Foun- ' tain of all good, thus communicated unto me ! Thus, two or three days, * I was exercised about this ; and at last, (which was the day wherein I * fell sick on the sabbath) in my study I was put to a double question ; ' First, Whether Christ would take me, if I gave my self to him ? Then, ' Whether I might take him again upon it ? And so I resolved to seek ' an answer to both, from God in meditation. So on the Saturday, April '11,1 gave myself to the Lord Jesus, thus. First, I acknowledged all I ' was, or had, was his own ; as David spake of their offerings, I acknow- ' ledged him the owner of all. Secondly, I resigned not only my goods and ' estate, but my child, wife, church and self nnto the Lord ; out of love, as ' being the best and dearest things, which I have. Thirdly, I prized it ' as the greatest mercy, if the Lord will take them ; and so I desired the ' Lord to do it. Fourthly, I desired him to take all for a threefold end ; ' to do with me what he would ; to love me ; to honour himself by me, * and all mine. Fifthly, Because there is a secret reservation, that the ' Lord shall do all for the soul that giveth up it self to the Lord ; 'but 'tis that God may please mi/ will and love me, and if he doth ' not, then the heart dieth ; hence I gave np my will also, into ' the Lord's hands, to do with it what he please. Sixthly, My many ' whorish lusts I also resigned, but that he would take iAeWrall away. 'And Seventhly, that he would keep me also from all sin and evil. 'Thus, r gave my self unto the Lord ; but then I questioned. Will the '• Lord take me ? In answer whereto, First, I saw that the Lord desired and 'commanded me \ogive him ,ny ''"art. Secondly, I saw, that this was ^pleasi'ig to him, and the contrary displeasing. Thirdly, I saw, that it ' was ft for him to take me, and to do what he will with me. But then ' 1 questioned, Will the Lord receive, and do me good everlastingly ? Be- ' cause I gave up my friends and the whole church to the Lord also, as I ' did my self ; and will the Lord take all them ? For answer, here I saw ' the great privilege of it, and the wisdom of God in committing some ' men's souls to the care of one godly man of a publick spirit, because ' he, like Moses, commends them, gives them, returns them all to the ' Lord again ; and so a world of good is communicated for his sake. The 'third question was. But might I take the Lord? and my answer was, If ' the Lord did apprehend and take me to himself, then I might take him, ' for I had no other to lav hold on. Vor. I #1!^ ftj- 364 THK IIISTOKV of f^EW-ENGLAND. [Book ill ■ § 20. 01' whut thoughts and what /rames he Honietimes had in bis prep- arations, ibr ihe Lord's tabic, we wiil recite but one expressive meditu- Uon. *July 10, 1641. On the evening of this day, before the sacrament, I 'saw it ray duty to sequester my self from :dl other things, for the Lord * the next day And now I saw my blessedness did not lie in receiving * of good and comfort from God, but in holding forth the glory of God, and ' his virtves. For 'tis, 1 saw an ama/.ing glorious object, to tee God in the 'creature! God speak. God act, the Deity not being the creature, and * turned into it ; but tilling of it, shining through it ; to be covered with ' God as with a cloud, or as a glass lanthorn to have his beams penetrate * through it. JVothing is good but God, and I am no further good than as I * hold forth God. 'I'he devil overcame Eve to damn her self, by telling *■ her, that she should be like God. Oh ! that is a glorious thing ! and ' should not 1 be holy, ami be like him ? Moreover, I found my heart drawn * more sweetly to close with God, thus as my end, and to place my happi- ' ness therein. Also, I saw it was my misery, to hold forth sin and Satan ' and self in my course. And 1 saw one of these two things must be done. ' Now because my soul wanted pleasure, 1 purposed then to hold forlh ' God, and did hope it should be my pleasure so to do, as it would be my ' pain to do otherwise. § 21. How watchful he was in the discharge of his ministry, let this his meditation intimate. ' August 16. I saw, on the sabbath, four evils which attend me in my ' ministry. First, Either the devil treads me do\vn by discouragement and * shame ; from the sense of the meanness of vyhat I have provided in ' private meditations, and unto this 1 saw also an answer; to wit, that ' every thing sanctitied to do good, its glory is not to be seen in it self, ' but in the Lord's sanctifying of it : or, from an apprehension of the ' unsavouriness of penples^ spirits, or their unreadiness to hear in hot or * cold times. Secondly, or carelesness possesses me ; arising, because I * have done rvell, and been enlarged, and have been respected formerly, ' hence it is no such matter, though I be not always alike ; besides, 1 ' have a natural dulness and cloudiness of spirit, which does naturally ' prevail. Thirdly, Infirmities and weakness, as want oi light, want oUife, ' want of a spirit of power to deliver what I am affected with for Christ ; ' and hence 1 saw many souls not set forward nor God felt in my min- ' istry. Fourthly, Want of success, when I have done my best. I saw ' these, and that i was to be humbled for these. I saw also many other ' sins, and how the Lord might be angry. And this day, in musing thus, ' I saw, that when I saw God angry, I thought to pacify him by abstain- ' ing from all sin, for the time to come. But theu 1 remembred, First, ' that my righteousness could not satislie, and that this was resting on my ' own righteousness. Secondly, 1 saw I could not do it. lliirdly, I saw \ righteousness ready made, and already tinished, fit only for that pur- I pose. And I saw that God's afflicting me for sin, was not that I should ' go and satisfy by reforming, but only be humbled for, and separated ' from sin, being reconciled and made righteous by faith in Christ, which * I saw a little of that night. This day also I found my heart unto- * ward, sad and heavy, by musing on the many evils to come ; but I saw, ' if I carried four things in my mind always, I should be comforted. First, ' that in my self, I am a dying condemned wretch, but by Christ recon- ' ciled and alive. Secondly, In my self and in all creatures finding in- ' sitj/iciency, and do rest but God all-sufficient, and enough to me. Third- Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 355 ne in my ment and /idled in jwit, that it self, of the hot 01- ?cause I rmerly, eaides, 1 laturally itof/»/c, Christ ; I my min- I saw iny other ling thus, abstain- |d, First, igon my ly, I saw that pur- I should eparated it, which Irt unto- iit 1 saw, first, ,t recon- (ling »'«- Third- ' /y, Feeble and unable to do any thing my golf ; but in Christ able to < do all things. Fourthly, Although i enjoyed all these but in part, in ' this world, yet I should have them nil perfectly shortly in heaven ; < where God will show himHelf fully reconciled, sulhcient and efficient, < and abolish all sins, and live in me perfectly. § 22. How sensible he was of the least fuilings in himself, and how desirous to mend those failings, maybe gathered from the ensuing brief meditations. ' December 1. A small thing troubled me. Hence I saw that though < the Lord had made me that night attain' that part of hvmiliation, that I ' deserved nothing but misery, yet I fell short in this other part ; ' namely, to submit unto God in any crossing providence, or commnnd- ' ment ; but 1 had a spirit soon touched and provoked. 1 saw also, that ' the Lord let sin and Satan prevail there, thai I might see my sin and be more humbled by it, and so get strength against it. ' .. ....: ,- '..-)!.''■ .,.,:■• ; Again. ■''• '■ "- • ■■ ' March 19. I said, as pride was my sin, so shame should be my pan- ' ishment. And many fears I had of Eli's punishment, for not reproving ' sin, when 1 snw it, and that sharply ; and here 1 considered, that the ' Lord may, and doth sometimes make one good man a terrour and dread- ' ful example of outward miseries, that all others may fear that be - godly, lest his commands should be slighted, as he did Eli. Once more. ' October 10. When I saw the gifts and honour attending them in ' another, I began to affect such an excellency ; and I saw hereby that ' usually in my ministry, I did aifect an excellency, and hence set upon ' the work : whereas the Lord hereupon humbled me for this, by Ict- ' ting me see this was, a diabolical pride ; and so the Lord made me ' thankful for seeing it and pat me in mind to watch against it. § 23. Of how humble and of how publick a spirit be was, we will inform our selves, especilly from two meditations, which he wrote on such days of prayer, r.s he was used unto. The first was this, ' JVov. 3. On a fast day at night, in preparation for the duty, the Lord ' made me sensible of these sins in the churches. 1. Ignorance ofthem- ' selves ; because of secret evils. 2. Of God ; because most men were ' full of dark and doubtful consciences. 3. Not caring for Christ, dearly, 'only. 4. Neglect of duties ; because of our place of security. 5. Stand- 'ing against all means, because we grow not better. G. Earthlincss; ' because we long not to be with Christ. And I saw sin, as my greatest 'evil, because I saw my self was not better than God. 1 was vile, but he ' was good only, whom my sin did cross ; and I saw what cause I had' ' to loath my self, and not to seek honour unto my self. Will any desire ' his dunghill to be commended 1 will he grieve, if it be not ? if he 'judge so indeed of it. So my heart began to fall off from it ; and the ' Lord also gave me some glimpse of my self, and a good day and time it * was to me . ' On the end of the/asf , \ first went unto God, 1 rested upon him as suffi- 'cient ; secondly, waited on him as efficient ; and said, Now Lord, do for 'thy churches and help in mercy ! In the beginning of the day, I began to ' consider, zvhcthor all the country did not fare the worse for my sins ? t 3M THE HISTORY OF NEW-LNGLAND. [Kook ill. ' saw it was so, and this wao an liumbling thought to me ; and 1 thought, * it'evcry one in particulur, thought so and was humbled, it would do well. ' I consider also, that if repentance turn away judgments, then, if thequea- ' tion be, Who they are that bring judgments ? the answer would be. They ' that think their sim so small as thai God is not angry with them at all. Tlte second was this. April 4. Preparing for -a fast, ' May not I be the cause of the churcKs sorrows, which are renewed ' upon us ? for, what have the sheep done ? * 1. My heart has been long lying out from the Lord. The LordyJnt * sent a terrible storm at sea, to awaken me ; and the deliverance from it * was so sweet, that I could not but think my life after that, should be *■ only heavenly, as being pulled from an apparent death to live a new life. ' Then, immediately upon this my child was taken away from me ; my '■firsi-born, which made me remember, how bitter it was to cross the ' Lord's love. Thirdly, 1 set my face to JVew- England, where consider- ' ing the liberties of God's house, 1 resolved and thought it fit to be wholly * for the Lord, in all manner of holiness, at bed, at board, every where. ' Fouttliy, Then the Lord took my dear wife from me, and this made me ' resolve to delight no more in creatures, but in the Lord, and to seek ' him. Fifthly, The Lord then tbreatned blindness to my child ; and this * made God's will afflicting sweet to me, but much more commanding < and promising : and then I could do his will, and leave those things to ' hiujHclf. But oh ! how is my gold become dim ? and how little have I * answered the Lord \ considering my ship resolutions. I have wanted ' remembrance, heart and strength or will to do any of these things. * And therefore, 1 have not cause to blame the Lord ; for he has per- ' swaded my heart to this ; but my own concupiscence and vile nature, < which Lord ! that I might mourn for ! that thou mayst restore comforts * to mc ! Apostacy from God is grievous, though it be in a little degree ; < to serve Satan without promise ! to forsake the Lord against promih>' * < What evil have 1 found in the Lord ? This brings more disgrace upon « the Lord, than if there had never been any coming to him. < II. The people committed to me : they are not pitied so much nor * prayed lor, nor visited, as ought to hav-e been j nor have 1 shewed so * much love unto them. < III. The family, I have not edified nor instructed, nor taken all occa- ' sions of speech with them. ' IV. The gospel, I have preached, has not been seen in its glory ; not ' believed, not affecting. •V. Not seeking to Christ for supply ; so that all hath been dead * works, and fruit o( pride, walking daily without Christ, and without ap- * proving my self unto him. And hence, though I do his work, I don't * mind him in it ; His command. His presence, nor yet endeavour to * grow somewhat every day. * My not lamenting the falls of professors, and the condition of the ' country, who are not indeed the glory of God in the world, nor the holy * people. Is it not hence, that many pillars in the church have fallen, as 'if the Lord would /lot betrust such precious vessels to my care ? and < hath not the sorrow lain upon me? and hence universal mortality? •When HezekialCs heart was lifted up, then wra//t came not only on him? < J)ut on all the rest : lOK 111. Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. J57 .bought, do well, ae ques- }e, They tall. renewed Lord/rj( :e from it bould be I new life. me ; my cross the coDsider- be wholly py where. } made me id to seek ; and this mtnanding ! things to ;tle have I te wanted 'e things, has per- e nature, comfork lie degree ; promih*' ' race upon much nor ihewed so !D all occa> rlory ; not been dead lithout ap- Vk, 1 don't leavour to |0D of the or the holy > fallen, as pare? and nortality ? ■y en hiO) ' And I have now had a long lickneis^ at if the Lord would delight no ■ more in me to use me. Oh ! my God, who thall be like to thee inpatdon- ' ing and subduing mine iniquities. Behold, reader, the language of an holy soul ! But 1 will now take my leave of Mr. Shepurdh memory, with one dis- tick, in the funeral elegy, which Mr. Peter bulkly made on him : a com- prehensive. '.<-' EPITAPH. J^ominis, Officiiq; fuit Concordia Dvhis; "' > Officio Pastor Nomine Pastor er at. « - v:.^ CHAPTER VI. Prudentius. The Life of Mr. Peter Prudden, and several other Di- vines, famous in the colony of JVew- Haven. That greatest of peace-makers, the Son of God, has assured us, BlesS' ed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the children of God. I am dure then, 'tis a blessed child of God, whose name is now before us ; {Prudden shall we call him ? or, Prudevt,) who besides his other excel- lent qualities, was noted for a singular faculty to sweeten, compose and qualify exasperated spirits, and stop or heal all contentions. Whence it was that his town of Milford enjoyed peace with truth all his days, not- withstanding some dispositions to variance, which afterwards broke forth among them. God had marvelloiisly blessed his ministry in England, unto many about Herefordshire, and near Wales ; from whence when he came into Stw-England, there came therefore many considerable persons with him. At their arrival in this country, they were so mindful of their business here, that they gathered churches, before the* had erected houses, for ihe churches to meet in. There were then two famous c/iurcAcs gath- ered at JVew-Haven ; gathered in two days, one following upon the oth- er ; Mr. Davenporfs and Mr. Prudden'' s • and this with one singular- circumstance, that H mighty barn was the place, wherein the duties of that solemnity were attended. Our glorious Lord Jesus Christ himself being horn in a stable, and laid in one of those moveable and four-squar- ed little vessels wherein they brought meat unto the cattel, it was the more allowable, that a church, which is the mystical body of that Lord, should thus be born in a harn. And in this translation, I behold our Lord, 'siithhisfan in his hand, purging his floor, and gathering her reheat into thff garner. That holy man, Mr. Philip Henry, being reproached by his persecu- tors, that his meeting place had been a barn, pleasantly answered, JN'o new thing, to turn a threshing-floor into a temple. So did our christians at New-Haven. The next year Mr. Prudden, with his church, removed nnto Milford ; where he lived many years an example of piety, gravity.and bi)i!ino; zeal, "gainst the growing evils of the times. ,)60 , THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. fBooK HI. And though he had n numcrouH family, yet such tvaa his diicretion, thiit without much distraction, he provided comfortably for them, notwith- standing the difficult circumstances, wherewith an infant-plantation wax encumbred. He continued an able and faithful servant of the churches, until about the Jifty-sixth year of his own age, and ihc fifty sixth of the present ago ; when his death was felt by the colony as i\ie fall of a pillar, which mad^, >he whole fabrick to shake. Like that ofPiccart, now let our Prudden lie under this ■ EPITAPH. !,, . Dogmate non taniumfuit Jluditoribus Idem Excmplo in Vitd ; jam quoque morte prvcit. But our pen having flown as far off as the colony of JVcw-Haven, it may not return, without some remarks and memoirs, of three other worthy divines, that were sometimes famous in that colony. The reader must excuse my ignorance of the tirst circumstances, if he find them to be horn men in our history. \it Mr. BtACKMAN, > k . , .'.^.4( Mr. PlERSON, Mr. Denton. (. »., ». : It : . CHAPTER VH. ; ., >^ The Life of Mr. Adah Blackman. •,,. , • Among those believers who first enjoyed the name ofcliristians, there were several famous teachers, whereof one (^Acts xiii. 1.) had the name of A'Vger. And in the primitive churches oi New -En gland also, there was among our famous teacher-i^ a good man, who wore the same sir-name, this was our Mr. Blackman, concerning whom, none but a Romanist would have used that rule : . Hie JViger est, hunc tu Romans, caveto. For he was highly esteemed in the protestant country, where he spent the latter days of his life. He was a useful preacher of the gospel, first in Leicestershire, then in Derbyshire : but coming to .\czi<. England, from the storm that began to look black upon him, he u;)s attended with a desirable company of the faithful, who said unto him, Entrent xis not to leave you, or to return from following after yoti : for whither you go, we will go ; and your God shall be our God. JVew-F^ngland having received this holy man, who notwithstanding his name, was for his holiness, J JVazarite purer than snow, whiter than milk. Tt was first at Guilford, and afterwards at Stratford, that he cm- ployed his talents ; and if a famous modern author be known by the name of Jt/amws Adamandiis, our .Ham Blackman, was by the affections of his people so likewise called. Book HI. J THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 35» It was hi* opinion, thnt r8 for our bodies, th«« for our spirils also, Ci« bus simplex eat Optimus : and accordingly he studied plain preaching, which was entertained by hiH people with a pritfitnble hearing. And an Luther \\oa\A Hay, he ia the ablest preacher, Qui pneriltUr, Trivialiter, Populariter , simpliriHsime docet : so our Hooker, for the sake of the sa- cred and solid simplicity, in the diricourses of this worthy man, would Hiiy, If I might have my choice, I would choose to live and die undir Mr. Bluckman*M ministry. There was u great person among the .reformers in Germany, who ' ,id almost the same name with our Hlackman; that was Mrlancthon, and in- deed this good person was a Melancihon, among ihe reformers o{ Neu- Haven ; in this happier than he, thnt his lot was casi among a pious peo- ple, who did not administer so frequent occasiont as the Germans did for the complaint, Thai old Adam mas ton hard for his young name sake. For a close, I may apply to him the ingenious epitaph o( Deza upon Mclanhthon. - .1' , - - Cut Nivcus toto Regnabat pectore Candor ; ' " ' Unnmcui Crelum, cura laborqitefuit : M'um Rugitus, '''-i , -■; ••>> Qui mvhis Fidei Liimina darn dedit. nooK IJI.] THE HISTOUY OF NllW-KNOLAND. 301 .... , CIIAFTER X. The Life of Mr. Pctcr Bui.ki.v. Ipse Aipectui Doniviri deUctut, Sitn. § I. It liaH bneri a matter ofHOuic reflection, Unit among tlie pretended »ucce«8or» ofSaint Peter, there never was niiy Pope, tl)at would pretend unto the name of /*e/er ; hut ifaii) of them luul been christened by tlial name at the/on^ they aftervvarda changed it, tvhen they came unto the chair. No doubt, as Raphael. UrUne, the famouH painter, being taxed, for making tiic face in the picture ot Peter tuo red, replied, He did it on purpose, that he might rc|iresent the apONtle blushing in heaven, to see what succcsaurs he had on earth: go these infamous apostates, might bhish to hear themselves called I'cter, while they are conscious UDtu themselves, of their being strangers to all the vcrtues of that great apos- tic But the denomination of Pctcr, might hi.> with an everlasting agrec- abloneas claimed by our eminent Uulkly, who, according to the spirit and rounsel of Peter, fed the flock of Gad among uj, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint , but mill ingly ; not for filthy lucre, Lut if a willing mind. § 2. He «vas descended of an honourable family, in Bedfordshire ; where for many successive generations, the names o( Edward and Peter, were alternatively worn by the heirs of the family. His father was Edward Bulkly, D. D. a faithful minister of the gospel ; the same whom we fiiui making a supplement unto the last volume of our books of martyrs. He was born at Woodhil, (or Odel) in Bedford-shire, January 31st, 1682. His education was answerable unto his original ; it was learned, it was acnteel, and which was the top of all, it was very pious: at length it made him a Batchellor of Divinity, and Fellow of Saint John's Colleilge in Cambridge : the colledge whereinlo he had been admitted, about the 'ixteenth year of his age ; and it was while he was but a junior batchellor ilmt he was chosen a fellow. §3. When he came abroad in the world, a good benclke befel him, aildcd unto the estate of a gentleman, left iiim by bis father ; whom he succeeded in his ministry, at the place of his nativity ; whicli one would imagine temptations enough to keep him out of a wilderness. Nevertheless, the concern ivhich his renewed soid had for the pure mrship of our Lord Jesus Cijrist, and for the planting of evangelical, 'hunches to exercise that worship, caused him to leave and sell all, in hopes of gaining the pearl of great price, among those that first peo- pled Ncw-Hngland, upon those glorious ends. It was not long that he continued in conformity to the ceremonies of the Church of England ; liut tlie '^ood Bii^hop of Lincoln connived at his nmi-conformity (as he lid at iiis fcither's,) and he lived an unmolested nun-conformist, until he had been three prentice-ships of years in his ministry. Towards the hiUcr end of this time, his mini.sliy had a nutable success, in the con- version of many uuto God ; and this was one occasion of a latter end I'or this time. \\ [\g\\ S'w Kathanael Brent WA'i Arch-Bishop Laud's ixea- ';ral, as Arch-Bishop Laud was another^s, complaints were made against Air. Bulkly, for his con-conformity, and he was therefore silenced, § 4. To jYcw-England he therefore came, in the year 1635 ; and there having been for a while, it Cambridge, he carried a good num- ber of planters with him, up further into the n-nods, where they Vol. 1. 4G 'nil: iiiSTora of new-england, [Book hi. gathered the tewlj'th church, then (ortned in the colony, and called the town by the natue of Concord, Here he Lnricd a great estate, while he raised one still, for almost every person wlioin he cm|ilo)'e(l in the atlairs of hi» husbandry. He had many, and godly ^^^rvant8, whom after they had lived with him a iit number of years, he f ministry ho was another Farel, Quo JVemo tonuit fortius ; he wa? very laborious, and hecause he was through some intirmities of body, not so able to visit hir' llock, and instruct them from house to house, he added unto his oilier publick labours on the Lord's days, that of constant ( atochisins; ; wherein, after all the unmarried people had answered, all tlu! people of the whole assembly were edified, by his expositions and applications. His first sermon was on Rom. i. 16. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. At Odel he preached on part of the prophecy of Isaiah, and j)art of /ona/i, and a great part of the gospel of Matthew, and of Luke; ihc Epistleti to the Philippiuns, and of Peter and of Jude ; besides ma- ny other scriptures. At Concord he preached over the illustrious truths, about tht person, the natures, the offices of Christ. [What would he have said, if hu had lived unto this evil day, when 'tis counted good advice for a minister of the gospel, not to preach much on the person of Christ '/] the greatest part of the book of Psalms ; the conversion oiZachr- ns; /'aw/'s commission, iu ^ce not ' liiirli- minded, because of thy priviledges, but/eor because of thy danger. The more thou hast cointnitjled unto thee, the more thon must account ■ V- r a? 3G4 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENOLANU. [Book HI. * for. No people^ s account will be heavier than thine, iflhon do not walk * worthy of the means of thy salvation. The Lord looks for more from ' thcc, than from other people, more zeal for God, more love to his truth, ' mote justice and equity in thy ways : thou shouldest be a special pco- ' pie, an only people, none like thee in all the earth. Oh ! be so, in ' loving the gospel, and the ministers of it, having them in singular love 'fur their work''s sake. ' Glorifie thou the word of the Lord, which has glorified thee. Take ' heed, least for neglect of either, God remove thy candlestick out of the * midst of thee ; lest being now, as a city upon an hill, which many seek ' unto, thou be left like a beacon upon the top of a mountain, desolate and ' forsaken. If we walk unworthy of the gospel brought unto us, the * greater onr mercy hath been, in the enjoying of it, the greater will our 'judgment be for the contempt.' § 11. His first wife was the daughter of Mr. Thomas Men, oi Gold- ington : a most vertuous gentlewoman, whose nephew was the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Thomas Allen. I.{y her he had nine sons, and two dnughtiMs. After her death, he lived eight years a widdower, and then married a vertuous daughter of Sir Richard Chitrn'ood ; by whom he had three sons, and one daughter. Age at length creeping on him, he grow mucii afraid of oiit-living his work; and his fear he thus expressed, in a sliorl £!piVram, composed March 26, 1G57. «# ' • ' Pigra saiectulis jam vsnit inulilis wtas, *• JVil aliud nunc sum fjv am fere poinlus incrs. • \' , Da tamen, JUme Deus, dum vivam, vivcre landi > .lEternum sancti Nomines us(fue Tui. * Ke vivam [moriar jtotius !) nil utile Agendo : y •*' •' .' Finiat opto magis,miirs properata Dies. * T--.-"'I.*"iW'' f^'el doceam in Sancto Cirtu tua verba salutis, ' ' ■' Cwlestive canam Cantica sacra Choro. ''■'"I '■ I Seu vixutm, moriarve, tmts sim, Christc, quoduni • * ■ ' - '.*,s*« Dcbita Vita mea est, dehifa morsque tibi. ■'■■■ He was ill, as well as old, when he writ these verses ; but God granted him his desire. He recovered, and preached near two years after this, and then expired, .Warc/t 9, 1658-9, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. § 12. The Epigram newly mentioned, invites me to remember, that he had a competently good stroke at Latin poetry ; and even in his old age, affected sometimes to itnprove it. Many ot his composure are yet in our hands. One was written on his birth-day, June 31st, H!;Vl. Ultimus iste Dies Menses, mihi primus habctur ; "• -> ' Quo capi liicem cernerc primus erat. '<*■'■■' ■ - >■ Septuaginta duos Annas exinde peregi. >■" ' "■',' Atque tot Annorum est Ultimns isle Dies. Prvetcrito Veteri jam nunc novus incipit Annus ' '^^•'- O utiuam tnihi sit niensnova, vita noi^a. ^i Another of them was v,iitten on an Earthquake, Oct. 29, 16513. Ecce Dei rata p llus puvifucla ireiniscit, • ■ r Terra 'i .••• ,7.1,/ts mota est sedibus ipsa suis. ■•■»fs'' ■i-'K- Book III. J THE HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. J^utant Fulcra Orbis, mundi compago solut&est ;" Ex vultu frati conlremit ille Dei. Coniremuit tellus, imia concussa Cavernis, Pondcribus quanquam sit gravis ilia suis. Evomit ore putrea magno cwnmurmure vento^, Quos in visccribus clauserat ante suis. Ipsa (remit Tellus scchrum gravitate virnrwn , Sub sceleris nostri pondere Terra tremit. .'» nos quam duri ! Sunt ferrea pectora nobis JVon ctenim geinimus cuui gemit otnne solum. Qtti's te non 7nctuit, meluit quern Fabrica mundi Queinquc iiment cwli, terruque tota tremit Motibus a Tantis nunc tandem terra quiescat, Sed cessent potius crimina nostra precor. The rest we will bury with him, under tbia ., ,v • ^ • EPITAPH. Obiit jam qui jamdudum ohierat Bulklaeus ; Nee Patriam ille mutavit, nee pena vitam : ■ • Ed ivity quo ire consueverut, 4' ubijam erat. :,%^-^^*i» CHAPTER. XI. . The Like of Mr. Ralph Partridge. When David was driven from his friends into the wilderness, hti ma»j« this pathetical representation of his condition, ^Twas as when one dolh hunt a Partridge in the mountains. Among the many worthy persoi s who were persecuted into nn American wilderness, for their fidelity (.) the ecclesiastical kingdom of our true David, there was one that bore the natne, as well as the state, of an hunted partridge. What befel him, was, as Bcde saHh of what was done by Foslix, Juxta notninis st... 'acra- mentum. This was Mr. Ralph Partridge, who for no fault but the delicacy of his i^ood spirit, being distressed by the ecclesiastical setters, had no defence, neither of-bcak, nor claw, but -a flight over the ocean. The place where he took covert, was the colony of Plymouth, and the town of Duxbury in that colony. This Partridge had not only the innocency of the dove, conspicuous in his blameless and pious life, which made him very acceptable in his conversation ; but also the loftiness of an eagle, in the great soar of his in- tellectual abilities. There are some interpreters, who understanding 'hmch (ifficers by the living creatures, in the fourth chapter of the JJpoc- "^ypse, will have the ttaclier to be intended by the eagle there, for his quick insight into remote and hidden things. Tlie church of Duxbury !iM such an eagle in their Partridge, when they enjoyed such ateachcr. By the same token, wheruthe Platform of Church- Discipline was to be 'Composed, the Synod at Cambridge appointed three persons to draw up ''•!ich of them, a model of church- government, according to the "d'onl of God, into the end. tliat out of those, the synod might form what should be 366 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. tBooK III found most agreeable ; which three persons were Mr. Cotton, and Mr. .Mather, and Mr. Parlridgc. So that in the opinion of'that reverewl as- sembly, this person did not couie f:ir behind the first three, for some of his accomplishments. After he had been forty years a faithful and painful preacher of tlic i^ospcl, rarely, if ever, in all that while interrupted in his work, by any hodily sickness, he died in a good old age about the year 1658. There was one singular instance of a weaned spti-it, whereby he sig- nalized niuiov^If unto the churches of God. That was this: there was ;i time, when most of the ministers in the colony oi' Plymouth, left Ihe co- lony, upon the discouragement which the want of a competent mainten ance among the needy and froward inhabitants, gave unto them. Never- theless Mr. Partridge was, notwithstanding the paucity and the puvertij of his congregation, so afraid of being any thing that looked like a bird wandring from his nest, that he remained wilh his poor people, till '.<: took wing to become a bird of paradise, along with the winged seraphim. of heaven. . ,; ,<• , . . ^. El'lTAPHlUM. , ., Avolavit! ^. ' *' \ i CHAPTER XIl. >v f suites. The Life of Mr. Henky DuNSTEK. ' Notwithstanding the veneration \vhich we pay to the Jiames 'aui, :x>orks of those reverend men, whom we call the fathers, yet even the Ro- man Catholirks themselves confess, that those/a«/iers were not infallible, .indradius, among otiiers, in his defence of the council o( Trent, has this passage, There can be nothing devised more stiperstitious, than to count all (hings delivered by the fathers, divine oracles. And, indeed, it is pliiiii enough, that those excellent men, were not without errors and frailties. of which, 1 hope, it will not he the part of a cliam to take some liltli! notice. Thus Jeroin had his erroneous opinion o{ Peter'' s being unjustly reprehended ; and was fearfully asleep in the other matters, wherein he oj>posed Vigilantius. Augustin was for admitting the iV(/an(s of christians unto the Lord's supper : and al.ts ! how lawchoi Babylon is there in his host hook, De Civitate Dei. Hilary dcnici' the soul- sorrows of our Lord in his passion, if yon will believe the report of Bcllarmine. Clemens Alex- andrinus aflirmed, that our Lord neither eat nor drank from the necessi- ties of human life ; and that he and his apostles after tiieir death, preached unto the damned in hell, of whom there were many converted. Origen taught many things contrary unto the true faith, and frequently con- founded the scriptures with false expositions. TerluUian fell into Mon- tanisin, and forbad all second marriages. How little agreement was there between Epiphonins and Chrysostom, Iremms and Victor, Cornclim uni! Cyprian? And indeed, that I may draw ne;ir to my present |nirjiO!f^, the erroneous opinion of rebaptism in Crfrian, is well known lo llit' world. Wherefore it may not be wondred at, if among the Arsifalhers of JVcrt- England, there were some things, not altogether so agreeable to the Book IW.J THE HISTORY OF NEW-EiVGLAND. 307 Origen litly con- Into Mo:i- Ivas t'lievo lic/iH.5 unii I inirpoir'^, Ivu 10 tlif IS of JV'c-'- le to tbc principles, whereupon 'he country was in the main egtablished. Bui among tliose of our /aith the text's own words, you it-ill th':in fitrengthen. The Psalms thus turned into meelrc were printed at Cambridge, in the year 16 10. But afterwards, it was thought, that a Utile move of art wa? .'.(38 THE HISTORY OF NEVV-ENGLANl). [Book III. to be employed upon them : and for that csiuse, they were committed un- to Mr. Dumler, who revised and refined this translation ; and (with some assistance from one Mr. Richard Lyoi., who being sent over by sir Henry Mildrnay, as an attendant unto his son, then a student in Harvard College, now resided in Mr. Dnnster's house :) he brought it into the condition wherein our churches ever since have used it. Now, though 1 heartily join with those gentlemen, who wish that the poetry hereof were mended ; yet I must confess, that the Psalms have never yet seen a translation, that I know of, nearer to the Hebrew ori- f^inal : and 1 am willing to receive the exciise which our translators themselves do offer us, when they say ; If the verses are not always so el- i:suvt, as some desire or expect, let them consider, that God's altar needs not our polislnngs ; we have respected rather a plain translation, than to smooth our verses with the sweetness of any paraphrase. We have attend- ed conscience rather than elegance, fidelity rather than ingenuil7j ; that so •e may sing in Zion the Lord';s songs of praise, according unto his own will, mtil he bid us enter into our master's joy. to sing eternal hallelujahs. Reader, when the reformation in France began, Clement Marot, und Theodore Bcza, turned the Psalms into French mcetre ; and Lewis Guadi- wti set melodious tunes unto them. The singing hereof charmed the : r.uls of court and city, town and country. They were sung in the Lo- vre itself, as well as in the protestant churches : ladies, nobles, princes, yea. King Henry himself sang them. This one thing mightily contribii ted- unto the downfal of Popery, and the progress of the gospel. All ranks of men practised it ; a gentleman of the reformed religion, would not eat a meal without it. The popish clergy raging hereat, the cardinal of Lorram got the profane and obscene odes of the pagan poets to be turned into French, and sang at the court : and the Divine Psalms were thus banished from that wicked court. Behold, the reformation pursued in the churches o( J^ew-England, by the Psalms in a new meetre : God grant the reformation may never be lost, while the Psalms are sung in our churches. But in this matter, Mr. Dunster is to be acknowledged. And if unto the christian, while singing of Psalms on earth, Chrysostom could well say, MfT' 'Ayy(A«» hi(, 'ufur' 'AyytAwv 'vfuii7( Thou art in a consort with an- gels ! how much more may that now be said of our Dunster ^ From the epitaph of Henricus Rentzius, we will now furnish our Hennj Dvnster, with an EPITAPH. . '. Profxo, Pater, Set Ills ; Sanui, Fovi, Colniq; •• ■ Sacra, Scholam, Christum ; Face, Rigore, Fide. . *• '' Famam, Jinimam, Corpus : Dispergit, Recreat, AhJif i Virtus, Christi.is, Humus ; Lands, Sab'h. Sunt. ,;■ <■#■ ■»'f" f '!»?■'■ iokIU. that the r/is have brew ori- anslators lays so el- tar needs I, than to ve attend' ( ; that SCI i own will, hs. iarot, and xis Guadi- armed the in the Lo- s, princes, f contiibu )spel. All ;ion, would he cardinal hoets to be \alms were Book 111.) THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. CHAPTER XHI. The Life of Mr. Ekekicl Rooers. _}.%-*4 Siin Doctore Ecclesioe, ad i¥virD»piT»¥ mrlir, accesserit nmni S'twrut, and Polila EruditiOy ad Erudiditionem i'vfmfA.it ifM*i*'vTnui, ac Facundia ; nm hie Talis Omnibus AbsohUis videbitvr. F ., .., . - Melc. Adam, in Vita Hatteri. § 1. It is among the greater Prophets of Israel, that we find an Ezc' kid; who had in his very name, 7Vje For(jon them. This consideration very much perplexed him ; and his perplexity was the "^lealer, because he could not hear of any experienced minister in ttiose 'trts of the kingdom, to whom he might utter the trouble that was upon Voi . f. ~ 17 t»r.af, >i'«J.v»j ji ■> * ' 370 THE HISTOKi OF NEW-ENGLAND. liooK HI.] him. At last, hoping that either from his brother of Wcalhers/ield, or hi»i co«in, o( Dcdhain, he might receive some fatisfaction, he toolc ujour- ne)* into Essex on purpose to be by them resolved of his doubts. Hn de- «igu was to have cnme at his famous kinsman before his lecture begun ; hut missing of tlwt, he gat into the assembly before the beginning of the sermon ; where he found that by the singular Providence of God, his doubts were as punctually and exactly resolved, as if the excellent preacher had been acquainted with his doubts before-hand. § 6. Being now rtatii-fied of his own eff'eciual vocatiou , he went on in hjg ministry with a very signal blessing of Heaven upon it, unto the fjf'ectml vocation of many more : his ministry was mach fregucnted, and remarka- bly successful. In the exercise whereof, he once had opportunity to preach in the stately mmi'sier of York, on a public occasion, which he served and suited notably. Dr. Mathews was then the Arch-Bishop of York, who permitted the use of those Lectures, which Arch-Bishop Grindal had erected ; whereby the light of the gospel was marvellously diffused unto many places that sat in the region and the shadow of death. All the pious ministers in such a precinct, had a meeting once a month, in some noted place, when and where several of them did use to preach one after another ; beginning and concluding the whole exercise with prayer. Mr. Rogers bore his part in these lect%tres, as long as Dr. Mat- thews lived ; from one of which, an accuser of the brethren, went once un- to the Arch-Bishop with this accusation, that one of the ministers had made this petition in his prayer, May the .ilmighty shut Heaven against the A'ch- Bishop''s grace ; whereat the Arch-Bishop instead of being offended, as the pick-thankly reporter hoped he would have been, fell a laughing heartily and answered, Those good men know well enovgh, that if I were gone to Heaven, their exercisfs would soon be put dowtt. And it came to pass accordingly ! § 6, In delivering the word of God, he would sometimes go beyond the strength, which God had given him ; for though he had a lively spir- it, yet he had a crazy body : which put him upon s{»dy'\n^ physick, where- in he attained unto a skill considerable. But the worst was this, that riding far from home, some violent motion used by him in ordering of his horse, broke a vein within him ; whereupon he betook himself to his chamber, and there kept private, that his friends might not persecute him, with any of their unseasonable kindness. But in two month's time he obtained a cure, so that he returned unto his family and his employ- ment : God would not suffer that»/ow?/t to be stopped, which had so ma- ny testimonies to bear still for his truth and ways ! § 7. At last, the severity wherewith subscription was then urged, jnit a period unto the twenty years' public ministry of our useful /lO^ers al- though theman, who suspended him, shewed him so much respect, a? to let him enjoy the profits of his living, two years after the suspension, and let him also put in another as good as he could get. He employed one Mr. Bishop to supply his place in the ministry, from which a Bishop had confined him ; nevertheless this good man also was quickly silenced,. because he would not in publick read the censure which was passed upon Mr. Rogers. § 8. Many prudent men in those times, foreseeing the storms that were likely in a few years to break upon the English nation, did propose J^''ew- England for their hiding-place. And of these, our Mr. Rogers was one, who had been accompanied by Sir Wiliiam Constable and Sir Matthew Boiinton also in his voyage hither, if some singular providences had not Hook III.] THE HISTORY OF NEVV-ENGLAND. oil hindered them. Hither did the good bund of God bring him, with ma- ny of his Yorkihire friends, in the year 1638. Ships having been by his didcretioii and influence brought from London unto Hull, to take in the j)nssenger9. Arriving at Ncw-Kn^land, he was urged very much to set- tle with his Yorkshir 6 (oWiixi New -Haven ; but in consideration of the dcpcndance, that several persons of quality had on him to chuse a meet place for their entertainment in this wilderness, when they should come liithcr after him, he wns advised rather to another place, which he was profered very near his reverend kinsman, Mr. Nathanael Rogers o( Ipa- •jiicli. The towns af Ipszu'icli and Kewberry were willing, on easy terms, to part with much of their land, that they might admit a third plantation in the middle between them ; which was a great advantage to Mr. Eze- kiel Rogers ; whd called the town Rowly, and continued in it about the same number of years, that he had spent in that Rowly, from whence he came on the other side of the Jltlantic ocean. § 9. About five years after his coming to Aew-Engtandf he was cho- sen to preach at the Court of Election at Boston ; wherein though the occu!. child she had conceived by him. After this, tie married once more a person, in years agreeable to him ; but that very iiit;lit a tire burnt his dweUi ; house to the ground, with all the goods ihat he had under his roof. Having rebuilt his house, he re- ceived 1 fall from his horse, which gave to his right arm such a bruise, as made it i'\ or after useless iMito him ; upon which account he was now put upon learning to write uiib his left hand, Pollebat mira Dexterilate tamen, Thus having done the will of God, he was put upon further trial ofhis patience ! But there was this comfortable in lii-* trial, that the good spir it of God enabled him to bear his crosses chcarfully, and rejoice in /it's tribulations. § 12. The natural constitution of his body was but feeble and crazy: nevertheles, by a pvudent attendance to the rules of health, his life was lengthened out co\ .^idv^rably : brt at last a lingring sickness ended his days, Jau'iarij 23, UiO(<, in the seventieth year of his age. His books wherewith lu' liud recruited his library, after the fire, which consumed the good library, tidt he had brought out of £ng/a7t(2, he bestowed upon Harvard College. His lands, the greatest part of them, with his house, he gave to the town and church of Rawly. § 13. Bbcaus'i it will give some illustration unto our church history, as well as notably describe the excellent and exemplary spirit of this good man, and it hath been sometimes noted. Optima Historia, est Historia Epislolaris ; I will here insert one of his letters, written (with his left hand) unto a worthy minister 'n Charlestown, the 6th of the 12th month 1667. Dear Brother, ' Though I have now done my errand in the other paper, yet methioks. I am not satisfied to leave you so suddenly, so barely. Let us hear from you, I pray you ; how you do. Doth your ministry go on com- fortably ? find you fruit of your labours ? are new converts brought in? Do your children ain\/amibi grow more godly ? 1 find greatest trouble and grief about the rising generation. Young people are little stirred here , but they strengthen one another in evil, by example, by counsel. Much ado 1 have with my own family ; hard to get a servant that is glad of catechising, or family-duties : I had a rare blessing of servants in Yorl- shire ; and those that I brought over were a blessing ; but the young brood doth much afflict me. Even the children of the godly here, and elsewhere, make a woful proof. So that, / tremble to think, what will become of this glorious work that we have begun . hen the ancient fhall If gathered unto their fatfu rs. 1 fear grace and b '" will die with thpm. B.'OK III.) THE HISTORY OF NEW-KNGLAND. 37.} if the Lord do not also show some signs of displeasure, even in o?()' • days.-— We grow worldly every when: ; mcthinks I see little ' godlinett, but all in a hurry about the world ; every one for himself, little care o(publick or common good. ■ It hath been God's way, not to send $>weeping judgments, when the chief magiitratea are godly and grow mure so. 1 bosrcch uH tliu Bay- ' ministers f to call earnestly upon magistrates (thut arc often among them^ tell them, that their godliness will be our urotection : if they fail, I shall fear some sweeping judgment shortly. The clouds seem to !<■ gather- ing. ' I am hastning home, and grow very asthmatical, and i-hreiithed. ' Oh ! that I might see some signs of good to the general Ho ing, 'to send mc away rejoicing ! Thus 1 could weary you n. " and ■ my left hand ; but 1 break ofl'suddenly. O, good brollic. , ui ' 'od, ' I am near home ; and you too are not far. Oh ! the weight of glory, ■ that is ready waiting for us, (Sod^s poor exiles I We shall nit next to the ' martyrs and confessors. O, the embraces wherewith Christ will embiaco ' us ! Cheer up your spirits in the thoughts thereof; and let us bn zeal- •ons for our God and Christ, and make a conc/usion. Now the Lord ' bring us well through our poor pilgrimage. Your affectionate brother. EPITAPH. A resurrection to Immortality.. is here expected, for what was mortal, of the Reverend EZEKIEL ROGERS. ' ' Put off, /cMMory 23, 16G0. )- - When preachers die, what rules the pulpit guvt Of living, are still preached from the grave. The faith and life, which your dead pastor taughl Now in one grave with him, sirs, bury not. Abi, Viator. A Morluo disce Vivere ut Moritnrus / E Terris disce Cogitare de Calis, at. EZ. ROGERS. - CHAPTER XIV. :-\rr ''-1 Eulogrus. The Life of Mr. Natiunael RoGF.Ra, •">- ' '? * = In JESU mca. Vita meo, mea Clausida Vitw ' ^ '■'■■:■' • '? Est, S,' in hor, JESU Vita perennis erit. .. c-. •^. § 1. It is a reflection, carrying in it somewhat of curiosity ; that as iu .he Old Testament, God saw the ^jfirst sjwiers under a tree, so in the JWr% ^, .V ^nO^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 11.25 21 12.5 ■ 50 i 1^ ^ ^ U£ III 2.0 ^lii& 6" V y] ^^: Photographic Sdences Corporation 23 WIST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. MS80 (716)872-4503 As u.. ^ ^ 0^ S74 1 1 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book IIJ. Te$tatnent, Christ saw one oi ihe Jlrst believers under a tree, with a par- ticular obserTation. The sinner hid himself among the trees of the gar- den, assisted with Jig -leaves, but it was a false covert and shelter where- to he trusted ; the Most High oiscovered him. The believer also hid himself under afig-tre, where nevertheless, the shady leaves hindred notour Lord from seeing of him. The sinner when he was discovered, expressed his /ear, saying, I heard thy voice and J was afraid. The believ- er seen by our Lord, expressed his/ateacc. When- soever this is counted hard, that state that is embraced instead thereof, shall be harder. XI. Worldly dealings, are great lets to fruitfulness in study, and cheer- ful proceeding in our christian course. XII. One can never go about study, or preaching, if any thing lie heavy on the conscience. Hook III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENQLAND. 36'J XIII. The wont day wherein • man keepi hit watch, and holdtto the diiily rules of directionH, is freer from danger, and brings more safety thnn the beat dnv, wherein this is not known or practised. XIV. I am oft, 1 confess, ashamed of my self, when I have been in company, and seen gifts of knowltdge, in many careless unconacionable, and odd ministers ; which (with better reasons) hath stirred up a desire oflimes in me, that 1 could follow my studies. Vet I would never have been willing to have changed with them : for what is all knowUdge, without a sanctified and comfortable use of it, through love ; and without fruit of our labour, in doing good, and winning and building up of souls, or at least a great endeavour after it. XV. Many minister* set their minds much upon tki$ world, cither pro- fit, or preferment, for which they venture dangerously, and some of them are soon snatched away. Therefore God keep me ever from set- ting my foot on such a path, as hath no continuance, and is not without much danger in the end. XVI. It is good for a man to delight in that, wherein he may be bold to delight without repentance : and that is, to be always doing, or seek- ing occasion to do some good. The Lord help me herein. XVII. When God hedgeth in a man with many mercies, and gives him a comfbrtable condition, it is good to acknowledge it often, and be highly thankful for it. Else God may soon bring a man so low, as he wuuld think that state happy, that he was in before, if now he had it again. Therefore, God make me wise. XV III. Right good men have complained, that they are oR-times in very bad case, their hearts disordered and distempered very sore, for want of taking to themselves a certain direction for the gove^-jment of their lives. XIX. Idle and unprofitable talk of by'matters, is a canker that conso- meth all good, and yet our heart much lusteth after it : therefore resolve firmly against it. XX. A necessary and most comely thing it is, for a minister to carry himself so wisely and amiably unto all, as be may do good unto ftll sorts; to bring back them that be^^llen off, in meekness and kindncjs, to pass by an offence in those that have wronged him, which is an high point of honour, and not to keep from them, arid estrange himself from their ac- quaintance, and so suffer them to fall further, to be lowly towards the meaner sort of christians ; to keep the credit of his ministry with all. I am perswaded, if my light did shine more clearly, and mine exam- ple were seen more manifestly, in these and such things (which are of DO small force to perswade the people) that both my ministry would be of more power, and that I should draw them also to be better. XXI. Look> that I lie not down in, bed, but in peace with God any night, and never my heart rest, until it relent truly, for any thing that hath passed amiss in the day. XXII. It is good for a minister, not to deal much with his people about worldly matters, yet not to be strange to them : nor to be a stumb- ling-block unto the people, by wor/(f/tness, or any other fault, else he deprives himself of all liberty and advantage of dealing with them for their errors. XXIII. fiu^etings o/* Satan, though they be grievous, yet they are a very good medicine against pride and security. XXIV. ChrisVs death, and God's mercy, is not sweet, but where sin is sour. • ""■ -'— - . •--^<'--. THE HISTORY OV NEW-ENGLANt). [Boole III. XXV. It in an hard thing for a man to keep the ruUi of daily dirtttion, «( timeM of ficAiMM or pain. Let a mao labour to keep out ertV, when he wanta^fneii, nlmngth, and oreauion, to do good, and that ia a good portion for a nick body. AUo in sickness Ihnt is sore and sharp, if tl man can help himself with $hort and oft praytri to Ood, for patience, contentment, meekness, »nd obedienc«> to his holy hand, it is well, though he can't bend the mind much, or ear.iCstly upon any thing. XXVI. Innoctnre is n very good fence and fort against trnpo/unc*, in false accusations, or great afflictions. Let them that be guilty fret and vex themselves, and shew bitterness of stomach against such ai speak ill of them ; but they that look carefully to their hearts and ways, (without looking at men's eye,) let them be still, and of a meek and quiet spirit. XXVII. Besides the use of the daily direction, and following strictly the rules thereof, yet there must be now and then the use of /eating, to purge out weariness, and commonness, in the use of it. XXVIII. 'Tis a rare thing for any man, so to use prosperity, as that his heart be drawn the nearer to God. Therefore we had need in that estate, to watch diligently, and labour to walk humbly. XXIX. Oh, frowardness ! how unseemly and hurtful a thing to a man'« self and others ! Amiable cheerfulness, with watchfulness and sobriety, it the best estate, and meetest to do good, especially to others. XXX. Follow my' calling : lose no time at home or abroad ; but be doing some good : roiud my going homeward : lot my life never be pleasant unto me, when I aoi not fruitful, and fit to be employed in do- ing good, one way or other. XXXI. It is a great mercy of God to a minister, and a thing much to be desired, that he be well moved with the matter that he preaches to the people ; either in his private meditation, or in his publick delivery, or both : better hope there is then, that the people will be moved therewith : which we should ever aim at. XXXII. If the heart be heavy at any time, and wounded, for any thing, shame our selves, and be humbled for our sin, before we attempt any good exercise or duty. XXXIII. It's a very good help, and most what a present remedy, when one feels himself dull, and in an t7/ condition, straightway to con/ess it to God, accuse himself, and pray for quickning. God sends redress. XXXIV^. There is as much need to pray to be kept in old age, mi unto the end, as at any time. And yet a body would think, that he that hath escaped the danger of his younger, should have no great fear in hit latter days, but that his experience might prepare him against any thing. However, it is not so : for many that have done well, and very com' mendably for a while, have shrewdly fallen to great hurt. This may moderate our grief, when young men o( great hopes be taken away. Oh ! how much rather had I die in peace quickly, than live to disgraet the gospel, and be a stumbling-block to any, and live with reproach ! XXXV. What a sweet lite is it, when every part of the day, hath some work or other allotted unto it, and this done constantly, but with- out commonness, or customariness of spirit in the doing it. X,XXVI. When a man is in a drowsie unprofitable course, and is not humbled for it, God oil lets him fall into some sensible sin, to shame him with, to humble his heart, and drive him more thoroughly to God, to be- wail and repent of 6o//f. Book HI.] THE HISTORY OF NKW-ENGUND. 388 XXXVn. A true godly man, hath never his lift joyful unto him, any lorif^cr thnn his conversation is holy and hvuveiily. Oh I let it be so with mo ! \XXVin. It is some comfort fur a man, whose heart im out of order, if li« i>ee(/t it, and that with hearty tnitlake, and cannot be content until it bo bettered. XXXIX. I have seen of others, (wliirh I denirc to die, rather than it iliould be verilied of me !) that many ministers did never seemgrosly to depart from God, until they j;rew veutthy i\n(\ great. XL. How. much bettor in it to reniat uiii, when we be tempted thereunto, tbiui to repent of it at\cr wc have committed it ? XLI. VVhatsoevcr ii jnttijied inan doth by direction of Oorf's word, and fur which he hnth either precept or promise, he pleases God in it, and may be comfortable, in whatsoever falls out thereupon. Butwher* ignorance, rnshnes, or our own will carry us, we offend. XLIl. Let no man boast of the grace he hath had ; for we stand not now by that, but it must be daily nourished ; or else a man shall becom* n$ olhtrtnen, and fall into noisome evils : for what are we but a lump of 8io of our selves ? XLIII. If God in mercy arm us not, and keep us not in compass. Lord what stuff will break from us ! for what a deal of poison is in our hearts, if it may have issue ! and therefore what need of watchfulness continually? XLlV. The 7vorst day, (commonly) of him that knowcth, and endear- oureth to walk by the daily direction, is freer from danger, and passed in greater safety, than the be$t day of a godly man, that knows not this di- rertion. XLV. Many shew themselves forward christians in company abroad, that yet where they should shew most fruits, ^is at home) are too se- cure ; either thinking they arc not marked, or it they be, do not much regard it. This ought not to be. XLVl. Be careful to mark what falls out in the day, in heart, or life ; and be sure to look over all at night, that hath been amiss in the day : that so I muy lie down in peace with God, and conscience. The contra- ry were a woful thing, i i would cause hellisk unquietness. Be sure lliercfore, that none of the malicious subtleties of the devil, nor the naughtiness of my own heart, do carry me further than at night, I may sleep with quiet to God-ward. XLVIl. When God saith, Deut. xii. 7, That/us may rejoyce before him, •n all that they put their hands unlo : it's a great liberty, and enjoyed of \»Hfew. No doubt, many of our sorrows come through our owadefaull, which we might avoid. And as for godly sorrow, it may stand with thi* rejoicing. If therefore we may in all things rejoice, then from one thing to another, from our walking to our sleeping : first, in our first thoughts nf God in the morning ; then in our prayer ; after in our calling, and while we are at it ; then at our meat, and in company, and alone, at hnmt and abroad, in prosperity, and adversity, in meditation, in dealings, ando/'- flairs : and lastly, in shutting up the day in examination, and viewing it over. And what hinders ? if we be willing and resolved to do the will of God, throughout the day, but that we may rejoice before hinin all we jmt our hand unto. XLVl II. He that makes conscience of his ways, and to please God his only way, is to take him to a daily direction, and some set rules, thereby looking constantly to his heart all the day : and thus, for the most part, he may live comfortably ; either not falling into any thing that should Vot. L 49 ^M THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book Ul. much disquiet him, or soon returning by repentance to peace again. But if a man tie not himself thus to rules, his heart will break from him, and be dispjuised one way or another, which will breed continual wound un^ to bis conscience, and so he shall never live any time together in peace. The cause why many christians also give themselves great liberty, in not accusing themselves for many offences, is the want of some certain direc- tion to follow in the day. XLIX. When we feel unfitness to our ordinary duties, we either be- gin to be discouraged, or else yield to corruption, and neglect our du- ties : neither of both which should be, but without discouragement wc should resist our untowardness, and shake it off, and ilee to God by pray- er, evenforce our selves to pray for grace, and fitness to pray ; and be- ing earnest, and praying in faith, we may be assured, that we shall obtain life and grace. L. When the mind is distracted any way, unsettled, unquiet, or out of order, then get alone and muse, and see what hath brought us to this pass ; consider how irksome a state this is, and unprofitable, pray to God, and work with thy own heart, until it be brought in frame. An hour or two alone, shall do a man more good, than any other courses or duties. LI. Aim (it it be possible) to spend one afternoon in a week, in vis- iting the neighbours houses, great use there is of it : their love to me .will be much increased ; much occasion will be ministered unto me, for direction to speak the more fitly in my ministry. I am exceedingly grieved, that 1 am so distracted with journeyings about, that I caanot bring this to pass. Lll. I never go abroad, (except I season my mind with good medita- tions by the way, or read, or confer) but besides the loss of my time, neg- lecting my ordinary task at home, at my study, I come home weary in body, unsettled in mind, untoward to study. So that I have small cause to rejoice in my goings forth, and I desire God to free me more and more from them : so may I also attend my own neighbours more diligently, which is my great desire ; and the contrary hath been, and is my great burthen. LIIl. I have ever observed, that my journeyings and distractions of di- vers kinds, in these my later times, and by too of ten preaching in my youn- ger years, 1 have been held from using means to get knowledge, and grow therein : which I counted ever the just punishment of God upon me, for the neglect of my young time, when I should and might have furnished my self. LIV. When I am in the best estate my self, I preach most zealously and profitably for the people. LV. It breeds an incredible comfort and joy, when one hath got pow- er over some such corruption, as in former times hath used to>get the mastery over him. This is a good provocation to strive hard so to do, and a cause of great thankfulness when it so comes to pass. LVI. If we be at any time much dejected for sin, or otherwise disqui' eted in our minds, the best way that can be, is to settle and quiet them by private meditation and prayer. Prubatum est. LVII. The humble man is the strongest man in the world, and surest to stand, for he goes out of himself for help. The proud man is the weak- est man, and surest to fall : for he trusts to his own strength. LVIII. It is good in all the changes of our life, whatsoever they be, to hold our own, and be not changed therewith from our goodness ; as Mm' Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 387 hamy wheresoever he came (after hia calling) still built his altar to the true God, and called upon his name : he changed his place, but never changed his God. LIX. Our whole life under the gospel should be nothing but thankfid- ness and fruilfulness. And if we must judge our-selves for our inward lustre and corruptions of pn'(ie, dulness in good duties, earthliness, impa- tience. If we make not conscience of, and be not humbled for these, God will and doth, oft give us up to open sins, that stain and blemish our profession. LX. The more we judge our selves cZatVi/, the less we shall have to do on our sick-beds, and when we come to die. Oh ! that is an unfit time for this ! we should have nothing to do then, but bear our pain wisely, and be ready to die. Therefore, let us be exact in our accounts every iayl Reader, having thus entertained thee with the memorials of the famous Mr. John Rogers, I will conclude them with transcribing a remark, which I find in a book published by Mr. Giles Firmin, 1681. ' Some excellent men at home conformed, but groaned under the bur- 'den ; as, I remember, Mr. John Rogers of Dedham, an eminent saint ; ' though he did conform, i never saw him wear a surplice, nor heard him ' use but a few prayers ; and those, I think, he said memoritiir, he did ' not read them ; but this he would in his preaching, draw his finger ' about his throat, and say, Let them take me and hang me up, so they will ' but remove t>:?se stumbling blocks otit of the church. But how many thou- ' sands of choice christians plucked up their stakes here, forsook their ' dear friends and native countr}', shut up themselves in shi|.n, (to whom ' a prison for the time, had been more eligible) went remote into an how- ' ling wilderness, there underwent great hardships, wat<(r was their com- ' mon drink, and glad if they might have had but that which they had ' given at their doors here, (many of them :) and all this suffering was to ' avoid your impositions, and that they might dwell in the House of God, ' and enjoy all things therein, according to his own appointment.' CHAPTER XV. Bibliander Nov-Anglicus. The Life of Mr. Samuel Newmaa'. J^ulla Tuas unquam Virtutes nesciet JEtas ; JVbn Jus in iMudes Mors habet Atra Tuas. § 1. None of the least services, which the pens of ingenious and industrious men havedone for the Church ofGod, hath been in the writing of Concordances for that miraculous Book, where, Qtiicquid docetur est Feritas ; Quicquid prcecipitur, Bonitas ; ^uicquid promitlitur, Fa:licitas. The use of such concordances is well understood by all that search tlie scriptures, and think thereby to have eternal life : but most of all by those Bezaleels, whose business 'tis (as one speaks) to cut and set in gold the diamonds of the divine word. And therefore there have been many concordances of the Bible since that origen first led the way for such composures, and divers languages ; whereof, it may be, the Maximat ^ absolutissimie Concordanlioe, most '^ompleat, have been those that were composed by the two Stephens, Ro- 388 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. Look HI.) hert the father nnd Henry the son ; these, as their name signifies a crown, to in this work of theirs, like Demosthenes in his oration, Dei Corona, have carried away the garland from all that went afore them. Notv, in the catalogue of concordances, even from that of R. Isaac Kathans, in Hebrew, to all that have in many other derived languages im- itated it, there is none to be compared unto that of Mr. Samuel Newman, in English, Indeed, first Maibcck in a concordance, which pointed unto chapters, but not unto verses; then Cotton, who though no clergy'vum himself, yet by his more, but yet not quite perfect cimcordance and his diligence, obliged all clergy-men ; and afterwards Bernard, who yet (no more than his name's sake) saw not all things ; and then Downham, Wickens, Bennet, and how many more ? have done verfuously f but thou, Newman hast excelled them all ! It hath been a just remark, sometimes, made by them, who are so wise as to observe these thiiigs, that the Lord Jesus Christ, in his holy providence, hath chose especially to make the names of those persr ■;§ honourable, who have laboured in their works, especially to put ^otowr upon the sacred scriptures. And in conformity to that observation, there are dues to be now paid unto the memory of Mr. Samuel Newman, who lhi\t the scripiures might be preserved for the memory, as »vell as the understanding of the christian world, first compiled in England, a more elaborate concordance of the Bilde than had ever yet been seen in Europe; and after he came io New- England, made that concordance yet more elaborate, by the addition of not only many texts, that were not in the former, but also the marginal readings of all t!ie texts that had them, and by several other contrivances so made the whole more expedite, for the use of them that consulted it. § 2. The life of Mr. Samuel Newman, commenced with the cen- tury now running ; at Banbury, where he was born of a family, more eminent and more ancient for the profession of the true Protestant re- ligion, than most in the realm of England. After his parents, who had more piety and honesty, then worldly greatness to signalize them, had bestowed a good education upon him, and after his abode in the univers- ity of Oxfii'-d, had given more perfection to that education, he became an able m,inister of the New-Testament. But being under the conscien- i^itious dispotions of real Christianity, which was then called Puritanism, the persecution from the prevailing Hierarchy, whereto he therefore became obnoxious, deprived him of liberty, for the peaceable exercise of his ministry. Whence it came to pass, that although we might other- wise have termed him a presbyter of one town by ordination, we must now call him an CDaHge/is< of luany, through persecution : for the Epis- copal molestations compelled him to no less than seven removes, and as many places may now contend for the honour of his ministry, as there did for Homer''s nativity. But an eighth remove, whereto a wearine.«s of the former seven drove him, sh.dl bury in silence the chiims of all other places u.'.to him; for after the year l(J3o, (in 'which year, with many others, as excellent christians, as any breathing upon e/irth, he crossed the water to America) he must be styled, a New-England man, § 3. After Mr. AW/n^ii's arrival at New- England, he spent a year and half at Dorchester, five years at Weymouth, and nineteen years at Rehoboth, which name he gave unto the town, beo.iuse his flock, which were before straitned for 'vuit of j'oo»i, now might say. The Lord hath made room for us, and rtc shall he fruitful in the land: nor will it he wondered at, if one so well-versed in the scripture, could think of none ^\}t a scriptvrc-tiame, for tlie place of his habitation. How many straiti Book III.] THE HiSTOV F NEW-ENGLAND. he afternrards underwent («t Rjuuhotk, in the dark-day^ when he was almoBt the only minister, whose invincible patience held out, under the iicandalous neglect and contempt of the ministry, which the whole col* ony of Plymouth^ was for a while bewitched into, it is beat known unto the compassionate Lord, who said unto him, / know thy works, and haw thou hast born and hast patience, and for my name''s sake hast laboured, and hast ml fainted. But uo doubt, the straits did but more effectually recom- mend Heaven to him as the only Rehoboth ; whether he went July 5, in the year of our Lord 1663, when by passing through nine sevens oi' years, he was come to that which we call, the grand Clirnacterical. Nor let it be forgotten, that in this memorable and miserable year, each of the three colonies of JVew-England was beheaded of the minis- ter from whence they had most of their influences ; JVorton went from the Massachuset colony. Stone went from Connecticut colony, and JVewman from Plymouth colony, within a few weeks of one another. § 4. He was a very lively preacher, and a very preaching liver. He loved his church as if it had been hi» family, and he taught h.i» family, as if it liad been his church. He was an hard student ; and as much toyl and mjl, as his learned name's sake JVeander employed in illustrations and commentaries, upon the old Greek, Pagan poets, our JVewman bestowed in compiling his concordances of the sacred scriptures : and the incoropara- hle relish which the sacred scriptures had with him, while he had them thus under his continual rumination, was as welt a mean, as a sign of his arriving to an extraordinary measure of that sanctity, which the truth produces. But of hia fa mity-disicipline there was no part more notable than this one ; that once n year he kept a solemn day of humiliation with his family ; and once a year, a day of thanksgiving; and on these days, he would not only enquire of his houshold, what they had met withal to be hunhled, or to be thankful for, but .nlso he would recruit the memoirs of hiii diary ; by being denied the sight whereof, our history of him is ne- cessarily creepled with much imperfection. But whether it were entred in that diary or no, there was one re- markable which once befel him, worthy of a mention in this history. He was once on a journey home from Boston to Rehoboth : but hearing of a lecture at Dorchester by the wjiy, he thought with himself. Perhaps hliall not be out nf my way, if I go so far out of my way, as to take that lecture. There he found Mr. Mather at prayer ; the prayer being end- ed, Mr. Mather would not be satisfied except he would preach. Accord- ingly after the singing of a psalm, he preached an excellent sermon ; and by that sermon, a poor sinner, well known in the place, was re- markably converted unto God, and became a serious and eminent chris- tian. § 5. Hospitality was an essential of his character ; and I can tell when he entertained angels not nnaivares. 'Tis doubtless, a faulty piece of insensibility, among too many of the faithful, that they do little consider the guard of holy angels, wherewith otir Lord Jesus Christ wonderfully supplies us against the mischief and malice of wicked spirits. Those holy angels, are, it may be, /k'o hundred and sixty times mentioned in (he sacred oracles of Heaven ; and we that read so much in those oracles, are so carthUj-mindcd, as to take little notice of thom. 'Tis a marvel- lous tiling, that as one says, the rMtivcs of Heaven do not grudge to at- tend upon those, who are only the dcnisons thereof; and that as the an- '^ient expresses it, we rn;iy sen the whole Heaven at work for our salvation, ''od the Father sending his Son to redeem us, both the Father aiid the 390 THE HISTORY OF WEW-ENOLAND. IBook HI. Son sending their Spirit to guide us, the Fiither, Son and Spirit sending their angels to minister for us. Now of the whole angelical ministra- tion concerned for our good, there is, it may be, none more considerable than the illustrious corivoy and conduct, which they give unto the spititi of believers, when being expired, they pass through the territories q/'<^ prince of the power of the air, unto the regions, where they must (rttend until the rcsurrectioH. What Elijah had at his translation, a chari- ot of angels, does, in some sort, accompany all the saints at their expira- tion ; they are carried by angels unto the feast with Abraham, and angeh do then rceive them into everlasting habitations. The faith of this mat- ter hus therefore tilled the departing souls of many good men, with a joy unspeakable and full of glory : thus the famous Lord Mornay, when dying, said, I am taking my flight to heaven; here are angels that stand ready to carry my soul into the bosom of my Saviour ; thus the famous Dr. Holland, when dying, said, O thou fiery chariot, which canuii down to fetch up Elijah, you angels, that attended the soul of Lazarus, hear me into the bosom of my best beloved : thus we know of another^ that when dying, said, O that you had your eyes opened to see what I see! J see millions of angels ; God has appointed them to carry my soul up to Heaven, where I shall behold the Lord face to face. And now, let my reader accept another instance of this dying and most /tve/^ expectation ! Our Newman, towards the conclusion of his days , advanced more and more towards the beginning oth'ia joys : and h joyful as well as a prayer- ful, watchful, anA fruitful temper of soul, observably irradiated him. At length, being yet in health, he preached a sermon on these words in Job xiv. I 'i, Jill the days of my appointed time will I wait, until my change come: which proved his last. Falling sick hereupon, he did in the af- ternoon of a following Lord''s day, ask a deacon of his church to pray with him ; and the pious deacon having fmished his prayer, this excellent tnaD turned about, saying, Jind now ye angels of the Lord Jesus Christ, come, do your office ! with which words he immediately expired his holy soul, into the arms o( angels : the spirit of this just man, was immediately with the innumerable company of angels. § 6. The believing sinner, then has the forgiveness of sin effectually declared and assured unto him, when the holy spirit of (jod, with a spe- cial operation (which is called. The seal of the Holy Spirit) produces in him a solid, powerful, wonderful, anH well-grounded perswasion o( it; and when he brings home the pardoning love of God unto the heart, with such immediate and irresistible efficacy, as marvellously moves and melts the heart, and overwhelms it with the inexpressible consolations of a pardon. The forgiveness of sin, may be hopefully, but cannot he joyfully, evident unto us, without such a special operation of the Holy Spirit, giving evi- dence thereunto. When we set ourselves to argue our justification, from the marks of our sanc/t/im/ glwy. Neverthe- less, whenever the forgiveness of our sins, is hy a special operation of the Holy Spirit revealed unto us, the symptoms of a regenerate soul, do al- ways accompany it. Though the marks of sanctijicalion are not enough, to give us the full joy of onr justification ; yet they give us the proof of it. When a special operation of the Holy Spirit, gives us to see our justi- fication, it will give us to see our sancti/ication too. In writing this, 1 have written a considerahle article of our churcli'his- tory : for it was this article, that perhaps more than any whatsoever, ex- ercised the thoughts and pens of our churches, for many years together. But the mention hereof, serves particularly to introduce a few more memoirs of our holy ATewman. All good christians do sometimes examine themselve.^ about their inte- riour state : and they that would be great christians, must often do it. Though the reserved papers of our JVewman, are too carelessly lost, yet I have recovered one, which runs in such terms as these. ' Jiotes, or marks of grace, I find in my self; not wherein I desire to ' glory, but to take ground of assurance, and after our apostles^ rules, ' to make my election sure, though I tind them but in weak measure. ' 1. I find, I love God, and desire to love God, principally /or himself. ' 2. A desire to requite evil wtih good. '3. A looking up to God, to see him, and his hand, in all things that ' befal me. ' 4. A greateT fear of displeasing God, than all the world. ' 5. A love to snch christians as I never saw, or received good from. ' 6. A grief, when I see God's commands broken by any person. ' 7. A mourning for not finding the assurance of Grid's love, and the ' sense of his favour, in that comfortable manner, at one time, as at anoth- ' er ; and not being able to serve God as I should. ' 8. A willingness to give God the glory of any ability lo.do good. ' 9. A joy, when I am in christian company, in godly conference. ' 10. A grief, when I perceive it goes ill with christians, and the con- ' trary. ' 1 1 . A constant performance of secret duties, between God and my self, ' morning and evening. ' 12. A bewailing of ^uch sins, which none in the world can accuse ' me of. ' 13. A choosing oi svjfering to avoid sin. But having thus mentioned the self-examination, which this holy man accustomed himself unto, 1 know not but this may be a very proper op- portunity, to observe, that tha holiness of our primitive christians, in this land, was more than a little expressed and improved, by this piece of Christianity. And that 1 may serve this design of Christianity, upon the devout reader, I will take this opportunity to digress, (if it be a digres- sion) so far, as to recite a passage 1 lately read in a paper, which a pri- vate christian, one of our godly old men, who died not long since, (name- ly Mr. Clap, once the captain of our castle) did, at his death, leave behind him. That godly man had long been labouring under doubts and fears, about liis interionr state before God. At last be was one day considering with 392 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book III himself, what wua his most beloved sin. HerewithnI he coniridered, whether in case the Lord would assure him, that all »in should be for ever pardoned unto him, and he should arrive safe to heiiven in the is- sue, yet he should not in the mean time have that one sin mortified, and be delivered from the reign and rage of that one sin, Whether this >vould content him ? Hereunto he found and said, before the Lord, that this woiild not content him. And hereupon the Spirit of God imme- diately irradiated his mind, with a strange and a strong assurance of the divine love unto him. He was dissolved into a flood of tears, with as- Tjurance, that God had loved him with an everlasting love. And from this time, the assurance of his pardon, conquered his doubts and fears, I think, all the rest of his days. Our too defective history of our Kerumun, I will conclude, as Blahos' lius did in his history of Jo/ianncs Cornu : Longvm estet Elogia hujus viri narrare. Sed perfectior llistoria, vt de aliia vires, ild ^ de isto, consum- matur, Sr quotidie augelur in Vit& eternd ; Q^uam da nobis, O Domine De- us, in glorid cnm gaudio legendam. Amen. EPITAPHIUM. Mortuus est Neandeu Nov-Anglus, Qui ante mortem dedicit mori, Et ohiit ed morte, qua: potest esse, Ars bene moriendi. •i '•*,*.?> M* T.-- t f CHAPTER XVI. ^ «?s -t Doctor Irrefragabilis. The Life of Mr. Samuel Stone. .tVfi'A- § 1. If the church o( Rome do boast of her Cornelius d fjopide, who hath published learned commentaries upon almost the whole Bible, the Protestant and reformed church of JVew -England, may boast of her Sam- uel Stone, who was better skilled than the other in sacred philology, and whose learned sermons and writings were not stuffed with such trifu and fables, and other impertinencies, as lill many pages in the compo- sures of the other. § 2. In his youth, after his leaving of the University of Cambridge, where Emanuel-CoWeAge had instructed him with the light, and nourished him with the cup of that famous university, he did, with several other persons, that proved famous in their generation, sit at the feet of a most excellent Gamaliel ; attending upon that eminently holy man of God. whom I will venture to call. Saint Blackerby. That Reverend Richard Blackerby, whose most angelical sort of life, you may read among the last of SainwcZ C/ar/t's collections, was a tutor to Mr. Stone; and you may reasonably expect, that such a scholar, should have a double portion of the spirit, which there was in such a tutor. § 3. Having been an accomplished, industrious, but yet persecuted minister of the gospel, in England, he came to New-England, in the same ship that brought over Mr. Cotton, and Mr. Hooker. A ship, which in those three worthies, brought from Europe a richer loading, than the richest that ever sailed back from America in the Spanish Flota,; even that wreck which had on board, among other treasures, one entire table of ^old, weighing above three thousand and three hundred pound. In- UoOK m.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 393 deed the foundation o( JS'ew- England had a precious ^'em laid in it, when Mr. Stone arrived in these regions. But the circumstances of this removal, require to be related with more of particularities. The judicious christians that were coming to jVea;- Eiigland with Mr. Hooker, were desirous to obtuin a collegue for him, and being disappointed of obtaining Mr. Cotton for that purpose, (who ne- vertheless took it very kindly, that Mr. Hooker had sent them unto him) they began to think, that a conple of such great men might be more ser- viceable asunder, than together. So their next agreement was, tu pro- cure some able and godly young man, who might he an ansistanl unto Mr. Hooker, with something of a disciple also ; and those three, Mr Shepardf Mr. M'orton, and Mr. .Stone, were to this end proposed ; and Mr. Stone, then a lecturer at Torceater in Northamptonshire, was the person upon whom at length it fell, to accompany Mr. Hooker into America. § 4. From the JSTew-English Cambridge, he went colle^uft to Mr. Hook- it, with a chosen and devout company of christians, who gathered ,i fam- ous church, at a town which they called Har>fo;'d, upon the well-known river Connecticut. There he continued feeding the flock of our Lord, fourteen years, with Mr. Hooker, and sixteen years after him ; till be that was born at Hartford in England, now on July 20, 1663, died in Hartford o( New-England ; and went unto the Heavenly Society, where- of he would with some longing aa}'. Heaven is the more desirable, for such company as Hooker, and Shepard, and Hains, who are got there be- fore me. § 5. His way of living was godly, sober and righteous, and like that great apostle who was his name-sake, he could seriously and sincerely profess, Tjord, thou knowest all things ; thou knowest that I love thee. But there were two things, wherein the power of godliness uses to be most remarkably manifested and maintained ; and he was remarkable for both of these things ; namely, frequent fastings, and exact Sabbaths. He wonld, not rarely, set apart whole days for fasting and prayer before the Lord, whereby he ripened his blessed soul for the inheritance of the saints inlight. And when the weekly Sabbath came, which he still began in the evening before, he would compose himself unto a most heavenly frame in all things, and not let fall a word, but what should be grave, se- rious, pertinent. Moreover, it was his custom, that the sermon which he wa.s to preach on the Ijord's day in his assembly, he would the night be- fore, deliver to his own family. A custom which was attended with sev- eral advantages. § 6. Being ordained the teacher of the church in Hartford, he appre- heDdineople, by a more doctrinal way of preaciiing : ac- cordingly, as he had the art of keeping to his hour, so he had an incom- parable skill at filling of that hour with nervous discourses, in the way ohnminon-place and proposifion, handling the points ofdiinnity, which he would conclude with a brief and close rt/)/)/icow : and then he would in his prayer, after sermon, put all into such pertinent confessions, |»eti- tions, and thanksgivings, as notably digested his doctrine into devotion. He was a man of principles, and in the management of those principles, he was both a Load-Stone and a Flint-Stone. § 7. He had a certain pleasancy in conversation, which was the effect snd symptom of his most ready wit ; and made ingenious men to be as '^nttous of hi» familiarity, as admirers of his ingenuity. Possibly he might think of what Suklas reports roncerning Macnrim, that by the pleasancy Vor. J. ryf) 304 THE HISTORY OF NEVV-ENGLAND. [Book III of Ills discourses on hII occiieions, he drew iniiny to Ihe ways of Go<]. Me might be inclined, like Dr. Sdinntoii, who Hiiid, I have used myself Ui be cheerful in company, tlial so stamlers-hii might be the more in love with rtligion, seeing it consistent tvilkckfeyfitlncss. Ho.uce facetious turns were almost natural to him, in his converiiiitioti with such, as had the scnce to comprehend the viibtlelirs of his rei)iirti(i3. But still under such a re- serve, as to csca|)e the sentence of the ranon of the council of Carthage, Clericum scurrilfm ^' verbis turpibus Joculaturem, ab officio Rctrahendum esse censcmus, § 8. Reader, what should be the meaning of this ? our Mr. Stone, about, or before the year 1(J5(), when all things were in a profound calm,dehv- ered in a sermon his pre>apprehensions, that churches among them would come to be broken by scliism, and sudden censures, and an^ty removrs: and that e'er they were aware, these mischiefs would arise among them ; in the churches, prayers against prayers, hearts against he^rts, tnan against tears, tongues against tongues, and fusts against/as's, and horrible prejudices and underminings. Many years did not pass, before he saw in his oivn church, all of this accomplished He little thought that his ovrn church, must be the stage of these tra'j^cdies, when he told some of hi? friends, That he should never want their love. He did live to undergo what we are now going to signifie : • Towards the latter end of his time, this present evil world, was made yet more evil unto him, through an unhappy diff'ereHce, which arose between him and a ruling elder in the church, whereof be was himself a teaching elder. They were both of them godly men ; and the true orig- inal of the misunderstandi7ig between men that were of so good an under- standing, has been rendred almost as obscure as the rise of Connecticut- river. But it proved in its unhappy consequences, too like that river in its great annual inundations ; for it overspread the whole colony of Con- necticut. Such a monstrous enchantment there was upon the minds even of those who were christians, and brethren, that in all the towns rounti about, the people generally made themselves parties, either to one sido or the other, in this quarrel ; though multitudes of them, scarce ever distinctly knew, what the quarrel was :- and the factions insinuated them- selves into the smallest, as well as the greatest affairs of those towns. From the ^firc of the altar, there issued tlmndrings and lightnings, and eart/t^j/afces, through the colony. As once in Constantinople, afire tlint began in the church consumed the Senate-house. Thus the fire which began in the church more than a little afl'ectcd the Senate-house in Con- necticut : and the people also were many of them as fiercely set against one another, as the Combites in the poet were against the Tentyritcs. A world of sin was doubtless committed, even by pious men o'kthis occa- sion, while they permitted so many things contrary to the law of charily, and so much mispcnding of their time, and misplacing of their zeal, as must needs occur in their woful variance. Alas ! how many of Solomons wise proverbs were explained and instanced in the follies of these con- tests! Indee* :'^ "^:'- quern JVubilaFlctaCoronant. v' v , • tHm THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENOLAND. [Book IH. CHAPTER XVH. The Life of Mr. William Thumpbon. § 1. There is no experienced minister of the gospel, who hath not in the cdHesi of tempted souls, often hud this experience, that the ill caseb of their liisteaipered bodies, are the frequent occasion and original of their temptulioiis. There are many men, who in the very constitution of their bodies, do afford a bed, wherein busy and bloody devils, have a sort of a loogiiii., provided for them, 'i'he mass of blood in them, is disordered with dome tiei'> acid, uud their brains or bowels have some juices or fer- ments, or vapours about them, which are most unhappy engtnei for c/evtb to tvork upon their souls withal. The vitiated humours in many pet- sous, yield the steams, whereiuto Satan dues insinuate himself, till he has gained a sort of possension in them, or at least, an opportunity to ihoot into the mind, as many ^cry darts, as may cause a sad life unto them; yea, 'tis well if self murder be not the sad end, into which these hurried people are thui^ precipitated. New-England, a country where sple- netic inaUdies are prevailing and pernicious, perhaps above any other, bath itflbrded numberless instances, of even pious people, who havecon- trai-.tcd those melancholy indispositions, which have unhinged them from all service or cointbrt ; yea not a few persons have been hurried there- by to lay violent hands upon themselves at the last. These are among the unseorchable judgments of God! § 2. Mr. William Thompson was a reverend minister of the gospel, vihofelt in himself, the vexations of that melancholy, which personi in his office do so often see in others. He was a very powerful and suc- cessful preacher ; and we find bis name sometimes joined in the title-page of several books, with his countryman, Mr. Richard Mather, as a writer. Nor was New-England the only part of America, where he zealously published the messages and mysteries of Heaven, after that the English Hierarchy had persecuted him from the like labours in Lancashire, over into America ; but upon a mission from the churches of New-England, he carried the tidings of salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ into Virgin' ia : where he saw a notable fruit of his labours, until that faction there, which called it self, the Church of England, persecuted him irom thence also. iSaton, who had been after an extraordinary manner irritated by the evangelic labours of this holy man, obtained the liberty to sift him ; and hence, after this worthy man had served the Lord Jesus Christ, in the church of our New-£ng)ish Braintree, he fell into that Balneum dia- boli, a black melancholy, which for divers years almost wholly disabled him for the exercise of his ministry ; but the end of this melancholy, was not 80 tragical, its it sometimes is with some, whom yet because of their exemplary lives, we dare not censure for their prodigious deaths. It is an observation of no little consequence, in our christian warfare, that for all the fierce temptations of the devil upon us, there is a time limited ; an hour of temptittion. During this time, the devil may grow the more furious upon us, the more we do resist him. We must renst until the time, which is prefixl by God, but unkmwn to us, is expired: 9nd then, we shall find it a law in the invisible world strictly kept unto, that if the resistance be carried on to such a period, though perhaps with many intervening foyle, the devil will be gone ; yea, whether he will or no, we must be gone. There is a law for it, which obliges him to r Book III] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENOLAND. 397 flight, and a flight that carries t fright in it ; tfear from an appreheniion that God, witb his good angeli, wi|i come in, with terrible cbastiseoMnts upon him, if he presume to continue his lemptatiotu one moment longer, than the time that had been allowed unto him. All this, may be implied, in that passage of the apostle, Reiitt the devil and h* will flee from you. And as our Lord, being twice more furiously tempted by the devil, drew near to God, with extraordinary prayer; but when the time for the ten^tation was out, God by bis fingeU then sensibly drew near unto him, with fresh consolations : to this, uo doubt, the apostle refers, when he adds, Draw nigh to Ood, and he ehall draw nigh to you. Accord- ingly) the pastors and the faithful, of the churches in the neighbourhood, kept resitting of t',e devil^ in his cruel assaults upon Mr. l^hompion, bv continually drawing' near to Ood, with ardent supplications on his behalf: and by praying a/way*,without fainting without cean'ng, they saw the ievil at^length^ce/rom him, and God himself draw near unto him, with unutterable joy. The end of that man is pecue ! § 3. A short flight of our poetry shall tell the rest. n' )t , i REMARKS On the bright and the dark eide, of that American pillar, the Reverend Mr. William Thompson ; pastor of the church at Braintree. WiiO triumphed on Dec. 10, 1666. But may a rural pen try to set forth '' • Such a great father*» ancient grace and worth ! 1 undertake a no less arduous theme, Than the old sages found the Chaldee dream. 'Tis more than Tythei of a profound respect, That must be paid such a JnelchUedeck. ""- -^^ ^ f* - ■ , >•• ■ ' ;-.tr!,. «i Oxford this lights with tonguet and arts doth trim ; And then his northern town doth challenge him. Hia time and strength he centered there in this ; To do good works, and be what now he is. His fulgent virtues there, and learned atradns. Tall comely presence, life unsoil'd with stains, Things most on Worthies, in their stories writ. Did him to moves in orbs of service fit. f* /■' -^ Things more peculiar yet, my muse, intend, Say stranger things than these ; so weep and end. When he forsook first his Oxonian cell, Some scores at once from popish darkness fell ; So this reformer studied ! rare flrst fruits ! Shaking a crab'tree thus by hot disputes, The acid juice by mimcle turn'd wine, '• ; '; And raia'd the spirits of our young divine. Hearers, like doves, fiock't with contentious wing. Who should be first, feed most, moat homeward bring;. Laden with honey, like Hyblaan bees. They knead it into combs upon their knees. i«r IV »■■ •/•'.■■ .«■••*«■ m THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENOLANl). (Bouk III. n .1 Why he from Europe' $ plcaaant garden fled, In the next uge, will oe with horrour ■nid, Brainlree wu of thi« jtwel then poitett, Until himteir, he labovr'd into re$t. Hii inventory then, with Johns, was took ; A rough coal, girdle with the sacred book. When Reverend KnowUt and he,8aird hand in h^nd, To Christ espousing the Virginian land, Upon a ledge of cruggy rocks near stav'd, His Bible in his bosom thrusting sav'd ; The Bibie, the best of cordial of his heart, Come floodt, come jlaine$, (cry'd he) weHl never part, A constellation of great converts there, Shone round him, and his Heavenly glory were. GooKiNs was one of these : by Thmnpson's pains, Christ and Nkw-Enolano, a dear Oookins gains. With a rare skill in hearts, this doctor cou'd Steal into them words that should do them good. His balsams from the tree of life distilPd, Hearts cleaps'd and beal'd, and with rich comfortH tiird. But here's the wo ! balsams which others cur'd, Would in his own turn hardly be cndur'd. Apollyon owing him a cursed spleen Who an Apollos in the church had been. Dreading nis traffick here would be undone By num'rous proselytes he daily won, Accus'd him oi imaginary faults, Afid push'd him down so into dismal vaults : Vaults, where he kept long Ember-weeks of grief, Till Heaven alarmed sent him in relief. Then was a Daniel in the h'oni' den, A man, oh, how belov'd of God and men ! By his bed-side an Hebrew sword there lay. With which at last he drove the devil away. Quakers too durst not bear his keen replies, "Bnt fearing it half drawn, the trembler flies. Like Lazarus, new raised from death, appears The saint that had been dead for many years. Our Nehcmiah said. Shall such as I D^ert my flock, and like a coward fly ! Long had the churches begg'd the saint's release ; Releas'd at last, he dies in glorious peace. The night is not so long, but phosphorus ray Approaching glories doth on high display. Faith's eye in him discerned the morning star. His heart ieap'd ; sure the sun cannot be far. In extasies of joy, he ravish'd cries. Love, love the lamb, the lamb ! in whom he dies. tui'i Dor. to, 166fi. Book III.) THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. But the Churchea of Ntw-England hnving HmI another ioatan<'0 of afflic- tion liko thnt which cxercifled our Thimpson. I nhall chur thia place to intro ■<. CHAPTER XIX. The Life of Mr. Henrv Flint. ' :';' - ■:,- ■-.) Altkough there is a most sensible and glorious demonstration of the Divine Providence over human affairs, in the stupend variety o( human fa- ces, that among so many millions of men, their countenances are distin- guishable enough to preserve the order of human society, and conversa- tion thereon depending ;' yet there have been some notable instances of resemblance in the world. They are not only twins, which have some- times had this resemblance, in such a degree, as to occasion more diver- sion, than the two Sosia''s in Plaufus' Amphytrio; but some other per- son^ have been too like one another to be known asunder, without crit- ical observations of accidental circumstances. I will not mention the several examples of /t/;cwess reported by Pliny, because there is frequent- ly as much likeliness between a Plinyism and a fable. But Mersennus gives us the names of two men so extreamly alike, that their nearest rela- tions wore thereby most notoriously imposed upon. Yea, this likeness has proceeded so far, that Polystralus, and Hippoclides, two philosophers much alike, were both born in the same day ; they were school-fellows, and of the same sect ; they both died in a great age, and at the very same instant. Further yet, the two famous brothers at Riez, in France, perfectly alike, if one of them were sick, or sad, or sleepy, the other would immediately be so too. And the story of the three Gordians, the one exactly like Jlugustus, the second exactly like Pompey, the third exactly likfc Scipio ; he that has read Pezelins, doubtless will remember it. I know not whether any of these likenesses are greater, than what it was the desire and study, and in a lesser measure, the attainment of that holy and worthy man, Mr. Henry Flint, the teacher of Brain-tree, to have un- to Mr. Cotton, the well-known teacher of Boffon. Having trpins onco '%> Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 4Q1 born uato h'un, he called the one John, the other Cotton, and hit Aon^ttr- ing imitation of that great man, was as if he had beon a twin to John Cottan hiiDuelf. In his exemplary life, he was John Cotton to the life ; and in all the circamstances of his ministry, he propounded John Cotton for his pat- tern ; as apprehending that h$ followed Jesui Christ. You may be sure, he that copied after such an excellent person, must write fair, though he should happen to fall any thing short of the original. Wherefore, having already written the life of John Oitton, I need say nothing more of Henry Flint ; but they are now both of them gone, where the harmony is become yet more agreeable. He that was a solid stone, in the foundations of J\'ew -England, is gone to be a glorious one, in the walls of the New-Jerusalem. ^ He died April 27, 1668, and at his death deserved the epitaph once al- lowed unto Mentzer. .d-'. • , EPITAPHIUM. , ' . Flintsus semper Meditatus Gaudia Cteli, V Nunc tandem Cali Gaudia Leetus habet. :i-r'ia'f ; CHAPTER XX. The LiFK of Mr. Richard Mather. ..- j Florente verba, omnia Florent in Ecclesia. Luther. ^ i. It is a memorable passage, which Doctor Hall, after a personal examination of it, ventures to relate, as most credible, [in his book of angels,] that a certain cripple called John Trelille, having been sixteen ye^rs a miserable cripple, did upon three monitions in a dream to do so, wash himself in S. Matiurn's well, and was immediately restored unto the use of his limbs, and became able to walk, and work, and maintain him- self. Reader, if thou hast any febleness upon thy mind, in regard either of })itty, or thy perswasion about the church-order of the gospel, I will car-* ry thee now to a well of a S. Mathern; which name, 1 suppose, to be the Cornish pronunciation of that, which was worn by the good man, whose history is now going to be offered. In the night whereon our Lord was born, there was a glorious light, with an host of angels gloriously singing over Bethlehem ; and the birth of the great and good Shepherd, was thus revealed unto the shepherds of that country. The magicians in the east, whether they had by their conver- sations with the invisible world, a readier ej/eto discern such objects, or whether it were only the sovereign and gracious /)rom<{enc« of God, which tl\ua directed them, they probably saw that glory of the Lord. Possibly to them at a distsnce, it might seem a new star hanging over Judaea ; but afler two years of wonder and suspense about it, they were informed by Ood, what it signified ; and when they came near the place of the Lord's nativity, it is likely that this glory, once again appeared, for their fullest satisfaction. T%is, till I see a better account, must be thai which I shall take about, the star of the wise men in the East. But I am now to add. Vol, I. 51 •jm THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book HI thnt Til all ages, there have heen stars to lend men ui.to the Lord Jesus Christ : angelical men employed in the ministry of our Lurd, have been those hnppy stars; nnd we in the West, have been so happy, as to see some of the^r«< magnitude ; among which one wsjs Mr. Richard Mather. § 2. It was at a small town, called Lowton, in the county of Lancasiu, , Jlnnn 1596, that so gmat ar/ion, as Mr. Richard Mather was borii, ol pa- rents that were of credible and ancient families. And these his parents, though by some disasters, their estate uas not a little sunk bclon the -means of their ancestors, yet were willing to bestow a liberal educaiion on him; upon occasion whereof Mr. JVia()ter afterwards thus expressed himself: By what principles and motives my parents were chiefly induced to keep meat school, I have not to say, nor dv I certainly know : but this I must needs say, that this was the singular good providence of Godtowatds me, (who hath the hearts ofaUmenin his hands) thus to incline tlie hearts of my parents; for in this thing the Lord of Heaven shewed me sw.h favour, as had not been shewed to many my prcdecasors and contemporaries in that place. They sent him to school at Winwick, where they boarded him in the winter ; but in the summer so warm was his desire of learning, that he travelled every day thither, which was four miles from his father's house. Whilst he was thus at school, Multu tulit fccitque Puer — be met with an extremity of discouragement from the Orbi.ium harshness and fierceness of the pmdagoguc; who though he had bred many line scholars, yet for the severity of his disoipiinc, came not much behind the master of Junius, who would beat him eight times a diiy, whether he were in a fault, or no fault. Oui young Mather, tired under this captivity, at last frequently and earnestly importuned of his father, that being taken from the school, he might be disposed unto some secular calling ; but when he had waded through his difficulties, he wrote this reflection thereupon : God intended better for me, than I would have chosen for my self} and there- fore, my father, though in other things indulgent enough, yet in this uovU niver condescend to my request, but by putting me in hope, that by his speak- ing to the master, thivgs wotdd be amended, would still over rule me to go on in my studies ; and good it was for me to he over ruled by him, and Ai's discretion, rather than to be left to my own aj/'ections and desire. But, 0, that all school-masters would learn wisdom, moderation, and equity, to- wards their scholars ; and seek rather to win the hearts of children by right- eotis loving and courteous usage, than to alienate their minds by partiality, and undue severity; which had been my utter undoing, had not the good providence of God, and the wisdom and authority of my father prevented. § 3. Yea, and here Almighty God made use of his otherwise cruel school-master, to deliver this hopeful young man from an apprenticeship unto a Popish merchant, when he was very near falling into the woful snares of such a condition ; which mercy of heaven unto him was ac- companied with the further mercy of living under the ministry of one Mr. Palin, then preacher at Leagh: of whom he would long after say. That though his knowledge of that good man znas only in his childhood, yet the re- membrance of him was even in his old age comfortable to him; inasmuch as he observed such a penetrating efficacy in the ministry nfthat man, aswas not in the common sort of preachers. § 4. There were at this time, in Toxteth Park near Liverpool, a well- -disposed people, who were desirous to erect a school among them, fo/ the good education of their posterity. This people sending unto the flchool-master of Winwick, to know whether he had any scholar that he oould recommend for a master of their new school. Richard Mather was Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW ENGtAND. 409^ by him recouitnended «)nto that service ; and at the peratvasion of hi» friends to attend that service, he laid aside hix desire, and bis design of going to the university : not unsensible of what hath been still observed, Scholas esse Theologtoe pediste q^na9, ac temijutria Rtipublioce. Now as it cannot justly be reckoned any blemish unto him, that at ffteett yean of age he was a school master, who carried it with such wisdom, kindness, and grave reservation, as to be lorved tvaA feared by his young folks, much above the most that ever used ib.e. fei^nla ; jso it was* many wnys advanta- gcoas unto him, to be thus employed. Hereby he became a more accu- •rate §t>ainmarian, than divines too often are ;. and at his leisure hours he to studied, as to become a notable prolicient in the other liberal arts. Moreover, it was by moans hereof, that he experienced an effectual conversion of soul to God, in his tender years, even before his going to Oxfird ; and thus he was preserved from the temptations and corrtvptiona^ which undid many of his contemporaries in the university. That more thorough and real conversion, in him, was occasioned by observing a dif- ference between his own walk, and th6 most exact, watchful, fruitful, and prayerful conversation of some in the family, of the learned and pious Mr. Edward Aspinwul, of Toocteth, where he sojourned. This exempla-> ry walk of that holy man, caused many sad fears to arise in his own soul, that he was himself out of the way ; which consideration with his hearing of Mr. Harrison, then a famous minister at Hyton, preach about regtne- TOiiont and his reading of Mr. Perkins' book, that shows, how far a repro- bate may go in religion ; were the means whereby the God of Heaven brought him into the state of a new creature. The troubles of soul, which attended his new hi>th, were so exceeding terrible, that he would often retire from his appointed meals unto secret places, to lament his mise- ries ; but aAer some time, and about the eighteenth year of his age, the good Spirit of God healed his &ro/;en /tear/, by pouring thereinto the evan- gelical consolat'Ons o{ His great and precious promises. § 5. After this, he became a more eminent blessing, in the calling, wherein God had now disposed him ; and such notice was taken of him, that many persons were sent unto him, even from remote places, for their education ; whereof, not a few went well accomplished, from him to the university But having spent some years in this employment, ho judged it many ways advantageous for him to go unto the university him- self, that he might there converse with learned men and books, and more improve himself in learning, than he could have done at home. Accord: ingiy, at Oxford, and particularly at Brazen -JVose-College in Oxford, he now resided, where together with the satisfaction of seeing his old scho- lars, who had by his education, been fitted for their being there, he had the opportunity further to enrich himselt by study, by conference, by disputation, and other ncademical entertainment ; as considering, that the lamps were to be lighted, before the incense was to be burned in the Simctiiary. And here, he was more intimately acquainted with famous Dr Woral, by whose advice, he read the works, of Peter Ramus, with a singular attention and aifection ; which advice, he did not afterwards re- pent that be had followed. § 6. But it was not very long before the people of Toxteth sent after him, that he would return unto them, and instruct, not their children as a schoolmaster, but themselves as a minister : with which invitation, he at last complied ; and at Toxteth, November 13, 1618, he preached his^^rs^ sermon, with great acceptance in a vast assembly of people : but such was the strenj;th of his memory, that what he had prepared tbi- 4.04 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book III. one, contained no less than $ix long discouraet. He was after tbii or* dained with many others, by Dr. Morton, the Bishop of ChttUr, who af- ter the ordination was over, singled out Mr. Mather from the rest, say- ing, / hav« iomething to say betwixt you and me alone. Mr. Mather was now jcaioiu, that some informations might have been exhibited against him for his Puritaninn, instead of which when the Bishop had him tdone, what he said unto him was, / have an earnest request utUo you^ sir, and you must not deny me : Uis, that you would pray for me ; for I knmo (said he) the prayers of men that fear God will avail much, and you I believe are such a one. And being so settled in Toxteth, he married the daughter of Edmund Holt, Esq. oi' Bury, in Lancashire^ September 29, 1624, which vei'tuoiis gentlewoman, God made a rich blessing to him, for thirty years togetiier ; and a mother of six sons, most of whom afterwards proved famous in their generation. § 7. He preached "every Lord's day twice at Toxteth, and every fort- night he held a Tuesday lecture, at Prescot : besides which, he ofteD preached upon the hdy'days, not as thinking that any da^ was now holy, except the christian weekly sabbath, but because there was then an op- portunity to cast the net of the gospel among much fish, in great assem- blies, which then were convened, and would otherwise have been worse employed. In this, he followed the examples of the apostles, who preached most in populous places, and this also on the Jewish Sabbaths, which yet were so far abrogated, that they charged the faithful to let no man judge them in imposing the observation thereof upon them. He preached likewise very frequently at funerals, as knowing, that though /unera/ sermons are wholly disused in some reformed churclus, aat! have been condemned by some decrees of councils, yet this was chiefly because of the common error committed in the lavish praises of the dead on such occasions, which therefore he avoided, instead thereof, only giving counsels to the living. Indeed, the custom of preaching ntfunerais may seem eAnical in its original ; for Publicola made an excellent ora- tion in the praise of Brutus, with which the people were so taken, that it became a custom, for famous men^ after this, at their death, to be ko celebrated ; and when the women among the Romans parted with their ornaments, for the public weal, the senate made it lawful for women also to be in the like manner celebrated. Hinc mortuos Laudandi Mosjluxit. qucnt nos hodie servamus, if Polydore Firgil may, as he sometimes may be believed. But the M adgehurgensian centuriators tell us that this rite was not practised in the church, before the beginning of the apostacy. However, this watchful minister of our Lord, made h\s funeral-speeches to be but a faithful discharge of his ministry in admonitions concerning the last Ihitigs, whereby the living might be edified. But thus in his publtck ministry, he went over the 'i4th chapter in the second of Samuel; the first chapter of Proverbs; the first and sixth chapters of Isaiah; the twenty second and twenty third chapters of Luke ; the eighth chapter of the Romans ; the second Epistle to Timothy ; the second Epistle of John, and the Epistle ofJude. § 8. Having spent about fifteen years, thus, in the labours of his minis* try, his lecture at Prescot in fine, gave him to find the truth of QmWi/itfjri observation, JVfa^norn Famam 4r Magnam Quientem, eodem Tempore, Ne- mo potest Acquirere. Through the malice of Satan, and the envy of the Satanical, there were now brought against him, those complaints for his non conformity to the ceremonies, which in August, 1633, procured htni to be suspended. The suspemlon continued upon him, till the Xow.tnher Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. MB ibllowin?, bat then by the interceNion of aome gentlemen in Lafuashire, mA the influence of Simon Biby, a near alliance of the Bishop's visitor, he was restored. After his rettoraiion^ he more exactly than ever, 8tu« died the points of church-ditcipline ; and the effect of his most careful studies was, that the Congregational way, assorted by CartwriglU, Parker, Baines and Atne$, was the pitch of Reformation, which he judged the scriptures directed the servants of the Lord humbly to endeavour. But this liberty was not longer lived than the year 1634, for the Arch-Bishop ofYork now was that gentleman whom Kmg James pleasantly admonish- ed of his preaching Popery, because of some unacceptable things in his conduct, which taught the people to pray for a blessing on his dead prede- cessor ; and lu now sending his visitors, amocg whom the famous Dr. Cousins was one, into Lancashire ; where they kept their court at Wi' ^(in, among other hard things, they passed a sentence of suspension upon Mr. Mather, meerly for his non conformity. His judges were not willing, that he should offer the reasons, which made him conscientiously so dispo- ed, as then he was, but the glorious Spirit of God enabled him, with much wisdom, to encounter what they put upon him ; insomuch, that in his private manuscripts, he entred this memorial of it. In the passages of that day, I have this to bless the name of God for, that the terrour of their ^reatening words, of their pursevants, and of the rest of their pomp, did not ttrri/ie my mind, but that I could stand before them vcithout being daunted in the least tneasure, but answered for my self such words of truth and so- berness, as the Lord put into my mouth, not being afmid of their faces nt all ; which supporting and comforting presence of the Lord, I count not much less mercy, than if I had been altogether preserved out oftJuir hands. But all means used afterwards, tc get off this unhappy suspension, were inef- fectual ; for when the visitors had been informed, that he had been a minister ^Ceen years, and all that while never wore a surp/m, one of them swore. It had been belter for him, that he had gotten seven bastards. § 9. He now betook himself to a /irtvctfe Jt/e, without hope of again eujoying the liberty of doing any more public work, in his native lanti ; but herewithal foreseeing a storm of calamities like to be hastened on the land, by the wrath of Heaven incensed, particularly at the injustice used in depriving the truly conscientious of their liberty, his wishes be came like those of the deprived psalmist, 0, that I had wings like a dove ! lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness ; I would has- ten my escape from the windy storm and tempest. New-England was the retreat which now offered it self unto him : and accordingly, he drew up some arguments for his removal thither, which avgtiments were indeed, the very reasons, that moved the first fa- thers of ATeW' England unto that unparalleled undertaking of transporting their families with themselves, over the Atlantic ocean. ^f I. A removal from a corrupt church to a purer. II. A removal from a place, where the truth and professors of it ate persecuted, unto a place of more quiet and safely. III. A removal from a place, where all the ordinances of God cannot be enjoyed, unto a place wher.'^ they may. IV. A removal from a church, where the discipline of the Lord Jesus Christ is wanting, unto a chtirch where it may be practised. V. A removal from a place, where the ministers of God are unjustly inhibited from the execution of their, fbnctions, to a place where tbot may more freely execute the same. 4U(i THE HISTORY OF NEW ENGLANP. [Book HI. VI. A removnl from a place, where there are fenrful signs of detoh' Hon, to a place where one may have weli grounded hope of God's pro* tection. Such a removal, he judged that unto KervEngland now before him. These considerations were presented unto many ministers and chris- tians of Loncas/tiVe, at several meetings, whereby they were perswaded, and even his own people of Toxteth, who dearly loved him and prized him, could not gain-say it, that by removing to Ncxso- England, he would net go out of his reay. And hereunto he was the more inclined by the letters of some great persons, who had already settled in the country ; 'among whom the renowned //ou/:^r was one, who in his letters thus expre^ed himself. In a Txord, if I may speak my own thoughts freely and fully, thovgh there arc very many places where menmay receive and expect more earthly, commodities, yet do I hcleive there is no place this day upon the face of tht earth, rstlurc a gracious heart and a judicious head, may receive more spir- itual good to himself, and do more temporal and spiritual good to others. Wherefore being t^atisiled in his design for New-England, after extraor- dinary supplication for the smiles of Heaven upon him in it, he took his leave of his friends in Lancasnire, with affections on both sides like those, wherewith Paul bid farewell to his in Ephcsus ; and in Jlprit, 1636, he made his journey unto Bristol, to take ?hip there ; being forced as once Brentius was, to change his apparel, that he might escape the pursevants, who were endeavouring to apprehend him. § 10. On .¥ay 23, 1635, he set sail from Bristol for New-England: but when he came upon the coasts of New-England, there arose an hor- rible hurricane, from the dangers whereof his deliverance was remarka- ble, and well nigh miraculous. The best account of it, will be from his. own journal ; where the relation runs in these words : vm*fc^-, 'V. •.:,,. ...,t . . -.:. ... .: • August 15, 1635. ' The Lord had not yet done with us, nor had he let us see all his ' power and goodness, which he would have us take the knowledge of. ' And therefore about break of day, he sent a most terrible storm of rain, * and easterly wind, whereby we were, I think, in as much danger as ever • people were. When we came to land, we found many mighty trees * rent in pieces, in the midst of the bole, and others turned up by the * roots, by fierceness thereof. We lost in that morning three anchors ' and cables ; one having never been in the water before ; two were * broken by the violence of the storm, and a third cut by the sea-men in ' extremity of distress, lo save the ship, «md their, and our lives. And ' when our cables and anchors were all lost, we had no outward means • of deliverance, but by hoisting sail, if so be we might get to sea, from ' among the islands and rocks, where we were anchored. But the Lord let • us see that out sails could not help us neither, no more than the cbk' ' and anchors ; for by the force of the wind and storm, the sails were rer. ' asunder, and split in pieces, as if they had been but rotten rags ; so ♦ that of divers of them, there was scarce left so much as an hand's- * breadth, that was not rent in pieces, o.' blown away into the soa ; so * that at that time, all hope that we should be saved, in regard of any out- • ward appearance, was utterly taken away ; and the rather, because we • seemed to drive with full force of wind, directly upon a mighty rock, ' standing out in sight above watef ; so that we did but continually wait, • when we should hear and feel the doleful cnislung of the ship upon ' the rock. In thi-i extremity and appearance of death, as distress and ' •'li«^ra''ti'in ivo'ilt! svfTcr iis, wc cried unto the LonI, and he uas pleas-- Book Iir.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 40; ' ed to have compastion upon iia ; for by his over-ruling providence, and ' bis own itnnaedinte good hand, he guided the ship past the rock, asswa* ' ged the violence of the sea, and of the "wind, it was a day much to ' be remembered, because on that day the Lord granted us as wonderful < a delivernnce as, I think, ever any people hud felt. The sea men con- ' fessed they never knew the like. The Lord so imprint the memory ' of it in our hearts, that we may be the better for it, and be careful to < please him, and to walk upri|rhtly before him aa long as we live. And < I hope we shall not forget the passages oT that morning, until our dying . * day. In all this grievous storm, my fear was the less, when I consid* ' ered the clearness of my calling from God this way. And in some meas- * ure (the Lord's holy name be blessed for it,) he gave us hearts con- < tented and willing, that he should do with us, and ours, what he pleased, ' and what might be most for the glory of his name ; and in that we rest* ' ed our selves. But when news was brought us into the gun-room, ' that the danger was past. Oh ! how our hearts did then relent and melt * within us ! we burst out into tears of joy among our selves, in love un- ' to the gracious God, and admiration of his kindness, in granting to his < poor servants such an extraordinary and miraculous deliverance, his < holy name be blessed for evermore.' The storm being thus allayed, they came to an anchor before Boston, August 17, 1635. Where Mr. Mather abode for a little while, and with' bis virtuous consort, joined unto the church in that place. § 11. He quickly had invitations from several towns, to bestow him- . Belt' upon them ; and was in a great strpU, which of those invitations to accept. But applying himself unto cout.se/, as an ordinance of God, for his direction, Dorchester was the place, whereto a council, wherein Mr. Cotton and Mr. Hooker, were the principal, did advise him. Accordingly to Dorchester he repaired ; and the church formerly planted there, being transplanted with Mr. Warham to Connecticut, another church was now gathered here, .^ugus^ 23, 1636, by whose choice Mr. Mather was now become their teacher. Here he continued a blessing unto all the church- es in this wilderness, until his dying day, even for near lipon four and thirty years together. He underwent not now so many changes, as he did before his coming hither ; and he never changed his habitation ader this, till he went unto the house eternal in the Heavens ; albeit his old people of Toxteth vehemently solicited his return unto them, when the troublesome Hierarchy in England was deposed. § 12. Nevertheless, if Luther'' s three tutors for an able divine, study and prayer, and temptation, as Mr. Mather could not leave the two first, so the last would not leave him ; the wilderness whereinto he was come, he found not without its temptations. He was for some years exercised with spiritual distresses, and 'eternal desertions, and uncertainties about his everlasting happiness ; which troubles ot Ms mind he revealed unto that eminent person Mr. JVorton, whose well-adapted words, comforted his weary soul. It was in these dark hours that a glorious light rose unto him, with a certain disposition of soul, which I find in his private papers thus expressed : My heart relented with tears at this prayer, that God would not deny me an heart to bless him, and not blaspheme him, that is so holy, just, and good ; though I should be excluded fromhis presence, and go down into everlasting darkness Jind discomfort. But when these terrible temptations from within were over, there were several and successive afflictions, which he did from abroad meet withal : of all which afilictions, tlie most calamitous was, the death of his dear, good, and wise consort. 408 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Doos III. by whose discreet management of his affairs, he had been so released from all secular incumbrances, as to be wbollj at libertjr, for the sacred employment of his ministry. However, after he had continveid in big widowhood a vear and half, the state of bis family made it necessary for him to apply himself unto a *econd marriage ; which he made with the pious widow of the most famous Mr. John Cotton ; and her did God make « blessing unto him the rest of his days. § 13. My describing his general manner of life, after he came to New-England, shall be only a tramcribmg of those voo«, which thoogh he made before his coming thither, yet he then renewed. In his private papers, wherein he left some records of the days which he spent some- times in secret humUiations, and aupplicationi, before the God of Heaven, and of the atturaneet which with the tears of a melted soul, in those days, he received of blessings obtained for himself, his children, bif people, and the whole country, I find recordmg the ensuing instrument. * Promiuiones Deo facta, per me, ' ' Richardum Matherum. 21 D. 6M. 1633. Pra/. livi. 13, 14. P«a/. cxix. 106. Ptal. Ivi. 12. JVeA. ix. 33, with x. tec. ^*3^ VV) ulf I. Touching iYt^ Ministry. * 1. To be more painful and diligent in private preparations, for preach- * ing, by reading, meditation, and prayer ; and not slightly and super- ever he came. Whence, even while he was a young man, Mr. Gelltbrand, a famous minister in Lancashire, hearing him, enquired, what his name was? when answer was made, that his name was Mather ; he replied, M'ay, his name shall be Matter 'jfor believe it, this man hath good substance in him. He was indeed a person eminently yucftctoui, in the opinion of such as were not in controversies then managed, of his own opinion ; by the same token, that when Dr; Parr, then Bishop in the Isle of Man, heard of Mr. Mather'' s being silenced, he lamented it, saying, If Mr. Mather be silenced, I am sorry for it ; for he was a solid man, and fhe Church of God hath a great loss of him. And it was because of his being esteemed so judicious a person, that among the ministers of JVew- England, he was improved more than the most, in explaining and main- taining the points of Church-Goverment then debated. The discourse about the Church-Covenant, and the answer to the thirty two questions, both written in the year 1639, though they pass under the name of the ministers of Kew-England, Mr. Mather was the sole author of thnm. And when the Platform of Church- Discipline was agreed by a Synod of these churches, in the year 1647, Mr. Jlf«hould be, he wa$ a very hard student : yea, so intent was he upon nia beloved studies, that the morning before be died, he importuned the friends that watched with him to help him into the room, where he thought his usual works and books expected him ; to satisfie his importunity, they began to lead him thither; but Anding himself unable to get out of his lodging- room, be said, / see I am not able, I have not been in my study several days ; and is it not a lamentable thing, that I should lose so much time ? He was trvix, abundant in his labours ; for though he was very frequent in hearing ih word from others, riding to the lectures in the neighbouring towns, till his disease disabled him, and even to old age writing notes at those Iccturec^ as the renowned Hildersham likewise did before him ; yet be preached for the most part of every Lord's day twice ; and a lecture once a fort- night, besides many bccasional sermons both in publick and private i and many cas«i of conscience, which were brought unto him to be discuss- ed. Thus his ministry in Dorchester, besides innumerable other texts of scripture, went over the book of Genesis, to chap, xxxvlii the sixteenth Psalm ; the whole book of the prophet Zechariah ; Mat'.'i o^s gospel to chap, XV. the fifth chapter in the tirst Epistle to the Theualonvins ; and the whole second Epistle of Peter ; his notes wheron he reviewed and renewed, and fitted fur the press before his death. He also published a treatise of justificatiim, whereof Mr. Cotton and Mr. WUson gave thip testimony: Thou shall find this tittle treatise to be like Mary's box of spikenard, which washing the paths of Christ toward us, (as that did his feel) will befit to perfume not only (he whole house of God with the odour of his grace, but also thy soul with the oyl of gladness, above what creature comforts can afford. The manner of handling thou shaltjind to be solid, judicious, succinct, and pithy, fit (by the blessing of Christ) to make wise unto salvation. And besides these things, he published cate- chisms, a lesser and a larger, so well formed, thataLu er made use of any physician all his days ; nor was ho ever sick of nnv acute disease, nor in hfty years together, by any sickness detained so much as one Lord^s day from his publick hbours. Only the two last years of his life, he felt that which has been called Flagellum Sludioiorum, namely, the stone which proved the tombstone, whereby all his labours and sor- rows were, in fine brought unto a period. § 16. A council of neighbouring churches being assembled at Boston, April 13, I6G9, to advise about some differences arisen there, Mr. Ma- ther, for his age, grace and wisdom, was chosen the Moderator of that reverend assembly. For divers days, whilst he was attending this con- sultation, he enjoyed his health better, than of some later months ; but as Lather was at a Synod surprised with a violent fit of the stone, which caused him to return home, with little hope of life, so it was with this holy man. On April 16, lodging at the house of his worthy son, a min- ister in Boston, he was taken very ill with a total stoppage of un'ne, where- in according to Solomon's expression nf it. The wheel was broken at the cis- tern. So his Lord found him about the blessed work of Vl peace maker ; and witli an allusion to the note of the German Phcenix, Mr. Shepard of Charlestown, put that stroke afterwards into his Epitaph : Vixerat in Synodis, Moritur Moderator in Illis. Returning by coach, thus ill, unto his house in Dorchester, he lay p:i- tiently expecting of his change ; and, indeed was n pattern of patience. to all spectators, for all survivors. Though he lay in a mortal extremi- ty of pain, he never shrieked, he rarely groaned, with it ; and when he W!i3 able, he took delight in reading Dr. Goodwin's discourse about pa- tience, in which book he read until the very day of his death. When they asked him, how he did ? his usual answer was. Far from well, yet far better than mine iniquities deserve. And when his son said unto him. Sir, God hath shewed his great faithfulness unto you, lutving upheld you now for the space of more than fifty years in his service, and employed you therein without ceasing, which can be said of very few men, on the face of the earth ; he replied. You say true ; I must acknowledge, the mercy of God hath been great towards me, all my days; but I must also acknowledge that I have had many failings, and the thoughts nfthem abascth me, and worketh patience in m '. So did he, like Austin having the Penitential Psalms, before him, un- til he died, keep up a spirit of repentance, as long as he b'ved. Indeed this excellent man did not speak much in his last sickness, to those that were about him, having spoken so much before. Only his son perceiving the symptoms of death upon him, said, Sir if there be any special thing, which you would recommend unto me to do, in case the Lord shovld spare me on earth, after you arc in Heaven, I would intreat you to express it ; at which, after a little pause, with lifted eyes and hands, he returned, .4 spc- cial thing which I would commend to you, is, care concerning the rising gen- eration in this country, that they be brought under the government of Christ inhis church, and that when grownup, and qualified, they have baptism, for^ 412 ^ TIIK I/ISTORY OF NEVV-ENGLAND. [Book 111. their children. I must confess, I have betn ihfeclive, as to practice ; yet I have nublickly dtclftred mtjjml'jment, and manifested my dttiret to prac- tice that VL-hich I think ought to be attended ; but the dissenting of some in our church, discouraged me. I have thought, that persons might have right to baptism, and yet not to the fjord's Supper ; and I see no cause to alter my judgment, as to that purltcular. ,'lnd I still think, that persons . '' ^' In Pium, Voctum,Sf Fraclarum, ' " I>orccs-/JngZanhments were considerable ; and being a very humble mun, he found, that sanctified knowledge grows mofst luxuri- ant in tha fat v(dleys of humility: being a very patient man, he found that the dew of Fleaven. which falls not in a stormy or cloudy night, was always falling on a soul ever serene, with the meekest patience. He was none of those low-built thatched cottages, that are apt to cutch fire : but like an high-built castle, or palace, free from the combustions of passion. He was indeed one of so sweet a temper, that his friends ana- ^rammatised, John Allin, into this : In Honi All. § 4. His polemical abilities, were discovered, in a treatise called, A De- fence of the JWne Positions ; wherein (being of Calvin'' s mind, ink is too dear and costly with us, if we doubt to spend ink in writing, to testifie those things, which martyrs of old sealed with their blood :) he, with Mr. Shepard of Cambridge, handle the points of church-reformation ; at what rate, not my pen, but our famoOs old Mr. Cotton^: in his preface to a book of Mr. Norton's may describe unto us. ' Shepardus, una cum Allinio Fratre,[Fratrum dulce par) uti eximidpie- teieflorent amho, 4* Eruditione non mediocri, atque etiam Mysleriorum Pietatis prcedicatione (^per Christi Gratiam) efficaci admodum, iia egregiam novarunt Operam in abstrusissimis Disciplince nodis fcelicitur enodandis. Verba horum Fratrum, uti auaviter spirant Pietatem, Feritatem, Charita- ttm Christi ; ita speramus fore (per Chisti Gratiam) ut multi, qui a Disci- plinA Christi alieniores erant, adore horum unguentorum Chisti effusorum dtlebati atque delincti, ad amorem ejus 4* pellecti ^ pertracti, earn avidius arriplunt atque amplexentur. Moreover, another judicious discourse of his, in defence of the Synod hold nt Boston, in the year 1662, has declared hia principles about church- discipline, as well as bis abilities to maintain his principles. The person against whom he wrote this defence, was that very person, whose life shall be the very next in our history ; for, r • >:> Hi Motus Animorum, atque hcee certamina tanta, Pulveris exigui Jactu compressa quiescunt. */- •»■• § 5. When the holy church of Dedham was gathered, in the year 1638, he became their pastor ; and in the pastoral care of that church he con- unued, until Aug. 26, 1671 : when after ten days of easie sickness, he (lied, as Myconius well expresses it, Vitaliter mori; in the seventy-fifth year of his age. Now, according to that nfJerflm, Lacrymm Atiditorum Tuoe sint Lnudes ; heboid, reader, the praises of this excellent maa. His flock published Vol. I. 53 4n t! THE HlbTORY OF NEWENGLANl). [Book III. the two liirtt Kermons that ever he preached ; one whereof was on Cant, viii. 6. Who is this that comes vpfrom the wilderness, leaning on her be- loved i* 'J'he other on ./o/t»» xiv. 22. Peace I leave with yon. But they write their preface with tear* ; and with fearful praises they celebrate him, as one altogether above their praises : and '» constant, Jaithful, dili- gent steward in the house of God ; a man of peace and truOi, and a burn- ing and a shining light. Adding, The rratcn is fallen from our heads . Oh.' that itwerexvith us as in times pant ! which desire of theirs, has been happily answered, in two most worthy successors. ' The character once given to Vhilippus Gallns, may very justly be now made the epitaph of our John Jlllin. .1 EPITAPH lUM ' ■■ " ' . ^ . f. ^ ■-, -..f .' , .. ,, "i ,.• --■', ,. , -, • . Johannes Allinius. ' .r * ■ * '.) ' ; , '<•' ■ ■-■<' ■• - \ •' Vir Sinc'rns, Amans pttcis,paticnsque Laborum, ■'. • • \- il, ,. Perspicuus, Simplex, Doctrina purus Amalor. '' *•' ''■ i*'- 'J CHAPTER XXIII. Cadmus Jhnericanus. The Life of Mr. Charles Chakcev. ' ' Suadet Lingua, Jubet Fita, "' " § 1. There was a famous person, in times, by chronolgoical compu- tation, as ancient as the days of Joshua, known by the name of Cadmus; who cr/. riad not only people, but letters also, from Phaniiia into Battia. The Grecian fable of a serpent, in the story of Cadmus, was only de- rived from the name of an Ilivite, which by his nation belonged unto him ; for an fllvite signifies a serpent, in the language of Syria. This renowned Cadmus, was indeed a Gibeonite, who having been well treat- ed by Joshua, and by Joshua not only continued in the comforts of life, but also instructed and employed in the service of the true God, he retained ever after most honourable sentiments of that great command- er. Yea, when after ages, in their songs, praised Jipollo for bis vic- tory over the dragon Pytho, they uttered but the disguised songs of Ca- naan, wherein this Ca'imMs had celebrated the praises of Joshua, for his victory over Og the King of Bashan, Cadmus having been (as one of the Greek poets writes of him) educated in Hebron or Dehir, the universities of Palestine, was fitted thereby to be a leader in a great un- dertaking ; and when the oppression of Ctishanrishathaim, caused a num- ber of people to seek out new seats, there were mnny who under the conduct of Cadmus, transported themselves into Greece, where the notions and customs of an Israelitish original, were therefore a long while preserved, until they were confounded with pagan degeneracies. There is reason to think, that a colony of Hebrews themselves did now swarm out into Peloponnesus, where the book of Maccabees will help us to find Lacedemonians (or Cadmnnians, that is. the followers of Cadmus, in their true etymology) of the stock of Moruham; and we know that Strabo tells us. that Cadmus had Arabians (and the Israelites, were by such heathen writers accounted so) in his company. Accordingly, wher ijrezi' ; in his Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAlsu. m9 we read, that a college among the old Greciam was called academiaf we mtiy soon inform our selves, that it was at tirst called Cadmia or Cadmea, in commemoration of Cadmus, the Flupnician ; to whom those parts of the world were first beholden, for such nurseries of good literature and religion. ,,a. i These reseiirches into antiquity, had not, in this place heen laid be- fore my reador, if they nut!;ht not havu servud ji« nn introduction unto this piece of Kew-Eiiglish history ; that wjien sonie ecrlesiaslical oppres- sions drove a colony of the truest Isru/lllvs into the remoter parts of the world, there was an academy quickly founded in that colony : and our Chancey was the Cudmus of that academy ; by who ■ vast labour and learning, the knowleds^e of the Lord Jesus Christ, scr.ed by all the human sciences, hath been conveyed unto posterity. It is now fit, that a few memoirs of that reverend man should fdl our pages. § 2. Mr. Charles Chancey was an llartfordshire man ; born in the year 1589, of parents that were both honourable and religious. Be- ing sent from thence to Westminster-school, his hopeful prolicienc in good literature, within a short while, ripened him for the university. And it was one thing which caused hina to have the more feeling resent- ments of the famous Powf/ey-rZof, the TcpoH whereof will makearioue as long as the fifth, of November is in our kalendar ; that at the time when that^/o( should have taken its horrid effect, he was at that school, which mu»t also have been blown up, if the Parliament-house had per- ished. The university of Cambridge, was that which afterward instruct' ed and nourished this eminent person, and fitted him for the service wherein he had opportunity afterwards to demonstrate that he was in- deed such a person. The particular college whereof he was here a member, was Trinity College ; by the same token, that in the Lachrymic Cantabrigienses, published by the Cantabrigians, on the death of Q,ueen Ann, I find him in that style composing and subscribing one of the most witty Latin /josms in that whole collection. Here he proceeded Batc/i- elour of Divinity : and having an intimate acquaintance with that great m;m Ur. Usher, whom all men have confessed worthy of the character, wherewith foetus mentions him, f^astte Lecuch fervent exprestiions of indignation, as our Mr. Chancey, who thus took the revenges of a deep repentance upon his own confoi'mity to them. And (ew suffered for non-conformity more than he by Jincs, by gaols, by necessities to abscond, and at last by an exile from his native country. Yea, though he bad lived a very exact life, yet when he came to die, more than forty years after this, he lefl these words in his Inst will and testainent. In regard of corrupt nature, I do acknowledge my self to be a child of wrath, and sold under sin, and one that hath been polluted with in- numerable transgressions and mighty sins, which as far as I know and can call to remembrance, I keep still fresh before me, and desire with mourning, and self abhorring still to do, as long as life shall last ; and especially my so many sinful compliances with and conformity unto vile human inventions, and will-worship and hell-bred superstition, and patcheries sticht into the nervice of the Lord, (which the English Mass book, 1 mean, the Book of Common Prayer, and the ordination of Priests, ^c. are fully fraught •Mthal.) § 6. There was once a Parliament in England, whereto a speech of no less a man than the Lord Digby, made a complaint, that men of the best cmscience were then ready to fly into the wildernessfor religion : and it »va3 complained in an elegant speech of Sir Benjamin Rudyard's, A great mul- titude of the King''s subjects, striving to hold communion with us, but seeing how far we were gone, and fearing how much farther we would go, were forced tofly the Land, very many into salvage wildernesses, because the land would not bear them : do not they tliat cause tfiese things, cast a reproach upon the government. And in a notable speech of Mr. Fiennes, a certain number of ceremonies in the judgment of some men, unlawful, and to be re jected of all churches, in the judgment of all other reformed churches, and in the judgment of our own church. 6uHndifierent, yet what difference, yea what distraction have these indifferent ceremonies raised among us ? What hath deprived us of so many thousands of christians, which d-'sired, and in all other respects deserved to hold communion with us ; I say, n-hnt hath deprived us of them, and scattered them into I know not what places and corners of the world, but these indifferent ceremonies ? It was then that Mr. Pym, in the name of the House of Commons, impeaching A. B. Laud, before the House o( Lords had these expressions. You have tke King* a loyal subjects banished out of the kingdom, not as Elimelech, to seek for bread in foreign countries, by reasmi of the great scarcity which was in Israel ; hit travelling abroad for the bread of life, because they could not have it at home, hy reason of the spiritual famine ofGinVs zvnrd. caused by this man, and his partakers : and by this means j/oti have the industry of many thou- sands of his majestifs subjects carried out of the land. And at last the whole House of Commons put this article in the ri>monstrtnce, which they then made unto t'lo King. The Bishops and their Courts did impov- tnsh many thousands ; and so afflict and trouble others, that grea! nvml^.r'!. i'ii Tim HISTORY OF NEVV-ENOLAND. [Book 111. to avoid their miieries, departed out of the kingdom, iome into Now-Englund and other parti of Aincnca. Uiit it 18 now time to tell my render, that in the tranxportations, ihui rensonubly un«l purliuincutarily cuinplaiiicd of, one of the most convidcr- able pertions rcinovin)! into Jlnurica, was Mr. Charles i'hancty ; who ar- rived at I'lytnoutk in jVcw-tlm^land, a lew days beforu the great earth- quake which happened VtinMar^ I, H\3Q. § 7. Atler he had spent HOino time in the ministry of the K^^i^pol, with ' 'r. Jieyner o( I'/yinouth, he rumovuti nnto a town a little northward of it, called Hcituair, where he remiined for three and three liincu three yv/Mi, cultivating the vineyard of the Lord in that place. Of thix his minis- try at tu-iluate, lot me preserve at leant, titis one rememlirance : having hill ordination renewed at hisi entrance upon this new relation, he did at (hat Holemnily preach upon those words, in Frov ix. 3, H'ixdom hath sent forth her maidens; and in his discourse, making a most aflVctionatc rellcction upon his former compliances with (he temptations of the High Commission Cou>l, he said tvith tears, Jllus, rhrislinns, I am no viaiden ; tny soul halh been defiled with false •worship ; howwondrousis the free-grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, that I shmdd still be employed among the maidens of reisdom ! Afterwards, npon an invitation from his old people at Ware, to return unto them, he purppscd a removal with his family back to tlngland ; but when he came to Hoston in order thereunto, the overseers of Ilarvoid- CoUcdf^e at Cambridge, which now wanted a President, by their vehement importunity, prevailed with him to accept the government of that socie- ty ; wherein worthily (7tMjm^' their way, and silling chief , and dwelling as a King in the midst of his army, he continued unto the day of his death. From this time 1 behold him »s another Elijah, shedding his benign influ- ences on the school of the prophets ; and with immense labours instructing, directing and feeding the hope ofVieflock in the wi/deruess. At his instal- ment, he concluded his excellent oration, made unto a venerable assembly, then tilling the Colledge-llall with such a passage as this, unto the students there, Dodiorem, certe I'xvsidein, S{ huir. Oneri acStatUmi mnltisModisAp- fiorem, vnbis facile licet Invenire sed Amantiorem, 4' vestri Boni Studiom- rem, iion Iniirineliif. And certainly he was as good as his word. How learnedly he now conveyed all the liberal arts unto those that sat at his feet; how iriUily he moderated their disputations, and other exercises ; how constantly he expounded the scriptures to them in the Colledge-Hall ; how Jluent/y he expressed himself unto them, with Latin of a Terenlian phrase, in all his discourseij ; and how carefully he inspected their nuin- j/cr.v, and was above all things concerned for them, that they might an- swer a note which he gave thorn [IVhen you are your selves interested in the Lord Jesus Christ, and his righteousness, yon will befit to be teacliers (f others : Isiiiah cries. Now send me ! wlmn his sins tvere pardoned: bid icilhout this, yon are fit fcr nothing :] will never be forgotten by m««t/of our most worthy men, who were made such men, by their education under him : for we shall find as many of his disciples in our catalogue of gradu- ates, as there were in \.\yA\. cnllcdge oi believers, nt Jerusalem, whereof we read in the tirst chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. But If theie were any disadvantages of an has/y temper, sometimes in his con.luct, they still ^vere presently so corrected with his holy temper, that this did but invite persons to think the more of that Elias to whom we have compared lii-ii ; iir.i' therefore, as thoy were forgotten by every one, in the very day olthem, they arc, at thisdav, much more to be so : Mr. UrianOakrs nooK lll.j THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 483 that preached hiH funeral iiermon, well naiil, Th- mention thereof was to he wrnppetlnp in Elijiiirs mantle. Hut if the .„o\c. country were scnHi- - bit' of the blcsning which nil New-Knf^hvtd enjoyed in our Chancey now at Cambriili^e ; the church of Cnmbridffe, to whom he now joined, and preached, had a very particular cause to bo no. And to indeed they were ; hy the same token, that when he had been above a year or two ia the town, the church kc|)t n whole day of tiianksoivinu to tiod, for the mercy, which they enjoyed in his beinc there. § 8. He wnfl a inoflt indefatigable student, which with the blessing of God, rendered him a most incomparable scholar. Me rose very early, nhout four a clock, both winder and summer; and he Hct the scholars an example of diligence, hardly to be followed. Rut Uene Orame, est Bene Slitdnisae : by interweaving of constant prayers into his holy studies, he made them indeed holy ; and my reader shall cotint, if he pleases, how oft in a day he addressed Heaven with solemn devotions, and judge whether it might not be said of our Charles, as it was of Charles the Great, (which is indeed the way to become great) Carohts plus cum Deo,quam cum Hominibus loquitur; when 1 have told, that at his first getting up in II morning, he commonly spent near an hour in secret prayer, before his minding any other matter ; th m visiting the co//e(/gc-^a//, he expounded a chapter, (which was first read from the Hebrew) of the Old Testament, with a short prayer before . and u long one after his exposition : he then did the like upon another chapter, with a /iru^cr before, and aAer, in his family : about eleven a clock in the forenoon, he retired again about three quarters of an hour (or secret prayer. At four a clock in the afternoon he again did the like. In the evening he expounded a chapter, (which was first read into the Greek) of the JVew-Testament, in the colledge-hall, with a (brayer in like manner before and after ; the like he did also in his family : and when the bell rang for nine at night, he retired for an- other hour uf secret prayer before the Lord. But on the Lord's days morning, instead of his accustomed exposition, he preike confession of the poet^ fvliich of all is the most unhappy for the preacher. -Monitis sum, minor ipse meiis.' ' .>•» He was, indeed, an exceeding plain preacher, frequently saying, Artis Vol. I 54 m Tin: insTOi-.v of nkw-kngland. [Bo»jk in fit Cflare Artrm; hiuI yot ii more Uarntil, Jiiiil a moru lively |)reiiclicr liiiM rai'civ l)i>cii hcanl. lie woiiltl tlirrrtorc mention it, as a )iipii ^iviMi ot'it, that I'hotins, );ivi't< about the preaching of Wr/um- rt.iMM .• In Sermoiiil'Ui ulnijiie in Itoculione ('larn» est, 4* Hrcvii, ^ Simplrx, Jhuttts tniiicn Ji- .lllu*. iV* Arniimentati'niihm, oinniovehemens, Ji'inhia 'Jun- ta Lilierias, ul Admirahlit nit. § 1 1. In the lollfc-ilaro whrrrof ho was president, he did the part, T« ^iXMitfMwh KM tillcittion as a standard of truth and salvation to them ; which they should holdfast, and as the Lord shall call them thereunto hold forth, in their generations. It had been an u.sual thing with him. solemnly to caution scholars against those doctrines, which exalt man, and debase Chriitt : and he thought particularly with Luther, Jlmisso Articulo juslificationi$,i,' amissa est simul iota Doctrina Christiana. And agreeably to that caution, we have liim, in this his most judicious treatise, maintaining, • That justificittion is a judicial proceeding, whoroin the sentence of ' God absolves, and acquits the sinner from the guilt of sin, and accepts ' him as a just person, unto eternal life. ' TlxixtlUc justification of a sinner before God, in the rfecree of it, in the * purch'ise of it, and in the application olit, is to be ascribed unto the/ref ' grace of God, and yet there is also a glorious concurrence of strict jus- ' tice thereunto. ' That the Son of God condescending to be the surety of his chosen, took ' their debt upon himself, and by suffering the full punishment which was * due for their sins, made that satisfaction unto the justice of God, where- ' upon we receive the remission of sins, which without snch a satisfaction * had been impose ibie. * That none of the ajlictions which befal the faithful, are proper pun- ' ishments for sin, but the corrective dispensiions of a careful father, and ' the sanative dispeniiations of a prudent /tm/er. ' That yet many godly men smart for their boldness in sin : and when ' Paul writing to saints, tells them. If you live after the flesh, you shall die : ' he speaks not only of temporal, but of eternal death: for though 'tis not ^ possible for S'lints to die eternally, 'tis as possible for them to die eter- ' nally, as to siW eternally. ' That we are not justified by faith, as it i? a work in us, nor is our act ' of believing, any part of the matter of that righteousness, wherein we » etaod righieom before God. Bnt faith does only justitie us relatively. Book III] THE HISTOKY OF NEWKNGLAND. 4itT or nn it biw rofurcnce to it;* olijcrt the Lord Jcmm ChriHt, nnd hi* righte' • oHSHM*, or m it rrccivt'8 tlic inerct/ of (Snd in the Lord Jesim Christ ; ■ or iw the be«i;){nr'« hand reci-ivirii; » bHgof^old ciiriclieth liim ; it in but a ' passive in$trHinenl ; and the words of Jainet, That a man i» juntified b}/ • work$, 'ind not by faith alone ; do not oppotie the other words oT I'mii, ' but only nognrt, that n justifying;; J'nith, is in this oppoiied unto a taUo and ■ a doad faith, it will certainly be etTectiiul tu produou good worka in tbt; ' boliovcr. ' That believers, notwithstanding the for'^ivrness of their sins, onght ' ol\**n to ronew nil the the expressions of repentance for their sins, and ' still to be fervent and instant in prayer for pardon ; inasmuch as wk ■ have need of havint; remission afresh applied unto us ; and we also • need the joys and fruits of our pardon, and the grace to make a right ' «.« thereof. ' That the whole obedience of the Lord Josus Christ, both active and 'passive, belongs to t\mt perfi-ct righteousness which is required in order ' [ojuslificatiDH ; and this righteousness (fdud is conveyed unto believers, • by way of imputation : it is reckoned and accounted theirs upon their ' apprehending of it ; which imputation is a gracious act of God the Fn- ■ ther, whereby as a judge, he accounts the sins of the believer unto the - surety, as if he had committed the same, and the riu;bteoiisness of the ' Lord Jesus Christ unto the believer, a^if he hud performed that obcdi- • ence. ' That still it follows not, that every believer is a Redeemer, and Saviour ' of others, as the Lord Jesus Christ himself is ; it is the righ tcouf^nes ' of the surety, and not the ^uretijhip it self, that is imputed unto the bt« ' liever : the suretiship is proper unto our Lord, and because the ver- ' tue which is in the head, is communicated unto the members, 'tis frivo- ■ lous thence to urgne, that every member is thereby made an head, and ' has the influence of our head upon the rest. ' That as Adamv/M the common rxot of all mankind, andsohis^ri/ sin ' is imputed unto nil his posterity , iltus our Lord Jesus Christ is the ' common root of all ihe faithful, and his obedience is imputed unto them •all.' This was the old faith o( J^ew- England, about that most important ar- ticlfi oi justification ; an article wherein all the duties and comforts of ir holy religion arc, more than a little concernp'l. And i thought 1 cnukl not make a fitter present unto the sons of my mother, than by thus layiiij; before the scholars of Ilarvard-Colledgc , an abstract of what the venerible old FresiV/«n< of that colledge left as a legacy unto them. All that I shall add upon it, is, that as 'tis the observation of our Dr. Oxeen, in his most judicious book of justification : I am not satisfied that any ofthoic, who at present oppose this doctrine, do in holiness and righte- ou^ness, and the exercise of all christian graces, surpass those who in the last ogs, both in this and other nations, firmly adhered unio it, and who con- stuntly testified unto that effectual infiueiice, which it had into their walking before God ; nor do I know th'tt any can be named amongst us in theform- tr d'^es, who were eminent in holiness, and many such there v>ere, who did nnt cordicdly assent unto that, which we plead for. And it doth not yet ap- . pear in general, that an attempt to introduce a doctrine contrary vrito it, has lutil any great succesa in the reformation of the lives of men. So our holy Chancey was an eminent instance to contirm something of this observa- tion. Albeit he were so elaborately solicitous to exclude good works from any share in the antecedent condition of our justification ; yetthero. - 428 THE HISTORY OF NEWENGLAND. [Book HI, Mrere few men in the world, who more praclically and accurately ac- knowledged the necessity of good works in all the justilied : and bo afraid was he of defiling his own soul, and of disturbing his own peace, by the admission of any known sin, that though he made so many stated suppli- cations every day, yet if he had fallen iulo any misbecoming passion, or any sensible distemper, or disorder nf heart in the day, it occasioned his immediate retirement, for another prayer extraordinary before the Lord. § 11. I remember, that upon the article in the praises of a good man, [Psal. i. 3,] tie biingsjorth his fruit in kis season, there is a notable gloss of Jliffi Ezra, to this purpose ; Anima Rationalis plena Sapientiiz, in Tem- pore Scnectutii oppoifuno, sejaratur a Corpnre, sicut Frttctus ab Aibnre, 8f iuin moritur ante Diem. Such a tree was our Chancey, and such was his fate. This eminent soldier of our Lord Jesus Christ, after he was come to be fourscore years of nge, continued still to endure liardness as a good soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ ; and sliil professtul, with the aged Poly- carp, That he was not willing to leave the service of the Lord, that had more than fourscore years been a good master to him. W hen his friends pressed him to remit and abate his vast labours, he would reply, Oportet Imprralorein Stantem mori ; according he stood beyond expectation, direct- ing in the learned crtjrtp, where he had hcen n commander . At length on the commencement in the year lG71,he made tA farewel oration, wherein he took a solemn farewel of his friends, and then sent for his children, upon whom he bestowed a solemn blessing, with fervent prayers, commending them to the grace of God. So like aged 11. Simeon, once ('tis by some thought] the president of a college at Jerusalem, he kept waiting and longing for his caW, to depart in peace! Accordingly the rndof this year proved the end of his days : when illness growing upon him, the reverend Mr. Urian Oakes, after his requested supplications, asked him to give a sign of his hopeful and joyful assurances, if he yet had them, of his e.itering into eternal glory ; whereat the speechless old man lifted up his hands, as high towards Heaven, as he could lift them, and so his renewed and ripened £on2 tlew thither Feb. 19, 1671, in the eighty-second year of his age, and the seventeenth year of his president- ship, over IlarvardColledge. He left behind him no less than six sons ; every of which had received the laurels of degrees, in the colledge ; and some of them from the hand of their aged father. Their names were Isaac, Ichabod, Barnabas, Kathanael and Elnathan, (which two were twins) and Israel. All of these did. while they had opportunity, preach the gospel ; and most, if not all of them, like their excellent father before them, had an eminent skill in physick added unto their other accomplish- ments ; which like him, they used for the good of many ; as indeed it is well known, that until two hundred years ago, physick in England, was no profession diii^tinct from divinity ; and accordingly princes had the same persons to be their physicians and their confessors. But only two of them are now living ; thefirst an/ ,- came ever in on« lAtp ; were ' pastor and teacher of om church ; and Mr. Parker continuing always in ' celibacy, they lived in one houte, till death separated them for a time ; * but they arc both now together iu one Heaven, as they that best knew ' them have nil posaible reason to be perswuded. Mr. Parker continu- ' ed in his house, as long as he lived ; and us be received a great deal ' of kindness and respect there, so be showed a great deal of kindness ' in the educating of his children, and was very liberal to that family do- ' ring his life, and at his death. He never forgot the old friendship, but ' shewed kindness to the dead^ in shewing kindness to the living. ' Mr. Parker miA Mr. Noyet, were excellent singers, both of them ; and ' were extraordinary delighted in singing of psalvu. They sang four ' times a day in the publick worship, and always just after evening-prayer ' in the family, where rending the scripture, expounding, and praying, * tvere the other constant exercises. Mr. Parker and Mr. JVoye«, were ' of the same opinion with Dr. Owen, about the sabbath; yet in practice, * were strict observers of the evening after it. Mr. Parker, whose prac- < tice I myself remember, was the strictest observer of the sabbath, that * ever I knew. 1 once asked bin , seeing his opinion was otherwise, as ' to the evening belonging to the sabbath, why his practice differed from ' his opinion .' He answered me, Because he dare not depart from the foot- * steps of the flock, for his private opinion. ' Being got into some passages of Mr. Parker's life before I am aware, ' I will insert a few more : and you may make what use of them you ' please. He kept a school, as well as preached, a* Newbury in New- ^England. He ordinarily had about twelve or fourteen scholars. He < took no pay for hii> pnins, unless any present were freely sent him. He ' used to siiy, He lived for the churches sake, and begrutched no pains that * were for its beuetit ; and by his good will he was not free to teach any ' but such as were designed for the ministry by their parents ; for he * would say. He coufd not bestow his time and pains unless it were for the ' beneflt of the church. Though he were blind, yet such was his memory, ' that he could in his old age, teach Latin, Greek and Hebrew, very arti- ' ticially. He seldom corrected a scholar, unless for lying and flghting, *■ which were xmpardonable crimes in our school. He promoted learn- ' ing in his scholars, by something an unupua' way ; encouraging them to ' learn lessons, and make versea, besides and above their stinted tasks, ' for which they had pardu.is in store, that were kept on record in the ' school, and were for lesser school-faults, such as were not immoralities, ' and sins against God, crossed out ; but be always told them, they must ' not think to escape unpunished for sin against God, by reason of them ; * though for some lesser defects about their lessons, they were accepted. ' I heard him tell Mr. Millar the minister, that the great changes of his * life had been siguided to him before-hand by dreams. And I heard him * say, that before a fiery temptation of the devil befel him, he had a very ' terrible representation in Mi4f0W»t . or humanity of a fourth; Rtteiidingto one ri ''wyfvwn/fri, or keeping of his watchfulnt$$ } to t moth- er rS piJaXi^itli, or loving of learning : rcmarkmg of one, r«» U* »^ifhfim, in hia patience ; of another, u* 'ir tnrnmtn»i x'*M*»fiim, in his /irm, or tnaniuetvde, of one ; the r^ lumftivpuMy or longanimity nf another : but, Tmr«» •/«« r** 'i/f r» xf'""^** \vriSiim MM Tii» «-^ *«AAirAU< '«y«TD*, thept«(^ ol'them all, toward the Lord Je»U8 Christ, and thu clarify of them all, towards one onother. Such excellencies of good men have been set before my reader, in the Lives that wc have written of several such good men, who were the excellent on the earth. But if my reader would see a inany of those ex- eelUnciet meeting together in one man, there are not many, in whom I could more hopefully promise him such a sight, than in our excellent Mr. Thomae Thacher: who is now, therefore, to be cpnsidered. § 2. Mr. Thomat Thacher was born ./Hay 1, 1€20, the son of Mr. Peter Thacher ^ a reverend minister at Salisbury, in England : one, whom, in a letter of Dr. Twiss to Mr. Mede, at the end of bis workii, we find joined with fimious Mr. fVliite of Dorchester, in a conversation, wherein the learned exercises of that great man, made a grateful entertainment. And because it may bo some satisfaction unto good men, to see instnncei multiplied, for the confirmation of a matter mentioned by Mr. Baxter, in his proof of tn/an< baptism, where he says. As large experience as I have hadin my ministry, of the slate of souls, and the way of conversion, / dare say, I have met not with one of very many, that would say, that they knew the time when they were converted : and of those that would >^ o, by reason that they then found some more remarkiible change, yet i/ -,; uiscov- ered such stirrings and workings before^ that many, I had cause to think, 'sere themselves mistal'en. / was once in a meeting of very many chris- tians, the most eminent for zeal and holiness of most in the hmd, of whom divers were ministers, and some at this day as famous, and ct muchfollowed as any I know in England ; and it was there de^In.d, that every one shotdd give in the manner of their conversion, that it might be observed, what was God^s ordinary way ; and there was but one, that I remember, of tliem all, that could conjecture at the time of their first conversion. It shall here be noted, that this was the experience of our Thacher The re- generating and verticordious grace of heaven, took ndvantaste from his religious education, insensibly, as it were, to steal into the heart of this young disciple. He afterwards affirmed, that he was never able to determine the time, when the spirit of God first began to convince him, and renew him ; only he could say with the reverend blind man, I was blind, but now I »ee. When Thacher was a child, the Lord loved him, and this child also loved the Lord : he was an Ahijah, that whil^ he was (x cAt/j), had manj Vol. I. '66 449 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book 111. good things in him to:i}ards the Lord God of hit father^ he was a TVmotAy, that while he was a child, knew the holy scripttire$ : he was a Samuel, that in his childhood was visited by the Holy Spirit : he was a Josiah, thiit while he was yet young, sought after the Lord : and so much remarked was his early piety, that while he was in his earliest minority, they would say of him, There goes a Puritan. It might indeed be said of him, as they report of St. Nicholas, that he led a life, Sanctissime, ab ipsis Incuna bulis Inchoatam. And it might be said by him, as it was by the blessed ancient in his confessions, Domine, puer capi rogare tc Auxilium^r Jtefttgium tne- um, ^ rogavi parvus, non parvo affectu. § 3. Having been well educated at the grammar school, he bad the I'ffer of his father to perfect his education at the university, either of iJamhridge or Oxford. But considering the impositions of things, to him appearing unwarrantable, tvhereto he then must have exposed himself, he conscientiously declined his father's offer, and chose rather to venture over the AtlatUic ocean, and content himself with the meannesses of Jlmerica, than to wound bis own conscience for the academical priviledges of England. When his parents discerned his inclination, they permitted his remo- val io New-England : intending themselves, within a year or two, with ' their family, to have removed thither after him : which intention was prevented by the death of his mother, before it could be effected. He arrived at Boston, June 4, 1635. In which year he was won- derfully preserved from a shipwreck, with his uncle, wherein a wor- thy minister, one Mr. Avery, lost his life, as elsewhere we have related. A day or two before that fatal voyage from Newberry to Marblehead, our young Thacher had such a strong, and sad impression upon his mind, about the issue of the voyage, that he, with another, would needs go the jour- ney by land, and so he escaped perishing with some of his pious and precious friends by sea. § 4. 'Tis well known, that in the early days of Christianity, there were n3 colledges, (except we will say the Cattchetick Lecture at Alexandria was one) for the breeding of young ministers ; but the bishop of evehy church took the care to educate and elevate some young men, who might be pre- f-ic?d thereby to succeed in their place, when they should be dead and gon3. And in the early days of New-England, they were for a little vrhile obliged unto such a method of providing young men for the ser- vice of the churches. Thus our Thacher, by the good providence of God, was now cast into the family, and under the tuition of that rever- end man, Mr. Charles Chancey; who was afterwards the President of Harvard-Colledge, in our Cambridge. Under the conduct of that emi- nent scholar, he became such an one himself; and his indefatigable stu- dies were so prospc --ed,that he became Aligtiis in Omnibus, without the blemish usually, but sometimes unjustly annexed unto it, Nullus in Singu- lis. He was not unskilled in the tongues, especially in the Hebrew, whereof he did compose a Lexicon ; but so rcjiprized it, that within one sheet of paper, he had every considerable word of the language. .And he was as well skilled in the arts, especially in logic, whereof he gave demonstr8.Hon, in his being a most irrefragable disputant, on some great occasions. Moreover, it was his custom, once in three or four years time, at snb- cesive hours, to go over the tongues, and arts, atsuch a rate, that his good s?.ill in them continued fresh unto the last. And to all his other accom- plisluDeats, tliere was this added, that he was a most incomparable scribe: Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 443 he not only wrote all the sorts of hands in the best copy-books then e«< tant, with a singular exactness and acuteness, but there are yet extant monuments ofSyriac, and other orienta' characters of his writing, which are hardly to be imitated. He had likewise a certain mechanic geniua, which disposed him in his recreations unto a thousand curiosities, espe- cially the ingenuity of clock-work , wherein at his leisure, he did things t» admiration. § 5. On May 11, 1643, he was married unto the daughter of that ven- erable man Mr. Ralph Partridge, the minister of Vuxbury. The coo> sort, whom the favour of Heaven, thus bestowed upon him, was e per- son of a most amiable temper ; one pious, and prudent, and every way worthy of the man to whom she became a glory. By her he received three sons and one daughter } and when she had continued three sevens of years with him, she went after a very triumphant manner to be for ever with the Lord, Jane 2, 1664, uttering those for her dying words. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly : "mhy are thy chariot-wheels so long a coming ? § 6. Having, as a candidate of the ministry, by his most commendable preaching and living, abundantly recommended himself unto the service of the churches, he was invited by the church of Weymouth to take the pastoral charge of them ; whereto he was ordained, Jan. 2, 1614. And here he did for many yeais fulfil his ministry, not only with elaborate and affectionate sermons, twice every Lord's day, and in a lecture once a fortnight ; but also in catechising the lambs of his flock, for which he like- wise made a Catechism. These, also, he would at 6t seasons call to an account concerning their proficiency under the means of grace ; and such as he found ripe for an admission unto the highest mysteries, at the table of the Lord, he would encourage to put themselves upon the publick and usual probation, in order thereunto, but such as he found short,he would suitably, faithfully, and fervently advise unto the preparations,- wherein they appeared hitherto defective. And God crowned these methods and labours of his holy servant, with observable successes ; which were seen in i)ie great growth of the church, whereof he had the oversight. But onn exct^licncy that shined above the other glories of his ministry, was that excellent spirit of prayer, which continually breathed in him. It has bnen used among the arguments for men to be much in prayer, thiit the dignity of Wie person praying is thereby much augmented ; and Chrysos- torn, in his t>'iok, De Deo Orando, says. The very angels cannot but hon- our him. wh'tm they see familiarly, and frequently to be admitted unto the audience, and as it were, discourse with the Divine Majesty. Now, though this honour have all the saints, yet our Thacher had more than ordinary shitre of this honour ; he was a person much in prayer, and as he waH much in paryer, so he had an eminency above most men living, for his co* pious, hisfluent, his fervent manner of performing that sacred exercise. It was an Heaven upon earth, to be present at the notable salleys of a raised soul, a lively faith, and a tongue, toucht with a coal from the altar, with which, in his prayers, he did Calum TunderCy 4* Misericordiam Ex- torqnere. § 7. After the death of his first wife, he married n second in Boston, which, with a concurrence of many obliging circumstances, occasioned his removal thither. And it was afterwards found, that He who holds th.r tlocik, but also as l^e had opportunity, expressing a care of all the churches. And foi the comfort of those worthy ministers, who commonly havt> 'tif>ir spirits bvjfeted with strong temptad'ons and sore dejections, befnr6 their performing uny special service of their ministry, ni mention one passage, that may a little describe how this worthy man became so useful : be would say to his son ; Son, I never preach a ser- mon, till I cannot preach at all! § 8. As he was in his whole behaviour a serious, holy, and useful man, fto in his government of hta family, he so well ruled his own house, as to give particular demonstrations of his abilities to take care of the Church of God. His domeit arrest of Quakerism, on the minds of men, and the seducers, have with a real and fToper witchcraft, by certain ceremonte* conveyed it unto them. Agree- ably hcreuuto, and inhabitant of Weymouth having bought certain Bibles at Boston, lodged the night following at a tavern, where two QuoAieri lodg- ed with him. The Quakers fell to disgracing and degrading the Bibles, wherewith he had furnished himself, as a dead letter, and advised him to hearken to the light within, which would sufficiently direct him to Heav- en ; and the effect of their enchantments was, that before morning, the poor man was as very a Quaker as the best of them. In the mornmg he was carrying back hid Bibles to the book-sellers, as books now become altogether use/ess ; and resolving to keep no dead letter any longer in his hands ; but in the way, he was met by Mr. Thacher, who seeing the man look wild and strange, and of an energumen countenance, over^per- swaded him to go aside with him, that he might enquire a little further to his condition. He carried the poor man into a neighbour's house, and privately there talked with him, and prayed with him, and by the wonderful blessing of Heaven, immediately recovered him from the er- ror of his way: the man was never any more a Quaker, but ever after this, wonderfully thankful unto God, and unto this his servant, for his recovery. § 10. The last that 1 shall mention of the excellencies that signalized this worthy man shall be his claim to the accomplishments of an excellent physician. He that for his lively ministry was justly reckoned among the angels of the churches, might for his medical acquaintances, experien- ces, and performances, be truly called a Raphael. Ever since the days ai Luke the evangelist, skill in physick has been frequently professed and practised, by persons whose more declared business was the study o( di- vinity. To bay nothing of such monks as JEgidius Atheniensis, or Constan' iinus Afer, or Johannes Damascenus, or Trusianns F'orentinus, and to say nothing of Henry Bochelt, a Bishop, or of Albicus, an Arch Bishop, or of iMdovicus Patavinus, a Cardinal, or of John xxii, a Pupe, nil of whom were notable physicians, our English nation has commonly afforded eminent physicians, who were aho ministers of the gospel. But I suppose the greatest frequency of the angelical conjunction, has been seen in these part* o( America, where they are mostly the poor to whom the gospel is preached, by pastors whose compassion to them in their poverty, invites them to supply the want of able physicians among them, and such an universally serviceable pastor was our Thacher. They were the priests of Egypt, of Greece, and of i?ome, who reserved in the archives of their temples the stories and methods of the cures, wrought on the recovered persons, who brought thither their thankful sacrijiccs ; and by the priests were directions hence comn^unicated unto such as wanted cures for the like distempers. As the art of healing was first brought into some order by the hands of officers that have been set apart for the care of soxds ; thus, that art has been pappily exercised by the hands of church-officers in all ages, who have admitiistred unto the "ouh of people the more effectually, for being able to administer unto 446 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENOLAND. [fiooK lit. their bodies. And a singular artist herein was our Thacher ; who, know> iiig that every rank of generous men had at some time or other afforded perHOoa eniioent tor skill in phyaick ; yea, that it had been studied by , no less than snch crowned heads as Mithridatet and Hadrianus, and Con- atantinus Pogonatus, he thought it no ways misbecoming him, to follow the example. How many hundreds in this way fared the better for him, I cannot say ; but this I can say, that as King Zamolxes of Hiraeia, who was of old a renowned physician, would give this as the reason why tbe Greeks had the diseases among them, so much oncured, because they neg- lected their touh, the chief thing of all: so our Thacher was blessed of God in his faiiiiful endeavours to make natural and spiritual health ac- company each other in those that were about him. * § II. But, Contra yim Mortis Nothing will exempt from the ar- rest of death. It happened that this excellent man preached for my fa- ther, a sermon on the 1 Pet. iv. 18, The righteous scarcely saved; the last words of which sermon were, When a saint comes to die, then often it is the hour and power of darkneess with him ; then is the last opportunity that the devil has to vex the people of God ; and hence they then sometimes have the greatest of their distresses. Do not thiiik him no godly man, that then meets with doxibts and fears ; our Lord Jesus Christ then cries out. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? God help us. tlutt as we live by faith, so we mny walk in it. And these proved the last words that ever he ut- tered in ...'.y sermon whatsoever. For visiting a sick person, aAer his going out of the assembly, he got some harm, which turned into h fever, whereof he did, without any hour and power of darkness upon his own holy mind, expire on October 15, 1678. He left behind him two wor- thy sons, iVfr. Peter Thacher, who is at this time the pastor of the church at Milton, and one from whose pious labours, not the English only, but even the Indians also receive the glad tydings of salvation; and Mr. Rdph Thacher, minister of the word at Matha's Vineyard. And he like- wise left one printed nff'-spring of his mind ; for as the reverend prefa- cer thereto observes, Whien the Lord knew that Boston, yea, that New- England would have cause for many days of humiliation, he therefore stirred up the heart of his servant aforehand to give instructions and directions, 6oncfrning the acceptable perjormance of so great a duty, he did in the year 1674, preach on the nature of a sacred /ast; and some of bis hear- ers, who wrote after him, when he preached, afterwards published it vnder tbe title of, Jifait of God's cliusing. § 12. The church of this worthy man at Weijmouth, has been enter- tained tvith one curiosity, which by way of appendix to his life, is not un- worthy to be related. One Matthew Prat, wliosc religious parents had well instructed him iD his minority, when he was twelve years of age, became totally deaf through sickness, and so hath over since continued. He was taught af- ter this to write, as he had been before to read ; and both his reading and his writing he retaineth perfectly, but he has almost forgotten to speak ; speaking but imperfectly, and scarce intelligibly, and very seldom. He is yet a very judicious christian, and being admitted into the com- munion of the church, he has therein for many years behaved himself, unto the extream siitisfaction of good people, in the neighbourhood. Sa- rah Prat, the wife of this man, is one also who was altogether deprived of her hearing, by sickness, when she was about the third year of her age ; but having utterly lost her hearing, she .has utterly lost her speech also, and no douljt. all roinf^mbrance of every thing that refers to languagfi Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 447 Mr. Thacher made an euajr to leach her the use ndetters, but it succeed- ed not : however, she has a most qiiick apprehension of things, by her eye, and she discounes by »igni, whereat some of her friends are so ex- pert, as to maintain a conversation with her upon any point whatever, with as much freedom and fulntuy as if she wanted neither tongue, nor tar, for conference. Her children do learn her tignt from the breast : and speak sooner by her eyei and hands, than by their lips. From her iofaDcy, she was very sober and modest ; but she had no knowledge of a Deity, nor of any thing that concerns anolher life, and world. Never- theless, God of his infinite mercy has revealed the Lord Jesus Christ, and the great mysteries of salvation by him, unto her, by a more extraordinary and imiitediate operation of his own spirit upon her. An account of her experiences was written from her, by her husband ; and the elders of the church employing her husband, with two of her sisters, who are notably skilled in her way of cotnmunicalion, examined her strictly hereabout ; and they found that she understood the unity of the divine essence, the . • • >»» . 'to ■Y. ■ r. r D. Thohje Thachbri, Q,ui Ad ; Dom. exhac Vita migravit, 18, 8, 1678. Tenfabo lUuatretn, trisH memortare dolore, Qmm Lacrymis r$pet»nt Temporal no$tra, Firum. Memnona sic MaUr, Mater ploravit AchiUem, Justis cum Lacrymis, cumque Dolore gravis Mens stitpet, ora silent, justum nuncpalmo recusat Qfit:ium : Quid f Opem Tristis Apollo negat ? Ast Thachere Tuus coaabor dioere laudes, it ^' Laudes FirtuHs, qua super Astra voktt. Conwfiis Rerum Dominis, Gentiqua togala Nota fidt virtus, ac tua Sancta Fides. Vivis post Funus ; Ftelix post Fata ; Jaces Tu ? Sed Stellas inter Gloria nempe Jaces. Mens Tua jam calos repetit ; Victoria porta est : Jam Thus est Christus, quod meruitque tuum. Hie Finis Crucis ; magnorum hac meta malorum ; Ufierius non quo progrediatuf erit. Crux jam cassa manes ; requiescunt ossa Sepult^o ; Mors moritttr ; Vita Vita Beafa rediL Quum tuba per Densas sonitum dabit ultima JVuhes, Cum Domino Reditns Ferrea Sceptra geres. Coles turn scandes, ubi Patria Vera piorum ; Pravius hanc Patriam nunc tibi Jeaus adU. Jllic vera Qjuies ; illicsinejinevoluptas ; Gaudia 8f Humanis non referenda sonis. MtxfitiT' ii»i»%s mtivfiHirit «4«*«t«/{* Eleazar, Jtidus Senior Sophista. i^<:0«^i^*iiffvO!; m4;-k.i -?-: >'«* CHAPTER. XXVll. The Life of Mr. Peter Hobart. 4.- 4 § 1. It was a saying of Alphonms {whom they sir-named, the wtse.King of Arragon) that among so many things as are by men possessed or pursued, in the course of their lives, all the rest are baubles, besides, old wood to bum. old wine to drink, ofd friends to converse with, and old books to rend. Now there having been Protestant and reformed colonies here formed, in a new world, and those colonies now growing old, it will cer- tainly be no unwise thing for them to converse with some of their old Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 449 friends, among which one was Mr. Peter Hobart, wboaa thorefore a new book shall now present unto my readers. "^ 2. Mr. Peter Hobart was born at, or near Hingham, a market town, in the county of Norfolk, about the latter end ot' tiie ^ear 1604. iliu parents were eminent for piuty, and even from tlielr youth/earec/ God above many; wherein their zeal was more conspicuous, by the impiety of the neighbourhood, among whom there were but three or four in the whole town, that minded serious religion, and these were suthciently maligned by the irreligious for their Puritanism, These parents of our Hobart, were such as had obtdined each other from the God of Heaven, by /joac-like prayers unto him, and suoh as afterwards besieged Heaven with a continual importunity for a blessing upon their childriMi ; whereof thesecood was this our Peter. This their son was like another iSiam»e/ from his infancy dedicated by Ihem unto the ministry, aiui in under thereunto, sent betimes unto a grammer school ; whereto, such was his desire of learning, that he went several miles on foot, every morning, and by his early appearance there, still shamed the sloth of others. He went af- terwards unto the free-school at Lyn, from whence when he was by his master judged fit for it, he was admitted into a coUedge in the Universi- ty of Cam6ridg« ; where he remained, studied, protited, until he proceed- ed Batchellorof Arts ; giving ail along an example of sobriety, gravity, aversion from all vice, and inclination to the service of God. § 3. Retiring then from the university, he taught a grammar school ; but he lodged in the house of a conformist minister, who though he were no friend unto Puritans, yet he employed this our young Hobart some- times to preach for him, and when asked, fVhal his opinion of this young man was? He said, / do highly approve his abilities ; he will make an able preacher : but I fear he will be too precise. When the time for it came, he returned unto the university, and proceeded Master of Arts : but the rest of his time in England was attended with much unseitlement of his con- dition. He was employed here and there, as godly people could obtain permission from the parson of the parish, who upon any little disgust would recal that permission : and yet all this while, by the blessing of God upon his own diligence and discretion, and the frugality of his ver- tuous consort, he lived comfortably. The last place of his residence in England, was the town oi Haverhil, where he was a lecturer, laborious and successful in the vineyard of our Lord. § 4. His parents, his brethren, his sisters, had not without a great affliction to him, embarked for New-England ; but some time after this, the cloud of prelatical impositions and persecutions grew no black upon him, that the solicitations of his friends, obtained from him a resolution for New-England also, where he hoped for a more settled abode, which was most agreeable to his inclination. Accordingly in the summer of the year 1635, he took ship, with his wife and four children, and after a voy- age by constant sickness rendred very tedious to him, he arrived a Charles- toian, where he found his desired relations got safe before him. Several towns now addressed him to become their minister ; but he chose with his father's family, and some other christians, to form a new plantation, which they called Hingham ,* and there gathering a church, he continued a faithful pastor, and an able preacher, for many years. And his old peo- ple at Haverhil indeed, in some time afler, sent most importunate letters unto him, to invite his return for England: and he had certainly return- ed, if the. letters had not so miscarried, that before his advice to them, there fell out some I'cmarkable, and invincible hindrances of his removal. Vol. I. 57 4Stli THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLANU. [Book III $ C. Not long after this, he lind (a» his own Gxpreision for it vfaa) hi$ heart rent out of his breait, by the death of his conaort ; but bia christian, patient, and submissive resignation, was rewarded by his oiarriage to a second, that proved a rich blessing unto him- His house was also edified and beautified with many children, on whom, when he looked, he would say sometimes with much thankfulness ; Behold^ thu$ thall tite man be bte$ied, thalfeareth the Lord! and for whom he employed many tears in his pray, era to God, that they might be happy, and like another Job, offered up his daily supplications. His love to learning, made him strive hard that his hopeful sons might not go without a learned education ; and accordingly we find four or five of them wearing laurels in the cotalogue of our graduates ; and several of them are at this day, worthy preachers, of the gospel in our churches. § 7. He was mostly a morning student, not meriting the name of Homo Lectissitnus, as he in the witty epigrammatist, from hia long lying a bed ; and yet he would improve the darkness of the evening also, for solemn, fixed, and illuminating meditations. He was much admired for well studied sermons ; and even in the midst of secular diversions and distractions, his active mind would be busie at providing materials for the composure of them. He much valued that rule, sfudy standing; and until old age, and weakness compelled him, he rarely would study sitting : which practice of his he would recommend unto other fitudents, as an excellent preventive of that Flagellum Studiosortttn, the Stone. And when he had an opportunity to hear a sermon from any ether min- ister, he did it with such a diligent and reverent attention, as made it manifest that he worshipped God in doing of it : and he was very care- ful to be present still, at the beginning of the exercises, counting it a recreation, to sit and wait for the worship of God. Moreover, his heart was knit in a most sincere and hearty love to- wards pious men, though they were not in all things of his ownperswa- sion. He would admire the grace of God in good men, though they were of sentiments contrary unto his; and he would say, / can carnj them in my bosome : nor was he by them otherwise respected. § 8. There was deeply rooted in him a strong antipathy to all pro- fanities, whereof he was a faithful reprover, both in publick and in pri- vate ; and when his reproofs prevailed not, he would weep in secret placet. Drinking to excess, and mispence of precious time, in tipling or talking with vain persons, which he saw grown too common, was an evil so ex- tremely offensive to him, that he would call it. Sitting at meat in an idol's temple ; and when he saw that vanity grow upon the more high profes- sors of religion, it was yet more distastful to him, who in bis own beha- viour was a great example of temperance. Pride, expressed in a gaiety, and bravery o( apparel, would also cause him with much compassion to address the young persons with whom he saw it budding, and advise them to correct it, with more care to adorn their souls with such things as were of great price before God : and here likewise his own example, joined handsomness with gravity, and a moder- ation that could not endure a show. But there was no sort of men from whom he more turned away than those, who under a pretence of zeal for church discipline, were very pragmatical in controversies, and furiously set upon having all things carried their way, which they would call the rule; but at the sitme time, were most insipid creatures, destitute of the life and po'saer of godliness, and perhaps immoral in their conversations. Book III.] THE HISTORY OP NEW-ENGLAND. 451 To these he wouhi apply a Haying of Mr. Cotton*$, That some men are all diurch, and mt Christ. § 9. fie WHS n person that met with many temptationi and afflictions, which arc better forgotten than remembered ; but he was internally, and is n )w eternally a gainer by them. It is remarked of the Patriarrh Jacob, that when he was a very old man, and much older than the moat that lived after him, he complained, Few and evil have been the days of the yean of my life : in which complaint, the few is explained by the evil ; hi8 days were winter-d'iys, nml spent in the darkness of sore calamity. Winter days are twenty-four hours long as well ns other days ; yea, long- er, if the equation nftiine should be mathematically considered ; yet we count l.hcm the shorter days. Thus although our /MarMived unto old age, he might call his days/ew, because they had been evil. But Mark this pirfect tnan, and behold this upright one ; for the end of this man was peace. In the spring of the year 1670, he was visited with a sickness that seemed the messenger of death ; but it was his humble desire, that by having his life prolonged a little further, he might see the education of his own younger children perfected, and bestow more labour also upon the conversion of the young people in his congregation : / have travelled in the ministry in this place, thirty-five years, and might it please God so far to lengthen out my dayn, as to make it up forty, I should not, I thitik, desire any more. Now the Lord heard this desire of his praying servant, and added no less than eight years more unto his days. The most part of which time, except the last three quarters of a year, he was employed in the pnhlick services of his ministry. Being recovered from his illness, be proved that he did not flatter with his lips, in the vows that he had made for his recovery $ for he now set himself with great fervour to gather the children of his church, under the saying wings of the Lord Jesus Christ ; and in order thereunto he preached many pungent sermons, on Eccl xi. 9, 10, and£cc/. xii. 1, and used many other successful endeavours. § 10. Though his labours were not without success, yet the success was not so general, and notable, but that he would complain, Alas, for the barrenness of my ministry ! And when he found his lungs decay by old age, ni fever, he would clap his hands on his breast and say, The bellows are hurnt, the founder has meUed in vain ! At length infirmities grew so fast upon this painful servant of our Lord, that in the summer of the year 1678, he seemed apace drawing on to his end ; but aAer some revivals he again got abroad ; however, he seldom, if ever preached aAer it, but only administered the sacraments. In this time his humility, and conse- quently all the other graces which God gives unto the humble, grow ex- ceedingly, and observably ; and hence he took delight in bearing the commendations of other men, though sometimes they were so unwisely ottered, as to carry some diminutions unto himself ; and he set himself particularly to put all respect and honour upon the ministers that came in the time of hie weaknesses to supply his place. After and under his confinement, the singing of psalms was an exercise wherein he took a particular delight ; saying, That it was the work of Heaven, which he was -^dlling to anticipate. But about eight weeks before his expiration, he did with his aged hand ordain a successor ; which when he had performed with much solemnity, he did afterwards with an assembly of ministers, and other christians, at his own house, joyfully sing the song of aged i't'mcon. 'Vhy servant now lettest thou depart in peace. He had now noth- "ij? to do, but to die ; and he spent his hours accordingly, in assiduous pre- 46? THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLANU. [Book III. parations ; not without some dark intervnls of temptalion ; but at last with light arising in darknegi unto him. While hit exttriour wai dteay- ing, \m interiour wan retiftiing. every day, until the twentieth day of Jan. 1678, when be quietly andHilently reoigned his holy aoul, unto its faitlt- ful Crtutor. '-tr -1 EPITAPHIUM D. Petri Hobarti, Ossa sub hoc Saxo. Latitant defossa Sepnlchro, SpirilUB in Caio, carcere, miiBus agit. V. CHAPTER XXVI II. Jl man of God, and an honourable man. The Life of Mr. Samuel Whiting. Hi inihi Doctores semper placuere, docenda Q,uifadunt, plus, quam quifaciinda docent. § 1. When the miserable SauZ applied himself to the Witch of Endor, for the invoking of, and consultinjs; with, some spirit in the invisible world, he chose that the spirit should rather appear in the shape of the venera- ble Samuel, than in any other. A dispute is raised among learned men, on the occasion of the spirit thus raised ; who it should be? for while sona- think, that beyond the expectation, and unto the astonish- nieut of the Witch, it was the true Samuel, which now appeared ; in as much as the apparition is live times over called by the name of Sam- uel, and the apocryphal Eeclesiasticus affirms of Samuel, that ajter his death he prophesied : and several of the fathers and of the schoolmen, herein followed by Mendoza. Delrio, Dr. More, Mr. Glanvil, and others, are of this opinion : they imagine with Lyra, that God then sent in the real Samuel, uiilookedfor, as he came upon Balaam, when employed about his magical impostures : there are more, who judge that it was a spirit of the same kirw' «itli that, which is described by Porphyrius. t«»7«^«V ^n Tt tuit ira>i»lf«xn changing themselves into multifarious forms, one while acting 'he pans of ticcmnns, another while of angels, and another while the souls of the deieised : of which opinion was TertuUian, and the author ot the QwMf. ^ Resp. ascribed unto Juslin Martyr, and the generality of Pro- testants : who cannot perswade themselves, that the Lord would have 80 fur countenanced .Vcrromancy, or Psycomancy, as to have let the real Samvel come, upon the soliritations of an enchantress ; and that the real Samuel would not have discoursed at the rate of the spectre now exhib- ited. \ Let the disputants, upon this question, wrangle on ; while we by a very lawful and laudable art, will fetch another Samuel from the dead : and by the happy wiagicA: of our pen, reader, we will bring into the view of the world, a venerable old man, a Samuel who shall entertain us with none but comfortable and profitable tidings. '^ Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 453 § 2. Mr. Samuel Whitittg drew hit firtt brenth at Bonton, in LinrolnMre, Nov. 80, A. D. 1697. Hit father a person of good repute thArc, the eldest ton among many brethren, an alderman, and tometimca a mayor of the town, had three tont ; the second of thete wan our Samuel ^ who had ') learned education by hit father bestowed upon >iim, first at Boston school, and then at the university of Cambridge, lie had for his compnn- . ion in hit education, his cosen fterman, the very ronownod Jlmkony Ttickney, afterwards doctor, and master of St. John's CoUed);c ; they were .fcftooZ-fellows at Boston, and chamber mates, nt Camhridi^e ; they both belonged unto /mmanue^Colledge, and they continue*! U' ilimate friendship, when they left the seats of the muses, which indeed was not quenched by the many waters of the Atlantick, when they were a thousand leagues asunder. It was while he was thus at the university, that the good Spirit orOod made early impressions of grace upon his young soul ; Hnd the cares of his pious tutor, (1 think Mr. Yates) to instruct him in matters of religion, as well as of literature, were blessed for the im- buing of his mind, with a tincture of early piety ; which was further ad- vnnced by the ministry of such preachers as Dr. Sibs, and Dr. Preston : 90 that in his age he would give thanks to God for tho divine favours which he thus received in his youth, and when he was entering into his rest, where he expected the most intimate communion with our glorious Im- manuel, and with the spirits of just men made perfect, he could with joy re- flect upon the anticipations of it, which be enjoyed in the retired walk of Jmmanuel-Collcdge. § 3. H tving proceeded Master of Arts, he removed from Cambridge, and became a chaplain to Sir /fathanael Bacon, and Sir Hoger Townsend, where he did for (Aree years together, with prayers, with sermons, with catechising, and with a grave and wise deportment, serve the interest of reiigic ', .n a family, which had no less thi«n two knishfs and^ve ladies in it. He uext removed unto Lyn, in the county of Aorfolk, and spent an- other three years, as a coUegue in the miniiitry of the gospel, with a rev- erend and excellent man, Mr. Frice. But the great content which he took in his present scitu<)tion, and society, and serv4ce, was interrupted at length by complaints made unto the Bishop of JVorwich, for Uh non- conformity unto those rites, which never were of any use in the church of God, but only to be tools, by which the worst of men might thrust out the best from serving it. Being cited unto the High Commission Court, he expected that he i^hould lose tho most of his estate, for his being a 7iov- conformist ; but before the time for his appearance, according to the cit!i- tion, came, King James died ; and so his trouble at this time was diverf.- ed. The Earl of Lincoln afterwards interceding for him, the Bishop was willing to promise, that hn would no farther worry him, in case he would be gone out of his diocess, where he could not reach him ; and therefore leaving Lyn, he exercised his ministry at Skirbick, nenr Bos- ton in Lincolnshire, lor a considerable irAtVe, with no inconfiderable/rujV ; refreshed with the (lrli;!;htful neighbourhood of his old friends. ;ind espe- cially those eminent persons Mr. Cotton and Mr Tuckney, to both of whom he had some affinity, as from both of them, no little affection. § 4. Having buried his first wife, by whom he had three children, two sons, who died in England, and one daughter, afterwards matched with one Mr. Thomas Weld, in anotiier land ; he married the daughter of Mr. OliverSt. John, a Bedfordshire gentleman, of 3n honourable family, near- ly related unto tiic Lord .SV John of Bletsn. This Mr. St. John, was ii person of incomparable breeding, vertuc and pioty ; such, that Mr, 4u4 THK HISTOKY OP NEW-ENGLAND. [Huia HI CoUoH, who wn ■ i , For in this single person we have lost ■■ «. ■ More riches, than an India has engrost. ■ -'•■ ■ When Wilson, that plerophory of love. Did from our hanks, up to his center move. Rare Whiting quotes Columbus on this coast, Producing gems, of which a King might boasi ■>if ♦66 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book 111. U.-» More splendid far than ever Aaron wore. Within his breast, this sacred Father bore. Sound doctrine f/nm, in his holy cell, And all perfections Thummim there did dwell.' His holy vesture was his innocence, His speech, embroideries of curious sence. Such aivful gravity this doctor us'd, As if an angel every word infused. No turgent stile, but Asiatic store ; ^ Conduits were almost full, seldom run o're The banks of Time : come visit when you will, The streams of nectar were descending still : i* •* ' Much like Septemfluou^ JWVus, rising so, ^ "tss He watered christians round, and made them grow. His modest OT/u»pfr» could the conscience reach, * "'''-■ As well as whirlwinds, which some others preach ; *' No Boanerges, yet could touch the heart, ' And clench his doctrine by the meekest art, ' His learning and his language, might become ■•' ' A province not inferiour to Rome. ' Glorious was Europe's heaven when »ych as these ' " Stars of his size, shone in each diocess. * ' ■ ' Who writ'st the fathers lives, either make room, '-' * - ' Or with his name begin your second And churches homilies, but homily be, If venerable Whiting, set by thee. V ProfoundestJU(Zo-men^ with a meekness rare, ' 7 • Pieferr'd him to the m>derator's chair j ' ' ♦••' ■ i"- ' Where like truth's champion, with his piercing eye. He silenc'd errors, and made Hectors fly. K Soft nnsrvers qnell hot passions ; ne'er too soft ■> ■ • »*" ' "' Where .^o/ui Jtidg-menMs o'lUhron'd aloft, ' * i' • . v ; Hook III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 4&h Church doctors are my yntaeB»e»,th»t here ^ • «' • Jlffectioni always kept their proper sphere, Vv ithout those wilder eccentricities ^ Which spot the fairest fields of men most wise. In pleasant places fall that peoples line. Who hare hut shadows of men thus divine. Much more their presence, and heaven-piercing praters, Thus many years to nind our soul-affairs. A poorest soil oil has the richest mine ; This weighty oar, poor Lyn was lately thine. O wondrous mercy f Ibut this glorious tight Hath left thee in the terrors of the night. New-England, didst thou know this mighty one. His weight and worth, thou'dst think thyself undone .- One of thy golden chariots, which among The clergy, rendered thee a thousand strong : One, who for learning, wisdom, grace, and years, 5 Among the Levites hath not many peers : ' •-• *■ • One, yet with God a kind of /ieavenif/ ^and, * -'" Who did whole regiments ofwoes withstand : One, that pevail'd with Heaven ; one greatly mist '-'% On eart% ; he gain'd of Christ whate'er he list : .^. r ' m.' • ■■» One of a world ; who was both born and bred <^ Atmsdom'«/eef, hard by the/oMne went away under the persecuted character of a Colledge-Puritan. The same that occasioned his removal from the colledge, in a little time occasioned also his removal from the kingdom ; for upon mature deliber- ation, after extraordinary addresses to Heaven for direction, he embark- ed himself, with several famous divines, who came over in the year 1634, hoping that by going over the water, they should in this be like men going under the earth, lodged where the wicked wotdd cease from troubling and the weary be at rest. § 4. So much was religion the ^rst sought, of the first come, into this country, that they solemnly offered up their praises unto Him thatin/iaft- rts the praises of Israel, before they had provided habitations, wherein to offer those praises. A day nf thanksgiving was now kept by the christians of a new hive, here called fVater-Tozvn, under a tree ; on which thanks- giving, Mr. Sherman preoched h'\s first sermon, as an assistant unto Mr. Philips : there being pr< ent i'^ny other divines, who wondred exceed- ingly to hear a subject sv- accurately and exellently handled by one that had never befo-.e performed any such puulick exercise. § 6. He continued noi many weeks at PVater-Town, before he remov- ed, upon mature advice, unto JVew- Haven ; where he preached occasion- ally in most of the towns then belonging to that colony : but with such deserved acceptance, that Mr. Hooker, and Mr. Stone being in an assem- bly of ministers, that met after a sermon of our young Sherman, pleasantly said. Brethren, we must look to our selves, and our ministry ; for this young divine will out-do us all. Here, though he had an importunate invitation unto a settlement in Milford, yet he not only declined it out of an ingenuous jealousy, lest the worthy person who must have been his collegue, should have thereby suffered some inconveniences, but also for a little while, upon that, and «onie othsr su<;h accounts, he wholly suspended the exercise of his min- Book ill.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. Ana istry. Hereupon the zenloiis aCfectioo of the people to him appeared, in their chusing him a [nugislratc of the colony,; in which capacity, he ucrved the publick, with an exemplary discretion and fidelity, until » fresii opportunity lor the exercise of his ministry, within two or three years, od'ered it self ; atid then all the importunity used by the govern- our and assistants, to fasten him among themselves, could not prevail with him to look back from that plow. Our land has enjoyed the influences of many accomplished men, who from canditates of the ministry, have become our magistrates ; but this excellent man, is the only example among m, who left a bench of our migistrates, to become a painful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ in the work of the ministry. Nevertheless, he that beholds Joseph of Arima- //icea, a counsellour of state, Ambrose the consul of JUt/Zam, George the Prince of Jinhalt, Chrysostom, a noble Antiochean, John a Imsco, a noble Po/onum, all becoming the /)/am prcac/ter.^ of the gospel, will not think th^t Mr. Sherman herein either sufl'ered a degradation, or was without a pattern. § 6. Upon the death of Mr. Philips at Watertown, Mr. Sherman waa ad- dressed by the church there, to succeed him ; and he accepted the charge of that church, although at the same time, one of the churches at Boston, used their endeavours to become the owner of so well talented a person, and several churches in London also, by letters much urged him to come over and help them. And now, being in the neighbourhood of Cambridge, he was likewise chosen a fellow of Harvard Cotledge there ; in which place he continued unto his death, doing many good offices for that society. Nor was it only as a fellow of the colledge, that he was a blessing, but also as he was in some sort apreacher to it : for his lectures being held for the most part once a fortnight, in the vicinage, for more than thirty years together, many of the scholars attending thereon, did justly acknowledge the durable and abundant advantage which they bad from those lectures. § 7. His intellectual abilities, whether natural or acquired, were such as to render him nfirst-rate scholar ; the skill of tongues and arts, beyond the common rate adorned him. He was a !!;reat reader, and as Athanasiua reports of his Antonius vp»rt7xc* '**]»> f*r mttyitfrtt, is ft»j^«v t«» ycypee/K- jwnwK ifK ^ecurS "Xivltn x*/*^' w«h7« ^i K»\tx,t» mti MiTrev '^j'?* 7»»» y»«|i*?)» *v]f /3ibA(«ii ymi^ui : He rend with swk iiUeniion, as to lose nothing, but keep ev~ erij thing, of all that he read, and his mind became his library : even such was the felicity of our Sherman; he read with an unusual dispatch, and whatever he read became his own. From such a strength of invention and memory it was, that albeit he wps a curious preacher ; nevertheless, he could preach without any preparatory notes, of what he was to utter. He ordinarily wrote but about half a page in octavo, of what he was to preach ; and he would as ordinarily preach, without writing of owe word at all. And he made? himself wonderfully acceptable and serviceable unto his friends, by the hnmelistical accomplishment a, which were produ- ced by his abilities, in his conversation For though he were not a man o( much discourse, but ever thought, tv «-«AwAi>y«* Ua-ltn-iXv/nAipict: and when some have told him, that he had learned the art of silence, he hath, with a very becoming ingenuity, given them to understand, that it was an art, which it would hurt none of them to learn, yet his discourse had a rare conjunction of profit and pleasure in it. He was witty and yet xvise, and grave, carrying a majesty in his very countenance ; and much visited for council, in weighty cases ; and wh<4i ,5... . T>. " 464 THK HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book 111. he cielivereil bis jtidgment in aaj matter, there was little or nothing to be •{>ukeo by otherri atler him. § 8. It is a remark, which Melchior Adam has in the life of his excel- lent Fititcm ; lUud mirandum, quod Homo Theologiis, in Mathenintum stwliiit mUlo niti $e Magiatro, eo usq; progrenui est, ut Editit Scriptis, l>iacipliH(B iUius Gloriam, magnis Mathaeot Profeatoribus praripueril : and it might be well applied unto our eminent Sherrtuin, who though he were »con$ummate divine, and a continual preacher, }ret mnkingthe malh- ematickt his diveriion, did attain unto such an incomparable skill therein, that he was undoubtedly one of the best mathenuUiciana that ever lived in this hemisphere of the world, and it is great pity that the world should be deprived of the astronomical calculations, which he has left in manu- script behind him. It seems, that men of great parts may, as it is ob- served by that great instance thereof, Mr. Boyle, successively apply them- selves to more than one study. Thus Copernicus the astronomer, eterni- zed like the very stars, by his new system of them, was a church-man ; and his learned champion Lansbergius, was a minister. Gassendus was a doctor of divinity ; Uavius too was a doctor of divinity ; nor will the names of those English doctors, Wallis, Wilkins, and Barrow, be forgot- ten so long as that learning which is to be called real, has any friends in the English nation : and hicciolus himself, the compiler of that volumin- ous and judicious work, the Almagestum J^ovum, was a professor of The- ology. Into the number of these heroes, is our Sherman to be admitted ; who, if any one had enquired, how he could tind the leisure for his mathemat- ical speculations ? would have given the excuse of the famous Pitiscu;: for his answer, Alii Schacchia Ludunt, <$• Talis : Ego Regnala 4* Ci'r- cino, si quando Ludere datur. And from the view of the effects, which the mathematical contcmpln- tions of our >S7iennan, produced in his temper, I cannot but utter the wish of the noble Tycho Brachc upon that blessed Pitiscus, Optarem plures ejut- modi Concionatores reperiri, qui Geometrica gnavitur callerent : forte p/«x esset in iis Circumspecti 4* sulidi Judicii, Rixarum inanium ^ Logomachia- rum minus : for among other things very valuable to me, in the temper of this great man, one was a certain largeness of soid, which particularly disposed him to embrace the Congregational way of church- government, without those rigid and narrow principles of uncharitable separation, where with some good men have been leavened. § 9. But as our mentioned Pitiscus, when his friends congratulated un- to him the glory of his mathematical excellencies, with an humble and ho- ly ingenuity replied. Let us rejoice rather that onr names be written in Heaven. Thus onr Slierman was more concerned for, and more employ- ed in an acquaintance with the hcarienly seats of the blessed, than with the motions of the heavcjili/ bodies. He did not so much use a Jacob's ftaff in observations, as he was in supplications a true Jacob himself. He was a person of a most heavenly disposition and conversation ; heaven- ly in his words, heavenly in hirt thoughts, heavenly in his designs and de- sires ; few ill tlie world had so much of Heaven upon earth. He was a most practical commentary upon those words of the psalmist, Mine eyes are ever towards the Lord : and those of the apostle. Keep yourselves m the love of God. A7ncnt, they would have seen scarce a minute p.-MS him, with- out a turn of his eye towards Heaven, whereto his heavtn-toucU'd heart was Ccirrying of him, with its continual vergencics. And as the stars, tliey say, m.iy be seen from the bottom of a well, when the day lij^ht in higher places hinders the sight thereof-; so this worthy man, who saw more not only of the stars in Heaven , but also of the Heaven beyond the itars, than most other men, was one, who, in his humility, laid him^^elf low, even to a fault ; and he had buried himself in the obscurity of his recesses and retirements, if others that knew his worth, bad not some- times fetched him forth to more publick action. The name Descentius, which 1 found worn by an eminent person, among the primitive christians, 1 thought proper for this eminent person, when I have considered the condescension of his whole deportment. And, methought it was an instance of this condescension, that this great man would sometimes give the country an altnanack, which yet he made an opportunity to do good, by adding at the end of the composures thoso holy reflections, which taught good men how to recover that little, but spreading X\\in%, the altnanack, from that common abuse, of being an en- '^ine to convey only silly impertinencies, or sinful superstitions, into al- most every cottage of the wilderness. One o( tho^e reflections 1 will re- cite, because it lively expressed the holy sence of death, in which the author daily lived : Let me intreat one thing of thee, and I will adventure to promise thee a good year ; the request is in it self reasonable, and may to thee be eternally profitable. It is only this : duly to prize, and diligently to improve time, for obtaining the blessed end it was given for, and is yet graciously continu- ed unto thee, by the eternal God. Of three hundred sixty-flve days, allowed by the making up of this year, which sliall be thy last, thou knowest not ; but that any of them may be it, thou ouglitestto know, and so consider, that thou mayestpass the time of thy sojourning here with fear. § 10. Behold him either in the Lord's house, or in his own, of both which a well government is joined in the demands of the apostle, and we may behold both of (hem atler an exemplary tnaoocr ordered. In his ministry he was judicious, industrious, faithful ; a most curious expositor of scripture, and one that fed us with the fattest marrow of divinity. And there was one thing in his preaching, which procured it a singular admi- ration ; this was a natural, and not affected loftiness of stile ; which with an easie fluency bespangled his discourses with such glittenng figures of oratory, as caused his ablest hearers, to call him a second Isaiah, the honey-dropping, and golden-mouthed preacher. But among the success- es of his conduct in his ministry, there was none more notable than the peace, which by God's blessing upon his wisdom and meekness, more than any other things was preserved in his populous town, as long as he lived, notwithstanding many temptations unto differences, among the good people there. From thence let us follow him to his family, and there we saw him with much tliscrGlion, maintaining both fear and love, in those that belonged unto him, and a zealous care to upl>old religion among them. The duties of reading, praying, singing, and catechising, were constantly observed, and sermons repeated. And he wan, above all, a great lover, and strict keeper of the christian sabbath ; in the very Vor. I. 50 Am THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book lir. ^fening of which approaching, he would notullow any worldly matter to disturb, or 'ivert the exercises ofpiety within his gatet, § II. H was twice married.- ny \m first wife, the vevluOi'J daugh- ter of parents therin resembled by iier, be had six children But his next wife was a young gentlewoman whom he chose from under the guardianMhip, and with the countenance of J' dwurd Hopkins, Esq. the excellent governour of Connecticut. She was a person ot good education, and reputation, and honourably descended ; being the daughter of u Pu- ritan gentleman, whose name uas Launce, and whose ) mds in C'omtval yielded him iuurteen hundred pounds a year. He was a parliament* man, a man learned and pious, and a notable disputant ; but once dispu- ting agaiTi)8&, aged seventy* two. EPITAPHIUM. For an epitaph upon this worthy man. Til presume a little to alter the epitaph by Utenius, bestowed upon Pilimus. ._v Ut Pauli Pietas, sic Euclidtst Mathesis, ••' Uno, Shermnnni, conditur, in 'Vnmula. And annex that of Allcnburg upon Ccesius, '<'-►' *• Qmi cursum Astrorum vivens Indagine mxtllf' (^nitsivit, coram nunc ea ccrmit ovune. •.a . "'in tunce, had for )ul : which he CHAPTER XXX. Eusebius. The Life of Mr. Thomas Cobbet. ,• .-".1 Et Eruditis Pietate^ ^ Piis Erudilione Lande entecelletts, itd Secundait Doctrinaferens, nt Pictatis primas obtineret. Nazianz. de Basilio. § 1. In the old church of Israel we 6nd a considerable sort and sett of men, that were called, The scribes of the people : whose office it was, not only to copy out the Bible, for such as desired a copy thereof, with such exactness, that the mysteries occurring, even in the least vowels and ac> cents of it, might not be lost, but also to be the more publick preachers of the law, and common and constant pulpit-men ; taking upon them to be the expounders, as well as the preservers of the scripture. But one of the principle scribes enjoyed by the people of New-England, wag Mr. Thomas Cobbet, who wrote more £00^5 than the most of the divines, which did their parts to make a Kirjath-Sepher of this wilderness ; in er- ery one of which he approved himself one of the scrihes mentioned by our Saviour, from his rich treasure bringing forth instructions, both out of the New Testament, and out of the Old. § 2. Our Mr. ThomarCobbet was born at Newbury, long enough before our New-England had a town of that name, or indeed had any such thing as a town at all ; namely, in the year 1608. And although his parents^ who afterwards came also to New-England, were so destitute of worldly grandtire, that be might say, as divers of the Jewish Rabbi's tell us, the words of Gideon may be read. Behold, my father is poor, yet this their soa was greatness enough to render one family memorable. Reader, we are to describe. Jngenua de plebe Virnm, sed Vita Fidesq^ ' Inculpata fuit. And remember the words of Seneca, Ex casa eiiam Virwnmagmnn prodire posse.. ■ it i,' .%h .%. ^ ^;*s^,^' d* ▼^ .0. ™ I IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 itt Hi f2S 2.0 ■ 45 US 4.0 lllllii U IIIIII.6 /: c* n^L'^^.C/ ^V?*' Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 o !■ ^° A ^ ie^' THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [B«A)k HI. fWhen Cicero was jeered, for tbe niean signification of bis name, he send, However he would not change.it , but by hit eciiont render (fte name of Cicero, more illustrioui than that of Caio : and our Cobbet has done enoagh to make the name of Cobbit venerable, in these American parts of tbe 'World, whether there were the actions of any ancestors or no, to signal- ize it. A good education having prepared him for it, be became an Ox- ford schohr, and removing from Oxford in the time of a plague raging there, he did, liith other young men, become a pupil to f«nou8 Dr. Twiss at JVewbury. He was, after this, a preacher at a «mall place in Lincolnshire , from whence^ being driven by a storm of persecution np. on thn reforming and Puritan part of the nation, he came over unto New- England, in the bame vessel with Mr. Davenport coming to Neze-Eng- land, his old friend, Mr. fVhiting of Lyn expressed hb friendship, with endeavours to obtain and to enjoy his assistance, as a collegue in tbe pas- toral charge of the church there ; where they continued Fratrum Dul- ce Par, until upon the removal of Mr. Norton to Boston, and of Mr. Ro- gers to Heaven, he was translated onto the church of Ipswich ; with which he continued in the faithful discharge of his ministry, until bis re- ception of the crown of life, at his death, about the beginning of tbe year 1686. Then 'twas, that he was (to speak Jewisbly,) treasured up. § 3. The witty epigrammatist hdth told us, '- • * a Qui dignAs hsi Vita scripsere Libellos, lllorum Vtlam scribere non Opus esf» v' ■'■^- ■'»■$'('. And we might therefore make the story of this worthy man's life, to he iut an account of the immortal books, wherein he lives after be is dead. What Mr. Cobbet was, the reader may gather by reading a very savoury treatise of bis, upon the fifth commandment. But that he might serve both tables of the law, be was willing to write something upon the first commandment, as well as the fifth ; and this he did in a lai^e, nervous, golden discourse of prayer. But that the second commandmient, as well as the^j^rst might not be unserved by him, there were divers disciplinary tracts, which he publickly offered unto tbe Church of God. He printed upon the duty of tbe civil magistrate, in the point of Toleration ; a point then much debated, and not yet every where decided ; wfaereto he annex- ed a vindication of the government of New-England, from the aspersions of some, who thought themsolves persecuted wider it. He was likewise a Harned and a lively defeader of infant-baptism, and he gave the world an elaborate composur^on that subject, on the occasion whereof Mr. Cotton, in his incomparable preface to a book of Mr. Norton''s, has these passages. Covetus cum persentisceret aliquot ex Ovibus ' hrisii sibi commissis, Antiprndobaptismi Laqueis atq; Dumetis irreti* tas, Zelo Dei accensus {4r Zelo quidem secundum Scientiam) imo, ir Misere- eordia etiam Christi Commotus, erga Errantes Oviculas ; lAbros quospohiit, €x Anabaptistarum penu, congessit ; Rationum Momenta (Qtia/m ftterant) in Lance Sancluarii trutinavit ; Testimoniorum Plaustra, qiue ab aliis con- gesta fuerant, sedulo perqnisivit ; Sf pro eo, quo floret, Disputandi Acumi- ne, DijuJicandi solertia, solida multa, paucis Compleclendi Dexteritate atq; Indefcsso Labure, nihil pene Inten/atum reliquit, quod vel ad Veritatcm, in hat Causa Illustrandam, vel ad Errorum Nebulas Discutiendus, atq; Dispellen- das. conduceret. . Reader, to receive so much commemoration from so reverend and re Downed a pen, is to have one's life, sufficiently written : it is needier*; for me to proceed any further, in serving the memory of Mr. Cobbet. Book HI.] THE HiSTORT OF NEW-ENuLAWD. «ft § 4. And yet there is one thing, which my poor pen may not leave un- mentioned. Of all the booka written by Mr. Cobbet, none deserves more to be read by the world, or to live till the general burning of the world, than that of prayer : and indeed prayer, the subject so experimentally, nnd therefore judtctotti/y, therefore profitahly, therein handled, was not the least of those things, for which Mr. Cobbet was remarkable. He was a v«ry praying fium, and bis prayers were not more observable through" oat /few-En^nd for the ai^umentative, the importunate, and i had almost said,^ta%/afnt/tor, strains of them, than for the wonderful succeuet that attended them. It was a good sajring of the ancient, Homineprobo Oran- te ntAt7 potentiue ; and it was a greeU saying of the reformer, Eiet qeedam Precum Omnipotentia. Our Cobbet might certainly make a considerable figure in the catalogue of those eminent saints, whose experiences hav- ing notably exemplified, the power of prayer, unto the world. That goU den chain, one end whereof is tied unto the tongue of man, the other endf unto the ear of God (which is as just, as old, a resembling of prayer) our Cobb et was always pulling at, and he often pulled unto such marvellous purpose, that the neighbours were almost ready to sing of him, as Clau' dian did upon the prosperous prayers of Tkeodosius. O JVtnu'um DUecte Deo. A son of this man of prayer was taken into captivity by the barbar- ous, treacherous hdiah salvageti, and a captivity from whence there could be little expectation of redemption : whereupon Mr. Cobbei cal- led about thirty, as many as coaM suddenly convene, of the christians in the neighbourhood unto his house ; and there, they together prayed for the yoniif man's deliverance. The old man's heart was now no more sad ; he believed that the God of Heaven had accepted of their suppli^ cations, and because he believed, tlierefore he spake as much, to those that were about him, who when they heard him speak did believe so too: Now within a few days after this, the prayers were aU answered, in the return of the young man unto his father, with circumstances little short of miracle ! But indeed the instances of surprising effects follow- ing upon the prajrer* of this gracious man, were so many, that I must ^u- percede all relation of them, with only noting thus much, that it was gen- erally supposed among the' pious people in the land, that the enemies of New-England owed the wondrous disasters and confusions that still fol- lowed them, as much to the prayers of this (rue Israelite, as perhaps to. any one occa».on. Mr; Ktiox^s prayers were sometimes more feared,. than an army often thousand men ; and Mr. CobbeVs prayers were esteem- ed of no little aigniiicancy to the welfare of the country, which is now therefore bereaved of its c/utnots and its horsemen. If J^ew- England haA its M'oah, Daniel, and Job, to pray wonderfully for it„ Cobbet was one o^ them ! EPITAPHIUM. Sta viator } Thesaurus Itic Jacet, Thomas Cobbetvs ; CUJUB, ^osli Prer.es Potentissimas, ac Mores Probatissimos, Si es Nov-Anglus. Mirare, Si Pietatem Colas ; -^ Sequere, Si Felidtatem Optes. 470 tk THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENOLAND. [Book III. CHAPTER XXXI. The Life of Mr. John Ward. ■4>, - i^ *■■ ».t- § 1. SoMB famous persons of old, thought it a greater jf/ory, to have it enquired ; why $uch a one had not a statue erected for him 7 than to have it enquired, vhy he had ? Mr. Jiathanael Ward, born at HaverhiL in Etsex, -about 1570, was bred a scholar, and was first intended and employed for the study of the law. But afterwards travelling with certain merchants into PrMttia and Denmark, and having discourse with David Paraus, at Heidelberg, from whom he received much direction ; at bis return into England, he became a minister of the gospel, and had a living at Slcmdon. In the year 1634, he was driven out of Fngland, for his non-conformity; and coming to J^eW'England, he continued serving the church at Ipswich, t'U the year 1646. When returning back to England, he settled at Shtr- field, near Brentwood ; and there he ended his davs, when be was about eighty-three years of age. He was the author of many composures full of wit, and sense ; among which, that entituled. The Simple Cobltr (which demonstrated him to be a subtil statesman) was most considered. If it be enquired, why this our St. Hilary hath among our Lives no statue erected for htm? let that enquiry go for part of one. And we will pay our delrt unto his Worthy son. § 2. Mr. John Ward was born, I think, at HaverhU,— on Nov. 6— 1606. His grandfather was that John Ward, the worthy minister of Ha- verhil, whom we find among the worthies of England, and his fether was the celebrated Xfathanael Ward, whose wit made him known to more Englands than one. Where his education was, 1 have not been inform- ed ; the first notice of him that occurs to me, being in the year 1639, when he came over into these parts of America ; and settled there in the year 1641, in a town also called Haverhil. But what it was, every body that saw him, saw it in the effects of it, that it was learned, ingenu- ous, and religious. He was a person of a quick apprehension, a clear understanding, a strong memory, a facetious conversation ; he was an ex- act grammarian, and expert physician, and which was the top of all, a thorough divine : but, which rarely happens, these endowments of his mind, were accompanied with a most healthy, hardy, ar ; constitu- tion of body, which enabled him to make nothing of vftY, m foot, a journey as long as thirty miles together. § 3. Such was the blessing of God upon his religious education, that he was not only restrained from the vices of immorality in all his younger years, but also inclined unto all vertuous actions. Of young persons, he would himself give this advice ; Whatever you do, be sure to maintain ^me in them ; for if that be once gone, there is no hope that theyUl ever come to good. Accordingly, our Ward was always ashamed of doing any >ll thins. He was of a modest and bashful disposition, and very sparing of speeding, especially before strangers, or such as he thought his belters. He was wonderfully temperate, in meat, in drink, in sleep, and he was always expressed, I had almost said, affected, a peculiar sobriety of appa- rel. He was a son most exemplarily dutiful unto his parents ; and having paid some considerable debts for hia father, he would afterwards humbly observe and confess, that God had abundantly recompenced this Lis duti-^ fulness. Book III.] THE HISTORT OP NEW-ENGLAND. 471 § 4. Though he had great offen of rich matches, in England, yet he chose to marry a meaner person^ whom extmplary piety had recommend- ed. He lived with her for more than forty years, in such an happy har- mony, that when she died, he professed, that in all this time, he never had received one displeasing word or look from her. Although she would 80 faithfully tell him of every thing that might jseem amandabU in bim, that he would pleasantly compare her to an accunng conscience, yet she ever pleased him wonderfully : and she i"ould oflen pot him upon the duties of 8ecret/a«(«, and when she met with any thing in reading that she counted singularly agreeable, she would stiU impart it unto him. For which causes, when be lost this )iis mate, he caused those words to be fitirly written on his table-board, In Lugenda Compare, ViUz Spaciutn Compleat Orbus. And there is this memorable passage to be added . While she was a maid,* there was ensured unto her, the revenue of a parsonage worth two hun- dred pounds per annum, in case that she married a minister. And all this had been given to our Ward, in case he bad conformed unto the doubt- ful matters in the Church of England : but he left all the allurements and eDJoyments of England, chusing rather to suffer affliction with the people of Qod in a iKildemess. § 5. Although he would say, there is no place for fishing like v?^. v- In Pulpite, maxime Infirmi Corpom, c -i' Prssen^id minime In&rma : f vii. a Hv, »■;;•' Gestu, Theatricd procul Gesticulatione, ^ Ad Optimas Decori Regulas Composito : Sermone, a Contemptibili remotissimo ; Canovo, Sed non Stridulo ; Suavi, sed prorsus Firili ; £t .^Mt^ontotts quiddam Sonante : ari, si non & Superiore, .^nimt Praesenti^ ; v oncionum, quas, ad verbum, totas Chartis commisit, Ne vexbum quidemvelcarptim, & stringente oculo Inter ?r»dK9Xiivox Lectit avit : •> » Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 419 Sed omnia, Suo primdtn (mpressa altidi Pectori, Auditoram Animit, Cordibuiq; potentids ingessit : Nee Orandif minds, qu4m Perorandi, Donis Instractut ; Ministri vtri Evangilici Omnes complevit Nameroa : Cultiis & Regiminis Initituti (uni cum Doctrinft Rcvtlt^A) Magnus ips«m«l Ztlotet, & Atterior strenuus : AmpIissimiB denique, cui, Spiritus S. Eum prafecerat, Eeeltiitf Prudentiiii0iu pariter, ic Figtianti$$imus Pastor. Cujus PralwlrM Aloltis Unom sufficiat Epitaphio Author Qftadripartiti in Ep. ad Hthr. Comnuntarii. Pnracto in Terris Curqu, ti quod acceperat, Ministerio, Ad Christi in Calo Statum, quern Sero Vite Vespere, Clariu»t licet eminus, Prospectum Graphic^ linearat, Propius, PenUiu$que contuendum Aohelos Deceuit. Alensis Augwti {Non-Conformistii id magis ad hue Fatali) Die xxiv. An^ no Sal. MocLXxxiii. Mtat. Lxni. Epitaphium ittud ab Indigno Symmista Compositum UU Latios, quam ut it^ra breves Tabula Marmores Cancellos clauderetur ; M etiam Angustius, qu&tn ut Jostom Drs Admodum Reverendi adimpUret Characterem ; Nobiliorem, quam neruit, tortium e$t, Sedem, A Fronte Operis Hujus Operosisrimi Chartacei Martnereo Perenniorit Monument!^ ,iv^4^ . Vofc. I «t l it'-. .-^ '.:i ~i-.,\,'^,: i 4 " * >.v '0fHn^tf»6tW9fm*»: Sive, UTHES ^'JIRRATl0^rES. THE TRIUMPHS OF THE REFORMED RELIGION IK AMERICA: J^ OR, THE LIFE OF THE .*r»''i- REXOWJ^ED JOHJ^ ELIOT; A PERSON JVSTLY FABwOUS IN THE CHURCH OF OOD ; NOT ONLY AS AN EMI- NENT CHRISTIAN, AND AN EXCELLENT MINISTER AMONG THE ENGLISH } BUT ALSO, AS A MEMORABLE EVANGELIST AMONG THE INDIANS OF NEW-ENGLAND. WITH SOME ACCOUNT CONCERNING THE LATE AND STRANGE SUCCESS OF THE GOSPEL IN THOSE PARTS OF THE WORLD, WHICH FOR MANY AGES HAVE LAIN BURIED IN PAGAN IGNORANCE. ESSAYED BY COTTON MATHER, 'Of yap '««»oo-iw XctfurfvraTMv ifyu* xcct iniTi^tit ^tyiutrtn n xArtf rmfilif* vn Tw aiIk rtOMfiMt : i. e. Existimavi, baud sine scelere fieri putuis- se, lit factorum splendidissimorum, & utilium Narrationutn gloria. Obit- viooi traderetur. Theodorit. Blessed is that servatit, vuJiom his Lord, when he cometh, shall Jind so doing. THE THIRD*PART. To the Right Honourable Philip Lord Wharton ; a no less J^oble, than aged patron of Learning and Vertue. May it please your Lordship, If it be considerpd that some evangelical and apostolical histories of the New Testament, were by the direction of the Holy Spirit himself, dedicated unto a person of quality, and that the noble person addressed with oM such d^edication, entertained it with resentmeuts that encouraged bis dear Lucilius to make a secotid, the world will be satiefyed that 1 do a thing but reasonable and agreeable, when unto a narrative of many evangelical aad apostolical affairs, I presi^me to prefix the name of one so ^ Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 475 excellent for love to Ood, aa your lordahip it known to be ; and one upon this account only, an unmeet subject for the praises of the obscure pen which now writes that Quw Vituperat ? I do not, I dare not, so far in- trade upon your honour, as to ask your patroMce tinto all the JVew Eng* lith principles and practices, which are foaa4in the character of our celebrated Eliot ; for as the distance of a thousand leagues, has made it impossible for me to attend the (u«uo/) orders and manners of asking first your allowance for what I have openly entitled you unto ; so the renown- ed Eliot is gone beyond any occasions for the greatest humane oalronare. But that which has procured unto your lordship, the trouble of this dedication, is, my desire to give you the picture of one aged saint, lately gone to that general assembly, which the eternal King of Heaven, by the advances of your own age in ' My Lord, Your Lord»hip*M most humble, and mo$t obedient eervant, COTTON MATHER. .^.' a,' t: '-..,, K » ^-^M -ffii ■^■^'■I'vfim tjo t ' < INTRODUCTION. It was a very anrpriaing ai well as andoabtcd accident which htippen- ed within the memory of millions yet alive, when (as the learned Horwi- u$ has given us the relation,) certain shepherds upon mount M'eho, fol* lowing part of their straggling fiock, at length camq to a valley, the pro* digioas depths and rocks whereof, rendred it almost inaccessible ; in which there was a cave of inexpressible sweetness, and in thut cave was a sepulchre, that had very difficult characters upon it. The patriarchs of the .Ifaronttei thereabouts inhabiting, procured some learned per* sous to take notice, and make report of this curiosity, who found the in- scription of the grave-«tone to be in the Hebrew language and letter } Moses, the servant of the Lord. The Jews, the Greeks, and the Roman Catholics thereabouts, were al- together by the ears, for the possession of this rarity, but the Turk* as quickly laid claim unto it, and stron(;ly guarded it. Nevertheless, the Jes- vites found a way by tricks and bribes, to engHgc the Turkish guards into a conspiracy with them, for the transporting of the inclosed and renown- ed ashes into Europe ; but when they opened the grave, there was no hodyt nor so much as a relick there. While they were under the confu- sion of this disappointment, a Turkish general came upon them, and cut them all to pieces ; therewithal taking a course never to have that place visited any more. But the scholars of the Orient presently made this a theme which they talked and wrote much upon : and whether this were the true sepulchre of Moses, was a question upon which many books were published. The world would now count me very absurd, if after this I should say, that I had found the sepulchre of Moses, in America : but I have certain*^ here found Moses himself; we have had among us, one appearing in the spirit of a Moses ; and it is not the grave, but the life of such a Moses^ that we value our selves upon being the owners of. Having implored the assistance and acceptance of that God, whose blessed word na#(pld us, The righteous shall be had in everlasting remem- brance : I am attempting to write the life of a righteous person, concern log whom all things, but the meanness of the writer, invite the reader io expect nothing save what is truly extraordinary. It is the life of one who has better and greater things to be affirmed of him, than could ever be reported concerning any of those famous men, which have been cele- brated by the pens of a Plutarch, a Pliny, a Laertius, an Eunapins. or in any Pagan histories. It is the life of one whose character might very agreeably be looked for, among the collections of a Dorotheus, or the ora- tions of a ffaziamen ; or is worthy at least of nothing less than the ex- quisite stile of a Melchior Adam, to eternize it. If it be, as it is, a true assertion, that the least exercise oftruefaitii, or love, towards Ood, in Christ, is a more glorious thing than all ihe triumph* of a Caesar, there must be something very considerable, in the life of one who spent several scores of years in such exercises ; and of one, in the mention of whose atchievements, we may also recount, that he fought t^ devil in (once) his American territories, till he had recovered no s ijj| - party of bis old subjects and vassals out of his cruej^JMnds ; >t would||| as unreasonable, as unprofitable, for posterity to burj^PuK memory of such a person in the dust of that obscurity and oblivion, wbich has covered the names ef the heroes, who died before the days of Agamemnon. If 478 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENOLAND. [Boob li#. PRELIMINARY I. Thn Birth, Age, and Family of Mr. Eliot* 5.-t: Thb iaipir«cl Mo$est relating the lives of those Anti Diluvian Patriarchs, in whom the Church of UoJ, and line of Christ was continued, through the first oijLieen hundred years of time, recites little but their birth, and their ag$, and their death, and their aoni and daughter$. If those articles would satisfie the appetites and enquiries of such aa come to read the life of our Eliot, we shall soon have dispatched the work now upon our bands. The age, with the death of this worthy man, has been already termin- ated, in tne ninetieth year of the present century, and the eighty-sixth year of his own pilgrimage. And for his birth, it was at a town in Eng- land } the name whereof I cannot presently recover ; nor is it necessa- ry for me to look back so fur as the place of his nativity ; any more thin it is for me to recite the Tertues of Im parentage, of which he said, Vig ca nostra voco: though indeed the pious education which they gave bin, caused him in his nge, to write these words : I do see that it wa$agreat favour ofOod unto me, to season my first times with the fear of God, the word, and prayer. The Atlantick Ocean, like a river o{ Lethe, may easily cause us to for- get many of the things that happened on the other side. Indeed the na- tivity of such a man, were an honour worthy the contention of as many places, m laid their claims unto the famous Homer^s : but whatever p/a- ees may challenge a shxre in the reputation of having enjoyed the Jirtt breath of our Eliot, it is ^few^ England th^ with most right can call him her's ; his best breatit, and afterwards his last breath was here ; and here Hwas, that God bestowed upon him sons and daughters. He came to Neve-England in the month of Noroembjur, A D. 1631, among those blessed old planters, which laid the foundtHrons of a remark- able country, devoted unto the eiercise of the Protestant religion, in its purest and highest reformation He left behind him in England, a ver- (uous young gentlewoman, whom he had pursued and purposed a mar- riage unto ; and she coming hither the year following, that marriage was consummated in the month otOctober, A- D. 1632. This wife of his youth lived with him until she became to him also the staff of his age ; and she leA him not until about three or four yeare before bis own departure to those heavenly regions, where they now together see light. She was a woman very eminent, both for holiness and usefulness, and she excelled most of the daughters that have done vcrtuounly. Her name was Anne, and gracious was her nature. God made her a rich bles- sing, not only to her family, but also to her neighbourhood ; and when at last she died, I heard and saw her aged husband, who else very rarely i;, yet now with tears over the coffin, before the good people, a vast oence of which were come to her funeral, say, Here lies my dear, ful, pious, prudeiU, prayerful wife ; I shall go to her, and she not re- to me. My reader will of his own accord excuse me, from bestow- ing any further epitaphs upon that gractowi woman. By her did God give him six worthy children, children of a character which may forever stop thft months of those antichristian blasphemers. Door 111.] THE HISTORY OF NEWENOLAND. 41f who hufe Mt • falie brand of diinsttr and infamy, on the offipriogof ■ marritd eUrgy. Hit Hnt-born waa a daughter, born Sept. 17, A. C. 1633. This gentlewoniHn ii yet alive, and one well approved for hjir piety and, sravitv. His neit waa a inn ; born JIug. 31, A. C. 1036. He bore hia Jaihtt » name, und had \i\% father'' » grace. He wiia a person of notable ac-! eomplishmenta, and a lively, xealous, acute preacher, not only to the Engtuh at New-CambriHge, but also to the Indian$ thereabout. He grevr 10 fast, that he was found ripe for Heaven, many yeara ago ; and upon hid death- bed uttered such penetrating things as could proceed from none, bat one upon the borders and confines of eternal glory. It is pity that , HO many of them are forgotten ; but one of them, I think, we have cause ' to remember : Well, (said he) my dear friendi, there it a dark day eotnint \ upnn New-England ; and m $o dark a day, I pray, how will you provitu for your own security^! My counsel to you is, gel an interest in (he bletud Lord Jesus Christ ; and that will carry you to th» world^s endX His third was also ■ son, bom Dec. SO, A. C. 1638 ; him he called Joseph. Thia person hath been a pastor lo the church at Ouil/ord. His fourth was a Samuel, born June 22, A. C. 1641, who died a most lovely young man, eminent for learning and goodness, afellow of the colledge, and a candi- dal of the ministry. His fifth was an Jaron, born Feb. 19, A. C. 1643, who though he died very young, yet first manifested many good things to- nardt Iht Lord Ood of Israel. His last was a Benjamin, born Jan. 29, A. C. 1646. Of all these three, it may be said, as it was of Haran, They died b^ore their fatlur ; but it may also be written over their graves, Jill these died in faith. By the pious design of their father, they were all consecrated unto the service of Ood, in the ministry of the gospel ; but Qod saw meet rather to fetch them away, by a death, which (therefore) I dare not call prvemature, to glorify him in another and a better world. They all gave such demonstrations of their conversion to God, that the good old man would sometimes comfortably say, I have had six children, and I bless God for his free grace, they are all either with Christ, or in Christ , and my mind is now at rest concerning them. And when soobe asked him, how he could bear the death of such excellent children, his humble re- ply thereto was tliis, My desire was that they should have served God on tarth ; but if God will chuse to hav them rather serve him in Heaven, I have nothing to object againut it, but his will be done /'His Benjaniin was made the son of his right-hand ; for the invitation of the good people atRoxbu' ry, placed him in the same pulpit with his father, where he was his assist- aat for many years ; there they had a proof of him, that as a son with his father, he served with him in the gospel. But bis late was like that which the great Gregory M'aziamen describes in his discourse upon the death of his honourable brother, his aged father being now alive and present : My father having laid up in a better world, a rich itdieritance for his chil' dren, sent a son of his before, to take possession of it. M" PRELIMINARY II. iDgled out from the many thousands of his occasional reflections, but only that 1 might suggest unto the good people of Eoxbury, something for them to think upon, when they are going up to the house of the Lord. It ia enough, that as the friend of the lamous Ursin could profess that he never went unto him without coming away, aut doctior aut melior, either the wiser or the better from him ; so, it in an acknowledgment which more than one i'riend of our Eliot'' s has made concerning him, / was never with him but I got, or might have got some good from him. And hearing/rom the great God, was an exercise of like satisfaction unto the soul of this good maq, with speaking either to him, or of him. He was a mighty student of the sacred bible ; and it was unto him as his necessary food. He made the i>ible his companion, and his counsellor, and the holy lines of scripture more enamoured him than the profane ones of Tally, ever did the famous Italian cardinal. He would not upon easy terms, have gone one day together, without using a portion of the Bible as an antidote against the infection of temptation. And he would prescribe it unto others, with his probatum est upon it ; as once particu- larly a pious woman, vexed with a wicked husband, complaining to him, that bad company was ell the day still infesting of her house, and what should she do ? he advised her. Take the holy Bible into your hand, when the bad company comes, and yhu'll soon drive them out of the house ; the woman made the experiment, and thereby cleared her house from the haunts that had molested it. By the like way it was that he cleared his heart of what he was loth to have nesting there. Moreover, if ever any man could, he might pretend unto that evidence of uprightness, Lord, I have loved the habitation of thine house ; for he not only gave something more than his presence there twice on the Lord^s days, and once a fortnight besides on the lectures, in his own congregation, but he made his weekly visit.s unto the lectures in the neighbouring towns ; how oflen was he seen at Boston, Charlestown, Cambridge, Dorchester, waiting upon the word of God, io recurring opportunities, and counting a day in the courts of the Ijord better than a thousand ? It is hardly conceivable, how in the midst of so many studies and labours as he was at home engaged in, he could possibly repair to so many lectures abroad ; and herein he aimed, not only at his own edification, but at the countenancing and encouraging of the lectures which he went unto. Thus he took heed, that he might hear, and he took as much heed how he heard ; he set himself as in the presence of the eternal God, as the great Constantino used of old, in the assemblies where he came, and aw\, I will hear what God the Lord will speak ; he expressed a dili- gent attention, by a watchful and wakeful posture, and by turning to the texts quoted by the preacher ; he expressed a suitable affection by feed- ing on what was deUvered, and accompanying it with bands and eyes devoutly elevated ; and they whose good hap 'twas to go home with him, were sure of having another sermon by the way until their very hmrts burned in them. Lactantius truly said, jVb» est vera Religio, qum cumTemplo relinquitur ; but our £/to( always carried much ot religion with him, from the house of God. In a word, he was one who lived in Heaven while he was on earth ; and there is no more than pure justice in our endeavours that he should live on earth after he is in Heaven. We cannot say that we ever saw him walking any whither but he was therein walking wiUi God ; wherever he fat, he had God by him, and it was in the everlasting arms of God that he 484 t ', THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book III. tUpt at night. Metboaghts he a little discovered bis heavenly way of living, w ben walking ooe day in bia garden, be plucked up aweedtbathe saw now and then growing there, at which a friend pleasantly said unto him. Sir, you tell us, we must be heaventy-minded ; but he immediately re- plied, it is true ; and this is no impediment unto that, for were I sure to go to Heaven to-morrow, I would do what I do to-day. From such a frame of spirit it was that once in a visit, finding a merchant in bis counting house, where he saw books of business only on bis table, but all bis bcok8 o{ devotion on the shelf, he gave this advice unto him, Sir, here is earth on the table, and Heaven on the shelf; pray don't sit so much at the table as altogether to forget the shelf; let not earth by any means thrust Heaven out of your mind. Indeed 1 cannot give a fuller description of him, than what was in a paraphrase that I have heard himself to make upon that scripture, Our conversation is in Heaven. I writ from him as he uttered it. ' Behold, said he, the ancient and eicellent character of a true chris- * tian ; 'tis that which Peter calls holiness in all manner of conversation ; ' you shall not find a christian out of the way of godly conversation. For, ' first, a seventh part of our time is all spent in Heaven, when we are du- ' ly zealous for, and zealous on the sabbath of God. Besides, God has ' written on the head of the sabbath remember ; which looks both for- * wards and backwards ; and thus a good part of th6 week will be spent in * sabbatizing. Well, but for the rest of our time ! Why, we shall have * that spent in Heaven, e'er we have done. For, secondly, we have ma- * ny days for both /asfing' and thanksgiving, in our pilgrimage ; and here ' are so many sabbaths more. Moreover, thirdly, we have our lectures * every week ; and pious people won't miss them, if they can belp it. * Furthermore, fourthly, we have our private meetings wherein «vepray, * and sing, .and repeat sermons, and confer together about the things of * God ; and being notv come thus far, we are -in Heaven almost every * day. But a little farther, fifthly, we j^rform family-duties every day ; ' we have our morning and evening sacrifices, wherein having read the * scriptures to our families, we call upon the name of God, and ever now * and then carefully catechize those that are under our charge. Sixthly, * we shall also have our daily devotions in our closets; wherein unto ' supplicatiim before the Lord, we shall add some serious meditation up- * on his word ; a David will be at this work no less than thrice a day. * Seventhly, we have likewise many scores of ejaculations in a day ; and * these we have, like M'ehemiah, in whatever place we come into. Eightb- * ly we have our occasional thoughts, and our occasional talks, upon spir- * itual matters ; and we have our occasional acts of charity, wherein we < do like the inhabitants of Heaven every day. Ninthly, in our callings, 'in our civil callings, we keep up Heavenly frames ; we buy and sell, * and toil ; yea, we eat and drink, with some eye both to the command * and the honour of God in all. Behold, i have not now left an inch of * time to be earnal ; it is all engrossed for Heaven. And yet, lest here ' should not be enoujh, lastly, we have our spiritual warfare. We are ' always encountring the eneiries of our souls, which continually raises ' our hearts unto our Helper and Leader in the Heavens. Let do man * say, 'te's impossible to live at this rate ; for we have known some live ' thus ; and others that have written of such a life, have but spun a web ' out of their own blessed experiences. New-England has example of * this life : though, alas, 'tis to be lamented, that the distractions of the < world, in too many professors, do be«:loud the beauty of an Heavenly he said ; hi 0OOK III .] THE HISTORY OP NEW-ENGL AND. * coQvenatioD. In fiae, our employment Um :» Htantn. In the m«,/a< < iog, if we uk, Wlurt ami to hi to day ? our aouls must answer, /n ' Heaven. In the evening, if we ask, Where have I been to-ddjft our souls ' raay answer. In Heaven. If thou art a believer, thou art no stranger to • Heaven while thou liveet ; and when thou diest. Heaven will be no strange ' place to thee ; no, thou hast been there a thousand times before. In this language have I heard him express himself ; and he did what he said ; he was a Boniface as well as Benedict ; and he was one of those. Q,uifaciendo docent, qxmfacienda docent. It might be said of him, as that writer characterises Origeny Qtiemac/- modtttn docuity sic vixit, ^ qmnuxdmodwnvixit tic docuit. ARTICLE II. Hi» particular Care and Zeal about the Lord's Day. This was thej9te/y, this the Iwlineu of ow Eliot ; but among the many instances in which his holiness was remarkable, I must not omit his exact remembrance of the sabbath day, to keep it holy. It has been truly and justly observed, that our whole religion fares ac- cording to our sabbaths, that poor sabbaths make poor christians, and that a strictness in our tabbc^s inspires a vigour into all our other duties. Our Eliot knew this, and it was a most exemplary zeal that he acknowledged the sabbath of our Lord Jesus Christ withal. Had he been asked, Servasti Domi- nicum ? he could have made a right christian primitive answer thereunto. The sun did not set, the evening before the sabbath, till he had begun his^ preparation for it ; and when the Lord's day came, yon might have seen John in the spirit, every week. Every day was a sort o£ sabbath to him, but the sabbath-day was a kind, a type, a tast of Heaven wifJi him. He laboured, that he might on this high day, have no words or thoughts but such as were agreeable thereunto ; he then allowed in himself no ac- tions, but those of a raised soul. One should hear nothing dropping from his lips on this day, but the milk and honey of the country, in which there yet remains a rest for tlie people of God ; and if he beheld in any person whatsoever, whether old or young, any profanation of (his day, he would be sure to bestow lively rebukes upon it. And hence also unto the general engagements of a covenant with God, which it was his desire to bring the Indians into, he added a particular article, wherein they bind themselves, mehquontamunat sabbath, pahketeaunat tohsohke pomantamog ; i. e. to remember the sabbcUh day, to keep it holy, as long as we live. The mention of this, gives me an opportunity, not only to recommend our departed Eliot, but also to vindicate another great man, unto the churches of our Lord Jesus Christ. The reverend and renowned Ower> in his elaborate exercitations on the Lord's day, had let ftf!l such a paS' sage as this : I judge, that the observation of the Lord^a day is to be commensurate un- to the use of our natural strength, on any other day ; from morning to night. Tlie Lord's day is to be set apart unto the endu of an holy rest unto God, by every one according as his natural strength will enable him to employ him- ■ielfin his lawful occasions any other day of the week. This passage gave some srandal unto several very learned and pioufi .-nen ; among whom, our Eliot was one ; whereupon with his usual zeal. 486 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book III. 4 gravity and sanclity, he wrote unto the doctor, his opinion thereabout ; who retarned nnto him an answer full of respect.'some part whereof I shall here trnscribe. * As to what concerns the natural strength of man (saith he) either I * was under some mistake in my expression, or you seem to be so, in your * apprehension. I never thought, and I hope, I have not said, for 1 can- * not (iod it, that the continuance of the sabbath is to be commensurate ' unto the natural strength of man, but only that it is an a//owa6/e mean of ' men's continuance in sabbcth duties ; which I suppose ybu will not de- ' ny, lest you should cast the consciences of professors into inextricable < difficulties. ' When first I engaged in that work, I intended not to have spoken ' one word about the practical observation of the day ; but only to have ' endeavoured the revival of a truth, which at present is despised and ' contemned among us, and strenuously opposed by sundry divines of the * United Provinces, who call the doctrine of the sabbath, Figmentvm An- * glicanum. Upon the desire of some learned men in these paits, it was, ' that 1 undertook the vindication of it. Having now discharged the < debt, which in this matter I owed unto the truth and church of God, ' though not as I ought, yet with such composition as 1 hope through ' the interposition of our Lord Jesus Christ might find acceptance with ' God and his saints, I suppose I shall not again engage on that subject. ' I suppose there is scarce any one alive in the world, who hath more * reproaches cast upon him than 1 have j though hitherto God has been ' pleased in some measure to support my spirit under them. I still re- ' lieved myself by this, that my poor endeavours have found acceptance * with the churclus of Christ : but my holy, wise, and gracious Father, ' sees it needful to try me in this matter also ; and what I have received ' from you (which it may be contains not your sense alone) hath printed ' deeper, and left a greater impression upon my mind, than all the viru- ' lent revilings, and false accusations I have met withal, from rjy profess- ' ed adversaries. 1 do acknowledge unto you, that 1 have a dry and * barren spirit, and I do heartily beg your prayers, that the Holy One ' would, notwithstanding all my sinfiil provocations, water me from ' above ; but that I should now be apprehended to have given a wound * unto holiness in the churches, it is one of the saddest frowns in the cloudy ' brows of divine providence. * The doctrine of the sabbath, I have asjserted, though not as it should 'be done, yet as well as I could ; the observation of it in holy duties un- ' to the utmost of the strength for them, which God shall be pleased to ' give us, I have pleaded for ; the necessity also of a Berious preparation ' for it in sundry previous duties, I have declared- But now to meet ' with severe expressions — it may be it is the will of God, that vigour ' should hereby be given to my former discouragements, and that there is ' a call in it, to surcease from these kinds of labours.' I have transcribed the more of this letter, because it not only discov- ers the concern which our Eliot had for the sabbath of God, but also it may contribute unto the world's good reception and perusal of a goldm book on that subject, written by one of the most eminent persons which the English natioo has boon adorned with. Rook III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 4IT ARTICLE III. His exemplary Mortification. Thus did Eliot endeavonr toii've unto Gqd ; but how much at the same time did he tite unto all the world ? It were imposHible to tioish the lively picture of tbi» pious and holy Eliot, without some touches upob that mort\ficatioH, which accompanied him all his days ; for never did I see a person more mortifisd unto all the pleasures of this life, or more unwilling to moult the wings of an heaven-born soul, in the dirty puddles of carnal and sensual delights. We are all of us compounded of those two things, the man, and the beaet ; but so powerful was the man, in this holy person, that it kept the beast ever tyed with a short tedder, and suppressed the irregular calcitrations of it. He became so nailed unto the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, that the grandeurs of this world were unto him just what they would be to a dying man; and he maintained an almost unparalleled ind^erency towards all the pomps, which mankind is too generally flattered and enchanted with. The lust of tkeftesh he could not reconcile himself to the least pamper < ing or indulging of: but he persecuted it with a continual antipathy, be- ing upon higher principles than Tully was acquainted withal, of his mind, JVo'i est digitus nomine hominis, qui unum diem totum velit esse in isto genere vofuplatis. The sleep that he allowed himself, cheated him not of his morning hours ; but he reckoned the morning no le^s a friend unto the gra- ces than the muses. He would call upon students, I pray look to it that you be morning birds. And for many more than a score of years before he died, he removed his lodging into his study, on purpose that being there alone, he might enjoy his early mornings, without giving the distur- bance of the least noise to any of his friends, whose affections to him else might have been ready to have called. Master, spare thy self. The meat upon which he lived was a cibus simplex, an homely but an wholesome diet. Rich varieties, costly viands, and poinant sauces, came not upon his own table, and when he found them on other men's, he rarely tasted of them. One dish, and a plain one was his dinner; and when invited unito if east, I have seen him sit magnifying of God, for the plenty which his people in this wilderness were within a few years arisen to ; but not more than a bit or two of ajll the dainties taken into his own mouth all the while. And for a supper, he had learned of his loved and blessed patron, old Mr. Cotton, either wholly to omit it, or to make a small sup or two the utmost of it. The drink which he still used was very small ; he cared not for voines or drams, and I believe he never once in all his life, knew what it was to feel so much as a noxious fume in his head, from any of them ; good, clear water was more precious, as well as more usual with him, than any of those liquors with which men do so frequently spoil their own healths, while perhaps they drink those of other men. When at a stranger's house in the summer time, he has been entertained with a glass, which they told him was, of water and wine, he has with a complaisant gravity replyed unto this purpose, Wine, Uis a noble gener- ous liquor, and we should be humbly thankful for it ; but as I remember, wa- ter was made before it ! So abstemious was be ; and he found, that Cktre- re suavtfalibus istis, his abstinence had more sweetness in it, than any of the sweets which he abstained from ; and as willing he was to have others 488 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Boor IH. partake with him in that sweefncM, that when he has thought the coante- nance of a minister has looked, as if he had made much of hianetf, he has gone to him with that speech, Study morlificatioH, bnrthtr, itudy tnot- tification/ and he made all his addresses with a becoming majesty. The lu$t of the eye, was pot oat bjr him in such a manner, that it was in a manner all one with him to be rick or poor. It could not be said of him, that he eought great thingtfor hinuelf ; but what estate he became owner of, was from the blessing of God upon the husbandry and industry of some in his family, rather than from any endeavours of his own. Once when there stood several kine of his own before his door, his wife, to try him, asked him, Who$e they were ? and she found that he knew noth- ing of them. He could not endure to plunge himself into secular designs and affairs, but accounted Saeerdoe in foro as wortbv of castigation m Mercator m Temjdo ; he thought that minuter and marlut-fMii^ were not iintfon«, and that the earth was no place for Aaron* b holy mitre to be laid upon. It was the usage of most parishes in the country, to have an an- nual rate for the maintenanee of the ministry, adjusted commonly by the selectmen of the towns ; which though it raised not any exuberant sala- ries for the ministers, who also seldom received all that the people had contracted for, nevertheless in many places it prevented sore temptations from befalling those that were labouring in the word and doctrine ; who most else oflen have experience the truth of Luther* s observation, Durittr profeeto 4r mtsere viverent Evangelii Ministri, ti ex Libera populi eoniribu- tione ettent tuttetUandi. However, for hie part, he propounded that what stipend he had, should be raised by contribution ; and from the same temper it was, that a few years before his dissolution, being left without an assistant in bis ministry, he pressed his congregation to furnish them- selves with another fostor ; and in his application to them, he told them, 'Tie poeeible, you may think the burden ^ maintaining two ministers may be too heavy for you ; but I deliver you from that fear ; I do here give back my salary to the Lord Jesus Christ, and now, brethren, you may fix that up- on any man that God shall make a pastor for you. But his church with an handsome reply, assured him, that they would count his very pre- sence worth a salary, when he should be so superanuated as to do no fur- ther service for them. And as for the ppde of life, the life of it was roost exemplarily extin- guished in him. The humility of his heart made him higher by the head than the rest of the people. His habit and spirit were both such as declar- ed him to be among the lowly, whom Gpd has most respect unto. His apparel was without any ornament except that of humility, which the apostle elegantly compares to a knot of comely ribbons, in the text where he bids us to be cloathed with it ; any other flaoting ribbons on those that came in his way he would ingeniously animadvert upon ; and seeing some scholars once, he thought a little too gaudy in their cloatbs, Humiliamini. Juvenes, Humiliamini, was his immediate complement unto them. Had you seen him with his leathern girdle (for such an one he wore) about his loins, you would almost have thought what Herod feared, That John Bap' tist was come to life again. In short, he was in all regards a J^azarite in- deed ; unless in this one, that long hair was always very loathsome to him ; he was au acute Ramist, but yet he professed himself a lover of a Trichotomy. Doubtless, it may be lawful for us to accommodate the length of our hair unto the modest customs which vary in the Churches of God ; and it may be lawful foi- them that have not enough of their own hair for their own health, to supply themselves according to the sober Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENQLAND. 48» modes of the places they live. But the apostle telU us, J^ature Uacheg us, that if a man have long Aat'r, Hit a shame to him ; where, by nature can be uieunt, no other than the difference of sex; as the wotd elsewhere is used. Thus Mr Eliot thought t^ut for men to wear their hair with a luxuri* ous, delicate, faeminine prolixity ; or for them to preserve no plain dis- lioction of their sex, by the hair of their head and lace ; and much more for men thus to disfigure themselves with hair that is none of their own j iiad most of al|, for miAt^tea of the gospel to ruffle it in excesses of this kind ; may prove more than we are well aware, displeasiing to the Holy Spirit of God. The hair of them that professed religion, long before his ileath, grew too long for him to swallow ; and he would express himself continually with a boiling zeal concerning it, until at la's! he gave over, with some regret complaining, The lust is become insuperable ! 1 know not whether that horrible distemper prevailing in some European countries known by the name of Plica Polonica, .vherein the hair of people mat' ted into ugly and filthy forms, like snakes upon their head», which whoso- ever cut off, presently fell blind or mad ; 1 say, I know not whether this disease was more odious in it self, than the sweeter, neater, but prolix locks of many people «vere to our Eliot He was indeed one priseis more- bus, as well as Anliquafide ; and he might be allowed somewhat even of severity in this matter, on that account. ARTICLE IV. Hit Exquisite Charity. He that will write of Eliot, must write of charity, or say nothing. Hi« charity was a star of the first magnitude in the bright constellation of his rertues ; and the rays of it were wonderfully various and extensive. - His liberality to pious uses whether publick or private, went much beyond the proportions of his little estate in the world. Many hundreds of pounds did he freely bestow upon the poor ; and he would, with a very forcible importunity, press his neighbours to join with him in such benen- cences. It was a marvellous alacrity with which he imbracedall oppor- tunities of relieving any that were miserable ; and the good people of Roxbury doubtles, cannot remember (but the righteous God will!) how oilen, and with what ardors, with what arguments, he became a beggar to them for collections in their assemblies, to support such needy objects, as had fallen under his observation. The ppor counted him their/atAer, and repaired still unto him, with a filial confidence in their necessities ; and they were more than seven or eight, or indeed than so many scores, who received the'tt portions of his bounty. Like that worthy and famous English general, he could not pcrswade himself that he had any thing but Tchat he gave away ; but he drove a mighty trade at such exercises as he thought would furnish him with bills of exchange, which he hoped aftef many days to find the comfort of; and yet after all, he would say like one of the most charitable souls that ever lived in the world, that looking over his accounts, he could no where Jind the God of Heaven charged a debtor there. He did not put oif his charity, to be put in his last will, as many who therein shew that their charity is against their will ; but he v^as bis own administrator ; he made his own hands his executors, and his own eyes his overseers. It has been remarked, that liberal men are often long-lived men ; so do they after many days find the bread with >yhi$h they Vol. I. (;•» THE IJISTOUY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [BaorMf. have been willing to keep other men alive. The great age of oar Eliot •VH8 but agreeable to this remark ; and when his age bad unhtted him for nimoft all emidoyaients, and bereaved him of those gifts and pnits which once he had been accomplished with, being utked, hoxvludidf he would sometimes answer, JHai, t hace lost every thing ; my undemanding leaves mt, tt.y memory fails me, my utterance fails me ; but I thank Uod, my charity holds out still ; I find that rather grows than fails ! And I miike no quesliun, that at his death, his happy soul was received, and welcomed into the everlatting luibitations, by many scores got thither before him, of such as hi.*) charity had been liberal unto. But besides these more substantial expressions of his charity, he made the odours of that grnce yet more fragrant unto all that were about him, by that pittifulness, and that peaceableiuss, which rendered him yet fur- ther amiable. If any of his neighbourhood were in distress, he was like a brother born for their adveristy; he would visit them, and comfort them with a most fraternal syiXpathy ; yea, His not easy to recount how many whole days of prayer and Justing he has got his neighbours to keep with him, on the behalf of those who^e calamities he found himself touch- ed withal. It was un extreme saiisfuction to him. that his wife had at- tained unto n considerable skill in physick ond chyrurgery, which enabled her to dispense many safe, good, and useful medicines unto the /loor that had occasion for them ; and some hundreds of sick and weak and maimed people owed praises to God, for the benefit, which therein ihey freely received of her. The good gentleman her husband, would still bo cast- ing oyl into tbejlame of that charity, wherein she was of her own accord abundantly forward thus to be doing of good unto all ; and he would urge her. to be serviceable unto the worst enemies that he had in the world. Never had apy man fewer enemies than he ! but once having delivered something in his ministry, which displeased one of his hearers, the man did passionately abuse him for it, and this both with speeches nnd with writings, that reviled him. Yet it happening not long after, that this man gave himself a very dangerous wound, Mr. Eliot immediately sends his wife- to cure him ; who did accordingly. When the man was well he came to thank her ; but she took no rewards ; and this good man made him stay and eat with him, taking no notice of all the calumnies with which he had loaded him ; but by this carriage be mollified and conquer- ed the stomach of hi;} rcviler. He was also' a great enemy to all contention, and would ring aloud cour- feu-bell, wherever he saw the^res of animosity. When he heard any ministers complain, that such and such in their flocks were too difficult for them, the at^in of his answer still was, Br other r compass them! and brother, learn the meaning of those three little words, bear, forbear, forgive. Yea, his inclinations for peace, indeed sometimes almost made him to sacrifice right itself. When there was laid before an assmebly of minis; ters a bundle of papers, which contained certain matters of difference and contention, between some people which our Eliot thought should rather unite, with an amnesty upon all their former quarrels, he (with some imitation of what Constuntine did qpon the like occasion) hastily threw the papers into the fire before them all, and with a zeal for peace as hot as that fire, said immediatly, Brethren, wonder not at what 1 have done, I did it on my knees this morning, before I came among you. Such an excess (if it were one) flowed from hia charitable inclinations to be found among those peace -makers, which by following the example of that moXk who is our peace, come to be called, the children of God'. Very wor- Book FFI.] THE HISTORY OF NEVV-ENaLAND. 401 t hily might he be culled an Irenaui, an being all for peace ; and the com- mcndation which Eniphaniut gives unto the ancient of that name, did belong unto our Eliot, he was a moit bletted and a mo$t holy tnan. He disliked all sorts of bravery: but yet with Hn ingenioa,i note upon the Greek word in Col. iii. 1^. he propounded, that peace might brave it among u$. In short, wherever he came, it wrfs like another old Joh», with solemn and earnest perswasives to love, and when he could my little else, be would give that churj^e, My.fhildr^n, Inve one another I Finally, 'twas his charity which dispoKcd hiro to continual appreeatione for, and benedictions on those that he met withal ; he had an heart full of good wishes, and a mouth full of kind blessings for them. And he often made his expreuions v^ry wittily agreeable to the circumstances which be naw the persons in. Sometimes when he came into a family, he would call for all tbe young people in it, that so he might very dit- iinctly lay his holy hands upon every one of them, and bespeak the mer* cies of* Heaven fur them jill. ARTICLE V, ■Some special JlttainnuntSy that were the Rffeets of his Piety and Charilji BvT what was the effect of this exemplary piety and charity in our Eliot ? U will be no wonder to my reader, if I tell him, that this good man walked in the light of God's countenance all the day long. I believe he had a continual assurance of the divine love, marvellously sealing, strengthening, and refreshing of him, for many lustres of years bfeibre he died ; and for this cause, the fear of death was extirpated out of hifl heavenly soul, more than out of most men alive. Had our blessed Jesus at any time sent his waggons to fetch this old Jacob away, he would hiive gone without the least reluctancies. Labouring once under a fever an I ague, a visitant asked him, how he did? and he replyed, Very well, but anon I expect a paroxism. Said the visitant. Sir, fear not ; but unto that he answered. Fear ! no, no ; I beenU afraid, I thank Ood, / been't afraid to die ! Dying would not have been any more to him, than sleep* ing to a weary man. And another excellency, which accompanied this courage and comfort in him wan, a wonderful resignation to the will of God in all events. There were sore afflictions that sometimes befel him ; especially when he followed some of his hopeful and worthy sons two or three desirable preachers of the gospel, to their graves. But he sacrificed them, like another Abraham ; with such a sacred indiiTerency, as made flU the'Spec- tittoro to say, this could not be done Txnlhout the fear of God. Yea, he bore all his trials with an admirable patience, and seemed loth to have any will of his own, that should not be wholly melted and moulded into the will of his Heavenly Father. Once being in a boat at sea, a larger vessel unhappily over run, and over set that little one which had no small concerns, because Eliofs in the bottom of it ; be immediately sunk without any expectation of ever going to Heaven any other way ; and when he imagined that be had but one breath more to draw in the world, it was this, the will of the Lord be done ! But it was the will of the Lord, that he should survive the danger ; for he was rescued by the help that was then at hand, and he that had long been like Mosea in every thing else, was now drawn out of the waters. Which gives me opportunity to mention one remarkable that bad seme relation hereunto. 49t THE HISTORY OF NF.W.r.NGLAND. [Book III This accident linppcnod in the timo of our Indian wari, when •omc furioim Englhh people thxt clumour^tl tor the extirpntion of the pray- ing Indinni, which were in suhjection unto »n, ns well nt the l*agan In- dians thiit were in ho*ttilitv agiiinut u«, rented n very wicked rate at our holy KHot, becnuoe of hi* concerunncnt for the Indians, ana one profane monHtcr henriog how narrowly Mr. Eliot eicaped from drown- ing, 'tis i>uid, he wished this man of Qod had then been drowned. But within n few days, that'wofnl man by n strange disaster, was drowned ,ih that very place where Mr. Eliot had received his deliverance. There wm indeed u certain health of soul whit ^ he arrived unto ; and he kept in a blcnsed measure clear ot those distemptrs which too often disorder tho roort of men. But the Qod of Heaven favoured him with sonicthi(i||( that wa« yet more extraordinary ! By getting and keeping near to UnH, and by d%vclling under the shadow ofthe Almighty, be contracted a more fxquisite sense of mind, than what a usual among other professors of chri^utnity ; he sumetimes felt a lively touch of God upon his refined ntid exalted spirit, which were not in any paper of ours lanful or easy to hv. uttered , and he was admitted unto a singular familiarity with t\\i- fifily One of Israel. Hence it was, that att bodies of a rare and tine coii'tiliilion, \\\\\ forebode the changes of the weather, so the sublimed fxxil ot our Eliot often had strange forebodings of things that were to rfMiK' 1 have been astonished at some of his predictions, that were bolh of a more personal, and of a more general application, and were foiiowed with exiict arcomplishments. If he said of any affair, / can> vol bless it .' it Wtis a tvorHC omen to it, than the Liost inauspicious pre- H igeA in the world ; but sometimes after he had been with God in prayer jiho'il !i tiling, hp was able successfully to foretel, I have set a mark vpon t'r, it wilt do uie// .' I shall nevtr forget, that when Evgland and Holland uorf plunj$ed into the unhappy war, which the more sensible Protest- ants every where had but sorrowful apprehensions of, our Eliot being in the height aud heat of the war, privately asked. What news we might hokfor*iext? answered unto the suprize of the enquirer, Ournextnews teiil Of, a peace between the two Protestant nations ; God knows, I pray for H every day ; aud I am verily perswaded, we shall hear of it speedily ! And it Ort'ne to psiKfi accordingly. M is to i>e confessed, that the written word of God, is to be regarded as the perfect and only rule of our lives ; that in all articles of religion, itiiit^n speak niit according to this word, there is no light in them; and that It it no w:)rrnutabie or convenient thing for christians ordinarily to look fi;r f-uch ii)8|)irati()n8 as directed the prophets that were the pen-men of tlis scti[.t»in.'.s. Nevertheless, there are some uncommon instances of f oni.nuinon and fn-ition which in our days the sovereign God here and tiMM<.. fivcmrs a good man withal ; and they are very heavenly persons, pt'i>ons wtil purihed from the /acw/encies of sensuality, and persons bet- tir pji'^cd troin the leaven of envy and malice, and intolerable pride, than usually those vain pretenders to revelations, the Quakers are, that am made vriiikt-rs of these divine dainties. Now such an one was our Eiii't ; ar)rj for this, worthy to be had in everlasting remembrance, • !(tlt would noi be improper, under this file to lodge the singular and sur- prjfini^ •uccesses of his /)raycrs / for they were such, that in our distress- es wo «iili repaired unto him, under that encouragement, Heiiaprophef, and hf s inli pray for thee, and thou shall live, I shall single out but one, from the many that might be mentioned, Uooic lll.l THE IIISTOnV OF NEW-KNOLaND. There wai a godly gAnllomiin of CharUiteian, one Mr. /otter , who with hib ton, WM tnken crtplive by Turkiih oncmicH. Murli |)ri«yer wnn «*»• plojed, both itrivntely nnd pubhckly, by the t^nnA people Ihmt. for 'Se redemption or thut gentleman ; bat we were ut lat^i informpd, iljxt the bloody prince, in wlione dominion* he wim now h shive, wns resolved tlint in hit life time no prisoner Rhould be relented ; and oo tlie dii(re«s- ed friends of thia priitoiier now concluded, our hope ti toit t Well, upon thi*. Mr. Eliot, in some of his next pniycm, before ii very solemn con- gregation, very broadly begged, Heavenly Father, work for ike redemption of thy poor servant Foster ; and if the prince which d«iam$ him will not, a» they $ay, di$mi$t him as long at himtflf liven, Lord.wt pray thee to kilhhat crusl prince ; kill him, and glorify thyself upon him. And now behold the answer : the poor ciiptivcd ^entlemun quickly return* to us that had been mourning for him ns n lost niiin, nnd brings us news, thnt the prince which had hitherto held him, wiis come to an untimely death, by whirk meani he was now set at liberty. PART II. Or, ELIOT as a Minister. ARTICLE h ' ' His Ministerial Accomplishments. \ ' t The Grace of God, which we have seen so illustriously endowing and adorning of our Eliot, as well qualified him for, as dinposed him to tho employment wherein he spent about six decads of his years ; which was, the service of the I^ord Jesus Christ, in the ministry of the gospel, 'i'his was the work to which he applied himself and he undertook it, 1 belicre, with as right thoughts of it, and as good ends in it, as ever any man in our days was acted with. He looked upon the conduct of a church, as a thing no less dangerous than important, and attended with so many diffi- culties, temptationd, and humiliations, as that nothing but a call from the Son of God, could have encouraged him unto the tiuaception of it. He saw that^esft and blood would find it no very pleasant thing, to be obli- f(ed unto the oversight of a number, that by a solemn covenant should be listed among the voluntiers of the Lord Jesus Christ ; that it was no easy thing to feed the souls of such a people, and of the children and the neighbours, which were to be brought into the same sheepfold with them ; to bear their manners with all patience, not being by any of their infirmities discouraged from teaching of them, and from watching and praying over them ; to value them highly as thcfiock which God has pur- chased with^is own blood, notwithstanding till their miscarriages ; and in all to examine the rule of scripture for the warrant of whatever shall be done ; and to remember the day of judgment, wherein an account must be given of all that has been done ; having in the mean time no expecta- tion of the riches and grandeurs which accompany a worldly domination. It was herewithal his opinion, that (as the great Owen expresses it) not- withstanding all the countenance that is given to any church by the publick magistracy, yet whilst ne are in this world, those who will faithfully dis- charge their duty, as ministers of the gospel, shall have nrtd to be prepared 494 t t THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book HI. for tufferinga ; and it was in a sense of these things that he gHve himself up to the SAcred ministry. A stranger to regeneration can be but poor- ly nccoinplished. fornuch a ministry ; very truly say^ the incomparable Mated, Impii quidam Homines egregie videntfir callere rutuktytifum, revtra, tamen ilia CognUio Rerum Theologicarum est atuXnytf, quia fieri nun potest ut Cognitio vere Theologica, habilet in Corde non Theologo : And however God may prosper the sermons of such a roan for the advantage of his church : however the building of the nrk may be helped on by such car- penters as perish in the fiood; and the Tyrians may do some work about the temple, who arrive to no worship in the inner-rourts thereof, and as Austin expressed it, a stone'Cutter may convey water into a garden, with- out having hiu^self any advantage of it ; nevertheless, the unsanctitied mini!>ter, how gifted, how able soever he may be, must have it still said unto him, Thou lackest one thing ! And that one thing our Eliot had. But the one thing was not all ! as indeed, it would not have been enough. God furnished him with a good measure oflearning too, which made him capable to divide the word aright. He was a most acute grammarian ; and understood very well, the languages which God first wrote his Holy Bible in. He had a good insight into all the other liberal arts, and made little systems of them, for the use of certain Indians, whose exacter edu- ration he was desirous of. But, above all, he bad a most eminent skill in theology ; and that which profane scoffers reproached, as the disgrace of the blessed Ailing, all of whose works always weigh down the purest gold, was the honour of our Eliot, namely to be Scripturarius Theologus, or one mighty in the word ; which enabled him to convin^te gainsayers, and on many occasions to show himself, a workman that needed not be ashamed. In short, he came in some degree, like another Bezalee?., or Moliah, ynlo the service of the tabernacle. And from ,one particularity in that part of his learning, which lay in the affairs of the tabernacle, it was, that in a little book of his we have those lines, which for a certain cause I now transcribe ; Oh that the Lord wotdd put it (says he) into ike heart of some of his religious and learned servants, to take such pains about the He- brew language, as to JU it for universal use f Considering, that above all languages spoken by the lip of man it is most capable to be enlarged, and fitted to express all things, and motions, and notions, that our humane intel- lect is capable of in this mortal life, considering also, tliatit is the invention of God himself; and what one is fitter to be the universal language, than that which it pleased our Lord Jesus to make use of, when he spake from Heaven unto Paul ! In fine, though we have had greater scholars than he, yet he halh often made me think of Mr. Samuel Ward's observation. In observing I have ob- served and found, that divers great clerks have had but little fruit of their ministry, but hardly any truly zealous man of God {though of lesser gifts) but have had much comfort (f their labours in their own. and bordering pa- rishes ; being in this likened by Gregory, to the iron on the sihith's anvil, sparkling round about . -■ -i > *W -nti« i*\ ARTICLE n. b.-v^,^d»f^i^ •>*»' • ";^ His Family-Government. Tue Apostle Pau?, reciting and requirina; qualifications of a gospel minister, gives order, that ho be The hvsband of one rvife, and one thaf ^. >DboK III] THE HISTORY OF NEWENGLAND. 495 ruleth well his own house, having hie children in eubjectton with all gravity. It seems, that a man's carriage in biii own house is a part, or at least a tign, of his due deportment in Ihe house o/Qod ; and then, 1 am siiire, our £li- oCs was very axemplary. That one wife which was given to him truly from the Lord, he loved, prized, cherished, with a kindness that notably represented the compassion which he (thereby^ taught his church to ex- pect from the Lord Jesus Christ ; and after he had lived wiih her for more than half an hundred years, he followed her to tlie grave with la- mentations beyond those, which the Jews from the tigure of a letter in the text, affirm, that Abraham deplored his aged Sarah with ; her departure made a deeper impression upon him than wh4t any jcommon affliction could. His whole conversation with her, had that sweetness, and that gravity and modesty beautifying of it, that every one called them Zachary and Elizabeth. His family was a little Bethel, for the worship of God con- stantly and exactly maintained in it ; and unto the daily prayers of the family, his manner was to prefix the reading of the scripture ; which be- ing done, it was also his .manner to make his young people to chuse a cer- tain passage in the chapter, and give him some obseivation of their own upon it. By thid method he did mightily sharpen and improve, as well as try their undestandings, and endeavour to make them wise unto salvation. He was likewise very strict in the education of his children, and more careful to mend any error in their hearts and lives, than he could have been to cure a blemish in their bodies. No exorbitancies or extravagoH' cies could find a room under his roof, nor was his house any other than a scliool of piety ; one might have there seen a perpetual mixture of a Spartan and a christian discipline. Whatever decay there might be upon family-religion among us, as for our Eliot, we knew him, that he would command his children, and his household after Aim, that they should keep file way (\f the Lord. I* * ARTICLE III. n; . His way of Preaching. Such was he in his lesser family ! and in his greater family, he manifest-^ ed still more of his regards to the rule of a gospel -ministry. To his con- gregation, he was a preacher that made it bis care, to give every one their tneat in due season. It was food and not froth ; which in his publick ser- mons, he entertained the souU of his people with, he did not starve them with empty and windy speculations, or with such things as Animum non darU, quia non habent ; much less did he kill them with such poison as is too commonly exposed by the Arminian and Socinian doctors that have too often sat in Moses' chair. His way o{ preaching was \ery plain ; so that the very lambs might wade, into his discourses on those texts and themes, wherein elephants might swim ; and herewithal, it was very powerful, his delivery was always very graceful and grateful ; but when he was to use reproofs and warnings against any sin, his voice would rise into a warm ' to the Lord Jems Christ. Let us keep up this ordinance with all ^en- * tlenesa ; and where we see the least spnrk of grace held forth, let us < prize it more than all the "wit in the world.' There were especially two things, which he was loth to see, and yet feared he saw, fulling in the churches of Nexo-England. One was, a tho- rough establishment of ruling elders in our churches ; which he thought sufhciently warranted by the apostle's mention of, elders that rule well, who yet labour not in word and doctrine. He was very desirous to have pru- dent and gracious men set over our churches, for the assistance of their pastors, in the church act« that concern the admission and exclusion of members, and the inspection of the conversation led by the communicant, and the instruction of their several families, and the visitation of the af- flicted in their flock, over which they should preside. Such helps in governments had he himself been bicsged withal ; the last of which was the well-deserving Elder Bowles ; and of him, did this good man, in a speech to a synod of h\\ the churches in this colony, take occasion to say. There is my brother Bowles, the godly elder of our church at Roxbury, God helps him to do great things among tis .' Had all our pastors been so well accommodated, it is possible there would be more encouragement given to such an office as that of ruling elders. But the mention of a Synod brings to mind another thing, which he was concerned, that we might never want ; and that is, a frequent repetition of needftd synods in our churches. Fur though he had a deep and a due care to preserve the rights of particular churches, yet he thought all the churches of the Lord Jesus by their union in what they /?ro/c«s, in what they intend, and in what they enjoy, so compacted into one body mystical, as that all the several particular churches every where should act with a regard unto the good of the whole, and unto the common advice and coun- cil of the neighbourhood ; which cannot be done always by letters missive like those that passed between Corinth and Rome in the early days of Chris- tianity ; but it requires a convention of the churches in synods, by their delegates and messengers. He did not count churches to be so indepen- dent, as that they can always discharge their whole duty, and yet not act in a conjunction v.rith neighbour churches ; nor would he he of any church that will not acknowledge it self accountable to rightly composed synods, which may have occasion to enquire into the circumstances of it ; he saw the main interest and business of churches might quickly come to be utter- ly lost, ii' synods were not often called ^Ir the repairing of inconveniences, and he was much in contriving for the rcgqlar and repeated meeting of such assemblies. He wished for councils to suppress all damnable heresies, or pernicious opinions, that might ever arise among us ; for councils to extinguish all dangerous divisions, and scandalous contentions which might ever begin to flame in our borders ; for councils to rectify all mule-administrations in the midst of us, or to recover any particular churches out of any dis- orders which they may be plunged into : for councils to enquire into the love, the peace, the holiness maintained by the sevenil churches ; in fine, for counncils to send forth fit lahovrevs into those parts of our Lord's sot THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENOLAND. t»^obK IIY. harvest, which are without the gospel ot Qod . He beheld an apottoKcal precept .ind pnttern for such eounciU '; and when such eoimeih convpned in the name of the Lord }e«\\n Chirst, by the consent of several chnrches concerned in mtllen<;c(i an observiition from the particular churches, with a ve- ry great authority. He therefore printed a Utile book wearing this title. Hie Divine Man- agement of Gospel Churches by the Ordinance of Councils, constituted in or- der accortUng to the Scriptvres, which may be a meant of uniting those two holy and eminent parties, the Presbyterians and the Congregational. It is a remarkable conre^Hion made by the incomparable Jurieu who is not reckoned a Congregational man, in his Traile de VUnite de UEglise., That the apostolical churches lived not in any confederation for mutual de- pendence. The grand equipage of Metropolitans, of Primiates, of Exarchs, of P ttriarchs, was yet unknown ; nor does it any more appear to us, Uiat the ciiurches then had their provincial, national, and acumenical synods ; ev- ery chirch was its own mistress, and independent on any other. But on the other side, our Eliot, who was no Presbyterian, conceived synods to he the institutions of our Lord Jesus Christ, the apostolical churches them- selves acknowledging a stamp of divine right upon them. Such as these were the sentiments of our Eliot ; and his deserved re- putation in the churches of J^ew- England, is that which has caused me to foresee some advantage and benefit arising unto the concerns of tb6 gospel, by so large a recitation as I have now made thereof The re^'ler has now seen, an able minister of the New -Testament. ^ PART HI. t '* Or, ELIOT as an Evanoelis'i'. ' The titles of a christian and of a minister, have rendred our Eliot con- «iderable ; but there is one memorable title more, by which he has been signalized unto us. An honourable person did once in print put the name of an evangelist upon him ; whereupon in a letter of his to that person afterwards printed, his expressions were, ' There is a redundancy where ' you put the title of Evangelist upon me ; 1 beseech you suppress all ' such things ; let us do and speak and carry all things with humility ; it ' is the Lord who hath done what is done : and it is most becoming the ' spirit of Jesus Christ to lift up hini, and lay our selves low ; I wish ■ that word could be obliterated.' My reader sees what a caution Mr. Eliot long since entred against our giving him the title of an evangelist; but his d^ath has now made it safe, and his life had long made it just, for us to acknowledge him with such a title. 1 know not whither that of an evangelist, or one separated for the employment of preaching the gospel in such places whereunto churches have hitherto been gathered, be not an office that should be cout.iuued in our days ; but this I know, that our Eliot very notably did the service and business o{ such an officer. Cambden could not reach the heigh th of his conceit who bore in his shield a salvage of America, with his iiand pointing to the sun, and this motto^, Mihi .Icr.cssv, Tlhi Fec^ssii, RonAor, prepare to behold this denee illustrated ! UooK. III.] THE HISTORY OF NEWKNQLANL). 603. 1|[ The aativeti of th< country now posseMetl by tbe M'ew-Eitgland*rtt h9() b««n forlorn and wretcbed heathen ever since tbeir first herding \wt» ; aud though we know not when or how thoie Indiana first became iuhabi- tantd of this mighty continent, yet we may guesis that probably tbe devil Jttcoyed those miserable salvage* hither, in hopes that the gonpel of the Lord Jesus Christ would never come here to destroy or dintiirb his abiolute empire over them. But our Eliot was in such ill terms with th« devil, as to alarm him with sounding the iilver trumpetn of Heaven in his territories, and make some noble and zealous attf^mpts towards outing him of ancient possessions here. There were, I think, twenty several nations (if 1 may call them so) of Indiana upon that spot of ground, which fell under the influence of our Three United Coloniea ; and our Eliot was willing to rescue as many of them a» he could, from that old upurp-. ing landlord of America, who is by the wrath of God, the prince of this world. I cannot find that any besides the Holy Spirit of God, first moved him to the blessed work ot evangeli&ing these perishiiig Indiana; it was that Holy Spirit which laid before his mind the idea of that which was on the seai of the Maaaacbuset colony ; a poor Indian having a label going from, hia moutht with a comf, over and hf.li> vs. It was the spirit of our Lord, Jesus Christ, which enkindled in him a pitty for the dark souls of these natives, whom the God of this world had blinded, through all the by-past ages. He was none of those that make, er enough to supply all this world ; besides other mmes hereafter to be exposed ; but our shiftless Indians were never owners of so much as a knife, till we come among them ; their name for an Englishman was a Knife-man ; stone was instead of metal lor their toois ; and for their coins, they have only little h' :id» with hnloH in them to string them upon a bracelet, whereof some are white ; anas, and barn, and beat their corn, and build their wigwams for thoin : which perhaps may be the reason of their extnordinury ease in childbirth. In the mean time, their chief empluyment, when they'll condescend unto any, is that of hunting ; wherein they'll go out some scores, if not hundreds of them in a company, driving all before them. They continue in a place, till they have burnt np all the wood there- abouts, and then they pluck up stakes ; to follow the wood, which they cannot fetch home unto themselves ; hence when they enquire about the English, Why come they hither ? they have themselves very learnedly de- termined the case, '3W» because we wantedjiring No arts iire understood among them, unless just so far as to maintain their brutish conversation, which is little more than is to be found among the very bevers upon our streams. Their division of time is by sleeps, and moons, nnd winters ; and by lodging abroad, they have somewhat observed the motions of the stars ; among which it has been surprising unto me to find, that they have al- ways called Charles''s ^atnby the name of Paukunnawaw, or the Bear, which is the name whereby Europeans also have distinguished it. More- ov«r, they have little, if any traditions among them worthy of our notice ; »nd reading and writing is altogether unknown to them, though there is :i rock or two in the country that has unaccountable characters engrav- ed upon it. All the religion they have amounts unto thus much ; they believe, that there are many Goofs, who made and own the several na- tions of the world ; of which a certain great God in the south-west re- gions of Heaven bears the greatest figure. They believe, that every re- markable creature has a peculiar God within in it, or about it : there is with them, a Sun God, a Moon Gqd, and the like ; and they cannot con- ceive but that the fire must be a kind of a God, inasmuch as a spark of it will soon produce very strange effects. They believe that when any good or ill happens to them, there is the favour or the anger of a God expressed in it ; and hence as in a time of calamity, they keep a dance, or a day of extravagant rediculous devotions to their God, so in a time of prosperity they likewise have a feast, wherein they also make presents one unto another. Finally, they believe, that their chief God Kautanto- wit, made a man and woman of a stone ; which, upon dislike, he broke to pieces, and made another man and woman of a tree, which were the foun- tains of ail mankind ; and that we all hare in us immortal souls, which if we were godly, shall go to a splendid entertainment with Kautantowit, but otherwise must wander about in restless horror forever. But if yow say to them any thing qf a resurrection, they will reply upon you. / shall never believe it! And when they have any weighty UDdertaking before Vol. I. U m Trm HISTORY OF Nnvv-KNai Asi. [Book III. ihMit, il ix an tiaiial thing for thom to hnv« their nsseniblica, whercio aA«r the uBU};u of some (li.ibuliciil ritfs, a devil ii|)iiciir4 unto them, to inform them iiiiil adviie them iiboiit their cirruir.^timccD ; and HOtiietimot there are odd events of their makinK these (ip()liciitioitH to the drvil. For in- stunce, it ia |mrticuhirly ntVirmed, that the Indium in their wnrit with u«, iiiiding H aorc inconvenience hy our dogn, wliich would make uaad yell- ing if in the ni|g;ht they accuted the upproachea of them, they aacrinced a dog to the devil ; after which no Knifliiih dog would bulk ut an Indian for divers uiuotha eimuini;. 't'liix \\n» the miserable people, which our Eliot propounded uiilo liimsclf, to teach and Have ! And he hud a double work incumbent on him ; he was to make men of them, e'er he could hope to ace them minis ; they muAt be civilized e'er tlicy could be chrii- tianized ; ho could not, aa Urtcory once of our nation, sec any thing an' gtlicat to bcHpeak hia laboura tor their eternal welfare, all among them was diabolical. To think on ruiaing a number of theae hedioua cienturet unto the elcvatiom of our holy religion. muAt argue more than common or little sentiments in the undertaker ; but the faith of an Lliol could encounter it ! I confuaa, that waa one, I cannot cull it ao much guess na wish, where- in he was willing a little to indulge himaelf; and that was, that our In- dians are the posterity oj the dit^persed and rejected laraclitea, concerning whom our God has proiniacd, that they atiall yet be savrd by the deliverer coming to turn OKay ungodliness from them. He a.iw the Indians using many parables in their discourses i much given to anointing of their heads ; much delighted in dancing, especially after victories, computing their times by nights and months ; giving dowries for wives, and caoaini; their women to dtvell by thetnselves, at certain seations, for sebret causes ; und accustoming themselves to grievous mournings and yellings for tHe dead ; all which were usual things among the Israelites. The} have (oo a great unkindness for our swine ; but I suppose that is because our hogs dovour the clams which are a dainty with them. He alxo saw some learn- ed men, looking for the lost Israelites among the Indians in .America, and counting that they had thorow-good reasons for doing so. And a few small argwnents, or indeed but conjectures, meeting with a favourable dis- position in the hearer, will carry some conviction with them ; efpeciully if a report of a Menasseh ben Israel be to back them. He saw likewise the judgments threatened unto the Israelites of old, strangely fulfilled up- on our Indians ; particularly that Ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, which is done with exquisite cruelties upon the prisoners that they take from one another in their battles. Moreover it is a prophesy in Deuteronomy, xxviii. 68, The Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, thou shall see it no more again ; and there shall ye be sold unto your enemies, and no man shall buy you. This did our Eliot imagine acconplished, when the captives taken by us in our late tears upon them, were sent to be sold, in the coasts lying not very remote from Egypt on the Mediterranean sea, and scarce any chapmen would offer to take them off. Being upon such as these accounts not un- '■ willing, if it were possible, to have the Indians found Israelites, they were, you may be sure, not a whit the les-x beloved for their (supposed) father'' s sake ; and the fatigues of his travails went on the more chearfully, or at least, the more hopefully, because of such possibilities. The_/frs(5iri(ual ail vantage by un : unl«<*a wc could tirtt addroH them in n lunguaga of their own. hcliolii, new dilTirultiet to be «ur- mounted by our indeflttiKable Kliot .' liu hires a nntivtt to tench him this cxoticic language, and with n laborious •-are and iikill. reduce* it into a grammar which uflerward* he piiblixht 1. There iit a letter or two of cur alphabet, which the Indiani never had in tlieiri ; though there were enoui(b of the dug in those(l of it are long enough to tiro the patience of any scholar in the world ; they are SeiijuiptduHa Verba, of which tlieir hnguo is composed ; one would think, they had been growing ever nince JJaO'f, unto the dimensions to which they are now extended. For instance, if my reader will count how many letters there arc in this one word, J^uinmaichekodtantamooonganunnonaih, when he has done, tor hix reward I'll tell liini, it signities no more in English, than our luiti ; and if I wore to translate, our lovei ; it must be nothing shorter than Noo-womantammooonkanunonnaih. Or, to give my reader a longer word than either of these, Kummogkodonattootlummooetiteaongan' nunnonash, is in English, our queition : but I pray. Sir, count the letters ! Nor do we tind in all this language the least affinity to, or derivation from any European spt^ech that we are acquainted with. I know not what thoughts it will produce in my reader, when I inform him, that once find- ing that the Damoni in a possessed young woman, understood the Latin and Oreek and Hebrew languages, my curiosity led me to make trial of this Indian language, and the Dcemons did seem as if they did not understand it. This tedious language our Eliot (the anagram of whose name was Toile) quickly became a master of; he employed a pregnant and witty Indian, who also spoke English well, for his assistance in it ; and compil- ing some discourses by his help, he would single out a word, a noun, a verb, and pursue it through all its variations : having finished bis gram- mar, at the close h» writes, Prayers and pains through faith in Christ Jesus wilt do any thing ! and being by his prayers and pains thus furnished, he set himself in the year 1646, to preach the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, among these desolate outcasts. IT It remains, that 1 lay before the world, the remarkable conduct and success of this famous man, in his great affair ; and 1 shall endeavour to do it, by Englishing and reprinting a letter, sent a while since by my father, unto his learned and renowned correspondent, the venerable Dr. Leusden at Utrecht : which letter hjis already been published, if 1 mistake not, in four or five divers languages. I find it particularly published by (he most excellent Jurieu, at the end of n pastoral letter; and this reflection Ihen worthily made upon it, Cette Lettre doit opportorune tres grande eon- elation, a toutes les bonnes antes, qui sont alterees de justice, 4r gut lont en- Jlammees du zele de lagloire de Dieu. I therefore perswade my self that the republication of it will not be ungrateful unto many good souls in our nation, who have a due thirst and zeal for such things as are mentioned in it ; and when that is done, I shall presume to make some annotations for the ilh\9tration of sundry memorable things therein pointed at,. 4 508 THE HISTORY OP NEW-ENGLAND. [Book HI A Letter concerning the success of the Gospel, amongst the i: Vidians in New-England. Written by Mr. Increase Mather, Minister of the word of God at Boston, and hector of the College at Cambridge m New- England, to Dr. John Leuaden, Hebrew Professor in the University of Utrecht. Translated out of Latin into English. WORTHY AND MUCH HONOURED SIR, Your letters were very grateful to me, (a) by which I understand that you nnd others in your fumous University of Utrecht desire to be informed concerning the converted Indians in America : take therefore a true account of them in a few words. It is above forty years since that truly godly man, Mr. John Eliot, pastor of the church at Rocksborough, (about a mile from Boston in JVew- Eiigland) being warmed with a holy zeal of converting the Americans, set himself to learn the Indian tongue, that he might more easily and successfully (6) open to them the mysteries of the gospel, upon account of which he has been fand not undeservedly) called, the apostle of the American Indians. This reverend person, not without very great la- bour, translated the whole Bible into the Indian tongue ; (c) he trans- lated also several English treatises of practical divinity and catechisms into their language. Above 26 years ago he gathered a church of con- verted Indians in a town called ((l)''JVa^tcA;; these Indians confessed their sins with tears, and professed their faith in Christ, and afterwards they and their children Were baptized, and they were solemnly joined together in a church covenant ; the said Mr. Eliot was the first that ad- ministred the Lord's Supper to them. The pastor of that church now is an Indian, his name is Daniel. Besides this church at Natick, among our inhabitants in the Massachusets Colony there are four Indian assem- blies, (e) where the name of the true God and Jesus Christ is solemnly called upon ; these assemblies have some American preachers, Mr. Eliot formerly used to preach to them once every fortnight, but now he is weakned with labours and old-age j being in the eighty-fourth year of his age, and preacheth not to the Indians of^ner than once in two months. There is another church, consisting only of converted Indians, about fifty miles from hence in an Indian town called Mnshippang : the first pastor of that church was an English man, who being skilful in the Amer- ican language, preached the gospel to them in their own tongue. (/) This English pastor is dead, and instead of him, that church has an In- dtffln-preacher. There are besides that, five assemblies of Indians professing the name of Christ, not fir distant from Mashippavg , which have /niton preachers : ( ff ) John Cotton, paste " the church at Plymouth (son of my vener- able father in-law John Cotton, formerly the famous teacher of the church at Boston) both made vory great progress iu learning the Indian tongue, and is very skilful in it ; he preaches in their own language to the last five mentioned congregations every week. Moreover of the inhabitants of Sacnnet in Plymouth Colony, th,.re is a great congregation of those who for distinction sake are called praying Indians, because they pray to God in Christ. Book HI] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 50» Not far from a promontory called Cape Cod, there are six assemblies of heatheos who are to be reckoned as cateehumem, amongst inborn there are six Indian preachers : Samuel Treat, pastor of a church a\ Eastham, preachetb to those congregations in their own language. There are like- wise amongst the islanders of Nantucket a church, with a pastor who was lately a heathen, and several meetings of catechumens, who are instruct- ed by the converted Indians. There is also another island about seven leagues long (called Martha^s Fineyard) where are two American church- es planted, which are more famous' than the rest, over one of which there presides an ancient Indian as pastor^ called Hiacooms : John Hia- cooms, son of the Indian pastor, also preachetb the gospel to his coun- trymen. In another church in. that place, John Tockinosh, a converted Indian, teaches. In these churches ruling elders of the Indians are joined to the pastors : the pastors were chosen by the people, and when they hud fasted and prayed, Mr. Eliot and Mr. Cotton laid their hands on them, so that they were solemnly ordained. All the congregations (A) of the converted Indians (both the catechumens and those in church order) every Lord's day meet together ; the pastor or preacher always begins with prayer, and without a form, because from the heart ; when the ruler of the assembly has ended prayer, the whole congregation of Indians praise God with singing ; some of them are excellent singers : after the psalm, he that preaches reads a place of scripture (one or more verses as he will) and expounds it, gathers doctrines from it, proves them by scriptures and reasons, and infers uses from them after the manner of the English, of whom they have been taught ; then another prayer to God in the name of Chvist concludes the whole service. Thus do they meet together twice every Lord's day. They observe no holy-days but the Lord^s day, except upon some extraordinary occasion ; and then they solemnly set apart whole days, either in giving thanks or fasting and praying with great fervour of mind. Before the English came into these coasts these barbarous nations were altogether ignorant of the true God ; hence it is that in their pray- ers and sermons they use English words and terms ; he that calls upon the most holy name of God, says, Jehovah, or God, or Lord, and also they have learned and borrowed many other theological phrases from us. •:•" In short, ' There are six churches of baptized Indians in New-Eng- ' land, and eighteen assemblies of catechumens, professing the name of ' Christ : of the Indians there are four and twenty who are preachers of ^the word of God, and be.sides, these there are four English ministers, ' who preach the gospel in the Indian tongue.' (t) I am now my self weary with writing, and I fear lest if I should add more, I should also be tedious to you ; yet one thing 1 must add (which 1 had almoeit forgot) that there are many of the Indians' children, who have learned by heart the catechism, either of that famous divine William Perkins, or that put forth by the assembly of divines at fVestminster, and in their otvn mother tongue can answer to all the questions in it. But I must end, I salute tbe famous professors in your university, to whom I desire you to communicate this letter, as written to them also. Farewel, worthy Sir ; the Lord preserve your health for the benefit of your country, his church, and uf learning. Boston in New- England, July 12, 1687. Yours ever, INCRE.\SE M.\THER. m THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book HI. (n) TTie tuece$a of the Go$pel in the East- Indies. After the writing of this letter, there came one to my banda from the. ftmouB Dr. Leuaden, together with a new and fair edition of his Hebrvm Pealter, dedicated unto the name of my absent parent. He therein in- forms me, that our example had awakened the Dutch to make some no- ble attempts for the furtherance of the gospel in the iJart-Zncttes; besides what memorable things were d«ne by the excellent Robert Junius, in Formosa fifty years ago. He also informs me, that in and near the island of Ceylon, the Dutch pastors have baptized about three hundred thousand of the Eastern In- dians; for although the ministers are utterly ignorant of their language, yet there are school-masters who teach them, the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, the Ten Commandments, a Morning Prayer, an Evening Prayer, a Bless- ing before meat, and another after ; and the minister in his visits being assured by the master, who of them has learned all of them seven things, he thereupon counts they have such a perfect number of attainments that he presently baptizes them. The pious reader will doubtless, bless God for this ; but he wiil easily see that one of our converted Indians has cost more pains than tnany of those ; more thorough work has been made with them. (b) Mr. Eliot's way of opening the Mysteries of the Gospel^ to our Indians.. It was in the year 1646, that Mr. Eliot, accompanied by three more, gave a visit unto an assembly of Indians, of whom he desired a meeting at such a time and place, that he might lay before them the things of their eternal peace. After a serious prayer, he gave them a sermon which continued about a quarter above an hour, and contained the principal articles of the christian religion, applying all to the condition of the In- dians present. Having done, he asked of them, whether they understood ? and with a general reply they answered, they understood all. H6 then began what was bis usual method afterwards in treating with them ; that is, he caused them to propound such questions as they pleased unto himself; and he gave wise and good answers to them all. Their qestions would often, though not always, refer to what he had newly preached ; and he this way not only made a proof of their profiting by his ministry, but also gave an edge to what he delivered unto them. Some of their questions would be a little philosophical, and required a good measure of learning in the minister concerned with them ; but for this our Eliot wanted not. He would also put proper questions unto them, and at one of his first exercises with them, he made the young ones capable of re- garding those three questions, Q,. 1 . Who made you and all the world ? Q. 2. Who do you look should save you from sin and hell ? Q. 3. Horn many commandmenfs has the Lord given you to keep ? It was his wisdom that he began with them upon such principles as they themselves had already some notio:is of; such as that of an Heav- en for good, and hell for bad people, when they died. It broke his gra- cious heart within him to see, what floods of tears fell from the eyes of several among those degenerate salvages, at the first addresses which he made unto them ; yea, from the very worst of them all. He was verv Bbtknt] THE HISTORY Of'!ff^J^<3tAND. &lf inqaisitive to learn who were the Powawes, that is, the $orcerer$, and te- dueeri, that maintained the worship of the devil in any of their socie- ties ; and having in one of his first journeys to them, found out one of those wretches, be made the Indian come unto him, and said, Whether do you suppose God, ot Chepian (i. e. the devil) to be the author of ali good? Theconjurnr answered, Ood. Upon this he added with a stern countenance, Why do you pray to Chepian then ? And the poor tnan watt not able to stand or speak before him ; but at last made proniises of re* formation. The text which he first preached upon, was that in Ezek. xxxvii. 9, 10, That by prophesying to the zvind, the wind came, and the dry bones lived : And it was an observation made by one, who then justly confessed, there was not much weight in it ; that the word which the Indians use for wind is wauban, and an Indian of that name was one of the first that here zeal- ously promoted the conversion of his neighbours. But having thus en- tred upon the teaching of these poor creatures, it is incredible how much time, toil, and hardship, he underwent in the prosecution of thiB undertaking ; how many weary days and nights rolled over him ; how many tiresome journeys he endured ; and how many terrible dangers he had experience of. If you briefly would know what he felt, and whatcatried him through all, take it in his own words in a letter to tht» Honourable Mr. Winslow, says he, I have not been dry night nor day, from the third day of the week unto the sixth, but so travelled, and at night pull off" my boots, wring my stockings, and on with them again, and so continue. But God steps in and helps. I have considered the word of God in 2 Tim. ii. 3, Endure hardship as a good i^oldier of Christ. (c) Hisjranslating the Bible, and other books of piety, into the Indian tongue* One of his remarkable cares for these illiterate Indians, was to bring them into the use of schools and books. He quickly procured the benefit of schools for them ; wherein they profited so much, that not only very many of them quickly came to read and write ; but also several arrived unto a liberal education in our colledge, and one or two of them took their degree with the rest of our graduates. And for hooks, it was bis chief desire that the Sacred Scriptures might not in an unknown tongue be locked or hidden from them ; very hateful and hellish did the policy o( Popery appear to him on this account : our Eliot was vei7 unlike to that Franciscan, who writing into Europe, gloried much how many thoti- sands of Indians he had converted ; but added, that he desired his friends would send him ■ the book caUed the Bible ; for he had heard of there being such a book in Europe, whicK^might be of some use to him. No, our Eliot found he could not live without a Bible himself; he would have parted with all his estate, sooner than have lost a leaf of it ; and be knew it would be of more than some use unto the Indians too ; he therefore with a Vast labour translated the Holy Bible into the Indian language. Be- hold, ye Americans, the greatest honour that ever you were partakers of! This Bible was printed here at our Cambridge ; and H is the only Bible that ever was printed in all America, from the very foundation of the world. The whole translation he writ with but one pen ; which pen, had it not been lost, would have certainty deserved a richer case than Wis bestowed upon that pen, with which Holland ivrit his translation of Plutftixh. The Bible being justly made the leader of all th« rest, n UttlOk 512 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book III. Indian library quickly followed : for besides primers, and grammars, and some other soch composures, we quickly had The Practice of Piety in the Indian tongues, and the Reverend Richard Baxter's Call to the Unconvert- ed. He also translated some of Mr. Shepherd's composures ; and such catechisms likewise as there was occasion for. It cannot but be hoped that some fish were to be made alive, since the waters of the sanctuarv thus came unto them. (d) His gathering of a Church at Natick. .^hTrb Indians that had felt the impressions of his ministry, were quick- ly distinguished by the name of praying Indians ; and these praying In- dians as quickly were for a more decent and English-way of living, and they desired a more fixed cohabitation. At several places did they now combine and settle ; but the place of greatest name among their towns, is thatof JVi pudcnce to address the English, that no motions about the christian reli- gion might ever be made unto them ; and Mr. Eliot sometimes in the wilderness, without the company or assistance of any other English man, has been treated in a very threatening.and barbarous manner by some of these tyrants ; but God inspired him with so much resolution as to tell them, I am about the nmrk of the great God, and my God is with me ; so that I fear neither you, nor all the sachims tn the country ; Pit go on, and do you touch me, if you dare ! Upon which the stoutest of them have shrunk and fell before him. And one of theiu, he at length conquered by preaching unto him a sermon upon the temptations of our Lord ; par- ticularly, the lemptation fetched from the kingdoms and glories of the world. The little kingdoms and glories of the great men among the Indians, WHS a powerful obstacle to the success of JNr. Eliot's ministry ; and it is observable, that several of those nations which thus refused the gospel, quickly afterwards were so devil'driven as to begin an unjust and bloody war upon the English, which issued in their speedy and utter extirpiitioQ from the face of God's earth. It was particularly remarked in fhilip the ring-leader of the most calamitous war that ever they made upon us ; our Eliot made a tender of the everlasting salvation to that king ; but the monster entertained it with contempt and anger, and after the Indian mode of joining signs with words, he took a button upon the coat of tha reverend man, adding. That he cared for his gospel, just as much as he cared for that button. The world has heard what a terrible mine soon came upon that monarch, and upon all his people. It was not long be- fore the hand which now writes, upon a certain occasion took off the jaw from the exposed skull of that blasphemous leviathan ; and the renown- ed Samuel Lee hath since been a pastor to an English congregation, sound- ing and showing the praises of Heaven, upon that very spot of ground, where Philip and his Indians were lately worshipping of the devil. Sometimes the more immediate hand of God, by cutting off the princi- pal opposers of the gospel among the Indians made way for Mr Eliot's ministry. As I remember, he relates that an association of profane /n- dians near our JVeymouih, set themselves to deter and seduce the neigh- bour Indians from the right ways of the Lord. But God quickly sent the smallpox among them, which like n great plague soon swept them away, and thereby engaged the rest unto himself. 1 need only to add, that one Book III.] THE HISTORY OP NEW-ENGLAND. Bin attempt made by the devil, to prejudice the Pagans against the gospel, had something in it extraordibar)'. While Mr. Eliot was preaching of Christ unto the other Indian*, a Dainon appeared unto a prince ol' the Eastern'IndiatiB, in a shape that had some resemblance of Mr. Eliot or of an KiffHsh (ninistcr, pre(Riidin|; to be, the English-man's God. The spec- tre coiuiaandtid him, to forbear the drinking of rum, and to obstrve the sab- bath day, and to Heal justly widi his neighbours, all which things had been inculcrited in Mr. ElioVs ministry ; promising therewithal unto him, that if he did so, at his death his soul shoulil ascend unto un happy place ; otherwise descend unto miseries ; but the apparition ail the while, never said one word about Christ, which was the main subject of Mr. EHoVs ministry. The saehim received su'ch an impression from the apparition, that he dealt jusity with all men, except in the bloody tragedies and cru> cities he afterwards committed on the English in our wars ; he kept the sab- bath-day like nfast. frequently attending in our congregations ; he would not meddle with any mm. though usually his country-men, had rather die than undergo such a piece of self denial ; that liquor has meerly enchant- ed them. At last, and not long since this Dmnon appeared again unto this Pagan, requiring him to kill himself, and assuring him that he should revive in a day or two, never to die any more. He thereupon divers times attempted it, but his friends very carefully prevented it ; however at length he found a fair opportunity, for th'i» foul business, and hanged himself; you may be sure, without he expected resurrection. But it is easy to see what a stumbling block was here laid before the miserable Indians. (f) The Indiah-CAttrcAes at Mashippaug, and elsewhere. The same spirit which acted Mr. Eliot, quickly inspired others else- where to prosecute the work of rescuing the poor Indians out of their worse than Egyptian-inrkneaf, in which evil angels bad been so long preying upon them. One of these was the godly and gracious Richard Bourn, who soon "^aw a great effect of his holy labours. In the year !66&, Mr. Eliot accompanied by the honourable governour, and several magis- tr.'«tes and ministers of Plymouth Colony, procured a vast assembly at Mashippaug ; and there a good number of Indians, made confessions touch- ing the knowledge and belief, and regeneration of their souls, with such understanding and affection as was extreamly grateful to the pious audito- ry. Yet such was the strictness of the good people in this affair,- that before they would countenance the advancement of these Indians unto church fellowship, they ordered their confessions to be written and sent unto all the churches in the colony, fir their approbation ; but so approv- ed they were, that afterwards the messengers of all the churches giving their presence and consent, they became a church, and chose Mr. Bourn to be their pastor ; who was then by Mr. Eliot and Mr. Cotton ordained unto that office over them. From hence Mr. Eliot and Mr. Cotton went over to an island called JWiar/fta's Vineyard, where God had so succeeded the honest labours of some, and particularly of the Mayhew^s as that a church was gathered. This church', nfteT fasting and prayer, chose one Hiaeooms to be their pastor, John Tockinosh, an able and a discreet christian to be their teacher ; ,Toshua Mummeecheegs and John J^anaso to be ruling elders ; and these were then ordained by Mr. Eliot and Mr, Cotton thereunto. Distance >vf habitation, caused this one church by mutual agreement afterwards to 516 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. (Boo" !»«' become two; (he pastor and one ruling elder taking one part, and the teach- er and une i uhng elder, another ; and at J^aniucket another adjacent isl- and, tvas another church odndiant quickly gathered, who chose an Indian, John Oibt, to be their minister. These churche$ are bo exact in their ad- miHuion, and so solemn in their discipline, and so serious in their com- munion, that some of the cliristian English in the neighbourhood, which would have been loth to have mixed with them in a civil relation, yet have gladly done it in a sacred one. It is needless for me to repeat what my father has written about the other Indian cc/'q;regution8 ; only there having been made mention of one Hiaci)om$,*l am willing to annex a passage or two concerning that memora- ble Indian. Thut Indian tvas a very great instrument of bringing his Pagan and wretched neighbours, to a saving acquaintance with our Lord Jesus Christ ; and Uod gave him the honour, not only of so doing much for some, but hIho oduffiering much from others, of those unhappy salvages. Once parti'-iilnrly, this Hiacooms received a cruel blow from an Indian prince, which it' some English had not been there, might have killed him, for his pruyins^ unto God. And afterwards he. gave this account of his trial in it ; said he / have two hands ; I had one hand for injuries, and the oilier for God ; while I did receive wrong with the one, the other laid the greater hold on God. Moreover, the powawes did use to hector and abuse the praying /n- diavs itt such a rate, as terrifyed others from joining with them ; but oncp when those witches were bragging, that they could kill all the pray- ing Indians, if they would ; Hiacooms replyed. Let all the powawes in the inland come together, Pll venture my self in the midst of them ; let them use all their witchcrafts ; with the help of God, Vll tread vpon them all. By this courage, he silenced the powawes : but at the same time also he heartned the people at such a rate as was truly wonderful ; nor could any of them ever harm this eminent confessor afterward ; nor indeed any proselyte which had been by his means brought home to God ; yea, it was observed after this, that they rather killed than cured all such of the heathen, as would yet make use of their encAan/rnenfs for help against their sicknesses. (g) Of Mr. Eliot's Fellow-Labourers in the Indian work. So little was the soul of our Eliot infected with any envy, as that he longed for nothing more thaa fellow labourers, that might move and shine in the same orb with himself; he made his cries both to God and man, for more labourers to be thrust forth into the Indian harvest ; and in- deed it was an harvest of so few secular advantages and encouragements, that it must be nothing less than a divine thrust, which could make any to labour in it. He saw the answer of his prayers, in the generous and vigorous attempts made by several other most worthy pre^ichers of the gospel , to gospelize our perishing Indians. At the writing of my father's letter there were /our ; but the number of them increases apace among us. At Martha^s Vineyard, the old Mr. Mayhew, and several of his 8on!), or grandsons, have doni-very worthily for the souls of the /wdtans, there were fifteen years ago, by computation, about fifteen hundred seals of there mini^itry upon that one island. In Connecticut, the holy and acute Mr. Fitch, has made noble essays towards the conversion of the Indians ; but, I think, the prince he has to deal withal, being an ob- Book Ill.J THE HISTORY OF N£W-ENQLAND. OIT stinate iDfidel, gives unhappy remora^s to the succesies of hii minittry. And godly Mr. ri*rion, bai in that colony deserved well, if 1 mistake not, upon the same account, la Ma*$achu»ets we see at th''< day, the pious Mr. Daniel Gookin, the gracious Mr. Peter Tkateher, the well ac< complisbed and industrious Mr. Orindal Raw$on, all of tbem bard at work, to turn these poor creatures from darknen unto light, and from Satan unto God. In Plymouth we have the most actire Mr. Samuel Treat laying out himself to save this generation ; and there is one tit. TWpper, who uses his laudable endeavours for the instruction of them. 'Tis my relation to him, that causes me to defer unto the last place, the mention of Mr John Cotton, who hath addressed the Indians in their own language with some dexterity.' He hired an /ndton, after the rate of twelve -pence per day for fifty days, to teach him the Indian tongue ; but his knavish tutor having received his whole pay too soon, ran away before twenty days were out ; however, in this time be had profited so far, that he could quickly preach unto the natives. Having told my reader, that the second edition of the Indian Bible was wholly of his correction and amendment ; because it is not proper for me to say much of him, I shall only add this remarkable story. An English minister accompanied by the governour and major-general, and sundry persons of quality belonging to Plymouth, made a journey to a nation of Indians in the neighbourhood, with a free c^er of the words whereby they might be saved. The privce took time to consider of it, and according to the true English of tcJcing time in such cases, at length he told them. He did not accept the tender which they made him. They then took their leaves of him, not without first giving him this plain and short admonition, If God have any mercy for your miserable people, he will quickly find a way to take you out of the way. It was presently after this, that this prince going forth to a battel against aiiotlier nation of Indians, was killed in the fight ; and the young prince being in his minority, the government fell into the hands of protectors, which favoured the interest of the gospel. The English being advised of it, speedily and prospe- rously renewed the tidings of an eternal Saviour to the salvages, who have ever since attended upon the gospel : and the young sachim, after he came to age, expressed his approbation of the christian religion ; es- pecially when a while since, be lay dying of a tedious distemper, and would keep reading of Mr. Baxter^s call to the unconverted, with floods of tears in his eyes, while he had any strength to do it. Such as these are the persons, whom our Eliot left engaged in the In- dian-work, when he departed from his employment unto his recompenee. And these gentlemen are so indefatigable in their labours among the In- dians, as that the most equal judges must acknowledge them worthy of much greater salaries than they are generously contented with. But oM may see then, who inspired that clamorous (though contemptible) perse- cutor of this country, who very zealously addressed the A. B. of Can' terhury, that these ministers mihippcd, he shewed himself go(//y. In that he offered clean beasts, ' he showed that God is an holy God. And all that come to God, mu$>t * be pure and clean. Know, that we must by repentance, purge our ' selves ; which is the work we are to do this day. ' Koah sacrificed and so worshipped. This was the manner of old f time. 3ut what sacrifices have we now to offer ! 1 shall answer bj that ji Hook III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 419 Offer to Qod the taerijict ofrighteoumess, and put your tru$t 1 hete are the true wpiritiial taerijicet which (Jod reqnir- ' ID P««l ir. 6, ' ti the Lord, rhete are the true wpiritiial taerijicet wbich uod reqnir ' eth at onr hnnda, the laerijieet of righteou»nett ; that it, we must look to * our hearts and ways Uiut they be righteout ; and then we shall be ac- ' ceptable to Uod, when we worship him. But if we be unrighteoua, ' anholy, ungodly, we shall not be accepted, our taerifictt will be stark * naught Again, we are to put our truit tn the Lord. Who else is there ' for us to trust in ? We must believe in the word of God ; if we doubt of * God, or doubt of his word, our taerijicet are little worth ; but if we trust ' stedfastly in God, our taerijicet will be good. * Once more, what taerijicet must we offer ? My answer is, we must ' offer such as Abraham ofifered. And what a aacrijice was that ? We are * told in Gen. xxii. 12, Now I know that thoufearest me, teeing iJiou hatt < not witheld thy son, thy only ton from me. It seems he had but one dear- * ly beloved son, and he offered that son to God ; mid so God said, / ' know thoufearett me ! Behold, a sacrifice in deed and in truth ! such an ' one must we offer. Only, God requires not us to sacrifice our tons, but ' our tint, our dearest tint. God calls us this day to part with all our ' sins, though never so beloved ; and we must not withold any of them ' from him. If we will not part with a//, the tacryfice is not right. Let ' us part with such sins as we loroe hett. and it will be a good saer^ee ! * Qod smelt a sweet savour in Noah's saeryfice; and so will God receive < our sacrifices, when we worship him aright. But how did God mani- ' fest his acceptance oi NoaVt offer tg : it was by promising to drtmn the * world no more, but give na fruitful seasons. God has chastised us of < late, as if he would utterly drown us ; and he has drowned and spoiled * and ruined a great deal of our hay, and threatens to kill our cattel. ' It is for this that vrefast and pray thiti day. Let us then offer ■ clean ' and pure sacrifice, as JVoah did ; so God will smell a savour of rest, and ' he will withold the rain, and bless us with such fruitful seasons as we ar6 ' desiring of him.' Thus preached an Indian called Jiishokon, above thirty years ago ; and since that I suppose, they have grown a little further into the JV«w> English way of preaching : you may have in their sermons, a Kakkootom- wehteaonk, that is, a doctrine, ■N'ahtootomwehteaonk, or question, a Sampoo* aonk, or an answer, Wilcheayeuonk, or a reason, with an Ouwoteank, or an use, for the close of all. As for holy-days you may take it for granted, our Eliot would not per- swade his Indianslo any stated one. Even the christian festival itself, he knew to be a stranger unto the apostolical time ; that the exquisite Vosh- us himself acknowledges, it was not celebrated in the first or second century : and that there is a truth in the wordis of the great Cheminitius, Anniversarium Diem JVatalis ( hristi, celebratumfuiste, apud vetustissimos nunquam legitur. He knew that if the day of our Lord^s nativity were to be observed, it should w^* be in December : that many churches for di- vers ages kept it not in ' December, but in January ; that C^r^sostum him- self, about four huadred years after our Saviour, excuses the novelty of the December season for it, and confesses it had not been kept above ten years at Constantinople : R9, that it should rather be in September, in which month the Jews kept the feast that was a type of our Lord's Incar- nation ; and Solomon also brought the ark into the temple ; for our Lord was thirty years old when he entred upon his public ministry ; and he continued in ir three years and an half: now his death was in March, and it is easy then to calculate when his birth ought to be. He knew, that S«0 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book HI. indeed Qod had hid thiiday a« he did the body of Moie», to prevent idol- atry ; but that antickriit had ckoie this day, to accoramodute the PaxnnR in their licentious and their debauched Saturnalia ; and that a Turtutlian would not itick to fay, Shall w« chrittiam who have nothing to do with the ftttivalt of the Jew«, which were once of divine inititution, embrace the Sa- turnalia, 0," the heathen$ ? How do the Gentiles $hntne «», who are more trtu to their religion, than we are to ouri ? None of them, will obterve the Lord*! day, for fear lest they should be Christians ; and shall not we then by observing thetr festivals, fear lest we be made Ethnicks t In tine, it was his opinion, that for us to have stated holy-days which are not ap- pointed by the Lord Jesus Christ, is a deep reflection upon the wisdom of that glorious Lord j and he brought up his Indians in the principles which the old fValdenses had about such unwarrantable holy-days. Nevertheless, he taught them to set apart their days for both/a»tin^ and prayer, and (or feasting and prayer, when there should be extraordi- nary occasions for them ; and they perform the duties of these days with a very laborious piety. One party of the Indians long since of their own accord, kept a day nf supplication together, wherein one of them discoursed upon Psal. Ixvi. 7, He rules by his power for ever, his eyes be- hold the nations, let not the rebellious ualt themselves. And when one asked them afterwards, what was the reason of their keeping of such a day, they replied. It was to obtain five mercies of God. ' First, that God would slay the rebellion of their hearts. Next, that * they might love God and one another. Thirdly, that they might with- * stand the temptations of wicked men, so that they might not be drawn * back from God. Fourthly, that they might be obedient unto the coun- ' oils and commands of their rulers. Fifthly, that they might have their 'sins done away by the redemption of Jesus Christ : and lastly, that ^ they might walk in the good ways of the Lord.' 1 must here embrace my opportunity to tell the world, that our cautious Eliot was far from the opinion of those who have thought it not only warrantable, but alsocom* mendable to adopt some heathenish usages into the worship of God, for the more easy and speedy gaining of the heathen to that worship. The policy of treating the Pagan rites as the Jews were to do captives, before they married them, to shave their hair, and pare their nails, our Eliot counted as ridiculous as pernicious. He knew that the idolatries and abominations o{ Popery, were founded in this way of proselyting the bar- barous nations, which made their descent upon the Roman empire ; and he looked upon the like methods \vhich the Protestants have used, that they might ingratiate themselves with the Papists, and that our separa- tion from them should become the less dangerous and semible, to be the most sensible and dangerous wound of the reformation. Wherefore as no less a man than Dr. Henry Moor says about our compliances with the Papists, which are a sort of Pagans, Their conversion and salvation being not to be compassed by needless symbolizing with them in any thing, I con- ceive our best policy ii studiously to imitate them in nothing ; but for all in- different things, to think rather the worse of them for their using of them. As no person of honour would willingly go in the known garb of infamous persons. Whatsoever we court them in, they do but turn it to ovr scorn and contempt, and are the more hardened in their own wickedness. To act up- on this principle, is the design and glory of New-England .' And our Eliot was of this perswasion, when he brought his Indians to a pure, plain scripture worship. He would not gratify them with a Samaritan sort of blended, mixed worship ; and he imagined, as well he might, that Book III.) THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. bil the upnstic Paul') first EpUtle to tho CoriiUhiana had enouKli in it, for ever to deter us all from luch unchrintiuo und unhappy temporizing. (i) Jl Compariunn between what th« Nnw-Englnnders have done for the con-jcrsion of the Indiaiu, and what hai been done eUewhtrt by the Ko- roan Cuthoiicki. It is to be confcascd, that the Roman Cuthoiicki have n clergy so very nuDDcrous, and ho little encumbred, and are masters of such prodigious ecclediastial revcnurs, as renders it very easy for th( m to exceed the Prott;$tanti in their endeavourH to christianize the Pagan salvageii. Nor would I reproach, but rather applaud their industry in this matter, wish- ing that we were all touched \\ith an emulation of it. Nevertheless, while I commend tlieir industry, they do by their clamours against the reformed churches upon thi^ account, oblii^e me to tax divers very scan- dalous things in the mistiom which they make pro propaganda fide throughout the world ; and therewithal to compare what has been done by that little handful of reformed churches in this country, which has in divers regards out done the furthest efforts of I'opery. The attainments which with God's help we have carried up our Indian* unto, are the chief honour and glory of our labours tvith them. The reader will smile perhaps, when 1 tell him, that by an odd accident there are lately fallen into my hands, the manuscripts of a Jesuite, whom the French employed as a missionary amon<; the western Indians ; in which papers there are, both a catechism, cor laining the principles which those heathens are to be instructed in ; and C'lses of conscience, referring to their conversations. The catechism which io in the Iroquoise language (a language remarkable for this, that there is not so much as one labial in it) with a translation annexed, has one chapter about Heaven, and another about lull, wherein are such thick skulled passages as these. ' Q. How is the soyl made in Heaven ? • A. 'Tis a very fair soyl, they want neither for meats nor cloths : 'tis ' but wishing and we have them. ' Q. Are they employed in Heaven ? ' A. No, they do nothing ; the fields yield corn, beans, pumpkins, and ' the like, without any tillage. ' Q. fVhat sort of trees are there ? < A, Always green, full, and florishing. ' Q. Have they in Heaven the same sun, the same wind, the same thunder ' that we have here ? ' A. No, the sun ever shines ; it is always fiiir weather. '^ ' Q,. But how their fruits ? ' A. In this one quality they exceed ours ; that they are never wasted ; ' you have no sooner plucked one, but you see another presently hanging ' in its room.' And after this rate goes on the catechism concerning Heaven. Con* cerningAeZ/, it thus discourses. ' Q, fVhat sort of a soylM t)Mt of hell? ' A. A very wretched m^f 'tis in fiery pit, in the center of the earth. ' Q. Have they any lighi tn fiell ? ' A. No. 'Tis always dark ; there is always smoke there ; their eyes ' are always in pain with it ; they can see nothing but the devils. . * Q. What shaped things are the devils ? Vol. I. m — - ' " i>2)B THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENOLAND. [Book III. ' *i. V^ery ill shaped things ; they go about with vizards on, and they ' terrify men. • Q. What do they eat in hell? ' * j). They are always hungry, but the damned feed on hot ashet and * serpents there. • (i. What water have they to drink ? • A. Horrid water, nothing but melted lead. • Q. DonU they die in hell ? • A. No : yet they eat one another, every day ; but anon, God re- *■ stores and renews the man that was eaten, as a cropt plant in a little time ' repuUuiatea.' It seems they have not thought this divinity too gross for the barbari- ans. But I shall make no reflections on it ; only add one or two cases of conscience, from their directory. It is one of their weighty cases, * Whether a christian be bound to ' pay his whore her hire or no ? To this father Brutas answers, though he be bound in justice to do it, yet inasmuch as the barbarians [and you must suppose their whores to be such] use to keep no faith in such matters, the christians may chuse whether they will keep any too. But father Pierron, with a most profound learning answers. He is not bound unto it all ; inas'- much as no man thinks himself bound to pay a witch, that has enchanted him ; and this business is pretty much a kin to that. Another of their difficnlt cases is, * Whether an Indian stealing an hatchet from a Dutch-man, be * bound to make restitution ? And it is very conscientiounly determined, ' that if the Dutch-tnan be one that lias used any trade with other Indians, * the thief is not bound unto any restitution ; for it is certain, he gai.ne ' more by such a trade than the value of many hatchets in a year.' I will tire my reader with no more of this wretched stuff. But let him understand that the proselyted Indians of New-England have been instructed at a more noble rate '^ we have helped them to the sincere milk of the word ; we have given them the whole Bible in their own lan- guage ; we have laid before them such a creed as the primitive believers had, with such explications as we embark our own souls upon the assur- ance of. And God has blessed our education of these poor creatures in such a measure, that they can pray and preach to better edification (give me leave to say it) than multitudes of the Romish-clergymen. We could have baptised many troops of Indians, if we would have used no other measures with them, than the Roman Catholicks did upon theirs at Mary- land, where they baptised a great crew of Indians, in some new shirts, bestowed upon them to encourage them thereunto ; but the Indians in a week or two, not knowing how to wash their shirts when they were grown foul, came and made a motion, that the Roman Catholicks would give more shirts to them, or else they would renounce their baptism. No, it is a thorough paced Christianity, without which we have not ima- gined OUT Indians christianized. Nor have we been acted With a Roman Catholick avarice, nnd falsity, and cruelty in prosecuting of our conversions ; it is the spirit of an Eliot, that has all along; directed us. It is a specimen of the Popish avarice that their missionaries are very rarely emglpyed but where bever and silver and vast riches are to be thereby gaiiiid ; their ministry is but a sort of engine, to enrich Europeans with the treasures of the Indies ; thus one escaped from captivity among the Spaniards told me, that the Span- ish friars had carried their gospel into the spacious country of California, but finding the Indiam there to be extremely poor, they quickly gav« Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW.ENGLANI>. 61^3 over the work, because forsooth such a poor nation wat not worth convert- ing. Whereas the J>few-E7tglander» coaiA expect nothiog from their In- dians. We are to feed them and cloath them, rather than receive any thing from them, when we bring them home to God. Again, the Popish falsity disposes them to so much legerdemain in their applications, as is very disagreeable to the spirit and progress of the gospel. My worthy friend, Mynheer Dellius, who has been sedulous and successful in his ministry among the Maqua^s, assures me, that a French predicator, ha* ving been attempting to bring over those Indians unto the interest (not of our Saviour so much as) of Canada, at last, for a cure of their infidel- ity, told them, he would give them a sign of God's displeasure at them for it ; the sun should such a day be put out. This terrified them at a sad rate, and with great admiration and expectation they told the Dutch of what was to come to pass ; the Dutch replied. This was no more than ev- ery child among them could foretel ; tluy all knew there would then be an eclipse of the sun ; but [said they) speak to Monsieur, that he would get the sun extinguished a day before, or a day after what he spoke of, and if he can do that, believe him. When the Indians thus understood what a trick the French-man would have put upon them, they became irreconcileably prejudiced against all his offers ; nor have the French been since able to gain much upon that considerable people. The JVew Englanders have used no such stratagems and knaveries ; it is the pure light ^ truth, which is all that has been used for the affecting of the rude people, whom it was easy to have cheated into our profession. Much less have we used that Popish cruelly, which the natives of America, have by some other people been treated with. Even a bishop of their ovn, hath published very tragical histories of the Spanish cruelties upon the Indians of this western world. Such were those crnoities, that the Indians at length declared, they had rather go to hell with their ancestors, than to the gatnt Heaven which the Spaniards pretended unto ; it is indeed impossible to reckon up the various and exquisite barbarities, with which these exe- crable Spaniards murdered in less than fifty years no less than fifty miU lions of the Indians ; it seems this was their way of bringing them into the sheepfold of our merciful Jesus ! But on the other side, the good people oi Kew-England have carried it with so much tenderness towards the tawny creatures among whom we live, that they would not own so much as on&foot of land in the country, without a fair purchase and con- sent from the natives that laid claim unto it ; albeit, we had a royal char- ier from the King of Great-Britain, to protect us in our settlement upon this continent. 1 suppose it was in revenge upon ua for this conscientiousness, that the late oppressors of New-England acknowledged no man to have any title at all unto one foot of land in all our colony. But we did and we do, think, notwithstanding the banters of those tories, that the Indians had not by their paganism so forfeited all right unto any of their possessions, that the first pretended christians that could, might violently and yet hon- estly seize upon them. Instead of this, the people of New-England, knowing that some of the English were sufficiently covetous and en- croaching, and that the In ^^g^ts in streights are easily prevailed upon, to sell their lands, made a lmpp%a< none shoidd purchase, or so much as re- ceive any land of the Indialre, without the allowance of the court. Yea, and some lands which were peculiarly convenient for the Indians, our peo- ple who were moj^careful of them than they were of themselves, made u law, that they sh'St^d 7iever be bought out of their h»nd». I suppose after su THE HIStdRY OF NEW-ENGLANT). [Book III. this it would surprise oiankind, if they should hear such wonderful crea- tures as oui' late' secretary Randolph affirming, This barbarous people were never civilly treuted by the late government, who made it their business to encroach upon iheiir tands, and by degrees to driven them out of aU. But, how many othor laws we made in favour of tfie IndiatA, it is not easy to reckon up.'^ It was one of our laws, * That for the further encouragement of the ' hopeful work among them, for the civilizing and christianizing of them, * any Indian that should be brought unto civility, and come to live order- ' ly in any English plantation, should have such allotments among the ' English, as the English had themselves. And that if a competent num- ' b'er of them, should so come on to civility, as to be capable of a town--. ' ship, the general court should grant them lands for a plantation fg th6y/ ' do unto the English.' ' Although we had already brought up theirbkfiatS' unto our lands. We likewise had our laws, That if any of our cattle ^ti any damage to their com, we should make them ample satisfaction ;■ and that we should give them all mariner of assistance, in fencing of their fields. And because the Indians are excessively given unto the vice of drunken- ness, which was a vice unknown to them, until the English brought strong-drink in their way, we have had a severe law against all selling or giving any intoxicating liquors to them. It were well, if this law were more severely exefcuted. By this time I hope, 1 have stopped the calumnious exclamations of the Roman Catholicks against the churches of the reformation, for neg- lecting to evangelize the natives of the Indies. But let me take this oc- casion to address the christian Indians of my own country, into some of whose hands, it is likely, this little book may come. % * Behold, ye Indians, what love, what care, what cost, has been used ' by the English here, for the salvation of your precious and immortal ' souls. It is not because we have expected any temporal advantage from * you, that we have been thus concerned for your good ; no, it is God ' that has caused us to desire his glory in your salvation ; and our hearts * have bled with pity over you, wh8n we have seen how horribly the ' devil oppressed you in this, and destroyed you in another world. It is ' much that has been done for you ; we have put you into a way to be hap- * py both on earth while you live, and in Heaven when you die. What ' can you think will become of you, if jfou slight ail these glorious of- * fers ! Methinl^s you should sHy to your selves, rttoh weh kittinne peh ' quoh humunan mishanantamog nc mohsag wadchanittuonk ! You all be- ' lieve that you? teacher Eliot, was a good and a brave man, and you * would count it your blessedness to be for ever with him. Neverthe- ' less, I am to tell you, that if you do'nt become real, and thorough, and ' holy christians, you shall- never have a comfortable sight of him any ' more. You know how vbe ha? /erf you, and cloathed you, as well as ' taught you ; jou know how his bowels yearned over you, even as ' though had you had been his children, when he saw any afflictions come ' upon you ; but if he find you among the wicked, in the day of judgment, •which he so often warned you of. he will then be a dreadful witnsss ' against you, and when the Lord Jesus pasftWrthat sentence on you, De- ' part ye cursed into everlasting fire, rvith thenii^and his angels, even your '• own Eliot will then say amen unto it all. N'ow to deal plainly with you, ' there are two vices, which many of you are too prone unto, and which ' are utterly inconsistent with a true Christianity. 0|||fe|^f those vices, is = that of idlcnesss. If you had a disposition to follwran honest calling Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 52^ what should hinder you from growing as conuderable in your estates, as many of your English neighbours : whereas, you are now poor, mean, ragged, starved, contemptible and miserable ; and instead of being able, as your English neighbours do, to support the ordinances of God, you are beholden to them, not only for maintaining of those blessed or- dinances among you, but for many other kindnesses And have you in- deed forgot the comnuindment of God, which has been so oft«n laid be- fore you, iSt'x days shah thou labour I For shame, apply your selves to such labour as may bring you into more handsome circumstances. But the other of these vices, is that of drunkenness. There are godly Eng- lish neighbours, of whom you should learn to pray ; but there are some of you that learn to drink, of other profane, debauched English neigh- bours. Poor creatures, it is by this iniquity that Satan still keeps pos- session of many souls among you, as much as if you were still in all your woful heathenism ; and how often have you been told, Drunkards U not enherit the kingdom of God ? 1 beseech you to be sensible of the chiefs to which this thing exposes you, and never dream of escap- the vengeance of eternal Jire, if you indulge your selves in this ac' cufsmi thing, ' have done, when I have wished, that the gospel of the Lord Jesus ilways run and be gloiuj' -l auiong yon /' 7%« CoNCto . -'•• or, Eliot Expiring. By this time, I have doubtless made my reader loth to have me tell what now remains of this little history ; doubtless they are wishing that this John might have t,arried unto the second coming of our Lord. But, BI9S, all-devouring death at last snatched him from us, and slighted all those lamentations of ours, My father, my father, the chariots of Israel, and the horsemen thereof ! When he was become a sort of Miles Emeritus, and began to draw near his end, he grew still more heavenly, more '-lavoury, more divine, and scented more of the spicy country at which he was ready to put ashore. As the historian observes of Tiberius, that when his life and strength were goinnf from him, his vice yet remained with him ; on the contrary the grace of this excellent man rather increased then abated, when every thing else was dying with him. It is too usual with old men, that when they are past work, they are least sensible of their inabilities and inca- pacities, and can scarce endure to see another succeeding them in any part of their office. But our Eliot was of a temper quite contrary there- unto ; for finding many months before his expiration, that he had not strength enough to edify his congregation with publick prayers and ser- mons, he importuned his people with some impatience to call another minister ; professing himself unable to die with comfort, until he could see a goodsuccesso- ordained, settled, fixed among them. For this cause, he also cried mightily unto the Lord Jesus Christ, our ascended Lord, that he would give ^uch a gift unto Roxbnry, and he sometimes called his whole town together ^|^io with him in a fast for such a blessing. As the return of their si^p^cations, our Lord quickly bestowed upon them, a person young in jrears, but old in discretion, gravity and expe- rience ; and one whom the church of Roxbnry hopes to find, a pastor after God's oron heatt. 626 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book 111 * It was Mr. Nehemiah Walter , who being by the unanimous vote and choice of the church there, become the pastor of Roxbury, immediately found the venerable Eliot embracing and cherishing of him, with the ten- der affections of a father. The good old man like old Aaron, as it were disrobed himself, with an unspeakable satisfaction, when he behel A Facie Hostili duo propugnacula prcesunt. If the dust of dead saints could give us any protection, we are not without it ; here is a spot of American soyl that will afford a rich crop of it, at the resurrection of the just. Poor New-England has been as Glastenbury of old wa^ called, a burying place of saints. But we cannot see a more terrible prognostick, than tombs filling apace with such bones, as those of the renowned ElioVs; the whole building of this coun- try trembles at the fall of such a pillar. For many months before he dyed, he would often chearfully tell us, ' That he was shortly going to Heaven, and that be would carry a deal * of good news thither with him ; he said, he would carry tidings to the ' old founders of New-England, which were now in glory, that church- ' work was yet carried on among us : that the number of our churches ' was continually encreasing : and that the churches were still kept as < big as they were, by the daily additions of those that shall be saved.' But the going of such as he from us, will apace diminish the ocqasions of such happy tidings. What shall we now say ? Our Eliot himself used most affectionately to bewail the death of all useful men ; yet if one brought him the notice of such a thing, with any despondencies, or said, O Sir, sack an one is dead, what shall we do ? He would answer, Well, but God lives, Christ lives, the old Saviour o/" New-England yet lives, and he willreign till all his enemies are made his footstool. This, and only this, consideration have we to relieve us ; and let it be accompanied with our addresses to the God of the spirits of all flesh, that there may t-j Timothies raised up in the room of our departed Pauls ; and that when our Moseses are gone, the spirit which was in those brave men, may be put upon the surviving elders of ovr Israel. •m.-:i-m" ■ ■ ■ ■ ^^^ B06K in.] TH£ HISTORY OF NEW-ENQLAND.. 629 The last thing that ever our EHot put off, wa«, the cart of all the chwreheii Which with a moat apostolical and evangelical temper be was continually solicitous about. When the churches of ^few-England were 'inder a very uncomfortable prospect, by the advantage which men that soof^UL, the mine of those golden and holy and reformed societies, had obtained against them, God put it into Ihe heart of one well known in these churches, to take a voyage into Elt^landt that he migbt-by his mediations at Whitehall, divert the itomu that were impending over us. ' It is not easy to express what affection our aged Eliot prosecuted this undertak- ing with ; and what thank$giving he rendere'5 unto Q"^*^ for any hopeful successes of it. But because one of the ' ac >nd for ought I know, the last of his ever setting'pen to paper in thr rid, was upon this occasion ; I shall transcribe a short letter, which was written by the shaking hand, that had heretofore by writing deserved so well from the Church of God, but was now taking its leave of writing for ever. It was written to the person that was engaging for us, and thus it ran. ' Reverend and beloved Mr. Increase Mather. * I cannot write. Read J^eh. u. 10. When Sanbcdlat the Horonite,- ' and Tobijah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it ; it grieved them ' exceedingly, that there waa come a man to seek thm welfare of the ' children of Israel. * Let thy blessed soul, feed full and fat upon this and other scriptures. ' All other things I leave to other men ; and rest, * Four loving Brother, •JOHN ELIOT. These two or three lines manifest the care of the churches whicb breathed in this great old man, as long as he had a breath to draw in the world. And since he has left few like lum for a comprehensive and universal regard unto the prosperity of all the flocks in this wilderness, we have little now to comfort us in the loss of one so like a patriarch among us, but only this, that our poor churches, it may be hoped, hi>ve still some interest in the cares of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who waUts in the midst of the golden candlesticks . Lord '• make our churches and keep them, yet golden candlesticks I Amen. But I have not obtained the end of this hittory, nor may I let this history come to an end, until I do with some importunity bespeak the en- deavours of good men every where, to labour in that harvest which the blessed Eliot justly counted worthy of his utmost pains and cares. It was the confession of Themistocles, that the victory of Miltiades would Dot let him sleep in quietness ; may those of our Eliot raise a like em- ulation in those that have now seen the life of this evangelical hero ! One Robert Baily (a true son of Epiphanius) many years ago published a book, wherein several gross lies, by which the name of that John Qilion, who was known to be one of the holiest men then alive, Was most injuriously made odious unto the churches abroad, were accom- panied with some reflections upon poor New-England, whereof this wa^ one. The way of their churches hath most exceedingly hindred the conver- sion of the poor pagans : of all tiuU ever crossed itiie American seat, (Aey are noted as m<>9t neglectful of the work of conversion. We have ftow seen those aspersions and calumnies abundantly wiped away. But hf Vol. 1. «7 58« 'fWE friSToiiir OP ncw.^ngland. (Dook ihi Ihut which linfl been the vindieatiom of M'tw- England, be aluo the tfmu- tdftdh of the worid : let not poor little A'ew-iSnff/aiid, be the only pro- testaM coudtfy that shall do nnr notable thing lor ik* prapagaHit o^ At ufirilh, unto'thoae i/a^ eomert of the earth whiik «re jvM ttj eriMf AoAi'io* tiont. But the jMfdreMe* of 8o mean a person aa my lelf, are like to pre- vail biit little Hbroad wilti men of leartiingand flgare in the world. How- e? er, I shall* presume to utter my teithtt in the light of my rcorffr* ; and it is possible that the great God who de$pi$e$Hot the prayer of the poor, may oy the influences of his Holy Spirit, upon the Aeorl* of some whose eyes are upon these lines, give a blessed answer thereunto. Wherefore, may the people of New- Engl and, who have seen so sen- sible a difference between the estates of those that sell drink, and of thosie that preach truth, unto the miserable salvages among them, as that even thi$ alone might inspire them, yet from a nobler consideration than that of their own outward pro$perity thereby advanced, be encour^gtid still to prosecute, first the civilizing, and then the ehrittianizing of the barbariant, in their neighbourhood ; arid may the New-Englandert be 90 far politick as well as religious, as particularly to make atnuiton of the gospel unto the mighty nations of the fVestern Indiatu, whom the French have been of late so studiously, but so unsuccessfully tampering with ; lest those horrid pagans, who lately (as it is credibly affirmed) bad such a measure of deviliam and insolence in them, as to shoot a volley of grettt and small shot ngninst the Heavens, in revenge upon (Ae manin the Heav- ens, as they called our Lord, whom they counted the author of the heavy calamities whicb newly have distressed them ; be found spared by our long-sufl'ering Lord, [ivho^Aen indeed presently tore the ground asunder, with immediate and horrible thunders from Heaven round about them, but killed them not !] for a scourge to us, that have not used our ad- vantages to make a verluous people of them. If a King of the West Sax- ons long since ascribed all the disasters on any of their affairs, to neg- ligencies in this »oihr, methinks the JWm'-£ng/ander9 may not count it unreasonable in this way to seek their own prosperity. Shall we do what we can that our Lord Jesus Christ may bestow upon America, (which may hiore justly be called Columba) that salutation, O my dove ! May the several plantations, that live upon the labours of their negroes, no more be guilty of such a prodigious wickedness, as to deride, neglect, and oppose all due means of bringing their poor negroes unto our Lord ; but may the masters of whom God will one day require the souls of the slaves committed unto them, see to it, that like Abraham, they have cate- diised servants ; and not imagine that the Almighty God made so many ' thousands of reasonable creatures for nothing, but only to serve the lusts of Epicures, or the gains of Mammonists ; lest the God of Heaven out of meer pity, xf not justice, unto those unhappy blacks, be provoked unto a venseance which may not without horrour, be thought upon. Lord, when shall we see Ethiopians read thy scriptures with understanding ! May the English nation do what may be done, that the Welch may not be destroyed/or the lack of knowledge, lesl our indisposition to do for their souls, bring upon us all those judgments of Heaven, whicb Oildas their country-man, once told them, that they suffered for their disregards unto OMfs ; and may the nefandous massacres of the English by the /rtsA, awak- en the English to consider, whether they have done enough to reclaim lhe Irish, from the Popish bigottries and abominations, with which they liavis been intoxicati^d. Book Uii.| THB HISTOftT OF VEm-WOh^^. Mftjr the ■«v•ra^ jfocfon'M and compamei, nhof cosQ«nw lie in 4^ Africa, or Atntriea, be pert!VMl« ia their own tongues, to be scattered among them. Who knows what convolrlens might be hastened upon the whole Mahometan viorld by such an extensive charity. .y . May sufficient numbers of great, wise, rich, learnedi and gqdly m^n in the three kingdoms, procure well composed foeiedet, by whose nnited counsels, the noble design of evangelizing the world, may be mor^ ^ectU' ally carried on : and if some generous persons will of their own i^c^ord combine for such consultatiops, who can tell, bi^t like |Ofn« ^tb^r cele- brated Boeieties heretofore tormed from such small beginnwtP, (bey iqay soon have that countenance of authority, which m^y produce very glo- rious effects, and give opportunity to gather vast c^ribt^i^n* from all well-disposed people, to asstnt and advance this progress of christiani|y. God forbid, that Popery should expend upon cheating, more than ten tildes what we do upon lamng the immortal souls of men. Lastly, may many worthy men, who find their circumstance^ will al- low of it, get the language of some nationc that are not yet bro.i|gbt home to God ; and wait upon the divine providence, for God's leading them to, and owning them in their apostolical undertakings. When they remem- ber what Ruffinut relates concerning the conversion of tho Iberians, and what Socrates, with other authors, relates concerning the conversion wrought by occasion o( Frumentius and JEdesius, in the Inner India, all as it were by accident, surely it will make them try, what may be done by design for such things now in our day ! Thus, le| them see, whether while we at home in the midst of wearisome temptations, are angling with rods, which now and then catch one soul for our Lord, they shall not be fish- ing with nets, which will bring in many thousands of those, concerning whom with unspeakable joy in the day of the Lord, they may say, Behold I and the children which Ood has given me ! Let them see, whether, sup*- posing they should prosper no farther than to preach the gospel of the kingdom in all the world for a witness unto all nations, yet the end which is then to come, will not bring to them the more happy lot, wherein they shall stand, that are found so doing. Let no man be discouraged by the difficulties, which the devil will be ready to clog such attempts against his kingdom with ; for 1 will take leave so to translate the words of the wise man. Prom, xxvii. 4. What is able to stand before zeal ? 1 am well satisfycd, that if men had the wis- dom, to discerr* the signs of the times, they would be all hands at work, to ^ THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book III. flpread th« name of oar Jmus into all the corneri of the ttrtb. ChxMt ft, O my Ood; and Lord Je$iu, cofiu quicUy. A Copy of a Letter from (A« very Reverend Mr. Richard Baxter, to Mr. IncrcMe Mather {then in London.) Written upon the eight of Mr, Eliot's Life in a former Edition. Dear Brother, * I Thought 1 had been near dying at 12 o'clock, in bed; but < your book revived me : 1 lay reading it, until between one and two I ' knew much of Mr. Eliot* t opinions, by many letters, which I had from ^ htm. There was no man on earth, whom I honoured above him. It ' is his evangelical work, that is the apoetotical tucee$rion that 1 plead < for. I am 6ow dying, I hope, as he did. It pleased me to read from ' him, my case, [my undentanding faileth, my memory faileth, my tonrve 'faUeth, (and my hand and pen fail) but my charity faileth not,] That * word much comforted me. I am as zealous a lover of the New-Eng- * land churches, as any man, according to Mr. Noyes, Mr. Jiortone, Mr. * Miteheh, and the Synod^s model. 'I loved yonr father, upon the letters I received from him. I love ' you' belter for your learning, labours, and peaceable moderation. I ' love your son better than either of you, for the excellent temper that ' appeareth in his writings. O that godliness and wisdom thus inrt-eaee * in all families ! He hath honoured himself Aa'^ at much as Mr. Eliot: ' I say, but half a$ much ; for deedt excel word*. Ood preserve yoa, f and Nvm-England I Pray for, *Your fainting, August 3, > languishing Friend, 1691. \ RI. BAXTER.' tf # .J»...-«vtfi J> "S« .'Jf*&»t! ^f*', i#* .#liA. RE MAINS: OR, SHORTER ACCOUNTS OF SUNDRY DIVINES, VICrUL IN THK CUVMCUES OF XEW'EJ^GJUJfD. GATHERED BY COTTON MATHER. THE FOURTH PART. WHERETO IS MORE LAROELY ADDED, THE LIFE AND DEATH OF THE REVEREND MR. JOmU^ BAILBT, INTRODUCTION. Reaogr, Peruse, / pray and ponder these words of the incomparable Turre- tine. Siogalarem Dei GrHtiam, noo possumus, quin ^ternis Laudibus, Ce- lebremas, quod Novissimis hisce saeculis, restitute Evangelii Lace, tot tantosq; Viros, D.octrin^ & Insigni Pietate Prseditos, ad Opus Refornut' ticnia Inchoandum & Promovenduon Vocaverit ; qui uberrima Rerum Sa- crarum Scientil imbuti, & Heroico Spiritu dooati, tanquam [ HillD ^lDi}2^] Viri Prodigis, Tubas Evangelicae Sonitu, & Veritatis Divins Fuigore, Tenebras Erroris Crass^ssimas faelicissime fugarunt, .intichritti Regnutn Concasserunt, Sf. Ecclesiam a Multis saeculis miaere Captivam, and Ty- raanidis Jugo plusqam ierreo tantum dod oppressam, ^ Babylone Myati- cSl gloriose Evocarunt. Thou art prepared then to proceed in what remaios of our History. Reader, thou knomest the way for a man to become wise, was thus declar- ed by an oracle, si concolor fieret Mortuis. And thou wilt not forget that lesson sometimes given ; ' Since we have lired here, and since we are to die, and yet live after ' death, and others will succeed us when we are dead, we are greatly con- ' cerned, to send before us a very good treasure, to carry with us a very • i^ood conscience, and to /eave behind us a very good example.' 594 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENOLAND. [Boot Hh Bthold $ome of them, who did lo I h hath bttn remarked, that whan Sarah catted her hwhand Lord ; her tpeech waeall an h*ap of einful injidtlity ; there wa$ Aw one good word m it : vet the epirit of Uod, long after takes notice of that wora. ' And why ihonud not we then take notice, of many a good work, occurring ^in-tka live* ofthoie, concerning whom yet we do not pretend or tuppote, wat they lived altogether free from intirmitiea ? thair intmnitiea wan but hanaaitiea. CHAPTER I. ■'' Remains of the first Claisis. The surviving friends of the reU, mentioned in the Jirrt catalogue of eonfenore, by whom the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ was brought in- to this wilderness, hnving supplied me with so few and small informa- tions concerning them, that I am of the opinion, Praetat nul/a quam Pau- ca dicere. Let all their vertues then be galaxied icto this one indistinct lustre, they were faithful servants of Christ, and tufferert for their be* ing so. Nor is it unlikely that there might i:i'e some among those good men, who yet might be, in so little exiraord'rinry, that there might be the same account gi ren of them, that there was of a certain Bishop of Roma, in the second century, Nihil privclari de Gvhtmationt ^ faciit ejui eommemorari point ; and although we New-Englandtrs do dwell in so cold, and so clear an air, that more of the smalUr stars may be seen by our connderers than in many other places, yea, and not only the Nebulosa of Cancer it self, but even the lesser stars which compose that cloud, are considered among us ; nevertheless, for us to attempt the writing of their lives, would carry too much/on(/nes5 in it : nor do we forget- that Suum est cuiq; ordivulgus. Moreover, there were divers of these worthy men, who by removing hack to England upon the turn of the times, have almost released us finm such a large account of them, as otherwise might have been expected from us : and yet some good account of not a few among them, is to be reported. I remember, Dr. Patin in his travels, tells us, that in a cer- tain Mus'ieum at Vienna, he saw a cherry-stone, on which were engraved above an hundred portraitures, with different ornaments of the head upon them. I must noiv endeavour a tenth part of an hundred portraitures, with different ornaments of the mind upon each of them ; nevertheless I am to take up almost as little room as a cherry stone for them all. Par- ticularly, Mr. RICHARD BLINMAN. After a faithful discharge of his minis- try, at Glocester, and at New-London, he returned into England ; and liv- ing to a good old age, he who wherever he came, did set himself to do good, concluded his life at the f ity o( Bristol, where one of the last things he did, was to defend in print the cause of infant-baptism. Mr. SAMUEL EATON. He was the son of Mr. Richard Eaton, the vicar of Great Burd-worth in tlushire, and the brother of Mr. Theophilus Eaton^ the renowned Goveniour of New-Haven. His education was at the University of Oxford ; and because it will doubtless recommend him fo find such a pen, as that which wrote the Athma Oxonienses thus char- «oi>B 111.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-KNGLAND. AS6 actaritinf of him, reader, (hoa ihalt huve the verjr word* of that writer oooooraiog bim : Affr h* had Uft the univ**tity, h$ «ntr»d into tht »aer«d futMioH, took ofdtrt according to Ikt Church of EnglMid, tmd wot bcn^tod in hit eturUry :■ hut hming been fturitamecdljf educated, he did dtsient m toiiM partictUavi thererf. Whereupon Jittdint hi$ place too warm for himt he revolted, and vent into Now-England, and preached among the brethren there. Bat lot u* have no more ofthia IVood t Mr. ¥^ton wa* a very holy man, and a penon of great learning and jndicment, and a most incompara- ble preacher. But upon hie diMoat from Mr. Davenport, about the oar- roiv terma, and farmn of civil government, by Mr. Davenport, then forced upon that infant- colony, his brother adviaed him to a removal : and call- ing at Baeton by the way, when he was on his removal, the church there were so highly nfiected with his labours, thus occasionally enjoyed among them, that they would fain have engaged him unto a settlement in that £lHce. But the Lord Jesus Christ had more service for him in Old-Kng- ind, than he could have done in A'ow ; and therefore arriving in Et^- land, be became the pastor of a church at Dueket^field, in the parish of Stockfort, in Che$hire, and afterwards at Stockport ; and a person of emi- nent note and use, not onlv in that, but also in the neighbour-county. After the restoration of K. Charlee II. he underwent first eileneing, and then much other tuffering, from the pertecution, which yet calls for a national repentance. He was the author of many booke, and especially some in defence of the chriitian faith, about the Ood-head ofChriet, against the Socinian blasphemies : and his help was joined unto Mr. Timothy Tai- lor i, in writing some treatises entituled. The Congregational Way Juttified. By these be out-lives his death, which fell out at Denton, in the parish of Manchester in Lancaihire, (where says our friend Rabihakeh fVood, he had sheltered hinufllf among the brethren after hie ejection) on the ninth day of January, 1664, and he was buried in the chapel there. Mr. WILLIAM HOOK. This learned, holy, and humble man, was born about 1600, and was ibr some time a collegue with Mr. Davenport, in the pastoral charge of the church at our M'ew-Haven; on the day of his ordmation, whereto he humbly chose for his text those words in Judg. vii. 10, Go thou, with Pharah thy servant ; and as humbly raised bis doc- trine, That in great tervicee, a little help is better than none ; which he gave, as the reason of his own being joined with so considerable a-Gideon as Mr. Davenport. After this returning into Eugland, he was for soote while, minister at Axmowih in Devonslaire, and then master of the Savoy on the. of whom a larger ac- count might be endeavoured. Three shall be all that we will offer. «ookIii.] the history of NEW^ENGLAND. CHAPTER II. Mil The I^iFE of Mr. Thomas Allen^ It was a computation miide in that year, when our colony was just forty years old, and our land had seen rest forty years, that of ministers which had then come from England unto us, chiefly in the tenjirst years, there were ninety four : of which number, thirty one were then alive ; thirty-six had retired unto Heaven ; twenty-seven hud returned back -to Europe. Of those Jlrst comers, who again leffthe country, soon after their^r<( coming, one was that worthy man Mr. Thomas Mien, who after be had for some time approved himself a pious and painful minister of the gos> pel. in our Charlestown. saw cause to return back into England; where he lived unto a good old age, in the city ofJVorwich. The name of Allen being but onr pronunciation of the Saxon word, Jll- wine, which is as much as to say beloved of all expressed the fate of thia our Allen, among the generality of the well-disposed. And being a tnan greatly beloved he applied himselfto enquire much into the times, where* in his predecessor Daniel, was an hard student, when the angel came to call him so. Though be staid not very long in this country, yet this country layn claim especially to two of his composures, which have been servicdable unto the world. The former of these was printed here ; namely. An in- vitation unto thirty sinners to come unto their Saviour ; prefaced and aa» sisted into the Iij;ht by our worthy Higginson. But the latter was print- ed beyond the sea; and enlituled, A Chain of Scripture Chronology: wherein the author was disposed like the illustrious Bucholtzer, who be-< ing weary of controversy betook himself to chronology, saying, Malle se Computare quam Disputare. This is a most learned and useful piece ; and all my further account of the author shall be in the words of the fam- ous Greenhill, in his epistle before it. Says he, ' This work having had its conception in a remote quarter of the world, ' it was latent in his closet, the greatest part of seven years ; as Joash ' sometimes was kept secret in a chamber of the temple, before he was ' brought to public view, by the means of Jehojadah, that good old high ' priest : and it had still been suppressed had not the author heenpressed, ' and charged mth hiding of a tale7U in a napkin, by such another as Je- ' hojadah was [Mr. John Cotton] whose soul is now amongst the saints ia * Heaven, resting from its manifold labours, and whose name both is, and ' ever will be precious in all the gates of the dAughters ofSion, through all ' ages. When Moses. Daniel and John were in suffering conditions, they ' had much light from God, and gave forth much truth concerniqg the ' church and the times: and many of our reverend, learned, and godly ' brethren, being through the iniquity of the times driven into America, ' by looking up unto God, and by searching of the scriptures, received * and found much light concerning the church and the times ; and have ' mtde us, and ages to come, beholden to them, by communicating the ' same ; amongst whom now, is this learned and judicious author.' From the epitaph of Helvicus, the great chronologist, we will presamf to borrow a tetrastich, for this great student in chronology. Vol. I C8 *^ THE HISTORY OP NEW-ENGLAND. [Book III. .*4l«w«*M4i?yt EPITAPHIUM. Angelicoa inter catus, Anitnasq; Beatas; Spiritvs Allkvi Gaudia Mille Capit : Ad Litui Sonitum dum Corpus ^ Ossa resurgani, Totui «t Allenvs Vivificatus ovet. W' •A^%' CHAPTER HI. The Life of Mr. John Knowlits^ Our blessed Saviour has denounced that righteous and fearful curse, upon those, who despise the offers of his glorious gospel, Whosoever shall not receive j^ou, nor hear your words, it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and GoBBOrrah, in the day of judgment, than for that city. And the excel- lent Knawles, was an eminent person among those embassadors of Heaven, in the quarrel of whose entertainment, the King of Heaven., wonderfully -accomplished that prediction. If New-England bath been in some re- spects ImmanueVs land, it is well ; but this I am sure of, ImmanueUCol' lege contributed more than a little to make it so, a fellofv whereof once -was our Mr. John Knowles. He was among the^rst comers into JVet!'-£ng/and, joined as a colleague with Mr. Philips at Watertown. But as he began, so he ended his pious days ia England; between which there occurred one very remarA^Me providence, now to be related. In the year 1641 , one Mr. Bennet, a gentleman from Virginia, arrived at Boston, with letters from well-disposed people there, unto the minis- ters of New-England, bewailing their sad condition, for the want of the glorious gospel, and entreating that they might hence be supplied with ministers of that gospel. Thene letters were openly read at Boston up- on a lecture-day ; whereupon the ministers agreed upon setting apart a day forfastifig and prayer, to implore the direction of God about this bu- siness ; and then the churches of Watertown, Braintree, and Rowley, ha- ving each of them two ministers apiece, Mr. Philips of WcUertown, Mr. Thompson of Braintree, and Mr. Miller o( Rowley, were pitched upon for the intended service ; whereof the General Court so approved, that it was ordered, the governour should recommend these persons by his let- ters to the governour and council at Virginia. Mr. Philips being indisposed for th voyage, Mr. Knowles went in his room; and Mr. Miller's bodily weaknesses, caused him also to decline the voyage. But the two churches of Watertown and Braintree, though they loved their ministers very well, yet cheerfully dismissed them unto this great concern ; accounting it their honour that they had such desireable persons, by whom they might make a mission of the gospel, unto a peo- pie that saf in the region and shadow of death. On October 7, 1642, they began their voyage : at Rhode-Island, they lay long wind-bound ; and they met with so many other difficulties, that they made it eleveii weeks of dangerous passage, before they arrived at Virginia : nevertheless, they had this advantage in the way, that they took in a third minister for their assistance ; namely, Mr. James, then at Nere-Hmten. DooK HI.} THE HISTORY OF NEW.ENOLAND. tm Though their hazardous retardations in their voyage, made them some* times to suspect, whether they had a clear call of God uoto their under- takiog, yet the success of their ministry, when they came to Virginia, did sufficiently extinguish that suspicion. They had little encouragetneta from the ru/er*of the place, but they had a kind entertainment with the people ; and in the several parts of the country where they were bestow- ed, there were many persons by their ministry brought home to God. But as Austin told mankind, tht devil was never turned christian yet : the powers of darkness could not count it for the interest, that the light of the gospel powerfully preached, should reach those dark placet of the earth. The rulers of that province did not allow of their publick preach- !|' ing ; but instead thereof, an order was made,. That such as would not conform to the ceremonies of the Church of England, should by such a day, depart the country. By which order, these holy, faithful, painful minis* ters, were driven away from the Virginia coast : but when they retnrn* ed, as they left behind them, not a few seals of their ministry^ so they brought with them some, who afterwards proved blessings to JV«w-£»f «^ land. Well, before the day Bxed for the departure of these ministers came, the Indians far and near having entred into a contpiracy, to cut off the English in those territories, executed it in an horrible massacre, where- by at least three hundred poor English Virginians, were at once barba« rously butchered, which massacre was also accompanied with a grievou* mortality, that caused many sober persons to remove out of that colony, and others to acknowledge the justice of God upon them, for the ill-treats, which had been given to the ministers of his gospel, and the gospd brought by those ministers. After this, did Mr. Knowles remove back to England, where he was a preacher at the Cathedral, in the city of Bristol, and lived in great credit and service for divers years. But when the act of uniformity, made such a slaughter of non-coM/bnnM<*» IVIr. Knowles was one of the ministers which were silenced by that act. And after that civil death, he lived in London a coUegue to the famous Mr. Kentish, and a blessing to the Church of God. Exercising his ministry in the city of London, he underwent many ^'ev- ous persecutions, and received as many glorious deliverances. — But when some of his friends discouraged him, with fears of his being thrown into prison, if he did hot affect more of privacy, he replied. In truth, I had rather be in a gaol, where I might have a number of souls, to whom Imighp preach the truths of my blessed Master, than live idle in my own house, with' out any such opportunities. He lived unto a very great age, and staid longer out of Heaven, than the most of them that live in Heaven upon earth. But in his great age,||he continued still to do great good ; wherein his labours were so fervent and eager, that he would sometimes preach till he fell down; and yet have a youthful readiness in the matter and spirit of his preaching. His last falling down was a flying up ; and an escape to that land where the wea* ry are at rest. ^,, EPITAPHIUM. jj,. Vis Scire, Q«i» Sim ? Nomtn est Knoi.bsius Dixi Satis .'- .,.,i*a- z:- •ife 540 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book Hi, ft CHAPTER IV. jE/isAa's bones. Thq Lifp of Mr. Henky Whitpikld. Cupiditatem Imitandi fecit ; Spem abstulix. There has been a trite proverb, which i wish indeed were so thread- bare as to be never used more ; Angelicws Juvenitf senibui Satanizat in Jlnnis. which, thongh it were pity it should ever speak English, has been Eng- lished, Ji young saint, an old devil. I remember Erasmus believer, the devil himself was the author of that prowrt. This 1 am sure, the pro' verb was none of So/omon's, who says, Train up a child m the ri'ay that he ihouldgo, and when h; is old, he will not leave it. indeed a young sinner may make an old devil ; a young hypociite, a young dissembler, pretend- ing to saintship, may do so ; but a young saint will certainly make an old angel. And ho did our blessed Whitjield. He was a gentleman of good ex- traction by his birth ; but of a better by his new- birth : nor did his new- birth come very long after his birth. He did betimes begin his journey heavenwards ; but he did jot soon tire in that journey ; nor did the ser- pent by the way, the adder in the path, prevail to make him eome short home at last. His father being an eminent larcyer, designed this his youngest son, to be a lawyer also, and titcrcforc uiTordcd him a liberal education, first at the university, and then at the Inns of Court. But the gracious and early operations of the Holy Spirit, on his heart, inclined him rather to be .preacher of the gospel, and in his inclinations he was encouraged by such eminent ministers, as Dr Stanton, Mr. Byfeld, and others. He was very pious in his childhood, and because pious, tl ereforc pray- erfid ; yea, so addicted unto prayer, that in the very school itt-elf, he would be sometimes praying, when the scholars about him imagined by his pos- tures, that he had only been intent upon his book. As he grew up, he grew exceedingly in his acquaintance with God, with Christ, and with the exceeding riches of grace displayed in the new covenant. And he gained such a grounded assurance of his own saving interest, in that covenant, that he had not for forty years together, fallen into any miscarriage, which made any considerable breach upon that assurance. Okely in Surrey, was the place where the providence of the Lord Je- sus Christ now stationed him ; where his labours were blessed unto the good of many, not only in his own town, but in all the circumjacent country, from whence on holy-days, the people would flock to hear him. At length, observing that he did more good, by preaching sometimes abroad, than by preaching always at home, and enjoying then a church- living of the first magnitude, besides a fair estate of his own, he procured and maintained another godly minister at Okely ; and by means thereof, be had the liberty to preach in many places, which were destitute of ministers, where his labours were successful in the conversion of many souls unto God. • Book III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 641 He was one who abounded in liberality and hospitality ; and his house was always much resorted unto. He was for twenty years, a confonnist ; but yet a pious non-conformist was all this while very dear unto him : and such persecuted servants of Christ, as Mr. Cotton, Mr. Hooker, Mr. Goodwin, and Mr. J^ye, then molested for their non conjormity, were sheltered under his roof. At last, being present at the conference be- tween Mr. Cotton, and some other famous divines, upon the controver- sies of church-discipline, there appeared so much of scriptute and reason on that .'' to love ' and to praise thee forever ? Now death was no dark thing to mc, ' neither was any concern of this life considerable. And now 1 hiive suid, * Who can lay any thiiig to my charge, since CAm< huth »ati*fird by his * deaths and hath gotten a release by his resurrection, and lives for ever to * perfect my salvation ? This hatii been a great stay to me in my solitary * condition ; though bereft of such relations, a precious wife, and two such ' children. But the Lord Jesus liveth for ever, to do all for me, and be ' all to mc. And I do the more admire and adore the great Ood. in his ' condescending so much to so vile a worm, that hath been so full of fears * and doubts, and hath »o much displeased my Lord Jesus and his Holy ^ * Spirit. That which grieved mc most, of late months, is, the unfixtdness ' • of my thoughts on God : and Oh, that the Lord may, by hw establishing * spirit, contirm these comforts on me, so that I may enjoy them in death, *■ and improve them for the good of others in life. I know Hatan is a * wrangler ; but my Advocate iii able to silence him !' When the Lord of this faithful servant came to call for him, he wa» found in his master's work, 'i'owards the close of a sermon, which he was preaching at Boston lecture, he Was taken with a degree of an Apo- plexy (as John Cyril, the worthy Bohemian pastor was in the beginning of the former century, Apoplexia in media ad populmn, condone correptus) which in two or three days, ended his pilgrimage. Thus he had the wish of some great men, Oportet Concionatorem, aiitprecantemaut Predi' ccuttem, Mori. EPITAPHIUM. Vixi, Sf quern lederas Cursum, in Te Christc peregi. ; Article fllK) On March 24, 1678-9, expired that excellent man, Mr. '' Thomas W allev, about the age of sixty-one. 1 can not recover the day ' of his birlh, let it content my reader, that the primitive christians did happily confound the distinction of the two times mentioned by the wise ' man, a time to be bom, and a time to die, calling the day of a saint's death, ' by the name of their Natalitia. This man of a thousand, was a well accomplished scholar ; but his ac- -complisbments especially lay in that which the great Gregory asserts to be,.^rs Artium,^ Scientia Scientiarum, namely, Animarum Regimen, He was a christian in whom the graces of Christ very richly adorned, but most of all, that which has most of Christianity in it, humility ; the happy vertue which we may address, n ith the acknowledgment once made unto Falix, By thee zve enjoy great quietness : and by that vertue he was ■ eminently serviceable to make all quiet, wherever he came. He was a divine, well furnished with the knowledge necessary to master-builder in the Ch ?ch of God, and particularly knowing in those points of divinity, ^hich ^Vbn Lectio docet, scd Unctio, non Litera, sed Spiritus, non Eruditio, ^ed Exercitatio, He was -A preacher, who made Christ the main subject of bis preach' ing ; and who had such a regard for souls, that he thought much of noth- ipg, by vrhick be might recommend a Christ unto the souls even of the Book IIl.J THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. M menneat, ai well ns of the grcntest : being disposed, like thnt great king of Frame, who beini; found instructing his kitchen-b«y in th« matters of religion, nnd being Hsked with wonder the reiwon of it, koswered. The meoHest has a $oul as precious as my »wn, and bought by the blood of Christ an well as mine! It may be I cannot give n truer description of this our Wallkv, than in the words of him that writes the life of the famous Belgic Walla:u8 : ' He was diligent in visiting his parishioners, whereby ' he reformed many which were given to viciousness. H« satisticd ' doubting consciences, and extricated them out of the snares of Satan. ' He comforted those that were cast down, with the apprehension of * God's wrath for their sins. }ie ministered relief to widows, orphans. ' and such as were destitute of humane help. His company was never ' grievous.' His being such a one, did but render him the more likely to be found a non-conformist, whenttie act of uni/brm% struck deadao many faithful miniHters of the gospel in the English nation. When the Church of Eng- land under the neu: form, which its canons after the year IG60, depraved it into, was pressing its unscriptural rites, our JValley replied, with Tertuli lian, siideo dicetur, licere, quia 7wn prohibeat, Scripturu, aiquc relorquebi- tur, iden non licere, quia Scriptura non Jubeat. If the Church of England, in the days of JVe iv- England^ s first plant- ing, did 80 want reformation, that these colonies must be planted for the sake thereof, how much more would the second model of it alTrigbt such conscientious dissenters as our fVatley, unto congregations that were more thoroughly reformed ? For, as one writes, ' Though the Church of Eng- ' /anti WIS never so reformed, as Geneva, France, Holland, and other re^ ' formed churches ; yet there is as vast a difference between the old ' Church of £ng/an(i and the new one, as between Nebuchadnezzar, when ' sitting on his th -one and glittering in his glory, and Nebuchadnezzar, * when grazing ^.ong beasts in the field, with his hair like birds' feath- ' ers, and nails like eagles' claws.' The eflect of all uas, that Mr. fVal- ley w IS driven from the exercise of his ministry in London, to New-Eng- land ; where he arrived about the year 1G63. Here he had a great service to do ; for if the Apostle Paul thought it bese(iming an apostle, to write a part of canonical scripture, about the agreement of no more than two godly persons [Phil. iv. 2.] certainly it must be a great service to bring a divided church of godly persons unto a good agreement. In Thebes, he that could reconcile any quarrelsome neighbours, was honoured with a gar/an<2. The honour of a gar/am/^ was on that score, highly due to our Walley. The church of Barnstable had been miserably broken with divisions- until this prudent, patient, and Holy Wallkv appeared upiong them ; and, Quum Pietate Gravem, ac Meritis hunc Forte Virumjam Conspexere, Silent. As among the Suevians it was a law, that in a fray, where swords -were drawn, if any one did but cry ;)coce, they must end the quarrel, or else, he died that struck the next blow after peace was named. Thus, after our Walley, with his charming wisdom, cried p^ace, that flock was happily united ; and he continued in much peace, and with much fame, feeding of it, all the rest of his days. 1 will now so far discover my self, as to apn'^ad this worthy man, for two things, which it may be, many gojsd men will count worthy rathpv of reproach than applatise. SM THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENOLAND. [Rook 111. Ono ia this : in my father's prefiice to hit diiconnei on the Acw-Je* rv$aUtn, I meet with this pnaaage* Thovgh it hath bttn generally thought, that the (irat reaurrection ipoken of in the Apocalypse, t« to be underttood only in a my$tical ien$e ; yet tome of the firtt, and eminent teaeher» m theee churches, believed the first resurrection to be corporal. So did Mr. Duvcnport, Mr. Hook, and of later yeart, thai man of an excellent $pir it, Mr. Thomaa Wallcy, pattor of the church in BarnatHble. Thua din our Eiout chiliaat, Walley, it seems, come to hia thoughts as Joteph Mede efore him did, and aa in the timea of more illuminHlion learned men Diuat and will : Pottquam alia omnia frnitra tentaeeem, tundem Ret iptiut Claritudine per$trictus, paradoxo Succubui. Another ia this : on a great occaMion, our fValfey declared himaelf in theae words, It would not coniist with nur profeision of love to Chriit or iaint$, to trouble those that peaceably differ from the generality of God't people y in letter thingt ; thote that are like to live in Heaven with ui at latt, we thould endeavour they might live peaceably with u* here A well bound- ed toleration were very detireable in all «:hrittian commonwealths, that there may be no just oceation for any to complain of cruelty or penecution ; but tt mutt be tuch a toleration, that God may not be publickly blatphemed, nor idolatry practited. With auch candor did he express himaelf against the way well decryed by Gerhard, A Verba ad Ferrum, ab Atramento ad Armamenta, a Pennii, ad Bipennei, confugere. I caoujt tind any more than one published composure left behind ; which ia entitutled, Balm in Gilead to heal Sion'a Wounds : being a ser- mon preached before the General Court of the colony of New-PlymotUk, June 1, 1669, the day of election there : in which, let it be remembred, he expressly foretela, that New-England, would e'er long lose her holinets, her righteousness, her peace, and her liberty. EPITAPHIUM. Mors, Qualem Virum Extinxisti ! Sed bene habet ; Virtus Wall«i Immortalis est. Article (iV.) The small stay of the Reverend Mr. Samuel Lee in thia country, where he was pastor of the church at New-Bristol [from the year 1686, to the year 1691,] will excuse me, if I say little of him ; and yet the great worth of that renowned man, will render it inexcusable to say nothing at all. All that I ahall say is, that if learning ever merited a statue, thia great man, baa as rich an one due to him, a» can be erected ; for it must be granted, that hardly ever a more universally learned person trod the American strand. Live.O rare Lee, live, if not inourtDor^*, yet in thy own ; ten or twelve of which, that have seen the light, will immortalize thee. But above all, thy book De Excideo Antichristi. shall survive and assist i\ie funeral of the monster, whose nativity is therein, with such exquisite study cal- culated ; and thy bock entituled, Orbis Mimculum; or the The Temple of Solomon, shall proclaim thee to be a miracle for thy vast knowledge, ■nd a pillar in the temple of thy God ! In his return for England, the French took him a prisoner, and nnciv- tlly detaining him, he died in France ; where he found the grave of an DooE III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENQLANP. heraiek, and was therein (aAcr some tort, like IFtcik/f/f «ad Burer) made « mar/yr aAer bit death. CHAPTER VII. Ji Oood Man making a Qood End) The Lira and Drath of the Rev« erend Mr. John Baily, comprised and eipreued in a Sermon, on the day of his Funeral. Thursday 16 D. 10 M. 1697. Pulehra tunt Ftrba ex Ore Ea Facientium, Adag. Judaic. Rkader, Wb are not so wite, as the miserable Papiste ! among them, a person of merit shall at his death, be celebrated and canonized by all men agreeing in it, as in their common interest, for to applif\id his life. Among ns, let there be dues paid unto the memory of the most meritorious per- son after his decease ; many of the survivers are offended, I had almost said enraged at it : they seem to take it as a reproach unto theroselTes (and it may be, so it is!) that so much good should be told of any man, and that all the little frailties and errors of that man, (and whereof no meer man was ever free !) be not also told with all the unjust aggrava- tions that envy might put upon them. This folly is as inexpressible an injury to us all ; as it cannot but be an advantage unto mankind in general, for interred vertue to be rewarded with a statue If ever I deserved well of my country, it has been when I have given to the world the histories and characters of eminent persons, which have adorned it. Malice will call some of those things romances ; but that malice it self may never hiss with the least colour of reason any more, I do here declare, let any man living evince any one material tnistake in any one of those composures, it shall have the most publick recantation that can be desired. In the mean time, while some impotent cavils, nibbling at the statues which we have erected for our worthies, take pains to prove themselves, the enemies of New- England, and of re- ligion, the statues will out-live all their idle nibbles ; the righteous xeill be had in everlasting remembrance, when the wicked who see it and aregrieV' ed, shall gnash with their teeth and melt away. A Good Man making a Good End. Uttered, Thursday 16 D. 10 M. 1697. I bring you this day a text of sacred scripture, which a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, lately gone unto him, did before his going, or- der for you as his legacy. Give your attention. 'Tis that in Psal. xxxi. 5. Into thine hand I commit my spirit. That holy and worthy minister of the gospel, whose /«nera/ is this •lay to be attended, having laboured for the conversion of men unto God, at length grew very presagious that his labours in the evangelical ministry, drew near unto an end. While he was yet in health, and not got beyond 550 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book III. fhe fiAy-foUi'th year of his age, be did, with such a presage upoa bis mind (having first written on this wise in bis diary. Ok! that Christ'e death might Jit me for my 07vn !) begin to study a sermon on this very text, Into thine hand I commit my spirit. But bis great master, who favoured bim with such a presage, never gave him an opportunity to finish and utter, what be had began to study. His life had all this while, been a practical commentary upon hid doctrine ; yea, it was an endeavour to imitate our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, who is said [Acts i. h] first to do, and then to teach: and now, behold! bis death must ^expound and apply the doctrine which he would have preached unto us. He must ^iiow us, how to do that important work of cotnmit' ling a departing spirit into the hands of God, no otherwise than by tl>e actual doing of that work himself. While therefore he lay dy- in^, he asked one of bis dearest relations, Dost thou know ■what I am doing? She said, no ; he then added, / am rendring, I am rendring f jiieaiiing, I suppose, his own spirit unto the Lord. But while be was do- ing ofth.it work, itnd with humble resignation committing hit. own spirit int» the hands of God, he desired of me, that 1 would preach upon the text, fibout tviiich he had been under such intentions. Wherefore [if at least I may be thought woi thy of such a character !] yoo are now to consider xne, shall 1 say, as executing the will of ihe dead? or, as representing a man of God. zshom God hath taken. The truths wh'cb we shall now in- culcat«i, will be such, as you are all along to think, these are the things tohich a saint now in glory would have to b£ inculcated. And when we have briefly set those truths before you, we will describe a little that excellent saint, as from whom you have them recommended : we will describe him chiefly, with strokes fetched from bis own diaries, out of -which, in the little time 1 have had since bis death, I have collected a few remarkables. Our Psalmist, the illustrious David, now, as we may judge, drew near unto his end : and we may say of the Psalm here composed by him, These are among the last xvords of David, the man who 7vas raised up on high. The sighs of the Psalmist here, collected, seem to have been oc- casioned by the sufferings, which he underwent, when his own subjects took up arms ngamst him. Nevertheless, as our psalter is all over the Book of the Messiah, so this particular Hymn in it, is contrived elegantly to point out the sufferitigs of our Lord Jesus Christ unto us. In the text now before us, the Ppalmist apprehending himself in danger of death, does the great work of a dyivg man: which is, to commit a surviving gpirit. into the hand of God. But in doing this, he entertains a special consideration of God, for his encouragement in doing it : this is, Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. It is the Messiah that hath redeemed us ; it is the Messiah whose tuiine is the Truth; David upon a view of the Messiah, said, This is the man, who is the Lord God. Wherefore, in committing our spirits unto God, our Lord Christ is to be distinctly con- sidered ; and he was. no doubt, by David considered. The power of God is called his lutnd ; the wisdom of God is called his hand ; but above all, the Christ of God, who is the power of God, and the wisdom of God, he is the hand o(God ; by Him it is, that the God of Heaven doth, what he doth in the world : and he is, for that cause also styled. The arm of the Lord. It is therefore to the power and wisdom and goodness of God, in Christ, that our expiring spirits are to be committed. There was indeed a wonderful time, when our Lord Jesus Christ him- self made a wonderful v.fc of this very text. We read in Luke xxiii. 46, UooK III.l THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 551 When Jestia had cried with a loud voice, he said Father, into thy hands J commend my Spirit ; and having $aid thus, ht gave up the Ghost. Sirs, Ood uttered Atf voice, at this rato, and the earth trembled at it! And well it might, for never did there audi an amazing thine occur upon the earth before. Now, our Lord having said, Into thy hantis I commend my Spirit, stopped at those words j for he was himself the Redeemer, the Lord (Jod of Truth. But as for us, we are to consider God, as in our Ltord Jesus Christ, vihenjte commit our spirits into his hands. An Luther could flay, Nolo DerimMsolutum, I tremble to have to do, with an absolute Uod ; that is to'say, a God without a Christ : so, we may all tremble to think of committing our spirits into the hands of God, any otherwitso. than an he is, tn Christ reconciling the world unto himself. We are truly told iu Heb. X. 31, It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Our spirits are by sin become obnoxious to the fearful wrath of God ; und wo to us, if our Spirits fall into his hands, not having his wrath appealed I Sirs, we commit briars and thorns, and wretched stubble to infinite flames, if we commit our spirits into the hands of God, not in a Christ, become our friend. We deliver op our spirits unto a devouring fre, and unto everlasting burnings, if we approach the Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Al- mighty any otherwise than through the Immanuel, our Mediator. We are to commit our'soids unto our faithful Creator : but if he be not oi :r mer- ciful Redeemer too, then He that made us will not have mercy on us. . When Hezekiak was, as he thought, a dying, he turned his face to the wall : I suppose it was to that side of the upper chamber, the praying chamber, where he lay, that had God^s window in it, the window that opened it self towards the ark in the temple. When we commit our spirits iuto the hav-.' wf God, we are to turn our face towards that ark of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. We have this matter well directed by the words of the dying martyr Stephen, in Acts vii. 59, He said, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And now there is a weighty case, that lies before us ; ':*■-, «!tr- luduntin Cathedra, ^ lugent in Gehenna. Those two words, a soul and eternity, were great words unto him ; and his ve;y Moul was greatly, and always under the awe of them. Hence the very spirit of his preaching lay in the points of turning from sin to God in Christ, and the tryal of our doing sq, and the peril of our not doing it. Wherefore, as far as alas, one of my sinful coldness in those dreadfid &62 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND, {Book HI. points can do it, 1 will set before you in a few roinates, what I apprehend, nay dead friend would hare fb be spoken, upon these points, in relation to the case that is now to be considered. I. Let every mortal man be very sensible, that he hath an immortal spirit in him, and prize that spirit exceedingly. How shall we commit a tpirit into the hatids of the Lord Jesus Christy if this thing be not realized unto us, that zve have a spirit, which will be horribly miserable to all eter- nity, if the Lord Jesus (Jhrist look not after it ! Could that mouth, which is this day to be laid in the dust, once more be opened among us, I know what voice would issue from it : with a very zealous vivacity, 1 know this voice would be uttered, Man. thov. hast a soul, a soul within thee ; a soul that is to exist throughout eternal ages ; Ok ! prize that soul of thine at the greatest rate imaginable. I say then ; we must be sensible, that we have spirits which are distinct from our bodies, and which will out-live them : spirits which are incorporeal substances, endued with rational faculties ; and though inclined unto our humane bodies, yet surviving after them. An infidel Pope of Rome, once lying on bin deuth-bed, had such a speech as this ; I shall now quickly be certified and satisfied, whether I have an immortal soul or no ! Woful man, if he were not until then certified and Hatistied ! God forbid, that there should be so miich as one Epicurean smne among us, dreaming, that man is nothing but a meer lump of matter put into motion. Shall a man dare to think, that he has not a rational soul in him. which is of a very differ- ent nature from his body.^ Truly, his very thinking is enough to confute his monstrous unreasonableness : meer body cannot think ; and 1 pray, of what figure is a rational atom ? The oracles of God have therefore assur- ed us, that the fathers of our bodies, are not the fathers of spirits ; no, these have another father i And, that the spirits of men may go from their bodies; and be caught up to the third Heaven too ! Well ; but when our bodies crumble and tumble before the strokes of death, are not our spirits overwhelmed in the mines of our bodies, like Sampson, when the Philistean temple fell upon him ? No ; they are sparks of immortality, that shall never be extinguished ; they must live, and move, and think, until the very Heavens be no more. Among other evidences, that our spirits are immortal, there is no contemptible one, in the presages, which the spirits of such good men, as he which is anon to be interred, have had of their speedy passage in a world of spirits. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave his own blood for the purchase oi our souls, and can tell, sure ! ivhat it is that he has purchased ; he has expressly told us in Matth. X. 28, They which kill the body, are not able to kill the soul. Our blessed Apostle Paul, a mighty student and worker for souls, was not fed with fancies, when he took it for granted, in Phil i. 2'., that when he should be dissolved, he should 6e with Christ immediately. Do, try thou fool- hardy creature, to perswade thy self, that thou hast not an immortal soul : thou canst not, for thy soul, render thy self altogether, and ever- more perswaded of it : with very dreadful suspicions, of its immortality, tvill thy own conscience, a certain faculty of thy soul terrify thee, when God awakens it. I have known u sturdy disputer against the immortali- ty of the soul, go out of the world with this lamentable out-cry. Oh! my soul, my soul ; what shall I do for my poor soul ? Sirs, let this principle stand like the very pillars of Heaven with every one of us, that we have immortal souls to be provided for. But if a man have an immortal soul within him, what will be the natural consequiince of it ? The conse- quence is plainly this ; that since thisoal is immortal, it should be very MMB Book lil.] THE HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. bHA precioui. It was infinitely reusonahie for the soul to be called, as it was in Fsat. xxii. 20, J\1y soul, my darling.' Oh f there should be^nothing bo dear to a man as that soul of his, that shull endure when all other things are changed : for, O my soul, of thy years there shall be no end. The in-* terest8 of our spirits arc to be much greater things unto us, than the in* tereats of our bodies. What will become of our souls ? That, that is a thing that should lie much nearer to our hearts, than what will become, of our lives, our names, our estates. We should set an high value oa our spirits, and often meditate on the text, wiiich was once given to a great man, for his daily meditation in Matt. xvi. 26, What is a man pro^ Jited, if he gain the whole world . and lose his own soul. II. Let every man in this world that hath an immortal spirit, be above all things, thoughtful for the welfare of that i>pirit in another world. When we commit a spirit iijto the hands of the Lord Jesus Chiist, it is, that so it may escape that wretchedness, and attain that blessedness in ^ another »vorld, whereof our Lord hath in his word advised us. When that einbas'^ador of Christ, who is lately gone buck unto him was resident among us, there was no one thing thnt he more vigorously insisted on than this ; Oh ! there is nothing so dreadful, as that hell- which every wicked soul shall be turned into : there is nothing so joyful as that Heaven which i$ prepared for every godly soul : and there is nothing of so much concern- ment for you, as to flee from that wrath to come, and lay hold on that life eternal. 1 say accordingly ; there are astonishing dangers, whereto our souls are exposed by our sins. Our spirits are in danger of being for ever banished from the communion of the Lord Jesus Christ, into a state , of easeless and endless horror ; our spirits are in danger to be plunged into doleful torments, among the devils that have been our tempters : our spirits are in danger to be seized by the justice of that God against whom we have sinned, an'd laid und^r everlasting impressions of his in- dignation. There are s/Jtrj/s in prison; there is danger lest the ven ■ geance of God chain up our spirits in that fiery prison (It was but a little before he went unto Heaven, that our Baily in twenty-six discours- es on Rev. vi. 8, opened the treasures of that wrath among us.) And we should now be so thoughtful of nothing upon earth, as how to get our . spirits delivered from this formidable hell. The tittest language for us, would be like that in Psal. cxvi. 3, 4, The pains of hell are getting hold on me ; Lard, I beseech thee to deliver my soul. But then there -j a great salvation, which our Lord Jesus Christ has wrought for us ; and , that salvation is, the salvation of the sout. Our spirits may be released ' from the bonds, which the sentence of death, by the law of God passed upon them, has laid them under. Our Lord Jesus Christ, satisfying of ^ the law, by his death in our stead, hath procured this release for the " spirits of his chosen. There are the spirits of just men made perfect; and there is perfect light, and perfect love, and perfect j"oy, among those glorified spirits. Our spirits may be advanced into the society of angels; and be with our Lord Jesus Christ in Heaven, the spectators and parta- kers of his heavenly glory. Now, we should be more thoughtful to make sure of such a Heaven for our spirits, than to ensure any thing on earth. We should wish for nothing so much as that in 1 Sam. xxv. 29, A soul bound up in the bundle of life. There are souls which our Lord Jesus Christ has bundled like so many slips, to be transplanted into the sweet garden of Heaven ; say now, O man, with all possible ardpur of ioul. Oh ! may my soul be one of them ! Vol. I. M' 70 S6 this halving of a Christ, will hang the millstones of damnation about the neck of thy soul for ever. The Lord Jesus Christ puts this question unto us. Poor sinner what shall I do for thy spirit ? No man can aright commit a spirit into the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ, until he have se- riously pondered on that question. Ponder it Sirs, in the fear of God I but then let our answer to it, be according to that in 2 Thess. i. 1 1, That he would fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness in you, and the work of faith with power. In committing your spirits into the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ, Oh ! let your hearts, being made willing in the day of his power, declare themselves willing to have him do for you, all that be if willingto do. It is the proposal of the Lord Jesus Christ, Shall my obe- dience to my Father furnish thee with that attonement, and that righteous- ness whereby thy spirit shall stand without fault before the throne of God? Reply, Lord, I commit my spirit into thy hand, for thee to justify it. The proposal of the Lord Jesus Christ unto us is, All the maladies of thy spir- it, shall I heal them all ? Reply, Lord, I commit my spirit into thy hand, as into the hand of the Lord my healer ; O let that hand of thine open thisi blind mind, and subdue this base will, and rectifie all these depraved affec- tions ; and on all accounts renew a right spirit within me. Man, commit thv spirit into the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ, with such a disposition ; and then rest .tssured, that spirit shall never be lost. V. If you would successfully commit your spirits into the hand of th«>. Lord Jesus Christ, when you die, you are to do it for your spirits before you die. Indeed, what should all our life be, but a preparation for death ? And all of our life truly is little enough. So thought our devout Baity. It was the counsel which he often gave to his friends, Let not one day pass you, without an earnest prayer, that you may have a Christ for to stand by yon in a dying hour. And his own practice was according to that coun- sel, as is well known to them that lived with him in his family. Sirs, you are not sure, that when the decretory hour of death overfaiios you,^ 556 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. (Book "I. you shall have one minute of an hour allowed you, to commit your spir- its into the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ. Is not a wdden death a fre- quent sight ? There are very niony so suddenly snatched away by the whirlwind of the vengeance of the Almighty, th"t they have not oppor- tunity 80 much ns to say, hard have mercy upon me ! And let me tell you, that a sudden deah is most likely to be the portion of (hose who most presumptuously put ofl'to a deoih bed, the work of committing their spir* its into the hand, that can alone befriend them. I have read, that of old, according to the laws of Persia, a malefactor had liberty, for an huur before his execution, to ask wlmt he would, and what he asked Wiis granted him. One that was under sentence of death, being admit- ted unto the use of this liberty, desired neither one thing nor another, but only, that he viight s"e tke King^sface ; which being allowed him, he so plied ive given you a golden key to come at new treasures in fic( ."' f f : c..,)ture8. And I will apply it with saying, you have it, may be,.>>i \p\}'' and no more allowed you to address the /ace of Clod in the Lord Je^ «' = 'ist. In this hour you may obtain his iiivour and mercy, and pardoi- i>o not slip this hour, lest it be too late. Or, peradven- ture (and alas, it ii* but a peradvcnture !) you should upon i death-bed have space enough to commit your spirits into the hands of the Lord, are you sure that you shiill then have the grace to do it ? It is a solemn cau- tion that is given us. in Phil. ii. 12, 13, Work ovt your own salvation with fear and trembling ; for it is God that works in you, both to will and to do of his own good pleasure. Even so foar and tremble, to delay committing your spirus into the hiind of the Lord, so much as one day longer ; you do not know, that God will please to work in you, for the doing of it, when your last moments are upon you. I have read it, as the observation of some vei-y experienced ministers, that they never handled in their ministry any subjects more successfully than those which led tliem to discourse against procrastination in tho con- rorns of their souls. Onr Bailywsis much in making of this experiment. Ma- ny a irnn inserts that clause in his last will, I bequeath my soul unto God that gave it. But in the name of God. art thou certain that he will accept of it? The law says, Legato renunciari potest, and Legatum accipere memo nolens cogitur ; one may refuse a legac, , vher< I-a no compelling one to accept it. It is true, onr compassionate Lord will ever accept a poor soul, whenever it is with a true faith brought unto him. Yea, but it may be, he will not acceftt of thy sou', inasmuch as thou hast no true faith to bring it withal : I'aitli, which is not of our selves, it is the gift of God! wherefore, O man, if thou hast any regard unto thy never dying soul go thy ways prosontly, and earnesth' commit it unto the Lord be- fore a dying hour. As the apostle said. This I say, brethren, the time is short: even so. this I say. my friend, thy time it may be shorter than rtiou art well aware of. What t^hnli 1 say ' I say. Boast not ihy self of to morrow. I say, This ni^hi thy soul may he required. And if thy faithless heart, h.ive the assistances of the divine grace wilheld from it, when the damp sweats of death are upon thee, there, is yet another objection, with which the God of Heaven will thunder- fltrike thy attempts *.o commit thy spirit into his hand. That is this : Book III.) THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 567 That tpirit of thine, it it thy own to dispose of? Hast thov not already oth- ertuise disposed of it? It is a rule in law, Amo potest legare, quod suum jamnon est, no nnan can by willidemiBe, devise, dispose of that, of which he had made sale before. It is »aid of a very ungodly naan, in 1 Kings xxi. 25, He sold himself to work wickedness, in the sight of the Lord. Un- godly sinner, the devil has often bargained with thee, about thy soul ; he hath said, By deliberate sinning against Heaven, do thou make over thy soul to nu, and thou shalt have the short pleasures of sin for it. God knows how often thou hast thus bargained away thy soul to the devil ; and since thou hast not in all thy life revoked that bargain, then though thou do at thy death cry unto him. Lord, receive this poor soul of mine ! how justly may he say, JVb not 1 1 thou hast sold that soul to another; and let him keep it forever ! There will also be this further to be said, fVhatpow- er hast thou to dispose of thy spirit ? hast thou any thing at all at thy oxvn disposal ? It is a rule in law, Servus non potest Condere Testamentum ; n slave can- not make a will : he has nothing of his own to dispose of. it is said in Joh. viii. 34, Whosoever practiseth sin, is the slave of sin. It may be, thou hast all this while been a very slave ; thy lust is thy lord, a lust of uncleanness, of drunkenness, of worldliness, it hath utterly enslaved thee. And, what ? not got out of thiit slavery before thy dim eyes, and cold lips, and faltering tongue, and failing breath, hath put over thy soul into the hand of the Lord ! How justly may he say, slave, thou art not able to do for thy wretched soul, what thou dost now pretend unto. The Lord Jesus Christ will not cast oif thy soul with such objections, if thou seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while he is near. I earnestly testify unto you, the vilest and oldest sinner among you all, may come and be welcome unto the Lord Jesus Christ, if you will come now, while it is the acceptable time, now while it is the day of salvation Though thou art never so bad, yet come and heartily complain to him of all thy badness, and he will do good unto thy soul ! I am sure my Baily, would have said nothing more heartily than this among you ; you heard him often say it. Come in to the mercy of my Lord, for yet there is room! But it is to be feared, that if thou stay till the last assaults of death are made upon thee, the door of mercy will be shut, and so when the shrieks are. Lord, Lord, open to me ! all the answers will be rebukes and fiery thunders. VI. Often committing our spirits into the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ while we live, let us endeavour after such characters upon our spirits, as may assure us, that he will receive us when we die. Indeed when we iirst commit our spirits into the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are to bring them with no other characters but those of ein and hell upon them. If we then commit our spirits into the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ, under the encouragement of any laudable qualifi- cations and recommendations in them. Ah! Lord, thou wilt abhor us and cast us off! In our first believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, he enquires of us. What spirit is that which thou dost now commit into my hand? our answer must be, Lord, it is a guilty sprtit, a filthy spirit, a spirit full of sin and hell, as cve.ritcan hold, and a spirit horribly under the curse of rejoice in the. hope of this glory of Clod ! And let not your joy be interrupted by any fear of wli it may Fecome of your friends when you shall be dead and gone. The Lord that calls you to commit your spirits into his hand, calls you at the same time, to commit your ui.lows, your orphans, and all your friends, into that Omnipotent Hand : he says, Leave them all with me, and I'll take the care nf them all ! It was noted of the English martyrs, which dyed at the stake in the bloody ,.V/orm» pesecution, that none of them went more joyfully to the stake, than those that had the largest and the dearest families then tu commit unto the Lord : and afterwards those large families, were wondrously pro- vided for. The excellent Mr Heron, a minister that had a family of ma- ny small children in it, when he lay a dying, his poor wife said with tears, Jllus, what will become of all these children ? he presently and plea- tfantly replied, Never fear, he that feds the young ravens, wo^nt starve the young HeruAt ! ?m\ it came to pass arcordingly. Sirs, thus you are to cmaiiiit your spirits into the hand of the Lord Je«» sua Christ. •■'• > y My reverend Bailtcv did so ; luiJ it is as from him, that I do this day bespeak your doing like him ; yea, not from him only, but from the Lord Jesus Christ, the God, wkdse he was, and whom he served. If you would more particularly be told after what manner he did commit his iwn spirit into the hands of tl'.e Lord, I can faithfully recite you his own iccount of the transaction. He gives it thus, • I spent half a day alone in seeking of God ; desiring to give up my * self unto Gcd in Christ wholly, and to be his in soul and body. The ' particulars I omit. 1 hope, God in Christ, will riccept of me, and enn- • hie me by his spirit to keep touch with him : for I owned my self whol* * ly unworthy to enter into covenant, and »Iso unable to keep it ; but Je- • sus Christ is both worthy and able It is from one who thus did it, that you are now called upon to do like- wise. When you see the coffin of this man of God, anon carried along the streets, imagine it a mournful pulpit, from whence, being dead, he yet speaks thus unto you ; Whatever you do, commit your perishing souls into the hands of the Ijord Jesus Christ, as you have been advised. That these admonitions may have the more emphasis, a short account of this worthy man must now be given you. He was born b'n Feb, 24, 1G43, near Blackbourn in Lancashire; of a very pious mother, who even before he was born, often as Hannah did her Samuel, dedicated birn unto the service of the Lord. ■ «•- of Book HI.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. fi61 Of this hia birth'day, in the return of every ycnr, he fitill took much notice in his diaries : and miulc hia humble iintl useful reflections there- upon. Once particularly, I find him thuii entertaining it. ' This is my birth-day, I am ready to any of it, as Jo6 doth of his : but ' I forbear any unadvised words about it : only, I have done little for * God, and much against him ; for which I am sorry.' When this day, last arrived unto him, he thus wrote upon it. ' 1 may say with a great sigh, Thii wat my birth-day I O how little ' good have I done all this while ! O what reason have 1 to stand nmnzed * at the riches of God's forbearance ! Much may happen this yeu< ' Jid, * carry me through it /' From a child he did know the holy scriptures, yea, from a chii vga wise unto salvation. In his very childhood he discovered the feu 4, upon his young heart ; and prayer to God was one of hia eui i jf cises. There was one very remarkable effect of it. His father was a man of a very licentiouit convertiation ; a gamester, a dancer, a very lewd company keeper. The mother of this elect vessel, one day took him, while he was yet a child, and calling the family together, made him to pray with them. His fitther coming to unde^^tand, at what a rate, the child had prayed with his family, it smote the soul of him with a great conviction, and proved the beginning of his conversion unto God God left not off working on his heart, until he proved one of the most eminent christians in all that neighbourhood. So he lived ; so he died ; a man of more than ordinary piety. And it was his manner sometimes to re- tire unto those very places of his former lewdnesses, where having this his little son in his company, he would pour out floods of tears in repent- ing prayers before the Lord. This hopeful youth having been educated in grammar-learning under a worthy school master, one Mr. Soger, and in further learning, under the famous Dr. Harrison, at length, about the age of twenty-two, he cn- tred on the public employment of preaching the gospel. Tn so doing, he was not one of those, of whom even the great Papist Bellarmine com- plains. Qui non valde solliciti esse solent, an ea qua par est pre^ ^ratione accedant, cum Finis eorum magis sit cibus Corporis, quam Jinimce. He be- gan at Chester ; but afterwards went over to Ireland, where his labours were so frequent and fervent, that they gave those wounds nnto his health, which could never be recovered. About fourteen years of his time, in Ireland, he spent at Limrick, and saw so many seals of his minis- try, in that country, that he seemed rather to fish with a net, than with an hook, for the kingdom of God. I am not willing to relate, how grievously, and yet how patiently he suffered long and hard imprisonments, from those men, concerning whom a comformable divine of the Church of England, very truly says, That they were Atheists, with the inventions of ceremonies habited like christians, for the service of the devil, to corrupt and destroy true Christianity : I should re- late but little of this, because that spirit of persecution has been repent- ed by an happy act of Parliament. And yet for the admonition of our inexcusable young men, the tin of which young men is very great before the Lord .' above that of those, who have been brought up, as many very godly christians have in those ways of the Church of England, for a secession from which, this country was first planted ; young men, who notwithstanding their descent from fathers Vol. L 71 ^ ^^^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I ris ^ U£ 12.0 II 2.2 11.25 i U II 1.6 6" -^r**' ^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 145S0 (716) 873-4503 r^.% :| '^J« '•i. «M THE HISTOiU OF NEVV-ENGLANI). [Book 1H. nnd grandfalhers, that wore grent sufferers for their non-conformity to an uniostitiitcd worship of Chfist, and notwitbatttnding their education in the knowledge of what is required, and wbut is forbidden in the second commandmeut, and notwithstanding their being urged by no temptation of persecution, or being tempted by any thing but the vanity of their own minds, do yet so rebel against the light, us to tuin apostates from the first principles of JVew-England ; it may be seasonable to repeat so much of the history of this worthy man, as a liltlefurther to illustrate this article. ' He no sooner begsm to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, but his fidelity to that gospel, was tried by an hard imprisonment, which he underwent because his conscience could not conform to humane in> Tcntions in the sacred service of Heaven. Yea, while he was yet a young man, he often travelled far by night in the'winter, as well as in the summer, that BO he migbtenjoy the ordinances purely administred ini the meetings of the faithful ; and was laid up sometimes in Lancashire gaol, for being found at those meetings. When he was at Limrick, the attendance of a person of great quality, and his lady, (who were nearly related unto the Puke of Ormond, the lord lieutenant of Ireland) upon his ministry, pro> voked the bishop to complain unto the lord lieutenant. This gentleman then profered unto Mr. Baily,ihat if he would conform, he would pro- cure his being made chaplain to the duke, and having a deanery immedi- ately, and a bishoprick upon the first vacancy : but he refused the prefer. Albeit, another eminent non-conformist minister, not far from Limrick, a godly and an able man, and one who had appeared much against conformi- ty at the first pressing thereof, did afterwards accept of the aforesaid chaplainship, and by degrees conformed, and arrived unto several places of preferment : pretending, that he did it for the sake of opportunities to preach the gospel. But it was remarkable ! God so disabled him with distempers after this, that he was very seldom, if ever able to preach at all. Mr. Baily went on in the exercise of his ministry, not pursuing any fiictious designs, but meerly the conversion of men to Christ, and faith, and holine^ss, which the devil counts the worst of all designs. And now, although he were so harmless and blameless in his whole conversation, that he was always much beloved wherever he came, yet another long impi'isonment wa$< intlicted on him, while the Papists in the neighbour- hood, had all manner of liberty and countenance. When he was before the judges, he told them. If I had been drinking and gaming and carous- ing at a tavern with my company, my lords, I presume that would not have procured my being thus treated as an offender. Must praying to God, and preachinar; a David and a Jonathan. Death, which for a while parted them, has noW again brought them together. This Mr. Thomas Baily, died January 21, 1689, as this his brother and colleague notes in his diary ; He died well, which is a great word ; so sweetly as I never saw the like before i But as for this elder brother, he was a man of great holiness, and of so ten* der a conscience, that if he hud been at nny tine innocently chearful, in the company of his friends, it cost him afterwards abundance of sad reflection, through fear, lest e'er he had been siware-, he might have grieved the Holy Spirit of Christ. A savoury book of his about The Chief End of Man, pub fished among us. has fully described unto us, that savour of spirit, which was in his daily walk maintained. Sic Oculos, Sic ille manus,Sic ornferebat. — The desire of this holy man, was (as himself eitpressed it) to g6i up unto three things : to patientie under the calamities of life ; to impatience under the infirmities of life ; and to earnest longings for the next life. And his desire at another time, he thus expressed. Oh! that I might not be of the nttmber of them, that live without love, speak without feeling, and act without life ! Oh ! that God taoitld make me his humble and upright and faithful servant ! From this holy temper it was- that when some kind presents were made unto him, he wrote in his diary thereupon ; / liave my wages quick' ly ; but Oh ! that God may not put me off, with a reward here ! Oh t that God may be my reward ! We will more particularly note a few notable, wherein the holiness which irradiated him, will be described untojis. We might begin with observing, that the holy word of God Wjis very dear to him, as indeed it is to every holy man. Hence, 1 find this pas- sage in his diary, Jan. \\. ■ '■I finishtd the reading of the Bible, in my * family (as formerly) Oh ! it is a dear book ; it is alwajfs ne\v. In the ' beginning of every chapter it iii good to say, Lord^ open my eyes, that I ' may see wonder:, out of thy law ; and when we shut it up to sny, / have * seen an end of all perfection, but (hy law is exceeding broad. Oh ! how * terrible are the threatnings ; how precious are the promises ; hoW ' serious are the precepts ; how deep arc the prophecies of this book ! ' but we will pass on to some further observations.' What is holiness but a dedication to the Lord Jesus Christ ? This holy man was often breathing in himself, and pressing on others, that great point of dedicating every thing to the service of the Lord. Thus In ■nn 664 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. [Book HI. his diary, there frequently occur such strains as these. ' Oh ! that I ' may glorifie God with all i am, or have ; even with all the faculties of ' my soul, all the members of my body, and in all the places and rela- < tions that 1 stand in, as man, master, minister, husband, kinsman, and ' neigt)bour. Oh ! 1 stand in need both of a justifying Christ, and a 'sanctifying Christ. When shall I sensibly iind a Christ swaying his * scepter in my soul !' Thus whatever house he came to live in, it came under a dedication ; and once upon a remove, he wrote this passage in his diary. ' I could not but leave my old house, with a prayer in every * room of it, for pardoning mercy.' But it was particularly expressed, when one of his children was to he baptized. He thus wrote upon it. ' I spent some time in offering np * my self, and ray child unto the Lord, and in taking hold of the cov- * enant fur my self and him. It is actually to be done to morrow, [in * baptism.] I prayed hard this day, all this day, that I might he able in ' much faith, and love, and new-covenant obedience to do it to-mor- * row. It is not easy, though common to offer a child onto God in bapr * tism. Oh! that's a sweet word, I will be a God to thee, and thy seed * vfler thee. No m.irvel Mrafiam fell on his face at the hearing of it !' Hence, when he parted with the greatest enjoyment he had in this woild, he thus wrote upon it, in his diary ; ♦ If I can but exchange outward comforts for inward graces, it is well * enough : Oh ! for an heart to glorify God in the fire /' From this holiness proceeded that watchfulness, which discovered a mingular fear of God, in his whole conversation. I find him entring in his diary such passages as these. At one time. <' I did not watch my tongue so as I ought; which cost me mnch ' troul/'ie afterwards, and made me walk heavily. It is a mad thing ♦to sin!' u,»i'-. ' i • • ; At another time. • I spoke two unadvised words to-day. Though there was no great * harm in them, yet I was rebuked by my conscience for them. Let ' the Lord forgive them ; and for the future, seta watch before the door ' of my lips. Let my thoughts and words be acceptable in thy sight, ' O Lord.' . At another time. IP ' That is a serious word, methinks in Eph. v, 30. I have grieved the ' Holy Spirit, by my unedifying communication. Oh ! that in speaking, ' I might administer grace to the hearer ! Oh ! that honey and milk ' were under my tongue continually.' At another time. * I was too forgetful of God, and exceeding in tobacco. The Lord ^ pardon that, and all other sins, and heal this nature, and humble this * heart.' At another time. * This day I have been more cherrful than 1 have been of a long * time. It hath afflicted me since, fearing it was not suitable. Oh! I -J ouglit to walk in the midst of my house, in a' perfect way. 1 ought UooK III.] THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 565 mnch thing h * every day to be writing copies ; and to leave a stock behind me that * others may trade for God withal, when I am dead.* And behold, you see this day, that he did so. And as holy men use to be full of hearty prayers and wishes for the good of other men, thus this holy ican has filled many places in his diaries, with his prayers for the welfare of those, with whom be was concerned ; from whence we may gather how full his heart was of blesdings for his neighbours. Once particularly 1 find him thus writing. * 1 desired to know of Dr. O. what I was indebted to bim for those ma- * ny rich things I have had from him : he told me, nothing ; [which was * a great favour !] only desired my prayers for bim. Oh ! that 1 could ' pray ! Whenever 1 can pray, I will heartily say to God in the name of * Christ for him, The Lord bless him indeed ! let thy hand be Tvith him, and ' keep him from all evil, that it may not grieve him,'' Moreover, it was not only among the great signs, but aUo among the great means of his holiness, that he was very solicitous, as well in his preparation for the table of the Lord, as in his observation of what com- munion.he enjoyed with the Lord Jesus Christ, at his table. His diary abounds with passages of this importance ; the expressions of a careful soul. The last time of being at the Lord's table, he wrote the ensuing pas- sages. ' 1 was encouraged to carry my late bad frame to the cross of Christ, ' and to bewail there my late prayerlesness and unthankfMlness. Of * late it hath troubled me, to think how little I have admired Christ for * bringing me out of some late plunges of temptation. I now come to * him for two things ; namely, for pardon ; and also for double power \ * both to receive him, and to shew forth his praises.' Let me add ; sometimes, as he was able, he would set apart half a day for extraordinary prayers : he still did so, when there were any extra- ordinary cares upon him. Thus he records in his diaries. Jit one time. * Being of late in so ill a frame, I spent some time, to seek the fair face ' of Jesus Christ ; and I did, on purpose, address my self to him, who is ' the most admirable Saviour. I left my self with him ; my mind, heart, ^ mouth ; especially my conscience. Oh ! how many wonders are to be * wrought in me ! 1 know, the loving) and wonder-working Jesvs can do ' them all.' Jit another time. < I spent some time alone in prayer, from 8 to 3. I was much tired. Oh ! that I might wait for returns, and never more turn to folly. I cannot tell how God should admit me near him, considering how 1 have grieved his Spirit. Having prayed in the morning in the family, I re- tired ; and first sought at large unto God for help to go through the day : especially begging repentance, and not only so, but fiith ; that I might not rest in the bare work ; that Satan might get no advantage af- ter it ; that I might have reason to desire more such days. Then af- ter a little meditation and breathing, I went to prayer again, only to confess my sin before God, and to set my soul as before the Lord ; la- bouring to judge and loath my self, for all my sin, from first to hist. i>t>a THE HISTORY OP NEW-ENGLAND. [Book HI. * Qod helped a little ; but Oh ! Ihat my heart wM broken in piecet, and ' humbled to the dust. After a little more meditation, 1 vrent to prayer ' in \/ay of petition, and that at large. Ob! Lord, hear me, and give * me the wisdom that I want, t hope God will hear, pity, pardon, and ' help me. After a little more meditation, 1 fell to praise and bless Qod * for my mercies, by sea and land ; but was somewhat short in this p»rt, ' for ivhich 1 am sorry. At last I concluded all, in praying for the ' Church of God in general, for London, Lanea»hire, and Lirmiek ; and ' for New-England also. Here i brought all my relations to the Lord. ' Oh, Lord, accept of me, and my poor services in Christ. Oh! that i ' may watch afterward, and never more be sensual, unbelieving, proud, * nor hypocritical. Lord, say AmtnJ* And that praisea, as well os prayers might not be forgotten with him, I find him once particularly in his diary, thus expressing himself. Deeemhet Id, 1691. * I resolved, through the grace and strength of Jesas Christ, even in ' the midst of all my sorrows and sinkings, despairings and distractions, ' to keep as much of this day as I could in thanksgiving ; which 1 did ; ' but could not go thorow with it, through bodily faintness. 1 spent five ' hours somewhat coi^fortably ; but after that 1 flagged. I resolved to * do three things. First, to spend some time in praising God for his ex- ' cellencies. God was with me, 1 hope, in that part of it, and I spent my ' self so much therein, that I was disabled for the rest. To help it for* ' ward God brought to hand Mr. Burroughs, of the nature of God ; 1 bless ' God for it. After that, 1 went to prayer ; labouring to exalt God ; (it ' was a good time !) after that 1 sang the 148th Psalm. Secondly, after ' that, 1 set my self to bless God for his benefits and kindnesses to me. * But being spent, I did not much ; only going to prayer, I made men- ' tion of some mercies ; such as these, viz. for Christ : his covenant of ' grace ; and the promises of it (some of which, were particularly men- ' tioned and pressed :) also my education ; my manifold preservations by 'land and sea; (especially that in Ipiwich Bay:) and manifold tedious ' sicknefses since ; for the long day of God's patience, notwithstanding ' many sins : for my comfortable provisions all along ; for preserving his ' great name, that i have in nothing openly dishonoured it ; for my suc- * cess and acceptance in my work ; for my dear wife, that I had her so * long ; and that my brother and my dear wife died both of them glori- * fying of God : they are in Heaven, and I jfrn out of hell ! that I have ' hitherto been kept from distraction and despair, and kept to my work : . ' that I have any friends (in this strange land) and any in my family to ' mind me and tend me : that 1 have work here, and opportunities of * seivice : for my soio crosses and losses of late afllictions and tempt;> * tions, hoping they may work for good. Thirdly, to conclude all, with ' a chearful accepting of Christ, and devoting my self to his service : to ' do for him, that had done all this for me : saying, if God would help * me to study, be should have all the glory of it.' Thus did he walk with God. His ministry was very acceptable to the people, whose good he most aimed at, wherever he came : great auditories usually flocking thereun- to, proclaimed it. But that he might not be lifted up, it seemed meet unto the wisdom of Heaven, to humble him with sore and long tempta- tions, often recurring to buffet him. In his days, he czvf many disconso- late hours ; he was tilled with desponding jealousies lest after he hod [Book III. THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 5G7 pr9adi9d unto othen, he Aould be himnlf a catt'OUM^ f and he oAea in- treated those, who saw the distresses of hi<> tniDd, ^wt Uuy would by no means take ■up any prejudice against the sweet and good ways of rtiigion, from what tliey saw of his disconsolate uneasinesses. It may be, it will be profitable unto some discouraged minds, to ander- 9tRpd how he expresses himself on such occasions. In sermons on those words, I am oppressed, undertake for me, he much described it unto us. {iiit in his diaries it was thus : At one time. * I was almost in the siAurbs of hell all day ; a meer Magor Missabib. I saw death and sin full of terror : I thought 1 never sought the glory of God : Ah I what » matchless wretch am I ! Oh ! that I could love above all things, and seek the glory of God, and live contentedly on him alone ! Oh ! that 1 could see the blood of Christ on my soul, and at the bottom of my profeattion. Oh! for a sight of the mystery and majesty of the grace and love of Jesus Christ ; so that all excellencies might fall down before it!' , M another time. * 1 am in a woful friime ; far from saying, with Dr. Avery, Here I He, * not knowing what God will do with me, but though I thus lie, God doth not * terrify me, either with my sin, or witli my death, or mth himself* At another time. ' If God should yet save my soul, and his tvork in my hand, it would ' be amazing. There is a may be! If these inward troubles hold, I shall ' be forced to lay down my work. O Lord, step in for my relief! O the * ivorth of the sense of God's love in Christ !' At another time. * I am oppressed unto death, and iilled with the angry arrows of God t * it arisetb not at present from any particular cause, but the sense of my ' woful estiite in general. Oh ! that the issue may yet be peace, and that ' I may not fetch comfort unto my self, botby/ai(&t» Jesus Christ.^ At another time. * Oh ! that Jesus Christ would undertake for me ! If God marvelloos- ' ly prevent not, I shall lay down my wurk. O Lord, appear. Oh ! for * one saving sight of the love, and loveliness of Jesus Christ, i wish I * could say, as my dear tutor Dr. Harrison said. That he could not live q. ' day, without a fresh manifestation of God unto his soul !' # At another time. ; ' The eclipse nf the moon hst night, made one think, Oh t that I could ' mourn bitterly, who have sinned my self into darkness ! How is the earth ' interposing ! Lord, remove it. Let the Son of Righteousness in his glo- ' ry and strength yet be seen by me !' At another time. ' 1 have much reason to bless God, for rebuking of Satan. I hate ' been many a time ready to give up all, and lay down my ministry, think- ' ing that God had utterly forsaken me, and hid Jesus Christ from me ; i^:^m THE HISTORY Or NEW-ENULAND. [Book HI. ' which I fvbald juntify him in. But by the conHideratioa of the brazen ' terpent, 1 was somewbut recovered.' Jit another time. * I WM now supported by the thoughts of a precious Jesus. I should * forever sink, but for him 1 When 1 look backward or forward, upward ' or downward, 1 die, I sink ; but when 1 look at the sweet Jesvs, I live. * 1 may resolve with Dr. Preston ; (O thut I could I) saying, I have often * tryed Qod, and now VU tnut him. It is n good resolution ; Lord, help ' me to it !' m 1*1 in- At another time. * I would gladly think, that Ood it my father. And if so. Oh ! what ' glory is due to the riches of free grace I Oh ! how glorious is that ' grace, and how will it shine through all eternity ! If ever I see my self * safe at last, 1 must forever cry out, lam wonderfully «aved /' In fine, one thing that much relieved him in his internal troubles, was what he had occabion (thus) to write in his diary, a little before his end. ' 1 do more see into the great mystery of our justification by faith, * meerly of grace. There is no respect it it, unto this or that ; but Jc- ' sus Christ having wrought out a redemption for us, and by his active * and passive obedience procured a sufficient righteousness, and making a * tender of it in the gospel, it becomes mine, by my accepting of it, and re- ' lying on it alone for salvation. And shall I not accept of it ? God for- * bid! !!%•' I see (saith he) there are two things, wherein I can't easily exceed, < viz. in ascribing to the grace of God, the freeness and richness of it in ' man's salvation } and in ascribing to the righteousness of Christ in man's * justification.' At length, dismal pains of the gout, with a complication of other mala- dies, confined him for a quarter of a year together. Under the pains of his confinement, he took an extraordinary contentment in the fifty-third chapter ofhaiah, which represents the sorrows of our Lord Jesus Christ whereby all our sorrows are sanctified : ind be would often roll over those words of our Saviour, elsewhere occurring, They pierced my hands and my feet. When the remainders of his flock, which waited on him to JVew- England, visited him, his usual and solemn charge to them was, / charge you, that I find you all safe at last ! My brethren, God make the charge of your dead pastor abide upon you. For some time in his last sickness, his heavenly soul was harrassed with terrible discouragements : under all of which, it was yet a common expression with him. The master hath done all things well! But at last, he arrived unto a blessed satisfaction, that the Lord Jesus Christ had made his peace in Fleaven, and that he was going into eternal peace. Yea, at the worst, he would say, ThU his fear was not so much about the end of all as about what he might meet with- al in the way to that end. He had begun to prepare a sermon for our south-church, upon those words, fVho is this that comes up from the wilder- ness, leaning on her beloved ? and he now spoke of it, as expressing his own condition ; Thus am I going, (said he,) out of the wilderness of all my temptations, leaning en my blessed Jesus ! When his affectionate friends were weeping about him, he bestowed this rebuke upon them, Away with your idols! away with your idols! It was not very long before befell sick, that he wrote this passage in his diary. * I was affected with what < I read of Mr. Shewd of Covpntry, who died in the pulpit. [,nrd, let not- UooK III.] THE HISTORY OP NEW-ENGLAND. 8C9 ' mt du m«on/y, hut in dying brinff muf.h glory to lJU«.' And now it ahall bb BO ! At lut, juBt M he was going to expire, he leeiDed at if be bad some extraordinary apprehensions of the glory, in which our Lord Je- sus Christ is above enthroned : be strove to speak unto his vertuous con- 40 -, and anon spoke thas much, O^t / what $hall I tay ? Ht «f aUogulur lovely ! His worthy sister-in-law, then coming to him, he said, Oh I all our prai$e$ of him hert, are poor and low thingt ! and then added, Hitglo' ri(>u» angelt are come for me ! upon the sayiug whereof he closed his own eyes, about the time when he still opened his Bible for bis publick la- bours : on the Lord's day, about three in the afternoon ; and be never opened them ^ny more. rhis was he whom you are now going to bury ; but I pray you, bury not with him all the holy counsels and warnings, that we have beard from him ; remember how you have received and heard. Hii was one, who took much notice of what was from tbe oracles of Ooi\, spoken to him, in tbe sermons of other men. He has much re - pleniblied hiii diuries, with remarks of this importance ; I have heard a good word to day ! And he would often decline going to feasts, whereto bi» friendH invited him, that he might go to private meetingi in some oth* cr pHrts of the town, where he might at the same time feaet on the word of God. Thus, more particularly. At one time. * I heard a very good word. Are ye not carnal ? Ah, Lord,. I am * carnal. The Lord give me his spirit to make me spiritual ! i was in ' aiauy things justly reproved : let me take it, and be wrought into tbe ' likeuessof this good word.' At another time. * To day I hear! a most precious word, with which I was much edified ' and refreshed, viz. Christ is aH, Oh ! that I might never forget it ! ' Ob ! that it might be written upon tbe table of my heart ! Let my soul * feed upon it for ever. It was very seasonable. Though it was a day * most .intolerably cold : so colu, that there was little writing it ; yet it ' heartily warmed me. I needed a Christ ; Oh ! that I could get him, ' and keep him for ever ! I would make him my all, and ceunt him my ' all. I need a whole Christ : Oh ! that I may prize a whole Christ, and ' improve a whole Christ. I have of late thought, that this may be one ' evidence of my right unto glory, that Christ is more precious to me ' than ever.' What I say upon it, is ; imitate him in a point so imitable. This preacher is well worthy to be imitated, as he was an hearer. You can all testify, that he was none of those eold preachers, whereof one complains, Ferba vita in quorundavn Doctorum Labiis, quantum ad Firtutem, ^ ^caciam Moriuntur : Adeo enim tepide, adeo remisse, verba Dei annunciani, ut Extincta in Labiis Eorum penitus videantur ; unde Si' cut ipsi Vrieidi sunt, 4* Extincti, sic Frigidos 4* Extinctos relinquunt, 4r ut'itam nonfacerent Auditores. . For his preaching, he particularly prescribed unto himself, according to a memorandum, which 1 found thus entred in bis diary. ' Old Mr. Thomas Shepheard, when on his death-bed, said unto the * young ministers about him, that their work was great, and called for ' great serioxuness. For his own part, he told them three things. First, ' that the studying of every sermon cost him tears ; he wept in the stu- Voi.. I. 72. S10 THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENULAND. (Book III. ' dying of orory Mmoa. Secondlljr, before he {^reached mt ■ermoiit ' he got good by it bimiclf. Thirdly, he alwiys went up into the palpit, ' u if he irere to give up bit eccoantB onto hit matter. OH I that my lovl ' (addt our BaUy) may rtmnAer andpraeU$« aeeordingly .'* To thit hit preaching, when he taw God gave any tuccett, he wouM ttill in hit priTtte papert take at thankful notice, at if great richet had been heaped in upon him. And yet he would add [tuch pataaget I tome- timea find.] * Let my toul rejoice. But, Lord, keep me from pride. I desire to * be humbled for it. Do I not know that God maket oae of whom he ' pleates* and utually of the weakest ! Nojleth shall glory.* But if the word preached by this hvely ditpenier of it, live not in our livet, after he is dead, he will himself be, which he often told you, he feared he should be in the day of God, a w«(ne«* against manv of you. That we may then meet him with joy, Let u$ rememfrcr Mem, toho have spoken to us the word of Qod, and follow their faith, considering the tnd of their conversation. But be thou sensible, O all my country of New-England, how much thou art weakened, by the departure of tuch blessings to the world of the blessed. Thy Baily could sometimes write such pastaget at this, (I find) in hit reserved papers. * There was a day of prayer. God was with me in prayer, helping < me to plead with him an hfior and half /or Ms poor land, and in some (taeasure to believe for it. I hope, God will hear and help.' Such an one taking flight from thee, let thy lamentationi thereupon be heard ; My Father, my Father ! It.;- THE END OF VOL. I. yj; : r--.j*. ' . ; '■_--■«',*:>•'"'■'■■'• \ -i-. V -;, ■'W .?i\ iv>v^ tr. CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. FAOK A General Introduction, giving an account of the vf hoU cntaing work. 23 THE FIRST BOOK, ClfTlTVLCO, AHTIdUITIRa. 33 It reports the design where-on, the manner where-»n, and the people n wheifc 6y, the several colonies of JVew-ftig/anrf were planted. ^ And so it prepares ajield for considerable things to be acted there- V upon. The Introduction. Chap. I. Fenitti tandttn ? or, Discoveries of An%erica, tending to, and ending in. Discoveries of JVew-England. Chap. II. Primordia, or, the Voyage to J^ew-England, which produced the first settlement of New-Plymouth ; with an account ,^ of many remarkable and memorable Providencei, relating to that Voyage. Chap. III. Conamur Tenuee Grandia, or, a brief Account of the Df/*- . Jicultiet, the Deliverances, and other Occurrencet^ through which the Plantation of Afew-Plymouth, arrived unto the consistency of ■ a Colony. Chap. IV. Paulo Majora I or, the Estayi and Cautee, which pro- duced the second, but largest, Colony of JVvw- England ; and the manner wherein the first church of this Aew Colony was gathered. Chap. V. Peregrini Deo Curce, or, the Progress of the JV«w Colony ; with some account of the Persons, the Methods, and the Troubles, by which it came to something. Chap. VI. Q^i trans mare Currant, or, the Addition of several other Colonies to the former ; with some Considerables, in the condi- tion of these later Colonies. Chap. VII. Hecatompolis, or, a Field which the Lord hath blessed. An Ecclesiastical Map of NeW'England. With Remarks upon it. Appendix. The Bostonian £6en«xer, or, some Historical Remarks on the state of Boston, the chief town of New-England, and of the English America. 84 39 40 45 63 60 68 74 79 THE SECOND BOOK, ENTITULED, ECCLESIARUM CX.YFGI. It contains the Lives of the Govemours, and the names of the Magis- trates, that have been Shields unto the churches of New-England. The Introduction. Chap. I . Galeacius Secundus. The Life of William Bradford, Esq. Governour of Plymouth Colony. Chap. II. Successors. Chap. III. Patres Conscripti, or, Assistents. Chap. IV. Nehemias Americanus. The Life of John Winthrop,'E»q. Governour of the Massadituet Colony. 97 99 100 105 107 108 Alt OdNTKNTH ur vol.. I. ' fAor. Chnp. V. Succeuon. Among whom, laro^er accouuU are given of Governour Dudley, md Oovernour Bradnrttl. 120 CIrap. VI. (2^g] l'}p2 i. e. Firi Jlntmolt, or, AtiiitcnU. With Re- murks. 128 Chap. VII. Publieola Cliriitianu$t or, t\\9 Life of Edward Hopkim, Eiq. the lint Oovernour of Connecticut Colony. : M Chap. Vill. SucceMors. 135 Chap. IX. Humilitas flonorata. The Life of TTieophilui Eaton, Eaq. Oovernour of Aew-//av«nCo!onjr. I3(> Chap. X. Succctsors. •-* HI Chap. XI. Hermei Chrisdanus, The Life of John Wintkrop, Eiq. the first Oovcrnonr of Connecticut and Aew- Haven, united. I4S Chap. XII. Aatistenta. 147 Appendix. Pietat in Patriam, or the Life of His Excellency, Sir William Phips, late Governour of New-England. An History filled with great variety of memorable matter t. 149 THE THIRD BOOK, BlfTITVLBO, POLVBIV«. 209 It contains the Lives of many Divines, by whose evangelical ministry, the Churcherof JV(Rv-£ng/and have been illuminated. The Introduction. A General History, De fires Ulustribus, dividing into three classes the Ministers who came out of 0/d England, for the service of .Ye». 21S The first part, entituled, Johannes in Eremo. 225 The Introduction. 227 Chap. f. Cottonus Rcdivivus, or, the Life of Mr. John Cotton. 232 Chap. II. JVortonus Honoratus, or the Life of Mr. John Norton. 261 Chap. 111. Memoria fVihoniana, or, the Life of Mr. John Wilson. 275 Chap. IV. Purilanismus Nov-Anglieanus, or, the Life of Mr. John Davenport. 292 Appendix. The Light of the Western Churches, or, the Life of Mr. Thomas Hooker. 3U2 ■ The Second Part, entituled, - • Sepher Jercim, i. e. Liber Deum Timentium, or, Dead Abels yet speak- ing, and spoken of. 320 Tlu Introduction. ib. Chap. I. Janus Nov -.inglicanus, or, the Life of Mr. Francis Higginson. 322 Chap. II. Cygnea Cantio, or, the Death of Mr. Avery. 331 Chap. III. Natus ad Exemplar, or, the Life of Mr. Jonathan Burr. 333 Chap. IV. The Life of Mr. George Philips. 339 Chap. V. Pastor Evangelicus, or, the Life of Mr. Thomas Shepard. 343 Chap. VI. Prudentius, or, the Life of Mr. Peicr Frudden. 367 Chap. VII. Melancthon, or, the Life of Mr. Adam Blackman, .368 Chap. VIII. The Life of Mr. Abralutm Pierson. 359 Chap. IX. The Life of Mr. /iicfeardZ>cn \ ■'• 361 Chw^.W. The Life of Mr. Ralph Partridge. V- \ 363 VAi9^.WL Psaltes. Or,i\ie lAfe of Mr. Henry Dtmter. 366 ^ ♦ "'^-"' I I.. CONTRNTfl or TOL. 4. *1t Chap. XIII. Tbd Life ofMr. ExMtl Rogart. Chap. XIV. Eulogiut, or, the Life of Mr. JVaMoMaW Aofm . MOB. 369 978 Apptndix. Ad extract from (he Diary of the finnou* old Mr. John Rogtri of Dtdkam. 381 Chap. XV. Bibliander M'ovAnglieanui, Or, the Life of Mr. Samtul Jy§wman. 387 Chap. XVI. Doctor lrrefragabili$, or, the Life of Mr. Samuel Stont. 39t Chap. XVII. The Life of Mr. mUiamThotnpion. 386 Chap. XVIII. The Life of Mr. John Warham. M» Chap. XIX. The Life of Mr. Henry Flint. 400 Chap. XX. Fulgentiui, or, the Life of Mr. Richard MaUur. 401 Chap. XXI. The Life of Mr. Zaehariah Symmti. 414 Chap. XXII. The Life of Mr. JohnAlltn. 416 Chap. XXIIl. Cadmu$ AtMricanu$, or, the Life of Mr. CharUi Chauncey. 416 Chap. XXIV. Lueat. or, the Life of Mr. John Fiik. 430 Chap. XXV. Scholaitieu$, or, the Life of Mr. TAoma* ParA;er— With an Appeadix containiog Memoirs of Mr. Jamti Aoyei. 498 Chap. XXVI. The Life of Mr Thomat Thachtr. 441 Chap. XXVII. The Life of Mr. Peter Hohart. 448 Chap. XXVIII. A man o/Ood, and an hotwurcJtle mant or, the Life of Mr. Samuel Whiting. 46t Chap. XXIX. S. Atteriui, or, the Life of Mr. JohnSherman. 461 Chap. XXX. Eutebiw, or, the Life of Mr. Thomae Cobbet. 467 Chap. XXXI. Modeatus, or, the Life of Mr. John Ward. 470 Mantitsa. The Epitaph of Dr. John Owen. : . * 471 * ' ' ■ ■ The Third Part, Entituled, 'Onn^tfm hifytifntrm, sive, Utiles Narrationea. 474 It contains, the life of the renowned John Eliot ; with an account, concerning the success of the gospel among the Indiana. A very entertaining piece of Church Hittory. The Fourth Part, Entituled, Remains. 038 The Introduction. ib. Chap. I. Remains of the First Claasis, or, Shorter Accounts of some useful Divines. 534 Chap. II. The Life of Mr. Thomas Allen. 637 Chap. III. The Life of Mr. John Knorvles. 638 Chap. IV. Elisha's Bones. Or, the Life of Mr. Henry Whitjield. 540 Chap. V. Remains of the Second Qassis. And more largely, the Life of Mr. John WooMridge. 542- Chap. VI. Remains of the Third Classis. With more punctual ac- counts of Mr. John Oxenbridge, Mr. Thomas WcUley, and Mr. Sam- uel Lee. 544 Chap. VII. A good man making a good end, or, tho Life and Death niMr.JohnBaily. ^ 64« t# m i(k-