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 LIBRARY 
 
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 UNIVERSITY 
 
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 EARLY HISTORY 
 
 OP 
 
 NEW ENGLAND, 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BT 
 
 NUMEROUS INTERESTING INCIDENTS 
 
 BY R^ ,gf^gg WHITE. 
 
 <* O God, our fathers liave told u* what work tliou didst in their days.** 
 SANBORN, CARTER, BAZIN & CO., 
 
 26 & 29 COENHILL. 
 
fi 
 
 
 Entered according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1841, 
 By Rev. Henry White, 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of New- Hampshire. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 ' " %%%*'• 
 
 It has been the growing conviction of the author 
 of these pages, that there is much in the early his- 
 tory of New England suited to effect the happiest 
 results ; that it contains numerous incidents highly, 
 adapted to exhibit God in a most glorious and de- 
 lightful view ; to give us admiring thoughts of his 
 wisdom, benevolence, and faithfulness j to inflame 
 the love, strengthen the faith, and awaken the 
 gratitude of his people ; to interest and instruct 
 the mind, and to promote morality and religion in 
 the community. 
 
 With this impression, it seemed exceedingly de- 
 sirable that these incidents should be extensively 
 read. But hitherto they have been confined to a 
 few rare works, so that, to most persons, they have 
 been inaccessible, and to a great degree unknown. 
 The design of this volume is, to embody these 
 incidents, and present them to the reader in one 
 view. 
 
 Selections have been made from the fcHlowmg 
 works, viz. Mather's Magnalia, Winthrop's Journal, 
 Morton's New England Memorial, Prince's Chrono- 
 logy, Hubbard's History of New England ; the His- 
 tories of Hutchinson, Trumbull, Belknap, Williams, 
 
PRIFACB 
 
 Whiton, Williamson, Sullivan, Morse and Parish ; 
 NeaPs History of New England ; Dwight's Tra- 
 vels ; the Annals of Holmes ; Trumbull's History 
 of the United States, Hoyt's Antiquarian Researches 
 and Indian Wars, Barber's Historical Collections of 
 Massachusetts, Collections of the Massachusetts His- 
 torical Society, Goodrich's Church History, Annals 
 of Portsmouth, Memoirs of Roger Williams, Drake's 
 Indian Biography, Allen's Biographical Dictionary, 
 Hubbard's Indian Wars, Thacher's History of Ply- 
 mouth, Willis' History of Portland, Collections of 
 the New Hampshire Historical Society, Hawes' Tri- 
 bute to the Memory of the Pilgrims, Mirick's His- 
 tory of Haverhill, Williams' Memoir of Rev. John 
 Williams, Turner's Traits of Indian Character, Ba- 
 con's Historical Discourses, and Barber's Historical 
 Collections of Connecticut. Some incidents have 
 been taken from Miss Leslie's Boston Cards, and 
 from other small works. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Causes which led to the Emigration of the Fathers of New 
 England p&ge 7 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 Difficulties and Perils of the Voyage 11 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 Hardships, Privations, and Sufferings of the first Company 
 and others, after their Arrival 13 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 The Manifestations of God's peculiar Regard for them 31 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Remarkable Answers to Prayer 41 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Public Calamities 47 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Ambuscades, Assaults, Massacres, and Depredations of the 
 Indians 68 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 A particular Account of several who fell into the Hands of 
 
 the Indians Ill 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Remarkable Escapes and Preservations > .179 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 interesting Traits in the Indian Character 217 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Interest manifested in the Welfare -of the Indians, and il;/| In- 
 fluence upon them 242 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Estimate placed upon the Institutions of Religion by the first 
 Settlers of New England 258 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 Miscellaneous • • • • •284 
 
 
 
INCIDENTS 
 
 IN THE 
 
 EARLY HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE EMIGRATION OF THE 
 FATHERS OF NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 During the reign of Elizabeth, who ascended the 
 throne of England in 1558, thete arose a class of people 
 who were called Puritans. They were so named from 
 the superior purity and simplicity of their mode of wor- 
 ship. In them were seen the happy fruits of the reforma- 
 tion from popery, which was to the church the ushering 
 in of a bright and glorious day, after a dark and dismal 
 night of ten centuries. They were lights upon the earth. 
 They increased in number, until they were found in every 
 portion of the kingdom. For a length of years they were 
 united in their mode of worship ; but, in 1602, a portion 
 of them, being dissatisfied with certain usages and cere- 
 monies practised by the great body, which they deemed 
 unscriptural, withdrew, and, " as the Lord's free people, 
 joined themselves by covenant into a church state to walk 
 in all his ways, made known, or to be made known to 
 them, according to their best endeavors, whatever it might 
 cost them." 
 
 This church, having elected Rev. John Robinson their 
 pastor, emigrated to Holland, and settled at Leyden in 
 1610, where they remained yearly eleven years. But their 
 situation being unfavorable to their prosperity as a com- 
 munity, — their youth being greatly exposed to the evil 
 example of the Dutch, and their opportunities for useful- 
 ness limited and ill suited to their enlarged desires of doing 
 good, — they, afler mature consideration and many fervent 
 
8 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. I, 
 
 prayers for divine direction, resolved to emigrate to the 
 unexplored shores of America. "It w^as agreed," says 
 Morton, ** that part of the church should go before their' 
 brethren into America, to prepare for the rest; and if, 
 in case the major part of the church did choose to go 
 over with the first, then the pastor to go along with 
 them; but if the major part stayed, he was then to stay 
 • with them." Accordingly, a vessel was procured, ai,d 
 less than half their number sailed for England, where they 
 arrived about the 2d of July, 1620. Having engaged 
 another vessel, on the 6th of September following, they 
 embarked for America, and, on the 11th of November, 
 anchored in Cape Cod harbor ; having been more than 
 two months on the passage. 
 
 Causes of the chief influence in the removal of our 
 forefathers are found in tJte oppression 'of ecclesiastical 
 intolerance which prevailed in England, and in Vie desire 
 and hope of establishing the gospel and its institutions in 
 foreign parts. 
 
 Love of religious freedom is natural to man. We inhale 
 it with our very being. Accordingly, in every age, men 
 have been tenacious of the privilege of worshiping the 
 Supreme Being in a way suited to their own views of duty. 
 With this spirit the fathers of New England were deeply 
 imbued. They were men of enlightened views — magna- 
 nimous in their character — of warm and ardent feelings. 
 And no men living better understood the subject of human 
 rights than they. For several successive reigns, a spirit 
 of intolerance had oppressed and afflicted the Lord's 
 people in the mother country. Laws, prescribing certain ' 
 usages and modes of worship, and threatening the severest 
 penalties, were promulgated, and, more or less, severely 
 executed. A few brief facts will show the condition of 
 those times. 
 
 " An act," says Hoyt, " was passed in 1593, for punish- 
 ing all who refused to come to church, or were present at 
 any conventicle, or unauthorized meeting. The punish- 
 ment was imprisonment until the convicted agreed to con- 
 form, and made declaration of his conformity; and if that 
 was not done in three months, he was to quit the realm, 
 or go into perpetual banishment. In case he did not 
 
CHAP. 1.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 9 
 
 depart within the time limited, or returned without license, 
 he was to suffer death." 
 
 In 1567, one " Bolton, with twenty-three men and 
 seven vyonien, were sent to Bridewell, and kept there a 
 year," for absenting themselves from the meetings of tlie 
 established church, and repeatedly assembling to attend 
 upon the worship and ordinances of God in a. way they 
 deemed according to the rules of Christ. 
 
 Prince says, that "in 159*2, a company set up another 
 church in London, choosing Mr. Francis Johnson pastor, 
 and Mr. Greenwood teacher ; who, with fifty-four of their 
 church, were soon seized by the bishop's officers, and sent 
 to several jails, where some were loaded with irons, some 
 shut up in dungeons, some beat with cudgels, some, both 
 men and women, perished, Mr. Greenwood and Barrow 
 executed, others kept in close prison for four or five years." 
 
 Goodrich s^ys of those times, " Toleration was a virtue 
 unknown on English ground. In exile alone was security 
 to be found from tlie pains and penalties of non-conform- 
 ity to the church of England," Speaking of Mr. Robin- 
 son and his people, when about to embark for Holland, . 
 he says, '* The design of this congregation being suspect- 
 ed, strict orders were given that they should not be suffered 
 to depart. They were necessitated to use the most secret 
 methods, to give extravagant fees to seamen, by whom they 
 were often betrayed. Twice they attempted to embark, 
 were discovered and prevented. At another time, havjug 
 got on board a ship, with their effects, the shipmaster 
 sailed a little distance, then returned and delivered them 
 to the resentment of their enemies. The next year they 
 made another attempt* in which, after the severest trials, 
 they succeeded. Having engaged a ship belonging to 
 Holland for their conveyance, they were going on board. 
 By some treachery, their enemies had been informed of 
 their design, and, at this juncture, a great number of armed 
 men came upon them. A part of the men were on board, 
 without any of their effects; the women and children 
 were in a bark approaching the ship. The Dutch captain, 
 apprehensive of danger to himself, hoisted sail, and with 
 a fair wind directed his course to Holland. The passen- 
 gers used every effort to persuade him to return, in 
 
10 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. I 
 
 vain. They saw their wives and children fall into the 
 hands of merciless enemies, while unable to afford them 
 any relief They had none of their effects, not even a 
 change of clothes, on board. — After some time, all their 
 friends who had been left, by the favor of a gracious Pro- 
 vidence, in perils of robbers, in perils by their own coun- 
 trymen, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, 
 arrived safely in Holland, where they mingled their mutual 
 congratulations with grateful praise to God." 
 
 Such being the character of the times in the mother 
 country, our fathers were induced to make their escape 
 from the windy storm and tempest, and finally to take 
 refuge in this distant land, where they could breathe the 
 vital air of religious freedom. 
 
 Nor was it merely with the view of escaping the evils 
 which assailed them at home, that they crossed the Atlan- 
 tic, and took up their abode in a strange land. No, a 
 benevolent desire to benefit others greatly influenced their 
 proceedings. 
 
 True benevolence is expansive. It extends to all its 
 kind regards. It seeks the welfare of those it never saw. 
 This lovely principle dwelt in the bosom of our fathers, 
 and under its influence they lived and moved. They 
 knew that the savage tribes, which roamed this western 
 wilderness, were immortal like themselves ; that they were * 
 lost in sin : and that, without a knowledge of the blood of 
 Christ, they must perish. They knew, also, that they had 
 never seen the Bible, nor heard the gospel. A view of 
 their condition moved the pity of their heart. They felt 
 an unquenchable desire to come over and help them ; and 
 moved by this desire, as well as- by the cause before 
 mentioned, they came over. Prince mentions, as a promi- 
 nent reason of their removal, " an inward zeal and great 
 hope of laying soiTie foundation, or making way fcr pro- 
 pagating the kingdom of Christ to the remote ends of the 
 earth, though they should be as stepping stones to others." 
 
 Here is the spirit of missions. Here is seen its true 
 character. It attempts great things — expects great things 
 • — is not influenced by a regard to self It was not in 
 pursuit of fame — it was not to amass wealth — it was not to 
 aggrandize themselves or families, that the fathers of New 
 
CHAP. 11.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 11 
 
 England visited these shores, and took up here their resi- 
 dence. No, like their descendants, — who, in these latter 
 days, have gone far hence to the heathen; like Paul, the 
 great apostle of the Gentiles ; yea, like the Son of God, 
 who came down to this world upon an errand of infinite 
 kindness, — they were influenced by a regard to the good 
 of others, were moved by « spirit of benevolence, a spirit 
 of missions. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 DIFFICULTIES AND PERILS OF THE VOYAGE. 
 
 Two vessels, the Speedwell and Mayflower, the one 60, 
 the other 180 tons, having been procured, and all things 
 made ready, the pilgrims went on board, and sailed from 
 Southampton the 5th of August, 1620. But it is not eve- 
 ry cloudless morning that is. followed by a clear and plea- 
 sant day. Before them were difficulties and perils that 
 would have unnerved the resolution of any but those who 
 could say, ** It is not with us as with other men, whom 
 small things can discourage or small discontentments cause 
 to wish ourselves at home again." They had not sailed 
 far, before the Speedwell was discovered to be leaky, and 
 they put into Dartmouth. Having refitted at great expense, 
 with loss of time and fair wind, they again put to sea. 
 When they had sailed about 100 leagues beyond Land's 
 End in England, the Speedwell was again found to be 
 leaky. Both vessels then returned and went into Plymouth. 
 Here it was resolved to dismiss the Speedwell, and as many 
 as could, one hundred and one in all, went on board the 
 Mayflower. The rest, twenty in number, after a sorrow- 
 ful parting, returned to London. Having now been de- 
 tained on the coast of England, perplexed with disappoint- 
 ments and delays, a full month, on the 6th of September, 
 they put to sea with* a fair wind, and proceeded on their 
 way. About the middle of the voyage they were met by 
 cross winds, and severe and heavy storms lay on them for 
 many days together. They could carry no sail, and were 
 
12 INCIDENT* IN THE EARLY [cHAP. II. 
 
 obliged to lie wholly at the mercy of winds and waves. 
 '^The vessel, through the violence of the storm, became 
 shattered and leaky, and one of the main Ijeams in the mid- 
 'ship was cracked, and removed from its place. Strong 
 fears were now felt that they should not be able to pro- 
 ceed. Accordingly, a consultation was held between the 
 passengers and officers of the ^ip, upon the subject of re- 
 turning. But there was a passenger on board who had 
 brought from Holland a large iron screw, by means of 
 which the fractured beam was brought to»its place, and 
 made fast. They then renewedly committed themselves 
 to the care of a kind Providence, and proceeded on the 
 passage, and, on the 9th of November, at break of day, 
 to their exceeding joy, they made the land of Cape Cod. 
 But as it was their intention to settle somewhere about 
 Hudson's River, they bore away to the southward. Pro- 
 ceeding on in that direction about half a day, they found 
 themselves in the midst of perilous shoals and breakers 
 Seeing that it would be exceedingly hazardous for them 
 to proceed, they returned to Cape Cod harbor, where they 
 anchored in safety on the 11th of November. *' And being 
 brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees, and blessed 
 the God of heaven, who had brought them over the vast 
 "and furious ocean, and delivered them from many perils 
 and miseries." 
 
 How strongly are we here reminded of the fact which 
 often meets us on the page of history, that great and im' 
 portant events are preceded bi/ dark and trying providences ! 
 To the Israelites God gave the land of Canaan, but not 
 until they had passed through all that great and terrible 
 wilderness, and endured many privations and sufferings. 
 Columbus discovered and gave to the nations of Europe a 
 NEW WORLD, but uot uutil he had been severely tried by 
 disappointments and-the frowning disapprobation of those 
 in power ; not until he had crossed a pathless ocean, 
 outbraved fierce and appalling storms, and been in jeo- 
 pardy from a mutinous and daring crew. Our fathers 
 were put in possession of this goodly land ; but not until 
 they had endured difficulties and perils, such as have fallen 
 to none of their sons ; such as were suited to deject and 
 lay low the courage of the firmest mind 
 
CHAP. 111.] HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 13 
 
 Let none, after reading this account, conclude that they 
 are not in the path of duty, simply because their way is 
 beset with trials and discouragements. 
 
 Nor let it pass unnoticed how small a circumstance 
 sometimes controls a great event. The fate of this voy- 
 age, it appears, turned on the mere incident that one of the 
 passengers had on board a screw, by means of which a 
 fractured beam was repaired and held in its place. 
 
 And it should be remembered that, even at this distance 
 of time, our hearts should swell with devout gratitude to 
 the great Ruler of the universe for bearing our fathers 
 through the perils of the deep, and landing them in safety 
 upon our shores. Who that treads the soil of New Eng- 
 land has not cause to be grateful ? For all, in one way 
 or another, are reaping the advantages of those noble in 
 stitutions our ancestors established. And how many, who 
 have gone before us, have partaken of similar benefits ! 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 HARDSHIPS, PRIVATIONS, AND SUFFERINGS OF THIS COM 
 PANY, AND OF OTHERS, AFTER THEIR ARRIVAL. 
 
 We have followed this little band in their trials along 
 the English coast, and at length across the stormy and 
 perilous ocean. 
 
 ' We now behold them on the unexplored coast of Ame- 
 rica, in a northern latitude, just at the setting in of winter ; 
 having no place of settlement, and not knowing that any 
 would or could be discovered ; without a shelter to screen 
 them from the piercing cold and storms of a severe cli- 
 mate; with a vast ocean rolling between them and the 
 civilized world ; their only place of retreat a waste, howl- 
 ing wilderness, wearing the gloom of November, and 
 inhabited only by savage beasts and more savage men ; 
 with no kind friends to welcome them to these shores and 
 to their hospitable dwellings ; some of them having left 
 2 
 
14 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. III. 
 
 their wives either in Holland or England, while others 
 had left part, and some even all their children. 
 
 What a spectacle is here presented to our view ! One, 
 it should seem, that might awaken emotion in the breast 
 of the most unfeeling, and bring the tear of sympathy into 
 the dryest eye. 
 
 But true greatness does not sit down in despondency. 
 It looks upward to God's merciful throne for guidance 
 and support, and goes steadily forward in the path of duty, 
 trials and discouragements notwithstanding. 
 
 Before leaving Holland, this little company had sent 
 over to England, and, after long delay, and no little diffi- 
 culty, obtained of the South Virginia Company a charter, 
 which secured to them the right of settlement about Hud- 
 son's River. But it gave them neither right nor power 
 on the coast of New England, which was in another juris- 
 diction. Consequently, this instrument was useless, and 
 they were in a manner " reduced to a state of nature." 
 
 This being their condition, they deemed it important 
 to form themselves " into a body politic under the crown 
 of England." Accordingly, on the 11th of November, 
 after uniting in prayer to Almighty God, by mutual con- 
 sent they entered into a solemn combination, as a body 
 politic, to submit to such government and governors, laws 
 and ordinances as should, by general consent, from time 
 to time, be made choice of, and consented to." Thev 
 elected Mr. John Carver their governor for the first year. 
 
 Having taken these preparatory measures for their secu- 
 rity and prosperity, they, on the same day, set fifteen or 
 sixteen men on shore to make discoveries and procure 
 wood. They returned at evening, having seen neither 
 house nor inhabitant. 
 
 On Monday, the 13th of November, many went orl shore 
 to refresh themselves, and the women for washing. In 
 passing from the ship to the shore, they were obliged to 
 wade through the water quite a distance ; and the weather 
 being cold and freezing, numbers caught cold, which 
 brought on a severe cough. Many of them did not sur- 
 vive the approaching winter. 
 
 ' On the 15th, while the boat, called the shallop, was 
 refitting, Capt. Standish with sixteen men set out in search 
 
C&AP. ni.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 15 
 
 of a place of settlement. Directing their course south- 
 ward, they had not marched far, before they saw five or 
 six Indians, who fled from them into the woods. They 
 pursued, but could not overtake them. Night coming on, 
 they passed it in the wilderness. The next day they found 
 a number of Indian graves'; near which they discovered a 
 quantity of corn buried in the ground. They took part 
 of it, intending to satisfy the natives the first opportunity. 
 They now set out on their return. Having arrived at a 
 large pond they had visited in coming from the ship, they 
 built a barricado, kindled a fire, set sentinels, and retired 
 for the night, which proved very rainy. The next day 
 they lost .their way, wandering about, not knowing what 
 course to take. At length, after travelling through woods, 
 over sands, and in water, sometimes up to the knees, they 
 reached the ship, where they received a joyful welcome. 
 
 On the 27th of November, the shallop being repaired, 
 twenty-four of their number, Mr. Jones, the master of the 
 ship, and nine sailors, set out upon another expedition for 
 discovery. Before they had proceeded far, the weather 
 became rough and the wind contrary, and they were forced 
 to row for the nearest shore, wading above their knees to 
 the land. It blew, and snowed, and froze, all this day 
 and night ; and disease, which soon terminated the life of 
 many of them, originated in this exposure. The next day 
 they sailed for the port they were in pursuit of, but found 
 it unfit for shipping. They landed, however, and marched 
 four or five miles along a creek, passing over hills and 
 valleys, the snow being half a foot deep. Having become 
 weary, they encamped for the night under a cluster of 
 pine-trees. They had eaten little during the day ; but a 
 kind Providence furnished them with three geese and six 
 ducks for their supper, which they ate with a good appe-. 
 tite. The next day, in digging for the discovery' of corn, 
 they found the ground to be frozen a foot in depth — such 
 had been the severity of the weather. Capt. Jones, with 
 fifteen others, some of whom had become weak and feeble, 
 and others sick, set out on their return to the ship. 
 Eighteen remained to make further discoveries. On the 
 following day, they marched five or six miles into the 
 woods, but discovering no signs of inhabitants, returned. 
 
16 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. Ill 
 
 The shallop arriving, they went on board at night, and the 
 next day returned to the ship. They remained on board 
 several days ; during which, one of their number, named 
 Edward Thomson, died, and, before the close of Decem- 
 ber, Jive others were called down to the grave. 
 
 On the 6th of December, a company set out on a third 
 expedition. The weather being very cold, the ? spray of 
 the sea froze upon their clothes so that they were com- 
 pletely covered with ice. At night they found themselves 
 at the lower end of the bay. As they drew near the shore, 
 they savT ten or twelve Indians cutting up a fish. They 
 landed a league or two from them : but it was with much 
 difficulty that they reached the shore, on account, of shoals. 
 After making preparations for the night, they betook them 
 selves to their lodgings, such as they were, the smoke of 
 the Indians' fire being in full view, about four or -five miles 
 distant. The next morning they divided their company, a 
 part travelling along the shore, while the rest coasted along 
 the shoals. About nine or ten o'clock, they lost sight of 
 the shallop. They roved about, making discoveries, until 
 night, when they hasted out of the woods, and seeing 
 the shallop, they made a signal for her to come into the 
 creek. Here they passed the night. At five in the morn- 
 ing, they arose, united in prayer, and were expecting soon 
 to go on board the shallop, when one of their number came 
 running in, calling out, " Indians! Indians !" At this mo- 
 ment the arrows came flying about them. The cry of the 
 Indians was dreadful. The company defended themselves 
 most manfully*. One of the enemy, who was more stout 
 and brave than the rest, stood behind a tree and discharged 
 his arrows. He kept his position until three muskets were 
 fired at him, when one, taking good aim, hit the tree, and 
 " made the bark or splinters fly about his ears, after which 
 he gave an extraordinary shriek, and away they went all of 
 them." Some of the arrows shot by the Indians " were 
 headed with brass, others with hart's horn, and others with 
 eagle's claws." The English received no injury, though 
 their clothes, which hung up in their barricado, were shot 
 through and through. This was the first encounter with 
 the Indians. After they had united in giving solemn 
 thanksgiving to God for this deliverance, they went on 
 
CHAP. III.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 17 
 
 board the shallop, and sailed along the coast about fifteen 
 leagues, in pursuit of a convenient harbor. Not finding 
 any, they set out for one their pilot told them he had seen, 
 and which it was thought they might reach before night. 
 Bat after some hours' sailing, it began to snow and rain, 
 and about the middle of the afternoon, the wind increas- 
 ing, and the sea becoming very rough, the rudder broke, 
 and it was with great difficulty that two men with oars 
 could steer the shallop. The storm increased more and 
 more, and night approaching, they bore what sail they 
 could, in order to get in before dark; but their mast giving 
 way, broke into three pieces, and the sails fell overboard 
 into the sea. They were now in the most imminent dan- 
 ger of foundering ; but the tide being favorable, they suc- 
 ceeded in reaching the harbor, supposing it to be the 
 one they were in pursuit of The pilot, at this crisis dis- 
 covering his mistake, cried out, " Lord be merciful to us ! 
 my eyes never saw this place before." He, with the mate, 
 would have run the shallop ashore in a cove full of break- 
 ers : but the sternsman called out to the rowers, " About 
 with her, or we are cast away." Immediately they got her 
 about, and although it had become very dark, and rained 
 powerfully, they got under the lee of a large island. It 
 was now a matter of doubt with some of them, whether it 
 were best to go ashore on account of the savages. At 
 length, the most hardy among them concluded to remain in 
 the boat, while a number were so feeble, and wet, and cold, 
 that they thought they could not endure it. They there- 
 fore ventured on shore, and with great difficulty kindled a 
 fire. After midnight the wind shifted into the north-west, 
 and the weather became cold and freezing. Those in the 
 boat were now glad to join their companions on the land. 
 The next morning, finding that they were in no danger from 
 the Indians, they remained and dried their clothes, fixed 
 their fire-arms, rested themselves, and united in rendering 
 thanks to Almighty God for the merciful deliverances he 
 had affi)rded them ; and as this was the last day of the 
 week, they staid and kept the Sabbath. On Monday they 
 sounded the harbor, and finding it fit for shipping, they 
 marched into the main land, and after exploring the ground, 
 concluded it to be a suitable place for settlement ^bey 
 2* B 
 
18 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. IIL 
 
 accordingly returned to the ship, and reported, to the grea. 
 joy of those on board, the discovery they had made. Du- 
 ring iheir absence, Dorothy, wife of William Bradford 
 had fallen overboard, and was drowned. 
 
 On the 15th of December, the ship sailed for the newly 
 discovered port, and having arrived within two leagues, 
 was met by a heavy north-west wind, which drove her back. 
 The next day, however, they entered the harbor. On the 
 two succeeding days, small parties went on shore for the 
 purpose of making further discoveries. On the morning 
 of the 21st, after imploring the divine guidance, twenty 
 of their number went on shore with a view to fix upon 
 some place for immediate settlement. This was the day 
 on which the pilgrims first stepped on the memorable 
 " Forefathers' Rock." After surveying the country, they 
 selected what they thought the most eligible place. At 
 evening a storm of wind and rain arose, which lasted du- 
 ring the night, and for two days the wind blew so violently 
 that they were unable to reach the ship, but were obliged 
 to remain on shore without a shelter. 
 
 On, Saturday, the 23d, as many as could, went on shore, 
 and commenced cutting and carrying timber for a common 
 building. On the Sabbath, those who remained on shore, 
 were alarmed by the cry of Indians ; but no foe appeared 
 On Monday, the 25th, they commenced building the first 
 house. It was about 20 feet square — designed for com- 
 mon use. During the night and the next day, they were, 
 visited by another storm of wind and rain. On the 28th, 
 they reduced themselves to nineteen families — measured 
 out, and assigned to each, their lots. In consequence of 
 exposures and hardships, many of them were taken ill of 
 heavy colds. On the 29th and 30th, it was very cold and 
 stormy ; and at the distance of about six or seven miles, 
 were seen great smokes arising from the fires of the In- 
 dians. 
 
 '* Though most of the company were on board the ship 
 on the Lord's day, December 31st, yet some of them kept 
 the Sabbath for the first time in their new house. Here 
 therefore is fixed the era of their settlement, which, in 
 grateful remembrance of the Christian friends, whom they 
 found at the last town they left in their native country, 
 
CHAP. III.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 19 
 
 they called Plymouth, This was the foundation of the 
 first English town built in New England." 
 
 January 12th. — About.the middle of the day, two of the 
 company, going out to gather thatch, discovered a deer, 
 which, with their dogs, they pursued until they were lost 
 in the woods. After wandering in the wilderness until the 
 close of the day, they spent the night, which proved freez- 
 ing and snowy, in walking about under a tree. Their 
 friends were greatly distressed on their account, fearing 
 that they had fallen into the hands of the Indians. Two 
 parties went in search of them, but in vain. The next 
 evening, the two men, after spending the day in travelling 
 from place to place, reached home almost spent with cold 
 and hunger. 
 
 On Lord's day, January 14th, about six o'clock in the 
 morning, their house took fire from a spark which fell upon 
 'he thatched roof, and was entirely consumed. When the 
 fire caught, Gov, Carver and Mr. William Bradford were 
 in the house, sick in their beds. Those on board the ship, 
 when they saw the flames, concluded that the Indians had 
 made an attack upon the place ; but by reason of a tem- 
 pestuous wind and low tide, they were unable to render 
 any assistance. 
 
 During this month they were called to close the eyes of 
 eight of their number in death. 
 
 February 16th. — One of the company who was out a 
 fowling, saw "twelve Indians pass by him towards the set- 
 tlement. He lay close until they had gone by, when he 
 hastened home, and gave the alarm. Towards night, they 
 saw a large fire near the place where the Indians were 
 seen; but none of them made their appearance until the 
 next day, when two presented themselves on a hill at a 
 considerable distance, and made signs for the English to 
 come'to them. Capt. Standish and Mr. Hopkins, one of 
 whom carried a musket, went towards them. As they 
 approached, the one who carried the gun laid it down, as 
 a token of peace. But the Indians would not stay till 
 they came up to them. The noise of many more Indians 
 was heard under the hill ; but no others made their ap- 
 pearance. 
 
 During this and the following month, they suffered ex- 
 
30 INCIDENTS IN THE JEARLY [cHAP. III. 
 
 tremely from sickness and death. The number of deaths 
 was thirty. Two or three sometimes died in a day. The 
 living were scarcely able to bury the dead ; and, in the 
 time of their greatest distress, not more than six or seven 
 were well enough to tend upon the sick. At the end of 
 the month of March, less than sixty, of the one hundred 
 and one who came in the Mayflower, survived. 
 
 ** Tradition gives an affecting picture of the infant • 
 colony during this critical and distressing period. The 
 dead were buried on the bank at a little distance from 
 the rock where the fathers landed ; and, lest the Indians 
 should take advantage of the weak and wretched -state of 
 the English, the graves were levelled and sown, for the 
 purpose of concealment " 
 
 In the month of April, Gov. Carver was removed by 
 death. He was taken ill in the field, while engaged in 
 planting; complained greatly of his head; in a few hours 
 his senses left him, and he spoke no more. He survived 
 but a few days. His wife, being overcome by excessive 
 grief, died in about five or six weeks. The sorrow of 
 this little colony at the loss of their governor, who was a 
 man of eminent piety, and sincerely devoted to their inte 
 rest, is better conceived than described. He had sustained 
 his ofiice only four months and twenty-four days. 
 
 Their bill of mortality now. stood as follows : — Decem- 
 ber, 6 ; January, 8; February, 17 ; March, 13; April, 1 j 
 whole number, 45. 
 
 On the 9th of November, a vessel arrived from England, 
 bringing thirty-six passengers. Having been long on the 
 passage, she had spent nearly all her provisions ; conse- 
 quently the passengers, after her departure, were depend- 
 ent upon the colony for the means of subsistence. After 
 distributing them among the several families, it was found 
 necessary to put the whole company on half allow'ance. 
 The Narragansetts, a numerous and powerful tribe, learn- 
 ing that the ship brought neither arms nor provision, began 
 to manifest hostile intentionsi They " sent the English a 
 bundle of arrows, tied with a snake's skin, as a defiance 
 and denunciation of war. The English filled the skin 
 with bullets, and sent it back with this answer — that they 
 had done them no wrong, did not fear them, and were 
 
CHAP. III.] HISTORIT OF NEW ENGLAND. 21 
 
 provided for them, come when they would. The Narra- 
 gansetts would not suffer the bullets to come near them, 
 and they were moved about from place to place, till they 
 found their way back to the English again, and the Indians 
 remained quiet." 
 
 " The settlers now judged it prudent to enclose their 
 houses by a strong impalement, which was completed in 
 February. They also, for furthei security, enclosed part 
 of the hill, and formed bulwarks, with gates to be locked 
 at night, and watch and ward was kept during the day. 
 The whole company was divided into four squadrons, and 
 each one had its particular posts assigned it, in case of ' 
 alarm. One of the companies was directed to attend par- 
 ticularly to any fires that might happen, while others were 
 to serve as guards with their muskets." 
 
 In the spring of 1622, their provisions being nearly 
 expended, they were threatened with famine. After anx- 
 iously looking and hoping in vain for a supply, the evil 
 they had deprecated actually came upon them. Bread 
 they had none, and their other provisions were almost 
 spent. In the course of the month, a shallop belonging to 
 a fishing-boat, which, with about thirty others, was em- 
 ployed on the eastern coast, arrived in the harbor. They 
 brought seven planters, who had come over from England, 
 but could leave no provisions. The governor despatched 
 Mr. Winslow with a boat to accompany the shallop on her 
 return, for the purpose of purc^iasing provision of the fish- 
 ermen. They supplied him gratuitously to the extent of 
 their ability. They could, however, spare only sufficient 
 to furnish each person with a quarter of a pound of bread 
 a day, until harvest. ** I returned," says Mr. Winslow, 
 ** with all speed convenient ; when I found the state of the 
 colony much weaker than when I left it, for till now, we / 
 were never without some bread ; the want whereof much 
 abated the strength and flesh of some, and swelled others. 
 And indeed, had we not been in a place, where divers sorts 
 of shell fish are, that may be taken with the hand, we must 
 have perished, unless God had raised some unknown or 
 extraordinary means for our preservation." 
 
 " In time of these straits," adds Mr. Winslow, " the In- 
 dians began to cast forth many insulting speeches, glorying 
 
22 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. IH 
 
 in our weakness, and giving out how easy it would be ere 
 long to cut us off. Now also Massasoit seemed to frown 
 on us, and neither came nor sent to us as formerly." 
 
 *' It has been stated that they were at one time reduced 
 to a single pint of corn, which, being equally divided, gave 
 to each person five kernels, which were parched and eaten.' 
 Mr. Bradford remarks, that the Spaniards were thought 
 by Peter Martyr to have suffered hardships which none but 
 a Spaniard could endure, when they were obliged to live 
 for five days together upon parched corn only ; whereas the 
 people. of Plymouth, the first two or three years, thought a 
 meal of Indian corn as good as a feast, and sometimes not 
 for five days only, but for two or three months together, 
 were destitute of that, and all other corn, or bread of any 
 kind." 
 
 " The fourth year after their arrival, they were threat- 
 ened with thfe total destruction of their crop, and absolute 
 famine". From about the middle of May to the middle of 
 July, they had not one shower of rain, and "the extreme 
 heat of the sun upon their sandy soil had so dried up their 
 corn, that they were almost in despair of its ever being re- 
 stored ; but in the evening, after a day of fasting and pray- 
 er, it began to rain, and by repeated showers their corn 
 recovered its verdure, and they had a plentiful harvest." 
 
 " New comers were extremely affected with the misera- 
 ble condition of those who had been almost three years in 
 the country. An interview with old friends under such 
 suffering circumstances was truly appalling." 
 
 ** The best dish we could present them with," says Gov. 
 Bradford, " was a lobster or piece of fish, without bread, 
 or any thing else but a cup of fair spring water ; and the 
 long continuance of this diet, with our labors abroad, has 
 somewhat abated the freshness of our complexions; but 
 G( J gives us health." 
 
 In 1624, Mr. Winslow, on his return from England, 
 brought over four neat cattle — three heifers and a bull. 
 These were the first introduced into the colony. Conse- 
 quently, they had been four years without milk. 
 
 Hubbard, speaking of the condition of the colony about 
 seven years after their arrival, §ays, "During this time the 
 painful and diligent labor of this poor people is not to be 
 
CHAP. 111.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. • $^ 
 
 forgotten ; who all this while were forced to pound their 
 
 corn in mortars, not having ability in their hands to erect 
 other engines to grind, by the help either of winds or 
 water." 
 
 In April, 1626, they received intehigence of the death 
 of their beloved pastor, Mr. Robinson. He died at Ley- 
 den, March 1, 1625, in the fiftieth year of his age. In 
 their circumstances, this was indeed heavy news ; and it 
 filled their hearts with the deepest sorrow. The letter 
 which brought the intelligence, assured them that hfs 
 sickness was short ; that he was sensible to the last ; and 
 that if prayers, tears, or means would have saved his life, 
 he had not gone hence. It adds, " We still hold close 
 together in peace, wishing that you and we were again 
 together." 
 
 In the summer of 1627, Mr. John Endicott came overi 
 with a colony, and settled at Salem, then called . Naum- ' 
 keag. They found about one hundred planters already on 
 the ground, with nine houses. Those who were already 
 there, with those who had newly come, amounted to about 
 three hundred ; one hundred of whom removed to Charles- 
 town, the rest remaining at Salem. 
 
 Before the close of July, 1630, eleven vessels arrived 
 from England, and, before the end of the year, six others. 
 They brought over above fifteen hundred passengers. The 
 Arabella, having on board Gov. Winthrop and several of 
 his assistants, arrived at Salem the I2th of June. " The 
 common people immediately went ashore, and regaled 
 themselves with strawberries, which were very fine in 
 America, and were then in perfection. This might give 
 them a favorable idea of the produce of the country ; but 
 they met with. enough to fill them with concern. The 
 first news they had was of a general conspiracy, a few 
 months before, of all the Indians as far as Narragansett, ^ 
 to extirpate the English. Eighty persons, out of about \ 
 three hundred, had died in the colony the winter before, \ 
 and many of those who remained were in a weak, sickly 
 condition. There was not corn enough to have lasted 
 above a fortnight, and all other provisions were very scant. 
 They had not above three or four months to look out pro- 
 per places for settlement, and to provide shelter against 
 
24 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. 111. 
 
 the severity of the winter. With this prospect of diffi- 
 culties, great enough, it would seem, for them to encoun* 
 ter, sickness began among them. Being destitute of ne- 
 cessary accommodations, they dropped away one after 
 another. Before December, they had lost two hundred 
 of their number, including a few who died on their pas- 
 sage." 
 
 "Among others that were at that time visited with 
 mortal sickness, the Lady Arabella, wife of Mr. Isaac 
 Johnson, was on6 who, possibly, had not taken the counsel 
 of our Savior to sit down and count the cost, before she 
 began to build. For, coming from a paradise of plenty 
 and pleasure, which she enjoyed in the family of a noble 
 earldom, into a wilderness of wants, it proved too strong 
 a temptation for her ; so that the virtues of her mind were 
 not able to stem the tide of those many adversities of her 
 outward. condition, which she, soon after her arrival, saw 
 herself surrounded with. • For, within a short time after, 
 she ended her days at Salem, where she first landed ; 
 leaving her husband, a worthy gentleman of note for piety 
 and wisdom, a sorrowful mourner, and so overwhelmed 
 with grief, that about a month after, viz. September 30, 
 1630, death carried him after her into another world, to 
 the extreme loss of the whole plantation." 
 
 " Salem was already supplied with as .many inhabitants 
 as at that time it was well able to receive. Therefore, 
 Gov. Winthrop, and most of the gentlemen who came 
 along with him, having taken a view of the country at the 
 bottom of Massachusetts Bay, and finding that there was 
 territory sufficient for several towns, took the first oppor- 
 tunity of removing thither. They at first pitched on the 
 north side of Charles River, where they laid the foundation 
 of the first town. But the chief part of the company 
 made provision for another plantation on the neqk of land 
 on the south side of the river, which was afterwards called 
 Boston, and erected such small cottages as might shelter 
 them during the approaching winter. The governor and 
 deputy governor, with most of the assistants, removed 
 th^ir families thither about November. Some scattering 
 inhabitants had some years before taken up their habita- 
 tions on each side of Charles River, some at Mattapan, 
 
CHAr. 111.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 26* 
 
 Since caJled Dorchester. Here Mr. Ludlow and his com- 
 pany commenced a settlement. Mr. Pynchon, with some 
 oiiiers, chose a place midway between Dorchester and 
 Boston, and called it Roxbury. Sir Richard Saltonstall 
 settled with his family and friends higher up the river, and 
 called the place Watertown." 
 
 '•' On the 6tii of December, the governor and assistants 
 met, ;md agreed to fortify the neck between Boston and 
 Roxbury, and oi tiers wert^ given for preparing the mate- 
 rials; but at another meeting on the 21st, they laid that 
 design aside, anci agreed (m a place three miles above 
 Charlestown, and nxisi of them engaged to build houses 
 there another year. The weather held tolerable until the 
 24th of Dc^cember ; but the cold then came on with vio- 
 lence. Such a Christmas eve they had never seen before. 
 From that time to the 10th of February, their chief care 
 was to keep themselves warm, and as comfortable in other 
 respects as their scanty provisions would permit. The 
 poorer sort were much exposed, lying in tents and misera- 
 ble hovels, and many died of the scurvy, and other dis- ^^ 
 tempers. They were so short of provisions, that many 
 were obliged to live on clams, muscles, and other shell 
 fish, with ground nuts and acorns instead of bread. One 
 that came to the governor's house to complain of his 
 sufferings, was prevented, being informed that even there 
 the last batch was in the oven. Some instances are men- 
 tioned of great calmness and resignation in this distress. 
 A good man, who had asked his neiorhbor to a dish of 
 clams, after dinner returned thanks to God, who had given 
 them to suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasure 
 hid in the sands. They had appointed the 22d of Febru- 
 ary for a fast ; but on the oth, to thqir great joy, the ship 
 Lyon, Capt. Pierce, one of the last year's fleet, returned, / 
 laden with provisions from Ji^ngland, which were distribu- v' 
 ted according to the necessities^ of the people. They 
 turned their fast into a thanksgiving." 
 
 Of the sulTerings and privations of those times, another 
 account says, '* These poor people met with much hard- 
 ship, some by fire, as others by water. Some suffered 
 much damage by the burning of their hay-stacks, left in 
 the meadows, to the starving of their cattle ; others by 
 3 
 
.26 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. IH 
 
 burning of their small cottages, either framed or covered 
 with very combustible matter, to which they were not 
 accustomed in their former dwellings. Many of those 
 who were compelled to live long in tents, and lie upon, oi 
 too near, the cold and moist earth, before they could be 
 provided with more convenient dwellings, were seized 
 with the scurvy, of which many died aboiit Boston and 
 Charlestown." 
 
 " It went much harder with this poor people, in their 
 first beginnings, because of the scarcity of all sorts of grain 
 that year in England." Some of the planters who had 
 newly come over, suffered much in consequence of being 
 unacquainted with the severity of the winters in New 
 England. 
 
 Richard Garner, a shoemaker of Boston, with one of 
 his daughters and four others, contrary to the advice of 
 their friends, set out in a shallop on the 24th of December, 
 for Plymouth. They had nearly made the point called 
 Gurnet's Nose, when they were met by a strong north- 
 west wind, which put them by the mouth of the harbor, 
 and drove them out to sea. The boat took in much water, 
 which froze so hard that they could not free her. They 
 now despaired of deliverance, and disposed themselves to 
 die. But one of the company espying land, they made 
 shift to hoist up part of their sail, by which means they 
 reached the shore. Some now got on land ; but others 
 were so frozen into the ice that it was found necessary to 
 cut them out. Having all come on shore, they kindled a 
 fire ; but being destitute of a hatchet, they could get but 
 little wood. They passed the night, which was extremely 
 cold, in the open air. In the morning, two of their num- 
 ber set out for Plymocrth, supposing it to be not more than 
 seven or eight miles distant, whereas it was nearly fifty 
 By the way, they met with two Indian squaws, who, re 
 turning home, told their husbands that they had met two 
 Englishmen. Concluding that they had been shipwrecked, 
 the Indians went after them, brought them back to their 
 wigwam, and entertained them kindly. The next day one 
 went with them on their way to Plymouth, while the 
 other went in search of those who were left on the shore. 
 Having found and rendered them all the assistance W^ 
 
CUM'. III.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 27 
 
 could, he went back to his wigwam, the distance of seven 
 miles, got a hatchet, returned, built them a shelter, and 
 provided them wood. They had become so weak and 
 frozen that they could not help themselves. Garner died 
 about two days after they came on shore. The Indian 
 cut a hole in the ground about a foot and a hnlf deep, 
 with his hatchet, laid in the corpse, and placed over it a 
 large pile of wood, to keep it from the wolves. Three 
 men, whom the governor of Plymouth had sent to their 
 assistance, by this time arrived. The boat was driven so. 
 far up on the shore, that they concluded it could not be 
 got off without further assistance. Accordingly, the In- 
 dian returned to Plymouth, and obtained three other men. 
 But before they arrived, they found means to launch the 
 boat, and with a fair southerly wind, arrived at Plymouth, 
 where another of their number died. The two who set 
 out on foot also died. One of them expired on the way, 
 and the other was so much frozen that he did not long 
 survive. The girl escaped with the least injury. The 
 other who survived was long under the surgeon's care. 
 
 Rev. Roger Williams, who, with several of his friends, 
 left Salem in the winter of 1636, and went to the south 
 towards Narragansett Bay, says, in a letter written thirty- 
 live years afterwards, " I was sorely tossed for fourteen 
 weeks, in a bitter winter season, not knowing what bread 
 or bed did mean." 
 
 ** Gov. Winthrop and some of his associates went over 
 in February, 1633, to inspect Castle Island, in the harbor 
 of Boston, (which was then uninhabited,) and were detained 
 there near two days and a night by the ice, without a shel- 
 ter, and with nothing to eat but muscles." 
 
 ** Such numbers were constantly emigrating to New 
 England, that the people at Dorchester, Watertown and 
 Newtown began to be much straitened by the accession 
 of new planters. By those who had been to Connecticut, 
 they had received intelligence of the excellent meadows 
 upon the river : they therefore determined to remove, and 
 once more brave the dangers and hardships of making 
 settlements in a dreary wilderness." 
 "On the 15th of October, 1635, about sixty men, women, 
 aad children, with their horses, cattle, and swine, com- 
 
28 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. III. 
 
 menced their journey, through the wilderness, to Connecti- 
 cut River. After a tedious and difficult journey, through 
 swamps and rivers, over mountains and rough ground, 
 which were passed wit;h great difficulty and fatigue, they 
 arrived safely at the places of their respective destination. 
 They were so long on their journey, and so much time 
 was spent in passing the river, and in getting over their 
 cattle, that, after all their ex^tions, winter came upon 
 them before they were prepared. This was an occasion 
 of great distress and damage to the plantation. 
 
 "The winter set in this year much sooner than usual, 
 and the weather was stormy and severe. By the 15th of 
 November, Connecticut River was frozen over, and the 
 snow was so deep, and the season so tempestuous, that a 
 considerable number of the cattle could not be brought 
 across the river. The people had so little time to prepare 
 their huts and houses, and to erect sheds and shelters for 
 their cattle, that the. sufferings of man and beast were 
 extreme. Indeed, the hardships and distresses of the first 
 planters of Connecticut scarcely admit of a description. 
 To carry much provision or furniture through a pathless 
 wilderness was impracticable. Their principal provisions 
 and household furniture were, therefore, put on board 
 several small vessels, which, by reason of delays and the 
 tempestuousness of the season, were either cast away or 
 did not arrive. Several vessels were wrecked on the 
 coasts of New England, by the violence of the storms. 
 Two shallops laden with goods, from Boston to Connecti- 
 cut, in October, were cast away on Brown's Island, near 
 Gurnet's Nose, and the men, with every thing on board, 
 were lost. A vessel, with six of the Connecticut people 
 on board, which sailed from the river for Boston, in No- 
 vember, was cast away in Manamet Bay. The men got 
 on shore, and, after wandering ten days in deep snow and 
 a severe season, without meeting with any human being, 
 arrived, nearly spent with cold and fatigue, at Plymouth. 
 
 *'By the last of November, or beginning of December, 
 provisions generally failed in the settlements on the river, 
 and famine and death looked the inhabitants sternly in the 
 face. Some of them, driven by hunger, attempted their 
 way, in this severe season, through the wilderness frofn 
 
CHAP. III.J HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 29 
 
 Connecticut to Massachusetts. Of thirteen, in one com- 
 pany, who made this attempt, one, in passing a river, fell 
 through the ice, and was drowned. The other twelve 
 were ten days on their journey, and would have perished • 
 had it not been for the assistance'of the Indians. Indeed, 
 such was the distress in general, that, by the 3d and 4th 
 of December, a considerable part of the new settlers were 
 obliged to abandon their habitations. Seventy, persons, 
 men, women, and children, were necessitated, in the 
 extremity of winter, to go down to the mouth of the river, 
 to meet their provisions, as the only expedient to preserve 
 their lives. Not meeting with the vessels they expected, 
 they all went on board the Rebecca, a vessel of about* 
 sixty tons. This, two days before, was frozen in twenty 
 miles up the river; but by the falling of a small rain and 
 the influence of the tide, the ice became so broken and 
 was so far removed, that she made shift to get out. She 
 ran, however, upon the bar, and the people were forced 
 to unlade her, to get her off. She was reladen, and in 
 five days reached Boston. Had it not been for these 
 providential circumstances, the people must have perished 
 with famine. 
 
 "The people who kept their stations on the river suf- 
 fered in an extreme degree. After all the help they were 
 able to obtain, by hunting and from the Indians, they were 
 obliged to subsist on acorns, malt and grains. Numbers 
 of the cattle, which could not be got over the river before 
 winter, lived through without any thing but what they 
 found in the woods and meadows. They wintered as well, 
 or better, than those which were brought over. However, 
 a great number of cattle perished. The Dorchester or 
 Windsor people lost, in this single article, about two hun- 
 dred pounds sterling. 
 
 "It is difficult to describe, or even to conceive, the ap- 
 prehensions and distresses of a people, in the circumstan- 
 ces of our venerable ancestors, during this doleful winter. 
 All the horrors of a dreary wilderness spread themselves 
 around them. They were encompassed with numerous, 
 fierce and cruel tribes of wild, savage men, who could 
 have swallowed up parents and children at pleasure, in 
 th«^r feeble and distressed condition. They had neither 
 3* 
 
80 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. III. 
 
 bread for themselves nor children ; neither habitations nor 
 clothing convenient for them. Whatever emergency might 
 happen, they were cut off, both by land and water, from 
 ■ any succor or retreat. This was once the- ♦condition of 
 those fair opulent towns on Connecticut River. 
 "About the beginning of June, 1636, Mr. Hooker, Mr. 
 Stone, and about a hundred men, women and children, 
 took their departure from Cambridge, and travelled more 
 than a hundred miles through a hideous and trackless 
 wilderness, to Hartford. ,They had no guide but their 
 compass ; made their way over mountains, through swamps^ 
 thickets, and rivers, which were passed only with great 
 difficulty. They had no covering but the heavens, nor 
 any lodging but those which simple nature aiforded. They 
 drove with them a hundred and sixty head of cattle, and 
 by the way subsisted on the milk of their cows. Mrs. 
 Hooker was borne through the wilderness on a litter 
 The people generally carried their packs, arms, and some 
 utensils. They were nearly a fortnight on their journey. 
 "This adventure was the more remarkable, as many of 
 this company were persons of figure, who had lived in 
 England in honor, affluence and delicacy, and were entire 
 strangrers^to such fatigue and danger." 
 
 These, then, were the hardships, privations and suffer- 
 ings of our forefathers. Should we not frequently look 
 back upon them, and learn contentment with our happier 
 lot ? Should we not often reflect how widely our condition 
 differs from theirs? We are not called to make the cold 
 ground our bed, while the heavens over our head are our 
 only covering. Our flesh does not waste away through 
 want of sufficient food to sustain nature. We do not, for 
 lack of bread, feed on acorns or muscles. Heaven grants 
 us many, very many comforts which were denied our 
 ancestors. 
 
 And if privileges should be valued according to the 
 expense at which they were procured, what estimate ought 
 we to place upon the civil and religious advantages handed 
 down to us through the privations and sufferings of those 
 who first braved the toils and dangers of the. wilderness 
 of New England? Can. we find it in our heart to treat 
 these privileges as of little worth ? Shall we not do what 
 
CHAP. IV.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 31 
 
 in us lies, to have them descend to posterity unadulterated 
 and unimpaired? And when we consider the happy re- 
 sults of the noble example of our fathers, we are con- 
 strained to ask,. What will-not diligence^ fortitude, perse- 
 verance and pmyer accomplish ? 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE MANIFESTATIONS OF GOD'S PECULIAR REGARD FOR 
 OUR ANCESTORS. 
 
 When the first company left England, as has been 
 mentioned, it was their intention to settle about Hudson 
 River. But the master of the ship having been bribed by 
 the Dutch, who were about commencing a settlement on 
 that river, to carry them farther north, he brought them on 
 to the coast of New England. Their enemies meant this 
 for evil; but the Lord evidently intended it for good. For 
 about the Hudson River the Indians were numerous and 
 powerful ; whereas, on that part of the coast of New 
 England where our fathers first landed, they were few in 
 number, having some years before been visited with a 
 pestilence which had swept the greater part of them from 
 the face of the earth. It is stated that at Patuxet, where 
 Plymouth now stands, " all the inhabitants died ; that 
 there was neither man, woman, nor child remaining." 
 
 "All writers agree that a few years before the English 
 came to New Plymouth, a mortal contagious distemper 
 swept away great numbers of Indians, so that some tribes 
 were in a manner extinct ; the Massachusetts, particularly, 
 are said by some to have been redticed from thirty thou- 
 sand to three hundred fighting men. The small pox 
 proving since so fatal to Indians, caused some to suppose 
 that to have been jhe distemper ; but the Indians them- 
 selves always gave a very different account, and, by their 
 description, it was a pestilential putrid fever."- 
 
 The Lord dealt mercifully with the first settlers of 
 Plymouth by rendering the weather less severe than in 
 
32 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. IV 
 
 some later years; for "had the month of December, 1620, 
 been as inclement as December, J 831 and 1834, when 
 our harbors and shores were an expanse of ice and snow, 
 and the thermometer several degrees below zero, those 
 whom we honor as our fathers and mothers must have 
 fallen a sacrifice to the climate, and the story of the great 
 enterprise of these bold spirits been lost in oblivion, or 
 preserved only in uncertain tradition." 
 
 On the Kith of March, . great surprise was excited by 
 the sudden appearance of an Indian, who came boldly 
 into the street of Plymouth, calling out — *' Welcome En- 
 glishman!" "Welcome Englishman!" His name was 
 Samoset, a sagamore, or chief, from Monhiggin, (Maine,) 
 who, by his intercourse with the fishermen on the eastern 
 coast, had learn'ed some broken English. This was the 
 first savage with whom the people of Plymouth gained an 
 interview. This incident was deeply fraught with mercy. 
 It cheered the spirits of the disconsolate in their solitary 
 and afflicted condition. Samoset told them that the place 
 where they were settled was called by the Indians Patuxet; 
 that all the inhabitants died of an extraordinary plague 
 about four years since. They treated him with the best 
 their stores afforded. He remained until the next day, 
 when he returned to a neighboring tribe, from which he 
 came last. " On his departure, the English gave him a 
 knife, a bracelet, and a ring, and he promised to return 
 soon, and bring other natives with him, with such beaver 
 skins as they could collect." 
 
 He returned on the following Sabbath, and brought 
 with him five other savages, with some tools which the 
 English had left in the woods, where they had been at 
 work, and which had been taken and carried off by the 
 Indians. They left their bows and arrows at a distance 
 from the settlement, and, when they came in, made signs 
 of amity. They brought some skins to trade ; but it being 
 Lord's day, the English refused to barter, and soon dis- 
 missed them, requesting them to come again. Samoset 
 . remained until the next Wednesday, when they sent him 
 to learn the reason why his friends did not return. 
 
 " Samoset, treated with hospitality by these strangers, 
 was di^osed to preserve an intercourse with them ; and; 
 
CHAP. IV.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 33 
 
 on his third visit, was accompanied by Squanto, one of the 
 natives, who had been carried off by Hunt in 1614, and 
 afterwards lived in England. They informed the English 
 that Massasoit, the greatest king of the neighboring In- 
 dians, was near, with his brother and a number of his 
 people; and withii\^an hour he appeared on the top of a 
 hill over against the English .town, with a train of sixty 
 men. 
 
 "Mutual distrust prevented for some time any advance 
 from either side. Squanto at length being sent by Massa- 
 soit, brought, back word that the English should send one 
 of their number to parley with him. Mr. Edward Win- 
 slow was accordingly sent. Two knives, and a copper 
 chain, with a jewel in it, were sent to Massasoit at the 
 same time ; and to his brother a knife, and a jewel, a 
 quantity of biscuit, and some butter, all which articles 
 were gladly accepted. Mr. Winslow, the messenger, in a 
 speech to Massasoit, signified that king James saluted 
 him with words of love and peace, and that the English 
 governor desired to see him, and to truck with him, and 
 to confirm a peace with him, as his next neighbor. The 
 Indian king heard his speech with attention and approba- 
 tion. After partaking of the provision which made part 
 of the English present, and imparting the rest to his com- 
 pany, he looked on Mr. Winslow's sword and armor, with 
 an intimation of his desire to buy it, but found him un- 
 willing to part with it. At the close of the interview, 
 Massasoit, leaving Mr. Winslow in the custody of his 
 brother, went over the brook, which separated him from 
 the English, with a train of twenty men, whose bows and 
 arrows were left behind. He was met at the brook by 
 Capt. Standish and Mr. Williamson, with six musketeers, 
 who conducted him to a house then in building, where 
 were placed a green rug and three or four cushions. The 
 governor now advanced, attended with a drum and trum- 
 pet, and a few musketeers. After mutual salutations, 
 the governor called for refreshments, which the Indian 
 king partook himself, and imparted to his followers. A 
 league of friendship was then agreed o«, and it was in- 
 violably observed above fifty years." 
 
 ** After the league with Massasoit, Corbitant, one of his 
 
34 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. IV. 
 
 petty sachems, becoming discontented, meditated to join 
 the NarragansettSjWho were inimical to the English ; and 
 he was now at Namasket, attempting to alienate the sub- 
 jects of Massasoit from their king. Squanto and Hobo- 
 mack, two faithful friends of the English, going at this 
 time to Namasket, to make observations, were threatened 
 with death by Corbitant, who seized and detained Squanto, 
 but Hobomack made his escape. To counteract the 
 hostile machinations of Corbitant, and to liberate Squanto, 
 the governor, with the advice of the company, sent Miles 
 Standish and fourteen men, with Hobomack for their 
 guide, to Namasket. On their arrival, the Indians of 
 Corbitant's faction fled. The design of the English ex- 
 pedition was explained to the natives of the place, with 
 menaces of revenge in case of insurrection against Massa- 
 soit, or of violence to any of his subjects. 
 **This resolute enterprise struck such terror into the 
 neighboring Indians, that their chiefs came in and solicited 
 the friendship of the English. On the 13th of September^ 
 nine sachems voluntarily came to Plymouth, and subscribed 
 an instrument of submission to king James. It was pe- 
 culiarly happy for the colony that it had secured the friend- 
 ship of Massasoit, for his influence was very extensive^ 
 He was reverenced and regarded by all the natives from 
 the bay of Narragansett to that of Massachusetts. The 
 submission of the nine sachems is ascribed to their mutual 
 connection with this sovereign, as its primary cause. Other 
 princes under him made also a similar submission, among 
 whom are mentioned those of Pamet, Nauset, Cummaquid, 
 and Namasket, with several others about the bays of Pa- 
 tuxet and Massachusetts." 
 
 In the submission of these chiefs to this little colony- 
 diminished by death, and wasted by sickness — is strikingly 
 manifested the power and goodness of Him who has the 
 hearts of all in his hand, and who turneth them as the 
 rivers of water are turned. 
 
 "Qn the 11th of November, Robert Cushman arrived 
 at Plymouth in a ship from England, with thirty-five per- 
 sons, destined to. remain in the colony. By this arrival 
 the Plymouth colonists received a charter, procured for 
 them by the adventurers in London, who had heen origi- 
 
or THE 
 
 CHAP. IV.] HISTORY OF NEVT ENGLAI 
 
 TJHIV^'i^S^ 
 
 nally concerned with them in the enterprise f'»s;^d they now 
 acknowledged the extraordinary blessing of lieaven in 
 directing their course into this part of the country, where 
 they had happily obtained permission to possess and enjoy 
 the territory under the authority of the president and 
 council for the affairs of New England." 
 
 The Lord manifested his peculiar regard for this poor 
 people by rendering them contented and thankful in their 
 situation. 
 
 The Mayflower, having remained at Plymouth until 
 spring, sailed for England on the 5th of April ; but not 
 one of the colony expressed a desire to return to their 
 native country. 
 
 It is said of Elder Brewster, that "with the most sub- 
 missive patience he bore the novel and trying hardships 
 to which his old age was subjected, lived abstemiously, 
 and, after having been in his youth the companion of 
 ministers of state, the representative of his sovereign, 
 familiar with the magnificence of courts, and the possessor 
 of a fortune sufficient not only for the comforts but the 
 elegances of life, this humble puritan labored steadily 
 with his own hands in the fields for daily subsistence. 
 Destitute of meat, of fish, and of bread, over his simple 
 meal of clams would he return thanks to the Lord that 
 he could suck of the abundance of the seas, and of trea- 
 sures hid in the sand." 
 
 The sentiments of one of their number are thus ex- 
 pressed: " I take notice of it as a great favor of God, not 
 only to preserve my life, but to give me contentedness in 
 our straits ; insomuch that I do not remember that ever I 
 did wish in my heart that I had never come into this 
 country, or wish myself back again to my father's house." 
 
 " By the time our corn is planted," says Bradford, "our 
 victuals are spent, not knowing at night where to have a 
 bit in the morning, and have neither bread nor corn for 
 three or. four months together ; yet bear our wants with 
 cheerfulness, and rest on Providence." 
 
 In the spring of 16*23, Massasoit fell sick, and sent , 
 intelligence of it to the governor, who immediately sent ' 
 Mr. Winslow and Mr. John Hamden, to pay him a visit. 
 They carried with them presents, and some cordials for 
 
3(5 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. IT. 
 
 his relief. Their visit and presents were very consolatory 
 to the venerable chief, and were the means of his recovery. 
 
 In return for their kindness, he informed them of a 
 dangerous conspiracy among the neighboring Indians, the 
 object of which was the total extirpation of the English, 
 By means of this ' timely discovery, and the consequent 
 spirited exertions of the governor, whose wise plans were 
 executed' by the brave Capt. Standish, the colony was once 
 more saved from destruction." 
 
 A severe drought prevailing in the summer of 1623, 
 the governor set apart a day of fasting and prayer. In so 
 extraordinary a manner did the Lord appear for them by 
 granting copious and gentle showers of rain, that they, in 
 acknowledgment of his special kindness, observed a day 
 of public thanksgiving. ^ 
 
 " The first patent of Plymouth had been taken out in 
 the name of John Pierce, in trust for the company of 
 adventurers ; but when he saw the promising state of their 
 settlement, and the favor which their success had ob- 
 tained for them with the council for New England, he, 
 without their knowledge, but in their name, procured an- 
 other patent, of larger extent, intending to keep it for his 
 own benefit, and hold the adventurers as his tenants, to 
 sue and be sued at his courts. In pursuance of this de- 
 sign, he, in the autumn of 1622, and beginning of 1623, 
 made repeated attempts to send a ship to New England, 
 but it was forced back by storms. In the last attempt, 
 the mariners, about the middle of February, were obliged, 
 in a terrible storm, to cut away the main mast, and return 
 to Portsmouth. Pierce was then on board, with one hun- 
 dred and nine souls. After these successive losses, he 
 was prevailed on by the company of adventurers to assign 
 to them for five hundred pounds the patent, which had 
 cost him but fifty. Another ship was hired to transport 
 the passengers and goods, and it arriv^ed at Plymouth in 
 July. Soon after, arrived a new vessel of forty-four tons, 
 which the company had built, to remain in the country , 
 both brought supplies for the plantation, and about fifty 
 passengers." 
 
 " Among these passengers were divers worthy and use- 
 ful men, who were come to seek the welfare of this little 
 Israel." 
 
CHAP. IV.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 37 
 
 In the month of May, 1630, another company of the 
 Leyden people, through the kind providence of God, ar- 
 rived at Plymouth. They were about sixty in number. 
 Thus, after a separation of nearly ten years, tliese weary 
 pilgrims were permitted again to meet. This event must 
 have greatly refreshed their spirits, and occasioned many 
 thanksgivings to God. 
 
 " In 1639, at the termination of the Pequod war, Massa- 
 soit brought his son Mooanam' to Plymouth, and desired 
 that the league which he had formerly made might be re- 
 newed, and made inviolable. The sachem and his son 
 voluntarily promised, for themselves and their successors, 
 that they would not needlessly nor unjustly raise any 
 quarrels, or do any wrong to any other natives, to provoke 
 them to a war against the colony, and that they would not 
 give, sell, or convey any of their lands, territories or pos- 
 sessions whatever, to any person or persons whatsoever, 
 without the privy consent of the government of Plymouth, 
 other than to such as the said government should send or 
 appoint. The whole court did then ratify and confirm the 
 aforesaid league and promise, to the said Massasoit, 
 his son and successors, that they would defend them 
 against all such as should unjustly rise up against them, to 
 wrong or oppress them." 
 
 The colonies of New England were peculiarly favored 
 of ^the Lord in their rulers. Magistracy is of divine ap- 
 pointment. " The powers that be are ordained of God ;" 
 and " he putteth down one and setteth up another" at his 
 pleasure. Those who had the management of the public 
 affairs of the colonies were men of singular integrity 
 and ability. When were men ever placed in authority 
 who were more worthy the confidence of the people, than 
 the first governors of the colonies of New England ? • 
 What men ever answered better to David's description of 
 a good ruler — *' He that ruleth over men must be just, 
 ruling in the fear of God?" 
 
 The kind hand of the Lord was manifested in suppl/mg 
 the people with the means of subsistence. Capt. Clap, 
 one of the first settlers of Dorchester, gives the following 
 account : " O, the hunger that many suffered, and saw no 
 hope in the eye of reason to be supplied, only by clams, 
 4 
 
38 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP, IV. 
 
 and muscles, and fish ! We did quickly build boats, and 
 some went a fishing ; but bread was with many a scarce 
 thing, miAjiesh of all kinds as scarce. And in those days, 
 in our straits, though I cannot say GTod sent a raven to 
 feed us as he did the prophet Elijah, yet this I can say, to 
 the praise of God's glory, that he sent not only poor 
 ravenous Indians, who came with their baskets of corn on 
 their backs to trade with us, which was a good supply 
 unto many, but also sent ships from Holland and from 
 Ireland with provisions, and Indian corn from Virginia, to 
 supply the wants of his dear servants in this wilderness, 
 both for food and raiment. And when the people's wants 
 were great, not only in one town but divers towns, such 
 was the godly wisdom, care and prudence (not selfishness 
 but self-denial) of our governor Winthrop and his assist- 
 ants, that when a ship came laden with provisions, they 
 did order that the whole cargo should be bought for a 
 general stock ; and so accordirtgly it was, and distribution 
 was made to every town and to every person in each town, 
 as every man had need. Thus God was pleased to care 
 for his people in times of straits, and to fill his servants 
 with food and gladness. Then did all the servants of God 
 bless his holy name, and love one another with a pure 
 heart fervently." 
 
 Mr. Edward Johnson, who settled at Woburn,says, "In 
 the absence of bread, they feasted themselves with fish; 
 the women once a day, as the tide gave way, resorted to 
 the muscles and clam banks, where they daily gathered 
 food for their families, with much heavenly discourse of 
 the provisions Christ made for the many thousands of his 
 followers in the wilderness. Said one, My husband hath 
 travelled as far as Plymouth, which is near forty miles, 
 and hath with great toil brought a little corn home with ' 
 him, and before that is spent the Lord will assuredly pro- , 
 vide. Said the other. Our last peck of meal is now in the 
 oven at home a baking, and many of our godly neighbors 
 have quite spent all, and we owe one loaf of that little 
 we have. Then said a third, My husband hath ventured 
 kimself among the Indians for corn, and can get none . 
 and our honored governor hath distributed his so far, that 
 a day or two more will put an end to his store. And yet 
 
CHAP. IV.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. ^ 
 
 methinks that our children are as cheerful, fat, and lusty 
 with feeding upon muscles, clams, and other fish, as they 
 were in England with their fill of bread; which makes me- 
 cheerful in the provision the Lord makes for us : being 
 further confirmed by the exhortation of our pastor to 
 trust the Lord with providing for us, whose is the earth 
 and the fulness thereof As they were encouraging one 
 another in the provision Christ had made, and still would 
 make, they lifted up their eyes and saw two ships coming 
 in. Presently news came to them that they were from 
 Ireland, and that they were laden with provision. And 
 now their poor hearts were not so much refreshed in regard 
 to the food they saw they were like to have, as in the 
 thought that Christ should thus manifest himself in their 
 behalf. After this manner did Christ many times gra- 
 ciously provide for his people, even at the last cast. 
 " The chief corn they planted before they had ploughs 
 was Indian grain, the increase of which is very much 
 beyond all other, to the great refreshing of the poor ser- 
 vants of Christ in their low beginnings. 
 " The admirable providence of the Lord is to be noted, 
 in that, during these years of scarcity, he visited that 
 small quantity of land they planted, with seasonable 
 showers, and that many times, to the great admiration of 
 the Indians. The extreme parching heat of the sun began 
 to scorch the herbs and fruits, which were the chief means 
 of their subsistence ; they, beholding the hand of the 
 Lord stretched out against them, like tender-he«ted chil- 
 dren, fell down on their knees, begging mercy of the Lord 
 for their Savior's sake, urging this as a chief argument, 
 that the malignant adversary would rejoice in their de- 
 struction, and blaspheme the pure ordinances of Christ, 
 trampling down his commands; and in uttering these 
 words, their eyes dropped down with many tears, their 
 feelings being so strong that they could not refrain in the 
 church assembly. Here admire and be strong in the 
 grace of Christ, all you that hopefully belong to him ; for 
 as they poured out tears before the Lord, so at that very 
 time the Lord showered down rain on their gardens and 
 fields, which with great industry they ha^ planted, and had 
 not the Lord caused it to rain speedily, their hope of food 
 
40 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. IV 
 
 had been lost. These poor servants of Christ were now 
 so much affected that the Lord should be so nigh unto 
 • them, in that they called upon him for, that as the drops 
 of haaven fell thicker and faster, so the tears fell from 
 their eyes, by reason of the sudden mixture of joy and 
 sorrow; they being unable to decide which mercy was the 
 greatest, to have a humble begging heart given them of 
 God, or to have their request so suddenly answered. 
 "The Indians hearing of this, and seeing the sweet rain 
 that fell, were much taken with the Englishman's God. 
 These people now arose from their knees to receive the 
 rich mercies of Christ, in the refreshed fruits of the earth.- 
 "And behold ships also arrive, filled with fresh forces, 
 for furthering the wonderful work of Christ. And indeed 
 this year came in many precious ones, whom Christ by 
 his grace hath made much use of in his churches, and in 
 the commonwealth. 
 
 *' This poor people having tasted thus liberally of Ihe sal- 
 vation of the Lord, they deemed it high time to take the 
 cup of thanksgiving and pay their vows to the Most High. 
 They accordingly set apart the 16th of October, 1633, as 
 a day of thanksgiving. This day was solemnly observed 
 by all the seven churches." 
 
 Surely the Lord exercises a particular providence over 
 the affairs of men ; and his dealings with those who deny 
 themselves, venture and suffer with a desire to promote his 
 glory and the interests of his kingdom, differ widely from 
 his treatiflent of those who shun the cross, and live unto 
 themselves. With these things before his mind, who would 
 not have a place among the "true people of God 1 Who 
 would not share in the peculiar kindness of Him vyho 
 gave us being? of Him who will never leave the objects 
 of his affection ; who will follow them with a father's 
 heart, and a father's kindness, to the end of life, yea, 
 more, to all eternity ? Happy, surely, is the person who 
 is in such a case. 
 
CHAP, v.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 41 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 REMARKABLE ANSWERS TO PRAYER. 
 
 One prominent feature in the character of our fore- 
 fathers was, they were men of prayer. In every emergen- 
 cy, the ." mercy seat" was their first and last resort. 
 
 " I hear the pilgrim's peaceful prayer, 
 Swelling along the silent air, 
 Araid the forest wild." 
 
 Their expectation was from God alone. They hung help- 
 less on the arm of the Lord, and poured out their fervent, 
 believing desires into his bosom. Nor did they plead in 
 vain. They had powef with God. Eternity alone will 
 fully disclose the influence of their supplications. 
 
 Answers to prayer do not generally come with ohscrvor 
 tion. They are often sent in a way which is hid from most 
 persons, and frequently even from those who receive them. 
 There are, however, instances in which answers to prayer 
 are so striking and visible as to be obvious to all. A few 
 cases of this kind are found in the early history of New 
 England. 
 
 In the summer of 1623, the people of Plymouth w.ere 
 visited with a severe and distressing drought. From about 
 the middle of May to.the middle of July, the rain was en- 
 tirely withheld, the ground became exceedingly dry, and 
 the corn greatly parched and dried up ; so that famine, with 
 its attendant evils, seemed inevitable. In their extremity 
 they repaired to Him who had so often appeared for them 
 in the dark hour of affliction. A day of fasting and prayer 
 was appointed ; they met and continued their fervent sup- 
 plications for eight or nine hours, without cessation. Du- 
 ring the former part of the day the sky was cloudless, and 
 the sun poured its clear and scorching rays upon the sur- 
 rounding fields ; but before night the heavens were over- 
 cast, and soon the rain fell in gentle, refreshing showers, 
 which continued, at intervals, for fourteen days. The na- 
 tives were struck with amazement at the sight, and could 
 not but acknowledge that the blessing came in answer to 
 prayer. One of them, named Hoboraack, exclaimed, 
 4* 
 
tSt INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. V 
 
 " Now I see that the Englishman's God is a good God, for 
 he has heard you, and sent you rain, and that without storms 
 and tempests, which we usually have with our rain, which 
 breaks down our corn ; but yours stands whole and good 
 still ; surely your God is a good God." 
 
 So visible was the good hand of the Lord to the colony, 
 in affording this seasonable rain, and in sending them a 
 supply of provisions from England, that, at a convenient 
 time, they observed a day of public thanksgiving and 
 praise. 
 
 In the summer of 1638, there was a very great drought 
 all over the country, little or no rain having fallen for about 
 six weeks, so that the corn generally began to wither, and 
 there was great fear that the crop would be wholly cut off. 
 Whereupon, the general cpurt of Massachusetts conferred 
 with the elders, and agreed upon a day of humiliation and 
 prayer, to be held about a week after. While the court 
 and elders were togetlier, they conferred upon such things 
 as were amiss which provoked the Most High to come out 
 in judgment against the people, and agreed to acquaint the 
 churches therewith, that they might be stirred up to re- 
 pentance and reformation. Within a week after the day 
 of humiliation and prayer was past, such a quantity of rain 
 fell, that the corn revived, and the people were cheered 
 with the prospect of a very plentiful harvest. 
 
 *' An Indian of superior rank, on Martha's Vineyard, 
 and his wife, having buried their first five children succes- 
 sively, each of them within ten days of their birth, not- 
 withstanding all their use of powwows and medicines to 
 preserve them, had a sixth child, a son, born about the year 
 1638, which was a few years before the English settled on 
 the isjand. The mother was greatly distressed with the 
 fear that she should lose this child also ; and utterly de- 
 spairing of help from the means she had formerly tried 
 without success, as soon as she was able, (which, among 
 the Indians, is within less than ten days,) with a sorrowful 
 heart she took up her child, and went out into the field, 
 that she might there give vent to her feelings in flowing 
 tears. While she was here, musing on the insufficiency 
 of all "human aid, she felt it powerfully suggested to her 
 mind, that there is one Almighty God who is to be prayed 
 
CHAP, v.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 43 
 
 to ; that this God created every thing we see ; and that 
 the Being who had given existence to herself, and to all 
 other people, and who had given her this child, could ea- 
 sily continue the life of the child. 
 
 "This poor blind pagan how resolved that she would seek 
 unto this God for the life of her child, which she did ac- 
 cordingly. Her child lived; and her faith (such as it was) 
 m Him who answered her prayer, was greatly strengthened. 
 In view of the goodness and mercy she had received, she 
 was led to dedicate this child to the service of the Being 
 who had preserved his life, and resolved to educate him, as 
 far as she could, to become the servant of the Most High. 
 
 *'Not long after this, the English came and settled on 
 Martha's Vineyard, and the Indians who had been present 
 at some of their meetings, reported that they assembled 
 together frequently, and that the man who spoke among 
 them, often looked upward. From this report, this woman 
 concluded that they assembled for prayer, and that their 
 prayers were addressed to the very same God to whom she 
 had prayed for the life of her child. She was confirmed 
 in this opinion, when, not long after, Mr. Mayhew came 
 and preached the gospel to the Indians on the island; 
 which gospel she readily and heartily embraced. On her 
 admission to the church, she stated her experience in pub- 
 lic, when she gave an account of the preparation for the 
 knowledge of Christ, wherewith God in this wonderful 
 manner had favored her. And what adds to the interest 
 of this wonderful story is, that this very child, whose name 
 is Japhet, has become an eminent preacher of Christ to 
 the Indians. He is living at this time (1696) a very pious 
 man and a laborious minister, and not only pastor of an 
 Indian church on Martha's Vineyard, consisting of some 
 scores of regenerate souls, but has taken pains to preach 
 the gospel to the Indians on the main land, and his labors 
 have been attended .with wonderful success." 
 
 In 1687, the people of Connecticut were exposed to the 
 most imminent danger from the Pequot Indians, who 
 *' were now destroying the lives and property of the colo- 
 nists, attempting to raise the numerous Indian tribes of the 
 country against them, and threatened the utter ruin of the 
 whole colony.- The inhabitants were in a feeble state, and 
 
44 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. V 
 
 few in number. They wanted all their number at home, 
 to prosecute the necessary business of the plantations. 
 They had not a. sufficiency of provisions for themselves; 
 there would, therefore, be the greatest difficulty in.furnish- 
 ing a small army with provisions abroad. They could 
 neither hunt, fish, nor cultivate their fields, nor travel at 
 home or abroad, but at the peril of their lives. They 
 were obliged to keep a constant watch by night and day ; 
 to go armed to their daily labors, and to public worship; 
 to keep a guard at their houses of worship on the Lord's 
 day, and at other seasons, whenever they convened for the 
 worship of God. They lay down and rose up in fear and 
 danger. If they should raise a party of men and send 
 them to fight the enemy on their own ground, it would 
 render the settlements proportionably weak at home, in 
 case of an assault from the enemy. Every thing appeared 
 dark and threatening. But nothing could discourage men 
 who had an unshaken confidence in the divine govern- 
 ment, and were determined to sacrifice every other consi- 
 deration, for the enjoyment of the uncorrupted gospel, and 
 the propagation of religion and liberty in America. 
 
 "In this important crisis, a court was summoned at Hart- 
 ford, on Monday, the 1st of May. On mature delibera- 
 tion, considering that the Pequots had killed nearly thirty 
 of the English ; that they had tortured and insulted their 
 captives in the most horrible manner ; that they were at- 
 tempting to engage all the Indians to unite for the purpose 
 of extirpating the English; and the danger the whole colo- 
 ny was in, unless some capital blow could be immediately 
 given their enemies, they determined that an offensive war 
 should be carried on against them, by the three towns of 
 Windsor, Hartford, and Weathersfield. They voted that 
 ninety men should be raised forthwith.* 
 
 *' On- Wednesday, the 10th of May, the troops fell down 
 the river, for the fort at Saybrook. They consisted of 90 
 Englishmen and about 70 Mohegan and river Indians. 
 The Indians were commanded by Uncas, sachem of the 
 Mohegans. The whole was commanded by Capt. John 
 Mason, who had been bred a soldier in the old countries. 
 The Rev. Mr. Stone of Hartford went their chaplain. On 
 Monday, the 15th, the troops, arrived at Saybrook fort 
 
CHAP, v.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 45 
 
 "The army lay wind-bound until Friday, and Capt. Ma- 
 son and his officers were entirely divided in opinion with 
 respect to the manner of prosecuting their enterprise. The 
 court, by the commission and instructions which it had 
 given, enjoined the landing the men at Pequot harbor, and 
 that from thence they should advance upon the enemy. 
 The captain was for passing by them, and sailing to the 
 Narragansett country. His officers and men, in general, 
 were for attending their instructions, and going, at all ha- 
 zards, directly to the forts. In this division of opinion, 
 Mr. Stone was desired by the officers most importunately 
 to pray for them- that their way might be directed, and 
 that, notwithstanding the present embarrassment, the en- 
 terprise mighl; be crowned with success. Mr Stone spent 
 most of Thursday night in prayer, and the next morning 
 visiting Capt. Mason, assured him that he had done as he 
 was desired ; adding, that he was entirely satisfied with - 
 his plan. The council was again called, and, upon a full 
 view of the reasons, unanimously agreed to proceed to 
 Narragansett." 
 
 This enterprise, on the success of which the very exist- 
 ence of Connecticut, under Providence, depended, was 
 prosperous almost beyond example. The English gained 
 a complete victory ; and, with the loss of only two men, " in 
 about three weeks from the time they embarked at Hart- 
 ford, they returned again to their respective habitations. 
 They were received with the greatest exultation. As the 
 people had been greatly affected with the danger, and full 
 of anxiety for their friends, while nearly half the effective 
 men in the colony were in service upon so hazardous an 
 enterprise, so sudden a change, in thfe great victory ob- 
 tained, and in the safe return of so many of their sons 
 and neighbors, filled them with exceeding joy and thank- 
 fulness. Every family, and every worshipping assembly, 
 spake the language of praise and thanksgiving. 
 
 ** Several, circumstances attending this enterprise, were 
 much noticed by the soldiers themselves, and especially by 
 all the pious people. It was considered very providential, 
 that the army should march nearly forty miles, and a con- 
 siderable part of it in the enemy's country, and not be dis- 
 covered until the moment they were ready to commence 
 
46 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP ▼ 
 
 the attack. The life of Capt. Mason was very signally pre- 
 served. As he entered a wigwam for fire to burn the fort, 
 an Indian was drawing an arrow to the very head, aiKi 
 .would have killed him instantly; but Davis, one of his 
 sergeants, cut the bow-string with his cutlass, and prevent- 
 ed the fatal shot. Lieut. Bull received an arrow into a 
 hard piece of cheese, which he had in his clothes, and 
 so escaped uninjured. Two soldiers, John Dyer andTho 
 mas Stiles, were shot in the knots of their neckcloths, and 
 by them preserved from instant death." 
 
 " Blessings," says Dwight, " have in many instances 
 been given, after fervent prayers have ascended to God, 
 when none but God could have contributed to their exist- 
 ence ; when they were utterly unattainable by any human 
 efforts, and after all hope of obtaining them, except by 
 prayer, had vanished. 
 
 " I am bound, as an inhabitant of New England, solemn 
 ly to declare, that, were there no other instances to be 
 found in any other country, the blessings communica- 
 ted 'to this, would furnish ample satisfaction concerning 
 this subject, to every sober, much more to every pious 
 man. Among these, the destruction of the French arma- 
 ment under the Duke D'Anville, in the year 1746, ought 
 to be remembered with gratitude and admiration by every 
 inhabitant of this country. This fleet consisted of 40 ships 
 of war ; was destined for the destruction of New England ; 
 was of sufficient force to render that destruction, in the 
 ordinary progress of things, certain ; sailed from Chehuf 
 to^ in Nova Scotia, for this purpose ; and was entirely de- 
 stroyed, on the night following a general fast throughout 
 New England, by a terrible tempest. Impious men, who 
 regard not the work of the Lord, nor the operation of 
 his hands, and who,, for that reason, are finally destroyed, 
 'may refuse to give God the glory of this most merciful 
 interposition. But our ancestors had, and it is to be hoped 
 their descendants ever will have, both piety and good sense 
 sufficient to ascribe to Jehovah the greatness, and the power, 
 and the victory, and the majesty ; and to bless the Lord God 
 of Israel forever and ever." 
 
 And have we the same encouragement to present our 
 supplications before the Lord that our fathers had? Most 
 
CHAP. VI.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 47 
 
 assuredly. " His power and grace are still the same." 
 The Lord's hand is not shortened^ that it cannot save ; 
 neither his ear heavy ^ that he cannot hear. Do any say 
 that they are sinful and unworthy 1 So were our fathers. 
 They felt, and confessed themselves to be so. But they 
 did not, on this account, neglect to call on the name of the 
 Lord. Neither did the Lord turn away their prayer or 
 his mercy from them. Nor will he now shut up his bow- 
 els of compassion against the humble suppliant. Does 
 any reader of these pages doubt that it is in the heart of 
 God to hear his penitent and believing supplications ? Let 
 such an one make the experiment. Let him offer his fer- 
 vent prayers to God, and persevere 'in the duty, and then 
 decide. Nothing short of a trial, in any matter, can deter- 
 mine the event. 
 
 CHAPTER Vi 
 
 PUBLIC CALAMITIES. 
 
 GREAT STORM. 
 
 On the 15th of August, 1635, New England was visited 
 by a tremendous storm, or hurricane. It is thus described 
 by Morton. " It began in the morning, a little before day, 
 and grew not by degrees, but came with great violence in 
 the beginning, to the great amazement of many. It blew 
 down sundry houses, and uncovered divers others ; divers 
 vessels were lost at sea, and many more were in extreme 
 danger. It caused the sea to swell in some places to the 
 southward of Plymouth, so that it rose to twenty feet right 
 up and down, and made many of the Indians to climb into 
 trees for their safety. It threw down all the corn to the 
 ground, so that it never rose more, the which, through the 
 mercy of God, it being near harvest time, was not lost, 
 though much the worse. Had the wind continued without 
 shifting, in likelihood it would have drowned some part of 
 the country. It blew down many hundred thousands of 
 
48 INCIDENTS IN. THE EARLY [cHAP. VI. 
 
 trees, turning up the stronger by the roots, and breaking 
 the high pine-trees, and such like, in the midst ; and the 
 tall young oaks and walnut-trees, of good bigness, were 
 twisted as a withe by it, — very strange and fearful to be- 
 hold. It began in the south-east, and veered sundry ways, 
 but the greatest force of it, at Plymouth, was from the for- 
 mer quarter ; it continued not in extremity above five or 
 six hours, before the violence of it began to abate ; the 
 marks of it will remain for many years, in those parts 
 where it was sorest." 
 
 EARTHQUAKES. 
 
 Several earthquakes are noticed in the eariy history of 
 New England. The first, which was on the 1st day of 
 June, 1638, is spoken of by Trumbull as " a great and 
 memorable earthquake." His description of it is the fol- 
 lowing. " It came with a report like continued thunder, 
 or the rattling of numerous coaches upon a paved street. 
 The shock was so gi^at, that in many places the tops of 
 chimneys were thrown down, and the pewter ffell from 
 the shelves. It shook the waters and ships in the har- 
 bors, and all the adjacent islands. The duration of the 
 sound and tremor was about four minutes. The earth 
 at turns was unquiet for nearly twenty days. The wea- 
 ther was clear, the wind westerly^ and the course of the 
 earthquake from west to east." 
 
 The next earthquake of any considerable violence, of 
 which a particular account is left on record, was on the 
 29th of October, 1727. It is thus described by Hutchin- 
 son. " About 40 minutes after 10 at night, when there 
 was a serene sky, and calm but sharp air, a most amazing 
 noise was heard, like to the roaring of a chimney when on 
 fire, as some said, only beyond comparison greater ; others 
 compared it to the noise of coaches on pavements, and 
 thought that of ten thousand together would not have exr 
 ceeded it. The noise was judged by some to continue 
 about half a minute before the shock began, which in- 
 creased gradually, and was thought to have continued the 
 space of a minute before it was at the height, and, in about 
 half a minute more, to have been at an end by a gradual 
 
CHAP. VI.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 49 
 
 decrease. The noise and shock of this, and all earth- 
 quakes which preceded it in New England, were observed 
 to come from the west, or north-west, and go off to the 
 east, or south-east. At Newbury, and other towns on the 
 Merrimack River, the shock was greater than in any other 
 part of Massachusetts, but no buildings were thrown down. 
 Part of the walls of several cellars fell in, and the tops of 
 many chimneys were shaken off. At New York, it seems 
 to have been equal to* what it was in Massachusetts ; but at 
 Philadelphia it was very sensibly weaker, and, in the colo- 
 nies southward, it grew less and less, until it had spent it- 
 self, or become insensible. The seamen on the coast sup- 
 posed their vessels to have struck upon a shoal of loose ^ 
 ballast. There was a general apprehension of danger of 
 destruction and death, and many who had very little sense 
 of religion before, appeared to be very serious and devout 
 penitents ; but, too generally, as the fears of another earth- 
 quake went off, the religious impressions went with them, 
 and they, who had been subjects of both, returned to their 
 former course of life." 
 
 Rev. Mr. Gookin, of Hampton, N. H., gives the follow- 
 ing account of the same earthquake. 
 
 " The shake was very hard, and was attended with a 
 terrible noise, something like thunder. The houses trem- . . 
 bled as if they were falling ; divers chimneys were cracked, 
 and some had their tops broken off. It was especially so 
 in the south parish, where the hardest shake seemed to be 
 on the hill, where the house of God stands. Three hou- 
 ses on that hill had their chimneys broken, one of which 
 was the house of Rev. Mr. Whipple. When the shake 
 was beginning, some persons observed a flash of light run- 
 ning on the earth : the flame seemed to them to be of a 
 blueish color. These flashes, no doubt, broke out of the 
 earth ; otherwise, it is probable they would have been seen 
 more generally, especially by those who were abroad. The 
 €ea was observed to roar in *an unusual manner. The 
 earth broke open, and cast up a very fine blueish sand. At 
 the place of the eruption, there now (above two months 
 after) continually issue out considerable quantities of 
 water. A spring of water which had run freely for 
 fourscore years, and was never known to freeze, was sunk 
 5 D 
 
50 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VI. 
 
 by the earthquake, and froze afteryyards like any standing 
 water. 
 
 "There were divers other shocks in the same night; yea, 
 the sound was heard, and sometimes the shake felt, every 
 day for a fortnight after. 
 
 " It is hard to express the consternation that fell, both on 
 men and beasts, in the time of the great shock. The brute 
 creatures ran roaring about the fields, as if in the greatest 
 distress. And mankind were as much surprised as they, 
 and some with very great terror ; so that they might say, 
 Fearfulness and terror hath come upon me, and horror hath 
 overwhelmed me. All of us saw the necessity of looking 
 to God for his favor and protection ; and I would hope 
 that many did, not only look to God in that time of their 
 distress, but did truly and heartily return to him. Many 
 are now asking the way to Zion with their faces thither- 
 ward. They say. Come, and let us join ourselves to the 
 Lord in a perpetual covenant, not to be forgotten, ma- 
 king a credible profession of faith and repentance. This 
 is the happy effect which, by the grace of God, the earth- 
 quake has had upon some among us." 
 
 This earthquake, as felt at Boston, is thus described by 
 Prentice. " On the night after the Lord's day, October 
 29, 1727, about forty minutes past ten, in a calm and se- 
 rene hour, the town of JSoston was on a sudden extremely 
 surprised with the most violent shock of an earthquake 
 that has been known aftiong us. It came on with a loud, hol- 
 low noise, like the roaring of a great fired chimney, but in- 
 comparably more fierce and terrible. In about half a minute 
 the earth began to. heave and tremble ; the shock increasing, 
 rose to its height in «ibout a minute more, when the movea- 
 bles,and doors, windows, walls, especially in the upper cham- 
 bers, made a fearful clattering, and the houses rocked and 
 cracked as if they were all dissolving and falling to pieces. 
 The people asleep were awakened with the greatest asto- 
 nishment ; many others' affrighted, ran into the streets for 
 safety. But the shaking quickly abated, and in another 
 half minute it entirely ceased. Some damage was done to 
 the more brittle sort <ff moveables, and some bricks on the 
 tops of some chimneys fell; but .not a house was broken, 
 nor a creature hurt. At several times until daylight ^ were 
 
CHAP. VI.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 51 
 
 heard some distant rumblings, and some fainter shocks 
 ivere felt." 
 
 On the 18th of November, 1755, New England was 
 again visited with an earthquake. Of this; Dr. Holmes 
 gives the following account. " It began at Boston a little 
 a^*er four o'clock, in a serene and pleasant night, and con- 
 tinued nearly four and a half minutes. In Boston, about 
 one hundred chimneys were in a manner levelled with the 
 roofs of the houses, and above fifteen hundred shattered 
 and thrown down in part. In some places, especially on 
 the low, loose ground, made by encroachments on the har- 
 bor, the streets were almost covered with the bricks that 
 had fallen. The ends of about twelve or fifteen brick 
 buildings were thrown down from the top to the eaves of 
 the houses. Many clocks were stopped. The vane of the 
 market house was thrown down. A new vane of one of 
 the churches was bent at the spindle two or three points 
 of the compass. At New Ilaven, the ground, in many 
 places, seemed to rise like the waves of the sea; the houses 
 shook, and cracked, as if they were just ready to fall, and 
 many tops of chimneys were thrown down. The motion 
 of this earthquake was unflulatory. Its course was nearly 
 from north-west to south-east. Its extent was from Chesa- 
 peake Bay south-west, to Halifax north-east, about eight 
 hundred miles ; but from north-west to south-east, it reached 
 at least one thousand miles, and perhaps many more." 
 
 The following is an account of the same earthquake, 
 communicated by a gentleman residing in Boston, in a let- 
 ter to a friend. " It was first introduced with a noise like 
 several coaches rattling over the pavements, or rather like 
 a noise of many cart-loads of paving stones thrown down 
 together. I was sensible it came from the north-west, 
 and that side of my house felt concussion. The first mo- 
 tion was a strong pulsation, which threw .my house up- 
 wards ; immediately after, a tremor succeeded, which in 
 half a minute abated a little, but then instantly a quick vi- 
 bratioTi, with sudden jerks, followed ; and this, by my best 
 observation, held nearly a minute, before the second abate- 
 ment, which went off gradually, in about half a minute 
 more, so that the whole duration, from the first pulse to the 
 end of the shock, seemed to be about two minutes : the 
 
52 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VI 
 
 greatest force, I apprehend, was about a minute after it be- 
 gan, and had that vibration, with those sudden jerks, con- 
 tinued one minute longer, T much question whether one 
 house in town had been left standing. The first view I 
 took, was at the steeples of the churches, and was glad to 
 see them standing ; but the spindle and vane of Faneuil 
 Hall Market was thrown down. I observed the tops of 
 many chimneys demolished, others cracked and much da- 
 maged-^bricks, tiles, and slates scattered in the streets, and 
 large quantities of mortar and rubbish aJmost every-where 
 spread, and several houses suffered by large cracks and 
 breaches in their foundation. 
 
 *'Upon the first shock of the earthquake, many persons 
 jumped out of their beds, and" ran immediately into the 
 streets, while others sprung to the windows, trembling, 
 and seeing their neighbors as it were naked, shrieked with 
 the apprehension of its being the day of judgment, and 
 some thought they heard the last trumpet sounding, and 
 cried out for mercy ; others fainted away with the fright, 
 and those of the most composed temper, that were sensi- 
 ble of these tremendous shakings, expected instantly to 
 be swallowed up and buried in the ruins. In short, chil- 
 dren ran screaming to their parents to save them, and the 
 hrute creatures lowed and ran to the barns for protection; 
 the dogs howled at their master's door ; the hirds fluttered 
 in the air with a surprise, and all the animal creation were 
 filled with terror, and never was such a scene of distress 
 in New England before. In my walk out about sunrise, 
 every face looked ghastly, and many persons' knees smote 
 one against another, and few were recovered of the great 
 fright and surprise they had been put into by this awful 
 providence; and all seemed to expect a repetition of this 
 terrible judgment. In fine, some of our solid and pious 
 gentlemen had such an awe and gloom spread over their 
 countenances, as would have checked the gay airs of the 
 most intrepid libertine among us. Such judgments may 
 well make us c*y out with the Psalmist, My flesh trembleth 
 for fear of thel, and lam afraid of thy judgments." 
 
CHAP. VI.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 6S 
 
 EPIDEMIC DISEASE. 
 
 " An epidemic disorder," say the Annals of Portsmouth, 
 "of a new class, hitherto unknown in the medical schools, 
 made its appearance at Kingston in May, 1735. A young 
 child was first seized with it, who died in three days. It 
 spread rapidly through the country, and proved very mor- 
 tal, especially among children, who were more liable to its 
 attack than older persons. It baffled the skill of the most 
 experienced physicians. Many families were left entirely 
 childless. It was not contagious, like the small pox, but, 
 from some unknown predisposing cause, would appe.ar iu 
 subjects at a distance from those who had been previously 
 attacked, attended with its wonted virulence. The throat 
 was always affected, greatly swollen and inflamed, whence 
 it was called the throat distemper; a general debility 
 affected the whole system, which soon became putrid. 
 Rev. Mr: Fitch published a bill of mortality on the 26tk 
 of July, for fourteen months preceding; by which it ap- 
 pears that ninety-nine persons died within that time in this 
 town, of whom eighty-one were children under ten years 
 of age." 
 
 Mirick, in his history of Haverhill, Mass., says, " The 
 throat distemper, as it is called, made dreadful ravages 
 throughout the town. . Its victims were prmcipally chil- 
 dren, and it is supposed to have swept into the grave 
 nearly one fourth of the population under fifteen years of 
 age. Almost ^very house was turned into a habitation of 
 mourniug, and almost every day had its funeral procession. 
 Many arose in the morning, their cheeks glowing with 
 health ; and when the sun went down, they were cold and 
 silent in the winding-sheet of the dead. Some parents 
 lost all of their children. Fifty-eight families lost one 
 ^ach ; thirty-four families lost two each ; eleven families 
 lost three each; five families lost four each, arid four 
 families lost five each. Only one person died with this 
 disease who was over forty years of age. 
 
 " This fatal distemper was attended with a sore throat, 
 
 white or ash-colored specks, efflorescence on the skin, 
 
 great debility of the whole system, and a strong tendency 
 
 to putridity. It first appeared in Kingston, i^. H., iu 
 
 .5* 
 
64 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VI 
 
 1735, and in fourteen months, one hundred and thirteen 
 persons died." 
 
 Trumbull's account of this distressing "calamity is the 
 following. " About the year 1734, that dreadful disease, 
 called the throat distemper, broke out and spread in the 
 country among children and youth. It was attended with 
 a sudden and extraordinary mortality. In some towns 
 almost all the children were swept away. In ^ome in- 
 stances, large families, consisting of eight and nine chil- 
 dren, were made entirely desolate. The parents, in a 
 short time, attended them all to the grave, and had neither 
 son nor daughter left. The country was filled with mourn- 
 ing and bitter affliction." 
 
 WARS. 
 
 The c#onies, in their early existence, were involved, 
 filore or less extensively, in six successive wars : namely, 
 I, the Pequot war; 2, Philip's war; 3, king William's 
 war; 4, queen Anne's war; 5, the three years'^ or Love- 
 well's war ; i), the second French war. 
 
 The first wai i.* which any of the colonies were engaged 
 was the Pequot war. The great burden of this war fell 
 upon Massachusetts and Connecticut. The scene of ope- 
 ration was Connecticut. The Pequots were a powerful 
 tribe ; the residence of their chieftains being in what is 
 now the town of Groton. Their chief sachem was Sas- 
 sacus. They commenced hostilities by killing nearly 
 thirty of the English, by torturing those whom they cap- 
 tivated in the most horrid manner, and by attempting to 
 engage the other tribes to unite with them in extirpating 
 the English. In view of these aggressions, the colony 
 determined to carry on against them an offensive war. 
 The war was of short duration. It commenced in May," 
 1637, and closed in September, 1638. It was, however, 
 a heavy calamity. Its effects upon the colony are thus 
 described by Trumbull. 
 
 " The consequences of the war were, scarcity and debt, 
 which, in the low state of the colony, it was exceedingly 
 difficult to pay. Almost every article of food or clothing 
 was purchased- at the dearest rate, and the planters had 
 
CHAP. VI.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 55 
 
 not yet reaped any considerable advantage from their 
 farms. Such a proportion of their laborers had been em- 
 ployed in the war, and the country was so uncultivated, 
 that all the provision that had been raised or imported, 
 was in no measure proportionate to the wants of the people. 
 The winter was uncommonly severe, which increased the 
 distress of the colony. The court in Connecticut, fore- 
 seeing that the people would be in great want of bread, 
 contracted with Mr. Pynchon for five hundred bushels of 
 Indian corn, which he was to purchase of the Indians, 
 and a greater quantity, if it could be obtained. A com- 
 mittee was also appointed by the court to send a vessel to 
 Narragansett, to buy of the natives in that quarter. But 
 notwithstanding every precaution, the scarcity became 
 such, that corn rose to the extraordinary price of twelve 
 shillings a bushel. In this distressful situation, a com- 
 mittee was sent to an Indian settlement called Pocontock, 
 since Deerfield, where they purchased such quantities, that 
 the Indians came down to Windsor and Hartford with fifty 
 canoes at one time, laden with corn. The good people 
 considered this a great deliverance. ^ Those(Jpho, in Eng 
 land, had fed on the finest of the wheat, in the beginning 
 of the affairs of Connecticut, were thankful for such coarse 
 fare as Indian bread for themselves and children." 
 
 Philip's war commenced in June, 1675. Philip was 
 sachem of the Wampanoags, " who occupied the whole 
 colony of Plymouth, a part of Massachusetts, the islands 
 of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod, and a 
 part of Rhode Island — Mount Hope being the seat of 
 their chieftains." Philip was an ambitious, shrewd, bold 
 warrior. He designed the utter extermination of the En- 
 glish. In effecting his purpose, he drew most of tjie tribes 
 of Massachusetts and Rhode Island into his plan, and they 
 acted as his allies. The northern and eastern Indians 
 were by his solicitations induced to join the confederacy. 
 
 Philip (Commenced hostilities at Swanzey, Mass., where 
 he killed several persons. Here the flame of war was 
 kindled ; it spread with great rapidity, and for three years 
 raged in some one of the colonies. 
 
 This was a sore calamity. Pen cannot describe, nor 
 imagination conceive, the evils it brought upon the inhabi- 
 
56 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VI 
 
 tants of New England. *'In this predatory war," says 
 Hoyt, *' it is estimated that about six hundred of the in- 
 habitants of New England were either killed in battle, or 
 otherwise cut off by the enemy ; twelve or thirteen towns 
 entirely destroyed, and about six hundred buildings, chiefly 
 dwelling-houses, consumed by fire. Rarely was a family 
 to be found, who had not lost some of its members or 
 relations. Dr. Trumbull estimates the loss as much greater. 
 "The histories of those times," he observes, "rarely 
 mention the barns, stores, and out-houses burned ; and 
 sometimes there is notice of the burning of part of a 
 town, and of the buildings in that tract, without a specifi- 
 cation of the number. All the buildings in Narraganset, 
 from Providence to Stonington, a tract of about fifty miles, 
 were burned, or otherwise destroyed by the enemy ; but 
 the number is not mentioned." And he concludes that 
 about one fencible man in eleven was killed, and every 
 eleventh family burnt out ; or, that an eleventh part of the 
 whole militia, and of all the buildings of the United Colo 
 nies, were swept off by the war." 
 
 King Wi,^m's war commenced in 1688, and continued, 
 with the exception of one or two short intervals, for ten 
 years. This war was carried on against the colonies by 
 the Indians anjl the Canadian French. Besides pillaging 
 and destroying property, rifling and burning* houses, and 
 killing the inhabitants, they carried numbers captive to 
 Canada, and sold them to the French. Those who were 
 carried away suffered almost incredible hardships, and 
 some, unable to endure such privations and sufferings, 
 died on the way. Many were redeemed from captivity by 
 their friends or by the governor, but not a few returned no 
 more. Numerous families were called to bitter mourning 
 and deef> distress. At seasons, " the people were almost 
 dispirited with the prospect of poverty and ruin." 
 
 Q,ueen Anne's war commenced in 1703, and closed in 
 1713. The foes with whom the colonies had Jo contend 
 during this contest were the same as in the former war; 
 namely, the Indians and Canadian French. The evils 
 they suffered werle of much the same character. From 
 1703 to 1713, the inhabitants were constantly harassed 
 with calls for military service; agriculture was conse- 
 
CHAP. VI. HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. ST 
 
 quently neglected, many people were killed and captured, 
 and a heavy public debt incurred. 
 
 The three years', or Loveweirs war; was declared in 
 1722, and closed in 1726. " The principal tribes engaged 
 in this war were the P.enobscots, the Norridgewocks, St 
 Croix, and those of St. Francis and Becancour in Canada ; 
 but they received aid from those residing on the St. John's 
 and other parts of Nova Scotia, and perhaps from other 
 distant tribes ; and as the captives were often carried to 
 Montreal, there is little doubt that the Indians in that vi- 
 cinity were more or less engaged. The French govern- 
 ment didnot openly aid the Indians; but their Jesuits re- 
 siding among them, appear to have used their influence in 
 keeping up the barbarous incursions." The weight of this 
 war fell upon the eastern townships of New Hampshire 
 and Massachusetts. 
 
 The second French war grew out of a rupture between 
 England and France. It commenced in 1744, and closed 
 in 1763. Urged on by French influence, the^ndians 
 again lifted the tomahawk, and came down upon the set- 
 tlements of New England. To encourage th.em in their 
 work of blood and ruin, the French offered them a reward 
 for every scalp taken from the head of the English. Such 
 a war, of nineteen years' continuance, it is easy to see, must 
 have been a calamity indeed. • 
 
 Surely, New England was called to bear the yoke in her 
 youth ; but as the Lord chastiseth individuals for their be- 
 nefit, so hath he dealt with New England. The trials of 
 the colonies awakened their sympathies in each others' be- 
 half, bound them more strongly together, led them to unite 
 in a confederacy which rendered them formidable to their- 
 enemies, and had a most happy influence upon their pros- 
 perity ; and these trials promoted a stability and manliness 
 of character which prepared them to assert and achieve 
 their independence. The effect of these trials upon indi- 
 viduals was most salutary. They rendered them more spi- 
 ritual and devoted ; made them more frequent and fervent 
 in prayer ; and led them to cast themselves more entirely 
 upon Him who has s^id,When thau passest through the wo- 
 tersjl will be with tfie^, and through the rivers, they shall 
 not overflow thee. 
 
58 INCIDENTS IJ^ THE EARLY [cHAP. Vll 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 AMBUSCADES, ASSAULTS, MASSACRES, AND DEPREDA- 
 TIONS OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 In reading the affecting incidents of this chapter, it will 
 be of importance to bear ^in mind that there are several 
 things which palliate, though they by no means excuse, 
 the treacherous and savage conduct of the Indians in re- 
 lation to the English. These sons of the forest were the 
 original owners and masters of the country. They were, 
 moreover, impressed with the belief that their lands were 
 given them by the Great Spirit ; that they were intended 
 for their exclusive benefit, and that none had a right to 
 dispossess them. They saw that the English were fast 
 increasing in numbers and in pow^r ; that their game was 
 killed; that they should soon be forced to retire from 
 their hilfcting grounds, and from the land of their fathers' 
 sepulchres. In addition to this, they had been treated 
 with injustice and cruelty by some of the English. Nor 
 should it be forgotten that they had been taught from 
 their very infancy to regard revenge as a virtue ; that an 
 injury offered to themselves, or to a relative, or to any of 
 the tribe, was to be returned upon the head of the of- 
 fender. 
 
 *' A party of Narragansett Indians, hunting on the bor- 
 ders of Dorchester, stopped at the house of Mr. Minot, 
 an'd demanded food and drink. Being refused, they went 
 away with evident marks of resentment, and Ohquamme- 
 hend, the sachem, swore that he would be revenged. For 
 this, end, he left in the bushes, near the house, an Indian 
 named Chicataubutt, to seize the first opportunity of exe- 
 cuting his purpose: The next morning, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Minot went, as is supposed, to Boston. The Indian ob- 
 served them, and prepared himself for mischief Mr 
 Minot, apprehensive of danger, had given his maid-servant 
 a strict charge to confine herself with their two children 
 \o the house, and to open the door to no person until he 
 should return.- She obeyed the orders exactly. Soon 
 after, she saw Chicataubutt cross the ferry, and proceed 
 
CHAP. VII.] HISTORY OF NEW EN&LAND. . 59 
 
 towards the house. After looking about him with the 
 greatest caution, he rushed to the door, and finding it 
 barred, attempted to get in through the window. The 
 young woman had placed her master's children under two 
 brass kettles, directing them not to stir nor to make the 
 least noise, and then loaded a musket belonging to the 
 house, and stood upon her defence. The Indian probably 
 perceiving her design, fired at her, but missed his mark. 
 She then shot him through the shoulder. Still he per- 
 sisted in his design ; but as he was enter*ng the window 
 she threw a shovel full of live coals into his face, and 
 lodged them in his Blanket. The pain which they created 
 was too great even for a sav^e to endure. Chicataubutt 
 fled, and the next day was found dead in a wood on the 
 borders of the town." 
 
 "In 1634, a number of Indians murdered Capt. Stone 
 and Capt. Norton, with their whole crew, consisting of 
 eight men. They then plundered and sunk the vessel. 
 Capt. Stone came into Connecticut River, with a- view of 
 trading at the Dutch house. After he had entered the 
 river, he engaged a number of Indians to pilot two of his 
 men up the river, to the Dutch ; but night coming on, 
 they w'ent to sleep, and were both murdered by their In- 
 dian guides. The vessel, at night, was laid up to the 
 shoi^e. Twelve of those Indians, who had several times 
 before been trading with the captain, apparently in an 
 amicable manner, were on board. Watching their oppor- 
 tunity, when he was asleep, and several of the crew on 
 shore, they murdered him secretly in his cabin, and cast a 
 covering over him, to conceal it from his men ; they then 
 fell upon them, and soon killed the whole company, except 
 Capt. Norton. He had taken the cook room, and for a 
 long time made a most brave and resolute defence. That 
 he might fcad and fire with the greatest expedition, he had 
 placed powder in an open vessel, just at hand, which, in 
 the hurry of the action, took fire, and so burned and 
 blinded him that he could make no further resistance. 
 Thus, after all his gallantry, he fell with his hapless com- 
 panions. Part of the plunder was received by the Pe- 
 quots, and another part by the eastern Nehanticks. Sas- 
 sacus and Ninigret, the sachems of those Indians, were 
 
60 .INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. YII. 
 
 both privy to the affair, and shared in the goods and 
 articles taken from the vessel. It was supposed that the 
 Indians had preconcerted this massacre." 
 
 " The next year, John Oldham, vt^ho had been fairly 
 trading at Connecticut, was murdered near Block Island. 
 He had with him only two boys and two Narraganset 
 Indians. These were taken and carried off. One John 
 Gallup, as he was going from Connecticut to Boston, dis- 
 covered Mr. Oldham's vessel full of Indians, and he saw 
 a canoe, having*Indians on board, go from her, laden with 
 goods. Suspecting that they had murdered Mr. Oldham, 
 he hailed them, but received no answer. Gallup was a 
 bold man, and though he had with him but one man and 
 two boys, he immediately bore down upon them, and fired 
 duck shot so thick among them, that he soon cleared the 
 deck. The Indians all got under the hatches. He then 
 stood off, and running down upon her quarter with a brisk 
 gale, nearly overset her, and so frightened the Indians that 
 six of them leaped into the sea and were drowned. He 
 then steered off again, and running down upon her a sec- 
 ond time, bored her with his anchor, and- raked her fore 
 and aft with his shot. But the Indians kept themselves so 
 close, that he got loose from her, and running down a 
 third time upon the vessel, he gave her such a shock that 
 five more leaped overboard, and perished as the former 
 had done. He then boarded the vessel, and took two of 
 the Indians, and bound them. Two or three others, 
 armed with swords, in a little room below, could not be 
 driven from their retreat. Mr. Oldham's corpse was found 
 on board, the head split, and the body mangled in a bar- 
 barous manner. In these circumstances, Gallup, fearing 
 that the Indians whom he had taken might get loose, 
 especially if they were kept together, and having no place 
 where he could keep them apart, threw one of them over- 
 board. Gallup and his men then, as decently as circum- 
 stances would" permit, put the corpse of Mr. Oldham into 
 the sea. The Indians who perpetrated the murder, were 
 principally the Block Islanders, with a number of the 
 Narragansets, to whom these Indians were at this time 
 eubject. Several of the Narraganset sachems were in the 
 plot, and it was supposed that the Indians whom Oldham 
 had with him were in the conspiracy" 
 
CBAP. VII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 61 
 
 "At Saybrook, about the beginning of October, 1636, 
 the Indians, concealing themselves in the higk grass in 
 the meadows, surprised five of the garrison, as they were 
 carrymg home their hay. One Butterfield was taken, and 
 tortured to death. The rest made their escape, but one 
 of them had five arrows shot into him." 
 
 " Eight or ten days after, Joseph Tilly, a master of a 
 small vessel, was captivated by the enemy as he was going 
 down Connecticut River. He came to anchor two or 
 three miles above the fort, and taking a canoe and one 
 man with him, went a fowling. No sooner had he dis- 
 charged his piece, than a large numt)er of Pequots arising 
 from their concealment, took him, and killed his compan- 
 ion. Tilly was a man of great spirit and understanding, 
 and determined to show himself a man. The Indians ' 
 used him in the most barbarous manner, fiist cutting off 
 his hands, and then his feet, and so gradually torturing 
 him to death. But as all their cruelties could not extort a 
 groan, they pronounced him a stout man. 
 
 " The enemy now kept up a constant watch upon the 
 river, and upon the people at Saybrook. A house had 
 been erected about two miles from the fort, and six of the 
 garrison were sent to keep it. As three of them were 
 fowling at a small distance from the house, they were 
 suddenly attacked by nearly a hundred Pequots. Two of 
 them were taken.. The other cut his way through them, . 
 sword in hand, and made his escape ; but he was wounded 
 with twQ arrows. 
 
 "Before winter, the garrison were so pressed by the 
 enemy, that they were obliged to keep almost wholly with- 
 in the reach of their guns. The Pequots razed all the 
 out-houses, burnt the stacks of hay, and destroyed almost 
 every thing which was not within the command of the 
 fort. The cattle, which belonged to the garrison, were 
 killed and wounded. Some of them came home with the 
 arrows of the Indians sticking in them. 
 
 "In March, Lieut. Gardiner, who commanded the fort 
 at Saybrook, going out with ten or twelve men to burn 
 the marshes, was waylaid by a narrow neck of land, and 
 as soon as he had passed the narrow part of the neck, the 
 enemy rose upon him, and killed three of his men. The 
 * 6 
 
62 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VII 
 
 rest made their escape to the fort, but one of them was 
 mortally wounded, so that he died the next day. The 
 lieutenant did not escape without a slight wound. The 
 enemy, pursued ihem in great numbers to the very fort, 
 and compassed it on all sides. They challenged the En- 
 glish to come out and fight, and mocked them, in the 
 groans, pious invocations, and dying language of their 
 friends, whom they had captured, when they were torturinor 
 them to death. They boasted that they could kill En- 
 glishmen ' all one flies.' The cannon, loaded with grape 
 shot, were fired upon them, and they retired. 
 
 *' Some time after, the enemy, in a number of canoes, 
 beset a shallop, which was going down the river with 
 three men on board. The men fought bravely, but were 
 overpowered by numbers. One was shot through the 
 head with an. arrow, and fell overboard ; the other two 
 were taken. The Indians ripped them up, the whole 
 length of their bodies, and cleft them down their backs ; 
 they then hung them up by their necks upon trees, by the 
 side of the river, that as the English passed by, they might 
 see these miserable objects of their vengeance. 
 
 " The Pequots tortured the captives to death in the 
 most cruel manner. In some, they cut large gashes in 
 the flesh, and then poured embers and live coals into the 
 wound. When, in their distress, they groaned, and in a 
 pious manner committed their departing spirits to their 
 Redeemer, these barbarians would mock and insult them, 
 in their dying agonies and prayers." 
 
 " In the month of May, 1(544, an Indian went boldly into 
 the town of Stamford, and made a murderous assault upon 
 a woman, in her house. Finding no man at home, he 
 took up a lathing hammer, and approached her as though 
 he were about to put it into her hand ; but, as she was 
 stooping down to take her child from the cradle, he- struck 
 her upon the head. She fell instantly with the blow ; he 
 then struck her twice, with the sharp part of the hammer, 
 which penetrated her skull. Supposing her to be dead, 
 he plundered the house, and made his escape. Soon after, 
 the woman so far recovered as to be able to describe the 
 Indian and his manner of dress. Her wounds, which at 
 first appeared to be mortal, were finally healed ; but her 
 Drain was so affected that she lost her reason." 
 
CHAP. VII.j HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND 63 
 
 " In order to defend the frontier settlements from the 
 Indian? in Philip's war, a considerable number of soldiers 
 were posted at Hadley,and it became necessary to procure 
 provisions and forage for their subsistence. The Indians 
 having burnt the principal part of Deerfield, it was aban- 
 doned by the inhabitants ; their grain, consisting of about 
 three thousand bushels of wheat, remained stacked in the 
 fields, having escaped the conflagration. Determined to 
 avail himself of this supply, the commanding officer at 
 Hadley detached Capt. Lathrop, and his company, with a 
 number of teams and drivers, to thrash it, and transport it 
 to head-quarters. Having thrashed the grain, and loaded 
 his teams, Capt. Lathrop, on the 18th of September, com- 
 menced his march for Hadley. * For the distance of 
 about three miles, after leaving Deerfield meadow, his 
 march lay through a very level country, closely wooded, 
 where he was every moment exposed to an attack on either 
 flank. At the termination of this distance, near the south 
 point of Sugar-loaf Hill, the road approximated Connecti- 
 cut River, and the left was in some measure protected. 
 At the village now called Muddy Brook, in the southerly 
 part of Deerfield, the road crossed a small stream, bordered 
 by a narrow morass, from which the village has its name, 
 though more appropriately it should be denominated Bloody 
 Brook, by which *t was sometimes known. Before ar- 
 riving at the point of intersection with the brook, the road 
 for about half a mile ran parallel with the morass, then, 
 crossing, it continued directly to the south point of Sugar- 
 loaf Hill, traversing what is now the home lots, on the 
 east side of the village. As the morass was thickly cov- 
 ered with brush, the pl^ce of crossing afforded a favorable 
 point of surprise. On discovering Lathrop's march, a body 
 of upwards of seven hundred Indians planted themselves 
 in ambuscade at this point, and lay eagerly waiting to 
 pounce upon him while passing the morass. Without 
 scouring the woods in his^front and flanks, or • suspecting 
 the snare laid for him, Lathrop arrived at the fatal spot, 
 crossed the morass with the principal part of his force, 
 and probably halted, to allow time for his teams to drag 
 through their loads. The critical moment had arrived — 
 the Indians instantly poured a heavy and destructive fire 
 
64 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VII. 
 
 upon the column, and rushed forward to close attack. 
 Confusion and dismay succeeded. The troops broke and 
 scattered, fiercely pursued by the Indians, whose great 
 superiority of numbers enabled them to attack at all points. 
 Hopeless was the situation of the scattered troops, and 
 they resolved to sell their lives in a vigorous struggle. 
 Covering themselves with trees, the bloody conflict now 
 became a severe trial of skill in sharp shooting, in which 
 life was the stake. Difficult would it be to describe the 
 havock, barbarity, and misery that ensued ; * fury raged, 
 and shuddering pity quit the sanguine field,' while despe- 
 ration stood pitted, at fearful odds, to unrelenting ferocity. 
 The dead, the dying, the wounded, strewed the ground in 
 all directions, and Lathrop's devpted force was soon re 
 duced to a small number, and resistance became faint 
 At length, the unequal struggle terminated in the annihila 
 tion of nearly the whole of the English ; only seven or 
 eight escaped from the bloody scene, to relate the dismal 
 tale ; and the wounded were indiscriminately butchered. 
 Capt. Lathrop fell in the early part of the action. The 
 whole loss, including teamsters, amounted to ninety ' " 
 This was in the year 1675. 
 
 " During the term of about forty years, the Indians in 
 the vicinity of Springfield had lived '\^ the greatest har- 
 mony with the English, and still made the strongest pro- 
 fessions of friendship ; yet, about this time, they conspired 
 with Philip's warriors for the destruction of the town. At 
 the distance of about a mile from it, they had a fort. The 
 evening before they made their assault, they received into 
 it about three . hundred of Philip's' warriors. The same 
 evening, one Toto, a Windsor Indian, discovered the plot, 
 and despatches were immediately sent off from Windsor 
 to Springfield, and to Major Treat, who lay at Westfield 
 with the Connecticut troops, to apprise them of their 
 danger. But the people of Springfield were so strongly 
 per&uaded of the friendship of the Indians, that they 
 would not credit , the report. One Lieut. Cooper, who 
 commanded there, was so infatuated, that, as soon as the 
 morning appeared, instead of collecting his men and pre- 
 paring for the defence of the town, he, with another bold 
 man, rode out with a design to go to the fort^and discover 
 
CHAP. Vn.] HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND. 65 
 
 how the matter was. He soon met the enemy, who killed 
 his companion by his side, and shot several balls through 
 his body. As he was a man of great strength and cour- 
 age, he kept his horse, though mortally wounded, until he 
 reached the first garrisoned house, and gave the alarm. 
 The enemy immediately commenced a furious attack upon 
 the town, and began to set fire to the buildings. The 
 inhabitants were in the utmost consternation. They had 
 none to command them, and must have sooip all fallen 9. 
 bloody sacrifice to a merciless foe, had not Major Treat 
 appeared for their relief Upon receiving intelligence of 
 the designs of the enemy, he marched, without loss of 
 time ; but meeting with considerable hindrance in crossing 
 the river, for want of boats, his arrival was not in such 
 season as to prevent the attack. He soon drove off the 
 enemy, saved the inhabitants and a considerable part of the 
 town. Great damage, however, was done in a very short 
 time. Thirty dwelling-houses, besides barns and out- 
 houses, were burned." 
 
 "On the 26th of March, 1676, a number of people from 
 Longmeadow, being on their way to attend public worship 
 in Springfield, escorted .by a party of cavalry, were at- 
 ^tacked, and two killed, and several wounded. As the 
 attack was made from the woods bordering the road, the 
 escort afforded little protection; two women,. with their 
 children, falling from their horses during the confusion, 
 were seized by the Indians, and dragged into a swamp in 
 the vicinity. ]|^the mean time, the people in the van 
 were safely convoyed to Springfield by the cavalry, who 
 returned . expeditiously to the place of attack, but the 
 Indians had retired into the woods. The next day, the 
 captured women and children were found in the margin 
 of the swamp, badly wounded by Indian hatchets, some 
 of whom died after being conveyed to their places of 
 residence." 
 
 During Philip's war, the Indians made an attack upon 
 Hadley. Some accounts say that the iissault was on the 
 1st of September, 1675, and others that it was on the 
 I2th of June, 1676. Dwight's account of the attack is 
 the following : 
 
 " In the course of Philip's war, which involved almost 
 6* E 
 
66 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VII. 
 
 all the Indian tribes in New England, and among others 
 those in the neighborhood of this town, the inhabitants 
 thought proper to observe the 1st of September, 1675, as a 
 day of fasting and prayer. While they were in the church, 
 and employed in their worship, they were surprised by a 
 band of savages. The "people instantly betook themselves 
 to their arms, which, according to the custom of the 
 times, they had carried with them to the church ; and, 
 rushing out,of the house, attacked their invaders. The 
 panic, under which they began the conflict, was, however, 
 so great, and their number was so disproportioned to that 
 of their enemies, that they fought doubtfully at first, and 
 in a short time began evidently to give way. At this 
 moment, an ancient man with hoary locks, of a most vene- 
 rable and dignified aspect, and in a dress widely differing 
 from that of the inhabitants, appeared suddenly at their 
 head, and with a firm voice, and an example of undaunted 
 resolution, reanimated their spirits, led them again to the 
 conflict, and totally routed the savages. When the battle 
 was ended, the stranger disappeared, and no person knew 
 whence he had come, or whither he had gone. The relief 
 was so timely, so unexpected, and so providential ; the 
 appearance, and the retreat of him who furnished it, were 
 so unaccountable ; his person was so dignified and com- 
 manding, his resolution so superior, and his interference 
 so decisive, that the inhabitants, without any uncom- 
 mon exercise of credulity, readily believed Tiim to be an 
 angel, sent by heaven for their preser^ion. Nor was 
 this opinion seriously controverted, until i^vas discovered, 
 several- years afterward, that Goffe and Whalley had been 
 lodged in the house of Mr. Russell. Then it was known 
 that their deliverer was Goffe." 
 
 In the month of July, 1675, Capt. Fuller and Lieut. 
 Church, with a party from Plymouth, went on to Pocasset 
 Neck, in pursuit of the Indians. Their object was, " ei- 
 ther to conclude a peace with them, if they would con- 
 tinue friends, or to fight them if they should declare 
 themselves enemie's and join with Philip. After they 
 had spent the day and most of the night, in traversing th^ 
 neck, and had made no discovery of any Indians, they 
 divided their company ; Capt. Fuller going down towards 
 
libXT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 11 TT "W fV^'^ - 
 
 VII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLANhI W I'i ' *-f$7 
 
 the sea-side, while Capt. Church (for so IrB^ijay well be 
 styled after this time) marched further into the neck 
 thinking if there were any Indians there, they should find 
 them about a field of pease, not far off. When they came 
 near the field, Church espied two Indians among the 
 pease, who at the same time espied him, and making a 
 kind of shout, a great number of Indians came about the 
 field, who pursued Church and his^ men to the sea-side 
 There were not above fifteen of the English, while the 
 Indians were seven or eight scores in number. Now was 
 a fit time for this young captain and his small company to 
 ehow their valor. Although some of these fifteen Ifad 
 scarce courage enough for themselves, yet their captain 
 had enough for himself, and some to spare for his friends, 
 which he now had an opportunity of proving to the full. 
 When he saw the hearts of any of his followers begin to 
 fail, he would bid them be of good courage, and fight 
 stoutly, and (possibly by some divine impression on his 
 heart) assured them that not a bullet of the enemy should 
 hurt any one of them, which one of the company, more 
 dismayed than the rest, could hardly believe, till he saw 
 the proof of it in his owA person ; for the captain, per- 
 ceiving that the man was unable to fight, made him gather 
 stones together, for a kind of shelter or barricado for the 
 rest. It chanced, as this faint-hearted soldier had a flat 
 stone in his arms, and was carrying it to the shelter he 
 was making upon the bank, that a bullet of the enemy , 
 was thus warded from his body, by which he must else 
 nave perished. This experience put new life into him, 
 so that he followed his business very manfully afterward. 
 Behind this shelter they defended themselves all that 
 afternoon, not one being either slain or wounded ; yet it 
 was certainly known that they killed at least fifteen of the 
 Indians At le^ngth, when they had spent all their ammu- 
 nition, and their guns became unserviceable by frequent 
 firing, they were all brought off in a sloop, and carried 
 safely to Rhode* Island. But such was the boldness and 
 undaunted courage of Capt. Church, that, not willing to 
 leave any token behind of their flying for want of cour- 
 age, he went back in the face of his enemies, to get -his 
 hat, which he had left at a spring, whither the extreme 
 
68 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VII 
 
 heat of the weather, and his labor in fighting, had caused 
 him to repair to quench his thirst, an hour or two before." 
 In the summer of 1675, the Nipmucks, a tribe of 
 Indians residing about twenty miles south-east of Brook- 
 field, made an assault upon that place. This tribe, united 
 with others, had murdered several persons, but had d© 
 clared their willingness to renew their friendship by enter- 
 ing into conditions of peace. The time was set, and 
 Capt. Hutchinson and Capt. Wheeler, with a company of 
 horse and some of the citizens of Brookfield, went to 
 meet the Indians at the time appointed. Having arrived 
 at' the spot, and discovering no Indians, they concluded to 
 go on to their chief town, not suspecting the least danger. 
 *' They had not rode above four or five miles, when they 
 fell into an ambush of two or three hundred Indians, laid 
 in such a narrow passage, between a steep hill on the one 
 hand, and an hideous swamp on the other, that it was 
 scarcely possible for any of them to escape. Eight of 
 them were shot down upon the spot, and three were mor- 
 tally wounded, of whom Capt. Hutchinson was one 
 Capt. Wheeler was near losing his life. His horse was 
 shot down under him, and himself shot through the body, 
 so that he had no hope of escaping. But his son, who 
 (by God's good Providence) was near him, with great 
 nimbleness and agility, (though his own arm was broken 
 by a bullet,) dismounted himself and speedily mounted his 
 father upon his own horse, himself getting upon another, 
 whose master was killed, by which means they both es- 
 caped, and were afterwards cured. It was with much 
 difficulty, that those who were left alive reached Brook- 
 field, which, most likely, they never had done, as the 
 common road was waylaid with Indians, had it not been 
 for one who was well acquainted with the wood, who led 
 them in a "by-path. By this means they»arrived a little 
 before the-ihdians, who soon came flocking into the town, 
 with a fuL purpose to destroy it with fire and sword. But 
 the inhabitants were all collected in the principal house in 
 the village, before the Indians came upon them. They 
 immediately set fire to all the dwelling-houses, excepting 
 the one in which the people were collected. This tljey 
 several times attempted to burn, but were defeated in their 
 
CHAP. VII.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 69 
 
 purpose by the special Providence of God. Fcft: when 
 they had continued the assault for two days and nights, 
 keeping up an incessant fire, and thrusting^poles with fire- 
 brands, and rags, dipped in brimstone, tied to the ends of 
 them, to fire the house, they filled a cart with hemp and 
 flax, and other combustible matter, and after setting it on 
 fire, thrust it back against the house, with poles spliced 
 together to a great length. But as soon as it had begun 
 to kindle, a shower of rain unexpectedly fell. But for 
 this kind interposition of Providence, all who were in the 
 house (about seventy persons) would either have been 
 consumed by mercdess flames, or have fallen into the 
 hands of the savages, who, like wolves, stood yelling and 
 gaping for their prey." 
 
 " Before the savages were able to renew their attempts, 
 a body of men from Groton and Lancaster, -commanded 
 by Major Willard, came to their relief. As they were 
 approaching the town, the cattle, belonging to the inhab- 
 itants, terrified by the noise and conflagration, gathered 
 around the company, and moved with them, as if expect- 
 ing protection from them, towards the ruins of Brookfield. 
 The savages mistook the whole train for soldiers ; and 
 having hastily set fire to the few remaining buildings, fled 
 with precipitation. 
 
 " Their buildings being thus destroyed, the inhabitants, 
 by order of the government, removed to other settlements, 
 and the town for several years was entirely deserted. A 
 small company at length returned, and were gradually 
 joined by others. They were not, however, suffered to 
 rest in peace. These inroads were frequently repeated, 
 and a considerable number of persons destroyed. To the 
 survivors, the circumstances ip which they were placed, 
 rendered their lives, always hanging in suspense, until the 
 year 1711, almost like a continual death. The alarm of 
 invasion haunted them by day, and the war-whoop broke 
 their sleep in the night. It was not until the year 1717, 
 (forty-four years after the town was incorporated,) that 
 they were so far re-assembled as to be able to settle a 
 minister." 
 
 " On the eighteenth of April, 1676, the Indians attacked 
 Sudbury, and burned several buildings ; the alarm having 
 
70 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CH)AP. VII 
 
 reach^ Concord, a party pushed rapidly fiom that place 
 for the relief of their neighbors, and arriving at a meadow 
 near a garriso^ied house, they fell into an ambuscade, and 
 were all slain. By repairing to a fortified house, the peo- 
 ple of the town escaped the grasp of the enemy, who, 
 finding no strong force approaching to. relieve the place, 
 remained in the neighboring woods, ready for further 
 depredations. Capt. Wadsworth, with fifty men, joined 
 .by Capt. Broclebank, and a few volunteers from Rowley, 
 were at this time marching for the protection of Marlbor- 
 ough, and learning that the Indians were in the woods, 
 about Sudbury, he changed his route towards that place. 
 About a mile from the town he discovered a party, of 
 Indians, as he supposed of about one hundred, who were 
 retiring into the neighboring woods. Wadsworth imme- 
 diately, though very incautiously, commenced a pursuit 
 and was drawn about a mile into the forest, without ap- 
 prehending he was running into a fatal snare laid for him, 
 of a sudden, five hundred Indians surrounded him, and 
 immediately commenced a fierce attack. Wadsworth and 
 his men determined to sell their lives dearly,; they fought 
 some time with great obstinacy, and gained an eminence, 
 but all was of no avail against such a numerical superi- 
 ority. According to some accounts, a small number 
 escaped ; but it is more generally stated that they sold 
 their lives even to the last man, and the Indians are sup- 
 posed to have sustained a considerable loss." 
 
 In the month of September, 1675, a " party of savages 
 attacked a house in Berwick, a town in Maine, on the 
 border of New Hampshire, in which were fifteen women 
 and children. A girl of eighteen, discovering their ap 
 proach, shut the door and stood against it, till the Indians 
 cut it in pieces with their hatchets, and on entering, 
 knocked her down, and left her for dead. While this 
 was doing, the rest of the women and children fled, and 
 all arrived safely at another fortified house, excepting two 
 children, who, being unable to get over a fence, were 
 overtaken and slain. The adventurous girl who thus 
 saved the lives of thirteen persons, recovered of her 
 wounds ; but we must regret that her name has not been- 
 preserved." 
 
CHAP. Vir.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 7\ 
 
 " In the following month an assault was made on Frost's 
 garrison, who, though he had only three boys with him, < 
 kept up a constant fire, and called aloud as if he were 
 commanding a body of men, to march here, and fire there. , 
 The stratagem succeeded, and the house was saved." 
 
 " In August, 1676, the Indians surprised the house of 
 Mr. Harmnond, an ancient trader at Kennebec, and from 
 thence crossed over to Arowsick Island, where there was 
 a large house, with, what was there esteemed, a strong 
 fort built round it, belonging to Major Clark and Capt. 
 Lake, two merchants of Boston, who owned the island 
 and a great part of the main land near to it. The Indians 
 hid themselves in the night under the walls of the fort. 
 When the centinel left his station at day-light, some of the 
 Indians followed him in at the fort gate ; whilst the rest 
 ran to the port holes, and shot down every person they 
 saw. Capt. Lake, finding the Indians had possessed them- 
 selves of the fort, escaped, with Capt. Davis and two 
 others, at the back doot, to the water side, intending to 
 pass to another island near to Arowsick. Capt. Lake was 
 killed just as he landed. His bones were, after some 
 time, found and brought to Bostoii. Davis was wounded, 
 but made his escape, as did the other two. At these two 
 houses, fifty-three English were killed and taken. The 
 news of this stroke broke up all the plantations at and 
 near Kennebec, the inhabitants transporting themselves 
 to Piscataqua and Boston, or some other place for se- 
 curity." 
 
 ** In that part of the town of Dover which lies about 
 the first falls in the river Cocheco, were five garrisoned 
 houses; three on the north side, viz,' Waldron's, Otis', 
 and Heard's ; and two on the south side, viz. Peter Cof- 
 fin's and his son's. These houses were surrounded with 
 timber walls, the gates of which, as well as the house 
 doors, were secured with bolts and bars. The neighboring 
 families retired to these houses by night; but by an-unac- 
 countable negligence, no watch was kept. The Indians, 
 who were daily passing through the town, visiting and 
 trading with the inhabitants, as usual in time of peace, 
 viewed their situation with an attentive eye. Some hints 
 of a mischievous design Bad been given out by thei. 
 
73 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VII, 
 
 squaws, but in such dark and ambiguous terms, that no 
 one could comprehend their meaning. Some of the peo- 
 ple were uneasy ; but Waldron, who, from a long course 
 of experience, was intimately acquainted with the Indians,. 
 ' and on other occasions had been ready enough to suspect 
 them, was now so thoroughly secure, that when some of 
 the people hinted their fears to him, he merrily bade them 
 to go and plant their pumpkins, saying that he v^uld tell 
 them when the Indians would break out. The very even- 
 ing before the mischief was done, being told by a young 
 man that the town was full of Indians, and the people 
 were much concerned, he answered that he knew the 
 Indians very well, and there was no danger. 
 
 " The plan which the Indians had preconcerted was, that 
 two squaws should go to each of the garrisoned houses in 
 the evening, and ask leave to lodge by the fire ; that in 
 the night, when the people were asleep, they should open 
 the doors and gates, and give the signal by a whistle ; upon 
 which the strange Indians, who were to be within hearing, 
 should rush in, and take their long-meditated revenge. 
 This plan, being ripe for execution, on the evening of 
 Thursday, the 27th of June, 1689, two squaws applied to 
 each of the garrisons for lodgings, as they frequently did 
 in time of peace. They were admitted inta all but the 
 younger Coffin's, and the people, at their request, showed 
 them how to open the doors, in case they should have oc- 
 casion to go out in the night. Mesandowit, one of the 
 chiefs, went to Waldron's garrison, and was kindly enter- 
 tained, as he had often been before. The squaws told the 
 major, that a number of Indians were coming to trade 
 with him the next day, and Mesandowit, while at supper, 
 with his usual familiarity said, ' Brother Waldron, what 
 would you do, if the strange Indians should come V The 
 major carelessly answered, that he could assemble a hun- 
 dred men, by lifting up his finger. In this unsuspecting 
 confidence, the family retired to rest. 
 
 " When all was quiet, the gates were opened, and the 
 signal given. The Indians entered, set a guard at the 
 door, and rushed into the major's apartment, which was 
 an inner room. Awakened by the noise, he jumped out 
 of bed, and though now advanced in life to the age of 
 
CHAP. VII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 73 
 
 eighty years, he retained so much -vigor as to drive them 
 with his sword through two or three doors ; but as he was 
 returning for his other arms, they came behind him, stun- 
 ned him with a hatchet, drew him into his hall, and seating 
 him in an elbow chair, on a longtable, insultingly asked him, 
 * Who shall judge Indians no3^' They then obliged the 
 people in the house to get them some victuals ; and when 
 they had done eating, they cut the major across the breast 
 and belly with knives, each one with a stroke saying, * I 
 cross out my account.' They then cut off his nose and 
 ears, forcing them into his mouth ; and when spent with the 
 loss of blood, 1ft was falling down from the table, one -of 
 them held his own sword under him, which put an end to 
 his misery. They also killed his son-in-law, Abraham Lee; 
 but took his daughter Lee, with several others, and having 
 pillaged the house, left it on fire. Otis' garrison, which 
 was next to this,^ met with the same fate ; he was killed, 
 with several others, and his wife and child were captivated. 
 Heard's was saved by the barking of a dog, just as the In- 
 dians were entering: Elder Wentworth, who was awa- 
 kened by the noise, pushed them out, and falling on his 
 back, set his feet against the gate, and held it till he had 
 alarmed the people ; two balls were fired through it, but 
 both missed him. Coffin's house was surprised ; but as the 
 Indians had no particular enmity to him, they spared his 
 life, and the lives of his family, and contented themselves 
 with pillaging the house. Finding a bag of money, they 
 made him throw it, by handfuls, on the floor, while they 
 amused themselves by scrambling for it. They theii went 
 to the house of his son, who had refused to admit the 
 squaws in the evening, and summoned hij^i to surrender, 
 promising him quarter. He declined their offer, and deter- 
 mined to defend his house, till they brought out his father, 
 and threatened to kill him before his eyes : filial affection 
 then overcame his resolution, and he surrendered. They 
 put both faiftilies together into a deserted house, intending 
 to reserve them for prisoners ; but while the Indians were 
 busy in plundering, they all escaped. 
 
 " Twenty-three people were killed in this surprisal, and 
 twenty-nine were captivated ; five or six houses, with the 
 mills, were burned ; and so expeditious were the Indians 
 7 
 
74 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VII 
 
 in the execution of thfeir plot, that before the people could . 
 be collected from the other parts of the town to oppose 
 them, they fled with their prisoners and booty. 
 
 " Oyster River is a stream which runs into the western 
 branch of the Piscataquajnthe settlements were on both 
 sides of it, and the houses chiefly near the water. Here 
 were twelve garrisoned houses, sufficient for the defence 
 of the inhabitants ; but apprehending no danger, some 
 families remained in their own unfortified houses, and 
 those who were in the garrisons were but indifferently 
 provided for defence, some being even desytute of powder 
 Tfie enemy approached the place undiscovered, and halted 
 near the falls, on Tuesday evening, the seventeenth of 
 July, 1694. Here they formed into two divisions, one of 
 which was to go on each side of the river, and plant them- 
 selves in ambush, in small parties, near every house, so as 
 to be ready for the attack at the rising of the sun ; the 
 first gun to be the signal. John Deaii, whose house stood 
 by the saw mill at the falls, intending to go from home 
 very early, ^.rose before the dawn of day, and was shot as 
 he came out of his door. This firing, in part, (iisconcerted 
 their plan ; -several parties, who had some distance to go, 
 had not then arrived at their stations ; the people in gene- 
 ral were immediately alarmed. Some of them had time 
 to make their escape, and others to prepare for their de- 
 fence. The signal being given, the attack began in all 
 parts where the enemy was ready. * 
 
 " Qf the twelve garrisoned houses, five were destroyed, 
 viz. Adams', Drew's, Edgerly's, Medar's, and Beartl's. 
 They entered Adams'- without resistance, where they killed 
 fourteen person!^,- one of them, being a woman with child 
 they ripped open. The grave is still. to be seen in which 
 they were all buried. Drew surrendered his garrison on 
 the promise of security, but was murdered when he fell 
 into their hands ; one of his children, a boy of nine years 
 old, was made to run through a lane of Indians, as a mark 
 for them to throw their hatchets aX, till they despatched 
 him. Edgerly's was evacuated; the people took to their 
 boat, and one of them was mortally wounded before they 
 got out of reach of the enemy's shot. Beard's and Me- 
 dar's were also evacuated, and the people escaped. 
 
CHAP. VII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 75 
 
 " The defenceless houses were nearly all set on fire, the 
 inhabitants being either killed or taken in them, or else 
 in endeavoring to fly to the garrisons. Some escaped by 
 hiding in the bushes and other secret places. Thomas 
 Edgerly, by concealing himself in his cellar, saved his 
 house, though twice set on fire. The house of John 
 Buss, the* minister, was destroyed, with a valuable library. 
 He was absent ; his wife and family fled to the woods, 
 and escaped. The wife of John Dean, at whom the 
 first gun was fired, was taken with her daughter, and 
 carried about two miles up the river, where they were left 
 under the care of an old Indian, while the others returned 
 to their bloody work. The Indian complained of a pain 
 in his head, and asked the woman what would be a proper 
 remedy ; she answered, Occapee, wj^ich is the Indian 
 word for rum, of which she knew he had taken a bottle 
 from her house. The remedy being agreeable, he took a 
 large dose, and fell asleep ; and she took that opportunity 
 to make her escape with her child into the woods, and 
 kept concealed till they were gone. 
 
 " The other seven garrisons, viz. Burnham's, Bickford's, 
 Smith's, Bunker's, Davis', Jones* and Woodman's, were 
 resolutely and successfully defended. At Burnham's, the 
 gate was left open ; the Indians, ten in number, who were 
 appointed to surprise it, were asleep under the bank of 
 the river, at the time that the alarm was given. A man 
 within, who had been kept awake by the tooth-ache, hear- 
 ing the first gun, roused the people and secured the gate, 
 just as the Indians, who were awakened by the same noise, 
 were entering. Finding themselves disappointed, they ran 
 to Pitman's, a defenceless house, and forced the door at 
 the moment that he had burst a way through that end of 
 the house which was next to the gdrrison, to which he, 
 with his family, taking advantage of the shade of some 
 trees, it being moon-light, happily escaped. Still defeat- 
 ed, they attacked the house of John Davis, which, after 
 some resistance, he surrendered on terms ; but the terms 
 were violated, and the whole family either killed or made 
 captives. Thomas Bickford preserved his house in a sin- 
 gular manner. It was situated on the bank of the river, 
 and surrounded with a palisade. Being alarmed before 
 
79 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. Vli. 
 
 the enemy had reached the house, he sent off his family 
 in a boat, and then shutting his gate, betook himself alone 
 to the defence of his fortress. Despising alike the *pro- 
 mises and threats by which the Indians would have per- 
 suaded h^m to surrender, he kept up a constant fire at them, 
 changing his dress as often as he could, showing himself 
 with a different cap, hat, and coat, and sometimes without 
 either, and giving directions aloud, as if he had had a 
 number of men with him. Finding their attempt vain, 
 the enemy withdrew, leaving him sole master of the house 
 he had defended with such admirable address. . Smith's, 
 Bunker's, and Davis's garrisons, being seasonably apprised 
 of the danger, were resolutely defended ; one Indian was 
 supposed to be killed, and another wounded^ by a shot 
 from Davis'. Jones' garrison was beset before day ; Capt. 
 Jones, hearing his dogs bark, and imagining wolves might 
 be near, went out to secure some swine, and returned 
 unmolested. He then went up into the flankart, and sat 
 on the wall. Discerning the flash of a gun, he dropped 
 backward ; the ball entered the place from whence he had 
 withdrawn his limbs. The enemy, from behind a rock, 
 kept firing on the house for some time, and then quitted it. 
 " Those parties of the enemy who were on the south 
 side of the river, having completed their destructive work, 
 collected in a field adjoining to Burnham's garrison, where 
 they insultingly showed their prisoners, and derided the 
 people, thinking themselves out of the reach of their shot. 
 A young man from the sentry box fired at one who was 
 making some indecent signs of defiance, and wounded 
 him in the heel ; him they placed on a horse, and carried 
 away. Both divisions then met at the falls, where they 
 had parted the evening before, and proceeded together to 
 Capt. Woodman's garrison. The ground being uneven 
 they approached without danger, and from behind a hill 
 kept up a long and severe fire at the hats and caps wljich 
 the people within held upon sticks above the wall, without 
 any other damage than galling the roof of the house. At 
 length, apprehending it was time for the people in the 
 neighboring settlements to be collected in pursuit of them, 
 they finally withdrew, having killed and captivated between 
 ninety and a hundred persons, and burned about twenty 
 
CHAP. VII.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 77 
 
 houses, of which five were garrisons. The main body of 
 them retreated over Winnipisseogee Lake, where they di- 
 vided their prisoners, separating those in particular who 
 were most intimately connected, in which they often took 
 a pleasure suited to their savage nature." 
 
 *' In September, 1707, one man was killed at Exeter, 
 and, two days after, Henry Elkins, at Kingston. But the 
 severest blow on the frontiers happened at Oyster River 
 a place which suffered more than all the rest. A party o* 
 French Mohawks, painted red, attacked with a hideous 
 yell a company who were in the woods, some hewing tim- 
 ber, and others driving a team, under, the direction of 
 Capt. Chesley, who was just returned \he second time 
 from~ Port Royal. • At the first fire, they killed seven and 
 mortally wounded another. Chesley, with the few who 
 were left, fired on the enemy with great vigor, and for. 
 some time checked their ardor ; but, being overpowered, 
 he at length fell." 
 
 "In the year 1690, March 18, Berwick, Me., was at- 
 tacked by a body of French and Indians, under the com- 
 mand of Hertel de Rouville, and Whoop Hood, a sachem 
 About thirty of the inhabitants were killed, and more 
 than fifty carried into captivity. The invaders were fol- 
 lowed and attacked, on their retreat, by a body of En- 
 glish, consisting of about one hundred and forty men. A' 
 few were killed on both sides, when night terminated the 
 conflict, and enabled the enemy to escape. The English 
 were destitute of snow shoes, and therefore unable to pur- 
 sue them. 
 
 " One of the prisoners, named Robert Rogers, a corpu- 
 lent man, being loaded with a heavy pack, found it im- 
 possible to keep pace with his captors. When he had 
 fallen behind them, thinking himself out of their reach, 
 he threw down his load, and attempted to make his escape. 
 The savages pursued him to a hollow tree, in which he 
 endeavored to conceal himself; and forcing him out, strip- 
 ped him, beat him, and pricked him forward on their jour- 
 ney until the evening arri^'ed. They then made a feast for 
 themselves, and, tying the prisoner to a tree, (his hands be- 
 ing fastened behind his back,) sang, shouted, and danced 
 around him. When they had sufficiently amused them* 
 
7Q INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY ' [oHAP. Til 
 
 selves in this manner, they made a great fire near the un- 
 fortunate man ; bade him take leave of his friends ; and 
 allowed him a momentary respite to offer up his prayers to 
 God. After this, they moved the fire forward, and roasted 
 him by degrees, and when they found him failing, withdrew 
 the fire again to a greater distance. Then they danced 
 around him, cut at each turn pieces of flesh from his per- 
 ishing frame ; laughed at his agonies ; and added new 
 pangs to this horrible death, by insults and mockeries. 
 With a refinement in cruelty not obvious to civilized man, 
 they placed the rest of the captives just without the fire, 
 that they might be witnesses of the catastrophe. With the 
 same spirit, after his death, they seated his body, still bound 
 to the tree, on the burning coals, that his friends might, 
 at some future time, be racked by the sight." 
 
 " In May, 1690, an expedition of French and Indians 
 was sent against Falmouth, Me. There were at that time 
 upon the peninsula, three fortifications besides Fort Loyal. 
 One was near the present burying ground ; another was on 
 the rocky elevation" southerly of the new court-house, al- 
 most indefensible ; and the third, in a better condition, was 
 farther westward, near the water side. The public garri- 
 son had been under the command of Capt. Willard, of Sa- 
 lem ; but on his being ordered abroad, to pursue the enemy, 
 he was succeeded by Capt. Silvanus Davis, who, it seems, 
 had only a small number of regular troops left with him. 
 
 " The body of French and Indians, collected to destroy 
 this place, was sent under the command of Mr. Burneffe, 
 and consisted of four or five hundred men. The greater 
 part of the Frenchmen were from Quebec, under one M. 
 De Portneuf ; fifty-five men were mustered at Trois Rivi- 
 eres, of whom twenty-five were Algonquins and Sokokis ; 
 and all, it is stated, were met by Hertel on his return, and 
 reinforced by part of his men. To these were united an 
 unknown number of Indians' from the eastward, under Cas- 
 tine and Madockawando. The whole were seen passing 
 over Casco Bay in a great flotilla of canoes, early in May ; 
 and were, it seems, deterred from an immediate attack by 
 a knowledge, and possibly a view, of the squadron under 
 Commodore Phips, which must have passed these coasta 
 toward Nova Scotia, about the same time. 
 
CHAP. VII. J HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 79 
 
 " Nothing more was beard of the enemy till about the 
 10th of the month ; when a bold party approached within 
 three or four miles of Fort Loyal, and drove off twenty 
 cattle, supposed afterwards to be slaughtered for the use of 
 the army. The inhabitants conjectured from this circum- 
 stance, that the head-quarters of the Indians must be in 
 that direction ; and President Danforth ordered Major Frost 
 to detach without delay one hundred men from the provin- 
 cial militia, to be joined by a party from the garrison ; all 
 of whom, under Capt. Willard, were directed to proceed 
 in the search and pursuit of the enemy. When they de- 
 parted, the command of Fort Loyal was assumed by Capt 
 Sylvanus Davis, as previously mentioned. 
 
 " Early in the morning of the 16th, one Robert Greason 
 going from home at Presumpscot River, was seized by an 
 Indian scout, and made a prisoner. This bold arrest in- 
 duced the general suspicion that the enemy was watching 
 in that quarter for an advantageous surprise of the town. 
 To make discoveries, therefore, about thirty young volun- 
 teer soldiers, under Lieut. Thaddeus Clark, proceeded from 
 the garrison, about half a mile, to an eminence, evidently 
 Mountjoy's Hill ; and entered a lane which was fenced on 
 each side, and led to a block-house in the margin of the 
 woods. Observing the state of the cattle in the field, tltey 
 suspected an ambush behind the fencei and yet all rashly 
 ran towards the plage, raising the shout, Huzza! huzza! 
 But. the aim of the cowering spies was too sure and dead- 
 ly ; for they brought Clark and thirteen of his comrades 
 to the ground at the first shot ; the rest fleeing, upon^ a se- 
 cond charge, to one of the forts. Flushed with this success, 
 the French and Indians rushed into town, and beset the 
 several fortifications, except Fort Loyal, with great fury. 
 All the people, who were unable to make good their re- 
 treat within the walls, were slain. After a manly defence 
 through the day, the volunteers and inhabitants, finding 
 their ammunition nearly exhausted, and despairing of re- 
 cruits or supplies, retired, under the covert of darkness, to 
 the public garrison. 
 
 " The assailants, next morning, finding the village aban- 
 doned, plundered the houses and set them on fire. They 
 then proceeded to storm the garrison. Thwarted in this 
 
80 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. TTI 
 
 attempt, and sustaining considerable loss from the fort 
 guns, they entered a deep contiguous gully, too low to be 
 reached by the shots of their antagonists, . and began the 
 work at some distance of undermining the walls. Four 
 days and nights they wrought with indefatigable and inces- 
 sant exertion, till within a few feet of the fort, when they 
 demanded a surrender. 
 
 " It was a crisis trying in the extreme to all within the 
 walls. They were exhausted with fatigue and anxiety. 
 The greater part of the men were killed or wounded. 
 Capt. Lawrence had received a shot which was mortal. All 
 thoughts of outward succor or relief were fraught with 
 deep despair ; and on the 20th, a parley was commenced, 
 which terniinated in articles of capitulation. By these it 
 was stipulated, that all within the garrison should receive 
 kind treatment, and be allowed to go itito the nearest pro- 
 vincial towns under the protection of a guard : — to the 
 faith and observance of which, Castine "lifted his hand 
 and swore by the everlasting God." The gates were then 
 opened, and a scene ensued which shocks humanity. The 
 prisoners, who were seventy in number, besides women and 
 children,, were called heretics, rebels and traitors, the dupes 
 of a Dutch usurper, and treated with every insult and abuse. 
 No part of the articles was regarded. Capt. Davis, who 
 was one of the prisoners, saj^s, " The French suffered our 
 women and children, and especially the wounded men, to 
 be cruelly murdered, or destroyed after the surrender ; and 
 the rest, being three or four with himself, took up a march 
 of twenty-four days to Quebec. The whole number of 
 prisoners, including some taken in the viciViity, was about 
 a hundred. Capt. Willard and his men had not returned. 
 The fortifications were all laid waste, and the dead bodies 
 of the inhabitants were left to bleach and moulder above 
 ground. Such was fallen Falmouth — a spectacle of homi- 
 cide, ruin and melancholy." "^ 
 
 " The attempts of the Indians upon the village of York, 
 in the last and the present war, had been remarkably de- 
 layed. Spread along the east side of Agamenticus River, 
 near the margin of the salt water, it was in some degree 
 sheltered from the enemy by the frontier settlements. It 
 had been, for many years, one of the provincial seats of 
 
CHAP. VII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 81 
 
 government and justice, and, since A. D. 1673, had been 
 favored with the able and pious ministry of Rev. Shubael 
 Dumme'r. Several houses were strongly fortified, and the 
 people kept a eonstant and vigilant watch, excepting in the 
 heart of winter. Unfortunately this was the season ascer- 
 tained by the enemy to be most favorable for effecting its 
 destruction. . 
 
 Early in the morning of Monday, February 5, 1692, at 
 the signal of a gun fired, the town was furiously assaulted, 
 •at diflferent places, by a body of two or three hundred In- 
 dians, led on, and emboldened by several Canadian French- 
 men ; — all of them having taken up their march thither 
 upon snow shoes. The surprise of the town was altogether 
 unexpected and amazing, and consequently the more fatal. 
 A scene of most horrid carnage and capture instantly en- 
 sued ; and in one half hour, more than a hundred and six- 
 ty of the inhabitants were expiring victims, or trembling 
 suppliants, at the feet of their enraged enemies. The rest 
 had the good fortune to escape with their lives, into Pre-' 
 ble's, Harman's, Alcock's and Norton's garrisoned houses, 
 the best fortifications in town. Though well secured with- 
 in the walls, and bravely defending themselves against their 
 assailants, they wer^ several times summoned to surrender ; 
 *' Never,'' said they, " never, till toe have shed the last drop 
 of blood!'' About 75 of the people were killed; yet de- 
 spairing of conquest or capitulation, the vindictive destroy- 
 ers set fire to nearly all the unfortified houses on the north- 
 east side of the river, which, with a large amount of pro- 
 perty left, besides the plunder taken, were laid in ashes. 
 Apprehensive of being overtaken by avenging pursuers, they 
 hastened to the woods, taking with them as much booty as 
 they could carry away, and, as Dr. Mather says, " near a 
 hundred of that unhappy people," prisoners. Nay, it was 
 now their hard destiny to enter upon a long journey amidst 
 a thou^d hardships and sufferings, aggravated by severe 
 weather; snow, famine, abuse, and every species of wretch- 
 edness. 
 
 About one half of the inhabitants, it has been supposed, 
 
 were either slain or carried captive. Mr. Dummer was 
 
 found by some of his surviving neighbors, fallen dead upon 
 
 his face, near his own door, being shot, as he was about 
 
 F 
 
S2 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VII 
 
 Starting on horseback to make a pastoral visit. He was a 
 well-educated- divine, now in his sixtieth year, greatly be- 
 loved by his charge. His wife, the daughter of Edward 
 Rishworth, Esq., was among the captives, who being heart- 
 broken, and exhausted with fatigue, soon sunk in death. 
 But truth and fidelity require the writer to mention in this 
 place, an iastance of Indian gratefulness, among several of 
 a kindred character, occurring at other times in our wars 
 with the natives. To recompense the English for sparing 
 the lives of four or five Indian females and a brood of 
 their children at Pejepscot, they dismissed some elderly wo- 
 men, and several children betwe.en the ages of three and 
 seven years, and returned them safely to one of the garri- 
 son houses. A party instantly rallied at Portsmouth, as 
 soon as the news reached that place, and went in pursuit 
 of the enemy; too late, however, to effect a rescue of the 
 prisoners, or to give the savages battle. In derision of the 
 puritan ministers, towards whom the Indians, full of Ro- 
 mish prejudices, entertained the greatest antipathy, one of 
 tliem, on a Sunday of their march through the wilderness, 
 dressed himself in the ministerial attire of Mr. Dummer, 
 and, in mock dignity, stalked among the prisoners, several 
 of whom were members of his church.. 
 
 *' The massacre in York, and burning of the town, were 
 the more- deeply and extensively lamented, because of the 
 antiquity and pre-eminence of the place, and especially the 
 excellent character of the people." 
 
 " In June, of the same year. Wells was the object of 
 attack by the Indians. The inhabitants were dispersed 
 among the fortified houses, in necessitous circumstances ; 
 while Capt. Converse and fifteen soldiers were all the fenci- 
 ble men then in Storer's garrison. To supply them and 
 the people with ammunition and provisions, two sloops, 
 commanded by Samuel Storer and James Gouge, attended 
 by a shallop, well laden, arrived in the harbor, Frid^, June 
 9th, having on board fourteen men. About the same hour, 
 the cattle, much affrighted, ran bleeding int6 the settle- 
 ment, from the woods ; fortunately giving the alarm of an 
 approaching enemy. Capt. Converse instantly issued com- 
 mands to the vessels, and to the people in all quarters, to 
 be on their guard ; and the whole night was passed in anx- 
 ious and trembling watchfulness. 
 
CHAP. VII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLANIK 83 
 
 " Next morning, before break of day, John Diamond, 
 a passenger in the shallop, on his way to the garrison, dis- 
 tant from the sloop a gun-shot, was seized by Indian spies, 
 and dragged away by his hair. An army of about five 
 hundred French and Indians presently appeared, under 
 Burneffe, their superior officer, who was chief in command 
 at the capture of Falmouth, — Labrocree, another French 
 general, of some military reputation, and a few other 
 Frenchmen of rank; attended by Madockawando, Ege- 
 remet, Moxus, Warumbee, and several other sagamores. 
 They closely examined Diamond, who told them what he 
 knew ; only by mistake, or design, he said there were in 
 the garrison with Capt. Converse thirty brave men, well 
 armed. Flushed with the certainty qf conquest, they ap- 
 portioned the soldiers, the inhabitants, Mr. Wheelwright 
 by name, the women and bhildren of the town, the sailors, 
 and the plunder, among the officers, the sagamores, and 
 their host ; when one habited like a gentleman, made a 
 speech in English to them, in which he exhorted them to 
 be active and fearless ; assuring them, if they courageously 
 attacked the English fortresses, all would be theirs — the 
 heretics must surrender. 
 
 " Instantly raising a hideous shout, they assailed the 
 garrison with great fury, and continued the assault during 
 the day. A party constructed, in the mean time, a breast- 
 work of plank, hay posts and rails, over which they fired 
 upon the vessels, secured only by a high bank, too far dis- 
 tant for men to spring on board. Being only a dozen rods 
 from the sloops, they were able to set them on fire several 
 times with fire-arrows; the crews extinguishing the flames 
 by wet mops upon the ends of poles, and firing also with 
 an aim and briskness, which at length compelled them to 
 withdraw. One of the Indians, more daring than his fel- 
 lows, then approached with a plank for a shield, whom a 
 marksman, by a single shot, brought to the ground. Next, 
 a kind of cart, rigged and trimmed with a platform and 
 breast- work, shot proof, was rolled forward from the woods, 
 till within fifteen yards from the sloops ; when one of the 
 wheels sinking into the oozy earth, a Frenchman stepped 
 to heave it forward with his shoulder, and was shot dead, 
 and another, taking his place, shared the same fate. The 
 
84 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VII 
 
 firing was continued upon the sloops, with the repeated 
 demand, * Surrender ! surrender !' — which was only re- 
 torted by loud laughter. At night, they called out, * Who's 
 your commander ? ' * TFc have,' said they, * a great many 
 commanders.' ' You lie,' cried an Indian ; ' you hav'e none 
 but Converse, and we'll have him before morning' 
 
 " A scout of six men, sent by Capt. Converse towards 
 Newichawannock, a few hours before the enemy appeared, 
 returning about the dawn of day, being Sabbath morning, 
 were unwarily exposed, on their arrival, to certain death. 
 But with great presence of mind, the corporal loudly be- 
 spoke Capt. Converse, as if near him, ' Wheel your men 
 around the hill, and. these few dogs are ours.' The enemy 
 supposing Converse was at their heels, hastily fled, and the 
 scout entered the gates unhurt. 
 
 " The French and Indians now eml)odied themselves, and 
 began to move with great regularity towards the garrison, 
 when one of the captain's soldiers sighed a surrender; — 
 Utter the word again,' said he, ' and you are a dead 
 man ;' — * all lie close — fire not a gun till it will do execu- 
 tion.' As the besiegers with a firm step approached, they 
 gave three hideous shouts — one crying out in English, 
 'Fire, and fall on, brave boys' and the whole body opening 
 into three ranks, discharged their guns all at once. A 
 blaze of fire was returned, both from the ^mall arms and 
 the cannon, some two or three of which were twelve pound- 
 ers ; the women in the garrison handing ammunition, and 
 several times touching oflT the pieces at the enemy. It was 
 a crisis of life and death, and the repulse was so complete, 
 that the attack was not renewed. 
 
 " One further attempt, however, was made upon the ves- 
 sels, which were still lying lashed together, in the best 
 posture possible for defence. The enemy now constructed a 
 fire-float, eighteen or twenty feet square, and filling it with 
 combustibles, and setting them on fire, towed it as far as it 
 was safe, directly towards the sloops, in the current of the 
 tide, and left it to fleet in flames against them. To avoid, 
 or to extinguish, this burning magazine, appeared impossi- 
 ble, and their fate inevitable. But by the interposition of 
 divine Providence, as the anxious mariners viewed it, a fresh 
 counter breeze was breathed upon them, which drove it 
 
CHAP. VIl] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 85 
 
 aground on the opposite shore, where it split, and filled with 
 water. 
 
 " Completely worsted in every effort made, and unable, 
 by reason of the levelness of the ground, to undermine 
 the garrison, the enemy despaired of forcing or inducing 
 a capitulation ; having killed none in the fort, and no more 
 than a single one of the mariners. Some of the enemy, 
 however, after this, proceeded over the river, and made 
 havock among the cattle, while the leaders sent a flag of 
 truce, and began a parley, offering Capt. Converse the most 
 seducing terms, if he would surrender. * No,' said he, '/ 
 want nothing of you.^ A short dialogue ensued, of this 
 purport. Converse told them, ' I want nothing but men to 
 fight.' ^Then if you^ Converse, are so stout, why don't 
 you come out and Jfght in the field, like a man, and not 
 stay in a garrison like a squaw V * What fools are you ! 
 Think you,' said he, * my thirty are a match for your five 
 hundred 1 Come upon the plain with only thirty, and I 
 am ready for you.' 'No, nh, we think English fashion,* 
 cried a grim Indian, * all one fool : you kill me — me kill 
 you ; — not so, — better lie somewheres and shoot 'em English- 
 man, when he no see, that's the best soldier.' After this, 
 the Indian bearing the flag, threw it upon the' ground and 
 fled. A few scattering guns were at intervals discharged 
 till dusk, and about ten in the evening the enemy all with- 
 drew. 
 
 • " The good management and great bravery of Capt. Con- 
 verse and his men, and of the ship-masters and their crews, 
 were not exceeded during the war. A siege of forty-eight 
 hours, prosecuted by a host against a handful, was, in the 
 sequel, no less a disgrace and discouragement to the one, 
 than animating and glorious to the other. Several of the 
 enemy fell — (me was L'abrocree, who had about his neck, 
 when found, a satchel<iinclosing Romish reliques, and a 
 printed manual of indulgences. To avenge his death, the 
 savages put their only captive, John Diamond, to the tor- 
 ture." They stripped, scalped, and maimed him ; slit his 
 hands and feet between the fingers and toes ; cut deep 
 gashes in the fleshy parts of his body, and then stuck the 
 wounds full of lighted torches, leaving him to die by 
 piecemeal in the agonies of consuming fire." 
 8 • 
 
86 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cRAP. VII. 
 
 " A memorable engagement happened, May 1, 1724, at 
 the St. George's River. It being an inviting morning, 
 April 30th-, Capt. Josiah Winslovv, commander of the foTt, 
 selected sixteen of the ablest men belonging to the garri- 
 son, and in a couple of staunch whale-boats, proceeded 
 down the river, and thence to the Green Islands in Penob- 
 scot Bay, which, at this season of the year, were frequent- 
 ed by the Indians for fowling. Though Winslovv and his 
 company made no discovery, their movements were watched 
 by the wary enemy ; and on their return, the next day, as 
 they were ascending (he river, they fell into a fatal am- 
 bush of the Indians, cowering under each of its banks 
 They permitted Winslow to pass, and then fired into the 
 other boat, which was commanded by Harvey, a sergeant, 
 and was nearer the shore. Harvey fell. A brisk discharge 
 of musketry was returned upon the assailants, when Win- 
 slow, observing the imminent exposure of his companions, 
 though he was 'himself out of danger, hastened back to 
 their assistance. In an instant he found himself surround- 
 ed by thirty canoes, and three-fold that number of armed 
 savages, who raised a hideous whoop, and fell upon the 
 two boat crews with desperate fury. The skirmish was 
 severe and' bloody; when Winslow and his men, per- 
 ceiving inevitable death to be the only alternative, resolved 
 to sell their lives at the dearest rate. They made a most 
 determined and gallant defence; and after nearly all of 
 them were dead or mortally wounded, himself having his 
 thigh fractured, and being extremely exhausted, — iTis shat- 
 tered bark was set to the shore.* Here, being waylaid, he 
 fought a savage, hand to hand, with the greatest personal 
 courage, beat off the foe, and then resting on his knee, 
 shot one, ere they could despatch him. Thus fell the in- 
 trepid Winslow and every one of his brave company, ex- 
 cept three friendly Indians, who wvere suffered to escape, 
 and communicate particulars to the garrison. The death 
 of Capt. Winslow was severely felt and lamented. He 
 was a young officer of military talents and great worthy 
 and a late graduate of Haivard College." 
 
 " In Rehoboth, Mass., the Indians burnt, on the 28th 
 of March, 1676, about forty houses and thirty barns; and 
 in Providence, R. I., soon after, about thirty houses. On 
 
CHAP. VII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. * 87 
 
 the 8th of the following May, they burnt about seventeen 
 houses and barns in Bridgewater. Not long after, they 
 killed four of the inhabitants of Taunton. The preceding 
 year, also, many outrages were committed, both upon 
 Taunton and Bridgewater ; and in the months of April 
 and May, there were burnt in Bridgewater, thirteen 
 houses, and several barns. 
 
 " Philip had declared, that the people of Taunton and 
 Bridgewater should be the last to be destroyed. On the 
 llth of July, 1676, he assembled all the warriors whom he 
 was able to collect, and marched to Taunton, with a de- 
 sign to accomplish its destruction. Raynham was at that 
 time, and for many yeaig after, a parish of Taunton, and 
 was undoubtedly to be mcluded in the common ruin. A 
 black man, who understood the language of the Indians, 
 and had been tak^n prisoner by Philip's people, discover- 
 ing his intention against the inhabitants of Taunton, made 
 his escape, and acquainted them with their danger. They 
 accordingly prepared themselves to give him a warm re- 
 ception ; and with the aid of some soldiers in the neigh- 
 borhood, saluted him with such spirit, that, after having 
 set two houses on fire, he retreated Capt. Church, the 
 commander of the Plymouth forces, attacked him speedily 
 after ; defeated him in several successive engagements, 
 and killed and took a considerable number of his men. At 
 length he fled to a swamp in the neighborhood of Mount 
 Hope, in Bristol, R. I. Capt. Church, being informed 
 of this fact, pursued him ; but scarcely had he reached the 
 ground, when Philip was shot by one of his own country- 
 men." 
 
 "In the latter end of July, or beginning of August, 
 1692, a party of Indians came into the town of Brook- 
 field, and broke up two or three families. Joseph Wool- 
 cot, being at work at a little distance from his house, his 
 wife, being fearful, took her children, and went out to him. 
 When they returned to the house at noon, they found the 
 Indians had been there, for his gun, and several other 
 things were missing, and looking out at a window, he saw 
 an Indian at some distance,^ coming towards the house. 
 He immediately sent out his wife and his two little daugh* 
 ters, to hide themselves in the bushes; and he, taking his 
 
88 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VII. 
 
 kittle Son under his arm, and his broad axe in his hand, 
 went out, with fiis dog, in sight of the Indian. The dog, 
 being large and fierce, attacked the Indian so furiously, 
 that he was obliged to discharge his gun at the dog, to rid 
 himself of him : immediately upon which, WooJcot sat 
 down the child, and pursued the Indian till he heard the 
 bullet run down his gun, the Indian charging as he ran ; 
 he then turned back, snatched up his child, and made his 
 escape through the swamps to a fort. His wife, being 
 greatly terrified, discovered by her shrieks where she was, 
 and the Indian soon found and despatched both her and 
 her children. Others of the party about the same time 
 came into the house of one Masc^, while the family were 
 at dinner. They killed Mason, and one or two children, 
 and took his wife, and an infant which they had wounded, 
 and carried them off. 
 
 " Early one morning, John Woolcot, a lad of about 
 twelve or fourteen years of age, was riding in search of 
 the cows, when the Indians fired at him, killed his horse 
 under him, and took him prisoner. The people at Jen- 
 nings' garrison, hearing the firing, and concluding the peo- 
 ple of another garrison were beset, six men set out for 
 their assistance, but were waylaid by the Indians. The 
 English saw not their danger, till they saw there was no 
 escaping it; and therefore, knowing that an Indian could 
 not look an Englishman in the face, and take a right aim, 
 they stood their ground, presenting their pieces wherever 
 they saw an Indian, without discharging them, excepting 
 Abijah Bartlet, who turned to flee, and was shot dead. 
 The Indians kept firing at the rest, and wounded three of 
 them, Joseph Jennings in two places; one ball grazed the 
 top of his head, by which he was" struck blind for a mo- 
 ment ; another ball passed through his shoulder, wounding 
 his collar-bone ; yet by neither did he fall, nor was he mor- 
 tally wounded. Benjamin Jennings was wounded in the 
 leg, and John Green in the wrist. They were preserved, at 
 last, by the following stratagem. A large dog, hearing the 
 firing, came to our men, one of whom, to encourage his 
 brethren, and intimidate the Indians, called out, ' Capt. 
 Williams is come to our assistance, for here is his dog.' 
 The Indians, seeing the dog, and knowing Williams to be 
 
CHAP. VII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 89 
 
 a famous warrior, immediately fled, and our men escaped. 
 John Woolcot, • the lad above mentioned, was carried to 
 Canada, where he remained six or seven years, during 
 which time, by conversing wholly with Indians, he not 
 only lost his native language, but became so naturalized 
 to the savages, as to be unwilling, for a while, to return to 
 his native country. Some years afterwards, viz., in March, 
 1728, in time of peace, he and another man, having been 
 hunting, and coming down Connecticut River with a freight 
 of skins and fur, they were 'hailed by some Indians, but 
 not being willing to go to them, they steered for another 
 shofe. The Indians landed at a little distance from them ; 
 several shots were exchanged, and at length Woolcot was 
 killed. 
 
 " The last mischief which was done by the savages in 
 Brookfield, was about the 20th of July, 1710. Six men, 
 viz., Ebenezer Hayward, John White, Stephen and Ben- 
 jamin Jennings, John Grosvenor, and Joseph Kellog, were 
 making hay in the meadows, when the Indians, who had 
 been watching an opportunity to surprise them, sprung 
 suddenly upon them, despatched five of them, and took the 
 other, John White, prisoner. White, spying a small com- 
 pany of our people at some distance, jumped from the In- 
 dian who held him, and ran to join his friends ; but the 
 Indian fired after him, and wounded him in the thigh, so 
 that he fell ; but soon recovering, and running again, he 
 was again fired at, and received his death-wound." 
 
 In February, 1704, an assault was made upon Deerfield, 
 Massachusetts. In 4he evening previous to the attack, 
 *' Major Hertel de Rouville, with two hundred French and 
 one hundred and forty-two Indians, aided by two of his 
 brothers, after a tedious march of between two and three 
 hundred miles, through deep snow, arrived at an elevated 
 pine forest, bordering Deerfield meadow, about two milies 
 north of the village, where they lay concealed until mid- 
 night. Finding all quiet, and tl^e snow covered with a 
 erust sufficient to support his men, Rouville deposited his 
 snow-shoes and packs at the foot of the elevation, and 
 crossing Deerfield River, began his march through an open 
 meadow a little before day-light. As the march upon the 
 crust produced a rustling noise, which, it was apprehended, 
 8* 
 
90 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. VII, 
 
 might alarm the sentinels at the fort, he ordered frequent 
 halts, in which the whole lay still for a few moments, and 
 then rising, they dashed on with rapidity. The noise thus 
 alternately ceasing, they supposed would be attributed b;^ 
 the sentinels to the irregularity of the wind ; but the pre- 
 caution was unnecessary, for the guard within the fort had 
 improvidently retired to rest about the 'time the enemy com- 
 menced their march through the meadow. Arriving at 
 the north-west quarter .of the fort, where the snow in many 
 places was drifted nearly to* the top of the palisades, the 
 enemy entered the place, and found all in a profound sleep. 
 Parties detached in different directions, assaulted the 
 houses, broke the doors, and dragged the astonished people 
 from their beds. Where resistance was attempted, the to- 
 mahawk or musket ended the strife. A few were so for- 
 tunate as to escape by flight to the adjacent woods ; but the 
 greatest part were killed, or made prisoners. 
 
 " Early in the assault, about twenty Indians attacked the 
 house of the Rev. John Williams, who, awaking from a 
 sound sleep, instantly leaped from his bed, ran toward the 
 door, and found a party entering. Calling to awaken a 
 couple of soldiers in his chamber, he seized a pistol from 
 his bed tester, and presenting it to the breast of the fore- 
 most Indian, attempted to shoot him; but it missed fire. 
 He was instantly seized, bound, and thus kept nearly an 
 hour without his clothes. Two of his young children 
 were dragged to the door, and murdered, and his negro 
 woman suffered the same fate. Mrs. Williams, who was 
 in feeble health, and five children, were also seized, and 
 the house rifled with unrelenting barbarity. While the In- 
 dians were thus employed, jCapt. Stoddard, a lodger in the 
 house, seizing his cloak, leaped from a chamber window, 
 escaped across Deerfield River, and availing himself of his 
 cloak, which he tore into shreds and wrapped about his 
 feet, arrived at Hatfield nearly exhausted. 
 
 " The house x>f Capt. John Sheldon was attacked ; but 
 as the door at which the Indians attempted to enter was 
 firmly bolted, they found it difficult to penetrate. They 
 ihen perforated it with their tomahawks, and thrusting 
 through a musket, fired, and killed the captain's wife, as 
 she was rising from her bed in the adjoining room. The 
 
CHAP. VII. J HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. IM "** 
 
 captain's son and his wife, awakened by the assault, leaped 
 from a chamber window, at the east end of the house, by 
 which the latter sprained her ankle, and was taken by the 
 Indians ; but the husband escaped into the woods, and 
 reached Hatfield. After gaining possession of the house, 
 which was one of the largest in the place, the enemy re- 
 served it as a depot for the prisoners, as they were collect- 
 ed from other parts of the village. 
 
 *' Another dwelling-house, situated about fifty yards 
 south-east of Sheldon's, though repeatedly attacked, and 
 various means adopted to set it on fire, was saved from the 
 grasp of the enemy, by seven armed men and a few wo- 
 men, by whom it was occupied. While the brave defend- 
 ers were pouring their fire upon the assailants from the 
 windows and loop-holes, the no less brave women were 
 busily employed in casting balls for future supply. Unable 
 to carry the house, or intimidate the defenders to a surren- 
 der, hy all their threats and stratagems, the enemy gave up 
 their efforts, and cautiously endeavored to keep out of the 
 range of the shot. But notwithstanding their precautions, 
 several were singled out and shot down by the marksmen 
 in the house. 
 
 " While devastation and ruin were in operation at the 
 main fort, a palisaded house, situated about sixty rods 
 southerly, was furiously attacked, and gallantly defended, 
 by a small party of the inhabitants, and the assailants were 
 at length compelled to draw off. But they received several 
 fatal shots from the house during their stay in the place. 
 
 " Having collected the prisoners, plundered and set fire 
 to the buildings, Rouville left the place about an hour be- 
 fore sunset, and retraced his march through the meadow 
 to his packs and snow-shoes, where the prisoners were de- 
 prived of their shoes, and furnished with Indian mocca- 
 sons, to enable them to travel with more facility." 
 
 "February 8th, Joseph Bradley's garrison, at Haverhill, 
 was unhappily surprised by a small party of Indians, who, 
 skulking at a distance, and seeing the gates open, and none 
 on the sentry, rushed in, and became masters of it. The 
 housewife, perceiving the misery that was attending her, 
 and having boiling soap on the fire, scalded one of them 
 to death. The sentinel within was slain, and she, with 
 
92 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VU 
 
 several others, were taken. That which heightened her 
 affliction was, being with child, and yet obliged to travel 
 in a deep snow, under a heavy burden, and many days to- 
 gether without subsistence, excepting a few bits of skin, 
 ground-nuts, bark of trees, wild onions and lily roots. Ne- 
 vertheless, she was wonderfully supported, and at last safe- 
 ly delivered ; but the babe soon perished for want of nou- 
 rishment and by the cruelty of the Indians, who, as it 
 cried, threw hot embers into its mouth. After a year's 
 bondage, she was sold to the French for eighty livres, and 
 then redeem-^d by her husband." 
 
 " Sometime in the summer of 1706, the Indians again 
 visited the garrison of Joseph Bradley ; and it is said that 
 he, his wife and children, and a hired man, were the only 
 persons in it, at the time. It was in the night, the moon 
 shone brightly, and they could be easily seen silently and 
 cautiously approaching. Mr. Bradley armed himself, his 
 wife and man, each with a gun, and such of his children 
 as could shoulder one. Mrs. Bradley, supposing they had 
 come purposely for her, told her husband that she had ra- 
 ther be killed than be again taken. The Indians rushed 
 upon the garrison, and endeavored to beat down the door. 
 They succeeded in pushing it partly open, and when one 
 of the Indians began to crowd himself through the open- 
 ing,. Mrs. Bradley fired her gun, and shot him dead. The 
 rest of the Indians, seeing their companion fall, desisted 
 from their purpose, and hastily retreated." 
 
 On the 29th of August, 1708, a party of French and 
 Indians attacked Haverhill Village, then consisting of 
 about thirty houses. " At the break of day, they passed 
 the frontier garrisons undiscovered, and were first seen 
 near the pound, marching two and two, by John Keezar, 
 who was returning from Amesbury. He immediately ran 
 into the village and alarmed the inhabitants, who seem to 
 have slept totally unguarded, by firing his gun near the 
 meeting-house. The enemy soon appeared, making the 
 air ring with terrific yells, with a sort of whistle, which 
 tradition says could be heard as far as a horn. They scat- 
 tered in every direction over the village, so that they might 
 accomplish their bloody work with more despatch. The 
 first person they saw, was Mrs. Smith, whom they shot as 
 
CHAP. VII ] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 93 
 
 she was flying from her house to a garrison. The foremost 
 party attacked the house of Rev. Benjamin Rolfe, which 
 was then garrisoned with three soldiers, and he and a part 
 of his beloved and accomplished family were suddenly 
 awakened from their slumbers, only to hear the horrid 
 knell for their departure. Mr. Rolfe instantly leaped from 
 his bed, placed himself against the door, which they were 
 endeavoring to beat in, and called on the soldiers for as- 
 sistance ; but they refused to give it, for they were palsied 
 with fear, and walked to and fro through the chambers, 
 crying, and swinging their arms. The enemy, finding 
 their entrance strenuously opposed, fired two balls through 
 the door, one of which took effect, and wounded Mr. Rolfe 
 in the elbow. They then pressed against it with their uni- 
 ted strength, and Mr. Rolfe, finding it impossible to resist 
 them any longer, fled precipitately through the house, and 
 out at the back door. The Indians followed, overtook 
 him at the well, and despatched him with their tomahawks. 
 They then searched every part of the house for plunder, 
 and also for other victims. They soon found Mrs: Rolfe 
 and her youngest child, Mehitable, and while one of them 
 sunk his hatchet deep in her head, another took the infant 
 from her dying grasp, and dashied its head against a stone 
 near the dcTor. "• . 
 
 ** Two of Mr. Rolfe's children, about six and eight 
 years of age, were providentially saved by the sagacity and 
 courage of Hagar, a negro slave, who was an inmate of 
 the family. Upon the first alarm, she leaped from her bed, 
 carried them into 4fe cellar, covered them with two tubs, 
 and then concealed herself The enemy entered the cel- 
 lar, and plundered it of every thing valuable. They re- 
 peatedly passed the tubs that covered the two children, 
 and even trod on the foot of one, without discovering them. 
 They drank milk from the pans, then dashed them on the 
 cellar bottom, and took meat from the barrel behind which 
 Hagar was concealed. 
 
 ** Anna Whittaker, who was then living in the fairflly of 
 Mr. Rolfe, concealed herself in an apple chest, under the 
 stairs, and escaped unharmed. But it fared differently 
 with the soldiers. They earnestly begged for mercy of 
 iheir inhuman conquerors, but their cries were unheeded ; 
 
94 fNOlDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VII. 
 
 and when the massacre was over, their bodies were num- 
 bered with the slain. 
 
 " The family of Thomas Hartshorne suffered as severely 
 as that of Mr. Rolfe. He saw a party approaching to as- 
 sault his house, and escaped out of it, followed by two of 
 his sons, to call assistance; but all three were shot dead 
 immediately after leaving it A third son was tomahawked 
 as he was coming out at the door. 
 
 "Mrs. Hartshorne, with that presence of ^ mind which is 
 a characteristic of her sex, when surrounded with danger, 
 instantly took the rest of her children — excepting un in- 
 fant, which she left on a bed in the garret, and which she 
 was afraid would, by its cries, betray their place of con- 
 cealment, if she topk it with her — through a trap-door in- 
 to the cellar. The enemy entered the house, and began 
 to plunder it, but happily did not discover them. Th^y 
 went into the garret, took the infant from its bed, ai d 
 threw it out of the window. It fell on a pile of clap- 
 boards, and when the action was over, it was foynd com 
 pletely stunned. It lived, however, and became a man of 
 uncommon stature and of remarkable strength. His neii,h- 
 bors would frequently joke him, and say that the Indians 
 stunted him, when they threw him from the garret window 
 
 " One of the parties proceeded toward the riv'er, and at- 
 tacked the house of Lieut. John Johnson. Mr. Johnscu 
 and his wife, with an infant a year old in her arms, were 
 standing at the door, when the enemy made their appear- 
 ance. Mr. Johnson was shot, and his wife fled through 
 the house into the garden, carrying h§r babe, where she 
 was overtaken by the foe, and immediately despatched. 
 But when she fell, she was careful not to injure her child, 
 and it seemed as though her last thoughts were for its safe- 
 ty. The enemy did not murder it, and it is somewhat re- 
 markable that they did not. After the massacre was over, 
 it was found at the breast of its dead mother. 
 
 " Another party rifled and burnt the house of Mr. Sil- 
 ver, ^d others attacked the watch-house, which was, how- 
 ever, successfully defended; Another party went to the 
 house of Capt. Samuel Wainwright, whom they killed at 
 the first fire. The soldiers stationed in the chambers w^ere 
 preparing to defend the house till the last, when Mrs. 
 
CHAP. VII.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 95 
 
 Wainwright fearlessly unbarred the door, and let them in. 
 She spoke to them kindly, waited upon them with seeming 
 alacrity, and promised to procure them whatever they de- 
 sired. The enemy knew not v\iiiat to make of this; — the 
 apparent cheerfulness with which they were received, and 
 the kindness with which they were treated, was so differ- 
 ent from what they expected to meet with, that it seemed 
 to paralyze their energies. They, however, demanded 
 money of Mrs. Wainwright, and upon her retiring * to 
 bring it,' as she said, she fled with all of her children, ex- 
 cept one daughter, who was taken captive, and was not 
 afterwards discovered. The enemy, as soon as they found 
 out how completely they had been deceived, were greatly 
 enraged, and attacked the chambers with great violence ; 
 but the soldiers courageously defended them, and after at- 
 tempting to fire the house, they retreated, taking with 
 them three prisoners. In the mean time, two Indians 
 skulked behind a large stone, which stood in the field a 
 few rods east of the house, where they could fire upon its 
 inmates at their leisure. The soldiers in the chamber 
 fired upon them, and killed them both. 
 
 " The Indians attacked the house of Mr. Swan, which 
 stood in the field now called White's lot. Swan and his 
 wife saw them approaching, and determined, if possible, 
 to save their own lives, and the lives of their children, 
 from the knives of the ruthless butchers. They immediate- 
 ly placed themselves against the door, which was so narfow 
 that two could hardly enter abreast. The Indians rushed 
 against it, but finding that it could not be easily opened, 
 they commenced thtir operations more systematically. 
 One of them placed his back to the door, ^o that he could 
 make his whole strength bear upon it, while the other 
 pushed against him. The strength of the besiegers was 
 greater than that of the besieged, apd Mr. Swan, being 
 rather a timid man, almost despaired of saving himself 
 and family, and told his wife that he thought it would be bet- 
 ter to let them in. But this heroic and courageous wo- 
 man had no such idea. The Indians had now succeeded 
 in partly opening the door, and one of them was crowding 
 himself in, while the other was pushing lustily after. The 
 heroic wife saw that there was no time for parleying — she 
 
96 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY fcHAP. VII. 
 
 seized Iter spit, which was nearly three feet in length, and 
 a deadly weapon in the hands of woman, as it proved, and 
 collecting all the strength she possessed, drove it through 
 the body of the foremost. ^This was too warm a reception 
 for the besiegers — it was resistance from a source, and with 
 a weapon*, they little expected. Being thus repulsed, the 
 two Indians immediately retreated, and did not molest 
 them again. Thus, by the fortitude and heroic courage 
 of a wife and mother, this family was probably saved from 
 a bloody grave. 
 
 " One of the parties set fire to the back side of the meet- , 
 ■ ing-house, a new, and, for that period, an elegant building.. 
 These transactions were all performed about the same , 
 time ; but they were not permitted to continue their work . 
 of murder and conflagration long, before they became pa- 
 nic struck. Mr. Davis, an intrepid man, went behind Mr. 
 Rolfe's barn, which stood near the house, struck it violent- 
 ly with a large club, called on men by name, gave the word 
 of command as though he were ordering an attack, and 
 shouted with a loud voice, ' Come on ! come on! we will 
 have them !' The party in Mr. Rolfe's house, supposing 
 that a large body of the English had come upon them, be- 
 gan the cry of ' The English are come !' and after at- 
 tempting to fire the house, precipitately left it. About this 
 time, Major Turner arrived with a company of soldiers, and 
 the whole body of the enemy commenced a rapid retreat, 
 taking with them a number of prisoners. The retreat 
 commenced about the rising of the sun. Meantime, Mr. 
 Davis ran to the meeting-house, and, with the aid of a few 
 others, succeeded in extinguishing the devouring^ element. 
 " The town, h.y this time, was generally alarmed. Jo- 
 seph Bradley collected a small party, and secured the me- 
 dicine box and packs of the enemy, which they had left r 
 about three miles from the village. Capt. Samuel Ayer, 
 a fearless man, and of great strength, collected a body of 
 about twenty men, and pursued the retreating foe. He 
 came up with them just as they were entering the woods, 
 when they faced about, and although they numbered thir- 
 teen or more to one, still Capt. Ayer did not hesitate to 
 give them battle. These gallant men were soon reinforced 
 by another party, under the command ofJiis son; and 
 
CHAP. VII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 97 
 
 after a severe skirmish, which lasted about an hour, they 
 retook some of the prisoners, and the enemy precipitately 
 retreated, leaving nine of their number dead." 
 
 " The inhabitants were now left to perform the sorrow- 
 ful office of burying their dead — and it was a sorrowful 
 one indeed. The day was somewhat advanced when the 
 battle was over, and, it being extremely warm, the inter- 
 ment was necessarily hurried. Coffins could not be made 
 for all, and a large pit was dug in the burying-ground, in 
 which several of them were laid." 
 
 " April 27th, 1706, a small body of Indians fell on an 
 out-house at Oyster River, where they killed eight, and / 
 wounded two. The garrison, which stood near, had not 
 a man in it, at the time ; but the women, wjio assumed an 
 Amazonian courage, advanced the watch-box, and made 
 an alarm. They put on hats, with their hair hanging 
 down, and fired so briskly, that they struck a terror into 
 the enemy, and they withdrew without firing the house or 
 carrying away much plunder. The principal sufferer, at 
 this time, was John Wheeler, who, thinking them to be 
 friendly Indians, unfortunately fell into their hands. Two 
 days after, J^r. Shapleigh and his son, as they were travel- 
 ling through Kittery, were ambushed by another party, 
 who, killing the father, took the son fPftd carried him to 
 Canada. In their march, they were so inhumanly cruel, 
 that they bit off the tops of his fingers, and, to stagnate 
 the blood, seared them with hot tobacco pipes." 
 
 • " On the 3d of July, a party of Indians made a descent 
 upon Dunstable, N. H., where they fell on a garrison that 
 had twenty troopers in it. They had been ranging the 
 woods in the vicinity, and came, towards night, to this gar- 
 rison; apprehending no dang'er, turned their horses loose 
 upon the interval, piled their arms and harness in the 
 house, and began a carousal ,^0 exhilarate their spirits after 
 the fatigues of the day. The Indians had lately arrived 
 in the vicinity, and on that day had designed to attack both 
 Wells' and Galusha's garrisons. One of their number had 
 been stationed to watch each of these houses, to see that 
 no assistance approached, and no alarm was given. A 
 short time previous to the arrival of the cavalry, the^ In- 
 dian stationed at Wells' returned to his party, and reported » 
 9 G 
 
98 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VII. 
 
 that all was safe. At sunset, a Mr. Cumings and his 
 wife went out to milk their cows, and left the gate open. 
 The Indians, who had advanced undiscovered, started up, 
 shot Mrs. Cumings dead upon the spot, and wounded her 
 husband. They then rushed through the open gate into the 
 house, with all the horrid yells of conquering savages, but 
 stared with amazement at finding the room filled with 
 soldiers, merrily feasting. Both parties were completely 
 amazed, and neither acted with much propriety. The sol 
 diers, so suddenly interrupted in their jovial entertainment, 
 found themselves called upon to fight, when entirely desti- 
 tute of arms, and incapable of obtaining any. The great- 
 er part were panic-struck, and unable to fight or fly. For 
 tunately, all were not in this sad condition ; some six or 
 seven courageous souls, with chairs, clubs, and whatever 
 they could seize upon, furiously attacked the advancing 
 foe. The Indians, who were as much surprised as the sol- 
 diers, had but little more courage than they, and immedi- 
 ately took to their heels for safety : thus yielding the house, 
 defeated by one quarter their number of unarmed men. 
 The trumpeter, who was in the upper part of the house 
 at the commencement of the attack, seized his trumpet, 
 and commenced sounding an alarm, when he was shot dead 
 by an Indian on tlm stair way. He was the only one of 
 the party killed." 
 
 " September 4th, 1724, the Indians, again fell on Dun- 
 stable, and took two in the evening : the persons taken, 
 were Nathan Cross and Thomas Blanchard, who had been 
 engaged in the manufacture of turpentine, on the north 
 side of Nashua River, near where Nashua Village now 
 stands. At that time there were no houses or settlements 
 on that side of the river. These men had been in the ha- 
 bit of returning every night, to lodge in a saw mill on the 
 other side. That night Ihey came not as usual. An alarm 
 was given ; it was feared they*had fallen into the hands of 
 the Indians. A party, consisting of ten of the principal 
 inhabitants of the place, started in search of them, under 
 the direction of one French, a sergeant of militia. In 
 this company was FarweH, who was afterwards lieutenant 
 under Lovewell. When they arrived at the spot where the 
 men had been laboring, they found the hoops of the barrel 
 
CHAP. Vll.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 99 
 
 cut, and the turpentine spread upon the ground. From 
 certain marks upon the trees made with coal mixed with 
 grease, they understood that the men were taken, and car- 
 ried off alive. In the course of this examination, Farwell 
 perceived that the turpentine had not ceased spreading, 
 and called the attention of his comrades to this circum- 
 stance. They concluded that the Indians had been gone 
 but a short time, and must still be near, and decided 
 upon instant pursuit. Farwell advised them to take a 
 circuitous route, to avoid an ambush. But, unfortu- 
 nately, he and French had, a short time previous, had a 
 misunderstanding, and were still at variance. French 
 imputed this advice to cowardice, and called out, " I am 
 going to take the direct path ; if any of you are not afraid, 
 let him follow me." French led the way, and the whole 
 party followed, Farwell falling in the rear. Their route 
 was up the Merrimac, towards which they bent their 
 course, to look for their horses upon the interval. At the 
 brook near Lutwyche's (now Thornton's) ferry, they were 
 waylaid. The Indians fired upon them, and killed the 
 larger part instantly. A few fled, but were overtaken and 
 destroyed. French was killed about a mile from the place 
 of action, under an oak-tree, now standing in the field be- 
 longing to Mr. Lund, in Merrimac. Farwell, in the rear, 
 seeing those before him fall, sprung behind a tree,discharged 
 his piece, and ran. Two Indians pursued him ; the chase 
 was vigorously maintained for some time, without gaining 
 much advartage, till Farwell passing through a thicket, 
 the Indians lost sight of him, and fearing he might have 
 loaded again, they desisted. He was the only one of the 
 company that escaped. A company from the neighbor- 
 hood mustered upon the news of this disaster, proceeded* 
 to the ffital spot, took up the bodies of their friends and 
 townsmen, and interred them in the burying-ground in 
 Dunstable. Blanchard and Cross were carried to Canada* 
 after remaining there some time, they succeeded, by their 
 own exertions, in effecting their redemption, and returned 
 to their native town, where their descendants are still 
 living." 
 
 " Within the town of Dover were many families of 
 Q-uakers, who, scrupling the lawfulness of war, could no* 
 
100 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. VII 
 
 be persuaded to use any means for their defence, though 
 equally exposed, with their neighbors, to an enemy who 
 made no distinction between theiu.- " On^ of these people, 
 Ebenezer Downs, was taken by the Indians, and was gross- 
 ly insulted and abused by them, because he would not 
 dance, as the rest of the prisoners did, for the diversion 
 of their savage captors. Another of them, John Hanson, 
 who lived on the outside of the town, could not be per- 
 suaded to remove to a garrison, though he had a large fa- 
 mily of children. In June, 1724, a party of thirteen In- 
 dians, called French Mohawks, had marked his house for 
 their prey, and lay several days in ambush, waiting for an 
 opportunity to assault it. While Hanson, with his eldest 
 daughter, was gone to attend the weekly meeting of 
 Friends, and his two eldest sons were at work in a mea- 
 dow at some distance, the Indians entered the house, killed 
 and scalped two small children, and took his wife, with her 
 infant of fourteen days old, her nurse, two daughters and 
 a son, and after rifling the house, carried them off. This 
 was done so suddenly and secretly, that the first person 
 who discovered it, was the eldest daughter, at her return 
 from the meeting before her father. Seeing the two chil- 
 dren dead at the door, she gave a shriek of distress, which 
 was distinctly heard by her mother, then in the hands of 
 the enemy among the bushes, and by her brothers in the 
 meadow. The people being alarmed, went in pursuit ; but 
 the Indians, carefully avoiding all paths, went off with their 
 captives undiscovered." 
 
 In May, 1725, Capt. John Lovewell, with thirty-four 
 men, while pursuing their march to the northward, with 
 the design of attacking the Indian villages of Pigwacket, 
 #n the upper part of Saco River, came to a pond situated 
 in the township of Fryeburg, Me., fifty miles from any Eng- 
 lish settlement, and twenty-two from the fort on Ossipee 
 Pond, where they encamped. " Early the next morning, 
 while at their devotions, they heard the report of a gun, 
 and discovered a single Indian, standing on a point of 
 land which runs into the pond, more than a mile distant. 
 They had been alarmed the preceding night by noises 
 round their camp, which they imagined were made by 
 Indians, and this opinion was now strengthened. They 
 
CHAP. VII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 101 
 
 suspected that the Indian was placed there to decoy them, 
 and that a body of the enemy was in their front. A con- 
 sultation being held, they determined to mar«:h forward, 
 and by encompassing the pond, to gain the point where 
 the Indian stood ; and that they might be ready for action, 
 they disencumbered themselves of their packs, and Ifeft 
 them without a guard, at the north-east end of the pond, 
 in a pitch-pine plain, where the trees were thin, and the 
 brakes, at that time of the year, small. It happened that 
 Love well's march had crossed a carrying place, by which 
 two parties of Indians, consisting of forty-one men, com- 
 manded by Paugus and Wahwa, who had been scouting 
 down Saco River, were returning to the lower village of 
 Pigvvacket, distant about a mile and a half from this pond. 
 Having fallen on his track, >|;hey followed it till they came 
 to the packs, which they removed ; and counting them, 
 found the number of his men to be less than their own : 
 they therefore placed themselves in ambush to attack them 
 on their return. The Indian who had stood on the point, 
 and was returning to the village by another path, met them 
 and received their fire, which he returned, and wounded 
 Capt, Lovewell and another, with small shot. Lieut. Wy- 
 man, firing again, killed him, and they took off his scalp 
 Seeing no other enem'y, they returned to the place where 
 they had left their packs, aud while they were looking for 
 them, the Indians rose ai)d ran toward them with horrid 
 yelling. A smart firing now commenced on both sides, it 
 being now about ten of the clock. Capt. Lovewell and 
 eight more were killed on the spot'. Lieut. Farwell and 
 two others were wounded. Several of the Indians fell ; 
 but being superior in number ,iiRey endeavored to surround 
 the party, who, perceiving their intention, retreated ; ho- 
 ping to be sheltered by a point of rocks which ran into the 
 pond, and a few large pine-trees standing on a sandy beach. 
 In this forlorn place they took their station. On their 
 right was the mouth of a brook, at that time unfordable; 
 on their left was the rocky point ; their front was partly 
 covered by a deep bog, and partly uncovered, and the pond 
 was in their rear. The enemy galled them in front and 
 flank, and had them so completely in their power, that had 
 they made a prudent use of their advantage, the whole 
 9* • 
 
102 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY » [cHAP. VII 
 
 company must either have been killed, or obliged to sur- 
 render at discretion, being destitute of a mouthful of sus- 
 tenance, and escape being impracticable. Under the con- 
 duct of Lieut. Wyinan, they kept up 'their fire, and showed 
 a resolute countenance, all the remainder of the day ; du- 
 ring which their chaplain, Jonathan Fry, Ensign Robbins, 
 and one more, were mortally wounded. The Indians in- 
 vited them to surrender, by holding up ropes to them, and 
 endeavoring to intimidate them by their hideous yells ; but 
 they determined to die rather than yield ; and by their 
 well-directed fire, the number of the savages was thinned, 
 and their cries became fainter, till, just before night, they 
 quitted their advantageous ground, carrying off their killed 
 and wounded, and leaving the dead bodies of Lovewell 
 and his men unscalped. The shattered remnant of this 
 brave company, collecting themselves together, found three 
 of their number unable to move from the spot, eleven 
 wounded, but able to march, and nine who had received 
 no hurt It was melancholy to leave their dying compan- 
 ions behind, but there was no possibility of removing them. 
 After the rising of the moon, they quitted the fatal spot, 
 and directed their march toward the fort. Eleazer Davis, 
 of Concord, was the last that got in ; who first came to 
 Berwick, and then to Portsmouth, where he was carefully 
 provided for, and had a skilful surgeon to attend him. 
 
 " Ensign Wyman, who took upon himself the command 
 
 of the shattered company after Capt. Lovewell was killed, 
 
 and the other officers wounded, behaved with great prii- 
 
 Idence and courage, animating the men, and telling them 
 
 j * that the day would yet be their own, if their spirits did 
 
 ] not flag ;' which enlivene!^hem anew, and caused them to 
 
 ''fire so briskly, that several of them discharged between 
 
 twenty and thirty times apiece. Mr. Jacob Fullam, who 
 
 was an officer, and an only son, distinguished himself with 
 
 much bravery. One of the first that was killed, was by 
 
 his right hand, and when ready to encounter a second shot, 
 
 it is said that he and his adversary fell at the very instant, 
 
 by each other's shot." 
 
 *' Lieut. Farwell, and the chaplain, who had the journal 
 of the expedition in his pocket, and one more, perished in 
 the woods, for want of dressing for their wounds. The 
 
CHA.P. VII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 103 
 
 chaplain died three days after the fight. Lieut. Farwell 
 held out on his return till the eleventh day, during which 
 time he had nothing to eat but water, and a few roots 
 which he chewed ; and by this time the wounds throu.rh 
 his body were so mortified, that the worms made a tho- 
 rough passage. On the same day, Davis, who was with 
 him, caught a fish, which he broiled, and was greatly re- 
 freshed by it ;• but the lieutenant was so much spent, that 
 he could not taste a bit. Davis, being now alone, la a 
 melancholy, desolate state, still made toward the fort, and 
 the next day came to it ; there he found some pork and 
 bread, by which he was enabled to return, as above men- 
 tioned." Fourteen, only, survived this fatal encounter. 
 
 In August, 1746, an assault aud massacre took place at 
 Concord, N. H.,the circumstances of which, as related by 
 Mr. Reuben Abbot, are the following. 
 
 " I, with Abiel Chandler, was at work in the Fan, near 
 Sugar-Ball, making hay, on Monday morning^ 11th Aug., 
 1746, then in my 24th year. We heard three guns fired 
 at Parson Walker's fort, which were the appointed signal 
 of the approach or apprehension of the Indians. On hear- 
 ing the alarm guns, we ran up to the garrison, and found 
 the soldiers who were stationed there, and such men as 
 could b*e spared, had gone to where the men were killed. 
 We followed on, and took the foot-path, (by Capt. Eme- 
 ry's, near the prison,) and arrived at the spot where the 
 bodies lay, as soon as those did who went round by the 
 main road. When we arrived near the brook that runs 
 
 through the farm formerly owned by Mitchell, on 
 
 the east side of the brook we found Samuel Bradley, 
 stripped naked, scalped, and lying on his face in the road, 
 within half a rod of the bridge over that l^ook. He was 
 shot through the body, and supposed through his lungs ; 
 the ball struck and spoiled his powder-horn, which the In- 
 dians left. He was no otherwise wouaded by the Indians 
 than shot and scalped. Jonathan Bradley lay about ten 
 feet out of the road, on the south side, and about two rods 
 east of the brook He was lieutenant in Capt. Ladd's 
 company from Exeter, and a number of years older than 
 Samuel. He was not wounded by the Indians in their fire, 
 •and immediately after the Indians had first fired, he ordered 
 
■ \ ■ 
 
 104 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. VII. 
 
 his men to fight them. As but few of the Indians fired 
 the first time, Jonathan supposed that he and his six men 
 could manage them, and they fired at the few who had 
 risen up from their ambush. Immediately the whole body 
 of the Indians, about one.hundred in number, rose up and 
 fired. Jonathan, seeing their number, and receiving their 
 fire, ordered his men to run, and take care of themselves. 
 But by this time, Ohadiah Peters, John Bean, John Luf- 
 kin, and Samuel Bradley were killed. The Indians then 
 rushed upon Jonathan Bradley, William Stickney, and 
 Alexander Roberts, took Stickney and Roberts prisoners, 
 and offered Jonathan Bradley good quarter. But he re- 
 fused to receive quarter, and fought with his gun against 
 that cloud of Indians, until they struck him on the face re- 
 peatedly with their tomahawks, cut a number of gashes in 
 his face, one large gash running obliquely across his fore- 
 head and nose, down between his eyes; another on the 
 side of his head, and one on the back part of his head, 
 which entered his skull, and brought him to the ground. 
 The Indians then despatched him, took off his scalp, and 
 stripped him nearly naked. Obadiah Peters we found shot 
 through the head. Bean and Lufkin were shot, and ran 
 from the brook towards the main road about six rous, and 
 fell within' a rod of each other, on the north side" of the 
 road as now travelled. Four of the Indians were killed, 
 and two wounded, who were carried away on biers. 
 
 "The- soldiers from the garrisons were too late to save 
 the lives of these brave men. Upon their approach, the 
 Indians fled like cowards, leaving their packs and various 
 other things, which the soldiers took." 
 
 " In the early part of the year 1746, the General Court 
 • of Massachusetts sent a party of men to Canada, for what 
 purpose is not l^ow recollected, and perhaps was not gene- 
 rally known. On their return they passed through Upper 
 Ashuelot, now Keene. On arriving in sight of the set- 
 tlement, they fired their guns. This, of course, alarmed 
 the inhabitants, and all who were out, and several were in 
 the woods making sugar, hastened home. From some 
 cause or other, suspicions were entertained that a party of 
 Indians had followed the returning whites ; and for severai 
 days the settlers were more vigilant and more circumspect ia . 
 
CHAP. VII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 105 
 
 their movements, seldom leaving the fort, except to look 
 after their cattle, which were in the barns and at the stacks 
 in the vicinity. 
 
 " Early in the morning of.tlie 23d of April, Ephraim 
 Dormer left the fort to search for his cow. He went north 
 wardly, along the borders of what was then a hideous 
 and almost'impervious swamp, lying east of the fort, until 
 he arrived near to the place where the turnpike now is. 
 Looking into the swamp, he perceived several Indians lurk- 
 ing in the bushes. He immediately gave the alarm, by 
 crying, ' Indians ! Indians 1' and ran towards the fort. Two, 
 who were concealed in the bushes between him and the 
 fort, sprang forward, aimed their pieces at him, and fired, 
 but neither hit him. They then, throwing away their arms, 
 advanced towards him ; one he knocked down by a blow 
 which deprived him of his senses. The other he seized, 
 and being a strong man, and an able wrestler, tried his 
 strength and skill in his favorite mode of * trip and twitch.* 
 He tore his antagonist's blanket from his body, leaving 
 him nearly naked. He then seized him by the arms and 
 body«5 but as he was painted and greased, he slipped froni 
 his grasp. After a short struggle. Dormer quitted him, ran 
 towards the fort, and reached it in safety. 
 
 " When the alarm was given, the greater part of the in- 
 habitants were in the fort, but some had just gone put to* 
 tend their cattle. Capt. Simons, the commander, as was 
 tbe custom-every morning before prayers, was reading a 
 chapter in the Bible. He immediately exclaimed, ' Rush 
 out, and assist those who are out to get in.' Most of the 
 men immediately rushed out, and each ran where his in- 
 terest or affections led him ; the remainder chose posi- 
 tions in the fort from which they could fire on the enemy. 
 
 ** Those who were out, and within hearing, instantly 
 started for the fort, and the Indians from every d^irection 
 rushed into the street, filling the air with their horrid 
 yells. Mrs. M'Kenney had gone to a barn, near where 
 Miss Fiske's house now stands, to milk her cow. She 
 was aged and corpulent, and could only walk slowly. 
 When she was within a few rods of the fort, a naked 
 Indian, probably the one with whom Dormer had been 
 wrestling, darted from the bushes on the east side of the 
 street, ran up lo her, stabbed her in the back, and crossed 
 
106 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. VII. 
 
 to the other side. She continued walking in the same 
 steady pace as before, until she had nearly reached the 
 gate of the fort, when the blood gushed from her mouth, 
 and she fell and expired. John Bullard was at his barn 
 below Dr. Adams' ; he ran towards the fort, but the in- 
 stant he arrived at the gate, he received a shot in the 
 back. He fell, was carried in, and expired in a few hours. 
 Mrs. Clark was at a barn, near the Todd house, about 
 fifty rods distant. Leaving it, she espied an Indian near 
 her, who thre\y away his gun, and advanced to make her 
 prisoner. She gathered her clothes around her waist, and 
 started for the fort. The Indian pursued ; the woman, 
 animated by the cheers of her friends, outran her pursuer, 
 who skulked back for his gun. Nathan Blake was at his 
 barn, near where his son's house now stands. Hearing 
 the cry of Indians, and presuming his barn would be 
 burnt, he determined that his cattle should not be burnt 
 with it. Throwing open his stable door, he let them out, 
 and presuming that his retreat to the fort was cut off, 
 went out at a back door, intending to place himself in 
 ambush at the only place where the river could be crossed. 
 He had gone but a few steps when he was hailed by a 
 party of Indians, concealed in a shop between him and 
 the street. Looking back, he perceived several guns 
 pointed at him, and at this instant several Indians starte/i 
 up from their places of concealment near him, upon which, 
 feeling himself in their power, he gave himself up. They 
 shook hands with him, and to the remark he made that he 
 had not yet breakfasted, they smiling replied, 'that it 
 must be a poor Englishman who could not go to Canada 
 without his breakfast.' Passing a cord around his arms 
 above the elbows, and fastening close to his body, they 
 gave him to the care of one of the party, who conducted 
 him to the woods. 
 
 '* The number of Indians belonging to the party was 
 supposed to be about one hundred. They came near the 
 fort on every side, and fired whenever they supposed their 
 shot would be effectual. They, however, neither killed 
 nor wounded any .one. The whites fired whenever an 
 Indian presented himself, and several of them were seen 
 to fall. Before noon the savages ceased firing, but the^ 
 remained several days in the vicinity." 
 
CHAP. VII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 107 
 
 " In the early part of May, the same, or another party 
 of IndiaOwS hovered about the settlement, watching for an 
 opportunity to make prisoners, and to plunder. For sev- 
 eral successive nights, the watch imagined that they heard 
 some person walking around the fort. When it came to 
 the turn of young M'Kenney, whose mother had been 
 killed, to watch, he declared he should fire on hearing the 
 least noise- without the fort. In the dead of night, he 
 thought he heard some person at the picket gate, endea- 
 voring to ascertain its strength. Having loaded his gun, 
 as was usual among the first settlers of the country, with 
 two balls, and several buck shot, he fired through the gate, 
 which was made of thin boards. In the morning, blood 
 was discovered on the spot, and also a number of beads, 
 supposed to have been cut by the shot from the wampum 
 of the Indian." 
 
 ** In the spring of 1755, an Indian by the name of Philip, 
 who had acquired just English enough to be understood, 
 came into the town of Walpole, and visited the house of 
 Mr. Kilburn, pretending to be on a hunting excursion in 
 want of provisions. He was treated with kindness, and 
 furnished with every thing he wanted, such as flints, flour, 
 &/C. Soon after he was gone, it was ascertained that the 
 saine Indian had visited ^1 the settlements on Connecticut 
 River, about the same time, and with the same plailsible 
 pretensions of hunting. Kilburn had already learned a 
 little of the Indian finesse, and suspected, as it proved, 
 that this Philip was a wolf in sheep's clothing. Not long 
 after, the following intelligence was communicated to all 
 the forts by a friendly Indian, sent by Gen. Shirley, from 
 Albany. He stated that four or five hundred Indians were 
 collected in Canada, whose object it was to butcher the 
 whole white population on Conneclicut River. Judge, 
 then, of the feelings of a few white settlers, when they 
 learned the impending danger! To desert their soil^gpat- 
 tle, and crops of grain would be leaving their all, and to 
 contend jwith the countless savages of the Canadian re- 
 gions was a hopeless resort. But accustomed to all the 
 hardships and dangers of life, they boldly resolved to 
 defend themselves, or die in the cause. Kilburn and his 
 men how strengthened their defence with such fortifica- 
 
108 INCIOENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. VII. 
 
 tions as their rude implements would allow, which con- 
 sisted in surrounding their habitation with a palisado of 
 stakes, stuck into the ground. 
 
 " Col. Benjamin Bellows had at this time about thirty 
 men under his command, at the fort, about a mile south 
 of Kilburn's house ; but this could ajfford Kilburn no pro- 
 tection while attending to his cattle and crops. 
 
 " They were now daily expecting the appearance of the 
 Indians, but the time of their attack no one could foresee 
 or prevent. As Kilburn and his son John, in his eighteenth 
 year, a man by the. name of Peak, and his son, were re- 
 turning home from work about noon, August 17th, 1755, 
 one of them discovered the red legs of the Indians among 
 the alders, ' as thick as grasshoppers.' • They instantly 
 made for the house, fastened the door, and began to make 
 prepa^ations for an obstinate defence. Beside these four 
 men, there were in the house Kilburn's wife, and his 
 daughter Hitty, who contributed not a little to encourage 
 and assist their companions, as well as to keep a watch 
 upon the movements of the enemy. In about fifteen min- 
 utes, the Indians were seen crawling up the bank east of 
 the house ; and as they crossed a foot-path one by one, one 
 hundred and ninety-seven were counted ; about the same 
 number remained in ambush Jiear the mouth of Cold 
 River. 
 
 " The Indians had learned that Col. Benjamin Bellows 
 with his men were at work at his mill about a mile east, 
 and that it would be best to waylay and secure them, be- 
 fore disturbing those who had- taken refuge in the log 
 house. . Bellows and his men, about thirty, were returning 
 home with each a bag of meal on his back, when their 
 dogs began to growl and betray symptoms of an enemy's 
 approach. He well knew the language of his dogs, and 
 the native intrigue of the Indians. Nor was he at a loss 
 in /orming his opinion of their intention to ambush his 
 path, and conducted himself accordingly. He ordered 
 all his men to throw off the meal, advance to the rise, 
 carefully crawl up the bank, spring upon their feet, give 
 one whoop, and instantly drop into the sweet fern. This 
 manoeuvre had the desired effect; for as soon as the whoop 
 was given, the Indians all arose from their ambush in a 
 semi-circle around the path Bellows was to follow. 
 
CHAP. VIT.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 109 
 
 " This gave his men a fine chance for a shot, which 
 they improved inslfntly. The first shot so disconcerted 
 the plans and expectations of the Indians that they darted 
 away intcfthe bushes without firing a gun. Bellows, find- 
 ing their number too numerous for him, ordered his men 
 to file off to the south, and make for the fort. The In- 
 dians next made their appearance on the eminence east 
 of Kilburn's house, where the same Philip, who had visited 
 him the summer before, came forwai^, and sheltering him 
 self behind a tree, called out to those in the house to 
 surrender. ' Old John, young John,' says he, ' I know 
 you, come out here — we give ye good quarter.' 'Quar- 
 ter !' vociferated old Kilburn, with a voice of thunder, 
 that rang through every Indian heart, and every hill and 
 valley, 'you biack rascals, begone, op we'll quarter you!' 
 
 ** Philip then returned to his companions, 'and after a 
 few minutes' consultation, the war-whoop commenced. 
 Kilburn got the first fire, before the smoke of the enemy's 
 guns obstructed his aim, and was confident he saw an 
 Indian fall, which, from his extraordinary size and other 
 appearances, must have been Philip. The Indians rushed 
 forward to the work of destruction, and probably not less 
 than four hundred bullets were lodged in Kilburn's house 
 at the first fire. The roof was a perfect * riddle sieve.' 
 Some of them fell to butchering the cattle, others were, 
 busily employed in wantonly destroying the hay and grain, 
 while a shower of bullets kept up a continual pelting 
 against the house. Meanwhile, Kilburn and his men were 
 by no means idle. Their powder was* already poured^nto 
 ,hats, for the convenience of loading in a hurry, and every 
 thing prepared for a spirited defence or glorious death. 
 They had several guns in the house, which were kept hot 
 by incessant firing through the port holes, and as they had 
 no ammunition to spare, each one took special aim to 
 have every bullet tell. The women assisted in loading the 
 guns, and when their stock of lead grew short, they had 
 the forethought to suspend blankets in the roof of fne 
 house, to catch the enemy's balls, which were immediately 
 run into bullets by them, and sent back to the savages 
 with equal velocity. Several attempts were made to burst 
 open the doors, but the bullets within scattered death with 
 10 
 
110 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VII. 
 
 such profusion that they were soon compelled to desist 
 from the rash undertaking. Most of tUfe time the Indians 
 endeavored to keep" behind stumps, logs, and trees, which 
 evidently evinced that they were not insensible t# the un- 
 ceremonious visits of Kilburn's bullets. 
 
 "All the afternoon, one incessant firing was kept up, 
 till nearly sundown, when the Indians began to disappear, 
 and as the sun sunk behind the western hills, the sound 
 of the guns and the ^ry of the war-whoop died away in 
 silence. This day's rencounter proved an effectual check 
 to the expedition of the Indians, and induced them imme- 
 diately to return to Canada ; and it is within the bounds 
 of reason to conclude that this matchless defence was 
 instrumental in rescuing hundreds of our fellow-citizens 
 from the horrors of an Indian massacre." 
 
 ** In the summer of 1745, about thirty Indians, well 
 armed, came to North Yarmouth, Me., arjd secreted them- 
 selves under a fence, between the two forts, which were 
 a mile apart. As Philip Greely was passing, early the 
 •next morning, from one to the other, they shot him, 
 and retired. Had they not been discovered by means of 
 his dog, they would probably have let him pass unhurt 
 But since an -alarm would inevitably be given, either by 
 him, if permitted to escape, or by the report of their guns, 
 if they killed him, they preferred the latter alternative ; 
 and though he lost his life, the garrisons were both left 
 unmolested. Not far distant, at Flying Point, they broke 
 down the door, and entered the house of one Maines, 
 about break of day^ before the family were out of bed. 
 The good man made a brave personal resistance, in which 
 he was himself slain. A young child of his was also" 
 killed in its mother's arms, by a bullet, which, at the same 
 time, wounded her in the breast. Aroused by the tumult, 
 a man, lodging in the chamber, fired upon the assailants, 
 shot down one of them, and so alarmed the rest that they 
 fled out of the house, taking with them a young daughter, 
 panic struck and freezing with horror. The thoughtful 
 woman, thus left for a moment, barred the door, and 
 thereby escaped a cruel death, or a more cruel captivity. 
 The affrighted girl they carried captive to Canada. De- 
 termined, however, not to leave North Yarmouth till they 
 
CHAP. VIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. Ill 
 
 had more effectually executed their purpose, they selected 
 an ambush near the meeting-house, from which they fired 
 upon three men, who were in company ; one of them, 
 Ebenezer Eaton, they killed and scalped ; another was 
 made prisoner, and the third, escaping, carried the tidings 
 to the fort. The Indians then spreading themselves along 
 the ridge a little farther back, recommenced a discharge 
 of their muskets upon the houses below, and upon such 
 of the men as rushed out with their arms towards the 
 place where they had heard' the report of guns, and con- 
 tinued firing until fears of a rencounter induced them to 
 retire." 
 
 What a melancholy exhibition of the human heart is 
 here given ! Who could have believed that mankind 
 were capable of such deceit, treachery, and savage bar- 
 barity? Surely, though made upright, they have sought 
 out many inventions — many methods of 4ping evil. And 
 how clear is the proof that the hearts of men must be 
 renewed before they are fitted to go and dwell in a heaven 
 of perfect purity and love ! 
 
 And will any, after reading this chapter, conclude that 
 they are not the children of God, because their trials are 
 peculiar ? Were not the trials of our pious ancestors 
 peculiar? Where, in all history, are to be found the same 
 trials in nature and extent ? Let our afflictions be what 
 they may, they afford no decisive evidence that we^ase not 
 the children of God. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 A PARTICULAR ACCOUNT OF SEVERAL WHO FELL INTO 
 THE- HANDS OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 A FEW of those who were captivated by the Indians 
 have left a written relation of what befell them. Rev. John 
 Williams, who was taken at Deerfield, Mass., wrote an in- 
 teresting narrative of his capture and sufferings in a small 
 work, entitled, ** The Redeemed Captive returning to 
 Zion" The following is the narrative. 
 
112 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY' [cHAP. VIII. 
 
 *' On Tuesday, February 29, 1704, not long before break 
 o-f day, the enemy came in upon us like a flood, our watch 
 being unfaithful. They came to my house in the beginning 
 of the onset, and by their violent endeavors to break open 
 doors and windows, with axes and hatchets, awakened me 
 out of sleep ; on which I leaped out of bed, and running 
 towards the door, perceived the enemy making their en- 
 trance into the house. I called to awaken two soldiers in 
 the chamber, and returning towards my bed-side for my 
 arms, the enemy immediately broke into the room, I judge, 
 to the number of twenty, with painted faces and hideous 
 acclamations. I reached up my hands to the bed-tester for 
 my pistol, uttering a short petition to God for everlqsting 
 mercies for me and mine, on account of the merits of our 
 glorified Redeemer, expecting a present passage through 
 the valley of the shadow of death ; saying in myself, as 
 Isaiah, xxxviii. UO, 11, ^ I said, in the cutting off of my 
 days, I shall go to the gates of the grave. I am deprived 
 of the residue of my years. I said, T shall not see the 
 Lord, even in the land of the living; I shall behold man 
 no more with the inhabitants of the toorld.' Taking down 
 my pistol, I cocked it, and put it to the breast of the first 
 Indian that came up ; but my pistol missing fire, I was 
 seized by three Indians, who disarmed me, and bound me 
 naked, as I was in my shirt, and so I stood nearly an hour ; 
 binding *me, they told me they would carry me to Cluebec. 
 My pistol missing fire, was an occasion of my life being 
 preserved. One of the three who took me, who was a 
 captain, received a mortal shot from my next neighbor's 
 house. 
 
 *' I cannot relate the distressing care I had for my dear 
 wife, who had lain in but a few weeks before, and for my 
 poor children, family and neighbors. The enemy f^ll to 
 rifling the house, and entered in great numbers into every 
 room in the house. I begged of God to remember mercy 
 in the midst of judgment ; that he would so far restrain 
 their wrath as to prevent their murdering us ; that we 
 might have grace to glorify his name, whether in life or 
 death; antl, as I was able, committed our state to God. 
 Those who entered the house, insulted over me awhile, 
 holding up hatchets over ray head, threatening to burn ail 
 
CHAP. VIII.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 113 
 
 I had ; but God, beyond expectation, made us in a great 
 measure to be pitied ; for though some were so cruel and 
 barbarous as to take to the door two of my children and a 
 ne^ro woman, and murder them ; yet they gave me liberty 
 to put on my clothes, keeping me bound with a cord on 
 one arm, till I put on my clothes to the other ; and then 
 changing iny cord, they let me dress myself, and then 
 pinioned me again. They gave liberty to my dear wife to 
 dress herself and our children. About sun an hour high, we 
 were all carried out of the house, for a march ; saw many 
 of the houses of my neighbors in flames, and perceived that 
 the whq^ fort, with the exception of one house, was taken. 
 Who-j^an tell what sorrows pierced our souls, when we saw 
 ourselves carried away from God's sanctuary, to go into a 
 strange land, exposed to so many trials ! the journey being 
 at least three hundred miles ; the snow up to the knees, and 
 we not inured to such hardships and trials ; the place to 
 which we were to be carried, a popish country. On leav- 
 ing the town, they fired my house and barn. We were 
 carried over the river (Deerfield River) to the foot of the 
 mountain, about a mile from my house, where we found a 
 great number of our neighbors, men, women and children, 
 to the number of one hundred; nineteen of whom were 
 afterwards murdered by the way, and two starved to death, 
 near Coos, in a time of great scarcity or famine the sav- 
 ages underwent there. When we came to the foot of the 
 mountain, they took away our shoes, and gave us in room 
 of them Indian shoes, to prepare us for our journey. 
 While we were there, the English beat out a company 
 which remained in the town, and pursued the enemy to 
 the river, killing and wounding many of them; but the 
 English, being few in number, were repulsed by the body 
 of the army. ' 
 
 "After this, we went up the mountain, and saw the smoke 
 of the fires in the town, and beheld the awful desolations 
 of Deerfield. Before we marched any farther, they killed 
 a sucking child of the English. We did not travel far the 
 first day ; and God made the heathen so to pity our children, 
 that, although they had several wounded persons, of their 
 own to carry on their shoulders, they carried those of our 
 children who were incapable of travelling, in their arms, 
 10* H 
 
114 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VIIl. 
 
 and upon their shoulders. When we came to our lodging 
 place the first night, they dug away the snow, made some 
 wigwams, cut down some branches of spruce-tree to lie on, 
 and gave the prisoners something to eat; but we had little 
 appetite. I was pinioned and bound down that night, and 
 on each succeeding night, while I was with the army. 
 Some of the enemy who brought spirituous liquor with 
 them from the town, fell to drinking, and, in their drunken 
 fit, killed my negro man. 
 
 "In the night, an Englishman made his escape; in the 
 morning I was called for, and ordered by the general to tell 
 the English, that if any more made their escape, th§y would 
 burn the rest of the prisoners. He that took m^ was 
 unwilling to let me speak with any of the prisoners, as we 
 marched ; but on the morning of the second day, he being 
 appointed to guard the rear, I was put into the hands of my 
 other master, who permitted me to speak to my wife, when 
 I overtook her, and to walk with her to help her in her 
 journey. On the way, we discoursed on the happiness of 
 those who had a right to a house not made with hands, eter- 
 nal in the heavens,- and who had a God for a Father and 
 Friend, and mentioned that it was our reasonable duty 
 quietly to submit to the will of God, and to say. The will, of 
 the Lord he done. My wife told me that her strength of 
 body began to fail, and that I must expect to part with her, 
 saying, she hoped God would preserve my life, and the life 
 of some, if not of all our children, and commended to me, 
 under God, the care of them. She never spake a discon^ 
 tented word as to what had befallen us, but with suitable 
 expressions justified God-in what had happened. We soon 
 made a halt, m which time my chief surviving master came 
 up, when I was put upon marching with the foremost ; and 
 so I was made to take my last farewell of my dear wife, the 
 desire of my eyes, and my companion in many mercies and 
 afflictions. Upon our separation, we asked for each other 
 grace sufficient for what God should call us to. After we 
 were parted, she spent the few remaining minutes of her 
 stay in reading the holy Scriptures, which she was wont 
 personally every day to delight her soul in reading ; pray- 
 ing over and meditating thereon, by herself, in her closet, 
 besides hearing them read in our family worship. I was 
 
CHAP. VIII.] HISTOFTY OF NEW ENGLAND. 115 
 
 made to wade over a small river, (Green River,) and so 
 were all the English, the water being above kne6 deep, and 
 the stream very swift, and to travel up a small mountain ; 
 before I came to the top of it, my strength was almost spent. 
 When I had overcome the difficulty of that ascent, I was 
 permitted to sit down, and to be unburdened of my pack. 
 I sat pitying those who were behind, and entreated my mas- 
 ter to let me go down and help my wife ; but he refused, 
 and would not let me stir from him. I asked each of the 
 prisoners, as they passed by me, after her, and heard that, 
 in passing through the afore-mentioned river, she fell down, 
 and was plunged over head and ears in water ; after which 
 she did not travel far, for at the foot of the mountain, the 
 cruel and blood-thirsty savage who took her, slew her with 
 his hatchet at one stroke, the tidings of which were very 
 awful; and yet, such was the hard-heartedness of the ad- 
 versary, that my tears were reckoned to me as a reproach. 
 My loss, and the loss of my children was great, and our 
 hearts were so filled with sorrow, that nothing but the com 
 fortable hope of her being taken away in mercy to herself, 
 from the evils we were to see, and feel, and suffer under, 
 and the belief that she was joined to the assembly of the 
 spirits of just men made perfect, to rest in peace, and joi/ 
 unspeakable and full of glory , and the good pleasure of the 
 Lord thus to exercise us^ could have kept us from sinking 
 under our affliction. That passage of Scripture, — Naked 
 came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return 
 thither ; the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; 
 blessed be the name of the Lord, — was brought to my mind 
 with some other texts of Scripture, together with the 
 thought that an ajjliciing God is to be glorified, to persuade 
 to a patient bearing of my affliction. 
 
 ** We were again called upon to march, which I did 
 with a far heavier burden on my spirits than on my bark. 
 1 begged of God so to overrule in his providence that the 
 corpse of one so dear'to me, and one whose spirit he had 
 taken to dwell with him in glory, might have a Christian 
 burial, and not be left for meat to the fowls of the air and 
 the beasts of the earth ; a mercy which God graciously 
 vouchsafed to grant. For he put it into the hearts of my 
 neighbors, soon after, to come out to the place where she 
 
116 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VIII, 
 
 lay, take up the corpse, carry it back to the town, and de- 
 cently, bury it.. In our march they killed a sucking infant 
 of one of our neighbors, and, before night, a girl, about 
 eleven years of age. I mourned to see my flock so far a 
 flock of slaughter, many being slain in the. town, and a 
 number having been murdered since we left; and I was 
 distressed to think of what we must yet expect from those 
 who delightfully imbrued their hands in our blood. When 
 we came to our lodging place, an Indian captain from the 
 eastward consulted ray master about killing me, and taking 
 off* my scalp. I lifted up my heart to God, and implored 
 his grace and mercy in such a time of need. I afterwards 
 told my master that if he intended to kill me, I desired 
 that he would let me know of it, assuring him at the same 
 time, that my death, after a promise of quarter, would 
 bring the guilt of blood upon him. He told me that he 
 would not kill me. We then laid down and slept, for the 
 Lord sustained and kept us. 
 
 *' In the morning, March 2, we were all called before 
 the chief sachems, that a more equal distribution of the 
 prisoners might be made. On leaving the wigwam, my 
 best clothing was taken from me. As I came near the 
 place appointed for us to assemble, some of the captives 
 met me, and told me that they thought our enemies were 
 going to burn us, for they had peeled off" the bark from 
 several trees, and acted very strangely. To whom I re- 
 plied, that they could do nothing against us, but as they 
 were permitted of God, and that I was persuaded he would 
 prevent such severities. When we came to the wigwam 
 appointed, several were taken from their former masters, 
 and put into the hands of others ; but I was sent again to 
 my two masters who brought me from my house. 
 
 '^ On our. fourth day's march, March 3, the enemy killed 
 another of my neighbors, who, being near the time of her 
 travail, was wearied with her journey. When we came 
 to the great river, (the Connecticut,) the enemy took 
 hand-sleighs to draw their wounded, several of our children, 
 and their packs, and marched a great pace. I travelled 
 many hours in water up to my ankles. Near night I was - 
 very lame, having, previous to commencing my journey, 
 wrenched my ankle-bone and sinews, /thought, and so 
 
CHAP. VIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 117 
 
 did others, that 1 should not hold out to go far. I lifted 
 up my heart to God, my only refuge, to remove my lame- 
 ness, and carry me through, with my children and neigh- 
 bors, if he judged best; however, I desired that God 
 would be with me in my great and last change, if he 
 should call me by such a death to glorify him ; and that 
 he would take care of my children and neighbors, and bless 
 them. In a short time, I was well of my lameness, to the 
 joy of my neighbors, who saw a great alteration in my 
 travelling. 
 
 *' On Saturday, March 4th, the journey was long and 
 tedious, and we travelled with such speed that four women 
 became so wearied that they were killed by those who led 
 them captive. 
 
 ** On the Sabbath, March 5th, we rested, and I was 
 permitted to pray, and to preach to the captives. The 
 passage of Scripture spoken from was Lam. i. 18. The 
 Lord is righteous, for I have rebelled against his com- 
 mandment : hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my 
 sorrow : my virgins and my young men are gone into cap- 
 tivity. We had this revival in our bondage, to join toge- 
 ther in the worship of God, and to encourage one another 
 patiently to bear the indignation of the Lord, till he should 
 plead our cause. • When we arrived at New France, (Ca 
 nada,) we were forbidden to pray one with another, or to 
 join together in the service of God. 
 
 " Monday, March 6th. Soon after we marched, we had 
 an alarm ; on which, many of the English were bound. 
 As I was near the front, and my master was not with me, 
 I was not bound. The alarm was occasioned by some 
 Indians shooting at geese that flew over them. They were 
 thrown into considerable consternation and fright; but 
 when they came to understand that they were not pursued 
 by the English, they boasted that they would not come out 
 after them. They killed this day two women, who were 
 so faint they could not travel. • 
 
 ** Tuesday, March 7th. In the morning, before we 
 started on our way, a pious young woman, Mrs. Mary 
 Brooks, came to the wigwam where I was, and told me 
 that she desired to bless God, who had inclined the heart 
 of her master to let her come and take her farewell of 
 
118 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 me. Said she, * By my falls upon the ice yesterday, I in- 
 jured myself so as to cause a miscarriage last night. I 
 am not able to travel far, and I know they will kill me to- 
 day ; but,' said she, * God has (praised be his name) by 
 his word and. Spirit, strengthened me to my last encounter 
 with death.' She then mentioned some passages of Scrip- 
 ture which had been suggested to her mind for her sup- 
 port, and added, ' I am not afraid of death : Fcan, through 
 the grace of God, cheerfully submit to his will. Pray for 
 me,' said she, at parting, ' that God would take me to 
 himself Accordingly, she was killed that day. 
 
 " The next day, March 8th, we were separated one from 
 another into small companies; and one of my children 
 was carried away with Indians belonging to the eastern 
 parts. At night, my master came to me with my pistol in 
 his hand, and put it to my breast, and said, * Now I will 
 kill you, for you would have killed me with it if you 
 could.' But by the grace of God, I was not much daunt- 
 ed, and whatever his intention might be, God prevented 
 my death. 
 
 " Thursday, March 9th. I was again permitted to pray 
 with my fellow-captives, and we were allowed to sing a 
 psalm together ; after which I was taken from the company 
 of all the English, excepting two children of my neighbors, 
 one of whom, a girl four years of age, was killed by her 
 Macqua master the next morning — the snow being so deep, 
 when we left the river,* that he could not carry the child 
 and his pack too. 
 
 " The next Sabbath, March 12th, one Indian and a little 
 boy staid with me, while the rest went' a hunting. While 
 here, I thought with myself that God had now separated 
 me from the congregation of his people, who were now in 
 his sanctuary, where he commandeth the blessing, even 
 life for evermore. I was led to bewail my unfruitfulness 
 under, and unthankfulness for, such a mercy. My spirit 
 was almost overwhelmed within me, at the consideration 
 
 * " The parties were divided into small companies at the mouth 
 of White River. Some of them, with- Mr. Williams, followed up 
 this river over the Green Mountain. Another party, with one of 
 his children, took a north-eastern direction, and followed up the 
 Connecticut." — Williams' Memoir, p. 40. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 119 
 
 of what had passed over me, and of what I had yet to 
 expect. I was almost ready to sink under it ; but I was 
 greatly strengthened and supported by these texts of scrip- 
 ture : *I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of 
 the Lord. Why art thou cast down, O my soul ? and why 
 -art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God; fori 
 shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, 
 and my God. Remember, I beseech thee, the word that 
 thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye trans- 
 gress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations : but if 
 ye turn unto me, ana keep my commandments, and do 
 them, though there were of you cast out unto the utter- 
 most part of heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, 
 and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen, to 
 set my name there.' These three passages of scripture, 
 one after another, by the grace of God, strengthened my 
 hopes that God would so far restrain the wrath of the 
 adversary, that the greatest number of us left alive should 
 be carried through so tedious a journey. Though my 
 children had no father to take care of them, these words 
 quieted me to a patient waiting to see the end the Lord 
 would make. * Leave thy fatherless children, I will pre- 
 serve them alive, and let thy widqjvs trust in me.' Ac- 
 cordingly, God carried them wonderfully through great 
 difficulties and dangers. My youngest daughter, aged 
 seven years, was carried all the journey, and looked after 
 with a great deal of tenderness. My youngest son, aged 
 four years, was wonderfully preserved from death ; for 
 although those who carried him, or drew him on sleighs, 
 were tired with their journeys, yet their savage, cruel 
 tempers were so overruled by God that they did not kill 
 him, but in their pity he was spared, until at last he arrived 
 in Montreal, where a French gentlewoman, pitying the 
 child, redeemed it out of the hands of the heathen. My 
 son Samuel, and my eldest daughter were pitied, so as to 
 be -drawn on sleighs, when unable to travel. And although 
 they suffered very much through scarcity of food, and 
 tedious journeys, they were carried through to Montreal. 
 And my son Stephen, about eleven years of age, was wqj^- 
 derfully preserved from death, in the famine whereof 
 three English persons died, and after eight months he wa« 
 brought into Shamblee. 
 
120 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. Till. 
 
 " My master returned on the evening of the Sabbath, 
 and told me that he had killed five moose. The next day 
 we were removed to the place where he killed them. We 
 tarried there three days, till we had roasted and dried 
 the meat. My master made me a pair of snow-shoes, and 
 said to me, * You cannot possibly travel without them ;' 
 the snow being knee deep. We left this place heavy laden, 
 and r travelled with snow-shoes, and a burden on my back, 
 twenty-five miles the first day. I travelled again the next 
 day till afternoon, when we came to the French (or Onion) 
 River. At this place my master took away my pack, and 
 drew the whole load on the ice ; but my bones seemed to 
 be misplaced, and I was unable to travel with any speed. 
 My "feet were very sore, and each night I wrung blood out 
 of my stockings, when I pulled them off. My shins also 
 were very sore, "having been cut with the crust upon the 
 snow, while travelling without snow-shoes. But finding 
 some dry oak leaves by the bank of the river, 1 put them 
 on my shins, and after one application they were healed. 
 And here my master was very kind to me, always giving 
 me the best he had to eat ; and through the goodness of 
 God, I never wanted a meal of victuals during my captivi- 
 ty, though some of gny children and neighbors suffered 
 much from famine and pinching want ; having for many 
 days nothing but roots to live upon, and but a small share 
 of them. My master gave me a piece of a bible, and 
 never disturbed me while reading the scriptures, or while 
 praying to God. Many of my neighbors had bibles, psalm 
 books, catechisms, and other good books put into their 
 hands, with liberty to read them. But after their arrival 
 at Canada, all possible endeavors were used to deprive 
 them of them. 
 
 " My march on the French River was very tedious ; for 
 fearing a thaw, we travelled a very great pace. 'My feet 
 were so bruised, and my joints so distorted by travelling 
 in snow-shoes, that I thought it impossible for me to hold 
 out. One morning a little before day break, my master 
 came and awaked me out of sleep, saying, ' Arise, pray 
 1^ God, and eat your breakfast, for we must go a great 
 way to-day.' After prayer, I arose from my knees, but 
 ray feet were so tender, swollen, bruised, and full of pain, 
 
:v^^, 
 
 OF THB 
 
 Tjiri^JBSi 
 
 CHAP, VIII. l HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 that I could scarcely stand on them without^^a|fii% on 
 upon the wigwam- When the Indians said, * You must 
 run to-day,' I answered, * I cannot run ;' my master point- 
 ing to his hatchet, said, * Then I must dash out your 
 brains, and take off your scalp.' I said, * I suppose then 
 that you will do so, for I am not able to travel with speed.' 
 He sent me away alone on. the ice. About sun half an 
 hour high, he overtook me, for I had travelled very slowly, 
 not thinking it possible for me to go five miles. When he 
 came up, he called upon me to run ; I told him I could 
 go no faster ; he passed by me without saying another 
 word ; so that sometimes during the day I scarcely saw 
 any thing of him for an hour together. I travelled from 
 about day break until dark, and did not so much as sit 
 down at noon to eat warm victuals ; eating frozen meat 
 which I had in my coat pocket, as I went on my way. 
 We travelled that day two of their days' journeys, as they 
 came down. I judge that we passed over the distance of 
 forty or forty-five miles. God wonderfully supported me, 
 and so far renewed my strength, that in the afternoon I 
 was stronger to travel than in the forenoon. My strength 
 was renewed to admiration. W^e should never distrust the 
 care and compassion of God, who can give strength to 
 those who have no might, and power to them who are 
 ready to faint. • 
 
 " When we entered on the lake, the ice was rough and 
 uneven, which was very painful to my feet, which could 
 scarcely bear to be set down on the smooth ice on the 
 river. I lifted up my cry to God in ejaculatory requests 
 that he would take notice of my state, and some way or 
 other relieve me. I had not travelled more than half a 
 mile before there fell a moist snow, about an inch and a 
 half deep, which made it very soft; for my feet to pass ov^r 
 the lake, to the place where my master's family was. 
 Wonderful favors in the midst of trying afflictions ! We 
 went a day's journey from the lake, to a small company 
 of Iitdians, who were hunting ; they were, after their 
 manner, kind to me, giving me the best they had, which 
 was moose flesh, ground-nuts, and cranberries, but no 
 bread. For three weeks together, I ate no bread. After 
 remaining here awhile, and undergoing difficulties in cut- 
 11 ' 
 
122 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP, VIII, 
 
 ting wood, and suffering from lousiness, having lousy old 
 clothes, that had belonged to soldiers, put on to me when 
 tbey stripped me of mine, to sell to the French soldiers 
 in the army, we again began to march for Shamblee. We 
 staid at a branch of the lake, and feasted two or three 
 days on geese we killed there. After another day's travel 
 we came to a river where the ice was thawed. We here 
 made a canoe of elm bark, in one day, and arrived on 
 Saturday, near noon, at Shamblee, where was a garrison 
 and fort of French soldiers. 
 
 AT SHAMBLEE. 
 
 " This village is about fifteen miles from Montreal. 
 The French were very kind to me. A gentleman of the 
 place took me into his house and to his table, and lodged 
 me at night on a good feather bed. The officers and in- 
 habitants treated me in a very obliging manner, the little 
 time I staid with them, and promised to write a letter to 
 the governor of Canada to inform him of my passage down 
 the river. Here I saw a girl who was taken from Deer- 
 field, and a young man, who informed me that the greatest 
 part of the captives had come in ; that two of my children 
 were at Montreal; and that many of the captives had come 
 in, tRree weeks before my arrival. Mercy in the midst of 
 judgment! As we passed along the river towards Sorel, 
 we went into a house where there was an English woman 
 of our town, who had been left among the French, in 
 order to her conveyance to the Indian fort. The French 
 were very kind to her and to myself, and gave us the best 
 provision they had. She embarked with us to go down to 
 the fort at St. Francois. When we came down to the first 
 inhabited house in Sorel, a French woman came to the 
 rivei*side, and desired us to go into her house. When we 
 had entered, she compassionated our condition, and told 
 us that in the last war she had been a captive among the 
 Indians, and therefore was not a little sensible of ouf diffi 
 culties. She gave the Indians something to eat in the 
 chimney corner, and spread a cloth on the table for us 
 with napkins; which gave such offence to the Indians, 
 that they hasted away, and would not call in at the fort. 
 
CHAP. Till.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 123 
 
 * 
 
 Wherever we entered into houses, the French were very 
 courteoas. When we came to St. Francois River, we 
 found some difficulty by reason of the ice ; and entering 
 into a Frenchman's house, he gave us a loaf of bread and 
 some fish to carry away with us. We passed down the 
 river till night, and there* seven of us supped on a fish 
 called bullhead or pout, and did not eat it up, the fish was 
 so very large. 
 
 "^The next morning we met with such a large quantity 
 of ice, that we were forced to leave our canoe, and travel 
 On ]and. We went to a French officer's house, who took 
 us into a private room, out of the sight of the Indians, and 
 treated us very courteously. That night we arrived at 
 Fort St. Francois, where we found several poor children 
 who had been taken from the eastward the summer before; 
 a sight very affecting, they being in their habits and man- 
 ners very much conformed to the Indians. At this fort 
 lived two Jesuits, one of whom was afterwards made supe- 
 rior of the Jesuits at duebec. One of these Jesuits met 
 me at the fort gate, and asked me to go into the church 
 and give God thanks for preserving my life. I told him' 
 that I would do that in some other place. When the bell 
 rang for evening prayers, he that took me, bade me go ; 
 but I refused. The Jesuit came to our wigwam and of- 
 fered a short prayer, and invited me to sup with them. He 
 justified the Indians in what they had done against us, re- 
 hearsing some things done by Major Waldron, more than 
 thirty years ago, and how justly God retaliated them in the 
 last war. 
 
 • *' The next morning the bell rang for mass; my master 
 bade me go to church. I refused. He threatened me, 
 and went away in a rage. At noon, the Jesuits sent to me 
 to dine with them, for I ate at their table all the time I was 
 at the fort. After dinner they told me that the Indians 
 would not allow any of their captives to stay at their wig- 
 wams while they were at church, and that they were re- 
 solved by force and violence to bring us all to church, if 
 we would not go without. I told them that it was very un- 
 reasonable so to impose upon those who were of a contra- 
 ry religion, and to force us to be present at a service we 
 abhorred, was nothing becoming Christianity They re- 
 
124 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VIII 
 
 plied, * that they were savages, and would not hearken to 
 reason, but would have their own wills.' They said also, 
 * that if they were in New England, they would go into 
 our churches to see our ways of worship.' I replied, that 
 the case was very different, for there was nothing (them- 
 selves being judges) as to matt^ or manner of worship in 
 our churches but what was according to the word of God, 
 and therefore it could not be an oflfence to any man's con- 
 science; but that among them there were idolatrous su- 
 perstitions in worship. They said, ' Come and see,* and 
 offer us conviction of what is superstitious in worship.' 
 To this I answered, that I was not to do evil that good 
 might come, and that force in matters of religion was 
 hateful. They answered, ' The Indians are resolved to 
 have it so, and we cannot pacify them unless you come. 
 We will engage that they shall offer no violence to cause 
 your compliance with our ceremonies.' The next mass, 
 my master bade me go to the church. I objected. He rose, 
 and forcibly pulled me by my head and shoulders out of 
 the wigwam to the church, which was near the door. So 
 I wetit in and sat down behind the door, and there saw 
 great confusion, instead of any gospel order ; for one of 
 the Jesuits was at the altar, saying mass in a tongue un- 
 known to the savages, and the other was between the altar 
 and the door, saying and singing prayers among the In- 
 dians at the same time ; and many others were at the same 
 time saying over their paternosters and Ave Maria's, by 
 tale, from their beads, on a string. When we came out, 
 I smiled at their ceremonies, which offended them, and 
 they said that I made a derision of their worship. A day 
 or two after, the Jesuits asked me what I thought of their 
 mode of worship, ncAv that I had seen it. I told them that 
 I thought Christ said of it, Uowbeit, in vain do ye worship 
 me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For^ 
 laying aside the. commandment of God, ye hold thcr tradi- 
 tion of men, as the washing of pots and cups ; and many 
 other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full 
 well ye reject the commandment of •God, that ye may keep 
 your own tradition. They told me that they were not 
 the commandments of men, but apostolical traditions, of 
 equal authority with the holy scriptures ; that after my 
 
CHAP. VTII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 125 
 
 death, J should bewail my not praying to the Virgin Mary, 
 and that- 1 should find the want of her intercession for me 
 with her Son ; judging me to hell, for asserting that the 
 scriptures were a perfect rule of faith. I told them that 
 it was my comfort that Christ, and not they, was to be my 
 judge at the great day. 
 
 ** One dny a^squaw, named Ruth, who had been taken 
 prisoner in Philip's war, who had lived at Weathersfield, 
 who could speak English very well, and who had often 
 been at my house, being now proselyted to the Romish 
 faith, came into the wigwam, accompanied by an English 
 maid, who was taken in the last war, who was dressed in 
 Indian apparel, and unable to speak one word of English. 
 She said she could neither tell her own name, or the 
 name of the place from whence she was taken. These 
 two talked with my master a long time in the Indian 
 dialect, after which he bade me cross myself. I told 
 him that I would not. He commanded me several times, 
 and I as often refused. Ruth said, * Mr. Williams, you 
 are acquainted with the scriptures, and therefore you act 
 against your own light ; for you know that the Scriptures say. 
 Servants, obey your masters. He is your master, and you 
 are his servant.' I told her that she was ignorant of the 
 scriptures ; stating that I was not to disobey the great God 
 to obey my master, and that I was ready to die in suffering 
 for God, if called thereto. She then talked with my mas- 
 ter, and I suppose interpreted what I said. He took my 
 hand to force me to cross myself; biit I struggled with 
 him, and would not suffer him to guide my hand. He 
 then pulled'a crucifix from off his neck,^nd bade me kiss 
 it ; but I refused once and again. He told me that he 
 would dash out my brains with his hatchet if I refused. 1 
 replied that I should sooner choose death than to sin 
 against God. He then ran and took up his hatchet, and 
 acted as though he would dash out my brains ; but seeing 
 that I was unmoved, he threw down his hatchet, saying 
 that he would first bite off my nails, if I sfill refused. I 
 gave him my hand, and told him that I was ready to suffer. 
 He set his teeth into my thumb-nail, and gave a gripe, and 
 then said, 'No good minister — no love God — as bad as the 
 devil ;' and so lefl me. I have reason to bless God, who 
 11* 
 
1126 iNCIBENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VII! 
 
 Strengthened me to withstand this trial. My master was 
 so much discouraged by it, that he meddfed with me no 
 more about my religion. I asked leave of the Jesuits to 
 pray with the English of our town who were with me ; but 
 they absolutely refused to give us any permission to pray 
 one with another, and they did what they could to prevent 
 our having any discourse together. 
 
 " After a few days, Gov. De Vaudreuil sent down two 
 men with letters to the Jesuits, desiring them to order 
 my being sent to him at Montreal. Accordingly, one of 
 the Jesuits went with my two masters, and took me along 
 with them. They also took two more who were from Deer- 
 field — a man, and his daughter, about seven years of age. 
 When we came to the lake, the wind was tempestuous and 
 contrary, so that we were afraid to go over. They landed 
 and kindled a fire, and said they would wait awhile, and 
 see whether the wind would fall or change. I went ayde 
 from the company among the trees, and spread our case 
 before God, and pjead that he would so order the season 
 that we might not be obliged to return, but that we might 
 be furthered on our voyage, that I might have an opportu- 
 nity to see my children and neighbors, converse with them, 
 and know their state. When I returned, the wind was 
 more boisterous than before. I retired a second time ; but 
 when I came back, the wind was more violent than ever. 
 I now reflected upon myself for my unquietness and want 
 of resignation to the will of God. I went the third time, 
 and bewailed before God my anxious cares and the tumul- 
 tuous workings of my own heart, pleading for a will fully 
 resigned to the #ill of God ; and I thought that by his 
 grace I was brought to say amen to whatever he should de- 
 termine. When I returned to the company, the wind was 
 yet high, and the Jesuit and my master said, * Come, we 
 will go back again to the fort ; for there is no likelihood 
 of our proceeding in the voyage, for very frequently such 
 a wind continues three days, sometimes six.' I said to 
 them, The will of the Lord be done. The canoe was puf, 
 again into the river, and we embarked. No sooner had 
 my master put me into the canoe, and put off from the 
 shore, than the wind fell; and when we came 'into the 
 middle of the river, they said, * We can go over the 
 
CHAP. VIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. . 127 
 
 lake well enough ;' and so we did. I then promised that 
 if God gave me opportunity, I would stir up others to glo 
 rify him by committing their straits of heart, persevering- 
 ly, to him. He is a prayer-hearing God, and the stormy 
 winds obey him. After we had passed over the lake, the 
 French, wherever we came, treated us very compassion- 
 ately. 
 
 AT MONTREAL. 
 
 *' When I arrived at Montreal, which was eight weeks 
 after I was captivated, the governor, De Vaudreuil, re- 
 deemed me out of the hands of the Indians, gave me good 
 clothing, took me to his table, gave me the use of a g%od 
 chamber, and was, in all respects, as it related to my out-, 
 ward man, courteous and charitable to admiration. At my 
 first entering into his house, he sent for my two children, 
 who were in the city, that I might see them, and promised 
 to do what he could to get all my children and neighbors 
 out of the hands of the savages. My change of diet, after 
 *the difficulties of my journeys, brought on a slight sick- 
 ness, for which I was bled and physicked, and had very 
 tender care taken of me. The governor redeemed my el- 
 dest daughter out of the hands of the Indians, and she was 
 carefully tended in the hospital until she was well of her 
 lameness, and respectably provided for by the governor 
 during her stay in the country. My youngest child was 
 redeemed by a lady in the city, as the Indians passed by. 
 After the Indians had been to their fort and conversed with 
 the priests, they came back and offered the lady a man for 
 the child, alleging that the child could 'not be profitable 
 to her, but that the man would, for he was a weaver, and 
 his service would greatly advance the design she had of 
 making cloth. But God so overruled, in his providence, 
 that they did not prevail with her to make an exchange. 
 The governor gave orders to certain officers to get the rest 
 of my children out of the hands of the Indians, and as 
 many of my neighbors as they could. After six weeks, a 
 merchant in the city obtained my rtdest son that was ta- 
 ken captive, and took him to live with him. He took a 
 great cfigal of pains to persuade the savages to part with 
 him. An Indian came to the city from Coos, and brought 
 
128 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VIII 
 
 word that my son Stephen was near that place. A sum of 
 money was put into his hands for his redemption, and he 
 had the promise of full satisfaction if he brought him ; but 
 the Indian proved unfaithful, and I did not see my child 
 till a year after. 
 
 " The governor ordered a priest to go along with me to 
 Bee my youngest daughter, who was among the Macquas, 
 and endeavor to obtain her ransom. He went with me, 
 and was very courteous to me. When we came to his 
 parish, which was near the Macqua fort, he wrote a let- 
 ter to the Jesuit, desiring him to send my child to see 
 me. The Jesuit wrote back a letter, stating that I should 
 not be permitted to see nor speak with my child ; that if 
 I came, my labor would be lost, and that the Macquas 
 would as soon part with their hearts as my child. On my 
 return to the city, I, with a heavy heart, carried' the Je- 
 suit's letter to the governor, who, after reading it, was very 
 angry. He endeavored to comfort me, assuring me that I 
 should see the child, and speak with it ; and that he would 
 use his best endeavors to procure .its ransom. According- 
 ly, he sent to the Jesuits who resided in the city, instruct- 
 ing them to use their influence in obtaining the child. 
 After some days, he went with me in person to the fort. 
 When we arrived, he conversed with the Jesuits ; after 
 which, my child was brought into the chamber where I 
 was. I was told that I might speak with her, but that I 
 should not be permitted to speak to any other English 
 person present. My child was about seven years old. I 
 conveffeed with her near an hour. She could read very 
 well, and had not forgotten what she had learned from the 
 catechism. She was very desirous of being redeemed 
 out of the hands of the Macquas, and bemoaned her state 
 among them. I told her that she must pray to God for 
 grace every day. She said that she did as she was able, 
 and that God helped her. ' But,' said she, ' they force me 
 to say prayers in Latin, but I do not understand one word 
 of them. I hope it won't do me any harm.' I told her 
 that she must be carefulHhat she did not forget her cate- 
 chism and the passages of scripture she had learned. 1 
 saw her a few days after, in the city, but had but little time 
 with her. What time I had, I improved in giving her the 
 
CH\P. VIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 129 
 
 best advice I could. The governor labored much to pro- 
 cure her redemption • at last, he had the promise of it, in 
 case he would procure for them an Indian girl in her stead. 
 AcGORlingly, he sent up the river several hundred miles, to 
 obtain one, but when it was offered by the governor, it was 
 refused. He offered them a hundred pieces of eight for 
 her redemption ; but it was refused. His lady went over, 
 and endeavored to beg the child, but all in vain.* 
 
 " When I had conversed with the child, and was coming 
 out of the fort, .1 saw some of my poor ne^hbors, who 
 stood with longing expectations to see and speak with me, 
 and they had leave of their savage masters so to do. But 
 the Jesuit thrust me along by force, and I was permitted 
 only to speak to them respecting some of their relations, 
 and that with a very audible voice, not being permitted to 
 come near to them. 
 
 " I was not permitted so much as to pray with the En- 
 glish who dwelt in the same house with me ; and the English 
 who came to see me, were most of them put back by the 
 guard at the door, and were not suffered to speak with me. 
 When I went into the city, (a favor which the governor 
 never refused when I ask^d it,) there were spies to watch 
 me, and to observe whether I spoke to the English. I told 
 some of the English that they must be careful to call to* 
 mind and improve the instruction they had formerly re- 
 ceived. I requested the governor that no forcible means 
 ■might be used with any of the captives respecting their 
 religion. He replied that he allowed no such thing. 
 
 " When I first came to Montreal, the governor told me 
 that I should be sent home as soon as Capt. Battis re- 
 
 * "At the time Mr. Williams was redeemed, this daughter (Eu 
 nice) was lefl among the Indians, and no money could procure her 
 redemption. She soon forgot the English language, became an 
 Indian in her habits, married an Indian, who assumed the name of 
 Williams, and had several children by him. Some years after this, 
 she visited Deerfield in her Indian dress. She attended meeting 
 in her father's cliurch while here, and her friends dressed her in 
 the English fashion. She indignantly threw off her clothes in the 
 afLernoon, and resumed the Indian blanket. Every effort was used 
 to persuade her to leave the Indians and remain among her rela- 
 tions, but in vain. She preferred the mode of life and the haunts 
 of the Indians, to the unutterable grief of Mr. Williams and her 
 relations." — Williams' Memoir, p. 53. 
 
130 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VIII. 
 
 turned, and not before ; and that I was captured in order 
 to his redemption. He sought by every means to divert 
 me from my sorrows, and always showed a willingness for 
 me to see my children. One day I told him I designed 
 walking into the city, he answered pleasantly, * Go, with 
 all my heart.' Within a short time I was ordered to go 
 down to Quebec. While we were at dinner one day, the 
 governor's lady, seeing me sad, spoke to an officer at the 
 table, who could speak Latin, to tell me, that after dinner, 
 I should go along with them to see my children. Accord- 
 ingly, after dinner I was carried to see them. When I 
 came to the house, I found three or four English captives, 
 who lived there, and I had leave to converse with them. 
 
 " I was sent down to Quebec in company with Gov. De 
 .Ramsey, of Montreal, the superior of the Jesuits; and I 
 was ordered to live with one of the council, from whom I 
 received many favors for seven weeks. He told me that 
 it was through the influence of the priests that I was sent 
 down before the governor came, and that if I went to see 
 the English much, or they came much to visit me, I should 
 yet certainly be sent away where I should have no oppor- 
 tunity to converse with them. 
 
 " While at Quebec, I was invited to dine with the Je- 
 suits, and they were civil enough to my face. But after a 
 few days, a young man came to my chamber, and told me 
 that one of the Jesuits, after we had taken dinner, made a 
 few verses of burlesque poetry, and gave them to his scho- 
 lars to translate into French. He showed them to me. 
 The import of them was, * that the king of France's ' 
 grandson had sent out his huntsmen, and that they had ta- 
 ken a wolf, who is shut up, and now I hope the sheep will 
 be in safety.' I knew what they aimed at, but I held my 
 peace. I said in my heart, If God will bless, let men 
 curse if they please ; and I looked to God in Christ, the 
 great Shepherd, to keep his scattered sheep among so many 
 Romish ravenous wolves, and to remember the reproaches 
 wherewith his holy name, ordinances, and servants were 
 daily reproached. Monsieur De Beauville was a good 
 friend to me, and very courteous to all the captives. He 
 lent me an English Bible, and when he left Canada for 
 France, he gave it to me. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] HTSTORT OF NEW ENGIiAND. 131 
 
 "I was invited one day to dine with one of chief note. 
 After dinner, the superior of the Jesuits came in. Pre- 
 sently it was proposed to me that I should stay among them 
 and he of their religion ; and I was assured that if I would, 
 I shoyld have a large pension from the king every year. 
 The superior of the Jesuits then turned to me and said,- 
 * Sir, you have manifested much grief and sorrow on ac- 
 count of being separated from your children and neighbors : 
 if you will comply with this proposal and offer, you may 
 have all your children with you, and your pension will be 
 sufficient for an honorable maintenance of you and them.' 
 1 answered, * Sir, if I thought your religion to be true, I 
 would embrace it freely, without any such offer : but so 
 long as I believe it to be what it is, the offer of the whole 
 world is of no more value to me than a blackberry.' 
 
 " Not many days after, I was sent fifteen miles down 
 the river, to a place called Chateauviche, that I might not 
 have an opportunity to converse with the English. • I was 
 treated courteously by the French and by the priests 
 of the place. Here a gentleman, in the presence of the 
 bishop and priest, offered me his house and whole living, 
 and gave me the assurance of honor, wealth, and employ- 
 ment, if I would embrace their religion. I was sometimes 
 told that I might have all my children if I would comply, 
 and that I must never expect to have them on any other 
 terms. I told them that my children were dearer to me 
 than all the world beside, but I would not deny Christ and 
 his truth to have them with me. 
 
 "On the 21st of October, 1704, I received letters from 
 New England, giving the account that many of our neigh- 
 bors escaped from the desolations of the fort at Deerfield ; 
 that my dear wife was decently buried ; and that my eld- 
 est son, who was absent when we were captivated, had 
 been sent to college, and was provided for. This intelli 
 gence occasioned many thanksgivings to God in the midst 
 of afflictions, and caused our prayers to ascend to heaven 
 for a blessing on our benefactors, who had shown such 
 kindness to the desolate and afflicted, 
 
 *' Many crafty designs were formed to ensnare the young 
 among the English, and to turn them from the simplicity 
 of the gospel to the Romish faith, which was very trying 
 
132 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. till, 
 
 to me. Some attempted to allure poor souls by flatteries 
 and great promises, some by threatenings, and some of- 
 fered abuse to such as refused to go to church, a^id be pre- 
 sent at mass. Some they industriously contrived to get 
 married among them. 1 understood that they wouW tell 
 the English that I had turned, that they might induce them 
 to change their religion. 
 
 " The hearts of many were ready to be discouraged and 
 sink, saying, ' that they were out of sight, and consequent- 
 ly out of mind.' I endeavored to persuade them that we 
 were not forgotten;;^ that many prayers were undoubtedly 
 going up to heaven in our behalf Not long after, Capt. 
 Livingston and Mr. Sheldon arrived, bringing letters from 
 the governor of Massachusetts to the governor of Cana- 
 da, relating to the exchange of prisoners. This revived 
 many, and raised their expectations of a return. But God's 
 time of deliverance was not yet come. I besought Capt. 
 De Beauville, who had always been very friendly, to inter- 
 cede with the governor that my eldest daughter might re- 
 turn ; that he would purchase my son Stephen of the In- 
 dians at Fort St. Francois; and that he would give me leave 
 to go up to Montreal and see my children and neighbors. 
 Five of the English who were from Deerfield, were per- 
 mitted to return with Capt. Livingston, among whom was 
 my eldest daughter. My son Stephen was redeemed, and 
 sent to live with me. He had suffered much among the 
 Indians, was very poor, and almost naked. My request, 
 that I might be permitted to go up to Montreal to see my 
 children and neighbors, was denied me. God brought me 
 by his grace to be willing that he should glorify himself in 
 disposing of me and mine as he pleased. And almost al- 
 ways before receiving any remarkable favor, I was brought 
 to lie down at God's feet, and to resign all to his holy sove- 
 reignty. I had no small refreshing in having one of my 
 children with me for four months. 
 
 " I will here give an account of what befell one of my 
 children, a boy about fifteen or sixteen years of age, who 
 was two hundred miles distant from me, which occa- 
 sioned me unspeakable sorrow and grief. They threatened 
 to deliver him to the Indians again, if he would not em- 
 brace their religion. The priests would spend whole days 
 
CHAP. VHI.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 133 
 
 in urging him. He was sent to school to learn to read 
 and wite French. The master sometimes flattered him 
 with promises to cross himself, and then threatened him if 
 he would not. But when he saw that neither promises nor 
 threatenings would avail, he struck him with a stick ; when 
 he saw that this did not bring him to a compliance, he 
 made him get down and stand upon his knees .about an 
 hour, and then came and commanded him to make the 
 sign of a cross, and that without delay; but he still re- 
 fused. He then gave him a couple of strokes with a whip, 
 with three lashes and about twelve knots, and again com- 
 manded him to make the sign of the cross ; telling him 
 that if it were any sin he would bear it himself. After he 
 had hiade him shed many tears under his abuses and 
 threatenings, he told him he would have it done. At 
 length, through cowardice and the fear of the whip, he 
 made the sign, and continued to do so for several days to- 
 gether. When he came to recite his lesson, he did not 
 cross himself. The master seeing it, said to him, ' Have 
 you forgotten what I commanded you V ' No, sir,' said 
 he... He was then commanded to kneel down upon his 
 knees, and was kept there an hour and a half, until the 
 school was dismissed. After this, the master commanded 
 him to go to church. When he refused, he told him he 
 would make him go; and one morning he sent four of the 
 largest boys of the school to drag him by force to mass. 
 
 " When I received intelligence of this, I was almost 
 overwhelmed with grief and sorrow. I made my com- 
 plaint unto God, and mourned before him. * Sorrow and 
 anguish took hold upon me.' I asked God to direct me 
 what to do, and to open a way by which I might convey a 
 letter to him. Here I thought of my afflictions : — my wife 
 and two children killed, and many of my neighbors ; my- 
 self and so many of my children and friends in a popish 
 country, separated from our children, unable to come to 
 them to instruct them, and cunning and crafty enemies 
 using all their subtilty to instill into their minds pernicious 
 principles. I thought of the happiness of those parents 
 who had their children with them, under all the advanta- 
 ges of training them up * in the nurture and admonition 
 of the Lord.' O, that parents who read this narrative, 
 12 
 
134 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VIIL 
 
 would bless God for the advantages they hav.e for educa- 
 ting their children, and improve them faithfully ! One of 
 my children was now with the Macquas, a second turned 
 to popery, and a little child six years of age in danger of 
 being instructed in the same doctrines and practices ; and 
 I knew full well that every means would be employed to 
 prevent my seeing and speaking with them. In the midst 
 of all these difficulties and trials, God gave me a secret 
 hope that he would magnify his power and grace in disap- 
 pointing the crafty designs of my enemies. God support- 
 ed me with these passages of scripture : ' Who is able to 
 do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. 
 Is any thing too hard for the Lord V 
 
 '* While the enemy were promising themselves another 
 winter, in which to draw away the English to popery, news 
 came that an English brig was on its way to Canada, and 
 that Capt. Samuel Atherton and Capt. John Bonner were 
 coming as commissioners for the redemption of the cap- 
 tives. It is not possible for me to tell how diligently the 
 clergy and others labored to stop the prisoners. To some 
 they promised liberty, to others money, and to others a 
 yearly pension, if they would remain. Some they urged 
 to tarry at least until the spring of the year ; telling them 
 that it was so late in the season that they would be ship- 
 wrecked and lost. Day and night they were engaged in 
 urging them to stay. And I was threatened with being 
 sent on board,^without permission to come on shore again, 
 if I conversed any more with the English who had turned 
 to their religion. At Montreal, especially, every effort was 
 used to persuade the English to stay. They told my child 
 that if he would remain, he should have a yearly pension 
 from the king ; and that his master, who was an old man, 
 and the richest in Canada, would give him a great deal ; 
 assuring him that if he returned, he would be poor ; ' for,' 
 said they, ' your father is poor ; he has lost all his estate, 
 it is all burned.' But he would not be prevailed upon to 
 stay. They endeavored, after this, to prevail with my son 
 to go to France. 
 
 " We came away from Cluebec on the 25th of October, 
 1706. We were met by contrary winds and a heavy 
 Btorm, which retarded our progress, and drove us back 
 
CHAP. VIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 135 
 
 near the city. In th& storm we narrowly escaped ship- 
 wreck, the vessel being twice driven upon a rock. But 
 through the goodness of God, we all arrived in safety at 
 Boston, on the 25th of November. The number of cap- 
 tives on board was fifty-seven, two of whom were my 
 children. I left a daughter, ten years of age, and many 
 of my neighbors, in Canada." 
 
 Soon after Mr. Williams arrived in Boston, commission- 
 ers were chosen by the town of Deerfield to treat with 
 him upon the subject of his re-settlement in the ministry 
 among them. Mr. Williams accepted the invitation, and 
 remained there until his death, which occurred on the 12th 
 of June, 1729. He died in the 65th year of his age. 
 
 The following is the Narrative of Mrs. Mary Row- 
 landson, vv'ife of Rev*. Joseph Rowlandson, of Lancaster, 
 Mass., written by herself. 
 
 "On the 10th of February, 1.675, about sunrise, the 
 Indians in great numbers came upon Lancaster. Hearing 
 the noise of guns, we looked out; several houses were 
 burning, and the smoke was ascending up to heaven. Five 
 were taken in one house — the father and mother, and a 
 sucking child they knocked on the head, the other two 
 they carried captive. Two others being out of the garri- 
 son, were attacked, one was killed, and the other escaped. 
 Another, as he was running along, was fired at and wound- 
 ed ; falling down, he begged for his life, promising them 
 money, (as they told me) but they would not hearken to him ; 
 they buried their hatchet in his head, stripped him naked, 
 and split open his bowels. Another, seeing many Indians 
 about his barn, went out, and was shot. Three others 
 belonging to the same garrison were killed ; the Indians 
 getting up upon the roof of the barn, had an opportunity to 
 fire down upon them over their fortification. Thus these 
 murderous wretches went on burning and destroying all 
 before them. 
 
 *' At length, they came arid assaulted our house, — such 
 a doleful day my eyes never beheld before. The house 
 stood upon the edge of a hill ; some of the Indians got be- 
 hind the hill, others into the barn, and others behind what- 
 
136 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VIII. 
 
 ever would shelter them; from all .which places they shot 
 against the house, so that the bullets seemed to fly like hail, 
 and soon they wounded one-man among us, then another, 
 and then a third. They had been about the house about 
 two hours, (according to my estimation in that amazing 
 time,) before they succeeded in setting it on fire, which 
 they did with flax and hemp, which they brought out of 
 the barn. They set it on fire oncey#and one ventured out 
 and quenched it; but they soon fired it again, and that kin- 
 dled. Now the dreadful hour was come that I had often 
 heard of others being called to, in time of war, but now 
 mine own eyes saw it. Some in our house were fighting 
 for their lives, while others were wallowing in their blood, 
 the house being on fire over our heads, and the bloody 
 savages were standing ready to bury the tomahawk in our 
 head if we stirred out. Now we could hear mothers and 
 children crying out, Lord, what shall we dol I took my 
 children, and one of my sisters hers, to go out and leave 
 the house; but as soon as we made our appearance '^t 
 the door, the Indians fired so fast, that the bullets rat- 
 tled against the house as if one had taken a handful of 
 stones, and thrown them, so that we were forced to give 
 back. We^had six stout dogs belonging to our garrison ; 
 but not one of them would stir, though at another time, if 
 an Indian came to the door, they were ready to fly upon 
 him, and tear him down. The Lord by this^ would lead us 
 more fully to acknowledge his hand, and to see that our 
 help is in him alone. But the fire increasing and roaring 
 behind us, we must of necessity go out, though the Indians 
 were gaping before us with their guns, spears and hatchets 
 to devour the prey. No sooner were we out of the house,, 
 than my brother-in-law (having before been wounded in 
 defending the house, in or near the throat) fell dowa 
 dead, at which the Indians scornfully shouted and hallow* 
 ed, and were presently upon him, stripping off his clothes. 
 The bullets flying thick, one of them went through mjr 
 side, and the same (as would seem) through the bowels 
 and hand of my poor child in my arms. One of my elder 
 sister's children had his leg broken, which being perceived 
 by the Indians, they knocked him on the head. Thus 
 were we butchered by those merciless savages, the blood 
 
CHAP. VIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 137 
 
 running down at our feel. My eldest sister being yet in 
 the house, seeing the Indians hauling mothers one way, 
 and children another, and some wallowing in their blood ; 
 and being told that her son William was dead, and that I 
 was wounded, she exclaimed. Lord, let me die with them ! 
 No sooner had she said this, than she was struck with a 
 bullet, and fell down dead over the threshold. The Indians 
 now laid hold on us, pulling me one way, and the children 
 another, saying. Come, go along with us. I told them that 
 they would kill me. They said that if 1 was willing to go 
 along with them, they would not hurt me. 
 
 " O ! the doleful sight that now met our eyes at this 
 house ! Come, behold the worics of the Lord, tchat desolor 
 tions he hath made in the earth. Of thirty-seven persons 
 who were in this house, none escaped either present death, 
 or a bitter captivity, excepting one, who might say with the 
 messenger of Job, / only am escaped alone to tell thee. 
 Twelve were killed — some were shot, some stabbed with 
 spears, others were tomahawked. When we are in pros- 
 perity, (), how little do we think of seeing so dreadful a 
 sight as that of beholding our dear relations and friends 
 lie bleeding to death upon the ground ! One who had been 
 tomahawked and stript naked, was crawling ^out upon 
 the ground. It was a solemn sight to see so many lying in 
 their blood, some here, and others- there, like a flock of 
 sheep torn by wolves ; all of them stript naked, by a com- 
 pany of bloody savages, roaring, singing, ranting, and in- 
 sulting, as if they would have torn our very hearts out ; yet 
 the Lord by his almighty power, preserved a number of us 
 from death, for there were twenty-four of us taken alive, 
 and carried captive. 
 
 " I had often said before this, that if the Indians should 
 come, I should choose rather to be killed by them, than to 
 be taken alive ; but when it came to the trial, my mind 
 changed ; their glittering weapons so daunted my spirit, 
 that I chose rather to go along with them, than at that 
 moment to end my days. 
 
 " Now away we must go with these barbarous creatures, 
 
 with our bodies bleeding, and our hearts no less than our 
 
 bodies. We travelled about a mile that night, to the top of 
 
 a hill, which overlooked the town, where we purposed to 
 
 12* 
 
138 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VIII 
 
 spend the night. There was near by a house, which had 
 been deserted by the English from fear of the Indians. I 
 asked permission to lodge there. ■ They answered, What ! 
 will you love Englishmen still ? This was the most dole- 
 ful night I ever spent. O, the roaring, and singing, and 
 dancing, and yelling of these tawny creatures on that 
 night ! which made the place a lively resemblance of hell ; 
 and there was a sad waste made of horses, cattle, sheep, 
 swine, calves, lambs, pigs, and fowls, which they had 
 plundered in the town ; some lay roasting, some burning, 
 and some boiling, to feed our merciless enemies, who were 
 joyful enough, though we were desolate. To add to the 
 dolefulness of the former day, and the dismalness of the 
 present night, my thoughts ran upon my losses, and upon 
 my sad, bereaved condition. All was gone, my husband 
 gone,* my children gone, my relations and friends gone, 
 our house and home, and all our comforts within door and 
 without,— all was gone, except my life, and 1 knew not 
 but that the next moment that would go too. 
 
 " There remained nothing to me except on^ poor, 
 wounded child, and she in a most pitiable condition, and 
 I had nothing with which to revive and refresh her. 
 
 "fThe rttet morning I was forced to turn my back upon 
 the town, and travel into the vast desolate wilderness, I 
 knew not whither. Tongue nor pen can describe the 
 sorrows of my heart and the bitterness of my spirit at this 
 departure ; but God was with me in a wonderful manner, 
 carrying me along, and bearing up my spirits, so that they 
 did not quite fail. One of the Indians carried my poor 
 child upon a horse. It went moaning along, saying, * I 
 shall die ! I shall die !' I followed after on foot, with 
 feelings of sorrow that cannot be expressed. At length, 
 I took it off the horse, and carried it in my arms, till my 
 strength failed, and I fell down with it. They then set me 
 upon a horse, with my child in my lap ; but there being 
 no furniture on the horse's back, as we descended a steep 
 hill, we both fell over the horse's head, at sight of which 
 the Indians laughed and rejoiced ; though I thought we 
 
 * Mr. Rowlandson was at this time in Boston, soliciting the 
 governor and council for more soldiers for the protection of the 
 place. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 139 
 
 should there end our days. But the Lord still renewed 
 my strength, and carried me along, that I might see more 
 bf his power, yea, such a degree of it as I could never 
 have known, had I not experienced it. 
 
 *' Soon after this it began to snow, and when night came 
 on, they stopped : and now down I must sit in th& snow, 
 by a little fire, and a few boughs behind me, with a sick 
 child in my lap, which now called earnestly for water, she 
 having (through the wound) fallen into a violent fever. My 
 own wound now troubled me to- that degree, that 1 could 
 scarce sit down or rise up ; and yet I must sit up ail this 
 wintry night, upon the cold snowy ground, with my child 
 in my arms, expecting that every hour would be the last 
 of its life. But the Lord upheld me by his gracious and 
 merciful Spirit, and we were both alive to see the light of 
 the next morning. 
 
 " The morning being come, they prepared to go on 
 their way. One of the Indians got upon ahorse, and they 
 set me up bahind him, with my child in my lap. A very 
 wearisome and tedious day we had of it From Wednes- 
 day to Saturday night, neither myself nor my child re- 
 ceived any refreshment, excepting a little cold water. In 
 the afternoon of this day, we came to an Indian town 
 called Wenimesset, When we arrived there, O, the 
 number of pagans that came about me! The* next day 
 was the Sabbath; I then remembered how careless I had 
 been of God's holy time ; how many Sabbaths I had lost 
 and misspent, and how evilly I had walked in God's sight ; 
 which lay so close upon my spirit, that it was easy for me 
 to see- how righteous it would be for God to cut off the 
 thread of life, and cast me out from his presence forever. 
 Yet the Lord still showed mercy to me, and helped me ; as 
 he wounded me with one hand, so he healed me with the' 
 other. I applied oak leaves to my wounded side, which, 
 by the blessing of God, effected a cure ; but before the 
 cure was wrought, I might say with David, My wounds 
 stink and are corrupt, I am troubled, I am bowed down 
 greatly, I go mourning all the day long.. I sat much 
 alone with my poor wounded child in my lap, which 
 moaned night and day, but I had nothing to administer to 
 it for its relief and comfort; and what added t« my afflio 
 
140 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VIII. 
 
 tion was, one Indian would come and tell me one hour, 
 Your master will knock your child on the head ; and then 
 a second, and then a third would come and say, Your 
 master will quickly knock your child on the head. 
 
 "This was the comfort I had from them; — miserable 
 comforters were they all. Nine days I sat on my knees, 
 with my babe in my lap, till my flesh was raw. My child 
 being ready to depart this sorrowful world, they ordered 
 me to carry it out to another wigwam, (I suppose because 
 they would not be troubled with such spectacles ;) whither I 
 went with a very heavy heart, and sat down with the pic- 
 ture of death in my lap. That night ray sweet child de- 
 parted ihis life, it being about six years and five mbnths 
 old. It was nine days from the time it was wounded, in 
 this miserable condition, without any refreshing of any 
 kind, excepting a little cold water. Formerly I could not 
 bear to be in a room where the corpse of a dead person 
 was ; but now my feelings were changed. I could lie 
 down with my dead child through the whole night. I have 
 since thought of the wonderful goodness of God to me, in 
 continuing the use of* my reason in that distressing time, 
 so that I did not tise violent and wicked means to end my 
 own miserable life. In the morning, the Indians learning 
 that my child was dead, sent me home to my master's wig- 
 wam. I went to take up her corpse in my arms, to carry 
 it with me ; but they told me to let it alone. There was 
 no resisting, but go I must, and leave it. When I had 
 been at my master's wigwam awhile, I took the first oppor- 
 tunity I could get, to go and look after my dead child. 
 When I came, I asked them what they had done v^ith it. 
 They told me that it was on the hill. They then went and 
 showed me where it was. I saw a place where thfe earth 
 had been newly dug, where they told me they had buried 
 it. God having taken away this dear child, I went to see 
 my daughter Mary, who was at the same Indian town, at a 
 wigwam not far off, though we had little liberty or opportu- 
 nity to see one another. She was about ten years old ; was 
 first taken at the door of our house by an Indian, and after- 
 wards sold for a gun. When she saw me, she fell a weep- 
 ing, at which the Indians were provoked, and would not 
 let me come near her, but ordered me to be gone ; which 
 
CHAP. VIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 141 
 
 was a heart-cutting command to me. One of my children 
 was dead, another was in the wilderness, I knew not 
 where, the third I was not permitted to come near to. I 
 could not sit still in this condition, but walked from place 
 to place. As I was going along, my heart was overwhelmed 
 with the thoughts of my condition, and that I should have 
 children, and- that a nation which I knew not, should rule 
 over them. I earnestly entreated the Lord that he would 
 consider my low estate, and show me a token for good. 
 The Lord soon answered in a measure my poor prayer ; 
 for as T was going up and down mourning over my condi- 
 tion, my son came to me, and asked me how I did. I had 
 not seen him before, since the destruction of our town, 
 and I knew not where he was, until informed by himself, 
 that he was among a smaller company of Indians, who re- 
 sided ^about six miles off. With tears in his eyes, he asked 
 me whether his sister Sarah was dead. He told me that 
 he had seen his sister Mary, and prayed me not to be 
 troubled in reference to himself There were at this time, 
 some forces of the Indians gathered out of our company, 
 and some from among those with whom my so|j lived, 
 (among whom was his master) to go and attack and burn 
 Medfield. In this time of his master's absence, his squaw 
 brought him to see me. The next day, the Indians re- 
 turned from Medfield. They began their din, when about 
 a mile distant. O, the outrageous roaring and whooping 
 that there was ! They signified by their noise and whoop- 
 ina, how many they had destroyed ; which was twenty- 
 three. Those who were with us at home, were gathered 
 together as soon as they heard the whooping, and every 
 time the others went over with their number, those at home 
 gave a shout that made the very earth ring again. And 
 thus they continued to do until those who had been upon 
 the expedition arrived at the sagamore's wigwam ; then, O, 
 the hideous insulting and triumphing there was over some 
 Englishmen's scalps they had taken and brought with 
 them ! I cannot but take notice of the wonderful mercy of 
 God to me in these afflictions, in sending me a Bible. One 
 of the Indians who was at the fight at Medfield, came and 
 asked me, if I would have a Bible. I asked him if he 
 thought the Indians would let me read. He answered, 
 
142 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VIII 
 
 Yes. I took the Bible, and in that melancholy time, it 
 came into my mind to read first the twenty-eighth chapter 
 of Deuteronomy, which I did. Wj^en I had read it, I felt 
 that there was no mercy for me, that the blessings were 
 gone, and that the curses had come in their room, and 
 that I had lost my opportunity. But the Lord enabled 
 me to go on reading until I came to the seven first verses 
 of the thirtieth chapter, where I found that there was 
 mercy promised again, if we would return to him by re- 
 pentance; and though we were scattered from one end 
 of the earth to the other, yet the Lord would gather us 
 together. I desire that I may never forget this portion of 
 Scripture, nor the comfort it afforded me. 
 
 " Now the Indians began to talk of removing from this 
 place, some talked of going one way, and some another. 
 There were now, besides myself, nine English captives in 
 this place, — eight children and one woman. I secured an 
 opportunity to go and take leave of them, they being about 
 to go one way, and I another. I asked them, if they prayed 
 to God for deliverance. They said that they did as they 
 were able. It was some comfort to me that the Lord stir- 
 red up children to look to him. The woman (the wife of 
 Abraham Joslin) told me she should never see me again ; 
 that she intended to use every means to effect an escape, 
 though she was great with child, and near the time of her 
 delivery, and had a child two years old in her arms, and 
 though we were thirty miles from any English town, and 
 there were bad rivers to pass over. I took out my Bible 
 which I had with me, and asked her if she would read. 
 She opened the Bible, and took special notice of the last 
 verse in the twenty-seventh Psalm : ^Vait on the Lord: 
 be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart : 
 wait, I say, on the Lord. 
 
 "Now I was called to part with what little company 1 
 had had. Here I parted with my daughter Mary, whom I 
 never saw again till after her return from captivity. Here 
 also I parted with four little", cousins and neighbors, some 
 of whom I never saw afterward, the Lord only knows the 
 end of them. Among them was that poor woman, the 
 wife of Mr. Joslin, who came to a sad end, as I afterwards 
 learnt. She, being greatly grieved and distressed in view 
 
CH\P. VIII.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAJID. 143 
 
 of her miserable condition, would often ask the Indians 
 to let her go home. They being unwilling to grant her 
 request, and becoming vexed with her importunity, gath- 
 ered a large company together about her, stript her naked, 
 and set her in the midst of them ; and when they had sung 
 and danced about her, after their hellish manner, as long 
 as they pleased, they knocked her, and the child in her 
 arms, on the head. When they had done this, they made 
 a fire and put them both into it. They told the other 
 children that were with them that, if they attempted to go 
 home, they would serve them in like manner. The chil 
 dren said that she did not shed a single tear, but that she 
 prajed all the while. — But to return to my own journey. 
 We travelled about half a day. and came, about the mid- 
 dle of the afternoon, to a desolate place in the wilderness, 
 where there were no wigwams or inhabitants. We arrived 
 here, cold, wet, covered with snow, hungry and weary ; 
 but there was no refreshing for us fcut the cold ground to 
 sit on, and our poor Indian cheer. 
 
 ** I had here heart-aching thoughts about my poor chil- 
 dren, who were scattelred up and down among the wild 
 beasts of the forest. My head was light and dizzy, (either 
 through hunger or bad lodging, or trouble, or all together,) 
 my limbs feeble, my body raw in consequence of sitting 
 doubled night and day, so that I cannot express to my 
 fellow-creatures the affliction that lay upon me ; but the 
 Lord enabled me to express it to him. As I opened mj 
 Bible to read, the Lord directed me to that precious text, 
 Jeremiah xxxi. 16, Thus saith the Lord, Refrain thy 
 voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears ; for thy 
 work shall be rewarded, and they shall come again from 
 the land of the enemy. This was a sweet cordial to me, 
 when ready to faint. Many a time have 1 sat down and 
 wept over this sweet passage of Scripture. We continued 
 at this place about four days, and then removed. 
 
 *' The occasion of their removing at thig time was (as 
 I thought) the approach of the army of the English. They 
 travelled as if it had been for their lives, for some con- 
 siderable distance, and then made a stop, and chose out 
 some of their stoutest men, and sent them back to hold 
 the Englis.h in play while the rest escaped. They ther 
 
144 ' lyCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CH4P.VI13. 
 
 marched on furiously, with their old and young. Some 
 carried their old decrepit mothers, some carried one, and 
 some another. Four of them* carried a large Indian upon 
 a bier ; but in passing through a thick wood, they were 
 hindered, and could make no haste ; whereupon they took 
 him upon their backs, and carried him one at a time, till 
 we came to Payquage (Miller's) River. It was Friday in 
 the afternoon when we came to this river. On account 
 of my wound, I was required to carry but a light burden 
 in this journey. I carried only my knitting work and two 
 quarts of meal. Being faint, I asked my mistress to give 
 me one spoonful of the meal ; but she would not allow me 
 to taste of it. They soon engaged in cutting dry trees to 
 make rafts to carry them over the river, and soon my turn 
 came to go over. By reason of some brush which they 
 had laid upon the raft to sit on, I did not wet my feet, 
 which I cannot but look upon as a favor from the Lord, 
 my body being weak, and the weather very cold. I was 
 never before acquainted with such doings and dangers. 
 When thou passest through the wafers, I will be with thee, 
 and through the rivers, they shall not ovei-jlow thee. A 
 number of us got over the river that night, but the whole 
 com})any did not get over until Monday night. On Satur- 
 day they boiled an old horse's leg, and so we drank of the 
 broth ; and when it was nearly gone, they filled it up 
 again. 
 
 "Thefirst week I was among them I ate hardly any 
 thing. The second week I grew very faint for want of 
 food ; and yet it was very hard to get down their filthy 
 trash. But the third week, their food was pleasant and 
 savory to my taste. I was at this time knitting a pair of 
 stockings for my mistress, and I had not yet wrought on 
 the Sabbath day. When the Sabbath came, they ordered 
 me to go to work. I told them that it was the Sabbath 
 day, and desired them to let me rest ; assuring them that 
 I would do as much more on the morrow. Their reply 
 was, we will break your face. On Monday they set their 
 wigwams on fire, and away they went. On the very same 
 day, the English army arrived at the river, and saw the 
 smoke of the wigwams. They stopped here, and gave up 
 the pursuit. We were not ready for so great . a deliver 
 
€HAP. VIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 145 
 
 ance ; for had we been, God would have provided a way 
 for the English to have passed over the river. 
 
 " I went along that day mourning and Ijunenting leaving 
 my own country farther behind, and travelling farther into 
 the vast howling wilderness. We came at length to a 
 great swamp, by the side of which we took up our lodgings 
 for the night. When we came to the brow of the hill, 
 that looked toward the swamp, I thought we had come to 
 a great Indian town (though there were none but our own 
 company) the Indians were so thick — they were as thick 
 as the trees. It seemed as if there were a thousand 
 hatchets going at once. If one looked behind or before, 
 there was nothing but Indians ; and so on either hand, 
 and I in the midst, and no christian soul near me ; and 
 yet the Lord preserved me in safety. O, the experience I 
 have had of the Lord's goodness to me and mine ! 
 
 " After spending a restless and hungry night here, we 
 had a wearisome time of it the next day. In leaving the 
 swamp, we had to go up a high aod steep hill. Before I 
 got to the top of it, I thought my heart, and limbs, and alt 
 would have broken and failed me. By reason of faint- 
 ness and soreness of body, it was a grievous day's journey 
 to me. As we went along, I saw a place where the cattle 
 of the English had been, which was some comfort to me. 
 Soon after, we came to an English path, which affected me 
 greatly. That day, a little before noon, we came to Squa- ' 
 keag, (Northfield) when the Indians soon spread them- 
 selves over the deserted English fields, gleaning what they 
 could find. Some picked up ears of wheat, others ears 
 of Indian corn. Some found ground-nuts, and others 
 sheaves of wheat which were frozen together in the shock, 
 which they commenced threshing out. I got two ears of 
 corn, but while my back was turned for a moment, one of 
 them was stolen, which -greatly troubled me. An Indiaa 
 came to us here with a basket of horse liver ; I asked him- 
 to give me a piece ; * What,' said he, * can you eat horse * 
 liver V I told him that if he would give me a piece I 
 would try. He gave me some, which I laid on the coals 
 to roast ; but before it was half done, they got half of it 
 away from me ; so that I was forced to take the rest, and 
 eat it as it was, with the blood about my mouth, and yet 
 
 13 Jr 
 
146 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. Till. 
 
 a savory bit it was to me. To the hungry sovl, every 
 bitter thing is sweet. That night we had a mess of wheat 
 for supper. 
 
 "The next morning it was proposed that we should go 
 over Connecticut River, to meet king Philip. When they 
 had carried over two canoes full, my turn came to go. 
 But as I was stepping into the canoe, there was an outcry 
 among them, and I must step back, and instead of going 
 over, I must go four or five miles up the river. Some of 
 the Indians ran one way, and some another. The cause 
 of this, as I thought, was the approach of some English 
 scouts. In going up the river, the company made a halt 
 about noon, and sat down, some to eat and others to rest 
 themselves. As I sat musing upon the past, my son Joseph 
 unexpectedly came to me. We asked after each other's 
 welfare, bemoaning our doleful condition. I handed him 
 my Bible, and he lit upon that comfortable passage in the 
 one hundred and eighteenth Psalm, 'I shall not die, but 
 live and declare the works of the Lord. The Lord hath 
 chastened me sore ; but he hath not given me over unto 
 death.' ' Look here, mother,' said he, * did you read this V 
 We travelled on until night. In the morning we must go 
 over to see Philip's crew. As I was passing over, I was 
 amazed to see so great a number of Indians on the oppo- 
 site bank. When I came ashore, they gathered around 
 me, I sitting alone in the midst. I heard them ask one 
 another questions, and observed that they laughed and 
 rejoiced over their gains and victories. My heart now 
 began to fail, and I fell a weeping, which was the first 
 time, to my remembrance, that I wept before them ; for, 
 although I had met with so much affliction, and my heart 
 had many times been ready to break, yet I could not shed 
 a tear in their sight, having been all this time in a kind 
 of maze, and like one astonished. But now I could say, 
 tviih the captive Israelites, By the river of Babylon, there 
 we sat down; yea, we loept when we rememhered Zion. 
 One of them asked me why I wept. I hardly knew what 
 answer to make, but I said. You will kill me. * No,' said 
 he, * no one will hurt you.' To comfort me, one of them 
 came and gave me two spoonfuls of meal, and another 
 gave me half a piut of peas, which were worth more than 
 
CHAJP. VIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 147 
 
 many bushels at another time. I then went to see king 
 Philip. He invited me to come in and sit down, and 
 asked me whether I would smoke it. But this did not 
 suit^my present feelings. For though I had formerly made 
 use of tobacco, yet I had used none since I was taken. 
 It seems to be a bait the devil lays to rob men of their 
 precious time. I remember with shame my former use of 
 it. Surely we may be better employed than to sit sucking 
 a stinking tobacco-pipe. 
 
 " The Indians now gathered their forces to go against 
 Northampton. In the evening, one went about yelling and 
 hooting to give notice of the desi*gn. They then engaged 
 in boiling ground-nuts, and in parching corn for their 
 provision. In the morning they started on the expedition. 
 During my stay in this place, Philip desired me to make a 
 shirt for his boy. I did the work, and he gave me a shil- 
 ling. T. offered the money to my mistress, but she told me 
 to keep it. I bought with it a piece of horse flesh. Af- 
 terward he asked me to make his son a cap, for which he 
 invited me to dine with him. I went, and he gave me a 
 pancake, made of parched wheat, fried in bear's grease, 
 about as large as my two fingers! I thought I never tasted 
 more pleasant food in my life. A squaw requested me to 
 make a shirt for her sannup, for which she gave me a 
 piece of beef. Another asked me to knit a pair of stock- 
 ings. As a compensation, she gave me a quart of peas. 
 I boiled my peas and beef together, and invited my master 
 and mistress to dinner ; but because I served them both 
 in one dish, my mistress would eat nothing except a small 
 piece that my master gave her upon the top of his knife. 
 Hearing that my son had come to this place, 1 went to see 
 him. I found him lying upon the ground. I asked him 
 how he could sleep so. He replied that he was not asleep, 
 but that he was engaged in prayer, and that he lay down 
 that they might not observe what he was doing. Through 
 the heat of the sun, and the smoke of the wigwams, I 
 thought I should be blinded. I could scarce discern one 
 wigwam from another. Mary Thurston, of Medfield, see- 
 ing how it was with me, lent me a hat to wear ; but as 
 soon as I was gone, her mistress came running after me, 
 and took it away from me. A squaw gave me a spoonful 
 
148 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VIII. 
 
 of meal ; I put it into my pocket, in order to keep it 
 eafely ; but some one stole it, and left in its place five 
 kernels of Indian corn. This corn was the greatest part 
 of the provision I had in my journey for one day. 
 
 " When the Indians returned from Northampton, they 
 brought- with them horses, sheep, and other things which 
 they had taken. I requested them to carry me to Albany 
 on one of the horses, and sell me for powder, as I had 
 overheard them talk" of doing. I utterly despaired of 
 returning home afoot, the way I came. I could hardly 
 endure to think of the many weary steps I had taken in 
 coming to this place. Biit instead of going to Albany or 
 homeward, I was forced to go five miles up the river, and 
 then over it. During the time we were here, my master's 
 maid, who had been gone three weeks into the Narragan- 
 sett country, to fetch some corn they had stored in the 
 ground there, came home. She brought about a peck and 
 a half of corn. 
 
 '' My son being now about a mile from me, I asked 
 leave to go and see him ; they said I might go ; but as I 
 was going, I lost my way, travelling over hills and through 
 swamps, without being able to find him. As I was re- 
 turning back', I met my master, who showed me the way. 
 When I came to my son, I found him unwell, besides hav- 
 ing a boil on his side, which greatly troubled him. After 
 remaining with him awhile, I returned. When I got back, 
 I found myself as unsatisfied as before. I walked about 
 mourning and lamenting, and my spirit was ready to sink 
 with the thoughts of my poor children. • My son was ill, 
 and I could not but think of his mournful looks. He had 
 no christian friend with him to do any office of love, 
 either for soul or body. And my poor daughter, I knew 
 not where she was, sick or well, alive or dead. Under 
 these circumstances I repaired to my Bible (my chief 
 source of consolation at these times) and read that pas- 
 sage, Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain 
 thee. 
 
 " I was now constrained to look for something to satisfy 
 my hunger ; and going among the wigwams, I entered 
 one where there was a squaw who showed herself very 
 kind, giving me a piece of bear's meat. I put it into my 
 
CHAP. VIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 14S 
 
 pocket and went home ; but I did not dare to broil it for 
 fear that they would get it away from me. So it lay all 
 the day and night in my stinking pocket. In the morning 
 I went again to the same squaw, who had a kettle of 
 ground-nuts boiling, and asked her to let me boil ray 
 piece of bear in the kettle. She gave me leave, and pre- 
 sented me with some ground-nuts to eat with it. I well 
 remember how pleasant this dish was to me. Now that 
 was pleasant to me which one would think was enough to 
 turn the stomach of a brute creature. 
 
 " One bitter cold day, having no room to sit down by 
 the fire, I went out, -and could not tell what to do. Going 
 into another wigwam, I found them also sitting about the 
 fire; but the squaw laid a skin for me, and told me to sit 
 down. She gave me some ground-nuts, and invited me to 
 come again. She said that they would buy me if they 
 were able. They were strangers to me. 
 
 " That day, a small part of the company, with myself, 
 removed about three quarters of a mile, intending to go 
 farther the next day. When they came to the place where 
 they intended to lodge, and had pitched their wigwams, 
 being hungry, I went back to the place from whence we 
 started ; being encouraged .by the kindness of the squaw, 
 who invited me to come again. An Indian soon came 
 after me, who, when he had found me, kicked me all 
 along back. I went home and found venison roasting, 
 but I did not receive one morsel of it. Sometimes I met 
 with favor, and sometimes with nothing but frowns. 
 
 *' The next morning they made another remove, intend- 
 ing to travel a day's journey up the river. I took my load 
 on my back. We waded over a river, and passed over 
 wearisome hills. One hill, was so steep that I was obliged 
 to creep upon my knees, and to hold on by the twigs and 
 bushes, to keep myself from falling backward. I hope 
 that all those wearisome steps have served to help me on 
 to my heavenly rest. Ihioio^ O Lord^ that thy judgments 
 are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me. 
 
 " It was upon a Sabbath morning that they prepared for 
 
 their next journey. I asked my master if he would sell 
 
 me to my husband. He answered, nux, (yes.) This 
 
 greatly rejoiced ray heart. My raistress, who had been to 
 
 13* 
 
150 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VIII. 
 
 attend the burial of a papoose, returned, and found me 
 reading my Bible. She snatched it hastily out of my 
 hand, and threw it out of doors. I ran and caught it up, 
 put it into my pocket, and never let her see it afterwards. 
 They now packed up their things for another removal. 
 They gave me my load, which was so heavy that I com- 
 plained to my mistress. She gave me a blow on my face 
 with her open hand, and ordered me to be gone. I lifted 
 up my heart to God, with the hope that my redemption 
 was not far distant, and the rather because their insolence 
 grew worse and worse. ' 
 
 " We bent our course towards Boston. The thoughts 
 of going homeward greatly cheered my spirit, and made 
 my burden seem light, or as almost nothing. But to my 
 amazement and great perplexity, when we had proceeded 
 a short distance, my mistress suddenly gave out that she 
 would go no further ; that she would return, and that I 
 must return with her. She would have had her sannup 
 go back also, but he would not. He told her that he 
 would go on, but that he would return to us in three days. 
 I was now, I confess, very impatient, and almost outra- 
 geous. I thought that I would as soon die as go back. 
 The feelings I then had are inexpressible ; but back I 
 must go. As soon as I had an opportunity, I took my 
 Bible to read. The passage which quieted me was this — 
 Be still, and Icnoic that I am God. 
 
 *' I now expected a sore trial ; my master, seemingly the 
 best friend I had among the Indians, both in cold and 
 hunger, being gone. I sat down with a heart as fall of 
 trouble as it could hold, and yet I could not sit, I was so 
 hungry. I went out, and while walking among the trees, 
 I found six acorns and two chestnuts, which afforded me 
 some refreshment. Towards night, I gathered some sticks 
 that I might not lie cold. . But when we came to lie down, 
 they ordered me to go out and lodge somewhere else, as 
 they had company. I told them that I knew not where to 
 go. They commanded me to go and look for a place. I 
 told them that if I went to another wigwam, they would 
 send me herme again. One of them then drew his sword, 
 and said that he would run me through, if I did not go 
 presently Thus I was forced to go oui in the night, I 
 
CHAP. VIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 151 
 
 knew not whither. I went to one wigwam, and they told 
 me they had no room. I went to another, and they said 
 the same. At last, an old Indian told me to come to him. 
 His squaw gave me some ground-nuts, and something to 
 lay my head on. They had a good fire, and, through the 
 good providence of God, I had a comfortable lodging. In 
 the morning, another Indian told me to come again at 
 night, and he would give me six ground-nuts. He was as 
 good as his word. We were now about two miles from 
 Connecticut River. In the morning, we went to the river 
 to gather ground-nuts, and returned at night. I was forced 
 to carry a great load on my back, for when they go but a 
 short distance, they carry all their trumpery with them. I 
 told them that the skin was off my back ; I received for 
 answer, * That it would be no matter if my head were off 
 too.' 
 
 " I must now go with them five or six miles down the 
 river, into a thick forest, where we abode about a fortnight. 
 While here, a squaw asked me to make a shirt for her pa- 
 poose, for which she gave me a mess of broth, thickened 
 with meal made of the bark of a tree ; and she had put 
 into it a handful of peas, and a few roasted ground-nuts. 
 I had not seen my son for a considerable time. I saw an 
 Indian here, of whom I made inquiry respecting him. He 
 answered, that at such a time, his master roasted him, and 
 that he ate a piece of him as large as two fingers, and that 
 he was very good meat. The Lord upheld me under this, 
 and I considered their horrible addictedness to lying ; — 
 that no one of them makes the least conscience of speak- 
 ing the truth. 
 
 ** One cold night, as I lay by the fire, I removed a stick 
 of wood that kept the heat from me. A squaw move 1 it 
 back again. As I looked up, she threw a handful of ashes 
 in my eyes. I thought I should be entirely blinded. But 
 as I lay down^ the water ran out of my eyes, and cleansed 
 away the ashes, so that in the morning, I had my sight 
 again. Often while sitting in their wigwams, musing on 
 things past, I have suddenly arisen and run out, seeming 
 to forget for a moment that I was not at home ; but when 
 I saw nothing but a wilderness, and a company of barba- 
 rous heathen, I soon recollected myself 
 
153' INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VIII 
 
 • About this time, I began to think that all ray hopes of 
 restoration would come to nothing. I had hoped to be re-« 
 taken by the English army ; but that hope failed. I had 
 hoped to be carried to Albany ; but here again my desire 
 and expectation failed. I had had some expectation of 
 being sold to my husband ; but instead of that, my mas- 
 ter himself was gone. It nOw seemed as though my spirit 
 would sink. That I might have an opportunity to be 
 alone and pour out my heart before the Lord, I asked 
 them to let me go out and pick up some sticks. I took 
 my Bible with me in order to read ; but I found no com- 
 fort. I can say that in all my sorrows and afflictions, I felt 
 no disposition to complain of God, as though his ways 
 were not righteous ; for I knew that he had laid upon me 
 less than I deserved. While in this distress, as I was turn- 
 ing over the leaves of my Bible, I met with these passa- 
 ges, which revived me a little. My thoughts are not your 
 thoughts^ neither are your ways my loays, saith the Lord. 
 Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him, and he 
 shall bring it to pass. 
 
 " About this time, the Indians returned from Hadley, 
 having killed three of the English, and taken one (Tho- 
 mas Reed) captive. They all gathered around the poor 
 man, asking him many questions. I went to see him, and 
 found him weeping bitterly, for he thought that they intend- 
 ed to kill him. I asked one of them if that was their 
 intention. He answered that it was not. He being a little 
 comforted by this assurance, I inquired of him respecting 
 my husband. He told me that he saw him some time be- 
 fore, and that he was well, but very low spirited. Some 
 of the Indians had told me that he was dead, and that they 
 had killed him. I ntfw saw that all they had told me, was 
 false. 
 
 *' While here, Philip's maid came to me with his child 
 in her arms, and asked for a piece of my apron for the 
 child. I told her that I would not give it to her. My 
 mistress then ordered me to give it to her ; but I still re- 
 fused. She arose and took up a stick, large enough to kill 
 a person, and struck at me ; but I slipped out of her way, 
 and she struck it into the mat of the wigwam. While she 
 
CHAP. VIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 153 
 
 was pulling it out, I ran to the maid, and gave her the 
 whole of my apron, and so the storm passed over. 
 
 " Hearmg that my son was in the place, I went to see 
 him. I told him that his father was well, but very melan- 
 choly. He told me that he was as much grieved for his 
 father, as for himself. 
 
 "I went to see an English youth, John Gilbert, from^ 
 Springfield. I found him lying out doors upon the ground. 
 I asked him how he did. He told me that he was very 
 sick of a flux, in consequence of eating so much blood. 
 They had turned him, with an Indian papoose, whose pa- 
 rents had been killed, out of the wigwam. It was a bitter 
 cold day ; but the young man had nothing on but his shirt 
 and waistcoat. This sight was enough to melt the most 
 flinty heart. 'There they lay, quiveritig with the cold. The 
 child's eyes, nose and mouth were filled with dirt. I ad- 
 vised John to get to a fire. He said he could not stand. I 
 urged him still, lest he should lie 'there and die. With 
 much difficulty I got him to a fire, and then returned home. 
 I had no sooner arrived there, than John's master's daugh- 
 ter came after, and wished to know what I had done with 
 the Englishman. I told her I had got him to a fire in such 
 a place. I had now occasion to pray that I might he deliv- 
 ered from unreasonable and wicked men. For her satisfac- 
 tion, I went along with her, and showed her where he was. 
 Before I got home again,, it was noised abroad that I was 
 running away, and that I was getting the English youth 
 along with me. As soon as I returned home, they began 
 to rave and domineer, asking me where I had been, and 
 what I had been doing ; saying that they would knock me 
 on the head. I told them that I had been to see the English 
 youth, and that I would not run away. They told me that 
 I lied ; and raising the hatchet they came at me, and de- 
 clared that they would knock me dpwnif I went out again , 
 so I was confined to the wigwam. Now might I say, with 
 David, / am in a great strait. If I keep in, I must die 
 with hunger, and if I go out I must be tomahawked. I 
 remained in this distressed condition all that day and half 
 the next ; then the Lord, whose mercies are great, remem- 
 bered me. For an Indian came with a pair of stockings 
 too large for him, and desired me to ravel them out, and 
 
154 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. VU\ 
 
 knit them again. I manifested a willingness to do it, and 
 l-equested him to ask my mistress if I might go with him a 
 little way. She said that I might. I was not a little com- 
 forted with having my liberty again. 1 went with him, 
 and he gave me som.e roasted ground-nuts, which revived 
 my feeble stomach. Being out of my mistress' sight, I 
 had an opportunity again to look into my Bible^ which was 
 my guide by day, andmy pillow by night. Now that com- 
 fortable passage presented itself, Por a small jnoment have 
 I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. 
 Thus the Lord comforted and strengthened me from time 
 to time, arid made good his precious promises. Now my 
 son came again to see me. I asked his master to let him 
 stay awhile with me, which request he granted. When he 
 was gone, my son told me that he was very hungry ; but I 
 had no food to give him. I told him to go into the wig- 
 wams on his return to his master, and see if he could not 
 get something to eat. He did so, but it seems he tarried a 
 little too long, for his master- was angry with him for his 
 delay, and after beating him, sold him. After he was sold, 
 he came running to me, telling me that he had got a new 
 master, and that* he had given him some ground-nuts-al- 
 ready. I then went with him to see his master, who told 
 me that he loved my soq, and that he should not want. 
 His master then carried him away, and I saw him no more, 
 till I saw him in Portsmouth. 
 
 " At night they again ordered me out of the wigwam, 
 my mistress' papoose being sick. I went to a wigwam, 
 and they told me to come in. They gave me a skin to lie 
 on, and a mess of venison and ground-nuts. The papoose 
 of my mistress having died in the night, they buried it the 
 next day. Afterward, both morning and evening, a com- 
 pany came to mourn and howl with her. I had many 
 sorrowful days in this place. I often retired and remained 
 alone. Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter : I did 
 mourn as a dove, mine eyes failed with looking upward. 
 Then I said, O Lord, I am oppressed ; undertake for me. 
 Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how 1 have walked 
 before thee in truth. I had now a favorable opportunity 
 to examine all my ways. My conscience did not accuse 
 me of unrighteousness in ' relation to my fellow-creatures, 
 
GHAP. VIII.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 155 
 
 yet I saw that in my walk with God, I had been a careless 
 creature. I could say with David, ' Against thee, and 
 thee only, have I sinned. And with the publican, ' God 
 be merciful to me a sinner.' On the Sabbath, I used to 
 think of those who were enjoying the privileges of the 
 sanctuary, and could use the language which is spoken^n 
 relation to the poor prodigal, ' He would fain have filled 
 his belly with the husks that the swine did eat, and no 
 man gave unto him.' And could add, ' Father, I have 
 sinned against heaven, and before thee.' 1 recollected' 
 the time when my. family was about me ; when on Satur- 
 day and Sabbath evenings, we, with our relations and 
 neighbors, could pray and sing, and refresh our bodies 
 with wholesome food, and have a comfortable bed to lie 
 on. Instead of this, I had only a little swill for the body, 
 and then like a swine* must lie down on the ground. I 
 cannot express to man the sorrow which lay upon my soul 
 — it is known to the Lord. Yet that comfortable scrip- 
 ture was often in my mind, * For a small moment have I 
 forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee.' 
 
 " We now packed up all again, and left this place, bend- 
 ing our course towards the towns on the bay. ] had no- 
 thing to eat the first day, excepting a few crums of cake 
 that aiftndian gave my daughter Mary, the day she wa^ 
 taken. She gave it to me, and I put it into my pocket. It 
 had become mouldy, dry, and hard, and had "crumbled to 
 pieces ; but it refreshed me many times when I was ready 
 to faint. I used to think, when I piit it into my mouth, 
 that if ever I returned from my captivity, I would declare 
 to -the world how the Lord added his blessing to this mean 
 food. On the way, the Indians killed a deer that was with 
 young. They gave me a piece of the fawn, which was 
 so young and tender, that one could as easily eat the bones 
 as the Jiesh, and yet I thought that it was very good. 
 When night came, they halted. It was rainy ; but they 
 soon got up a bark wigwam, so that I lay dry during the 
 night. When I looked out in the morning, I saw that 
 many of the Indians had lain out in the rain all the night. 
 Thus mercifully did the Lord deal with me. They took 
 the blood of the deer, and after putting it into the paunch, 
 boiled and ate it. My stomach would not allow me to 
 
156 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VIIJ, 
 
 taste of it, though they ate it with a good appetite. Yet 
 they were so nice that when I had brought a kettle of 
 water, and put the dish I dipped the water with into it, 
 they would say that they would knock me down, for they 
 said it was a sluttish trick. 
 
 " We now went on our way ; I having obtained a hand- 
 ful of ground-nuts for my sustenance that day. They gave 
 me my load ; but the thought that I was going homeward 
 enabled me to bear it cheerfully, the burden now being 
 more on my hack than on my spirit. We came this day 
 ^to Payquage (Miller's) River again, near which we re- 
 mained some days. One of them would give me a pipe, 
 another a little tobacco, a third a little salt, which I ex- 
 changed for food. It is remarkable what a voracious ap- 
 petite persons have when in a starving condition. Many 
 times, when they gave me hot food; I was so greedy that I 
 swallowed it down, though it burnt my mouth, and trou- 
 bled me many hours after. Yet I soon did the same again. 
 After I was thoroughly hungry, I never was satisfied with 
 eating. For though I had sometimes enough to eat, and 
 ate until I could eat no more, yet I was as unsatisfied as 
 I was when 1 began. I now saw the meaning of that pas- 
 sage of scripture, T/inu shalt eat, and not he satisfied. I 
 now saw more clearly than ever before, the miseries sin 
 has brought upon man. I felt, many times, a disposition 
 to complain of the treatment of the Indians ; but my feel- 
 ings were silenced by that passage. Shall there he evil in 
 the city, and, the Lord hath not done it ? 
 
 ** Our next remove was over the river. The water was 
 something like eighteen inches deep, and the stream very 
 swift. The water was so cold that it seemed as though it 
 would cut me in sunder. I was so weak and feeble that I 
 could not walk without reeling, and I thought I must here 
 end my days. The Indians stood laughing to see me stagger 
 along. That precious promise supported me. When thou 
 passest through the waters I will he with thee, and through 
 the rivers they shall not overflow thee. When we had got 
 through the river, I sat down and put on my stockings and 
 shoes, with the tears running down my eyes, and with many 
 sorrowful thoughts in my heart. As we went on our w^y, 
 an Indian came and informed rae that I must go to Wachu- 
 
CHAP.VTIl.l HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 157 
 
 Bett,(Princeton,) to my master ; for a letter had been received 
 from the governor of Massachusetts to the sagamores 
 upon the subject of redeeming the captives, and that ano- 
 ther was expected soon. My heart, which had been so 
 heavy that I could scarcely speak or keep the path, was now 
 so light that I could run. My strength seemed to be re- 
 newed. W^ travelled only one mile this day, and remained 
 at the place where we lodged, two days, when we again re- 
 moved. And a comfortable remove it was to me, because 
 of my hopes. They gave me my pack, and I went cheer- 
 fully along. But my courage was too great for my strength ; 
 for having taken but little food, I soon sunk under my bur- 
 den, and my spirits almost failed also. Now I could say 
 wdth David, ' I am poor and needy. I am tossed up and 
 down as the locust. My knees are weak through fasting, 
 and my flesh faileth of fatness.' Night coming on, we 
 arrived at an Indian town. I was almost spent, and could 
 scarcely speak. I laid down my load, and went into a wig- 
 wam, where was an Indian boiling horses' feet. It was 
 their custom to eat the flesh of a horse first, and then, 
 when they were straitened for provisions, to. cut off* the feet 
 and make use of them for food. I asked the Indian to 
 give me a little of the broth or water in which' they were 
 boiling. He gave me a spoonful of samp^ and told me to 
 take as much of the broth as I pleased. I put the samp 
 into some of the broth and drank it, and my spirits were 
 revived. He also gave me a piece of the ridding of the 
 intestines, which I broiled on the coals and .ate. Now I 
 might say with Jonathan, ' See, I pray you, how mine eyes 
 have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this 
 honey.' Though means be never so inconsiderable, yet if 
 the Lord bestow. his blessing, they shall refresh both body 
 and soul. 
 
 *' As we were passing along after leaving this place, we 
 saw an Englishman lying dead by the way-side. At length 
 we came to another Indian town, where we spent the 
 night. There were here four English children who were 
 captives, one of whom was my sister's. I went to see her, 
 and found her well, considering her condition. I would 
 have passed the night with her, but her owners would not 
 Buffer it. I went into a wigwam, where they were boiling 
 14 
 
158 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VIII 
 
 corn and beans, but could not get a taste of them. At 
 another wigwam I found two English children. T^he 
 squaw was boiling horses' feet. She cut off a piece and 
 gave me. She gave the English children a piece also. ^ 
 Being very hungry, I quickly ate up mine. One. of the 
 children, being unable to eat heVs, it vvas so tough, I took 
 it and ate it myself Now I could say with J«b, ' The 
 things that my soul refuseth, are as my sorrowful meat.' 
 When I returned home to my mistress' wigwam, theytjtold 
 me that I was a disgrace to my master by begging, and 
 that if I did so any more, they would knock me on the 
 head. I told them that they might as well do that, as to 
 starve me to death. On the first day after leaving this 
 place, we came in sight of Wachusett mountain. As we 
 were travelling along, having, indeed, my life, but little' 
 spirit, Philip (who was in the company) came and took me 
 by the hand, and said, ' Two weeks more, and you shall 
 be mistress again/ I asked him if he really meant as he 
 said. He replied, ' Yes, for you shall soon be with your 
 master.' After many weary steps we came to Wachusett, 
 where I found my master, and glad I was to see him. He 
 inquired how long it was since I had washed me. 1 an 
 swered, not for months. He brought some water and told 
 me to wash, and ordered his squaw to give me something 
 to eat. She gave me some meat and beans, and a small 
 ground-nut cake. I was greatly refreshed by this kindness. 
 
 *' My master had three squaws,' living sometimes with 
 one, and sometimes with another. While 1 was here with 
 the old squaw, the one with whom I had been, sent her 
 maid to tell me to come home, at which I fell a weeping. 
 To encourage me, the old squaw told me when I wanted 
 victuals, to come to her, and that I should lie in her wig- 
 wam. I went with the maid, but came back and lodged 
 there. The squaw laid a mat for me, and spread a rug 
 over me. This was the first time that I had any such 
 kindness shown me among the Indians. While in this 
 place, an Indian requested me to make him three pairs of 
 stockings. Tor which I had a hat and a silk handkerchief. 
 
 " At length, two Indians came with a second letter from 
 the governor, respecting the redemption of the captives 
 Though they were Indians, I took them by the hand , bu* 
 
CHAP. VIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 159 
 
 my heart was so full that I could not speak. After reco- 
 vering myself, I asked them how my husband, friends, and 
 acquaintances were. They said that they were well, but 
 very melancholy. They brought me. two biscuits, and a 
 pound of tobacco. The tobacco I soon gave away. 
 
 " The sagamores having met to consult respecting the 
 captives, they called me, and inquired how much my hus- 
 band would give for my redemption. Knowing that all 
 our jjossessions had been destroyed by the Indians, I hard- 
 ly knew what answer to give. I thought that if I men- 
 tioned a small sum, it might be slighted, and so hinder the 
 matter ; and if I stated a large sum, I did not know where 
 It could be procured. I however ventured to say twenty 
 pounds, at the same time desiring them to take less. They 
 sent a message to. Boston, stating that for twenty pounds 
 I should be delivered up. 
 
 ** During the time we remained in this place, the Indians 
 made an atta#: upon Sudbury. After their return, an Indian 
 invited me to come to his wigwam, and said he would give 
 me some pork and ground-nuts. I accepted the invitation, 
 and as I was eating, another Indian said to me, *^ He seems 
 to be your friend, but he killed two Englishmen at Sudbu- 
 ry, and there lie the clothes behind you.' I looked behind 
 me, and saw the bloody clothes, with the holes the bullets 
 had made in them. Yet the Lord did not suffer this 
 wretch to do me any harm ; yea, instead of that, he and 
 his squaw repeatedly refreshed my feeble body. When- 
 ever I went to their wigwam, they gave me something, 
 yet they were entire strangers to me. Another squaw gave 
 me a piece of fresh pork and a little salt, and lent me her 
 frying-pan, in which to cook it. I remember, to this 
 day, the sweet and delightful relish of this food. 
 
 " When the Indians had done the English any mischief, 
 it was their custom to remove. We now left the place 
 where we were, and remeved to a place about three or four 
 miles distant, where they built a wigwam large enough to 
 contain a hundred persons. This was made preparatory 
 to a great dance. They now said among themselves that 
 the governor would be so angry at the loss siTstained at 
 Sudbury, that he would do nothing more about redeeming 
 the captives. This made me grieve and tremble. My 
 
160 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VIII 
 
 daughter was now but a mile distant from us. I had not 
 seen her fbr nine or ten weeks. I besought, entreated, 
 and begged the Indians to let me go and see her; but they 
 would not suffer it. They made use of their tyrannical 
 power while they had it ; but through the Lord's wonder- 
 ful mercy, their time was now short. For soon after this, 
 Mr. John Hoar, together with the two Indians before men- 
 tioned, came with a third letter from the governor, relat- 
 ing to the redemption of the captives. When the Indians 
 had talked awhile with Mr. Hoar, they suffered me to speak 
 with him. I asked him how my husband and. friends were. 
 He said they were well, and that they would be glad to 
 ^ee me. I now asked the Indians if 1 should go home 
 with Mr. Hoar. They answered. No ; and we retired for 
 the night with that answer. The next morning, Mr. Hoar 
 invited the sagamores to dine with him ; but wHen we 
 came to prepare for them, we found that the Indians had 
 stolen the greatest part of the provisions he liad Ifrought. 
 The sagamores seemed to be ashamed of the theft, and said 
 that it was the Matchit (wicked) Indians that did it. Din- 
 ner being made ready, they were called ; but they ate but 
 little, for they were busily engaged in dressing themselves 
 for a dance. The dance was carried on by eight persons, 
 four men and four squaws, my master and mistress being 
 in the number. My master was dressed in a holland shirt, 
 with great stockings, his garters being hung round with 
 English shillings, having girdles of wampum upon his head 
 and shoulders. She had on a kersey coat, covered with 
 girdles of wampum from the loins upward. Her arms, from 
 her elbows to her hands, were covered with bracelets, with 
 necklaces about her neck, and several sorts of jewels in 
 her ears. She had fine red stockings and white shoes ; her 
 head being powdered, and her face painted red. All the 
 dancers were dressed in the same manner. Two Indians 
 were employed in making music, by singing and knocking 
 on a kettle. A kettle of water placed upon embers, stood 
 in the midst of the dancers, that each one might drink 
 when thirsty. They continued tlieir dance until almost 
 night. 
 
 ** As it respected my going home, they were at first all" 
 against it unless my husband would come after me ; but 
 
HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 161 
 
 afterward they consented that I should go. Some of them 
 asked me to send them some bread, others tobacco, others 
 taking me by the hand, offered me a hood and scarf to ride 
 in. Thus the Lord answered my feeble petitions, and the 
 many earnest requests others had put up to God in my be- 
 half Some time previous, an Indian came to me and 
 said, that if I was willing, he and his squaw would run 
 away with me, and conduct me home. I told them that I 
 was not willing to run away, but that I desired to wait 
 God's time, that I might go home quietly and without fear. 
 O, the wonderful experience I had of the power and good- 
 ness of God ! I have been in the midst of these roaring 
 lions and savage bears, who feared neither God nor man, 
 by night and by day, in company and alone, sleeping in the 
 midst of males and females, and yet no one of them ever 
 offered me the least unchastity in word or action. 
 
 " I now took my leave of them. But on my way home- 
 ward, I was so affected with the thoughts of going home 
 again, that I was more completely melted into tears than 
 at any time while I was in captivity. About sunset we 
 arrived at Lancaster, and an affecting sight it was to me. 
 Here I had lived "comfortably for many years among neigh- 
 bors and relations ; but now there was not an English per- 
 son to be seen, nor a house standing. We spent the night 
 in an out-building, where we slept on the straw, having a 
 comfortable night's rest. 
 
 '* Before noon, the next day, we arrived in Concord. 
 Here I met with some of my neighbors, my brother, and 
 brother-in-law. My brother-in-law asked me if I knew 
 where his wife was. Poor man, he had assisted in burying 
 her, but knew it not. She was killed near the house, and 
 so much burned, that those who buried the dead, did not 
 know her. After being refreshed with food and supplied 
 with clothes, we went that day to Boston, where I met my 
 dear husband ; but the thoughts of our dear children, one 
 being dead, and another we could not tell where, Jbated our 
 comfort in each other. In my- poor beggarly condition, I 
 was received and kindly entertained in Boston. It is be- 
 yond my power to express the kindness I received from in- 
 dividuals here, many of whom were strangers to me. But 
 the Lord knows them all. May he reward them seven- 
 14* K V 
 
162 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. Vi:i. 
 
 fold into their own bosoms. The twenty pounds, the price 
 of my redemption, was raised by Mr. Usher, and a num- 
 ber of ladies in Boston. Mr. Thomas Shepard, of Charles- 
 town, received us into his house, where we were enter- 
 tained eleven weeks. We found many other kind friends 
 in this place. We were now surrounded with mercies, yet 
 we were frequently in heaviness on account of our poor 
 children, and other relations who were in affliction. My 
 husband thought that we had better ride down eastward, 
 and see if we could not hear something respecting our 
 children. As we were riding along between Ipswich and 
 Rowley, we met William Hubbard, who told us that our 
 son Joseph and my sister's son had arrived at Major Wal- 
 dron's in Dover. The next day we heard that our daughter 
 had arrived at Providence. We met with our son at Ports- 
 mouth. Our daughter was conveyed from Providence to 
 Dorchester, where we received her. 
 
 " Our family being now gathered together, the members 
 of the South Church in Boston hired a house for us, where 
 we continued about nine months. It seemed strange to 
 set up house-keeping with bare walls ; but in a short time, 
 through the liberality of christian friendif, some of whom 
 resided in England, our house was furnished. The Lord 
 has been exceedingly good to us in our low estate. 
 
 " Before I was afflicted, I was ready sometimes to wish 
 for adversity ; fearing lest I should have my portion in 
 this life. But now I see that the Lord had a time to 
 scourge and chasten me. It is the lot of some to have 
 their affliction dealt out in drops, — but the wine of aston- 
 ishment did the Lord give me as my portion. Affliction I 
 needed, and affliction I had — full measure, pressed down 
 and running ov6r. Yet I see that, let our affliction be 
 ever so great, the Lord is able to carry us through, and to 
 make us gainers thereby. I hope that I can say in some 
 measure, with David, It is good for me that I have been 
 afflicted."* 
 
 Mrs. Hannah Swarton, the subject of the followmg 
 Narrative, was taken captive by the Indians at Falmouth, 
 Me., in May, 1690. When the Indians assaulted that 
 place, she, with her husband and family, consisting of four 
 
CHAP. VIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 163 
 
 children, were residing at a short distance from the fort. 
 The Indians entered the house, killed her husband before 
 her eyes, and carried her and her children. into captivity. 
 The account of what befell her, written by herself, is in 
 substance the following. 
 
 *' After the fort was taken, myself and children were 
 distributed among the captors. My master was a Canada 
 Indian. His wife had been bred up among the English 
 at Black Point. After her" marriage she embraced the 
 Catholic religion. Though I' occasionally saw my chil- 
 dren, yet I had little opportunity to converse with them ; 
 and when we met, we were obliged to refrain from all 
 expressions of grief: for the Indians threatened to kill us, 
 if we conversed much together, or wept over our condi- 
 tion. The provisions they had obtained among the En- 
 glish being soon spent, we were obliged to subsist on 
 ground-nuts, acorns, wild weeds, and roots, — having occa- 
 sionally some dog's flesh. They killed a bear, a portion 
 of which fell to me. At another time, they gave me a 
 very small part of a turtle they had taken. Once an In- 
 dian gave me a piece of moose's liver, which was to me a 
 sweet morsel. I was hurried up and down in the wilder- 
 ness, carrying daily a great burden, and obliged to travel 
 as fast as the rest of the company, or meet instant death. 
 My shoes and clothes were worn and tattered, my feet 
 wounded with sharp stones, and pierced with prickly 
 bushes. At times, I thought that I could go no further, 
 and that I must lie down by the way, come what would. 
 Then the Lord so renewed my strength, that I was able to 
 keep up with my master, and to travel as far as he required. 
 One John York, being nearly starved, and unable to travel 
 at their speed, they killed outright. While we were about 
 Casco Bay and the Kennebec River, I at seasons met with 
 some of the English prisoners. 
 
 " At one time, my mistress and myself were left alone 
 for nearly a week without food. All we had was a moose's 
 bladder filled with vermin, which we boiled, and drank 
 the broth. The bladder was so tough that we could not 
 eat it. On the sixth day, my mistress sent me to a place 
 where I should be likely to see some Indian canoes, order- 
 ing me to make a fire, so that by means of the smoke some 
 
1G4 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VIII 
 
 one might be induced to come to our relief. I, at length, 
 espying a canoe, made signs to those on board to come 
 ashore, which, they did. They proved to be a company 
 of squaws. After being made acquainted with our wants, 
 one of them gave me a piece of a roasted eel, which I ate 
 with a relish I never before experienced. Sometimes we 
 lived on whortleberries, at others on a kind of wild cher- 
 ries that grew upon bushes. 
 
 " When winter came on, they put me into an Indian 
 dress, which consisted of a slight blanket, leather stock- 
 ings, and a pair of moccasons. I suffered much from the 
 cold, being obliged to travel through the snow, and over 
 the ice, facing the wintry blasts. I was at times almost 
 frozen, and faint through want of food. I now reflected 
 seriously upon the past. I recollected the religious privi- 
 leges I had enjoyed at Beverly, my native town ; how we 
 had turned our backs upon these privileges, and had re- 
 moved to a place where there was neither minister nor 
 church ; where we were likely to forget The good instruc- 
 tion we had received, and where our children were exposed 
 to be bred up in ignorance ; and that we had done this 
 from worldly motives, witlj a view to place ourselves in 
 more advantageous circumstances. I saw that I was now, 
 by the righteous providence of God, stripped of all — be- 
 reaved of husband, children, friends, neighbors, house, 
 estate, comfortable food and clothing, while my own life 
 hung continually in doubt, being liable to be cut off by a 
 violent death, or by famine, or by freezing. I had no 
 Bible or religious book to look into, or christian friend to 
 counsel me in my distress. But the Lord did not leave 
 me to perish in mine affliction. Many passages of scrip- 
 ture which I had formerly read or heard, occurred to my 
 mind, and were my support and consolation. When they 
 threatened to kill me, I thought of the words of our Savior 
 to Pilate, Thou couldest have no power at all against mcy 
 except it were given thee from above. I cherished the hope 
 that the Lord would not suffer them to kill me ; that in 
 his own good time he would deliver me out of their hands, 
 and return me to my own country. While in this afflicted 
 condition, I heard that my eldest son had been killed by 
 the Indians. I now thought of Job's complaint, Thou 
 ^ ■ " ■ 
 
CHAP. VIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 165 
 
 numberest my steps ; dost thou not watch over my sin ? My 
 transgression is sealed up in a bag, thou setvest up mine 
 iniquity. This thought led me to humble myself before 
 God, and to plead with him for his pardoning mercy in 
 Christ. I prayed with David, How long wilt thou forget 
 me, O Lord ? Hou) long shall mine ene?ny be exacted over 
 me ? By these and other scriptures which were brought 
 to my recollection, I was instructed, directed, and com- 
 forted. 
 
 " We travelled up the Kennebec, until we arrived at 
 Norridgewock. Here the English prisoners were sepa- 
 rated, and I was left alone ; none of them being left in our 
 company. I was now, in the heart of winter, forced to 
 take up a long and dreary journey through the wilderness, 
 to Canada. I travelled in deep snow, over hideous moun- 
 tains and through deep swamps, among trees that had been 
 blown down, stepping from log to log, passing over nearly 
 a thousand in a day, carrying at the same time a heavy 
 burden on my back. I found it very tedious travelling, 
 and my feet and limbs bled, so that I could be tracked by 
 the blood I left on the snow. At length, about the middle 
 of February, we arrived in the vicinity of Quebec. My 
 master pitched his wigwam within sight of some French 
 houses, and sent me to beg victuals for his family. I went, 
 and found the French very kind, giving me pork, and beef, 
 and bread. My master ne_xt sent me to beg of some fami- 
 lies residing nearer Q-uebec. I asked leave to remain over 
 night with the French, to which he assented. Calling in 
 at a house near night, I signified to the woman of the 
 house my desire to remain by her fire all night. She 
 readily granted my request, laid a good bed on the floor, 
 and furnished good covering for me, so that I slept very 
 comfortably. The next morning, after giving me a break- 
 fast, the French, woman stept out, and left me alone. 
 While I was waiting for her return, that I might thank her 
 for her kindness, two men came in. One of them was an 
 Englishman, who had been taken by the Indians. It was 
 exceedingly pleasant and reviving to hear once more the 
 voice of an Englishman. After some conversation he in- 
 vited me to go with him to duebec, which, he said, was 
 abouyfour miles distant. I told him that if I went, my 
 
166 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VIII. 
 
 master might kill me for it. After some discourse in 
 French with the man that was with him, he told me that 
 if I would go, I should be rausdmed. The woman of the 
 house having now returned, persuaded m.e to go. I went 
 with them, and was introduced nito the family of the chief 
 justiciary of the province. I was kindly entertained by 
 his lady, and comfortably clothed and fed. Some time 
 after, my master and mistress coming for me, the lady in- 
 tendant paid my ransom, and I became her servant, 
 
 " I now experienced a great change in my external con- 
 dition; but I soon found a snare was laid for my soul, 
 which caused me trouble and sorrow. For my mistress, 
 the nuns, priests, and friars, and the rest, beset me by 
 every argument they could produce to persuade me. to be- 
 come a Catholic. Their arguments were accompanied by 
 much love, warm entreaties, and solemn promises. But 
 finding me inflexible, they resorted to threatenings and 
 hard usage. I now resorted to the Scriptures, where I 
 found the instruction, support, and consolation that I 
 needed. I felt myself to be pressed out of measure, above 
 strength ; but I felt that God was able to deliver me, and 
 enabled me to believe that he would either appear for my 
 deliverance, or give me grace for what he called me to 
 suffer for his name's sake. I attended occasionally upon 
 their worship, but never received the sacrament. At last, 
 I concluded that it was wrong for me to attend their meet- 
 ings, and I went no more. By the kindness and assistance 
 of my fellow-captives, I obtained a Bible and other good 
 books ; and we found opportunities to meet together for 
 conference and prayer. Col. Tyng, of Falmouth, and 
 Mr. Alden labored to confirm and strengthen us in the 
 ways of the Lord. I had many sweet refreshing seasons 
 of religious conversation and prayer with Margaret Stil- 
 son, a fellow-captive, who lived in the same house with 
 me. We used to get together, and read and pray over 
 portions of God's holy word, and converse upon what we 
 read. We endeavored in the land of our captivity, with 
 all our heart and with all our soul, to return unto the 
 Lord ; earnestly beseeching him to think upon us, and to 
 grant us a good deliverance. 
 
 " At length, Capt. Cary arrived with a vessel to receive 
 
CHAP. VIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. ' 167 
 
 and carry captives to New England. Among others, I 
 and my youngest son were received on board. We arrived 
 in safety at Boston, in November, 1695. I left in Canada 
 a daughter, twenty years of age, whom I had not''seen for 
 two years, and a son nineteen years old, whom 1 have not 
 seen since the next morning after we were taken." 
 
 Dr. Dwight gives the following account of the capture 
 and sufferings of ilirs. Jcwz2V«a Howe, who was taken at 
 Vernon, Vermont. 
 
 "In 1755, Bridgman's fort, a small work in Vernon, 
 was taken by the following stratagem. The men residing 
 in the fort, (Caleb Howe, Hilkiah Grout, and Benjamin 
 Gaffield,) went into the field to perform their daily labor. 
 Their wives, remaining in the fort, fastened the gate, ac- 
 cording to their custom, and were to open it when their 
 husbands and sons, returning, knocked for admission. The 
 men having finished their work, were returning to the fort, 
 when a party of twelve Indians fired upon them. Howe was. 
 wounded in the thigh, and fell from the horse upon which 
 he rode with two of his sons. The Indians instantly 
 came up and scalped him. He was found the next morn- 
 ing alive, by a party of men from Fort Hinsdale, but soon 
 after expired. Grout escaped unhurt. Gaflield, attempt- 
 ing to cross the river, was drowned. 
 
 ** The women heard the noise of the firing, but seem 
 not to have suspected the cause. The Indians, having 
 learned, by observation, the mode of gaining admission 
 into the fort, knocked at the gate. It was opened without 
 hesitation, and all within the fort were made prisoners. 
 Mrs. Gaffield had one child, Mrs. Grout three, and Mrs. 
 Howe seven — the youngest an infant six months old, the 
 eldest eleven years. Should it seem strange that these ene- 
 mid6 thus learned the signal of admission, you will remem- 
 ber that an Indian can conceal himself with inimitable 
 skill and success, and wait any length of time to accom- 
 plish his purposes. 
 
 ** After having plundered the fort, and set it on fire, the 
 Indians conducted their prisoners about a mile and a half 
 into the forest. Here they continued through the next 
 day, but despatched six of their number to complete iha 
 
168 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VIll. 
 
 work of destruction. The following morning they set out 
 for the place where they had left their canoes, about fif- 
 teen miles south of Crown Point. The distance was about 
 sixty miles ; but as they were obliged to cross the range 
 of the Green Mountains, it occupied them eight days. 
 The Indians were desirous to preserve their prisoners, and 
 in most instances, therefore, treated them kindly. Yet 
 they abused some of them in the customary modes of sa- 
 vage cruelty. 
 
 *' After many and severe sufferings, they reached Crown 
 Point, where Mrs. Howe, with several of the prisoners, 
 continued a few days. The rest were conducted by their 
 captors to Montreal, to be sold to the French ; but no mar- 
 ktJt being found for them, they were all brought back, ex- 
 cept her youngest daughter, who was given as a present to 
 Gov. De Vaudreuil. Soon after, the whole body embarked 
 in canoes, just as night was approaching, for St. Johns. 
 A thunder-storm arose in the west. The darkness, when 
 it was not illumined by lightning, was intense. The 
 wind became a storm, and the waves, which, in this lake, 
 have not unusually been fatal to vessels of considerable 
 size, threatened their destruction. But they were not de- 
 serted by providence. A little, before day-bre.ak they land- 
 ed on the beach ; and Mrs. Howe, ignorant of what had 
 become of her children, raised with her hands a pillow of 
 earth, and laid herself down with her infant in her bosom. 
 The next day they arrived at St. Johns, and soon after, at 
 St. Francis, the residence of her captors. A council was 
 called, the customary ceremonies were gone through, and 
 Mrs. Howe was delivered to a squaw, whom she was. di- 
 rected henceforth to consider as her mother. The infant 
 was left in her care. 
 
 " At the approach of winter, the squaw, yielding to her 
 earnest solicitations, set out, with Mrs. Howe and her 
 child, for Montreal, to sell them to the French. On the 
 journey, both she and her infant were in danger of perish- 
 ing from hunger and cold ; the lips of the^hild being, at 
 times, so benumbed, as to be incapable of imbibing its 
 proper nourishment. After her arrival in the city, she was 
 offered to a French lady, who, seeing the child in her 
 arms, exclaimed, * I will not buy a woman who has a child 
 
CHAP. VIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. ' 169 
 
 to look after.' I will not attempt to describe the feelings 
 with which this rebuff was received by a person who had 
 no higher ambition than to become a slave. Few of our 
 race have hearts made of such unyielding materials as not 
 to .be broken by long-continued abuse ; and Mrs. Howe 
 was not one of this number. Chilled with cold, and 
 pinched with hunger, she saw in the kitchen of this inhos- 
 pitable house some small pieces of bread floating in a pail, 
 amid other fragments, destined to feed swine, and eagerly 
 skimmed them for herself When her Indian mother found 
 that she could not dispose of her, she returned by water 
 to St. Francis, where she soon died of the small-pox, which 
 she had caught at Montreal. Speedily after, the Indians 
 commenced their winter hunting. Mrs. Howe was then 
 ordered to return her child to the captors. The babe 
 clung to her bosom, and she was obliged to force it away. . 
 They carried it to a place called 'Messiskow,' on the 
 borders of the River Missiscoui, near the north end of Lake 
 Champlain, upon the eastern shore. The mother soon fol- 
 lowed, and found it neglected, lean, and- almost perishing 
 with hunger. As she pressed its face to her cheek, the 
 eager, half-starved infant bit her with violence. For three 
 nights she was permitted to cherish it in her bosom ; but 
 in the day-time she was confined to a neighboring wig- 
 wam, where she was compelled to hear its unceasing cries 
 of distress, without a possibility of contributing to its re- 
 lief. The third day the Indians carried her several miles 
 up the lake. The following night she was alarmed by 
 what is usually called the great earthquake, which shook 
 the region around her with violent concussions. Here, 
 also, she was deserted for two nights in an absolute wil- 
 derness ; and when her Indian connections returned, was 
 told by them that two of her children were dead. Very 
 soon after, she received certain information of the death 
 of her infant. Amid the anguish awakened by these me- 
 lancholy tidings, she saw a distant volume of smoke, and 
 was strongly inclined to make her way to the wigwam 
 from which it ascended. As she entered the door, she met 
 one of the children reported to be dead; and, to her 
 great consolation, found that he was in comfortable cir- 
 cumstances. A good-natured Indian soon after informed 
 15 
 
170 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. Till 
 
 her that the other was alive on the opposite side of the lake, 
 at the distance of a few miles only. Upon this informa- 
 tion, she obtained leave to be absent for a single day, and, 
 with the necessary directions from her mformant, set out 
 for the place. On her way she found her child, lean and 
 hungry, and proceeded with it to the wigwam, A small 
 piece of bread, presented to her by the Indian family in 
 which she lived, she had carefully preserved for this unfor 
 tunate boy ; but to avoid offending the family in which he 
 lived, was obliged to distribute it in equal shares to all the 
 children. The little creature had been transported at the 
 sight of his mother; and when she announced her depart- 
 ure,' fell at her feet as if he had been dead. Yet she was 
 compelled to leave him, and satisfied herself, as far as she 
 was able, by commending him to the protection of God, 
 The family in which she lived, passed the following sum- 
 mer at St. Johns. It was composed of the daughter and 
 son-in-law of her late mother. The son-in-law went out 
 early in the season on an expedition against the English 
 settlements. On 'their return, the party had a drinking 
 frolic — their usual festival after excursions of this nature. 
 Drunkenness regularly enhances the bodily strength of a 
 savage, and stimulates his mind to madness. In this situ- 
 ation he will insult, abuse, and not unfrequently murder, 
 his nearest friends. The wife of this man had often been 
 a sufferer by his intemperance : she therefore proposed to 
 Mrs. Howe that they should withdraw themselves from the 
 wigwam, until the effects of his present intoxication were 
 over. They accordingly withdrew. Mrs. Howe returned 
 first, and found him surly and ill-natured, because his wife 
 was absent. In the violence of his resentment, he took 
 Mrs. Howe, hurried her to St. Johns, and sold her for a 
 trifling sum to a French gentleman named Saccapee. 
 
 ** Upon a little reflection, however, the Indian perceived 
 that he had made a foolish bargain. In a spirit of furious 
 resentment, he threatened to assassinate Mrs. Howe, and 
 declared, that if he could not accomplish his design, he 
 would set fire to the fort. She was therefore carefully se- 
 creted, and the fort watchfully guarded, until thB violence 
 of his passion was over. When her alarm was ended, she 
 found her situation as happy in the family, as a state of 
 
CHAP. Vlll.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 171 
 
 servitude would permit. Her new master and mistress 
 were kind, liberal, and so indulgent as rarely to refuse 
 any thing that she requested. In this manner they enabled 
 her frequently to befriend other English prisoners, who, 
 from time to time, were brought to St. Johns. 
 
 " Yet, even in this humane family, she met with ne\> 
 trials. Monsieur Saccapee and his son, an officer in the 
 French army, became, at the same time, passionately at- 
 tached to her. This singular fact is a forcible proof that 
 her person, mind, and manners were unusually agreeable ; 
 for she had been twice married, and the mother of §even 
 children. Nor was her situation less perplexing than sin- 
 gular. The good will of the whole family was indispensa- 
 ble to her comfort, if not to her safety ; and her purity she 
 was determined to preserve, at the hazard of her life. In 
 the house where both her lovers resided, conversed with 
 her every day, and, together with herself, were continually 
 under the eye of her mistress, the lovers a father and a 
 son, herself a slave, and one of them her master, it will 
 be easily believed that she met with very serious embar- 
 rassments in accomplishing her determination. In this 
 situation she made known her misfortunes to Col. Peter 
 Schuyler, of Albany, then a prisoner at St. Johns, This 
 gentleman well merits the most respectful and lasting re- 
 membrance of every inhabitant of New England, for his 
 watchful attention to the safety of its settlements, and his 
 humane interference in behalf of its captivated inhabit- 
 ants. As soon as he had learned her situation, he repre- 
 sented it to the governor, De Vaudreuil. The governor 
 immediately ordered young Saccapee into the army, and 
 enjoined on his father a just and kind treatment of Mrs. 
 Howe. His humanity did not stop here. Being informed 
 that one of her daughters was in danger of being mar- 
 ried to an Indian of St. Francis, he rescued her from 
 this miserable destiny, and placed her in a nunnery with 
 her sister. Here they were both educated as his adopted 
 children; 
 
 " By the good offices of Col Schuyler, also, who ad- 
 vanced t\^enty-seven hundred livres for that purpose, and_ 
 by the assistance of several other gentlemen, she was ena- 
 bled to ransom herself and her four sons. With these 
 
172 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VIII 
 
 children she set out for New England, in the autumn of 
 1758, under the protection of Coi. Schuyler, leaving her 
 two daughters behind. As she was crossing Lake Cham- 
 plain, young Saccapee came on board the boat in which 
 she was conveyed, gave her a handsome present, and bade 
 her adieu. Col. Schuyler, being obliged to proceed to 
 Albany with more expedition than was convenient for his 
 fellow-travellers, left them in the care of Major Putnam, 
 afterwards Major-General Putnam. From this gentleman 
 she received every kind office which his well-known hu- 
 manity could furnish, and arrived, without any considera- 
 ble misfortune, at the place of her destination. 
 
 " After the peace of Paris, Mrs. Howe went again to 
 Canada, to bring home her second daughter ; the eldest 
 having been taken by Monsieur Vaudreuil to France, and 
 married in that country to a gentleman named Louis. Her 
 sister had become so attached to the life, customs, and reli- 
 gion of a nunnery, and so alienated from her country, and 
 even from her parent, as to be absolutely deaf, both to so 
 licitation and authority. When she was compelled, by the 
 peremptory orders of the governor, to leave the convent, 
 she lamented bitterly her unhappy lot, and refused conso- 
 lation. This is one among the many instances of the per- 
 severance, art, and efficacy, with which the religious in 
 Canada labored to make disciples of the children taken 
 from New England. Beside all the horrors of war and 
 captivity, the parent, in this case, was forced to suffer the 
 additional and excruciating anguish of seeing his children 
 lost to him in this world, and exposed to every danger of 
 finally losing a better." 
 
 Mirick, in his history of Haverhill, Mass., gives the fol- 
 lowing account of two lads, who were captivated by the 
 Indians in that place, in the year 1695. 
 
 " Early in the fall, a party of Indians appeared in the 
 northerly part of the town, where they surprised and made 
 prisoners Isaac Bradley, aged fifteen, and Joseph Whit- 
 taker, aged eleven, who were at work in the open fields, 
 near Mr. Joseph Bradley's house. The Indians instantly 
 retreated with their prisoners without committing any fur- 
 
CHAP. VIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 173 
 
 ther violence, until they arrived at their homes on the 
 shores of Lake Winnipiseogee. Isaac, says tradition, was 
 rather small in stature, but full of vigor, and very active 
 and he certainly possessed more shrewdness than most of 
 the boys of that age. But Joseph was a large overgrown 
 boy, and exceedingly clumsy in his movements. 
 
 *' Immediately after their arrival at the lake, the two 
 boys were placed in an Indian family, consisting of the 
 man, his squaw, and two or three children. While they 
 were in this situation, they soon became so well acquaint- 
 ed with the language, that they learned from the occasion- 
 al conversations carried on in their presence between their 
 master and the neighboring Indians of the same tribe, 
 that they intended to carry them to Canada the following 
 spring. This discovery was very afflicting to them. If 
 their designs were carried into execution, they knew that 
 there would be but little chance for them to escape; and 
 from that time, the active mind of Isaac was continually 
 planning a mode to effect it. A deep and unbroken wil- 
 derness, pathless mountains, and swollen and almost impas 
 sable rivers, lay between them and their beloved homes , 
 and the boys feared if they were carried still further north- 
 ward, that they should never again hear the kind voice of 
 a father, or feel the fervent kiss of an affectionate mother, 
 or the fond embrace of a beloved sister. They feared, 
 should they die in a strange land, that there would be none 
 to close their eyes — none to shed for them the tear of af- 
 fection — none to place the green turf on their graves — 
 and none who would fondly treasure up their memories. 
 
 " Such were the melancholy thoughts of the young boys, 
 and they determined to escape before their masters started 
 with them for Canada. The winter came with its snow 
 and wind — the spring succeeded, with its early buds and 
 flowers, and its pleasant south wind — and they were still 
 prisoners. Within that period, Isaa"c was brought nigh to 
 the grave — a burning fever had raged in his veins, and 
 *or manv days hp lanffuishpd orj a bed of sickness; but by 
 wiiC care or tne squaw, ms mistress, wno treated them both 
 with considerable kindness, he recovered. Again he felt a 
 strong desire to escape, which increased with his strength, 
 and in April, he matured a plan for that purpose. He 
 15* 
 
174 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. VIII. 
 
 appointed a night to put it in execution, without informing 
 nis companion, till the day previous, when he told him of 
 his intentions. Joseph wished to accompany him ; to this 
 Isaac demurred, and said to him, ' I'm afraid you won't 
 wake.' Joseph promised that he would, and at night, they 
 laid down in their master's wigwam in the midst of his 
 family. Joseph was soon asleep and began to snore lusti- 
 ly ; but there was no sleep for Isaac — his strong desire to 
 escape — the fear that he should not succeed in his attempt, 
 and of the punishment that would doubtless be inflicted if 
 he did not — and the danger, hunger, and fatigue, that await- 
 ed him, all were vividly painted in hjs imagination, and 
 kept sleep or even drowsiness far from hjm. His daring 
 attempt was environed with darkness and danger — he often 
 revolved it in his mind, yet his resolution remained unsha- 
 ken. At length the midnight came, and its stillness rested 
 on th«^ surrounding forest ; — it .passed — and slowly and 
 cautiously he arose. All was silent, save the deep-drawn 
 breath of the savage sleepers. The voice of the wind was 
 scarcely audible on the hills, and the moon, at times, would 
 shine brightly through the scattered clouds. 
 
 . " Isaac stepped softly and tremblingly over the tawny 
 bodies, lest they should awake and discover his design, and 
 secured his master's fire-works, and a portion of his moose- 
 meat and bread ; these he carried to a little distance from 
 the wigwam, and concealed them in a clump of bushes. 
 He then returned, and bending over Joseph, who had all 
 this time been snoring in his sleep, carefully shook him. 
 Joseph, more asleep than awake, turned partly over, and 
 asked aloud, * What do you want V This egregious blun- 
 ber alarmed Isaac, and he instantly laid down in his proper 
 place, and began to snore as loudly as any of them. As 
 soon as his alarm had somewhat subsided, he again arose, 
 and listened long for the heavy breath of the sleepers. He 
 determined to fly from his master before the morning 
 dawned. Perceiving that they all slept, he resolved to 
 make his escape, without again attempting to awake Jo- 
 seph, lest, by his thoughtlessness, he should again put him 
 in jeopardy. He then arose and stepped softly out of the 
 wigwam, and walked slowly and cautiously from it, until 
 he had nearly reached the place where his provisions were 
 
CHAP VIII.] HISTORY OP NEW EN«LAND. 175 
 
 concealed, when he heard footsteps approaching hastily 
 behind him. With a beating heart he looked backward, 
 and saw Joseph, who had aroused himself, and finding that 
 his companion had gone; concluded to follow. They then 
 secure'd the fire-works and provisions, and without chart or 
 compass, struck into the woods in a southerly direction, 
 aiming for- the distant settlement of Haverhill. They 
 ran at the top of their speed until daylight appeared, when 
 they concealed themselves in a hollow log, deeming it too 
 dangerous to continue their journey in the day time. 
 
 *' Their master, when he awoke in the morning,' was as- 
 tonished to find his prisoners had escaped, and immediate- 
 ly collected a small party with their dogs, and pursued them. 
 The dogs struck upon the tracks, and in a short time 
 came up to the log where tlie boys were concealed, when 
 they made a stand, and began a loud barking. The boys 
 trembled with fear lest they should be re-captured, and 
 perhaps fall beneath the tomahawk of their enraged mas- 
 ter. In this situation they hardly knew what was best to 
 do ; but they spoke kindly to the dogs, who knew their 
 voices, ceased barking, and wagged their tails with delight. 
 They then threw before them all the moose-meat they had 
 taken from the wigwam., which the dogs instantly seized, 
 and began to devour it, as though they highly relished so 
 choice a breakfast. While they were thus employed, the 
 Indians made their appearance, and passed close to the 
 log in which they were concealed, without noticing the 
 employment of their dogs. The boys saw them as they 
 passed, and were nearly breathless with anxiety. They 
 followed them with their eyes till they were out of sight, 
 and hope again took possession of their bosoms. The 
 dogs soon devoured their meat, and trotted after their 
 masters. 
 
 '* They lay in the log during the day, and at night pur- 
 sued their journey, taking a different route from the one 
 pursued by the Indians. They made only one or two meals 
 on their bread, and after that was gone, they were obliged 
 to subsist on roots and buds. On the second day they 
 concealed themselves, but travelled the third day and 
 night without resting ; and on that day they killed a pi- 
 geon and a turtle, a part of which they ate raw, not daring 
 
176 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. VIII. 
 
 to build a fire, lest they should be discovered. The frag- 
 ments of their unsavory meal they carried with them, and 
 ate of them as their hunger required, making their dessert 
 on such roots as they happened to find. They continued 
 their journey day and night, as fast as their wearied and 
 mangled limbs would carry them. On the sixth day, they 
 struck into an Indian path, and followed it till night, when 
 they suddenly came within sight of an Indian encamp- 
 ment, saw their savage enemy seated around the fire, and 
 distinctly heard their voices. This alarmed them exceed- 
 ingly ; and wearied and exhausted as they were, they had 
 rather seek an asylum in the wide forest, and die within 
 the shadow of its trees, than trust to the kindness of foes 
 whose bosoms had never been moved by its silent work- 
 ings. They precipitately fled, fearing lest they should be 
 discovered and pursued, and all night retraced their steps. 
 The niorning came, and found them seated side by side 
 on the bank of a small stream, their feet torn and covered 
 with blood, and each of them weeping bitterly over his 
 misfortunes. Thus far, their hearts had been filled with 
 courage, and their hopes grew ajid were invigorated with 
 the pleasant thoughts of home, as they flitted vividly 
 across their minds. But now theif coutage fled, and their 
 hopes had given way to despair. They thought of the 
 green fields in which they had so often played — of the tall 
 trees whose branches had so often overshadowed them — 
 and of the hearth around which they had delighted to 
 gather with their brothers and sisters, on a winter's even- 
 ing, to listen to a story told by their parents. They thought 
 of these — yea, and of more — but as things from which 
 they were -forever parted — as things that had once given 
 them happiness, but had forever passed away. 
 
 " They were, however, unwilling to give up further ex- 
 ertions. The philosophy of Isaac taught him that the 
 stream must eventually lead to a large body of water, 
 and after refreshing themselves with a few roots, they again 
 commenced their journey, and followed its windings. They 
 continued to follow it during that day, and a part of the 
 night. On the eighth morning, Joseph found himself com- 
 pletely exhausted ; his limbs were weak and mangled, his 
 body was emaciated, and despair was the mistress of his 
 
XHAF. VIII.] HISTORF OF NEW ENGLAND. 177 
 
 bosom. Isaac endeavored to encourage him to proceed ; 
 he dug roots for him to eat, and brought water to quench 
 his thirst — but all was in vain. He laid himself down on 
 the bank of the stream, in the shade of the budding trees, 
 to die, far from his friends, with none for companions but 
 the howling beasts of the forest. Isaac left him to his fate, 
 and, with a bleeding heart, slowly and wearily pursued his 
 journey. He had travelled but a short distance, when he 
 came to a newly-raised building. Rejoiced at this, and 
 believing that inhabitants were nigh, he immediately re- 
 traced his steps, and soon foiind Joseph in the same place 
 and position in which he had left him. He told him what 
 he had seen, talked very encouragingly, and after rubbing 
 his limbs a long while, he succeeded in making him stand 
 upon his feet. They then started together, Isaac part of 
 the time leading him by the hand, and part of the time 
 carrying him on his back ; and in this manner, with their 
 naked limbs mangled and wearied with travelling, their 
 strength exhausted by sickness, and their bodies emaciated 
 almost to skeletons, they reached Saco Fort, some time in 
 the following night. * 
 
 *' Thus, on the ninth night, they arrived among their 
 countrymen, after travelling over an immense forest, sub- 
 sisting on a little bread, on buds and berries, and on one 
 raw turtle and a pigeon, and without seeing the face of a 
 friend, or warming themselves by a fire. Isaac, as soon 
 as he regained his strength, started for Haverhill, and 
 arrived safely at his father's dwelling, who had heard no- 
 thing from him since h^ was taken, and expected never to 
 see him again. But Joseph had more to suffer — he was 
 seized with a raging fever as soon as he reached the fort, 
 and was for a long time confined to his bed. His father, 
 when Isaac returned, went to Saco, and brought home his 
 long-lost son, as soon as his health permitted." ^ 
 
 Sarah Gerrisk^ an interesting and beautiful child, seven 
 years of age, fell into the hands of the Indians at Dover, 
 N. H. She was the grand-daughter of Major Waldron. 
 On that fatal night in which he was massacred, Sarah 
 lodged at his house. Knowing that the Indians had 
 entered the house, she crept into another bed to elude 
 L 
 
178 INCIDENTS »N THE EARLY [CHAP. VIII^ 
 
 their search. Having found her, they ordered her to 
 dress herself, and prepare to go with them. One of the 
 Indians now became her master. He soon sold her to 
 another, who took her with him to Canada. In her jour- 
 ney ings she met with numerous perils and calamities. 
 Once her, master told her to stand against a tree, and then 
 charged his gun, as if he intended to shoot her. She was 
 greatly terrified, fearing instant death. At another time, a 
 squaw pushed her into the river ; but she saved herself by 
 laying hold of some bushes which grew upon the shore. 
 When she returned home, they inquired how she became 
 so wet. But she was afraid to tell them. One morning 
 they went on their way, leaving her fast asleep. When she 
 awoke, she found herself covered with snow, in a hideous 
 wilderness, exposed to become a prey to wild beasts, far 
 away from any English inhabitants, and entirely alone. 
 She arose and ran crying after the Indians, and by follow- 
 ing their track upon the snow, at length overtook them. 
 The young Indians would now terrify her, by telling her 
 that she was soon to be burnt to death. One evening, after 
 a large fire had been kindled; her master called her to him, 
 and told her that she must be roasted alive. Upon which 
 she burst into tears, and throwing her arms about his neck, 
 earnestly entreated him to spare her life. He was so much 
 affected by her melting importunity, that he desisted from 
 his purpose, and told her, " that if she would be a good 
 girl, she should not be burnt." 
 
 Having arrived in Canada, she was sold to a French 
 lady, and after an absence of sixteen months, was again 
 restored to her parents. 
 
CHAP. IX.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 179 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 REMARKABLE ESCAPES AND PRESERVATIONS. 
 
 " In the year 1646, a horrid plot was concerted among 
 the Indians, for the destruction of a number of the princi- 
 pal inhabitants of Hartford, Conn. Sequassen, a petty sa- 
 chem upon the river, hired one of the Waronoke Indians 
 to kill Gov. Hopkins and Gov. Haynes, with Mr. Whiting, 
 one of the magistrates. Sequassen's hatred of Uncas was 
 insatiable, and probably was directed against these gentle- 
 men, on account of the just and faithful protection which 
 they had afforded him. The plan was, that the Waronoke 
 Indian should kill them, and charge the murder upon Ufi- 
 cas, and by that means engage the English against him to 
 his ruin. After the massacre of these gentlemen, Sequassen 
 and the murderer were to make their escape to the Mo- 
 kawks. Watohibrough, the Indian hired to perpetrate the 
 murder, after he had received several girdles of wampum, 
 as part of his reward, considering how Bushheag, the In- 
 dian who attempted to kill the woman at Stamford, had 
 been apprehended and executed at New Haven, conceived 
 that it would be dangerous to murder English sachems. 
 He also revolved in his mind, that if, the English should 
 not apprehend and kill him, he should always be afraid 
 of them, and have no comfort in his life. He also recol- 
 lected that the English gave a reward to the Indians who 
 discovered and brought in Bushheag. He therefore de- 
 termined it would be better to discover the plot, than to 
 be guilty of so bloody and dangerous an action. In this 
 mind, he came to Hartford a few days after he had received 
 the girdles, and made known the plot." 
 
 In September, 1676, Mr. Ephraim Howe, with his two 
 sons and three others, set sail from Boston on their return 
 to New Haven, in a small vessel of seventeen tons. When 
 they had proceeded on their voyage as far as Cape Cod, 
 the weather became tempestuous, and they were driven 
 out to sea, where they were in imminent danger of perish- 
 ing from the heavy waves which rolled over them. After 
 surviving these dangers for eleven days, the eldest son of 
 Mr. Howe died, and in a few days after, the youngest fol- 
 
180 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. IX. 
 
 lowed him into eternity. They gave so much evidence in 
 their last hours that they were prepared to leave the world, 
 that their father was comforted under this heavy affliction. 
 As the hands on board were now diminished, their danger 
 was increased. But their, trials and dangers were soon 
 greatly augmented by the death of another of their num- 
 ber. Half the company were now removed. Mr, Howe, 
 Mr. Augur and a lad, were all that remained. Mr. Howe 
 was obliged to lash himself to the vessel, to prevent his 
 being washed overboard, and in this condition to stand at 
 .the helm, sometimes twenty, and at others thirty-six hours 
 at a time. They" were now at a loss whether to continue 
 to strive for the coast of New England, or to bear away for 
 the West India Islands At length, after looking to God 
 in earnest prayer for direction, they concluded to con- 
 tinue their efforts to reach New England. They proceeded 
 on for a time, when the rudder of the vessel gave way, and 
 was lost. All their hopes of being saved were now at an 
 end. In this trying situation, they continued a fortnight. 
 Mr. Howe, though suffering from great bodily infirmity, 
 had hardly been dry for six weeks. In the seventh week, 
 they were driven upoik a ledge of rocks, over which the 
 sea broke with great violence. They immediately cast 
 anchor, got ready the boat, took a small quantity of pro- 
 visions, and made for the shore. When they had landed, 
 they found themselves upon a desolate island. They were 
 now exposed to perish for want of food. While in these 
 deplorable circumstances, a heavy storm arose, which stove 
 their vessel in pieces. A barrel of wine and half a barrel 
 of molasses, together with some other things, which fur- 
 nished them with the means of making a shelter to screen 
 them from the cold, were driven ashore. They had pow- 
 der and other necessaries for fowling, but there was 'little 
 game to be met with. Sometimes half a gull or crow, or 
 some other fowl^ with the liquor, was all that the three had 
 at a meal. At one time, they lived five days without food. 
 They were all preserved alive for twelve weeks, when Mr. 
 Augur died. The lad survived until April. Mr. Howe 
 was then left solitary and- alone in his distressed situation. 
 Three long months passed away, and no deliverance 
 came, though vessels not unfrequently passed the island, 
 
CHAP. IX.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 181 
 
 and he used every possible means to make them acquainted 
 with his condition. 
 
 While thus excluded from the abodes of men, this ser 
 vant of the Lord observed many days of fasting and prayer, 
 confessing his sins, and crying to God for deliverance. At 
 last, it occurred to him that he ought to render devout 
 thanks to the Most High for the favors which had been 
 mingled with his trials, and especially for his remarkable 
 preservation. Accordingly, he observed a day of thanks- 
 giving. Immediately after this, a vessel bound to Salem, 
 passing the island, discovered and took him on board. 
 The vessel arrived at Salem, July 18, 1677, and Mr. Howe* 
 returned to his family at New Haven. 
 
 Major Edward Gibbons, of Boston, who sailed for some 
 other part of America, was, by contrary winds, kept so 
 long at sea that those on board were reduced to great 
 straits for want of provision. No relief appearing, they 
 looked to heaven by fervent prayer. The wind still con- 
 tinuing contrary, one of the company proposed that a lot 
 should be cast, and one singled out to die, to relieve the 
 hunger of the rest. After a long and sorrowful debate 
 upon this shocking subject, they came to the result that 
 it must be done. Accordingly the lot was cast, and one 
 of the company was taken. But who shall take the life 
 of the victim 1 Who slay hi^ companion in distress ? 
 The deed is so revolting that no one feels prepared to per 
 form it. And before any thing further is done in this 
 matter, they again offer their ardent cries to God for help 
 At this crisis, to their great joy, a large fish leaped into 
 the boat. This afforded them a present relief; but it was 
 soon eaten, and famine and distress again returned. They 
 now cast a second lot, and another of their number was 
 singled out to die. But still no one could be found to act 
 as executioner. They again implored aid from above. A 
 large bird soon came and lit upon the mast, and one of 
 the men went and took it in his hand. " This was a 
 second life from the dead." But the bird was soon de- 
 voured. No land being yet in sight, ^and they again 
 pinched with hunger, they resolved upon a third lot. Ye* 
 before taking the life of their fellow, they again sent up 
 their earnest prayers to the Lord for relief They now 
 IG 
 
182 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. IX, 
 
 looked and looked again to see if they could discover any 
 relief approaching. At length, one of them espied a ship. 
 They manned the long boat, and coming alongside, craved 
 the privilege of being taken on board. They were re- 
 ceived. It .proved to be a French pirate. Major Gibbons 
 petitioned for some bread, and offered all for it. But the 
 commander, being one who had received kindness from 
 Major Gibbons at Boston, replied, " Major, not a hair of 
 you or your company shall perish, if it is in my power to 
 preserve- you." Accordingly he treated them kindly, and 
 they arrived safely at their desired port. 
 
 " In a storm which occurred in August, 1635, a bark 
 belonging to Mr. Allerton, of Plymouth, was shipwrecked 
 on an island in Salem harbor, and twenty-one out of 
 twenty-three persons were drowned. The vessel was 
 returning from Ipswich to Marblehead, having on board 
 Mr. Anthony Thacher, his wife and four children, and 
 Rev. John Avery, his wife and six children ; they were 
 recently from England, and Mr. Avery was about to settle 
 at Marblehead. None of the company were saved except 
 Mr. Thacher and his wife, who were cast on the island in' 
 a remarkable manner, while their four children perished. 
 According to Dr. C. Mather, the vessel was dashed to 
 pieces on a rock ; and while Mr. Avery and Mr. Thacher 
 were hanging on the rock, Mr. Thacher holding his friend 
 by the hand, and resolved that they should die together, 
 Mr. Avery, having just finished a short and devout ejacu- 
 lation, was by a wave swept off into the sea." Mrs, 
 ■Thacher was sitting in the scuttle of the bark, which 
 broke off ; she still cleaving to it was carried on shore. 
 Mr. Thacher and wife remained on the island until the 
 third day, when a shallop, coming to searcli for another 
 that was missing in the storm, took them off. 
 
 " At the first planting of Ipswich, as a credible man 
 informed me," says Rev. Mr. Cobbett, minister of the 
 place, ** the Tarrateens, or Easterly Indians, had a design 
 to have cut off the inhabitants when there were but be- 
 tween twenty anl thirty men, old and young, belonging to 
 the place, and at that instant most of them gone to the 
 bay on business, having had no intimation of the plot 
 The case was this. One Robin, a friendly Indian, came 
 
CHAP. IX.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 183 
 
 to John Perkins, a young man, living in a little hut upon 
 his father's island, on this side of JeofFry's Neck, and 
 told him that, early on such a Thursday morning, four In- 
 dians would come to entice him to go down the hill to the 
 water-side, to truck with them, which if he did, he and 
 all near him would be cut off; for there were forty birchen 
 canoes that would lie out of sight at the brow of the hill, 
 full of armed Indians for that purpose. Of this he forth- 
 with acquainted Mr. John Winthrop, who then lived in a 
 house near the water, whx> advised him, if such Indians 
 came, to carry it roughly towards them, and threaten to 
 shoot them if they would not be gone ; and when their 
 backs were turned to strike up a drum he had with him, 
 and then discharge two muskets, that so six or eight young 
 men who were mowing in the marshes hard by, keeping 
 by them their guns ready charged, might take the alarm, 
 and the Indians would perceive their plot was discovered, 
 and haste away to sea again, which took place accordingly; 
 for he told me he presently after discerned forty such 
 canoes' shove off from under the hill, and make as fast as 
 they could to sea." 
 
 In the year 1626, the Plymouth colony established a 
 trading-house on the Kennebec River. In 1639, the 
 Indians in that vicinity, being in want of provisions, formed 
 a plot to kill the English and take possession. In exe- 
 cuting their purpose, some of them went into the house, 
 where they found Mr. Willet, the master of the house, 
 reiiding his Bible. His countenance being more solemn 
 than usual, and not receiving them in that cheerful man- 
 ner he commonly had done, they concluded that he was 
 acquainted with their intention. They therefore went 
 out, and told their companions that their purpose was 
 discovered. They asked them how it could be. They 
 replied they knew it from Mr. Willet's countenance ; and 
 that he had discovered their plot from a book he was 
 reading. They accordingly retired, and gave over their 
 cruel purpose. 
 
 " A tradition in the family of Capt. Standish says, that 
 a friendly native once came and told the captain, that a 
 particular Indian intended to kill him ; that the next time 
 he visited the wigwam he would give him some water, and 
 
184 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [tllAP. l\ 
 
 while he should be drinking, the Indian would kill him 
 with his knife. The next time the captain had occasion 
 to go to the place, he remembered his trusty sword. He 
 found a number of savages together, and soon had reason 
 to believe the information which had been given him. It 
 was not long before the suspected Indian brought him 
 some drink ; the captain receiving it, kept his eye fixed 
 on him while drinking. The Indian was taking his knife 
 to make the deadly stab, when Standish instantly drew his 
 sword, and cut off his head at one stroke; amazed ^ind 
 terrified, the savages fled, and left our warrior alone." 
 
 *' In the town of Yarmouth, Mass., there was an Indian 
 deacon, named Joseph Naughaut. He was once, while 
 in the woods, attacked by a large number* of black snakes. 
 Not having a stick, a knife, or any article for defence, he 
 knew not what to do. Knowing that he could not outrun 
 them, he resolved to stand still on his feet. The snakes 
 began to entwine themselves about him, and one reached 
 his mouth, as if trying to enter ; the deacon opened his 
 mouth, and the snake put in his head, when the deacon 
 instantly clapped his jaws together, and bit off the ser- 
 pent's head. The streaming blood from the beheaded 
 frightened the rest of the snakes, and they all ran off." 
 
 Among the preservations recorded in our early history, 
 no one is more remarkable, perhaps, than that of the 
 Judges, or regicides, so called. Barber's account of them 
 is the following: "Two of the judges of King Charles I. 
 Goffe and Whalley, (commonly called the regicides,) on 
 the restoration of Charles II. to the throne of his father, 
 in order to save their lives, were obliged to flee the king- 
 dom ; they arrived at Boston from England, the 27th of 
 July, 1660, and took up their residence in Cambridge ; 
 but finding it unsafe to remain any longer, they left that 
 place, and arrived at New Haven the 7th of March, 1661. 
 They were well treated by the minister and the magis- 
 trates, and for some days thought themselves entirely out 
 of danger. But the news of the king's proclamation being 
 brought to New Haven, they were obliged to abscond. 
 The 27th of March they returned, and lay concealed in 
 the house of Mr. Davenport, the minister, until the 30th 
 of April. Mr. Davenport was threatened with being 
 
CHAP. IX.l HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 185 
 
 called to an account, for concealing and comforting trai- 
 tors ; but the judges, who had before removed from Mr. 
 Davenport's house, upon intimation of his danger, gene- 
 rously resolved to deliver themselves up to the authorities 
 of New Haven. They accordingly let the deputy govern- 
 or, Mr. Leete, know where they were; but he took no 
 measures to secure them, and the next day some of their 
 friends came to them and advised them not to surrender. 
 Having publicly shown themselves at .New Haven, they 
 had cleared Mr. Davenport from the suspicion o/ conceal- 
 ing them ; after which they returned to their cave, which 
 still goes by the name of the Judges^ cave. It is situated 
 on the top of West Rock, about half or three quarters of 
 a mile from the southern extremity. It is a place well 
 chosen for observing any approach to the mountain ; like- 
 wise any vessel coming into the harbor, can from this rock 
 be easily seen. The cave is formed on a base of perhaps 
 forty feet square, by huge pillars of stone, fifteen" or twenty 
 feet high, standing erect and elevated above the surround- 
 ing superficies of the mountain, surrounded with trees, 
 which conceal it from observation. The apertures being 
 closed with branches of trees, or otherwise, a well-covered 
 arid convenient lodgment might be formed, as these rocks, 
 being contiguous at the top, furnished space below large 
 enough to contain'bedding and two or three persons. Mr. 
 Richard Sperry, who lived .on the west side of the rock, 
 about a mile from this cave, supplied them daily with 
 food, sometimes carrying it himself, and. at other times 
 sending it by his boys, tied up in a cloth, with directions 
 to leave it on a certain stump, from which the judges 
 would take it. 
 
 " The incident which caused them to leave the cave 
 was this : the mountain being a haunt for wild animals, 
 one night as the judges lay in bed, a panther or cata- 
 mount, putting his head into the aperture of the cave, 
 blazed his eyeballs in such a frightful manner as greatly 
 to terrify them. One of them took to his heels, and fled 
 down to Sperry's house for safety. Considering this sit- 
 uation too dangerous to remain any longer, it was aban- 
 doned. 
 
 "Another place of their abode, in the vicinity of New 
 16* 
 
Ife6 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP, IX. 
 
 Haven, was at a spot called the Lodge. It was situated 
 at a spring, in a valley, about three miles west, or a little 
 north-west, from the last-mentioned residence. North of 
 it was an eminence, called the Fort to this day, from which 
 there was full view of the harbor, to the south-east, seven 
 niiles off. There were several other places on and about 
 the West Rock, which were used by them for places of 
 concealment. The two mentioned, however, were their 
 principal places. > 
 
 " Among the many traditionary anecdotes and stories, 
 concerning the events which took place at and about the 
 time the judges' pursuers were at New Haven, are the 
 following : — 
 
 *' 1. The day they were expected, the judges walked 
 out towards the Neck bridge, the road the pursuers must 
 enter the town. At some distance from the bridge, the 
 sheriff, who then was Mr. Kimberly, overtook them, with 
 a warrant for their apprehension, and endeavored to take 
 them. The judges stood upon their defence, and planted 
 themselves behind a tree ; being expert at fencing, they 
 defended themselves with their cudgels, and repelled the 
 officer, who went into town to obtain assistance, and upon 
 his return, found they had escaped into the woods beyond 
 his reach. 
 
 " 2. That immediately after this, during the same day, 
 the judges hid themselves under the Neck bridge, where 
 they lay concealed while the pursuivants rode over it and 
 passed into town ; and that the judges returned to New 
 Haven that night, and lodged at the house of Mr. Jones. 
 All this, tradition says, was a preconcerted and contrived 
 business, to show that the magistrates of New Haven had 
 used their endeavors to apprehend them before the arrival 
 of the pursuers. 
 
 " 3. That when the pursuers were searching the town, 
 the judges, in shifting their situations, happened, by acci- 
 dent or design, at the house of a Mrs. Eyers, a respectable 
 lady ; she seeing the pursuivants coming, ushered her 
 guests out at the back door, who after walking a short 
 distance, instantly returned to the house, and were con- 
 cealed by her in one of the apartments. The pursuers 
 coming in inquired whether the regicides were at her 
 
CHAP. IX.] HISTORY OF xNEW ENGLAND. 187 
 
 house ; she answered they had been there, but were just 
 gone away, and pointed out the course they went into the 
 woods and fields. By her polite and artful address, she 
 diverted their attention from the house, and putting them 
 upon a false scent, thereby secured her friends. 
 
 "4. That while the judges were at the house of Mr. 
 Richar<3 Sperry, they were surprised by an unexpected 
 visit from their pursuers, whom they espied at a distance, 
 as the causeway to the house lay through a morass, on 
 each side of which was an impassable swamp. -They 
 were seen by the judges when several rods from the house, 
 who therefore had time to make their escape to the moun- 
 tain. 
 
 "5. At or about the time the pursuers came to New 
 Haven, and perhaps a little befpre, to prepare the minds 
 of the people for their reception, the Rev. Mr. Davenport 
 preached publicly from this text : Isaiah xvi. 3, 4. Take 
 counsel, execute judgment, make thy shadow as the night 
 in the midst of the noon-day ; hide the outcasts, betray 
 not him that wandcreth. Let mine outcasts dwell with 
 thee, Moab ; he thou a covert to them from the face of the 
 spoiler. This doubtless had its effect, and put the whole 
 town upon their guard, and united the people in caution 
 and concealment. 
 
 "On the 13th of October, 1664, they left New Haven, 
 and arrived at Hadley the latter part of the same month. 
 The last account of Goffe is from a letter dated 'Eben- 
 ezer, (the name they gave their several places of abode) 
 April 2, 1679.' Whalley had been dead some time before. 
 The tradition at Hadley is, that they were buried in the 
 minister's cellar, and it- is generally supposed that their 
 bodies were afterwards secretly conveyed to New Haven, 
 and placed near Dixwell's, who was another of the judges. 
 The supposition is strongly confirmed, by three stones yet 
 remaining in the old burying-ground, at New Haven, in 
 .he rear of the Centre church, which are marked E.*W. 
 for Whalley, M. G. for Goffe, and J. D. for Dixwell." * 
 
 May 17, 1676, a battle was fought with the Indians at 
 Turner's falls, situated in the township of Gill, Mass. The 
 
 * See a letter received by GofFe from his wife, page 341. 
 
188 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. IX. 
 
 English, in returning to Hatfield after the fi.ght, were at* 
 tacked by the Indians, and " for ten miles their passage was 
 disputed inch by inch. Thirty-seven of them were killed 
 on the march, and several others having been separated 
 from the main body by accident and lost their way, were 
 taken and destroyed. The Rev. Mr. Atherton was one of 
 those whom the confusion of the retreat early separated 
 from the main body. Having lost his way, he wandered 
 the night following, among the wigwams, undiscovered. 
 The next day, exhausted with hunger, he offered to surren- 
 der himself to them as a prisoner, but they declined re- 
 ceiving him. He accosted tliem, but they would not an- 
 swer. He walked towards them, and they fled. Upon 
 this, he determined to make his way, if possible, to Hat- 
 field by thfe river side, and after wandering several days, 
 and suffering excessive hunger, arrived in safety. The 
 Indians probably considered him as a sacred person, whom 
 it was unlawful to injure." 
 
 " Another case of remarkable preservation, occurred 
 during this expedition. Mr. Jonathan Wells, of Hatfield, 
 one of the twenty who remained in the rear when Turner 
 began his march from the falls, soon after mounting his 
 horse, received a shot in one of his thighs, which had pre- 
 viously been fractured and badly healed, and another shot 
 wounded his horse. With much difficulty he kept his sad- 
 dle, and after several narrow escapes, joined the main 
 body, just at the time it separated into several parties. At- 
 taching himself to one that was making towards the swamp 
 on the left, and perceiving the enemy in that direction, he 
 altered his route, another party flying in a different direc- 
 tion. Unable to keep up with the party, he was soon left 
 alone, and not long after, fell in with one Jones, who was 
 also wounded. The woods being thick and the day 
 cloudy, they soon got bewildered, and Wells lost his com- 
 panion, and after wandering in various directions, acci- 
 dentally struck Green River, and proceeding up the stream, 
 arrived at a place, since called the country farms^ in the 
 northerly part of Greenfield. Passing the river, and at- 
 tempting to ascend an abrupt hill, bordering the interval 
 west, he fell from his horse exhausted. After lying sense- 
 less some time, he revived and fouml his faithful animal 
 
CHAP. IX.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 189 
 
 Standing by him ; making him fast to a tree, he again lay 
 down to rest- himself, Ixit finding he should not be able to 
 remount, he turned the horse loose, and making use of his 
 gun as a crutch, hobbled up the river, directly opposite the 
 course he ought to have taken. His progress was slow 
 and painful, and being much annoyed by musquetoes, 
 towards night he struck up a fire, which soon spread in all 
 directions, and with some difficulty he avoided the flames. 
 New fears now arose; the fire, he conjectured, might 
 guide the Indians to the spot, and he should be sacrificed 
 to their fury. Under these impressions, he divested him- 
 self of his ammunition, that it might not fall into their 
 hands — bound up his thig|j with a handkerchief, aod 
 staunched the blood, and composing himself as much as 
 possible, soon fell asleep. Probably before this, he had 
 conjectured that he was pursuing a wrong course, for in a 
 dream, he imagined himself bewildered, and was impressed 
 with the idea that he must turn down the stream to find his 
 home. The rising of the sun the next morning convinced 
 him that his sleeping impressions were correct — that he 
 had travelled from, iustead of towards Hatfield, and that 
 he was then further from that place than the falls, where 
 the action took place. He was now some distance up Green 
 River, where the high lands closed down to the stream. 
 Reversing his course, he at length regained the level inter- 
 val in the upper part of Greenfield, and soon found a foot 
 path which led him to the trail of his retreating comrades; 
 this he pursued to Deerfield River, which with much diffi- 
 culty he forded by- the aid of his gun ; ascending the bank, 
 he laid himself down to rest, and being overcome with 
 fatigue, he soon fell asleep ; but soon awaking, he dis- 
 covered an Indian making directly towards him in a canoe. 
 Unable to flee, and finding his situation desperate, he pre- 
 sented his gun, then wet, and filled with sand and gravel, 
 as if in the act of firing ; the Indian, leaving his own gun, 
 instantly leaped from his canoe into the water, escaped 
 to the opposite shore, and disappeared. Wells now con- 
 cluded he should be s^acrificed by others, who he knew 
 were but a small distance down the river ; but determining 
 if possible to elude them, he gained an adjacent swamp, 
 and secreted himself under a pile of drift wood. The 
 
190 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. IX, 
 
 Indians were soon heard in search of him, traversing the 
 swamp in all directions, and passing oyer the drift wood ; 
 but lying close, he fortunately avoided discovery, and after 
 they had given up the search and left the place, he contin- 
 ued his painful march through Deerfield meadows. Hun- 
 ger now began to prey upon him, and looking about, he 
 accidentally discovered the skeleton of a horse ; from the 
 bones of which he gathered some animal matter, which 
 he eagerly devoured, and soon after found a few birds, 
 eggs and some decayed beans, which in some measure 
 allayed the cravings of nature, and added to his strength. 
 Passing the ruins of Deerfield, at dusk, he arrived the 
 next morning at Lathrop's battle-ground, at Bloody 
 Brook, in the south part of*Deerfield, where he found 
 himself so exhausted, that he concluded he must give 
 up further effort, lie down and die. But after resting a 
 short time, and recollecting that he was within about 
 eight miles of Hatfield, his resolution returned, and he re- 
 sumed his march over pine woods, then smoking with a 
 recent fire ; here he found himself in great distress from 
 a want of water to quench his thirst, and almost despaired 
 of reaching his approximated home. But once more rous- 
 ing himself, he continued his route, and about raid-day, on 
 Sunday, reached Hatfield, to the inexpressible joy of his 
 friends, who had supposed him dead. After a long con- 
 finement, Mr. Wells' wound was healed, and he lived to 
 an advanced age, a worthy member of the town." 
 
 In July, 1690, the garrison at Exeter was assaulted, 
 *' but was relieved by Lieut. Bancroft, with the loss of 
 several men. One of them, Simon Stone, being shot in 
 nine places, lay as if dead among the slain ; the Indians 
 coming to strip him, attempted by two blows of a hatchet 
 to sever his head from his body ; though they did not ef- 
 fect it, the wounds were dreadful. Our people coming upon 
 them suddenly, they did not scalp him. While burying the 
 dead, Stone was observed to gasp ; an Irishman present, 
 advised them to give him another blow of the hatchet, and 
 bury him with the rest ; but his kind neighbors poured a 
 little water into his mouth, then a •little spirits, when he 
 opened his eyes; the Irishman was ordered to haul a 
 canoe on shore, in which the wounded man might be 
 
or THE 
 CHAP. IX.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. ^ ^ 19f-> ; 
 
 carried to a surgeon. He in a short time pen^Mn^se* 
 covered.' 
 
 During Philip's war, Anthony Brackett and wife were 
 captivated by the Indians.' The Indians having convey- 
 ed them as far as the north side of Casco Bay, news was 
 received, that another party of savages had surprised and 
 taken a store-house belonging to the English on the Ken- 
 nebec River, and secured all the provisions. The Indians 
 were greatly rejoiced at this intelligence, and being in 
 haste to get on, that they might share in the spoils, allotted 
 to Brackett and his wife each a burden to carry, promising 
 them, that if they would hasten after, they should partake 
 of the booty. Brackett's wife, having a little before ob- 
 served an old birch-canoe Ij^ing by the water-side, devised 
 a plan for their escape. In the prosecution of her plan, she 
 asked the Indians to allow a negro man, whom they were 
 also carrying captive, to remain with them and assist them 
 in carrying their burdens ; which request they readily 
 granted. She then desired them to leave one or two 
 pieces of meat, which were not denied her. The Indians 
 then left them, with the expectation that they would fohow. 
 But instead of this, they improved the opportunity to ef- 
 fect their escape. Mrs. Brackett found a needle and thread 
 in the house where they had been staying, with which she 
 mended the canoe. They then crossed over eight or ten 
 miles, to the south side of the bay, and so arrived in safe- 
 ty at Black Point, where a vessel took them on board, and 
 carried them to Piscataqua. 
 
 One of the captives taken at Richmond's Island, in 
 1675, was Thomas Cobbet. " His father was the minister 
 of Ipswich. After being wounded by a musket shot, his 
 hands were fast tied, and in the division of the captives, it 
 was his unfortunate lot to be assigned to an Indian of the 
 worst character. Young Gobbet's first duty was to manage 
 the captured ketch of Fryer, in sailing to Sheepscot, and 
 from that place to paddle a canoe, carrying his master and 
 himself, to Penobscot, and thence to their hunting ground 
 at Mount Desert. He suffered the extremes of cold, fa- 
 tigue, and famine ; ?jid because he could not understand 
 the Indian dialect, the savage often drew his knife upon 
 him, threatening him with instant death. In hunting on a 
 
192 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. IX 
 
 day of severe cold, he fell down in the snow, benumbed, 
 famished and senseless. Here he must have perished, had 
 not the more humane hunters conveyed him to a wigwam, 
 and restored him. At another time, his savage master was 
 drunk five successive days, in which he was fearfully rav- 
 ing like a wild beast. To such an alarming degree did he 
 beat and abuse his own squaws, that Cobbet, who knew 
 himself to be much more obnoxious than they, to his fury, 
 Qed into the woods to save his life ; where he made a fire, 
 formed a slender covert, and the squaws fed him. 
 
 *' At the end of nine weeks, his master sent him to 
 Mons. Castine for ammunition to kill moose and deer. He 
 arrived at a most opportune hour, just before Mugg's de- 
 parture to Seconnet, who readily called him by name. 
 Ah! said Mugg, I saw your father when I went to Boston^ 
 andl told him Ids son should return. He must be released 
 according to the treaty. Yes, replied Madockawando ; 
 but the captain must give me the Jine coat he has in the 
 vessel ; for his father is a great prdhchman, or chief spepk- 
 er, among Englishmen. — This request was granted, and 
 young Cobbet saw his demoniac master no more." 
 
 Mrs. Elisabeth Hurd, of Dover, N. H., with her three 
 sons and a daughter, and some others, in returning from 
 Portsmouth on that fatal night in which Major Waldron 
 and his family fell into the hands of the Indians, '* passed 
 up the river in their boat unperceived by the Indians, who 
 were then in possession of the houses ; but suspecting 
 danger by the noise which they heard, after they "had 
 landed, they betook themselves to Waldron's garrison, 
 where they saw lights, which they imagined were set up 
 for direction to those who might be seeking a refuge. 
 They knocked and begged earnestly for admission ; but 
 no answer being given, a young man of the company 
 olimbed up the wall, and saw, to his inexpressible surprise, 
 an Indian standing in the door of the house with his gun. 
 The woman was so overcome with the fright, that she was 
 unable to fly, but begged her children to shift for them- 
 selves ; and they with heavy hearts left her. When she 
 had a little recovered, she crawled into some bushes, and lay 
 there till daylight. She then perceived an Indian coming 
 toward her, with a pistol in his hand ; he looked ^t her, and 
 
CHAP. JX.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 193 
 
 went away ; returning, he looked at her again ; and she 
 asked him what he would have; he made no answer, but 
 ran yelling to the house, and she saw him no more. She 
 kept her place till the house was burned, and the Indians 
 were gone; and then, returning home, found her own, 
 house safe. Her preservation in these dangerous circum- 
 stances was the more remarkable, if (as it is supposed) 
 it was an instance of justice and gratitude in the Indians. 
 For, at the time when the four hundred were seized in 
 1676, a young Indian escaped and took refuge in her 
 house, where she concealed him ; in return for which 
 kindness, he promised her tTiat he would never kill her, 
 nor any of her family in any future war, and that he would 
 use his influence with the other Indians to the same pur- 
 pose. This Indian was one of the party who surprised 
 the place, and she was well known to the most of them." 
 
 " In the year 1696, Jonathan Haines, of Haverhill, 
 Mass., and four of his children were captivated by dfe 
 Indians The childrea were in a field, picking beans, and 
 the father was reaping near by. The Indians, with their 
 captives, immediately started for Penacook, (Concord.) 
 When they arrived, they separated, and divided their pri- 
 soners — one party taking the father and Joseph, and the 
 other the three girls. The party which took the men 
 started for their homes in Maine, where they soon arrived. 
 The prisoners had remained with them but a short time 
 before they escaped ; and after travelling two or three 
 dfiys with little or nothing to satisfy their craving appe- 
 tites, the old man became wholly exhausted, and laid down 
 beneath the branching trees to die. The son, who was 
 young and vigorous, finding his efforts vain to encourage 
 his father, started onward. He soon found himself upon 
 a hill, where he climbed a tall tree to discover signs of 
 civilization, and heard, indistinctly, the sound of a saw- 
 mill. With a glad heart he hastily descended, and follow- 
 ing the sound, soon arrived at the settlement of Saco. 
 Here he told the story of his escape, the forlorn situation 
 of his father, and getting assistance and a bottle of milk, 
 hastened back to him, and found him still lying on the 
 ground, without the expectation of ever seeing the face 
 i>f a friend. He drank some of the milk, which revived 
 17 M 
 
194 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. IX 
 
 nim considerably, and with some assistance reached Saco. 
 Here they remained until their strength was somewhat 
 recruited, when they started for Haverhill, where they ar- 
 rived without any further difficulty." 
 
 " In the year 1697, on the 5th day of March, a body 
 of Indians again attacked this town, burnt a small number 
 of houses, and killed and captivated about forty of the in- 
 habitants. A party of them, arrayed in all the terrors of 
 the Indian war-dress, and carrying with them the multi- 
 plied horrors of a savage invasion, approached near to 
 the house of a Mr. Dustan. This man was abroad at his 
 •isual labor. Upon the first alarm, he flew to the house, 
 with a hope of hurrying to a place of safety his family, 
 consisting of his wife, who had been confined a week only 
 in child-bed ; her nurse, a Mrs. Mary Teff, a widow from 
 the neighborhood ; and eight children. Seven- of his chil- 
 disen he ordered to flee with the utmost expedition in the 
 course opposite to that in which the danger was approach- 
 ing; and went himself, to assist His wife. Before she 
 could leave her bed, the savages were upon them. Her 
 husband, despairing of rendering her any service, flew to 
 the door, mounted his horse, and determined to snatch up 
 the child with which he was most unwilling to part, when 
 he should overtake the little flock. When he came up to 
 them, about two hundred yards from his house, he was un- 
 able to make a choice, or to leave any one of the number. 
 He therefore determined to take his lot with them, and to 
 defend them from their murderers, or die by their side. A 
 body of the Indians pursued, and came up with him, and 
 from near distances fired at him and his little company. 
 He returned the fire, and retreated, alternately. For more 
 than a mile, he kept so resolute a face to his enemy, reti- 
 ring in the rear of his charge ; returned the fire of the 
 savages so often, and with so good success, and sheltered 
 so effectually his terrified companions, that he finally lodged 
 them all, safe from the pursuing butchers, in a distant house. 
 When it is remembered how numerous his assailants were, 
 tiovv bold, when an overmatch for their enemies, how ac- 
 tive, and what excellent marksmen; a devout mind will 
 consider the hand of Providence as unusually visible in the 
 preservation of this family. 
 
CHAP. IX ] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 195 
 
 " Another party of the Indians entered the house, im- 
 mediately after Mr. Dustan had quitted it, and found 
 Mrs. Dustan, and her nurse, who was attempting to fly 
 with the infant in her arms. Mrs. Dustan they ordered 
 to rise instantly, and before she could completely dress 
 herself, obliged her and her companion to quit the house, 
 after they had plundered it, and set it on fire. In company 
 with several other captives, they began their march into 
 the wilderness ; she, feeble, sick, terrified beyond measure, 
 partially clad, one of her feet bare, and the season utterly 
 unfit for comfortable travelling. The air was chilly and 
 keen, and the earth covered alternately with snow and 
 deep mud. Her conductors were unfeeling, insolent, and 
 revengeful. Murder was their glory, and torture their 
 sport. Her infant was in her nurse's arms ; and infants 
 were the customary victims of savage barbarity. 
 
 *' The company had proceeded but a short distance, 
 when an Indian, thinking it an incumbrance, took the 
 child out of the nurse's arms, and dashed its head against 
 a tree. What then were the feelings of the mother ! 
 
 " Such of the other captives as began to be weary, and 
 to lag, the Indians tomahawked. The slaughter was not 
 an act of revenge, nor of cruelty. It was a mere conve- 
 nience, an effort so familiar, as not even to excite an 
 emotion. 
 
 " Feeble as Mrs. Dustan was, both she and her nurse 
 sustained, without yielding, the fatigue of the journey. 
 Their intense distress for the death of the chi^l^ and of 
 their companions ; anxiety for those they had left behind, 
 and unceasing terror for themselves, raised these unhappy 
 women to such a degree of vigor, that notwithstanding 
 their fatigue, their exposure to cold, their sufferance of 
 hunger, and their sleeping on damp ground under an 
 inclement sky, they finished an expedition of about one 
 hundred and fifty miles, without losing their spirits, or 
 injuring their health. 
 
 *' The wigwam to which they were conducted, and 
 which belonged to the savage who had claimed them as 
 his property, was inhabited by twelve persons. In the 
 month of April, this family set out with their captives for 
 an Indian settlement, still more remote; and informed 
 
196 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. IX. 
 
 .hem, that when they arrived at the settlement, they must 
 be stripped, scourged, and run tne gauntlet, naked, be- 
 tween two files of Indians, containing the whole number 
 found in the settlement ; for such, they declared, was the 
 standing custom of their nation. This information, you 
 will believe, made a deep impression on the minds of the 
 captive women, and led them, irresistibly, to devise all the 
 possible means of escape. On the 31st of the same month, 
 very early in the morning, Mrs. Dustan, while the Indians 
 were asleep, having awaked her nurse, and a fellow-prison- 
 er, (a youth taken some time before from Worcester) de- 
 spatched, with the assistance of her companions, ten of 
 the twelve Indians. The other two escaped. With the 
 scalps of these savages, they returned through the wilder- 
 ness, and having arrived safely at Haverhill, and afterwards 
 at Boston, received a handsome reward for their intrepid 
 conduct from the legislature." 
 
 " In the year 1676, Scituate, Mass., was attacked by the 
 Indians. During the assault, they entered the house of a 
 Mr. Ewell. His wife was alone, save an infant grand- 
 child, John Northey, sleeping in the cradle ; the house being 
 situated beneath a high hill, she had no notice of the ap- 
 proach of the savages, until they were rushing down the 
 hill towards the house. In the moment of alarm, she fled 
 towards the garrison, which was not more than sixty rods 
 distant ; and either through a momentary forgetfulness or 
 despair, or with the hope of alarming the garrison in sea- 
 son, she left the child. She reached the garrison in safe- 
 ty. The savages entered her house, and stopping only to 
 take the bread from the oven, which she was in the act of 
 putting in when she was first alarmed, then rushed forward 
 to assault the garrison. After they had become closely 
 engaged, Mrs. Ewell returned, by a circuitous path, to 
 learn the fate of the babe, and, to her surprise, found it 
 quietly sleeping in the cradle as she had left it, and carried 
 it safely to the garrison. A few hours afterward, the house 
 was burnt." 
 
 " Among the prisoners taken by the Indians at Oyster 
 Rirer, N. H., in 1694, were Thomas Drew and his wife, 
 who were newly married. He was carried to Canada, 
 where he continued two years, and was redeemed ; — she 
 
CHAP. IX.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 197 
 
 to Norridgewock, and was gone four years, in which she 
 endured 'every thing but death. She was delivered of k 
 child in the winter, in the open air, and in a violent snow- 
 storm. Being unable to suckle her child, or provide it 
 any nourishment, the Indians killed it. She lived iourteeii 
 days on a decoction of the bark of trees. Once, they set 
 her to draw a sled up a river, against a piercing north-west 
 wind, and left her. She was so overcome with the cold, 
 that she grew sleepy, laid down, and was nearly dead when 
 they returned. They carried her senseless to a wigwam, 
 and poured warm water down her throat, which recovered 
 her. After her return to her husband, she had fourteen 
 children. They lived together till he was ninety-three, and 
 she eighty-nine years of age. They died within two days 
 of each other, and were buried in one grave." 
 
 *'On the 10th of June,' 1G97, the town of Exeter was 
 remarkably preserved from destruction. A body of the 
 enemy had placed themselves near the town, intending to 
 make an assault in the morning of the next day. A num- 
 ber of women and children, contrary to the advice of their 
 friends, went into the fields without a guard, to gather 
 strawberries. When they were gone, some persons, to 
 frighten them, fired an alarm, which quickly spread through 
 the town, and brought the people together in arms. The 
 Indians, supposing that they were discovered, and quick- 
 ened by fear, after killing one, wounding another, and 
 taking a child, made a hasty retreat, and were seen no 
 more there." < 
 
 "At Exeter, an attempt was made to kill Col. Hilton, an 
 officer who had been active against the enemy, and whom 
 they had marked for destruction. Secfieting themselves 
 near his house, they eagerly waited to execute their design 
 In the mean time, ten men went from the house to their 
 labor, and depositing. their arms, commenced cutting grass. 
 Observing this, the Indians crept between the arms and the 
 laborers, and suddenly rushing on, fired, and killed four, 
 wounded one, and captured three others. This produced 
 an alarm, and saved the colonel from the snnre." 
 
 Rebekah Taylor, who was taken by the Indians, after 
 her return from captivity, gave the following account, viz : 
 
 ** That when she was going to Canada, on the back of 
 17* 
 
198 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. IX 
 
 Montreal River, she was violently insulted by Sampson 
 her bloody master, who, without any provocation, was re- 
 solved to hang her; and, for want of a rope, made use* of 
 his girdle, which, when he had fastened about her neck, 
 attempted to hoist her up on the limb of a tree, (that hung 
 in the nature of a gibbet,) but in hoisting her, the weight 
 of her body broke it asunder, which so exasperated the 
 cruel tyrant, that he made a second attempt, resolving, if 
 he failed. in that, to knock her on the head ; but before he 
 had power to effect it, Bomazeen came along, who, seeing 
 the tragedy on foot, prevented the fatal stroke." 
 
 * A child of Mrs. Hannah Parsons, of Wells, the In- 
 dians, for want of food, had determined to roast alive; but 
 while the fire was kindling, and the sacrifice preparing, a 
 company of French Mohawks came down the river in a 
 canoe, with three dogs, which somewhat revived these hun- 
 gry monsters, expecting to make a feast upon one of them. 
 As soon as they got ashore, the child was offered in ex- 
 change ; but the offer being despised, they tendered a gun, 
 which they readily accepted, and by that means the child 
 was preserved. 
 
 *' Samuel Butterfield, being sent to Groton as a soldier, 
 was, with others, attacked by the Indians, while gathering 
 in the harvest : his bravery was such, that he killed one, 
 and wounded another, but being overpowered by strength, 
 was forced to submit; and it happened that the slain In- 
 dian was a sagamore, and of great dexterity in war, which 
 caused great lamentation, and enraged them to such a de- 
 gree, that they vowed the utmost revenge : some were for 
 whipping him to death, others for burning him alive; but 
 differing in their sentiments, they submitted the issue to 
 the squaw widow, concluding she would determine some- 
 thing very dreadful ; but when the matter was opened, and 
 the fact considered, her spirits were so moderate as to make 
 no other reply than, Fortune V guerre. — Upon which some 
 were uneasy, to whom she answered, ' If, by killing him, 
 you can bring my husband to life again, I beg you study 
 what death you please ; but if not, let him be my servant;' 
 whicluhe accordingly was during his captivity, and had 
 favor shown him." 
 
 " Mrs. Mehetubel Goodwin, being captivated by the In- 
 
CHW. IX.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 199 
 
 dians, had with her a child about five months old, which, 
 through hunger and hardship, she being unable to nurse 
 t, often cried excessively. Her Indian master told her 
 that if her child were not quiet, he would soon dispose of 
 it ; which led her to use all possible means to avoid giving 
 him offence. Sometimes she would carry it from the fire 
 out of his hearing, where she would sit up to her waist in 
 snow for several hours, until it was lulled asleep. Thus, 
 for several days, she preserved the life of her babe. At 
 length, her master, lest he should be retarded in his jour- 
 ney, violently snatched it out of its mother's arms, and be- 
 fore her face, knocked out its brains, and, stripping off the 
 few rags which covered it, ordered the mother to go and 
 wash the bloody clothes. On returning from this melan- 
 choly task, she saw her infant hanging by the neck in the 
 crotch of a tree. She asked leave to lay it in the earth ; 
 but her master said that it was better as it was, for now the 
 wild beasts could not come at it, and she might have the 
 comfort of seeing it again, if they should come that way. 
 The journey now before them was long, it being her mas- 
 ter's purpose to reach Canada, and there dispose of his 
 captive. But the great length of the way, want of food, 
 and grief of mind, caused her in a few days to faint under 
 her difficulties. At length, sitting down for repose, she 
 found herself unable to rise, until she discovered her mas- 
 ter coming towards her, with fire in his eyes, and his hatch- 
 et in his hand, ready to bury it in her head. She fell upon 
 her knees, and with weeping, and every expression of en- 
 treaty, besought him to spare her life, assuring him that 
 she doubted not but that God would enable her to walk a 
 little faster. He was prevailed upon to spare her this time : 
 but soon after, her former weakness returning upon her, he 
 was just about to put an^nd to her life, when two Indians, 
 who at that time came in, called upon him to hold his hand. 
 She was purchased by them, and afterwards carried to Ca- 
 nada, where she remained five years, when she was brought 
 back in safety to New England." 
 
 In 1706, the Indians assaulted and burnt a garrison in 
 Dunstable, N. H. " One woman only escaped. When 
 the Indians attacked the house, she sought refuge in tha 
 cellar, and concealed herself under a dry cask. Aftei 
 
200 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. IX 
 
 hastily plundering the house, and murdering, as they sup- 
 posed, all who were in it, the Indians set it on fire, and im- 
 mediately retired. The woman, in this critical situation, 
 attempted to escape by the window, but found it too small ; 
 she, however, succeeded *in loosening the stones till she 
 had opened a hole sufficient to admit of her passage, and 
 with the house in flames over her head, she forced herself 
 <)ut, and crawled into the bushes, not daring to rise, lest 
 she should be discovered. In the bushes she lay concealed 
 until the next day, when she reached one of the neighbor- 
 ing garrisons." 
 
 " A warlike tribe of Indians once came upon Killingly, 
 Con., with the intention of murdering the whole white po^ 
 pulation. They arrived at a plain, and encamped beneath 
 an old white oak tree. The settlers, being apprised of 
 their arrival, were busy in preparation for defence. One 
 of them, in the mean time, sallied forth alone to the spot 
 where the red men were assembled. At the same moment 
 the sachem was seen climbing the oak to reconnoitre the 
 country. He had scarcely time to look, when he felt the 
 bullet of the above-mentioned settler, who had given him 
 a fatal wound. Though the individual who did this bold 
 act was alone^ yet the Indians, fearing that more lay 
 concealed, and being without a leader, gave up the expe- 
 dition." 
 
 The last action of any moment that occurred during 
 queen Anne's war, " was at Mr. Plaisted's marriage with 
 Capt. Wheelwright's daughter, of Wells, where happened 
 a great concourse of people, who, as they were preparing 
 to mount, in order to their return, found two of their 
 horses missing ; upon which, Mr. Downing, with Isaac 
 Cole and others, went out to seek them ; but before they 
 had gone many rods, the two former were killed, and the 
 others taken. The noise of the guns soon alarmed the 
 guests, and Capt. Lane, Capt. Robinson, and Capt. Heard, 
 with several others, mounted their horses, ordering twelve 
 soldiers in the mean time to run over the field, being the 
 nearer way ; but before the horsemen got far, they were 
 ambushed by another party, who killed Capt. Robinson, 
 and dismounted the rest ; and yet they all escaped, except 
 the bridegroom, who in a few days after was redeemed by 
 
CHAP. IX.] IIISToRi" OF NEW EiVGLAN'D. 201 
 
 the prudent care of his father, at the expense of more 
 than three hundred pounds." 
 
 ** On the hill north-west of the central village in Brook* 
 field, Mass., a tower was built for the purpose of enabling 
 the inhabitants to watch the irfovements of the Indians, 
 and to obtain seasonable notice of their approach. It 
 stood on an elevated rock. It is related that early in the 
 evening of a cloudy day, the sentinel discovered Indians 
 lurking in the woods at only a small distance from him. 
 By inadvertence, a large portion of the guns which be- 
 longed to tlie fort were left at the tower. The sentinel 
 knew that if he gave the alarm, the inhabitants woul.i 
 come for their guns, and thus be exposed to the Indians, 
 who were ready to destroy them. In this state of things, 
 he waited till it became quite dark. In the mean time, 
 he examined all the guns, and prepared for an attack. At 
 length, he discharged a gun towards the place where Iw 
 had seen the Indians. They returned his fire. As \ye 
 was not exposed to injury from their muskets, he took a 
 second piece, and whenever one of their guns was dis- 
 charged, he fired at the light occasioned by it. Thus 
 single handed, he carried on for some hours a contest with 
 them. At length the firing ceased. In the morning, blood 
 was found in several places in the vicinity of the tower. 
 Marks' garrison stood near the south-west end of Wicka- 
 boag Pond, on a knoll below the junction of the waters of 
 the pond with the Q,uaboag River. It is related that one 
 day Mrs. Marks, being left alone, discovered hostile Indians 
 near the garrison, waiting for an opportunity to attack the 
 settlement. She immediately put on her husband's wig, 
 hat, great coat, and, taking his gun, went to the top of the 
 fortification, and marched backwards and forwards, vo- 
 ciferating, like a vigilant centinel, * All's well, all's well,' 
 This led the Indians to believe that they could not take 
 the place by surprise, and they accordingly retired, without 
 doing any injury," 
 
 "In 1723, two Indians surprised and captivated one 
 Jacob Griswold, as he was laboring in his field, bound 
 him and carried him into the wilderness about twenty 
 miles. They then stopped and made a fire, and fastening 
 him down, one of them laid himself down to rest, and the 
 
202 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. IX 
 
 Other watched him. Griswold, unnoticed by his keeper 
 disengaged himself from all the cords which bound him, 
 except the one which fastened his elbows. When the 
 Indian appeared to be awake, and to have his eye upon 
 him, he lay as still as possible ; but when he drowsed, and 
 had not his eye upon him, he employed all his art and 
 vigor to set himself at liberty. At length he disengaged 
 himself from the cord which bound his arms, and per- 
 ceiving that the Indians were asleep, he sprang, caught 
 both their guns, and leaped into the woods. Their pow- 
 der horns were hung upon their guns, so that he brought 
 off both their arms and ammunition. He secreted him- 
 self by a rock until the morning appeared, and then steered 
 for Litchfield, guided by a brook which he imagined would 
 lead him to the towu. The Indians pursued him ; but 
 when they approached him, he would lay down one gun 
 and present the other, and they would draw back and hide 
 themselves, and he escaped to the town." 
 
 In Lovewell's fight, *' Solomon Kies, of Billerica, in 
 Mass., having fought until he had received three wounds, 
 and lost much blood, crept to Ensign Wyman, and stating 
 his situation, told him he was inevitably a dead man ; but 
 having strength left to creep along the side of the pond, 
 where he intended to secure himself from the scalping 
 knife, he fortunately found an Indian canoe, and with 
 much difficulty rolled himself into it, and pushing it off, 
 the wind wafted him several miles towards the fort. He 
 then crept to land, and finding his strength increased, 
 continued his route, and reached the fort, and at last got 
 home, and was cured of his wounds." 
 
 " Those Indians who had been concerned in taking 
 Hanson's family at Dover, in a short time after their re- 
 demption and return, came down with a design to take 
 them again, as they had threatened them before they left 
 Canada. When they had come near the house, they ob- 
 served some people at work in a neighboring field by 
 which it was necessary for them to pass, both in going 
 and returning. This obliged them to alter their purpose, 
 and conceal themselves in a barn, till they were ready to 
 attack them. Two women passed by the barn, while they 
 were in it, and had just reached the garrison as the guns 
 
CHAPT IX.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 203 
 
 were fired. They shot Benjamin Evans dead on the spot^ 
 woanded William Evans, and cut his throat ; John Evans 
 received a slight wound in the breast, which bleeding 
 plentifully, deceived them, and thinking him dead, they 
 stripped and scalped him. He bore the painful operation 
 without discovering any signs of life, though all the time 
 in his perfect senses, and continued in the feigned appear- 
 ance of death till they had turned him over, and struck 
 him several blows with their guns, and left him for dead. 
 After they were gone off, he rose and walked, naked and 
 bloody, toward the garrison ; but -on meeting his friends 
 by the way, dropped, fainting on the ground, and being 
 covered with a blanket was conveyed to the house. H6 
 recovered, and lived fifty years." 
 
 The subject of the following narrative was Mrs. Sarah 
 Porterfield, who was for many years an ornament to the 
 church in Georgetown, Me., and died much esteemed by 
 her christian acquaintance. The account was written by 
 a female friend, from her own lips. 
 
 "I was born in Ireland, in the county of Donegal, in 
 the parish of Raphae, August 13, 172*2. I had pious pa- 
 rents, who instructed me in the christian religion, and set 
 good examples before me. When I was about eleven 
 years old, I trust God was pleased to effect a work of 
 divine grace in my heart. 
 
 *' When I was about nineteen years old, my father went 
 to Pennsylvania, in America, and finding a plantation suit- 
 able for his family, he wrote over for my mother and the 
 children to take passage in the first vessel, and come to 
 Pennsylvania. Accordingly, my mother, with three daugh- 
 ters, took passage on board a large ship, which was going 
 with passengers to Philadelphia. 
 
 "July 28, 1741, we sailed from Londonderry, Capt. 
 Rowen being commander. For some time after we sailed, 
 we had pleasant weather, and every thing was agreeable, 
 excepting our sea-sickuess. The ship's company daily 
 assembled on the quarter-deck for prayers, which were 
 performed alternately by four or five of the passengers, to 
 the gr^at satisfaction of many on board. 
 
 " When we had been about three weeks at sea, a mor- 
 
204 INCDIENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. IX. 
 
 tal fever broke out, and spread through the whole ship's 
 company. In this melancholy situation we were reduced 
 to great distress. It is enough to make one's heart ache, 
 to think of our condition. Not one was able to help 
 another. My mother and children were preserved and 
 restored to health. Thanks to God for such a mercy, 
 when so many weVe daily dying around us. 
 
 " But God, who knoweth all things, and never does any 
 wrong to his creatures, did not suffer us to rest here. 
 Sorer trials were appointed for us. When we had been 
 ten weeks at sea, we were visited with a violent storm, in 
 which our ship was much wrecked, and we were all very 
 near being lost. The captain at that time thought we 
 were near land, and expected every day to make it, and to 
 get into port soon. But God had different purposes in 
 view. The violence of the storm drove us to the east- 
 ward. The sea raged greatly. Our masts gave way, and 
 we were in a distressed situation, even at our wit's end. 
 Then we cried unto the Lord, and he heard us, and came 
 down for our deliverance. O that I could praise the 
 Lord for his goodness, and for his loving kindness un- 
 to us ! 
 
 *' At that time the captain thought proper to put all 
 hands on allowance, as he did not know where the ship 
 was, or how long we should be continued in our present 
 situation. His reckoning was out, and he knew not where 
 to steer his course. One biscuit a day, a small portion of 
 meat, and a quart of water, was all our allowance. This 
 was continued for ten or twelve days ; then we were put 
 upon half allowance, excepting the water, which was" con- 
 tinued the same. Ten days after, we spoke a ship, which 
 supplied us with provision ; but our allowance was not in- 
 creased. The storm was now abated, and we were re- 
 lieved from some distressing fears. 
 
 " October 28, made land on the eastern coast, found it 
 to be a desolate island, or neck of land, inhabited only by 
 a few Indians. The ship was anchored, and we remained 
 a few days on board. The captain and others took the 
 long-boat, and went, hoping to find some French inhabi- 
 tants, but returned without any success. We were then 
 ordered to. land on this island. Accordingly, many boat- 
 
CHAP. IX.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 205 
 
 loads of people were landed, and scattered roundlhe island, 
 without any provision. The number of people could not^ 
 I presume, be less than a hundred. We were told that 
 the last boats should bring us some provision, but were 
 disappointed. No provision was sent us. Oh, the dis- 
 tressed situation ! some crying, some almost distracted, 
 not knowing what to do. Death seemed to stare us all 
 in the face, and very soon marked out many for his 
 victims. 
 
 " After we were landed, twenty or thirty of the passen- 
 gers set out to look for inhabitants, but were never after 
 heard of Probably they all perished. The captain, mate, 
 and seamen left the ship and went in search of inhabitants. 
 After a few days' sail to the eastward, they fell in with land, 
 and came to a place called Newharbor, about thirty miles 
 east of Kennebec. Getting two small vessels there, they 
 came back for the plunder of the ship, which had been 
 cast upon a small island, and broken to pieces. They tar- 
 ried until they had collected what plunder they pleased to 
 take, with which they returned to Newharbor, taking with 
 them a few of the servants and passengers that were on 
 the island. These were sold for their passage, but in this 
 way delivered from their distressing situation. The rest 
 of the passengers were left in the most melancholy circum- 
 stances ; but a kind Providence furnished us with some- 
 thing to support nature. We found some muscles on the, 
 beach, which with sea-kelp and dulce, we boiled in a pot 
 we had brought on shore, and were nourished by them. 
 This was all the food we had for as much as two months. 
 A distressing time ! Bnt God supported me even at that 
 time, and gave me hopes of relief, which I ever maintained 
 in the very darkest hour. Every day, more or less died 
 around us. It was observed that the men failed sooner 
 than the women, and that a greater proportion of them 
 died. There was scarcely one to help another, as every 
 one had sufficient to do for himself The provision for the 
 day was to be sought in the day, as the manna was in the 
 wilderness. 
 
 " The Indians soon visited us, and added much to our 
 distress, robbing us of all they could find, which we had 
 brought from the ship. In a severe snow storm, we hung 
 18 
 
206 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. IX. 
 
 our clothes on trees to shelter us. The Indians came and 
 took them down. When I offered to resist them, one 
 drew his hatchet, and attempted to strike me. I drew 
 back, and left them to take what they pleased. Among 
 other things, they took our pot, » in which we boiled our 
 muscles, which increased our distress. At length, I pro- 
 videntially thought of a sauce-pan, which some of the 
 passengers had. I went and found it on the ground, the 
 owners all being dead. 
 
 *' Some further particulars deserve to be mentioned. I 
 was landed in one of the first boats. As my mother and 
 sisters were landing, one of my sisters died. All being in 
 confusion and trouble, there was no one to bury her but 
 myself. I performed that service with great composure. 
 I then had to take care of my mother and other sister, who 
 were somewhat helpless.' God gave me strength, so that I 
 was enabled to do something for them, as well as for my- 
 self. For some time we appeared like a very thick neigh- 
 borhood, being divided into separate companies. Our 
 company consisted of nine persons. 
 
 " When the boats were landing, as I stood on the beach, 
 a child, about two years old, was put into my arms. 1 
 looked around to see who was to take it from me, but 
 found no one that would own it. I inquired. Who takes 
 care of this child ? A little boy, about twelve years old, 
 answered. Nobody, ma'am, hut I. O, how 1 felt, knowing 
 that this child's parents had both died in the ship ! I was 
 obliged to lay down the child, and leave it to the care 
 of Him who had the care of us all. The boy and child 
 were soon after found dead, lying together. A most sor- 
 rowful sight ! 
 
 " I went to see a cousin of mine, who lay at a little dis- 
 tance, in a feeble state, unable to rise. I asked her whe- 
 ther she had any thing to eat. She said, yes, her ship- 
 mates gave her muscles when they got any for themselves; 
 but added, she could eat some boiled dulce, if she could 
 get any. I told her I would get her some to-morrow. On 
 the morrow, returning to see her, I found her dead, and 
 several more by her. Walking along the shore, I found a 
 boy, about seventeen years old, sitting very disconsolate, 
 with a book in his hand. I said to him, ' What do you do 
 
CHAP. IX.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 207 
 
 here V He answered, * I am looking for the captain who 
 is coming to carry me off the island.' I said to him, ' Did 
 he promise you that favor V ' Yes,' he said. * Well,' re- 
 plied 1, ' don't depend upon it, for I don't believe he will 
 ever come here again,' Upon this, he wept bitterly ; but 
 I could not persuade him to give up his hope, and do some- 
 thing for a subsistence. In a few days he was found dead, 
 with his book open under his head. 
 
 " The people began now to die very fast. There was 
 no travelling any where, but dead bodies were found, as 
 few were buried. All were so weak and helpless, that 
 they had enough to do to keep life in themselves. In this 
 distressing situation we remained until every person, of 
 whom we had any knowledge, on the island, was dead, ex- 
 cepting my mother, my sister, and myself At that time 
 our fire went out, and we had nothing to strike with. 'Se- 
 veral snows had fallen, but soon melted away. Another 
 snow fell when we were in such distress for want of fire. 
 This scene was of all the most hopeless ; nothing to cover 
 us but the heavens, and nothing to eat but frozen muscles. 
 In about one day after our fire went out, my mother died, 
 and there she lay, a lifeless corpse by our side. We v/ere 
 not able to bury her, or do any thing with her. My sister 
 began to fail very fast, and her spirits were very low. I 
 laid me down beside a tree, to rest my head against it, but 
 soon thought I must not lie there. *I rose, and went down 
 to the beach, got some frozen muscles, and carried them 
 to my sister, who ate them. We then both sat down be- 
 side a tree. Now my courage began to fail. I saw no- 
 thing to expect but death, yet did not wholly give up my 
 hope of deliverance. There we were, two distressed sis- 
 ters, surrounded by dead bodies, without food or fire, and 
 almost without clothing. I had no shoes to my feet, which 
 were much swollen by reason of the cold. The ground 
 was covered with snow, and the season was fast advancing, 
 it being nearly the middle of December ; so that we had 
 every reason to expect that we should soon share the fate 
 of our companions. But at that time God mercifully ap- 
 peared for our relief, and thus showed himself to be the 
 helper of the helpless. To our great surprise, we saw 
 three men on the island, who, when they approached us 
 
20S INCIUEMS {.\ THE EARLY [CHAP. IX. 
 
 appeared no less surprised to find us living. I took cou 
 rage and spoke to them. Having related to them our dis 
 tress, one of them asked me if it were not better to be ser 
 vants, than to die on the island. I said, yes. They then 
 asked me several questions, which I answered as well as I 
 could. They appeared pitiful, told us that they had come 
 from Newharbor with two vessels for plunder, and offered 
 to take us on board. We gladly complied with their invi- 
 tation, and were hurried to the vessel. As I was rising from 
 the frozen ground, by the assistance of one of the men, 1 
 put out my hand to take a small bundle, which I had pre 
 served through all our difficulties, and which contained somf, 
 clothes and books, especially my Bible. Seeing me attempt 
 to take it, the men promised to take care of it for me. Trust 
 ing to their honor, I, left it with them, but never saw it 
 more. I also desired to see my mother buried before I left 
 the island. They engaged to see it done ; but I have rea- 
 son to fear they never performed the engagement. After 
 we were on board, they treated us very kindly. The cap- 
 tain gave each of us a spoonful of spirit and half a bis- 
 cuit. This was the first bread we had tasted for two 
 months. When collecting the plunder, the people told us 
 we should have whatever we claimed as belonging to us in 
 the ship. This was more than we expected. After plun- 
 dering the ship and stripping the dead, they sailed. Then 
 I saw the last of my miserable abode. In five days we ar- 
 rived at Newharbor. Our new friends then appeared dis- 
 posed to take advantage of us, and to sell us as servants 
 to satisfy themselves for their trouble in saving our lives. 
 This was a trial almost insupportable. 
 
 "But to our great comfort, a man came on board, who was 
 ^rom the same place in Ireland from which we had come. 
 He was kind and pitiful, and endeavored to comfort us. 
 God then appeared for us, and raised up a friend, who 
 came and took us to his house, and there tenderly enter- 
 tained us, bidding us to be of good cheer, for he would 
 not suffer such ruffians to take advantage of us. This 
 gentleman gave us every consolation in his power, and 
 :,onversed with us in a very christian manner, which was 
 affecting and comforting. He proved very punctual in 
 fulfilling his promises. We tarried with him, until we had 
 
CHAP. XI.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 209 
 
 SO far recovered, as to be able to work for our living. This 
 gentleman wrote to my father in Pennsylvania, informing 
 him of our situation, and did all he could to forward the let- 
 ter as soon as possible. This was about the last of Decem- 
 ber, 1741. In the mean time he provided good places for 
 us. My sister was sent to live with a friend of his, at a 
 place since called Boothbay, and was very happily situated. 
 Soon after she went there, a happy revival of religion took 
 place among the people. I trust that she was made a sub- 
 ject of the work. I tarried at Newharbor through the 
 winter. The next spring, I came to this place, (George- 
 town,) ajid was employed in a family where I enjoyed the 
 privileges of religion, as well as very kind treatment. Both 
 the man and his wife were professors of religion, and were 
 greatly animated by the good work which was going on in 
 the place. At, that time, there was manifest a general at- 
 tention to religion. Having no minister, the people met 
 tog her every Sabbath, and frequently on other days, for 
 the Durpose of worshipping God in a public manner, by 
 prayer, singing psalms, and reading instructive books. In 
 this way their meetings were made both agreeable and 
 useful. 
 
 "Some time in the sammer, my father came to visit us. 
 He intended to take us with him to Pennsylvania. But 
 before his arrival, I had an offer of marriage, which my 
 situation seemed to urge me to accept, November, 174'2, 
 I was married. My father tarried with us through the 
 winter. The next summer he took my sister and returned 
 to Pennsylvania, where he spent the remainder of a very 
 long life, as I trust, in the service of God. 
 
 *' I lived very happily with my husband thirty years. 
 We had eight children, two sons and six daughters. When 
 I review God's dealings with me, in the various scenes of 
 life, I am filled with wonder and amazement. Great has 
 been his goodness, and great my unworthiness. I view 
 him as my covenant God, who foresaw these trials, and 
 was graciously pleased to prepare me for them, by taking 
 me into covenant with himself He has upheld kiid sup- 
 ported me under all my trials, so that I have abundant 
 reason to say. He has ever been a present help in time of 
 need. I have reason, as it seems, more than any one on 
 18* N 
 
SIO * INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. IX 
 
 earth, to acknowledge God's goodness, which has been so 
 abundantly manifested towards me, even from my youth. 
 
 '* I am now seventy-six years old. My anchor of hope 
 has been, for many years, cast within the veil. My faith 
 rests on the Rock of Ages, .against which the gates of 
 hell can never prevail. Though winds and waves have 
 often beat heavily upon me, my anchor never has been, 
 and I trust never will be, moved. Notwithstanding the 
 various trials of my life, I have never been left to renounce 
 my hope, or to murmur against God, but would justify 
 him in all he has laid upon me, considering his mercies to 
 be much beyond all my afflictions. For his mercies have 
 been new every morning ; great has been his faithfulness 
 every night. And now unto Him, who has wrought all 
 my deliverances, both spiritual and temporal, be ascribed 
 the whole praise of my salvation. Amen." 
 
 In August, 1746, *' a party of Indians, meditating an 
 attack upon Deerfield, came down upon the borders of the 
 meadows, and reconnoitered them. They first examined 
 the north meadow, and then the south. Finding a quan- 
 tity of hay in the south meadow, two miles south of the 
 street, and supposing that our people would be there at 
 work the next day, they concealed themselves in the brush 
 and underwood upon the borders of the adjoining hills. 
 The next day, ten or twelve men and children, the men 
 armed with guns, which they always carried with them, 
 went into the fields and commenced their labor. A Mr. 
 Eleazer Hawks was out hunting partridges on the hills 
 where the Indians lay, that morning. He saW a partridge 
 and shot it. This alarmed the Indians, who supposed 
 they were discovered. They immediately killed and 
 scalped Mr. Hawks, and then proceeded to attack the 
 workmen. They fought some time, which gave some of 
 the children opportunity to escape. In this engagement, 
 three men and a boy were killed, one boy was taken pris- 
 oner, and Miss Allen was wounded in the hea-vl and left 
 for dead, but not scalped. In endeavoring to make her 
 escape, she was pursued by an Indian with an uplifted 
 tomahawk and a gun. She was extremely active, and 
 would have outran him, had he not fired upon her. The 
 
i KAP. XT.] HISTORY OF N'EW ENGLAND. 211 
 
 ball missed her ; but she supposed it had struck her, and 
 in her fright she fell. The Indian overtook her, and buried 
 his tomahawk in her head, and left her for dead. The 
 firing in the meadows alarmed the people in the stwbt, 
 who ran to the scene of action, and the Indians made a 
 hasty retreat, and were pursued for several miles by a 
 body of men under the command of Capt. Clesson. Miss 
 Allen was passed by a number of people, who supposed 
 her to be dead. At last, an uncle came to her, discovered 
 signs of life, and conveyed her home. Her wound was 
 dressed by Dr. Thomas Williams, who took from it con- 
 siderable quantities of brain. She lived to be above eighty 
 years of age." 
 
 "Of the stratagems of savage warfare," says Whiton, 
 " and the hair-breadth escapes of the scattered inhabitants 
 of the remoter towns, we have a specimen in an occur- 
 rence which took place at Westmoreland, about the year 
 1757, though the precise date is unknown. A party of 
 men went up the river to hoe corn on an island, some 
 miles above their habitations; and having finished their 
 work, passed over to the west bank, on their way home- 
 ward. A large dog belonging to one of the company ran 
 up the steep bank before them, when his angry growls led 
 them to suspect the presence of an enemy , lurking in 
 ambush. Immediately they recrossed the river, and by a 
 route on the east side reached home in safety. The dog 
 was the instrument of their preservation. They afterwards 
 learned the fact, that thirty Indians lay in concealment, 
 ready to fire upon them the moment they should ascend 
 the bank, and come fairly within their reach." 
 
 "About the year 1747, one Davis, of Durham, being 
 desirous to remove some boards from the mills in Notting- 
 ham, in that part of the town known by the name of 
 Gebeag, and much danger being apprehended from the 
 Indians, it being a time of war with them, was strongly 
 urged by his friends to desist from the undertaking. Some 
 of these enemies were known to be lurking in those woods, 
 but whether few or many, could not be ascertained ; but 
 from the destruction of cattle, horses, sheep, and other 
 domestic animals, known to be made by them, it was con- 
 cluded that their numbers were considerable. Davis being 
 
212 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. IX 
 
 a man of much resolution, would not be dissuaded from 
 the undertaking, and prepared for his journey. He took 
 no^^eapons of defence, nor any company, except a negro 
 boy. There was then a kind of road where the old road 
 now is, in which his way lay ; on the south side of which, 
 and at a considerable distance from it, these mills were 
 situated. Having loaded his team, consisting of four 
 oxen, he left the boy to drive the team, and went forward 
 for the purpose of making discoveries. When he had 
 proceeded a few rods, his attention was arrested by the 
 prints of huge moccasons in the sand, which, from their 
 appearance, were just made. He was struck with terror,' 
 and thought himself ambushed on every hand. His pre- 
 sence of mind did not, however, entirely forsake him, and 
 he hurried back to his team, unyoked the oxen, told the 
 boy what he had seen, and fled with all his might, bidding 
 the boy to follow, toward Durham. Being six miles from 
 any inhabitants, they were nearly exhausted with fear and 
 fatigue when they arrived. A company of armed men 
 were soon collected and returned to the spot, and were 
 much surprised to find the cattle browsing, and all unhurt. 
 After the war was over, which was then near to a close, 
 the dangerous situation from which they escaped was dis- 
 covered. There lived a tribe of Indians near the north 
 part of what is now called North River Pond, near the 
 line which now divides Nottingham from Northwood, and 
 within the limits of the latter. At the head of this small 
 tribe was a chief named Swausen. This chief, with one 
 of his men, was out hunting, and happened to cross the 
 road that Davis had passed but a few minutes before. 
 He heard the team, and not knowing but that there were 
 a large number of men with Jt, went directly for a rein- 
 forcement. He soon returned with a recruit, but seeing 
 the oxen unyoked, concluded it was a stratagem to draw 
 them into an ambush, and fled with precipitation, as Davis 
 had done before. This tribe soon after drew off" to Can- 
 ada, and after the war, some of them visited the frontiers, 
 and gave this account of the affair." 
 
 " In the commencement of Philip's war in New Eng- 
 and, in 1675," says Rev. Daniel Barber, " this town 
 (Simsbury) was burnt by the Indians, connected with 
 
CHAP. IX.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 213 
 
 which event, current tradition has preserved and handed 
 down the following singular and extraordinary fact : — that 
 very shortly before this attack by the Indians, early one 
 Sunday morning, as Lieut. Probe's father was walking 
 over the plain not far from his house, he very plainly and 
 distinctly heard the report of a small arm, which much 
 surprised him, it being the Sabbath. He found, on re- 
 turning to his house, that his family also heard it. On 
 going to meeting, at which the inhabitants from all parts 
 of the town were assembled, it was ascertained that the 
 report was heard at the same hour in every quarter. It 
 was, on further examination, found to have been heard 
 as far south as Saybrook, (fifty miles,) and as far north as 
 Northfield, at that time the extent' of the English settle- 
 ments to the north. The report of this gun alarmed all 
 Connecticut. The governor summoned a council of war 
 to meet at Hartford ; and the council issued an order for 
 the inhabitants of Simsbury, one and all, immediately to 
 withdraw' themselves to Hartford, the then capital. This 
 order was punctually obeyed. The fearful apprehension 
 of being suddenly nmrdered by savages, put in mo'tion, 
 and hastened along, whole bands of women and children, 
 with men in the rear, with sheep, cattle, and such utensils 
 and conveniences as their short notice and hasty flight 
 would permit. Hartford was twelve miles distant. Their 
 heav^ articles, such as pots, kettles, and plough-irons, were 
 secreted in the bottoms of swamps and wells. 
 
 " The father of the first Gov. Wolcott and his family 
 were among those who fled from Simsbury. Old Mr. 
 Wolcott filled up a large brass kettle with his pewter cups, 
 basins, platters, &c. and then sunk the kettle with its con- 
 tents in the deep mud of a swamp, but was never able to 
 find it afterwards. 
 
 " After the inhabitants had spent a day or two in their 
 retreat, the men under arms were sent back, for the pur- 
 pose of looking about, and making discoveries. They 
 came to the highest eminence in the road east of Simsbury 
 River, from which, at one view, they could take a survey 
 of the principal part of their habitations, which, to their 
 surprise and sorrow, were become a desolation, and every 
 
Jil4 INCIDENTS IN THE EARL\ [cHAP. IS 
 
 house burnt to ashes. They saw no Indians, but plenty 
 of Indian tracks and trails in the sand." 
 
 " In the Indian war, Isaac and Jacob Shepherd, of Lit- 
 tleton, Mass., were killed, and a young maid, about the 
 age of fifteen, was taken captive by the Indians. She had 
 been set to watch the enemy on a hill, which lies about a 
 third of a mile south of Nashoba Hill, on the road leading 
 to Boston, and was called duagana Hill. Tradition says, 
 that this girl was carried by the savages to Nashaway, now 
 called Lancaster, or to some place in the neighborhood 
 of it ; that in the dead of night, she took a saddle from 
 under the head of her Indian keeper when sunk in sleep, 
 increased by the fumes of ardent spirit, put the saddle on 
 a horse, mounted on him, swam him across Nashaway 
 River, and so escaped the hands of her captors, and arrived 
 safe to her relatives and friends." 
 
 Rev Mr. Arnold, in his Historical Sketches of Alstead, 
 N. IL, relates the following story : — 
 
 "The first child born in the place was Jacob Cady. 
 An occurrence of his childhood is worthy of notice. The 
 event happened in 1770, when he was about two years 
 and a half old, while his father lived in the east part of 
 the town, where Mr. Isaac Kent now lives. The region 
 around was one vast wilderness, and thickly inhabited by 
 beasts of prey. Jacob, who was peculiarly dear to his mo- 
 ther, left her in the afternoon to go to his father, chopping 
 at a little distance in the woods. But when the father 
 returned home at night, to their great surprise the child 
 was missing. The anxious parents flew immediately in 
 search of their little boy ; and the more theyhunted, and 
 called, as the thick darkness of night gathered around 
 them, as their researches were found ineffectual, the more 
 their anxiety increased, and their hopes desponded. The 
 night was spent in anxious search and awful suspense. 
 But all their toil and care were vain. The light of th« 
 morning returned, and yet their child was lost. But the 
 day was now before them, and parental affection does not 
 easily relinquish its object The neighbors, though dis- 
 tant and few, were friendly and kind. Some immediately 
 joined with the afflicted parents in ranging the woods 
 and others carried information to the neighboring towns. 
 
CHAP. IX. J HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 215 
 
 But the day declined, and the hopes, which were for a 
 v/hile enkindled, again sunk in despondency, as the dark- 
 ness closed upon the light. Fires were kindled, at dis- 
 tances from each other, suited to direct their search, 
 and to attract the attention of the child ; and numbers 
 spent the night in fruitless attempts for his recovery. As 
 the light of another day gilded the horizon, and invited 
 their renewed exertions, multitudes were collected from 
 Charlestown, Walpole, Keene, Marlow, and all the neigh- 
 boring towns, (it is said that four or five hundred were 
 collected) to lend their assistance, to make one united 
 effort, and, if possible, to relieve the anxieties of these 
 bereaved parents. Hope was again revived, and earnest 
 expectations were entertained, as the bands went forth to 
 scour the woods, with critical and careful attention to eve- 
 ry nook, and every circumstance, that might show signs 
 of the lost child. In their faithful searches among the 
 rocks, forest trees, and fallen timber, at one time, they 
 discovered the tracks of a child and those of a bear, or of 
 some wild beast very near them. 
 
 ** Eager and trembling were the pursuers. Soon, how- 
 ever, all indications of discovery disappeared ; and as the 
 day began to decline, they relinquished their object as 
 hopeless, and many returned to the house of Mr. Cady. 
 ' Alas !' said the mother, under the burden of fatigue, a 
 want of sleep, and a spirit sinking in despair ; * if I could 
 know that the child was relieved from suffering, even by 
 the devouring beasts, I could be still. Could I see a frag- 
 ment of his torn limbs, I would say no more ! But can I 
 lie down to rest, not knowing but my little Jacob is wan- 
 dering and starving in yonder gloom ? Can a fond parent 
 forget her child, or cease to look for the little wanderer 1 
 Even the sleep of night would be disturbed by the vision- 
 ary dreams of his suffering state, and the seeming cries for 
 a mother's aid.' 
 
216 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. IX. 
 
 *' Gen. Benjamin Bellows and Capt. Jennison, of Wal- 
 pole, Capt. John Burroughs, of this town, Mr. Abner Bing- 
 ham, of Marlow, and a few others who had not left the 
 house, immediately determined to renew the search. And 
 even the prospect of approaching night onl}^ served to 
 hasten their steps, and nerve their weary limbs. They 
 agreed on the following signal, and set off in the pursuit : — 
 If they should discover any signs of the child, one gun 
 was to be discharged ; if he should be found dead, or to 
 have been destroyed, tico guns were to be discharged, and 
 if he should be found alive, the discharge of three would 
 gire notice. With anxious, though enfeebled solicitude, 
 did the parents and those at the house listen to catch the 
 first sound that might burst upon the ear, from the still ex- 
 panse of the south. No sooner had their eager attention 
 began to subside, than the first signal was heard. Every 
 countenance instantly glowed with a fluctuating crimson, 
 which told the emotions of joy and fear, that struggled al- 
 ternately within. But these emotions soon gave way to a 
 deadly paleness and fearful apprehensions, when the se- 
 cond discharge was heard. Is the child dead I was the 
 secret inquiry of every look. Now all were breathless to 
 hear, and were afraid they should not. But soon the third 
 discharge broke the dreadful suspense, and burst the veil 
 of uncertainty that hung over the scene. The change 
 which so quickly succeeded, the joy that kindled in every 
 breast, glowed in every countenance, and sparkled in every 
 eye, can be more easily imagined than described. The 
 child was found asleep, east, or south-east of Warren's 
 Pond, and restored, with peculiar satisfaction and joyful 
 triumph, to the embrace of its delighted parents, by Gen. 
 Bellows, of Waipole." 
 
CHAP. X.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 217 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 INTERESTING TRAITS IN THE INDIAN CHARACTER. 
 
 It has been too commonly believed, that there is nothing 
 interesting or lovely in the Indian character. The manner 
 in which they have been spoken of by some writers, and 
 by others, has greatly conduced to this impression. But 
 the truth is, there have been traits of character exhibited 
 among the Indians, which should excite our admiration, 
 and win our esteem. Among these may be noticed 
 
 MATERNAL AFFECTION. 
 
 Infanticide, so common in many heathen nations, was 
 never practised, it is believed, by the aborigines of North 
 America. 
 
 In 1621, a boy named John Billington, belonging to 
 Plymouth, was lost in the woods, and after subsisting for 
 five days on berries, fell into the hands of the Indians, 
 who carried him to Nauset. Ten men, accompanied by 
 two friendly Indians, were sent by the governor to recover 
 him. An incident occurred on their arrival, which shows 
 the strength of an Indian mother's love, and that no length 
 of years can eradicate it from her bosom. An aged wo- 
 man, whom they concluded to be not less than a hundred 
 years old, came to see them. She had never before seen 
 any of the English. When she saw them, she was deeply 
 affected, and wept excessively. The men inquired the 
 reason why she was so much grieved. The Indians told 
 them, that when Hunt was in these parts, which was in 
 1614, three sons of this woman, going on board his 
 vessel to trade, were secured, and carried captives to 
 Spain, by which means she was deprived of the comfort of 
 her children in her old aoje. The Enoflish told them that 
 they were sorry that any Englishman should give them so 
 much cause of offence, that Hunt was a bad man, that his 
 conduct was condemned by all his countrymen, that thcf/ 
 would do them no such injury. They gave the old woman 
 a few small trifles, which somewhat allayed her grief. 
 19 
 
218 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. X 
 
 ** There dwelt near the river Saco, a sachem, whose 
 squaw in passing along the river in a canoe, with her in- 
 fant child, was met by some rude sailors, who, having 
 heard that the Indian children could swim as naturally as 
 the young of the brutal kind, in a thoughtless and unguard- 
 ed humor, overset the canoe. The child sunk, and the 
 mother instantly diving , fetched it up alive J' 
 
 FILIAL LOVE. 
 
 " Some years ago," says Sullivan, " I was on the banks 
 of the Kennebec, and saw a savage who, I supposed, was 
 of the Norridgewock tribe. His name was Quenockross. 
 He had in his family, his mother and his wife. He had 
 been wounded in the war, and was lame in one of his feet. 
 His mother was very aged ; he had her in his canoe, with a 
 blanket carefully spread over her, and when he came 
 ashore, he kindled his fire, took her out in his arms, and 
 laid her tenderly down by it. When he had cooked his 
 mess, he gave it to her, and he and his wife waited until 
 she had done eating. Upon seeing me notice it, he exult- 
 ingly pointed to her, and said, she was his mother y 
 
 " When the French were in possession of New Orleans, 
 a Choctaw, speaking very evil of them, said the Callapis 
 sas were their slaves; one of the latter, vexed at such words, 
 killed him with his gun. The nation of Choctaws, the 
 greatest and most numerous on the continent, armed im- 
 mediately, and sent deputies to New Orleans to ask for the 
 head of the murderer, who had put himself under the pro- 
 tection of the French. They offered presents to make up 
 the quarrel ;^but the cruel people would not accept any. 
 They even threatened to destroy the village of the Calla- 
 pissas. To prevent the effusion of blood, the unhappy In- 
 dian was delivered up to them ;* the Sieur Ferrand was 
 charged with the commission. The Indian was called 
 Tichou ; he stood upright in the midst of his own people, 
 and of his enemies, and said, ' I am a true man, that is, I 
 do not fear death ; but I pity the fate of a wife and four 
 children, whom I leave behind me very:-syoung, and of my 
 father and mother, who are old, and t(k whom I got sub- 
 sistence by hunting.' He had hardly spdken the last word 
 
CHVP. X.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 219 
 
 of this short speech, when his father, penetrated with his 
 Bon's love, rose amidst the people, and spoke as follows: — 
 *It is through courage that my son dies; but, being young 
 and full of vigor, he is more fit than myself to provide for 
 his mother, wife, and four little children ; it is therefore 
 necessary he should stay on earth to take care of them. 
 As to myself, I am near the end of my career ; I am no 
 longer fit for any thing : I cannot go like the roe-buck, 
 whose course is like the winds, unseen ; I cannot sleep 
 like the hare, with my ears never shut ; but I have lived 
 as a man, and will die as such ; therefore I go to take his 
 place.' 
 
 *' At these words, his wife, his son, his daughter-in-law, 
 and their little children, shed tears round the brave old 
 man ; he embraced them for the last time. The relations 
 of the dead Choctaw accepted the offer; after that, he 
 laid himself on the trunk of a tree, and his head was cut 
 off with one stroke of a hatchet. The French who assist- 
 ed at this event, were moved even to tears." 
 
 VENERATION AND KINDNESS SHOWN THE AGED. 
 
 " There is a practice in South America, by which the 
 aged and incurably infirm are cut off from life, under a 
 pretence of giving relief against the oppressions of age 
 and disease ; that this is practised in South America may 
 be suppo^d true, but the practice never prevailed among 
 the Northern Indians. The aged are treated with peculiar 
 and great veneration, and the sick are attended to with as 
 much tenderness as the rude state of savage life can ad- 
 mit of An aged savage is now (1795) existing in the 
 Penobscot tribe, who has ntnnbered one hundred years 
 sinc^ his birth, and who is treated with very great respect- 
 by his tribe. 
 
 " John Carver, the man whose curiosity led him to travel 
 far among the Indian tribes, tells us, that there is a great 
 veneration among the North American Indians for their 
 aged men ; that they regard them as prophets, and treat 
 the grandfathers with more respect than they treat their 
 immediate ancestors." 
 
220 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. X 
 
 HOSPITALITY. 
 
 In July, 1621, the people of Plymouth deemed it expe- 
 dient to send a friendly deputation to Massasoit, who lived 
 at Pokanoket, forty miles distant, for the purpose of ascer 
 taining his particular place of residence; to strengthen the 
 treaty of peace lately entered into ; to view the country ; 
 to learn his strength ; and procure corn for seed. The 
 deputation consisted of Edward Winslow and Stephen 
 Hopkins, who, accompanied by Squanto as guide and in- 
 terpreter, commenced their journey on the second of July, 
 taking a horseman's coat of red cotton, laced with a slight 
 lace, as a present to the king. 
 
 The narrator gives the following account of their jour- 
 ney and entertainment, 
 
 " V/e set forward," says he, " about nine o'clock in the 
 morning, our guide resolving to lodge that night at Na- 
 masket. We arrived at that place about three o'clock in 
 the afternoon, the Indians entertaining us with joy, in the 
 best manner they could ; giving us a kind of bread, called 
 'by them maizium, and the spawns of shad, and gave u^ 
 spoons to eat them with. We ate heartily, arid after one 
 of our men had shot a crow, at the request and to the 
 great admiration of the Indians, Squanto told us we should 
 hardly in one day reach Pokanoket, and moved us to go 
 some eight miles further that night. 
 
 " Being willing to hasten our journey, we set out and 
 came to the place at sunset. Here we found mtny of the 
 Namasket Indians fishing upon a wear which they had 
 made on a river, which belonged to them, where they 
 caught abundance of bass. They welcomed us, and gave 
 us of their fish, and we gave them of our victuals, not 
 doubting but that we should have enough wherever we 
 'came. Here we lodged in the open fields ; for houses 
 they had none, though they spent most of the summer 
 there. The next morning, after breakfast, we took our 
 leave and departed, being accompanied by six savages. 
 Having gone about six miles by the river-side, we waded 
 through it over to the other side. Having here refreshed 
 ourselves, we proceeded on our journey, the weather being 
 very hot. When we came to a small brook, where no 
 
CHAP. X.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 221 
 
 bridge was, two of them offered, of their own accord, to 
 carry us through, and fearing we were or should be weary, 
 they offered to carry our guns. They also told us, if we 
 would lay off our clothes, we should have them carried ; 
 and as one of them had received more special kindness 
 from one of the messengers, and another from the other 
 so they showed their thankfulness accordingly, in affording 
 us help and furtherance in the journey. At length we 
 came to a town of Massasoit's, where we ate oysters and 
 other fish. From thence we went to Pokanoket, but Mas- 
 sasoit was not at home. He was soon sent for, and we 
 waited his return. When he arrived, we discharged our 
 guns, and saluted him, who after their manper kindly wel- 
 comed us, and took us into his house, and set us down by 
 him. Having delivered our message and presents, and 
 having put the coat on him, and the chain about his neck, 
 he was not a little proud to behold himself, and his men 
 also were proud to see their king so bravely attired. He 
 then told us we were welcome, and that he would gladly 
 continue the peace and friendship which was between him 
 and us ; he said he would send to Paomet, and would help 
 us to corn for seed, according to our request. 
 
 *' After this, hisnien gathered near him, and he, turning 
 himself, made a speech to them. This being ended, he 
 lighted tobacco for us, and fell to discoursinor about the 
 English, and of their king. He talked also of the French, 
 bidding us not to suffer them to come to Narraganset, for 
 it was king James' country, and he was king James' man. 
 Late it grew, but victuals he offered none ; for indeed he 
 had none, he having come so newly home. So we desired 
 to go to rest. He laid us on the bed with himself and 
 wife, they at the one end, and we at the other, the bed be- 
 ing only planks laid a foot from the ground, and a thin 
 mat upon them. Two more of his chief men, for want of 
 room, pressed by and upon us ; so that we were worse (Veary 
 with our lodging, than of our journey. 
 
 " The next day, many of their sachems came to see us, 
 as did also many of their men. They desired to see one 
 of us shoot at a mark. When we had shot, they wondered 
 *o see the mark so full of holes. About one o'clock, Mas- 
 safevit brought two fishes he had shot. These being boiled, 
 19* 
 
222 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. X. 
 
 there were at least forty who were looking for a share in 
 ihem. The most ate of them. This was the only meal we 
 had in two nights and a day ; and had not one of us bought 
 51 partridge, we had taken our journey fasting. He was very 
 importunate to have us stay with them longer. But we 
 desired to keep the Sabbath at home, and were afraid of 
 bad effects from want of sleep ; for with bad lodging, the 
 savages' barbarous singing, (for they used to sing them- 
 selves asleep,) lice and fleas within doors, and musquetoes 
 without, we could hardly sleep all the time of our being 
 there. We feared that if we should stay any longer, we 
 should not be able to reach home for want of strength. So 
 that on Friday morning, before sunrise, we took our leave, 
 and departed ; Massasoit being both grieved and ashamed, 
 that he could entertain us no better." 
 
 In the year 1637, the government of Massachusetts 
 deemed it important to send an embassage to Canonicus, 
 chief sachem of the Narragansets. On receiving intelli- 
 gence of their coming, he gathered together his chief 
 counsellors and a great number of his subjects, for the 
 purpose of giving them a friendly reception and entertain- 
 ment. Having arrived, they were treated with great hos-. 
 pitality, being served in a royal manner, after the Indian 
 custom. And, because on this occasion they would en- 
 tertain them in an extraordinary manner, they sought to 
 furnisli a variety, after the custom of the English, boiling 
 puddings made of pounded corn, putting in a great quan- 
 tity of blackberries. After having nobly feasted their 
 guests, they gave them audience in their state-house, which 
 was constructed in an oval form, about fifty feet wide, 
 made of long poles set in the ground, covered on all sides 
 and on the top with mats, leaving a small hole at the top 
 of the roof, to admit the light and to let out the smoke. 
 
 *'A ship's long-boat, having five men in her, was over 
 set by«a violent gust of wind. The men all got upon the 
 keel, upon which they were driven to sea, and were four 
 days floating there. During this time, three of them 
 dropped off", and perished in the deep : on the fifth day 
 the fourth man, being sorely pained with hunger, and sadly 
 bruised, fell off into the sea, and was drowned with the 
 rest of his companions. Soon after this, the wind changed 
 
CHAP. X.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 223 
 
 and drove the boat with the fifth man on to Long Island, 
 where being scarcely able to creep on shore, the Indians 
 found him, cherished him, and preserved him " 
 
 Belknap, speaking of the reception the Europeans who 
 first visited Canada received from the natives, says, " Sus- 
 pecting no danger, and influenced by no fear, they em- 
 braced the stranger with unaffected joy. Their huts were 
 open to receive him, their fires and furs to give warmth 
 and rest to his weary limbs ; their food was shared with 
 him, or given in exchange for his trifles ; they were ready 
 with their simple medicines to heal his diseases and his 
 wounds ; they would wade through rivers and climb rocks 
 and mountains to guide him in his way, and they would 
 remember and requite a kindness more than it deserved." 
 
 "One M'Dougal, a native of Argyleshire, having emi- 
 grated to Upper Canada, purchased a location on the 
 extreme verge of civilization. His first care was to con- 
 struct a house, and plant in the wild. This task finished, 
 he spent his whole time, early and late, in the garden and 
 the fields. By vigorous exertions, and occasional assist- 
 ance, he brought a few acres of ground under crop, and 
 acquired a stock of cattle, sheep and hogs. 
 
 " His greatest discomforts were, distance from his neigh- 
 bors, the church, markets, and even the mill ; and along, 
 with these, the suspension of those endearing charities 
 and friendly oflSces which lend such a charm to social 
 life. 
 
 " On one occasion, M'Dougal had a melder of corn to 
 grind, and as the distance was considerable, and the roads 
 none of the smoothest, this important part of his duty 
 could only be performed by starting with the sun, and 
 returning with its going down. In his absence, the care 
 of the cattle devolved on his spouse, and as they did not 
 return at the usual hour, the careful matron went out in 
 quest of them. Beyond the mere outskirts the. forest was, 
 to her, an unknown land, in the most emphatic sense of 
 the term ; and with no compass, or notched trees to guide, 
 it is not to be wondered at that she wandered long and 
 wearily to little purpose, till at length, fatigued with the 
 search, she deemed it prudent to retrace her steps, while 
 it was yet time. But this resolution was much easier 
 
224 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. X 
 
 formed than executed ; returning was as dangerous as 
 going forward, and, aftef wandering for hours, she sunk 
 on the ground, her eyes swollen and filled with tears, and 
 her mind agitated almost to distraction. But here she had 
 not rested many minutes before she heard footsteps ap- 
 proaching, and anon an Indian hunter stood before her. 
 Mrs. M'Dougal knew that Indians lived at no great dis- 
 tance; but as she had never before seen a member of the 
 tribe, her emotions were those of terror. The Indian had 
 observed her, without being observed himself, knew her 
 home, recognized her person, comprehended her mishap, 
 divined her errand, and immediately beckoned her to follow, 
 him. The unfortunate woman understood his signal, and 
 obeyed it, as far as terror left her power ; and, after a 
 lengthened sweep, which added not a little to her previous 
 fatigue, they arrived at the door of an Indian wigwam. 
 
 " Her conductor invited her to enter, by signs ; but this 
 she refused to do, dreading the consequence. Perceiving 
 herj-eluctance, and scanning her feelings, the hospitable 
 Indian darted into the wigwam and communed with his 
 wife, who in a few minutes also appeared ; and by certain 
 signs and sympathies, known only to females, calmed the 
 stranger's fears, and induced her to enter their lowly abode. 
 Venison was instantly prepared for supper, and Mrs. M' 
 Dougal, though still alarmed at the novelty of her situa- 
 tion, had rarely, if ever, partaken of so savory a meal. 
 Aware that she was wearied, the Indians removed from 
 their place near the roof, two beautiful deer skins, and, by 
 stretching and fixing them across, divided the wigwam 
 into two apartments. Mats were also spread in both rooms, 
 and, next, the stranger was given to understand that the 
 further dormitory was expressly designed for her accom- 
 modation. But here again her courage failed her, and to 
 the most pressing solicitations she replied by signs, as well 
 as she could, that she had rather sit and sleep by the fire. 
 This determination seemed to puzzle the Indian and his 
 squaw sadly. Often they looked at each other, and con- 
 versed softly in»their own language, and at last the red 
 woman took the white one by the hand, led her to her 
 couch, and became her bedfellow. In the morning she 
 awoke greatly refreshed, and anxious to depart without 
 
CHAP. X.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 225 
 
 further delay ; but the Indian would on no account permit 
 it. Breakfast was prepared, another savory and well- 
 cooked meal ; and then the Indian accompanied his guest, 
 and conducted her to the very spot where the cattle were 
 grazing. These he kindly drove from the wood, on the 
 verge of which Mrs. M'Dougal descried her husband, run- 
 ning about every where, halloing and seeking for her, in a 
 state of absolute distraction. Great was his joy, and great 
 his gratitude to her Indian benefactor, who was invited to 
 the house, and treated with the best the larder afforded, 
 and presented, on his departure, with a suit of clothes." 
 
 Williams, in his History of Vermont, says, " Among the 
 savages, hospitality prevailed to a high degree. The 
 Europeans every where found the most friendly and cor- 
 dial re>3eption, when they first came among the savages ; 
 and from their hospitality they derived all the assistance 
 the savages could afford them. It was not until disputes 
 and differences had taken place, that the Indians became 
 unfriendly. Even now, an unarmed, defenceless stranger, 
 who repairs to them for relief and protection, is sure to 
 find safety and assistance in their hospitality." 
 
 ** Hospitality," says another writer, " is one of the most 
 prominent Indian characteristics, and has its source in an 
 enlarged view of the goodness and justice of our heavenly 
 Benefactor. The productions of the earth, with all the 
 animals which inhabit it, are considered by them as a 
 liberal and impartial donation to the whole family of man- 
 kind, and by no means intended to supply only the wants 
 of a few. Hence an Indian is ever free to give of all 
 that he possesses, and will often share with strangers even 
 to the last morsel, preferring to lie down hungry himself, 
 than that a visitor should leave his door unfed, or that the 
 sick and needy should remain uncherished and in want." 
 
 SYMPATHY. 
 
 " Mr.Winslow, returning from Connecticut to Plymouth, 
 left his bark at Narraganset, and intending to return home 
 by land, took the opportunity to make a visit to Massasoit, 
 who, with his accustomed kindness, offered to conduct 
 tiim home. Bat befoie they sat out, Massasoit secretly 
 O 
 
2SS6 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. X 
 
 despatched one of his men to Plymouth with a message, 
 signifying that Mr. Winslow was dead, carefully directing 
 his courier to tell the. place where he was killed, and the 
 time of the fatal catastrophe. The surprise and joy pro- 
 duced by Mr. Winslow's return must have satisfied even 
 Massasoit's ardent affection, when the next day he brought 
 him home to his weeping family. When asked why he 
 had sent this account, both false and distressing, he an- 
 swered that it was their manner to do so, to heighten the 
 pleasure of meeting after an absence." 
 
 "A little incident which occurred soon after the second 
 French war, which ended in 1763, exhibits striking traits 
 of the sympathy and humanity of the Indians. A party 
 of their warriors came to Concord, N. H., and encamped 
 near the house of the Rev. Mr. Walker, who was much 
 respected by them, as well as loved by his parishioners. 
 He being from home, his wife expressed apprehensions 
 of danger. The Indians remarked to each other, ' Minis- 
 ter's wife afraid.' To allay her fears, they gave up their 
 guns, left them in her possession till they were ready to 
 depart, and treated her with courtesy and respect." 
 
 " An Indian of the Kennebec tribe, remarkable for his 
 good conduct, received a grant of land from the state, and 
 fixed himself in a new township, where a number of fam- 
 ilies were settled. Though not ill treated, yet the common 
 prejudice against Indians prevented any sympathy with 
 him. This was shown at the death of his only child, when 
 none of the people came near him. Shortly afterwards, 
 he went to some of the inhabitants, and said to them, 
 * When white man^s child die, Indian man be sorry — he help 
 bury him. When my child die, no one speak to me — 1 
 make his grave alone. I can no live here.* He gave up 
 his farm, dug up the body of his child, and carried it with 
 him two hundred miles through the forest, to join the 
 Canada Indians." 
 
 GRATITUDE. ^ 
 
 " Not many years after the county of Litchfield, Conn., 
 began to be settled by the English, a stranger Indian came 
 one day into an inn in the town of Litchfield, in the dusk 
 of the evening, and requested the hostess to furnish him 
 
CHAP. X.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 227 
 
 with somG drink, and a supper. At the same time, he 
 observed that he could pay for neither, as he had had no 
 success in hunting, but promised payment as soon as he 
 should meet with better fortune. The hostess refused him 
 both the drink and the supper; called him a lazy, drunken, 
 good-for-nothing fellow, and told him that she did not work 
 so hard herself to throw away her earnings upon such 
 creatures as he was. A man who sat by, and observed 
 that the Indian, then turning about to leave so inhospita- 
 ble a place, showed, by his countenance, that he was suf- 
 fering very severely from want and weariness, directed the 
 hostess to supply him what he wished, and engaged to pay 
 the bill himself She did so. When the Indian had fin- 
 ished his supper, he turned to his benefactor, thanked him, 
 and assured him that he should remember his kindness, 
 and whenever he was able, would faithfully recompense it. 
 The Indian soon after withdrew. 
 
 " Some years after, the man who had befriended him, 
 had occasion to go some distance into the wilderness, be- 
 tween Litchfield, then a frontier settlement, and Albany, 
 where he was taken prisoner by an Indian scout, and car- 
 ried to Canada. When he arrived at the principal settle- 
 ment of the tribe, on the southern border of the St. Law- 
 rence, it was proposed by some of the captors that he 
 should be put to death. During the consultation, an old 
 Indian woman demanded that he should be given up to 
 her, that she might adopt him in the place of a son whom 
 she had lost in the war. Jfe was accordingly given to her, 
 and lived through the succeeding winter in her family, 
 experiencing the customary effects of savage hospitality. 
 The following summer, as he was at work alone in the 
 forest, an unknown Indian came up to him, and asked him 
 to meet him at a place which he pointed out, upon a given 
 day. The prisoner agreed to the proposal, but not without 
 some apprehensions that mischief was intended him. Du- 
 ring the interval, these apprehensions increased to such a 
 degree as to dissuade him effectually from fulfilling his en- 
 gagement. Soon after, the same Indian found him at his 
 work again, and very gravely reproved him for not perform- 
 ing his promise. The man apologized, awkwardly enough, 
 but in the best manner in his power. The Indian told 
 
228 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. X. 
 
 him that he should be satisfied, if he would meet him at 
 .he same place on a future day, which he named. The 
 man promised to meet him, and fulfilled his promise. 
 When he arrived at the spot, he found the Indian provided 
 with two muskets, ammunition for them, and two knap- 
 sacks. The Indian ordered him to take one of each, and 
 follow him. The direction of their march was south. 
 The man followed, without the least knowledge of what 
 he was to do, or whither he was going ; but concluded, 
 that, if the Indian intended him harm, he would have de- 
 spatched him at the beginning, and that, at the worst, he 
 was as safe where he was, as he could be in any other 
 place. Within a short time, therefore, his fears subsided ; 
 although the Indian observed a profound and mysterious 
 silence concerning the object of their expedition. In the 
 day-time they shot such game as came in their way, and at 
 night kindled a fire, by which they slept. After a tedious 
 journey of many days, they came one morning to the top 
 of an eminence, presenting a prospect of a cultivated 
 country, in which was a number of houses. The Indian 
 asked his companion whether he knew the ground. He 
 replied eagerly that it was Litchfield. His guide then, 
 after reminding him that he had, so many years before, re- 
 lieved the wants of a famishing Indian at an inn in that 
 town, subjoined, ' I that Indian ; now I pay you ; go home.' 
 Having said this, he bade him adieu,' and the man joyfully 
 returned to his own house." 
 
 " In June, 1675, a man and a woman were slain by the 
 Indians, and another woman was wounded and taken pri- 
 soner ; but because she had kept an Indian child before, so 
 much kindness was shown her as that she was sent back,' 
 after they had dressed her wound, and the Indians guarded 
 her until she came within sight of the English, The wo- 
 man's name was Dorothy Haywood." 
 
 "In J 677, two Indians, named Simon and Andrew, ad- 
 ventured to come over Piscataqua River, on Portsmouth 
 side, when they burnt one house within four or five miles 
 of the town, and took a maid and a young woman captive, 
 one of them having a young child in her arms, with which 
 they were not willing to be troubled, they permitted hei 
 to leave it with an old woman, whom the Indian Simon 
 
CHAP. X.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 5J29 
 
 spared, because he said she had been kind to his grand- 
 mother. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Curtis, in giving a historical sketch of Epsom, 
 N. H., says, " The ferocity and cruehy of the savages 
 were doubtless very much averted by a friendly, concilia- 
 ting course of conduct in the inhabitants towards them. 
 This was particularly the case in the course pursued bj 
 Sergeant Blake. Being himself a curious marksman and 
 an expert hunter, traits of character, in their view, of the 
 highest order, he soon gained their I'espect ; and by a 
 course of kind treatment he secured their friendship to 
 such a degree, that, though they had opportunities, they 
 would not injure him, even in time of war. 
 
 " The first he ever saw of them, was a company of them 
 making towards his house, through the opening from the 
 top of Sanborn's Hill. He fled to the woods, and there 
 lay concealed till they had made a thorough search about 
 his house and enclosures, and had gone off. The next 
 time his visitors came, he was constrained to become more 
 acquainted with them, and to treat them with more atten- 
 tion. As he was busily engaged, towards the close of the 
 day, in completing a yard for his cow, the declining sim 
 suddenly threw along several enormous shadows on tne 
 grou'«id before him. He had no sooner turned to see the 
 cause, than he found himself in the company of a number 
 of stately Indians. Seeing his perturbation, they patted 
 him on the head, and told him * not to be afraid, for they 
 would not hurt him.' They then went with him into his 
 house ; and their first business was,- to search all his bot- 
 tles, to see if he had any 'Occapee,' rum. They then 
 told him they were very hungry, and wanted something to 
 eat. He happened to have a quarter of a bear, which he 
 gave them. They took it and threw it whole upon the 
 fire, and very soon began to cut and eat from it half raw. 
 While they were eating, he employed himself in cutting 
 pieces from it, and broiling upon a stick for them, which 
 pleased them very much. After their repast, they wished 
 for the privilege of lying by his fire through the night, 
 which he granted. The next morning they proposed try- 
 ing skill with him in firing at a mark. To this he ac- 
 ceded. But in this, finding themselves outdone, tl'.ey were 
 20 
 
230 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. X 
 
 much astonished and chagrined ; nevertheless, they highly 
 commended him for his skill, patting him on the head, and 
 telling him ' if he would go off with them^ they would make 
 him their big captainJ They used often to call on him, 
 and his kindness to them they never forgot, even in time 
 of war. 
 
 " Plausawa had a peculiar manner of doubling his lip, 
 and producing a very shrill, piercing whistle, which might 
 be heard a great distance. At a time when considerable 
 danger was apprehended from the Indians, Blake went 
 into the woods alone, though considered hazardous, to 
 look for his cow that was missing. As he was passing 
 along by Sinclair's brook, an unfrequented place, northerly 
 from M'Coy's mountain, a very loud, sharp whistle, which 
 he knew to be Plausawa's, suddenly passed through his 
 head, like the report of a pistol. The sudden alarm almost 
 raised him from the ground, and with a very light step he 
 soon reached home without his cow. In more peaceable 
 times, Plausawa asked him if he did not remember the 
 time, and laughed very much to think how he ran at the 
 fright, and told him the reason of his whistling, ' Young 
 Indian,^ said he, * put up gun to shoot Englishman. Me 
 knock it down, and whistle, to start you off.^ So lasting 
 is their friendship when treated well." 
 
 HONESTY. 
 
 " Trained up to the most refined cunning and dissimu- 
 lation in war, the Indian carries nothing of this into the 
 affairs of commerce, but is fair, open, and honest in his 
 trade. He was accustomed to no falsehood or deception 
 in the management of his barter, and he was astonished at 
 the deceit, knavery and fraud of the European traders. 
 He had no bolts or locks to guard against stealing, nor did 
 he ever conceive that his property was in any danger of 
 being stolen by any of his tribe. All that train of infa 
 mous and unmanly vices which arise from avarice, were 
 almost unknown to the savage state." 
 
 When the English who settled at Nantucket began to 
 plough the land, " the Indians would with delight, for 
 whole days together, follow the traces of the ploughshare ; 
 
CHAP. X.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 231 
 
 and they earnestly entreated the English to plough their 
 land for them. Their request was complied with. The 
 Indians were religiously punctual in rewarding them for 
 their labor. The first portion of corn collected in the 
 autumn was laid by in baskets, to pay the English for theii 
 ploughing ; another parcel was reserved for seed. Nei- 
 ther of these portions would they touch in winter, however 
 severe the famine might be, so honest and careful were 
 they at that period." 
 
 FIDELITY. 
 
 After the death of Philip, as Capt. Church, with a small 
 company, were in pursuit of Annawon, his chief captain, 
 " a certain Indian soldier, that Capt. Church had gained 
 over to be on his side, prayed that he might have the 
 liberty to go and fetch his father, who, he said, was about 
 four miles from that place, in a swamp, with no other than 
 a young squaw. Capt. Church inclined to go with him, 
 thinking it might be in his way to gain some intelligence 
 of Annawon; and so taking one Englishman and a few 
 Indians with him, leaving the rest there, he went with his 
 new soldier to look for his father. When he came to the 
 swamp, he bid the Indian go and see if he could find his 
 father. He was no sooner gone but Capt. Church dis- 
 covered a track coming down out of the woods, upon 
 which he and his little company lay close, some on one 
 side of the track and some on the other. They heard the 
 Indian soldier making a howling for his father, and at 
 length somebody answered him ; but while they were lis- 
 tening, they thought they heard somebody coming towards 
 them. Presently they saw an old man coming up with a 
 gun on his shoulder, and a young woman following in the 
 track they lay by. They let them come between them, 
 and then started up and laid hold of them both. Capt. 
 Church immediately examined them apart, telling them 
 what they must trust to if they told false stories. He 
 asked the young woman what company they came from 
 last. She said, from Capt. Annawon's. He asked her 
 how many were in company with him when she left him. 
 She said, ' fifty or sixty ' He asked her how many milei 
 
233 INCIDEx\TS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. X. 
 
 it was to the place where she left him. She said she did 
 not understand miles, but he was up in Squannaconk 
 swamp. The old man, who had been one of Philip's 
 council, upon examination gave exactly the same account. 
 On being asked- if they could get there that night, he 
 answered, ' If we go presently, and travel stoutly, we may 
 get there by sunset.' The old inan said he was of Anna- 
 won's company, and that Annawon had sent him down to 
 find some Indians that were gone down to Mount Hope 
 Neck to kill provisions. Capt. Church let him know that 
 that company were all his prisoners. 
 
 " The Indian who had been permitted to go after his 
 father now returned, with him and another man. Capt. 
 Church was now at a great loss what he should do. He 
 was unwilling to miss of so good an 'opportunity of giving 
 a finishing blow to the Indian power. He had, as himself 
 says, but ' half a dozen men besides himself,' and yet was 
 under the necessity of sending some one back to give 
 Lieut. Howland, whom he left at the old fort in Pocasset, 
 notice, if he should proceed. But without wasting time 
 in pondering upon what course to pursue, he put the ques- 
 tion to his men, ' whether they would willingly go with 
 him and give Annawon a visit.' All answered in the 
 affirmative, but reminded him ' that they knew this Capt. 
 Annawon was a great soldier ; that he had been a valiant 
 captain under Massasoit, Philip's father, and that he had 
 been Philip's chieftain all this war.' And they further 
 told Capt. Church that he was ' a very subtle man, of great 
 resolution, and had often said that he would never be 
 taken alive by the English.' 
 
 " They also reminded him, that those with Annawon 
 were ' resolute fellows, some of Philip's chief soldiers, 
 and very much feared that to make the attempt with such 
 a handful of soldiers, would be hazardous in the extreme. 
 But nothing could shake the undaunted resolution of Capt. 
 Church, who remarked to them, ' that he had a long time 
 sought for Annawon, but in vain,' and doubted not in the 
 least but Providence would protect them. All with one 
 consent now desired to proceed. 
 
 " A man by the name of Cook, belonging to Plymouth 
 was the only Englishman in the company, except the cap- 
 
CHAP. X.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 233 
 
 tain. Capt. Church asked Mr. Cook what his opinion of 
 the undertaking was. He made no other reply than this, 
 ' I am never afraid of going any where when you are with 
 me.' The Indian who brought in his father, informed 
 Capt. Church, that it was impossible for him to take his 
 horse with him which he had brought thus far. He there- 
 fore sent him and his father, with the horse, back to Lieut. 
 Howland, and ordered them to tell him to take his prison- 
 ers immediately to Taunton, and then to come out the 
 next morning to the Rehoboth road, when, if alive, he 
 hoped to meet him. 
 
 ** Things being thus settled, all were ready for the jour- 
 ney. Capt. Church turned to the old man whom he took 
 with the young woman, and asked him whether he would 
 be their pilot. He said, ' You having given me my life, I 
 am under obligations to serve you.' They now marched 
 for Squannaconk. In leading the way, this old man would 
 travel so much faster than the. rest, as sometimes to be 
 nearly out of sight, and consequently might have escaped 
 without fear of being recaptured ; but he was true to 
 his word, and would stop until his wearied followers 
 came up. 
 
 " Having travelled through swamps and thickets until 
 the sun was setting, the pilot ordered a stop. The captain 
 asked him if he had made any discovery. He said, 
 * About this hour of the day, Annawon usually sends ou-t 
 his scouts to see if the coast 4s clear, and as soon as it 
 begins to grow dark the scouts return, and then we may 
 move securely.' When it was sufficiently dark, and they 
 were about to proceed, Capt. Church asked the old man if 
 he would take a gun and fight for him. He bowed very 
 low, and said, * I pray you not to impose such a thing upon 
 me as to fight against Capt. Annawon, my old friend ; but 
 I will go along with you, and be helpful to you, aryl will lay 
 hands on any man that shall offer to hurt you.' They had 
 proceeded but a short space, when they heard a noise, 
 which they concluded to be the pounding of a mortar. 
 This warned them that they were in the vicinity of Anna- 
 won's retreat; which is situated in the south-easterly cor- 
 ner of Rehoboth, about eight miles from Taunton Green, 
 A more gloomy and hidden recess, even now, although 
 20* 
 
234 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [ciIAP. X. 
 
 the forest tree no longer waves over it, could hardly be 
 found by any inhabitant of the wilderness. 
 
 " When they arrived near the foot of the rock, Capt. 
 Church, with two of his Indian soldiers, crept to the top 
 of it, from whence they could see distinctly the situation 
 of the whole company by the light of their fires. They 
 were divided inio three bodies, and lodged a short distance 
 from one another. Annawon's camp was formed by felling 
 a tree against the rock, with bushes set up on each side. 
 With him lodged his son and others of his principal men. 
 Their guns were discovered standing and leaning against 
 a stick resting on two crotches, safely covered from the 
 weather by a mat. Over their fires were pots and kettles 
 boiling, and meat roasting upon their spits. Capt. Church 
 was now at some loss how to proceed, seeing no possibility 
 of getting down the rock without discovery, which would 
 have been fatal. He therefore creeps silently back again 
 to the foot of the rock, and asked the old man, their pilot, 
 if there was no other way of coming at them. He an- 
 swered, ' No,' and said that himself and all others belong- 
 ing to the company, were ordered to come that way, 
 and none could come any other without danger of being 
 shot. 
 
 " The fruitful mind of Church was no longer at a loss, 
 and the following stratagem was put in successful practice. 
 He ordered the old man and the young woman to go for- 
 ward and lead the way, with their baskets upon their 
 backs, and when Annawon should discover them, he would 
 take no alarm, knowing them to be those he had lately 
 sent forth upon discovery. Capt. Church and his handful 
 of soldiers crept down also, under the shadow of those 
 two and their baskets. The captain himself crept close 
 behind the old man, with his hatchet in his hand, and 
 stepped over the young man's head to the arms. The 
 young Annawon discovering him, whipped his blanket 
 over his head, and shrunk up in a heap. The old Capt. , 
 Annawon started up, and cried out, ' Howoh !' which sig- 
 nified, * welcome.' All hope of escape .was now fled for- 
 ever, and he made no effort, but laid himself down again 
 in perfect silence, while his captors secured the rest of the 
 company. For he supposed the English were far more 
 
CHAP. X.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 235 
 
 numerous than they were, and before he was undeceived, 
 his company were all secured." 
 
 " A number of citizens belonging to Massachusetts and 
 Ne-v York, who had, in the year 1788, purchased of the 
 state of Massachusetts a large tract of land lying west- 
 ward of New York, and within the territories of the Six 
 Nations, sent a committee into the Indian country, to 
 treat with the natives about a quit-claim. The Indians 
 heard of their coming, and supposing them to be another 
 company, who were aiming at the same purchase, sent 
 them word to come no further, lest they should be involved 
 in trouble. The committee, having advanced a consider- 
 able distance into their country, were unwilling to retrace 
 their steps without effecting the object of their mission. 
 One of them, Major Schuyler, wrote a letter to the com- 
 manding officer at Fort NSgara, explaining their inten- 
 tions, and requesting hi.' Jifluence with the Indians in 
 removing their apprehensions. One of the Indian messen- 
 gers undertook to carry the letter to Fort Niagara, and 
 bring back the answer. The committee remained where 
 they were. In the mean time. Major Schuyler was taken 
 sick, and sent towards- Albany. The messenger returned, 
 and being asked if he had got a letter in answer to the 
 one he had taken, he told them (through the interpreter) 
 that he had ; but looking round, observed, * I,do not see 
 the man to whom I promised to deliver it.' They informed 
 him of the cause of the major's absence ; but told him 
 they were all engaged in the same business, had one heart, 
 and that the letter was intended for them all, and wished 
 he would deliver it. He refused. They consulted among 
 themselves, and offered him fifty dollars as a reward for 
 his services, and an inducement to deliver them the letter. 
 He spurned at their proposal. They again consulted, and 
 conchided, as they were sufficiently numerous to overpower 
 him and the other Indians who were present, they would 
 take it by force ; but first requested the interpreter to ex- 
 plain to him the whole matter, the difficulty they were in, 
 their loss of time, &c., and their determination to have 
 the letter. As soon as this was communicated to the In- 
 dian, he sternly clenched the letter with one hand, drew 
 his knife with the other, and solemnly declared, that if they 
 
236 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. X. 
 
 should get the letter by violence, he would not survive the 
 disgrace, but would plunge the knife in his own breast. 
 They desisted from their purpose, and reasoned with him 
 again; but he was inflexible. They then asked him, if he 
 was willing, after having gone so long a journey, to go a 
 hundred miles further for the sake of delivering the letter 
 to Major Schuyler. He answered, ' Yes, I do not value 
 fatigue ; but I will never be guilty of a breach of trust.' 
 Accordingly he went, and had the satisfaction of com- 
 pleting his engagement. The letter was favorable to their 
 views, and they entered into a treaty for the land." 
 
 " The first white settler who came to the town of New 
 Milford, Conn., was John Noble, from Westfield, Mass., 
 who came here in the year 1707. Jie brought with him, at 
 first, one of his daughters about eight years old. He first 
 built him a hut under what is called Fort Hill, but after- 
 wards removed and pitched in the present centre of the 
 town. . It deserves to be mentioned, to the credit of the 
 natives, that Mr. Noble once left his little daughter, eight 
 years old, alone with them, for the space of three or four 
 weeks, while he was necessarily absent from the town, and 
 on his return he found she had been well treated, and 
 taken exceedingly good care of." 
 
 • SHREWDNESS. 
 
 •* As Gov. Joseph Dudley, of Massachusetts, observed 
 an able-bodied Indian, half naked, come and look on, as a 
 pastime, to see his men work, he asked him why he did 
 not work, and get some clothes to cover himself. The In- 
 dian answered by asking him, ' why he did not work' The 
 governor, pointing with his finger to his head, said, * / 
 vwrk head work, and so have no need to work with my 
 hands as you should.' The governor told him he wanted 
 a calf killed, and that if he would go and do it, he would 
 give him a shilling. He accepted the offer, and went im- 
 mediately and killed the calf, and then went sauntering 
 about as before. The governor, on observing what he had 
 done, asked him why he did not dress the calf before he 
 left it. The Indian answered, ' No, no, Coponoh, (gover- 
 nor,) that was not in the bargain. I was to have a shil- 
 
CHAP. X.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 237 
 
 ling for killing him. Am he no dead, Coponoh?' The 
 governor, seeing himself outwitted, told him to dress it 
 and he would give him another shilliiig." 
 
 This Indian having several times outwitted the governor, 
 he, falling in with him sometime after, asked him by what 
 means he had cheated and deceived him so many times 
 He answered, pointing with his finger to his head, " Htaa 
 work, Coponoh, head work !" 
 
 "A sachem being on a visit at the house of Sir William 
 Johnson, told him one morning a dream which he had had 
 the preceding night. This was no other than that Sir 
 William had given him a rich suit of military clothes. 
 Sir William, knowing that it was an Indian custom to 
 give to a friend whatever present he claimed in this man- 
 ner, gave him the clothes. Some time after, the sachem 
 was at his house again. Sir William observed to him that 
 he also had had a dream; The sachem asked him what. 
 He answered, he dreamed that the sachem had given him 
 a tract of land. The sachem replied, ' You have the 
 land, but we no dream again.' " 
 
 " An honest Indian deacon of Natick, being asked the 
 reason why, when their young men were educated in En- 
 glish families, and became acquainted with their habits 
 and manners, on returning to their tribe they immediately 
 became idle, indolent drunkards ; the deacon replied, 
 ^ Tucks will he tucks, for all old hen he hatch em.' " 
 
 ** Among those who were so fortunate as to escape from 
 the scene of slaughter which occurred at Pawtuxet River, 
 R. I., in 1676, were several Cape Indians. One of these 
 artful fellows, named Amos, finding further resistance im- 
 possible, took from his pouch a black pigment, and color- 
 ing his face so as to resemble the blackened visages of the 
 enemy, and pretending to join them in the fight, watched 
 an opportunity and fled into the woods and escaped. An- 
 other, who had broken through the enemy, being closely 
 pursued by a single Indian, betook himself to a large rock 
 for a cover ; soon perceiving that his enemy had gained 
 the opposite side, and lay with his gun ready to discharge 
 upon him, should he leave the place, he artfully raised his 
 hat upon a pole, and immediately his enemy pierced it 
 with a ball ; the Cape Indian, instantly raising himself, 
 
238 INCID' iN THE EARLY [cHAP. X. 
 
 shot his enemy dead. AUhird, who had escaped, and wag 
 pursued in a 'similar manner, covered himself behind a 
 mass of earth, turned up with the roots of a tree ; seeing 
 this, his antagonist halted, and prepared to shoot the Cnpe 
 Indian, the moment that he should resume his flight ; but 
 the latter, by perforating his breastwork, made a convenient 
 loophole, and shot his enemy before he discovered the 
 artifice." 
 
 "A white trader sold a quantity of powder to an Indian, 
 and imposed upon him by making him believe it was a 
 grain which grew like wheat, by sowing it upon the ground. 
 He was greatly elated by the prospect, not only of raising 
 his own powder, but of being able to supply others, and 
 thereby becoming immensely rich. Having prepared his 
 ground with great care, he sowed his powder with the 
 utmost exactness in the spring. Month after month passed 
 away, but his powder did not even sprout, and winter 
 came before he was satisfied that he had been deceived. 
 He said nothing ; but some time after, when the trader had 
 forgotten the trick, the same Indian succeeded in getting 
 credit of him to a large amount. The time, set for pay- 
 ment having expired, he sought out the Indian at his resi- 
 dence, and demanded payment for his goods. The Indian 
 heard his demand with great complaisance ; then looking 
 him shrewdly in the eye, said, * Me pay you when my poio- 
 der grow.' This was enough. The guilty white man 
 quickly retraced his steps." 
 
 "''I am glad,' said the Rev. Dr. Y s, to the chief 
 
 of the Little Ottowas, ' that you do not drink whiskey. 
 But it grieves me to find that your people use so much of 
 it.' * Ah, yes,' replied the Indian — and he fixed an arch 
 sind impressive eye upon the doctor, which communicated 
 the reproof before he uttered it — ' we Indians use a great 
 deal of whiskey, but we do not make it.' " 
 
 " When Gen. Lincoln went to make peace with the 
 Creek Indians, one of the chiefs asked him to sit down on 
 a log. He was then desired to move, and in a few minutes 
 to move still further. The request was repeated till the 
 general got to the end of the log. The Indian said, 
 * Move further.' To which the general replied, ' I can 
 move no further.' * Just so it is with us,' said the chief, 
 
CHAP. X.] HISTORY OF Nk. ' LAND. 23& 
 
 * you have moved us back to the .vaters, and then ask us 
 to move further.' 
 
 "'A Delaware Indian,' says Heckewelder, 'once shot a 
 huge bear, and broke its back bone. The animal fell, and 
 set up a most plaintive cry. The hunter, instead of giving 
 him another shot, stood up close to him, and addressed 
 him in these words : ' Harkee, bear ; you are a coward, 
 and no warrior, as you pretend to be. Were you a warrior, 
 you would show it by your firmness, and not cry and 
 whimper, like an old woman. . You know, bear, that our 
 tribes are at war with each other, and that yours was the 
 aggressor. You have found the Indians too powerful for 
 you, and you have gone sneaking about in the woods, 
 stealing their hogs ; perhaps at this time you have hog's 
 flesh in your stomach. Had you conquered me, I would 
 have borne it with courage, and died like a brave warrior. 
 But you, bear, sit here and cry, and disgrace your tribe 
 by your cowardly conduct.' " 
 
 MAGNANIMITY. 
 
 Annawon, the last and bravest of Philip's chieftains, 
 having on the evening of the 28th of August, 1676, fallen 
 into the hands of Capt. Church, he ** asked Annawon what 
 he had for supper ; * for,' said he, * I am come down to 
 sup with you.' Annawon replied, ' Taubut,* with a ma- 
 jestic voice, and, looking around upon his women, ordered 
 them to hasten and provide Capt. Church and his company 
 some supper. He asked Capt. Church * whether he would 
 eat cow beef or horse beef.' He said he would prefer 
 cow beef. It was soon ready, of which, by the aid of 
 some salt he carried in his pocket, he made a very good 
 meal." 
 
 " When supper was ended, Capt. Church set his men to 
 watch, telling them that if they would let him sleep two 
 hours, they should sleep all the rest of the night ; but 
 after lying half an hour, and feeling no disposition to 
 sleep from the momentous cares upon his mind, he looked 
 to see if his watch were at their posts ; but they were all 
 fast asleep. Annawon felt no more like sleeping than 
 Church, and they lay for some time looking one upon the 
 
240 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. X. 
 
 Other. Church spoke not to Annawon, because he could 
 not speak Indian, and thought Annawon could not speak 
 English; but it now appeared that he could, from a con- 
 versation they held together. Church had laid down with 
 Annawon to prevent his escape, of which, however, he 
 did not seem much afraid, for after they had lain a con- 
 siderable time, Annawon got up and walked away out of 
 sight. Being gone some time. Church ' began to suspect 
 some ill design.' He therefore gathered all the guns close 
 to himself, and lay as close as possible under young Anna- 
 won's side, that if a shot should be made at him it must 
 endanger the life of young Annawon also. After lying a 
 while in great suspense, he saw by the light of the moon 
 Annawon coming M'ith something in his hands. . When he 
 had got to Capt. Church, he knelt down before him, and 
 after presenting him what he had brought, spoke in English 
 as follows : ' Great captain, you have killed Philip and 
 conquered his country. For I believe that I and my com- 
 pany are the last that war against the English ; so I suppose 
 the war is ended by your means, and therefore these things 
 belong unto you.' He then took out of his pack a beauti- 
 fully wrought belt, which belonged to Philip. It was nine 
 inches in breadth, and of such length as, when put about 
 the shoulders of Capt. Church, reached to his ankles. 
 This was considered at that time of great value, being 
 embroidered all over with money, that is, wampampeag, 
 of various colors, curiously wrought into figures of birds, 
 beasts, and flowers. A second belt, of no less exquisite 
 workmanship, was next presented, which had belonged to 
 Philip. This that chief used to ornament his head with ; 
 from the back part of- which flowed two flags, which deco- 
 rated his back. A third was a smaller one, with a star 
 upon the end of it, which he wore upon his breast. All 
 three were edged with red hair, which, Annawon said was 
 got in the country of the Mohawks. He next took from 
 his pack two horns of glazed powder, and a red cloth 
 blanket. These, it appears, were all of the effects of the 
 great chief. He told Capt. Church that those were Philip's 
 royalties, which he was wont to adorn himself with when 
 he sat in state, and that he was happy in having an oppor- 
 tunity to present them to him." 
 
CHAP. X.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 241 
 
 " A hunter, in his* wanderings for game, fell among 
 the back settlements of Virginia, and by reason of the in- 
 clemency of the weather, was induced to seek refuge at 
 the house of a planter, whom he met at his door. Admis- 
 sion was refused him. Being both hungry and thirsty, he 
 asked for a morsel of bread and a cup of cold water, but 
 was answered in every case, * No, you shall have nothing 
 here. Get you gone, you Indian dog .'' It happened, in 
 process of time, that this same planter lost himself in the 
 woods, and after a fatiguing day's travel, he came to an In- 
 dian's cabin, into which he was welcomed. On inquiring 
 the way, and the distance to the white settlements, being 
 told by the Indian that he could not go in the night, and 
 being kindly offered lodging and victuals, he gladly re- 
 freshed and reposed himself in the Indian's cabin. In the 
 morning, he conducted him through the wilderness, agree- 
 ably to his promise the night before, until they came in 
 sight of the habitations of the whites. As he was about 
 to take his leave of the planter, he looked him full in the 
 face, and asked him if he did not know him. Horror- 
 struck at finding himself thus in the po\ver of a man he 
 had so inhumanly treated, and dumb with shame on think- 
 ing of the manner in which it was requited, he began at 
 length to make excuses, and beg a thousand pardons, 
 when the Indian interrupted him, and said, * When you 
 see poor Indians fainting for a cup of cold water, don't say 
 again, * Get you gone, you Indian dog.' He then dismissed 
 him to return to his friends." 
 
 *' A young Indian, of the Pawnee nation, at the foot of 
 the Rocky Mountains, at the age of twenty-one, by his 
 heroic deeds had acquired the distinction of being called 
 * The Bravest of the Brave.' The savage practice of tor- 
 turing and burning to death, existed in this nation. An 
 unfortunate female of the Paduca nation, taken in war, 
 was destined to this horrible death. Her fatal hour had 
 arrived — the trembling victim, far from her home and 
 her friends, was fastened to the stake — the whole tribe 
 was assembled on the surrounding plain, to witness the aw- 
 ful scene. But, when the fagots were about to be kindled, 
 and the spectators were in the height of expectation, this 
 young warrior, who sat composed among the chiefs — hav- 
 21 P 
 
245S INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XI. 
 
 ing before prepared two fleet horses, with the necessaiy 
 provisions — sprang from his seat, rushed through the crowd, 
 loosened the victim, seized her arms, placed her on one 
 of the horses, mounted the other himself, and made the 
 utmost speed towards the nation and friends of the devo- 
 ted captive. The multitude, dumb and nerveless with 
 amazement at the daring deed, made no effort to rescue 
 their victim from her deliverer. They viewed it as the 
 act of the Great Spirit, submitted to it without a murmur, 
 and quietly retired to their respective villages. 
 
 " The released captive was accompanied through the 
 wilderness towards her home, till she was out of danger. 
 He then gave her the horse on which she rode, with the 
 necessary provisions for the rest of the journey, and they 
 parted." 
 
 These, then, are some traits of Indian character found 
 in savage life, and they must be admitted to be lovely and 
 of good report. But they are not holiness — that holiness, 
 without which, no man shall see the Lord ; for they often 
 exist where other parts of the character are directly op- 
 posed to the requirements of the gospel. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 INTEREST MANIFESTED IN THE WELFARE OF THE 
 INDIANS, AND ITS INFLUENCE UPON THEM. 
 
 The following incident, which occurred in March, 1623, 
 is related by Mr. Edward Winslow. 
 
 ** News came to Plymouth, that Massasoit was danger- 
 ously sick, and that there was a Dutch ship driven upon 
 the shore near his house. Now it being the manner of the 
 Indians, when any, especially when persons of note are 
 eick, for all who profess friendship to them, to visit them 
 in their extremity, either in person, or by sending others, 
 therefore it was thought meet, that as we had ever pro- 
 fessed friendship, we should manifest it, by observing this, 
 their laudable custom, and the rather because we desired 
 
CHAP. XI.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 243 
 
 to have some conference with the Dutch. The governor 
 laid this service upon me, and having furnished me with 
 some cordials to administer to Massasoit, I, in company 
 with Mr. Hamden and Hobomack, set out, and lodged the 
 first night at Namasket, where we had friendly entertain- 
 ment. 
 
 " The next day, about one o'clock, we came to a ferry 
 in Corbitant's country, where, upon discharge of my gun, 
 divers Indians came to us from a house not far distant. 
 They told us that Massasoit was dead, that he was buried 
 that day, and that the Dutch would be gone before we 
 could reach there, they having hove off their ship already. 
 This news greatly damped our spirits, and Hobomack was 
 so disheartened, that he desired we might return with all 
 speed. But considering that Massasoit being dead, Corbi- 
 tant would most likely succeed him, that we were not 
 above three miles from Mattapoiset, his dwelling place, 
 and that this would be a favorable time to enter into more 
 friendly terms with him, on condition Mr. Hamden and 
 Hobomack would accompany me, I resolved to proceed, 
 though I perceived that it would be attended with danger, 
 in respect to our personal safety. 
 
 " In the way, Hobomack manifested a troubled spirit, 
 breaking out in the following language, * Neen womasu 
 sagimus, neen womasu sagimus, &c. My loving sachem ! 
 my loving sachem 1 many have I known, but never any 
 like thee.' And turning to me, he said, ' Whilst I live, I 
 shall never see his like amongst the Indians; he was no 
 liar ; he was not bloody and cruel, like other Indians. In 
 anger and passion he was soon reclaimed, easy to be recon- 
 ciled toward those who had offended him, ruled by reason, 
 not scorning the advice of mean men ; governing his men 
 better with few strokes, than others did with many ; truly 
 loving where he loved ; yea, he feared the English had not 
 a faithful friend left among the Indians,' &-c., continuing 
 a long speech, with such signs of lamentation and unfeign- 
 ed sorrow, as would have affected the hardest heart. 
 
 "At length, we came to Mattapoiset; butCorbitant was 
 not at home, he having gone to Pokanoket to visit Massa- 
 soit. The squaw sachem gave us friendly entertainment. 
 Here we inquired again concerning Massasoit; they thought 
 
244 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XI 
 
 nim to be dead, but did not certainly know. Whereupon 
 I hired one to go with all expedition to Pokanoket, that 
 we might know whether he was living or not. About half 
 an hour before sunset, the messenger returned, and told 
 us that he was not yet dead, though there was no hope we 
 should find him living. Upon this intelligence we were 
 much revived, and set forward with all speed. It was late 
 at night when we arrived. 
 
 ' When we came to the house, we found it so full of 
 men, that we could scarcely get in, though they used their 
 best endeavors to make way for us. We found them in 
 the midst of their charms for him, making such a noise as 
 greatly affected those of us who were well, and therefore 
 was not likely to benefit him who was sick. About him 
 were six or eight women, who chafed his limbs to keep 
 heat in him. When they had made an end of their charm- 
 ing, one told him that his friends, the English, were come 
 to see him. Having understanding left, though his sight 
 was wholly gone, he asked who was come.. They told 
 him Winslow. He desired to speak with me. When 1 
 came to him, he put forth his hand, and I took it. He 
 then inquired, ' Keen Winslow V which is to say, ' Art 
 thou Winslow?' I answered, ' Ahhe,' that is, ' Yes.' Then 
 he said, * Matta neen wouckanet namen, Winslow,' that is 
 to say, ' O Winslow, I shall never see thee again.' I then 
 called Hobomack, and desired him to tell Massasoit, that 
 the governor, hearing of his sickness, was sorry, and 
 though by reason of much business he could not come 
 himself, ^et he sent me with such things as he thought 
 most likely to do him good in his extremity, and that if he 
 would like to partake of it, I would give it to him. He 
 desired that I would. T then took some conserve on the 
 point of my knife, and gave it to him, but could scarce 
 get it through his teeth. When it had dissolved in his 
 mouth, he swallowed the juice of it. When those who 
 were about him saw this, they rejoiced greatly, saying that 
 he had not swallowed any thing for two days before. "His 
 mouth was exceedingly furred, and his tongue much swol- 
 len. I washed his mouth, and scraped his tongue, after 
 which I gave him more of the conserve, which he swal- 
 lowed with more readiness. He then desired to drink. I 
 
CHAP. XI.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 245 
 
 dissolved some of the conserve in water, and gave it to 
 him. Within half an hour, there was a visible change in 
 him. Presently his sight began to come. I gave him 
 more, and told him of an accident we had met with, in 
 breaking a bottle of drink the governor had sent him, as- 
 suring him, that if he would send any of his men to Patux- 
 et, (Plymouth,) I would send for more. I also told him 
 that I would send for chickens to make him some broth, 
 and for other things, which I knew were good for him, and 
 that I would stay till the messenger returned, if he desired. 
 This he received very kindly, and appointed some, who 
 were ready to go by two o'clock in the morning, against 
 which time I made ready a letter. 
 
 " He requested that, the day following, I would take 
 my gun, and kill him some fowl, and make him some pot- 
 tage, such as he had eaten at Plymouth ; which I promised 
 to do. His appetite returning before morning, he desired 
 me to make him some broth without fowl before I went out 
 to hunt, I was now quite at a loss what to do. I, how- 
 ever, caused a woman to pound some corn, put it into 
 some water, and place it over the fire. When the day 
 broke, we went out to seek herbs ; but it being early in the 
 season, we could find none except strawberry leaves. I 
 gathered a handful of them, with some sassafras root, and 
 put them into the porridge. It being boiled, I strained it 
 through my handkerchief, and gave him, at least, a-pint, 
 which he liked very well. After this, his sight mended 
 more and more, and he took some rest. We now felt 
 constrained to thank God for giving his blessing to such 
 raw and ignorant means. It now appeared evident that 
 he would recover, and all of them acknowledged us as 
 the instruments of his preservation. 
 
 ** That morning he caused me to spend in going from 
 one to another of those -who were sick in town, request- 
 ing me to wash their mouths also, and to give to each of 
 them some of the same that I gave him. This pains I 
 willingly took. 
 
 " The messengers, which had been sent to Plymouth, 
 
 had by this time returned, but Massasoit, finding himself 
 
 so much better, would not have the chickens killed, but 
 
 kept them that they might produce more. Many, whilst 
 
 21* 
 
246 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. XI 
 
 we were there, came to see him, some of them, according 
 to their account, came not less than an hundred miles. 
 Upon his recovery, he said, ' Now I see that the English 
 are my friends, and love me, and, whilst I live, I will never 
 forget this kindness which they have shown me.' While 
 we were there, we were better entertamed than any other 
 strangers. 
 
 "As we were about to come away, he called Ilobomack 
 to him, and revealed to him a plot the Massachusetts had 
 formed to destroy the English. He told him that several 
 other tribes were confederate with them, that he, in his 
 sickness, had been earnestly solicited to join them, but had 
 refused, and that he had not suffered any of his people to 
 unite with them. He advised us to kill the men of Massa- 
 chusetts, who were the authors of this intended mischief. 
 When we took leave of him, he returned many thanks to 
 the governor, and expressed much gratitude to us for our 
 labor of love. So did all who were about him." 
 
 *' In 1022, when the people of Plymouth were in great 
 distress for want of rain, they set apart a day to seek God 
 by solemn prayer, entreating him to appear in their behalf 
 An Indian, taking notice that during the former part of 
 the day there was a very clear and hot sunshine, and that 
 in the evening the rain fell in a sweet, soaking shower, 
 was so much affected with the power the English had with 
 their God, that he resolved from that day not to rest till 
 he knew this great God. To this end he immediately 
 forsook the Indians, and clave to the English ; and not- 
 withstanding all the enticements, flatteries and frowns of 
 his countrymen, he could never be induced to forsake his 
 christian friends, but died among them, leaving some good 
 evidence that his soul went to rest." 
 
 Squanto, who for some years had had familiar inter- 
 course with the English, fell sick and died. " Not long 
 before his death he desired the governor of Plymouth, 
 who was present, to pray that he might go to the place 
 where dwelt the Englishman's God." 
 
 " An Indian of the Pequot tribe, called Waquash, a 
 captain who served in the wars against the English, when 
 he saw their fort taken, and so many hundreds of the 
 Indians killed in an hour's time, was smitten with the 
 
CHAP. XI.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 247 
 
 terrors of the Lord, and greatly affected to think of the 
 greatness of the Englishman's God. This impression so 
 followed him, that he could have no rest till he came to a 
 knowledge of the God of the English. He was so impor- 
 tunate in seeking him, that he caused the English, among 
 whom he afterwards came, to spend more than half the 
 night in conversing with him. Afterwards, coming to live 
 with the English at Connecticut, he would often sadly 
 smite upon his breast, and complain of his naughty heart, 
 adding, Waquash no know God, Waquash no know Jesus 
 Christ. But afterwards it pleased the Lord so to move 
 upon his heart, that he fully reformed his life, confessing 
 his dearest sins, lust and revenge, and in many wsfj's testi- 
 fying that he had truly forsaken them. He afterwards, 
 like the woman of Samaria, went among the Indians pro- 
 claiming Christ ; warning them to flee from the wrath to 
 come, by breaking off their sins. Some of them were so 
 filled with rage, that they gave him poison, which he took 
 without suspicion. When they wished him to send for 
 the powaws, who are their physicians and priests, he told 
 them that ' if Jesus Christ say that Waquash shall live, 
 then Waquash live ; but if Jesus Christ say Waquash shall 
 die, then Waquash is willing to die.' He bequeathed hia 
 only child to the English. He died, as was charitably 
 believed, a martyr for Christ, rtyoicing in the hope that 
 his child would know more of Christ than its poor father 
 did." 
 
 " While settlements and churches were forming in vari- 
 ous parts of Connecticut, some pains were taken to 
 christianize the Indians. The Rev, Mr. Fitch was par- 
 ticularly desired by the government to teach Uncas and 
 his family Christianity. A large Bible, printed in the 
 Indian language, was provided and given to the Mohegan 
 sachems, that they might read the scriptures. Catechisms 
 were prepared by Mr. Eliot and others, and distributed 
 among the Indians. Mr. Stone and Mr. Newton were 
 employed by the colony to teach the Indians in Hartford, 
 Windsor. Farmington, and vicinity, and one John Minor 
 was employed as an interpreter, and was taken into Mr. 
 Stone's family, that he might be further instructed and 
 prepared for that service. The Rev. Mr Pietson, itseemSf 
 
/848 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. XI. 
 
 learned the Indian language, and preached to the Con- 
 necticut Indians. Several Indians, in one town and an- 
 other, became christians, and were baptized and admitted 
 to full communion in the English churches. 
 
 *' The gospel, however, had by far the most happy effect 
 upon the Q,uinibaug, or Plainfield Indians. They ever 
 lived peacefully with the English, and about the year 1745, 
 in time of the great awakening and reformation in New 
 England, they were greatly affected with the truths of the 
 gospel, professed Christianity, and gave the clearest evi- 
 dence of real conversion to God. They were filled with 
 the knowledge of salvation, and expressed it to admiration. 
 They vi^re entirely reformed. They became temperate, 
 held religious meetings, and numbers formed themselves 
 into a church state, and had the sacraments administered 
 to them." 
 
 *' Some of the Indians who were taken into English 
 families in Massachusetts attained to some acquaintance 
 with the principles of religion, and seemed to be affected 
 with what they had been taught concerning their existence 
 after death, and with the fears of the divine displeasure. 
 John, the sagamore of Massachusetts, would sometimes 
 praise the English and their God, saying, * Much good 
 men, much good God.' " 
 
 In the year 1633, the small pox^ prevailed among the 
 Massachusetts Indians, and was attended with great mor- 
 tality. " The English took many of their children, but 
 most of them died. John, the sagamore, died, and most 
 of his people; thirty of whom were buried in one day. 
 He desired to be brought among the English, and promised 
 that if he recovered, he would live with them and serve 
 their God. He left one son, which he gave to Mr. Wilson, 
 pastor of the church in Boston. He died in the persua- 
 sion that he should go to the Englishman's God. Several 
 of them, in their sickness, confessed that the Englishman's 
 God was a good God, and that if they recovered they 
 would serve him. They were much affected to see that 
 when their own people forsook them, the English came 
 daily and ministered to them." 
 
 Several of the early ministers of New England distin- 
 guished themselves by their devoted and zealous labors ia 
 
OF THE 
 
 TT TT' 7 '' " ~* 
 
 CHAP. XT.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. ^ 249 
 
 behalf of the ignorant and degraded savages/^^f4he?5e 
 the most eminent were the Rev. John Eliot, and theMay 
 hews. Mr. Eliot came to New England in 1G31, and was 
 settled as teacher of the church in Roxbury, November 5, 
 1632. He is usually styled the Apostle of the Indians. 
 " His heart was touched with the wretched condition of 
 the Indians, and he became eagerly desirous of making 
 them acquainted with the glad tidings of salvation. There 
 were, at the time when he began his missionary exertions, 
 near twenty tribes of Indians within the limits of the 
 English planters. But they were very similar in manners, 
 language, and religion. Having learned the barbarous 
 dialect, he first preached to an assembly of Indians at 
 Nonantum, in the present town of Newtown, October 28, 
 1646. After a. short prayer, he explained the command- 
 ments, described the character and sufferings of Christ, 
 the judgment day and its consequences, and exhorted them 
 to receive Christ as their Savior, and to pray to God. 
 After the sermon was finished, he desired them to ask any 
 questions which might have occurred. One immediately 
 inquired whether Jesus Christ could understand prayers in 
 the Indian language. Another asked how all the world 
 became full of people, if they were all once drowned. A 
 third question was, how there could be the image of God, 
 since it was forbidden by the commandment. He preached 
 to them a second time, November 11th, and some of them 
 wept while he was addressing them. An old man asked, 
 with tears in his eyes, whether it was not too late for him 
 to repent and turn unto God. Among the other inquiries 
 were these : how it came to pass that sea water was salt, 
 and river water fresh ; how the English came to differ so 
 much from the Indians in the knowledge of God and Jesus 
 Christ, since they all had. at first but one father ; and why, 
 if the water is larger than the earth, it does not overflow 
 the earth. He was violently opposed by the sachems, and 
 powaws, or priests, who were apprehensive of losing their 
 authority, if a new religion was introduced. When he 
 was alone with them in the wilderness, they threatened 
 him with every evil, if he did not desist from his labors ; 
 but he was a man not to be shaken in his purpose by the 
 fear of danger. He said to them, * I am about the work 
 
350 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. XI 
 
 of the great God, and my God is with me ; so that I nei- 
 ther fear you, nor all the sachems in the country ; I will 
 go on, and do you touch me if you dare.' With a body 
 capable of enduring fatigue, and a mind firm as the moun- 
 tain oaks, which surrounded his path, he went from place 
 to place, relying for protection upon the great Head of the 
 church, and declaring the salvation of the gospel to the 
 children of darkness. His benevolent zeal prompted him 
 tQ encounter with cheerfulness the most terrifying dangers, 
 and to submit to the most incredible hardships. He says 
 in a letter, ' I have not been dry, night or 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, 2 Tim. ii. 
 3, endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." 
 He made a missionary tour every fortnight, planted a 
 number of churches, and visited all the Indians in Massa- 
 chusetts and Plymouth colonies, pursuing his way as far 
 as Cape Cod. In 1651, an Indian town was built on a 
 pleasant spot on Charles River, and called Natick. A 
 house of worship was erected, and a form of government 
 was established similar to that which is mentioned in 
 Exodus xviii. 21. 
 
 " Mr. Eliot was convinced that in order to the most 
 permanent success, it was necessary to introduce with 
 Christianity the arts of civilized life. He accordingly 
 made every exertion to persuade the Indians to renounce 
 their savage customs and habits, but he never could civi- 
 lize those who went out in hunting parties ; and those who 
 lived near ponds and rivers, and were occupied in fishing, 
 or cultivating the ground, though their condition was 
 much improved, could never be made equally industrious 
 with the English. The first Indian church established by 
 the labors of Protestants in America, was formed at Natick, 
 in 1660, after the manner of the congregational churches 
 in New England. Those who wished to be organized 
 into a christian body were strictly examined as to their 
 faith and experience by a number of the neighboring 
 ministers, and Mr. Eliot afterwards administered to them 
 baptism and the Lord's supper. Other Indian churches 
 
CHAP. XI.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 251 
 
 were planted in various parts of Massachusetts, and he 
 frequently visited them, but his pastoral care was more 
 particularly oyer that which he first established. He made 
 every exertion to promote the welfare of the Indian tribes; 
 he stimulated many servants of Jesus to engage in the 
 missionary work, and although he mourned over the stu- 
 pidity of many, who preferred darkness to light, yet he 
 lived to see twenty-four of the copper-colored aborigines, 
 fellow-preachers of the precious gospel of Christ. In 
 1661, he published the New Testament in the Indian lan- 
 guage, and in a few years the whole Bible, and several 
 other books, best adapted for the instruction of the na- 
 tives." 
 
 The covenant agreed to by the members of the Indian 
 church collected by Mr. Eliot at Natick, was in the fol- 
 lowing words : " We are lost in Adam, we and our fathers 
 have been a long time lost in our sins, but now the mercy 
 of God begins to find us out again ; therefore, the grace 
 of God helping us, we do give ourselves and our children 
 to God: he shall rule us in all our affairs, not only in 
 religion and the affairs of the church, but also in all our 
 works and affairs in this world. God shall rule over us ; 
 the Lord is our judge, our lawgiver ; th-e Lord is our 
 king, he will save us. The wisdom which (iod hath taught 
 us in his book, that shall guide us and direct us in the 
 \v;iy. O Jehovah ! teach us wisdom, to find out thy wis- 
 dom in the scriptures ; let the grace of Christ help us ; 
 because Christ is the wisdom of God. Send thy Spirit 
 into our hearts, and let it teach us : Lord, take us to be 
 thy people, and let us take thee to be our God." 
 
 The first convert among the Indians who died, was a 
 woman. Soon after Mr. Eliot commenced holding meet- 
 ings among them, she, with her husband, attended. She 
 was ever after a diligent hearer. She manifested a strong 
 desire to come and dwell where the word of God was 
 taught. That she might have this privilege, she brought 
 corn for her family on her back, sixteen miles. She was 
 industrious, and taught her children to be so. Ever after 
 she embraced the gospel, her life was exemplary, Sh^ 
 was the first female who proposed a question to Mr. Eliot 
 at a religious meeting. Her question was this : whether, 
 
252 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XI 
 
 when her husband prayed in his family, and her heart 
 united in the desires he offered, this was praying to God 
 aright or no. Mr. Eliot visited her several times in her 
 last sickness, prayed and conversed vv'ith her. She told 
 him she still loved God, though he made her sick. She 
 said she was resolved to pray to him as long as she lived ; 
 that she believed God would pardon her sins, because she 
 believed that Jesus Christ died for her, and that God was 
 well pleased with him. She said, moreover, that she was 
 willing to die, and that she believed she s"hould go to 
 heaven and live happily with God and Christ there. She 
 called her children to her and said to them, " I shall now 
 die, and when I am dead, your grandfather and grand- 
 mother, and uncles, &c., will send for you to come and 
 live among them, and promise you great matters, and tell 
 you what pleasant living it is among them ; but do not 
 believe them, and I charge you never hearken to them, 
 nor live among them, for they pray not to God, nor keep 
 the sabbath, but commit all manner of sins, and are not 
 punished for it; but I charge you to live here, for here 
 they pray to God, the word of God is taught, sins are 
 suppressed and punished by laws ; therefore I charge you 
 live here all your days." She died soon after this. 
 
 Another convert, named Wamporas, sickened and died. 
 He was one of their principal men. When Mr. Eliot called 
 to see him in his last sickness, he said to him, " Four years 
 and a quarter since, I came to your house, and brought 
 some of our children to dwell with the English ; now I 
 die, I strongly entreat you, that you would strongly entreat 
 Elder Heath, (with whom his son lived,) and the rest who 
 have our children, that they may be taught to know God, 
 so that they may teach their countrymen, because such an 
 example would do great good among them." He said that 
 he did not fear death ; and turning to the Indians who 
 were about him, he said, " I now shall die, but Jesus Christ 
 calleth you that live to go to Natick, that there the Lord 
 might rule over you ; that you might make a church, and 
 have the ordinance of God among you, believe in his word, 
 and do as he commandethyou." The Indians were affect- 
 ed to tears. A little before he expired, he said to them, 
 " Some delight to hear idle and foolish words, but I desire 
 
CHAP. XI. J HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 253 
 
 to hear and speak only the words of God." He exhorted 
 them to do so likewise. His last words were, *' Oh Lord^ 
 give me Jesus Christ !" When his speech had failed, he 
 lifted his hands to heaven, and continued to do so until his 
 last breath. The Indians flocked around him to hear his 
 dying words, and were greatly affected with his death. 
 
 *' The church in Natick continued an Indian church many 
 years after the decease of Mr. Eliot. Not only the minis- 
 ters of the neighboring church, but some from a distance, 
 whose zeal and benevolence led them to visit the spot, 
 which resembled the garden of the Lord, rather than the 
 rest of the wilderness, afforded them much assistance. Mr. 
 Daniel Gookin preached to them a number of years, about 
 the end of the seventeenth century. They had also an In- 
 dian pastor, named Daniel. Between the years 1700 and 
 1745, several missionaries were appointed, who resided in 
 the town with the praying Indians. During that year, 
 many went into the wars, and were scattered : their number 
 has lessened ever since, and now (1802) hardly a pure 
 Indian can be found in this plantation." 
 
 Rev. Thomas Mayhevv, son of Mr. Thomas Mayhew, 
 governor of Martha's Vineyard, distinguished himself by 
 his benevolent and devoted labors among the Indians. '* He 
 accompanied his father to that island, where he became 
 the minister of the English. He beheld with christian 
 compassion the miserable Indians, who were ignorant of 
 the true God ; he studied their language, he conciliated 
 their affections, and he taught them the truths of the gos- 
 pel. Mr. Mayhew commenced his public instructions to 
 the Indians, in 1646, the same year in which Mr. Eliot 
 began his missionary exertions. Many obstacles were 
 thrown in his way ; but he persevered in his benevolent la- 
 bors, visiting the natives in their different abodes, lodging 
 in their smoky wigwams, and usually spending part of^ the 
 night in relating to them portions of the scripture history. 
 Before the close of the year 1650, a hundred Indians en- 
 tered into a solemn covenant to obey the Most High God, 
 imploring his mercy through the blood of Christ. In 1652, 
 there were two hundred and eighty-two of the Indians 
 who had embraced Christianity, and among these, were 
 eight powaws, or priests. He sailed for England in No- 
 22 
 
254 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XI. 
 
 vember, 1657, to communicate intelligence respecting 
 these Indians to the Society for propagating the gospel, 
 and to procure the means for more extensive usefulness ; 
 but the vessel was lost at sea, and he perished in the thirty- 
 seventh year of his age. 
 
 "After his death, his father, as he was acquainted with 
 the language of the Indians, and as he saw no prospect 
 of procuring a stated minister for them, began himself, at 
 the age of seventy, to preach to the natives, as well as to 
 the English. Notwithstanding his advanced years, and 
 his office of governor, he sometimes travelled on foot near 
 twenty miles through the woods, in order to impart the 
 knowledge of the gospel to those who sat in darkness 
 He persuaded the natives at Gayhead to receive the gospel, 
 which they had before opposed. When an Indian church 
 was formed, August 22, 1670, the members of it desired 
 him, though above fourscore, to become their pastor ; but 
 as he declined, they chose Hiacoomes. When Philip's 
 war commenced in 1675, the Indians of Martha's Vine 
 yard could count twenty times the number of the English, 
 and the latter would probably have been extirpated, had 
 not the christian religion been introduced; but now all 
 was peace, Mr. Mayhew employed some of his converts as 
 a guard. 
 
 " Rev. John Mayhew, son of Rev. Thomas Mayhew, 
 was called to the ministry in 1673, among the English at 
 Tisbury, in the middle of the island. About the same 
 time he began to preach to the Indians. He taught them 
 alternately in all their assemblies, every week, and assisted 
 them in the management of their ecclesiastical concerns. 
 For a number of years he received but five pounds annu- 
 ally for his services; but he was content, being more de- 
 sirous of saving souls from death, than of accumulating 
 wealth. He sought not glory of men, and willingly re- 
 mained unknown, though he possessed talents which might 
 have attracted applause. He died in the thirty-seventh 
 year of his age, and in the sixteenth of his ministry, leaving 
 an Indian church of one hundred communicants, and 
 several well-instructed Indian teachers in different congre- 
 gations." 
 
 The first Indian convert on the island was Hiacoomes. 
 
CHAP. XI.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 255 
 
 His place of residence being near the English, they went 
 to his wigwam and conversed with him. After this, he 
 called at their houses, and attended their religious meet- 
 ings. Mr. Mayhew invited him to his house every Lord's 
 day, after divine service, and conversed with him freely. 
 He soon began to give evidence that he was under the 
 teaching of the Holy Spirit. Meeting with railing and 
 abuse from a sagamore, or chief, who struck him with 
 his hand upon the face, he returned no abuse, but said 
 afterwards, ' I had one hand for injuries, and the other for 
 God ; while I did receive wrong with the one, the other 
 laid the greater hold on God.' He was desirous to learn 
 to read. The English gave him a primer, which he daily 
 carried about with him. When scoffed at by the Indians, 
 and reproached with forsaking their religion, and following 
 the English, he made no reply, but afterwards told a fViend 
 of his, ' that he thought in his heart that the God in heaven 
 did know and hear all the evil words that Pakeponesso 
 spake.' The little knowledge of religious things he had 
 gained, he endeavored to teach his neighbors. The In- 
 dians, on one occasion, being greatly affected" with the 
 providences of God, the chief man of one of their settle- 
 ments, several miles distant, sent a messenger to Hia- 
 coomes, to come and teach them * what he knew and did 
 in the ways of the Lord.' Being pleased with the oppor- 
 tunity, he went with the messenger. When he arrived at 
 the place, he found many Indians assembled, among whom 
 was a sagamore. They requested * that he would show 
 his heart to them, how it stood towards God, and what 
 they must do.' He told them what he knew concerning 
 God. He spake of the fall of man, and of the misery 
 which had come upon the world in consequence of the 
 apostasy. He told them that Christ had suffered and 
 died to satisfy the wrath of God ; and that the Holy Spirit 
 teaches men the things of God. He assured them that 
 he feared none but this great God ; that he was sorry for 
 his sins ; that he desired to be redeemed by Jesus Christ, 
 and to walk in God's commandments. He mentioned over 
 a number of sins with which they were chargeable, such 
 as having many gods, going to Powaws, and the rest. 
 Hiacoomes afterwards told Mr. Mayhew, that this was 
 
256 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [ HAP. M. 
 
 the first time he ever saw the Indians sensible of their 
 sins. The Holy Spirit was evidently present, to convince 
 of sin. 
 
 Mr. Mayhew, after some years' acquaintance with Hia- 
 coomes, says respecting him, " It pleased the Lord to give 
 both light and courage to this poor Indian, for although 
 formerly he had been a harmless man among them, yet, a.s 
 themselves say, not at all accounted of, and therefore they 
 often wondered that he who had nothing to say in their 
 meetings formerly, is now become the teacher of them all. 
 I must needs give this testimony of him — that he is a man 
 of a sober spirit and good conversation, and as he hath, as 
 I hope, received the Lord Jesus Christ in truth, so also I 
 look upon him to be faithful, diligent, and constant in 
 the work of the Lord, for the good of his own soul, and 
 of his neighbors with him." 
 
 In the course of a few weeks after Mr. Mayhew had 
 formed a church among the Indians, one of them coming 
 to him on business, told him '* that some of the Indians had 
 lately kept a day of repentance, and that the text from 
 which one of their number addressed them, was from the 
 sixty-sixth Psalm, He rukth hy his power forever, his 
 eyes behold the nations, let not the rebellious exalt the7?i- 
 selves." Mr. Mayhew asked him what end they had in 
 view in keeping such a day. The Indian told him that 
 their reasons were these. 1. They desired that God would 
 slay the rebellion of their hearts. 2. That they might 
 love God and one another. 3. That they might withstand 
 the evil words and temptations of wicked men, and not be 
 drawn back from God. 4. That they might be obedient 
 to the good words and commands of their rulers. 5. That 
 they might have their sins done away by the redemption 
 of Jesus Christ ; and lastly, that they might walk in Christ's 
 ways.. 
 
 Several other ministers, beside Mr. Eliot and the May- 
 hews, learnt the language of the Indians, and in their own 
 tongue taught them the wonderful works of God. Among 
 these were the Rev. Messrs. Bourne, Cotton, and Treat. 
 
 Mr. Bourne was a missionary among the Indians at 
 Marshpee. He prosecuted his labors with ardor, and hia 
 efforts were crowned with success. A church constituted 
 
CHAP. XI.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 257 
 
 of those converted by his instrumentality was collected, 
 and he was ordained their pastor in 1670. He manifested 
 great regard for the temporal interests of the Indians. 
 That they might have a territory where they could make a 
 permanent settlement, he, at his own expense, obtained a 
 deed of Marshpee. 
 
 Mr. Cotton, for about three years, preached to the En- 
 glish, and also to the Indians on Martha's Vineyard. He 
 rendered great assistance to Gov. Mayhevv in his benevo- 
 lent efforts to impart the knowledge of salvation to the 
 savages. He afterwards became pastor of the church at 
 Plymouth, where he remained about thirty years. While 
 there, he frequently preached to several congregations of 
 Indians who lived in the neighborhood. He revised and 
 corrected Eliot's Indian Bible, previous to its publication. 
 
 Mr. Treat was the first minister of Eastham. " He 
 devoted to the Indians in his neighborhood much of his 
 time and attention. Through his zeal and labors, many 
 of the savages were brought into a state of civilization and 
 order, and not a few of them were converted to the christ- 
 ian faith." 
 
 " In 1685, when an account of the praying Indians in 
 the colony of Plymouth was transmitted to England, it 
 was found that they amounted to five hundred men and 
 women within the limits of Mr. Treat's parish, beside boys 
 and girls, who were supposed to be more than three times 
 that number." 
 
 Dr. Hawes, speaking of the happy results of the labors 
 of those who early sought to guide the feet of the poor In- 
 dians in the way of life, says, that " in 1700 there were 
 thirty Indian churches in New England, under the pastoral 
 care of the same number of Indian preachers." 
 
 How ample the encouragement here afforded to seek 
 the good of the aborigines of our country ! Like causes 
 will, doubtless, still effect like results. Let us then do 
 what in us lies, to have the rays of the gospel shine in 
 upon the dark minds of the sons of the forest. Let us 
 give cheerfully of our substance for the support of missions 
 among them. Let us offer our fervent supplications to 
 Him whose hand alone can remove the vail that covers 
 their hearts, and bring them forth from nature's darkness 
 22* Q 
 
258 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XII 
 
 into his own marvellous light. And should Providence 
 call us to it, let us devote our time and our talents, yea, 
 our life even, to the promotion of their temporal and eter- 
 nal welfare. 
 
 Should the gospel be brought home to their hearts "with 
 a convincing power and light," how happy would be the 
 result ! What a change would be effected in their charac- 
 ter and condition 1 The tiger would become a lamb 
 Revenge would be turned to meekness, savage cruelty to 
 sympathy and kindness. No more should we hear of 
 wars and rumors of wars among them. No more would 
 they deal in treachery and lies. They would cease to in- 
 dulge in sottish idleness, and would cultivate habits of 
 industry. They would no longer destroy themselves and 
 their offspring by living in intemperance and other destruc- 
 tive vices. No more would they suffer, as they now often 
 do, from hunger and want. , No more would they spend 
 the days and years of their fleeting life without God and 
 without hope, and rush into eternity ignorant of the tre- 
 mendous doom that awaits them. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ESTIMATE PLACED UPON THE INSTITUTIONS OF RELI- 
 GION BY THE FIRST SETTLERS OF NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 Among the institutions of religion, a preached gospel 
 stands pre-eminent. The living word, from the lips of 
 the living minister, is a means of effecting vast results. 
 It enlightens the conscience, controls the passions, checks 
 the growth of evil habits, lays a restraint upon vice, pre- 
 vents crime, promotes order, advances intellectual im 
 provement and temporal prosperity, and, what .is more, it 
 is the grand means by which the saints are edified, com- 
 forted, quickened and perfected, and by which the impeni- 
 tent are convinced of sin, and converted to God. 
 
 The gospel is indebted to no community in the land, 
 admitting the expense at which it is supported to be what 
 
CHAP. XII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 259 
 
 it may. Like the ark in the house of Obed-edom, it more 
 than compensates those who entertain it. 
 
 But the effects resulting from the absence of the gospel 
 from a community are most disastrous. The Bible is 
 unread, tlie Sabbath is profaned, the religious instruction 
 of the rising generation is neglected, family government 
 is laid aside, the young become headstrong, and to- a 
 shocking degree without parental or natural affection : 
 these things, with ignorance, intemperance, idleness, ini- 
 quity and crime, make up the sad catalogue of evils. 
 
 Of such importance does the Lord Jesus Christ d'lem 
 the preaching of the word, that in every age he has raised 
 up an order of men to attend upon this very thing ; men 
 called of God, as was Aaron ; men who have been moved 
 hy the Holy Ghost to take this office upon themselves. 
 
 In accordance with these sentiments were those of our 
 forefathers. No truth is more evident from their history 
 than that they regarded the stated ministration of the 
 gospel as a matter of the utmost importance. This is 
 seen in their early and self-denying efforts to secure and 
 retain the gospel ministry. 
 
 In several instances, a minister was one of the first set-- 
 tiers of a colony, and was elected their pastor y unless he 
 had been such previous to their removal. 
 
 A colony from England arrived at Naumkeag, now 
 Salfem, June 29th, 1629. In the company were four 
 ministers, the Rev. Francis Higginson, and Messrs. Skel- 
 ton. Bright, and Smith. Felt, in his Annals of Salem, 
 says, " In order to secure the primary object of their 
 emigration, our fathers took measures for the regular 
 establishment of the church and ministry among them. 
 July 20th was set apart by Mr. Endicott for' choice of the 
 pastor and teacher. Of the services on that interesting 
 day, Mr. Charles Gott writes to Gov. Bradford, of Plym- 
 outh. He thus expresses himself : 'The 20th of July, it 
 pleased God to move the heart of our governor to set it 
 apart for a solemn day of humiliation for the choice of a 
 pastor and teacher ; the former part of the day being spent 
 in praise and teaching ; the latter part was spent about 
 the election, which was after this manner : the persons 
 thought of were demanded concerning their callings. They 
 
 d 
 
2G0 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XII. 
 
 acknowledged that there was a two-fold calling, the one 
 an inward calling, when the Lord moved the heart of a 
 man to take that calling upon him, and filled him with 
 gifts for the same : the second was from the people ; when 
 a company of believers were joined together in covenant, 
 to walk together in all the ways of God, every member ia 
 to have a free voice in the choice of their officers. These 
 two servants clearing all things by their answers, we saw 
 no reason but that we might freely give our voices for 
 their election after this trial. Their choice was after this 
 manner : every fit person wrote in a note his name whom 
 the Lord moved him to think was fit for a pastor, and so 
 likewise whom they would have for a teacher ; so the 
 most voices were for Mr. Skelton to be pastor, and Mr. 
 Higginson to be teacher ; and they accepting the choice, 
 Mr. Higginson, with three or four more of the gravest 
 members of the church, laid their hands on Mr. Skelton, 
 using prayers therewith. This beJng done, then there 
 was imposition of hands on Mr. Higginson. Now, good 
 sir, I hope that you, and the rest of God's people with 
 you, will say that here was a right foundation laid, and 
 that these two blessed servants of the Lord came in at 
 the door, and not at the window.' " 
 
 The West Barnstable church, which has been stated to 
 be " the first independent Congregational church of that 
 name in the world," was organized in 1616, in England. 
 "The foundation of this church was laid in the following 
 manner : after solemn fasting and prayer, each made open 
 confession of his faith in Jesus Christ; and then, standing 
 up together, they joined hands and solemnly covenanted 
 with each other, in the presence of Almighty God, to 
 walk together in all his ways, ordinances, &-c. On account 
 of the violence of the persecution with which this church 
 was assailed, their pastor continued with them only eight 
 years, and then fled to Virginia, in this country, where he 
 soon after died. The church then chose as their second 
 pastor, Rev. John Lathrop. In 1632, Mr. Lathrop and 
 the little band to whom he ministered, when assembled for 
 worship in a private building, were surprised by their per- 
 secutors, and only eighteen of their number escaped, while 
 forty-two were apprehended and cast into prison. After 
 
CHAP. XII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 261 
 
 being confined for two years, all were released upon bail, 
 excepting Mr. Lathrop, for whom no favor could be ob- 
 tained. At length, however, on condition of leaving the 
 country, he obtained his freedom. In 1634, with thirty- 
 four of his church and congregation, all that he could 
 collect, he came to New England, and settled at Scituate. 
 At that time the churches at Plymouth, Duxbury, and 
 Marshfield were all that existed in the country. In 1639, 
 with a majority of his people, and twenty-two male mem- 
 bers of his church, he removed to Barnstable and com- 
 menced its settlement. 
 
 " A large rock is said to lie near the place around 
 which tins colony used to hold their public religious meet- 
 ings. On that venerable and consecrated rock is believed 
 to have been preached the first gospel sermon in this 
 town ; and here the ordinances were first administered." * 
 
 The early history of the colony which settled New 
 Haven is in point. 
 
 *' On the 26th of July, 1637, (says Barber,) Mr. Daven- 
 port, Mr. Samuel Eaton, Theophilus Eaton, and Edward 
 Hopkins, Esqrs. Mr. Thomas Gregson, and many others 
 of good characters and fortunes, arrived at Boston. Mr. 
 Davenport had been a celebrated minister in the city of 
 London, and was a distinguished character for piety, 
 learning, and good conduct. Many of his congregation, 
 on account of the esteem they had for his person and 
 ministry, followed him into New England. 
 
 *' On the 30th of March, 1638, Mr. Davenport, Mr. 
 Pruden, Mr. Samuel Eaton, and Theophilus Eaton, Esq., 
 with the people of their company, sailed fi*om Boston for 
 Q,uinnipiac, now New Haven. In about a fortnight they 
 arrived at their destined port. On the 18th of April, they 
 kept their first Sabbath in the place. The people assem- 
 bled under a large spreading oak, and Mr. Davenport 
 preached to them from Matthew vi. 1. He insisted on 
 the temptations of the wilderness, made such observations, 
 and gave such directions and exhortations as were perti- 
 nent to the then present state of his hearers. He left this 
 remark, that he enjoyed a good day." 
 
 * Boston Recorder. 
 
262 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XII. 
 
 Of the formation of a church, and the election of offi- 
 cers, Bacon gives the following account : 
 
 " With what solemnities the formal constituting of the 
 church, by seven men appointed for that purpose, was 
 attended, is not upon those records which have come down 
 to us. We know, however, what were the forms generally 
 observed on similar occasions, at the same period ; and, 
 presuming that the same forms were observed here, we 
 may easily imagine something of the transactions of that 
 day. At an early hour, probably not far from eight 
 o'clock in the morning, the congregation assembled. Tra- 
 dition says, that the assembly was under the same broad 
 oak, under which they had kept their first Sabbalti. After 
 public exercises of preaching and prayer, ' about the space 
 of four or five hours,' those who are first to unite in the 
 church covenant, the seven pillars of the house of wisdom, 
 stand forth before the congregation, and the elders and 
 delegates from neighboring churches, — for, probably, such 
 were present from the churches on the river. In the first 
 place, that all present may be satisfied respecting the per- 
 sonal piety of the men who are to begin the church, all the 
 seven successively make a declaration of their religious 
 experience, what has been the history of their minds, and 
 what have been the influences and effects of God's grace 
 upon them. Next, that they may make it clear that their 
 confidence in Christ rests upon Christ as revealed in the 
 Word, they, either severally or jointly, make profession 
 of their faith, declaring those great and leading doctrines 
 which they receive as the substance of the gospel. If, on 
 any points, further explanations are desired, questions are 
 proposed by the representatives of neighboring churches, 
 till all be satisfied. Then they unitedly express their as- 
 sent to a written form of covenant, in nearly the same 
 words in which the covenant of this church is now ex- 
 pressed ; after which, they receive from the representatives 
 of the neighborirlg churches the right hand of fellow-ship, 
 recognizing them as a church of Chrisjr, invested with all 
 the powers and privileges which Christ has given to his 
 churches. 
 
 " The election and ordination of officers followed very 
 soon after the organizatioti of the church. Mr. Daven- 
 
CHAP. XII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 263 
 
 port, who was, perhaps, even more than any other man, 
 the leader of the enterprise, was chosen pastor. The 
 office of teacher, and that of ruling elder, appear to have 
 been left vacant for a season. Mr. Samuel Eaton, who is 
 sometimes spoken of as having been a colleague with Mr. 
 Davenport, appears not to have sustained that relation after 
 the church was duly gathered. The first deacons were 
 Robert Newman and Matthew Gilbert, who were both in 
 the original foundation of the church. Mr. Davenport, 
 like nearly all the ministers who emigrated to this country 
 in that age, had been regularly ordained to the ministry ia 
 the church of England, by the laying on of the hands of 
 the bishop. Yet that ordination was not considered as 
 giving him office or power in this church, any more than 
 a man's having been a magistrate in England would 
 give him power to administer justice in this jurisdiction. 
 Accordingly, he was ordained, or solemnly inducted into 
 office — Mr. Hooker and Mr. Stone, elders of the church 
 in Hartford, being present, as tradition says, to assist in 
 the solemnity. 
 
 We have another instance in the colony which settled 
 at Nutfield, (afterwards Londonderry, N. H.) Rev. Mr. 
 Parker, in his century sermon, gives the following particu- 
 lars : — 
 
 " The first settlers of this town were the descendants 
 of a colony which emigrated from Argyleshire, in Scot- 
 land, and settled in the north of Ireland, in the province 
 of Ulster, about the middle of the seventeenth century. 
 Influenced by the representations of one Holmes, a young 
 man, son of a clergyman, who had been in New England, 
 his father, with three other Presbyterian ministers — James 
 M'Gregore, William Corn well, and William Boyd — with a 
 large number of their congregations, resolved on a remo- 
 val. Having converted their substance into money, they 
 immediately embarked, in five ships, for America. About 
 one hundred families arrived at Boston, August 4, 1718. 
 Twienty families more, in one of the vessels, landed at 
 Casco Bay, now Portland. Among this latter number 
 were the families who commenced this settlement. 
 
 " On disembarking in this new country, in which they 
 were to seek a residence for themselves and their descen'l- 
 
 S 
 
264 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XII. 
 
 ants, they assembled on the shore, and united in solemn 
 acts of devotion, and with peculiar sensations sang the one 
 hundred and thirty-seventh Psalm. 
 
 " This company of emigrants immednriely petitioned 
 the General Court of Massachusetts for a tract of land 
 suitable for a township. The Court readily granted their 
 request, and gave them leave to select a settlement, six 
 miles square, in any of the unappropriated lands to the 
 eastward. After exploring the country along the eastern 
 shore, and finding no place that suited them, sixteen of the 
 families, hearing of this tract of land, then called Nutfield, 
 and finding that it was not appropriated, determined here 
 to take up their grant. They accordingly, as soon as the 
 spring opened, left Casco Bay, and arrived at Haverhill on 
 the second day of April, 1719. Leaving here their fami 
 lies, the men immediately came up, examined the spot on 
 which they were about to commence their settlement, and 
 ^uilt a few huts. Three remaining to guard their tents, 
 the rest returned to Haverhill to bring on their families. 
 
 " This company had no sooner selected a spot for a 
 township, than, in order to secure the full enjoyment of 
 gospel ordinances, which was one principal object of their 
 removal, and also to promote their settlement, they pre- 
 sented a call to the Rev. James M'Gregore to become 
 their pastor. He was then at Dracut, where he had passed 
 the winter after his arrival. 
 
 " On meeting them for the first time after they had left 
 their native isle, in this then dreary and uncuHivated spot, 
 he made an affectionate and impressive address in view of 
 their undertaking ; reminding them of their gracious pre- 
 servation while crossing the deep, and exhorting them to 
 renewed confidence in God, and devotedness to his service. 
 The next day, April 12, he delivered, under a large oak, 
 the first discourse ever preached in this town, from the 
 prophecy of Isaiah, xxxii. 2, — A man shall he as a hiding 
 •place from the ivind, and a covert from the tempest ; as 
 rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great 
 rock in a weary land!^ 
 
 Settlements tvhich began without a minister, soon obtained 
 one, and made provision for his maintenance. A few iu^ 
 stances may serve as a specimen of many others. 
 
CHAP. HI.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 5206 
 
 " The town of Woburn, Mass., was settled in 1642. It 
 was granted to seven men, ' of good and honest report,' on 
 condition that they, within two years, erected houses there, 
 and proceeded to build a town. As soon as they had a 
 competent number to support a minister, they considered 
 themselves as * surely seated, and not before, it being as 
 unnatural for a right New England man to live without an 
 able ministry, as for a blacksmith to work his iron without 
 a fire/ This people; therefore, like others, laid their 
 foundation stone, with earnestly seeking the blessing of 
 heaven in several days of fasting and prayer. They then 
 took the advice of the most orthodox and able christians, 
 especially the ministers of the gospel, not rashly running 
 into a church state before they had a prospect of obtaining 
 ■a pastor to feed them with the bread of life. They chose 
 to continue as they were, in fellowship with other church- 
 es, enjoying their christian watch, till they had the ordi- 
 nances administered among them. But they soon obtain- 
 ed * Mr. Thomas Carter, of Watertown, a reverend, godly 
 man, apt to teach the sound and wholesome truths of 
 Christ,' to preach for them. They then formed into a 
 church on the 24th of the sixth month, after Mr. Symes, 
 of Charlestown, ' had continued in preaching and prayer 
 about the space of four or five hours.' 
 
 " After public worship, the persons intending to be 
 formed into a church, stood forth,* one by one, before the 
 congregation and ministers present, ' and confessed what 
 the Lord had done for their souls, by his spirit, under the 
 preaching of the gospel, and the events of his providence,' 
 that all for themselves might know their faith in Christ; 
 the ministers or messengers present, asking such questions 
 as they thought proper, and, when satisfied, giving them 
 the right hand of fellowship. Seven were thus formed 
 into a church, who in ten years had increased to seventy- 
 four. 
 
 ** On the 22d of the ninth month, Mr. Carter was, by a 
 council, ordained their pastor, * after he had exercised, in 
 orayer and preaching, the greater part of the day.' " 
 
 Thus, in the course of the first year after this settlement 
 commenced, a minister was ordained among them, and as 
 it was their purpose not to have a minister until they could 
 23 
 
266 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIL 
 
 " support " him, we may conclude that they gave him a 
 comfortable maintenance. 
 
 In 1654, twenty-one planters commenced a settlement 
 at Northampton. '* March I8th, 1657, the people em- 
 ployed an agent ' to obtain a minister.' They had been 
 settled in this spot but three years, and were already soli- 
 citous to obtain a regular ministration of the ordinances 
 of the gospel." 
 
 During the year 1658, Mr. Eleazer Mather was settled 
 over them in the gospel ministry. They voted him " a sala- 
 ry of eighty pounds for one yea^. Forty acres of land 
 were given him at the same time, and forty acres more, to 
 be for the use of the ministry forever. Thus, within four 
 years from the first attempt to settle this town, the inhabi- 
 tants settled a minister, gave him twenty-five pounds ster- 
 ling for preaching with them half a year, and, at the com- 
 mencement of the ensuing year, voted him a salary of 
 eighty pounds sterling. At the same time, they gave him 
 forty acres of land, and a house which cost one hundred 
 pounds sterling, and forty acres more for the use of the 
 ministry." 
 
 The first family moved into Penacook, now Concord, 
 N. H., in 1727. " June 25, 1729, the planters appointed 
 a committee to ' call and agree with some suitable person 
 to be the minister of Penacook.' They also voted, * that 
 the minister of said town shall be paid by the community 
 one hundred pounds per annum ;' and further, ' that one 
 hundred pounds be allowed and paid out of the company's 
 treasury to the first minister, as an encouragement for set- 
 tling and taking the pastoral charge among them.' On 
 the 14th October following, they voted, ' that every pro- 
 prietor or intended settler shall forthwith pay, or cause to 
 be paid, to the company's treasurer, the sum of twenty 
 shillings, towards the support of an orthodox minister, 
 to preach at Penacook.' Probably, in accordance with 
 this vote, the Rev. Mr. Walker was employed ; for 31st 
 March, 1730, the committee, above named, were directed 
 to ' agree with the Rev. Timothy Walker, in order to 
 his carrying on the work of the ministry in Penacook tlie 
 ensuing year, and to treat with him in order to his settle- 
 ment.' 
 
CHAP. XII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 267 
 
 " In September, the Committee of the Great and Gene- 
 ral Court, who still extended their supervision over the 
 new plantation, ordered the proprietors to choose a minis- 
 ter for the town, and, in case of his acceptance, to agree up- 
 on a time for his ordination. They promptly met the order. 
 In the same decisive and unanimous spirit that had cha- 
 racterized all their measures, on the 14th October, 1730, 
 they voted, * That we will have a minister,' and ' that the 
 Rev. Timothy Walker shall be our minister.' His salary 
 was fixed at one hundred pounds a year, to be increased 
 forty shillings annually, till it amounted to one hundred 
 and twenty pounds. The use of the parsonage was also 
 granted, and one hundred pounds given to enable him to 
 build a house, besides the lot which fell to the right of the . 
 first minister. It was provided, that * if Mr. Walker, by 
 reason of extreme old age, shall be disabled from carrying 
 on the whole work of the ministry, he shall abate so much 
 of his salary as shall be rational.' 
 
 " To the unanimous call of the people, Mr. Walker re- 
 turned an affirmative answer. On the I8th November, 
 1730, the ordination took place. In the * convenient house,' 
 which they had erected for the public worship of God, 
 were assembled about thirty settlers, with their families ; 
 before them was the venerable council, and the man of 
 their choice, ready to be invested* with the sacred office. 
 The remoteness of the scene from the old settlements; 
 the sacrifices which the new settlers had made, the perils 
 to which they would be exposed, the terrible apprehensions 
 they felt of attacks from the Indians, together with the 
 hope that the church, about to be planted in the wilder- 
 ness, would one day spread wide its branches, and be a 
 fruitful vine in the garden of the Lord, gave an unusual 
 tenderness and solemnity to the occasion. The Rev. John 
 Barnard, of Andover, North Parish, preached from Pro- 
 verbs ix. 1, 2, 3. Wisdom hath huilded her house; she 
 hath hewn out her seven pillars ; she hath killed her beasts^ 
 she hath mingled her wine, she hath also furnished her ta- 
 ble ; she hath sent forth her maidens. From this text he 
 raised the doctrine, * That the churches of Christ are of 
 his forming, their provision of his makings and their min* 
 isters of his, appointing and sending to them. ' The ser« 
 
268 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLT [ CHAP. XII. 
 
 mon, throughout, breathes a spirit of warm devotion ; is 
 full of evangelical doctrine, and of appropriate practi- 
 cal remarks. To the pastor elect, he says, * We have 
 great cause to bless the glorious Head of all spiritual and 
 divine influences, that he has given you a spirit of self- 
 denial, and inclined you to consecrate and devote yourself 
 to liis service in this remote part of the wilderness, and, 
 vi^ith joy and pleasure we behold your settlement just ar- 
 rived at its consummation. The great Jesus is now about 
 to introduce you into an ojficc which, as the honor of it 
 will call for your humble and thankful adorations, so the 
 difficulties thereof will require your constant and entire 
 dependence upon Him, from whom you have your mis- 
 sion.' 
 
 *' To those, who were ' a coming into a church state,' 
 he says, in language of simple and touching eloquence, 
 * You have proposed worldly conveniences and accommoda- 
 tions in your engaging in the settlement of this remote 
 plantation. This end is good and warrantable in its place ; 
 but relicrion and the advancement of Christ's kingdom 
 are of infinitely greater weight, and what we hope you will 
 have a principal regard unto. What you ought in a special 
 manner to aim at, is the enlargement of Christ's kingdom ; 
 this will be your glory and your defence, and if this be 
 your main design, will not the glorious Jesus say with re- 
 spect to you, as he said unto his ancient people, who fol- 
 lowed him into the wilderness, ' / remember thee, the kind- 
 ness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, ivhen thou 
 went est after me in the wilderness, in a land that was 
 not smon. Israel was holiness to the Lord.^ Jer. ii. 2. 
 
 " ' There is this peculiar circumstance in your settle- 
 ment, that it is in a place where Satan, some years ago, had 
 his seat, and the Devil was wont to be invocated by for- 
 saken salvages, a place which was the rendezvous and 
 head-quarters of our Indian enemies. Our Lord Jesus 
 Christ has driven out the heathen and made room for 
 you, that he might have a seed to serve Him in this place, 
 where he has been much dishonored in time past. Be 
 then concerned to answer this just expectation; be solici- 
 tous that you who are becoming his flock, may be his glo- 
 ry, that you may be for a name and praise unto Him.' 
 
CHAP. XII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 269 
 
 " Immediately after sermon, before the ordination was 
 performed, the church was organized. Eight male mem- 
 bers, including Mr. Walker, came forward, adopted and 
 subscribed the Covenant, in which they did ' solemnly 
 devote and dedicate themselves to the Lord Jehovah, who 
 is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,' and did * promise, by di- 
 vine grace, to endeavor to observe all things whatsoever 
 God in his word has commanded.' 
 
 " After the church was formed, the charge of ordination 
 was given to Mr. Walker by the Rev. Samuel Phillips, 
 of Andover, South Parish, commencing in this solemn 
 manner : 
 
 * In the Name and Fear of God, Amen. 
 
 ' Dear Sir — We have seen, and do approve of your call 
 to the evangelical ministry, and to the pastoral office in 
 this church of Christ, as also your acceptance of the 
 same. 
 
 ' And therefore now, as ministers and ambassadors of 
 Christ, and in the name of Him our great Lord and 
 Master, we do constitute and ordain you to he a Minister 
 of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus, and the Pastor of the 
 church or flock in this place, in particular.' 
 
 "After the Charge, the Rev. John Brown, of Haver- 
 hill, gave to the Pastor and the Church the Right Hand 
 of Fellowship, according to the established mode in Con- 
 gregational churches."* 
 
 The early settlers of New England retained their minis- 
 ters many years. 
 
 The settlement of a minister was with them a matter 
 of very serious moment. They were not therefore hasty 
 in this affair, but, on the contrary, proceeded with great 
 deliberation. After they had employed a man to preach 
 among them, they waited until a sufficient opportunity had 
 been afforded him to " give them a taste of his gifts," be- 
 fore they presented him a call. Nor did they take this 
 important step until they had sought divine direction by 
 observing a day of fasting and prayer, and had obtained 
 the advice of neighboring ministers and others. When 
 the candidate was ordained over them, it was their expect 
 
 * Rev. Mr. Bouton'a Centennial Discourses. 
 23* 
 
270 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. Xlt 
 
 tation that he would remain their pastor during life ; and 
 in this they were seldom disappointed. 
 
 From among the numerous instances left on record, 
 showing the permanency of the settled ministry in those- 
 times, the following have been selected. 
 
 Rev. Solomon Stoddard was ordained at Northampton, 
 Mass., in 1672. He remained pastor of the church nearly 
 sixty years. He died, Feb. 11, 1729, in the eighty-sixth 
 year of his age. 
 
 *' A council was convened at Westfield, on the last 
 Wednesday of June, 1679, the church organized, and Mr. 
 Taylor was ordained pastor. Mr. T. was a man eminently 
 devoted to the work of the ministry. He died, June 29, 
 1729, in the fiftieth year of his ministry." 
 
 " In 1694, an ecclesiastical society was constituted in 
 East Hartford, Con., and early in 1703, the Rev. Samuel 
 Woodbridge, their first settled clergyman, was ordained. 
 The church and people here were united during the life 
 and ministry of Mr. Woodbridge, who labored with them 
 forty-three years. He died, June 9, 1746, aged sixty- 
 three. The Rev Eliphalet Williams, D. D., his successor, 
 was ordained, March 30, 1748. For more than fifty years 
 he was a settled minister in this town. 
 
 " The first minister of Longmeadow, Mass., was Rev. 
 Stephen Williams, who was ordained here in 1716. He 
 was a son of Rev, John Williams, of Deerfield, and was 
 carried captive with his father to Canada. He died in 
 1782, in the ninetieth year of his age, and sixty-sixth of 
 his ministry. Mr. Williams was succeeded by Rev. Rich- 
 ard Salter Storrs, who was settled in 1785. Mr. Storrs 
 died, Oct. 3, 1819," in the thirty-fourth year of his min- 
 istry. 
 
 " A church was organized in Medfield in 1651, consist- 
 ing of eight members ; Rev. John Wilson, Jun. was in- 
 stalled pastor the same year. Mr. Wilson was born in 
 England, and graduated in the first class in Harvard Col- 
 lege. He continued in the pastoral office more than forty 
 years, and died in 1691. After a period of nearly six 
 years, in which thirty-two candidates were employed, Jo^ 
 seph Baxter was settled, and sustained the pastoral office 
 more than forty-eight years. Mr. Baxter commenoed his 
 
CHAP. XII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 271 
 
 ministerial labors at the age of eighteen, and in conse- 
 quence of his youth, his settlement was delayed almost 
 three years." 
 
 "Rev. Nathan Backman was settled at Medway in De- 
 cember, 17*24, and continued the pastoral relation to this 
 church more than seventy years." 
 
 " Rev. Habijah Weld, minister of Attleborough, was 
 distinguished for his usefulness in the ministry, and highly 
 respected as a man, both at home and abroad. He united, 
 to an uncommon degree, the affections of his people for 
 a period of fifty-five years, during which he was their pas- 
 tor. He was ordained in 1727, and died in 1782, in the 
 eightieth year of his age." 
 
 " It appears that the first church in Billerica was gath- 
 ered in 16G3, and the Rev. Samuel Whiting was ordained 
 in the same year. Mr. Whiting died in 1713, having 
 preached in this place more than fifty years." 
 
 Rev. Samuel Moody was ordained at York, Me., in 
 1700. He was a godly man and a successful minister. 
 He died, Nov. 13, 1^47, aged seventy-two, having been 
 pastor of the church forty-seven years. 
 
 Rev. Jeremiah Wise was settled at Berwick in 1707. 
 He was a man of learning and eminent piety. He con- 
 tinued their minister more than forty-eight years. 
 
 In 1713, Kittery was divided into two parishes. In the 
 new one, at Sturgeon Creek, a church was gathered, and, 
 in 1715, Mr. John Rogers was ordained their pastor. He 
 remained their minister fifty-two years. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Dudley was settled at Exeter, N. H., in 
 1650. He died in the seventy-seventh year of his age, 
 and in the thirty-third of his ministry. 
 
 The first minister settled in Concord, was the Rev. 
 Timothy Walker. His ordination took place in 1730. 
 He died in 1782, having been pastor of the church fifty- 
 two years. 
 
 Mr. David M'Gregore was ordained pastor of the church 
 in Londonderry, West Parish, in 1737. He died in the 
 fortieth year of his ministry. — Mr. William Davidson was 
 settled over the church in the East Parish of this town in 
 1740. He died in 1791, aged eighty-one; having been 
 their pastor more than half a century. 
 
272 INCIDBNTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XII, 
 
 In 1734, Mr. John Wilson was ordained at Chester. He 
 died in the seventy-sixth year of his age, and in the forty- 
 sixth of his ministry. 
 
 The church in Amherst was embodied in 1741. In 
 September of the same year, Mr. Daniel Wilkins was or- 
 dained their pastor. He died in the seventy-third year of 
 his age, and in the forty-second of his ministry. 
 
 These instances may suffice to show that the early set- 
 tlers of New England retained their ministers long. 
 
 Our ancestors were strict in the sanctification of the 
 Sabbath, and punctual in their attendance upon the ser^ 
 vices of the sanctuary. 
 
 *' They observed the Sabbath with great seriousness. 
 They prepared for its approach by a seasonabl(3 adjustment 
 of their temporal affairs ; they welcomed its arrival with 
 joy, and spent all its hours in the public and private duties 
 of religion. A sacred stillness reigned in their habita- 
 tions, and throughout their villages and towns, well befit- 
 ting the day of God, and well calculated to raise the affec- 
 tions and thoughts to the eternal rest of heaven." 
 
 If we except a few circumstances growing out of their 
 peculiar situation, the following description of a Sabbath, 
 as observed by the people of New Haven, may be regarded 
 as a specimen of the manner in which the Lord's day was 
 generally kept in New England previous to the revolution- 
 ary war. " Let us go back for a moment," says the writer. 
 Rev. Mr. Bacon, "to one of those ancient Sabbaths. You 
 see in the morning no motion, save as the herds go forth 
 to their pasture in the common grounds, each herd accom- 
 panied by two or three armed herdsmen. At the appointed 
 hour, the drum having been beaten both for the first time 
 and the second, the whole population, from the dwellings 
 of the town, and from the farms on the other side of the 
 river, come together in the place of prayer. The sentinel 
 is placed in the turret, those who are to keep ward go 
 forth, pacing, two by two, the still green lanes. In the 
 mean time, we take our places in the assembly. In 
 this rude, unfinished structure is devotion true and pure,— 
 worship more solemn for the lack of outward pomp 
 Through a long course of exercises, which would wearj 
 out the men of our degenerate days, these hearers sit or 
 
CHAP. XII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 273 
 
 Stand with most exemplary attention. They love the word 
 that comes from the lips of their pastor. They love the 
 order of this house. For the privilege of uniting in these 
 forms of worship, of hearing the gospel thus preached, 
 of living under this religious constitution, and of thus ex- 
 tending in the world the kingdom which is righteousness, 
 and peace, and joy, they undertook the work of planting 
 this wilderness. To them each sermon, every prayer, every 
 tranquil sabbath is more precious for all that it cost them. 
 It is not strange, then, that their attention is awake through 
 these long services, till, as the day declines, they retire to 
 their dwellings, and close the sabbath with family worship 
 and the catechising of their children." 
 
 There was in those days an almost universal attendance 
 upon the services of God's house on the sabbath. Few, 
 very few, unless circumstances beyond their control re- 
 quired that they should remain at home, absented them- 
 selves. Four fifths of the people, it is believed, uniformly 
 attended public worship, A family or an individual, who 
 habitually absented themselves from the house of God, 
 could rarely be found. Dr. Dwight, speaking of the in- 
 habitants of Northampton, says, " Probably no people were 
 ever more punctual in their attendance upon public wor- 
 ship than they were for one hundred and fifty years from 
 the first settlement of the place. Fourteen hundred and 
 sixty persons were once counted in the church on a sab- 
 bath afternoon ; amounting to five sixths of the inhabi- 
 tants." 
 
 It is interesting to notice the pains-taking there was 
 among the early settlers to enjoy the privileges of the sanc- 
 tuary. '* Rev. Mr. Burnham was ordained in Berlin, Con., 
 about the year 1712. At this time there were but four- 
 teen families in the place, and the church consisted often 
 members, seven males and three females. Previous to the 
 settlement of Mr. Burnham, these families attended meet- 
 ing at Farmington, and the women walked from ten to 
 twelve miles, and carried their infants in their arms. In 
 1695, the settlers of East Windsor formed themselves into 
 an ecclesiastical society, and Mr. Timothy Edwards was 
 crdained their minister. Previous to this, the inhabitants 
 
274 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XII. 
 
 for fifteen years passed the river in boats, in order to attend 
 worship on the west side." 
 
 Our forefathers paid particular attention to family 
 religion. 
 
 '* The duty of maintaining family religion," says Dr. 
 Hawes, " was once universally acknowledged in New 
 England, and seriously practised in nearly all the families 
 in the land. Every day, the scriptures were read, and 
 God worshipped ; and not a child or a servant was suffered 
 to grow up without being instructed in the principles of 
 religion, and taught to reverence the day, the word, and 
 the name of God. Our fathers adopted the maxim that 
 * families are the nurseries of the church and the common- 
 wealth; ruin families, and you ruin all.' They aimed, 
 therefore, to engage the presence and blessing of God to 
 abide in their families. With their own hearts set upon 
 heaven, they were earnestly desirous that their children 
 might be prepared to follow them to the world of glory 
 For this purpose, they constantly maintained family reli 
 gion and family government. They sought for their chil- 
 dren, as they did for themselves, j/?r.s^, the kingdom of God 
 and his righteousness. The influence of this principle 
 was prominent in the family, in the school, and in all their 
 domestic and social arrangements. In the great work of 
 training the young for the service and glory of God, parents 
 and magistrates, pastors and churches co-operated with 
 mutual zeal and fidelity." 
 
 An interesting instance illustrating the manner in which 
 family religion was maintained in the early days of New 
 England, is found in the Life of the excellent Theophilus 
 Eaton, first governor of New Haven colony. 
 
 " As in his government of the commonwealth, so in the 
 government of his family, he was prudent, serious, happy 
 to a wonder; and although he sometimes had a large 
 family, consisting of no less than thirty persons, yet he 
 managed them with such an even temper, that observers 
 have affirmed that they never saw a house ordered with 
 more wisdom. He kept an honorable and hospitable ta- 
 ble; but one thing that made the entertainment thereof 
 the better, was the continual presence of his aged mother, 
 
CHAP. XII ] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 275 
 
 by feeding of whom with an exemplary piety till she died, 
 he insured his own prosperity as long as he lived. His 
 children anl servants he mightily encouraged in the study 
 of the scriptures, and countenanced their addresses to 
 himself with any of their inquiries ; but when he saw any 
 of them sinfully negligent 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 
 from him was enough to steer them ! 
 
 " So exemplary was he as a christian, that one who had 
 been a servant to him could say, many years after, ' What- 
 ever difficulty in my daily walk I now meet with, still some- 
 thing that I either saw or heard in my blessed master 
 Eaton's conversation, helps me through it all ; I have rea- 
 son to bless God that ever I knew him !' It was his cus- 
 tom, when he first rose in the morning, to repair to his 
 study : a study well perfumed with the meditations and 
 supplications of a holy soul. After this, calling his family 
 together, he would read a portion of scripture, and, after 
 some devout and useful reflections upon it, he would make 
 a prayer, not long, but extraordinarily pertinent and reve- 
 rent ; and in the evening, some of the same exercises were 
 again attended. On Saturday morning he would take 
 notice of the approaching sabbath in his prayer, and ask 
 grace to be remembering of it, and preparing for it ; and 
 when the evening arrived, he, besides this, not only re- 
 peated a sermon, but also instructed his family by putting 
 questions referring to points in 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 
 by singing a psalm. When the Lord's day came, he called 
 his family together at the time for the ringing of the first 
 bell, and repeated a sermon, whereunto he added a fervent 
 prayer, especially tending to the sanctification of the day. 
 At noon he sung 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 man- 
 ner conferred with them about the things with which they 
 
276 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XII 
 
 had been entertained in tlffe house of God, closing with a 
 prayer for the blessing of God upon them all. For solemn 
 days of humiliation, or of thanksgiving, he took the same 
 course, and endeavored to make the members of his family 
 understand the meaning of the services. 
 
 " His eldest son he maintained at the college until he 
 proceeded master of arts ; 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 minis- 
 try, whereto his father had once devoted him ; and a 
 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 one of the severest trials 
 that ever befell his father in the days of the years of his 
 pilgrimage ; but he bore it with a patience and composure 
 of spirit 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 up to God.' 
 And when he passed by his daughter drowned in tears on 
 this occasion, he said to her, * Remember the sixth com- 
 mandment — hurt not yourself with immoderate grief; re- 
 member Job, who said. The Lord hath given, and the Lord 
 hath taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord. You 
 may mark what note the Spirit of God put upon it; in all 
 this, Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly : God ac- 
 counts it a charging of him foolishly, when we don't sub- 
 mit to his will patiently.' Accordingly, he now governed 
 himself as one who had attained unto the rule of weeping 
 as if he wept not."* 
 
 Another example of family religion is given in the Life 
 ot Rev. Jonathan Edwards, of Northampton. 
 
 " As he rose very early himself, he was wont to have his 
 family up betimes in the morning, after which, before en- 
 tering on the business of the day, he attended on family 
 prayers ; when a chapter in the Bible was read, commonly 
 by candle-light, in the winter, upon which, he asked his 
 children questions, according to their age and capacity, 
 and took occasion to explain some passages in it, or en- 
 force any duty recommended, as he thought proper. He 
 
 * Mather's Magnalia. 
 
CH4P. XII.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 277 
 
 was careful and thorough in the government of his chil- 
 dren, and, as a consequence of this, they reverenced, es- 
 teemed, and loved him. He took the utmost care to be- 
 gin his government of them when they were very young. 
 When they first discovered any degree of self-will and 
 stubbornness, he would attend to them, until he had tho- 
 roughly subdued them, and brought them to submit. Such 
 prudent discipline, exercised with the greatest calmness, 
 being repeated once or twice, was generally sufficient for 
 that child, and effectually established his parental authority, 
 and produced a cheerful obedience ever after. 
 
 " He kept a watchful eye over his children, that he 
 might admonish them of the first wrong step, and direct 
 them in the right way. He took opportunities to converse 
 with them singly, and closely, about the concerns of their 
 souls, and to give them warnings, exhortations, and direc- 
 tions, as he saw them severally need. The salvation of 
 his children was his chief and constant desire, and aim, 
 and effort concerning them. In the evening, after tea, he 
 customarily sat in the parlor, with his family, for an hour, 
 unbending from the severity of study, entering freely into 
 the feelings and concerns of his children, and relaxing 
 into cheerful and animated conversation, accompanied fre- 
 quently with sprightly remarks, sallies of wit and humor. 
 But, before retiring to his study, he usually gave the con- 
 versation, by degrees, a more serious turn, addressing his 
 children, with great tenderness and earnestness, on the 
 subject of their salvation; when the thought that they were 
 still strangers to religion, would often affect him so power- 
 fully as to oblige him to withdraw, in order to conceal his 
 emotions. He took much pains to instruct his children 
 in the principles and duties of religion, in which he made 
 use of the * Assembly's Shorter Catechism,' not merely by 
 taking care that they learned it by heart, but by leading 
 them into an understanding of the doctrines therein taught, 
 by asking them questions on each answer, and explaining 
 it to them. His usual time to attend to this, was on the 
 evening before the sabbath. And, as he believed that the 
 sabbath, or holy time, be'gan at sunset, on the evening pre- 
 ceding the first day of the week, he ordered his family to 
 finish all their secular business by that time, or befoce ; 
 24 
 
278 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XII 
 
 when all were called together, a psalm was sung, and pray- 
 er offered, as an introduction to the sanctification of the 
 sabbath. This care and exactness effectually prevent- 
 ed that intruding on holy time, by attending to secular 
 business, which is too common, even in families where 
 the evening before the sabbath is professedly observed. 
 
 *' He was utterly opposed to every thing like unseasona- 
 ble hours, on the part of young people, in their visiting 
 and amusements, which he regarded as a dangerous step 
 towards corrupting them, and bringing them to ruin. And 
 he thought the excjise offered by many parents for tolera- 
 ting this practice in their children, — that it is the custom^ 
 and that the children of other people are allowed thus to 
 practise^ and therefore it is difficult, and even impossible, 
 to restrain theirs, — was insufiicient and frivolous, and 
 manifested a great degree of stupidity, on the supposition 
 that the practice was hurtful, and pernicious to their souls. 
 And, when his children grew up, he found no difficulty in 
 restraining them from this improper and mischievous 
 practice ; but they cheerfully complied with the will of 
 their parents. He allowed none of his children to be ab- 
 sent from hbme after nine o'clock at night, when they 
 went abroad to see their friends and companions ; neither 
 wexe they allowed to sit up much after that time, in his 
 own house, when any of their friends came to visit them. 
 If any gentleman desired to address either of his daugh- 
 ters, after the requisite introduction and preliminaries, he 
 was allowed all proper opportunities of becoming tho- 
 roughly acquainted with the manners and disposition of 
 the young lady, but must not intrude on the customary 
 hours of rest and sleep, nor on the religion and order of 
 the family."* 
 
 Actions, then, (the most unequivocal of all testimony,) 
 afford ample proof of the attachment of our ancestors to 
 the institutions of religion. These fully declare their affec- 
 tionate regard for a preached gospel — for a stated ministry 
 — for the holy sabbath — for the privileges of the sanctuary 
 — for the religion of the family.- Nor was their attach- 
 ment a fickle, half-expiring flame. Neither did it burn 
 
 * Edwards' Works, (Dwiglit's edition,) vol. i. page 597. 
 
CHAP. XII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 279 
 
 brightly, for a season, and then go out in darkness. It 
 was lasting as life. It terminated only with their earthly 
 existence, and, when they left the world, one of the last 
 and strongest desires which lingered in their hearts was, 
 that their posterity might inherit the privileges they had 
 enjoyed. Shall we praise them in this 1 Who can forbear 
 to rise up and call them blessed 1 Shall we imitate them t 
 Ah, this is the most diffi<jult of all ! And yet it is not easy 
 to see how we can do otherwise, and be guiltless. To treat 
 with neglect and indifference what they cherished with the 
 warmest emotions, and, after struggling with many difficul- 
 ties, handed down to those who should come after them, 
 is to betray no unimportant trust. It is to make returns 
 for blessings received, which no one, it would seem, in 
 his sober moments, would be willing to have placed to his 
 account. 
 
 But should there be a general return unto the ways of 
 our fathers, should every settlement, and every township, 
 "however new or however old, manifest an eager desire to 
 procure an enlightened and pious minister — make provi- 
 sion for his maintenance — seek to retain him long — che- 
 rish a sacred regard for the holy sabbath — be punctual in 
 their attendance upon the services of the sanctuary — and 
 promote, by every means in their power, the highest wel- 
 fare of the rising generation ; should every community do 
 this, what a check would be put upon the growth of vice ! 
 What a remedy would be found for that fastidious, restless 
 spirit which is abroad in the land ! How favorable would it 
 be to high attainments in the christian life ! How changed 
 would be the prospects of multitudes ready to perish ! 
 How speedily would those disorders, which now disturb 
 our American Zion, be removed I How would it pour oil 
 upon the raging sea ! 
 
280 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII. 
 
 CHAPTER Xm. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 In the year 1614, Capt. John Smith, with two ships, vi- 
 sited our shores, and traded with the Indians. After his 
 return to London, he drew a plan of the country, and 
 called it New England. This was the origin of the name. 
 
 Thomas Hunt commanded one of the ships under Capt. 
 Smith. When Smith sailed for England, he left Hunt to 
 procure a cargo, and proceed to Spain. He most inhu- 
 manly decoyed twenty Indians on board, at Patuxet, one 
 of whom was named Squanto, and seven at Nauset, car- 
 ried them to Malaga, and sold them at twenty pounds a 
 man. Smith indignantly reprobated the base conduct of 
 Hunt. Many of these helpless captives, it seems, were 
 rescued from slavery by the benevolent interposition of 
 some of the monks in Malaga. 
 
 One birth, and one death, occurred on board the May- 
 flower, while on her passage. The child that was born, 
 was named Oceanus. The name of the one who died, 
 was William Button, a youth. 
 
 Before leaving the Mayflower, our forefathers drew up 
 and signed the following instrument. 
 
 * In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are 
 underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign 
 Lord King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, 
 France, and Ireland, king, defender of the faith, &,c. 
 
 " Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and ad- 
 vancement of the christian faith, and the honor of our 
 king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the 
 northern parts of Virginia, do, by these presents, solemnly 
 and mutually, in the presence of God, and one another, 
 covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body 
 politic, for our better ordering and preservation, and fur- 
 therance of the ends aforesaid, and, by virtue hereof, do 
 enact, constitute and frame such just and equal laws, ordi- 
 nances, acts, constitutions and officers, from time to time, as 
 shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general 
 good of the colony ; unto which, we promise all due submis- 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 281 
 
 sion and obedience. In witness whereof, we have hereunto 
 subscribed our names, at Cape Cod, the 11th of Novem- 
 ber, in the year of the reign of our sovereign Lord King 
 James, of England, France, and Ireland the eighteenth, 
 and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini, 1620. 
 
 John Carver^ 
 William Bradford, 
 Edward Winslow, 
 William Brewster, 
 Isaac Allerton, 
 Miles Standish, 
 John Alden, 
 Samuel Fuller, 
 Christopher Martin, 
 William Mullins, 
 William White, 
 Richard Warren, 
 John Howland, 
 Stephen Hopkins, 
 Edward Tilly, 
 John Tilly, 
 Francis Cook, 
 Thomas Rogers, 
 Thomas Tinker, 
 John Ridgdale, 
 Edward Fuller^ 
 
 John Turner, 
 Francis Eaton, 
 James Chilton, 
 John Crackston, 
 John Billington, 
 Moses Fletcher, 
 John Goodman, 
 Degory Priest, 
 Thomas Williams, 
 Gilbert Winslow, 
 Edward Margeson, 
 Peter Brown, 
 Richard Britterige, 
 George Soule, 
 Richard Clarke, 
 Richard Gardiner, 
 John Allerton, 
 Thomas English, 
 Edward Dorey, 
 Edward Leister.^* 
 
 It has been stated by Chief Justice Shaw, " that the^rs^ 
 written constitution of government, that can be found in 
 the history of civilized nations, was formed by the pilgrims 
 in the cabin of the Mayflower, before they set their feet 
 upon the shores of America." 
 
 Some of the discoveries, made by the first company 
 which left the Mayflower in search of a place of settlement, 
 are noticed by Mourt in his journal. '* We found," says 
 he, *' a little path to certain heaps of sand, one whereof 
 was covered with old mats, and had a wooden thing like a 
 mortar, covered over the top of it, and an earthen pot laid 
 in a little hole, at the end thereof We, musing what it 
 24* 
 
2^2 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII. 
 
 might be, digged and found a bow, and, as we thought, an 
 arrow; but they were rotten. We supposed that there 
 were many other things ; but because we deemed them 
 graves, we put in the bow again, and made it up as it was, 
 and left the rest untouched, because we thought it would 
 be odious to them to ransack their sepulchres. We went 
 on fwrther, and found where a house had been. Also we 
 found a great kettle, which had been some ship's kettle, 
 and brought out of Europe. There was also a heap of 
 sand, made like the former, but it was newly done ; we 
 might see how they paddled it with their hands, which we 
 digged up, and in it we found a little old basket, full of 
 fair Indian corn ; and, digging further, we found a fine 
 great new basket, full of very fair corn, of this year, with 
 some six and thirty goodly ears, some yellow, and some 
 red, and others mixed with blue, which was a very goodly 
 sight. The basket was round and narrow at the top. It 
 held about three or four bushels, and was very handsomely 
 and cunningly made. 
 
 " As we wandered, we came to a tree, where a young 
 sprit was bowed down over a bow, and some acorns 
 strewed underneath. Stephen Hopkins said, it had been 
 to catch some deer. So, as we were looking at it, William 
 Bradford being in the rear, when he came, looking also 
 upon it, and as he went about, it gave a sudden jerk up, 
 and he was immediately caught by the leg. It was a very 
 pretty device, made with a rope of their own making, -and 
 having a noose as artificially made as any roper in England 
 can make, and as like ours as can be." 
 
 In his account of their second expedition, he says, '^ We 
 marched to the place where we had found the corn formerly, 
 which place we called Corn-hill; and digged and found the 
 rest, of which we were very glad. We also digged in a 
 place a little further off, and found a bottle of oil. We went 
 to another place, which we had seen before, and digged and 
 found more corn, and a bag of beans. Whilst some of us 
 were digging up this, some others found another heap of 
 corn, which they digged up also; so as we had in all about 
 ten bushels, which will serve us sufficiently for seed. And 
 sure it was God's good providence that we found this corn, 
 for else we knew not how we should have done ; for we 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEV7 ENGLAND. 5^3 
 
 r 
 
 knew not how we should find or meet with any of the In- 
 dians, except it be to do us mischief. 
 
 " When we had marched five or six miles in the woods, 
 and could find no signs of any people, we returned ano- 
 ther way, and, as we came into the plain ground, we found 
 a place like a grave, but it was much bigger and longer 
 than any we had yet seen. It was also covered with boards , 
 go as we mused what it should be, and resolved to dig it 
 up : where we found first a mat, and, under that, a fair bow, 
 and then another mat, and under that, a board about three 
 quarters long, finely carved and painted, with three tines, 
 or broches, on the top, like a crown. Also, between the 
 mats, we found bowls, trays, dishes, and such like trin- 
 kets. At length, we came to a fair new mat, and under 
 that, two bundles, the one bigger, and the other less. We 
 opened the greater, and found in it a great quantity of fine 
 and perfect red powder, and in it the bones and skull of 
 a man. The skull had fine yellow hair still on it, and 
 some of the flesh unconsumed. There was bound up with 
 it a knife, a packneedle, and two or three old iron things. 
 It was bound up in a sailor's canvas cassock, and a pair of 
 cloth breeches. The red powder was a kind of embalment, 
 and yielded a strong, but no offensive smell. It was as 
 fine as any flour. We opened the less bundle likewise, and 
 found of the same powder in it, and the bones and head 
 of a little child. About the legs and other parts of it, 
 was bound strings and bracelets of fine white beads. There 
 was also by it, a little bow, about three quarters, and some 
 other odd knacks. We brought sundry of the prettiest 
 things away with us, and covered the corpse up again. 
 After this, we digged in sundry places, but found no more 
 corn, nor any thing else but graves. 
 
 " Whilst we were thus ranging and searching, two of 
 the sailors by chance espied two houses which had been 
 lately dwelt in, but the people were gone. The houses 
 were made with long young sapling trees, bended, and 
 both ends stuck into the ground. They were made round, 
 like unto an arbor, and covered down to the ground with 
 thick and well-wrought mats, and the door was not over a 
 yard high, made of a mat to open. The chimney was a 
 wide open hole in the top, for which they had a mat to 
 
284 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIll. 
 
 cover it close when they pleased. One might stand and 
 go upright in them. In the midst of them were four little 
 trunches knocked into the ground, and small sticks laid 
 over, on which they hung their pots, and what they had to 
 seethe. Round about the fire they lay on mats, which are 
 their beds. The houses were double matted ; for as they 
 were matted without, so were they within, with newer and 
 fairer mats. In the houses we found wooden bowls, trays, 
 and dishes, earthen pots, hand-baskets, made of crab- 
 shells wrought together ; also an English pail, or bucket. 
 There were also baskets of sundry sorts, bigger, and some 
 lesser, finer, and some coarser. Some were curiously 
 wrought with black and white in pretty works, and sun- 
 dry other of their household stuff. There was a com- 
 pany of deers' feet stuck up in the houses, harts' horns, 
 and eagles' claws, and sundry such things there was." 
 
 In his relation of their third expedition for dfecovery, he 
 says, " We lighted on a path, but saw no house, and fol- 
 lowed a great way into the woods. At length we found 
 where corn had been set, but not that year. Anon we 
 found a great burying-place, one part whereof was encom- 
 passed with a large palisado, like a church-yard, with 
 young spires four or five yards long, set as close one by 
 another as they could, two or three feet in the ground. 
 Within, it was full of graves, some bigger, and some less. 
 Some were also paled about ; and others had like an Hi- 
 dian house made over them, but not matted. Those 
 graves were more sumptuous than those at Cornhill ; yet 
 we digged none of them up, only viewed them, and went 
 our way. Without the palisado were graves also, but not 
 so costly." 
 
 Before the end of November, while the Mayflower lay 
 in Cape Cod harbor, Susanna, wife of William White, was 
 delivered of a son, who was named Peregrine. He was 
 the first English child born in New England. He died at 
 Marshfield, July 20, 1704, aged 83 years and some months. 
 In consequence of his b^ing the first child born in New 
 England, the Court, in 1667, granted him 200 acres of 
 land in the town of Bridgewater. 
 
 John Hovvland survived all the rest of the passengers 
 who came over in the Mayflower and settled at Plymouth. 
 He died in 1()72. 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 285' 
 
 ** The first marriage in the colony at Plymouth was so- 
 lemnized on the 12th of May, 1621, between Mr. Edward 
 Winslovv and Mrs. Susanna White." 
 
 The church at Plymouth were without a minister, and 
 consequently without the sacraments, nine years from the 
 time of their arrival. Their first minister was Mr. Ralph 
 Smith. He was settled in 1629. 
 
 The following is an account of the first settlement of 
 Concord, Mass., which took place in the fall of 1635. The 
 account is copied from Johnson's " Wonder-working Pro- 
 vidence." 
 
 " Upon some inquiry of the [ndians who lived to the 
 north-west of the bay, one Captaine Simon Willard, being 
 acquainted with them, by reason of his trade, became a 
 chiefe instrument in erecting this towne. The land they 
 purchase of the Indians, and with much difficulties tra- 
 veling through unknowne woods, and through watery 
 swamps, they discover the fitnesse of the place, sometimes 
 passing through the Thickets, where their hands are forced 
 to make way for their bodies' passage, and their feete 
 clambering over the crossed Trees, which when they 
 missed they sunke into an uncertaine bottome in water, and 
 wade up to the knees, tumbling sometimes higher and 
 sqpetimes lower, wearied with this toile they at end of 
 this, meete with a scorching plaine, yet not so plaine, but 
 that the ragged Bushes scratch their legs fouly even to 
 wearing their stockings to their bare skin in two or three 
 hDures ; if they be not otherwise well defended with Bootes 
 or Buskings their flesh will be torne : that some being 
 forced to passe on without further provision have had the 
 bloud trickle downe at every step, and in the time of Sum- 
 mer the Sun casts such a reflecting heate from the sweet 
 Feme, whose scent is very strong, so that some herewith 
 have beene very nere fainting, although very able bodies 
 to undergoe much travell, and this not to be indured for 
 one day, but for many, and verily did not the Lord incou- 
 rage their naturall parts with hopes of some new and 
 strange discovery, expecting every houre to see some new 
 and rare sight never seene before they were never able to 
 hold out, and breake through ; 
 
286 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII. 
 
 "Yet farther to tell of the hard labours this people 
 found in Planting this Wildernesse, after some dayes spent 
 in search, toyling in the day time as formerly is said ; like 
 true Jacobites, they rest them one the rocks where the night 
 takes them, their short repast is some small pittance of 
 Bread, if it hold out, but as for Drinke they have plenty, 
 the Countrey being well watered in all places that yet are 
 found out, their farther hardship is to travell sometimes 
 they know not whether, bewildered indeed without sight 
 of Sun, their compasse miscarrying in crowding through 
 the Bushes, they sadly search up and down for a known 
 way, the Indians' paths being not above one foot broad so 
 that a man may travell many days and never find one. But 
 to be sure the directing Providence of Christ hath beene 
 better unto them than many paths, as might here be in- 
 serted, did not hast call my Pen away to more weighty 
 matters ; yet by the way a touch thus, it befell with a ser- 
 vant maide who was travelling about three or four miles 
 from one Town to another, loosing herself in the woods, 
 had very diligent search made after her for the space of 
 three dayes and could not possibly be found, then being 
 given over as quite lost after three dayes and nights, the 
 Lord was pleased to bring her feeble body to her own 
 home in safety, to the great admiration of all who heard 
 of it. This intricate worke no whit daunted these jj^- 
 solved servants of Christ to goe on with the worke in 
 hand, but lying in the open aire, while the watery clouds 
 poure down all the night season, and sometimes the driving 
 snow dissolving on their backs, they keep their wet clothes 
 warme with a continued fire, till the renewed morning 
 give fresh opportunity of further travell ; after they have 
 thus found out a place of aboad, they burrow themselves 
 in the Earth for their first shelter under some Hill-side, 
 casting the earth aloft upon Timber ; they make asmoaky 
 fire against the earth at the highest side, and thus these 
 poore servants of Christ provide shelter for themselves 
 their Wives and little ones, keeping off the short showers 
 from their Lodgings, but the long raines penetrate through, 
 to their great disturbance in the night season ; yet in these 
 poore Wigwams they sing Psalmes, pray and praise their 
 God till they can provide them houses, which ordinarily 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. ' 287 
 
 was not wont to be with many of .them, till the Earth, by 
 the Lord's blessing brought forth bread to feed them, their 
 Wives and little ones which with sore labors they attaine 
 every one that can lift a howe to strike it into the earth, 
 standing stoutly to their labors and teare up the Rootes 
 and Bushes, which the first yeare beares them a very thin 
 crop till the soard of the earth be rotten, and therefore 
 they have been forced to cut their bread very thin a long 
 season. But the Lord is pleased to provide for them great 
 store of fish in the spring time, and especially Alewives 
 about the bignesse of a Herring, many thousands of these 
 they used to put under their Indian Come, which they 
 plant in Hills five foote asunder, and assuredly when the 
 Lord created this Corne hee had a special eye to supply 
 these his people's wants with it, for ordinarily five or six 
 graines doth produce six hundred. 
 
 *' As for flesh, they looked not for any in those times, 
 (although now they have plenty,) unlease they could bar- 
 ter with the Indians for Venison or Rackoons, whose flesh 
 is not much inferiour unto Lambes, the toile of a new 
 plantatifm being like the labours of Hercules, never at an 
 end, yet are none so barbarously bent, (under the Matta- 
 cusetts especially,) but with a new Plantation they ordi- 
 narily gather into Church-fellowship, so that Pastors and 
 people suffer the inconveniences together, which is a great 
 meanes to season the sore labours they undergoe, and veri- 
 ly the edge of their appetite was greater to spiritual! du- 
 ties at their first comming in time of wants than afterwards ; 
 many in new plantations have been forced to go barefoot 
 and bareleg, till these latter dayes, and some in time of 
 frost and Snow ; yet were they then very healthy more than 
 now they are : in this wildernesse-worke, men of Estates 
 speed no better than others, and some much worse for 
 want of being inured to such hard labour having laid out 
 their estate upon Cattell at five and twenty pound a Cow, 
 when they came to winter them with in-land Hay, and 
 feed upon such wild fother as was never cut before, they 
 could not hold out the winter, but ordinarily the first or 
 second yeare after their coming up to a new plantation, 
 many of their Cattell died, especially if they wanted Salt- 
 raarshes, and also those who supposed they should feed 
 
288 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 upon Swine's flesh, were cut short, the Wolves commonly 
 feasting themselves before them, who never leave neither 
 flesh nor bones, if they be not scared away before they 
 have made an end of their meale, as for those who laid out 
 their estate upon Sheepe, they speed worst of any at the 
 beginning (although some have sped the best of afiy now) 
 for until the Land be often fed with Cattell, Sheepe cannot 
 live : and therefore they never thrived until these latter 
 dayes. Horse had then no better successe, which made 
 many an honest gentleman travell a foot for a long time, 
 and some have even perished with extreme heat in their 
 travells ; as also the want of English graine, Wheate, Bar 
 ly and Rie, proved a sore affliction to some slomacks, who 
 could not live upon Indian Bread and water, yet were they 
 compelled to it till Cattell increase and the Plowes could 
 but goe ; instead of Apples and Peares they had Pomkins 
 and Squashes, their lonesome condition was very grievous 
 to some which was much aggravated by continual feare of 
 the Indians approach whose cruelties were much spoken of. 
 " Thus this poore people populate this howling Desart, 
 marching manfully on the Lord assisting through the great- 
 est difficulties and sorest labours that ever any with such 
 weak means have done." 
 
 " The time of the settlement of the colonies," says 
 Trumbull, '* appears to have been very providential, and 
 an important step towards the liberty and happiness of which 
 they are now, as states, in possession. Had the settlement 
 commenced directly after the discovery of America, or at 
 any period before the reformation, the planters would h^ve 
 been Roman Catholics. The ignorance, superstition, big- 
 otry, and slavish principles of the Romish church, would 
 have been transported into America; propagated, and pro- 
 bably fixed in the colonies. Had it been deferred to a 
 later period than that in which it was accomplished, the 
 French, probably, would have made the settlement, and' 
 annexed the country to the crown of France. 
 
 " At no other period could the country have been plant- 
 ed with men of their noble spirit, and sentiments of liber- 
 ty and religion ; nor with those who, with such care and 
 paius, would have transmitted them to posterity." 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY 4^ NEW ENGLAND 289 
 
 " The town of Woburn was settled in 1642. As a spe- 
 cimen of the manner in which other towns were settled, 
 we give a more particular account of this. The town was 
 laid out four miles square, and granted ib seven men "of 
 good and honest report," on condition that they, within 
 two years, erected houses there, and proceeded to build a 
 town. These seven men had power to give and grant 
 lands unto persons desirous .of sitting down with them. 
 Each one had meadow and upland granted him, according 
 to his stock of cattle and capacity of cultivating the soil. 
 The poorest man had six or seven acres of meadow, and 
 twenty-five of upland.; an eye being had to future settlers, 
 for whom lands were reserved. No man was refused on 
 account of his poverty, but, after receiving his p(#tion of 
 land, had assistance in building a house. But such as 
 were of a turbulent spirit, were not allowed to * enjoy a 
 freehold, till they should mend their manners.' The seven 
 men, to whom the town was granted, laid out the roads as 
 might best accommodate the lands as to civil and reli- 
 gious privileges. Accordingly, those who received land 
 nearest the meeting-house, had a less quantity at home, 
 and more at a distance. In this manner, about sixty 
 families first settled in Woburn." 
 
 The sentiment entertained by many, at the present day, 
 that the English obtained the lands of the Indians by 
 wrong, or without an equivalent, is evidently to be received 
 with great limitation. 
 
 " In most cases," says Hoyt, " the first settled towns 
 were purchased of the sachems residing at the places se- 
 lected by the English, In many old towns, deeds given 
 by them are now extant, containing considerations for the 
 lands sold, though generally of little value. To prevent 
 injustice, the purchasers were restricted by government. 
 In Massachusetts, none were allowed to take deeds of the 
 Indians, excepting under certain conditions ; and Plymouth 
 colony put similar checks upon their people. Gov. Winslow, 
 in a letter dated Marshfield, May 1, 16T6, makes the fol- 
 lowing statement. ' I think I can clearly say, that before 
 the present troubles broke out, the English did not possess 
 jone foot of land in this colony but what was fairly obtained 
 25 S 
 
290 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XII L 
 
 by honest purchase of the Indian proprietors; nay, be- 
 cause some of our people are of a covetous disposition, and 
 the Indians are in straits, easily prevailed with to part with 
 their lands, we first made a law that none should purchase, 
 or receive of gift any lands of the Indians, without the 
 knowledge and allowance of the court, and a penalty of a 
 fine of five pounds per acre, for all that should be so 
 bought or obtained. And lest yet they should be straiten- 
 ed, we ordered that Mount Hope, Pocasset, and several 
 other necks of land in the colony, because most suitable 
 and convenient for them, should never be bought out o^ 
 their hands. And our neighbors at Rehoboth and Swan 
 zey, although they bought their lands fairly of this 
 Philip and his father, and brother, yet because of their vi- 
 cinity, that they might not trespass upe>n the Indians, did, 
 at their own cost, set up a very substantial fence quite 
 across that great neck, between the English and the In- 
 dians, and paid due damage, if at any time any unruly 
 horse, or other beast, broke in and trespassed. And 
 for divers years last past, (that all occasion of offence in 
 that respect might be prevented,) the English agreed with 
 Philip and his, for a certain sum yearly, to maintain the 
 said fence, and thereby secure themselves. And if at any 
 time they brought complaints before us, they had justice, 
 impartial and speedily, so that our own people frequently 
 complained that we erred on the other hand in showing 
 them our favor." 
 
 "There is no hazard in asserting," says Bacon, "that 
 the general course of the policy adopted by our fathers 
 in respect to the Indians, was characterized by justice and 
 kindness. The right of the Indians to the soil was ad- 
 mitted and respected. Patents and charters from the king 
 were never considered good against the rights of the na- 
 tives. Let any man demonstrate, if he can, that in Con- 
 necticut a single rood of land was ever acquired of the 
 Indians, otherwise than by fair purchase, except what was 
 conquered from the Pequots, in a war as righteous as ever 
 ivas waged." 
 
 " The most ancient record in existence at New Haven, 
 is, as it ought to be, the record of two treaties with the 
 aboriginal proprietors, — by which the soil was purchased. 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW EXGLAXD. 291 
 
 and the relations thenceforward to subsist between the In- 
 dians and the English, were distinctly defined." 
 
 ** It is observable," says Winthrop, in March, 1642, 
 -" how the Lord doth honor his people,- and justify theii 
 ways even before the heathen, when their proceedings are 
 true and just, as appears by this instance. Those at New 
 Haven, intending a plantation at Delaware, sent some men 
 to purchase a large portion of land of the Indians there ; 
 but they refused to deal with them. It so fell out, that a 
 Pequot sachem (being fled his country in our war with 
 them, and having seated himself with his company upon 
 that river ever since) was accidentally there at that time 
 He, taking notice of the English, and their desire, persua- 
 ded the other sachem to deal with them, and told him, thit 
 howsoever they had killed his countrymen, and driven them 
 out, yet they were honest men, and had just cause to do as 
 they did, for the Pequots had done them wrong, and re- 
 fused to give such reasonable satisfaction as was demand- 
 ed of them. Whereupon the sachem entertained them, 
 and let them have what land they desired." 
 
 Knowles, in his "Memoir of Roger Williams," remarks, 
 * It is pleasing to observe in the history of the New En r- 
 land colonists, that the duties of both parties (Indians and 
 English) were, to so great an extent, fulfilled. The In- 
 dians, in most cases, received the white men with generous 
 hospitality; they sold them land on easy terms, many tribes 
 remained their firm friends, and some of the natives be- 
 came converts to the christian faith. The colonists, dh the 
 other hand, purchased their lands from the Indians, for 
 such a compensation as satisfied the natives, and was a fair 
 equivalent at that time. The patents which they brought 
 with them, were, in theory, unjust; for they implied, in 
 terms, the absolute control of the English monarch over 
 the ceded territory, and contained no recognition of the 
 rights of the natives. But the christian integrity of the 
 pilgrims corrected, in practice, the error or defect of the 
 patents. An able writer says, ' It is beyond all question, 
 that the early settlers at Plymouth, at Saybrook, and, as a 
 general rule, all along the Atlantic coast, purchased the 
 lands upon which they settled, and proceeded in their set- 
 tlements with the consent of the natives. Nineteen twen- 
 
292 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII. 
 
 tieths of the land in the Athmtic states, and nearly all the 
 land settled by the whites in the western states, 'came into 
 our possession as the result of amicable treaties.' ' The 
 settlers usually gave as much for land as it was then 
 worth, according to any fair and judicious estimate. An 
 Indian would sell a square mile of land for a blanket 
 and a jack-knife, and this would appear to many to be a 
 fraudulent bargain. It would, however, by no means, 
 deserve such an appellation. The knife, alone, would add 
 more to the comfort of an Indian, and more to his wealth, 
 than forty square miles of land, in the actual circumstan- 
 ces of the case.' We may add, that, at this day, a square 
 mile of land might be bought in some parts of the United 
 'States for less than the first settlers paid the Indians for 
 their lands. Indeed, as the writer just quoted says, ' There 
 are millions of acres of land in the Carolinas, which would 
 not at this moment be accepted as a gift, and yet much of 
 this land will produce, with very little labor, one hundred 
 and fifty bsshels of sweet potatoes to the acre.' Vattell 
 says, ' We cannot help praising the moderation of the En- 
 glish puritans, who first settled in New England, who, not- 
 withstanding their being furnished with a charter from 
 their sovereign, purchased of the Indians the lands they 
 resolved to cultivate.' " 
 
 *' On the 14th of November, 1638, at Quinnipiac, (New 
 Haven, Conn.) Theophilus Eaton, Esq., Mr. Davenport, 
 and other English planters, entered into an agreement 
 with Momauguin, sachem of that part of the country, and 
 his counsellors, respecting the lands. The articles of 
 agreement are to this effect : 
 
 " That Momauguin is the sole sachem of Quinnipiac, 
 and has absolute power to aliene and dispose of the same : 
 that in consequence of the protection he had tasted, by the 
 English, from the Pequots and Mohawks, he yielded up all 
 his right, title and interest to all the land, rivers, ponds 
 and trees, with all the liberties and purtenances belonging 
 to the same, unto Theophilus Eaton, John Davenport and 
 others, their heirs and assigns f'^rever. He covenanted 
 that neither he nor his Indians would terrify or disturb the 
 English; or injure them in any of their interests ; but that, 
 in every respect, they would keep true faith with them. 
 
CHAP. XIII. J HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 293 
 
 " The English covenanted to protect Momauguin and 
 his Indians when unreasonably assaulted and terrified by 
 any of the other Indians; and that they should always have 
 a sufficient quantity of land to plant upon, on the east side 
 of the harbor, between that and Saybrook fort. They also 
 covenanted that by way of free and thankful retribution, 
 they give unto the said sachem and his company twelve 
 coats of English cloth, twelve alchymy spoons, twelve 
 hatchets, twelve hoes, two dozen of knives, twelve porrin- 
 gers, and four cases of French knives and scissors. 
 
 *' This agreement was signed and legally executed by 
 Momauguin and his council on the one part, and Theo- 
 philus l^aton and John Davenport on the other." 
 
 In December following they made another purchase of a- 
 large tract, ten miles in length and thirteen in breadth. This 
 was bought of Montowese. For it they gave thirteen 
 coats, and allowed the Indians ground to plant, and liberty 
 to hunt within the lands. 
 
 The settlement of Milford, Con. was commenced in 1639. 
 " The first purchase of land was made of the Indians on 
 the 12th of February, which comprehended about two miles 
 of what is now the centre of the town. The consideration 
 was *6 coats, 10 blankets, 1 kettle, besides a number of 
 hoes, knives, hatchets, and glasses.' The deed was signed 
 by Ansantawae, the sagamore, by Arracowset, Anshuta, 
 Manamatque, and others. Afterwards, at different times, 
 other purchases were made. The tract lying west of the 
 settlement on the Housatonic River was bought on the 20th 
 of December, 1659, for the sum of .£26, to be paid in 
 goods. The Indian Neck was purchased on the 2d of Ja- 
 nuary, 1659-60, for the consideration of £'25. A reserva- 
 tion of 20 acres, in this tract, for planting ground, was 
 sold by the Indians on the 12th of December, 1661, for six 
 coats, two blankets, and two pair of breeches. A tract, 
 commonly called the two-bit purchase, a mile aifd six score 
 rods in breadth, was bought in 1700. for the consideration 
 of £15 in pay, and 155. in silver. And the tract called 
 the one-bit purchase, a mile and six score rods in breadth, 
 was purchased in 1702, for £5 in money, or otherwise £1 
 \0s. in pay." 
 
 " The township of Northampton, Mass., was purchased 
 25* 
 
294 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [ci*AP. XIII. 
 
 and conveyed to John Pyncheon, Esq. for the planters, by 
 Wawhillowa, Nenessahalant, Nassicohee, and four others, 
 (one of whom was a married woman) styled ' the chief and 
 proper owners,' for one hundred fathom of wampum by 
 tale, and ten coats, (besides some small gifts) in hand paid 
 to the sachems and owners, and for also ploughing up six- 
 teen acres of land on the east side of Connecticut River, 
 the ensuing summer, viz. 1654. Of course, the purchase, 
 though not dated, was made in 1653. These ' all bargain- 
 ed for themselves, and the other owners, by their consent.' 
 All the aborigines of this country,' men and women alike, 
 are owners of the soil upon which they hunt, or dwell. In 
 this grant, the Indian rights were completely secured ; and 
 the planters were obliged to purchase, and pay them to their 
 satisfaction, before they could become proprietors. The 
 original planters were twenty-one in number. The tract 
 conveyed extended from South Hadley Falls to Hatfield, 
 then a part of Hadley, about ten miles ; and from the river 
 westward, nine miles. The Indian name was Nonotuck. 
 
 *' Capawonke, since called Little Pontius, a rich interva 
 now within Hatfield, containing eight or nine hundred acres, 
 was sold to these planters, July 20th, 1657, by Lampancho, 
 for fifty shillings, at two payments, ' to his* entire satisfac- 
 tion.' 
 
 *' In these ^wo purchases you have a fair picture of In- 
 dian purchases in general. In the former, about ninety 
 square miles were sold for one hundred fathom of wampum, 
 and ten coats, together with a few trifles of no great value. 
 Within this tract were near five thousand acres of rich in- 
 terval ; worth from three to four hundred thousand dollars 
 at the present time. The whole tract furnished, in the year 
 1800, plentiful subsistence for four thousand, five hundred 
 and fifteen inhabitants ; most of them in easy circumstan- 
 ces, and several of them affluent. In the latter case, eight 
 or nine hundred acres of rich interval, worth, at the pre- 
 sent time, from fifty to seventy thousand dollars, were pur- 
 chased for fifty shillings sterling; and, of course, for less 
 than a penny an acre. Still, the price was fair and ample ; 
 more valuable to the Indian than any thing which he could 
 get by keeping the land, or selling it to any other pur- 
 chaser." 
 
CHAP. Xin.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 295 
 
 Cochichewick, now Andover, was purchased of Cut- 
 shamache, the sagamore of Massachusetts, for six pounds 
 sterling, and a coat. 
 
 The following is a specimen of an Indian deed. It was 
 given to the original proprietors of Haverhill, Mass. in th@ 
 year 1642. 
 
 "Know all men by these presents, that wee, Passaquo 
 and Sagga Hew with the consent of Passaconnaway ; have 
 sold unto the inhabitants of Pentuckett all the lands wee 
 have in Pentuckett ; that is, eyght myles in length from the 
 little Rivver in Pentuckett Westward ; six myles in length 
 from the aforesaid Rivver northward ; and six myles in 
 length from the foresaid Rivver Eastward, with the Ileand 
 and the Rivver that the Ileand stand in, as far in length as 
 the land lyes by as formerly expressed : that is, fourteene 
 myles in length : and wee, the said Passaquo and Sagga 
 Hew with the consent of Passaconnaway have sold unto 
 the said inhabitants all the right that wee or any of us have 
 in the said ground and Ileand, and Rivver. And wee war- 
 rant it, against all or any other Indeans whatsoever, unto 
 the said Inhabitants of Pentuckett, and to their heirs and 
 assignes forever Dated the fifteenth day of november Ann 
 Dom 1642. 
 
 " Witnes our hands and seales to this bargayne of sale 
 the day and year above written (in the presents of us.) wee 
 the said Passaquo and Sagga Hew have reteived in hand, 
 for & in consideration of the same three pounds & ten 
 shillings." 
 
 The following incident, related by Dr. Dwight, illus- 
 trates the value which the English themselves placed upon 
 the lands they purchased of the Indians. 
 
 '* One of the first planters of Springfield, Mass., was a 
 tailor, and another a carpenter. The tailor had, for a sTiiall 
 consideration, purchased of an Indian chief a tract of land 
 in what is now West Springfield, forming a square of three 
 miles on a side. The carpenter had constructed a clumsy 
 wheel-barrow, for which the tailor offered to make him a 
 suit of clothes, or convey to him the land. After some 
 deliberation, he exchanged the wheel-barrow for the land. 
 This tract contained the best settled part of West Spring- 
 field, many an acre of which might now be sold, for the 
 
296 INCIDENTS*IN THE EARLY [cHAP. Xllf, 
 
 purposes of cultivation onlyy at the price of one hundred 
 dollars. When a fourth part of a township," adds Dr. 
 Dwight, " was sold by one Englishman to another for a 
 wheel-barrow, it will be easily believed that it was of ^till 
 less value to the aborigines. To an Englishman it was 
 valuable as the future subject of cultivation, to an Indian 
 as the haunt of game. The small prices paid by the first 
 colonists for the lands in this country, are no evidence that 
 the bargains were fraudulent or inequitable. To the In- 
 dian, without an English purchaser, the land was often 
 worth nothing; and to the colonist its value was created 
 by his labor. The censures, passed upon the colonists for 
 their manner of purchasing, are therefore groundless. The 
 price which they actually gave, small as it seems, was or- 
 dinarily, and, as far as I know, always a fair one, and per- 
 fectly satisfactory to the original proprietors." 
 
 In 1640, in consequence af a change of affairs in the 
 mother country, emigration to New England ceased. It 
 was estimated at the time, that about four thousand fami- 
 lies, consisting of twenty-one thousand souls, had arrived 
 in two hundred and ninety-eight ships, and settled in this 
 new world. The expense of the removal of these four 
 thousand families was estimated at one hundred and 
 ninety-two thousand pounds sterling, which, including 
 what they paid ta the council of Plymouth, and afterwards 
 to the sachem's of the country, was a dear purchase of 
 their lands 
 
 The first governor of Massachusetts was John Winthrop 
 The following interesting particulars are related of him. 
 
 "Governor Winthrop was born at Groton, England, 
 June 12th, 1587, and was bred to the law, though he had 
 a strong inclination for divinity. So conspicuous werehia 
 merits, that he was made a justice of the peace at the age 
 of eighteen. He was distinguished for his hospitality, his 
 piety, and his integrity. Being chosen governor, before 
 the colony embarked for America, he dold an estate of six 
 or seven hundred pounds sterling p/r annum; and in the 
 forty-third year of his age, he arrived at Salem, June 12th, 
 1630, and, within five days, travelled through the trackless 
 woods to Charlestown. The same fall he passed over the 
 
THAP. XUr.] HISTORY OF NEW EXGLA.VD. 297 
 
 river to Boston, which became his permanent residence. 
 He was an example to his people, not only of temperance 
 and piety, but of frugality, denying himself those indulgen- 
 ces and elegances to which his fortune and office entitled 
 him, that he might be an example to others, and have more 
 liberal means of relieving the needy. 
 
 *' On one occasion, Chickatabot, the sagamore of Napon- 
 sett, came to the governor, and desired to buy some English 
 cloths for himself The governor told him that English 
 sagamores did not use to barter, but he called his tailor and 
 gave him orders to make him a suit of clothes ; whereupon 
 he gave the governor two large skins of coat beaver, and 
 after he and his men had dined, they departed, the saga- 
 more sayiiig, that he would come again after three days for 
 his suit. Accordingly, h^ came, -and the governor put 
 him into a very good new suit, from head to foot. After 
 this, he sat meat before him ; but he woiJd not eat till the 
 governor had given thanks. After meat, he desired him to 
 do the same, and then departed. 
 
 " October 4th, 1631, the governor being at his farm 
 house, at Mistick, walked out after supper, and took a gun 
 in his hand, supposing he might see a wolf, (for they came 
 daily about the house and killed swine and calves.) When 
 he was at the distance of half a mile, it grew suddenly 
 dark, so that in going home, he mistook his path, and went 
 till he came to a little house of Sagamore John, which 
 stood empty ; there he stayed, and having a piece of match 
 in his pocket, (for he always carried about his match and 
 compass) he made a good fire and warmed the house, 
 and layjdown upon some old mats which he found there. 
 Thus he spent the night, sometimes walking by the fire, 
 sometimes singing psalms, and sometimes getting wood, 
 but could not sleep. It was a wearisome night, and a little 
 before day it began to rain. In the morning he reached 
 home in safety. His servant had been very anxious for 
 him, and had walked about in the night, discharging guns, 
 and hallooing, but the governor did not hear him. 
 
 '* In January, 1632, the governor and some company 
 with him went up by Charles River, about eight miles above 
 Watertown ; and named the first brook on the north side 
 of the river, Beaver Brook, because the beavers had shorn 
 
298 INCIDENTS IN THR EARLY [cHAP. XIII 
 
 down great trees there, and made dams across the brook. 
 Thence they went to a great rock upon which stood a high 
 stone cleft asunder, so that four men might pass through it, 
 which they called Adam's Chair, because the youngest of 
 their comj)any was Adam Winthrop. Thence they came to 
 another brook, larger than the first, which they called Mas* 
 ters' Brook, because the eldest of their company was one 
 John Masters. Thence they came to a high pointed rock, 
 which they called Mount Feake, from one Robert Feake, 
 who had married the governor's daughter-in-law. 
 
 " In February, the governor and some others went over 
 Mistick River in Meadford, and going about two or three 
 miles among the rocks, they came to a very large pond, 
 having in the middle an island of about one acre, covered 
 with trees of pine and birch ; there were also many small 
 rocks standing up here and there in it, from which they 
 named it Spot 4*ond. About half a mile from this, they 
 came to the top of a very high rock, from whence there is 
 a fair prospect. This place they called Cheese Rock, be- 
 cause when they went to eat something, they had only 
 cheese — the governor's man forgetting to put up some 
 bread. 
 
 " In October of the same year, the governor, in company 
 with Rev. Mr. Wilson and some others, made a visit to 
 Plymouth. They took passage by water to Massagascus, 
 and from thence went on foot to Plymouth, where they 
 arrived in the evening. The governor of Plymouth, Mr. 
 William Bradford, with Mr. Brewster, the elder, and some 
 others, went forth and met them without the town, and 
 conducted them to the governor's house, where they were 
 kindly entertained, and feasted every day at several houses. 
 On the Lord's day w^s a sacrament, in which they partook ; 
 and in the afternoon Mr. Roger Williams propounded a 
 question, according to their custom : to which the pastor, 
 Mr. Smith, spoke briefly, then Mr. Williams, and after him 
 the governor of Plymouth spoke to the question ; after him 
 the elder, and some two 'or three more of the congregation. 
 Then the elder desired Governor Winthrop and Mr. Wil- 
 son to speak to it, which they did. When this was end- 
 ed, the deacon, Mr. Fuller, put the congregation in mind 
 of their duty of contribution ; upon which the governor 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW EXiiLAND. 299 
 
 and all the rest went down to the deacon's seat and put 
 into the bag, and then returned. 
 
 '' On Wednesday, about five in the morning, the gover- 
 nor and his company came out of Plymouth ; the governor 
 of Plymouth with the pastor, elder, and others, accompany- 
 ing them nearly half a mile out of town in the dark. Lieu- 
 tenant Holmes, with two others, and the governor's man, 
 came along with them to the great swamp, about ten miles. 
 When they came to the great river, they were carried over 
 by one Luddham,- their guide, as they had been when they 
 came, the stream being very strong and up to the hips ; so 
 the governor called that passage Ludd ham's ford. Then 
 they came to a place called Hue's Cross: the governor 
 being displeased with the name, as such things might give 
 occasion to the papists to say that their religion was first 
 planted in these parts, changed the name, and called it 
 Hue's Folly. They came that evening to Massagascus, 
 where they were bountifully entertained as before, with 
 store of turkeys, geese, ducks, &/C., and the next day came 
 safe to Boston." 
 
 " It was the custom of Gov. Winthrop to send some of 
 his family upon errands to the houses of the poor, about 
 their meal-time, on purpose to spy whether they wanted ; 
 and if it was found that they were needy, he would make 
 that the opportunity of sending supplies to them. 
 
 " In a hard and long winter, when wood was very scarce 
 in Boston, a man gave him private information that a 
 needy person in the neighborhood sometimes stole wood 
 from his pile ; upon which the governor, in a seeming an- 
 ger, replied, Does he so ? Til take a course with him ; gOj 
 call that man to me ; Til icarrant you, Til cure him of 
 stealing. When the man came, the governor, considering 
 that if he had stolen, it was more out of necessity than 
 disposition, said to him. Friend, it is a ^severe winter, and 
 I doubt you are but meanly provided with wood ; wherefore 
 1 would have you supply yourself at iny wood-pile, till this 
 cold season be over. And he then merrily asked his friends 
 ichcther he had not effectually cured this man of stealing 
 his wood ?" 
 
 '* On receiving a very bitter and provoking letter, he 
 gave it back to the person who brought it, saying, * I am 
 
300 INCIDENTS IN THE EARL^ [cHAP. XIII 
 
 not willing to keep such an occasion of provocation bj 
 me.' The person, who wrote the letter, had occasion 
 some time after to desire the governor to sell him one or 
 two fat swine. The governor sent word to him to send for 
 one, and accept it as a token of his good will. To this 
 message the man returned the following answer, ' Your 
 overcoming yourself has overcome me.' " 
 
 " The house of Gov. Winthrop was near the Old South 
 Church, and almost opposite to the end of School street, in 
 the place now occupied by the buildings called South Row 
 It was of wood, two stories high, and surrounded by a 
 garden and trees. The British demolished it in 1775." 
 
 " Having expended a large portion of his great estate 
 for the advantage of the colony, having exhausted his 
 strength in cares and labors in their service, he felt the de- 
 cays of nature years before his decease. A cold, succeed- 
 ed by a fever, put an end to his life and eminent services, 
 March 26th, 1649, in the fifty-second year of his age. He 
 anticipated the serious event with calm resignation to the 
 will of God. He left five sons; one of them was afterwards 
 governor of Connecticut." 
 
 •* The first church erected at Boston was in 1632. Its 
 roof was thatched, audits walls were of mud. It stood on 
 the south side of State street." 
 
 The first meeting-house erected in Bill erica was built 
 about the year 1660. It was covered with thatch instead 
 of shingles. 
 
 " In 1636, the general court of Massachusetts contem- 
 plated the erection of a public school at Newtown, and 
 appropriated four hundred pounds for that purpose ; which 
 laid the foundation of Harvard College. In 1638, the Rev 
 John Harvard, of Charlestown, endowed the public school 
 with about eight hundred pounds. -Thus endowed, the 
 school was exalted to a college, and assumed the name of 
 its principal benefactor, and Newtown, in compliment to 
 the college, and in memory of the place where many of 
 our fathers received their education, was denominated 
 Cambridge." 
 
 The first printing press, established in New England, 
 was set up at Cambridge, in 1639 Winthrop says, " that 
 
CHAP. XITI.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 301 
 
 the first thing which was printed was the freeman's oath — • 
 the next was an ahnanac, made for New England, by Mr. 
 Pierce — the next was the Psalms newly turned to metre." 
 
 The first Bible published in New England was in the 
 Indian language. It was prepared by Mr. Eliot, the apos- 
 tle of the Indians, and printed at Cambridge, in 1664. 
 
 " In 1642, a gentleman of Virginia came to Boston 
 with letters addressed to the ministers of New England, 
 from many well-disposed people in the upper and newer 
 parts of Virginia, ' bewailing their sad condition for want 
 of the means of salvation, and earnestly entreating a sup- 
 ply of faithful ministers, whom, upon experience of their 
 gifts and godliness, they might call to otfice.' These let- 
 ters having been publicly read at Boston on a lecture-day, 
 the elders of the churches in that neighborhood met, and 
 having devoted a day to consultation and prayer in refer- 
 ence to so serious a proposal, agreed upon three settled 
 ministers, who they thought might best be spared, each of 
 them having a teaching colleague. The result was, that 
 two ministers, Mr. Knolles, of Watertown, and Mr. Thomp- 
 son, of Braintree, were, by their churches, dismissed to 
 that work, and went forth upon the mission under the pa- 
 tronage of the General Court. To this mission — the first 
 American home missionary undertaking — the Rev. Tho- 
 mas James, of New Haven, was added. The mission was 
 not unsuccessful ; ' they found very loving and liberal en- 
 tertainment, and were bestowed in several places, not by 
 the governor, but by some well-disposed people who de- 
 sired their company.' Their ministry there was greatly 
 blessed, and greatly sought by the people ; and though the 
 government of that colony interfered to prevent their 
 preaching, * because they would not conform to the order 
 of England,' ' the people resorted to them in private 
 houses, to hear them as before.' Their preaching, even in 
 this more private manner, was not tolerated. An order 
 was made that those ministers who would not conform to 
 the ceremonies of the Church of England, should, by such 
 a day, depart from the country, Thus, their mission being 
 brought to an end, they came back to New England. 
 26 
 
302 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII. 
 
 " The year 1643 was made memorable in the history of 
 New Eng]a"hd, by the union of the colonies. On the 19th 
 of May, articles of confederation were sii^ned at Boston, 
 by the commissioners of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New 
 Haven, and Plymouth, by which these four colonies formed 
 a league under the name of the United Colonies of New 
 En fr land. The preface of the articles explains the objects 
 of the confederation. 
 
 '-'Whereas, we alt came into these parts of America 
 with one and the same end and aim, namely, to advance 
 the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to enjoy the 
 liberty of the gospel in purity and peace ; and whereas, 
 by our settling, by the wise providence of God, we are fur 
 ther dispersed upon the sea-coasts and rivers than was at 
 first intended, so that we cannot, according to our desire, 
 with convenience, communicate in one government and ju- 
 risdiction ; and whereas, we live encompassed with people 
 of several nations and strange languages, which may here 
 after prove injurious to us or our posterity ; and forasmuch 
 as the natives have formerly committed sundry insolences 
 and outrages upon several plantations of the English, 
 and have of late combined themselves against us, and 
 seeing, by reason of the sad distractions in England, 
 (which they have-heard of,) and by which they know we 
 are hindered both from that humble way of seeking advice 
 and reaping those comfortable fruits of protection which, 
 at other times, we might well expect ; we therefore do con- 
 ceive it our bounden duty, without delay, to enter into a 
 present consociation among ourselves, for mutual help and 
 strength in all future concernment, that, as in nation and 
 religion, so in other respects, we be and continue one.' 
 
 " By the articles, it was stipulated that two commis- 
 sioners from each of the colonies should meet at Boston, 
 Hartford, New Haven, and Plymouth, in successive years, 
 and that this congress should determine questions of peace 
 and war, and consult for the general welfare of the colo- 
 nies. This league continued till the year 1686. It had 
 a beneficial effect, and was probably the germ from whiclr 
 sprung the confederation, and the subsequent union of 
 the states, under our present happy government." * 
 
 * Knowles' Memoir of Roger Williams. 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 303 
 
 . There have been various opinions respecting the origin 
 of the name Yankee. " Mr. Heckewelder thinks that the 
 Indians, in endeavoring to pronounce the name English, 
 could get that sound no nearer than these letters give it, 
 yengees. This was perhaps the true origin of Yankee." 
 
 The name of each of the six New England States ori- 
 ginated as follows : 
 
 Massachusetts derived its name, as is supposed, from 
 the blue appearance of its hills ; the word in the Indian 
 language, according to Roger Williams, signifying Blue 
 Hills. 
 
 '' Connecticut derives its name from the river by 
 which it is intersected, called by the natives Quonectacut. 
 This word, according to some, signifies the long river; 
 it has, however, been stated by others, that the meaning 
 of the word is JRiver of Pines, in allusion to the forests 
 of pines that formerly stood on its banks." 
 
 As early as 1644, the Island of Rhode Island, on ac- 
 count of a fancied resemblance to the Isle of Rhodes, 
 was called by that name, and by an easy declension it 
 was afterwards called Rhode Island. This is supposed to 
 be the origin of the name of the state of Rhode Island. 
 
 New Hampshire derived its name from the county of 
 Hampshire in England, the residence of Mason, to whom a 
 patent embracing a considerable part of the state was given.- 
 
 The provincial name of Maine, according to William- 
 son, was probably chosen in compliment to the queen of 
 England, who had inherited a province of the same name 
 in France. 
 
 Vermont derived its name from the range of green 
 mountains, which pass through it. Vcrd signifying green, 
 and inont, mountain. 
 
 The name Canada is so singular in its origin that we 
 venture to insert it here, believing that the reader will 
 regard it as a pardonable digression. " Mr. Bozman, in 
 his 'Introduction to a History of Maryland,' says that it 
 is a traditional report that previous to the visiting of New- 
 foundland by Cartier, in 1534, some Spaniards visited 
 that coast in search of gold; but its appearance discour- 
 aged them, and they ^juilted it in haste, crying out as they 
 went on'board their vessel, ^Aca nada, Aca nada ; ' thai 
 
304 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XI ri 
 
 is, in English, ' there* s notliing hereJ The Indians re- 
 tained these words in their memories, and afterwards, 
 when the French came to the country, they were saluted 
 with the same words, and mistook them for the name of 
 the country. And in time, the first letter was lost ; hence 
 the name Canada'* 
 
 In the year 1677, the whole state of Maine, then a 
 province, was purchased by the Massachusetts colony of 
 Sir Ferdinando Gorges, for the sum of twelve hundred 
 and fifty pounds. It remained a part of Massachusetts 
 until the year 1820, when it was formed into a separate state. 
 
 It may be interesting to the reader to learn something 
 of the laws, regulations, and modes of punishment as they' 
 existed in the early days of New England. The following, 
 are specimens : 
 
 All parents to teach their children to read, and all 
 masters to acquaint their families with the capital laws, 
 on penalty of twenty shillings, and to catechise them once 
 a week. 
 
 The selectmen may examine children and apprentices, 
 and admonish parents and masters, if they find them igno- 
 rant, and with the consent of two magistrates, or the next 
 county court, put them into better hands. 
 • If any person's dress should be adjudged by the grand 
 jury, or county court, above his rank, they are to be ad- 
 monished for the first offence, to pay twenty shillings for 
 the second, forty shillings for the third, and forty shillings 
 for every offence afterwards. 
 
 Idleness was no small offence ; common fowlers, tobacco 
 takers, and all the persons who could give no good account 
 how they spent their time, the constables were required 
 to present to the next magistrate ; and the selectmen of 
 every town were required to oversee the families, and to 
 distribute the children into classes, and to take care that 
 they were employed in spinning and other labor, according 
 to their age and condition. 
 
 Merchants not to retail under three gallons of wine or 
 cider, and a quart of strong w^aters, (ardent spirit.) 
 
 None to buy lands of Indians, without leave from the 
 general court, on forfeiture of the lands. 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 305 
 
 Whoever sells them any strong liquors, pays forty shil- 
 lings a pint ; a third to the informer. 
 
 Damage done to their corn to be recompensed by tho.se 
 whose cattle did it. 
 
 Josias Plaistowe, for stealing four baskets of corn from 
 the Indians, is ordered to return them eight baskets, to be 
 fined five pounds, and hereafter to be called by the name 
 of Josias, and not Mr., as formerly he used to be. 
 
 Sergeant Perkins ordered to carry forty turfs to the fort, 
 for being drunk. 
 
 Edward Palmer, for his extortion in taking two pounds 
 thirteen shillings and fourpence for the wood-work of Bos- 
 ton stocks, is fined five pounds, and ordered to sit one hour 
 in the stocks. ^ 
 
 Capt. Lovel admonished to take heed of light carriage. 
 
 t)aniel Clarke, found to be an immoderate drinker, was 
 fined forty shillings. 
 
 John Wedgewood, for being in the company of drunk- 
 ards, to be set in the stocks. 
 
 There was a law which sentenced a man convicted of 
 drunkenness to wear round his neck, for one year, a string 
 to which was attached a board with a red D. marked upon 
 it. 
 
 There was also a law forbidding the use of tobacco in 
 company or before strangers. 
 
 " The colony of Connecticut expressed their disappro- 
 bation of the use of tobacco in an act of their general 
 Tissembly, at Hartford, in 1647, wherein it was ordered, 
 * That no person under the age of twenty years that hath 
 already accustomed himself to the use thereof, shall take 
 any tobacco, until he shall have brought a certificate from 
 under the hand of some who are approved for knowledge 
 and skill in physic, that it is useful for him ; and also that 
 he hath received a license from the court for the same. 
 All others who had addicted themselves to the use of to- 
 bacco wera, by the same court, prohibited taking it in any 
 
 * They were very careful to give no titles where they were not 
 due. In a list of one hundred freemen, you will not find above 
 four or five distinguished by Mr., although they were men of soma 
 substance. Goodman and Good wife were the common appella- 
 tions. 
 
 26* T 
 
S06 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. XIII 
 
 company, or at their labors, or on their travels, unless they 
 were ten miles, at least, from any house, or more than once 
 a day", though not in company, on pain of a fine of six- 
 pence for each time, to be proved by one substantial evi- 
 dence. The constable, in each town, to make present- 
 ment of such transgressions to the particular court, and 
 upon conviction the fine to be paid without gainsaying.' " 
 
 " In 1621, two culprits were arraigned before the civil 
 compact of Plymouth for trial. These were Edward Do- 
 tey and Edward Leister, servants of Stephen Hopkins, who 
 had fought a duel, with sword and dagger, in which both 
 were wounded. 
 
 *' They were sentenced to have their head and feet tied 
 together, and to remain in that situation for twenty-four 
 hcSrs, without food or drink. Even this slight punishment 
 for an offence so criminal was remitted by the governor, 
 after one hour's endurance, in consequence of their plead- 
 ings and promises, and the earnest desire of their master." 
 
 " Nathaniel Basset and Joseph Prior were fined twenty 
 shillings each, for disturbing the church in Duxbury, and, 
 at the next town meeting or training day, both were to be 
 bound to a post for two hours, in some public place, with 
 a paper on their heads, on which their crime was to be 
 written in capital letters. Miss J. Boulton, for slandering, 
 was sentenced to sit in the stocks during the court's plea- 
 sure, and a paper, written with capital letters, to be made 
 fast unto her, all the time of her sitting there, all of which 
 was accordingly performed." 
 
 ' **In 1662, S. H., for carrying a grist of corn fi-om mill 
 on Sunday, fined twenty shillings, or to be whipped. 
 
 " W. F., for suffering him to take it from the mill, fined 
 fen shillings. 
 
 " R. Smith, for lying concerning seeing a whale and 
 other things, fined twenty shillings. 
 
 " William Randall, for telling a lie, fined ten sliillings." 
 
 " In 1673, J;he first dancing school was openec^in Boston, 
 but was immediately prohibited by the general court. 
 
 *' All denominations of money, current in the early pe- 
 riods of settlement, were quite inadequate to the purposes 
 of the people's convenience or wants. Emigrants brought 
 small amounts with them, and after the removals to this 
 
CHAP. Xiri.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 307 
 
 country received a check about the year 1640, and many 
 returned back, the legislature, in consequence of the ex- 
 treme scarcity of a circulating medium, made corn, fish, 
 and other products a tender at the rates prescribed by law ; 
 also provided for extending executions upon real estate, 
 made icampiiin current in payment of all debts, not exceed- 
 ing forty shillings ; and established the rate of annual in- 
 terest at eight per centum. The value of wampum was 
 four black, and» eight white beads for a penny." 
 
 Whe« Columbus first discovered America, he concluded 
 it to be the easterly part of India ; accordingly, he called 
 the inhabitants, he found here, Indians. This was the 
 origin of the name, as applied to the aborigines of A^e- 
 rica. 
 
 " The principal tribes of Indians, which were settled 
 in New England, were the Peqitots, in Connecticut ; Nar- 
 rngansctts, in Rhode Island; the Wampanoags, Massachu- 
 setts, Nipnets or Nipmiicks, Nashuas, and Stockhridge In- 
 dians, in Massachusetts ; the PigwacJcct, or Coos Indians, 
 in New Hampshire ; and the Tarraieens, or Abenaquis, in 
 the District of Maine." 
 
 Trumbull gives the following account of the manners 
 and customs of the Indians. 
 
 *' The Indians of New England were large, straight, well- 
 proportioned men. Their bodies were firm and active, 
 capable of enduring the greatest fatigues and hardships. 
 Their passive courage was almost incredible When tor- 
 tured in the most cruel manner, though flayed alive, though 
 JDurnt with fire, cut or torn limb from limb, they would not 
 groan, nor show any signs of distress. Nay, in some in- 
 stances, they would glory over their tormentors, saying, 
 that their hearts would never be soft until they were cold, 
 and representing their torments as sweet as Englishman's 
 sugar. When travelling, in summer or winter, they re- 
 garded nether heat nor cold. 
 
 " They were exceedingly light of foot, and would tra- 
 vel or run a very great distance in a day. Mr. Williams 
 says, ' I have known them run between eighty and a hun- 
 dred miles in a summer's day, and back again within two 
 davs.' As they were accustomed to the woods, they ran 
 
808 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [l HAP. XIII 
 
 nearly as well in them as on plain ground. They were 
 exceedingly quick-sighted to discover their enemy or their 
 game, and equally artful to conceal themselves Their 
 features were tolerably regular. Their faces are generally 
 .full as broad as those of the English, but flatter ; they have 
 a small, dark-colored good eye, coarse black hair, and a 
 fine set of teeth. The Indian children, when born, are 
 nearly as white as the English children ; but as they grow 
 up, their skin grows darker, and becomes nearly of a cop- 
 per color. The shapes, both of the men and women, es- 
 pecially the latter, are excellent. A crooked Ifidian is 
 rarely if ever to be seen. 
 
 " The Indians, in general, were quick of apprehension, 
 ingenious, and, when pleased, nothing could exceed their 
 courtesy and friendship. Gravity and eloquence distin- 
 guished them in council, address and bravery in war. 
 They were not more easily provoked than the English ; 
 but when once they had received an injury, it was never 
 forgotten. In anger they were not, like the English, talk- 
 ative and boisterous, but sullen and revengeful. Indeed, 
 when they were exasperated, nothing could exceed their 
 revenge and cruelty. When they have fallen into the pow- 
 er of an enemy, they have not been known to beg for life, 
 nor even to accept it when ofTer.ed them. They have 
 seemed rather to court death. They were exceedingly 
 improvident. If they had a supply for the present, they 
 gave themselves no trouble for the future. The men de- 
 clined all labor, and spent their time in hunting, fishing, 
 shooting, and warlike exercises. They were excellent 
 marksmen, and rarely missed their game whether running 
 or flying. 
 
 " They imposed all the drudgery upon their women 
 They gathered and brought home their wood ; planted, 
 dressed, and gathered in their corn. They carried home 
 the venison, fish, and fowl, which the men took in hunt- 
 ing. When they travelled, the women carried the chil- 
 dren, packs, and provisions. The Indian women submit- 
 ted patiently to such treatment, considering it as the hard 
 lot of the woman. This ungenerous usage of their haugh- 
 ty lords they repaid with smiles and good humor. They 
 were strong and masculine, and as they were more inured 
 
CHAP. XIIT.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 309 
 
 to exercise and hardship than the men, were even more 
 firm and capable of enduring hardship than they. 
 
 " The clothing of the Indians in New England was the 
 skins of wild beasts. The men threw a light mantle of 
 skins over them, and wore a small flap, which was called 
 Indian breeches. The women were much more modest. 
 They wore a coat of skins girt about their loins, which 
 reached down to their hams. They never put this off in 
 company. If the husband chose to sell his wife's beaver 
 petticoat, she could not be persuaded to part with it, mitil 
 he had provided another of some sort. 
 
 *• In the winter, their blanket of skins, which hung 
 loose in the summer, was tied or wrapped more closely 
 about them. The old men in the severe seasons also wore 
 a sort of trou'sers made of skins, and fastened to their gir- 
 dles. They wore shoes without heels, which they called 
 moccasons. These were made generally of moose hide, 
 but sometimes of buck-skin. They were shaped entirely 
 to the foot, gathered at the toes and round the ankles, and 
 made fast with strings. 
 
 " Their ornaments were pendants in their ears and nose, 
 carved of bone, shells, and stones. These were in the 
 form of birds, beasts, and fishes. They also wore belts of 
 wampumpeag upon their arms, over their shoulders, and 
 about their loins. They cut their hair into various antic 
 forms, and stuck it with feathers. They also, by incisions 
 into which they conveyed a black or blue unchangeable 
 ink, made on their cheeks, arms, and other parts of their 
 bodies, the figures of moose, deer, bears, wolves, hawks, 
 eagles, and all such living creatures as were most agreea- 
 ble to their fancies. These pictures were indelible, and 
 lasted during life. The sachems, on great days, when 
 they designed to show themselves in the full splendor of 
 majesty, not only covered themselves with mantles of 
 moose or deer-skins, with various embroideries of white 
 beads, and with paintings of different kinds, but they wore 
 the skin of a bear, wild cat, or some terrible creature, upon 
 their shoulders and arms. They had also necklaces of 
 fish bones, and painting themselves in a frightful manner, 
 made a most ferocious and horrible appearance. The war- 
 riors who, on public occasions, dressed themselves in the 
 
310 HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. [ciiA.P. XIII 
 
 most wild and terrific forms, were considered the best 
 men. 
 
 "• The Indian^ houses, or wigwams, were, at best, but 
 poor smoky cells. They were constructed generally like 
 : arbors, of small young trees, bent and twisted together, 
 and so curiously covered with mats or bark, that they were 
 tolerably dry and warm. The Indians made their fire in 
 the centre of the house, and there was an opening at the 
 top, which emitted the smoke. For the convenience of 
 wood and water, these huts were commonly erected in 
 groves, near some river, brook, or living spring 
 
 *' They lived in a poor, low manner : their food was 
 coarse and simple, without any kind of seasoning : they 
 had neither butter, cheese, nor milk : they drank nothing 
 better than the water which ran in the brook, or spouted 
 from the spring: they fed on the flesh -^ and entrails of 
 moose, deer, bears, and all kinds of wild beasts and fowls ; 
 on fish, and eels, and creeping things : they had good sto- 
 machs, and nothing came amiss. In the hunting and fish 
 ing seasons they had venison, moose, fat bears, raccoons, 
 geese, turkeys, ducks, and fish of all kinds. In the sum- 
 mer they had green corn, beans, squashes, and the various 
 fruits which the country naturally produced. In the win- 
 ter they subsisted on corn, beans, fish, ground-nuts, acorns, 
 and the very gleanings of the grove. 
 
 "They had no set meals, but, like other wild creatures, 
 ate when they were hungry, and could find anything to 
 satisfy the cravings of nature. Sometimes they had little 
 or nothing for several days ; but when they had provisions, 
 they feasted. If they fasted for some time, they w^ere sure 
 at the next meal to make up for all they had lost before. 
 Indian corn, beans, and squashes, were the only eatables 
 for which the natives in New England labored. The earth 
 was both their seat and their table. With trenchers, 
 knives, and napkins, they had no acquaintance. 
 
 " Their household furniture was of small value. Their 
 best bed was a mat or skin ; they had neither chair nor 
 stool. They ever sat upon the ground, commonly with 
 their elbows upon their knees; this is the manner in which 
 their great warriors and counsellors now sit, even in the 
 most public treaties with the English. A few wooden and 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 311 
 
 Stone vessels and instruments serve all the purposes of 
 domestic life. They had no steel or iron instruments. 
 Their knife was a sharp stone, shell, or kind of reed, which 
 they sharpened in such a manner as to cut their hair, make 
 their bows and arrows, and serve all the purposes of a 
 knife. They made them axes of stone ; these they shaped 
 somewhat similar to our axes; but with this difference, 
 that they were made with a neck instead of an eye, and 
 fastened with a withe like a blacksmith's chisel. They 
 had mortars, and stone pestles, and chisels ; great num 
 bers of these have been found in the country, and kept 
 by the people as curiosities. Tffey dressed their corn with 
 a clam-shell, or with a stick made flat and sharp at one 
 end. These were all the utensils they had, either for do- 
 mestic use, or for husbandry. 
 
 "T'heir arts and manufactures were confined to a very 
 narrow compass. Their only weapons were bows and 
 arrows, the tomahawk, and the wooden sword, or spear. 
 Their bows were of the common construction ; their bow 
 strings were made of the sinews of deer, or of Indian 
 hemp. Their arrows were constructed of young elder 
 sticks, or of other straight sticks and reeds ; these were 
 headed with a sharp flinty stone, or with bones. The 
 arrow was cleft at one end, and the stone or bone was put 
 in, and fastened with a small cord. The tomahawk was 
 a stick of two or three feet in length, with a knob at one 
 end. Sometimes it was a stone hatchet, or a stick with a 
 piece of deer's horn at one end, in the form of a pickaxe. 
 Their spear was a straight piece of \^od, sharpened at 
 one end, and hardened in the fire, or headed with bone 
 or stone. 
 
 " With respect to navigation, they had made no im- 
 provements beyond the construction and management of 
 the hollow trough, or canoe. They made their canoes of 
 the chestnut, white wood, and pine trees. As these grew 
 straight to a great length, and were exceedingly large as 
 well as tall, they constructed some which would carry 
 sixty or eighty men; these were first rates; but commonly 
 they were not more than twenty feet in length, and two in 
 breadth. The Pequots had many of these, in which they 
 passed over to the islands, and warred against, and plun- 
 dered, the islanders. 
 
813 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. Xlli. 
 
 " The construction of these, with such miserable tools 
 as the Indians possessed, was a great curiosity. The 
 manner was this : when they had found a tree to their 
 purpose, to fell it they made a fire at the root, and kept 
 burning it, and cutting it with their stone axe until it fell ; 
 then they kindled a fire at such a distance from the butt 
 as they chose, and burned it off again. By burning and 
 working with their axe, and scraping with sharp stones 
 and shells, they made it hollow and smooth. In the same 
 manner they shaped the ends, and finished it to their 
 wishes. 
 
 " They constructed nets, twenty and thirty feet in length, 
 for fishing, especially for the purpose of catching sturgeon. 
 These were wrought with cords of Indian hemp, twisted 
 by the hands of the women. They had also hooks, made 
 of flexible bones, which they used for fishing. 
 
 " With respect to religion and morals, the Indians in 
 New England were in a most deplorable condition. They 
 believed that there was a great Spirit, or God, whom they 
 called Kitchtan. They imagined that he dwelt far away 
 in the south-west,- and that he was a good God. But they 
 worshipped a great variety of gods. They paid homage 
 to the fire and water, thunder and lightning, and to what- 
 ever they imagined was superior to themselves, or capable 
 bf doing them an injury. They paid their principal hom- 
 age to Hobbamocho. They imagined that he was an evil 
 spirit, and did them mischief; and so, from fear, they 
 worshipped him, to keep him in good humor. They ap- 
 peared to have no idea of a sabbath, and not to regard 
 any particular day more than another. But in times of 
 uncommon distress, by reason of pestilence, war, or fam- 
 ine, and upon occasion of great victories and triumph, 
 and after the in-gathering of the fruits, they assembled in 
 great numbers, for the celebration of their superstitious 
 rites. The whole country, men, women and children, 
 came together upon these solemnities. The manner of 
 their devotion was, to kindle large fires in their wigwams, 
 or more commonly in the open fields, and to sing and 
 dance around them, in a wild and violent manner. Some 
 times they would all shout aloud, with the most antic and 
 hideous noises. They made rattles of shells,^ which thej 
 
CHAP. Xlir.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 313 
 
 shook, in a wild and violent manner, to fill up the confused 
 noise. After the English settled in Connecticut, and they 
 could purchase kettles of brass, they used to strain skins 
 over them, and beat upon them, to augment their wretched 
 music. They often continued these wild and tumultuous 
 exercises for four or five hours, until they were worn 
 down, and spent with fatigue. Their priests, or powows, 
 led in these exercises. They were drpssed in the most 
 odd and surprising manner, with skins of odious and 
 frightful creatures about their heads, faces, arms, and 
 bodies. They painted themselves in the most ugly forms 
 which could be devised. They sometimes sang, and then 
 broke forth into strong invocations, with starts, and strange 
 motions and passions. When these paused the other 
 Indians groaned, making wild and doleful sounds. At 
 these times they sacrificed their skins, Indian money, and 
 the best of their treasures. These were taken by the 
 powow, and all cast into the fires and consumed together. 
 After the English came into the country, and they had 
 hatchets and kettles, they sacrificed these in the same 
 manner. The English were also persuaded that they 
 sometimes sacrificed their children, as well as jheir most 
 valuable commodities. The people of Milford, Conn., 
 observing an Indian child, nearly at one of these times of 
 their devotion, dressed in an extraordinary manner, with 
 all kinds of Indian finery, had the curiosity to inquire 
 what could be the reason. The Indians answered that it 
 was to be sacrificed, and the people supposed that it was 
 given to the devil. So deluded were these unhappy peo- 
 ple, that they believed these barbarous sacrifices to be 
 absolutely necessary. They imagined that unless they 
 appeased and conciliated their gods in this manner, they 
 would neither suffer them to have peace, nor harvests, fish, 
 venison, fat bears, nor turkeys, but would visit them with 
 a general destruction. 
 
 " With respect to morals, they were indeed miserably 
 depraved. They were insidious and revengeful almost 
 without a parallel, and they wallowed in all the filth of 
 wantonness. Great pains were taken with the Narragan- 
 sett and Connecticut Indians to civilize them, and teach 
 them Christianity; but the -sachems rejected fhe gospel 
 27 
 
314 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII. 
 
 with indignation and contempt. They would not suffer it 
 to be preached to their subjects. Indeed, both made it 3 
 public interest to oppose its propagation among them. 
 Their policy, religion, and manners were directly opposed 
 to its pure doctrines and morals. 
 
 " The Indian government, generally, was absolute mon- 
 archy. The will of the sachem was his law. The lives 
 and interests of his subjects were at his disposal. But in 
 all important affairs he consulted his counsellors. When 
 they had given their opinions, they deferred the decision 
 of every matter to him. Whatever his decisions were, 
 they applauded his wisdom, and without hesitation obeyed 
 his commands. In council, the deportment of the sachems 
 was grave and majestic to admiration. They appeared to 
 be men of great discernment and policy. Their speeches 
 were cautious and politic. The conduct of their coun- 
 sellors and servants was profoundly respectful and sub- 
 missive. The revenues of the crown consisted in the 
 contributions of the people. They carried corn, and the 
 first fruits of their harvest of all kinds, beans, squashes, 
 roots, berries and nuts, and presented them to their sa- 
 chem. They made him presents of flesh, fish, fowl, moose, 
 bear, deer, beaver, and other skins. When they brought 
 their tribute, the sachem went out to meet them, and by 
 good words, and some small gifts, expressed his gratitude. 
 
 " The Indians had no kind of coin ; but they had a sort 
 of money, which they called wampum, or wampumpeag. 
 It consisted of small beads, most curiously wrought out of 
 shells, and perforated in the centre, so that they might be 
 strung on belts, in chains and bracelets. There were 
 several sorts. The Indians in New England made black, 
 blue, and white wampum. The white beads were wrought 
 out of the inside of the great conchs, and the purple out 
 of the inside of the muscle shell. They were made per- 
 fectly smooth, and the perforation was done in the neatest 
 manner. Indeed, considering that the Indians had neither 
 knife, drill, nor any steel or iron instrument, the workman- 
 ship is admirable. After the English settlements in Con- 
 necticut, the Indians strung these beads 01^ belts of cloth, 
 in a very curious manner. The squaws made caps of cloth, 
 rising to a peak over the top of the head, and the fore part 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 315 
 
 was beautified with wampum', curiously wrought upon 
 them." 
 
 *' The Indians were at a loss to know what could induce 
 the English to leave England and come to America. The 
 most probable colijecture they could form was, that the 
 English wanted fuel at home, and came over for the sake 
 of the wood. When they had burnt up the wood near 
 their settlement, they removed to a new. place for the sake 
 of fuel." 
 
 The evils of an Indian war are thus described by Bel- 
 knap. 9 
 
 " The Indians were seldom or never seen before they did 
 execution. They appeared not in the open field, nor gave 
 proofs of a truly masculine courage ; but did their exploits 
 by surprise, chiefly in the morning, keeping themselves hid 
 behind logs and bushes, near the paths in the woods, or the 
 fences contiguous to the doors of the houses ; and their 
 lurking holes could be known only by the report of their 
 guns, which was indeed feeble, as they were sparing of 
 their ammunition, and as near as possible to their object 
 before they fired. They rarely assaulted a house unless 
 they knew there would be but little resistance, and it has 
 been afterward known that they have lain in ambush for 
 days together, watching the motions of the people at their 
 work, without daring to discover themselves. One of their 
 chiefs, who had got a woman's riding-hood among his 
 plunder, would put it on, in an evening, and walk into the 
 streets of Portsmouth, looking into the windows of houses, 
 and listening to the conversation of the people. 
 
 " Their cruelty was chiefly exercised upon children, and 
 such aged, infirm, or corpulent persons, as could not bear 
 the hardships of a journey through the wilderness. If they 
 took a woman, far advanced in pregnancy, their knives 
 were plunged into her bowels. An infant, when it became 
 troublesome, had its brains dashed out against the next tree 
 or stone. Sometimes, to torment the wretched mother, 
 tliey would whip and beat the child till almost dead, or 
 hold it under water till its breath was just gone, and then 
 throw it to her, to comfort and quiet it. If the mother 
 could not readily still its ^^eping, the hatchet was buried 
 
316 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 in its skull. A captive, wearied with a burden laid on his 
 shoulders, was often sent to rest the same way. If any one 
 proved refractory, or was known to have been instrumental 
 of the death of an Indian, or related to one who had been 
 so, he was tortured with a lingering punishment, generaJly 
 at the stake, whilst the other captives were insulted with 
 the sight of his miseries. Sometimes a fire would be 
 kindled, and a threatening given out against one or more, 
 though there was no intention of sacrificing them, only to 
 make sport with their terrors. The young Indians often 
 signalized their cruelty in treating captives inhumanly, out 
 of sight of the elder, and when inquiry was made into the 
 matter, the insulted captive must either be silent, or put 
 the best face on it, to prevent worse treatment for the fu- 
 ture. If a captive appeared sad and dejected, he was sure 
 to meet with insult ; but if he could sing and dance and 
 laugh with his masters, he was caressed as a brother. They 
 had a strong aversion to negroes, and generally killed 
 them when they fell into their hands. 
 
 " Famine was a common attendant on these doleful 
 captivities. The Indians, when they caught any game, 
 devoured it all at one sitting, and then girding themselves 
 round the waist, travelled without sustenance till chance 
 threw more in their way. The captit^es, unused to such 
 canine repasts and abstinences, could not supj)ort the sur- 
 feit of the one, nor the cravings of the other. A change 
 of masters, though it sometimes proved a relief from mis- 
 ery, yet rendered the prospect of a return to their homes 
 more distant. If an Indian had lost a relative, a prisoner 
 bought for a gun, a hatchet, or a few skins, must supply 
 the place of the deceased, and be the father, brother, or 
 son of the purchaser ; and those who could accommodate 
 themselves to such barbarous adoption, were treated with 
 the same kindness as the persons in whose place they were 
 substituted. A sale among the French in Canada was 
 the most happy event to a captive, especially if he became 
 a servant in the family ; though sometimes, even there, a 
 prison was their lot, till opportunity presented for their re- 
 demption ; whilst the priests employed every seducing art 
 to pervert them to the popish religion, and induce them to 
 abandoh their country. These^ircumstances, joined with 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 317 
 
 the more obvious hardships of travelling half naked and 
 barefoot through pathless deserts, over craggy mountains 
 and deep swamps, through frost, rain, and snow, exposed 
 by day and night to the inclemency of the weather, and in 
 summer to the venomous stings of those numberless in- 
 sects with which the woods abound ; the restless anxiety 
 of mind, the retrospect of past scenes of pleasure, the 
 remembrance of distant friends, the bereavements experi- 
 enced at the beginning, or during the progress of captivi- 
 ty, and the daily apprehension of death, either by famine 
 or the savage enemy ; these were the horrors of an Indian 
 captivity. 
 
 " Oh the other hand, it must be acknowledged that there 
 have been instances of justice, generosity, and tenderness, 
 during these wars, which vvould have done honor to a civ- 
 ilized people. A kindness .shown to an Indian was remem- 
 bered as long as an injury ; and persons have had their 
 lives spared for acts of humanity done to the ancestors of 
 those Indians into whose hands they have fallen. They 
 would sometimes ' carry children on their arms and shoul- 
 ders, feed their prisoners with the best of their provision, 
 and pinch themselves rather than their captives should 
 want food.' When sick or wounded, they would afford 
 them proper means for their recovery, which they were 
 very well able to do by their knowledge of simples. In 
 thus preserving the lives and health of their prisoners, they 
 doubtless had a view of gain. But the most remarkably 
 favorable circumstance in an Indian captivity, was their 
 decent behavior to women. I have never read, nor heard, 
 nor could find by inquiry, that any woman who fell into 
 their hands, was ever treated with the least immodesty ; 
 but testimonies to the contrary are very frequent. Whether 
 this negative virtue is to be ascribed to a natural frigidity 
 of constitution, let philosophers inquire ; the fact is cer- 
 tain, and it was a most happy circumstance for our female 
 captives, that in the midst of all their distresses, they had 
 no reason to fear, from a savage foe, the perpetration of a 
 crime which has too frequently disgraced not only the per- 
 sonal, but the national character of those who make large 
 pretensions to civilization and humanity." 
 
 The two following incidents are taken from Abbot's His- 
 27* * 
 
318 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII 
 
 tory of Andover. " In 1698, the Indians took Col. Dudley 
 Bradstreet and family, and carried them about fifty rods 
 from his house, when they halted and dismissed their pri- 
 soners without offering them the least injury ; a singular 
 instance of mercy in a people who had always shown them- 
 selves to be cruel, and to have no mercy. The tradition 
 is, that one Watternummon, an Indian who lived at New- 
 bury, and is supposed to have had a particular regard to 
 Col. Bradstreet, undertook to conduct the Indians to his 
 house upon these conditions, that they should neither kill 
 nor captivate any of his family. They took Abiel Ste- 
 vens, a lad, who feigned himself lame, and kept behind ; 
 the Indians hastened, expecting to be pursued ; he turned 
 and ran, and escaped, though fired upon by the Indian 
 who took him." 
 
 " Rev. Solomon Stoddard, of Northampton, possessed, 
 probably, more influence than any other clergyman in the 
 province, during a period of thirty years. Here he was 
 regarded with a reverence, which will scarcely be render- 
 ed to any other man. The very savages are said to have 
 felt towards him a peculiar awe. Once, when he was riding 
 from Northampton to Hatfield, and passing a place called 
 Dewey's hole, an ambush of savages lined the road. It is 
 said, that a Frenchman, directing his gun towards him, 
 was warned, by one of the Indians, who some time before 
 had been among the English, not to fire, because * that 
 man was Englishman's God.' A similar adventure is re- 
 ported to have befallen him, while meditating in an or- 
 chard, immediately behind the church in Deerfield, a ser- 
 mon which he was about to preach. These stories, told in 
 Canada, are, traditionally asserted to have been brought 
 back by English captives. It was customary for the Cana- 
 dian savages, after they had returned from their excursions, 
 to report their adventures, by way of triumph, to the cap- 
 tives taken in the English colonies." 
 
 ** In the year 1689, the garrison house of Dominicus 
 Jordan, son of Rev. Robert Jordan, at Spurwink, Me., 
 was violently assailed by the savages, which he defended 
 with bravery and success. To intimidate him, an Indian 
 called to him loudly, * We are ten hundred in number.' 
 * I don't care,' replied Jordan, ' if you are ten thousand.' 
 
SHAP. XIII.] HIiiTORy OF NEW ENGLAND. 319 
 
 A few years afterwards, perhaps at the commencement of 
 the third Indian war, several Indians, visiting his house, 
 were received with familiarity, common in time of peace, 
 when one inflicted a mortal blow upon his head, exclaim- 
 ing, * There, Dominicus ! noio kill 'em ten thousand In- 
 dian !' The family were all made prisoners, and carried to 
 Canada." 
 
 In 1726, a block-house, for the defence of the planta- 
 tion, was commenced in Penacook, now Concord, N. H. 
 ** During the winter of this year, only two or three persons 
 resided in the house. The snow was very deep, the cold 
 unusually severe, and their provisions were insufficient 
 to support them through the season. The Indians saw 
 their situation, and, as soon as possible, journeyed to. Ha- 
 verhill. They there called on the proprietors, and repre- 
 sented to them the situation of the family, very seriously 
 obsening that ihei/ would soon come upon the town, unless 
 they were assisted ! A sleigh with stores soon after ar- 
 rived at Penacook, and rescued them from starvation." 
 
 " At the courts in Barnstable county, formerly," says 
 one, " we often heard from our aged friends, and from the 
 Vineyard gentlemen, amusing anecdotes of Indian rulers. 
 The following warrant is recollected, which was issued by 
 one of those magistrates directed to an Indian constable, 
 and will not suffer in comparison with our more verbose 
 forms. 
 
 I Hihoudi, 
 
 You Peter Waterman, 
 
 Jeremy Wicket; 
 
 Quick you take him, 
 
 Fast you hold him, 
 
 Straight you bring him, 
 
 Before rae, Hihoudi." 
 
 "In the eastern part of the town of Norwich, Con.," 
 says Barber, " is a plain called Sachem's Plain. This spot 
 is rendered memorable by the battle between Uncas and 
 Minntonimoh, the sachem of theNarragansetts. The army 
 of Miantonimoh was routed, he taken prisoner, and after- 
 ward? executed and buried here. 
 
 " Miantonimoh, without consulting the English accord- 
 
820 
 
 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY 
 
 CHAP. XIII 
 
 ing to agreement, without proclaiming war, or giving Un 
 cas the least information, raised an army of nine hundred 
 or a thousand men, and marched against him. Uncas* 
 spies discovered the army at some distance, and gave him 
 intelligence. He was unprepared ; but rallying between 
 four and five hundred of his bravest men, he told them 
 they must by no means suffer Miantonimoh to come into 
 their town, but must go and fight him on his way. Hav 
 ing marched three or four miles, the armies met upon 
 a large plain. When they had advanced within fair bow- 
 shot of each other, Uncas had recourse to a stratagem, 
 with which he had previously acquainted his warriors. He 
 desired a parley, and both armies halted in the face of 
 each other. Uncas, gallantly advancing in the front of 
 his men, addressed Miantonimoh to this effect, ' You have 
 a number of stout men with you, and so have I with me. 
 It is a great pity that such brave warriors should be liilled 
 in a private quarrel between us only. Come like a man, 
 as you profess to be, and let us fight it out. If you kill me, 
 my men shall be yours; but if I kill you, your men shall be 
 mine.' Miantonimoh replied, ' My men came to fight, and 
 they shall fight.' Uncas falling instantly upon the ground, 
 his men discharged a shower of arrows upon the Narra- 
 gansetts, and, without a moment's interval, rushing upon 
 them in a furious manner, with their hideous Indian yell, 
 put them immediately to flight. The Mohegans pursued 
 the enemy with the same fury and eagerness with which 
 they commenced the action. . The Narragansetts were 
 driven down rocks and precipices, and chased like a doe 
 by the huntsman. Among others, Miantonimoh was ex- 
 ceedingly pressed. Some of Uncas' bravest men, who 
 were most light of foot, coming up with him, twitched 
 him back, impeding his flight, that Uncas might take him. 
 Uncas was a stout man, and rushing forward, like a lion 
 greedy of his prey, seized him by the shoulder. He knew 
 Uncas, and saw that he was now in the power of the man 
 whom he hated, and by all means attempted to destroy ; but 
 he sat down sullen, and spake not a word. Uncas gave 
 the Indian whoop, and called up his men, who were be- 
 hind, to his assistance. The victory was complete. About 
 thirty of the Narragansetts were slain, and a much greater 
 
Cist UBR, 
 
 ^^ or THE 
 
 CHAP. XIIT.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 .>^ 
 
 number wounded. Among the latter, was a brot>ier of 
 Miantonimoh, and two sons of Canonicus, a chief sachem 
 among the Narragansett Indians. The brother of Mian- 
 tonimoh was riot only wounded, but armed with a coat of 
 mail, both which retarded his flight. Two of Miantoni- 
 moh's captains, who formerly were Uncas' men,, but had 
 treacherously deserted him, discovering his situation, took 
 him, and carried him to Uncas, hoping in this way to re- 
 concile themselves to their sachem. But Uncas and his 
 men slew them. Miantonimoh made no request either for 
 himself or his men, but continued in the same sullen, 
 speechless mood. Uncas therefore demanded of him, why 
 he would not speak. Said he, ' Had you taken me, I 
 should have besought you for my life.' Uncas for the pre- 
 sent spared his life, though he would not ask it, and re- 
 turned with great triumph to Mohegan, carrying the Nar- 
 ragansett sacheuB as an illustrious trophy of his victory." 
 
 ** Uncas conducted Miantonimoh to Hartford. Here 
 his mouth was opened, and he plead most earnestly to be 
 left in the custody of the English, probably expecting 
 better treatment from them than from Uncas. He was 
 accordingly kept unde; guard at Hartford, till the meeting 
 of the commissioners at Boston. After an examination of 
 the case, the commissioners resolved, ' That as it was evi- 
 dent that Uncas could not be safe while Miantonimoh 
 lived, but that, either by secret treachery, or open force, 
 his life would be continually in danger, he might justly 
 put such a false and blood-lhirsty enemy to death.' They 
 determined that it should be done out of the English 
 jurisdiction. They advised Uncas, that no torture or 
 cruelty, but all mercy and moderation, be exercised in the 
 manner of his execution. 
 
 "Immediately upon the return of the commissioners of 
 Connecticut and New Haven, Uncas, with a competent 
 number of his most trusty men, was ordered to repair 
 forthwith to Hartford. He was made acquainted with the 
 determination of the commissioners, and receiving his 
 prisoner, marched with him to the spot where he had been 
 taken. At the instant they arrived on the ground, one of 
 Uncas' men, who marched behind Miantonimoh, split his 
 tiead with a hatchet, killing him at a single stroke. He 
 
322 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII. 
 
 was probably unacquainted with his fate, and knew not by 
 what means he fell. Uncas cut out a large piece of hia 
 shoulder, and ate it in savage triumph. He said, ' it was 
 the sweetest meat he ever ate, it made his heart strong.' 
 
 " The Mohegans, by the order of Uncas, buried him 
 at the place of his execution, and erected a great heap or 
 pillar upon his grave. This memorable event gave the 
 place the name of Sachem's Plain. Two Englishmen 
 were sent with Uncas, to witness that the execution was 
 done, and to.prevent all torture and cruelty in the manner 
 of its performance." 
 
 " In the south part of East Windsor, where Podunk 
 River crosses the road to Hartford, was an Indian burying 
 ground. A few years since, a number of skeletons were 
 discovered, by digging from one to four feet. These 
 skeletons were found lying on one side, knees drawn up 
 to the breast, arms folded, with their heads to the south. 
 A covering of bark seems to have been laid over them, 
 with some few remains of blankets ; in one instance a 
 small brass kettle and hatchet were found in good preser- 
 vation ; the remains of a gun barrel and lock, a number 
 of glass bottles, one of which was found half filled with 
 some sort of liquid. These articles w-ere probably ob- 
 tained from the Dutch, either by present or trade. There 
 were also found a pair of shears, a pistol, lead pipes, 
 strings of wampum, small brass rings, glass beads; a 
 female skeleton, with a brass comb ; the hair was in a 
 state of preservation wherever it came in contact with the 
 comb. After the Podunks had removed from these parts, 
 in one instance they were known to have brought a dead 
 child from towards Norwich, and interred it in this bury- 
 ing place. 
 
 *' At Bissell's ferry, near the mouth of Scantic River, 
 is a well which is supposed to have been made before any 
 English settlements were attempted in Connecticut. The 
 lower part of the well is walled by stones hewn in a cir- 
 cular manner, and the manner in which they are laid 
 together is believed to be entirely different from that in 
 which any Englishman would lay them. There remains 
 no tradition respectmg the time or the persons by whom 
 this well was constructed." 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 323 
 
 " The great burying place of the Indian tribes in East 
 Haven and vicinity is on the north end of the hill on 
 which the fort stands, which anciently, in allusion to this 
 place, was called Grave. Hill. Some of the graves have 
 been levelled by the plough, but many of them are yet 
 visible. In the year 18*22, I examined three of these 
 graves. At the depth of about three feet and a half, the 
 sandstone appears, on which the bodies were laid, without 
 any appearance of a wrapper or enclosure. They all lay 
 in the directi9n of south-west and north-e^st, the head 
 towards the west. Of two of them the arms lay by the 
 side ; the other had the arms across the body, after the 
 manner of the white people. The large bones and teeth 
 were in a sound state. The thigh bones of one measured 
 nineteen inches in length, the leg bone eighteen, and the 
 arm, from the elbow to the shoulder, thirteen. By mea- 
 suring the skeleton as it lay, it was concluded to be that 
 of a man six and a half feet high. No article of any 
 description appeared with the bones. It is said that about 
 fifty or sixty years ago, some of these graves were opened, 
 and a number of Indian implements of the kitchen, and 
 of war, were found in them. Few Indians have been 
 buried there within a century past." * 
 
 The following account of some remains found in the 
 town of Fall River, Mass., is from the pen of John Stark, 
 Esq., and was published in the American Magazine, in 
 1837. " About three years since, in digging down a hill 
 near the village, a large maf?s of earth slid off, leaving in 
 the bank, and partially uncovered, a human skull, which 
 on examination was found to belong to a body buried in a 
 sitting posture ; the head being about one foot below what 
 had been for many years the surface of the ground. The 
 surrounding earth was carefully removed, and the body 
 found to be enveloped in a covering of coarse bark, of a 
 dark color. Within this envelope were found the remaiv.s 
 of another of coarse cloth, made of fine bark, and about 
 the texture of a Manilla coffee bag. On the brenst was a 
 plate of brass, thirteen inches long, six broad at the upper 
 end, and five at the lower. This plate appears to have 
 
 * Rey. Mr. Dodd's History of East Haven. 
 
324 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII. 
 
 been cast, and is from one eighth to three thirty-seconds 
 of an inch in thickness. It is so much corroded, that 
 whether or not any thing was engraved upon it, has not 
 yet been ascertained. It is oval in form, the edges being 
 irregular, apparently made so by corrosion. 
 
 ** Below the breast-plate, and entirely encircling the 
 body, was a belt composed of brass tubes, each four and a 
 half inches in length, and three sixteenths of an inch in 
 diarj^eter, arranged longitudinally, and close together ; the 
 length of a tube being the width of the belt. The tubes 
 are of thin brass, cast upon hollow reeds, and were fas- 
 tened together by pieces of sinew. This belt was so 
 placed as to protect the lower parts of the body below the 
 breast-plate. The arrows are of brass, thin, flat, and tri- 
 angular in shape, with a round hole cut through near the 
 base. The shaft was fastened to the head by inserting the 
 latter in an opening at the end of the wood, and then tying 
 it with a sinew through the round hole — a mode of con- 
 structing the weapon never practised by the Indians, not 
 even with their arrows of thin shell. Parts of the shaft 
 still remain on some of them. When first discovered, the 
 arrows were in a sort of quiver of bark, which fell in 
 pieces when exposed to the air. 
 
 " The skull is- much decayed ; but the teeth are sound, 
 and apparently those of a young man. The pelvis is 
 much decayed, and the smaller bones of the lower ex- 
 tremities are gone. The integuments of the right knee, 
 for four or five inches above and below, are in good preser- 
 vation, apparently the size and shape of life, although 
 quite black. 
 
 " Considerable flesh is still preserved on the hands and 
 arms, but none on the shoulders and elbows. On the 
 back, under the belt, and for two inches above and below, 
 the skin and flesh are in good preservation, and have the 
 appearance of being tanned. The chest is much com- 
 pressed ; but the upper viscera are probably entire. The 
 arms are bent up, not crossed ; so that the hands turned 
 inward touch the shoulders. The stature is about five 
 and a half feet. Much of the exterior envelope was de- 
 cayed, and the inner one appeared to be preserved only 
 where it had been in contact with the brass. 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 " The preservation of this body may be the result of 
 some embalming process ; and this hypothesis is strength- 
 ened by the fact that the skin has the appearance of hav- 
 ing been tanned, or it may be* the accidental result of the 
 action of the salts of the brass during oxydation ; and this 
 latter hypothesis is supported by the fact that the skin and 
 flesh have been preserved only where they have been in 
 contact with, or quite near, the brass : or we may account 
 for the preservation of the whole, by supposing the pre- 
 sence of saltpetre in the soil at the time of the deposit. 
 In either way, the preservation of the remains is fully ac- 
 counted for, and upon known chemical principles. That 
 the body was not one of the Indians, we think needs no 
 argument. We rather incline to the belief that the re- 
 mains belonged to one of the crew of a Phenician vessel. 
 
 " The spot where they were found is on the sea-coast, 
 and in the immediate neighborhood of '* Dighton Rock," 
 famed for its hieroglyphic inscription, of which no suffi- 
 cient explanation has yet been given, and near which rock 
 brazen vessels have been found. If this latter hypothesis 
 be adopted, a part of it is, that these mariners — the un- 
 willing and unfortunate discoverers of a new world — lived 
 some time after they landed ; and having written their 
 names, perhaps their epitaphs, upon the rock at Dighton, 
 died, and were buried by the natives." 
 
 The following letters were written by an Indian sachem 
 of the Penacook tribe to the governor of Massachusetts. 
 
 May 15th, 1685. 
 Honour governor my friend. 
 You my friend I desire your worship and your power, 
 because I hope you can do som great matters this one. I 
 am poor and naked, and I have no men at my place be- 
 cause I afraid allwayes Mohogs he will kill me every day 
 and night. If your worship when please pray help me 
 jou no let Mohogs kill me at my place at Malamake river 
 called Panukkog and Nattukkog I will submit your wor 
 ship and your power. And now I want powder and such 
 alminishon shott and guns because I have forth at my horn 
 and I plant theare. 
 28 
 
626 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII. 
 
 This all Indian hand, but pray you do consider your 
 humble servant 
 
 John Hogkins. 
 
 (Signed by fourteen others.) 
 
 May 15th 1685. 
 Honour Mr. Governor, 
 Now this day I com your house, I want se you, and I 
 bring my hand at before you I want shake hand to you if 
 your worship when please then you receve my hand, then 
 shake your hand and my hand. You my friend because 
 I remember at old time, when live my grant father and 
 grant mother then Englishmen come this country then my 
 grant father and Englishmen they make a good govenant, 
 ♦hey friend allwayes, my grant-father leving at place called 
 MaJamake rever, other name chef Natukkog and Panuk- 
 kog that one rever great many names, and I bring you this 
 few skins at this first time I will give you my friend. This 
 all Indian hand. 
 
 John Hawkins, Sagamor 
 
 (Signed by fourteen others.) 
 
 Please your worship, 
 I will intreat you matther you my friend, now this if 
 my Indian he do you long pray you no put your law be- 
 cause some my Indium fooU some men much love drunk 
 then he no know what he do, may be he do mischif when 
 he drunk if so pray you must let me know what he done 
 because I will ponis him what he have done you, you my 
 friend if you desire my business then sent me I will help 
 you if I can. 
 
 Mr. John Hogkins. 
 
 Another from the same, 
 
 Mr. Mason, 
 
 Pray I want speake you a few words if your wor- 
 ship when please because I come pnrfas (on purpose) I 
 will speake this governor but he go away so he say at last 
 night, and so far I understand this governor his power that 
 vour power now, so he speake his own mouth. Pray if 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 327 
 
 you take what I want pray com\o me, because I want go 
 horn this day. 
 
 Your humble servant, 
 
 JoNN HoGKiNs, Indian Sagraor. 
 May 16th, 1685 
 
 The Indians having done some mischief in New Eng- 
 land in 1704, the inhabitants of Lancaster became alarmed, 
 " and the alarm was the means of the untimely death of 
 the Rev. Mr. Gardiner, their worthy pastor. Several of 
 the inhabitants who belonged to the garrison were wearied 
 by hard travelling the day before, in pursuit of the enemy. 
 This caused this good man, out of pity and compassion, to 
 watch that night himself: accordingly he went into the 
 box, which lay over the flanker, where he staid till late in 
 the night; but being cold, (as was supposed,) he was 
 coming down to warm hiiuself, when one between sleeping 
 and waking, or surprise i through excess of fear, fired upon 
 Mm, as he was coming out of the watch-house, where no 
 man could rationally expect the coming of an enemy. 
 
 " Mr. Gardiner, although he was shot through the back, 
 came to the door and bade tiiem open it, for he was wound- 
 ed. No sooner did he enter, but he fainted away. Ashe 
 came to himself, he asked who it was that shot him, and 
 when they told him, he prayed to God to forgive him, and 
 forgave him himself, believing that he did it not on pur- 
 pose ; and with a composed frame of spirit, desired them 
 that bewailed him not to weep, but pray for him and his 
 flock. He comforted his sorrowful spouse, and expired 
 within an hour." 
 
 The father of Oliver Peabody, who resided at Andover, 
 Mass., " in one of his excursions into New Hampshire, met 
 with an adventure which has connected his name with the 
 geography of the country, and which, for that reason, as 
 well as for its singularity, may perhaps with propriety be 
 mentioned here. He was passing the night in the cabin 
 of an Indian, situated on the side of a mountain, in the 
 neighborhood of Saco River. The inmates of this rude 
 dwelling were awakened in the course of the night by a 
 loud noise, and had scarcely time to make their escape, 
 before the hut was swept away by a torrent of water rush- 
 
I 
 
 328 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII 
 
 ing impetuously down riie hill. On reconnoitering the 
 ground, they found that this torrent had burst out suddenly 
 from a spot where there was no spring before. It has con- 
 tinued flowing ever since, and forms the branch of the 
 Saco which bears the name of Peabody's River." 
 
 " The death of James Carr, of Pembroke, N. H., who 
 was killed by the enemy early in 1748, was attended with 
 a singular instance of canine attachment and fidelity. He, 
 with two others, w^s ploughing on the west bank of the 
 river, within the present township of Bow. Towards 
 night, some Indians, who, concealed in a thicket of bush- 
 es, had been watching them all day, rushed upon them ; 
 his two companions were taken ; but in attempting to run 
 to the river, Carr was shot, and fdl dead on his back, with 
 his arms somewhat extended. As the savages ran up to 
 scalp him, his dog, a large and fierce animal, instantly at- 
 tacked them, but was stunned by the blow of a tomahawk, 
 and left for dead. The people in garrison at Pembroke 
 heard the firing, but it being near night, did not venture on 
 an immediate pursuit, from the apprehension of falling 
 into an ambuscade. After the departure of the enemy the 
 dog revived, guarded the corpse of his master through the 
 night, and was found next morning with his nose laid in 
 its open hand; nor would the faithful animal permit any 
 one to remove or even touch the body, till after the use of 
 much flattery and some force." 
 
 As early as 1650, Rev. John Brock began to preach on 
 the Isle of Shoals. The following story is related of him by 
 Mather. " Mr. Brock brought the people into an agree- 
 ment that, exclusive of the Lord's day, they would spend 
 one day every month together in the worship of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. On a certain day, which by their agreement 
 belonged unto the exercises of religion, the fishermen 
 came to Mr. Brock, and asked him if they might put by 
 their meeting, and go a fishing, because they had lost many 
 days by reason of foul weather. He, seeing that without 
 his consent, they resolved upon doing what they had asked 
 of him, replied. If you icill go away, I say unto you^ 
 catr.h fish, if you can ! But as for you that will tarry, 
 and worship the Lord Jesus Chriif this day, I irill pray 
 
^m^ 
 
 CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 unto him for you, that you may take Jish till you are wea" 
 ry. Thirty men went away from the meeting, and jivse 
 tarried. The thirty which went away, with all their skill 
 could catch but four fishes ; the five who tarried, went 
 forth afterwards, and they took flye hundred. The fisher- 
 men after this readily attended whatever meetings Mr. 
 Brock appointed them." 
 
 " In the year 1766; a Mr. Page planted himself in Lan- 
 caster, N. H. For several years after he came to this 
 spot, he carried all his bread-corn to Charlestown, (one 
 hundred and twenty-four miles,) to be ground. For a con- 
 siderable time he lived with his family in absolute solitude. 
 There was not a single road in the neighboring region. 
 All his communication with the world was either through 
 the wilderness, or down the channel of the Connecticut, 
 and this he was obliged to enter below the fifteen mile 
 falls, and at the distance of twenty miles from his house. 
 When any member of his family was sick, he had neither 
 physician nor nurse, except what the house itself con- 
 tained." 
 
 *' In February, 1717, occurred the greatest fall of snow 
 recorded in the annals of New England — almost burying 
 under the frozen mass the small log houses of the new 
 plantations. So effectually were even the most travelled 
 roads blocked, that the magistrates and ministers of Bos- 
 ton, who had come out of the town on the first day of the 
 storm, to attend the funeral of the Rev. Mr. Brattle, at 
 Cambridge, were unable to return for some days. In some 
 portion of the streets of Boston, the snow was six feet in 
 depth, and on the thousand hills of New Hampshire it lay 
 in immense bodies." 
 
 The first newspaper published in New England appeared 
 in Boston in 1704. It was printed on half a sheet of pot 
 paper. 
 
 Rev. Samuel Moody, who was ordained in York, Me., 
 in 1700, once preached a sermon based on the following 
 sentiment : When you know not what to do, you must not 
 do you know not lohat. 
 
 *' Mr. Job Strong having accepted proposals of settle- 
 ment in the ministry from a church in Portsmouth, N. H., 
 
330 INCVVVFNTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII. 
 
 invited Rev. Mr. Edwards, of Northampton, Mass., to 
 preach the sermon at his ordination, which was appointed 
 for the 28th of June. Mary, the fourth daughter of Mr. 
 Edwards, then a young lady of fifteen, went before her fa- 
 ther to Portsmouth, to visit some of the friends of the 
 family in that place. From her T learned the following 
 anecdote. — The Rev. Mr. Moody, of York, a gentleman 
 of unquestioned talents and piety, but perfectly unique in 
 his manners, had agreed, in case of Mr. Edwards' failure, 
 to be his substitute in preaching the sermon. On the 
 morning of the appointed day, Mr. Edwards not having ar- 
 rived, the council delayed the ordination as long as they 
 well could, and then proceeded to the church, where Mr. 
 Moody had been regularly appointed to make the intro- 
 ductory prayer, which is the prayer immediately before the 
 sermon. That gentleman, knowing that a numerous and 
 highly respectable audience had been drawn together by a 
 strong desire, to hear Mr. Edwards, rose up to pray under 
 the not very pleasant impression that he must stand in his 
 place, and offered a prayer which was wholly characteris- 
 tic of himself, and in some degree, also, of the times in 
 which he lived. In that part of it in which it was proper 
 for him to allude to the exercises of the day, he besought 
 the Lord that they might be suitably humbled under the 
 frown of his providence in not being permitted to hear, 
 on that occasion, a discourse, as they had all fondly ex- 
 pected, from * that eminent servant of God, the Rev. Mr. 
 Edwards, of Northampton ;' and proceeded to thank God 
 for having raised him up to be such a burning and shining 
 light, for his uncommon piety, for his great excellence as 
 a preacher, for the remarkable success which had attended 
 his ministry in other congregations as well as his own, for 
 the superior talents and wisdom with which he was en- 
 dowed as a writer, and for the great amount of good which 
 his works had already done, and still promised to do, to 
 the church and to the world. He then prayed that God 
 would spare his life, and endow him with still higher gifts 
 and graces, and render him still more eminent and useful 
 than he had been, and concluded this part of his prayer by 
 supplicating the divine blessjng on the daughter of Mr. 
 Edwards, (then in the house,) who, though a very amiable 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 331 
 
 and worthy young lady, was still, as they had reason to 
 believe, without the grace of God, ^d in an unconverted 
 state ; that God would bring her to repentance, and for- 
 give her sins, and not suffer the peculiar privileges which 
 she enjoyed, to be the means of a more aggravated con- 
 demnation. Mr. Edwards, who travelled on horseback, 
 and had been unexpectedly detained on the road, arrived 
 at the church a short time after the commencement of the 
 exercises, and entered the door just after Mr. Moody be- 
 gan his prayer. Being remarkably still in all his move- 
 ments, and particularly in the house of God, he ascended 
 the stairs, and entered the pulpit so silently, that Mr. Moo- 
 dy did not hear him ; and of course was necessitated, be- 
 fore a very numerous audience, to listen to the very high 
 character given of himself by Mr. Moody. As soon as 
 the prayer was closed, Mr. Moody turned round and saw 
 Mr. Edwards behind him ; and, without leaving his place, 
 gave him his right hand, and addressed him as follows : 
 * Brother Edwards, we are all of us much rejoiced to see 
 you here to-day, and nobody, probably, as much so as my- 
 self; but I wish that you might have got in a little sooner, 
 or a little later, or else that 1 might have heard you when 
 you came in, and known that you were here. I didn't in- 
 tend to flatter you to your face ; but there's one thing I'll 
 tell you : they say that your wife is a going to heaven by a 
 shorter road than yourself Mr. Edwards bowed, and 
 after reading the psalm, went on with the sermon." — Ed" 
 wards' Works ^ {Dwighfs edition,) p. 283. 
 
 The two following incidents were communicated by the 
 Rev. Jotham Sewall, of Chesterville, Me. As they were 
 received too late to be inserted in the fifth chapter, they 
 are placed here. One similar to the last of these incidents, 
 has indeed been already cited ; but as this contains several 
 interesting particulars, not found in that it is here inserted 
 entire. 
 
 "In the year 1745, an armament was fitted out from 
 Boston, as the centre of the movement, against Louisburg, 
 a fortified place on the island of Cape Breton, made so 
 strong by the French that it was called the American 
 Gibraltar. From that place the French vexed the fisheries 
 
332 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII, 
 
 of our fathers, and put them to trouble, so that they de- 
 termined to send an expedition against it, and take it, if pos- 
 sible. IJivine Providence seemed to favor the enterprise. 
 The winter so broke up in January that the people ploughed 
 their ground, and got things in such readiness that the 
 women and young people could finish their planting after 
 the men were gone to Cape Breton. There were some 
 British ships of war on the West India coast, that were 
 ordered to ascertain if any service was needed in New 
 England. They came on in season to convoy the trans- 
 ports, with soldiers and provisions, on the afore-mentioned 
 expedition. They landed at Cape Breton, April 30th, 
 1745. On their approach the French evacuated a redoubt, 
 and fled to the city of Louisburg. The place was be 
 sieged from that time till the 17th »f June, when it was 
 taken. _Our troops had no tents or barracks, — only bark 
 camps. There was no rain of any consequence during 
 the siege ; but the next day after the city was taken, a 
 rain began which lasted ten days! It was thought if it 
 had come on before, in such a manner, it would have 
 raised the siege. 
 
 " Rev. Samuel Moody, of York, Me., was the chaplain 
 in that expedition. His son Joseph supplied his place in 
 York while he was gone. They frequently heard from 
 Louisburg that the place was not taken, and appointed a 
 day of fasting and prayer in York. Neighboring minis- 
 ters came and assisted. Joseph Moody offered one of the 
 prayers, and was quite lengthy. He first vvent on a long 
 time, using all the arguments he could think of, that the 
 Lord would prosper the enterprise ; then turned his pray- 
 er into thanksgiving that the place was given up — it was 
 ours — and praised God a long time for such unmerited 
 mercy. He closed by confessing that we were not better 
 than those who possessed the land before us, and that it 
 would be righteous if the land should spue out its inhabi- 
 tants a second time. When the army got back from Cape 
 Breton, and compared dates, it was found that on the very 
 day of the fast the city was taken, and the capitulation 
 closed while he was praying. When the peace was con- 
 cluded between France and England, about two years 
 after, Louisburg was ceded back to France, — so the land 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 33& 
 
 spued out its inhabitants a second time, according to Mr 
 Moody's prayer. ^ 
 
 "In 1746, the next year after the capitulation of the city, 
 a fleet and army was fitted out in France to take vengeance 
 on the Colonies for their daring enterprise ; and so confi- 
 dent were the French of success, that the admiral bore a 
 broom at his mast-head, intending to sweep all before him ! 
 England had enough to do that year to quell the Scotch 
 rebellion, so that no help could be expected from that 
 quarter. The expedition was heard of in this country 
 some time before it arrived, and the people were panic 
 struck ; for it was said that the armament consisted of 
 eight thousand troops, and arms for four thousand Indians. 
 What could our weak-handed colonists do against such an 
 armed force ? But they betook themselves to fasting and 
 prayer, and cried to Heaven for help. On one of those , 
 days. Father Moody, (who went chtiplain the year before) 
 in praying against that fleet, made use of the scripture ex- 
 pressions employed against Sennacherib, * Put a hook in 
 his nose, and a bridle in his lips — turn him back again by 
 the way that he came, that he shall not shoot an arrow 
 here, nor cast up a bvink, or a trench; but by the way that 
 he came, cause him to return.' By and by, the old gentle- 
 man waxed warm, raided his hands and his voice, and 
 cried out, * Good Lord, if there is no other way of defeat- 
 ing the enterprise, send a storm upon them, and "sink them 
 in the deep.' It was afterwards ascertained that not far 
 from that time a tremendous tempest burst upon that fleet, 
 and scattered and foundered numbers of them. A rem- 
 nant of them got into Chebucto, (the Indian name for 
 the harbor of Halifax.) The commander-in-chief was so 
 disheartened, supposing all the rest were lost, that he put 
 an end to his own life. The second in command did the 
 same. The third in command was not competent to so 
 great an undertaking. A mortal sickness prevailed among 
 the troops, and a great number of them laid their bones 
 in Chebucto. They finally packed up all, and went back 
 to France without striking a blow ! ' Perhaps,' says a 
 historian, * never was an enterprise more sigrtally de- 
 feated, without human aid, than that was.'" — '* I have 
 written too hastily," adds the venerable writer, " by 
 
334 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII. 
 
 lamp-light, at the age of eighty-one, for such a commu- 
 nication." 
 
 "New Hampshire," says Bacon, "less favored in its 
 origin than the other New England colonies^ was in 1684 
 subject to a royal governor, a creature of King James II., 
 practising in the four towns of New Hampshire, the same 
 violations of right and liberty, which his master was prac- 
 tising on a grander scale in England. To such a governor 
 the pastor of Portsmouth, Rev. Joshua Moody, had become 
 greatly obnoxious, by the fearless freedom of his preach- 
 ing, and by his resoluteness in maintaining a strictly con- 
 gregational church discipline. A member of his church 
 was strongly suspected of having taken a false oath, in a 
 matter relating to the seizure and escape of a vessel. The 
 man thus charged with perjury was able, in some way, to 
 pacify the governor and collector ; but in the church the 
 supposed offence was made a subject of investigation. 
 Mr. Moody, as pastor, requested of Cranfield, the governor, 
 copies of the evidence which had been taken in the case 
 by the government. The governor not only refused this 
 request, but declared that the man, having been forgiven 
 by him, should not be called to account by any body else, 
 and threatened the pastor with vengeance if he dared to 
 proceed in the matter. But Mr. Moody did not believe 
 that the right of a christian church to inspect the conduct 
 of its own'members, or the duty of a church to execute 
 discipline upon offenders, depended on the will of governors 
 or kings ; and to him the wrath of Cranfield was a small ' 
 matter in comparison with the reproaches of his own con- 
 science or the displeasure of God. Having consulted his 
 church, he preached a sermon on the sin of perjury, and 
 then the offender was tried, found guilty, and at last, by 
 God's blessing upon the ordinance of church discipline, 
 brought to repentance and a public confession. The gov- 
 ernor, indignant at this manly proceeding, had yet no way 
 to execute his threat of vengeance, but by some indirect 
 method. He accordingly made an order that all the 
 ministers within the province should admit all persons of 
 suitable »ge, and not vicious in their lives, to the Lord's 
 supper, and their children to baptism, and that if any 
 person should desire to have these sacraments administered 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 335 
 
 according to the liturgy of the Church of England, his 
 desire should be complied with. The minister who should 
 refuse obedience to this order was to incur the same penal- 
 ties as if he were in England, and a minister there of the 
 established church. Cranfield's next step was, without 
 any loss of time, to send a written message to Mr. Moody, 
 by the hands of the sheriff, signifying that he and two of 
 his frieiids intended to partake of the Lord's supper the 
 next Sunday, and requiring that it be administered to 
 them according to the liturgy. To this demand Mr. 
 Moody returned the prompt denial which was expected; 
 and the consequence was, that for the double offence of 
 refusing to conform to the order of the liturgy, and of 
 refusing to profane the Lord's supper by administering it 
 to such men as Cranfield and his minions, he was prose- 
 cuted, convicted, and imprisoned. For thirteen weeks he 
 remained in close confinement; and he was then released 
 only under a strict charge to preach no more in that pro- 
 vince, and a threat of further imprisonment if he should." 
 Mather says, that a person who lived with Rev. Mr. 
 Brock, (minister on the Isles of Shoals) at the time Mr. 
 Moody was in prison, observed one morning that he ap- 
 peared very sorrowful. He asked him the reason of it. 
 Mr. Brock replied, " I am very much troubled for my dear 
 brother Moody, who is imprisoned by Cranfield ; but I 
 will this day seek to the Lord on his behalf, and I believe 
 my God will hear me." On the very same day, Mr. Moody, 
 by a kind interposition of Providence, was delivered out 
 of his imprisonment. 
 
 ** In the summer of 1676, there was a great drought in 
 New England, which was extremely severe at Mohegan, 
 and in the neighboring country. In August, the corn 
 dried up ; the fruit and leaves fell off as in autumn, and 
 some trees appeared to be dead. The Indians came from 
 Mohegan to Norwich, and lamented that they had no rain, 
 and that their powows could get none in their way of 
 worship ; they desired Mr. Fitch, the minister of Norwich, 
 that he would seek to God for rain. He appointed a fast 
 day for that purpose. The day proved clear, but at sun- 
 set, at the close of service, some clouds arose. The next 
 
336 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII 
 
 day was cloudy. Uncas went to the house of Mr. Fitch, 
 with many Indians, and lamented the great want of rain. 
 * If God shall send you rain/ said Mr. Fitch, * will you 
 not attribute it to your powows V He answered, ' No ; 
 for we have done our utmost, but all in vain.' ' If you 
 will declare it before all these Indians,' replied the minis- 
 ter, ' you shall see what God will do for us ;' remarking 
 at the same time, their repeated and unfailing reception 
 of rain in answer to fasting and prayer. Uncas then 
 'made a great speech' to the Indians, confessing that if 
 God should then send rain, it could not be ascribed to 
 their powowing, but must be acknowledged to be an 
 answer to the Englishman's prayer. On that very day 
 the clouds became more extended, and the day following 
 there was such a copious rain, that their river rose more 
 than two feet in height." 
 
 Bacon gives the following description of the first house 
 erected for public worship in New Haven, and of the cir- 
 cumstances under which the people assembled on the 
 sabbath : 
 
 " The first house for public worship erected iii New 
 England was commenced in 1639. The order that such 
 a house should be built forthwith, was passed in the town 
 meeting on the 25th of November. The cost of the build- 
 ing was to be ^£500, and to raise that sum, a tax of 1 1-2 
 per cent, was levied, all to be paid before the following 
 May. The house was fifty feet square. It had a tower, 
 surmounted with a turret. 
 
 "The internal arrangements of the house, so far as a 
 knowledge of them can be gathered from the records, or 
 inferred from what we know of the primitive meeting- 
 houses, are easily described. Immediately before the 
 pulpit, and facing the congregation, was an elevated seat 
 for the ruling elder; and before that, somewhat lower, 
 was a seat for the deacons, behind the communion table. 
 On the floor of the house there were neither pews nor 
 slips, but plain seats. On each side of what we may call 
 the centre aisle, were nine, of sufficient length to accom- 
 modate five or six persons. On each side of the pulpit, at 
 the end, were five cross seats, and another shorter thaa 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 337 
 
 the five. Along each wall of the house, between the cross 
 seats and the side door, were four seats, and beyond the 
 side door, six. The men and women were seated sepa- 
 rately, on opposite sides of the house, and every one, 
 according to his ofiice or his age, or his rank in society, 
 had his place assigned by a committee appointed for that 
 purpose. The children and young people, at the first 
 seating, seem to have been left to find their own places, 
 away from their parents, in that part of the house which 
 was not occupied with seats prepared at the town's expense. 
 If this was the case, it cannot be wondered at, that within 
 five or six years after the first seating, and st> on, as long 
 as the practice continued, the regulation of the boys in 
 the meeting-house, and the ways and means of suppressing 
 disorders among them, were frequent subjects of discussion 
 and enactment in the town meetings. A congregation 
 ought always to present itself in the house of God by 
 families. The separating of the heads of the family from 
 each other, and the children from both, in the house of 
 God, was a serious and mischievous mistake. 
 
 " In such a temple, the fathers of New Haven main- 
 tained the worship and ordinances of God for about thirty 
 years. During all that time, they never met for worship, 
 even in the most tranquil times, without a complete mili- 
 tary guard. As early as 1640, we find upon the records 
 an order, * that every man that is appointed to watch, whe- 
 ther masters or servants, shall come every Lord's day to 
 the meeting completely armed ; and all others, also, are to 
 bring their swords; no man exempted save Mr. Eaton, 
 our pastor, Mr. James, Mr. Samuel Eaton, and the two 
 deacons.' And from time to time, the number of men 
 that were to bear arms on the sabbath days, and other days 
 of public assembly, the timeat which they should appear 
 at the meeting-house, and the places which they should 
 occupy, were made the subjects of particular regulation. 
 Seats were placed on each side of the front door, for the 
 soldiers. A sentinel was stationed in the turret. Armed 
 watchmen paced the streets, while the people were assem- 
 bled for worship. And whenever rumors came of conspi- 
 racies among the Indians at a distance, or there seemed to 
 oe any special occasion of alarm, the sabbath guards and 
 29 V 
 
388 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII. 
 
 sentries at once became more vigilant, and the house of 
 God bristled with augmented preparations for defence. 
 For example, in March, 1653, there being apprehensions 
 of an Indian invasion, and a town meeting being held, that 
 nothing needful in such circumstances might be neglected, 
 we find it ordered, among other particulars, * that the door 
 of the meeting-house, next the soldiers' seat, be kept clear 
 from women and children sitting there ; that if there be 
 occasion for the soldiers to go suddenly forth, they may 
 have a free passage.' Of the six pieces of artillery be- 
 longing to the town, three were stationed always by the 
 water side, and three by the meeting-house. Twice before 
 each assembly, the drum was beaten in the turret, and 
 along the principal streets ; and when the congregation 
 came together, it presented the appearance of an assembly 
 in a garrison." 
 
 With regard to their method of conducting the services 
 of the sanctuary, the same writer says, "Their mode of 
 conducting public worship was not materially unlike our 
 method at this day. Every sabbath they came together at 
 the beat of drum, about nine o'clock, or before. The pastor 
 began with solemn prayer, continuing about a quarter of 
 an hour. The teacher then read and expounded a chapter. 
 Then a psalm was sung, the lines being given out by the 
 ruling elder. After that, the pastor delivered his sermon, 
 not written out in full, but from notes enlarged upon m 
 speaking. In this church, at an early period, it was cus- 
 tomary for the congregation to rise while the preacher 
 read his text. This was a token of reverence for the word 
 of God. After the sermon, the teacher concluded with 
 prayer and a blessing. 
 
 " Once a month, as now, the Lord's supper was cele- 
 brated at the close of the morning service, in precisely 
 the same forms which we observe, — the pastor, teacher, 
 and ruling elder sitting together at the communion table. 
 One of the ministers performed the first part of the ser- 
 vice, and the other the last — the order in which they ofl5- 
 ciated being reversed at each communion. 
 
 " The assembly convened again for the exercises of 
 the afternoon at about two o'clock ; and the pastor having 
 commenced as in the morning with prayer, and a psalm 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 339 
 
 having been sung as before, another prayer was offered by 
 the teacher, who then preached, as the pastor did in the 
 morning, and prayed again. 
 
 " Then, if there was any occasion, baptism was admin- 
 istered by either pastor or teacher; the officiating minister 
 commonly accompanying the ordinance with exhortation 
 to the church and to the parents. 
 
 ** Next in the order of services was the contribution, 
 made every Lord's day to the treasury of the church 
 One of the deacons, rising in his place, said, * Brethren 
 of the congregation, now there is time left for contribu- 
 tion ; wherefore as God hath prospj^ed you, so offer freely.' 
 The ministers, whenever there was any extraordinary occa- 
 sion, were wont to accompany the call with some earnest 
 exhortation out of the scriptures, urging to liberality. 
 The contribution was received, not by passing a box from 
 seat to seat, but first the magistrates and principal gentle- 
 men, then the elders, and then the congregation generally, 
 came up to the deacons' seat by one way, and returned 
 orderly to their own seats by another way. Each indi- 
 vidual contributed either money, or a written promise to 
 pay some certain ^mount, or any thing else that was con- 
 venient and proper. Money and subscriptions were placed 
 in the contribution box, — other offerings' were laid down 
 before the deacons. It may be that some of the ancient 
 silver cups, now used in our monthly communion, were 
 given in this way. 
 
 ** After the contribution, the assembly being not yet 
 dismissed, if there were any members to be admitted into 
 the church, or any to be propounded for admission, or if 
 there were cases of offence and discipline to be acted upon 
 by the church, such things were attended to ; and then 
 another psalm was sang, if the day was not too far spent, 
 and the pastor closed the services with prayer and a 
 blessing." 
 
 *' In the year 1662," says Neal, *' the spirit of the church 
 ran very high in England against the Presbyterians and 
 Independents ; the bishops would come to no terms with 
 them, but by an act of uniformity which took place on St. 
 Bartholomew's day, about two thousand ministers were 
 turned out of their benefices without the least provision 
 
340 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII 
 
 for themselves or families ; they were afterwards banished 
 five miles out of every corporation in England, and seve 
 ral at last died in prison for exercisiiig their ministry in 
 private, contrary to law; but some of them, being willing 
 to get out of the storm, removed to New England. Among 
 these, the most considerable were,' 
 
 Rev. James Allen, who settled at Boston, 
 
 Rev. John Baily, " Watertown, 
 
 Rev. Mr. Barnet, " New London, 
 
 Rev. James Brown, " Swanzey, 
 
 Rev. Thomas Gilbert, " Topsfield, 
 
 Rev. Thomas Bui%, *' Watertown, 
 
 Rev, James Keith, " Bridgewater, 
 
 Rev. Samuel Lee, " Bristol, 
 
 Rev. Charles Morton, " Charlestown, 
 
 Rev. Charles Nicolet, " Salem, 
 
 Rev. John Oxenbridge, " Boston, 
 
 Rev. Thomas Thornton, " Yarmouth, 
 
 Rev. Thomas Walley, " Barnstable, 
 
 Rev. William WoodrofTe, " Lancaster, 
 
 who all spent the remainder of their l^yes in the country, 
 except one or two, who returned to England. 
 
 " We might add to these the learned Dr. John Owen, 
 who had been dean of Christ Church, and vice-chan- 
 cellor of the university of Oxford, under the protector- 
 ship of Cromwell. He was universally respected as a gen- 
 tleman, a scholar, and a divine, and was better versed in 
 oriental and Jewish learning than most of his age ; after 
 the Bartholomew-act took place, whereby he was silenced 
 with the rest of his brethren, he was invited to the chair 
 of professor of divinity in one of the universities of Hol- 
 land, but refused it. He was afterwards invited to the 
 presidency of Harvard College, in New England, and was 
 shipping his effects for that country, when he was forbid- 
 den to leave the kingdom, by express orders from King 
 Charles himself" 
 
 An accident occurred at New Haven, in the year 1665, 
 which speaks loudly in praise of that colony. It is thus 
 related by Bacon. 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 341 
 
 " In the year 1665, on the day of the anniversary 
 thanksgiving, a contribution was ' given in' for ' the saints 
 that were in want in England.' This was at the time when, 
 in that country, so many ministers, ejected from their pla- 
 ces of settlement, were, by a succession of enactments, 
 studiously cut off from all means of obtaining bread for 
 themselves, and their wives and children. The contribu- 
 tion was made, as almost all payments of d^bts or of taxes 
 were made at that period, in grain and other commodities; 
 there being no money in circulation, and no banks by 
 which credit could be converted into currency. It was 
 paid over to the deacons in the February following. We, 
 to whom it is so easy, in the present state of commerce, to 
 remit the value of any contribution to almost any part of 
 the world, cannot easily imagine the circuitous process by 
 which that contribution reached the * poor saints' whom it 
 was intended to relieve. By the deacons the articles con- 
 tributed were probably first exchanged, to some extent, for 
 other commodities more suitable for exportation. Then 
 the amount was sent to Barbadoes, with which island the 
 merchants of this place had intercourse, and was exchanged 
 for sujrars, which were thence sent to England, to the care 
 of four individuals, two of whom were Mr. Hooke and 
 Mr. Newman, the former teacher and ruling elder of the 
 church in New Haven. In 1671, Mr. Hooke, in a letter 
 to the church, said, * Mr. Caryl, Mr. Barker, Mr. Newman, 
 and myself, have received sugars from Barbadoes to the 
 value of about <£90, and have disposed of it to several 
 poor ministers and ministers' widows. And this fruit of 
 your bounty is very thankfully received and acknowledged 
 by us. And the good * Lord make all grace to abound to- 
 wards you, ^c. — 2 Cor. ix. 8 — 12.' " 
 
 Copy of a letter to William Goffe, one of the Regicides, 
 from his Wife, in 166*2. 
 
 " My dearest Heart, 
 
 1 have been exceedingly refreshed with 
 your choice and precious letter of May 29th, 1662. Those 
 scriptures you mention, through mercy, with many others, 
 are a great support and comfort to me in this day of my 
 great affliction. Through grace I do experience the Lord's 
 29* 
 
342 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII 
 
 presence, in supporting and providing for me and mine, in 
 this evil day. The preservation of yourself and my dear 
 father, next to the light of God's countenance, is the 
 choicest mercy that I enjoy. For to hear of your welfare, 
 gives, as it were, new life to me. Oh ! what am I, poor 
 worm, that the great God of heaven and earth should 
 continue such mercies to me and mine, as I at this day 
 enjoy ! Many others have lost their dear yoke-fellows, and 
 are out of all hopes to see them in this life ; but that is not 
 my condition, as yet, blessed be his holy name, for he hath 
 made me hope in his word, Zech. x. 9th ; And I will 
 sow them among the people, and they shall remember me in 
 far countries, and they shall live with their children, and 
 turn again. Persecution begins to be high here; the 
 bishops' courts are up as high as ever. But we have the 
 promises^of a faithful God to live upon,, and he hath said, 
 To you it is given not only to believe, but to suffer. He hath 
 also promised to lay no more upon his poor people than he 
 will give strength to bear. O my heart ! I do, with my 
 whole soul bless the Lord for his unspeakable goodness to 
 you and your dear friend, in that he hath been pleased to 
 appear so eminently for your preservation. He brings to 
 the grave, and raises up again. O, that the daily experi- 
 ence we have of his goodness may make us trust him for 
 the future. We have seen that word in the 5th of Job, in 
 some measure made good unto you. Read the 12th verse, 
 from the 11th to the end of the chapter; there is much 
 comfort to those in our condition ; as also in Psalm 91st. 
 O my dear, let us henceforth make the Lord our refuge 
 and our trust, and then he shall cover thee with his fea- 
 thers, and be a sanctuary to thee, wheresoever he shall 
 cast thee. I mention these scriptures because I have 
 found comfort in them, and I hope thou wilt do so too. I 
 shall now give you an account of your family as far as I 
 dare. Through mercy I and your little ones are in rea 
 sonable health, only Betty and Nan are weakly, and I fear 
 will be lame a little. The others are very lusty. I am 
 yet with my aunt, but how soon she may be forced to give 
 up housekeeping, I know not, (for she is warned by the 
 bishops' court,) and we shall be dispersed ; but I hope the 
 Lord will provide for us as he hath done hitherto. O, my 
 
CHAP. Xi:i.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 34^ 
 
 dear, let our trust be in the Lord alone. I do heartily wish 
 myself with thee, but that I fear it may be a means to dis- 
 cover thee, as it was to , and therefore I shall forbear 
 
 attempting any such thing for the present, hoping that the 
 Lord will, in his own time, return thee to us again ; for 
 he hath the hearts of all in his hands, and can change 
 them in a moment. I rejoice to hear that you are so will- 
 ing to be at the Lord's disposal ; indeed, we are not our 
 own, for we ape bought with a price, with the precious 
 blood of the Lord Jesus ; and therefore let us comfort our- 
 selves with this, though we should never meet in this world 
 again, yet I hope, through grace, we shall meet in heaven, 
 and so ever be with the Lord^ and it will not be in the 
 power of men to part us. My dear, I know you are con- 
 fident of my affection, yet, give me leave to tell thee, thou 
 art as dear to me as a husband can be to a wife, and if I 
 knew anything I could do to make thrfe happy, I should do 
 it, if the Lord would permit, though to the loss of my life. 
 As for news, I shall forbear writing any, for I know not 
 much, and you may hear it from better hands. My dear, 
 my aunt, and many others are very kind to me, so that 
 through mercy I have no want of food and raiment, though 
 in a mean way. The Lord is pleased to suit my mind to 
 my condition, and to give me strength, in some measure, 
 to take pains with my children, which I look upon as a 
 great mercy. I know not whether I may have another 
 opportunity to send to thee this season or not, which makes 
 me the longer now ; for I shall not send but by those I 
 pledge to be faithful, and I being in the country, I may not 
 hear of every opportunity ; and though it is an unspeakable 
 comfort for me to hear of thy welfare, yet I earnestly beg 
 of the« not to send too often for fear of the worst ; for 
 they are very vigilant here to find out persons. But this is 
 my comfort, that it is not in the power of men to act their 
 own will. And now, my dear, with a thousand tears, I 
 take my leave of tl'iee, and recommend thee to the great 
 Keeper of Israel, who neither slumbers nor sleeps, who, I 
 hope, will keep thee, and my dear friend with thee, from all 
 your enemies, both spiritual and temporal, and in his own 
 time return you with safety to your family. Which is the 
 daily prayer of your affectionate and obedient wife till 
 death." 
 
344 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY CHAF. XIII.} 
 
 *' Many friends here desire to be remembered to you. 
 It will not be convenient to name them. I am sure yoii 
 have a stock of prayers going up for you here, which you 
 and I reap the benefit of. My humble duty presented to 
 you know who. 
 
 " Frederick, and the rest of thy dear babes that can 
 speak, present their humble duty to thee, talk much of 
 thee, and long to see thee. 
 
 " My humble duty to my dear father, a!hd tell him I 
 pray for him with my whole heart ; but I am so bad a 
 scribe I dare not write to him. Pray be private and care- 
 ful who you trust." 
 
 *' Goffe," says Bacon, " was the son-in-law of Whalley^ 
 and having distinguished himself in the army, in which he 
 rose to the rank of major-general, he became a member 
 of Cromwell's house of lords, and was one of the princi- 
 pal supporters of the Cromwell dynasty. So eminent was 
 he, that it was thought by some that he might, in time, 
 become the head of the empire." 
 
 " Whalley was closely connected with Cromwell by 
 kindred as well as by the tie of a common political inte- 
 rest. He was the colonel of that regiment of cavalry in the 
 parliament's army in which Richard Baxter was chaplain, 
 and between him and the author of the Saint's Rest there 
 was an intimate friendship, not only while Baxter contin- 
 ued in the army, but afterwards, when Whalley had .be- 
 come, under the protectorate of bis cousin Cromwell, one 
 of the chief officers of the empire. To him, in token of 
 their continued friendship, Baxter dedicated one of his 
 works, in an epistle which is among the most beautiful 
 examples of that kind of composition. Alluding to the 
 honors which then clustered upon the head of the veteran 
 warrior, he said, ' Think not that your greatest trials are 
 now over. Prosperity hath its peculiar temptations, by 
 which it hath foiled many that stood unshaken in the 
 storms of adversity. The tempter who hath had you on 
 the waves, will now assault you in the calm, and hath his 
 last game to play on the mountain, till nature cause you to 
 descend. Stand this charge, and you win the day.' " 
 
 " How beautifiU the prediction, but how short-sighted P 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAxXD. 345 
 
 " Sir Edmund Andross, being appointed the first gover- 
 nor-general over New England, arrived in Boston in De- 
 cember, 1686. From this place he wrote to the colony ot 
 Connecticut to resign their charter, but without success. 
 'The Assembly met, as usual, in October, and the gov- 
 ernment continued according to charter until the last of 
 the month. About this time. Sir Edmund, with his suite, 
 and more than sixty regular troops, came to Hartford 
 when the Assembly were sitting, and demanded the char- 
 ter, and declared the government under it to be dissolved. 
 The Assembly were extremely reluctant and slow with 
 respect to any resolve to surrender the charter, or with 
 respect to any motion to bring it forth. The tradition is, 
 that Gov. Treat strongly represented the great expense 
 and hardships of the colonists in planting the country, 
 the blood and treasure which they had expended in de- 
 fending it, both against the savages and foreigners, to what 
 hardships he himself had been exposed for that purpose, 
 and that it was like giving up his life, now to surrender 
 the patent and privileges so dearly bought, and so long en- 
 joyed. The important affair was debated and kept in sus- 
 pense until the evening, when the charter was brought and 
 laid upon the table where the Assembly were sitting. By 
 this time, great numbers of people were assembled,^ and 
 men sufficiently bold to enterprise whatever might be 
 necessary or expedient. The lights were instantly extin- 
 guished, and one Capt. Wadsvvorth, of Hartford, in the 
 most silent and secret manner, carried off the charter, and 
 secreted it in a large hollow tree, fronting the house of 
 Hon. Samuef Wyllys, then one of the magistrates of the 
 polony. The people all appeared peaceable and orderly. 
 The candles were officiously relighted, but the patent was 
 gone, and no discovery could be made of it, or of the per- 
 son Vv'ho carried it away.' " 
 
 ** The venerable tree, which concealed the charter of 
 the rights of Connecticut, stands at the foot of Wyllys' 
 hill. The first inhabitant of that name found it standing 
 in the height of its glory. Age seems to have curtailed 
 its branches ; yet it is not exceeded in the height of its 
 coloring or richness of its foliage. The trunk measures 
 twenty-one feet in circumference, and nearly seven in 
 
316 INCIDENTS IN THE KARLY [cHAP. XIIl. 
 
 diameter. The cavity, which was the asylum of the char 
 ter, was near the roots, and large enough to admit a child. 
 Within the space of eight years the cavity has closed, as 
 if it had fulfilled the divine purpose for which it had been 
 reared." 
 
 " The Rev. Mr. Bulkley, first minister of Colchester, 
 Con., was famous in his day as a casuist and sage counsel- 
 lor. A church in his neighborhood had fallen into unhap- 
 py divisions and contentions, which they were unable to 
 adjust among themselves. They deputed one of their 
 number to the venerable Bulkley for his services, with a 
 request that he would send it to them in writing. The 
 matters were taken into serious consideration, and the ad- 
 vice with much deliberation committed to writing. It so 
 happened that Mr. Bulkley had a farm in the extreme part 
 of the town, upon which he intrusted a tenant ; in super- 
 scribing two letters, the one for the church was directed 
 to the tenant, and the one intended for the tenant to the 
 church. The church was convened to hear the advice 
 which was to settle all their disputes. The moderator 
 read as follows : You will see to the repair of the fences, 
 that they be built high and strong, and you will take special 
 care of the old black bull. This mystical advice puzzled 
 the church at first; but an interpreter among the more 
 discerning ones was soon found, who said. Brethren, this 
 is the very advice we most need ; the direction to repair 
 the fences, is to admonish us to take good heed in the ad- 
 mission and government of our members ; we must guard 
 the church by our Master's laws, and keep out strange 
 cattle from the fold. And we must in a particular manner 
 set a watchful guard over the Devil, the old black bull, 
 who has done so much hurt of late. All perceived the 
 wisdom and fitness of Mr. Bulkley's advice, and resolved 
 to be governed by it. The consequence was, all the ani- 
 mosities subsided, and harmony was restored to the long- 
 afflicted church. What the subject of the letter sent to 
 the tenant was, and what good effect it had upon him, the 
 story does not tell." 
 
 Believing that a few anecdotes respecting the wild 
 beasts which annoyed the early settlers of New England 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 3i7 
 
 would be interesting to the reader, we give the follow- 
 ing :— 
 
 Dr. Long, in his Historical Sketches of Warner, N. H., 
 says, " It may not be uninteresting to relate a rencounter 
 Thomas Annis, Esq., had with a bear. One day, late in 
 March, the sno"' being deep, he mounted his snow-shoes, 
 and in company with Abner Watkins, and their dogs, set 
 off towards the Mink Hills for a hunt, armed with an axe 
 and gun. In the neighborhood of the hills, the dogs 
 were perceived to be very much excited with sometiung 
 in a ledge of rocks. Annis left his companion, Watkins, 
 and ascended a crag twenty or thirty feet to where the 
 dogs were, having no other weapon with him but his staff, 
 which was pointed with iron. After exploring a little, he 
 concluded there was no game there of more consequence 
 than a hedgehog, or some other small animal, and being 
 fatigued, laid down on the snow on his back to rest, re- 
 clining his head upon the place he had been examining; 
 he had but just laid down when he heard a snulfing under 
 his ear ; he started up, and turning round, found an old 
 bear pressing her head up through the old leaves and snow 
 which tilled the mouth of her den ; he thrust his spear- 
 pointed staff at the bear's brisket, and thus held the bear, 
 which was pressing towards him, at his staff's length dis- 
 tance, and called to his companion, Watkins, to come up 
 with the axe and kill the bear, which, after some little 
 time, was effected. After the action was over, Annis 
 complained of Watkins' dilatoriness, but Watkins excused 
 himself by saying that he could not get his gun off; that 
 he had snapped, snapped, snapped, several times. * Where 
 did you take sight?' said Annis, knowing that he was 
 directly between him and the bear. ' I took sight between 
 your legs,' said Watkins. 
 
 " An affecting instance of a child falling a prey to a 
 bear," says Belknap, ''happened at Moultonborough, 
 N. H., in the month of August, 1784. A boy of eight 
 years old, son of Mr. Leach, was sent to a pasture, to- 
 wards the close of the day, to put out a horse, and bring 
 home the cows. His fiither, being in a neighboring field, 
 heard a cry of distress, and running to the fence, saw his 
 child lying on the ground, and a bear standing by him. 
 
348 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. Xlll. 
 
 He seized a stake and crept along, with a view to get be- 
 tween the bear and the child. The bear took the child 
 by the throat, and drew him into the bushes. The father 
 pursued till he came up, and aiming a stroke at the bear, 
 the stake broke in his hand, and the bear, leaving his prey, 
 turned upon the parent, who, in the anguish of his soul, 
 was obliged to retreat, and call for help. Before any suffi- 
 cient help could be obtained, the night was so far ad- 
 vanced that a search was impracticable. The night was 
 passed by the family in the utmost distress. The neigh- 
 bors assembled, and at break of day renewed the pursuit. 
 The child's hat and the bridle, which he had dropped, 
 were found, and they tracked his blood about forty rods, 
 when they discovered the mangled corpse. The throat 
 was torn, and one thigh devoured. Whilst they were 
 standing around the body, the bear rose from behind a 
 log. Three guns were fired at him at the same instant, 
 which despatched him, and a fire was immediately kindled, 
 in which he was consumed. This was a male bear about 
 three years old." 
 
 '* In the year 1731, a man being at work in a meadow, 
 at a new plantation on Suncook River, his son, being 
 about eight years old, was sent to call him home to dinner. 
 On their return, there being two paths through the woods, 
 the son going first, took one, and the father the other. At 
 dirmer, the child was missing, and after waiting some 
 time, the father went to seek him in the path which it was 
 supposed he had taken. To his inexpressible surprise, a 
 bear started up from among the bushes, with the bleeding 
 corpse in his teeth." 
 
 '* Andrew Beckwith," says Rev. Mr. Arnold, " came 
 from Lyme, Con. to this town, (Alstead, N. H.) in 1767. 
 A remarkable providence interposed for the preservation 
 of his son Richard. When an infant, his mother went to 
 the woods to gather a few berries. She placed her little 
 child on the ground; and while she wandered some dis- 
 tance, and was about returning, she saw a huge bear come 
 up to the tender babe. And, O ! it is hardly possible to 
 conceive the throbbing of a fond mother's heart, while 
 she beheld the voracious animal smelling and passing 
 around her darling child. What could be done? But 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 349 
 
 while she stood in awful suspense, petrified with fear and 
 doubt, to her exceeding joy the bear retired, and left the 
 boy unhurt and unconscious of his danger. He is now 
 (1826) living in town, and is a deacon in the first Congre- 
 gational church." 
 
 " The following account of the industry of a bear (copied 
 from the Connecticut Journal of July 5, 1766) was taken 
 from a man who was an active and eye witness to part of 
 the scene, which happened at Bethany. 
 
 " He says that on the morning of the 8th of April (1766) 
 last, his brother missed a three-weeks-old calf, which was 
 housed the night before in a small building. It appeared 
 that the bear tried to get under the sill of the door by 
 removing two or three bushels of dirt, but some stones 
 hindered his passage that way ; upon this disappointment 
 he changed his measures, and worked against the door 
 with so much strength that he drew six tenpenny nails out 
 of the wooden hinges and catch of the latch. It is sup- 
 posed he did this, by putting his paws under the door, and 
 prying and pushing, by which means he got in, and carried 
 off the best of two calves, a great part of which was found 
 in a swamp about half a mile from the house. It was 
 observed that the track of the bear was plain, but no ap- 
 pearance of his dragging «the calf along the ground, so 
 that he must have carried it on his back. Wliile people 
 were looking for the calf, a favorite old dog, called Beaver, 
 suddenly left his master, and returned wounded — supposed 
 in an engagement with the bear. On a morning about a 
 fortnight afterwards, the bear was discovered eating a lamb 
 about a mile and a half from the other place. After he 
 was scared from thence by dogs, it is said he was three 
 times driven from a flock of sheep about four miles from 
 the last place. He then destroyed a hive of bees at an- 
 other place. About four days after this performance, he 
 returned to the dwelling-house near which he seized the 
 calf, and at night unnailed the wooden bars which defend- 
 ed the window of a milk roorrf, got in, and feasted on a 
 tray of milk, turned anothef over and spilt it, then took 
 up a punch bowl, containing about three quarts of cream, 
 carefully carried it through the window, nearly fifteen feet 
 from the house, without spilling ; and after he had drank 
 30 
 
350 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIH. 
 
 or lapped it, genteelly turned the bowl bottom upwards, as 
 if he had drank a dish of tea for breakfast, and left it 
 whole. The noise occasioned by the bear's returning out 
 of the window, (which, to be sure, must have been greater 
 than that occasioned by getting in,) awoke the man and 
 his wife, who got up to discover the cause. They soon 
 found where the robber got in; and both together putting 
 their heads out a window under which the bear happened 
 to be, he rose up like a lion rampant, and struck at them 
 with his paws. The woman screamed, the man shud- 
 dered, got his gun, and loaded it. The bear was then 
 mounted on the rails of a fence. The man shot, the bear 
 roared, and made off. The man then sent an express for 
 his brother, (the author of this story,) who soon appeared 
 with a good gun and his young dog Drover. After hunt- 
 ing awhile, they discovered the bear lying in a swamp 
 Drover, who had never seen a bear before, made towards 
 him with a kind of half-courage, as if unwilling to be 
 thought a coward, yet prudently determining to do nothing 
 rashly. It was now remarked that brave old Beaver, in- 
 stead of running at the bear, attacked Drover, and pre- 
 vented him from showing how much he dared to do 
 This uncommon and seemingly strange behavior of Beaver 
 was reasonably imputed to a natural jealousy, lest Drover 
 should have the honor of disabling Bruin, which Beaver 
 seemed sensible he had done before, and therefore claimed 
 and strove to maintain the respect due to his merit. Dro- 
 ver's master then fired, the bear groaned hideously, and 
 both dogs fell on him, who at last forced him to take shel- 
 ter in a tree. There he was suffered to remain until day- 
 light, when another shot brought him to the ground. His 
 carcass weighed one hundred and sixty-two pounds, and 
 it appeared that six bullets had been shot through at three 
 charges. Let it here be supposed that he was wounded 
 once for killing the calf, once for eating the lamb, and 
 once for destroying the bee-hive. For lapping the milk, 
 oversetting the rest, stealing the cream, and damaging a 
 garden, he was worried by the* dogs — several punishments 
 for different crimes, all of which the same bear was judged 
 guilty of, and thus suffered for. His body was quartered. 
 
CHApflcin.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 351 
 
 and partly eaten at Bethany, and the remainder brought 
 to New Haven as a rarity." 
 
 **Jn the year 1739, Gen. Putnam removed from Salem 
 to Pomfret, an inland fertile town in Connecticut, forty 
 miles east of Hartford ; having here purchased a conside- 
 rable tract of land, he applied himself successfully to agri- 
 culture. 
 
 " The first years on a new farm are not, however, ex- 
 empt from disasters and disappointments, which can only 
 be remedied by stubborn and patient industry. Our farm- 
 er, sufficiently occupied in building a house and barn, 
 felling woods, making fences, sowing grain, planting or- 
 chards, and taking care of his stock, had to encounter, 
 in turn, the calamities occasioned by a drought in sum- 
 mer, blast in' harvest, loss of cattle in winter, and the 
 desolation of his sheep-fold by wolves.- In one night he 
 had seventy fine sheep and goats killed, besides many 
 lambs and kids wounded. This havock was committed 
 by a she-wolf, which, with her annual whelps, had for 
 several years, infested the vicinity. The young were 
 commonly destroyed by the vigilance of the hunters ; but 
 the old one was too sagacious to come within reach of 
 gun-shot : upon being closely pursued, she would generally 
 fly to the western wooClB, and return the next winter with 
 another litter of whelps. 
 
 "The wolf, at length becam«»such an intolerable nui- 
 sance, that Mr. Putnam entered into a combination with 
 five of his neighbors to hunt alternately until they could 
 destroy her. Two by rotation were to be constantly in 
 pursuit It was known that having lost the toes from 
 one foot, by a steel trap, she made one track shorter than 
 the other. By this vestige the pursuers recognized, in a 
 light snow, the route of this pernicious animal. Having 
 followed her to Connecticut River, and found she had 
 turned back in a direct course towards Pomfret, they im- 
 mediately returned ; and by ten o'clock the next morning 
 the blood-hounds had driven her into a den, about three 
 miles from the house of Mr. Putnam. The people soon 
 collected with dogs, guns, straw, fire, and sulphur, to at- 
 tack the common enemy. With this apparatus, severd 
 unsuccessful attempts were made to force her from th« 
 
352 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHA^XIIL 
 
 den. The hounds came back badly wounded, and re- 
 fused to return. The smoke of blazing straw had no 
 effect. Nor did the fumes of burnt brimstone, with which 
 the cavern was filled, compel her to quit the retirement. 
 Wearied with such fruitless attempts, (which had brought 
 the time to ten o'clock at night,) Mr. Putnam tried once 
 more to make his dog enter, but in vain ; he proposed to 
 his negro man to go down into the cavern, and shoot the 
 wolf; the negro declined the hazardous service. Then 
 it was that the master, angry at the disappointment, and 
 declaring that he was ashamed to have a coward in his fam- 
 ily, resolved himself to destroy the ferocious beast, lest she 
 should escape through some unknown fissure of the rock. 
 His neighbors strongly remonstrated against the perilous 
 enterprise ; but he knowing that wild animals are intimi- 
 dated by fire, and having provided several strips of birch 
 bark, the only combustible material which he could obtain, 
 that would afford light in this deep and darksome cave, 
 prepared for his descent. Having accordingly divested 
 himself of his coat and waistcoat, and having a long rope 
 fastened around his legs, by which he might be pulled 
 back at a concerted signal, he entered, head foremost, with 
 the blazing torch in his hand. 
 
 " The aperture of the den, on the east side of a very 
 high ledge of rocks, is about two feet square; from thence 
 it proceeds obliquely fiftq^n feet, then running horizon- 
 tally about ten feet more, it ascends gradually sixteen feet 
 towards its termination. The sides of this subterraneous 
 cavity are composed of smooth and solid rocks, which 
 seem to have been divided from each other by some former 
 earthquake. The top and bottom are also of stone ; and 
 the entrance in winter, being covered with ice, is exceed- 
 ingly slippery. It is in no place high enough for a man 
 to raise himself upright, nor in any part more than three 
 feet in width. 
 
 " Having groped his passage to the horizontal part of 
 the den, the most terrifying darkness appeared in front of 
 the dim circle of light afforded by his torch. None but 
 monsters of the desert had ever before explored this soli- 
 tary mansion of horror. He cautiously proceeding on- 
 ward, came to the ascent ; which he slowly mounted on 
 
 
VHAP. till.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 353 
 
 his hands and knees, until he discovered the glaring eye 
 balls of the wolf, who was sitting at the extremity of tha 
 cavern. Started at the sight of fire, she gnashed her 
 teeth, and gave a sudden growl. As soon as he had made 
 the necessary discovery, he kicked the lope as a signal for 
 pulling him out. The people at the mouth of the den, 
 who had listened with painful anxiety, hearing the growl 
 of the wolf, and supposing their friend to be in the most 
 imminent danger, drew him forth with such celerity that 
 his shirt was stripped over his head, and his skin severely 
 lacerated. After he had adjusted his clothes, and loaded 
 his gun with nine buck-shot, holding his torch in one hand 
 and the musket in the other, he descended the second time. 
 When he drew nearer than before, the wolf assumed a still 
 more fierce and terrible appearance, howling, rolling her 
 eyes, snapping her teeth, and dropping her head between 
 her legs, was evidently in the attitude and on the point of 
 springing at him. At this critical instant, he levelled and 
 fired at her head. Stunned by the shock, and suffocated 
 with the smoke, he immediately found himself drawn out 
 of the cave. But having refreshed himself, and permitted' 
 the smoke to dissipate, he went down the third time. Once 
 more he came within sight of the wolf, who appearing very 
 passive, he applied the torch to her nose, and perceiving 
 her dead, he took hold of her ears, and then kicking the 
 rope, (still tied round his legs,) the people above, with no 
 small exultation, dragged them both out together." — Hum- 
 phreys' Life of Putnam. 
 
 " John Burroughs," says Rev. Mr. Arnold, " came to 
 this place (Alstead) from Tolland, Con., in May, 1767. 
 The old gentleman still lives, (1826,) and is the earliest 
 settler that continues to the present time. He is able to 
 relate many interesting events that transpired during some 
 of the first years after he came to the place. He informs 
 the writer that one of the great evils in those days was 
 the multitude of wild beasts, especially bears and wolves, 
 which were so numerous as to devour their swine and 
 sheep, and sometimes to assail their larger cattle. At one 
 time, as he was called to Walpole for medical assistance 
 for his family, he saw, but a few rods distant, a large 
 panther, which he drove from him by a stern look and t 
 30* W 
 
354 INCIDENTS IN TFIE EART.Y [cHAP. XIII. 
 
 sudden yell. At another time he returned from Walpole in 
 a terrible thunder storm and a powerful rain, which hia 
 physician would not encounter in the night. In an unex- 
 pected manner he found himself inclosed in the bushy top 
 of a large tree that had fallen in his way. By reason of 
 the'extreme darkness, neither he nor his horse could keep 
 the path, which was, however, none of the best. After 
 many attempts to extricate himself and his horse, and 
 groping along in the dark, he was compelled to lodge there 
 for the night. 'And,' said he, with the smile of second 
 childhood, * I laid my hand over my ear to keep out the 
 rain, and slept sweetly till morning.' " 
 
 *' Gen. Winslow," says Thacher, " was remarkable for 
 his skill in horsemanship. He imported a valuable horse 
 from England, and it was among his greatest delights to 
 be mounted on his favorite animal. On a certain occa- 
 sion, a number of gentlemen of this town (Plymouth) 
 formed a party with Gen. Winslow, for a pleasure excur- 
 sion to Saquish, in Plymouth harbor, and to return to dine 
 in town. While there, Winslow fell asleep ; the other 
 gentlemen silently withdrew, and pursued their journey. 
 When he awoke and found himself deserted, he mounted, 
 and daringly plunging his steed into the channel, swam 
 him across, and landed on Plymouth beach, a distance 
 estimated at something more than half a mile, from whence 
 he rode into town, making the whole distance but six 
 miles, while his companions were riding fourteen miles. 
 On their arrival, they were astounded to find the general 
 seated at the tavern, prepared to greet them." 
 
 " The identical granite rock upon which the sea-wearied 
 pilgrims from the Mayflower first impressed their foot- 
 steps, has never been a subject of doubtful designation. 
 The fact of its identity has been transmitted from father 
 to son, particularly in the instance of Elder Faunce and 
 his father, as would be the richest inheritance, by unques- 
 tionable tradition. About the year 1741, it was repre- 
 sented to Elder Faunce that a wharf was to be erected 
 over the rock, which impressed his mind with deep con- 
 cern, and excited a strong- desire to take a last farewell of 
 ihe cherished object. He was then ninety-five years old, 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 355 
 
 and resided three miles from the place. A chair was pro- 
 cured, and the venerable man conveyed to the shore^ 
 where a number of the inhabitants were assembled to 
 witness the patriarch's benediction. Having pointed out 
 the rock directly under the bank of Cole's Hill, which his 
 father had assured him was that which had received the 
 footsteps of our fathers on their first arrival, and which 
 should be perpetuated to posterity, he bedewed it with his 
 tears, and bid to it an everlasting adieu. These facts 
 were testified to by the late venerable Deacon Spooner, 
 who was then a boy, and was present on the interesting 
 occasion. Tradition says that Elder Faunce was in the 
 habit, on every anniversary, of placing his children and 
 grandchildren on the rock, and conversing with them 
 respecting their forefathers. Standing on this rock, there- 
 fore, we may fancy a magic power ushering us into the 
 presence of our fathers. Where is the New Englander 
 who would be willing to have that rock buried out of 
 sight and forgotten? The hallowed associations which 
 cluster around that precious memorial, inspire us with, 
 sentiments of the love of our country, and a sacred reve- 
 rence for its primitive instiiutions. In contemplation, we 
 may hold communion with celestial spirits, and receive 
 monitions from those who are at rest in their graves. 
 What honors shall we pay to the fathers of our country, 
 the founders of that nation, which for ages will remain 
 the rich abode of knowledge, religion, freedom, and virtue! 
 Criminal, indeed, would be our case, were we not to che- 
 rish a religious sense of the exalted privileges inherited 
 from our pious ancestors, and resolve to transmit them 
 unimpaired to our children. 
 
 *' In 1774, the inhabitants of Plymouth, animated by 
 the glorious spirit of liberty which pervaded the province, 
 and mindful of the precious relic of our forefathers, re- 
 solved to consecrate the rock on which they landed to the 
 shrine of liberty. Col. Theophilus Cotton, and a large 
 number of the inhabitants, assembled, with about twenty 
 yoke of oxen, for the purpose of its removal. The rock 
 was elevated from its bed by means of large screws ; and 
 in attempting to mount it on the carriage, it split asunder, 
 without any violence. As no one had observed a flaw, 
 
366 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY CHAP. XIII. 
 
 the circumstance occasioned some surprise. It is not 
 strange that some of the patriots of the day should be 
 disposed to indulge a little in superstition, when in favoi 
 of their good cause. The separation of the rock was 
 construed to be ominous of a division of the British em- 
 pire. The question was now to be decided whether both 
 parts should be removed, and being decided in the nega- 
 tive, the bottom part was dropped again into its original 
 bed, where it still remains, a few inches above the surface 
 of the earth, at the head of the wharf The upper portion, 
 weighing many tons, was conveyed to the liberty pole 
 square, front of the meeting-house, where, we believe, 
 w^aved over it a flag with the far-famed motto, ' Liberty or 
 death.' This part of the rock was, on the 4th of July, 
 1834, removed to Pilgrim Hall, and placed in front of that 
 edifice, under the charge of the Pilgrim Society. A pro- 
 cession was formed on this occasion, and passed over 
 Cole's Hill, where lie the ashes of those who died the first 
 winter. 
 
 " A miniature representation of the Mayflower followed 
 in the procession, placed in a^car, decorated with flowers, 
 and drawn by six boys. Tlhe procession was preceded 
 by the children of both sexes of tlie several schools in 
 town. On depositing the rock in front of the hall, a vol- 
 ley of small arms was fired over it by the Standish Guards, 
 after which, an appropriate address was delivered by Dr. 
 Charles Cotton, and the services were closed by a prayer 
 by the Rev. Dr. Kendall. 
 
 " It afforded the highest satisfac^on to announce that 
 the long-desired protection of the Forefathers' Rock is at 
 length completed; and it may be pronounced a noble 
 structure, serving the double purpose of security to the 
 rock, and a monument to the pilgrims. The fabric was 
 erected in June, 1835, and consists of a perfect ellipse, 
 forty-one feet in perimeter, formed of wrought-iron bars, 
 five feet high, resting on a base of hammered granite. 
 The heads of the perpendicular bars are harpoons and 
 boat-hooks, alternately. The whole is embellished with 
 emblematic figures of cast iron. The base of the railing 
 is studded with emblems of marine shells, placed alter- 
 nately reversed, having a striking effect. The upper part 
 
CHAP. XIII. 1 HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 357 
 
 of the railing is encircled with a wreath of iron castings 
 in imitation of heraldry curtains, fringed with festoons ; 
 of these are forty-one, bearing the names in bass-relief of 
 the forty-one puritan fathers who signed the memorable 
 compact while in the cabin of the Mayflower at Cape Cod, 
 in 1620. This valuable and interesting acquisition reflects 
 honor on all who have taken an interest in the undertak- 
 ing. In the original design, by George W. Brimmer, Esq., 
 ingenuity and correct taste are displayed, and in all its 
 parts the work is executed with much judgment and skill. 
 The castings are executed in the most improved style of 
 the art. This appropriate memorial will last for ages, and 
 the names and story of the great founders of our nation 
 will be made familiar to the latest generation. 
 
 " I^ is," adds Mr. Thacher, " with peculiar satisfaction 
 that we record the very valuable donation by Henry Sar- 
 gent, Esq., of Boston, to the Pilgrim Society, of his mag- 
 nificent painting, representing our forefathers on theii 
 first landing from the Mayflower. It has long been a 
 desideratum that the walls of our Pilgrim Hall should be 
 adorned with this picture, but for the want of funds it 
 could not be procured, the price being three thou^nd 
 dollars. That gentleman has now, with a noble generos- 
 ity, presented the picture to the Society, and funds have 
 been raised by subscription for the purpose of procuring a 
 rich and costly frame, and paying some contingent expen- 
 ses. We shall now enjoy the satisfaction of contempla- 
 ting this superb representation of the patriarchs, the found- 
 ers of our nation on their first arriving on our shores. 
 The Pilgrim Hall is the most appropriate receptacle, and 
 is now suitably prepared to receive it, and the author has, 
 by the grandeur of his conceptions and skill, rendered the 
 painting peculiarly appropriate to the place, and acquired 
 to himself honor and applause. The frame is gilt, and 
 measures thirteen by sixteen feet. 
 
 " The following persons are represented in the several 
 groups attired in the costume of their day : 
 
 1. Gov. Carver and his wife and children. 
 
 2. Gov. Bradford. 
 
 3. Gov. Winslow. 
 
 4. Wife of Gov. Winslow. 
 
368 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII, 
 
 5. Mr. William Brewster, the presiding elder. 
 
 6. Capt. Miles Standish. 
 
 7. Mr. William White, and his child Feregrine. 
 
 8. Mr. Isaac Allerton and his wife. 
 
 9. Mr. John Alden. 
 
 10. Mr. John Turner. 
 
 11. Mr. Stephen Hopkins, his wife and children. 
 
 12. Mr. Richard Warren. 
 
 13. Mr. Edward Tilley. 
 
 14. Mr. Samuel Fuller. 
 
 15. Wife of Capt. Standish. 
 
 16. Samoset, an Indian sagamore or lord. 
 
 17. Mr. John Rowland, of Gov. Carver's family. 
 Among the antiquities in the cabinet of the Pilgrim So- 
 ciety, are the following : ^ 
 
 An armed chair, apparently made for some public use, 
 and reputed to have belonged to Gov. Carver. 
 
 The identical sword blade used by Miles Standish, the 
 hilt being of more modern date, presented by William T. 
 Williams, Esq. 
 
 A pewter dish belonging to Miles Standish, presented 
 by Jtpseph Head, Esq. 
 
 An iron pot belonging' to Miles Standish, presented by 
 John Watson, Esq. 
 
 The identical cap worn by king Philip. It is helmet- 
 shaped, curiously wrought in the manner of net work, 
 and interwoven with red birds' feathers, presented by Mr. 
 Abiathar Wilber. 
 
 A piece of Gov. E. Winslow's chest, presented by Mr. 
 John Churchill. 
 
 Sundry axes, hatchets, tomahawks, arrow-heads, &/C., 
 of stone, wrought by the natives. 
 
 A writer in the Old Colony Memorial gives the follow- 
 ing account of the manners and customs of olden time, 
 
 " It may be amusing and entertaining to have some ac- 
 count of the customs and manner of hving of the people, 
 sixty-five, seventy, and seventy-five years ago. As to vvhat 
 took place in seaport towns, and places which had a dense 
 population, I can give no account ; but in the town where T 
 was brought up, (which I suppose was not materially differ- 
 
CHAF. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENCJLAND. 359 
 
 ent from the general state of other country towns,) I will 
 attempt to describe. In the winter season the dinners 
 were generally uniform. The first course was a dish of 
 broth, usually called porridge. This generally had a few 
 beans in it, and some dry summer-savory scattered in 
 The second course was an Indian pudding with sauce ; the 
 third was a dish of boiled pork and beef, with round tur- 
 nips, and a few potatoes for sauce. Potatoes were then 
 a scarce article, three bushels being considered as a very 
 large crop; and I was a considerable large lad before I 
 ever saw a potato as large as a hen's egg. For suppers 
 and breakfasts, they commonly had a dish of the same. 
 Those who had milk, (which was not many in the winter) 
 had that with toasted brown bread, or roasted apples for 
 breakfast, and hasty-pudding for supper. For an ex- 
 change, they sometimes had a basin of sweetened cider, 
 with toasted bread in it, and a piece of cheese. On the 
 sabbath morning, they generally had chocolate, coffee, or 
 bohea tea — the chocolate and coffee sweetened with mo- 
 lasses, the tea with brown sugar. With it they had pan- 
 cakes, dough-nuts, brown toast, some sort of pie — some, 
 or all of them. Dinners they had none ; but immediately 
 after the afternoon service, they had a supper, a roast 
 goose, or a turkey, a roast spare-rib, or a stew pie, — and 
 this was the common course through the winter season. 
 In the spring and the summer, they generally had milk 
 for supper and breakfast. For dinner (then potatoes were 
 generally gone, and round turnips were too pithy to eat) 
 they used French turnips till greens came, and then greens 
 were used for sauce till peas and beans were ready for use. 
 As for flour, it was a thing unknown. At that time, I 
 doubt there ever having been a barrel of flour in the town 
 Every farmer broke up a piece of new ground, and sowed 
 it with wheat and turnips. This wheat, by the help of the 
 sieve, was a substitute for flour. 
 
 " In general, men, old or young, who had got their 
 growth, had a decent coat, vest and small clothes, and 
 some kind of fur hat. Old men had a great-coat and a 
 pair of boots. The boots generally lasted for life For 
 common use they had a long jacket, or what was called a 
 fly-coat, made something like our surtouts, reaching about 
 
360 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII. 
 
 half way to the thigh ; striped jacket to wear under a pair 
 of small clothes like the coat. These were made of flan- 
 nel cloth, fulled but not sheared ; flannel shirts and stock- 
 ings, and thick leather shoes ; a silk handkerchief fo? 
 holidays, which would last ten years. In the summer 
 time, a pair of wide trowsers (now out of use) reaching 
 half way from the knee to the ankle. Shoes and stockings* 
 were not worn by the young men, and by but few men in 
 the farming business. 
 
 " As for boys, as soon as they were taken out of petti- 
 coats, they were put into small clothes, summer or winter. 
 This continued until long trowsers were introduced ; 
 which they called tongs. They were but little different 
 from our pantaloons. These were made of tow cloth, 
 linen, or cotton, and soon were used by old men and 
 young, through the warm season. At last they were made 
 of flannel cloth, and were the general costume of the win- 
 ter. Young men never thought of great-coats, and sur- 
 touts were then unknown. I recollect a neighbor of my 
 father's, who had four sons between nineteen and thirty 
 years of age. The oldest got a pair of boots, the second 
 a surtout, the third- a watch, and the fourth a pair of silver 
 buckles. This made a neighborhood talk, and the family 
 were on the high road to insolvency. 
 
 " As for the women, old and young, they wore flannel 
 gowns in the winter. The young women wore, in the 
 summer, wrappers or shepherdress ; and about their ordinary 
 business, did not wear stockings and shoes. They were 
 usually contented with one calico gown ; but they gene- 
 rally had a calimanco gown, another of camlet, and some 
 had them made of poplin. The sleeves were short, and 
 did not come below the elbow. On holidays, they wore 
 one, two, or three ruffles on each arm — the deepest of 
 which were sometimes nine or ten inches. They wore 
 long gloves, coming up to the elbow, secured by what was 
 called glove-tightens, made of black horse-hair. Round 
 gowns had not then come in fashion ; so they wore aprons, 
 made of checked linen, cotton, and for holiday use, of 
 white cotton, long lawn, or cambric. They seldom wore 
 caps when about their ordinary business ; but they had 
 two kinds, one of which they wore when they meant to 
 
CHAP. -XIII.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 361 
 
 appear in full dress. One was called strap-cap, which 
 came under the chin, and was there tied ; the other was 
 called round-cord cap, and did not come over the ears. 
 They wore thick leather, thin leather, and broadcloth 
 shoes, all with heels an inch and a half high, with picked 
 toes turned up in a point at the toes. They generally had 
 small, very small muffs, and some wore masks. 
 
 " At the time I allude to, a young woman did not con- 
 sider it a hardship or a degradation to walk five or six 
 miles to meeting. There was no chaise, or any sort of 
 waggon or sleigh in the town. I recollect the first chaise 
 that passed through, and it made a greater wonderment 
 than the appearance of a mammoth. People were puz- 
 zled for a name ; at last they called it a calash. A horse 
 that would fetch forty dollars was considered as of the 
 first quality, and one more than nine years old was con- 
 sidered as of little or no value. A half cord of wood was 
 then considered as a monstrous load for an ordinary team. 
 A farmer generally killed from three to five swine, which 
 would weigh from five to eight score each ; but it was an 
 extraordinary hog that would weigh nine score 
 
 "Acute fevers then were much mowrfrequent than at 
 this time. The principal fevers then were called the long 
 or slow fever, which would run thirty-five, forty, or fifty 
 days before it formed a crisis. There was also the slow 
 nervous fever, which ran generally longer than the long 
 fever. But consumptions were much less frequent than 
 now, unless it was with very old people. In the year 1764, 
 a young man fell into a consumption. He was between 
 twenty and thirty years of age, and it passed for a wonder 
 that a young man should fall into a consumption." 
 
 " Of early New England simplicity, we have an amus- 
 ing instance in the mode of electing some of the public 
 officers." By an order of the Massachusetts General Court, 
 corn and beans were to be used in voting for counsellors, 
 the corn to manifest elections, the beans the contrary. On 
 putting in more than one kernel of corn, or one bean for 
 the choice or refusal of a candidate, the law imposed a 
 heavy penalty." 
 
 '* The first church in Beverly, Mass., was organized in 
 1667, and the Rev. John Hale, the first pastor, was or- 
 31 
 
362 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIIL 
 
 dained at the formation of the church. The duties of the 
 sexton of the church, about this period, as they appear on 
 the town book, were to ' ring the bell at nine o'clock 
 every night a sufficient space of time as is usual in other 
 places,' and ' keep and turn the hour-glass.' An hour- 
 glass was kept near the pulpit, in view of the minister. 
 He was expected to close his sermon in the course of an 
 hour, and if he went over or fell short of the time it was 
 sufficient cause for complaint." 
 
 *' The first settlers of Lynn, Mass., were principally 
 farmers, and possessed a large stock of horned cattle, 
 sheep, and goats. For several years, before the land was 
 divided and the fields fenced, the cattle were fed in one 
 drove, and guarded by a man, who, from his employment, 
 was called a hayward. The sheep, goats, and swine were 
 kept on Nahant, where they were tended by a shepherd. 
 A fence of rails, put near together, was made across the 
 reach, near Nahant, to keep out the wolves, as it is said 
 those animals do not climb. In autumn, the swine were 
 let loose in the woods, that they might fatten themselves 
 on nuts and acorns. The people of Lynn, for some years, 
 seem to have lived in the most perfect democracy. They 
 had town-meetings every three months, for the regulation 
 of their public affairs. They cut their wood in common, 
 and drew lots for the grass in the meadows and marshes. 
 These proved very serviceable to the farmers in furnishing 
 them with sustenance for their cattle, which was probably 
 the reason why there were more farmers at Lynn than in 
 any other of the early settlements. Mr. Johnson says, 
 * The chiefest corn they planted, before they had ploughs, 
 was Indian grain. And let no man make a jest at pump- 
 kins, for with this food the Lord was pleased to feed his 
 people, to their good content, till corn and cattle were in- 
 creased.' Their corn at the first was pounded with a 
 wooden or stone pestle, in a mortar made of a large log, 
 hollowed out at one end. They also cultivated large fields 
 of barley and wheat. Much of the former was made into 
 malt for beer, which they drank instead of ardent spirit. 
 They raised considerable quantities of flax, which was 
 rotted in one of the ponds, thence called the Flax Pond. 
 Their first houses were rude structures, with steep roofs, 
 
CHAP. Xi:i.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 363 
 
 covered with thatch, or small bundles of sedge or straw, 
 laid one over another. The fire-places were made of 
 rough stones, and the chimneys of boards, or short sticks, 
 crossing each other, and plastered inside with clay. Be- 
 side the haste and necessity which prevented the construc- 
 tion of more elegant habitations, the people who had 
 wealth were advised to abstain from all superfluous ex- 
 pense, and to reserve their money for public use. Even 
 the deputy governor, Mr. Dudley, was censured for wain- 
 scoting his house.* In a few years, houses of a better or- 
 der began to appear. They were built with two stories in 
 front, and sloped down to one in the rear. The windows 
 were small, and opened outward on hinges. They consist- 
 ed of very sm-all diamond panes set in sashes of lead. 
 The fire-places were large enough to admit a four-foot log, 
 and^the children might sit in the corners and look up at 
 the stars. On whichever side of the road the houses were 
 placed, they uniformly faced the south, that the sun at 
 noon might * shine square.' Thus each house formed a 
 domestic sun-dial, by which the good matron, in the ab- 
 sence of the clock, could tell, in fair weather, when to 
 call her husband and sons from the field — for the indus- 
 trious people of Lynn, then as well as now, always dined 
 exactly at twelve. It was the custom of the fir^^t settlers 
 to wear long beards, and it is said that * soiue had their 
 overgrown beards so frozen together, that they could not 
 get the vessel, which contained their drink, to their mouths.' 
 In very hot weather, * servants were privileged to rest 
 from their labors, from ten of the clock til' two.' The 
 common address of men and women was Goodman and 
 Groodwife ; none but those who sustained some office of 
 dignity, or belonged to some respectable family, were com- 
 plimented with the title of Master. In writing they seem 
 to have had no capital F, ^nd thus in the early records we 
 find two small ones used instead, and one m with a dash 
 over it stood for two." 
 
 " The first settlers of Amherst, N. H., coming from the 
 old towns in Massachusetts, brought with them the cus- 
 toms which prevailed at the time of their emigration. 
 They were plain and simple in their dress. In living, they 
 had few or none of the luxuries of life. Their fare was 
 
364 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII, 
 
 plain and substantial. They used considerable liquid food, 
 such as milk, broths, pea and bean porridge. Chocolate 
 was sometimes used, and was probably esteemed as one of 
 their greatest luxuries. Coffee was unknown to them ; and 
 though tea had been introduced into the country about six- 
 teen years when the town was settled, the first inhabitants 
 had not tasted of it. The first used in the place was sent 
 by some Boston friends to the family of the minister, who 
 were unacquainted with the method of preparing it, but 
 concluded it must be boiled in a kettle, -or pot, in a man- 
 ner similar to their boiling their liquid food. They there- 
 fore put in a quantity of the exotic herb, and having boiled 
 it till they supposed ' it was done,' they dipped it out and 
 sipped of it, but doubtless found it less palatable than their 
 favorite beverage. Wine was a great rarity, and ardent 
 spirits were rather regarded for medicinal purposes than as 
 fit for an article of drink. Sugar, which was known in 
 this country as early as 1631, was used by them, as was 
 also molasses, but onjy in small quantities. 
 
 " The most common conveyance was by horses fitted 
 out with saddles and pillions. Two could ride insthis way 
 the same animal, and oftentimes an infant was superadded 
 A few years before the revolutionary war, it began to be 
 the practice to trot horses. Previously, these animals had 
 paced. The first or second chaise brought into town, was 
 owned by Mr. Benjamin Kendrick, and he rode in it until 
 he was eighty-six years old. As late as 1810, he journeyed 
 with it to Boston and its neighborhood. It presented such 
 an antique appearance, ,that it was often called the * old 
 ark.' " 
 
 ANCIENT HOUSES ^ND TREES. 
 
 Mirick, speaking of the ancient garrisons and refuge- 
 houses in Haverhill, says, " Six garrisons were appointed, 
 and ordered to be kept in a state of defence, and four 
 houses were appointed for refuge, then' called * houses for 
 refuge.' One of the garrisons was commanded by Ser- 
 geant John Haseltine. A part of the house is now stand- 
 ing. 
 
 " Most of the garrisons, and two of the refuge-houses, 
 were built of brick, and were two stories high ; those that 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 365 
 
 were not built of this material, had a single laying of it 
 between the outer and inner walls. Tlrey had but one 
 outside door, which was often so small that bufone person 
 could enter at a time ; their windows were about two feet 
 and a half in length, eighteen inches in breadth, and were 
 secured on the inside with iron bars. Their glass was 
 very small, cut in the shape of a diamond, was extremely 
 thick, and fastened in with lead instead of putty. There 
 were generally but two rooms in the basement-story, and 
 tradition says that they entered the chambers with the help 
 of a ladder, instead of stairs, so that the inmates could 
 retreat into them, and take jt up, if the basement-story 
 should be taken by the enemy. Their fire-places were of 
 such enormous sizes, that they could burn their wood sled- 
 length, very conveniently ; and the ovens opened on the 
 outside of the building, generally at one end, behind the 
 fire-place ; and were of such dimensions that we should 
 suppose a sufficient quantity of bread might have beeu 
 baked in them, without much difficulty, to supply a regi- 
 ment of hungry mouths." 
 
 A house occupied by Capt. Barker, in Scituate, Mass., 
 " is one of the oldest, if not the very oldest, now standing 
 in New England. The tradition is, that it was built by 
 John Williams, as early as 1634. * The massive beams, 
 the wooden walls interlined with brick, and the port-holes, 
 witness that it was a garrison-house.' " 
 
 The ancient Leonard House in Raynham, Mass., "is 
 still occupied by one of the family, of the. sixth generation 
 from the builder, and, so far as we are informed, is one 
 of the oldest mansions now standing in this country. The 
 vane at one of the gable-ends is inscribed with the date 
 1700; but there is little doubt of the house having been 
 erected at least thirty years previous. The workmanship, 
 especially within, is remarkably massive and sound. It is 
 apparently modelled after an English fashion of the eight- 
 eenth century, with some modifications proper for defence 
 against the Indians. It was garrisoned during the war. 
 * In the cellar under this house was deposited, for a con- 
 siderable time, the head of king Philip. 
 
 * There is yet in being an ancient case of drawers, 
 which used to stand in this house, upon which the deep 
 31* 
 
366 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. XIII 
 
 scars and th angled impressions of Indian hatchets are now 
 seen ; but the deeper impressions made on those affrighted 
 women, wYio fled from the house when the Indians broke 
 in, cannot be known. Under the door-steps of the same 
 building now lie buried the bones of two unfortunate 
 young women, who in their flight here were shot down by 
 the Indians, and tlieir blood was seen to run quite across 
 the road/ " 
 
 There is an " old stone house in Guilford, Con., which 
 is believed to be one of the oldest houses now standing in 
 the United States. This building was erected by the com- 
 l)any who first settled the town, about the year 1640. The 
 leader or head of the company was Henry Whitfield, a 
 minister of the Church of England, and one of those who 
 were called Non-Conformists. This house was built for 
 him. The stone of which the building is constructed was 
 brought on hand-barrows, from a ledge some considerable 
 distance from the place where the house stands. The 
 cement used in building the walls is said now to be harder 
 than the stone itself The walls were plastered fifteen or 
 twenty years since. This house was used by the first set- 
 tlers as a kind of fort, for some time, to defend themselves 
 against the hostile savages. The first marriage which took 
 place in this town was solemnized in this building. The 
 supper which was provided for the occasion consisted of 
 pork and peas." 
 
 " The residence of the two daughters of Dr. Byles is 
 one of the oldest houses in Boston, and is much visited. 
 It is a very ancient frame building at the corner of Nassau 
 and Tremont streets, and the outside is nearly black. It 
 stands in a green inclosure ; shaded with large trees. In 
 this place was an encampment of the British during the 
 summer of the revolutionary war. In the sitting room is 
 a good portrait of Dr. Byles, by Copley, and a curiously 
 carved arm-chair, surmounted with a crown, sent from 
 England to his father-in-law. Gov. Taylor. Also, an %n- 
 tique writing-table, which, when closed, has a singularly 
 narrow top ; and a pair of bellows two hundred years old, 
 with a very large nozle or spout, and some remarkable 
 carving on the sides." 
 
 In 1685, the people of New Haven *' agreed that n 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 367 
 
 home lot and house, and other lands, should be provided 
 for Mr. Pierpont, on condition of his settling in office in 
 the church. The means of building the house were to be 
 obtained by voluntary contributions. The magistrates and 
 townsmen were made a committee to obtain the necessary 
 funds, to plan the house according to the funds raised, 
 and to oversee the building. The necessary amount was 
 pledged in money, materials and labor, without difficulty 
 or delay. On the 30th of January, the plan of the house 
 was ready, and was ordered to be submitted to Mr. Pier- 
 pont for his approbation. The lot was purchased, and the 
 building was immediately commenced. When it was 
 finished, it was one of the most commodious and stately 
 dwellings in the town. For more than a century it stood 
 a monument of the public spirit of the generation by 
 whose voluntary contributions it was erected. As the peo- 
 ple were bringing in their free-will offerings of one kind 
 and another, to complete and furnish the building, one 
 man, desiring to do something for the object, and having 
 nothing else to offer, brought on his shoulder from the 
 farms two little elm saplings, and planted them before the 
 door of the minister's house. Under their shade, some 
 forty years afterwards, Jonathan Edwards, then soon to 
 take rank, in the intellectual world, with Locke and Leib- 
 nitz, spoke words of mi.;gled love and piety in the ear of 
 Sarah Pierpont. Under their shade, when sixty summers 
 had passed over them, Whitefield stood on a platform, and 
 lifted up that voice, the tones of which lingered so long 
 in thousands of hearts. One of them is still standing, the 
 tallest and most venerable of all the trees in this city of 
 elms, and ever the first to be tinged with green at the 
 return of spring." 
 
 " Boston Common was set apart by the first settlers for 
 a training field, and a public pasture ground. The large 
 and beautiful elm is supposed to be aboriginal, and to 
 have been found there when the settlers arrived. There 
 was another fine elm of equal size, which was cut down 
 by the British soldiers, who had an encampment here in 
 1776. On the morning of their departure, they proceeded 
 to cut down the trees, many of which were prostrated 
 before Gen. ,Howe sent orders to stop the work of de- 
 struction." 
 
368 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIll 
 
 A writer in the American Magazine gives the following 
 description of an ancient elm now standing in Cambridge, 
 Mass. 
 
 " The Washington elm stands in the westerly corner of 
 the large common near Harvard University, and is probably 
 one of the trees that belonged to the native forest. Amid 
 the changes which have taken place in the world, and 
 particularly in America and New England, it has stood 
 like a watchman ; and if it could speak, it would be an 
 interesting chronicler of events. The early settlers of 
 this country had hardly finished their rude log houses be- 
 fore they proposed to make the village in which it stands 
 the metropolis of the country ; and but few years elapsed 
 before they laid the foundation of Harvard University, so 
 near that it may almost be shaded by its branches. Not 
 far from it was the spot where the public town-meetings 
 were held; and also the tree under which the Indian 
 council fires were lighted, more than two hundred years 
 ago. When the drum was used in Cambridge, instead of 
 the bell, to summon the congregation to the place of 
 worship, or to give warning of a savage enemy, the sound 
 floated through its trailing limbs ; and when the officers 
 of the college discharged the duty of inflicting corporal 
 punishment on young men with their own hands, who 
 knows but their lugubrious lamentations may have mingled 
 with the breezes that disturbed its foliage? Of how many 
 college sports and tricks might it tell, such deeds, too, as 
 no one who had not been educated in the halls of old 
 Harvard would ever have dreamed of? Among the gravei 
 subjects of which it might make report, are the lessons of 
 truth and piety which fell from _the lips of Whitefield, 
 when he stood in its shade and moved a vast multitude by 
 his eloquence. And subsequently, it seems, it has been 
 heralding war and liberty ; for the revolutionary soldiers 
 who stood shoulder to shoulder, — blessings be on their 
 heads, — tell us that when Washington arrived at Cam- 
 bridge, he drew his sword as commander-in-chief of the 
 American army, for the first time, beneath its boughs, and 
 resolved within himself that it should never be sheathed 
 till the liberties of his country were established. Glorious 
 old tree, that has stood in sight of the smoke of Lexingf 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 369 
 
 ton and Bunker's Hill battles, and weathered the storms 
 of many generations, — worthy of veneration 1 Though, 
 in the spirit of modern improvement, guide-boards may 
 be nailed to thy trunk, thou pointest to the past and the 
 future. All around are scattered memorials of what has 
 been. Generations of men have died and been buried, 
 and soldiers of the revolution sleep near thee. Thou 
 lookest down upon monuments in the chjirch yard, robbed 
 of their leaden armorial bearings that they might be con- 
 verted into musket balls in the day of our national poverty 
 and struggle ; and the old spikes still fastened into the 
 beams of Massachusetts Hall, tell of suspended hammocks 
 where the weary soldier took his rest. Across the river, 
 where one Blackstone lived, and where Gov. Winthrop 
 took up his residence, because he found a good spring of 
 water there, the forest has been cut away, the Indian wig-* 
 warn has disappeared, and a city has grown up, containing 
 more than eighty thousand inhabitants, whose sails whiten 
 every sea, whose merchants are princes, and whose traf- 
 fickers are the honorable of the earth. May no unkind 
 hand mar the last tree of the native forest ! Though it 
 may have stood century after century, like a sentinel on 
 duty, defying the lightning and the storm, still let it stand, 
 an interesting and sacred memorial of the past and the 
 present, and continue to be associated, for many years to 
 come, with the history of our country ; and let the illus- 
 trious name which it bears, and which it derives from one 
 of the most important events in the life of the father of 
 his country,' preserve it to remind the coming generations 
 of his invaluable services and labors." 
 
 '* The ancient burying ground in Middletown, Conn., 
 was laid out in 1650. It is situated in the north part of 
 the city, on the banks of Connecticut River. A majestic 
 e\m is still standing in the yard, on the spot where it stood 
 at the first settlement of Middletown. It measured in 
 ]83'2, at two feet from the ground, twenty-six feet in 
 circumference ; at the height of ten feet, it measures 
 seventeen feet. It spreads from north to south, one hun- 
 dred and ten feet ; from east to west, ninety-five feet." 
 
 " There is a large oak tree now standing in Dedham, 
 Mass., which is sixteen feet in circumference, near the 
 X 
 
370 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. XIII 
 
 bottom of the trunk, and is doubtless much older than the 
 town. By it we are forcibly reminded how strong and 
 stately stood his old companions of the forest. This tree 
 IS carefully and deservedly cherished by its owner. It is 
 stated that seventy dollars was offered for it for timber, to 
 have been used in the construction of the United States 
 ship Constitution, but the proposals were rejected. It is 
 of nobie growth, and long may it stand the monarch tree 
 of Dedham !" 
 
 " There is an ancient pear tree in Eastham, Mass., on 
 the land now owned by Mr. Nathan Kenney. It was 
 brought from England by Thomas Prince, for many years 
 governor of Plymouth colony. Gov. Prince removed from 
 Duxbury to Eastham in 1640 or 1645, and leaving East- 
 ham, returned to Plymouth in 1665, so that this tree planted 
 by him, is now probably about two hundred years old. It 
 is still in a vigorous state. The fruit is small, but excel- 
 lent ; and it is stated that it yields annually, upon an ave- 
 rage, fifteen bushels." 
 
 " There is an apple tree now standing on the farm of 
 Mr. Solomon Marsh, in Litchfield, Conn., supposed to be 
 about one hundred and sixteen years old, and is now in a 
 vigorous state. Its trunk, two feet from the ground, mea- 
 sures eleven feet five inches in circumference. The cir- 
 cumference of its branches is nearly eleven rods in extent. 
 It bore in 1835, one hundred bushels of apples of a fine 
 quality." 
 
 "An English clergyman named Blackstone, planted the 
 first apple trees in Massachusetts, and afterwards the first 
 in Rhode Island, to which province he removed, and died 
 there in 1675. He lived near the Pawtucket, and fre- 
 quently preached at Providence, bringing with hjm apples 
 to present to the children of the congregation ; many of 
 whom had never seen that fruit." 
 
 Belknap, speaking of the first settlers of Londonderry, 
 N. H., says: ** These people brought with them the ne- 
 cessary materials for the manufacture of linen ; and their 
 spinning wheels, turned by the foot, were a novelty in the 
 country. They also introduced the culture of potatoes, 
 which were first planted in the garden of Nathaniel Walk- 
 er, of Andover." 
 
CHAP.'XIIl.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 371 
 
 " The first planters in Londonderry lived on an ave- 
 rage to eighty years, some to ninety, and others to one 
 hundred. Among the last was William Scoby, who died 
 at the age of one hundred and four. The two last heads 
 of the sixteen families who began the planting of the town, 
 died there in 1782, aged ninety-three years each. They 
 were women." 
 
 AURORA BOREALIS. 
 
 The first appearance of the Aurora Borealis, or North- 
 ern Lights, in New England, is thus related by Hoyt. 
 *' A phenomenon singular at the time, and still unsatisfac- 
 torily explained, alarmed the people of New England in 
 1719. This was the Aurora Borealis, first noticed in this 
 country on the night of the 17th of December.* It is 
 thus described by a writer of the time. * At eleven o'clock 
 in the evening, there arose a bright light in the north-east, 
 like that which arises from a house when on fire ; which 
 soon spread itself through the heavens from east to west, 
 and was unusually broad. It streamed with white flames, 
 or streams of light, down to the horizon, very bright and 
 strong. When I first saw it, which was when it extended 
 itself over the horizon from east to west, it was brightest 
 in the middle, which was from me north-west ; and I could 
 resemble it to nothing but the light of some fire. I could 
 plainly see streams of light redder than ordinary, and 
 there seemed to be an undulating motion of the whole 
 light ; so thin that I could plainly see the stars through it. 
 Below this stream or glade of light, there lay in the hori- 
 zon some thick clouds, bright on the tops or edges. It 
 lasted somewhat more than an hour, though the light of 
 its red color continued but a few minutes. About eleven 
 at night, the same appearance was visible again ; but the 
 clouds hindered its being accurately observed as I could 
 wish. Its appearance was now somewhat dreadful — some- 
 times it looked of a flame, sometimes of a blood-red color, 
 and the whole north-eastern horizon was very bright, and 
 
 * " It began about eight o'clock in the evening, and filled tlie 
 country with terrible alarm. It was viewed as a sign of the last 
 judgment." — Holmes' Annals. 
 
372 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XI J I. 
 
 looked as though the moon had been near her rising 
 About an hour or two before break of day, the next morn- 
 ing, it was seen again, and those who saw it say it was 
 then most terrible.' 
 
 " That so novel and singular appearance should have 
 produced great consternation, is not extraordinary. At 
 this day, by many, it is not beheld without foreboding 
 apprehensions. When first seen in England, the conster- 
 nation was equally great. One who saw it gives the fol- 
 lowing description. ' The brightness, bloodiness, and 
 firiness of the colors, together with the swiftness of the 
 motions, increased insomuch as we could hardly trace them 
 with our eyes, till at length almost all the whole heavens 
 appeared as if they were set on flame ; which wrought, 
 and glimmered, with flashes in a most dreadful and inde- 
 scribable manner. It seemed to threaten us with an im- 
 mediate descent and deluge of fire, filled the streets with 
 loud and doleful outcries and lamentations, and frighted a 
 great many people into their houses. And we began to 
 think whether the Son of God was next to make his* glo- 
 rious and terrible appearance, or the conflagration of the 
 world was now begun ; for the elements seemed just as if 
 they were melting with fervent heat, and the ethereal vault 
 to be burning over us, like the fierce agitations of the blaze 
 of a furnace, or at the top of a fiery oven. And the glim- 
 mering light looked as if it proceeded from a more glorious 
 body behind, that was approaching nearer, and about to 
 make its sudden appearance to our eyes.' 
 
 " The Aurora Borealis was first noticed in Europe about 
 1560 ; from that time it was occasionally seen, though un- 
 attended with any extraordinary brilliancy, until 1623; 
 from that time, for more than eighty years, we- have 'no 
 account of a similar phenomenon bt^ing observed. In 
 1707 and 1708, it was noticed several times; and in 1716, 
 Dr. Halley observed and described a very brilliant one, 
 which spread over the most of the north of Europe. Since 
 that time, until twenty or thirty years past, it has been 
 common in all latitudes, often extending southerly of the 
 zenith, and of great brilliancy; and from its frequency 
 has in a manner ceased to alarm. 
 
 " It is certain that the Aurora Borealis was of rare oo 
 
CHAP. XIll.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 373 
 
 currence in our latitudes, until about a century ago, and 
 indeed it was scarcely known previous to that time. Is it 
 periodical ? That it is, appears at least probable. It is 
 now much less frequent than twenty or thirty years ago." 
 
 PERSECUTION OF THE Q,UAKERS. 
 
 *' In the year 1656," says Hutchinson, " began what has 
 been generally and not improperly called the persecution 
 of the Quakers. No person appeared openly professing 
 their opinions, until July of this year, when Mary Fisher 
 and Anne Austin arrived from Barbadoes. A few weeks 
 after, a ship arrived from London bringing nine more of 
 these itinerants, four of whom were females. 
 
 " On the eighth of September, they were brought be 
 fore the court of assistants, and there examined, and each 
 of them- questioned how they could make it appear that 
 God sent them. After a pause they answered, that they 
 had the same call which Abraham had to go out of his 
 country. To other questions they gave rude and con- 
 temptuous answers ; which is the reason assigned for com- 
 mitting thom to prison. A great number of their books, 
 which they had brought over with the design of scattering 
 them about the country, were seized and reserved for the 
 fire. Soon after this, as the governor was returning from 
 public worship on the Lord's day, several gentlemen ac 
 companying him, Mary Prince called to him from a win- 
 dow of the prison, railing at and reviling him, saying, Woe 
 unto thee, thou art an oppressor ; and denouncing the 
 judgments of God upon him. 
 
 " Not content with this, she wrote a letter to the gov- 
 ernor and magistrates, Allied with opprobrious language. 
 The governor s^t for her twice from the prison to his 
 house, and took much pains to persuade her to desist from 
 such extravagances. Two of the ministers were present, 
 and with much moderation and tenderness endeavored to 
 convince her of her errors ; to which she returned the 
 grossest railings, reproaching them as hirelings, deceivers 
 of the people, Baal's priests, the seed of the serpent, of 
 the brood of Ishmael, and the like. 
 
 " The court passed sentence of banishment against them 
 32 
 
374 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII. 
 
 all, and required the master of the ship, in which they 
 came, to become bound with sureties to the value of five 
 hundred pounds to carry them all away, and caused them 
 to be committed to prison until the ship should be ready 
 to sail. At' this time, there was no special provision by 
 law for the punishment of Quakers; they came within a 
 colony law against heretics in general. At the next ses- 
 sions of the general court, the 14th of October following, 
 an act passed, laying a penalty of one hundred pounds 
 upon the master of any vessel who should bring a known 
 duaker into any part of the colony, and requiring him to 
 give security to carry them back again ; that the Quakei 
 should be immediately sent to the house of correction and 
 whipped twenty stripes, and afterwards kept to hard labor 
 until transportation. They also laid a penalty of five 
 pounds for importing, and the same for dispersing (Qua- 
 kers' books, and severe penalties for defending their heret- 
 ical opinions. And the next year an additional law was 
 made, by which all persons were subjected to the penalty 
 of forty shillings for every hours' entertainment given to 
 any knov/n Quaker ; and any Quaker p after the first con- 
 viction, if a man, was to lose one ear, and the second time 
 the other ; a .woman, each time to be severely whipped ; 
 and the third time, man or woman, to have their tongues 
 bored through with a red-hot iron ; and every Quaker, who 
 should become such in the colony, was subjected to the 
 same punishments. In May, 1658, a penalty of ten shil- 
 lings was laid on every person present at a Quaker meet- 
 ing, and five pounds upon every one speaking at such a 
 meeting. Notwithstanding all this severity, the number 
 of Quakers, as might well have been expected, increasing 
 rather than diminishing ; in October following, a further 
 law was made for punishing with death all Quakers who 
 should return into the jurisdiction after banishtnent. That 
 some provision was necessary against these^ people, so far 
 as they were disturbers of civil peace and order, every 
 one will allow; but such sanguinary laws against particular 
 doctrines or tenets in religion are not to be defended. 
 The most that can be said for our ancestors is, that they 
 tried gentle means at first, which they found utterly in- 
 effectual, and that they followed the example of the authori- 
 
CHAP. XIII. j HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 375 
 
 ties in most other states, and in most ages of the world, 
 who, with the like absurdity, have supposed every person 
 could and ought to think as they did, and with the like 
 cruelty have punished such as appeared to differ from 
 them. We may add that it was with reluctance that these 
 unnatural laws were carried into execution, as we shall see 
 by a further account of proceedings. 
 
 " Nicholas Upshall was apprehended in October, 1656, 
 fined twenty pounds, and banished, for reproaching the 
 magistrates, and speaking against the law made against 
 Quakers, and, returning in 1659, was imprisoned. At 
 the same court, William Robinson, Marmaduke Stephen- 
 son, Mary Dyer, and Nicholas Davis were brought to 
 trial. The first gave no particular account of himself 
 Stephenson had made a public disturbance in the congre- 
 gation at Boston the 15th of June before. He acknow- 
 ledged himself to be one of those the world called Qua- 
 kers, and declared that in the year 1656, at Shipton, in 
 Yorkshire, as he was ploughing, he saw nothing, but heard 
 an audible voice saying, * I have ordained thee to be a 
 prophet to the nations,' &c. 
 
 " Mary Dyer declared, that she came from Rhode Isl- 
 and to visit the Quakers ; that she was of their religion, 
 w'hich she affirmed was the truth ; and that the light with- 
 in her was the rule, &,c. 
 
 " Davis came from Barnstable; he came into court with 
 his hat on, confessed he had forsaken the ordinances and 
 resorted to the Quakers. The jury found, ' that they were 
 all Quakers.' Robinson was whipped twenty stripes for 
 abusing the court, and they were all banished on pain of 
 death. 
 
 " Patience Scott, a girl of about eleven years of age, 
 came, I suppose, from Providence — her friends lived there, 
 and professing herself to be a Quaker, was committed to 
 prison, and afterwards brought to court. The record 
 stands thus; * The court, duly considering the malice of 
 Satan and his instruments by all means and ways to propa- 
 gate error and disturb the truth, and bring in confusion 
 among us — that Satan is put to his shifts to make use of 
 such a child, not being of the years of discretion, nor 
 understanding the principles of religion — ^judge meet, so 
 
376 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII 
 
 far to slight her as a duaker, as only to admonish and in- 
 struct her according to her capacity, and so discharge her, 
 Capt. Hutchinson undertaking to send her home. Strange, 
 such a child should be imprisoned ! It would have been 
 horrible if there had been any further severity. 
 
 *' Robinson, Stephenson, and Mary Dyer, at the next 
 general court, were brought upon trial, and, for their re- 
 bellion, sedition, and presumptuous obtruding themselves 
 after banishment upon pain of death, were sentenced to 
 die ; the two first were executed the 27th of October.* 
 Mary Dyer, upon the petition of William Dyer, her son, 
 was reprieved, on condition that she departed the juris 
 diction in forty-eight hours, and if she returned, to suffer 
 the sentence. She was carried to the gallows, and stood^ 
 with a rope about her neck until the others were executed. 
 She was so infatuated as afterwards to return, and was 
 executed, June 1, 1660. The court thought it advisable 
 to publish a vindication of their proceedings ; they urge 
 the example of England in the provision made against 
 Jesuits, which might have some weight against a charge 
 brought from thence ; but in every other part of their vin- 
 dication, as may wdl be supposed from the nature of the 
 thing, there is but the bare shadow of reason. Christo- 
 pher Holder, who had found the way into the jurisdiction 
 again, was at this court banished upon pain of death. At 
 the same court, seven or eight persons were fined, some as 
 high as ten pounds, for entertaining Q,uakers; and Ed- 
 ward Wharton, for piloting them from one place to another, 
 was ordered to be whipped twenty stripes, and bound to 
 his good behavior. Several others were then brought 
 upon trial ' for adhering to the cursed sect of duakers, not 
 disowning themselves to be such, refusing to give civil 
 respect, leaving their families and relations, and running 
 
 * " Mr. Winthrop, the governor of Connecticut, labored to pre- 
 vent their execution, and Col. Temple went to the court and told 
 them, ' that if according to their declaration they desired their 
 lives absent rather than their deaths present, he would carry them 
 away, and provide for them at his own charge, and if any of them 
 should return he would fetch them away again.' This motion was 
 well liked by all the magistrates except two or three, and they pro- 
 posed it to the deputies the next day ; but those two or three magis- 
 trates with the deputies prevailed to have execution done." 
 
CHAP. XIIT.J HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 377 
 
 from place to place, vagabonds like ;' and Daniel Gold was 
 sentenced to be whipped thirty stripes, Robert Harper 
 fifteen, and they, with Alice Courland, Mary Scott, and 
 Hope Clifton, banished upon pain of death ; William 
 Kingsrnill whipped fifteen stripes ; Margaret Smith, Mary 
 Trask, and Provided Southwick, ten stripes each, and 
 Hannah Phelps admonished. 
 
 " The compassion of the people was moved, and many 
 resorted to the prison by day and night ; and npon a repre- 
 sentation of the keeper, a constant watch was kept round 
 the prison to keep people off. 
 
 " Joseph Nicholson and Jane his wife were also tried 
 and found Quakers, as also Wendlock Christopherson, 
 who declared in court that the scripture is not the word 
 of God, and Mary Standley, and all sentenced to banish- 
 ment, &c. as was soon after Benjamin Bellflower ; but 
 John Chamberlain, though he came with his hat on, yet 
 refusing directly to answer, the jury found him * much in- 
 clining to the cursed opinions of the Quakers,' and he 
 escaped with an admonition. 
 
 " Nicholson and his wife returned and were apprehend- 
 ed ; but upon their petition had liberty, with several others 
 then in prison, to leave for England. Christopherson re- 
 turned also, and was sentenced to die. It is said he de- 
 sired the court to consider what they had gained by their 
 cruel proceedings. ' For the last man (says he) that was 
 put to death, here are five come in his room ; and if you 
 have power to take my life from me, God can raise up 
 the same principle of life in ten of his servants, and send 
 them among you in my room, that you may have torment 
 upon torment.' He was ordered to be executed the 19th 
 of March, 1660, afterwards reprieved till the 13th of 
 June; but he was set at liberty upon his request to the 
 court, and went out of the jurisdiction. 
 
 '* Bellflower afterwards in court renounced his opinions, 
 as also William King, (Kingsmill, I suppose,) the only in- 
 stances upon record. Camberlain was afterwards appre- 
 hended again, found a Quaker, and committed to close 
 prison ; but no further sentence appears. 
 
 ** In September, 1660, William Leadea was tried, and 
 convicted of being a Quaker, and sentenced to banish- 
 32* 
 
378 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII. 
 
 ment, &c. ; but returning, and being apprehended, the 
 general court gave him liberty, notwithstanding, to go to 
 England with Nicholson and others; but he refused to 
 leave the country, and was brought upon trial for returning 
 into the jurisdiction after sentence of banishment, ac- 
 knowledged himself to be the person, but denied their 
 authority, and told the court, that ''with the spirit they 
 called the devil, he worshipped God ; that their ministers 
 were deluders, and they themselves murderers.' He was 
 told that he might have his life and liberty if he would. 
 He answered, ' I am willing to die — I speak the truth.' 
 The court took great pains to persuade him to leave the 
 country, but to no purpose. The jury brought him in 
 guilty, and he was sentenced to die, and suffered accord- 
 ingly, March 14, 1660. 
 
 " Mary Wright, of Oyster Bay, was tried at the court in 
 September, 1660. She said she came to do the will of 
 the Lord, and to warn them to lay by their carnal weapons 
 and laws against the people of God ; and told the court 
 they thirsted for blood. The court asked her what she 
 would have them do; she said, '.Repent of your blood- 
 shed and cruelty, and shedding the blood of the innocent 
 William Robinson, Marmaduke Stephenson and Mary 
 Dyer.' She said, her tears were her meat many days and 
 nights before she gave up herself to this work of the Lord, 
 but added, that if she had her liberty, she would be gone 
 quickly. Being found a Quaker, she was banished. 
 
 " Edward Wharton, who had been whipped before, was 
 now indicted for being a Quaker, convicted and sentenced 
 to imprisonment, and afterwards to banishment. Judah 
 Brown and Peter Pierson stood mute. They were sen- 
 tenced to be whipped at the cart's tail in Boston, Roxbury, 
 and Dedham. 
 
 " John Smith, of Salem, for making disturbance at the 
 ordination of Mr. Higginson, crying out, 'What you are 
 going about to set up, our God is pulling down,' was com- 
 mitted to prison by order of court. 
 
 "Philip Verin was also tried and imprisoned; Josias 
 Southwick, first banished and returning, whipped at the 
 cart's tail, and John Burstowe bound to his good behavior 
 These are all who were tried by the court of assistants, 
 
CHAP XIII.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 379 
 
 or by the general court. Some at Salem, Hampton, New- 
 bury, and other places, for disorderly behavior, putting 
 people in terror, coming into the congregations, and calling 
 to the minister in time of public worship, declaring their 
 preaching, &c. to be an abomination to the Lord, and 
 other breaches of the peace, were ordered to be whipped 
 by the authority of the county courts or particular magis- 
 trates. At Boston one George Wilson, and at Cambridge 
 Elizabeth Horton, went crying through the streets that the 
 Lord was coming with fire and sword to plead with them. 
 Thomas Newhouse went into the meeting-house at Boston 
 with a couple of glass bottles, and broke them before the 
 congregation, and threatened, 'Thus v. ill the Lord break 
 you in pieces.' Another time, M. Brewster came in with 
 her face smeared and as black as a coal. Deborah Wilson 
 went through the streets of Salem naked as she came into 
 the world,* for which she was well whipped. For these 
 and such like disturbances they might be deemed proper 
 subjects either of a mad-house or house of correction, and 
 it is to be lamented that any greater severities were made 
 use of After all that may be said against these measures, 
 it evidently appears that they proceeded not from personal 
 hatred and malice against such disordered persons, nor 
 from any private sinister views, as is generally the case 
 witli unjust punishments inflicted in times of party rage 
 and discord, whether civil or religious, but merely from a 
 false zeal and an erroneous judgment. In support of their 
 proceedings, they brought several texts of the Old T^esta- 
 ment ; * Come out of her, my people,' &:,c. * If thy bro- 
 ther entice thee to serve other gods, thou shalt put him to 
 death ;' and * for speaking lies in the name of the Lord, 
 his father shall thrust him through when he prophesieth ;' 
 and the example of Solomon, who first laid Shimei under 
 
 * One of the sect, apologizing for this behavior, said, " If the 
 Lord did stir up any of his daughters to be a sign of the nakednesq 
 of others, he believed it to be a great cross to a modest woman's 
 spirit, but the Lord must be obeyed." Another quoted the com- 
 mand in Isaiah, chap 20. One Faubord, of Grindleton, carried 
 his enthusiasm still higher, and was sacrificing his son in imitation 
 of Abraham; but the neighbors, hearing the lad cry, broke open 
 the house, and happily prevented it. 
 
380 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII 
 
 restrainty, and then for his breach put him to death ; as 
 also many passages of the New Testament, requiring sub- 
 jection to magistrates, &lc. ; and thus from a zeal to de- 
 fend the holy religion they professed, they went into mea- 
 sures directly opposite to its true spirit and the great design 
 of publishing it to the world. 
 
 " That I may finish what relates to the Quakers, it 
 must be further observed that their friends in England 
 solicited, and at length obtained, an order from the king, 
 September 9, 1661, requiring that a stop should be put to 
 all capital or corporeal punishment of those of his subjects 
 called Quakers, and that such as were obnoxious should 
 be sent to England. Whatever opinion they might have 
 of the force of orders from the crown controlling the 
 laws of the colony, they prudently complied with this 
 instruction, and suspended the execution of the laws 
 against the Quakers, so far as respected corporeal punish- 
 ment, until further order. Indeed, before the receipt of 
 this letter, J3ut probably when they were in expectation of 
 it, all that were in prison were discharged and sent out of 
 the colony. The laws were afterwards revived so far as 
 respected vagabond Quakers, whose punishment was limit- 
 ed to whipping, and as a further favor, through three towns 
 only. But there was little or no room for carrying the 
 laws into execution, for after these first excursions they 
 became in general an orderly people, submitting to the 
 laws, except such as relate to the militia and the support 
 of the ministry ; and in their scruples as to those, they 
 have from time to time been indulged. At present, they 
 are esteemed as being of good morals, friendly and be- 
 nevolent in their disposition, and I hope will never meet 
 with any further persecution on account of their peculiar 
 tenets or customs. May the time never come again, when 
 the government shall think that by killing men for their 
 religion they do God good service." 
 
 Bacon, speaking of the Quakers who were punished by 
 our fathers, says, " The Quakers whom our fathers pun- 
 ished were not a sect rising upon the soil of New England, 
 and claiming simply the right of separate worship and of 
 free discussion. They were invaders who came from Old 
 England to New, for the sole and declared purpose of 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND; 381 
 
 disturbance and revolution. They came propagating prin- 
 ciples which were understood to strike at the foundation 
 not only of the particular religious and civil polity here 
 established, but of all order and of society itself" 
 
 Again he says, "The real successors of the Quakers 
 of that day — the men who come nearest to those enthusi- 
 asts in their actual relations to the public — are not to be 
 found in those orderly and thrifty citizens of Philadelphia, 
 who are distinguished from their fellow-citizens in Chesnut 
 street by a little more circumference of the hat, and a 
 little peculiarity of grammar, and perhaps a little more 
 quietness and staidness of manner. What we call Quakers 
 in this generation, are no more like George Fox in his 
 suit of leather, than the pomp and riches of an English 
 archbishop are like the poverty of an apostle. Do .you 
 find these men going about like mad men, reviling magis- 
 trates and all in authority, cursing ministers, and publish- 
 ing doctrines that strike at the existence of all government ? 
 No ; if you would find the true successors of the Quakers 
 of 1650, you must look elsewhere." 
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 
 
 Among the various things which agitated and distressed 
 the public mind in the days of our fathers, one was the 
 supposed prevalence of witchcraft. The term witch, as 
 understood in the early days of New England, has been 
 thus explained : " There are several words and expressions 
 that are sometimes used synonymously with witch, although 
 they are not strictly synoynmous. The following for in- 
 stance : diviner, enchanter, charmer, conjurer, necroman- 
 cer, fortune-teller, augur, soothsayer, and sorcerer. None 
 of these words convey the same idea our ancestors attached 
 to the word witch. ' Witch was sometimes especially lised 
 to signify a female, while wizard was exclusively applied 
 to a male. The distinction was not often, however, at- 
 tempted to be made — the former title was prevailingly ap- 
 plied to either sex. A witch was regarded by our fathers 
 as a person who had made an actual, deliberate, and formal 
 compact with Satan, by which compact it was agreed that 
 she should become his faithful subject, and do what she 
 
382 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP XIII 
 
 could in promoting his cause, and in consideration of this 
 allegiance and service, he on his part agreed to exercise 
 his supernatural powers in her favor, and communicate to 
 her a portion of those powers. Thus a witch was con- 
 sidered in the light of a person who had transferred alle 
 giance and worship from God to the devil, 
 
 " A witch was believed to have the power, through her 
 compact with the devil, of afflicting, distressing, and rend- 
 ing whomsoever she would. She could cause them to 
 pine aw^ay, and to suffer almost every description of pain 
 and distress. She was also believed to possess the faculty 
 of being present in her shape or apparition at a different 
 place from that which her actual body occupied. Indeed, 
 an almost indefinite amount of supernatural ability, and a 
 great freedom and variety of methods for its exercise, 
 were supposed to result from the diabolical compact. Those 
 upon whom she thus exercised her malignant and mysteri- 
 ous energies, were said to be bewitched." 
 
 It seems, at the enlightened period in which we live, 
 almost incredible that our ancestors should have imbibed 
 a belief so deeply fraught with delusion, and which led 
 them into such criminal measures against their innocent 
 *eIlow-citizens. 
 
 A belief in witchcraft appears to have had. an early 
 existence in New England, as a law was enacted in Mas- 
 sachusetts, while the colony was in its infancy, making it a 
 capital crime. 
 
 " The first trial that occurred was at Springfield, about 
 1645, where several persons were accused of the crime, 
 among whom were two children of the minister of the 
 place, and great efforts were made to prove them guilty ; 
 but they were at last acquitted." 
 
 A person was executed for witchcraft " at Hartford in 
 1647, and, within a few years afterwards, another at Strat- 
 ford, and a third at Fairfield." 
 
 *' The first instance of capital punishment for witcli- 
 craft, in Massachusetts, was in the year 1648. Margaret 
 Jones, of Charlestown, was indicted for a witch, found 
 guilty, and executed." 
 
 " In 1652, Hugh Parsons, of Springfield, being indicted 
 for the same crime, was found guilty by the jury ; but the 
 
CHAP. XHI.] UlSIORY OF NEW ENGLAND. ^ 383 
 
 magistrates refused to consent to the verdict. The case 
 came before the general court, and he was finally declared 
 not guilty. About this time a woman at Dorchester, and 
 another at Cambridge, were put to death for the crime ; 
 and not long after, Ann Hibbins was condemned and exe- 
 cuted at Boston." 
 
 "In 1653, a woman in New Haven, finding herself 
 talked of as suspected, sued all her neighbors, including 
 several of the first people in town, for defamation ; and 
 the result was, that while she was herself constrained to 
 acknowledge that some things in her conduct were suffi- 
 cient to justify suspicion — among which causes of suspi- 
 cion was that discontented and froward temper which Mr. 
 Davenport in his preaching had described as preparing a 
 person to be wrought upon by the devil in this way ; — and 
 though she was seriously warned by the court not to go 
 about with railing speeches, but to meddle with her own 
 business, — the crime of witchcraft could not be made out 
 against her. Twice afterwards the same person was called 
 in question for this crime ; but in each case, though the 
 evidence was sufficient, according to the notions then 
 current, to justify suspicion, she escaped condemnation." 
 
 In 1658, several individuals were accused of the crime 
 of witchcraft in Portsmouth. '* Stories were circulated of 
 witches appearing in the shape of cats, and scorching per 
 sons by sudden flashes of fire ; and one of the accused was 
 bound over for trial. The intended prosecution was how- 
 ever dropped." 
 
 "In 1692, a great excitement was again revived in New 
 England on account of the supposed prevalence of witch- 
 craft. It commenced at this time in Danvers, then a part 
 of Salem. Near the close of February, several children 
 in this place began to act in a peculiar and unaccountable 
 manner. Their strange conduct continuing for several 
 days, their friends betook themselves to fasting and pray- 
 er. During religious exercises, the children were generally 
 decent and still ; but after service was ended, they renew- 
 ed their former unaccountable conduct. This was deemed 
 sufficient evidence that they were laboring under the 'in- 
 fluence of an evil hand, or witchcraft.' After a few days, 
 these children began to accuse several persons in the vicin- 
 
S84 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII. 
 
 ity of bewitching them. Unfortunately they were credited, 
 and these suspected persons were seized and imprisoned. 
 From this time, this contagion spread rapidly over the 
 neighboring country, and soon appeared in various parts 
 of Essex, Middlesex, and Suffolk. For a time, those who 
 were accused were persons of the lower classes. But, at 
 length, some of the first people in rank and character were 
 accused of the crime of witchcraft. The evil had now 
 become awfully alarming." 
 
 " March 2, there was a public examination at the vil- 
 lage, and several were committed to prison. March 21, 
 the magistrates met in Salem, and Mr. Noyes opened with 
 prayer. On the 24th of March they met at the village, 
 and Mr. Hale prayed. On the 26th, they met again in 
 Salem, and kept the day in fasting and prayer. There was 
 another examination at Salem, April 22, and a number 
 more imprisoned. June 2, an old woman was tried and 
 condemned at Salem, and executed on the lOth, making 
 no confession. Five more were tried, June 30th, and ex- 
 ecuted, July 19th ; six more were tried, August 6, and all 
 executed the 19th, except one woman. One of these was 
 Mr. George Burroughs, sometime minister at Wells ; he 
 had also preached at the village, but met with ^reat oppo- 
 sition. A great number of witnesses appeared at his trial ; 
 a specimen of their testimonies may be seen by the follow- 
 ing deposition. 
 
 " * Elizur Keysar, aged about forty years, saith, that on 
 Thursday last past, being the 5th of this instant month 
 of May,l was at the house of Thomas Beadle, in Salem, 
 and Capt. Daniel King being there also at the same time, 
 and in the same, room, said Capt. Daniel King asked me 
 whether I would not go up and see Mr. Burroughs, and 
 discourse with him, he being then in one of the chambers 
 of the said house. I told him it did not belong to me, and 
 I was unwilling to make or meddle with it. Then said 
 King said, ' Are you not a christian ] If you are a chris- 
 tian, go and see him, and discourse with him.' But I told 
 him I did believe it did not belong. to such as I was to dis- 
 course with him, he being a learned man. The said King 
 said, I believe he is a child of God, a choice child of God, 
 and that God would clear up his innocency. So I told 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 385 
 
 him my opinion or fear was, that he was the chief of all 
 the persons accused for witchcraft, or the ringleader of 
 them all; and told him also, that 1 believed if he was such 
 a one, his master (meaning the devil) had told him before 
 now what I said of him. And said King seeming to be in 
 a passion, I did afterward forbear. The same afternoon, 
 I having occasion to be at said Beadle's house, in the 
 chamber where Mr. George Burroughs kept, I observed 
 that the said Burroughs did steadfastly fix his eyes upon 
 me. The same evening, being in my own house, in a 
 room without any light, I did see very strange things ap- 
 pear in the chimney, I suppose a dozen of them, which 
 seemed to me to be something like jelly that used to be in 
 the water, and quivered with a strange motion, and then 
 quickly disappeared. Soon after which, I did see a light 
 up in the chimney, about the bigness of my hand, some- 
 thing above the bar, which quivered and shaked, and 
 seemed to have a motion upward, upon which I called the 
 maid, and she, looking up the chimney, saw the same ; 
 and my wife looking up could not see any thing. So I 
 did and do conclude it was some diabolical operation !' " 
 
 Nineteen in all were executed at Salem. 
 
 " During the excitement, the people of Andover suffer- 
 ed their share of the alarm and distress which it occa- 
 sioned. More than fifty in this town were complained of, 
 for afflicting their neighbors and others. Dudley Brad- 
 street, Esq., having granted thirty or forty warrants for 
 commitments, at length refused to grant any more. He 
 and his wife were immediately accused ; he was said to 
 have killed nine persons by witchcraft. He found it ne- 
 cessary for his safety to make his escape. Three persons 
 who belonged to Andover were hung for witchcraft, viz,> 
 Martha Carryer, Samuel Wardell, and Mary Parker." 
 
 Mather gives the following account of the trial of Mar- 
 tha Carryer. " Martha Carryer was indicted for the be- 
 witching of certain persons, according to the form usual 
 in such cases. Pleading not guilty to her indictment, 
 there were first brought in a considerable number of the 
 bewitched persons, who not only made the court sensible 
 of an horrible witchcraft committed upon them, but also 
 deposed, that it was Martha Carryer, or her shape, that 
 33 Y 
 
386 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP XII1» 
 
 grievously tormented them by biting, pricking, pinching, 
 and choking them. It was further deposed that while this 
 Carryer was on her examination before the magistrates, 
 the poor people were so tortured that every one expected 
 their death on the very spot ; but that upon the binding of 
 Carryer they were eased. Moreover, the looks of Carryer 
 then laid the afflicted people for dead, and her touch, if 
 her eyes were off them, raised them again. Which things 
 were also now seen upon her trial. And it was testified, 
 that upon the mention of some having their necks twisted 
 almost round, by the shape of this Carryer, she replied, 
 * It's no matter, though their necks had been twisted quite 
 off.' 
 
 " Before the trial of this prisoner, sev^ /al of her own 
 children had frankly and fully confessed, not only that they 
 were witches themselves, but that their mother had made 
 them so. This confession they made with great shows of 
 repentance, and with demonstration of truth. They re- 
 lated place, time, occasion ; they gave an account of jour- 
 neys, meetings, and mischiefs by them performed ; and 
 were very credible in what they said. Nevertheless, this 
 evidence was not produced against the prisoner at the bar, 
 inasmuch as there was other evidence enough to proceed 
 upon. 
 
 " Benjamin Abbot gave in his testimony, that last March 
 was a twelvemonth, this Carryer was very angry with him, 
 upon laying out some land near her husband's. Her ex- 
 pressions in this anger were, that she would stick as close 
 to Abbot as the bark stuck to the tree ; and that he should 
 repent of it before seven years came to an end, so as Dr. 
 Prescot should never cure him. These words were heard 
 by others besides Abbot himself, who also heard her say 
 she would hold his nose as close to the grindstone as ever 
 it was held since his name was Abbot. Presently after 
 this, he was taken with a swelling in his foot, and then 
 with a pain in his side, and exceedingly tormented. It 
 bred a sore, which was lanced by Dr. Prescot, and several 
 gallons of corruption ran out of it. For six weeks it con- 
 tinued very bad ; and then another sore bred in his groin, 
 which was also lanced by Dr. Prescot. Another sore bred 
 in his groin, which was likewise cut, and put him to very 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 387 
 
 great misery. He was brought to death's door, and so re 
 mained until Carryer was taken and carried away by the 
 constable. From which very day he began to mend, and 
 so grew better every day, and is well ever since. 
 
 ** Sarah Abbot, his wife, also testified that her husband 
 was not only all this while afflicted in his body ; but also 
 that strange, extraordinary and unaccountable calamities 
 befel his cattle, their death being such as they could guess 
 no natural reason for. 
 
 " Allin Toothaker testified that Richard, the son of 
 Martha Carryer, having some difference with him, pulled 
 him down by the hair of the head; when he rose again, lie 
 was going to strike at Richard Carryer, but fell down flat 
 on his back to the ground, and had not power to stir hand 
 or foot, until he told Carryer he yielded, and then he saw 
 the shape of Martha Carryer go off his breast. 
 
 " This Toothaker had received a wound in the wars, 
 and he now testified, that Martha Carryer told him he 
 should never be cured. Just before the apprehending of 
 Carryer, he could thrust a knitting needle into his wound 
 four inches deep ; but presently after her being seized, he 
 was thoroughly healed. 
 
 " He further testified that when Carryer and he some- 
 times were at variance, she would clap her hands at him, 
 and say, * he would get nothing by it.' Whereupon he 
 several times lost his cattle by strange deaths, whereof no 
 natural causes could be given. 
 
 " John Roger also testified that upon the threatening 
 words of this malicious Carryer, his cattle would be strange- 
 ly bewitched, as was more particularly then described. 
 
 *' Samuel Preston testified that about two years ago, 
 having some difference with Martha Carryer, he lost a cow 
 in a strange, preternatural, unusual manner ; and about a 
 month after this, the said Carryer having again some differ- 
 ence with him, she told him he had lately lost a cow, and 
 it should not be long before he lost another ! which ac- 
 cordingly came to pass, for he had a thriving and well-kept 
 cow, which, without any known cause, quickly fell down 
 and died. 
 
 " Phebe Chandler testified that about a fortnight beforo 
 the apprehension of Martha Carryer, on a Lord's daj, 
 
388 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII 
 
 while the psalm was singing in the church, this Carryer 
 then took her by the shoulder, and, shaking her, asked her 
 where she lived. She made her no answer, although as 
 Carryer, who lived next door to her father's house, could 
 not in reason but know who she was. Cluickly after this, 
 as she was at several times crossing the fields, she heard a 
 voice that she took to be Martha Carryer's, and it seemed 
 as if it were over her head. The voice told her ' she 
 should within two or three days be poisoned.' Accordingly, 
 within such a little time, one half of her right hand became 
 greatly swollen and very painful, as also part of her face, 
 whereof she can give no account how it came. It con- 
 tinued very bad for some days ; and several times since 
 she has had a great pain in her breast, and been so seized 
 on her limbs that she has hardly been able to go. She 
 added, that lately going well to the house of God, Rich- 
 ard, the son of Martha Carryer, looked very earnestly 
 upon her, and immediately her hand which had formerly 
 been poisoned, as is above said, began to pain her greatly^ 
 and she had a strange burning in her stomach ; but was 
 then struck deaf, so that she could not hear any of the 
 prayer, or singing, till the two or three last words of the 
 psalm. 
 
 " One Foster, who confessed her own share in the 
 witchcraft for which the prisoner stood indicted, affirmed, 
 that she had seen the prisoner at some of their witch 
 meetings, and that it was this Carryer who persuaded her 
 to be a witch. She confessed that the devil carried them 
 on a pole to a witch meeting ; but the pole broke, and she 
 hanging about Carryer's neck, they both fell down, and 
 she then received a hurt by the fall, whereof she was not 
 at this very time recovered. 
 
 " One Lacy, who likewise confessed her share in this 
 witchcraft, now testified that she and the prisoner were 
 once bodily present at a witch meeting in Salem village, 
 and that she kn^v the prisoner to be a witch, and to have 
 been at a diabolical sacrament, and that the prisoner was 
 the undoing of her and her children, by enticing them into 
 the snare of the devil. 
 
 " Another Lacy, who also confessed her share in this 
 witchcraft, now testified that the prisoner was at the witch 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 meeting in Salem village, where they had bread and wine 
 administered to them. 
 
 *' In the time of this prisoner's trial, one Susanna Shel- 
 don, in open court, had her hands unaccountably tied 
 together with a wheel-band, so fast, that without cutting, 
 it could not be loosened. It was done by a spectre, and 
 the sufferer affirmed it was the prisoner's." 
 
 These depositions show what strange and monstrous 
 notions were entertained upon this subject. There were, 
 however, several things existing in those times which in 
 some measure account for these wild sallies of the imagi- 
 nation. 
 
 Dr. Holmes, speaking of the opinions of our fathers in 
 relation to witchcraft, says, " This part of the history of 
 our country furnishes an affecting proof of the imbecility 
 of the human mind, and of the potent influence of the 
 passions. The culture of sound philosophy, and the dis- 
 semination of useful knowledge, have a happy tendency 
 to repress chimerical theories, with their delusive and 
 miserable effects. The era of English learning had scarce- 
 ly commenced. Laws then existed in England against 
 witches ; and the authority of Sir Mathew Hale, who was 
 revered in New England, not only for his knowledge in 
 the law, but for his gravity and piety, had doubtless great 
 influence. The trial'of the witches in Suffolk, in Eng- 
 land, was published in 1684 ; and there was so exact a 
 resemblance between the Old England demons and the 
 New, that it can hardly be doubted the arts of the design- 
 ing were borrowed, and the credulity of the populace 
 augmented, from the parent country. The gloomy state 
 of New England probably facilitated the delusion, for 
 * superstition flourishes in times of danger and dismay.' 
 The distress of the colonists at this time was great. The 
 sea-coast was infested with privateers. The inland fron- 
 tiers, east and west, were continually harassed by the 
 French and Indians, The abortive expedition to Canada 
 had exposed the country to the resentment of France, 
 the effects of which were perpetually dreaded, and, at the 
 same time, had incurred a heavy debt. The old charter 
 was gone, and what evils would be introduced by the new, 
 33* 
 
390 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII. 
 
 which was very reluctantly received by many, time only 
 could determine, but fear might forebode. 
 
 " How far these causes, operating in a wilderness that 
 was scarcely cleared up, might have contributed toward 
 the infatuation, it is difficult to determine. It were inju- 
 rious, however, to consider New England as peculiar in 
 this culpable credulity, with its sanguinary effects; for 
 more persons have been put to death for witchcraft in a 
 single county in England, m a short space of time, than 
 Jiave suffered, for the same cause, in all New England 
 since its first settlement." 
 
 That the people were under a delusion is evident. Morse 
 and Parish, in their History of New England, after a re- 
 lation of facts respecting the subject of witchcraft, make 
 the following remarks : — 
 
 " If we can be convinced by the uniform protestations 
 of those executed, or the confessions of numbers who had 
 been accusers, or the deliberate recantations of others 
 who had confessed themselves witches, or the universal 
 conviction of error in the minds of those who had been 
 leading actors in these awful scenes, or the entire change 
 of public opinion, we shall be satisfied that the whole ori- 
 ginated in folly and delusion. All these are facts. All 
 those executed, the first excepted, protested their tnno- 
 cence with their dying breath, when a confession would 
 have saved their lives. Several j^ears after, persons who 
 had been accusers, when admitted to the church, con- 
 fessed their delusion in such conduct, and asked ' pardon 
 for having brought the guilt of innocent blood on the land.' 
 The following is an extract from the confession of six 
 persons belonging to Andover, who had owned themselves 
 witches : — ' We were all seized as prisoners ; knowing 
 ourselves altogether innocent, we were all exceedingly 
 astonished and amazed, and affrighted out of our reason , 
 and our dearest relations, seeing us in this dreadful con- 
 dition, and knowing our great danger, apprehending there 
 was no other way to save our lives, persuaded us to con- 
 fess ; we said any thing and every thing which they de- 
 sired.' 
 
 " On the day of a public fast, in the south meeting- 
 bouse of Boston, one of the judges, who had been con- 
 
CKAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 391 
 
 cerned in the condemnation of these unhappy victims at 
 Salem, delivered in a paper, and while it was reading stood 
 up ; it was to desire prayers, &c. ' being apprehensive he 
 might have fallen into some errors at Salem.' 
 
 *' The following is from the declaration of twelve men, 
 who had been jurymen at some of these trials. ' We do 
 therefore signify our deep sense of, and sorrow for, our 
 errors in acting on such evidence ; we pray that we may 
 be considered candidly and aright, by the living sufferers, 
 as being then under the power of a strong and general 
 delusion.' Mr. Parris, who was active in the prosecution, 
 and evidently a serious and conscientious man, in his pub- 
 lic confession, November 26, 1694, says, * I do acknow- 
 ledge, upon after consideration, that were the same trou- 
 bles again to happen, which the Lord of his mercy forever 
 prevent, I should not agree with my former apprehensions 
 in all points ; as for instance,' &/C. 
 
 " Martha Cory, a member of the church in Salem vil- 
 lage, admitted April 27, 1690, was, after examination upon 
 suspicion of witchcraft, March 21, 1692, committed to 
 prison, and condemned to the gallows yesterday. This 
 day in public, by general consent, she was voted to be 
 excommunicated out of the church. The following will 
 show, in a most affecting manner, the light in which the 
 church viewed this vote ten years after. In December, 
 1702, the pastor spoke to the church on the sabbath as 
 followeth. * Brethren, I find in your church book a record 
 of Martha Cory's being excommunicated for witchcraft ; 
 and the generality of the land being sensible of the errors 
 that prevailed in that day, some of her friends have moved 
 me several times to propose to this church, whether it be 
 not our duty to recal that sentence, that so it may not 
 stand against her to all generations. And I myself being 
 a stranger to her, and being ignorant of what was alleged 
 against her, I shall now only leave it to your consideration, 
 and shall determine the matter by a vote the next conve- 
 nient opportunity.' February I4th, the pastor moved the 
 church to revoke Martha Cory's excommunication : a 
 majority voted for revoking it.' So deep was the people's 
 sense of the errors of those transactions, that a great part 
 of Mr. Parris' congregation could not persuade themselvea 
 
392 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XII 1 
 
 to sit under his ministry. Accordingly, after great diffi- 
 culty, after a respectable council had labored in vain Tor 
 their reconciliation, after an arbitration respecting the 
 lousiness, Mr. Parris was dismissed, July 24, 1697, as the 
 aggrieved state to the arbitrators, ' for being an instrument 
 o their miseries.' " 
 
 TESTIMONY OF MINISTERS RESPECTING THE GREAT 
 REVIVAL 
 
 The year 1735 is commonly regarded as the commence- 
 ment of " the great revival," as it is termed, with which 
 the churches in New England were visited about the mid 
 die of the last century. With the exception of one sea 
 son of declension, it continued for several years. The 
 most remarkable display of divine grace was in 1740 and 
 1741. 
 
 Believing that it would be interesting and profitable to 
 many, to learn the sentiments of those ministers who were 
 laborers together with God in this revival, we copy the fol- 
 lowing from a pamphlet, entitled, " The testimony and 
 
 ADVICE OF AN ASSEMBLY OF PaSTORS OF C||URCHES IN 
 
 New England, at a meeting in Boston, July Ith, 1743. 
 Occasioned hy the late happy revival of religion in many 
 parts of the Land. To which are added attestations, con- 
 tained in letters from a number of their Brethren, who 
 were providentially hindered from giving^ their presence^ 
 
 " The present work seems to be remarkable on account 
 of the numbers wrought upon. We never before saw so 
 many brought under soul concern, and with distress ma- 
 king the inquiry, ' What must we do to be saved ?' And 
 these persons of all characters and ages. With regard to 
 the suddenness and quick progress of it. — Many persons 
 and places were surprised with the gracious visit together, 
 or near about the same time ; and the heavenly influence 
 diffused itself far and wide, like the light of the morning. 
 Also, in respect to the degree of operation, both in a way 
 of terror, and in a way of consolation ; attended, in many, 
 with unusual bodily effects. 
 
 " Not that all, who are accounted the subjects of the 
 present work, have had these extraordinary degrees of 
 
CH.\P. XIII.j HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 393 
 
 previous distress and subsequent joy. But many, and we 
 snppose the greater number, have been wrought on in a 
 more gentle and silent way. 
 
 *'As to those whose inward concern has occasioned ex- 
 traordinary outward distresses, the most of them were able 
 to give, what appeared to us, a rational account of what 
 so affected their minds; viz., a quick sense of their guilt, 
 misery, and danger : and they would often mention the 
 passages in the sermons they heard, or particular texts of 
 scripture, which were set home upon them with such a 
 powerful impression. And as to such whose joys have 
 carried them into transports and ecstasies, they, in like 
 manner, have accounted for them, from a lively sense of 
 the danger they hoped they were freed from, and the haj)- 
 piness they were now possessed of; such clear views of 
 divine and heavenly things, and particularly of the excellen- 
 cies and loveliness of Jesus Christ, and such sweet tastes of 
 redeeming love, as they never had before. The instances 
 were very few in which we had reason to think these af- 
 fections were produced by visionary or sensible represen- 
 tations, or by any other images than such as the scripture 
 itself presents unto us. 
 
 "And here we think it not amiss to declare, thai in deal 
 ing with these persons, we have been careful to inform 
 them that the nature of conversion does not consist in 
 these passionate feelings, and to warn them* not to look 
 upon their state safe, because they have passed out of deep 
 distress into high joys, unless they experience a renovation 
 of nature, followed with a change of life and a course of - 
 vital holiness. 
 
 *' Many who appeared to be under convictions, and were 
 much altered in their external behavior, when this work 
 began, and while it was most flourishing, have lost their 
 impressions, and are relapsed into their former manner of 
 life. Yet, of those who were judged hopefully converted, 
 and made a public profession of religion, there have been 
 fewer instances of scandal and apostasy than might be ex- 
 pected. — So that, as hr as we are able to form a judgment, 
 the face of religion is lately changed much for the better, 
 in many of our towns and congregations; and together 
 with a reformation observable in divers instances, there 
 
•?94 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII 
 
 appears to be more experimental godliness and lively Chris- 
 tianity, than the most of us can remember we have ever 
 seen before. 
 
 '* Thus we have freely declared our thoughts as to the 
 work of God so remarkably revived in many parts of this 
 land. And now we desire to bow the knee in thanksgiving 
 to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that our 
 eyes have seen, and our ears heard, such things." 
 
 To this testimony, the names of sixty-eight pastors of 
 churches are annexed. 
 
 The following communications were made by pastors 
 who were providentially hindered from being present. 
 
 From the Rev. John Rogers, senior Pastor of the first 
 Church in Ipswich. 
 
 " Rev. and dear Brethren, 
 " I shall, on the very day of your proposed meeting, 
 viz., July 7th, (God continuing my life till that day,) enter 
 on the seventy-eighth year of my age, and in the fifty- 
 fourth of my ministry. And now I desire, as I have the 
 utmost reason, to bless God, who has given me to see a day 
 of such marvellous power and. grace, particularly in this 
 place, and since the Rev. Messrs. Whitfield and Tennent 
 came among us ; wherein great numbers of our young 
 people, and Qthers of more advanced age, give clear evi- 
 dence of a saving change wrought in them, and by the 
 fruits of the Spirit show that they are born of the Spirit ; 
 and many persons of christian experience before, have been 
 greatly revived, enriched with grace, established, and com 
 forted by a new influence, in and through the word read 
 and preached. This I have found by my best observation 
 in general and more intimate conversation with many of 
 those scores, yea, I think I may say hundreds, living here 
 and in the neighborhood, and with several from distant 
 places, who universally speak the same language, all giving 
 testimony by their experience to the truth of the gospel 
 and doctrines of grace. Such things, my brethren, and 
 many others which might be mentioned, call for our most 
 public, grateful acknowledgments, and high praises to the 
 sovereign Lord and gracious Head of his church." 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 395 
 
 From the Rev. Jeremiah ^Vis€y Pastor of the Church in 
 Berwick. 
 
 '' Bfrwick, July 1, 1743. 
 " Rev. and dear Brethren, 
 " It was my design to have attended the Convention. 
 But I am prevented by my infirmities. However, it shall 
 be my daily prayer to the glorious Head of the church, 
 that you all may be under the guidance and influence 
 of the divine Spirit in all your proceedings. ' I shall also 
 be ready to join with the friends of the present glorious 
 work of the grace of God in the land in bearing testi- 
 mony to it, as such a icork ; and to concur with them in 
 the most proper methods to remove disorders, and prevent 
 the spreading and increase of errors; especially Arminian 
 and Antinomian ; the latter of which begin to appear 
 barefaced as well as the former, in some places." 
 
 Prom the Rev. Peter Thacher, Pastor of the first Church 
 in Middlcborough. 
 
 "Rev. and dear Brethren, " Jt,n« 30, 1743. 
 
 ** Being prevented the opportunity of giving au oral 
 testimony of the truth and reality of the extraordinary 
 work the Lord has lately appeared in among us, in con- 
 vincing and converting sinners, building up, comforting 
 and sealing the converted, I embrace this way to do it, in 
 which I shall confine myself to what I have seen and been 
 acquainted with, among the people of my charge, though 
 I might speak of the same in other places. 
 
 *' There have been above two hundred in a judgment of 
 charity, savingly wrought on, since November, 1741. 
 Divers before that had been met with under the ministry 
 of the Rev. Daniel Rogers, and the Rev. Mr. Wheelock 
 not included in this number. But on one day in Novem- 
 ber aforesaid, above eighty were pricked in the heart by 
 a sermon from Rom. viii. I, had here from Rev. Josiali 
 Crocker. Scarce a sermon delivered after that wonderful 
 day, but the hearts of some seem to be reached by con- 
 viction, conversion, or consolation. This revival of the 
 power of godliness appears to be the genuine work of the 
 Holy Spirit accompanying his word, and in answer to a 
 
396 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 spirit of prayer, poured out from God to plead with faith 
 in Christ for this good. Spiritual things are now treated 
 and felt as realities. 
 
 " The Arminians were by the converts universally de- 
 tected and detested. The doctrines of grace shining into 
 the understanding, are defended and earnestly contended 
 for, from inward experience. The Holy Scriptures are 
 made the standard to try and examine truth ; which are 
 now carefully searched and esteemed above gold ; and 
 those principles that will not bear the trial by this rule, are 
 rejected. A general and humble willingness to ministerial 
 instructions, eagerly sought and attended on ; yet without 
 giving up their understandings. God's worship, public, 
 private, and secret, attended, and otherwise attended than 
 ever. The prayerless are prayerful ; the loose, strict ; 
 the ordinances humbly sought, devoutly attended on. I 
 believe I have seen at one administration two hundred 
 tasting the sweetness of redeeming love at one instant. 
 Indeed, Christ is now precious, breathed after, esteemed, 
 and pathetically recommended in life and conversation, 
 relied on, rejoiced in. Their lives are reformed, as well 
 as principles scripturally renewed. The drunkard is so- 
 ber — the churl peaceful ; personal feuds, that had been 
 subsisting more than eleven years, are buried ; and love 
 takes place and power, where envy and malice and hatred 
 formerly ruled. Restitution in many places made; in 
 more, the wrongs acknowledged. In a word, all the fruits 
 of the Spirit are visible in the converts. This is evidently 
 the Lord's doing ; it is marvellous in our ei/es." 
 
 Prom the Rev. William Shurtleff, Pastor of the second 
 Church in Portsmouth^ N. H. 
 
 • Rev. and dear Brethren, 
 ** There has, for some time past, plainly appeared to be 
 a remarkable revival of religion and a marvellous work 
 of grace going on in Portsmouth, the place in which I am 
 called to labor in the gospel ministry. Among the very 
 many that have been awakened and deeply convinced, 
 there is a goodly number who are giving all the evidence 
 that can be expected of a real and saving change." 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 397 
 
 FVom six of the Rev. Pastors of the Association in the 
 County of York, Me. 
 
 " Rev. and beloved Brethren, 
 
 " We, the subscribers, pastors of the Eastern Associa- 
 tion, taking into serious consideration the state of religion 
 in our several charges, and throughout the land at this 
 day, look on ourselves as bound in the most express man- 
 ner to declare ourselves in respect thereto. 
 
 *' And inasmuch as it incontestibly appears to us from 
 what we have seen among ourselves, and in other places, 
 that by an extraordinary divine influence, there hath been 
 a happy revival of religion in our land ; we dare not but 
 publicly speak out our grateful sense thereof, to the honor 
 of the free and sovereign grace of God." 
 
 From seven Rev. Pastors iji the County of Hampshire ; 
 one of tohom was Rev. Jonathan Edwards^ of North- 
 ampton. 
 
 " Rev. and beloved Brethren, 
 " We, whose names are subscribed to this, would hereby 
 signify that according to what understanding we have of 
 the nature of Christianity, and the observation we have 
 had opportunity to make, we judge that there has been, 
 within the last two years and a half, a blessed outpouring 
 of the Spirit of God in this county, in awakening and 
 converting sinners, and in enlightening, quickening and 
 building up saints in faith, holiness and comfort ; which 
 has been attended in great numbers with an abiding alter- 
 ation and reformation of disposition and behavior. And 
 particularly would we hereby declare, to the glory of God's 
 grace, that we judge that there has been a happy revival 
 of religion in the congregations that have been committed 
 to our pastoral care, and that there are many in them that 
 by abiding manifestations of a serious, religious and hum- 
 ble spirit, and a consistent care and watchfulness in their 
 behavior toward God and man, give all grounds of charity 
 towards them as having been sincere in the professions 
 they have made." 
 34 
 
398 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP XIII 
 
 Fro?n the Rev. Daniel Putnam, Pastor of the second 
 Church in Reading. 
 
 "JwneSO, 1743. 
 " Rev. and dear Brethren, 
 "Sometime in the beginning of March, 1742, under a 
 sense of the great decay of religion among us, \v€ kept a 
 day of fasting and prayer, to seek to God for the pouring 
 out of his Spirit upon us ; and God was pleased out of his 
 abundant grace to give us speedy answers of prayer. For 
 the space of five or six weeks, more or less of my people, 
 younger and elder, came to my house every day in the 
 week except sabbaths, and manifestly under a work of 
 conviction, deeply concerned for the state of their soul*, 
 and many of them expressing themselves in these words : 
 O sir, what shall I do, what shall I do, to get rid of my 
 sins? Complaining of the load of guilt on their con- 
 sciences, and of the power of sin in their souls, of the 
 hardness of their hearts, and of the sense of God's wrath 
 due to them ; and some signifying to me that they even 
 How felt what they only before knew as by hearsay ; that 
 the heart is so desperately wicked, and by nature so unfit 
 for heaven. Some, when they heard mention made of 
 Christ and of the mercy of God, I cannot relate the great- 
 ness of the distress that it put them into, to consider that 
 their sins were against such mercy and such love ! Most 
 of these, we have grounds to hope, have since been as fully 
 convinced of righteousness as of judgment ; of the all- 
 sufficiency of Christ as Priest and King, as they were con- 
 vinced of their sins and misery before: and we charitably 
 hope, have experienced in him through the merits of his 
 righteousness, and the power of his grace, the rest that he 
 gives to such weary souls as receive him with their whole 
 heart; and there has been a large addition to the church, 
 considering the number of the people. And not only has 
 this been the happy case of some that were without the 
 visible church, but even several of the members of the 
 church have been deeply concerned about the state of their 
 souls, and I hope it has been for their everlasting good. 
 The Spirit of God has, in mercy to our souls, been as a 
 refining fire in this respect, I trust I can say ; and ha« 
 
eiJAP. Xill.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 399 
 
 searched this Jerusalem as with candles ; and I hope that 
 both foolish and wise have been awakened now while oil 
 and increase thereof may be had. One instance in par- 
 ticular ; a sister of our church, aged ninety-one years, 
 who hath been under desertion even to a very great de- 
 gree for above twenty years, (who was esteemed convert- 
 ed in youth,) she, in this time, hath been favored with 
 the light of God's countenance, to her abundant joy, and 
 remains so. — As to my people generally, there has been, 
 and I hope remains a reformation in many respects which 
 might be mentioned. And my thoughts of the work of 
 God among us, are still tiie same; that it calls for a public 
 acknowledgment to the praise of God." 
 
 Prom Rev. Oliver Peabody^ Pastor of the Church at 
 Natick. 
 
 ''July ^, 1743. 
 " Rev. and dear Brethren, 
 " I freely profess that I believe there has been a very 
 remarkable and glorious work of God in many parts of 
 this land of late years, and It is still in some measure going 
 on. There have been very observable strivings of the 
 ever blessed Spirit on the hearts of many, especially young 
 people, in convincing and enlightening, and I hope con- 
 verting them ; in neighboring towns ; as in Medneld, Ded- 
 ham, Need ham, Med way and Sherburne, &-c. where the 
 ministers have been lively and faithful! And among my 
 little people, (I would mention it to the glory of the rich 
 grace, and of the blessed Spirit of God) there have been 
 very apparent strivings and operations of the Holy Ghost, 
 among Indians and English, young and old, male and fe- 
 male. There have been added to our church (of such as 
 I hope shall be saved) about fifty persons of different na- 
 tions, during the two years previous to last March, whose 
 lives in general witness to the sincerity of their professions. 
 Here, Vve have never had any crying out in extraordinary 
 manner, but the Holy Spirit has been pleased to work in 
 a more calm way ; but I hope effectually.'* 
 
400 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII 
 
 From Rev. Mr. 3PGregore, Pastor of the second Church 
 in Londonderry f N. H. 
 
 "J^M/y 19, 1743. 
 " PyGv. and dear Brethren, 
 " As to the remarkable religious appearances that have 
 been in various parts of our land ; these two or three years 
 last by gone ; as far as my personal knowledge has reached, 
 I look upon these religious appearances in the general, to 
 be the happy effects of Divine influence : I have had an 
 opportunity of being personally and particularly acquaint- 
 ed with a great number of those who have been the sub- 
 jects of religious concern, in this acceptable year of the 
 Lord ; and when I hear them declare what they have expe- 
 rienced on their own souls with respect to conviction, 
 humiliation, illumination of the mind in the knowledge 
 of Christ, together with a happy consequent change they 
 experience in the will and affections, and withal observe 
 the correspondency of their lives, with their professed 
 experience ; I am unavoidably led to conclude, in a judg- 
 ment of charity, of m?jriy of them, that they have really 
 undergone a saving change. I have noticed with peculiar 
 pleasure, a great thirst after doctrinal knowledge, a greater 
 insight into their own hearts, and a love growing more 
 and more in knowledge and in all judgment." 
 
 From twelve Rev. Pastors of Churches in Connecticut. 
 
 ''June 19, 1743. 
 " Rev. and beloved Brethren, 
 " We take this opportunity to signify to you that, for 
 our own parts, we are abundantly satisfied that there has 
 of late, for about three years past, been a great and won- 
 derful revival of religion in the several places to which 
 we minister, and in divers others which we are acquainted 
 with ; wherein, through the mighty power and grace of 
 God, great numbers of persons of all sorts, but especially 
 young people, 'have been greatly awakened, deeply con- 
 vinced of sin ; and many, so far as we can judge upon 
 careful examination and observation, truly humbled at the 
 foot of a sovereign and righteous God, and savingly brought 
 to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for everlasting life ; 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 401 
 
 and have since lived so as to give credit and confirmation 
 to their pretensions ; and do now adorn their profession 
 in an humble, holy life and christian conversation, walk- 
 ing in the fear and love of God, and bringing forth fruits 
 meet for repentance, and in the exercise of the graces atid 
 virtues of the christian life." 
 
 Several other pastors gave in their written attestation to 
 the reality, power, and glory of this wonderful work, of 
 divine grace. 
 
 STAMP AC1\ 
 
 January 10th, 1765, the British government passed " the 
 notorious stamp act, imposing a stamp duty on the colo- 
 nies, and requiring all the legal written instruments in use 
 among a commercial people, and even licenses for mar- 
 riage, to be executed on stamped paper, charged with 
 duty." 
 
 '* This act," says Dr. Holmes, " which was to take effect 
 on the first of November, excited throughout the colonies 
 a most serious alarm. It was viewed as a violation of the 
 British constitution, and as destructive to the first prin- 
 ciples of liberty ; and combinations against its execution 
 were every where formed. The house of burgesses in 
 Virginia, which was in session when intelligence of the 
 act was received, passed several spirited resolutions, assert- 
 ing the colonial rights, and denying the claim of parlia- 
 mentary taxation. The legislatures of several other colo- 
 nies passed similar resolutions. The assembly of Massa- 
 chusetts, besides passing resolutions opposed to the claims 
 of the British parliament, proposed a congress of deputies 
 from each colony, to cBnsult on the common interest. On 
 the first Tuesday in October, the time proposed by the 
 Massachusetts assembly, a congress, consisting of twenty- 
 eight delegates from the assemblies of Massachusetts, 
 Rhode Island, and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, 
 New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the Delaware 
 counties, Maryland, and South Carolina, was formed at 
 New York. The first measure of the congress was a 
 declaration of the rights and liberties of natural-born sub- 
 jects within the kingdom of Great Britain ; among the 
 34* Z 
 
402 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XIII 
 
 most essential of which are, the exclusive power to tax 
 themselves, and the privilege of a trial by jury. The 
 grievance chiefly complained of, was the act granting 
 certain stamp duties and other duties in the British colo- 
 nies, which, by taxing the colonists without their consent, 
 and by extending the jurisdiction of courts of admiralty, 
 was declared to have a direct tendency to subvert their 
 rights and liberties A petition to the king, and a memo- 
 rial to each house of parliament, were also agreed on ; 
 and it was recommended to the several colonies to appoint 
 special agents, who should unite their utmost endeavors in 
 soliciting redress of grievances. The colonies that were 
 prevented from sending representatives to the congress, 
 forwarded to England petitions, similar to those adopted 
 by that body. 
 
 '* In the mean time the people, in various parts of the 
 jcolonies, assumed the controversy without waiting the 
 result of legitimate measures. In August, the effigy of 
 Andrew Oliver, Esq., the proposed distributor of stamps 
 in Massachusetts, was found hanging on a tree, afterward 
 ■well known by the name of Liberty Tree, accompanied 
 with emblems designating Lord Bute, and the wicked 
 motives of the obnoxious acts of parliament. At night 
 the images were taken down, and carried on a bier, amidst 
 the acclamations of an inmiense collection of people, 
 through the court-house, down King street, to a small 
 brick building, supposed to have been erected by Mr. 
 Oliver for the reception of the stamps. This building 
 was soon levelled with the ground, and the rioters, pro- 
 ceeding to Fort Hill to burn the pageantry, next assaulted 
 Mr. Oliver's house, which stood near that hill, and having 
 broken the windows, entered it, and destroyed part of the 
 furniture. The next day, Mr. Oliver authorized several 
 gentlemen to announce on the exchange that he had de- 
 clined having any concern with the office of stamp-master ; 
 but in the evening a bonfire was made, and a repetition 
 of this declaration exacted of him. 
 
 " On the 26th of the same month, the tumults were 
 renewed. The rioters assembled in King street, and pro- 
 eeeded to the house of William Story, Esq., deputy regis- 
 tei of the court of admiralty, whose private papers, as 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND. 403 
 
 well as the records and files of the court, were destroyed. 
 The house of Benjamin Hallowell, Jun. Esq., comptroller 
 of the customs, was next entered and purloined. Intoxi- 
 cated by liquors found in the cellar, the rioters, with in- 
 flamed rage, directed their course to the house of Liea- 
 ten ant-governor Hutchinson, whose family was instantly 
 dispersed, and who, after attempting in vain to secure 
 himself within doors, was also constrained to depart, by 
 secret passages, to save his life. By four in the morriing, 
 one of the best houses in the province was completely in 
 ruins, nothing remaining but the bare walls and floors 
 The plate, family pictures, most of the furniture, the 
 wearing apparel, about nine hundred pounds sterling in 
 money, and the manuscripts and books which Mr. Hutchin- 
 son had been thirty years collecting, beside many public 
 papers in custody, were either carried off* or destroyed. 
 
 *' The town of Boston, the next day, voted unanimously, 
 that the selectmen and magistrates be desired to use their 
 utmost endeavors, agreeably to law, to repress the like 
 disorders for the future, and that the freeholders and other 
 inhabitants would do every thing in their power to assist 
 them. 
 
 '* The first day of November, on which the stamp act 
 was to begin its operation, was ushered in at Boston by 
 the tolling of bells. Many shops and stores were shut 
 Effigies of the authors and friends of the act were carried 
 about the streets, and afterward torn in pieces by the 
 populace. 
 
 " Massachusetts was not alone. The obnoxious act 
 received similar, though less flagrant, treatment in tlie 
 other colonies. On the 24th of August a gazette extraor- 
 dinary was published at Providence, with Vox Populi, 
 Vox JDki, for a frontispiece. Effigies were exhibited, and, 
 in the evening, cut down and burnt. . Three days after, 
 the people of Newport conducted three efl^gies of obnox- 
 ious persons in a car, with halters about their necks, to a 
 gallows near the town-house, where they were hung, and 
 after a while cut down, and burnt amidst the acclamations 
 of thousands. 
 
 "On the last day- of October, a body of people from 
 the country approached the town of Portsmouth, N, H., 
 
404 INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY [cHAP. XlII, 
 
 ifi the apprehension that the stamps would be distributed* 
 but, on receiving assurance that there was no such inten 
 -tion, they quietly returned. The next morning, all the 
 bells in Portsmouth, Newcastle, and Greenland, were 
 tolled, to denote the decease of Liberty ; and in the course 
 of the day notice was given to her friends to attend her 
 funeral. A coffin, neatly ornamented, and inscribed with 
 * Liberty, aged CXLV years,' * was prepared for the 
 funeral procession, which began from the state-house, 
 attended with two unbraced drums. Minute guns were 
 fired until the corpse arrived at the grave, when an ora- 
 tion was pronounced in honor of the deceased. Scarcely 
 was the oration concluded, when, some remains of life 
 having been discovered, the corpse was taken up. The 
 inscription on the lid of the coffin was immediately altered 
 to Liberty reVived ; the bells suddenly struck a cheerful 
 sound, and joy appeared again in every countenance." 
 
 " In Connecticut, Mr. Ingersoll, the constituted dis- 
 tributor of stamps, was exhibited in effigy in the month ot 
 August ; and the resentment at length became so general 
 and alarming, that he resigned his office." 
 
 " Although, by the resignation of the stamp officers, 
 the colonists were laid under legal inabilities for doing 
 business under parliamentary laws, yet they adventured to 
 do it, and risked the consequences. Vessels sailed from 
 ports as before, and the courts of justice, though suspended 
 awhile in most of the colonies, at length proceeded to 
 business without stamps. 
 
 " The stamp act led the colonists to discuss the subject 
 oftheir rights ; and, this year, there was printed an essay 
 written by James Otis, Esq., of Boston, entitled, * Rights 
 of the British colonies asserted and proved.' 
 
 ** The decided opposition of the American colonists to 
 the stamp act, rendered it necessary for Great Britain 
 either to enforce or repeal it. Each of these measures 
 had advocates. Among the foremost to vindicate the 
 colonies were Lord Camden, in the house of peers, and 
 Mr. Pitt, in the house of commons. * My position- is this,' 
 said Lord Camden, ' I repeat it, I will maintain it to my 
 
 • Computed from the first landing at Plymouth, in 1620. 
 
CHAP. XIII.] HISTORY OP NEW ENGLAND. 406 
 
 last hour ; taxation and representation are inseparable. 
 This position is founded on the laws of nature. It is 
 more — it is itself an eternal law of nature. For whatever 
 is a man's own, it is absolutely his own. No man has a 
 right td take it from him, without his consent. Whoever 
 attempts to do it, attempts an injury ; whoever does it, 
 commits a robbery.' Pitt, in his bold, original manner, 
 said in parliament, * You have no right to tax America. 
 I rejoice that America has resisted. Three millions of 
 our fellow-subjects, so lost to every sense of virtue as 
 tamely to give up their liberties, would be fit instruments 
 to make slaves of the rest.' He concluded his speech by 
 advising that the stamp act be repealed, absolutely , totally ^ 
 and immediately ; that the reason of the repeal be as- 
 signed, that it was founded on an erroneous principle. 
 ' At the same time,' subjoined he, * let the sovereign au- 
 thority of this country over the colonies be asserted in as 
 strong terms as can be devised, and be made to extend to 
 every point of legislation whatever, that we may bind their 
 trade, confine their manufactures, and exercise every 
 power except that of taking their money out of their 
 pockets, without their consent.' 
 
 ** On the eighteenth of March, the stamp act was re- 
 pealed by the British government. News of this repeal 
 excited great joy in America, where it was celebrated bjr 
 the ringing of bells, fireworks, and festivals." 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Page. 
 Allen, Miss, preservation of, 210 
 Ancient customs, Amherst, 
 
 N.H 363 
 
 Ancient customs, Beverly,. 361 
 Ancient customs, Lynn, .... 362 
 Ancient houses and trees, ..364 
 Ancient Indian burying- 
 
 grounds, 322, 323 
 
 Anecdote by Dr. Dwight, . .295 
 Anecdote of Gen. Win3lo\v,354 
 Annawon, Indian chief, cap- 
 ture of, 234 
 
 Antiquities at Pilgrim Hall, 357 
 Arabella, Lady, death of, . . . 24 
 Arips borne on the sabbath,. 337 
 Atherton, Rev. Mr., preser- 
 vation of, 1 88 
 
 Aurora Borealis, 371 
 
 Barnstable, first church at,. 260 
 
 Bears, stories of, 347—350 
 
 Benevolence, nature of, ... . 10 
 Berwick, Me., attacked by 
 
 Indians, 77 
 
 Bible first printed in New 
 
 England, 301 
 
 Bickford, Thomas, strata- 
 gem of, 75 
 
 Blackstone, Rev. Mr., apple- 
 trees planted by, 370 
 
 Blake, Nathan, taken by 
 
 Indians, 1 06 
 
 Blake, Sergeant, stories of,. 220 
 
 Boston, settlement of, 24 
 
 Brackett, Mr. and Mrs., es- 
 cape of, 191 
 
 Bradford, Mrs., drowned, ... 18 
 Bradley's garrison, Indian 
 
 attack on, 91 
 
 Bradley, Isaac, a lad taken 
 by Indiana, 172 
 
 Page. 
 
 Bradley, Mrs., heroism of, . . 01 
 Bradstreet, Col., taken by In- 
 dians, 318 
 
 Brewster, Elder, patience of, 35 
 Brock, Rev. John, story of,. 328 
 Brookfield, Indian attack on, 68 
 Brooks, Mrs., killed by In- 
 dians, 117 
 
 Bulkley, Rev. Mr., anecdote 
 
 of, 346 
 
 Burroughs, John, adven- 
 tures of, 353 
 
 Burroughs, Rev. Mr., exe- 
 cuted for witchcraft, 384 
 
 Butte rfield, Samuel, preser- 
 vation of, 198 
 
 Cambridge College founded,300 
 
 Canada, origin of the name, 303 
 
 Canine attachment and fide- 
 lity, 328 
 
 Captives, Indian, treatment 
 of, 317 
 
 Cattle first brought to New 
 England, 22 
 
 Carr, James, killed by In- 
 dians, 328 
 
 Carryer, Mrs., trial of, 385 
 
 Carver, John, choaen»gov- 
 ernor, 14 
 
 Charter obtained by Plym- 
 outh colony, 34 
 
 Charter, Connecticut, se- 
 cretion of, 345 
 
 Charter Oak, .345 
 
 Child of Mrs. Pai'sons, pre- 
 servation of a, 1 98 
 
 Church, Capt., gallant con- 
 duct of, 67,87,231,239 
 
 Church organized at Con- 
 cord, N. H 269 
 
408 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Church organized at New 
 
 Haven, 262 
 
 Church organized at Wo- 
 
 burn, 265 
 
 Churches among the In- 
 dians, number of, 257 
 
 Cobbet, Thomas, preserva- . 
 
 tion of, 191 
 
 Colonies favored with good 
 
 rulers, 37 
 
 Colonies, confederacy of 
 
 the, 302 
 
 Concord, N.H., massacre at, 103 
 Concord, Mass., settlement 
 
 of, 285 
 
 Contribution at New Haven, 340 
 Connecticut, derivation of 
 
 the name, 303 
 
 Connecticut, settlement of,. 27 
 Converse, Capt., bravery of, 85 
 Corbitant, Indian sachem, 
 
 hostile spirit of, 34 
 
 Cotton, Rev. Mr., preaches 
 
 to the Indians, 257 
 
 Covenant of the first Indian 
 
 church, 251 
 
 Cranfield, Governor of New 
 
 Hampshire, 334 
 
 Davenport, Rev. Mr., first 
 minister of New Haven, . .261 
 
 Davis, stratagem of, 96 
 
 Davis, escape of, 211 
 
 Day of humiliation observ- 
 ed by Indians, 256 
 
 Dean, Mrs., escape of, 75 
 
 Deerfield attacked by In- 
 dians, 89 
 
 Diamond, %ohn, tortured to 
 
 death by Indians, 85 
 
 Discoveries of a party from 
 
 the Mayflower, 281 
 
 Distemper among Indians, . . 31 
 Downs, Quaker, taken by 
 
 Indians, ; Uh) 
 
 Drew, Mr. and Mrs., taken 
 
 by Indians, 196 
 
 Drought at Plymouth, 22 
 
 Dunstable, escape of a wo- 
 miui at 199 
 
 Dustan, Mr. and Mra., es- 
 cape of, 194 
 
 Earthquakes, 48, 51 
 
 Eaton, Theophilus, govern- 
 
 of New Haven colony,. . .274 
 Eliot, R«>v. John, benevo- 
 lent labors of, 249 
 
 Endicott, John, arrives at 
 
 Salem, 23 
 
 Epidemic disease, preva- 
 lence of, 53 
 
 Escape of a girl, 214 
 
 Evans, John, preservation 
 
 of, 203 
 
 Evil overcome with good, • .12.99 
 
 Ewell, Mrs., escape of, 196 
 
 Exeter saved from destruc- 
 tion, 197 
 
 Exploring expeditions from 
 the Mayflower, 1 4— 1 G 
 
 Fabric around Forefathers' 
 Rock^ 356 
 
 Falmouth destroyed by In- « 
 dians, 78 
 
 Famine at Plymouth, 21 
 
 Famine in Connecticut, 28 
 
 Faunce, Elder, takes leave 
 of Forefathers' Rock, 354 
 
 Fire at Plymouth, 19 
 
 Foot spinning-wheel, intro- 
 duction of the, 37t) 
 
 Forefathers' Rock, removal 
 of, 355 
 
 Fort on Arrowsick Island, 
 men killed at, 71 
 
 Frost, Mr., stratagem of, . . . 71 
 
 Gardiner, Rev. Mr., killed 
 by mistake, 327 
 
 Garner, Richard, sufferings 
 of, 26 
 
 Gerrish, Sarah, a child, 
 ^e^ptivity of, 177 
 
 (ribbon, Major, preserva- 
 tion of, 181 
 
 Gofl^e, Mrs., letter of, . . .-. . .341 
 
 Goodwin, Mrs., preserva- 
 tion of, im 
 
INDEX. 
 
 4C9 
 
 Governor Carver, death of,. 20 
 Governor Winthrop settles 
 at Boston, 24 
 
 Grisvvold, Jacob, escape of,. 201 
 
 Hadley defended by Goffe, . . 66 
 Haines, Jonathan and son, 
 
 escape- of, 19? 
 
 Hagar, negro slave, saves 
 
 two children, 93 
 
 Hanson, Mrs., taken by In- 
 dians, 100 
 
 Hartshorne, Mrs., preserva- 
 tion of, 94 
 
 Haverhill Village, Indian 
 
 attack on, 92 
 
 Hiacoomes, Indian preacher, 255 
 Hilton, Col., preservation of, 197 
 Hooker, Rev. Mr., adven- 
 ture of, 30 
 
 House built at Plymouth,.. . 18 
 House of Gov. Winthrop,. . .300 
 Rowland, John, death of,... 234 
 Howe, Mrs., captivity of,. . .167 
 Howe, Ephraira, preserva- 
 tion of, 179 
 
 Hunt, Thomas, infamous 
 
 conduct of, 280 
 
 Hurd, Mrs., preservation of, 192 
 
 Indian, origin of the name,. 307 
 Indians, first encounter with, 16 
 Indians, manners and chs- 
 
 toms of, 307 
 
 Indians, maternal affection 
 
 of, 217 
 
 Indians, filial affection of, ..218 
 Indians, aged, treatment of,. 219 
 
 Indians, hospitality of, 220 
 
 Indians, sympathy of, 225 
 
 Indians, gratitude of, 226 
 
 Indians, honesty of, 230 
 
 Indians, fidelity of, 231 
 
 Indians, shrewdness of, ... .236 
 Indians, magnanimity of,. ..239 
 Indians, efforts to christian- 
 ize the, 247,248, 
 
 253, 254, 256, 257 
 Indian, letters written by 
 
 an, 325, 326 
 
 35 
 
 I Indian impressed with the 
 
 ! power of God, 246 
 
 j Indian deed, 295 
 
 I Indian converts, death of, ..2.'31, 
 252 
 
 Indian tribes, names of, 307 
 
 Infant, remarkable preser- 
 vation of an, 94 
 
 Instrument signed by tlie 
 
 Pilgrims, 280 
 
 Ipswich, preservation of, ... . 182 
 
 Johnson, Lieut, and wife, 
 killed by Indians, 94 
 
 John, Indian sagamore, 
 death of, 248 
 
 Jordan, Dominicus, killed 
 by Indians, 318 
 
 Journey through the wilder- 
 ness, 27 
 
 Keene annoyed by Indians, 104 
 Kies, Solomon, escape of, ..202 
 
 Kilburn, bravery of, 107 
 
 Killingly, Indian expedition 
 against, 200 
 
 Landing of the Pilgrims,. . ..18 
 Lands purchased of In- 
 dians, 291—295 
 
 Lathrop, Capt., surprised 
 
 and slain by Indians, 63 
 
 Laws and gunishments,304— 306 
 
 Leyden church formed, 7 
 
 Leyden, company arrive 
 
 from, 37 
 
 Londonderry, settlement of, 264 
 Longmeadow, attaek on 
 
 people of, 65 
 
 Longevity of the people of 
 
 Londonderry, 371 
 
 Lost child, 214 
 
 Lovewell's fight, 100 
 
 Maid servant, heroism of, . . . 58 
 Maine, derivation of the 
 
 name, 303 
 
 Marks, Mrs., heroism of, .. .201 
 Marriage, first in New Eng- 
 land, 285 
 
410 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Massasoit, Indian kmjr, . . 33, 37 
 Massachusetts, derivation 
 
 of the name, 303 
 
 Mayflower, the H, 12, 18 
 
 May hew, Gov. preaches to 
 
 the Indians, 254 
 
 Mayhew, Rev. Thomas, 
 
 preaches to the Indians, . .253 
 Mayhew, Rev. John, prea- 
 ches to the Indians, 254 
 
 Means of subsistence pro- 
 vided, 37 
 
 Meeting-house, first in Bos- 
 ton, 300 
 
 Meeting-house, first in New 
 
 Haven, 336 
 
 Meeting-house, first in Bil- 
 
 lerica, 300 
 
 Men lost at Plymouth, 19 
 
 Milford, Conn., purchase of, 293 
 Ministers emigrate to New 
 
 England, 340 
 
 Ministers retained long,.-. . .269 
 
 Mission, first home, 301 
 
 Moody, Rev. Joshua, im- 
 prisonment of, 335 
 
 Moody, Rev. Samuel, anec- 
 dote of, 330 
 
 Mortality, bill of, 20 
 
 M'Gregore, Rev. Mr., set- 
 tles at Londonderry, 264 
 
 Names of the Pilgrims, 281 
 
 N^ughaut, Indian, preser- 
 vation of, 184 
 
 New England, derivation 
 
 of the name, 280 
 
 Newspaper, first printed in 
 
 New England, 329 
 
 New Haven, settlement of,. 261 
 New Haven, purchase of,... 292 
 New Hampshire, derivation 
 
 of the name, 303 
 
 Norton, Capt., killed by In- 
 dians, 59 
 
 Northampton, purchase of, . .293 
 Northampton, minister set- 
 tled at, 266 
 
 Northey, John, infant, pre- 
 serration of, 196 I 
 
 North Yarmouth attacked 
 by Indians, 110 
 
 Olden time, manners and 
 customs of, 358 
 
 Oldham, John, killed by 
 Indians, 60 
 
 Ordination at New Haven, .262 
 Ordination at Concord, N.H.,2o7 
 
 Ordination at Salem, 259 
 
 Ordination at Woburn, 265 
 
 Owen, Dr. John, forbidden 
 to leave England, .340 
 
 Page, Mr., privations of, 329 
 
 Painting in Pilgrim Hall,... 357 
 
 Patent, Plymouth, 34 
 
 Peabody's River, origin of 
 
 the name, 327 
 
 Penacook, people saved from 
 
 starvation at, 319 
 
 Pequots, cruelties of the, ... 62 
 Pierce, John, treachery of, . . 36 
 Pilgrims, civil compact of 
 
 the, 14 
 
 Pilgrims, contentment of 
 
 the, 35 
 
 Plots, Indian, defeated, 179, 182, 
 183. 
 Porterfield,Mrs., narrative of, 203 
 Potatoes, culture of, intro- 
 duced, 370 
 
 Popery, proselyfing zeal for, 1 23, 
 125, 126, 131, 132, 166 
 Pox, small, among the In- 
 dians, 243 
 
 Prayer, answers to, 41, 42, 43, 
 45, 46, 126, 331, 333, 335 
 Printing press, first in New 
 
 England, 300 
 
 Puritan, origin of the name, 7 
 Puritans, persecution of the, 8, 9- 
 Putnam and the wolf, 351 
 
 Quakers, persecution of, . . .373 
 
 Regicides, Gofife and Whal 
 ley, 184, 344 
 
 Rehoboth, Indian depreda- 
 tions in, . I 8G 
 
INDEX. 
 
 4n 
 
 Religion and morals of the 
 Indians, 312 
 
 Religion, family,. 274, 275 
 
 Revival, great, ministers' 
 
 testimony respecting the, . 392 
 Rhode Island, derivation of 
 
 the name, 303 
 
 Robinson, Rev. John, elect- 
 ed pastor, 7 
 
 Robinson, Rev. Mr., death 
 
 of, 23 
 
 Rock, Forefathers', removal 
 
 of, 355 
 
 Rogers, Robert, tortured to 
 
 death by Indians, 77 
 
 Rolfe, Rev. Mr. and Mrs., 
 
 killed by Indians, 93 
 
 Rowlandson,Mrs., narrative 
 
 of, 135 
 
 SabbathjSanctification of the,272 
 
 Sabbuth at j^ew Haven, 272 
 
 Salem, colony settle at, 23 
 
 Samoset, Indian, visits Ply- 
 mouth, 32 
 
 Sanctuary, services of the, 
 
 how conducted, 338 
 
 Sanctuary, attendance upon 
 
 the, 273 
 
 Saybrook assaulted by In- 
 dians, 61 
 
 Scarcity, season of, 25 
 
 Servant girl, heroism of, 58 
 
 Settlements on Cocheco Ri- 
 ver attacked by Indians, ..71 
 Settlements on Oyster Ri- 
 ver attacked by Indians,.. 74 
 Sewall, Rev. Jotham, inci- 
 dents related by, 331, 333 
 
 Ship Arabella arrives with 
 
 Gov. Winthrop, 23 
 
 Sheldon, Mrs., killed by In- 
 dians, 90 
 
 Simsbury, escape from, 213 
 
 Simsbury burnt by Indians, 213 
 Skeleton found at Fall River,323 
 Smith, Rev. Ralph, first 
 minister of Plymouth, . . .285 
 
 Snow, great fall'of, 329 
 
 Speedwell, the, 11 
 
 Springfield, Indian attack on,64 
 
 Squanto, Indian, 33, 246 
 
 Stamford,murderous assault 
 
 at, 62 
 
 Stamp act, 401 
 
 Standish, Capt., tradition of, 183 
 Stealing, remedy used to 
 
 prevent, 299 
 
 St. James' River, engage- 
 ment at, 86 
 
 Stoddard, Rev. Mr., preser- 
 vation of, 318 
 
 Stone, Capt., killed by In- 
 dians, 59 
 
 Stone, Simon, preservation 
 
 of, 190 
 
 Storm, great, 47 
 
 Submission of sagamores 
 
 to king James, 34 
 
 Sudbury, Indian attack on,.. 69 
 Sufferings of the first set- 
 tlers of Connecticut, 28 
 
 Swan, Mrs., heroism of, ....!)5 
 Swarton, Mrs., narrative of, 162 
 
 Taylor, Rebekah, preserva- 
 tion of, 197 
 
 Taunton attacked by Indians, 87 
 Thacher, Rev. Mr., and 
 
 wife, preservation of, ....182 
 Tilly, Joseph, tortured to 
 
 death by Indians, .61 
 
 Treaty with Massasoit, 33 
 
 Treaty renewed, 37 
 
 Treat, Rev. Mr., preaches 
 
 to the Indians, 257 
 
 Turner's Falls, fight at, 187 
 
 Uncaa and Miantonomoh, ..319 
 
 Vermont, derivation of the 
 name, 303 
 
 Visit of Mr. Winslow to 
 Massasoit, 242 
 
 Visit of Gov Winthrop to 
 Plymouth, 298 
 
 Wainwright, Capt., killed 
 
 by Indians, 94 
 
 Wainwright, Mrs., escape of, 95 
 
412 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Waldron, Major, massacre 
 of, .73 
 
 Walpole attacked by Indians, 107 
 Wampum, manufacture of, .314 
 Wampum made lawful ten- 
 der, 307 
 
 Waquash, Indian, conver- 
 sion of, 246 
 
 War threatened by the In- 
 dians, 20 
 
 Wars, Indian, number of, . . . 54 
 War, Indian, consequences 
 
 of, 54, 55, 56, 57, 315 
 
 Warrant issued by an In- 
 dian, 319 
 
 Washington Elm, the, 368 
 
 Wells, Me., attacked by In- 
 dians, 82 
 
 Wells, Indians assault a 
 
 wedding party at, 200 
 
 Westmoreland, escape of a 
 
 party at, 211 
 
 Wheeler, Capt., escape of,. . 68 
 Whitaker, Joseph, a boy, 
 taken by Indians, 1 72 
 
 W^hitaker,*Anna, escape of, . 93 
 White, Peregrine, birth of,. .284 
 Williams, Rev. Roger, suf- 
 ferings of, 27 
 
 Williams, Rev. John, nar- 
 rative of, 112 
 
 Williams, Mrs., killed by 
 
 Indians, 115 
 
 Winslow, Gen., anecdote of, 354 
 Winslow, Capt,, slain by 
 
 Indians, 86 
 
 Winthrop, Gov., particulars 
 
 related of, 296 
 
 Woburn, settlement of, 289 
 
 Woolcot, Mrs., killed by In- 
 dians, 88 
 
 Witchcraft, 381 
 
 Witchcraft, causes of belief 
 
 in, 389 
 
 Witchcraft, delusion of the 
 belief in, 390 
 
 Yankee, origin of the name, 302 
 York destroyed by Indians, 80 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 From the Congregational Journal^ Concord, N. H. 
 
 The Early History of New England, illustra- 
 ted BY NUMEROUS INTERESTING INCIDENTS. By ReV. 
 
 -Henry White. 
 
 This work has just been pubUshed by Mr. I. S. 
 Boyd of this town, in a handsome vohjme of 412 
 pages. It is not so much a continuous history, as a 
 judicious selection of the more important and in- 
 structive facts scattered in many volumes, which 
 serve to ilhistrate the character and principles of the 
 first emigrants to this country, with the providence 
 which guided and protected them ; indeed it might 
 aptly be entitled, God^s Hand in New England, 
 The materials appear to have been collected with 
 commendable diligence, and to be arranged with due 
 regard to chronology and taste. Those who are 
 conversant with larger works upon the same subject, 
 will be pleased to refresh their memories with impor- 
 tant events which had almost escaped them ; others 
 who wish to know something of our early history, 
 will be able to form a just estimate of the chaj^acter 
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 fortitude, self-denial, confidence in God, and pro- 
 spective labor; and the young, while they will be 
 interested in the thrilling recitals with which the 
 work abounds, will learn to reverence the priiiciples 
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 themselves all their civil, educational, and religious 
 blessings. We hardly know of a work of happier 
 design, fitted at the same time to interest and profit ; 
 it should be made an inmate of every family, and be 
 put into the hand of every child. 
 
414 RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 Prom the Baptist Register^ Concord^ N. H. 
 A New Book. — Rev. Henry White is the author, 
 Messrs. Morrill, Silsby & Co., printers, and Mr. Isra- 
 el S. Boyd, publisher, and now for the title — " The 
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 merous interesting incidents." We are glad to see the 
 ' interesting incidents in the early history of New 
 England,' thus brought together and put on record 
 for present and future reference. Nor do we mean a 
 reference only — this volume presents a history wor- 
 thy the study of our youth, one which will be both 
 pleasing and instructive, as the work is rendered at- 
 tractive by the introduction of many interesting an- 
 ecdotes. The history of our own New England has 
 been too much neglected, and we hail the appearance 
 of this book as calculated to promote a veneration 
 for the institutions of our land, founded in the piety 
 and' patriotism of our fathers. Examine the book, 
 and judge of its value. 
 
 From the New-Ha^mp shire Patriot. 
 Early History or New England. — I. S. Boyd, 
 of Concord, has just published a work, in duodecimo 
 form, containing 412 pages, with the above title, by 
 Rev. Henry White. The design of the volume is to 
 embody the numerous interesting incidents relating to 
 the settlement and early history of New England, and 
 from a hasty examination we should judge that the 
 author had executed his purpose in a very creditable 
 manner. The causes which led to the emigration of 
 our forefathers, their privations in their voyage across 
 the Atlantic, and their sufferings after their arrival, 
 are treated of briefly. Very many particulars, illus- 
 trating the characters of the distinguished persons 
 of the limes are given, and many anecdotes and 
 things, displaying the leading traits in the Indian 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS. 415 
 
 character, are related, in an interesting style. The 
 book contains a great deal of information, in a very 
 convenient form, derived from authentic sources. 
 
 From HilVs New-Hampshire Patriot. 
 The Early History of New England. — ^This is 
 a volume of 412 pages just published by I. S. Boyd 
 of this town. The work has been compiled by 
 Rev. Henry White, and, we should judge from the 
 perusal of a portion of it, in a manner indicating an 
 unusual degree of perseverance, labor and talent. 
 It is rendered interesting and attractive by the many 
 and curious incidents which it contains, illustrating 
 the hardships, sufferings, customs and peculiarities 
 of the early settlers of this " Yankee Land." Se- 
 lections have been made from the works of nearly 
 all the celebrated New England historians and biog- 
 raphers, from the time of Cotton Mather to the pres- 
 ent day, and the volume before us is valuable for 
 the reason that it embodies so great an amount of 
 historical research, which has become extremely dif- 
 ficult of access. We intend in a future number of 
 our paper to give our readers several extracts from 
 this work, which we think will not only prove inter- 
 esting but instructive. 
 
 From the Abolition Standard, Concord, N. H. 
 
 The Early History of New England. Illus- 
 trated BY numerous interesting INCIDENTS. By 
 
 Rev. Henry White. Concord, I. S. Boyd, 1841. 
 
 The above is the title of a work prepared by Rev. 
 Henry White, of this state. We had long been 
 hoping to see the early history of this part of our 
 country, so replete with incidents of thrilling inter- 
 est, of events which, while they partsike much of the 
 
416 RECOMMENDATIONS. 
 
 romantic, cannot fail to instruct the mind and awa- 
 ken the better feeUngs of the heart, put in such a 
 form as to be accessible to every person in the com- 
 munity. To the writer of this volume, — beautiful 
 and manly in its style, neat and correct in its exe- 
 cution,; — the public we think are greatly indebted for 
 his indefatigable exertions in collecting the various 
 facts, making the best selections from the most au- 
 thentic works, both new and old, and presenting 
 them in such a manner as to make favorable impres- 
 sions upon and highly interest all who may there 
 read the story of our forefathers. We have often 
 been surprised that there were so many, even among 
 the enlightened and intelligent, to whom the history 
 of the Pilgrims and their immediate successors who 
 struggled amid the barbarism that surrounded them 
 in the infant colonies, as well as against tyranny at 
 home, in order that they might lay broad and deep the 
 foundation of liberty and equality, is unknown : and 
 we ardently wish that the day may soon arrive when 
 this or a similar compend shall be introduced into all 
 our schools, and considered a necessary item in the 
 education of our children. 
 
 It may be well for us to remember all that has es- 
 caped oblivion of that noble, daring, yet wronged 
 people who sheltered and fostered the early settlers 
 when few and weak, but who have been wasted 
 away by the calamities that have overtaken them, 
 till scarcely one remains to tell the tale of the In- 
 dian's woes or sing the death-song over the grave of 
 the red man. 
 
 It may be well for us to trace the causes that drove 
 the emigrant across the raging main maugre the per- 
 ils of the deep and the dangers of an unknown land — ■ 
 to study the principles of religion that governed 
 their actions — to reflect upon the love of liberty 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS. 417 
 
 which led them on, and while we feel gratitude 
 springing up in our bosoms to that God who watch- 
 ed over and protected them, recollect that the im- 
 portant duty has now devolved upon us to sustain, 
 and, as far as possible, perfect the work which 
 they have begun, and extend the privileges of our 
 free government and the benefits of our glorious re- 
 ligion to every class of our citizens, irrespective of 
 color, caste or condition. 
 
 Although we have protracted this notice more 
 than we at first designed, yet we cannot close with- 
 out recommending our friends who are in want of 
 such a work which is peculiarly valuable as a refer- 
 ence book, to call and examine it at the bookstore of 
 I. S. Boyd. 
 
 From the N. H. Telegraph, Nashua, N. H. 
 Early History of New England. — This is a neat 
 leather-bound volume compiled by the Rev. H. 
 White of this State^ containing 412 pages. This 
 work has been examined by many geiitlemen of lite- 
 rary taste, including several of the clergymen of this 
 town, by whom it is regarded as an interesting and 
 valuable work. It is rendered interesting and attrac- 
 tive by the many curious incidents, illustrating the 
 hardships, sufferings, customs, and peculiarities of the 
 early settlers of this Yankee land. Besides, oral tra- 
 dition and selections have been made from near all 
 the celebrated New England historians and biogra- 
 phers. The volume is valuable for the reason that it 
 embraces so great an amount of historical research, 
 which has become extremely difficult of access. 
 
 From the N. H. Telegraph. 
 
 Early History of New England. — We have re- 
 2A 
 
418 RECOMMENDATIONS. 
 
 ceived a copy of a work with this title, which, how- 
 ever, we have not been able to examine ourself, but 
 from the commendation it has received from literary- 
 gentlemen here and elsewhere, we do not doubt it is 
 a valuable and interesting work. 
 
 From the Nashua Gazette. 
 
 The early History of New England, illustra- 
 ted BY numerous interesting INCIDENTS. By 
 
 Rev. Henry White. 
 
 The above is the title of a work lately placed 
 upon our desk, by an agent who is now in this place 
 soliciting subscribers. From the cursory reading 
 which we have given the work, we should judge it 
 to be a highly interesting and useful book, and well 
 worthy of public patronage. The design of this 
 volume is, to give, in a condensed form, the most use- 
 ful and interesting facts, embracing the most remark- 
 able incidents, perils, and hardships, &c., of our pu- 
 ritan fathers, — their voyage across the Atlantic, to- 
 gether with the subsequent trials and vicissitudes, 
 through which their descendants passed, down to the 
 year 1765. The work contains 412 pages, well 
 bound, and is offered at the low price of $1,00 per 
 copy. We cheerfully recommend it to all who w4sh 
 to become acquainted with the history of their own 
 " Happy New England," to purchase this work. It 
 is well worth the price asked. 
 
 From the Christian Herald, Exeter, N. IT, 
 
 The Early History of New England. — The 
 
 above work is neatly printed on good paper, and 
 
 well bound ; it contains 412 pages, including a 
 
 copious index. I have been able to examine it but 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS. 419 
 
 partially, but have no hesitation in recommending it 
 as a valuable and interesting work. It is spoken of 
 by several exchanges in the highest terms. 
 
 That the readers of the Herald may form some 
 idea of its character, the contents of each chapter 
 are here given. 
 
 Chap. 1. The cause which led to the Emigration 
 of the Fathers of New England. 
 
 2. Difficulties and Perils of the Yoyage. 
 
 3. Hardships, Privations, and sufferings of the 
 first Company and others, after their Arrival. 
 
 4. The Manifestations of God's peculiar regard 
 for them. 
 
 5. Remarkable Answers to Prayer. • 
 
 6. Public Calamities. 
 
 7. Ambuscades, Assaults, Massacres, and Depre- 
 dations of Jhe Indians. 
 
 8. A particular Account of several who fell into 
 the Hands of the Indians. 
 
 9. Remarkable Escapes and Preservations. 
 
 10. Interesting Traits of Indian Character. 
 
 11. Interest manifested in the Welfare of the In- 
 dians, and its influence upon them. 
 
 12. Estimate placed upon the Institutions of Re- 
 ligion by the first settlers of New England. 
 
 13. Miscellaneous. 
 
 The Agent, Mr. D. W. Brown, is now in town 
 with the book, and will supply any who may wish 
 for it. Price kl. 
 
 From the Exeter NeioS'Letter, Exeter, N. H. 
 The Early History of New England, illustra- 
 ted. — By Rev. Henry White. — This is an inter- 
 esting volume of more than 400 pages. The ob- 
 ject of the author was not to furnish any thing new, 
 or to give a regular history of the Pilgrims, or the 
 
420 REC0M3IENDATI0NS. 
 
 land of the Pilgrims ; but to collect from various 
 works, not generally read, such incidents in the early- 
 history of New England as are illustrative of the 
 character of our ancestors, of the hardships they 
 encountered, the principles on which they acted, 
 and of the goodness, benevolence, and faithful- 
 ness towards them, of the God whom they served. 
 We may not expect to find in every family, nor 
 indeed in any family, all the books to which Mr. 
 White has had access in preparing the volume 
 before us ; but the " wonder-working Providence of 
 God," in behalf of our fathers, should be known 
 and remembered by their children -to the latest gene- 
 ratiorf, in order that it may be known and remem-' 
 bered from whom our blessings come, and to whom 
 we must look for the preservation and prosperity of 
 the nation which His own right hand hath planted. 
 Mr. White's History is of moderate size and mode- 
 rate price, and deserves a place among the " house- 
 hold books" of New England. 
 
 From the N. H. Courier, Concord, N. H. 
 " Early History of New England. "^ — We learn 
 that nearly the whole of the first emission of this 
 book, of which we took some notice last week, has 
 been disposed of, and that its publisher, I. S. Boyd, 
 of this place, feels greatly encouraged that it will 
 have a very extensive circulation throughout the 
 country. AH friends to the education of the great 
 mass of the people, will rejoice to know that there 
 is a strong desire among the whole of our New Eng- 
 land population to become very familiar with the 
 history of their own country. This work and Walk- 
 er's improved Hinton's History, are just what are 
 needed at the present time. 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS. 421 
 
 From the Granite State Democrat. 
 The Early History of New England, by Rev 
 Henry White — published at Concord by I. S. Boyd 
 We have no hesitancy in recommending this work 
 to all those who are lovers of good, sound, serious, 
 Hjstructive reading. The '' numerous interesting in- 
 cidents" by which the history is illustrated, rids it 
 of the dryness usually attending the researchings of 
 historical lore. We shall give a more extended no- 
 tice hereafter. The Agent, Mr. D. W. Brown, will, 
 we hope, meet with success in Exeter. 
 
 From the Olive Branch. 
 Early History of New England. — ^We have re- 
 ceived from Israel S. Boyd, Concord, N. H., the en- 
 terprising publisher, the above excellent work, edited 
 by the Rev. Henry White. It is a neatly bound 
 duodecimo volume of more than 400 pages. It 
 contains the most important facts connected with 
 the early history of New England, and is illustrated 
 by many interesting incidents. We have no doubt 
 the work will meet with a ready sale. It is just the 
 thing for parents to put into the hands of their chil- 
 dren. It will make them love our institutions when 
 they learn how much they cost. 
 
 From the Rev. David Kimball. 
 
 Concord, May 31, 1841. 
 Mr. I. S: Boyd : Dear Sir— 
 
 I have examined portions of the book, or the Early 
 History of New England, by Rev. Henry White, 
 and have been made interested. He has industri- 
 ously collected, from sources inaccessible to common 
 readers, a mass of facts illustrating the circumstan- 
 ces of difficulty and trial to which our forefathers, 
 36 
 
422 RECOMMENDATIONS. 
 
 the Puritan 'Pilgrims of this land, were subjected. 
 I am confident that those who purchase the book 
 will feel amply repaid for the expense, by the inter- 
 est which will be excited, and the information 
 gained. I hope the book will gain extensive circula- 
 tion. D. KIMBALL. 
 
 From Rev. W. H, Hatch. 
 
 Mr. I. S. Boyd : Dear Sir— 
 
 I have just finished the perusal of " The Early 
 History of New England." It appears to be a choice 
 collection of interesting facts connected with our 
 early history, interspersed with moral and religious 
 reflections. I should think it one of the most inter- 
 esting works of the kind now extant. 
 
 W. H. HATCH. 
 
 Concord, N. H., June 15, 1841. 
 
 From the Rev. E. E. Cummings, Pastor of the 
 1st Calvinistic Baptist Society ^ Concord^ N. H. 
 
 Mr. I. S. Boyd : Dear Sir — 
 
 I have read with much pleasure and profit " The 
 Early History of New England,^^ by Rev. Henry 
 White. The author has collected, with much care 
 and labor, a body of incidents which cannot fail to 
 interest every descendant of our '' Puritan Fathers." 
 To the rising generation this volume will furnish a 
 rich fund of information, which, in its present em» 
 bodied form, will render it vastly more valuable. 
 
 I feel cheerful in commending the volume to pub- 
 lic favor, and sincerely hope it may have an exten- 
 sive circulation in community. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 E. *E. CUMMINGS. 
 
 Concord, June 30, 1841. 
 
\»^ or TBB 
 RBCOMMENDAT,ONS. ((^ Jjf J "^ R S I' 
 
 From the Portsmouth Journal /y o:^ ^\ 
 
 The Early History of l^iiiwliNGi.ANiy^^m^Kl'^^^'*^^^ 
 Henry White. — This is a volume of 400 pages 
 duodecimo, containing a great many of the most 
 interesting incidents in the early history of New- 
 England ; such as are not elsewhere to be found in 
 one body, but scattered through many large works. 
 We recognize among them many tales of suffering 
 among the Indians, by New England captives, and 
 many wonderful deliverances, which were read by 
 us in early boyhood, and have lost none of their in- 
 terest yet, but are as fresh as ever in their new dress. 
 The book will certainly sell. Published by I. S. 
 Boyd, Concord. 
 
 From the Lowell Courier. 
 
 The Early History of New England, illustra- 
 ted BY NUMEROUS INTERESTING INCIDENTS. Bt 
 
 Rev. Henry White. 
 
 In this volume, the author has endeavored to give, 
 in a condensed form, the most interesting and im- 
 portant facts connected with the early history of 
 New England. Many of these facts, it is well 
 known, have been accessible to but few readers, be- 
 ing scattered through the dust-covered pages of old 
 and rare books. A work like this, collecting these 
 facts, and presenting them in a cheap and convenient 
 form, cannot fail to meet with favor. We have not 
 examined the work thoroughly, but we have seen 
 several favorable notices of it in the New Hampshire 
 journals, in which state the author resides. Hill's 
 Patriot speaks of it as having been '' compiled in a 
 manner indicating an unusual degree of perseverance, 
 labor and talent." 
 
424 RECOMMENDATIONS. 
 
 From the KeJinthunk Gazette. 
 Early History of New England. By Rev. 
 Henry White. — This volume is designed to pre- 
 sent, in a portable and cheap form, many of the most 
 interesting incidents connected with the early history 
 of New England, and which are now inaccessible to 
 a majority of readers, scattered as they are through 
 many volumes, of which a considerable portion have 
 now become rare works. The object is certainly a 
 commendable one, and the compiler seems to have 
 been fortunate in his selections, giving to his volume 
 variety, interest and a moral tone. We are always 
 glad to see cheap and well-compiled historical works 
 in the market — they cannot be purchased too exten- 
 sively or read without profit. The price of the 
 volume under consideration is one dollar, and it is 
 sold 'we are informed by subscription only. 
 
 Frorn the Christian Mirror^ edited by Asa Cunif 
 mings, Portland^ Me. 
 The Early History of New England, &c. — The 
 author of this volume has gleaned from some thirty 
 or forty volumes, not generally accessible to families 
 in common life, the most important and thrilling 
 events which marked the history of New England^ 
 till her Indian and provincial wars were over. He 
 begins with the causes which led to the emigration 
 of our fathers — details the difficulties and perils of 
 their voyage — their hardships and privations after 
 their arrival — the manifestations of God's peculiar 
 regard for them — notices some remarkable answers 
 to prayer — sundry public calamities — ambuscades, 
 assaults, massacres, and depredations of the Indians — 
 accounts of several who fell into the hands of the 
 Indians — remarkable escapes and preservations — in- 
 teresting traits of IndiSh character — what was done 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS. 425 
 
 for the Avelfare of the Indians, and the influence of 
 this beneficence upon them — estimate of rehgious 
 institutions by the first settlers — and a closing chap- 
 ter occupies more than one hundred and twenty- 
 pages with miscellaneous facts, not so easily arranged 
 under specific heads. The matter of this volume is 
 of enduring interest, and the author has done a ser- 
 vice in preparing it, for which thousands of families 
 will thank him. Few who once obtain it will be 
 willing to part with it. No romance can possibly 
 exceed it in adaptedness to engross the attention, 
 and being all veritable history, it will not injure the 
 minds of youth. It will cherish a spirit of devo- 
 tion, and raise their estimate of the unspeakable 
 value of religion, at the same time that it excites 
 patriotic feeling, and a purpose to preserve untar- 
 nished that inheritance which was procured for us 
 by such costly sacrifices. 
 
 From Rev. James R. Davenport. 
 
 Although I have not read the above work, my 
 impressions of it, derived from the known character 
 of the author, and the opinions of judicious friends 
 well acquainted with the book, are decidedly favor- 
 able, and I have no doubt that any who should pur- 
 chase it would find themselves well repaid by the 
 instruction and amusement they might derive from 
 its pages. JAS. R. DAVENPORT. 
 
 Francestown, Ap. 21, 1842. 
 
 From, Rev. Mr. Her rick. 
 I should think the purchaser would find Mr. 
 White's History of New England a valuable book, 
 inasmuch as the important matter of many authors 
 is condensed into one volume. 
 
 H. HERRIOK. 
 
426 RECOMMENDATIONS. 
 
 From Rev. John Atwood. 
 
 Hillsborough, April 13, 1842. 
 Having read with much interest the Early His- 
 tory of New England, I hereby recommend it to 
 the attention of all as a work in which is embodied 
 a very large amount of useful and interesting infor- 
 mation in relation to . the early settlement of this 
 country, not easily obtained from other sources. 
 The volume 1 believe to be richly worth the cost ; 
 and onenvhich will be read with interest and profit 
 by any person. JOHN ATWOOD. 
 
 I concur in the aboVe statement, and recommend 
 the work to every family that would remember the 
 days of the Puritans. . A. MANSUR. 
 
 From Rev. Lemuel Porter. 
 
 Having examined Rev. Henry White's " Early 
 History of New England," I am prepared to express 
 a very favorable opinion of the same. The facts 
 are interesting in themselves, and are communicated 
 in an interesting manner. The paper is good, the 
 type large and clear, the binding substantial. I 
 would cheerfully recommend this work to all who 
 wish to become acquainted with the early history of 
 New England. LEM'L PORTER, 
 
 Pastor of the Worthen St. Church. 
 
 Lowell, July 28, 1841. 
 
 From Rev. J. MGee.' 
 
 The Early History of New England, prepared by 
 the Rev. Henry White, I regard as a valuable work, 
 in which are related many interesting incidents re- 
 specting its early settlers, and would cheerfully re- 
 commend it to the patronage of the inhabitants of 
 Nashua. JONA. M'GEE. 
 
 Nashua, June 10, 1841. 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS. 427 
 
 From Rev. James W. Perkins. 
 
 Having given the " Early History of New Eng- 
 land, by Rev. Henry White," a careful perusal, I 
 have no hesitation in recommending it to the public 
 as a work adapted both to interest and instruct. I 
 think it possesses one characteristic which gives it 
 superior excellence, which is, that while it entertains, 
 the mind, both of the old and young, it illustrates 
 and impresses important moral and relia^ious princi- 
 ples. JAMES W. PERKINS. 
 
 Warner, Oct. 25, 1841. 
 
 From Rev. Stephen T. Allen, 
 
 I purchased a few days ago the '^ Early History 
 of New England, by Rev. Henry White," and have 
 read it with great satisfaction. Instead of giving a 
 continuous history it aims to embody interesting 
 facts and narratives, many of which cannot else- 
 where be found. 
 
 I think it an excellent family book. Its subjects 
 are such as cannot fail to interest and engage the 
 attention of youth, and its religious tone is elevated. 
 
 It is commendable to the author as a pious tribute 
 to the worth of those noble spirits, who in tribula- 
 tion and suffering laid the foundation of the institu- 
 tions which we enjoy. 
 
 To those who wish to purchase a book of the 
 kind, I feel safe in recommending it. I hope it may 
 have a wide circulation throughout New England. 
 STEPHEN T. ALLEN. 
 
 Merrimack, July 12, 1841. 
 
428 RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 -From . the Rev. Wm. M. Rogers, Pastor of the 
 Franklin Street Cong. Society, Boston, Mass. 
 
 Boston, June 28th, 1841. 
 
 Rev. and Dear Sir: — I have read with interest 
 your collection of " Incidents in the Early History 
 of New England." They furnish an affecting ex- 
 hibition of the sacrifices of the fathers in securing 
 the blessings of social and religious liberty for their 
 children. 
 
 Constituted as we are, the heirs of the past and 
 the guardians of the future, I welcome every thing 
 which will keep before "the people the price paid in 
 the beginnings of our nation for the blessings of the 
 present, as well as the spirit, and principles, and mo- 
 tives which animated the Pilgrims. Looking for 
 the continuance of our existence as a people, to the 
 same fear of God and love of liberty which perva- 
 ded the Puritans, I hope your collection may obtain 
 a wide circulation. 
 
 With much respect, , 
 
 I remain yours, &c. 
 
 WM. M. ROGERS. 
 Rev. Henry White. 
 
PUBLICATIONS OF SANBORN, CARTER, BAZIN & CO. 
 
 NKUMAN AND BAHETTI'S 
 
 DICTIONARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SPANISH AND ENGLISH LANGUAGES: 
 
 WHEKEIN 
 
 THE WORDS ARE CORRECTLY EXPLAINED, AGREEABLY TO THEIR DIF- 
 FERENT MEANINGS, AND A GREAT VARIETY OF TERMS RELATING 
 TO THE ARTS, SCIENCES, MANUFACTURES. MERCHANDISE, 
 NAYIGATION AND TRADE, ELUCIDATED. 
 
 TO WHICH ARE ADDED 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR FINDING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ANCIENT 
 
 AND MODERN ORTHOGRAPHY. 
 
 REVISED AND COBKECTED BY F. SALES. 
 
 Vol. L— SPANISH AND ENGLISH. Vol. II.— ENGLISH AND SPANISH. 
 
 Two Volumes, Eoyal Octavo, Sheep. Price, $3.75. 
 
 The present stereotype edition of this Spanish and English Dictionary has heen care- 
 fully revised and enlarged by the addition of many thousand words extracted from the 
 writings of the most classical Spanish and English authors, many of which are not to 
 be found in any other dictionary of those languages, and also by great additions from 
 the dictionaries of Connelly and Higgins. the Spanish Academy. &c., &c. It probably 
 contains not only many more words than are to be found in the most copious vocabu- 
 laries, but also much |>raptical and useful information; more facts, principles, and 
 ti-rins now used in the sciences, arts, manufactures, and commerce, than in any similar 
 dictionary hitherto published, and likewise more of the mo^rn words in the polite or 
 familiar conversation of both countries. 
 
 Nearly two hundred pages have been added to the volumes now presented to the 
 public; and the space gained in the other portions of them, by lengthemr.g the pages 
 and compressing the definitions, so as to leave but few short lines, augments their con- 
 tents to the equivalent of nearly four hundred pages more than the preceding editions 
 of thus work. In the Spanish-English, above three thousand entirely ncio articles have 
 been introduced ; in the English-Spanish, above twelve thousand. 
 
 r 
 
 ITALIAN POCKET DICTIONARY: 
 
 IN TWO PARTS. 
 
 I. ITALIAN AND ENGLISH. — II. ENGLISH AND ITALIAN. 
 
 PRECEDED BY AN 
 
 ITALIAN GRAMMAR. 
 
 By C. GRAGLL\. 
 
 from the forrteenth london edition, 
 with corrections and additions. 
 
 Finely Printed, in One Volume, 16mo, Sheep. Price, $1.35. 
 
 The general approbation with which this valuable little Dictionary has been received, 
 the rapidity with which fourteen editions have been exhausted in England, and its 
 universal adoption by instructors in this country, are a suflficient recommendation of 
 this work. Many eiTors of accentuation, orthography, Ac had, however, found their 
 way into the text, which has been carefully revised, and compared with those of AI- 
 berti, Barberi. Ac. 
 
 In a Pocket Dictionary of so copious a language as the Italian, a complete vocabulary 
 is not to be expected. In order to make the additions to this part of the work more 
 useful, the texts of the classics most commonly read by beginners were examined, and 
 such words and idioms inserted from them, amounting to about three thousand arti- 
 cles, as were not contained in the former editions. 
 
PUBLICATIONS OP SANBORN, CARTER, BAZIN & CO. 
 
 GARDNER'S LATIN DICTIONARY. 
 
 A DICTIONARY OF THE LATIN LANGUAGE; 
 
 PARTICULARLY ADAPTED TO THE 
 
 CLASSICS USUALLY STUDIED PKEPARATORY TO A COLLEGIATE COURSE 
 
 By FRANCIS GARDNER, A.M., 
 
 INSTRUCTOE IN THE PUBUO LATIN SCHOOL, BOSTON. 
 
 In One Volume, Royal Octavo, Sheep. Price, $2.25. 
 
 The basis of this work is the Lexicon of the Latin Language, prepared 
 by the late Mr. Leverett ; a work which has been received with great favor 
 by the public. But it is obvious that a work so full and comprehensive as 
 that is must contain much that can be of but little use to the young student. 
 
 In preparing the present work, great care has been taken that it should 
 embrace all the words occurring in those avithors which are usually read pre- 
 viously to the college course, viz. : Virgil, Cicero's Select Orations, Sallust, 
 Ovid, Caesar, Nepos, Phsedrus, etc. These words, with their respective defi- 
 nitions, have, in most cases, been inserted entire; their abridgment consist- 
 ing chiefly in erasing<|i part of the citations from the authors in which they 
 are found. 
 
 But although attention has been particularly paid to the authors here 
 named, yet it must be obvious to every one that a work which shall embrace 
 and define every word in those authors must be a tolerably comprehensive 
 dictionary of the whole Latin language, and that, with the aid of it, almost 
 any common Latin classic might be read. 
 
 From the New York Keview. 
 
 " In order to adapt Mr. Leverett's Lexicon more particularly for the use of school 
 boys, by reducing its size by the omission of those heads and articles which are entirely 
 useless to them, an abridgment of it has been published, expressly adapted for their 
 use. It was executed by Mr. Francis Gardner, a gentleman who has for some years 
 been engaged in classical pursuits, as a teacher in the Public Latin School in Boston, 
 whose perfect accuracy and knowledge of the subject were a sufficient guarantee that 
 his work would be skilfully and ably performed. 
 
 " To the manner in which it is executed we wish to call attention. Of an Encyclopaj- 
 dia of the Latin language, it is desired to preserve those parts which are useful to a 
 school boy, and reject the rest. Those words which will recur in his earlier studies 
 must be inserted, with such definitions as will be necessary there; those phrases which 
 he will meet with must be retained, as well as all the explanations of ancient science, 
 art, customs, philosophy, history, and geography, which he will need. The only rea- 
 sonable method of abridging is that which shall be made on such principles as we have 
 described, and the reader will at once see what* a careful discrimination and thorough 
 knowledge of books it must require. To the other qualifications of a good lexicogra- 
 pher which we have mentioned, it adds, as a requisite, full knowledge of the details of 
 every book on which the school boy will be exercised, that the dictionary may be pre- 
 pared to meet all his wants. 
 
 " The mere abridgment, however, is not the only way in which the work has been 
 adapted for schools. Whole articles have been entirely rewritten, the arrangement of 
 definitions and phrases and their dependence on each other changed, that the scholar 
 may more easily understand the full force of each. These additions will be acknowl- 
 edged to be such as will be real aids to the careful scholar," 
 
PUBLICATIONS OP SANBORN, CARTER, BAZIN & CO. 
 
 [EVERETT'S LATIN LEXICONj 
 
 ENLARGED AND IMPROVED. 
 
 COMPILED CHIEFLY FROM THE 
 
 MAGNUM TOTITJS LATINITATIS LEXICON OF FACCIOLATI AND FORCELLINI, 
 AND THE GERMAN WORKS OF SCHELLER AND LUENEMANN. 
 
 Edited by F. P. LEVERETT. 
 
 A NEW EDITION, 
 
 EMBRACING THE CLASSICAL DISTINCTIONS OF WORDS, AND THE 
 
 ETYMOLOGICAL INDEX OF • 
 
 RIDDLE'S FREUND'S LEXICON. 
 
 In One Voliune, Eoyal Octavo, Sheep. Price, $5.00. 
 
 The present edition of this standard and favorite Latin Lexicon has heen much im- 
 proved by the transfer to its columns o?the classical distinctions of the words, as given 
 in the Lexicon of Dr. William Freund, of Germany, and translated by RidcUe. The 
 classical degree of each word is indicated by placing a figure directly under the first 
 letter of the wordin its column. For example : A word without a figure under it la 
 Classical, and fully Ciceronian ; or else it is a proper na«ue, to which classic laws do not 
 apply. The figure 1, placed under a word, denotes that it is rare in Cicero. These 
 words are Classical, but not of the first authority ; though maRx of them are peculiar 
 to that writer. The figure 2, placeil under a word, denotes that it is Classical, hut not 
 Ciceronian. The classiral prose writers are Cicero, Caesar, Sullust, LKy, Veleius, Cel- 
 sus, the two Senccas, Quintilian, Tacitus, Suetonius, Pliny the elder, and Pliny the 
 younger. The figure 3, placed under a word, denotes that it does not belong to classical 
 prose. Some of these words are anti-dassical, and some of them are occasionally found 
 in the Poets; but most of them are post-classical, belonging to Low Latin, Ecclesiastical 
 Latin, Medieval Latin, and many of them to the New or Modem Latin, coined chiefly 
 for the convenience of the sciences. These distinctions the student perceives at a 
 glance. 
 
 From the New York Beview. 
 
 "For comprehensiveness of plan, for accuracy of detail, for general skill and philo- 
 sophical arrangement of its contents, for the precision and correctness of its state- 
 ments, for the care of its execution, and the beauty and exactness of its outward ap- 
 pearance, it is, so far as we know, without a rival. Whoever makes it his counsellor 
 soon begins to rely upon it as an almost unerring authority. In a single volume, the 
 student finds that for which he has been accustomed to seek in many different quar- 
 ters ; besides a vocabulary, he finds, in its careful notations of quantity, the advan- 
 tages of a gradus ; in its full quotations from authorities, he finds little need for the 
 cumbrous volumes of a thesaurus ; and its explanations of ancient geography and art 
 leave him little to look for in treatises of a more restricted character. We know that 
 this is high praise; we have not uttered it, however, without well weighing our words, 
 and without a full knowledge, derived from daily ex])erience, of the book of which wo 
 write. * * * The student of Latin, of any degree of capacity or acquisition, will 
 feel, in the use of this volume, tliat he has an authority which is neither defective nor 
 erroneous. Whenever he has occasion to turn to a word, he will find at a glance the 
 quantity of its syllables, its derivation, its primitive meaning, and the manner in 
 which its other definitions are derived from this, and the different shades of its signi- 
 fication in various pJirases. He will have placed before him illustrations of the man- 
 ner in which the ancient authors use it in every connection and for every significa- 
 tion. He will find the manner in which, for different purposes, it is united with othes 
 words. We make no attempt to compare it with other works of the same nature. So 
 far as we know, there is no book, having or professing t* havft the sam« sbjtct, that 
 has the slightest claim to competition with it." 
 
PUBLICATIONS OF SANBORN, CARTER, BAZIN & CO. 
 
 PICKERING'S GR_EEK LEXICON. 
 
 A Comprehensive Lexicon of the Greek Language 
 
 ADAPTED TO THE USE OF 
 
 SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 By JOHN PICKERING, LL. D., 
 
 President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences ; Corresponding Member of the 
 Boyal Academy of Sciences at Berlin ; of tlie Antiquarian Society at Athens, etc., etc. 
 
 In One Volume, 8vo. 1468 Pages, Sheep. Price, $376. 
 
 From Professor Edward Bobinson, of KTew York. 
 « There can be but little hazard in pronouncing the Lexicon of Mr. Pickering to be 
 the best extant for the use of colleges and schools in the United States; for which, in- 
 deed, it has been specially prepared. Within the last ibw days, one of the best Greek 
 editors and critical scholars in the country, himself a practical teacher, has expressed to 
 us his opinion, that a young man, at school or in college, who uses Pickering's Lexicon, 
 will usually get his Greek lessons with greater ease and accuracy, and in far less time, 
 than by the aid of any other Greek Lexicpn." 
 
 Prom Kev. Dr. Bullions, Prof, of Greek in the Albany Academy, 
 author of a Greek Grammar, &c. 
 
 " In respect to fulness, it contains all the information that the advanced student will 
 ordinarily need ; and at tbc same time, by the insertion of the oblique cases of irregu- 
 lar nouns, and the parti? of irregular verbs in alphabetical order, to a much greater ex- 
 tent than is usual, it is peculiarly adapted to the wants of the younger student. The 
 work should command, and probably will have, an extensive circulation." 
 
 From J. P. Bobinson, Chairman of the Committee on Greek Exam- 
 inations at Harvard University. 
 " I h.ave read, with much pleasure, several favorable notices of this Lexicon in the 
 public papers. I wish to add my humble testimony to that of the other writers, in 
 commendation of this vahiable work. I took up Becker's edition of the Oratores Attici, 
 which is in 7 vols. 8vo, without notes, and read through the oration of Jilschines against 
 Timarchus, with Pickering's Lexicon, comparing it with the English edition of Liddell 
 and Scott's large work, and Donnegan's. As a convenient and useful manual, I hava 
 no hesitation in giving it the preference over either of the others." 
 
 From Isaac G. Hubbs, A. M., Principal of Mt. Washington School, 
 New York City. 
 " I am using Pickering's Lexicon in my school, with very great satisfaction. Our 
 pupils prefer it to a variety of others to which they have free access, and iind it better 
 adapted to their wants. I would heartily recommend this most valuable book to gen- 
 tlemen of our profession who may not have adopted it, believing, as I do, that none 
 would be used with greater advantage by their pupils." 
 
 From "Walter Chisholm, A. M., Prin. of Brooklyn Gram. School. 
 
 " The late edition of Pickering's Greek Lexicon fully realizes my expectations of it. 
 It appears, on a careful examination, to be exactly the work required for schools and 
 colleges, the articles treated of being stated in such a manner as to appear neither so 
 diffuse as to bewilder, nor so short as to be unsatisfactory. The careful insertion, too, 
 of such irregular forms as the unassisted student could not discover, while nothing is 
 given which might tend to render him indolent, are excellences not to be overlooked. 
 The great pains bestowed upon the prepositions and other particles will no doubt 
 greatly aid the young scholar in tlje attainment of a knowledge of the Greek lapguage." 
 
 Professor Felton, in the Christian Examiner. 
 
 " Pickering's Lexicon, in its present form, is, in every respect, an excellent one. It 
 dnos greot honor to the ability, unwearied industry, and vast attainments of its author. 
 It is particularly adapted to the range of Greek words studied in the schools and cot 
 leges of tlie United States ; and American editions of the classics have been epeciallr 
 raferred to." 
 
^SHH'^ 
 
 DESK 
 
 RPOWED 
 
 LOAN DEPT. 
 
 This book is due on the last date stamped below, 
 or on the date to which renewed. Renewals only: 
 
 Tel. No. 642-3405 
 Renewals may be made 4 days prior to date due. 
 Renewed books are subiect to immediate recall. 
 
 mw N0Vl7 
 
 ^9^ 
 
 'AUG3119RR 
 
 Rec'd UCB ANTH 
 
 NOV 1 1987 
 
 mm: NOV 11 1987 
 
 4J- 
 
 FEB 2 1991 
 
 NOV 2 01990 
 
 mm NOV ] 9 I99Q 
 
 LD21A-40m-8,'71 
 (P6572sl0)476-A-32 
 
 General Library 
 
 University of California 
 
 Berkeley 
 
 ^U 
 
 LD 21-100m-2,'55 
 (B139s22)476 
 
 General Library 
 
 University of California 
 
 Berkeley 
 
GENERAL LIBRARY -U.C. BERKELEY 
 
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