CHRISTIAN BIOGRAPHY

 

 

 

 

                                 LIFE OF

 

           THE REV. JOHN E L I O T,

                                   The Apostle to the Indians.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                 Religious Tract Society,

                                                  Instituted 1799;

 

              PUBLISHED AND SOLD AT THE DEPOSITORY,
                                   56, PATER-NOSTER-ROW;
                       BY J. NISBET, 21, BERNERS STREET;
                                       AND OTHER BOOKSELLERS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                           Printed by J. Rider, Little Britain, London.

 

 

             LIFE OF THE

 REV. JOHN ELIOT.

 

JOHN ELIOT, long known and justly celebrated as
 "The Apostle to the Indiana," was born in England,
but in what part of it is uncertain, about the year 1604.
The names and condition of his parents are involved in
equal obscurity with the place of his birth. There is
reason, however, to believe he had the advantage of a
religious education; a blessing which it is impossible
to estimate too highly, since God very frequently em­
ploys it as a means of conversion to himself. It had
this happy effect in the case of young Eliot, who after­
wards observed that he saw it was a great favour of
God towards him, to season his first times with the
fear of God, the word, and prayer. Nothing is more
becoming the character of a christian, when he looks
back upon the way by which the Lord his God hath led
him, than to acknowledge the divine goodness in giving
him the benefit of early religious impressions. It is
true, indeed, that the best education may fail to reach
the heart ; but our gracious God has so connected
means with ends, and has so frequently bestowed his
blessing upon early religious instruction, that parents
have every encouragement to engage in it, and chil­
dren every reason to be thankful for it.  Oh! "knew
they but their happiness" in this respect, how careful
would they be to improve the blessing!

     When of sufficient age he entered the university of

Cambridge, where he received an excellent education;
and prosecuted his studies in that famous seat of learn­
ing with remarkable industry and success. From his
example, students may learn both the duty and the
reward of persevering diligence and application. He
became, according to Dr. Cotton Mather's account, a
most acute grammarian, and attained an extensive

 

4                             LIFE OF

knowledge of the original languages of the sacred
scriptures, of christian theology, and of the sciences
and liberal arts.

About the year 1629, the pious and learned Thomas
Hooker, who was afterwards distinguished among the
divines of New England, having, on account of his
non-conformity, been suspended from the exercise of
the ministry at Chelmsford, in Essex, established a
respectable school at Little Baddow, in the same
county. Here Mr. Eliot, on leaving the   university,
was employed as his usher, and discharged the duties
of this situation with great skill and fidelity; and here
he found himself in circumstances highly favourable
to the cultivation of his mental powers, and to his reli­
gious improvement.  Mr. Hooker, to whom his ser­
vices were highly valuable, returned the obligation, by
taking the liveliest interest in his welfare, both temporal
and spiritual.   In grateful recollection of the benefits
he enjoyed at Little Baddow, he thus writes:--"To
this place I was called through the infinite riches of
God's mercy in Christ Jesus to my poo1 soul, for here
the Lord said unto my dead soul, Live; and, through
the grace of God, I do live, and I shall live for ever!
When I came to this blessed family, I then saw, and
never before, the power of godliness in its lively vigour
and efficacy."

Having thus felt the power of true religion in his
own heart, he was anxious to comm1micate the same
blessing to others, and hence. he resolved to devote
himself to the ministry of the gospel; but finding it
impossible to exercise this office. in his native land, in
consequence of the restrictions then imposed, he de­
termined to depart to America, where he hoped to enjoy
that liberty of conscience which was denied him at
home.   Accordingly, he. embarked for New England
in the summer of 1681, and arrived at Boston toward
the end of the year. Navigation was not, in those times,
so safe or so speedy as it has since become: the pas-

 

 

THE REV. JOHN ELIOT.          6

sage to America now would occupy less than one-third
of the time it did then. Soon afte1· landing, he entered
into communion with the congregational church that
had been formed at Boston by the first colonists of
Massachusett's Bay; and agreed to act as pastor of the
church during the absence of the Rev. John Wilson,
who had gone to England for the settlement of his
affairs.

In the following year, 1682, Mr. Eliot was united to
a pious young lady, to whom he had promised marriage
before   he left   England; and about the same time
he undertook the pastoral care of an, infant church
formed at Roxbury, about a mile from Boston, where
a number of his christian friends, who had followed
him from England, had recently erected a   town.
Here he remained for the long period of nearly sixty
years, in the faithful and laborious discharge of his
ministerial duties; and from. this spot he made those
frequent excursions among the Indian tribes, which
were attended with so much success .in converting
many of them to the truth, and which will perpetuate
his name to the latest generations.

It may be proper here to remark, that the first set­
 tlers in New England were chiefly pious persons, who,
like the subject of this memoir, left their native land,
in times of persecution, to obtain the uncontrolled en­
joyment of religious freedom. The greater number
were English; but some from other parts of Europe
joined them; and, together, they established a form of
discipline which they deemed most agreeable to scrip­
ture. Letters patent were afterwards granted to them,
by Charles I., securing to them the free exercise of
their- religion, and at the same time declaring it to be
the "principal end of   the plantation," both "in  
his royal intention," and in the " free possession" of
those settlements by " the adventurers, to win and in­
cite the natives of that country to the knowledge and
obedience of the only true. God and Saviour of mankind.

                                         3

 

6                           LIFE OF

Such being the avowed intention of the charter, and
such the feeling of the pious inhabitants of New
England, it will not appear surprising that the conver-
sion of the natives to the christian faith should be an

object of continual desire and solicitude. The religion

of Christ is a religion of love; and hence those who
have tasted its sweetness, and felt its power, will be
naturally  anxious  that all around them  should partake
of its blessings.               

Mr. Eliot entered upon bis engagement at Roxbury

under a deep impression of its importance and respon­
sibility. Accustomed to laborious study, he did not
relax his diligence when he, undertook the pastoral
charge, but rather increased it, that by continually
adding to his own stores of knowledge, he might the
more effectually instruct and edify his people. He did
not  satisfy himself with a slight degree of preparation

for the pulpit; but was remarkably diligent in qualify­
ing himself to impart to each of his hearers a "portion
in due season;" nor was be less assiduous in the other
departments of pastoral duty.  He always commended
a discourse which bore marks of labour and study on
the part of the preacher; but nothing could reconcile
him to the omission of those great doctrines which
constitute the excellence and glory of christianity,
"Christ crucified," and salvation by faith in Him.
Though he considered that the faithful preaching of
the gospel was the appointed means of converting sin­
ners, and that it should be the constant object of the
preacher to bring the word of God into contact with the
sinner's heart, he yet knew that these means, or any
other, could only be rendered efficacious by the opera­
tion of the Spirit of God upon the soul; and hence he
constantly sought that aid, and relied upon it in all his
ministrations." Let there be much of Christ in your
ministry," he would frequently say to young preachers;
and he recommended the injunction by his own
example.

 

      THE REV. JOHN ELIOT.                     7

Plainness of  speech  and  earnestness  of  manner,
were always  observable  in  his  public  addresses;  and
he never seemed to lose sight  of  the  one  great end of
his office, to proclaim the gospel to rebellious man, and
bring him back to his allegiance to the  King of  kings.
His whole course and manner were consistent through­
out. When he warned the impenitent, or roused the
careless, or stim11lated the slothful, or called back the
wanderer; when he encouraged the  timid,  or  con­
firmed the wavering,  or -comforted  the  distressed;
when he directed the convinced sinner to the Lamb of
God, or the self-condemned to the hope of  pardon
through the blood of Christ; when he spoke of  rest  to
 the weary and heavy laden, or pointed to the heavenly
inheritance and the crowns of glory which await the
faithful; his aim was to  win  souls  to  Christ,  to edify
 the church, and to "give full proof of" his "ministry."
Nor did he confine his exertions to the  public ser-
vices of  the  sanctuary.  He   held frequent intercourse  with
his people in private, and interested himself in all that
concerned them; consoling them in sorrow, directing
them in difficulty, sharing in their joys, and using every
means to confirm and enlarge their knowledge of the
truth.  No method of gaining  access  to  their  hearts
was neglected by him, and many days of fasting and
prayer did he spend on their behalf.

His concern for the young was manifested by the in­

terest he took in their instruction.    Looking upon them
as the hope of the church, he wisely bent his efforts to
bring them forward in divine knowledge, and thus to
feed the lambs of the flock. For their use he com­
posed several catechisms, and took care that they were
early taught the truths he thus collected for them. He
was by no means satisfied when the words of these
catechisms were committed to memory; but by frequent
explanations and inquiries he endeavoured to make
them understand the truths of religion, and.by forcible
appeals to impress them upon their hearts.  It is a
great mistake to suppose that the mere repetition of

 

8                                     LIFE OF

 

words from a book, how correctly soever they may be
said, will answer the purpose of religious instruction.
Happy are those children whose  teachers  labour  to
make them acquainted with the meaning of what they
commit to memory, and who stir up their minds to  take
an interest in the truths  which  they are  taught.  Mr.
Eliot kept up  this  important  method  of  instruction,
both publicly and privately, and spent A great deal of
time in it. " He thought himself under a particular
obligation to  be that  officer which  the  apostle  calls,
in Rom. ii. 26, "a teacher of babes;" nor was he
ashamed, any more than some of the worthiest men
among the ancients were, to  be called  'A catechist.'
And the effect and success of this catechising, bore pro-
portion to the indefatigable industry with which he
prosecuted it.

I

  "There is another instance," Dr. Mather observes,
"of his regard to the welfare of the poor children under
his charge; and that is, his perpetual resolution and
activity to support a good school in the town that be-
longed unto him. A grammar-school he would always
have in the place, whatever it cost him; and he
importuned all other places to have the like. I cannot
forget  the ardour with which I once heard him pray,
in a synod of these churches which met at Boston, to
consider how the miscarriages which were among us
might  be prevented;  I say, with what fervour  he  ut-
tered an expression to this purpose; ' Lord, for schools
every where among us I That our schools may flourish!
That every member of this assembly may go home and
procure a good school to be encouraged in every plan-
tation in the country.' God so blessed his endeavours,
that Roxbury afforded more scholars, first for the col-
lege, and then for the  public, than any town of its size,
or, if I mistake not, of twice its extent, in all New
England. From the spring of the school at Roxbury,
there have run a large number of the  streams  which
have made glad this whole city of God.
The reader will naturally be led by this part of the

THE   REV.  JOHN  ELIOT.     9

narrative, to reflect with pleasure upon the progress or
education, not only in this country, hilt in many other
parts of the world; and particularly of that, which is
the most important of all, the instruction of the young
in the principles of christianity. It is delightful to
think how many thousands of children are now trained
in good and useful habits, and brought up in "the
nurture and admonition of the Lord," who, if they had
lived a few years ago, would have been totally neg­
lected! How many are now brought under the sound
of the gospel, who otherwise would never have heard
of it! This is beginning at the right end. It is the
way to exclude bad impressions from the youthful
heart, by making good ones; and may prove, by the
blessing of God, one of the most, effectual methods of
extending the knowledge of the Redeemer, and pro­
moting the salvation of the world.

Mr. Eliot was equally careful to maintain correct
discipline in his church. He preferred the congrega­
tional mode. He accordingly enjoined on each society
the management of its own affairs, and at the same
time advised the frequent holding of synods or councils,
for interference and appeal on special occasions, and
for the advancement of the general good. He was
very particular, as most of the New England divines
appear to have been, in admitting members into his
church, requiring the most satisfactory evidence of
their conversion to God. before he would acknowledge
their claim to be received as fellow-christians; and
watching over them in the Lord with all the tender­
ness of a spiritual father, and with all the anxiety of
one who "must give an account." His labours and
cares were abundantly prospered, and true religion
flourished among classes and ages in the church
and congregation at Roxbury. 
    In his family, too, he was not less vigilant and exem-

plary. The wife of his bosom he loved, prized, and
cherished, with a kindness that strikingly represented

 

 

10                             LIFE OF

the compassion which he thereby taught his church to
expect from the Lord Jesus Christ; and after  he  had
lived with her for more than  half  a century, he fol­
lowed her to  the  grave  with  deep lamentations, yet
with christian resignation and hope. Their mutual
affection, and the constancy  and  closeness  of  their
walk with God in all his commandments and ordi­
nances, procured for them the designation of Zacharias
and Elizabeth.  The family of Mr. Eliot is described
by Dr. Mather  as "a little Bethel, for the worship of
God constantly  and exactly maintain d in it;  and unto
the daily prayers of the family,  his  manner  was to
prefix the  reading of the  scripture I  which  being done,
it was also his method to make his young people choose
a certain passage in the chapter, and give him some

observation of their own upon it. By this method, he
mightily sharpened and improved, as well as tried, their
understandings, and endeavoured to make them wise
unto salvation. He was likewise very strict in the
education of his children, and more careful to amend
any error in their hearts and lives than he could have
been to cure a blemish in their bodies. No exorbi­
tances or extravagances were suffered under his roof,
nor was his house any other than a school of piety.
Whatever  decay,''  the Doctor adds, "there might  be
in family religion among us, as  for  our  Eliot,  we
knew him that he would command his children and his
household after him, that they should keep the way of
the Lord."

We must now notice some particulars of the natives
of the countries in which Eliot lived. They had been
forlorn and wretched heathen as far back as we can trace
their history, though we know not when or how those In­
dians first became inhabitants of this mighty continent.
"There were," says Dr. Mather, "about twenty se-

  veral nations, if I may call them so, of Indians, upon
that spot of round which fell  under  the  influence of
our  three  united colonies," Massachusetts, Rhode

THE REV. JOHN ELIOT.        11

Island, and Connecticut.  Of their condition, before
the apostolic Eliot laboured to improve it, we learn the
following particulars from the same author.

  "Know, then," he says impressively, "that these
doleful creatures are the veriest ruins of mankind.
They live in a country full of metals; but these shift­
less Indians were never owners of so much as a knife
till we came among them: their name for an English­
man was a 'knife-man.'  They live in a country where
we now have all the conveniences of life: but, as for
them, their housing is nothing but a few mats tied
about poles fastened into the earth, where a good fire
is their bed-clothes in the coldest season: their cloth-
ing is but the skin of a beast: their diet ha, not a
greater dainty, than a spoonful of parched meal with
a spoonful of water, which will strengthen them to
travel for a day together. Their physic, excepting a
few odd specifics with which some of them encounter
certain cases, is scarcely any thing beyond a hot-house,

 or a powaw: their bot-house is a little cave, where,
after they have terribly heated it, a crew of them go
and sit and sweat and smoke for an hour together, and
then immediately run into some very cold adjacent
brook, without the least mischief to them: but, in
most of their dangerous distempers, a powaw must be
sent for, that is a priest, who roars, and howls, and
uses magical ceremonies over the sick man, and will be
well paid for it when he has done: if this does not effect
the cure, ' the man's time is come, and there is an end.'
     "Their way of living is completely barbarous: the
men are most abominably slothful; making their poor
squaws, or wives, to plant, and dress, and barn, and
beat their corn, and build their wigwams, or houses,
for them. Their chief employment, when they will
condescend unto any, is that of hunting; wherein they
will go out some scores, if not hundreds, of them in a
company, driving all before them.
     They continue in a place till they have burnt up all

12                            LIFE OF
the wood thereabouts, and then they pluck up their
stakes; to follow the wood which they cannot fetch home
unto themselves: hence, when they inquire about the
English, 'Why come they hither?' they have them­
selves very learnedly determined the case,  it was be­
cause they wanted firing.' No arts are understood
among them, except just so far as to maintain con­
venation, which is little more than is to be found
among the very beavers upon our streams.

"Their division of time is by sleeps, and moons, and   
I winters; and, by lodging abroad, they have somewhat
observed the motions of the stars: among which it has
been surprising unto me to find, that they have always
called Charles a Wain by the name of Paukunnawaw,
or the Bear, which is the name whereby Europeans
also have distinguished it. Moreover, they have little
if any traditions  among them worthy of our notice;

and reading and writing is altogether unknown to

them, though there is a rock, or two, in the country

that has unaccountable characters engraved upon it.
     "All the· religion they have, amounts onto  thus
much: they believe that there are many gods, who
made and own the several nations of the world; of
 which a certain great God, in the south-west regions of
heaven, bears the greatest figure. They believe, that
every remarkable creature has a peculiar god within it,
or about it: there is with them a sun-god, a moon­
god, and the like; and they cannot conceive but that
the fire most be a kind of a god, inasmuch as a spark of
it will soon produce very strange effects. They believe
 that when any good or ill happens to them, there is
the favour or the anger a god expressed in it: and
hence, as in a time of calamity, they keep a dance, or
a day of extravagant ridiculous devotions to their god;
 so, a time of prosperity, they likewise have a feast,
wherein they also make presents one unto another.
Finally, they believe, that their chief God, Kichtan, or
Kautantowit, made a man and woman of a stone;

THE  REV. JOHN ELIOT.    13

which, upon dislike, he broke to pieces, and made
another man and woman of a tree which were the
fountains of all mankind I and, that we all have in us
immortal souls, which, if we were godly, shall go to a
 splendid entertainment with Kautantowit; but other­
wise, must wander about in a restless horror for ever.
But, if you say to them any thing of a resurrection,
they will reply I shall never believe it.' When they
 have any weighty undertaking before them, it is a usual
 thing for them to have their aaaemblies, wherein they
worship the devil."

     These were the miserable people to whose salvation
Eliot devoted himself.  He had to labour among them
not only to impart the principles of the christian rell­
gion, but to elevate them as men, and to raise them
from their degraded state. He could not, as Gregory
did in oar countrymen, see any thing angelical to
bespeak his labours for their eternal welfare: all
among· them· was 'diabolical. To think of raising a
number of these poor creatures unto the elevations of
our holy religion, must argue more than common or
little 1entiments in the undertaker: but the faith of an
Eliot could encounter it!

More than twenty years bad passed from the first
landing of the settlers in New England, before they
seriously turned their attention to the conversion of
the natives. The difficulties inseparable from their
attempt to establish themselves in a wild country,
where the inhabitants were frequently hostile, had
fully engaged their care and energy. In the year 1646,
however, the general court of Massachusetts colony
passed an act for the encouragement of attempts to
win over the natives to the faith of Christ.   Previously
to this, a few references had been made to the state of
these people: the charter of king Charles has already
been alluded to. In 1636, the government of Plymouth
colony made several laws for preaching the gospel
among the Indian; and about the year 1642, Mr.

 

14                                LIFE OF

Thomas Mayhew, the son of the governor, and patentee
of Martha's Vineyard, Elizabeth and Nantucket isles,
began to labour among the Indians in the former of
these places, having learned the Indian language for
that purpose.

The attention of Mr. Eliot having been called to the
state of the Indians by these and other circumstances,
and his pity having been excited to their miserable
condition, he resolved to make an effort for their bene­
fit; and; to this end, he applied himself  most  dili­
gently to the study of the Indian language, with the
assistance of a native who could speak English. The
language he was about to learn presented obstacles of
an unusual kind: the enormous length of many of its
words, the consequent slow communication of ideas,
 the harshness of the pronunciation, and its little affinity
with the European tongues, would have discouraged
any but a most determined student. The words, "our
lusts," are expressed in Indian by a word of thirty-two
letters --

NummatchekodtrmtamoOflganunnonaah.

And   forty-three letters are employed  to express
"our  question."  But Eliot  was  not  to  be  daunted
with any difficulties which human skill or perseverance
could overcome, especially when he had an object to
pursue of  such  vast importance  as. the conversion of
the heathen to christianity. By assiduous labour, he
surmounted the difficulties of this strange language;
and was able, in  the  course of  a few months,  to speak
it intelligibly. After some further time, by unwearied
industry, he became so complete a master of it, that he
reduced it to method, and published a grammar.
Having  finished  his grammar,  he wrote,  at  the  close
of it, under a full sense of the difficulties he bad en­
countered, and the acquisition he had made, "Prayers
and pains, through faith in Christ Jesus, will do any
thing!" May other students, and especially other

 

 

THE  REV. JOHN  ELIOT.          15

missionaries, be stimulated to exertion by his noble
example.

His own account of his motives and his success is
 very simple and interesting. "God first put into my
heart a compassion over their poor souls, and a desire
to teach them to know Christ, and  to bring them  into
his kingdom. Then presently I found out, by God's
wise providence, a clever-witted young man, who had
been a servant in an English house, who pretty well
understood our language, better than he could speak it,
and well understood  his  own  language,  and  had  a
clear  pronunciation:  him  I  made  my interpreter. By
his help I translated the Commandments, the Lord's
Prayer, and many texts of scripture; also I compiled
both exhortations and prayers by his help. I diligently
marked the difference of their grammar from our's.
When I found the way of them,  I would pursue a word,
a noun, a verb, through all variations I could  think of:
and thus I came at it."

An active mind, in pursuit of a great  object  will
never remain long without devising  some  means to
attain it, and Eliot, taking with  him  an  interpreter,
whose occasional aid he might require, entered on his
labour in the year 1646.  His friends and brethren
greatly encouraged him in this holy enterprize; the
neighbouring ministers undertaking to supply his place
at  Roxbury  while  he  went  among the heathen.  He
had but  a  short  distance  to travel,  before he entered
into the wildest scenes of uncivilized life;  as the set­
tlers had, at this period, done little more than establish
themselves  in a few places on the  coast;  the whole of
the interior being in the possession of the natives, who
have since been lost among the settlers, or have with­
drawn far inland, in  consequence of  the  increase  of
their visitors; or have gradually become extinct, owing
to the introduction of spirituous liquors, &c.

Having given notice to some natives, whose wig­
wams, or tents, were pitched within a few miles of
Roxbury, that be purposed to pay them a visit, he

16                            LIFE OF

proceeded to their residence, in company with three
friends, and opened his intercourse with them on the
28th of October, 1646. Of this interview, we have an
account io his own simple and expressive words.

First interview with the Indians.

  "A little before we came to their wigwams, five or
six of the chief of them met us with English saluta­
 tions, bidding us much welcome. Leading us into the
principal wigwam, belonging to Waaubon, we found
many men, women, and children, gathered  together
from all quarters; having been exhorted thereto by
Waaubon, the chief minister  of  justice  among them
who himself gives more hopes of serious respect to the
things of God than any that as yet I have known of that
forlorn generation.

"Being all there assembled, we began with prayer;
which now was in English, we being not so far ac­
quainted with the Indian language, as to express our
hearts therein before God or them. We hope to be
able to do this ere long; the Indians desiring it, that
 they also may know how to pray: but we began thus
in a tongue unknown to them; partly to let them know
that the duty of prayer was 1erious and sacred; and
partly for our own sakes, that we might the more fully
agree together in the same request and heart-sorrows
for them, even in that place where God was never
wont to be called upon.

  "When prayer was ended, it was an affecting and
yet glorious spectacle, to see a company of perishing
and forlorn outcasts diligently attending to the blessed
word of salvation then delivered, and professing that
they understood all that was then taught them in  their
own  tongue.    For about an hour and a quarter the
sermon continued; wherein one of   our   company*
ran through all the principal matters of religion,

 

* Meaning himself.

 

THE REV. JOHN ELIOT.               17

beginning first with a repetition of the ten command­
ments, and a brief explication of them; then shewing
the curse and dreadful wrath of God against  all those
who break them,  or  any one of  them,  or the least tittle
of  them; and so applying the whole  unto the  condition
of the  Indians then present, with much affection. He
then preached  Jesus Christ  to them, as the  only means
of recovery from sin and wrath and eternal death: he
explained to  them  who  Christ  was, and  whither  he
was gone, and how he will one day come again to judge
the  world. He spake to them  of  the  blessed  state of
all those who believe in Christ, and know him feelingly;
he  spake to them also,  observing  his  own method, as
he saw most  lit, to edify them, concerning the creation
and the fall of man, the greatness of God, the joys of
heaven,  and  the  horrors of hell; and urging them to

repentance for several known sins wherein they live.

On many things of the like nature he discoursed; not
meddling with matters more difficult, until they had
tasted more plain and familiar truths.

     "Having thus in a set discourse familiarly opened

the principal matters of  salvation to them, we next

proposed certain questions, to see what they would

say to them; that so we might screw, by variety of

means, something or other of God into them.  But,

therefore we did this, we asked them if they understood

 all that which was already spoken; and whether all of

them in the wigwam did  understand,  or  only  some
few.   They answered to this question, with a multitude
of voices, that they all of them understood all that
which was spoken to them,

     "We then desired to know of them if they would
propose any question to us for the more clear under­

standing of what was delivered. Whereupon several of
them propounded presently several questions, to which
we think some special wisdom of God directed them,
     "One asked, How may we come  to know Jesus
Christ?'

       3

18                            LIFE OF

"We answered, that if they were abel to read our
Bible, the book of God, therein they would see most
clearly who Jesus Christ was. But since they could
not yet read that book, we wished them to meditate on
what they had now heard out of God's book; and to
do this much and often, both when they lay down on
their mats in their wigwams, and when they rose up
and went alone into the fields and woods: so God
would teach them; and especially if they used a third
help, which was prayer to God. We told them, that,
although they could not make long prayers, as we
English could, yet if they did but sigh and groan, and
say thus -- Lord, make me to know Jesus Christ, for I
know him not;'-and if they did say so again and again
with their hearts, that God would teach them to know
Jesus Christ: because he is a God that will be found
of them that seek him with all their hearts; and hears
the prayers of all men, Indi11ns as well as English; and
that Englishmen themselves did by this means come to
the knowledge of Jesus Christ. And we advised them,
 as a further help, to confess their sins and ignorance
unto God; and to acknowledge how justly God might
deny them the knowledge of Christ, because of their
sins.

  "These things were spoken by him who had preach­
ed to them, in their own language: borrowing, now and
then, some small helps from the interpreter whom we
had brought with us, and who could oftentimes express
our minds more distinctly than we could ourselves:
but this we perceived, that a few words from the
preacher were more regarded than many from the In­
dian interpreter,

  "One of them, after this answer, replied to us that
he was a little while since praying in his wigwam, unto
God and Jesus Christ, that God would give him a good
heart; and that, while he was praying, one of his
fellow Indians interrupted him, and told him, that he
prayed in vain, because Jesus Christ understood not

THE   REV. JOHN  ELIOT.            19

what Indians speak in prayer, because he had been
used to hear Englishmen pray, and so could well enough
understand them, but with Indian language in prayer he
thought he was not acquainted, but was a stranger to
it, and therefore could not understand them. His
question therefore was, whether Jesus Christ did un­
derstand, or God did understand, Indian prayers.

   "This question sounding just like themselves, we
studied to give as familiar an answer as we could; and
therefore in this, as in all other om· answers, we en­
deavoured to speak nothing without clearing of it up
by some familiar similitude. Our answer summarily
was therefore this: that Jesus Christ, and God by him,
made all things; and makes all men, not only English
but Indian men; and, if he made them both, then he
knew all that was within man and came from man, all
his desires, and all his thoughts, and all his speeches,
and so all his prayers; and if he made Indian men,
then he knows all Indian prayers also. We bade them
look upon that Indian basket that was before them;
there were black and white straws, and many other
things of which they made it. Now, though others
who made not the basket, did not know what those
things were, yet he that made it must needs tell all the
things in it: so, we said, it was here.

  "Another proposed this question, after this answer:
Whether Englishmen were ever at any time so igno­
rant of God and Jesus Christ as themselves?

 "When we perceived the root and reach of this
question, we gave them this answer, that there are
two aorta of Englishmen; some are bad and naught,
and- live wickedly and basely (describing them): and
these kinds of Englishmen, we told them,  were in a
manner as ignorant of Jesus Christ as the Indians now
are; but there are a second sort of Englishmen, who
though for a time they lived wickedly also, Uke other
profane and ignorant English, yet, repenting of their
sins, and seeking after God and Jesus Christ, they are

20                            LIFE OF

good men now, and now know Christ, and love Christ,
and pray to Christ, and are  thankful  to  Christ  for all
they have; and shall at last, when they die, go up to
heaven to  Christ: and we told them, that all these
also  were  once  as  ignorant  of  God  and  Jesus Christ
as the Indiana are; but by seeking to know him, by
reading  his  book,  and  hearing  his word, and pray­
ing to him, they now know Jesus Christ;  and  just  so
shall the Indians know him, if they so seek him also,
although  at   the   present  they  be  extremely ignorant
of him.

"After some other questions, respecting the com­
mandments, one of them asked--

 "'How is all the world become so full of people, if

they were all once drowned in the flood?'

"We told them at large the story and causes  of
Noah's preservation in the  ark, and so  their question­
ing ended. We then saw it to be our time to propose
some few questions to them, and so to take occasion
thereby to open the things of God more fully.

   "Our first question was, whether they did not desire
to see God, and  were not tempted to think that there
was no God, because they could not see him.

   "Some of them replied thus: That indeed they did
desire to see him, if it could be; but they had heard
from us that he could not be seen: and they did be­
lieve, though their eyes could not see him, yet that he
was to be seen with their soul within. Hereupon we
sought to confirm them the more; and asked them if
they saw a great wigwam,  or a  great  house,  would
they think that racoons or foxes built it, that had no
wisdom;  or would  they think  that it made itself;  or
that no wise workman made it, because they could not
see him that made it.  No: they would believe some
wise workman made it, though they did  not see him;
so should they believe concerning God, when they
looked up to heaven, the sun, moon, and stars, and saw
this great house which be hath made: though they do

THE REV. JOHN  ELIOT.           21

not see him with their eyes, yet they have good cause
to believe with their souls that a wise God, a great
God, made it.

  "We, knowing that a great block in their way to
believing, is, that there should be but one God, and yet
this God in many places; therefore we asked them,
whether it did not seem strange that there should be
but one God, and yet this God be in Massachusetts, at
Ponnecticut, at Quinipeiock, in old England, in this wig­

wam, and in the next, and every where. Their answer
was, by one most sober among them: That indeed it
was strange, as every thing else which they heard
preached was strange also; and they were wonderful
things which they never heard of before: but yet they
thought it might be true, and that God was so big
every where. Whereupon we further illustrated what
we said, by wishing them to consider of the light of
the sun, which though it be but a creature made by
God, yet the same light which is in this wigwam was
in the next also, and the same light which was here at
Massachusetts was at Quinipeiock also, at one and
the same time; much more was it so concerning
God.

"We asked them also, whether they did not find
somewhat troubling them within, after the commission
of sin, as murder, adultery, theft, lying, &c. and what
they thought would comfort them against that trouble
when they came to die and appear before God.

  "They told us that they were. troubled; but they
could not tell what to say to it, what should comfort
them: he, therefore, who spake to them at first, con­
cluded with a doleful description (so far as his ability
to speak in that tongue would carry him) of the trem­
bing and mourning condition of every soul that dies
in sin, and that shall be cast out of favour with God.

  "After three hours' time thus spent with them, we
asked them if they were not weary; and they answered,
No. But we resolved to leave them with an appetite.

 

22                              LIFE OF

The chief of them seeing us conclude with prayer, de­
sired to know when we would come again: so we ap­
pointed the time; and, having given the children some
apples, and the men some tobacco, and what else  we
then had at hand, they desired some more ground  to
build a town together; which we did much like of,
 promising to speak for them to the General Court, that
they might possess all the compass of that hill, upon
which their wigwams then stood: and so we departed
with many welcomes from them.

Waaubon, in whose wigwam this interesting scene
took place, had readily received the previous overtures
of Mr.  Eliot; and had voluntarily offered his eldest son
to be educated, and trained up in the knowledge of
God, hoping, as he told Mr. Eliot, that his son might
come to know God, although he despaired much con­
cerning himself. His son had been accordingly placed
under instruction; and was found, at this first inter­
view, standing by his father among his Indian brethren,
dressed himself in English clothes.

Second interview with the Indians.

Encouraged by the reception which had been given
to his first serious attempt to instruct the natives in
christianity, Mr. Eliot determined to pursue his object.
On the 11th of November he met, in the wigwam of
Waaubon, a still larger number of Indians than before.
After  prayer in  the  English  tongue,  and catechizing
the children on a few of the most important points of
religion, he addressed the assembly in their own lan­
guage to the following effect:--

  "We are come to bring you good news from the
great God Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and
to tell you how evil and wicked men may come to be
good; so as, while they live,  they  may  be  happy;
and, when they die, they may go to God and live in
heaven."
     He discoursed to them, with much affection, for

 

 

THE  REV. JOHN ELIOT.          23

about an hour, concerning the character of God, and
the way of reconciliation by Jesus Christ. The whole
assembly appeared very serious; one man, in par­
ticular, poured out many tears; and showed much
affliction, without any affectation of being seen.

  When Mr. Eliot ceased, an old man asked whether
it was not too late for one so near death to repent or
seek after God.

   "This question," says Mr. Eliot, "affected us not
a little with compassion. We held forth to him the
Bible; and told him what God said in it concerning
such as are  hired at the eleventh hour of the day.  We
told him also, that if a father had a son who had been
disobedient many years, yet if at last that son fall down
upon his knees, and weep, and desire his father to love
him, his father is so merciful that he will readily forgive
him : so we said, it is much more with God, who is a
more merciful  Father to those whom  he  hath  made
than any father can be to  his rebellious child,  if  they
fall down, and weep, and pray, and repent, and desire
forgiveness for Jesus Christ's sake. And we farther
added,  that,  just as if  a  father  did  call after  his child
to return and repent, promising him favour, the child
might then be sure that his father would forgive him I so
now the  Jay of God was risen upon them, and he had
sent us to preach repentance for the remission of sins;
and that  they  might  be sure  to find favour,  though
they had  lived many years in sin;  and  that, therefore,
if  now they did  repent, it was not too late, as the old
man feared. But that, if they did not come when they
were thus called, God would be greatly angry with
them, especially considering that now they must sin
against knowledge, whereas, before we came to them,
they knew not any thing of God at all."

Having spent much time in clearing up the first
question, the Indians next asked, "How came the
English to differ so much from the Indians, in the
knowledge of God and Jesus Christ, seeing they had
all at first but one father?"

 

24                             LIFE OF
 

    "We confessed," says Mr. Eliot, "that it was true,
that, at first, we had all but one father; but, after that
our first father fell, be had divers children: some were
bad, and some good. Those that were bad would not
take bis counsel, but departed from him and from God;
and those God left alone in sin and ignorance:  but
others did regard him, and the counsel of God by him;
and these knew God: and so the  difference arose  at
first, that some, together  with  their posterity, .knew
God, and others did not.  And so we told them it was
at this day: for, like as if an old man, an aged father
amongst them, have many children,  if some of them
be rebellious against the counsel of the father, he shuts
them out of doors, and lets them go, and regards them
not, unless they return and repent;  but  others, that
will be ruled by him, come to know his mind: so, we

said, Englishmen seek God, dwell in his house, hear

his word, pray to God, and instruct their children out
of God's book: hence they come to know God: but
Indians' forefathers were stubborn and rebellious chil­
dren, and would not hear the word,  did  not  care  to
pray, nor to teach their children; and hence Indians
that now are, do not know God at all: and so must
continue unless they repent, and return to God and
pray, and teach their children what they now may learn.
But withal we told them, that many Englishmen did
not know God, but were like to Kitchamakina (drunken
Indians). Nor were we yet willing to tell them the
 story of the scattering of  Noah's  children  since the
flood, and thereby to shew them how the Indians came

to be so ignorant, because it was too difficult, and the
history of the Bible is reserved for them (if God will)

to be opened at a more convenient season in their own
tongue.''

Their third question was: "How may we come to
serve God?"

"We asked' him that proposed it, whether he did
desire indeed to serve God: he replied, 'Yes.' Here­
upon we said, first, they must lament their blindness

 

THE  REV. JOHN ELIOT.              25

and sinfulness that they cannot serve him; and their
ignorance of God's book (which we pointed to), which
directs how to serve him.    Secondly, that they could
not serve God, but by seeking forgiveness of their sins,
and power against their sins, through Jesus Christ,
who was preached to them. Thirdly, that look as an
Indian child, if  he would  serve his  father, must  know
his father's will and love his father too, or else he can
never serve him; but  if  he  did know his father's will
and  love  him,  then he would serve him ;  and  then,  if
he should not do some things which his father com­
mands him, and yet afterwards grieve for it upon his
knees before his father  his  father would  pity and ac­
cept  him:  so  we  told  them  it  was  with  God;  they
must labour to know his will and love  him; and then
they will be willing  to serve him;  and if they should
then sin, yet grieving for it  before God, he would pity

and accept them."

One of them asked, "If a man has committed adul­
tery, or stolen any goods, and the sachem* doth not
punish him, nor is he punished by any law, if also he
restore the goods he hath stolen, what then?  whether
is not all well now?" meaning, that, if God's law was
broken, and no man punished him for it, that then no
punishment should come from God for it; as if, by
restoring again, an amends was made to God.

" Although man be not offended," we replied, "for
such sins, yet God is angry; and his anger burns like
fire against all sinners. And here we set out the
holiness and terror of God, in respect of  the  least sin.
Yet if such a sinner, with whom God is angry, fly to
Jesus Christ, and repent and seek for mercy and pardon
for Christ's sake, then God will forgive and pity.  Upon
the hearing of which answer, he who proposed the
question, drew somewhat back, and hung down  his
head  as a man smitten to the very heart; and, within

 

* The chief.

 

  26                           LIFE OF

a little while after,  he brake out into a complaint,
'Me little know  Jesus  Christ.'  We  therefore  told
him, that, as it was in the  morning,  at  first there is
but a little  light,  then  there is more light,  then there
is day, then the sun is up, then the sun warms and
heats, &c. so it  was true  that  they knew  but  little
of Jesus Christ now, but we bad more to tell them
concerning him hereafter, and after that more, and
after that more, until at last they may come to know
Christ as the English do: and we  taught  them but  a
little at a time, because they could understand  but
little; and, if they prayed to God to teach them, he
would send bis Spirit and teach them more. They and
their fathers had lived in ignorance until now; it had
been a long night wherein they had slept, and had not
regarded God; but now the light of day began to break
in on them.''

Having thus spent the whole afternoon, and night
 coming on, Mr. Eliot, considering that the Indians
formerly desired to know how to pray, and thought
that Jesus Christ did not understand Indian language,
prepared to pray in their own tongue, and did so for
above a quarter of an hour.  Several of them were
much affected, lifting up their eyes and hands to
heaven. Concerning one of them in particular, the
following interesting account is given:

   "I cast my eye on one who was hanging down his
head weeping.  He held up his  head for awhile;  yet
such was the power of the word on his heart, that he
hung down his head again, and covered his eyes again,
and so fell to wiping and wiping of them, weeping
abundantly, continuing thus till prayer  was ended;
after which he presently turns from us, and turns his
face to a side and corner of the wigwam, and there falls
a weeping more abundantly by himself, which one of us
perceiving, went to him, and spake to him encouraging
 words; at the hearing of which he fell a weeping more
and more: so leaving of him,  he who spake to him
came unto me (being newly gone out of the wig-

THE  REV. JOHN ELIOT.               27

wam), and told me of his tears: so we resolved to go
again  both of us to him, and speak to  him again; and
we met him coming out of the wigwam, and there we
spake again to him, and he there fell into a more
abundantly renewed weeping, like one deeply and in­
wardly affected indeed, which forced us also to such
bowels of compassion that we could not forbear weep­
ing over him also: and so we parted, greatly rejoicing
for such sorrowing.

  "Thus I have, as faithfully as I could remember,
given you a true account of our beginnings with the In­
dians within our own bounds; which cannot but furnish
matter of serious thought what further to do with these
poor natives, the dregs of mankind, and the saddest
spectacles of misery of mere men upon earth. We did
think to f01·bear going  to  them this winter,  but this
last day's work, wherein God  set his seal from heaven
of acceptance of our little, makes those of us who are
able, to resolve to adventure through frost and snow,
lest the  fire go out of  their hearts for want of a little
more fuel: to  which  we are the more encouraged, in
that the next day after being with them, one of the
Indians came to his house who preached to them, to
speak with him; who in private conference wept ex­
ceedingly,  and said, all  that  night  the  Indians could
not sleep, partly with trouble of mind, and pa1'tly with
wondering at the things which they heard preached
among them.  Another Indian coming also to him the
next day after, told him how many of the wicked sort
of Indians began to oppose these beginnings."

   At the close of the visit, which has been described
in Mr. Eliot's own words, he asked " What do you
remember of what was taught you since the last time
we were here?"  After they had spoken one to an­
other for some time, one returned this answer, that
"they did much thank God for our coming, and for what
they heard: they were wonderful things unto them."
     We have given these details of Mr. Eliot's first

  28                            LIFE OF

attempts among the natives somewhat at large, as they
furnish an excellent example of wisdom and piety to
other missionaries. His success was beyond his hopes.
His heart was much set on bringing the Indians to live
together in a civilized community; and it is worthy of
remark how soon they themselves began to feel the
advantage of doing so. The General Court of Massa-
chusetts allotted to them, at his request, a portion of
land for the erection of a town; and, while the court
were deliberating on the choice of a convenient spot,
the Indians, not aware of the intention of the English
toward them, were consulting on the adoption of  laws
for their own improvement and civilization.

The desire of the Indians to live together in a civilized
and christian community, thus concurring with that of
Mr. Eliot, and being gratified by a portion of laud
granted to them by the General Court, they set about
the erection of their first town.  Wishing to affix to it
an appropriate name, they were recommended to adopt
that of NOONANETUM, which signifies Rejoicing, be­
cause their friends sincerely rejoiced in the improve­
ment of their condition, inasmuch as they now heard
the word of God, and were brought to seek the know­
ledge of Him, and salvation through his Son. This
name greatly delighted them, and by it, therefore, their
first place of assembling was distinguished.

"Mr. Eliot advised the Indians to surround their
town with ditches, and stone walls upon the banks;
promising to supply them with  the  needful tools for
that purpose. To encourage them in  this unaccus­
tomed labour, he offered them rewards; and  found
them so ready to listen to his counsel, that they called
for tools faster than he could supply them. By these
exertions, Noonanetum was soon enclosed; and the
wigwams of the  lowest class  among them  rivalled
those of the sachems, or chiefs, in other places: they
were here built,  not  of  mats,  but with  the bark  of
trees; and were divided into several apartments,

TIIE REV. JOHN ELIOT.              29

whereas they had fom1erly but one room for all pur­
poses.

  "But Mr. Eliot bad not assembled his Indians toge­
ther to expose them  to the evils of  an idle community
It was necessary to find occupation for their vagrant
minds, and  their active  hands. The women were
taught to spin; and they soon found something to
bring to market all the year round.  In winter they
sold brooms, staves, baskets, and turkies; in spring,
cranberries, strawberries, and fish; in summer, hur­
tleberries and grapes; and in hay-time and harvest,
several  of  them  assisted  the   English  in  the  field;
but they were neither  so industrious,  nor so  capable
of hard  labour,  as those  who had  been  habituated to
it from early life.

 "While the servant of God, with his zealous friend,
were rejoicing in the success of their labours at
Noonanetum, the Indians near Concord, some miles
further in  the   interior,  intimated a wish  to be united
in a regular community, and to receive the christian
faith.   They had heard  what  was  passing  among
their countrymen; and, in consequence, the sachem,
with a few of his men, had attended the preaching at
Noonanetum. He seemed to be deeply impressed
with what he had heard and witnessed; and expressed
his desire to become more like the English, and to
abandon those wild and sinful courses wherein they
had lived. When his people discovered their sa­
chem's mind, some of them began to oppose him;
but he reasoned with them, and succeeded in bring­
ing them to a better temper. At an assembly of sa­
chems, and other principal Indians, held toward the
end of November, they agreed to repress, by heavy
fines, all intemperance, conjuring, falsehood, theft,
profanation of the  Lord's  day, impurity, gambling,
and quarrelling: they determined to punish adultery
and murder with death: they  resolved  to  abandon
their old practices of howling for the dead, and of

                        13

30                          LIFE    OF

adorning their hair and greasing their bodies; and to
adopt the customs of the English:  they expressed
their desire and resolution to seek after God, to un­
derstand and escape the temptations of Satan, to im­
prove their time, to live peaceably one with another,
to labour after humility, to pay their debts, and to es­
tablish prayer in their wigwams. Two of these regu­
lations are curious, as indicating a growing regard to
the decencies of society:- -

  "No Indian shall take an Englishman's canoe with­
out leave, under the penalty of 5s.

"No Indian shall come into an Englishman's house
except he first knock: and this they expect from the
English.

 "These regulations were adopted by the whole
 assembly, and a respectable Englishman appointed as
their Recorder to see them carried into execution.
They entreated Mr. Eliot to visit and instruct them;
and applied to the government for a grant of land
whereon they might build themselves a town.

"They established the worship of God in their fami­
lies; and, according to their ability, they addressed
themselves, morning and evening, to the Father of
mercies, who has graciously promised to hear the
faithful prayers of the most humble supplicants. They
observed the sabbath, and employed some of its most
precious hours in repeating to one  another the  reli­
gious instructions, which, under all their disadvantages,
they had obtained.

   "An affecting scene was exhibited at Cambridge,
in New England, in June this year, 1647, at the an­
nual meeting of the synod. Mr. Eliot preached there
an Indian lecture, which was attended by a great
confluence of Indians from all quarters, from Eph. ii.

1. The preacher opened to them their miserable con­
dition without Christ, dead in trespasses and sins; and
directed them to that Saviour, who alone could quicken
them from their spiritual death. When the sermon

THE    REV. JOHN  ELIOT.     31

was finished, there was a convenient space of time
spent in hearing and answering such questions as the
Indians proposed. We will give the narrator's de­
scription of the scene in his own words. 

  "That which I note is this: that their gracious
attention to the word, the affections and mournings of
some of them under it, their sober propounding of
divers spiritual questions, their aptness to understand
and believe what was replied to them, the readiness of
divers poor naked children to answer openly the chief
questions in the catechism which had  been  taught
them, and such like appearances  of  a great change
upon them, did marvellously affect all the wise and
godly ministers, magistrates, and people, and did raise
their hearts up to great thankfulness  to God;  very
many deeply and abundantly weeping for joy to· see
such a blessed day, and the Lord Jesus so much known
and spoken of among such as never heard of him
before."

Wishing to extend his usefulness, Mr. Eliot resolved
to establish another lecture at a place called Nepon­
sitt, within the bounds of the settlement of Dorchester.
about four miles south from Roxbury. A sachem,
named Cutshamoquin, and several intelligent Indians,
lived at this place; and Mr. Eliot continued to address
them, as often as he could find opportunity. From a
letter, dated 24th September, 1647, the reader will
judge of the success which attended his labours both
here and at Noonanetum.

   "The effect of the word which appears among them,
and the change which is  among them, is this: they
have utterly forsaken all their powaws, and given over
that diabolical exercise, being convinced that it  is
quite contrary to praying unto God; yea, sundry of
their powaws have renounced their wicked employ­
ment, -- have condemned it as evil, -- and resolved
never to use it any more.
    "They pray  unto God constantly in their families,

  32                                     LIFE OF

morning and evening, and that with great affection, as
hath been seen and heard by sundry that have gone to
their  wigwams at such times; as also, when  they go
to meat,  they  solemnly  pray  and give thanks to God,
as they see the English  do.  When they come to
English houses, they desire to be taught;  and, if  meat
be given them, they pray and give thanks to God; and
usually express their great joy that they are taught to
know God, and  their  great  affection  to  them  that
teach them. They are careful to instruct their chil­
dren, and they  are  also  strict against  any profanation
of the sabbath, by working, fishing, hunting, &c.

  "In my exercise among them, we attend to four
 things   beside   prayer   unto  God. First, I  catechise
the children and youth; wherein  some are  very ready
and expert. Secondly, I preach unto them out of some
texts of scripture, wherein I study all plainness and
brevity, unto which many are  very  attentive.  Thirdly,
If there be any occasion, we in the next place go to
admonition and censure; unto which they submit
themselves reverently and obediently, and confess their
sins with much plainness, and without shiftings and
excuses. Fourthly, The last exercise we have among
them, is their asking us questions; and  very  many
they have asked, which  I  have  forgotten;  but  some
few that come to my remembrance I will briefly touch.
'Before  I  knew God,' said  Cutshamoquin,  'I thought
 I was well, but since  I  have  known  God and  sin,  I
find my  heart  full  of  sin,  and  mora  sinful  than  ever
it  was  before, -- and  this  hath   been   a  great   trouble
to me; and at this day my heart is but very little better
than it  was, and  I am afraid  it  will  be as  bad again as
I have been,  Now  my  question  is,  whether  is this a
sin  or not?' Another  great question was  this:  when
I preached out of 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10, 11, old Mr. Brown,
being present, observed them to  be  much  affected,
and one especially did weep very much; and  after
that there was a general question,  'Whether  any of
them  should  go  to  heaven,  seeing  they  found  their

 

THE  REV. JOHN ELIOT.             33

hearts full of sin?' The next meeting being at Dor­
chester-mill, they did there propound it, expressing
their fears that none of them should be saved; which
did draw forth my heart to preach and press the pro­
mise of pardon to all that were weary and sick of sin;
and this doctrine some of them, in a special manner,
did receive in a very reverend manner.  This very day

 I have been with the Indians, and one of their ques-

 tions was, to know what to say to such Indians as op­
pose their praying to God, and believing in Jesus
Christ. 'What get you,' say they, 'by praying to
God, and believing in Jesus Christ? you go naked
still, and you are as poor as we, and our corn is as good
as your's, and we take more pleasure than you  Did
we see that you got any thing by it, we would pray to
God and  believe in  Jesus Christ  also.'  I answered
 them, First, God giveth unto us two sorts of good
things: one sort are little things, -- the other sort are
great ones. The little mercies are riches, -- as clothes,

-food, houses, cattle, and pleasures; these are little
things which serve but  for our  bodies a little while
in this life. The great mercies are wisdom, -- the
knowledge of God,-Christ,-- eternal life,-- repent­
ance,--faith; these  are 'mercies  for  the  soul  and
for eternal life. Now, though God do give you the
little mercies, he giveth you that which is a great deal
better, which the wicked Indians cannot see.  And
this I proved to them by this example:-- When Foxum,
the Mohegan counsellor, who is counted the wisest
Indian in the country, was in the Bay, I did on pur­
pose bring him unto you,-and when he was here,
you saw he was a fool in comparison of you; for you
could speak of God and Christ, and heaven, and re­
pentance, and faith, but he sat and had not one word
to say, unless you talked of hunting, wars, &c.
Secondly, you have some more clothes  than they;
and the reason why you have no more, is, because you
have but a little wisdom. If you were mo1·e wise, to
know God, and obey his commandments, you would

  34                         LIFE OF

work more than you do, for God commandeth, Six

days shalt thou work.

  "There do sundry times fall out differences among
them, and they usually bring their cases to me, and
sometimes such as it is needful for me to decline.
Their young men, who of all the rest live most idly and
dissolutely, now begin to go to service.  They moved
for a school, and through God's mercy a course is now
taken, that there be schools at both places where their
children are taught.

  "Dear brother, I can go no further; a weary body,
and sleepy eyes, command me to conclude, and desiring
your prayers for God's grace and blessing upon my
spirit and poor endeavours, I take leave  at  this time,
and rest your loving brother in our Saviour Christ.

                                               "JOHN ELIOT."

 

His labours, however, were not confined to these
places.    Though he still retained  the  pastoral  charge
of the church at Roxbury, he usually went once a fort­
night on a missionary excursion, travelling through the
different parts of Massachusetts, and of the  neighbour­
ing country as far as cape Cod, and preaching  the
gospel of the kingdom to as many of the Indians as
would hear him. Many were the toils, hardships, and
 dangers he encountered in the prosecution of this im­
portant work. He found much difficulty in  making
himself understood, the dialect varying very materially
every forty or fifty miles, and  these  Indians  being
wholly unused to hear any thing on the subject of reli­
gion. By the aid, however, of interpreters, and by
circumlocution and variation of expression, he contrived
to become intelligible. He had, indeed, an admirable
talent of adapting himself to his hearers; and excelled,
as his friends testify, all other Englishmen in the
explanation of sacred  truth  to  the  Indians,  in  the
Indian  tongue.  In a letter to the Hon. Mr. Winslow,
he says,

"I have not been dry, night or day, from Tuesday

 

THE  REV. JOHN  ELIOT.     35

to Saturday, but have travelled from place to place in
that condition; and at night I pull off my boots, wring
my stockings, and on with them again, and so con­
tinue. But God steps in and helps me. I have con­
sidered the exhortation of Paul to his son Timothy,
"Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."
       Such sufferings as these, however, were the least of
his trials. When travelling in the wilderness without
a friend or companion, he was sometimes treated by the
Indians in a very barbarous manner, and was not unfre­

quently in danger even of his life. Both the chiefs and
the powaws were the determined enemies of christianity,
-- the sachems being jealous of their authority,  the
priests of  their gains;  and  hence they often  laid plots
for the destruction of this good man, and would cer­
tainly have put him to death, had they not been over­
awed by the power of the English. Sometimes the
chiefs, indeed, thrust him out from among them, say­
ing, 'It was impertinent  in him  to  trouble  himself
with them, or their religion, and that should he return
again, it  would be at  his peril.'  To such threatenings
he used only to reply, 'That he was engaged in the
service of the great God, and therefore he did not fear
them, nor all the sachems in the country, but was
resolved to go on with his work, and bade them touch
him if they dared.' To manifest their malignity, how­
ever, as far as was possible, they banished from their
society such of the people as favoured christianity;
and, when it might be done with safety, they even put
them to death. Nothing, indeed, but the dread of the
English, prevented  them from murdering the whole of
the converts; a circumstance which induced some of
them  to conceal  their sentiments,  and others to fly to
the colonists for protection.

"But, notwithstanding the great opposition of the
sachems and the priests, Mr. Eliot's labours were by no
means in vain. By means of his zealous and unwearied
exertions, numbers of the Indians, in different parts of
the country, embraced the gospel; and, in the year