a boy called up to work very early in the morning, who falling asleep, as was said, the candle set the house on fire,) whereby many other houses were consumed, together with the meeting-house at that end of the said town. Sometime in November, 1677, a great black boar came into the town of Dedham, no man knows from whence, which was eight feet in length. He was shot thirteen times, before he could be killed, and almost the whole town were mustered together, before he could be mastered. A French vessel, that lay between the Capes to take a vessel that was at Pascataqua, was driven ashore at Cape Anne, twelve of the men drowned, and of eight that escaped, many frozen. For close of these sad events of Providence may be added the burning of Boston, August 5,1 1679, set on fire by some wicked and malicious wretches, as is justly suspected, which hath half ruined the whole Colony, as well as the town; for therein a considerable part of the warehouses, belonging to the chiefest merchants in the town, were suddenly consumed in the flames, and several dwelling houses of good value, to the number of twenty or thirty, whereby that which was many years in gathering was in a few hours scattered and consumed. By another fire also, which happened there in the year 1682, were many principal warehouses burnt down. again, whereby God would teach us not to trust in riches, which take wing and fly away as a bird toward Heaven, out of the reach of the owners thereof. CHAP. LXXVI.9 The success and progress of the Gospel amongst the Indians in New England. FORASMUCH as the conversion of the Indians in America was none of the least motives that persuaded many of the inhabitants of New England to transport themselves thither, it will be expected that in this place some account should be given of the effect thereof. "Aug. 8, about midnight;" it began "at one Gross's house, the sign of the Three Mariners, near the dock." Hutchinson, i. 313; Snow, pp. 165-6.-H. 2 LXXV in the MS.-H. For the satisfaction, therefore, of those that desire to inquire after the premises, the footsteps of God's dealing with these poor heathen shall be declared in what follows. From the first planting of the country there might be observed some taste of the sprinklings of his grace upon them, of which some instances are given by those that were careful to take notice of them. Anno 1622,' in the second year after the English first settled at Plymouth, when that place and people were in great distress for want of rain, the people there set a solemn day apart to seek God in that behalf. An Indian,2 taking notice that all the former part of the day was a very hot, clear sunshine time, and yet in the evening that rain fell in a sweet, soaking shower, was transported into a great wonderment of the power the English had with their God, and was so convinced thereby, that he resolved from that day not to rest till he did know this great God, and for that end he immediately forsook the Indians, and clave to the English; and notwithstanding all enticements and flatteries or frowns of his countrymen, he could never be induced to forsake his Christian friends, but died amongst them, leaving some good hopes in their hearts that his soul went to rest. Two years after the English were settled in the Massachusetts, Sagamore John, i. e. the chief of those Indians, being, from the first landing of the English, more courteous and ingenuous to them than the rest, desired to learn their language, and loved to imitate their manners and behavior, and was so persuaded of the goodness of the Englishman's religion above the Indian's, that he promised to leave the Indians and come live with them ; but yet, kept down by fear of the scoffs of the Indians, had not power to make good his promise; and being soon after smitten with the small pox,3 a mortal disease amongst them, and never known to them before, he sadly lamented his not endeavoring to know God better; "but now," said he, "I must die, the God of the English is much angry with me, and will destroy me. Ah! I was afraid of the scoffs of the wicked Indians, yet my child shall live with the English, and learn to know their God, 11623. See page 74.-H. * See page 195.—н. 2 This Indian was Hobbamock.-H. when I am dead; I'll give him to Mr. Wilson, (the minister of Boston, that went to visit this poor wretch in his forlorn condition, as his disease at that time made it,) he is much good man and much love me." And when he had committed his only child to Mr. Wilson's care he soon after died; but whether the child answered the father's desire or no, is not known, but the contrary feared. He hath mercy on whom he will have mercy: there shall be two in one house, the one taken and the other left. Mention is made of another Indian, that seeing a profane fellow of the English, in some remote Plantation, felling of a tree, said unto him, "do you not know this is the Lord's Day in the Massachusetts, much matchet man, (i. e. much wicked man,) what, break you God's Day?" The same Indian coming a little while after into an Englishman's house thereabouts, where a man and his wife were a chiding and contending with angry words one against the other, when they intermitted their brawling so far as to bid him sit down and tell him he was welcome, (possibly they might be in expectation of traffic, wherein they both were well agreed,) he answered, he would not stay there, because God no dwell there, but rather Holbomack," i. e. with them, the devil. Lastly, a Pequod Indian, called Waquash, a proper man, and of good courage, and a captain amongst them in the wars they had with the English Anno 1637, yet was so smitten at the terrors of God upon the taking their fort and killing so many hundred of the Indians in an hour's time, he was from that moment so awakened in his conscience, to think the Englishman's God was a great God; which did so pursue and follow him that he could have no rest till he used all means to come|| to the knowledge of the Englishmen's God, and was so importunate that way that he would occasion the English (amongst whom he came afterwards,) 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 on his breast and complain of his naughty || 'He did 1 2 he came 1 In the MS. it was lle, which some one took for He, and was so kind as to insert a did to make nonsense.-H. heart, adding, "Waquash no know God, Waquash no know Jesus Christ; " but afterwards it pleased the Lord so to move on his heart, that he throughout reformed his life, confessing his dearest sins, lust and revenge, many ways testifying his unfeigned return from the same. Afterwards he went amongst the Indians, like the woman of Samaria, proclaiming Christ, and warning them to fly from the wrath to come, by breaking off their sins and wickedness. Some of the Indians were, like the children of the devil, as Paul speaks, so filled with rage that they gave him poison, which he took without suspicion; when the Indians wished him to send for the powaws, who with them are their physicians and their priests, he only told them, "if Jesus Christ say that Waquash shall live, then Waquash live; if Jesus Christ say Waquash shall die, then Waquash is willing to die, and will not lengthen out his life by any such means;" and so he bequeathed his only child to the care of the English. He died, as was charitably conceived, a martyr for Christ, rejoicing in this hope, that the child should know more of Christ than its poor father did. These were the first fruits or gleanings; what the harvest may prove, will be the advantage of after generations to know, but at the present there have been some few, a remnant, that have given some hopes of their seeking after God. For it having been put into the heart of that faithful and laborious minister of the Gospel, Mr. Eliot of Roxbury, to use indefatigable pains to learn the language, and take all opportunities to instruct them domatim et vicatim, he did at last persuade two or three small companies to join together in the profession of Christianity, separating themselves from the Indian's manners, way, and worship, wherein they were bred up, and many of them have given good hopes of the truth and reality of their conversion to the Christians, which is evident by their public profession thereof, and savory discourses out of texts of Scripture before some of their company upon solemn times, when they have been called to seek God by fasting and prayer, for the removal of some judgments that have befallen them, upon some public occasion. The principal of those that so do within the bounds of the Massachusetts is called Natick, near Dedham, where there had been ever since a company of them that profess our religion. An instance shall, for the satisfaction of the reader, be given of one, that, in the year 1658, thus delivered himself from a text of Scripture at the said Natick. The sum of the speech of Nishok kon.1 The text he spake from was Gen. viii. 20, 21. "And Noah built an altar unto Jehovah, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burntofferings on the altar. 21. And the Lord smelled a sweet savor; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth: neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done." A little I shall say, according to that little I know. In that Noah sacrificed to God, he shewed himself thankful; in that he worshipped God, he shewed himself godly; in that he sacrificed clean beasts, he shewed that God is an holy God, pure and clean, and all that come to God and worship him, must be pure and clean; and know that we must by repentance purge ourselves and cleanse our hearts from all sin, which is a work we are to do this day. In that he sacrificed, it was the manner of worshipping God in old time. But what sacrifice must we offer now? Answer by that in Psalms iv. 5, "Offer to God the sacrifice of righteousness, and trust in the Lord." These are true and spiritual sacrifices which God requireth at our hands; sacrifices of righteousness, that is, we must look to our hearts and conversation, that they be righteous, and then we shall be acceptable to God when we worship him; but if we be unrighteous, and unholy, and wicked, we shall not be accepted, our sacrifices are naught. Again, we must trust in the Lord, for who else should we trust in? we must believe in the Word of God, for if we doubt of God and doubt of his Word, then our sacrifices are little worth; but if we trust steadfastly in the Lord, then our sacrifices are good. Again, 1 Delivered " upon a late day of fasting and prayer at Natick, 15th of the 9th month, 1658." This speech, with five others, is contained in "A further Accompt of the Progresse of the Gospel amongst the Indians in New England;" London, sm. 4to., 1659.-H. Living thing in the MS.-H. VOL. VI. SECOND SERIES. 2 30 |