m 1 BOUGHT WITH THE fsCOMH FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND / THE GIFT OF Henrg W. $agc 1891 ^^-^■;~'^^ff ■" 7/7^.'.'' : . 6896-1 Cornell University Library F 67 J66 Johnson's Wonder-working providence, 162 olin 3 1924 028 814 452 .OLIN LlBR',ry - CIR^iJLATIoRf DATE DUE ..ii^ [^ m ..SBH^ 1 1 tuw^ wm .ArLono Cornell University Library The original of tiiis bool< is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028814452 ORIGINAL NARRATIVES OF EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY REPRODUCED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION General Editor, J. FRANKLIN JAMESON, Ph.D., LL.D. DIRECTOR OF THE DKPARTHENT OF HISTORKAL RESEARCH IS THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OP WASHINGTON JOHNSON'S WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE 1628 — 1651 HISx ORY OF From the Englifli planting in the Yeere i6zS. ontill tlie yeere %6^i. Declaring the form of tTbeir Government, I 4 • Qvilf, Military, and Ecckfiaftiquc. Tbek Wan with the Indians, their Troubles with the Gortonifh and other HeretiquEs. Tbcjt dinner of gatlicring of Churcbes.thc commodidejof tbr Country, aiul defcfiption of the pruiCTpa,!! Towvi and Hivtm.wich the great encou- raganentitoincrc^fe Trade betwixt them anU Old! With the (tapes of aU their GomnouB,Magiftrat?5 '■ ftA. eminent Mincers. ; ^ ^'' ^ A I.. 107.24. • .. ;.- AfU rn/,(c, tadtUl uttqmtj fUil^ifhtr ■ , F s A i. iri.2. .-rbe^f*'- rrn,K rvcK 01 riii-, -wondku avohkinc; ruoviDKNc k" Kniin n cdiiy of llu- orijjiiiiil in tlio \Vi)liiirii l'ul>li<' I,ilir:irv ORIGINAL NARRATIVES OF EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY JOHNSON'S WONDER - WORKING PROVIDENCE 1628-1651 EDITED BY J. FRANKLIN JAMESON, Ph.D., LL.D. DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH IN THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON H'/T// A MAP AND TWO FACSIMILES CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS NEW YORK 1910 F COPYRIGHT, 19IO, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS Published Makch, 191° '^10 \' ... .-*■/ CONTENTS JOHNSON'S WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE OF SIONS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND —" HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND" Edited bt J. Franklin Jameson Introduction 3 To THE Reader 21 Book I. The Sad Condition of Old England 23 The Call of Christ's People to New England; their Churches . . 25 The Demeanor of their Church OflBcers . . ... 26 The Demeanor of the People 28 Their Civil Government; the Maintenance of the First Table . 30 Their Care for Warlike Discipline 33 Their Liberty ; their Charter; their Means 36 The Massachusetts Indians 39 The Pestilence ... 40 The Men of Plymouth and the Indians 42 John Endicott 44 The Settlement of Salem 45 The Founding of the Salem Church ; Mr. Higginson and Mr. Skelton 46 The Glorious Beginnings of a Thorough Church Reformation . 49 The Farewell to England 60 The Cost of the Peopling of New England 54 - God's Providence in Transporting his People Safely .... 56 An Exhortation to the Advancing of the Kingdom of Christ . . 58 Providences in Deliverance from Perils of Waters .61 The Arrival of Winthrop's Fleet; the Old Planters .... 63 The First Elections, 1630; the Death of Isaac Johnson and Others 65 The Gathering of the Church of Charlestown-Boston; Mr. Wilson . 67 The Church and Town of Dorchester; Mr. Maverick ... 69 The Church and Town of Boston 70 The Church and Town of Roxbury; Mr. Eliot 71 The Church and Town of Lynn; Mr. Batchellor .... 73 The Church and Town of Watertown; Mr. Phillips .... 74 The Trials of the Wilderness; Governor John Winthrop re-elected, 1631 75 The Lord's Protection of his People from the Indians; the Small Pox . 78 v COXTEXTS The Elections of 1G32; Deputy Governor Thomas Dudley Mr. James of Charlestown Mr. Weld of Roxbury . Mr. Wilson of Boston; his Return The Elections of l(j:i:i; Mr. Increase Nowell Supplii-s in Time of Need .... Arrival of Mr. llayiKs, Mr. Stone, and Mr. John Cotton The Church and 'I'nwn of .NCwtown or Cambridge; Mr. Hooker The Elections of Um; Mr. Stone The KMa|)i' of Mr. Norton and .Mr. Shepard from England The Church and Town of Ipswich; .Mr. Nathaniel Ward The Arrival of Mr. Bellingham and Mr. Lothrop The Church and Town of Newbury; Mr. Noyes and Mr. Parker The Arrival of Mr. Symmes The Elections of 1635 . . . . The Arrival of Sir Henry \ anc and Sir Richard Saltonstall Of Mr. Harlakenden and of Eleven Ministers; Mr. Norton Mr. Richard Mather . . . . The Founding of Connecticut ... . . The Gathering of the Second Cambridge Church; Mr. Shepard The Arrival of Mr. Hugh Peters ... The Church and Town of Concord; Mr. Bulkley The Laborious Work of Planting it; Mr. Jones . The Church and Town of Hingham; Mr. Hobart The Arrival of Mr. Thomas Flint, Mr. Carter, and others . The Elections of 1636; Mr. Fenwick's Plantation Mr. Partridge of Duxbury; Mr. Nathaniel Rogers of Ipswich . Mr. Whiting of Lynn . . . . Satan raises Enemies against Christ's People Justification by Faith; Mr. Cotton The Magnifying of Free Grace The Gainsaying of Mrs. Hutchinson . The Shallowness of the Erronists They slight the Ordinances of Christ . They disturb the Churches .... The Distress of a Poor Soul landing at this Time The New England Churches prone neither to Heresy i The Elections of 1637 . The Form of Civil Government in New England Mr. Simon Bradstrect . The Principal Deputies nor to Tyranny Book II. The Bcginiiin}; of the Pequot War 147 The Lord delivers liis People from Error; the Calling of the SjTiod . 152 Prosperity in < )iitwaril Things 153 The Lord Prcs(r\i's his People from Morton and the Bishops . . 154 The Malignancy of (he English Prcialos and their Downfall . . 157 The Embassy to (^inonicus . Ig^ CONTENTS Vll PAGE The Insolence of the Pequots 164 The March against them ; the Ministers' Exhortations . . .165 The Destruction of the Pequots . . 167 The Assemblage of the Synod 170 Four Sorts of Men who might profitably have Attended . . .171 The Disarming of Dangerous Heretics; Excommunication of Some . 175 The Planting of the Colony of New Haven 176 Mr. John Davenport 177 Mr. Theophilus Eaton; Mr. Hopkins 178 The Church and Town of Dedham; Mr. Allen 179 The Church and Town of Weymouth 181 The Elections of 1638 .... 1S2 The Establishment of a Printing Press 183 The Church and Town of Rowley; Mr. Ezekiel Rogers and Mr. Miller . ... 183 The Earthquake; the Banishment of the Erronists . . . .18.3 Their Bad End .... ISO Mr. John Harvard and Harvard College 187 The Elections of 1639; the Church and Town of Hampton; Mr. Dalton 188 The Church and Town of Salisbury ; Mr. Worcester . . . .189 Mr. Knowles added to the Church of Watcrtown .... 190 Sad Accident at Boston I!tl The Elections of 1640; the Arrival of Mr. Burr and Mr. Rayner . 192 Of other Ministers .... 193 The Planting of Long Island . . 195 The Church and Town of Sudbury; Mr. Brown . . . 195 The Church and Town of Braintree; Mr. Thompson and Mr. Flint . 197 The Desire for the Promotion of Learning 198 The Founding of Harvard College .... . . 200 Hopeful Plants raised up therein 202 President Dunster 204 The Elections of 1641 20."i The Church and Town of Gloucester; Mr. Blinman .... 205 The Church and Town of Dover 206 Sundry Misguided Persons sail for the Isle of Providence . . . 207 The Elections of 1642; the Fall in the Price of Cattle . . .209 The Prosperity of New England . . 210 The Founding of the Town of Wobum 212 The Gathering of the Church 214 The Church Covenant .... .... 216 The Ordination of Mr. Thomas Carter . .... 217 The Elections of 1643; the New England Confederation . . .219 The Struggle between Miantonomoh and Uncas 220 The Death of Miantonomoh 222 The Outrageous Conduct of the Gortonbts 222 Their Punishment 224 The Elections of 1644; The Church and Town of Reading; Mr. Green 225 CONTENTS The Church and Town of Wenham; Mr. Fisk Military Precautions and Arrangements The Military Commanders .... The Fortifications PACE 226 227 229 231 Book III. The Elections of 1645 The Church and Town of Haverhill; Mr. John Ward The Sons of Canonicus overawed The Church and Town of Springfield; Mr. Moxon . Fasting and Prayer for the Brethren in England . The Elections of 1646; the Petition of Dr. Child and others The Mission of Winslow The Second Synod of Cambridge; the Cambridge Platform The Images of the Sun The Compiling of the Laws of 1648 . The Elections of 1647; the Rise of Manufactures The Elections of 1648; the Church and Town of Andover The Church and Town of Maiden The North Church of Boston .... The Death of Winthrop and other Eminent Persons . Other Disasters . .... The Elections of 1650 . .... Of 1651; Special Providences . .... Verses on God's Dealings with His New England People . The Preaching of Christ to the Indians Ministers sent to the Godly in Virginia Judgments following their Expulsion . The Church in the Bermudas The Time of the Fall of Antichrist . Concluding Verses on God's Wonder-working Providence Index 234 2.34 235 236 2.3'< 2-U) 241 242 243 244 245 249 250 251 251 253 254 255 257 201 265 266 267 268 MAP AND FACSIMILE REPRODUCTIONS Tttlb-Page of the "Wondeb- working Providence." From a copy of the original in the Wobum Public Library . Frontispiece PAGE Map of New England in 1628-1651. From Palfrey's "History of New England" 64 First Page of the Records of the Town of Woburn. Handwriting of Major William Johnson, son of Captain Edward Johnson . . . 213 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE OF SIONS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 1628-1651 INTRODUCTION Late in the year 1653, but under date of 1654, Nathaniel Brooke, a London publisher, "at the Angel in Cornhill," brought out a small octavo book of two hundred and thirty- six pages, entitled A History of New-England, from the Eng- lish planting in the Yeere 1628 urUill the Yeere 1652, etc. The title, inexact in any case, for the book is rather a history of Massachusetts than of all New England, was evidently aSixed by the publisher. His advertisements show that at one time he thought of giving the book the title Historicall Relation of the First Planting of the English in New England in the Year 1628 to the Year 1653 and aU the Materiall Passages happening there. But many reiterations in the text of the book show that the author's own title for his production was that which ap- pears in the running headlines of the printed book, and by which it has been generally known, The Wonder-working Providence of Sion's Saviour in New England. The author's name nowhere appears in the book. Five years later the publisher took advantage of this latter fact, since the sale of the work had been so disappoint- ing as to leave many copies on his hands, to utilize the sheets in another of his ventures. He had in hand a book entitled America Painted to the Life. Of the four parts of which he composed it, the first and fourth were apparently written by Ferdinando Gorges, Esquire, grandson of the celebrated pat- entee Sir Ferdinando Gorges, while the second was by that knight himself. Brooke impudently sandwiched-in the un- sold sheets of Wonder-working Providence as Part iii., "Written by Sir Ferdmando Gorges Knight" (the grandfather), and 4 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE "Publisht since his decease by his Grandchild Ferdinando Gorges Esquire, who hath much enlarged it and added severall accurate Descriptions of his owne." The reader who has any remembrance of the relations between Sir Ferdinando Gorges and the Massachusetts colony, and of the diametrical difference between his state of mind and that which breathes through every page of the Wonder- working Providence, will say that imposture could hardly be more shameless. The younger Gorges protested publicly. In the newspaper called Mercurius Politicus for September 13, 1660, appeared the following advertisement: I, Ferdinando Gorges, the entituled Author of a late Book, called America Painted to the Life, am injured in that additional Part, called Sion's Saviour in New England (as written by Sir Ferdinando Gorges;) that being none of his, and formerly printed in another name, the true owner. The last statement is erroneous. So far as is known, no copies of the original book were issued with the author's name. In New England it has been known for more than two hundred years that it was written by Captain Edward Johnson of Wo- burn, Massachusetts. The accurate Thomas Prince, in the preface to his Chronological History of New England (Boston, 1736), after speaking of the false attribution of the book to Gorges, says: "But the true Author was Mr. Johnson of Wobum in New England, as the late Judge Sewall assur'd me, as of a Thing familliarly known among the Fathers of the Massachusetts Colony." In Prince's own copy of the Wonder- working Providence, now preserved in the library of the American Antiquarian Society at ^^'orcester, is a manuscript note which is still more explicit: Judg Sewall tells me, this Book was known to have been written by Captain Johnson of Woburn, Fatlier to Hon^' W" John- son Esq'' of Woburn, w° wa.s cliosen assistant in 1GS4 at tlie same time w"" Judg Sewall Himself, and as it was commonly known di* OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 5 Capt. Johnson was the author of this Book; so the Judg was intimately acquainted w*'' his son the assistant, and had conferred w*** Him about it. This the Judg tells me this [symbol for Friday] aug. 23, 1728. There are also various internal evidences which point to this authorship. The foundation of the town and church of Wobum are related at much greater length than is the case with any of the other Massachusetts towns, some of them much more important. Other transactions in which Captain John- son is known to have had an official part are likewise narrated with especial fulness. In chapter xxvi. of the second book, in which the author names the other officers of the military companies of the colony, he says, "The band of Concord is led by Capt. Simon Willard, being a Kentish souldier, as is Capt. Goggin [Gookin], . . . the band of Woburn led by another Kentish Captain." Now we know that the unnamed trainband captain of Wobum was Captain Ed- ward Johnson, and that he came from the county of Kent in England. The editor of this volume, a descendant of Captain Johnson, takes pleasure in remembering that by a little simple investi- gation in Canterbury, some years ago, he established with practical certainty the captain's genealogy and local position. The will of one of his sons, who died in Maryland, had recently disclosed the fact that the captain came from Canterbury. It now appeared that he was of the parish of St. George, that he was christened September 16 or 17, 1598 (born therefore in all probability a few days earlier), and that the future town clerk of Woburn was son of William Johnson, parish clerk of St. George's parish. He was married about 1618, and had five sons and two daughters, all born in England and christ- ened in St. George's Church, the last three in 1631, 1633, and 1635, after their father's first voyage to New England. He was possessed of a considerable estate in Canterbury and elsewhere in Kent, and on his first appearance in New England 6 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE is among the moderate number of those whom the oflBcial records of the colony call "Mr." Edward Johnson came over to New England in 1630 with Winthrop, probably in the ArbeUa. He was licensed by Governor Winthrop to trade with the Indians along the Merri- mac River, and in May, 1631, was admitted a freeman of the colony; but he returned to England, probably in that year, and remained there till the spring of 1636, when he came out again, this time bringing his family. This absence accounts for some of the meagreness and vagueness of his information respecting the events of the years 1631-1635. In an official list of passengers sailing from Sandwich, England, in 1636, for America, we find the entry, "Edward Johnson, of Canter- bury, joiner, and Susan, his wife, seven children, three ser- vants." Data respecting the occupations of emigrants were often given in a form intended to mislead the royal oflBcers; but the records of St. George's parish also call him a joiner, and two of his sons were shipwrights and carpenters. Arriving in Massachusetts at the height of the Antinomian excitement, of which he gives a vivid though prejudiced account, Johnson threw himself heart and soul into the life of the colony and of its orthodox party. Settling in Charles- town, where we find him in 1638 in the possession of consider- able land-grants, he found abundant opportunity for his active and optimistic spirit in the "wilderness work" of founding a new town, that process so tjrpical in American historj'. The General Court in May, 1640, on the petition of Charlestown, made a grant, enlarged a few months later to four miles square, for a new town to the northward, called at first Charles- town Village, but after incorporation Woburn. Of tliis new town Johnson was the leading man. For thirty years, from its incorporation in 1G42 to his death in 1072, he was almost constantly one of its "selectmen" or executive committee- men, the captain of its trainband, its town clerk, and its repre- OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 7 sentative in the General Court, and a great part of his time was given to its business. To his deep interest in its affairs we owe it that in Wonder-working Providence, book ii., chapter xxn., he gives an exceptionally full account of the successive steps in the founding of this new town and church — the ap- pointing of a committee of seven by Charlestown, the com- mittee's careful scrutiny of would-be settlers, its arrangements for village sites and the allotment of outlying farming lands, the engaging of a minister, the gathering of a covenanted church, the minister's ordination by the democratic methods of the new Congregationalism — an account so full and so in- teresting that it has been one of the classical passages for the student of the origins of town and church government in New England. At the first meeting of the persons chosen by the Charlestown church to manage the new settlement, Edward Johnson was chosen as their recorder or town clerk. Accord- ingly the first pages of the town records, preserved in a copy in his son's handwriting, furnish a parallel narrative, of all these transactions, to that which he gives in his book. Characteristically, he opens the town records with a rude "copy of verses," which are worth quoting (with clarified punctuation) for their exhibition of the writer's spirit and for their relation to the verses which so thickly bestrew the pages of his printed book. Records for the Towne of Wobume ffrom the year 1640 the 8 day of th 10 month Paidisper Fui In peniles age I wobume Towne began; Charls Towne first moved the Court my lins to span. To vewe my land place, compild body Reare, Nowell, Sims, Sedgwick, thes my paterons were.' Simi fearing He grow great upon tiiese grownds, Poor I wase putt to nurs among the Clownes, > Increase Nowell, Rev. Zachary Symmes, Robert Sedgwick, in compliment to whom the town was named; see notes on their names, on pp. 85, 100, 212< jmgt. 8 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE Who being taken with such mighty things As had bin work of Noble Qeeins and Kings, Till Babe gan crye and great disturbance make; Nurses Repent they did har undertake. One leaves her quite; an other hee doth hie To foren lands, free from the Babys Crye; To [two] more of seaven, seing nursing provd soe thwarte. Thought it more ease in following of the Carte. A naighbour by,' hopeing the Babe wold bee A pritty Girle, to Rocking har went hee. Too [two] nurses less undanted [danted ?] then [than] the rest, flSrst howses ffinish; thus the Girle gane drest. Its Rare to see how this poore Towne did rise By weakest means, two [too] weake in great ons [ones'] eys. And sure it is that mettclls cleere exstraction Had never share in this Poore Towns erextion; Without which metall and sum fresh supiys Patrons eonclud she never upp wold rise. If ever she mongst ladys have a station, Say twas fFrom Parentes, not har education. And now eonclud the lords owne hand it wase That vdth weak means did bring this work to pass, Not only Towne but Sistor church to ade Which out of dust and Ashes now is had. Then all Inhabit woburne Towne, stay make The lord, not means, of all you undertake.' Greatly as Captain Johnson was interested in the affairs of the town of Wobum, yet from the time of his entrance into the legislature or General Court as representative of that town we find his practical talents largely employed in the concerns of the colony at large. He was placed on nearly every military committee, and in 1659 became surveyor- ' Johnson himself. Under the designation of nurses he alludes to the seven memtjera of the managing committee appointed by Charlestown. 'The moaning is, "Then all who inhabit Wobum town, make the Lord, not the mere means or instrumentalities, the chief stay of all that you under- take." See these verses in the fac-simile opposite p. 213. The most imf)ortant extracts from the early town records of Wobum are printed in the introduction to Poole's cdilion of the Wonder-working Providence, pp. Ixxx-I.\xxix. The full text of them, with notes by Hon. Edward V. Johnsim and Mr. William R. Cutter, was printed in the Woburn Journal newspn[)er in 1SS8. OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 9 general of the arms and munitions of the colony. He took part in the arrest of Gorton in 1643. In 1645-1647 he served on some of the important committees for the codification of the laws. He had apparently especial skill in surveying, and often had duties in that field assigned to him by the General Court. Thus it will be seen that when he undertook the writing of a history of the colony, he had had good opportuni- ties of knowing its towns, by personal visits or through their representatives, and that he was familiar with many portions of its public business, by reason of several years of active participation, in a subordinate but still influential capacity. This participation he continued for many years after the composition of the book, and indeed until his death, which took place on April 23, 1672. A systematic attempt to discover from internal evidence the date at which Captain Johnson wrote the Wonder-working Providence, shows that it was not all the product of one time. Various passages would seem to show that it was written, not only after the deaths of Winthrop and Shepard in March and August, 1649 (pp. 108, 251, 252), but also after the fourth election of Dudley as governor in May, 1650 (p. 81), yet before the third election of Endicott in May, 1651 (p. 44). Also the reference on p. 247 to Boston's soon-defeated hopes of being made a city would seem to fix the date between June, 1650, and May, 1651. But on another page (p. 255) Endicott's election in May, 1651, is recorded, and the account on p. 202 of the Harvard Commencement of August 12, 1651, and the graduation of Seaborn Cotton, compels a later date, though on p. 63 the latter is referred to as still "a young student in a CoUedge." The truth no doubt is, that the book was mostly written in 1650, or before May of the next year, but that addi- tions and amendments were made later in 1651. The numer- ous descriptions given of the various towns seem to refer to their condition at about that date. 10 WONDER-WORKIXG PROVIDENCE The motive for the composition of the book appears from several passages. The author was convinced in every fibre that there had been set up in New England an ecclesiastical and civil polity more closely according with the Word of God than any other which the world had seen, and that the Lord had manifested His approval by doing marvellous things in the wilderness for these His chosen people. Persons disaffected to this holy experiment, lewd fellows like Morton and Gardiner, presumptuous heretics like Gorton, had spread in England reports injurious to the Massachusetts plantation, and these ought to be combated by any one who cared for the material and political welfare of the colony, or who valued intelligent English opinion. What was perhaps still more grievous, there had been bitter criticism even from a portion of the godly in England, for in the recent debates, in and out of the West- minster Assembly, on the reforming of the ecclesiastical polity of England, the Presbyterian party, dominant in Parliament, had hotly assailed the "New England Way," the principles and practices of Congregationalism. One to whom those principles were as clear as the sun, those practices invested with the absolute warrant of Scripture, could not rest easy without exhibiting to all English readers the marvellous providences, the gracious and evident mercies, by which Jehovah had proclaimed to every attentive ear His approval of New England methods. So came into existence the first published history of Massachusetts, a book which, whatever its shortcomings, represented the honest attempt of a Puritan man of affairs to set forth to his fellow-Englishmen the first twenty-three years' history of the great Puritan colony. A book on that subject, we may be sure, met a real want in the Puritan Eng- land of 1653 and 1654, although in the changed atmosphere of 1659 Nathaniel Brooke might find it slow of sale. But, printed as it \v;i.s with the author three thousand miles away. OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 11 it appeared with many typographical defects, and with vaga- ries of punctuation which must have made many passages difficult of comprehension even at the time of its appearance, and are still greater hindrances now. Printer's punctuation, executed under such circumstances, cannot be regarded as sacred. The editor of the present volume has by no means attempted to systematize the punctuation; even a pointing that may appear eccentric has in most cases not been altered if after all it leaves the sense clear. But where a stupid com- positor has given to the punctuation of the original a form which perverts or obscures the sense, yet the meaning intended is to an experienced eye perfectly clear, the needful alteration has been made without compunction. A good example oc- curs in the beginning of chapter xx. of the first book, where the author is made to say that Boston is "invironed with the Brinish flouds, saving one small Istmos, which gives free accesse to the Neighbour Townes; by Land on the South side, on the North west, and North East, two constant Faires are kept for daily traffique thereunto." Since "Faires" is ob- viously a misprint for "Ferries," to retain a punctuation which represents two ferries as operating in three different directions, and one of them by land, would be a Chinese fidelity for which the editor sees no occasion. Printing "Faires" but adding "Ferries" in square brackets, he silently alters the reading above to "Istmos, which gives free accesse to the Neighbour Townes by Land on the South side; on the North west," etc. But such alterations of punctuation have not been made save where the sense is indubitable. Brooke's printer's italics have been deemed no more sacred than his punctuation. With whatever helps an editor may supply, the Wonder- working Providence remains hard reading. Though the author can tell plain facts in a plain way when he chooses to do so, and gives us many valuable details respecting business matters. 12 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE his enthusiasm for the great cause of militant Puritanism frequently leads him astray into rhetorical flights which, though often vigorous and imaginative, are turgid, bom- bastic, and tedious. Hardest of all to peruse are the labored verses which, with excellent motives and a pathetic patience, he has hammered out whenever he has felt that an eminent leader in the upbuilding of his Zion calls for especial commemoration. Yet the prose style has pictur- esque imagination and a certain manly vigor, and though the diction of the rhetorical passages is all borrowed from the one Book the author knew well, a diction borrowed from that source will never wholly lack beauty and ele- vation. Even among the verses, one may discriminate. There are woree verses than those in the ninth chapter of the third book, beginning, "From silent night, true Register of moans." Johnson's habit of "dropping into poetrj-" has been so much commented on by those who have in any way written of him, that it is natural to ask the question what models he fol- lowed, in the three varieties of metre which we see in liis work. On this point the editor has consulted his friend Professor R. E. Neil Dodge, of the University of Wisconsin, an accom- plished student of Elizabethan verse. Of the metre of which Johnson's first two "poems," those in honor of Cradock and Endicott, are specimens, he says: "The measure as a whole, the fourteen-syllable couplet ('fourtecners' or, more learnedly, 'septenars'), would in its general swing be familiar to every good Puritan in the metrical Psalms of Sternhold and Hop- kins, e. g., Ps. xxii.: 'O God my God, wherefore doest thou forsake mc utterly: And hclj>est not, when I do make my great complaint and cry.* OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 13 Sometimes, by rhyming the half-lines, these versifiers make of the original couplet a fully rhymed quatrain, e. g., Ps. xcv. : 'O come let us lift up our voyce, and sing unto the Lord: In him our rock of health rejoyce let us with one accord.' The double ending is rare in these Psalms, as is also internal rhyme except in the quatrain arrangement given above. See, however, Ps. xxii., stanza 21 : 'And from the Lyons mouth, that would me all in sunder shiver: And from the homes of unicornes, Lord safely me deliver.' The particular arrangement of internal, or sectional, rhymes which you say is characteristic of his verse may be found in Tottel's Miscellany (v. Arber's English Reprints), a book very popular with the Elizabethans under its title of Songs and Sonnets, which Master Slender wished he had with him when he set eyes on Mistress Anne Page (Merry Wives of Windsor) ; see p. 62 of Arber's edition : ' O Goodly hand Wherein doth stand My heart distract in pain: Dear hand, alas! In little space My life thou dost restrain.' Write this out as a septenar couplet and you have exactly the measure with sectional rhymes used by Captain Johnson. It was common, but I cannot say just how common." The variety next seen, in the verses on Higginson, is the ele^ac quatrain, that of Gray's Elegy. It had been used, sayti Professor Dodge, by Wyatt, Surrey, Sir John Davies, and 14 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE Spenser (Colin Clout's Come Home Again). All the verses in the book are in one of these two measures, except the poem alluded to above, beginning, " From silent night, true Register of moans," and that with which the volume closes. Of this six-line stanza. Professor Dodge says that it is "used by Spenser in January and December of the Shepherd's Calendar, in The Tears of the Muses, and elsewhere. It is to be found also in Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis, in Drayton's Legend of Gaveston and in several of his Eclogues, in fact in poetry about 1600 very often." He adds : All these measures were suiBciently common to make sp>ecific investigation of the good Captain's models needless. He may have had his favorite poets and may have imitated them, but to decide who they were would require the reading of all his verse, and even by that process one would probably not arrive at any very exact conclusions, for it takes a man of artistic temperament to imitate style recc^izably, whereas a man of ordinary facility with the pen may turn out verse according to familiar measures readily enough. However crabbed the style of the Wonder-working Provi- dence, he that reads it through will be profited. It is little to say that it is the first published history of New England, and the most important work on its history brought out before Cotton Mather's Magnolia (1702). This is only to say that Winthrop's Journal did not see the light of publication till 1790, nor Bradford's History of Plymxndh Plantntion till 1S56. The Wonder-working Providence is far from ranking in the same class with those incomparable narratives. It is the work of a much inferior mind; it is disfigured, as may be seen from the foot-notes of the present edition, by many errors and inaccu- racies; and the thought and arrangement are often sadly con- fused. Yet it gives us, what neither Bradford nor Winthrop could supply, the history, or at any rate the essential spirit, OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 15 of the Massachusetts colony depicted from the point of view of the rank and file. Captain Edward Johnson, though superior to the aver- age man in intelligence, education, abilities, and influence, may fairly be regarded as typical of the mass of Puritan settlers. He is by nature an "organization man," a stal- wart, a member of the majority, an upholder of constituted authority in political life. In religion, quite incapable of understanding the subtilties of theology, he adheres instinc- tively to the orthodox side. It is his nature to venerate his file-leaders, and to follow them enthusiastically and without a shadow of doubt that their beliefs and positions are alone correct. To see, displayed before us, the mind of such a Puritan, is no small privilege. The founders of Massachusetts, we know, were distinguished above most founders of colonies in the fact that they definitely intended to found a great state, on prin- ciples marked indeed by narrowness, but also by elevation. [ It is good to be permitted to see how far their notions pre-' vailed in the minds of their less exalted followers, with what i ardor of enthusiasm the austere programme of the leaders/ was maintained in the ranks. The foremost principle of the Puritan regime in Massachusetts was that the will and the interests of the individual should be rigidly subordinated to those of the community. It bred intolerance and persecution in the seventeenth century, but it bred solidarity and public spirit in the eighteenth and nineteenth. Democracy being fated to prevail in a new country, it is good to be enabled to see the early workings of that spirit of union and solidarity in the mind of the common man, captain or private in the village trainband. Captain Johnson explains to us Hosea Biglow. He helps us to understand the formation of that extraordinary body, the like of which the world has seldom seen, the Massa- chusetts population of 1840, so homogeneous, so resentful of 16 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE contamination, yet so intelligent and capable and so infused with public spirit and the social sense that it could perform to a marvel the task which awaited it in the next half-century, the wholesale digesting of the alien. If we turn to the more personal qualities of Johnson as an historian, we must admit that we have in him a striking ex- ample of the hot zealotry, the narrow partisanship, the con- fident dogmatism, which characterized so much of Puritanism. All his opinions are self-evident to him. If for want of apter phrases one may repeat what one has already said of him elsewhere: "He is full of that narrow Hebraism which, when it prayed, kept open its windows toward Jerusalem, but closed every other avenue to the soul. To hew Agag in pieces before the Lord is to his mind not the least attractive of religious duties. With him the Church militant is more than a meta- phor. The life of the colony appears to him most frequently in the guise of an armed conflict; he hears in its storj- the noise of battle, the thunder of the captains and the shouting, and in vehement canticles summons the Israel of New England to the help of the Lord against the mighty." To the Puritan zeal he adds the Puritan superstition, and his pages bristle with special providences. Yet, however severe his creed, Johnson was a kindly man. This will be especially apparent to any one who, reading be- tween the lines, sees how gently he deals with erring brethren. His spirit, though narrow, is far from ignoble. He has those virtues which spring from confidence in a high purpose and a mission felt to be momentous and sacred. It is impossible not to admire the exaltation, the fervent enthusiasm with which, in such passages for instance as the fifth chapter of the second book, he glories in the success of militant Puritan- ism in old Engliiad, and which invests his hortatoiy passiigcs, partisan harangues though they are, with a certain rugged eloquence. OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 17 The original edition of the Wonder-working Providence is now a rare book, not to be obtained for less than a hundred dollars. There are copies, however, in the British Museum, the Boston Public Library, the Woburn Public Library, the Congregational Library in Boston, those of the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Boston Athenaeum, the American Anti- quarian Society, and Brown University, the John Carter Brown Library, the Pequot Library, that of the State of New York in Albany, the Lenox Branch of the New York Public Library, the Library of Congress, and the libraries of Mr. E. E. Ayer, the late Mr. E. D. Church, and the late Mr. L. Z. Leiter. The copy in the Woburn Public Library, which formerly be- longed to Dr. Abiel Holmes (and was "bought in London in the year 1810 for 7 s. steriing"), has, pasted on the inside of the cover, an advertisement clipped from a newspaper, unknown but of date between 1736 and 1762, in which John Draper, the Boston printer, proposes the reprinting of the work by subscriptions; but it was not done. In 1814-1819 the Massa- chusetts Historical Society reprinted it in portions scattered through volumes H., IIL, IV., VII., and VIII. of its second series of Collections, volumes reprinted in 1846 and 1826. The text was seen through the press by the accurate James Savage, but there were no annotations. In 1867 a reprint, almost a fac-simile, was brought out in a small edition of 260 copies by Dr. William F. Poole. This also was without annotations, but it has a long introduction on Johnson and his work which is a model of thorough investigation, and to which all subse- quent writers who have touched on Johnson, including the present editor, have been deeply indebted. The present is the first edition supplied with foot-notes, which the Wonder- working Providence seems particularly to require. The frontispiece to the present volume is a reproduction of the title-page of the original work, which, by the courtesy of Mr. William R. Cutter of the Woburn Public Library, we were 18 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE permitted to make from the volume in his custody. The map of New England, showing the settlements founded within the period covered by the book, is taken from the first volume of Dr. John G. Palfrey's Hidonj of New England, by permission of Messrs. Little, Brown & Co., publishers of that work. The second fac-simile represents the first page of the town records of \\'oburn, consisting of the verses by Captain Edward John- son, town clerk, which have been quoted above, on pp. 7 and 8. The handwriting, however, is not that of the captain, but that of his son. Major William Johnson. For permission to photo- graph the document we are indebted to the present city clerk of Wobum, Mr. John H. Finn. J. Franklin Jameson. WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE OF SIONS SAVIOUR IN NEW-ENGLAND 1628-1651 A HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND From the English planting in the Yeere 1628. untiU the Yeere 1652. Declaring the form of their Government, CiviU, Military, and Ecdesiastique. Their Wars with the Indians, their Troubles with the Gortonists, and other Heretiqties. Their manner of gathering of Churches, the commodities of the Country, and description of the principall Towns and Havens, with the great encouragements to increase Trade bchvixt them and Old England. With the names of aU their Govemours, Magistrates, and Eminent Ministers. Psal. 107.24. The righteous shall see it and rejoice, and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. Psal. 111.2. The works of the Lord are great, and ought to he sought out of all thai have pleasure in them. London, Printed for Nath: Brooke at the Angel in Com-hiU. 1654.* TO THE READER Good Reader, As large Gates to small Edifices, so are long Prefaces to little Bookes; therefore I will breifly informe thee, that here thou shalt find, the time when, the manner how, the cause why, and the great successe which it hath pleased the Lord to give, to this handfull of his praysing Saints in N. Engl., and it will be clearely demonstrated, if thou compare them with any other people, who have left their countryes, as the Gothes, Vandals, etc. to possesse a fatter, as Italy, or warmer, as Spaine, etc. But these forsooke a fruitfull Land, stately Buildings, goodly Gardens, Orchards, yea, deare Friends, and neere relations, to goe to a desart Wildernesse, thousands of leagues ' This, as explained in the Introduction, is the publisher's title for the book, not the author's. 21 22 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE by Sea, both turbulent and dangerous; also many have trav- elled to see famous Cities, strong Fortifications, etc. or in hope to enjoy a setled habitation, where riches are attained with ease. But here the oncly encouragements were the laborious breaking up of bushy ground, with the continued toyl of erecting houses, for themselves and cat tell, in this howling desart; all which they underwent, with much cheerfulnesse, that they might enjoy Christ and his Ordinances in their primitive purity. And now, you, ray honoured Count rey-men, who have with indefatigable paines, and expence of a great part of your Estates, furthered this blessed work: Behold how the Lord of Hosts hath carried it on in despight of all opposition from his and their enemies, in planting of his Churches in this New World, with the excellent frame of their Government, both civil and military, already established; but why stop I you at the Threshold? go in, and seriously consider this Wonder-working Providence ofSions Saviour. In the perusing of which, if thou receivest profit or delight, and God may have glory thereby, he hath attained the end that he aimed at, and full satisfaction for all his paynes, who heartily wishes thee all the good, both of this life, and a better life, in him who is a Christians all in all. T. H.' ' Who T. H. was is not known. WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE OF SIONS SAVIOUR BEING A RELATION OF THE FIRST PLANTING IN NEW ENGLAND, IN THE YEARE, 1628 [Book I.] Chap. I. The sad Condition of England, when this People removed. When England began to decline in Religion, like luke- warme Laodicea, and instead of purging out Popery, a farther compliance was sought not onely in vaine Idolatrous Cere- monies, but also in prophaning the Sabbath, and by Procla- mation throughout their Parish churches, exasperating lewd and prophane persons to celebrate a Sabbath like the Heathen to Venus, Baccus and Ceres; ' in so much that the multitude of irreligious lascivious and popish affected persons spred the whole land like Grashoppers, in this very time Christ the glorious King of his Churches, raises an Army out of our English Nation, for freeing his people from their long servi- tude under usurping Prelacy; and because every comer of England was filled with the fury of malignant adversaries, Christ creates a New England to muster up the first of his Forces in; Whose low condition, little number, and remote- nesse of place made these adversaries triumph, despising this day of small things, but in this hight of their pride the Lord Christ brought sudden, and unexpected destruction upon them. Thus have you a touch of the time when this worke began. • An allusion to the Declaration concerning Sports, promulgated in 1617 by James I., and repeated by Charles I. in 1633, which permitted and indeed encour- aged the practice of playing games on Sundays, after church service. 24 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1628 Christ Jesus intending to manifest his Kingly Office toward his Churches more fully than ever yet the Sons of men saw, even to the uniting of Jew and Gentile Churches in one Faith, begins with our English Nation (whose former reformation being vere imperfect) doth now resolve to cast down their false foundation of Prelacy, even in the hight of their domi- neering dignity. And therefore in the yeere 1628, he stirres up his servants as the Heralds of a King to make this procla- mation for Voluntiers, as foUoweth. "Oh yes! oh yes! oh yes! AU you the people of Christ that are here Oppressed, Imprisoned and scurriUmsly derided, gather yourselves together, your Wives and litHe ones, and answer to your severall Names as you shall be shipped for his service, in the Westeme World, and more especially for planting the united Collonies of new England; Where you are to attend the service of the King of Kings." Upon the divulging of this Proclamation by his Herralds at Armes, many (although otherwise willing for this service) began to object as followeth: "Can it possible be the mind of Christ, (who formerly inabled so many Souldiers of his to keepe their station unto the death here) that now so many brave Souldiers disciplined by Christ himselfe the Captaine of our salvation, should tume their backs to the disheartning of their Fellow-Souldiers, and losse of further opportunity in gaining a greater number of Subjects to Christs Kingdonic?" Notwithstanding this Objection, It was further proclaimed as followeth: "What, Creature, wilt not know that Christ thy King crusheth with a rod of Iron, the Pompe and Pride of man, and must he like man cast and contrive to take his enemies at advantap;c? No, of purpose hee causeth such in- struments to retreate as hee hath made strong for himselfe: that so his adversaries glorying in the pride of their power, insulting over the little remnant remaining, Christ causeth tluim to be cast downc suddonlj^ forever, and wee find in stories reported. Earths Princes ha\c jiassod their Armies at need o\'('r Seas find decpe Torrents. Could C;rsar so suddenly fetch over fresh forces from Europe to Asia, Pompy to foyle? liow much more shall Christ who creatcth all power, call over this 900 league Ocean at his pleasure, such instruments 1628] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 25 as he thinks meete to make use of in this place, from whence you are now to depart, but further that you may not delay the Voyage intended, for your full satisfaction, know this is the place where the Lord will create a new Heaven, and a new Earth in, new Churches, and a new Common- wealth together; Wherefore, Chap. II. The Commission of the People of Christ shipped for New Eng- land, and first of their gathering into Churches. "Attend to your Commission, all you that are or shall hereafter be shipped for this service, yee are with all possible speed to imbarque your selves, and as for all such Worthies who are hunted after as David was by Saul and his Courtiers, you may change your habit and ship you with what secrecy you can, carrying all things most need full for the Voyage and service you are to be imployed in after your landing. But as soone as you shall be exposed to danger of tempestious Seas, you shall forthwith shew whose servants you are by calling on the Name of your God, sometimes by extraordinary seek- ing his pleasing Face in times of deepe distresse, and publish- ing your Masters will, and pleasure to all that Voyage with you, and that is his minde to have purity in Religion preferred above all dignity in the world; your Christ hath commanded the Seas they shall not swallow you, nor Pyrates imprison your persons, or possesse your goods. At your landing sec you observe the Rule of his Word, for neither larger nor stricter Commission can hee give by any, and therefore at first filling the Land whither you are sent, with diligence, search out the mind of God both in planting and continuing Church and civill Government, but be sure they be distinct, yet agreeing and helping the one to the other; Let the matter and forme of your Churches be such as were in the Primi- tive Times (before Antichrists Kingdome prevailed) plainly poynted out by Christ and his Apostles, in most of their Epistles, to be neither Nationall nor Provinciall, but gathered together in Covenant of such a number as might ordinarily meete together in one place, and built of such living stones as 20 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1628 outwardly appeare Saints by calling.' You are also to ordaine Elders in every Church, make you use of such as Christ hath indued with the best gifts for that end, their call to Office shall be mediate from you, but their authority and commission shall be immediate from Christ revealed in his word; which, if you shall slight, despise or contenme, hee will soone frustrate your call by taking the most able among you to honour with an everlasting Crown; whom you neglected to honour on Earth double as their due, or he will carry them remote from you to more infant Churches. You are not to put them upon anxious Cares for their daily Bread, for assuredly (although it may now seeme strange) you shall be fed in this Wildernesse, whither you are to goe, with the flower of Wheate, and W'me shall be plentifull among you (but be sure you abuse it not). These Doctrines delivered from the Word of God imbrace, and let not Satan delude you by perswading their learned skill is unnecessary, soone then will the Word of God be slighted as translated by such, and you shall be left wildred with strange Revelations of every phantastick brain; which to prevent here are to be shipped among you many both Godly, Juditious and Learned, who Chap. III. Of the Demeanor of their Church Officers. "Being called to Office are in all humility to feed the flock of Christ, and not for lucre to admit mostly of such sheepe, whose faire fleeces allure much : nor yet for filling the flocks to crowd in infectious sheepe, or rather wolves in sheepes cloathing, assuredly it will prove bitternesse in the end : neither shall you, for feare your allowance will fall short, hinder the ■ That is, the ecclesiastical polity of New England was to be the Independent or Congre^jationai polity — each local church, composed of converted Christians only, to lie in nearly all particulars independent of other churches, and to be bound together by a covenant framed for and adopted by the individual church. But it would he quite erroneous to maintain, as Johnson's metaphorical language might Iciiil one to suppose, that the Puritans who planned the great migration to New England had it in mind from the beginning to put in force there the Con- gregational polity. They regarded themselves as members of the Church of England till the force of circumstan2S, was sent out in that year as local manager, and governed the colony at Naiimkeag till A\'inthrop's arrival in 1030. He was five times (five years) depiily-povemor of Massachusetts Bav, and governor fifteen times, 1(111-1645, 1C49-1650 (the two terms alluded to by our author al)ovi), 1651-105^1, I(ir)r)-1G('>5. The word "General" in the verses Iji'Iow refers to his election as sergeant-major general, the highest militarv office in the colony, to which he was chosen in Ki 15. He was a narrow, rigid, and choleric I'lirilan, but sturdy, upright, and u.seful. ' "Malignant" was among Puritan writers a favorite term by which to desig- nate royalists and other opponents. The allusion in the next line is to Canticles vii. I-, then commonly interpreted as relating to Christ and the Church. 1629] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 45 Then honoured be, thy Christ hath thee their Generall promoted: To shew their love, in place above, his people have thee voted. Yet must thou fall to grave with all the Nobles of the Earth, Thou rotting worme, to dust must turn, and worse but for new birth. The place picked out by this People to settle themselves in, was in the bosome of the out-stretched arme of Cape Anne, now called Gloster, but at the place of their abode they began to build a Town, which is called Salem. After some Uttle space of time, having made tryall of the Sordid spirits of the Neighbouring Indians, the most bold among them began to gather to divers places, which they began to take up for their owne. Those that were sent over servants, having itching desires after novelties, found a reddier way to make an end of their Masters provision, then they could finde meanes to get more; They that came over their own men had but little left to feed on, and most began to repent when their strong Beere and full cups ran as small as water in a large Land, but little Come, and the poore Indians so far from relieving them, that they were forced to lengthen out their owne food with Acorns, and that which added to their present distracted thoughts, the Ditch betwccne England and their now place of abode was so wide, that they could not leap over with a lope-staffe,' yet some delighting their Eye with the rarity of things present, and feeding their fan- cies with new discoveries at the Springs approach, they made shift to rub out the Winters cold by the Fire-side, having fuell enough growing at their very doores, turning down many a drop of the Bottcll, and burning Tobacco with all the ease they could, discoursing betweene one while and another, of the great progresse they would make after the Summers- Sun had changed the Earths white furr'd Cu)\vne into a greene Mantell. Now the vernall of thirty nine [twenty-nine] being come, they addrest themselves to coste it as far as they durst for feare of loosing themselves, or falling into the hands of unknown Indians, being kept in awe by a report of a cruell people, not far of[f,] called the Tarratines.' All this while ' Leaping-pole. It is possible that Johnson is hardly just to Endicott's men. We know from Bradford that they had much ilhiess during the winter of 1628-1629. ' Of the region east of the Penobscot. 46 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1629 little like-lihood there was building the Temple for Gods worship, there being only two that began to hew stones in the Mountaines, the one named Mr. Bright, and the other Mr. Blaxton,' and one of them began to build, but when they saw all sorts of stones would not fit in the building, as they supposed, the one betooke him to the Seas againe, and the other to till the Land, retaining no simbole of his former profession, but a Canonicall Coate. Chap. X. Of the first Church of Christ, gathered at Salem in the Matla- chusets Government. This yeare 1629. came over three godly Ministers of Christ Jesus, intending to shew his power in his peoples lowest condition as his manner is, thereby to strengthen their Faith in following difficulties, and now although the number of the faithful! people of Chirist were but few, yet their longing desires to gather into a Church was very great; ^ And there- fore addressed themselves to jfinde out the blessed Rules of Christ for preserving herein, who through the assistance of his Blessed Spirit, found that the Word of God, penned by ' Rev. Francis Bright, an Oxford man, "trained upp under Mr. Davenport," came out to Salem in 1G29 as a minister engaged by the Company, along with Higginson and Skelton, but went back to England in 1630. Rev. William Blax- ton or Blackstone, B. A. in 1617 of Emmanuel College, C-ambridge (and there- fore presumably a Puritan), M. A. in 1021, had come out to Massachusetts Bay in 1623 with Robert Gorges, and setded about 1625 on the peninsula now occu- pied by Boston, its first, and for five years its sole, inhabitant. .\ bookish recluse, occupied with his garden and orchard, he yet welcomed and even in\-ited Win- throp and hi.s company to his peninsula. But he liked, he said, to be under the "lord-brethren" as little as to be under the "lord-bishops," and in 1634 he re- tired to a place he called Study Hill, in what is now Rhode Island, where he lived quietly till 1075. / "'rhe founding of the Salem church is a chief point of departure in the ecflcsiasticiii history of New England. U established Congregationalism ns the polity of Mus,s»(luiseU.s Bay, the es.sential features being (1) the local church, (2) coni|io.so(l of loiiviTled believers, (3) united by a coveiuint, (4) choosing and (5) it.si'lf ordiiining its ministers, nnraely, (<'i) pastor, teacher, and ruling elder. The fullest (Icsiription of the event is in Uriulford's History of Plymouth Plania- tiiin, pp. 2('i()-202. 162a] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 47 the Apostles in many Epistles, written to particular Churches, consisting of such as are beloved Saints, by calling appearing so in the judgement of Charity, being tryed by the rule of the word, not scandalous in their Lives, for the society of such they sought, and in these beginnings found very few, seven being the lest [least] number a Church can be gathered, or conceived by just consequence from the Word of God. Hav- ing fasted and prayed with humble acknowledgement of their own unworthinesse to be called of Christ to so worthy a worke, they joyned together in a holy Covenant with the Lord, and one with another, promising by the Lords Assistance to walke together in Exhorting, Admonishing, and Rebuking one another, and to cleave to the Lord with a full purpose of heart, according to the blessed Rules of his Word made known unto them, and further they seeing by light of Scripture the Lord Christ ascended up on high to give gifts unto men, not onely extraordinary as Apostles, etc. before the Canon of the Scripture was perfected, but also ordinary as Pastors and Teachers, and that such are to be fitted with gifts according, for so mighty a worke, as is the Feeding and Ruling the Flock of Christ, Wherefore they Elected ' and Ordained one Mr. BUgginson to be Teacher of this first Church of Christ, set up in those parts, a man indued with grace, apt to teach, and mighty in the Scriptures, Learned in the Tongues, able to convince gain-sayers, aptly applying the word to his hearers, who departed this life not long after, of whom it may be said. The Reverend Mr. Higgingson, first Pastor of the Church of Christ at Salem in New England. What Golden gaine made Higginson remove, From fertill Soyle to Wildernesse of Rocks; 'Twas Christs rich Pearle stir'd iij) thee toile to love, For him to feed in Wildernesse his flocks. ' July 20, 1629. The elections were conducted by written ballot, the first known instance of its use in America. Rev. Francis Higginson, M.A. of Cam- bridge 1613, had been sent out this spring by the Company. His interesting description of the country, New England's Plantation, was printed in London in 16.30. Just a year after the date of his ordination, namely, on August 6, 1630, he died. ^ 48 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1629 First Teacher, he here, Sheepe and Lambs together. First crownd shall be hee in the Heavens of all Christs Pastors here, but yet Christ['s] folke had rather Him liiTc retaine; blest he whom Christ hath call'd. They also called to the Office of an Exhorting Elder ' Mr. Scelton, a man of a gratious Speech, full of Faith and furnished by the Lord with gifts from above, to begin this great worke of his, that makes the whole Earth to ring againe at this present day. Tlie Reverend Mr. Scelton, first Pastor of the Church of Christ, at Salem in New England, 1630. Scelton for Christ did leave his Native soile, Christ['s] Grace first wrought for him, or he had never A Pastor been in Wildernesse to toile, \Miere Christ his Flock doth into Churches gather; For five yeares space to end thy war-faire thou Must meete with wantes, what wants can be to him Whose Shepheard's Christ? Earths fullnesse hath for you, And Heavens rich Crowne for thee, with's conquest win. This Church of Christ, being thus begun, the Lord with the Water-spouts of his tender Mercy caused to increase and fructify. And now let every Eare listen, and every heart admire, and inlarge it selfe to the astonishment of the whole man at this wonderous worke of the great Jehovah, that in thrice seven yeares ' (after the beginning of this Worke) wTought such fearfull Desolations, and wonderfull Alter- ations among our English Nation, and also in this dis- mall Desart, wasting the naturall Inhabitant with deaths stroke, and that as is former touched, the Mattachusets, who were a populous Nation, consisting of 30000 able men, now brought to lesse then 300. and in their roome and place of abode this poore Church of Christ consisting at their beginning, but of seven persons, increaseil to forty ' Or pastor. Samuel Skelton was also a Camliridpo M.A. He died in 1634, liciuo the "five yeares s|)iue" in the verses below. In their caption read 1629 for 1630. ' Reckoning from KrJO to 1050. 1629] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 49 three ' Churches in joynt Communion one with the other, professing One God, One Christ, and one Gospell, and in those Churches about 7750. Soules in one profession of the Rules of Christ, and that which makes the worke more admir- / able in the Eyes of all beholders, mens habitations are cut out ^ ^ of the Woods and Bushes, neither can this place be entered by our English Nation, but by passing through a dreadful! and terrible Ocean of nine hundred Leagues m length. Chap. XI. Of the Glorious beginnings of a thorough Reformation in the Churches of Christ. Further know these are but the beginnings of Christs glorious Reformation, and Restauration of his Churches to a more glorious splendor than e\'cr. Hee hath therefore caused their [the] dazeling brightnesse of his presence to be contracted in the buming-Glasse of these his peoples zeale, from whence it begins to be left upon many parts of the \\'orld with such hot reflection of that burning light, which hath fired many places already, the which shall never be quenched till it hath burnt up Babilon Root and Branch. And now let the Reader looke one the 102. Psalme, the Prophet Isaia 66. Chapter; take this Sharpe Sword of Christs Word, and all other Scrip- tures of Uke nature, and follow on yee valiant of the Lord; And behold the worthies of Christ, as they are boldly leading forth his Troopes into these Westerne Fields, marke them well Man by Man as they march, terrible as an Army with Banners, croud in all yee that long to see this glorious sight; see, ther's their glorious King Christ one [on] that white Horse, whose hoofes like flint cast not only sparkes, but flames of fire in his pathes. Behold his Ci(jwn beset with Carbunkles, wherein the names of his whole Army are written. Can there be ever night in his Presence, whose eyes are ten thousand times higher [brighter] than the Sun ? Be- ' Just how the number forty-three is reached is uncertain. Johnson counts ten in Pl3Tnouth Colony, p. 43, supra; he mentions the church of Martha's Vineyard, p. 264, port, and his chapter-headings plainly count thirty in Massa- chusetts proper; but these would make but forty-one. 50 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1630 hold his swiftnes, all you that have said, where is the promise of his comming? Listen a while, hear what his herauld pro- claimes, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, both her Doctrine and Lordly rabble of Popes, Cardinalls, Lordly-Bishops, Friers, Monks, Nuns, Seminary-Priests, Jesuits, Ermites, Pilgrims, Deans, Prebends, Arch-Deacons, Commissaries, Officialls, Proctors, Somners, Singing-men, Choristers, Organist, Bel- lows-blowers, Vergers, Porters, Sextons, Beads-men, and Bel-ringers and all others who never had name in the Word of God; ' together with all her false Doctrines, although they may seeme otherwise never so contradictory, as Arians, who deny the God-head of Christ, and Gortenists who deny the Humanity of Christ: Papists, who thinke to merit Heaven by the Workes of the Law, Antinomians, who deny the Law of God altogether as a rule to walke by in the obedience of Faith, and deny good works to be the Fruit of Faith, Arminians, who attribute Gods Election or Rej>- robation to the will of Man, and Familists, who forsake the revealed Will of God, and make men depend upon strong Revelations, for the knowledge of Gods Electing Love towards them, Conformitants or Formalists, who bring in a forme of worship of their owne, and joyne it with the worship God hath appointed in his Word, Seekers, that deny all manner of worship or Ordinances of Christ Jesus, affirming them to be quite lost, and not to be attained till new Apostles come. Chap. XII. Of the voluntary banishment, chosen by this People of Christ, and their last farewell taken of their Country and Friends. And now behold the severall Regiments of these Souldiers of Christ, as they are shipped for his service in the Westeme World, Part thereof being come to the Towne and P, mg ~io t he direct Rule of his Word? Assured confidence ^ there is also for all Nations, from the undoubted promise of Christ himself e. "" The Winter is past, the Raine is changed and gone, come out of the holes of the secret places, feare not because your number is but small, gather into Churches, and let Christ be your King; yee Presbytery, Lord it not over them or any Churches, but feed every one, that one flock over which Christ hath made you overseers, and yee people of Christ give your Presbytery double honours, that they with you may keepe the watch of the Lord over his Churches. Yee Dutch come out of your hods-podge, the great mingle-manple of Religion among you hath caused the Churches of Christ to increase so little with you, standing at a stay like Corne among Weeds, Oh, yee French! feare not the great swarmes of Locusts, nor the croking Frogs in your Land, Christ is reaching out the hand to you, look what hee hath done for these English, and sure hee is no Respecter of Persons, etc. : yee Germanes that have had such a bloudy bickering, Christ is now comming to your aide, then cast off your loose, and carelesse kinde of Reformation; gather into Churches, and keepe them pure, that Christ may delight to dwell among you : oh Italy! The Seat and Center of the Beast, Christ will jipw gidc^ out a People from among you for himselfe, see here what "^ wonderaliee workea;inlittle time. Oh! yee Spaniards and Portugalls, Christ will shew you the abominations of that beastly Wliore, who hath made your Nations drunke with the GO WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1030 Wine of her Fornication.' Dread not that cruell murtherous Inquisition, for Christ is now making Inquisition for them, and behold, here how hoc hath rewarded them, who dealt cruelly with these his people. Finally, oh all yee Nati(jns of the World, behold great is the worke the glorious King of Heaven and Earth hath in hand; beware of neglecting the call of Christ: and you the Seed of Israel both Icsse and more, the ratling of your dead bones together is at hand, Sinewes, Flesh and Life: at the Word of Christ it comes. Counsellers and Judges you shall have as at the begining to fight for you, as Gidion, Bareck, Jeptha, Samson etc. then sure your deliverance shall be sudden and wonderfull. If Christ have done such great things for these low Shrubs, what will his most Admirable, Excellent and wonderfull W'orke for you be, but as the Resur- rection from the dead, when all the miraculous acts of his wonderfull power shewed upon Pharoah for your fore-Fathers deliverance shall be swallowed up with those far greater workes that Christ shall shew for your deliverance upon the whole World, by Fiers and Bloud destroying both Pope and Turke, when you shall see great smoake and flames ascending up on high, of that great Whore, ficrel. 14 and 11. verse, and the 17. and 16. verse, and the 18. the 8. and 18. vers. Then oh! you People of Israel gather together as one Man, and grow together as one Tree. Ezek. 37. and 23. For Christ the great King of all the Earth is now going forth in his great Wrath and terrible Indignation to avenge the bloud of his Saints, Ezek. 38 and 19. \ers. and now for the great and bloudy Battell of Gog and Magog,^ Rivers of bloud, and up to the Horse-bridles, even the bloud of those [who] have drunke bloud so long. Oh! dreadfull day, when the patience and long-suffering of Christ, that hath lasted so many hundreds of yeares, shall end. What wonderous workes are now sud- denly to l)e wrought for the accomplishment of these things! ( Thg": j udge a ll ^'^) u Cwhom the Lord Christ hath g iven a dis- icernmg spirit) whether these poore New England PeopTeTlSe noTTlie f(ircfuhnersT)f Cluists AniTy, and the mar\'clous provi- ' Revelation xiv. 8, Babylon being currently identified with the Church of Rome. ' Revelation xx, 8. 1G30] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 61 den ces which you shall now h e are. be not the very JFiQggr..flf 2?iranI"~wE^KrT^nCo^^ Preach in this_ Wildernessej and to proclaime to all Nations, \he neere a,ppfoach 'oT the most wonderfull workes that ever the Sonnes of men saw. W ill not you believe that a NatJQp ^ ; ^ . can be borne in a day? here is a w orke come~veiy near e it; - but if you will believe you shall see Tar greaier tniin^^than these, and that in very little time, and in the meane time looke on the following Discourse. Chap. XVI. Of the admirable Acts of Christs Providence, in delivering this his people in their Voyages by Sea, from many foule dangers. You have heard of about 198. Ships passing the perillous Ocean, of all which I heare of but one that ever miscarried; ' yet shall you here see some of the great dangers they were in. The Ship this Author came in, a foggy morning, anon by breake of day was ready to be steamed by a Pirat(\ but being unready for fight they passed by; others by a fog, have been delivered from farther chase of them, so that of this great number never did any Pirate make one shot at them, accord- ing to best intelligence. Their deliverance from leakes also hath been no lesse wonderfull, some so neare sinking, that the loving affection betweene Husband and A\'ife, hath caused them to fould each other in their Amies, with Resolution to die together, and make the Sea their Grave, yet not ceasing to call on the Lord, their present helpe in time of need, who is minded to manifest his great care for this his people to all that shall come to hear thereof. And therefore directs to meanes for freeing their ships, being now ready to founder in the depthlesse Ocean. And further, as if these deliverances were too little to expresse the tender care Christ hath of his, to free them from all dangers, those that occupy their busi- nesse in the deepe, and see the Wonders of God upon the ^ y waters, are taken with great astonishment to behold the / ^ extraordinary hand of the most High, in transportation of ' The Gabriel, lost at Pemaquid, Maine, in 1C35. (12 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1630 this people, in that their ships all of a sudden are brought so neer the ground, and yet strike not, their Pilots missing oft- times of their skill on those unwandered Coasts, but their Jehovah hee misses not to be an exact Pilot in the most thickest fogge and darkest nights, for thus it befell. The night newly breaking off her darknesse, and the day- light being clouded with a grossc vapor, as if nights Curtaines remained halfe shut, the Sea-men and Passengers standing on the Decks, suddenly fixed their eyes one [on] a great Boat (as they deemed) and anon after they spied another, and after that another; but musing on the matter, they perceived themselves to be in great danger of many great Rocks. With much terror and affrightment, they turned the Ship about, expecting every moment to be dasht in pieces against the Rocks. But he whose providence brought them in. Piloted them out againe, without any danger, to their great Rejoycing. And assuredly (so extraordinarily eminent and admirable to the eyes of many beholders, was the wonderfull workes in magnifying the Rich grace toward this his people in pre- fering them) that many Masters of Ships left their Sea-imploy- ment for a time, and chose rather to suffer the wants of a Wildernesse with the people of God, than to increase their estates in a full-fed Land, and verily so taken they were, that they fell down at Christs Feet, and were placed by him as living stones, Elect and Pretious in his Churches; also ; many other Seamen were brought to seeke after Christ in his \ Ordinances, by which it appeares some great worke, by some .1 far surpassing all this, hath Christ ere long to doe, that hee , thus fitteth Instruments. Then all you that occupy ship- \ ping prepare for his service, who will assuredly prove the best ] owner that ever you went to Sea for. ' Furthermore, the condition of those persons [that] passed the Seas, in this long and restlesse Voyage (if rightly con- , sidered) will more magnifie the grace of Christ in this great Worke. First, such were many of them that never before had \ made any path through the Waters, no not by boat, neither so much as scene a Sliip, others so tenderly brought up that they had little hopi' of tlieir Lives continuance under such hardships, as so long a Voyage must needs inforce them to indure, others there were, whose age did rather call for a quiet Couch to rest 1630] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 63 them on, than a pinching Cabbin in a Reeling Ship, others whose weake natures were so borne downe with Disease, that they could hardly craule up the Ships-side, yet ventured their weake Vessells to this Westurne World. Here also might you see weakly Women, whose hearts have trembled to set foote in Boate, but now imboldened to venter through these tempestuous Seas with their young Babes, whom they nur- ture up with their Breasts, while their bodies are tossed on the tumbling Waves; also others whose Wombes could not containe their fruit, being ready for the Worlds-light, trav- ailed and brought forth upon this depthlesse Ocean in this long Voyage, lively and strong Children yet living, and like to prove succeeding Instruments in the Hands of Christ, for furthering this worke; among other Sea-borne Cotten, now a young student in a Colledge in Cambridge, being Son to that Famous and Renowned Teacher of Christ, M. John Cotten; ' by all this and much more that might be said, for^lmo^t every one you discourse withall will tell you of some Remark- able Providence of God shewed toward them in this their Voyage, by whic h you may "see Ihe Tgorke of Chrigt, is not ^ , bee laid asiHe^cause of difficulties. Chap. XVII. Of the first leading of these People of Christ, when the CiviU Government was Established. But^toueoe on with the Story, the 12 of July ' or there- about, ^63^ these Souldiers of Christ first set foote one this Westeme end of the World; where arriveing in safety, both Men, Women and Children, on the North side of Charles River, they landed neare a small Island, called Noddells Island,' ' Rev. John Cotton (1584-1652), rector of St. Botolph's Church, Boston, Lincolnshire, "perhaps the most influential of the non-conforming ministers in Old or New England," came out in the Orifftn in 1633, and speedily became teacher of the Boston church. His son Seaborn, born on the voyage, was graduated at Harvard College in 1651, and was afterward minister at Hampton, N. H. 'The Arbella arrived in Salem harbor June 12, not July 12. • Noddle's Island is now East Boston. Maverick lived there from 1635 on, and was living there when Johnson wrote, but the place where he entertained Winthrop and his friends with characteristic hospitality was situated at Winni- 64 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1630 where one Mr. Samuel Mavereck then living, a man of a very- loving and curteous behaviour, very ready to entertaine strangers, yet an enemy to the Reformation in hand, being strong for the Lordly Prelaticall power, one [on] this Island he had built a small Fort with the helpe of one Mr. David Tompson,' placing therein foure Murtherers to protect him from the Indians. About one mile distant upon the Ri\'er ran a small creeke, taking its Name from Major Gen. Edward Gibbons,^ who dwelt there for some yeares after; One [on] the South side of the River one [on] a point of Land called Blaxtons point, planted Mr. William Blaxton, of whom we have former spoken: to the South-East of him, neare an Island called Tompsons Island lived some few Planters more. These persons were the first Planters of those parts, having some small Trading with the Indians for Beaver-Skins, which moved them to make their aboade in those parts, whom these first Troopes of Christs Army, found as fit helpes to further their worke. At their arrivall those small number of Chris- tians gathered at Salem, greatly rejoycing, and the more, because they saw so many that came chiefly for promoting the great Work of Christ in hand. The Lady Arrabella and some other godly Women aboad at Salem, but their Hus- simmet, now Chelsea. In his account of Winnisimmet in his Brieje Discription of New England (1660) he refers to a "house yet standing there which is the Antientest house in the Massachusetts Government, a house which in the yeare 1625 I fortified with a PilHzado and iBankers and guns both belowe and above in them." Samuel Maverick was a gentleman connected with the Gorges interest, who came to New England in 1624, married the widow of David Thompson, and had a large property. The relations of this "old planter" with the Massachusetts authorities were as a rule not friendly. In 1646 he was fined and imprisoned for a protest against their exclusive policy, and in 1664 he was one of the four royal commissioners sent out to subdue them. ' David Thompson was another "old planter," a Scottish gentleman, and perhaps an agent of Gorges. He first dwelt in a great house and fort he had built in 1623 near the present site of Portsmouth, N. 11., where he had a large grant of land from the Council for New England. In 1025 or 162G he removed to the island in Boston harbor still called Thompson's Island; but he died before the great migration, probably in 102.S. ' Edward Gibbons had l«cn a member of Morton's roistering crow at Merry Mount, but had been converted by witnessing the solemn ceremony of the gather- ing of the Salem church in l('i21). Later, removing from Charlostown to Boston, he l)cramc a prominent merchant there, and was elected major-general or chief commander of the colony's militia in 1049. 1630] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 65 bands continued at Charles Town, both for the settling the civill Government, and gathering another Church of Christ. The first Court was holden aboard the Arrabella the 23. of August. When the much honoured John Win- trope Esq. was chosen Governour for the remainder of that yeare, 1630.* Also the worthy Thomus Dudly Esq. was chosen Deputy Governour, and Mr. Simon Brodestreet Sec- retary, the people after their long Voyage were many of them troubled with the Scurvy, and some of them died. The first station they tooke up was at Charles Towne, where they pitched some Tents of Cloath, other built them small Huts, in which they lodged their Wifes and Children. The first beginning of this worke seemed verj'^ dolorous; First for the death of that worthy personage Izaac Johnson Esq. whom the Lord had indued with many pretious gifts, insomuch that he was had in high esteeme among all the people of God, and as a chiefe Pillar to support this new erected building. He very much rejoyced at his death, that the Lord had been pleased to keepe his eyes open so long, as to see one Church of Christ gathered before his death, at whose departure there was not onely many weeping eyes, but some fainting hearts, fearing the fall of the present worke. For future Remem- y- brance of him mind this Meeter. Izaac Johnson Esquire, beloved of Christ and his people, and one of the Magistrates of New England. \Miat mov'd thee on the Seas upon such toyle with Lady-taking; Christs drawing love all strength's above, when way for his hee's making. Christ will have thee example be, honoured with's graces, yeilding His Churches aid, foundation laid, now new one Christ a building. ' An error. No election took place till spring, the time fixed by the charter; and this August meeting was but a court of assistants, not a general court, com- petent to elect. Winthrop was governor 1629-1634, leST-lG-lO, 1642-1044, 1646-1649. See his Journal in this series, the chief record of early Massachusetts, as he was its chief figure. Dudley, a narrower and sterner Puritan, was deputy- governor during most of the years named, and four times governor. Bradstreet, a younger man but one of great ability, was governor during the last seven years under the first charter, 1679 to 1686, and from 1689 to 1692, after having been an "assistant" (member of the council) throughout the whole period from 1630 to 1679. 66 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1630 Tliy Faith, Hope, Love, Joy, Meeknesse prove improved for thy Lord, As he to thee, to people be, in Government accord. Oh! people why doth Christ deny this worthies life to lengthen? Christ onely trust, Johnsons turnd dust, and yet hee's crownd and strengthend. The griefe of this people was further increased by the sore sicknesse which befell among them, so that almost in every Family Lamentation, Mourning, and woe was heard, and no fresh food to be had to cherish them. It would assuredly have moved the most lockt up affections to Teares no doubt, had they past from one Hut to another, and beheld the pite- ous case these people were in, and that which added to their present distresse was the want of fresh water, for although the place did afford plenty, yet for present they could finde but one Spring, and that not to be come at but when the tide was downe, which caused many to passe over to the South- side of the River,' where they afterward erected some other Townes, yet most admirable it was to see with what Chris- tian courage many of these Souldiers of Christ carried it amidst all these calamities, and in October, the Govemour Deputy and Assistants held their second Court on the South-side of the River; ^ Where they then began to build, holding corre- spondency with Charles Towne, as one and the same. At this Court many of the first Planters came, and were made free, yet afterward none were admitted to this fellow- ship, or freedome, but such as were first joyned in fellowship with some one of the Churches of Christ, their chiefest aime being bent to promote his worke altogether. The number of Freemen this yeare was 110. or thereabout.' ' Charles. • Again an error. The Records show two more meetings of the Court of Assistants at Charlestown, September 7 and 28, 1630, and then the General Court at Boston, Octoher 19. Boston was given a separate name September 7. ' No freemen were admitted in 1630. In October one hundred and nine men (including Johnson) applied for admission; one hundred and sixteen (also including our author) were admitted in May, 1631, at which time the law making membership in one of the local churches a requirement for admission as a free- man was adopted. That law was maintained till 1664. 1630] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 67 Chap. XVIII. Of the second Church of Christ, gathered at Charles Tovme in the Mattacmets Bay, 1631. And now the new-come Souldiers of Christ strengthen themselves in him, and gather a Church at Charles Towne, whose extent at present did reach to both sides of the River, and in very little time after was divided into two Churches.' The Reverend and judicious Mr. John Wilson was called to be Pastor thereof,' a Man full of Faith, Courage and Zeale for the truth of Christ, persecuted and hunted after by the usurping Prelates (and forced for present to part from his indeared Wife) yet honoured by Christ, and made a powerfull instrument in his hands for the cutting downe of Error, and Schisme, as in the sequell of this History will appeare, in whose weaknesse Christs power hath appeared. The Grave and Reverend Mr. John Wilson, now Pastor of the Church of Christ at Boston, in New England. John Wilson will to Chrbts will submit, In Wildernesse, where thou hast Trialls found, Christ in new making did compose thee fit, And made thy Love, zeale, for his truth abound. Then it's not Wilson, but Christ by him hath Error cut down when it o'retopping stood, Thou then 'Gainst it didst shew an holy wrath, Saving mens soules from this o're-flowing floud. They thee deprave, thy Ministrey dispise, By thy thick utterance seeke to call Men back ' The separate church in Charlestown was formed in November, 1632, the First Church of Boston being held to date from July 30, 1630, and to be the original church, transferred from Charlestown to the south bank of the Charles. But in reality the Dorchester church antedated it by a month. ' John Wilson (1588-1667), son of a prebendary of Windsor, and himself a minister of the Church of England, came out with Winthrop, and became first teacher, then pastor, of the Boston church. A pillar of orthodoxy in the Antino- mian troubles, he was usually overshadowed by his more talented colleague, John Cotton, teacher of the same church. 68 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1630 From hearing thee, but Christ for thee did rise And turnd the wheel-right over them to crack.^ Yea, caused thee with length of dayes to stand Steadfast in's house, in old Age fruit to bring; I [ay] and thy seed raise up by his command, His Flock to feed; rejoyce my Muse and sing That Christ doth dust regard so plentiously. Rich gifts to give, and heart to give him his; Estate and person thou spends liberally; Christ thee and thine will Crown with lasting Blisse. This, as the other Churches of Christ, began with a small number in a desolate and barren Wildemesse, which the Lord in his wonderfull mercy hath turned to fruitfull Fields. Wherefore behold the present condition of these Churches compared with their beginnings; as they sowed iriteareSj«) u^ also have they Reaped in joy, and shall still so go on if plenty ^^d ''li berty-' marre not ihexr prosperity. This Towne of Charles is situated one the North-side of Charles River, from whence it tooke its Name, the River being about five or six fathom deepe; Over against the Town many small Islands lieing to the Seaward of it, and Hills one either side. By which meanes it proves a very good harbor for Ships, which hath caused many Sea-men and Merchants to sit downe there. The forme of this Towne in the frontice piece thereof, is like the Head, Neck and Shoulders of a Man, onely the pleasant and Navigable River of Mistick runs through the right shoul- der thereof, and by its neare approach to Charles River in one place makes a very narrow neck, by which meanes the chiefe part of the Towne, whereon the most building stands, becomes a Peninsula: it hath a large Market-place neer the water side built round with Hou.^es, comly and faire, forth of which there issues two streetes orderly built with some very faire Houses, beautified with pleasant Gardens and Orchards, the whole Towne consists in its extent of about 150. dwelling Houses. TluMr meeting house for Sabbath assembly stands in the Market-place, very comly built and large, the Officers of this Church arc at this day one Pastor, and one Teacher, one Ruling lOlder, and three Deacons, the number of Soules ' A pun nn tlio name of Rov. ,Iohn \\'horlwrij;ht, Mrs. Hutchinson's brother- in-law and chief upholder in the Antinomian controversy. 1630] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 69 are about 160. Wonderfull it is to see that in so short a time such great alterations Christ should worke for these poore people of his: their Corne Land in Tillage in this Towne is about 1200. Acres, their great Cattell are about 400. head, Sheepe neare upon 400. as for their horse you shall hear of them, Godwilling, when we come to speak of their Military Discipline.' Chap. XIX. Of the Third Church of Christ gathered at Dorchester, 1631.' The third Church of Christ gathered under this Govern- ment was at Dorchester, a frontire Town scituated very pleasantly both for facing the Sea, and also its large extent into the main Land, well watered with two small Rivers; neere about this Towne inhabited some few ancient Traders, who were not of this select band, but came for other ends, as Morton of Merrymount,' who would faine have resisted this worke, but the provident hand of Christ prevented. The forme of this Towne is almost like ;i Serpent turning her head to the North-ward, over against Tompsons Island, and the Castle; her body and wings being chiefly built on, are filled somewhat thick of Houses, onely that one of her Wings is dipt, her Tayle being of such a large extent that shee can hardly draw it after her; Her Houses for dwelling are about one hundred and forty. Orchards and Gardens full of Fruit- ' This interesting description of Charlestown, where Johnson lived about six years (see the Introduction), is to be understood as referring, not to the year 1631, mentioned in the heading of the chapter, but to the date of the composition of the book, about 1650. The same is true of the descriptions of other towns. ' The date, as in the heading of the preceding chapter, is incorrect. The Dorchester people, who came in a separate ship, arriving earlier than VVinthrop's fleet, had organized a church in Plymouth, England, just before sailing, and had chosen Rev. John Maverick as teacher, and Rev. John Warham as pastor. This church may be regarded as the second rather than the third of the Massachusetts churches; and Dorchester was in the first years of the colony the largest and most flourishing of the towns. ' Thomas Morton, a "pettifogger of Fumivall's Inn" and partner of Captain Wollaston, had persuaded some of the latter's men to join him in maintaining at "Meny Mount" a jovial but disorderly settlement, which the neighboring set- tlers, under Captain Miles Standish, suppressed in 1628. See Bradford, pp. 236-243. 70 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1632 trees, plenty of Corne-Landc, although much of it hath been long in tillage, yet hath it ordinarily good crops, the number of Trees arc neare upon 1500. Cowes, and other Cattell of that kinde about 450. Thus hath the Lord been pleased to increase his poore dispersed people, whose number in this Flock are neare about 150. Their first Pastor called to feede them was the Reverend, and godly Mr. Maveruck.' Maveruck thou must put period to thy dayes. In Wildernesse thy kindred thee provoke To come, but Christ doth thee for high ends Raise, Amongst his worthies to strike many a stroke. Thy godly Life, and Doctrine speake, though thou In dust art laid, yet Christ by thee did feede His scattered Lambes, they gathered are by you; Christ calls thee home, but flock he leaves to feede. Chap. XX. Of the Fourth Church of Christ gatJiered at Boston, 1631.' After some little space of time the Church of Christ at Charles Town, having their Sabbath assemblies oftenest on the South side of the River, agreed to leave the people on that side to themselves, and to provide another Pastor for Charles Towne, which accordingly they did. So that the fourth Church of Christ issued out of Charles Towne, and was seated at Boston, being the Center Towne and Metropolis of this Wildernesse worke (but you must not imagine it to be a Metro- politan Church). Invironed it is with the Brinish flouds, saving one small Istmos, which gi\'es free accesse to the Neighbour Townes by Land on the South side; on the North west, and North East, two constant Fairos [Ferries] are kept for daily traflSque thereunto. The forme of tliis Towne is like a heart, naturally scituated for Fortifications, having two Hills on the frontico part thereof next the Sea, the one well 'Rev. John Maverick died in iri3i'i. A marginal note here reads: "Mr. Wareham and other of their Teachiiij; ICMi-rs, you shall reade of when the Can- ccktoco [Connecticut] is planted." Six- ch. xxxut., post. 'Again an error. The Ho.ston and Wotertown churehes (1630) were the third and'fourth, those of Roxbury and Lynn (lOifl') the fifth and sixth, and the new church of Charlestown (November, 1(1,31.', sec p. C7, note 1) the seventh. 1632] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGL.\ND 71 fortified on the superfices thereof, with store of great Artillery well mounted, the other hath a very strong "battery built of whole Timber, and filled with Earth. At the descent of the Hill in the extreme poynt thereof, betwixt these two strong armes lies a large Cave [Cove] or Bay, on which the chiefest part of this Town is built, over-topped with a third Hill; all three like over-topping Towers keepe a constant watch to fore-see the approach of forrein dangers, being furnished with a Beacon and lowd babling Guns, to give notice by their redoubled eccho to all their Sister-townes. The chiefe Edi- fice of this City-like Towne is crowded on the Sea-bankes, and wharfed out with great industry and cost, the buildings beautiful! and large, some fairely set forth with Brick, Tile, Stone and Slate, and orderly placed with comly streets, whose continuall inlargement presages some sumptuous City. Xlie wonde r of this mode r ne Age, th at ajew yeares should bTl^ g fort_h suchgreat matters by so'meane'aTiandfull, and they_so far frorn bemg"inrichcd by'lTie spoilos of other Wations, that JW- 'tte stafe's'^f many of jhcm liave bcenc spoiled by theXbrdly Prelacy, wHose Lands must assuredly make Restitutions. But now behold the admirable Acts of Christ; at this liis peoples landing, the hideous Thickets in this place were such, that Wolfes and Beares nurst up their young from the oyps of all beholders, in those very places where the streets are full of Girles and Boys sporting up and downe, with a continued concourse of people. Good store of Shipping is here yearly , built, and some very fa ire ones: both Tar and Mastes the Countrey affords from its own soile; also store of Victuall j -- both for their owne and Forreiners-ships, who resort hither; for that end: this Town is the very Mart of the Land, French, Portugalls and Dutch come hither for Traffique. I Chap. XXL Of the Fift Church of Christ, gathered at Roxbury, 1631.' The fift Church of Christ was gathered at Roxbury scitu- ated between Boston and Dorchester, being well watere(J with coole and pleasant Springs issuing forth the Rocky-hills, ' See the last preceding note. 72 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1632 and with small Freshets, watering the Vallies of this fertill Towne, whtisc forme is somewhat like a wedge double pointed, (jntring betweenc the two foure-named Townes, filled with a very laborious people, whose labours the Lord hath so blest, that in Die roome of disniall Swampes and tearing Bushes, they have very g t^^^ '^ '' ' Of the Sixth Church of Christ, gathered at Linn. 1631. ~" The Sixth Church of Christ was gathered at Linn, betweene Salem and Charles Towne, her scituation is neere to a River, whose strong freshet at breaking up of Winter fiUeth all her Bankes, and with a furious Torrent ventes it selfe into the Sea; This Towne is furnished with Mineralls of divers kinds, _ 'j^ especially Iron and Lead. The forme of it is almost square, >*- onely it takes two large a run into the Land-ward (as most Townes do). It is filled with about one hundred Houses for dwelling; Here is also an Iron Mill in constant use, but as for Lead they have tried but little yet. Their meeting-house being on a levell Land undefended from the cold Northwest- wind; And therefore made with steps descending into the Earth. Their streetes are straite and comly, yet but thin of Houses, the people mostly inclining to Husbandry, have built many Farmes Remote there. Cat tell exceedingly multi- plied, Goates which were in great esteeme at their first com- ming, are now almost quite banished, and now Horse, Kine and Sheep are most in request with them. The first feeder of this flock of Christ was Mr. Stephen Batchelor,' gray and aged, of whom as followeth: Through Ocean large Christ brought thee for to feede, His wandering flock with's word thou hast oft taught, Then teach thy selfe with others thou hast need- Thy flowing fame unto low ebbe is brought. ' Batchellor was an ejected Puritan minister, who had associated himself with the Company of Husbandmen, or Company of the Plough, a group which had from the Council for New England a large grant in southwestern Maine. When he arrived in New England in 10.32 and found that their colony had failed, 74 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1630 Faith iind Obedience Christ full near hath joyn'd, Then trust on Christ, and thou againe mayst be Brought on thy race though now far cast behinde; Run to the end, and crowned thou shalt be. ^ Chap. XXIII. Of the seventh Church of Christ gathered at Waier-Toume, 1631. The Seaventh Church of Christ gathered out of this wan- dering Race of Jaccobites ' was at Water-Towne, scituate upon one of the Branches of Charles River, a fruitfull plat, and of large extent, watered with many pleasant Springs, and small Rivulets, running like veines throughout her Body, which hath caused her inhabitants to scatter in such manner, that their Sabbath-Assemblies prove very thin if the season favour not, and hath made this great Towne (consisting of 160. Families) to shew nothing delightfull to the eye in any place; this Towne began by occasion of Sir Richard Saltingstall/ who at his arrivall, ha\'ing some store of Cattell and servants, they wintered in those parts: this Town aboundes in several! sorts of Fish at their seasons, Basse, Shad, Alewifes, Frost- fish, and Smelts: their herd of Kine, and Cattell of that kinde are about 4.')(). with some store of Sheepe and Goates. Their Land in tillage is neere upon 1800. Acres. This Church is increased to neer about 250. soules in Church-fellowship. he and his group settled at Lynn. There he was minister till 1635 only. Thence he went on, to Ipswich, to Newbury, to Hampton, N. H., where aJfter a brief pastorate he was (ic|iiis(il and excommunicated for immoral conduct, and finally to Portsmouth, where lie was living in most unhappy circumstances when John- son penned these admonitory verses. The date above should be 1632, that above the next chapter 1030. ' Johnson often uses this term for the chosen people of Xcw England. The explanation is only to be found by referring to what he had written in the town records of Woburn concerning those making the preliminary exploration of that township in HitO: "lAk .lacobits laying them downe to rest where night drue on." The allusion is to (lenesis xxviii. 11 ; the phrase, thus coined, became a favorite one with the author. •Sir Richard Saltonstall, nephew of a lord mayor of London, was one of the original grantees of the INIassachusetts patent, and now an assistant. He returned to England (lie next year, but was always a stout friend of the colony. l'"or his son Richard, who reniaiued in New England, see p. 102, post. 1631] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 75 Their first Pastor was Mr. Phillips,* a man mighty in the Scriptures, and very diligent to search out the minde of Christ therein contained, of whom as followeth: The pennury of Wildemesse shall not Daunt Phillips, and diswade his undertaking This Voyage long: for Christ hath made him hot With zeal for's truth, thy native soile forsaken To follow Christ his bannisht flock to feede. With restlesse toile thus honour'd Christ hath thee, Then it maintaine tliough thou thy people neede; Christ would thou shouldst of them aye honoured be. Till death thou hast been souldier in this War; Darke types the shaddowes of good things now come By thee have been unfoulded very far; Cleer'd baptimes light from error broch'd by some, As by thy worke in Print appeares this day. Though thou thy days hast ended on this Earth, Yet still thou livest in Name and Fame alway; Christ thee poore dust doth crowne with lasting jNIirth. Chap. XXIV. Of the great cheerfidnesse of their Souldiers of Christ, in and under the penuries of a Wildemesse. These were the beginnings of these resolute Souldiers of Christ Jesus in the yeare, 1631, Even to lay the Foundation of their severall Churches of Christ, built onely on him as their chiefe Corner Stone. But as his chosen Israel met with many difficulties after their returne from Captivity, in build- ing the Temple and City, which they valiantly waded through, . So these weake worm^ (O h Chri st to thy praise be it spoken) were most wond erfully nolp en in such tlistress es as t o ap- pearance oFman seemed to be both "hopelesse, a na heT|JIcssc, pEreatning destruc tion to the whole build ing , and far from accomplishing such great things as you have in part seene 'George Phillips, M.A. Cambridge 1617, pastor of the Watertown church from 1630 to his death in 1644, had a leading part in committing the colony to the Separatist or Congregational polity. The work alluded to in the verses below is apparently A Reply to a Confutation of some Grounds for Infant's Bap- ti.rm (London, 1645). 70 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1631 already, and shall in the following discourse (God willing) see more abundantly, adding a strong testimony to the work, }that asj_t,.was bcyun by Christ, so hath it beene carried on by i' him, and shall to the admiration of the whole World be per; fccted in his time, and unlcssc men will be wilfully blincle, they must needs sec and coiifcssi' the same, and that the in-^.^ 1 fluence thereof hath already run from one end of the Earth , • { unto the other. This yeare 1631. John Winthrop Esq. was chosen Gov- ernour, pickt out for the worke, by the provident hand of the most high, and inabled with gifts accordingly; then all the folke of Christ, who have scene his face and beene partaker of the same, remember him in this following Meeter. John Winthrope Esq. Eleven times Goveniour of the English Nation, inhabiting the Mattacusets Bay in Xew England. J ''"*^' WTiy leavest thou,; John, thy station, in SuflFolk, thy own soile,' Christ will have tliee a pillar be, for's people thou must toyle; He chang'd thy heart, then take his part, 'gainst prelates proud invading His Kingly throne set up alone, in wildernesse their shading. His little flocks from Prelates knocks, twice ten years rul'd thou hast. With eivill sword at Christs word, and eleven times been trast [traced ?] By Name and Note, with peoples vote, their Governour to be; Thy means hast spent, 'twas therefpre lent, to raise this work by thee. Well arm'd and strong with sword anaong Christ['5] armies marcheth he, Doth valiant praise, and weak one raise, with kind benignity. To lead the Van 'gainst Babylon, doth worthy Winthrop call; Thy Progeny shall Battell try, when Prelacy shall fall. With fluent Tongue thy Pen doth run, in learned Latine phrase. To Sweads, French, Dutch, thy Neighbours, wliith thy lady rhet- orick praise. Thy bounty feeds Christs servants needs, in wilderness of wants To Indians thou ("lirisLs (xospell now 'mongst heathen people plants. Yet thou poore dust, now dead and must to rottennesse be brought, Till Christ restore thee glorious, more then can of dust be thought. • Winthrop was lord of the manor of Groton, in Suffolk. 1631] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 77 The much honoured Thomas Dudly Esquire was chosen Deputy Governour, and the number of Free-men added was about 83.' Those honoured persons who were now in place of Government, having the propagation of the Churches of Christ in their eye, laboured by all meanes to make roome for Inhabitants, knowing well that where the dead carkass is, thither will the Eagles resort. But herein they were much opposed by certaine persons, whose greedy desire for land much hindered the worke for a time, as indeed all such per- sons do at this very day, and let such take notice how these were cured of this distemper, some were taken away by death, ^ and then to be sure they had Land enough, others fearing poverty, and famishment, supposing the present scarcity would never be turned into plenty, removed themselves away, and so never beheld the great good the Lord hath done for his people, but the valiant of the Lord waited with patience, and in the misse of beere supplied themselves with water, even the most honoured as well as others, contentedly re- joycing in a Cup of cold water, blessing the Lord that had given them the taste of that living water, and that they had not the water that slackes the thirst of their naturall bodies, given them by measure, but might drinke to the full ; as also in the absence of Bread they feasted themselves with fish. The Women once a day, as the tide gave way, resorted to the Mussells, and Clambankes, which are a Fish as big as Horse- mussells, where they daily gathered their Families food with much heavenly discourse of the provisions Christ had formerly made for many thousands of his foUowci-s in the wildernesse. Quoth one, "My Husband hath travailed as far as Piimoth" (which is neere 40 miles,) "and hath with great toile brought a little Come home with him, and before that is spent the Lord will assuredly provide": quoth the other, "Our last peck of Meale is now in the Oven at home a baking, and many of our godly Neighbours have quite spent all, and wee owe one Loafe of that Uttle wee have"; Then spake a third, "My husband hath ventured himself e among the Indians for Come, and can get none, as also our honoured Governour hath distributed his so far, that a day or two more will put ' The correct number is 126. fi ^^t^ -^ i. w r.''-'. 78 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1631 an end to his store, and all the rest, and yet methinks our Children are us cheerefuU, fat, and lusty with feeding upon those Mussells, Cluinbanks and other Fish as they were in England, with their fill of Bread, which makes mee cheerful! in the Lords providing 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 fulnesse thereof." And as they were incouraging one another in Christs carefull pro- viding for them, they lift up their eyes and saw two Ships com- ming in, and presently this newes came to their Eares, that they were come from Jacland ' full of Victualls, now their poore hearts were not so much refreshed in regard of the food they saw they were like to have, as their soules rejoyced in that Christ would now manifest himselfe to be the Commissary Generall of this his Army, and that hee should honour them so far as to be poore Sutlers for his Camp. They soone up with their Mussells, and hie them home to stay their hungry stomacks. After this manner did Christ many times graci- ously provide for this his people, even at the last cast. Chap. XXV. Of the Lords gracious protection of his people, from the barbarous cruelties of the Heathen. About this time the Indians that were most conversant among them, came quaking and complaining of a barbarous and cruell people called the Tarratines,- who they said would eat such Men as they caught alive, tying them to a Tree, and gnawing their flesh by peece-meales off their Bones, as also that they were a strong and numerous people, and now com- niing, which made them flee to tlio English, who were but very few in number at this time, and could make but little rosist- aiKc, being mucli dispersed, yet did they kcepe a constant watch, neglecting no mcanes Christ had put into their hands for their owne safety, in so much that they were exceedingly ' Probably a misprint for Ireland. From other sources we know of but one ship laden with provisions coming m at this time, tht Lion, from Uristol. *Sii- Winthrop, under August 8, 1031, vol. I., pp. 60, (17, of the edition in this scries. 1631] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 79 weakned with continued labour, watching and hard diet, but the Lord graciously upheld them in all, for thus it befell neere the Towne of Linn, then called Saugust, in the very dead of the night (being upon their watch, because of the report that went of the Indians approach to those parts) one Lieutenant Walker, a man indued with faith, and of a coura- gious spirit, comming to relieve the Centinell, being come up with him, all of a sudden they heard the Sticks crack hard by them, and withall he felt something brush hard upon his shoulder, which was an Indian arrow shot through lus Coat, and the wing of his buffe- Jacket. Upon this hee discharged his Gulliver directly toward the place, where they heard the noise, which being deeply loden brake in pieces, then they returned to the Court of Guard, and raised such small forces as they had; comming to the light they perceived he had an other Arrow shot through his Coat betwixt his Legs. Seeing this great preservation they stood upon their Guard till Morning, expecting the Indians to come upon them every moment, but when daylight appeared, they soone sent word to other parts, who gathered together, and tooke counsell how to quit themselves of these Indians, whose approach they y demed would be sudden. They agreed to discharge their r great Guns. The redoubling eccho rattling in the Rocks , caused the Indians to betake themselves to flight (being a '\ terrible unwonted sound unto them) or rather he who put C such trembling feare in the Assyrians Army, struck the like \ in these cruell Canniballs. In the Autumne following, the Indians, who had all this time held good correspondency with the English, began to quarrell with them about their bounds of Land, notwithstanding they purchased all they had of them, but the Lord put an end to this quarrell also, by smit- ing the Indians with a sore Disease, even the small Pox; of the which great numbers of them died, yet these servants of Christ minding their Masters businesse, were much moved in affection toward them to see them depart this life without the knowledge of God in Christ. And therefore were very fre- quent among them for all the noysomenesse of their Disease, entnng their Wigwams, and exhorting them m the Name of the Lord. Among others one of the chief e Saggamoics of the Mattachusets, whom the English named Saggamore 'i \ 80 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1631 John/ gave some good hopes, being alwayes very courteous to them, whom the godly, and much honour'd among the Eng- lish, visiting a little before his death, they instructing him in the knowledge of God, Quoth hee, "by and by mee Matta- moy,' may be my two Sons live, you take them to teach much to know God." Accordingly the honoured Mr. John Winthrop, and the Reverend Mr. John Wilson tooke them home, notwithstanding the infectiousnesse of the Disease their P'ather died of. The mortality among them was very great, and increased among them daily more and more, insomuch that the poore Creatures being very timorous of death, would faine have fled from it, but could not tell how, unlesse they could have gone from themselves; Relations were little regarded among them at this time, so that many, who were smitten with the Disease, died helplesse, unlesse they were neare, and known to the English: their Powwowes, "Wizards, and Charmers, Atha- mochas ' Factors, were possest with greatest feare of any. The Winters piercing cold stayed not the strength of this hot Disease, yet the English endeavouring to visit their sick Wig- wams, helpe them all they could, but as they entred one of their matted Houses, they beheld a most sad spectacle, death having smitten them all save one poore Infant, which lay on the ground sucking the Breast of its dead Mother, seeking to draw living nourishment from her dead breast. Their dead they left oft-times unburied, wherefore the English were forced to dig holes, and drag their stinking cori^s into them. Thus did the Lord allay their quarrelsome spirits, and made roome for the following part of his Army. This yeare came over more supplies to forward the worke of Christ. ' Nanepashemet had been the principal chief of the Indians on the north side of the Bay. Sagamore John, his oldt'st son and successor, died in Decem- ber, 1633. ' Mattamoi — to die (Wood, Nrw Englandu Pros-ped). ' Misprint for Abbamocho's, t. c, the Devil's. y 1632] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 81 Chap. XXVI. Of the gratious provisions the Lord made for his people. The yeare 1632. John Winthrope Esquire, was chosen Governour againe, and the antient Thomas Dudly Esquire, was Deputy Governour, a man of a sound judgement in matters of Religion and well read, bestowing much labour that way, of whom as foUoweth: The honoured, aged, stable and sincere servant of Christ, zealous for his truth Thomas Dudly, Esq. foure times Governour of the English Nation, in the Mattacusets, and first Major GeneraU, of the MiUitary Forces.^ What Thomas, now believe dost thou that riches men may gaine. In this poore Plot Christ doth allot his jjeople to sustaine? Rich Truth thou'lt buy and sell not, why, no richer Jem can be, '^Truths Champion in campion,^ Christ's grace hath placed thee. With civill Sword, at Christs Word, early cut off wilt thou Those Wolvish sheep, amongst flocks do creep, and damned doctrine low [sow ?]. To trembUng age, thou valiant sage, one foot wilt not give ground, Christs Enemies from thy face flies, his truth thou savest sound. Thy lengthened dayes, to Christs praise, continued are by him: To set, by thee, his people free from foes that raging bin. Wearied with yeares, it plaine appeares, Dudly not long can last, It matters not, Christ Crown thee got, its now at hand, hold fast.' This yeare was the first choise of Magistrates by free-men,* whose number was now increased, fifty three or thereabout. To declare the manner of their Government is by the Author deferred till the year 1637, where the Reader may behold Government both in Churches and Common-wealth, to be an institution of the Lord, and much availeable through his blessing for the accomplishment of his promises to his people, j ' Dudley was elected governor in 1634, 1640, 1645, and 1650, and was chosen the first major-general of the colony's military forces in 1644. ' Campaign. ' Dudley died in July, 1653, aged 76. * In October, 1630, the General Court had provided that thereafter the governor and deputy-governor should be elected by the assistants, while the freemen, or members of the Company, should elect only the assistants. Now (May, 1632) the earlier system was restored, whereby governor, deputy-governor, and assistants were all alike chosen by the freemen in General Court. v/ 82 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1632 This year these fore-runners of the following Army of Christ, after the sight of many of the admirable Acts of his providence for them, begun to take up steddy resolution through the helpe of him to wade through the Ocean they were farther like to meete withall, and therefore began to plant the yet untilled Earth, having as yet no other meanes to teare up the bushy lands, but their hands and howes, their bodies being in very ill temper by reason of the Scurvy (a Disease in those dayes very frequent) to undergoe such ex- tremity, but being prick'd on with hungers sharpe gode, they jkeepe doing according to their weake abilities^ anjl yet.pro- Iduce but llMsioodior .along gftaaOHji but Jbd^ _^,.j Christ will rather raine bread from Heaven, theo his P^opig. '• sEouH"wantj being fully pers waded, they .g^grg .gg.t. on^^ewOTK^ at bis, c ommand. WTierefore they followed on with all hands, and the Lord (who hath the Cattell of thousand Hills, and the Corne of ten thousand Vallies, the whole Earth, and fulnesse of it) did now raise up fresh supplies to be added to these both of men and provision of food, men no lesse valiant in Faith then them, the former amongst whom was the Reverend Mr. Welds and Mr. James, who was welcomed by the people of Christ at Charles Towne, and by them called to the Office of a Pastor, where hee continued for some A-eares, and from thence removed to New haven, upon some seed of prejudice sowne by the enemies of this worke.' But good Reader doe thou behold, and remember him farther in the following Lines; Thy Native soile, Oh James, did thee approve, Gods people there in Lincolneshire commend Thy courteous speech and worke of Christian love, Till Christ throuf!;h Sca.s did thee on Message send. With learned skill iiis mind for Id unfold, His people in New England tiiou must feed, But one sad breach did cut that band should hold; Then part wilt tliou least [lest] farther jars should breed. 'Thoma.s James lircame pastor of the Charlestown church at its organiza- tion in Ni)V(inl)er, lf).'!2; after dilficullios with his church he rtniovcil to New Il;ivi;n in lO.^.S. 'riu'ncc in Idt.'i he went to Virfjinia with Knowies and Thomp- ■son (sec l)k. lu., ell. XI.) to cslahii.sh ('oULjriijMtiunalism, Wiis lianished, and re- tired to England. Ills .son, Thoina-s Janie.s, alluded to in the la.st lines of the vcTNcs, w.is in \i\'}{) ordained as pastor of the church at Easthompton, Lon" Island, and preached there till lO'.Hl. 1632] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 83 Yet part thou wilt not with Christs Truth, thy crowne. But my Muse waile that any souldier should In fighting slip, why James thou fallest not downe, Back thou retreats their valiant fighting, hold Fast on thy Christ, who thine may raise with thee, His bands increase, when leaders he provides, Thy Son young student may such blessing be. Thy losse repayre, and Christ thee crown besides. Although the great straites this Wildernesse people were in for want of food, was heard of among the godly people in England, yet would they not decline the worke, but men of Estates sold their possessions, and bought plenty of foode for the Voyage, which some of them sent before hand, by which meanes they were provided for, as also the Lord put it into the hearts of such as were Masters, and Undertakers of Ships, to store their Vessells so well that they had to spare for this peoples need, and further Christ caused abundance of very good Fish to come to their Nets and Hookes, and as for such as were unprovided with these meanes, they caught them with their hands, and so with Fish, wild Onions and other Herbs were sweetly satisfied till other provisions came in. Here must labouring men a little be minded, how ill they recompenced those persons, whose estates helpe them to food before they could reape any from the Earth, that forgetting those courtesies they soon by excessive prises took for their worke, made many File-leaders fall back to the next Ranke, advancing themselves in the meane time. About this time the Church of Christ at Roxbuiy, being a diligent people, early prevented their Brethren in other Churches by calling the Reverend Mr. Welds ' to be their Pastor, of whom you may see somewhat farther in the following lines: To worke, oh Welds! in wildernesse betime Christ thee commands, that thou his folke should's follow: And feede his flock in Covenant band combine, With them through him his glorious name to hallow; ' Thomas Welde, Eliot'3 colleague at Roxbury, was as famous for uncom- promising orthodoxy as Eliot was for gentle piety and missionary zeal. He had a leading part in the persecution of the Antinomians. In 1641 he went back to England with Hugh Peters, as agent of the colony, and never returned. 84 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1632 Seven yoares thou stoutly didst wade through with toile 'riicsc (Icsart cares, hack by advice againe Thou didst rcturne unto thy native soilc, ITiere to advance ChrisLs Kingdome now remaine. In Pulpit, and with Pen thou hast the truth Maintained, and clear'd from scandalous reproach Christs churches here, and shew'd their lasting Ruth, That dare 'gainst ("lirist their own inventions broach; Then sage, in age, continue such to be. Till Christ thee crowne, his gifts to thee are free. This yeare of sad distresses was ended with a terrible cold Winter, with weekly Snowes, and fierce Frosts betweene while congealing Charles River, as well from the Towne to Sea-ward, as above, insomuch that men might frequently passe from one Island to another upon the Ice. Here Reader thou must be minded of an other admirable Act of Christ for this yeare, in changing the very nature of the seasons, moderating the Winters cold of late very much, which some impute to the cutting downe the woods, and breaking up the Land; But Christ have the praise of all his glorious Acts. About this time did the valiant in faith, and Reverend Pastor Mr. John Wilson returne to England, and surely the power of Christ hath notably appeared in this weake sorry man. You must needs see the Author will flatter no man, yet will he not be wanting to tell the noble Acts of Christ Jesus, in making men strong for himselfe; here is one borne up in the armes of his mercy, often through the perillous Seas night and dayes, yea, weeks and months, upon the great deepe, and now having with his owne eyes beheld the manifold troubles these poore were in, yet at this very time hies him back to his Native .soilc, where his indeared Wife did yet remaine, pur- posely to perswade her to cast her cares upon the Lord, as he himself hail already done, and then assuredly the wants of a Wilderncsse would never hurt her. At the departure of tills holy Man of (lod, many of his peoples hearts waxed very sail, and having looked long for his returne. Their eyes now began to faile in missing of their expectation. They accord- ing to their common course in time of great strait es, set and appointed a day wholy to he sjient in seeking the pleasing l"'ae(^ of (!od in Christ, purposing the Lord assisting to afflict yj 1633] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 85 their soules, and give him the honour of his All-seeingness, by a downe right acknowledgement of their sinnes. But the Lord, whose Grace is al way es undeserved , heard thenTTjeTore they CTJ^r and the " afternoo ne ^ b ^fQ f^' Jpie Jay "appointed JJ^ Brought him^ whom they so much desired^ in safety to. shore, wiih divers otherTaithfull servants of ChrisfTeady armed £qi the Batt atr The day was turned to a day of rejoyemg, and blessing the Lord, even the mighty God of Jacob, the God of Armies is for us a refuge high. Shda. The yeare 1633. the honoured John Winthrope Esquire, was chosen Governour againe, and Thomas Dudly Esq. Deputy Governour, the number of Freemen added, or Souldiers listed was 46. The Winters Frost being extracted forth the Earth, they fall to tearing up the Roots, and Bushes with their Howes; even such men as scarce ever set hand to labour before, men of good birth and breeding, but comming through the strength of Christ to war their warfare, readily rush through all difficulties. Cutting down of the Woods, they inclose Come fields, the Lord having mitigated their labours by the Indians frequent fiering of the woods, (that they may not be hindered in hunting Venson, and Beares in the Winter season) which makes them thin of Timber in many places, like our Parkes in England. The chiefest Corne they planted before they had Plowes was Indian Graine, whose increase is very much beyond all other, to the great refreshing of the poore servants of Christ, in their low beginnings. ^Jaade. o f Gard ens Fruits grew very well, and let no man make a jost at 'PumpE ns ^ foi-^ with th is fr uit' the Lord was pleased to feed Eis p eople to their good ' cdntenE7"tiir Corne and Cattell were increased. And here the Lords mercy appeared much in that those, who had beene formerly brought up tender, could now con- tentedly feed on bare and meane Diet, amongst whom the Honoured and upright hearted in this worke of Christ, Mr. Increase Nowell,' shall not be forgotten, having a diligent hand therein from the first beginning. ' Of May 26, 1632. ' Increase Nowell was one of the original grantees named in the Massa- chusetts patent, an assistant from 1629 to his death in 1655, and secretary of the colony from 1639 to 1650. 86 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1633 Increase shalt thou, with honour now, in this thy undertaking, Thou hast remain'd as yet unstaind, all errors foule forsaking; To poore and rich, thy Justice much hath nianifested bin: Like Samuel, Nathanaell, Christ hath thee fram'd within; Thy faithfulnesse, people expresse, and Secretary they Chose thee each year, by which appeare, their love with thee doth stay. Now Nowell see, Christ call'd hath thee, and work thou must for him, In beating down the triple Crown, and all that his foes ben. Thus doest thou stand by Christ fraile man, to tell his might can make Dust do his will, with graces fill, till dust to him he take. Chap. XXVII. Of the gratious goodnesse of God, in hearing his peoples prayers in times of need, and of the Ship-loades of goods the Lord sent them in. Here againe the admirable Providence of the Lord is to be noted. That whereas the Country is naturally subject to C3Tougn]E> even to the withering of their summers Fruits, the Lord was pleased, during these yeares of scarcity, to blesse that small quantity of Land they planted with seasonable showers, and that many times to the great admiration of the Heathen, for thus it befell: the extreame parching heate of the Sun (by reason of a more constant clearnesse of the Aire then usually is in England) began to scorch the Herbs and Fruits, which was the chiefest meanes of their livel^^hood. They beholding the Hand of the Lord stretched out against them, like tender hearted Children, they fell down on their knees, begging mercy of the Lord, for their Saviours sake, urging this as a chiefe argument, that the malignant adver- sary would rejoyce in their destruction, and blaspheme the pure Ordinances of Christ, trampling down liis Kingly Com- mands with their owne inventions, and in uttering these words, their eyes dropped down many teares, their affections prevailing so strong, that tlicy could not refraine in the Church-AsHc-mbly. Here admire and be strong in the Grace iOf Christ, all you that hopefully belong unto him, for as they kpowred out water before the Lord, so at that very instant, fthe Lord showrcd down water on their Gardens and Fields, V 1633] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 87 which with great industry they had planted, and now had not the Lord caused it to raine speedily, their hope of food had beene lost : but at this these poore wormes were so exceedingly taken, that the Lord should show himselfe so neere unto their Prayers, that as the drops from Heaven fell thicker, and faster, so the teares from their eyes by reason of the sudden mixture of joy and sorrow, and verily they were exceedingly stirred in their affections, being unable to resolve themselves, which mercy was greatest, to have a humble begging heart given them of God, or to have their request so suddenly answered. The Indians hearing hereof, and seeing the sweet raine that fell, were much taken with Englishmens God, but the Lord seeing his poore peoples hearts were to narrow to beg, his bounties exceeds toward them at this time, as indeed hee ever hitherto hath done for this \A'ildernesse-People, not onely giving the full of their requests, but beyond all their thoughts, as witnesse his great worke in England of late, in which the prayers of Gods people in New England have had a prcat stroke; These people now rising from their knees to receive the rich mercies of Christ, in the refreshed fruits of the Earth, Behold the Sea also bringing in whole Ship-loades of mercies, more being filled with fresh forces, for furthering this wonder- full worke of Christ, and indeed this yeare came in many pretious ones, whom Christ in his grace hath made much use of in these his Churches, and Common-wealth, insomuch that these people were even almost over-ballanced with the great income of their present possessed mercies, yet they addrcsse themselves to the Sea shore, where they courteously welcom the famous servant of Christ, grave godly and judicious Hooker, and the honoured servant of Christ, M. John HajTies, as also the Reverend and much desired Mr. John Cotton, and the Retoricall Mr. Stone,' with divers others of the sincere servants of Christ, comming with their young, and with their old, and with their whole substance, to doe him service in this ' Hooker, Cotton, and Stone are commemorated more amply on subsequent pages, pp. 90, 88, 93, respectively. John Haynes, who came with them in the Griffin, arriving in September, 1633, was a gentleman of large estate in Essex. In May, 163.5, he was chosen governor; he served one year. In 1037 he re- moved to Connecticut, and was the first governor of that colony, serving in 1039 and seven other years. 88 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1633 Desart wildernesse. Thus this poore people having now ■j>< tasted liberally of the salvation of the Lord every way, they '^ deeme it high time to take up the Cup of thankfulnesse, and pay their vowes to the most high God, by whom they were holpen to this purpose of heart, and accordingly set apart the 16. day of October (which they call the eighth Moneth,' not out of any pevish humor of singularity, as some are ready to censor them with, but of purpose to prevent the Heathenish and Popish observation of Dayes, Moneths and Yeares, that they may be forgotten among the people of the Lord). This day was solemnly kept by all the seven Churches, rejoycing in the Lord, and rendering thanks for all their benefits. Here must not be omitted the indeared affections Mr. John Wilson had to the worke in hand, exceedingly setting forth (in his Sermon this day) the Grace of Christ in providing such meet helps for furthering thereof, really esteeming them beyond so many Ship-loading of Gold; manifesting the great humility Christ had wrought in him, not complementing, but in very deede prefering the Reverend Mr. John Cotton,' many hundreds before himselfe, whom they within a very little time after called to the Office of a Teaching Elder of the Church of Christ at Boston, where hee now remaines, of whom as followeth : When Christ intends his glorious Kingdome shall Exalted be on Earth, he Earth doth take, Even sinful! Man to make his worthies all; Then praise I Man, no, Christ this ISIan doth make. ' The early New England writers, c. g., Winthrop in his Journal, usually coimt March the first month of the year. 'John Cotton (1585-1653), fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, then vicar of St. Botolph's, Boston, fled from England before persecution by the Court of High (Commission, and became the leading minister of Massachusetts. Of his many books, published in London, tliosc alluded to in the ensuing verses seem to be Thr Cluirrhes Resurrection, or the Openincj of the Fijt and Sijt I'^ersrs of till- '20th Chap, of the. Revelation (1642), Thr Povmng Out of the Sci-cn ]'ials (l(it'J), .1 Ilriifr KxpiixWutn of the Whole Book of Caiitirlrs or Song of Solomon (KilL', sccoiiil cd. IfrfS), Thr Kcyes of the Kingdom of Ilravm (1(144), The Way of thr ('hurrhcs of Chri.il in New England (1045), and The Way of C ongrrgational Churrhr.i Cleared (164.S). The allusion in the lost lines is to the fact that at first ho was not ill affected toward Anne Hutchinson's teachings, though later, under prcdsiirc, he repudiated them and joined in silencing her. 1633] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 89 Sage, sober, grave, and learned Gotten, thou. Mighty in Scripture, without Booke repeat it, Annatomise the sence, and shew Man how Great mysteries in sentence short are seated, Gods Word with's word comparing oft unfould The secret truths. Johns Revelations hath By thee been open'd, as nere was of old; Shewes cleere and neere 'gainst Romes whore is Gods wrath. Then Churches of Christ, rejoyce and sing, John Gotten hath Gods minde, I dare believe. Since he from Gods W^ord doth his witnesse bring; Saints cries are heard, they shall no longer grieve. That song of songs, 'twixt Christ and's Church thou hast Twice taught to all, and sweetly shewed the way, Christ would his Churches should in truth stand fast, And cast ofT mans inventions even for aye. Thy labours great have met with catching cheats, Mijdng their Brasse with thy bright Gold, for why? Thy great esteeme must cover their ill feates; Some soile thou gett'st, by comming tlicm so nie, But it's wipt off, and thou Christs Champion left. The Faith to fight for, Christ hath arm'd thee well, His worthies would not, thou shoulds be bereft Of honours here thy Crown shall soon excell. These people of God having received these farther helps, to instruct, and build them up in the holy things of Christ, being now greatly incouraged, seeing the Lord was pleased to set such a broad Heale to their Commission for the worke in hand, not onely by his Word and Spirit moving thereunto, but also by his Providence in adding such able instruments for furthering this great worke of Reformation, and advanc- ing the Kmgdome of Christ, for which they spent this day of rejoycing, and sure the Lord would have all that hear of it know, their joy lay not in the increase of Corne, or Wme, or Oyle, for of all these they had but very little at this time, yet did they not spare to lend such as they had unto the poore, who could not provide, and verily the joy ended not with the day, for these active instruments of Christ, Preaching with all instancy the glad Tidings of the Gospel! of Jesus Christ, rejoyced the Heart of this People much. 90 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1633 Chap. XXVIII. Of the Eighth Church of Christ, gathered at Cambridge, 1633. At this time those who were in place of civill Government, having some addition Pillars to under-prop the building, began to thinke of a place of more safety in the eyes of Man, then the two frontire Towns of Charles Towne and Boston were for the habitation of such as the Lord had prepared to Governe this Pilgrim People. Wherefore they rather made choice to enter farther among the Indians, then hazard the fury of malignant adversaries, who in a rage might pursue them, and therefore chose a place scituate on Charles River, betweene Charles Towne, and Water-Towne, where they erected a Towne called New Towne, now named Cambridge,' being in forme like a list cut of! from the Broad-cloath of the two fore-named Towns, where this wandering Race of Jacobits gathered the eighth Church of Christ. This Town is compact closely within it selfe, till of late yeares some few stragling houses have been built. The Liberties of this Town have been inlarged of late in length,^ reaching from the most North- erly part of Charles River, to the most Southerly part of Merrimeck River. It hath well ordered streets and comly pompleated [compleated] with the faire building of Harver Colledge. Their first Pastor was the faithfull and laborious V Mr. Hooker,' whose Bookes are of great request among the faithfull people of Christ; Yee shall not misse of a few lines in remembrance of him. Come, Hooker, come forth of thy native soile: Christ, I will run, saves Hooker, tliou hast set My feet at lari^c, here spend thy last dayes toile; Thy Rhetorick shall peoples affections whet. ' The name was changed in 1638, on account of ihc founding of the college in 1630. ' In 1644, by the grant of Rhawshin. ' Thomas Hooker (ir)S(>-l(>17), fellow of Emmanuel and lecturer at Chelms- foril, fled from persecution to New England, and became one of the chief of the New England divines, of tendencies more liberal than those of Cotton and AYil- son. In 1C3C he and his colleague Stone took a leading part in the great migra- 1633] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 91 Thy Golden Tongue and Pen Christ caus'd to be The blazing of his golden truths profound, Thou sorry worme, its Christ wrought thb in thee; What Christ hath wrought must needs be very sound. Then looke one [on] Hookers workes, they follow him To Grave, this worthy resteth there a while: Die shall he not that hath Christs warrier bin; Much lesse Christs Truth, cleer'd by his peoples toile. Thou Angell bright, by Christ for light now made. Throughout the World as seasoning salt to be. Although in dust thy body mouldering fade. Thy Head's in Heaven, and hath a crown for thee. The people of this Church and Towne have hitherto had the chiefest share in spirituall blessings, the Ministry of the Word, by more than ordinary instruments as in due time and place (God willing) you shall farther heare, yet are they at this day in a thriving condition in outward things also, both Come and Cattell, Neate and Sheepe, of which they have a good flocke, which the Lord hath caused to thrive much in these latter dayes then formerly. This Towne was appointed to be the seatc of Government, but it continued not long. This yeare a small gleane of Rye was brought to the Court as the first fruits of English graine,' at which this poore people greatly rejoyced to see the Land would beare it, but now the Lords blessing that way hath exceeded all peoples expectation, cloathing the Earth with plenty of all kinde of graine. Here minde I must the Reader of the admirable acts of Christs Providence toward this people, that although they were in such great straites for foode, that many of them eate their Bread by waight, and had little lion from Newtown to the Connecticut valley, and in the foundation of the colony of Connecticut. As minister in Hartford, he exerted almost unbounded influ- ence in that colony till his death, while his Survey of the Summe of Cltvrch-Dis- (dpline (London, 1648), posthumously published, remained the classical exposi- tion of the Congregational poUty of New England. ' But Wood, who left New England August 15, 1633, says. New Englanda Prospect, p. 14: "there hath as good English Come [i. e., grain] growne there, as could be desired; especially Rie and Gates, and Barly: there hath beene no great tryall as yet of Wheate, and Beanes"; and Winthrop, I. 90, speaks of twenty acres of barley and oats at Lynn in 1632. 92 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1633 hopes of the Earths fruitfullnesse, yet the Lord Christ was pleased to refresh their spirits with such quickning grace, and Hvely affections to this Temple-worke, that they did not desert the place; and that which was more remark- able, when they had scarce houses to shelter themselves, and no doores to hinder the Indians accesse to all they had in them, yet did the Lord so awe their hearts, that although they frequented the Englishmens places of aboade, where their whole substance, weake \\'ives and little ones lay open to their plunder; during their absence, being whole dayes at Sabbath-Assemblies, yet had they none of their food or stufTe diminished, neither Children nor Wives hurt in the least measure, although the Indians came commonly to them at those times, much hungry belly (as they use to say) and were then in number and strength beyond the English by far. Yet further see the great and noble Acts of Christ toward this his wandering people; feeling againe the scarcity of foode, and being constrained to come to a small pittance daily, the Lord to provide for them, causeth the Deputy of Ireland to set forth a great Ship unknowne to this people, and indeed small reason in his own apprehensions why he should so do (but Christ will have it so.) This Ship ariving, being filled with food, the godly Governors did so order it that each Town sent two men aboard of her, who tooke up their Townes allowance, it being appointed before hand, what their portion should be, to this end that some might not by [buy] all, and others be left destitute of food. In the vemall of the yeare 1634, This people being increased, and having among them many pretious esteemed instruments fm- furthering this won- derous worke of Christ, they began to thinke of fortifying a small Island about two miles distant from Boston to Sea- ward, to which all the \'essells come in usually and passe. To this end the honoured Mr. John Winthrope, with some 8. or 10. persons of note, tooke boate and arrived on the said Island in a warmc Sunshine day, just at the breaking up of Winter as they deemed, but being they were sudden surprised with a cold North-west storme (which is the sharpest winde in this ('oundy) freezing very vehemently for a day and a night, that they could not get off the Island, but were forced 1634] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 93 to lodge there, and lie in a heape one upon another (on the ground) to keepe themselves from freezing.' This yeare 1634. the much honoured Thomas Dudly Esquire, was chosen Governor, and Mr. Roger Ludlow Deputy Governor, the Freemen added to this little Common-wealth this year were about two hundred and foure.' About this time a sincere servant of Christ Mr. Stone ' was added to the Church of Christ at New-towne, as a meet helpe to instruct the People of Christ there, with the above named Mr. Hooker, and as he hath hether- to bin (through the blessing of God) an able instrument in his hands to further the worke. So let him be incourraged with the Word of the Lord in the spirit of his might to go on. Thou well smoth'd Stone Christs work-manship to be, In's Church new laid his weake ones to support, With's word of might his foes are foild by thee; Thou daily dost to godlinesse exhort. The Lordly Prelates people do deny Christs Kingly power Hosanna to proclaime, Mens mouths are stopt, but Stone poore dust doth try,>---'i^^''^ Throughout his Churches none but Christ must raigne. Moume not Oh Man, thy youth and learning's spent In desart Land, My Muse is bold to say, For glorious workes Christ his hath hither sent; Like that great worke of Resurrection day. Chap. XXIX. 0/ the Lords remarkable providence toward his indeared ser- vants M. Norton and Mr. Shepherd. Now my loving Reader, let mee lead thee by the hand to our Native Land, although it was not intended to speake in particulars of any of these peoples departure from thence, ' The episode is related somewhat differently, and doubtless more correctly, by Winthrop, Journal, I. 98, who gives the date as February 21, 1633, and the place to be examined as Nantasket, not Castle Island, fortification of which was begun in the summer of 1634. > More exactly, 232. 'Samuel Stone, of Hertford in England, and of Emmanuel College, came out in the same ship with Hooker, was his colleague at Newtown (Cambridge), and removed with him to Connecticut, where Hartford was named after his birthplace. He died there in 1663. 94 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1634 purposing a generall relation should serve the turne, yet come with mee and behold the wonderous worke of Christ in pre- serving two of his most valiant Souldiers, namely Mr. John Norton, and that soule ravishing Minister Mr. Thomas Shep- heard,' who came this yciue to Yarmouth to ship themselves for New England, where the people of God resorted privately unto them to hear them Preach. During the time of their aboade the Enemies of Christs Kingdome were not wanting to use all meanes possible to intrap them, in which perilous condition they remained about two months, waiting for the Ships readinesse, in which time some persons eagerly hunting for Mr. Thomas Shepheard, began to plot (for apprehending of him) with a Boy of sixteene or seventeene yeares of Age, who lived in the House where hee Lodged, to open the doore for them at a certaine houre in the night; But the Lord Christ, who is the Shepheard of Israel, kept a most sure watch over his indeared servants, for thus it befell, the sweet words of grace falling from the lips of this Reverend and godly Mr. Thomas Shepheard in the hearing of the Boy (the Lords working withall) hee was perswaded this was an holy man of God, and therefore with many troubled thoughts, began to relate [repent?] his former practice, although hee had a great some of money promised him, onely to let them in at the houre and time appointed; but the Boy, the more neere the time came, grew more pensive and sad, insomuch that his Master taking notice thereof began to question him about the cause of his heavinesse, who being unwilling to reveale the matter, held of[f] from confessing a long time, till by urgent and in- sinuating search of his godly Master, with teares hee tells that on such a night hee had agreed to let in j\Ien to appre- hend the godly Preacher. The good Man of the house forth- with gave notice thereof unto them, who with the helpe of some well-affected persons was convay'd away by boate ' John Norton became minister in Ipswich (sec p. 103, post), and later suc- ceeded John Cotton in the Boston church. Of the early life and emigration of Thomas Shepard, a minister for whom Johnson had a particular affection, there is a most inliTcstin);; account in his autobiography, printed in Young's Chrorucles of Mas.iachuseits, pp. •l'.(7-.'')5S, After graduating at Emmanuel College he had .served as lecturer (independent preiielier) at several different places till the Laudian persecution drove him to New Kiigland. 1634] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 95 through a back Lane. The men at the time appointed came to the house, where finding not the doore open (when they hfted up the Latch) as they expected, they thrust their staves under it to lift it from the hookes, but being followed by some persons, whom the good man of the house had appointed for that end: yet were they boulstred out in this their wicked act by those who set them one [on] worke. Notwithstanding they were greatly ashamed when they mist of their end. But the Lord Christ intending to make his New England Souldiers the very wonder of this Age, brought them into greater straites, that this [his] Wonder working Providence might the more appeare in their deliverance, for comming a shipboard, and hoiseing saile to accomplish their Voyage, in little time after they were tossed and sore beaten with a con- trary winde, to the losse of the Ships upper worke, with which losse and great perill they were driven back againe, the Lord Christ intending to confirme their Faith in shewing them, that although they were brought back, as it were into the mouth of their enemies, yet hee could hide them from the hand of the Hunter, for the space of six moneths longer or thereabout, even till the Spring of the yearc following, at which time (God willing) you shall hear of them againe. In the meane time the Master, and other Sea men made a strange construction of the sore storme they met withall, saying, their Ship was bewitched, and therefore made use of the common Charme ignorant people use, nailing two red hot horse-shoos to their maine mast. But assuredly it was the Lord Christ, who hath command both of Winds and Seas, and now would have his people know he hath delivered, and will deliver from so great a death. Chap. XXX. Of the Ninth Church of Christ, gathered at Ipsvritch. This year ' came over a farther supply of Eminent instru- ments for furthering this admirable Worke of his, amongst whom the Reverend and judicious servant of Christ Mr. Nathaniel Ward, who tooke up his station at the Towne of ■ /. e., 1634. 96 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1634 Ipswich, where the faithfull servants of Christ gathered the Ninth Church of his. This Towne is scituated on a faire and delightfull River, whose first rise or spring begins about five and twenty Miles farther up in the Countrey, issuing forth a very pleasant pond. But soone after it betakes its course through a most hideous swamp of large extent, even for many Miles, being a great Harbour for Beares: after its comming forth this place, it groweth larger by the income of many small Rivers, and issues forth in the Sea, due East over against the Island of Sholes, a great place of fishing for our English Nation. The .pe opling o£ JIm .XQ^mgJsJjJLJaasa^jQl,.^^ ^ ranke and"quality, many o| .themj^amg. tJie^p;^fly..B.fiY£DAie-. of large Lands in England before, they came to tliia.JKiliier- "nessa^^but their Estates being imployed for Christ, and left mlBanke, as you have formerly heard, they are well content till Christ shall be pleased to restore it againe to them or theirs, which in all reason should be out of the Prelates Lands in England. Let all those, whom it concemes (to judge) con- sider it well, and do Justice herein. This Towne lies in the Saggamooreship, or Earldome of Aggawam, now by our English Nation called Essex.' It is a very good Haven Towne, yet a little barr'd up at the Mouth of the River, some Marchants here are, (but Boston, being the chiefest place of resort of Shipping, carries away all the Trade). They have very good Land for Husbandry, where Rocks hinder not the course of the Plow: the Lord hath been pleased to increase them in Corne and Cattell of late; Insomuch that they have many hundred quarters to spare yearly, and feed, at the latter end of Summer, the Towne of Boston with good Beefe: their Houses are many of them very faire built with pleasant Gardens and Orchards, consisting of about one hun- dred and forty Families. Their meeting-house is a very good prospect to a great part of the Towne, and beautifully built; the Church of Christ here consists of about one hun- dred and sixty soulcs, being exact in their conversation, and free from the Epidemicall Disease of all Reforming Churches, which under Christ is procured by their pious Learned and ' The (icniTiil Court in Hi 13 organized four shires or counties, Essex (north- ward from Boston to Ihc Mcrrimnc), Middlesex, Norfolk (northward from the Merrin3ac to the Piseataqua), nnd Suffolk (present Suffolk and Norfolk). 1634] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 97 Orthodox Ministery, as in due place (God willing) shall be de- clared, in the meane time, look on the following Meeters con- cerning that Souldier of Christ Master Nathaniel Ward/ Thou ancient Sage, come Ward among Christs folke, take part in this great worke of his, Why do'st thou stand and gaze about so long? Do'st war in jest? why, Christ in earnest is, And hath thee arm'd with weapons for that end, To wound and heale his enemies submitting, Not carnally; then to this worke attend. Thou hast prevail'd the hearts of many hitting. Although the Presbytery unpleasant jar. And errors daily in their braines new coyne, Despayer not; Christs truth they shall not mar. But with his helpe such drosse from Gold refine. ^\'hat, Man, dost meane to lay thy Trumpet downe, Because thy son like Warrier is become? Hold out or sure lesse bright will be thy crowne; Till death Christs servants labour is not done. At this time came over the much honoured Mr. Richard Bellingham,^ whose Estate and person did much further the civill Government of this wandering people, hee being learned in the Lawes of England, and experimentally fitted for the worke, of whom I am bold to say as followeth: Richardus now arise must thou, Christ seed [feed?] hath thee to plead His peoples cause, with equall Laws, in wildemesse them lead; Though slow of speech,' thy counsell reach, shall each occation well. Sure thy sterne looke it cannot brook those wickedly rebell. ' Nathaniel Ward, the celebrated and humorous author of The Simple Cob- ler of Aggawam (London, 1647), was another Emmanuel College man, and another victim of Laud. He resigned his Ipswich pastorate in 1636. Trained in youth as a lawyer, he was the author of the Body of Liheri'us, the first Massa- chusetts code of laws. In 1647 he returned to England, and died there. His son John, also of Emmanuel, became pastor of Haverhill in 1645; see posi, bk. in., ch. I. » Bellingham was recorder (municipal judge) of Boston, lingland, from 1625 to 1633, and was chosen governor of Massachusetts in 1041, in 1654, and in 1665. He was a learned lawyer, and useful to the colony, but difficult in temper. He was one of the original grantees of the patent. ' The historian Hubbard says that he was "like a vessel whose vent holdcth no good proportion with its capacity." 98 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1634 With labours might, thy pen indite doth Lawcs for peoples learning. That judge with skill, and not with will, unarbitrate discerning; Bellingham thou, on valiant now, stop not in discontent, For Christ with crown, will thee renown, then spend for him, be spent; As thou hiist done thy race still run till death, no death shall stay ChrLsts work of might, till Scripture light bring Resurection day. As also about this time for further incouragement in this work of Christ, hee sent over the Reverend servant of his Mr. Lothrop ' to helpe on with the planting of Plimoth, which in- creased but little all this time, although shee be the elder sister of all the united Colonies; Some reasons in due place may be rendered. This Reverend Minister was soone called to Office by the Church of Christ at Scicuate [Scituate]. Chap. XXXI. Of the Church of Christ gathered at Newberry. In the latter end of this yeare, two sincere servants of Christ, inabled by him with gifts to declare his minde unto his people, came over this broad Ocean, and began to build the Tenth Church of Christ at a Towne called Newberry, their names being Mr. James Noise, and Mr. Thomas Parker,' somewhat differing from all the former, and after mentioned Churches in the preheminence of their Presbytery, and it were to be wished that all persons, who have had any hand in those hot contentions, which have fallen out since about Presbyterian and Independent Government in Churches,' would have looked on this Example, comparing it with the Word of God, and assuredly it would have stayed (all the godly at lest) of either part from such unworthy expressions as have ' Rev. John Lothrop, ancestor of John Lothrop Motley. ' Noyc3 and Parker were cousins, from Newbury in England. They upheld at Newbury a partially Presbyterian polity, but not factiously. The book of Parker's to which allusion is made in the ensuing verses is probably The I'isions and Prophecies of Daniel Expounded (London, 1(546). • The sessions of the ^^'estminster Assembly, bejjinning in 1643, and the sub- sequent strupfrjcs between the Presbyterians in Parliament and the Independents of the army gave rise to the controversial literature here alluded to — Ruther- ford's Due Rirjht of l'reshjleric3 oti the one hand, Cotton's and Hooker's treatises on the other, etc. 1634] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 99 passed, to the grief of many of Gods people; And I doubt not but this History will take of[f] that unjust accusation, and slanderous imputation of the rise of that floud of errors and SJ~- false Doctrines sprung up of late, as flowing from the Inde- pendent or rather congregationall Churches. But to follow on, this Town is scituate about twelve miles from Ipswitch, neere upon the wide venting streames of Merrimeck River, whose strong current is such, that it hath forced its passage through the mighty Rocks, which causeth some sudden falls, and hinders Shipping from having any accesse far into the Land. Her bankes are in many places stored with Oken Timber of all sorts, of which, that which they commonly call'd white Oke, is not inferiour to our English Timber; in this River lie some few Islands of fertill Land. This Towne is stored with Meddow and upland, which hath caused some Gentlemen, (who brought over good Estates, and finding then no better way to improve them) to set upon husbandry, amongst whom that Religious and sincere hearted servant of Christ Mr. Richard Dummer, sometime a Magistrate in this little Common-wealth, hath holpcn on this Town. Their houses are built very scattering, which hath caused some contending about removall of their place for Sabbath- Assem- blies. Their Cattell are about foure hundred head, with store of Corne-land in tillage. It consists of about seventy Fam- ilies, the soules in Church fellowship are about an hundred; the teaching Elders of this Congregation have carried it very lovingly toward their people, permitting of them to assist in admitting of persons into Church-society, and in Church- censures, so long as they Act regularly, but in case of their male-administration, they assume the power wholly to them- selves. Their godly life and conversation hath hitherto been very amiable, and their paines and care over their flock not inferiour to many others, and being bound together in a more stricter band of love then ordinary with promise to spend their dayes together (if the Lord please) and therefore shall not be disunited in the following Verse: Loe here Loves twinnes by Christ are sent to Preach In wildemesse his little flock among; Though Christs Church-way you fully cannot reach, So far hold fast as you in's word are strong. v/ 100 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1634 Parker thy paines with Pen, and Preaching hath Roomes buildings left in Prelacy cast downe, Though 'gainst her thou defer Gods final! wrath, Keepe warring still, and sure thou shalt have crowne. Thy Brother thou, oh Noise, hast holpe to guide Christ tender Lambs within his fold to gather. From East to West, thou dost Christs Warrier bide; Faint not at last, increase thy fighting rather. Chap. XXXII. Of good supply, and seasonable helpes the Lord Christ was pleased to send to further his WiMemesse worke, and par- ticular for his Churches of Charles Tovme, and Ipsxmch, and Dorchester. Yet farther for the incouragement of the people of Christ in these their weak beginnings, he daily brings them in fresh supplies, adding this yeare also the reverend and pain- full Minister of his Gospell Mr. Zachary Simmes,' who was invited soone after his comming over to assist in planting of another Church of Christ, but the place being remote from the pretious servants of Christ already setled, he chose rather to joyne with some Church among them, and in a short space after hee was called to the Office of a Teaching Elder in the Church of Christ at Charles Towne, together with Mr. James, who was then their Pastor, as you have formerly heard. ( Among all the godly Women that came through the perilous i' Seas to war their warfare, the wife of this zealous Teacher, \ Mrs. Sarah Simmes shall not be omitted, nor any other, but I to avoid tediousnesse^ the vertuous Woman, indued by Christ I with graces fit for a "Wildernesse condition, her courage ex- ) ceeding her stature, with much cheerfulnesse did undergoe all the difficulties of these times of straites, her God through Faith in Christ supplying all her wants with great industry, nurturing up her young Children in the feare of the Lord, their number being ten both Sons an4. Daughters, a certaine ' A Canterbury man, son of a clerpyman, born there in the same year as Johnson, and for whom thp latter as a Charlestown imrishioner had a special affection. 1635] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 101 signe of the Lords intent to people this vast JYild^raesse; God grant tTiey may be valiant in Faith against Sin, Satan and all the enemies of Christs Kingdome, following the ex- ample of their Father, and Grandfather, who have both suf- fered for the same, in remembrance of whom these following lines are placed. Come Zachary, thou must reedifie Christ Churches in this Desart Land of his, With Moses zeale stampt unto dust defie All crooked wayes that Christ true worship misse. With spirits sword and armor girt about, Thou lay'st on load proud Prelates crowne to crack, And wilt not suffer Wolfes thy flock to rout. Though close they creepe, with sheepe skins on their back. Thy Fathers spirit doubled is upon Thee Simmes, then war, thy Father fighting died, In prayer then prove thou like Champion; Hold out till death, and Christ will crown provide. After these poore people had welcomed with great joy their newcome Guests, all of a sudden they spy two tall Ships, whose colours shewed them to be some forrein Nation, at which time this little handfull of people began to be much troubled, deeming them to be Rovers, they gathered together such forces as their present condition would afford, very ill- fitted as then to rescue an enemy, but their Lord and Master Christ Jesus would not suffe"* any such to come, and instead of enemies brought in friends, even Dutchmen to furnish them with farther necessary Provision.' For the yeare 1635. the honoured Mr. John Haines was chosen Governour, and the honoured Mr. Richard Belling- ham Deputy Governour, the number of Free-men added to this little Common-wealth, were about one hundred forty and five. The time now approaching, wherein the Lord Christ would have his people come from the Flaile to the Fan, threshing out much this yeare, increasing the number of his Troopes, and valiant Leaders, the Ships came thicker and faster filled with many worthy personages; Insomuch that the former people began to forget their Poverty, and verily ' See Winthrop, I., 151, 152. 102 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1635 cdukl Purity, Pcaco and Plenty run all in one channell, Gods people h(!re should sure have met with none other, but the still waters of Peace and Plenty for back and belly soone contract much mudde, us you shall heare (God willing) in the following History: this yeare came in the honoured .Sir Henry Vaine,' who aboad not long in this worthy worke, yet mind him I will in the following Lines. Sir Henry Vaine once Govemour of the English People in New England. Thy Parents, Vaine, of worthy fame, in Christ and thou for him Through Ocean wide in new world tri[e]d a while his warrior bin. With small defeat thou didst retreat to Brittaine ground againe, There stand thou stout, for Christ hold out, Christs Champion ay remaine. Also at this time Christ sent over the much honoured and upright hearted servant of his Richard Saltingstall Esquire, iSon to the before-named Sir Richard Saltingstall, who being weary of this Wildernesse worke, returned home againe not long before,^ and now his Son being chose to the Office of a Magistrate, continued for some good space of time, helping on the affaires of this little Common-wealth, to the honour of Christ, who hath called him: both Father and Son are here remembred. Thou worthy Knight, Saltingstall hight, her's gaine doth go.d exceed. Then trifle not, its to be got, if thou can'st see thy neede. Why wilt thou back, and leave as WTeck, this wortliv worke begun, Art thou back-bore, Christ will send more, and raise instead thy son. His Fathers gon, young Richard on here valiantly doth War, For Christ his truth, to their great Ruth, Heathens opposers are: To study thou thy mind dost bow, and daily good promote, Saltingstall why then dost thou fly, let all Gods people note 'Sir Henry Vane the younger (1612-1662), son of a diplomatist and states- man, came to Massachusetts, a very young man, in 1635. A few months later he was elected governor. In the Antinomian controversy he took the other side from Winthrop and the orthodox majority. Defeated in a closely contested election in the spring of 1(137, he went home that summer. His career in the Long Parliament was a brilliant and noble one, and finally he came to be its chief leader. He was rNccuted as a ro;^ici(lo after the accession of Charles II. ' See p. 74. The younger Saltonstall became an assistant in 1637. 1635] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 103 That thou wilt stand in thy own Land, Christ there then strengthen thee, With grace thee heate, that thy retreate may for his glory be: At ending day, he thee array with Glory will not faile. Breaking graves bands, with his strong hands, and free dust from death's goale [gaol]. Among these Troopes of Christs Souldiers, came at this time, the godly servant of Christ Mr. Roger Harlackenden,' a young (Gentleman valiant in Faith, and appointed by Christ to assist his people in this Desart, he was chose to the Office of a Magistrate, as also to be a choise Leader of their Military Forces, which as yet were but in a strange posture; And therefore till the yeare 1644. (at which time the Countrey was really placed in a posture of War, to be in a readinesse at ail times) there shall not be any thing spoken concerning their Mihtary Discipline ^ the continuance of this Souldier of Christ was but short, the Lord taking him to rest with himselfe. Harlackenden, among these men of note Christ hath thee seated: In warlike way Christ thee aray with zeal, and love well heated. As generall belov'd of all, Christ Souldiers honour thee: In thy young yeares, courage appeares, and kinde benignity. Short are thy days spent to his praise, whose Church work thou must aid. His work shall bide, silver tride, but thine by death is staid. The number of Ministers that came over this yeare was about eleaven, and many other like faithfull servants of Christ, among whom arrived those two Reverend and laborious ser- vants of his Mr. Norton, and Mr. Shepheard, of whose narrow escape you have heard the last yeare: Mr. NortDn was called to the Office of a Teaching Elder, at the Towne of Ipswich to the Church of Christ there, where Mr. Warde as yet remained in Office. Also the learned labours of this Souldier of Christ are ob\'ious to our Countreymen; hee Preaching there, the blessing of God hath not onely built up many in the Knowl- edge of Christ, but also been the meanes of converting diverse ' A son of a rich landholder at Earl's Colne in Essex, where Shepard hnrl been minister, assistant from 1636 till his death in 1638, and chosen in lli.iO lieutenant-colonel of the Middlesex regiment. 'See bk. ii., ch. xxvi. 104 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1635 soules, turning them from the power of Satan to Faith in Christ, whom the Lord long continue; you shall further hear of Christs gratious assisting of him in the first and last Synod holden here at Cambridge, and in the meane time let no man be offended that the Author quickens up his own dull affec- tions, in telling how largely the Lord hath bestowed his Graces upon these Instruments of his, although sinfull dust and ashes. Thou Noble Norton, who art honoured by Thy Christ, with learned Arguments doth fill Thy mouth with might new errors to destroy, And force deceivers silently to yeild. Weake dust, waite on thy Christ for further strength, Who doth his Davids make as Angels bright. To trample down his enemies at length; All breake or bow unto his Kingdomes might Illettered Men and Women that doe love Preheminence, condemne thy learned skill. But Christ hath given his blessing from above Unto thy workes the World with light to fill. Christs faithfull servants met in Synod, take Thee for their Pen-men [Pen-man] Scriptures light to cleere. With Scripture shew what Government Christ gave To's Churches till himselfe againe appeare.' Here my indeared Reader, I must mind thee of the indus- trious servant of Christ Mr. John Wilson, who this yeare landed the third time upon this American shore from his Native Country, where now againe by the Divine Providence of Christ, hee narrowly escaped the Hunters hands, being cloathed in a Country-mans habit, passing from place to place, declared to the people of God, what great Workes Christ had already done for his people in New England, which made many Christian soules long to see these admirable Acts of Christ, although it were not to be injoyed, but by passing through ail Ocean of troubles. Voyaging night and day upon the great deep, which this zealous servant of Christ had now five times passed over: at this time came over the Sage, 'The allusion is to Norton's reply to Rev. William Apollonius of Middel- buFR in Zceland, which Norton wrote at the request of the Cnmbridf^c Synod of Hi 17, RcspoTuiio ad Totam Qncrstionvm Syllogen 2t dariaaimo Viro Dom. GvHiclmo Apotlonio propcmtam (London, 1648). 1635] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 105 grave, reverend and faithfull servant of Christ M. Richard Mather/ indued by the Lord with many Heavenly gifts, of a plaine and upright spirit, apt to teach, full of gratious expres- sions, and Resolvedly bent to follow the truth, as it is in Jesus, hee was anon after his comming called to Office in the Church of Christ at the Towne of Dorchester, to assist in the Worke of the Lord, with Mr. MavarecK, whose worke not long after was ended by death, leaving Mr. Mather alone to continue the same. With cheerfull face Mather doth toile indure, In wildernesse spending the prime of's age, To build Chrbts Churches, and soules health procure; In battel! thou dost deepe thyselfe ingage. Marvell not Man that Mather through an host y Of enemies doth breake, and fighting stands, It's Christ him keepes, of him is all his boast. Who power gives to do, and then commands. With gratious speech thy Masters Message thou Declarest to all, and wouldst have submit. That to his Kingdome every knee might bow; But those resist his sword shall surely hit. Till age doth crown thy head with hory hairs. Well hast thou warr'd, till Mathers young againe, Thy son in fight his Fathers strength repayers; Father and Son beate down Christs foes amaine. Chap. XXXIII. Of the beginning of the Churches of Christ, to be planted at Canedico, and first of the Church of Christ removall to Hartford, 1635. This yeare the servants of Christ, who peopled the Towne of Cambridge, were put upon thoughts of removing, hearing of a very fertill place upon the River of Canectico,^ low Land, and well stored with Meddow, which is greatly in esteeme ' Richard Mather, minister at Toxteth, near Liverpool, from 1618 to 1634, and at Dorchester, Massachusetts, from 1636 to 1669, was the father of Increase Mather, president of Harvard College, and grandfather of Cotton Mather (whose maternal grandfather was John Cotton). He has left an interesting account of his voyage to New England, printed in Young's Chronicles oj Ma^sacliusdts. ' Connecticut. 106 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1635 with the people of New England, by reason the Winters are very long. This people seeing that Tillage went but little on, Resolved to remove, and breed up store of Cattell, which were then at eight and twenty pound a Cow, or neare upon,' but assuredly the Lord intended far greater matters than man ./ purposes, but God disposes. These men, having their hearts gone from the Lord [Land], on which they were seated, soone tooke dislike at every little matter; the Plowable plaines were too dry and sandy for them, and the Rocky places, al- though more fruitfull, yet to eate their bread with toile of hand and how [hoe] they deemed it unsupportable; And therefore they onely waited now for a people of stronger Faith then themselves were to purchase their Houses and Land, which in conceipt they could no longer live upon, and accordingly they met with Chapmen,' a people new come, who having bought their possessions, they highed them away to their new Plantation. With whom went the Grave and Reverend servant of Christ Mr. Hooker, and Mr. Stone, for / indeed the whole Church removed, as also the much hon- oured Mr. Haynes and divers other men of note. For the place, being out of the Mattacusets Patten, they erected another Government, called by the Indian name, Canectico, being farther incouraged by two honourable personages, the Lord Say, and Lord Brookes, who built a Forrest [Fort] at the mouth of the River, and called it Say-brook Forrest [Fort]: passing up the River, they began to build a Towne, which they called Hartford, where this Church of Christ sat down their station.' There went to those parts also the Reverend Mr. Wareham, and divers from the Towne of Dorchester. The place of setling themselves, and erecting a Towne was far up on the River, the part next the Sea being very Rocky, but on the banke of this River they planted the good Towne of Hartford, and established civill Government: of their gathering into a Church, you have formerly heard. Onely here minde the gratious ser- vant of Christ, Mr. Wareham, whose long labours in this worke are exprost. 'See also nriulford, p. 347, and Winthrop, I., 112. 'Purchasers. •The founders of Hartford went overland to the Connecticut valley; and the fort at Saybrook was built after their migration, not before. 1635] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 107 With length of dayes Christ crowned hath thy head. In Wildernesse to manage his great War, 'Gainst Antichrist by strength of him art lead With steady hand to sUng thy stone from far, That grovehng in his gore may lie smit downe This mighty Monster, that the Earth hath taken, With's poysons sweet in cup of Gold drunke down; Dead drunke those lie whom Christ doth not awaken. But Wareham thou by him art sent to save, With's word of truth Christ to their soules apply, That deadly sin hath laid in rotting Grave Dead, live in Christ here, and Eternally. Chap. XXXIV. Of Cambridge second Church, being the 11. of Christ gathered in the Mattacusets, and of further supply for Salem Church. These people and Church of Christ being thus departed from New-towne, the godly people, who came in their roomes, gathered the eleaventh Church of Christ, and called to the Office of a Pastor, that gratious sweete Heavenly minded, and soule- ravishing Minister, Mr. Thomas Shepheard, in whose soule the Lord shed abroad his love so abundantly, that thousands of souls have cause to blesse God for him, even at this very day, who are the Seale of his Ministrey, and hee a man of a thousand, indued with abundance of true saving knowledge for himselfe and others, yet his naturall Parts were weake, but spent to the full as followeth: No hungry Hawkes poore Patridge to devoure More eager is, then Prelates Nimrod power Thomas to hunt, my Shephard sweet pursue To seas brinke, but Christ saves his soule for you; Sending thee, Shepheard, safe through Seas awaie. To feede his flock unto thy ending day. Where (sheepe seek wolves) thy bosome lambs would catch; But night and day thou ceasest not to watch And wame with teares thy flock of cheaters vile. Who in sheepes cloathing would the weak beguile; With dropping dewes from thy lips Christ hath made Thy hearers eyes oft water springing blade. 108 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1635 With pierced hearts they cry aloud and say, Shew us, sweet Shepheard, our salvations way, Thy lovely speech such ravishment doth bring; Christ gives thee power to heale as well as sting. Thou gates sets ope for Christ thy King to enter, In hciirLs of many spirits joy to center, But mourne my Muse, hang dovrae thy head with woe, With teares, sighs, sobs lament thy Shepheard so.' (Why?) hee's in Heaven, but I one [on] Earth am left. More Earthly, 'cause of him I am bereft. *1 Oh Christ why dost thou Shepheard take away, I In erring times when sheepe most apt to stray. The many Souldiers and Officers of Christ that came over this yeare, moved some wonder in the mindes of those, whom he had beene pleased to give a great measure of discerning, yet here they fell abundantly short, deeming almost an impossibility of improving their Talents in this Wildemesse, the Indian-people being uncapable of under- standing their Language, the Englishe congregations that were already set downe being fully furnished with Teach- ing Elders, and that which was most strange they were perswaded they should meet with no enemies to oppose them, as if Christ would lead them forth into the Field in vaine. But Christ Jesus, having the hearts of all Men opened before him, soon shewed them their worke, and withall made roome for them to set downe, I [ay] and many more beside, yea, and beyond expectation made this poore barren Wildernesse become a fruit full Land unto them that waited on him for the accomplishing thereof, feeding them with the flower of Wheat, as in its time and place (Grod willing) shall be shewed, although it pleased him this yeare to visit them, and try thc^m againe with a great scarcity of Brrad, by rcixson of the multitude that came brought .somewhat shorter Provisions then ordinary, which caused them to be in some straitos. But their Lord Christ gives out a Word of command to those, wlu) occupy their businesse in the great deepe, to furnish from Ireland some Ships laden with food for his people. ' Shepard died in 1649. 1635] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 109 Also hee commands the Winds and the Seas to beare up these Ships, and blow them forth on their way, till they arrive among his people in New England, whose appetities were now sharpeset for Bread. One poore man among others deeming hee had found out some forsaken Barnes of the Indians (whose manner is to lay up their Come in the Earth), lighted one [on] a grave where fiiading bones of the dead instead of Corne, hee was taken with feare of this, as a sad omen that hee should then die for want of food, but in this hee proved no true Prophet, for the Lord was pleased to bring in season- able supply, and the man is living at this very day. This yeere came over the Famous servant of Christ M. Hugh Peters,' whose courage was not inferiour to any of these transported servants of Christ, but because his native Soile hath had the greatest share of his labours, the lesse will be said of him here; hee was called to Office by the Church of Christ, at Salem, their former Pastor the Reverend M. Hig- gingson, having ended his labours resting with the Lord. With courage bold Peters a Souldicr stout In Wildernesse for Christ begins to war, Much worke he finds 'mongst people, yet hold out; With fluent tongue he stops phantastick jar. Swift Torrent stayes of liberties large vent, Through crooked wayes of error daily flowing, Shiloes soft streames to bath in would all bent; Should he while they in Cliristian freedome growing. But back thou must, thy Tallents Christ will have Improved for him, his glory is thy crowne, And thou base dust till he thee honour gave; It matters not though the world on thee do frown. ' Rev. Hugh Peter or Peters was already a famous man at the time of his arrival in New England. He had lately been pastor of the English church in Rotterdam. His six years in the colony were marked by activity and influence on the illiberal side in church controversies, but also by great energy in the pro- motion of practical schemes for the economic betterment of the colony. Return- ing to England in 1641, he took a leading part, as preacher and politician, among the Independents. In 1660, after the return of Charles H., he was executed for high treason as having been concerned in the beheading of Charles I. no WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1636 Chap. XXXV. Of the Twelfth Church of Christ gathered at Concord. Yet further at this time entered the Field two more valiant Leaders of Christs Souldicrs, holy men of God, Mr. Buckly and M. Jones, penetrating further into this Wildemesse then any formerly had done, with divers other servants of Christ: they build an Inland Towne which they called Concord, named from the occasion of the present time, as you shall after heare:' this Towne is seated upon a faire fresh River, whose Rivulets are filled with fresh Marsh, and her streames with Fish, it being a branch of that large River of Merrimeck. Allwifes and Shad in their season come up to this Towne, but Salmon and Daice cannot come up by reason of the Rocky falles, which causeth their Meddowes to lie much covered with water, the which these people together with their Xeighbour Towne, have severall times assayed to cut through but cannot, yet it may be turned another way with an hundred pound charge, as it appeared. This TowTie was more populated once then now it is. Some faint-hearted Souldicrs among them fearing the Land would prove barren, sold their possessions for little, and removed to a new Plantation, (which have most com- monly a great prize set on them). The number of Families at present are about 50. their buildings are conveniently placed chiefly in one straite streame [streete] under a sunny banke in a low levell, their heard of great Cattell are about 300. The Churcli of Christ here consists of about seventy soules, their teaching Elders were Mr. Buckly,' and Mr. Jones, who removed from them with that part of the people, who went away, so that onely the reverend grave and godly I\Ir. Buckly remaines. Riches and honours Buckly laves aside To ])lciis(> his Christ, for whom he now doth war, Why Buckly thou ha-st Riches that will bide, And honours tliat exceeds Earths honour far. ' The name is nndor.stq()(l to have Itecn given to the town on account of the peaceful u^'rcemciU with the Indians for ils iiurcha.se. ' Itev. Titer Bulklev, fellow of .*^l. John's College, and a minister silenced for non-conformity, liad, .sny.H < 'otton Mather, "a good lunefice, added unto the esUile of a gentleman, left him h\ his father," a doctor of divinity in Bedford- 1636] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 111 Thy bodies [body's] worne, and dayes in Desert spent To feede a few of Christs poore scattered sheepe; Like Christ's bright body, thy poore body, rent. With Saints and Angells company shall keepe. Thy Tongue, and Pen doth to the World declare Christs covenant with his flock shall firmly stand, When Heavens and Earth by him dissolved are; Then who can hold from this his worke at hand? Two Bucklies more Christ by his grace hath taken, And sent abroad to manage his great wars. It's Buklies joy that Christ his sons new making, Hath placest [placed] in's churches for to shine as Stars. This holy and sincere servant of Christ was put upon the greater tryall, by reason he and his were tenderly brought up, and now by the provident hand of Christ were carried far into this desert land, where they met with some hardships for a long time; till the place was well peopled, they lived barely. Chap. XXXVI. Of the laborious worke Christ's people have in planting this wildemesse, set forth in the building the Towne of Concord, being the first in-land Towne. Now because it is one of the admirable acts of Christ['s] Providence in leading his people forth into these Westeme Fields, in his providing of Huts for them, to defend them from the bitter stormes this place is subject unto, therefore here is ^NKa short Epitome of the manner how they placed downe their r'^ dwellings in this Desart ^^'ildernesse, the Lord being pleased to hide from the Eyes of his people the difficulties they are to encounter withall in a new Plantation, that they might not thereby be hindered from taking the worke in hand; upon some inquiry of the Indians, who lived to the North-west of the Bay, one Captaine Simon Willard being acquainted with shire. The book alluded to in the verses is The Gospel Covenant, or the Covenant of Grace Opened (London, 1646); the two sons (he had twelve), Rev. Edward Bulkley, his successor in the Concord church, and Rev. John Bulkley, who after graduating in the first class of Harvard College (164L') went to England and min- istered to a church in Essex till deprived by the Act of Uniformity. 112 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1636 them, by reason of his Trade, became a chiefe instrument in erecting this Town, the land they purchase of the Indians, and with much difficulties traveling through unknowne woods, and through watery scrampes [swampes], they discover the fiitnesse 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 sometimes 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 houres; if they be not otherwise well defended with Bootes, or Buskings, their flesh will be tome: (that some being forced to passe on without further provision) have had the bloud trickle downe at every step, and in the time of SuDomer 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 under- goe much travell, and this not to be indured for one day, but for many, and verily did not the Lord incourage their natural! parts (with hopes of a new and strange discovery, expecting every houre to see some rare sight never seene before) they were never able to hold out, and breake through: but above all, the thirsting desires these servants of Christ have had to Plant his Churches, among whom the forenamed Mr. Jones ' shall not be forgotten. In Desart's depth where Wolves and Beares abide, There Jones sits down a wary watch to keepe, O're Christs deare flock, who now are wandered wide; But not from him, whose eyes ne're close with sleepe. Surely it sutes thy melancholly minde, Thus solitary for to spend thy dayes, Much more thy soule in Christ content doth finde, To worke for him, who thee to joy will raise. ' After about eight years John Jones, pastor of the Concord church (which had found it difficult to maintain two "teaching elders"), removed to Fairfield, Connecticut, where he died in 100.5. His son John (A. B. Harvard, 1043) went to preach in the island of Nevis in the West Indies. 1636] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 113 Leading thy son to Land, yet more remote, To feede his flock upon this Westerne wast: Exhort him then Christs Kingdome to promote; That he with thee of lasting joyes may tast. Yet farther to tell of the hard labours this people found in Planting this Wildemesse, after some dayes spent in search, toyling in the day time as formerly is said; like tme Jacob, its ' they rest them one [on] 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 CJountrey being well watered in all places that yet are found out. Their farther hardship is to travell, sometimes they know not whether, bewildred indeed without sight of Sun, their compasse mis- carrying in crouding 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 dayes and never find one. But to be sure the directing Providence of Christ hath beene better unto them than many paths, a.s might here be inserted, did not hast call my Pen away to more waighty matters; yet by the way a touch thus, it befell with a servant maide, who was travelling about three or foure miles from one Towne to another, loosing her selfe in the Woods, had very diligent search made after her for the space of three dayes, and could not possible 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 that heard of it.^ This intricate worke no whit daunted these resolved 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 cloathes 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 a smoaky fire against the Earth at the highest side, • Misprint for Jacobites. See p. 74, n. 1, ante. ' See Winthrop's Journal, I. 98. 114 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1636 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 Wigwames they sing Psalmes, pray and praise their God, till they can provide them houses, which ordi- narily was not wont to be with many till the Earth, by the Lords blessing, brought forth Bread to feed them, their Wives and little ones, which with sore labours they attaine every one that can lift a hawe Pioe] to strike it into the Earth, standing stoutly to their labours, and teare up the Rootes and Bushes, which the first yeare beares them a very thin crop, till the soard [sward] of the Earth be rotten, and therefore they have been forced to cut their bread very thin for 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 imder their Indian Come, which they plant in Hills five foote asunder, and assuredly when the Lord created this Come, hee had a speciall eye tt) supply these his peoples wants with it, for or- dinarily five or six graines doth produce six hundred. As for flesh they looked not for any in those times (al- though now they have plenty) unlesse they could barter with the Indians for Venison or Rockoons,' whose flesh is not much inferiour unto Lambe, the toile of a new Plantation being like the labours of Hercules never at an end, yet are none so barbarously bent (under the Mattacuscts especially) but with a new Plantation thoy ordinarily gather into Church- fellowship, so that Pastors and people suffer the inconveni- ences together, which is a great meanes to season the sore labours they undergoe, and verily the edge of their appetite was greater to spirituall duties at their first comming in time of wants, than afterward: many in new Plantations have been forced to go barefodt, and bareleg, till these latter dayes, and some in time of Frost and 8nt)w: Yet were they then Ycry healthy more then now tliey are: in this Wildernesse- workc men of Instates speed no better than others, and some much worse for want of being inured to such hard labour, ' Raccoons. 1635] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 115 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 comming up to a new Plantation, many of their Cattell died, especially if they wanted Salt- marshes: and also those, who supposed they should feed upon Swines 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 (al- though some have sped the best of any now) for untill the Land be often fed with other Cattell Sheepe cannot live; And therefore they never thrived till 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 extreame heate in their tra veils: as also the want of English graine, Wheate, Barly and Rie proved a sore affliction to some stomacks, who could not live upon Indian Bread and water, yet were they compelled to it till Cattell increased, and the Plowes could but goe: instead of Apples and Peares, they had Pomkins and Squashes of divers kinds. Their lonesome condition was very grievous to some, which was much aggravated by continuall feare of the Indians ap- proach, whose cruelties were much spoken of, and more espe- cially during the time of the Peqot wars. Thus this poore people populate this howling Desart, march- ing manfully on (the Lord assisting) through the greatest diffi- culties, and forest labours that ever any with such weak means have done. Chap. XXXVII. Of the Thirteenth Church of Christ gathered at Hiin^ham, 1636.' At this time also came to shore the servant of Christ Master Peter Hubbord, whom the Lord was pleased to make use of for feeding his people in this Wildernesse, being called •The gathering of the Hingham church took place in September, 1635, preceding by tea months that of the church of Concord, July, 1636. The name 116 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1635 to Office by the Church of Christ at the Town of Hingham, which is scituate upon the Sea coasts South-east of Charles River, being a place nothing inferiour to their Neighbours for scituation, and the people have much profited themselves by transporting Timber, Planke and Mast for Shipping to the Town of Boston, as also Ceder and Pine-board to supply the wants of other Townes, and also to remote parts, even as far as Barbadoes. They want not for Fish for themselves and others also. This Towne consisted of about sixty Families, the forme is somewhat intricate to describe, by reason of the Seas wasting crookes, where it beates upon a mouldering shore, yet have they compleat streetes in some places. The people joyned in Church covenant in this place, were much about an hundred soules, but have been lessened by a sad unbrotherly conten- tion, which fell out among them, wasting them every way, continued already for seven yeares space,' to the great griefe of all other Churches, who held out the right hand of fellow- ship unto them in Brotherly communion, which may (the Lord helping) demonstate to all the true _ Churches jof Chrigt the World throughout^ although" they "be distanced.by p|ji.ce -\f- - or Nation, yet ought they jneyerlo taEelip such an Indep en,- dentway, as to reject the advise and counsell^ of each other^ lor although the Lord Christ have compleated Gs commission in giving full power to every particular Church to exercise all his Ordinances in and toward their owne body, yet hath the Lord so dispensed his gifts, that when the one want, the other shall abound both in spirituall and temporall, that by giving and receiving mutuall love may be maintained, the intire truthes of Chrigt continued, the Churches of Christ supported, superiority of any may be avoided, and all such as raise dis- cord among Brethren may be retartled, the downfall of Anti- waa given because the pastor, Hobart, and many of the flock came from Hingham in Norfolk, England, llr was of Magdalene College, Cambridge, and was for nearly forty-five years juislor of this church. ' A dispute broke out in Hingham in 104"), about a militia election. Trivial in itself, it ruiscd important questions coiicorning the authority of the magis- trates of the colony and the liberties of the people. Winthrop was involved, and his account of the matter, Jniirnal, II. L'J!1-J ITi, including his "little .speech" on liberty, shows him at his best. Hobart's tendency to Presbyterianism aided, as is intimated in tiie ensuing phrases and in the verses below, to prolong the dispute. 1635] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 117 Christ, and restauration of that antient people of the Lord furthered, through the Unity of Christs Churches the World throughout: this Church I hope will give signall to others (the Lord assisting) that they split not upon the Rock. Of their Pastors I shall say no more, but this at present. Oh Hubbard! why do'st leave thy native soile? Is't not to war 'mongst Christ's true worthies here ? AMiat, wilt give out? thou'lt loose thy former toile And starve Christs flock, which he hath purchast deare. What would's thou have, speake plaine, truth bides the light: To Gods word goe, it's that must triall be, Hath cruell sword, not het one [hit on] thy side right. Increase in love, and thou wilt Justice see. With humble, holy, learned men converse, Thee and thy flock they would in one unite. And all the fogs of selfe conceit disperse; Thee and thy sons the Lord Christ guide aright. Some other of the Ministers of Christ arrivod this yeare 1635. As Mr. Flint,' Mr. Carter, and Mr. Walton and some others, of whom we shall speake (by the Lord assistance) in due time and place, in the meane time here is to be remem- bred Mr. Thomas Flint a sincere servant of Christ, who had a faire yearly Revenue in England, but having improved it for Christ, by casting it in the common Treasury,^ as it appeares in the former part of this History, he waites on the Lord for doubling his Talent, if it shall seeme good unto him so to doe, and the meane time spending his person for the good of his people in the Office of a Magistrate. At Christs commands, thou leav'st thy lands, and native habitation: ; His folke to aid, in Desart straid, for Gospells Exaltation, i Flint Hardy thou, wilt not allow, the underminding Fox, With subtill skill, Christs vines to spill, thy sword shall give them knocks. Yet thou base dust, and all thou hast, is Christ's, and by him thou i Art made to be, such as we see, hold fast for ever now. _^^ ' Henry Flint, afterward teacher of the church at Braintree; see p. 197, post. Thomas Carter became Johnson's pastor at Woburn; see pp. 215-218. ' He brought £2,000 to the colony, but died a poor man. 118 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1636 Chap. XXXVIII Of the placing down of many Souldiers of Christ, and gathering the Church of Christ at Sandwitch in Plimouth patten, '^ and further supply for the Churches of Ipswich and Linne. This yeare 1636. Sir Henry Vaine, was chosen Governour, and John Winthrope Esquire Deputy Governour, the number of Freemen added were about eighty three.' This yeare came over the much honoured Mr. Fenwick ' a godly and able in- strument to assist in helping to uphold the civill Government of the second and third Colonies here planted, by the Divine Providence of the most high God, hee having purchased the Plantation of Saybrooke-Fort, became a good incourager to the Church of Christ at Hartford, where the reverend Mr. Hooker, and Mr. Stone were Officers. In remembrance of whom a few lines take here. Fenwick among this Christian throng, to wildemesse doth flee: There learn'd hast thou, yet further how, Christ should advanced be. Who for that end, doth back thee send, their Senator to sit; * In native soile for him still toile, while thou hast season fit. His Churches peace, do not thou cease, with their increase to bring, That they and thee, in lasting Glee, may Hallelujah sing. The beginning of this yeare was spent in accommodating these new come Guests in the former yeare, whose numbers was neer about three thousand, and now they began to be perswaded they should be a setled people, not minding the present dangers they were in, as j'ou shall hear anon, onely in the meane time take notice of further supply the Lord Christ was pleased to send before the cattell increased to its strength, among whom the aged, and long continued Souldiers of Christ Jesus Mr. Partrich, as also Mr. Nathaniel Rogera an able dis- ' Duxbury in Plymouth patent. ' Actually, 96. ' George Fenwick, previously a barrister of Gray's Inn, and subsequently a colonel in the Parliamentary army, visited New England in 1636 as agent of Lord Saye and Sele and Lord Brooke, Puritan lords who had obtained a patent from the Earl of Warwick. Coming again in 1639 he founded a settlement at Saybrook, which in 16't4 he transferred to the colony of Connecticut. * He sat in the Long Parliament and the Parliaments of the Protectorate, from 1645 to the time of his death in 1656. 1636] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 119 putant, whose mouth the Lord was pleased to fill with many arguments for the defence of his truth, Mr. Samuel Whiting, who hath also, with keepmg to the patterne of sound and wholesome Doctrine, much stopped the spreading Leaven of the Pharises. Mr. Partrich was called to Office at a Towne then named Dukes Berry ' in Plimoth Government, scituated upon the Sea-coast, where the people of Christ being gathered into a Church, Ordained him to be their Pastor. In thine owne soile well rooted in the truth, Thou didst stand fast by Prelates power unbow'd, But Laude layes load on Gods folke to his Ruth, By whom thou mayst no longer be alow'd. Then Partrich thou thy wings begins to spread Of Faith and Love to flie these long Seas o're, To wildemesse where thou Christs Lambs hast fed With's sincere Milke this fourteene yeare and more. But now with age thy Almon Tree doth flourish, Yet spreading like the Palme Tree dost thou stand, I'th'house of God, Christ Roote thy Bou^'hs do nourish; And for thy head he hath a Crowne in's hand. Mr. Nathaniel Rogers being landed, after a long and tedious Voyage at Sea,' was welcomed by the Church of Christ at Ipswitch, where the Reverened and Judicious Mr. Nathaniel Ward, although a very al)le Preacher, and much desired, yet for some naturall infirmity (himselfe being best privy unto) desired to be unbound of his ingagement with his people in point of Office: that being left to his liberty, hce might Preach more seldom, in whose stead the Church called to Office this Reverend and Holy Man of God Mr. Nathaniel Rogers, whose labours in this Westerne World, have been very much : a very sweet heavenly minded man, of whom the Author is bold to say as followeth: Through boystrous Seas thy brittle frame of Man It safely is in Christ's sweet armes infold, No wonder then thou weake dust stoUy [stoudy] can Preach Christs in's truths, why he doth thee uphold? ' Duxbury, where Rev. Ralph Partridge, the most influential minister in the Plymouth colony, served nearly twenty-two years. > See Winthrop, I. 199, 200. 120 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1636 Why Rogers he thee over-Sea hath sett Against the day of Battell, now at hand, No sooner are thy feet one [on] those shores set. But Leaders do Christ truth withstand. Undaunted thou these Westemc Fields dost enter, Filld with the spirit's ready sword at hand, Ingage thou wilt thy selfe, 'mongst hardships venter; Valiant thou foughtst under thy Christ's command And yet with all men wouldst have peace thy aime. If deepe to wound, and sweetly then to say. Come to my Christ, hee'l hcale your wounds againe; Canst but submit hee'l never say thee nay. With learned Method thou Gods Word divides: Long labouring that each soule may take his part. Thy gratious speech with grave impression bides; Thus Christ by thee is pleas'd to win the heart. My Muse lament, Nathaniel is decaying: ' WTiy dost thou grutch him Heaven, such toile hath had. In Christ his Vineyard rather be thou praying; That in Christs armes he resting may be glad. Mr. Samuel Whiting ^ was well welcomed by the Church of Christ at Cawgust [Saugus], which Towne, being now of age to receive an English name, was called Linne, where this Rev- erend man now hath his aboade. Thy ardent Love, the countlesse Ocean's measure Quench cannot, for thy love on him is set. Who of true love hath aie the depthlesse Treasure, Doth thine increase, least thou should'st his forget. Love Christ in's truths, my Whiting, thou hast done: Thou wilt not suffer with their leaven sower. False Doctrines 'mongst tliy tender flock to run; Timely cut off wilt thou all those devour. Samuel raourne not thy strength in Desart's spent: Hadicr rejoyce thy Christ makes use of thee Soulcs to convert, his Kingdomes large extent From East to W'cst shall shortly setled be. ' lie died in l(ir,r>. 'Whiting, son of a mayor of Boston, in Lincolnshiro, and a graduate of Emmanuel College, had been for sonio }'ears a preacher at Lynn, England. 1636] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 121 Thine Eyes and Eares have seen and heard great things Done by thy Christ, shewes he thy toile accepts; Though thy weake flesh weaker to dust hee'l bring, Thy quickned spirit increast in his joy leaps. Chap. XXXIX. Of the first appearing in the Field, of the enemies of Christs people in point of Reformation. And now to follow our first simile of a Souldier, the Lord Christ having safely landed many a valiant Souldier of his on these Westerne shores, drawes hither also the common enemies to Reformation, both in Doctrine and Discipline; But it was for like end, as the Lord sometime drew Sisera the Captaine of Jabins army to the River Kishon for their destruc- tion,^ onely herein was a wide difference; there Sisera was delivered into the hands of a Woman, and here Sisera was a woman; their weapons and warre was carnall, these spirituall; there Jabin was but a man, here Jabin was the common enemy of mans salvation. In the yeare 1636. the Angels of the severall Churches of Christ in N. England sounding forth their silver Trumpets, heard ever and anon the jarring sound of ratling Drums in their eares, striking up an alarum to the battell, it being a frequent thing publikely to oppose the pure and perfect truths of Christ (delivered by the mouth of his Ministers) and that by way of question as the Pharises, Sadduces and Herodians did Christ. But to bring this disorderly worke of theirs into some order, for assuredly could the Author come up to relate the full of the matter in hand, it would through the mercy of Christ make much for the good of Gods peopl(j, the World throughout, and hcipe tn'diacoveMhe last (I hop^'^ hut rpo-sf. ,^ suEHIe praclicesof Safan to h inder the Restauration of the i^ purity of Christs Prdinances in his_Churches in all places ;^ As also used lay hinTandTusTnstruments to divert the hands" of those, to whom it belongs, from pulling downe Antichrist, to which end he stirreth up some of his instruments (well ' Judges iv. and v. 122 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [163G educated in the Masking schoole of Hippocrisy) to take upon them this long Voyage, giving them in charge by all meanes to carry it more close, then his Jesuites had done, and for their paines they should have the honours to be counted such as were of a sharper sight, and deeper discerning then any others. Satan, knowing right well that at the fall of Anti- christ hee must be chained up for a thousand years, strives with all the wicked craft his long experienced maliciousnesse could possibly invent, to uphold the same, having already perswaded many that his Kingdome was wholly ruinated with our English Nation, and so diswaded them a long , time from further prosecuting against him. But 4?-tJchrists I Kingdome, as it plainly appeares , by Scripture, coasists f ch iefly in Jwo^ parts, his deceaveible Doctrines, and his, I Kmglj power. The firsFoT these being in measure abolished, 'i the latter was still retained by the Prelacy, and some Lord- ) ing Presbytery in greater or lesser measure, as they could ^attaine unto it. Now Satan, who is daily walking to and fro compassing the Earth, seeing how these resolved Souldiers of Christ in •fC New England with indefatigable paLnes laboured, not onely the finall ruine of Antichrist, in both, but also the advance of Christs Kingdome, in seting up daily Churches according to his first institution. Wherefore he sets upon a new way to stop (if it were possible) this worke of Reformation, and seeing no other way will serve, he stirs up instruments to cr\- down Antichrist as much as the most, I [a}-] and more too, but by this project they should leade people as much out of the way on the other hand, and in the Doctrinall part of Antichrists Kingdome, fall to more horrid Blasphemies then the Papist, as (dod willing) you shall heare some of them did, namely the Gortenist, who most blasphemously profcsse themselves to he |)crs()iially the Christ: and as for the other part of his Kingdome, namely the power or Dominion of the beast, this they sluiuUI with all violence batter downe also, but it must be none other then to make way for their owne exaltation, and pay them their wages in the former page promised them, as also withall to overthrow the authority Christ liath ordained to be continued in his Churches, in and under him, and furthermore to lock up the Sword of Civill Gov- 1636] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 123 emment for ever, especially in matters that concerne the foure first Commands of God/ a cunning way to save the beasts head whole. You have now heard of the intention, you shall now see their actions. The Lord Christ in his boundlesse,,ffigrcy.^Ye all his people eyes to .see..jM^^Siirti to believe, that after Jb.hey , have in mea sure escaped the filthy pollutions nf thp^hpn-st, ^ they may n ot againe be intanfi; led with the se damnab led Doc- fr mes, stealing away th eir hearts bv ^greeC undera s eeming sh'ew of pulling dow n~Antichrist. The Embassadors of Christ Jesus, having full liberty to deliver their masters minde, Preach unto all the Doctrine of Free grace, beseeching them . to be reconciled unto God in Christ, and that the revealed will'^fC' of God is, that all should be saved, and come to the knowl- edge of the truth, and that God hath given his onely begotten Son, That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting Life. Yet withall minding them that Faith is the gift of God, and none can come unto Christ, but such as W^ the Father drawes, and withall that the whole will not see any need of the Phisicians, but the sick, adding also that none can come to the sight of his sicknesse or dead condition but by the Law of God, unlesse they be quicker sighted then the Apostle; They indevour also to build up others in their holy Faith, that they might come to see the Love of God in Christ which passeth knowledge, and to this end they shew them the fruits of Faith which worketh by love, and that love will be obedient to all the commands of Christ, who saith, if you love me keepe my Commandements; And further that Faith purifies the heart, and that a constant supply must be had from Christ. With these and the like sound and wholsome truths the Ministers of Christ feeds their severall flocks in New England, drawing their Doctrines plainly from their Text, and substantially backing them with store of Scripture, and undeniable reason, and then delivering to every man his portion. • Classing the first four Commandments as those prescribing man's duty to J God (the "First Table"), and the remaining six as those prescribing his duty to, y his neighbor (the "Second Table"), the Massachusetts government maintained,} l/ and dissentients like Roger Williams denied, the right of the magistrates to punisl^ for infractions of the First Table. i 124 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1636 But this good old way would not serve the turne with cer- taine Sectaries that were hither come,' who like cunning Sophisters, seeing the bent of the peoples hearts (after so many mercies received) was to magnifie the rich Grace of God in Christ; they began to tell the people (yet very pri- vately) that the most, if not all the Ministers among them Preached a Covenant of workes, either course or fine, and with a what doe you say to this, They begin t o spread their Erro rs and Heresies, laying th^ foundation of fhem^^^gre TET truth "as possible they can, the easier to deceive, but i n pie prosecution, to be^^sure they r3,n,Jar enough SciftJtTJwit to begirt; First^ "they quarre ll wrtb_the^ Doctrine of Faijih in Christ, an3"say, a fcJoule is justified "without it. Chap. XL. Of the cunning policy of Satan in that machemUian Principle, divide and overcome, and of the two first dividing Prin- ciples, by which many errors were brought in. And verily Satans policy here (as in all places where the Lord Christ is acknowledged) was to keepe men from that one right way, by the which hee applies himselfe to the soule, no marvell then if so many Errours arise, like those fained heads ' We are not to expect that one of Johnson's temperament should give us a perfectly fair account of those who opposed the standing order in Massachusetts, the theocracy so sacred in his eyes and so infallible. The gainsaying which he is about to describe is that of the so-called Antinomians, who, led by Mrs. Anne Hutchinson and Rev. John Wheelwright, maintained that saving grace went only to such as were "justified by faith"; that, this grace once received, the recipient was above law, above the "Covenant of Works"; and that no works, no degree of sanctification, could prove that one was the possessor of saving grace. Mrs. ! Hutchinson carried a majority of the Boston church with her for a time, and Cotton partially. After a bitter and dangerous strugf;le the orthodox prevailed, 2 dissent was suppressed, sectaries were banished; and Johnson, as we shall see, I thinks it advisable, for the peace of Zion, to suppress the names alike of those who I led, of those who fell, and of those who wavered. For his own part, he has I plainly had no doubts; he is moved only to indignation mingled with mirth by the talk of those who presume "in thought's abstractest forms to seem to see" — and do not see as constituted authority sees. ITie liest account of the whole alTair is that in Mr. Charles Francis Adams's Three Episodes of Massackuaelts History. ! 1636] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 125 of Hidra, as fast as one is cut off two stand up in the roome, and chiefly about the uniting of a soule to Christ by Faith. Their Errors in this point they reported to be the judgement of the Reverend and Judicious Mr. John Gotten; But hee having spoken for himself e in his answer to Mr. Baily,' I for- beare, onely this by the way, take notice of these subtill Pro- jectors, the Erronist I meane, who perceiving this holy man of God Mr. Gotten was and yet is in great esteeme with the people of God, for the great grace Christ hath bestowed upon him in his deepe discerning the mysteries of godhnesse, as also discerning some little difference betweene him and the other Elders about this point, comment upon it, and inlarge at their pleasure, and then in daily venting their deceivable Doctrines, like subtill Logicians, bring in this as their strongest argument in the last place. I'le tell you Friend, Neighbour, Brother, if you will forbeare to speake of it till you hear farther, this is the judgement of M. Gotten, when he, it may be, had never heard of it, or at least wise, when they brought this their bastardly brat to him, they put another vizard on the face of it : but that you may understand their way of broach- ing their abominable errors, it was in dividing those things the Lord hath united in his worke of conversion continued, carrying on a Soule to Heaven in these foure Particulars. First, in dividing betweene the word and the word, under pretence of a legall Gospell, perswading the people their Ministers were legall Preachers, teaching them little better then Popery, and unfit for Gospell Churches, denying them to be any Ministers of Christ that Preach any preparation worke,^ by shewing men what the Law requires. Here's nothing, sayes one of them, but Preaching out of the Law and the Prophets, truly sayes another of them I have not heard a pure Gospell Sermon from any of them, but sure they were both troubled with the Lethargy, or read not the Gospell themselves, for they may finde the Apostles, yes, and Christ himselfe. Preached good Gospell sure, out of the Law and the Prophets. ' Cotton's The Way of the Churches of Christ in New England (London, 1645), was an answer to Robert Baillie's Dissuasive from the Erroura of the Time (do.). ' Work on the part of man, preparing him for the reception of God's grace. 12(1 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1636 Second ly, in separating Christ and his Graces, in mani- festing himselfe to be in the Soule, and this they say makes much for the magnifying of Free-grace, and indeed they made it so free, that the soule that receives it shall never taste any of it by their consent, but remaine still a dry branch as before; these legall Phariscs, sayes one of them, tell us of a thing they call inherent grace, and of a man being made a new creature, but I am sure the best of them goe on in their legall duties and performances still, sorrowing for sinne, hearing of Sermons, observing duty Morning and Evening, and many such like matters. Tush man, sayes another of them, you shall hear more then this, I was discoursing with one of their Scholas- ticall Preachers Disciples, a professed convert, and yet when he came to pray, he beg'd for forgivenesse of his sins, I asked him why he used that vaine repetition, since hee did believe he was justified by Christ already, and hee made me an answer not worth repeating, but when I told him God could see no sinne in his people, no more than I could see that which was covered close from my eye-sight; hee told mee I spake little lesse then blasphemy, so ignorant are these men, and their learned guides also; who perswade them the more they have of the in-dwelling of the Spirit of Christ, the better they shall be inabled to these legall duties. Nay, quoth the other, I can tell you more then all this, they make it an evidence of their good estate, even their sanctification, and yet these men would make people believe they are against Popery. By this discourse of theirs, you may see the manner how these Erronious, and Hereticall persons batter off the fruit from the goodly branches of Christs vines and make bare the flourishing trees planted in the house of the Lord, and yet prof esse themselves to be Schollars of the upper forme, that have learned as far as their Masters can teach them, but let me tell you friends you'l prove but trewants if you fall thus to Robbing of Orchards, and its an offence far beyond petty Larceny, to rob Christs Garden, hi your pretences be what they will: can it possible be for the magnifying of Christs Grace that the l)ranches growing upon his root should remaine fruitlesse? no assuredly, herein God is glorified that his people bring forth mucli fruit, yet many of these new Gospellers had another plea, hyi)ocritcs have a seeming shew of Saints graces 1636] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 127 by which they deceive themselves and others; And there- fore because Felons and Trajrtors coyne counterfeit Gold, therefore true Gold should not passe for current, but the in- tent of the Author is to prosecute the History, these errours being confuted already by the able servants of Christ, whom the Lord in his mercy brought hither for that purpose. Chap. XLI. Of (he two latter dividing Principles under which these Erronists fought. The third dividing tenent, by which these persons prose- cuted theirerrors at this time, was betweene the Word of God, and the Spirit of God, and here these Sectaries had many prety knacks to delude withall, and especially to please the ^Femall Sex, they told of rare Revelations of things to come from the spirit (as they say); it was onely devised to weaken the Word of the Lord in the mouth of his Ministers, and withall to put both ignorant and unlettered Men and Women, in a posture of Preaching to a multitude, that they might be praised for their able Tongue. Come along with me, sayes one of them, i'le bring you to a Woman ' that Preaches better Gospell then any of your black-coates that have been at the Ninneversity, a Woman of another kinde of spirit, who hath had many Revelations of things to come, and for my part, saith hee, I had rather hear such a one that speakes from the meere motion of the spii-it, without any study at all, then any of your learned Scollei"s, although they may be fuller of Scripture (I) [ay] and admit they may speake by the helpe of the spirit, yet the other goes beyond them. Gentle Reader, thinke not these things fained, because I name not the parties, or that here is no witnesse to prove them, should I so do: neither of both is the cause I assure you, but being somewhat acquainted with my own weakenesse, should the Lord with- draw the light of his word, and also I verily believe some of them are truly turned againe to the truth, the which I wish to all, yet by relating the story all men may see what a spirit of giddinesse they were given up to, and some of them to strong ' Meaning Mrs. Hutchinson. y / 128 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1636 delusions, even to most horrid and damnable blasphemies, having itching eares, or rather proud desires to become Teach- ers of others, when they grosly erred in the first Principles of Religion themselves. There was a man in one of the far- thest Townes of the Mattacusets Government, where they had no Ministers for the present, he being much desirous to shew himselfe some body in talking to as many as hee could get to hear him one [on] the Sabbath day, missing some of his Auditors, he meets with one of them some few dayes after, they passing over the water together, where were you quoth he on the Sabbath day that you were not at the meeting? we had a notable piece of Prophecy. Quoth the man that was missing, who was it that Preached? The other replying not: his W'^ife being in presence, answered; it was my hus- band. Nay wife, quoth he, thou shoulds not have told him, teach him to stay at home another time. By this and divers other such like matters, which might be here inserted, you may see how these Sectaries love the preheminence, and for this end seeke to deprive the Ministers of Christ, inveigling as many as they can in the head, that they take to much upon them (just like the rebellious Korath, Dathan, and Abiram) ' scoffing at their Scholler-like way of Preaching, wherein the grosse dissimulation of these erronious persons hath appeared exceedingly, as for instance first of a Woman, even the grand Mistris of all the rest, who denied the Resurrection from the dead, shee and her consorts mightily rayling against learning, perswading all they could to take heed of being spoyled by it, and in the meane time, shee her selfe would dispute (forsooth) and to shew her skill that way, here is a falacy quoth she in this syllogisme: as also one of the Gortonists, as shallow a pated Scholler as my selfe, far from understanding Latine, much lesse any other Language the Scriptures \\'cre writ in, yet when hee would hold out some of the best of his false Doctrines, as namely, that there were no other Devills but wicked men, nor no such thing as sin. Quoth he, that place in the fourth Psalme, where men com- monly read, stand in awe and sin not, in the originall it is read stand in awe and misse not. But to go on, at this time ' See Numbers xvi. 1636] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 129 there were many strange Revelations told both of Men and Women, as true some of them said as the Scripture, so that surely had this Sect gone on awhile, they would have made a new Bible, and their chief Mistris when she was shipt for N. England, what will you say, quoth she, and it hath beene revealed to me that we shall be there in six weekes, and one of the femall Gortonists said, she was a Prophetesse, and it was revealed unto her, that shee must prophecy unto the People in the same words the Prophet Ezekiel did, as also a lusty big man to defend this tenent held forth to his Pastor before the whole Congregation, that the spirit of Revelation came to him as he was drinking a pipe of Tobacco.* The four th dividing way to bring in their Heresies, was to devide betweene Christ and his Ordinances, and here they plaid their game to purpose, even to casting down of all Ordi- nances as carnall, and that because they were polluted by the Ordinance of man, as some of these Sectaries have said to the Minister of Christ, you have cast off the crosse in Bap- tisme, but you should do well to cast off Baptisme it selfe; as also for the Sacrament of the Lords Supper, for to make use of Bread, or the juce of a silly Grape to represent the Body and Bloud of Christ, they accounted it as bad as Neg- romancy in the Ministers of Christ to performe it. But seeing there will be occasion to bring in a bed-roule ' of these Blas- phemies in the yeare (43) and (44) take the lesse here; onely minde that these persons being first bewildred in the deniall of Infants being Baptized, could neither finde right faith to be Baptized into, nor yet any person rightly constituted to Baptize. Remaining Seekers, they came to this, but yet here must not be omitted the slights these Erronists had to shoulder out the Officers Christ hath ordained, and set up in 'This is probably a reminiscence of the saying attributed (1638) to that scandalous hypocrite, Captain John Underbill, that "he had lain under a spirit of bondage and a legal way five years, and could get no assurance, till at length, as he was taking a pipe of tobacco, the Spirit set home an absolute promise of free grace with such assurance and joy, as he never since doubted of his good estate, neither should he, though he should fall into sin " (which he was lament- ably prone to do) ; or of his argument before the Boston church the next Lord's Day, that the Lord might readily "manifest Himself to him as he was taking the moderate use of the creature called tobacco." Winthrop, I. 275, 276. ' Bead-roll, catalogue. 130 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1636 his Churches; and verily in this point they sided directly with tlie Papist and Prelates, although in most of the other they went directly out of the way on the other hand. Igno- rance say the Papist is the Mother of devotion, its better say the Protestant Prelates to have a blind sir John,' one that cannot tell how to Preach, provided he will conforme to our Ceremonies, than to have one that will Preach constantly, and not conforme also : these Erronist, shewing themselves to be whelps of the same litter. Cry out against a learned Presbitery, as the onely way to captivate liberty, and herein the transformed Devill came to shew his Homes, for why, his errors would not take where the people were followers of their seeing guids, and if it be well noted, here is the Master- piece of all their knavery, the which comes in after this man- ner, The Lording Prelacy, Popes, Cardinalls, Bishops, Deanes, etc., were ordinarily brought up at the University to learning, and have most tyrannically abused it, usurping over the People of Christ, and exercised most inhumane and barbarous cruelty upon them; as also the Presbyterian Kirke by these Provin- ciall Classes, men of learning having robbed the particular Congregations of their just and lawfull priviledges, which Christ hath purchased for them. Each Congregation of his being invested with full power to Administer all the Ordi- nances he hath ordained, in and toward their owne Members; and further learned men in some places, feeding the people for their Tith-sake in a Parishioniall way, desire the uphold- ing thereof, lest their fat Benefices should grow leane. Now the Redemption of the people of Christ out of all these bondages, being full of difficulty to attaine, as is abun- dantly witnessed in the great hardship Clods people have undergon in this Wildernesse-worke ; as also much more by that bloudy war so long continued in our Native Country, and the two adjacent Kingdomes, This makes a very faire bottome for those to build upon, who would have the sluce of authority in the Officers of Christs Churches plucked up, that so their errors might flow in like a fioud; And therefore they impanncll a Jury of their own Sectaries to passe upon all such as put a highiT esteem upon their Pastors and Teachers ' A cant name for a prirst, for Sir, lio.sidos its other uses, was employed as a title for R l)ach(l(ir of arts, iunl hence for a clergyman. 1636] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 131 (in point of discerning the holy things of God) then upon other men, who returne in their Verdit as finding them guilty of the crime above expressed, either as party, or privy abetters unto them. Upon this the Vote goes for advancing such men as will let them out line enough, for such as will worke without wages, and give to every man liberty to exercise a large con- science, provided it be his own, and as for authority, they would have none used, as being a thing two opposite to liberty. My friend, cast off as much of thy owne power as thou canst, and beware of Lording it over Gods Heritage, but I pray thee let Christ alone with his, which he hath given to his Pastors and Teachers in administring the holy things of God, peculiar to their Office, and tremble all you Presbyterians, who to please the people prostrate the autnority Christ hath put upon V_. the Eld rs of his Churches as Officer s, to the resolute liberty "^ of man: the people may and ought to call them to Office, to the which Christ hath united double honour and authority, and appointed them to be had in high esteeme for their worke- sake, being Embassadors of Christ Jesus. This may no man take from them, nor yet they themseKcs cast off, and yet all this makes nothing for the Papall, Prelaticall, Classicall or Parishionall authority of the Presbitery, for it holds onely in their ruling well, while they rule for Christ, they must and shall have the power hee hath put upon their Office. From these foure dividing Tenents by the cunning art of these deceivers, were forescore grosse errours * broached secretly, sliding in the darke like the Plague, proving very infectious to some of the Churches of Christ in their Members. Chap. XLII. Of sad effects of the pitifidl and erronious Doctrines broached by the Sectuarics. The number of these infectious persons increasing now, haveing drawn a great party on their side, and some consider- able persons, they grow bold, and dare question the sound and wholesome truths delivered in publick by the Ministers » The number eighty (more exactly eighty-two) is taken from the catalo(,'ue of these errors which was drawn up by the assembly of ministers which sat at Cambridge in 1637. 132 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1636 of Christ. Their Church-meetings are full of Disputes in points of difference, and their love-Feasts are not free from spots, in their Courts of civill Justice some men utter their Speeches in matters of Religion very ambiguously, and among all sorts of persons a great talke of new light, but verily it proved but old darknesse, such as sometime over-shadowed the City of Munster; ' But blessed be the Lord Christ, who now declared himselfe to be a helpe at hand for his poore New England Churches, being now in their infancy, whose condition at present was very dolorous, and full of difficulties, insomuch that the better part of this new transported people stood still many of them gazing one upon another, like Sheepe let loose to feed on fresh pasture, being stopped and startled in their course by a Kennell of devouring Wolves. The weaker fort wavered much, and such as were more growne Christians hardly durst discover the truth they held one unto another. The fogs of errour increasing, the bright beames of I the glorious Gospell of our Lord Christ in the Mouth of his J j Ministers could not be discerned through this thick mist by many, and that sweete refreshing warmth that was formerly felt from the spirits influence, was now turned (in these Erronists) to a hot infiamation of their owne conceited Revela- tions, ulcerating and bringing little lesse then frenzy or mad- nesse to the patient, the Congregation of the people of God began to be forsaken, and the weaker Sex prevailed so farre, that they set up a Priest of their own Profession and Sex, who was much thronged after, abominably wresting the Scriptures to their own destructidn: this Master-piece of Womens wit, drew many Disciples after her, and to that end boldly insin- uated her selfe into the favour of none of the meanest, being also backed with the Sorcery of a second, who had much converse with the Devill by her own confession," and did, to the admir- ation of those that heard her, utter many speeches in the Latine Tongue, as it were in a trance. This Woman was wonted to ' At Miinster in weslcm (urmany, in 1534, occurred an outbreak of the visionary and rcvoliilidimry Anabaptists, who, carrying to an extreme the proc- esses of the Reformation, set up the reign of the saints in a form which speedily developed into tyniiiny and the wildest license. In \WXi, after a long siege, the eily was subdued; hut (ho name of Miinster remained for more than a century a bugbear to llie upholders of constituted reli;;ious and civil authority. ' .liuie Ilinvkins the midwife. See Winlhrop, Journal, I. 260, L'OS; II. 8. 1636] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 133 give drinkes to other Women to cause them to conceive, how they wrought I know not, but sure there were Monsters borne not long after, as you shall hear in the following History. Oh yee New England Men and Women, who hath be- witched you that you should not obey the truth? And in- deed Satan, to make sure worke with semblance of Preaching the Doctrine of Free-grace by his instruments, makes shew of out-bidding all the Orthodox and godly Ministers in the Coun- trey, pretending their Preaching to be but a Covenant of workes, supposing by this meanes to silence them without a Bishop, and lest the civill power should stand up for their aid, they threaten them with the high displeasure of Christ for persecuting his people, which as they said these erronious persons with their new light, were the onely Men and Women that were pure Gospell Preachers. Thus the poore people of Christ, who kept close to his antient truths, invironed with many straites, having expended their Estates to voyage far through the perillous Seas, that their eyes might behold their Teachers, and that they might injoy the protection of a godly civill Government, began to deeme themselves in a more dolorous condition then when they were in the Commissaries Court, and Prelates Prisons. The hideous waves in which their brittle Barques were sometimes covered, as they passed i/i/' hither, were nothing so terrible in the apprehension of some as was this floud of errors violently beating against the bankes of Church and civill Government. The wants of this Wilder- nesse, and pinching penury in misse of Bread, put them to no such paine by gnawing on their empty stomacks, with fearc of famishing, as did the misse of the Administration of Christ in his Word and Ordinances, leaving the soule in a languishing con- dition for want of a continuall supply of Christ in his Graces. Chap. XLIII. Of the sarrowfuU condition of the -people of Christ, when they were incourUred with these erronists at their first landing. But to end this dismall yeare of sixteene hundred thirty six, take here the sorrowful! complaint of a poore Soule in misse of its expectation at landing, who being incountered 134 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1636 with some of these Erronists at his first landing,' when he saw that good old way of Christ rejected by them, and hee could not skill in that new light, which was the common theame of every mans Discourse, hee betooke him to a narrow Indian path,' in which his serious Meditations soone led him, where none but sencelesse Trees and eccohing Rocks make answer to his heart-eascing mone. Oh quoth he where am I become, is this the place where those Reverend Preachers are fled, that Christ was pleased to make use of to rouse up his rich graces in many a drooping soule; here I have met with some that tell mee, I must take a naked Christ. Oh, woe is mee if Christ be naked to mee, wherewith shall I be cloathed, but methinks I most wonder they tell me of casting of all godly sorrow for sin as unbeseeming a Soule, that is united to Christ by Faith, and there was a little nimbled tongued Woman among them, who said she could bring me acquainted with one of her own Sex that would shew me a way, if I could at- taine it, even Revelations, full of such ravishing joy that I should never have cause to be sorry for sinne, so long as I live, and as for her part shee had attained it already: a com- pany of legall Professors,' quoth she, lie poring on the Law which Christ hath abolished, and when you breake it then you breake your joy, and now no way will ser\'e }'Our turne, but a deepe sorrow. These and divers other expressions in- timate unto men [me?], that here I shall finde little increase in the Graces of Christ, through the hearing of his word Preached, and other of his blessed Ordinances. Oh cunning Devill, the Lord Christ rebuke thee, that under pretence of a free and ample Gospell shuts out the Soule from partaking with the Divine Nature of Christ, in that mysticall Union of his Blessed Spirit, creating and continuing his Graces in the Soule: my deare Christ, it was thy worke that moved me ' It should be borne in mind that Johnson, on his second coming to \ew England (sec the Introduction), arrived in 1636, in October of which year the Antinomian troubles began. ' The path from Charlestown, where Johnson at first dwelt, to Cambridge, where his admired Thomas Shepard preached, would answer to the description and to what follows. • Not professors of law, be it understood, but professors of religion in whom the free course of faith was hampered by undue regard to the legal aspects of God's relation to man. 1636] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 135 hither to come, hoping to finde thy powerful! presence in the Preaching of the Word, although administred by sorry men, subject to like infirmities with others of Gods people, and ^ also by the glasse of the Law to have my sinfull corrupt [ nature discovered daily more and more, and my utter s inabillity of any thing that is good, magnifying hereby the free grace of Christ; who of his good will and pleasure worketh in us to will, and to doe, working all our works j in us, and for us. -""^ But here they tell me of a naked Christ, what is the whole life of a Christian upon this Earth? But through the power of Christ to die to sinne, and live to holinesse and righteous- nesse, and for that end to be diligent in the use of meanes: at the uttering of this word he starts up from the greene bed of his complaint with resolution to hear some one of these able Ministers Preach (whom report had so valued) before his will should make choyce of any one principle, though of crossing the broade Seas back againe; then turning his face to the Sun, he steered his course toward the next Town, and after some small travell hee came to a large plaine. No sooner was hee entred thereon, but hearing the sound of a Drum he was directed toward it by a broade beaten way. Follow- ing this rode he demands of the next man he met what the signall of the Drum ment, the reply was made they had as yet no Bell to call men to meeting; and therefore made use of a Drum.' Who is it, quoth hee, Lectures at this Towne? The other replies, I see you are a stranger, new come over, seeing you know not the man, it is one Mr. Shepheard. Verily quoth the other, you hit the right, I am new come over indeed, and have been told since I came most of your Ministers are legall Preachers, onely if I mistake not they told me this man Preached a finer covenant of workes then the other, but how- ever, I shall make what hast I can to heare him. Fare you well. Then hasting thither hee croudeth through the thickest, where having stayed while the glasse was turned up twice,' 'The usual mode in the New England churches at this time. Rasiercs noted it at Plymouth. Narratives of New Netherland, in this series, p. 112. ' Public worship in Massachusetts at this period consisted of extemporaneous prayers, the singing of the Psalms in a metrical version, without instrumental accompaniment, and preaching without notes. The length of the sermon was 136 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1636 the man was metamorphosed, and was faine to hang down the head often, least his watry eyes should blab abroad the secret conjunction of his affections, his heart crying loud to the Lords ecchoing answer, to his blessed spirit, that caused the Speech of a poore weake pale complectioned man to take such impression in his soule at present, by applying the word so aptly, as if hee had beene his Privy Counseller, clocring Christs worke of grace in the soule from all those false Doctrines, which the erronious party had afrighted him withall, and now he resolves (the Lord willing) to live and die with the Ministers of New England; whom hee now saw the Lord had not oncly made zealous to stand for the truth of his Discipline, but also of the Doctrine, and not to give ground one inch. Chap. XLIIII. The Congregationall Churches of Christ are neither favourers ofsinfuU opinions, nor the Lords over any, or many Churches, or mens Consciences. And here, Christian Reader, the Author according to his former practice, must minde thee of the admirable providence of Christ toward his New England Churches, in preserving them from these erronious spirits, that have hitherto in all places dog'd the sincere servants of Christ, when ever they have set upon a through Reformation, as stories doe abun- dantly testify, which thing the reverend Calvine and divers others, have declared. But seeing the boasting Prelates in these times are ready to say their Lordly power kept these errours under, it's plaine otherwise: for Satan saw while people were under their yoake of humane inventions, they were far enough from exalting the Kingdome of Christ; And therefore he reserved these errours, for his last shifts, and further you shall sec in the following story that the Lord Christ reserved this honour for those, whose love hee had inlarged to follow him in a dezart wildernesse, even with the measured by the liniir-;,'liiss. Commonly it was one hour. In this case, as we see, it WHS 111 least (wo hours, while at the foundinjr of thcWoburn church, pp.215, 218 pii-s/, I\Ir. Syiiimes and Mr. Carter "exercised" at still greater length. 1637] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 137 sharpe sword of the Word, timely to cut off the heads of this Hidra; but yet there are two sorts of persons in our Native Country, whom the Elders and Brethren here do highly honour in Christ, and prefer before themselves, namely the godly Prebyterian party, and the Congregationall sincere servants of Christ, both which the Author could wish, that (with bowells of compassion, sweet simpathising affection of Brethren knit together in that transcendent love of Christ, which couples all his distanced flockes together) they would seriously ponder this History, which through the Authors weakenesse wants ^^ much of measure, but nothing of the truth of things, so far as a shallow capacity can reach. Of the first sort named, 1 could wish the Reverend Mr. Ruterford, Mr. Bayle, Mr. Rathbone, Mr. Paget, Mr. Ball, etc' would but informe themselves further by the truth of this History, supposing they cannot chuse but in a good measure be satisfied already with the pacificatory and meeke answers of as many Reverend and godly Elders of ours.^ Now that I would they should take notice of is, that the Churches of Christ in New England, and their Officers have hitherto been so far from imbracing the oi-ronious Doctrines of these times, that through the powers of Christ they have valiantly defended the truth, and cut down all decciva])le Doctrine; the like hath not been done for many ages hereto- fore. Reverend and beloved in Christ, could your eyes but behold the efficacy of loving counsell in the Communion of congregationall Churches, and the reverend respect, honour and love, given to all Teaching Elders, charity command.s me to thinke you would never stand for Classicall injunc- ■ Samuel Rutherfurd, The Due Right of Prcshyterieg (London, 1644); Roliert Baillie, A DiasuoMve from the Erroum oj the Time (1645); William Rathliand, A Matt Grave and Mode.it Confutation of the Errours of the Sect called Brovmigts or Separatists (1644); John Paget, A Defence of Church-Government exercised in Presbyteriall, Classicall and Syrwdicall A.ixemblies (1041); John Ball, A Trial of the New Church Way in New England and in Old (1(140). The debates in Parliament and in the Westminster Assembly had given rise to a large controvir- sial literature on the respective merits of the Presbyterian and Congregational systems. ' Church-Government and Church-Covenant Discussed, in an Answer of the Elders of the severall Churches in Sen-England to two and thirty Questions sent over to them by divers Ministers in England (London, 1643). ^ 138 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1G37 tions' any more, neither Diocesan, nor Provincial! authority can possible reach so far as this royall Law of love in communion of Churches: verily its more universal! then the Papall power, and assuredly the dayes are at hand, wherein both Jew and Gentile Churches shall exercise this old Modell of Church Government, and send their Church salutations and admoni- tions from one end of the ^\'orld unto another, when the Kingdomes of the Earth are become our Lord Christs; Then shall the exhortation of one Church to another prevaile more to Reformation, then all the thundering Bulls, excomuni- cating Lordly censures, and shameful! penalties of all the Lording Churches in the ^Vorld, and such shall be and is the efficacy of this intire love one to another, that the withdrawing of any one Church of Christ, according to the Rule of the word, from those that walke inordinatly, will be more terrible to the Church or Churches so forsaken, then an Army with Banners: yea, and it may be added, because civil! Government is like to turne nurse in more places then one, this royall Law of love shall become the Law of Nations, and none will suffer their subjects to rebel! against it. But to our beloved brethren in England on the other hand, the Reverend Mr. Burrouglis, Mr. Goodwin etc.^ Tliis seemeth you have apprehended our Churches and ci\Tl! Government, to be too strict in dealing with persons for their sinful! opinions, I wish the offenders be none of your intelli- gencers, who to be sure will make the worst of things. I know you are in charity with us; And therefore a few words will satisfie, wliich I hope you want not from your good friends our Reverend Elders, who could wish you as much happinesse as our selves to expell error before it grew to that height to cry downe the sound and wholesome truttis, casting durt on ' I. e., injunctions of the classis or presbytery, the local assembly of elders of churches which, in the Presbyterian system, stood midway between the church session of the individual church and the provincial synod. The Presbyterian contention was that Congregationalism provided insufiicient means for presen-- ing unity and maintaining uniform standards of orthodoxy by regular organs of governmental control. Johnson's contention is that in the Congregational system this is sufficiently achieved by the occasional councils of churches. ' Jeremiah Burroughs and Thomas Goodwin, Pre.sidcnt of Magdalen Col- lege, Oxford, were two of the five noteworthy Independent divines in the West- minster Assembly. 1637] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 139 our Orthodox and godly Ministery. I wish you open your mouths wide enough to be filled with this blessing; the Lord hath done great, and unexpected things for you, and why not this? one and twenty yeares experience hath taught us that Errors and Heresies are not broached, and held out here by tender consciences, such as are weak in the Faith, but by such as think them Scholers of the upper forme, such as would teach the most ablest Christian among us another Gospell, and further we finde our Erronist[s], wanting a common enemy to contend withall, as you, have fallen foule of our godly Magistrates and Ministers, and will not suffer us quietly to injoy the Ordinance of Christ, for which wee hither came, buzzing our people in the eare with a thing they call liberty, which when any have tasted a smack of, they can no more indure to hear of a Synod or gathering together of able, and Orthodox Christians, nor yet of communion of Churches, but would be independant to purpose, and as for civill Govern- ment they deem Religion to be a thing beyond their Sphere. Chap. XLV. Of the civill Government in N. England, and their nurture of the 'people upon tlicir tender knees. The vemall of the yeare 1637. being now in his prime, and as the season of the yeare grew hotter, so the minds of many were hot in the eager pursuite of their selfe conceited opin- ions, and verily had not authority stept in, it was much to bo doubted they would have proceeded from words to blowes. Great hold and keepe there was about choice of Magistrates y this yeare, the choyce being retarded by a paper call'd a ^ Petition, but indeed a meere device to hinder the election, till the erronious party were strengthened, their number increas- ing daily, but the Lord Christ gratiously providing for the peace of his people toward the end of the day the honoured John Winthrope Esquire, was chosen Governour, and Thomas Dudly Esq. Deputy Governor: the number of free-men addetl this year was about 125.' ' In fact, 102. For the history of this exciting election, see Winthrop, I. 215. ^1 140 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1637 Here according to promise the Reader shall have an accoumpt of the civill Government of tliis little Common- iwcalth. As their whole aime in their removall from their Native Country, was to injoy the liberties of the Gospell of Christ, so in serving up civill Government, they daily direct their choice to make use of such men as mostly indeavour to Ikeepe the truths of Christ pure and unspotted, and assuredly I they can dif:;('st any wrongs or injuries done them in their . estates, or trade, better then the wresting of their right in the freedome of the Gospell, out of their hands, and this the Erronist knowing right well (to save their heads whole) per- swade men it is not for ci\'ill Government to meddle with matters of Religion; and also to helpe out with their damnable Doctrines, they report it in all places, where they be come, that New England CJinernment doth persecute the people and Churches of Christ; which to speake truth they have hitherto beene so far from, that they have indeavoured to expell all such beasts of prey, (who will not be reclaimed) that here might be none left to hurt, or destroy in all Gods holy Mountaine, and therefore are ready to put the Churches of Christ in minde of their duty herein; yea, and sometimes going before them in their civill censures that they may not onely professe the truth, but also hate every false way, not that they would compell men to believe by the power of the Swoid, but to indeavour all may answer their profession, whether in Church Covenant or otherwise, by knowing they bare not the Sword in vaine. Neither doe they exercise civill power to bring all under their obedience to a uniformity in every poynt of Religion, but to keepe them in the unit}' of the spirit, and the bond of peace, nor yet have they ever mixed their civill powers with the authority peculiarly given by Christ to his Churches and Ofhcei-s of them, but from time to time have laboured to uphold their priviledges, and only communion one with another.' The chiefe Court or supreame power of this little Com- monwealth, consists of a mixt company, part Aristocracy, and part Democracy of Magistrates, that are yearly chosen by the major \'ote of the whole body of the Free-men through- ' It cannot lie lu'ccisarv to point out the artless spcciousncss of this defence. 1637] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 141 out the Country; and Deputies chosen by the severall Townes.' They have hitherto had about 12. or 13. Magistrates in the Colony of the Mattacusets, the other Colonies have not above five or six, they have hitherto beene Volunteers, governing without pay from the people, onely the Governor of the Mattacusets hath some yeares 100 I. allowed him, and some years lesse. Many of the Magistrates are already remembred, yet with some of the first came hither Mr. Simon Brodestreet,' in this short Meeter is he remembred. Now Simon yong, step in among, these worthies take thy place: All day to toile in vinyard, while Christ thee upholds with grace; Thee wisdom grave betime he gave, and tongue to utter it, That thou mightst be a blessing free, and for this railing fit. Thy counsell well advis'd dost tell, with words ordered compleat, Thy memory, doth amplifie, meeting with matters great. Broad liberty, do thou deny, Brodstreet Christ would thee have For's truth contend, strong reason spend, it from aspersion save. He furnish't thee with these gifts free, to last he must them make, Still adding more, to thy old store, till he thee to him take. The Lord was pleased to furnish these his people with some able instruments in most of their Towiies, that were skill'd in Common-wealth work, out of which they chose their Deputies, whose number was ordinarily between 30. and 40. Some of them there will be occasion to speake of amcms their Military Men, but see here the Wonder-workin(j Providence of Sions Savi(jur appears much in gathering together stones to build up the walls of Jerusalem (that his Sinn may be sur- rounded with Bulworkes and Towres). With a whispering • In saying that the magistrates, or court of assistants, were "a mixt com- pany, part Aristocracy and part Democracy," Johnson perhaps refers to the fact that, though they were annually elected by the whole body of the freemen, the constant custom of re-election, and of choosing only those who had the stand- ing of gentlemen, made the board in some sense an oligarchy. Of the deputies, two were chosen for and by each town. Since 1()44 the two bodies had sat as separate houses of a legislature. The governor, deputy-governor, and assistants also had executive and judicial powers not shared with the deputies. 'See p. 65, note 1. The verses seem to contain a gentle rebuke to Brad- street for his action on the side of liberty in 1G46, when he dissented openly from the action of his fellow-magistrates in fining Dr. Robert Child and his associates who petitioned on behalf of the unenfranchised citizens. 142 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1637 word in the eares of his servants, he crosses the Angles of England from Cornewall to Kent, from Dover to Barwick, not leaving out Scotland and Wales; Wise men are perswaded to the worke without arguing like Elisha, when Elias cast his mantle on him, so these men make no stop, but say suffer me onely to sell my inheritance, and I will away for New England. J. And now I could wish o ur Bret hren in England would not be angry wi t h us for making such^ElsI^ Brethren, you know how the case stood with our Ministers, as it was with Gideon,' who could thresh out no Come, but hee must doe it secretly to hide it from the Midianites, who spread the Land like Grashoppers, no more could they thresh and cleane up any A\'heate for the Lords Garner, but the Prelates would pres- ently be upon their backs, and plow long furrowes there, and you may believe it, if you will (for it is certaine) many, had not this little number gone forth to blow their Trumpets, and breake their Pitchers, making the brightnesse of their Lamps appeare, surely the host of the Midianites had never been put to flight, and if still any of our Brethren shall contend with us, wee answer with Gideon, the Lord hath delivered into your hands the chiefe Princes of Midian, and what were we able to do in comparison of you; yet shall we not cease to follow on the worke of Reformation, although weake and faint, till the Lord be pleased to free his Israel from all their enemies ; and verily England hath not wanted the Prayers of the poore people of Christ here. And also some of our chiefe helpes both for Church-worke, Military and common-wealth-worke; ' yet through the Lords mercy, we still retaine among our - .Judges vi. 11. ' When the Civil War broke out in England, in 1642, emigration to N'ew England halted, and many importan men went back to take part in the conflict or to share in the new liberty which they foresaw. Of those who are named be- low as remaining in the colony and taking a prominent part in the work of the House of Deputies, Hathome (ancestor of Nathaniel Hawthorne) was speaker of the House six times, Russell five times, Athcrton, Gookin, and Hill each once. Duncan was auditor-general from 1045. Gookin, a notable Virf,'inian planter, retired from Virginia in 1(114 when the Puritjins were persecuted, was superin- tendent of the Mitssaehusett.s Indians for thirty years, and wrote a most interest- ing aeeount of them. He was major-general of the colony from lliSi to 1687, Atherton from 1651 to lliOl. Edward Rawson was its secretary from HIW to the end of f^ov to be named, then not, for all are very willing to acknowledge their inability for the worke, and the best are not without many imperfections. The Authors end in naming some few is for none other end, but to make good the title of this Book and to incourage all the servants of Christ for time to come, wholely to rely upon him, when they go about any difficult work, which may tend to the glory of his Name. Who could have told these men , being scattered abroa d throughout t he Island of Great Brit - faine, th ey ^ouH~ ineete_ on a Wi]d ernesse nine hundred Leagues remote, and tli ere_]^cep Co urt together to study the preservation of Christs poore scattered flockes? nay bretKren, when you first tooke book inliand to leame your Letters, you would have been very dull pates, but for this worke; assuredly, how you came by large inheritances, some of }ou, and estates of hundreds, and thousands, your selves best know, but believe it, the Lord intended it for this very work. The Earth is the Lords, and the fulnesse of it, then let none of the pcf)ple of Christ mourn that they have spent their wealth in this Wildernesse, if it have holpe on the worke, rather rejoyce that Christ hath betrusted thee to be Steward for the King of Kings, and that in so noble an achievement the worthiest worke that the memory of our selves, and our fore-fathers can reach unto. And brethren, as for the good parts and gifts the Author hath commended you for, but for the edifying of the body of Christ, and assisting his people in this work, you had been empty of all good. ? And now seeing it is the opinion of many in these dayes of J lloformation, that all sorts of Sectaries (that acknowledge a Christ) should be tolerated by civill Government, except I Papist, and this Government hath hitherto, and is for future time resolved to practice otherwise (the Lord assisting) having met already with more blasphemous Sectaries, then are Papists; wherefore it will not l)e aniisse if our Countrymen be acquainted with the one and twenty yeares experience of this 1637] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 145 Wildernesse worke, in point of Government. First, it is their judgment, and that from Scripture taught them, that those, who are chose to place of government, must be men truly fearing God, wise and learned in the truths of Christ, (if so) as hitherto it hath been New Englands practice, then surely such will be utterly unfit to tolerate all sorts of Sectaries, as i because they have taken up Joshuas resolution, to serve the Lord ' and a man cannot serve two Masters, much lesse many Masters; Then surely such as would have all sorts of sinfull opinions upheld by the civill government, must be sure to make choise of the most Atheisticall persons the}' can finde to governe, such as are right Gallios:^ for N. E. hath found by experience that every man will most favour his own way of Profession, and labor tooth and naile to maintaine it, and if any have complied with other that have been of a contrar}' sinfull opinion to their own, it hath been, because they would have their own scape scot free, but assuredly the Lord Christ will allow of no such wayes for the favouring the profcssoi-s of his truths, nor may any Magistrate doe o\ill that gofxl may come of it, in favouring dangerous and deceival)le ar(y. 1637] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 153 their part, (to be sure when the grossenesse of their Errors were made known, they would not), by this meanes having their hopes exalted (in their owne apprehensions at least) to gaine the most of the people on their side. The Lord casts them downe from the proud Pinacle of their Machiavilian Plot, by bringing in more men of courage uninterested, yea, unknown to most of their persons, but for their errors, as strong to confute them as any, and more fit to wipe off the filme from the eyes of some of their brethren, which these Erronists by their Syccophancy had clouded. The time for the meeting of this Synod was to be in the seventh month following, commonly called September. The civill government well approving of their desires herein, were very willing to further them all they could, and in the meane time it was the worke of these valiant of the Lord, to search out, not for men and Womens persons, but their errors, which they gathered up from all parts, willing all that would or could defend them to use their best meanes, like as Jehu when he was to execute the judgements of the Lord upon Ahabs bloudy household, would have had his servants defend their Masters Children if they could,' onely you must understand there was but 70. Sons, and here was 80. Errors, of which you shall further hear when the time comes. Chap. IV. Of the abundant mercies of Christ in iproviding liberall supply for his New England People, in regard of their outward man, Food, Rayment and all other necessaries and con- veniencies. Now for the hardships on the left hand, they had as good an answer as in the former; their Christ had not saved their lives from the raging Seas to slay them in the Wildernesse with Farmne; your life is much more pretious in the eyes of the Lord then food, and your bodies then rayment: yea, the Lord of Heaven, who hath honoured you so far as to imploy you in this glorious worke of his, knowes you must have these ' II Kings X. 1-3. 154 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1G37 ]thinf:!;s, and it was not you, deare hearts, that chose this place, y I but the Lord, as seeing it most fit to doe his worke in. knowing that had you met with a Rich Land filled w ith all plenty ^ your heart would Have beenc taken off. this worke . which he must haw done. But to strengthen your Faith in this point also, you shall see hee who commanded the Fruits to spring out of the Earth, when none were, can much more cause this corner of the Earth to be fruitfull to you, and this you shall attaine by meanes; although hee have caused the Foules of the Aire, the Grasse of the Field to depend upon him in a more immediate manner, yet you hath he taught to Sow, Reape, carry into Barnes, and Spin, and indeed herein the Lord hath answered his people abundantly to the wonder of all that see or hear of it ; And that whereas at their first com- ming it was a rare matter for a man to have foure or five Acres of Corne, now many have four or five score, and to pre- vent men from Sacrificing to their Nets, the Lord hath taught them to labour with more ease: to great admiration also in- larg'd it, for it was with sore labour that on [one] man could Plant and tend foure Acres of Indians Graine, and now with two Oxen hee can Plant and tend 30. Besides the Lord hath of late altered the very course of the Heavens in the season of the weather, that all kinde of graine growes much better then heretofore; Insomuch that Marchandizing being stopped at present, they begin question what to do with their Corne. Chap. \. Of the wonderfull deliverance wrought by the Lord Christ, for his poore New England Churches, infreing thein from the fear of their Malignant adversaries, who forc't them to this W ildcmesse. And now to the tliird and great distresse, which lay be- hind them by reason of their back friends, the Lording Bishops, and other Malignant advensarie.s, being daily exasperated iigainst them, and in ospeoiall at this time by one Morton, who named hiniselfe the llo.st of Merrimount, who wanted not malice, could lie possible ha\'e attained meanes to effect it; But the Lord Christ prevented both him and his Masters, 1637] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 155 whom with flattery he sought to please with scurrillous de- riding the servants of Christ, to bring them into contempt,' yet the Lord prevented all, and delivered this wretched fellow into his peoples hands againe after all this, who dealt as fa- vourably with him as David did with Shimmei.' Besides this, the evill usage that many of the beloved servants of Christ had from the hands of those in office at their departure, de- clared plainely, that there were some, who would willingly have pursued them to bring them under bondage againe. Herein their answer was that they should stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, who was now resolved to fight for them against his and their implacable enemies; although more mighty than they: and indeed all meanes of resistance in the hand of man being so small, that it could not possible bee discerned by any mortall eye ; yet will the Lord worke by means and not by miracle ; when the Lord called forth Joshua to fight with Amaleck, his Moses must be in the Mount at Prayers; seeing this answer deeply concemes the dearly be- loved of our Lord Christ remaining in England, let them listen to the answer." Also how came it to passe that the Lord put it into your hearts to set upon a Reformation, was it not by prayer at- tained? You are not excluded, although the Churches of Christ here are for the present in the Mount, and ycui in the Vally fighting, yet surely they had neede of helpe to hold up their hands, whereas the nerenesse of the danger to you in the enemies overcoming, is a great motive to keepe up yours stedy, yet may you say rightly to the Churches of Christ here, as ' The allusion is to Thomas Morton's New English Canaan (London, 1637), which gives an amusing but scurrilous account of the Puritan regime in New England and of what the graceless author suffered at Puritan hands. ' II Samuel xix. 18-22. The parallel is none too dose. David pardoned Shimei for his sedition. When Thomas Morton injudiciously came within reach of the magistrates of Massachusetts, six years after the publication of his book, they kept him in prison for a year and fined him a hundred pounds. ' Exodus xvii. 8-13. The voluble harangue which fills the remainder of the chapter is such an intricate mosaic of Scripture texts that to identify them all in foot-notes would be cumbersome and probably useless. Its main purport, as may easily be seen, is to express the sympathy of the New England Puritans with those of Old England in the successful struggle the latter had waged against prelacy. y 15G WONDEll-WOUKIN'G PROVIDENCE [1637 Mordach}^ to Hester the Queene, if you hold your peace deliv- erance shall come another way, and tliinke not to escape, be- cause you are in New England; Assuredly the Lord is doing great things, and w^iit^'s_fnr^thp pniyt'i-s of j^jp; ppnplp t.h^l, []P ma>'_[)e ^grajjous unt o there, and \erily the poore Churches of Clmst lieere cannot but take notice of the great workes the Lord hath done for you of late, which are famous throughout the whole World; And should they not take them as an answer of these weake prayers, they feare they should neglect to magnify his mercy toward you, and them: the noble acts of the Lord Christ, for the freedome of his people from that intolerable Prelaticall bondage, are almost miraculously com- mitted to memory by the able servants of Christ, whom hee hath stirred up for that very end, yet must you not shut out the valiant souldiers of Christ (disciplin'd in this unwonted Wildernesse) from having share with }ou in the worke, yet no farther but that Christ may be all in all : \\'ho hath caused the Midianites to fight against Midian, till the true Israelites had gathered themselves together, hee it is that hath brought the counsells of the wicked to naught, hee it is that hath discov- ered the secret plottings of the King of Assyria, even in his Bedchamber; Ilee it is that hath declared himself to be with your mighty men of valour, and assuredly all you valiant Souldiei-s of Christ, both in one England and the other, the Lord hath shewed you as great signes and wonders for the strengthening of your faith, as was the wetting and drying of the fleece to Gedeon, onely beware of setting up an Ephod in the latter end; Let the Churches of Christ be set up according to his first institution, or you will make double worke, for all may see by what is done already, there is nothing too hard for him. Hee will downe with all againe and againe, till his Kingdom alone I)e exalted, for the which all the Israel of God fight, wrastle, pray, and here you may see the servants of Christ fighting at 900 leagues distant. Oh you proud Bishops, that would have all the World stoope to y()ur Loidly power, the heathen Romans your pred- ecessors, after they had banished John to the Isle of Path- moR, suffered him quietly to injoy the Revelation of Jesus Christ there; Jiere is a jieople that hav e betaken themselves to a newfound A\\)rld, ilistanced from you with the widest 1637] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 157 Oceaathe World a ffords, and yet you gnidjge_themjlie purity oT C hrists Ordina]aces tt^^ Nowonder then, nay wonder all "tEe" World at the suddfen and unexpected downfall of these domineering Lords, who had Princes to protect them, armes to defend them, and almost three whole Kingdomes at their command; and no enemy of theirs in sight, onely there ap- peares a little cloud about the bignesse of a mans hand out of the \Vesterne Ocean, I [ay] but the Lord Christ is in it, out of Sion the perfection of beauty hath God shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keepe silence, a Fire shall devour afore him, and mighty tempests shall be moved round about him. Now gather together you King-like Bishops, and make use of all the Kingly power you can, for the cloud is suddenly come up, he rode upon Cherub and did flie. And now let the Children of Sion rejoyce in their King, for the Lord hath pleasure in his people, hee will make the meeke glorious by deliverance; And that the whole Earth may know it is the Lords owne worke, the Arch-prelate and his complices must begin to war with the Scots, and that implacably; ' the Pre- lates desire a Parliament thinking to establish iniquity by a Law, but the iniquity of the Ammorites is already full, and all your cunning counsells shall but contrive your owne destruc- tion; They remonstrant against all Acts of Parliament that passe without their Vote, and by this means wind out them- selves for ever voting more,- they devise how they may have such persons committed to prison as favour not their pro- ceeding. But the Lord turned their mischiefe they had conceived upon their own pates, and they themselves were sent to prison by halfe a score at a time; And such was the unsavourynesse of this seeming salt, that it was good for nothing, but to Lord it over others. Their tyranny being taken out of their hands, they could not indure to be commanded by any; And there- fore unfit for the war which they stirred up, to recover the ' The invasion of Scotland by Charles I., in the spring of 1639, to meet the insurrection excited by Archbishop Laud's attempt to re-establish episcopacy in that country. ' Twelve protesting bishops declared the nullity of all votes passed by the lords while the prelates were absent through fear of the multitude; whereupon Parliament passed, in February, 1642, an act excluding all the bishops. 15S WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1637 people againe under their bondage, yet such was the mad- ncsse of some, that they loved their servitude so well as to fight for it; but surely such had never rightly knowne the service of the Lord Christ, which is perfect freedome from all such tyrannous yoaks, and verily just it is with the Lord to cause such to be servants unto Shishak,' that they may know the service of the Lord, and the service of the Kingdomes of the Country. But howfncr an Army is raised to defend their Lordly dignity; Let the Saints be joyfull with glory, let the high Acts of God be in their mouths, and a two edged Sword in their hands, to bind their Kings in chaines, and their Nobles in fetters of Iron. The Charets of the Lord are twenty thousand thousands of Angells, the Lord is among them as in Sinai, Kings of Armies did flee apace ; and now you that have borne such a wicked spirit of malignity against the people of Christ, can your hearts indure, and your hands wax strong in the day that he shall have to doe with you? Oh you proud Prelates that boast so much of your taking the Ivings part, miserable partakers are you; in stead of obeying him, you have caused him to obey you, its writ in such great capital! letters that a child may read it: what was the cause of the first raising war against the Scots which occasioned the Parha- ment? When you saw they would not further the war as you would have them, they were soone traytors in your ac- count, and prosecuted against with Army after army, and was not all this to make the Scots receive your Injunctions? A very fayer bottom to build a bloudy war upon, that the Prelatticall power might Lord it in Scotland, as they of a long time had done in England: it was your Pithagorian Phylosophy that caused the King to loose his Life, by per- swading him his Kingly power lived in your Lordly dignity, as a thing subordinate unto it, and he so deeply taken with this conceit, that it cost the lives of many thousands more then ever hoe, or his Father, would doe for saving or recover- ing the Pallatine Country.^ ' II Clininiclos xii. S. ' In the eyes of the Puritan party it was a most culimlilo offence on the part of both James and Charles, that in I(il21-ll)20 they did nothing effectual to aid James's snn-in-law, the Protestant Frederick V., eli rtor palatine and king of Bohemia, todcfend hiin.sclf and the Paliilinatcfrom Austrian and Spanish conquest. 1637] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 159 Experience hath taught the savage Indians, among whom we live, that they may and doe daily bring Wolves to be tame, but they cannot breake them of their ravening nature, and I would your Royalist would learne of them to know, that as your Lord Bishops, Deanes, Prebends, etc. be right whelps of the Roman litter, so let them be never so well tam'd, they will retaine their nature still, to Lord it over all kinde of Civill Government; But woe and alasse that ever any of our Coun- trymen should be so blind, that after they are delivered from so great a bondage by such Wonder working Providence of the Lord Christ; Ever and anon to indeavour to make a Captaine over them, that they may returne againe into Egypt, as ap- peares by the plots which have been discovered, and broken in pieces by the right hand of the most high, and yet for all this their's such a hankering after somewhat of the Prelaticall greatnesse, by the English Clergy, and the Scottish Classis, that many of them could afford to raise another war for it.' But brethren I beseech you be more wiser, lest when you are growne hot in your quarrell, the Malignant party come and set you agreed. Stablish peace in righteousnesse, and let the word be your rule, heare one another with meekeness, and the Lord will cleare up the whole truth unto you in his due time; And now to declare plainly how far the Lord hath beene pleased to make use of any of his people in these Westerne parts, about this Worke, for to sav truth they have done nothing in holes and corners, but thejr w.otkes.jje obvious to all the World : if the suferings of the Saints be pretious in the eyes of Christ, so as to provoke him in displeasure to cut off the occasioners thereof, then thus his poore unworthy people here have had a great stroake in the downfall of their adver- saries to the present possessed truths of Christ, for this wilder- nesse worke hath not beene carried on without fightliings that have come before him, and Groanes that have entred his eares, and Teares treasured up in his bottles. Againe, if the ardent and strong affections of the people of God, for his glorious comming to advance his Kingdome in the splendor and purity of his Gospell, as to cry with the holy Prophet, "Oh that he would breake the Heavens and come down," be regarded of ' "New Presbyter is but old Priest writ large,'' said Milton. IGO WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1637 the Lord Christ, so as to remove with his mighty power the very Mountaines out of the way, and hurle them into the decpe; Then hath these weake wormcs instrumental!/ had a share in the great desolation the Lord Christ hath wrought. For this History will plainely declare with what zeale and deope affection, and unresistable resolutions, these pilgrim people have endeavoured the gathering together his Saints, for the edifying the Body of Christ, that he may raign both Lord and King for ever. Yet againe, if the prayers of the faithfull people of God availe any thing for the aecomplisliment of his promises, in the destraction of Antichrist, for the subduing of Annies without striking one stroake; Then assuredly these Jacobites have wrestled with the Lord, not onely (with that good Kng Jekoshaphat) ' proclaiming one Fast, but many Fasts, they, their Wives and little ones standing before the Lord; Oh our God wilt thou not judge them for we have no might, etc. Lastly, if the Lord himselfe have roared from Sion, (as in the daj-es of the Prophet Amos) - so from his Churches in Xew England, by a great and terrible Earthquake (which happened much about the time the Lordly Prelates were preparing their injunctions for Scotland).' Taking rise from the West, it made its progresse to the Eastward, causing the Earth to rise up and downe like the waves of the Sea; having the same effect on the Sea also, causing the Ships that lay in the Harbor to quake, the which, at that very time, was said to be a signe from the Lord to his Churches, that he was purposed to shake the Kingdomes of Europes Earth, and now by his providences brought to passe, all men may reade as much and more: as if he should have said to these his scattered people (yet now againe united in Church Covenant) the Lord is now gathering together his Armies, and tliat your faith may be strengthened, you shall feele and hcare the shakings of the Earth by the might of his power: yea, the Sea also, to shew he mW ordaine Armies both by Sea and Land to make Babilon desolate; Things thus e(Dncurring as an immediate answer of the Lord to his peoples prayers and endeavours, caused some of this ' II Chronicles xx. 1 21. 'Amos i. 2. ' Ivirthqiiakcs of June 1. Hi.lS, and January 14, 1030. See bk. ii., ch. xii., post, and VVinthrop, I. 270, 2<.i2. 1637] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 161 little handfull with resolute courage and boldnesse to returne againe to their native Land, that they might (the Lord accept- Jyt- mg a,nd assisting them in their endeavours) be helpfull in ad- vancing the Kingdome of Christ, and casting down every strong house of sinne and Satan. Tt maMen^ n ot indeed who kll^l^struments, if with the eye o f faith these that go forth ^ fo lig^hr the EorarBat taiTes.'c a'n'But'^see and he^re thpTnn ] ^mg out before them agalnstl-heir enemies , with a sound in the tops of the kulbery Trees. Here are" assuredly evident signes that the Lord Christ is gone forth for his peoples de- liverance, and now Frogs, Flies, Lice or Dust, shall serve to destroy those [who] will yet hold his people in bondage, not- withstanding the Lord will honour such as hee hath made strong for himself; And therefore hee causeth the worthies in Davids time to be recorded, and it is the duty of Gods people to incourage one another in the worke of the Lord, then let all whose hearts are upright for the Lord, ponder well ^ his goings in his Sanctuary, that their hands may be strength- ened in the work they goe about, onely be strong and of a good courage. Chap. VL Of the gratums goodnesse of the Lord Christ, in saving his New England people, from the hand of the harbaraus Indians. Lastly, for the frontispiece of their present distresse, namely the Indian war, they with much meeknesse and great deliberation, wisely contrived how they might best helpe their fellow brethren; hereupon they resolved to send a solemne Embassage to old Cannonicus, chiefe Sachem of the narrow Ganset ' Indians, who being then well stricken in yeares had caused his nephew Miantinemo to take the Govern- ' Narragansett. The embassy io Canonicus is related so minutely and so vividly as to make it reasonable to conclude that Johnson was of the party, though Winthrop names only Edward Gibbons and John Higginson, with Cutshamekin, sagamore of Massachusetts. The Narragansetts dwelt in what is now southern Rhode Island. Their number of fighting men was probably some 1,500 or 2,000. If they had combined with the Pequots against the colonists, the latter might have been ejrterminated. That they were persuaded not to make this dangerous com- bination was due largely to the intercession of Roger Williams, whom they much regarded. 1G2 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1637 ment upon him, who was a very sterne man, and of a great stature, of a cruell nature, causing all his Nobility and such as were his attendance to tremble at his speech. The people under his Government were very numerous, besides the Nian- tick Indians, whose Prince was of neare aliance unto him; They were able to set forth, as was then supposed, 30000. fighting men. The English sought by all meanes to keepe these at least from confederating with the Pequods, and un- derstanding by intelligence, that the Pequots would send to them for that end, endeavoured to prevent them. Fit and able men being chosen by the English, they hast them to Cannon- icus Court, which was about fourescore miles from Boston. The Indian King hearing of their comming, gathered to- gether his chiefe Counsellors, and a great number of his Sub- jects to give them entertainment, resolving as then that the young Eang should receive their message, yet in his hearing. They arriving, were entertain'd royally, with respect to the Indian manner. Boil'd Chesnuts is their White-bread, which are very sweet, as if they were mixt with Sugar; and because they would be extraordinary in their feasting, they strive for variety after the English manner, boyling Puddings made of beaten come, putting therein great store of black berryes, somewhat like Currants. They having thus nobly feasted them, afterward give them Audience, in a State-house,' round, about fifty foot wide, made of long poles stuck in the ground, like your Summer-houses in England, and covered round about, and on the top with Mats, save a small place in the middle of the Roofe, to give light, and let out the smoke. In this place sate their Sachim, with very great attendance; the English comming to deliver their Message, to manifest the greater state, the Indian Sachim lay along upon the ground, on a Mat, and his Nobility sate on the ground, with their legs doubled up, their knees touching their chin; with much sober ' An early usp of n term the history of which Mr. Albert INIatthews has ('l,il)oratcil in the Puhliraiion.i of tlir Colonial Society of Md.i.iarliiisrtti, N'lII. 14-20. Its ilcvclopment, in the .srnso in which we now use it (state capitol), has hccn peculiar to America. The sen.se in which Johnson uses it, and out of which the mnilcm use prew, is that of "house of state," "house belonging to the body politif," to wit, the tribe of the Narragansetts. 1637] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 163 gravity they attend the Interpreters speech. It was matter of much wonderment to the English, to see how sohdly and wisely these savage people did consider of the weighty under- taking of a War; especially old Canonicus, who was very dis- creet in his answers. The young Sachem was indeed of a more lofty spirit, which wrought his mine, as you may heare, after the decease of the old King. But at this time his answer was, that he did willingly embrace peace with the English, considering right well, that although their number was but small in comparison of his people, and that they were but strangers to the Woods, Swamps, and advantagious places of this Wildemesse, yet withall he knew the English were ad- vantaged by their weapons of War, and especially their Guns, which were of great terror to his people, and also he had heard they came of a more populous Nation by far than all the Ind- ians were, could they be joyn'd together. Also on the other hand, with mature deliberation, he was well advised of the Peaquods cruell disposition and aptnesse to make War, as also their neere neighbourhood to his people, who though they were more numerous, yet were they withall more effeminate, and lesse able to defend themselves from the sudden incur- sions of the Peaquods, should they fall out with them. Here- upon hee demes it most conducing to his owne and his peoples safety to direct his course in a middle way, holding amity with both. The English returne home, having gained the old Kings favour so farre, as rather to favour them then the Pequods, who perceiving their Neighbouring English ' had sent forth aid to the Mattacusets government, thought it high time to seeke the winning all the Indians they could on their side, and among others they make their addresse to old Can- nonicus, who, instead of taking part with them, labours all he can to hush the War in hand, laying before them the sad effects of War; sometimes proving sad and mournfull to the very Victors themselves, but alwayes to the vanquished, and withall tells them what potent enemies they had to contend with, whose yery weapons and Armor were matter of terror, setting their persons a side; as also that English man was no much hoggery yet, and therefore they might soone appease ' The Connecticut men, both those at Gardiner's fort of Saybrook and those up the river at Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield. 164 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1637 them, by delivering into their hands those persons that had beene the death of any of them, which were much better than that the whole Nation should perish. For the present the Pequods seemed to be inclinable to the old Sachims counsel!, but being returned home againe among their rude multitude (the chief place of cowardly boasting) they soon change their minde; yet the old Sachim sends the English word he had wrought with them, and in very deed, the English had rather make choice of Peace then Warre, provided it may stand with Truth and Righteousnesse : and therefore send forth a band of Souldiers, who arriving in the Peaquod Country, address themselves to have a Treaty with them about delivering up the murtherers; they making shew of willingness so to doe bade them abide awhile and they would bring them, and in the mean time they were conversant among the Souldiers, and viewing their Armie,' pointed to divers places where they could hit them with their Arrowes for all their Corslets. But their greatest number lying the while at the other side of a great hill, and anon appearing on the top of the hill, in sight of the English, those Indians that were among the English withdrawing toward them, no sooner were they come to their Companions, but all of a suddaine they gave a great shout, and shewed the English a fair pair of heeles, who seeing it would not availe any thing to follow them (they being farre swifter of foot than the English) made their returne home againe.' This bootlessc voyage incouraged the Indians ^■er}'■ much, who insulted over them at the fort, boasting of this their deluding them, and withall, they blasphemed the Lord, say- ing Englishmans God was all one Flye, and that English man was all one Scjawe, and themselves all one Moor-hawks. Thus by their horrible pride they fitted themselves for destruc- tion. The English hearing this report, were now full assured that the Lord would deliver them into their hands to execute his righteous judgement upon these blasphemous murtherers; and therefore raised fresh Souldiers for the warre, to the num- ' Armor. " This first unsuccessful expedition or rcconnoissance was made l>v .1 body of Miissiiiliusclts lr()(i|is, sent oen profcssdr of Hebrew at (^ambridge, England, tlien profe-isor of (irrik, then virnr of Ware. Afterward lie was for eighteen years, Ki'il 1(172, president of Harvard College. 1638] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 181 the nimble tripping Deere, as the plowable places of Medow land is to the Inhabitants. This Towne was first founded by some persons that were not so forward to promote the Ordi- nances of Christ, as many others have been: they desired the reverend Minister of Christ Mr. Gennors, to be helpfull in preaching the Word unto them; who after some little space of time, not liking the place, repaired to the Eastern English : but the people of this place, after his departure, being gathered into a Church, they called to office the reverend and godly Mr. Newman; but many of them unwilling to continue in this Towne, as supposing they had found a fitter place for habita- tion, removed into the next Government, carrying with them their Pastor; by which means, the people that were left be- hinde, were now destitute, and having some godly Christians among them, who much desired the sincere milk of the Word, that they might grow thereby: upon diligent use of meanes they found out a young man able gifted for the work, brought up with the reverend and judicious Mr. Chancie, called Mr. Thomas Thatcher. Yet againe, after some few jcares, for want of sufficient maintenance, with mutuall consent they parted with him, and are forced to borrow help of their Neigh- bours, wherein all of them to [to all of them] the Author is bold to say as followeth : Oh people, reason swayes mans actions here, You sanctifyed, o're these long seas doth look, With heavenly things your earthly toyle to cheere; Will lose* the end for which this toyle you tooke. Christ comes in's Word, let their bright feet abide Your Towne, among whose grace and gifts excell In preaching Christ, it's he your hearts hath try'd. They want no store that all for him doe sell. Gennors, dost love thy Christ ? I hope he's deare Belov'd of thee, he honour'd would thee have To feed his flock, while thou remainest here; With's Word of truth thy soule and others save. With little flock doth Newman pack away; The righteous lips sure might a many feed; Remov'st for gaine ? it's most where most men stay, Men part for land, why land least helps at need. ' 7. f., you will lose. 182 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1638 Thatcher, what mean'st to leave thy little flock? Sure their increase might thee much profit bring: What, leave Christs Church? it's founded on a rock; If rock not left, their ebb may suddain spring; Pastor and People, have you both forgot WTiat parting Paul and Christs deare people had ? * Their loves melt teares, it's ve'mently so hot, His heart-strings break to see his folk so sad. This yeare came over, besides the former, for the furthering of this blessed work of Christ, Mr. William Tompson, Mr. Edm: Browne, and Mr. David Frisk,^ who were called to office in severall Churches, as you shall after hear. And now to end this yeare, that abounded in the wonder-working Providence of Christ, for his Churches, in the exaltation of his truths, that all may take notice the Lord cast in by the by, as it were, a very fruitfull crop, insomuch that from this day forward, their increase was every yeare more and more, till the Coimtry came to feed its owne Inhabitants; and the people who for- merly were somewhat pincht with hunger, eat bread to the full, having not onely for their necessity but also for their con- veniency and delight. Chap. XI. Of the increase of the people of Christ. Printing brought over, and the sixteenth Church of Christ planted at Rouly. For the yeare 1638 John Winthrope Esq. was chosen Governour, and Tho: Dudly Esq. Deputy Govemour; the number of Freemen added were about 130. The peace of this little Common-wealth being now in great measure settled, by the Lords mercy, in overthrowing the Indians, and banish- ing of ccrtaine turbulent spirits, The Churches of Christ were much edified in their holy faith by their [the] indefatigable pains of their Ministoi-s, in their weekly Lectures extraordinary, as well !is by their Sabboth-Assemblies, and continual! visiting of their people from house to house, endeavouring to heale ' AcU XX. 36-38. ' For these ministers, see post, pp. 197, 265, 196 and 226, respectively. On this latter page the name of the third is correctly given as John Fisk. 1638] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 183 the hurts these false deceivers had made, with double dili- gence showring downe the sweet dews of the blessed Gospel of Jesus Christ, to the converting of many a poor soul. And indeed, now were the glorious days of New Englan d: the Churches of CKrist inc^rease dayly, and his eminent Embassa- dours resort unto them from .pur nativp ,^ou nt ^^ which as ttenTay^uiider the tyranny of the Monarchall Arch-prelates, which caused the servants of Christ to wander from their home. This yeare the reverend and judicious M. Jos. Glover undertook this long voyage; being able both in person and estate for the work, he provided, for further compleating the Colonies in Church and Common-wealth-work, a Printer, which hath been very usef ull in many respects ; ' the Lord see- ing it meet that this reverend and holy servant of his should fall short of the shores of New England: but yet at this time he brought over the zealous affected and judicious servant of his. Master Ezekiel Rogers,^ who with a holy and humble people, made his progress to the North-Eastward, and erected a Towne about 6. miles from Ipswich, called Rmvly, where wanting room, they purchased some addition of the Town of Newbery; yet had they a large length of land, onely for the neere conveniency to the Towne of Ipswich, by the which meanes they partake of the continued Lectures of either Towne: these people being very industrious everj- way, soone built many houses, to the number of about three-score fam- ilies, and were the first people that set upon making of Clcith in this Western World; for wliieh end they built a fulling- mill, and caused their little-ones to be very diligent in spinning cotton wooU, many of them having been clothiers in England, till their zeale to promote the Gospel of Christ caused them to wander; and therefore they were no lesse industrious, in ' The Cambridge printing-press was tiie first one established north of Mexico and was for many years the only one in British America. The donor, Rev. J(jsc Glover, a suspended EngHsh rector, died on the voyage. The printer, whom he brought over under contract, was Stephen Dayc. The first thing printed was the Freeman's Oath, the second an almanac, the third the Bay Psalm-Book. ' Rev. Ezekiel Rogers, cousin of Nathaniel Rogers, the minister of Ipswich (p. 119, ante), had been for twenty years minister of Rowley in Yorkshire, and many of his congregation came from there. Strong efforts, concerning which Winthrop speaks with unwonted sharpness, were made to persuade them to settle in the New Haven jurisdiction. 184 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1638 gathering into Church society, there being scarce a man among them, but such as were meet to be living stones in this building, according to the judgement of man; they called to the office of a Pastor this holy man of God, Mr. Ezekiel Rogers, of whom this may be said : Christ for this work Rogers doth riches give, Rich graces fit his people for to feed, Wealth to supply his wants whilst here he live. Free thou receiv'st to serve his peoples need. England may mourne they thee no longer keep, English rejoice, Christ doth such worthyes raise, His Gospel preach, unfold his mysteries deep; Weak dust made strong sets forth his makers praise: With fervent zeale, and courage thou hast fought 'Gainst that transformed Dragon and his bands, Snatcht forth the burning thou poore soules hast caught, And freed thy flock from wolves devouring hands. Ezekiel mourn not, thou art severed farre. From thy deare Country, to a desart land; Christ call'd hath thee unto this worthy warre; By him o'rcome, he holds thy Crowne in's hand. For the further assisting of this tender flock of Christ, the reverend Mr. John Miller did abide among them for some space of time, preaching the Word of God unto them also, till it pleased the Lord to call him to be Pastor of the Church of Christ at Yarmouth, in Plimoth patten,' where he remaineth at this very day. With courage bold Miller through Seas doth venter, To toyl it out in this great Western wast, Thy stature low one [on] object high doth center; Higher than Heaven thy faith on Christ is plac't: Aliarum thou with silver trumpet sound. And tell the world Christs Armyos are at hand. With Scripture-truths tliou Errors dost confound, And overthrow all Antichristiaii bands: It matters not for th' worlds liif^h reputation; The World must fall and Christ alone must stand; Thy Crown's prepar'd in him, then keep thy station, Joy that Christs Kingdome is so neare at hand. 1638] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 185 Chap. XII. Of the great Earthquake in New England, and of the wofvM end of some erronious persons, with the first foundation of Harverd CoUedge. This yeare, the first day of the Fourth Month/ about two of the clock in the after-noone, the Lord caus'd a great and ter- rible Earth-quake, which was generall throughout all the Eng- lish Plantations; the motion of the Earth was such, that it caused divers men (that had never knowne an Earthquake before) being at worke in the Fields, to cast downe their working-tooles, and run with gastly terrified lookes, to the next company they could meet withall; it came from the Westeme and uninhabited parts of this Wildernesse, and went the direct course this brood of Travellers came. The Ministers of Christ many of them could say at that very time (not from any other Revelation, but what the word holds forth) that if the Churches of New England were Gods house, then suddenly there would follow great alterations in the Kingdomes of Europe. This yeare the civill government proceeded to censure the residue of those sinfull erroneous persons, who raised much y commotion in this little Common-wealth ; who being ban- ished, resorted to a place more Southward, some of them sit- ting down at a place called Providence, others betooke them to an Island about 16. miles distant from the former, called Rode Island," where having Elbow roome enough, none of the Ministers of Christ, nor any other to interrupt their false and deceivable Doctrines, they hamper'd themselves fouly with their owne line, and soone shewed the depthlesse ditches that blinde guides lead into; many among them being much to be pittyed, who were drawne from the truth by the bewitching > June 1, 1638. ^ Providence had been founded by Roger Williams in 1636. The settle- ment on Rhode Island was founded in 1638 by William Coddington and his companions, banished from Massachusetts in the spring of that year. Johnson's account of the amusing variety of religious opinions in these two plantations is from the hand of an opponent, but is far from being baseless. 186 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1638 tongues of some of them, being very ignorant and easily per- verted: and altliough the people were not many in all, yet were they very diverse in their opinion, and glad where they could gaine most Disciples to heare them; some were for every day to be a Sabbath, and therefore kept not any Sabbath-day at all; others were some for one thing, some for another; and therefore had their severall meetings, making many a goodly piece of Preachment; among whom there were some of the female sexe, who (deeming the Apostle Paul to be too strict in not permitting a roome [woman] to preach in the publique Congregation) taught notwithstanding, they having their call to this office from an ardent desire of being famous, especially the grand Mistresse of them all, who ordinarily prated every Sabbath day, till others, who thirsted after honour in the same way with her selfe, drew away her Auditors, and then she withdrew her self, her husband, and her family also, to a more remote place; ' and assuredly, although the Lord be secret in all the dispensation of his providences, whether in judgement or mercy, yet much may be learn'd from all, as sometimes pointing with the finger to the lesson; as here these persons withdrawing from the Churches of Christ (wherein he walketh, and is to be found in his blessed Ordinances) to a first and second place, where they came to a ^•er^- sad end; for thus it came to passe in the latter place, The Indians in those parts forwarned them of making their abode there; yet this could be no warning to them, but still they continued, being amongst a multitude of Indians, boasted they were become all one Ind- ian: and indeed, this woman, who had the chiefe rule of all the roast, l)eing very bold in her strange Revelations and mis- applications, tells them, though all nations and people were cut off round about them, yet should not they; till on a day certaiii(> Indians cominii; to her house, discoursing with them, they wished to tyo up her doggs, for they much bit the man, not mistrusting^ tlie Indians guile, did so; the which no ' From Aquidneck Mrs. Hutchinson, after her hushand's death in lG42i rimoved to a point in the Dutch jurisdiction, now known as Pclham Neck, near New Rochelk', New York, where (he name of Hutchinson Creek perpetuates her memory. Here she and nearly all her household were murdered by the Indians in September, 1G43, in an uprising consequent upon "Kieft's war." " Probably the sense is: "for they much bit. The man, not mistrusting,'' etc. 1638] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 187 sooner done, but they cruelly murthered her, taking one of their daughters away with them, and another of them seeking to escape is caught, as she was getting over a hedge, and they drew her back againe by the haire of the head to the &tump of a tree, and there cut off her head with a hatchet; the other that dwelt by them betook them to boat, and fled, to tell the sad newes; the rest of their companions, who were rather hardened in their sinfull way, and blasphemous opinions, than brought to any sight of their damnable Errours, as you shall after hear; yet was not this the first loud speaking hand of God against them; but before this the Lord had poynted directly to their sinne by a very fearfull Monster, that another of these women brought forth,' they striving to bury it in oblivion, but the Lord brought it to light, setting forth the view of their monstrous Errors in this prodigious birth. This yeare, although the estates of these pilgrim people were much wasted, yet seeing the benefit that would accrew to the Churches of Christ and Civil Government, by the Lords bless- ing, upon learning, they began to erect a Colledge, the Lord by his provident hand giving his approbation to the work, in sending over a faithfull and godly servant of his, the revercnci Mr John Harverd, who joyning with the people of Christ at Charles Towne, suddainly after departed this life, and gave near a thousand pound toward this work ; * wherefore the Government thought it meet to call it Harverd Colledge in remembrance of him. If Harverd had with riches here been taken, He need not then through troublous Seas have past, But Christs bright glory hath thine eyes so waken, Nought can content, thy soule of him must tast: ' Jane Hawkins. Mrs. Hutchinson bore another. 'The college was founded, by vote of the General Court, in October, 1636, with a grant of £400 from the public treasury. John Harvard, whose bequest of half his estate, about £800, caused it to be named for him, was the son of Robert Harvard, butcher, of Southwark, and Katherine Rogers of Stratford-on-Avon, the daughter of an alderman in that town whose house is still standing, and hiis lately been made a Harvard memorial. After taking his M.A. degree at Em- manuel College, Cambridge, in 1635, John Harvard came, in 1637, to Charles- town, where he was minister for a short time, and died in 1638. 188 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1639 Oh tast and tell how sweet his Saints among, Ciirist ravisht hath thy heart with heavenly joyes To preach and pray with teares affection strong, From hearts delight in him who thee imployes. SciiPfc hast thou had Christs Churches here in eye, But thou art call'd to eye him face to face; Earths scant contents death drawes thee from, for why? Full joy thou wouldst that's onely in heavens place. Chap. XIII. Of the coming over of the honoured Mr. Pelham, and the plant- ing of the seaventeenth Church of Christ at the Towne of Hampton. This yoarc 1639. John Winthrope Esq. was chosen Gover- nour, and Thomas Dudly Esq. Deputy Governour, the num- ber of freemen added were about 83. This yeare came over the much honoured Mr. Herbert Pelham,' a man of a courteous behaviour, humble, and heavenly minded. Harbertus, hye on valiant, why lingerst thou so long ? Christs work hath need of hasty speed, his enemies are strong: In wildernesse Christ doth thee blesse with vertues, wife, and seed, To govern thou at length didst bow to serve Christs peoples need; To thine own soylc thou back dost toyle, then cease not lab'ring there, But still advance Christs Ordinance, and shrink no where for fear. Much about this time began the Town of Hampton, in the County of Northfolk,^ to have her foundation stone laid, scituate neare the Sea-coast, not farre from the famous River of Merimeck. The great store of salt marsh did intice this people to set downe their habitation there, for as yet Cowes ' Pelham was an Oxford man, and liecamc the first treasurer of Harvard College. Governor Bellingham married his sister. The meaning of the fourth line is probably to allude to his election as assistant in 1(>4."). 'The county i>f Norfolk, established in 1643, should not be confounded with the present Norfolk ("oimty. It lay north of the Merrimac, embracing Salisbury und Haverhill in present-day i\Ias.snchusetts, and Dover, Exeter, Hamp- ton, and Strawberry Bank or Portsmouth in present-day Now Hampshire. Hamp- ton and Salisbury were founded in Kl.'i!). There was violent dissension in the Hampton church, almost to its disruption, lx>twecn Timothy Dalton the teacher, and Stei)lK'n Batchellor the pastor (see p. 73), niul their rcsjMX'tivc adherents. 1639] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 189 and Cattell of that kinde were not come to the great downfall in their price, of which they have about 450. head; and for the form of this Towne, it is like a Flower-de-luce, two streets of houses wheeling off from the maine body thereof, the land is fertile, but filled with swamps, and some store of rocks, The people are about 60. Families; being gathered together into Church covenant, they called to office the reverend, grave, and gracious Mr. Doulton, having also for some little space of time the more ancient Mr. Batchelor (of whom you have heard in the former Book) to preach unto them also; here take a short remembrance of the other. Doulton, doth teach perspicuously and sound, With wholsome truths of Christ thy flock dost feed; Thy honour with thy labour doth abound; Age crownes thy head in righteousnesse, proceed To batter downe, root up, and quite destroy All Heresies, and Errors, that draw back Unto perdition, and Christs folk annoy; To warre for him thou weapons dost not lack; Long dayes to see, that long'd for day to come Of Babels fall, and Israels quiet peace — Thou yet maist live of dayes so great a sum To see this work, let not thy warfare cease. Chap. XIV. Of the 'planting the eighteenth Church of Christ at the Towne ofSalsbury For further perfecting this Wildernesse-work, not far from the Towne of Hampton was erected another Towne, called Salsbury, being brought forth as Twins, sometime contending for eldership: This being seated upon the broade swift torrent of Merrimeck, a very goodly River to behold,' were it not blockt up with some suddaine falls through the rocks; over against this Towne lyeth the Towne of New- berry, on the Southern side of the River, a constant Ferry being kept between; for although the River be about half a * It was doubtless the largest river our author had ever seen. 190 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1639 mile broad, yet, by reason of an Island that lies in the midst thereof, it is the better passed in troublesom weather: the people of this Towne have of late placed their dwellings so much distanced the one from the other, that they are like to divide into two Churches; the scituation of this Towne is very pleasant, were the Rivers Navigable farre up, the branches thereof abound in faire and goodly medowes with good store of stately Timber upon the uplands in many places. This Towne is full as fruitfull in her Land, Chattell, and Inhabitants, as her Sister Hampton; the people joyned in Church-relation or brotherhood, nere about the time the other did, and have desired and obtained the reverend and graciously godly M. Thomas Woster to be their Pastor. With mickle labour and distressed wants, Woster, thou hast in desart's depth remain'd Thy chiefest dayes, Christs Gospel there to plant. And water well; such toyle shall yeild great gaine. Oh happy day! may W'oster say, that I Was singled out for this great work in hand; Christ by distresse doth Gold for's Temple try; Thrice blest are they may in his Presence stand. But more, thou art by him reserved yet, To see on earth Christ's Kingdom's exaltation: More yet, thou art by him prepared fit To help it on, among our English Nation. Chap. XV. Of further supply for the Church of Christ at Waterton. And a sad accident fell out in Boston Toume. The Lord intending to strengthen his poore Churches here, and after the overthrow of these damnable Errors, to trample Satan under their feet, he manifesteth his mindeful- ness of them, in sending over fresh supplyes againe and againe: although weak and sory men in themselves, yet strong in the Lord, and the power of his might. The last that this yeare iH to be named, is the reverend, judicious, and godly-affected Mr. John Knowlcs, who was desired of the Church of Christ 1639] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 191 at Waterton, to be a two-fold cord unto them, in the office of a teaching Elder, with the reverend Mr. Phillips, of whom you have heard in the former Book. With courage bold and arguments of strength, Knowles doth apply Gods word his flock unto, Christ furnisht hath (to shew his bountyes length) Thee with rich gifts, that thou his work mayst do: New England is too scant, for thy desire Inkindled is, Christs truths abroad to spread, Virginia may his grace to them admire, That thee through Seas for their instruction led; Thy labours Knowles are great, far greater hee, Not onely thee, but all his valiant made. Forth sinfuU dust, his Saints and Warriers be;' He thee upheld, thy strength shall never fade. John come thou forth, behold what Christ hath wrought In these thy dayes; great works are yet behinde; Then toyle it out till all to passe be brought, Christ crowne will thee, thou then his glory minde. To end this yeare 1639. the Lord was pleased to send a very sharp winter, and more especially in strong storms of weekly snows, with very bitter blasts: And here the Reader may take notice of the sad hand of the Lord against two per- sons, who were taken in a storme of snow, as they were pass- ing from Boston to Roxbury, it being much about a mile distant, and a very plaine way. One of Roxbury sending to Boston his servant maid for a Barber-Chirurgion, to draw his tooth, they lost their way in their passage between, and were not found till many dayes after, and then the maid was found in one place, and the man in another, both of them frozen to death; in which sad accident, this was taken into consideration by divers people, that this Barber was more then ordinary laborious to draw men to those sinfull Errors, that were formerly so frequent, and now newly overthrowne by the blessing of the Lord, upon the endeavour of his faith- fijdl servants (with the word of truth). He having a fit oppor- ' 7. e., "far greater is He who hath made not only thee but all His valiant ones, from sinful dust, to be His saints and warriors." For liLnowles's mission to Virginia, see p. 265, jiost. 192 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1640 tunity, by reason of his trade, so soone as any were set downe in his chaire, he would commonly be cutting of their haire and the truth together; notwithstanding some report better of the man, the example is for the living, the dead is judged of the Lord alone. Chap. XVI. The great supply of godly Ministers for the good of his People in New England. For to govern and rule this little Common wealth, was this year chosen the valiant Champion, for the advance of Christs truth, Thomas Dudly Esq. and Richard Bellingham Esq. Deputy-Go vernour; the freemen added to the former were about 192.' This yeare the reverend Mr. Burr ' fa holy, heavenly-minded man, and able gifted to preach the Word of God) was exercised therein for some space of time, in the Church of Christ at Dorchester, where they were about calling him to the office of a teaching Elder; but in a very little time after his coming over he departed this life, yet minde you may in the following Meetre. Well didst thou minde thy worke, which caus'd thee venter (Through Ocean large) thy Christ in's W^ord to preach, Exhorting all their faith on him to center; Soules ravisht are by him in thy sweet speech. Thy speech bewray es thy heart for heaven doth look; Christ to enjoy Burr from the earth is taken; Thy words remaine, though thou hast us forsook, In dust sleep sound till Christ thy body waken. There are divers others of the faithfull Ministers of Christ that came over for to further this his work, somewhat before this time, as the godly and reverend Mr. Rayner,' who was ' Misprint, probably, for 162. " Jonathan Uiirr was one of those whom Johnson's church at Wobum had rriflcuvurcd to secure as pastor. ' John Itiiyner wiis teiicher of llie Plymouth church from 1636 to 1654, then minister at Dover, N. H. The worthies commemorated below are: William Ilooke and Samuel Haton of New Haven ; I'residcnt Chauncy (see p. 180, supra); 1640] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 193 called to office in the Church of Christ at Plimoth, and there remaines preaching the Word instantly, with great paines and care over that flock, as also the reverend and faithfuU servant of Christ Jesus, Mr. William Hook, who was for some space of time at the Church in Taunton, but now remaines called to office in the Church of Christ at Newhaven, a man, who hath received of Christ many gracious gifts, fit for so high a calling, with a very amiable and gracious speech labour- ing in the Lord; and here also the Reader may minde how the Lord was pleased to reach out his large hand of bounty toward his N. England people, in supplying them abundantly with Teachers, able and powerfull to break the bread of life unto them, so long as their desires continued hot and zealous; (puC fa.fter here grew a fulnesse in some, even to slight, if not loath the honey comb; ma ny returned for England, and the Lord was pleased to take away others b y deathj although very few, considering the numbe r; butjet N. England beware qf_anjifter-cliipj^ and proyoke the Lord noTonger. But seeing this yeare proved the last oT the yeares of transportation of God's people, only for enjoyment of exercising the Ordinances of Christ, and enlargement of his Kingdome (there being hopes of great good opportunity that way at home) it will be ex- pedient onely to name some others in the Southwest parts, among the lesser Colonyes, and so passe on to the story: And first, not to forget the reverend Mr. Eaton, a man of love and peace, and yet godly zealous, he came over with those who planted the Colony of Newhaven, spending his labours in the Lord with them in Plimoth Plantation : ' also here is Ephraim Hewett, pastor of the church in Windsor, Conn.; Henry Smith of Wethersfield; Henry Whitefield of Guilford, whose stone house in that town is still standing, and is interestingly figured in Palfrey's History of New England, II. 59-61 ; Robert Peck of Hingham in England, teacher of the church in the Massachusetts Hingham; Peter Saxton of Scituate; and Richard Denton, who, after service in Watertown, Wethersfield, and Stamford, withdrew from New England in 1644 on account of Presbyterianism, and was for more than a dozen years minister under the Dutch at Hempstead, Long Island. Of these, Hooke, Eaton, Whitefield, Peck, Saxton, and Denton returned finally to England, where Hooke enjoyed much favor with the Lord Protector, while Whitefield was a prominent preacher at Winchester. ' The punctuation should probably be so arranged as to carry the phrase respecting Plymouth Plantation into connection with the name of Chauncy rather than Eaton. 194 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1640 to be minded the rf\'orend Mr. Chancif, a very able Preacher, both learned and judicious; as also the reverend, able, and pious M. Iluet, who came over this year, or rather, as I sup- pose, the yeare jjcfore, who did spend his time and labour with a people that came over with him; at length the greatest part of them they settled downe in the Government of Canec- ticoe, where they planted the Towne of \\'indsor, and Church of Christ there, where this gracious servant of Christ con- tinued in his labours, till the Lord laid him in his bed of rest: somewhat before this time came over the reverend Mr. Smith, being another of that name, beside the former,' he laboured in the Word and Doctrine with a people at Withersfield in those parts also; Mr. Henry AVhitefield, another Minister of the Gospel of Christ, of reverend respect, who being returned for England, the latter of his labours, the Lord assisting, will sufficiently testifie his sincerity, for the truth and labours of love in the Lord: here may also be named the reverend Mr. Peck, Mr. Saxton, and Mr. Lenten [Denton], the residue will be spoken of in the ensuing story to those that yet remaine. Of these persons named the Author doth tender this follow- ing Meetre. When reasons Scepter first 'gan sway your hearts, Through troublous Seas, this Western world to enter Among Christs Souldiers, here to act your parts, Did not Christs love on [of?] you cause him to center All those strait lines of your inflam'd desire Unto his truths, 'cause him in them you finde? From wildernesse, not from his truths retire; But unto death this wonderous work you'l minde; No place can claime peculiar interest in Christs worship, for all nations are his own; The day's at hand down falls that man of sin, And Christs pure Gospel tlirough the world is blown; Harvest is come, bid ease and sleep adieu, Wmt, trifle time when Christ takes in his Crop ? A Harvest large of Gentil and of Jew (Vou fil'd of Christ), let his sweet Doctrine drop. ' The intention is prohnbiy to distinj^uish Henry Smith from Ralph Smith, pastor of the Plymouth church from 1629 to 1636. 1640] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 195 Chap. XVII. 0/ the planting of Long-Island. And of the planting the nine- teenth Church in the Mattachusets government, called Sudbury. This yeare came over divers godly and sincere servants of Christ, as I suppose, among whom came over the reverend godly M. Peirson: This people finding no place in any of the former erected Colonies to settle in, to their present content, repaired to an Island, severed from the Continent of New- haven, with about 16. miles off the salt Sea, and called Long- Island, being about 120. miles in length, and yet but narrow: here this people erected a Town, and called it South Hampton.' There are many Indians on the greatest part of this Island, who at first settling of the English there, did much annoy their Cattel with the multitude of Doggs they kept, which ordinarily are young wolves brought up tame, continuing of a very ravening nature. This people gathered into a Church, and called to office Mr. Peirson, who continued with them about 7, or 8. yeares, and then he, with the greatest number of the people, removed farther into the Island; the other part that remained invited Mr. Foordum,^ and a people that were with him, to come and joyne with them, who accordingly did, being wandered as far as the Dutch plantation, and there unsettled, although he came into the Country before them. This yeare the Town and Church of Christ at Sudbury began to have the first foundation stones laid, taking up her station in the Inland Country, as her elder Sister Concord had formerly done, lying farther up the same River, being furnished with great plenty of fresh marsh, but it lying very low is much indammaged with land-flouds, insomuch that when the summer proves wet, they lose part of their hay; yet ' A body of men from Lynn, Mass., having a patent from James Farrett as representative of Lord Stirling, first settled at Oyster Bay. Driven away by the Dutch, they established themselves at Southampton, at the other end of the island, and before long placed themselves under the jurisdiction of Connecticut. Abra- ham Pierson, their minister, removed to Branford and to Newark, New Jersey. " Rev. Robert Fordham, who in 1644 under a Dutch grant from the director- general of New Netherland had founded Hempstead, L. I. 196 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1640 are they so sufficiently provided, that they take in Cattell of other Townes to winter. These people not neglecting the chief work, for the which they entred this wildemesse, namely, to worship the Lord in the purity of his Ordinances, and according to the rule of his Word, entred into covenant with him, and one with another, professedly to walk together in Church-fellowship; and according to the same rule they called to the office of a Pastor the Reverend, godly, and able Min- ister of the Word, Mr. Edmond Brown, whose labours in the Doctrine of Christ Jesus hath hitherto abounded, wading through this wildernesse-work with much cheerfulnesse of spirit, of whom as followeth: Both night and day Brown ceaseth not to watch Christs little flock, in pastures fresh them feed; The worrying wolves shall not thy weak lambs catch; Well dost thou minde in wildernesse their breed; Edmond, thy age is not so great but thou Maist yet behold the Beast brought to her fall ; * Earth's tottering Kingdome shew her legs gin bow; Thou 'mongst Christs Saints with prayers maist her mawle; What signes wouldst have faith's courage for to rouse ? See, Christ triumphant hath his armies led, In wildernesse prcpar'd his lovely Spouse, Caus'd Kings and Kingdomes his high hand to dread; Thou sccst his Churches daily are encreasing, And thou thy selfe amongst his worthyes warring. Hold up thy hands, the battel's now increasing, Christ's Kingdom's ay, it's past all mortall's marring. This Towne is very well watered, and hath store of plow- land, but by reason of the oaken roots, they have little broke up, considering the many Acres the place affords; but this kinde of land requires great strength to break up, yet brings very good crops, and lasts long without mending. The people are industrious, and have eneroased in their estates, some of them, yet the great distance it lyes from the Mart Towns maketh it burdensome to the Inhabitants, to bring their corne so far by land. Some Gentlemen have here laid out part of their estates in procuring farmes, by reason of the ' Urvclntion xvii. S. 1639] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 197 store of medow. This Church hath hitherto been blessed with blessings of the right hand, even godly peace and unity : they are not above 50. or 60. families, and about 80. souls in Church-fellowship, their Neat-heard about 300. Chap. XVIII. Of the planting of the twentieth Church of Christ at a Towne called Braintree. About this time there was a Town and Church planted at Mount WoUestone, and named Braintree, it was occa- sioned by some old planters and certain Farmers belonging to the great Town of Boston; they had formerly one Mr. Whele- wright * to preach unto them, (till this Government could no longer contain them) they many of them in the mean time belonging to the Church of Christ at Boston, but after his departure they gathered into a Church themselves; • having some inlargement of Land, they began to be well peopled, calling to office among them, the reverend and godly Mr. William Tompson, and Mr. Henry Flint, the one to the office of a Pastor, the other of a Teacher; the people are purged by their industry from the sowre leven of those sinful opinions that began to spread, and if any remain among them it is very covert, yet the manner of these Erronists that remain in any place, is to countenance all sorts of sinful opinions, as occasions serves, both in Church and Commonwealth, under pretence of Liberty of Conscience, (as well their own opinion as others). By this S^-mbol they may be known in Court and Country. This Town hath great store of Land in tillage, and is at present in a very thriving condition for outward things, although some of Boston retain their Farms from being of their Town, yet do they lye within their bounds;' and, how it comes to pass I know not, their officers have ' The Antinomian minister, Mrs. Hutchinson's brother-in-law. ' In the part of old Braintree now known as Quincy. This church was really gathered before those of Rowley, Salisbury, and Sudbury; Johnson's numbering is inexact throughout. ' I. e., some Boston men keep their farms from being part of Braintree, though those farms lie within its borders. Such enclaves of town territory were not uncommon in early New England. 198 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1640 somewhat short allowance. They are well stored with cattel and corn, and as a people receives, so should they give: And Reader, I cannot but mind thee of the admirable providence of Christ for his people in this, where they have been in a low condition, by tlieir liberality they have been raised to much in a very little time: And again, in withdrawing their hands have had their plenty blasted. The reverend Mr. Tompson is a man abounding in zeal for the propagation of the Gospel, and of an ardent affection, insomuch that he is apt to forget himself in things that concern his own good ; ' both him, and the like gracious M. Flint is here remembred. With twofold cord doth Flint and Tompson draw In Christ's yoke, his fallow ground to break, Wounding mens hearts with his most righteous Law, Cordials apply to weary souls and weak. Tompson thou hast Christ's folk incouraged To war their warfare, putting them in mind That Christ their King will make his sons the dread; The day's at hand when they shall mastery find. Flint be a second to this Champion stout. In Christ's your strength, while you for him do war, When first doth faint, a second helps him out. Till Ciirist renew with greater strength by far. From East to W^est your labours lasted have, The more you toil, the more your strength encreaseth, Your works will bide, when you are laid in grave, His truth advance, whose Kingdom never ceaseth. Chap. XIX. Of the first promotion of learning in New-England, and the extraordinorji providences that the Lord was pleased to send for furthering of the same. Toward the latter end of this Summer came over the learned reverend, and judicious Mr. Henry Dunster,' before 'According to Winthrop he was confessedly "a very melancholic man and of a crazy body." His last years were spent mostly in a state of melancholia. ' Dunster, I\I.A. of Kmraanuel College, came to New England in 1G40, and was president of Harvard College from that time to 1(1.')4, when he was forced to resign because of holding Antiptedobaptist opinions. 1636] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 199 whose coming the Lord was pleased to provide a Patron for erecting a Colledg, as you have formerly heard, his provident hand, being now no less powerful in pointing out with his unerring finger a president, abundantly fitted this his servant, and sent him over for to manage the work; and as in all the other passages of this history, the Wonder-working Providence of Sions Saviour hath appeared, so more especially in this work, the Fountains of learning being in a great measure stopped in our Native Country at this time, so that the sweet waters of Shilo's streams must ordinarilj- pass into the Churches through the stinking chaimel of prelatical pride, beside all the filth that the fountains themselves were daily incumbred withall, insomuch that the Lord turned aside often from them, and refused the breathings of his blessed Spirit among them, which caused Satan (in these latter dales of his trans- formation into an Angel of light) to make it a means to per- swade people from the use of learning altogether, that so in the next generation they might be destitute of such helps, as the Lord hath been pleased hitherto to make use of, as chief means for the conversion of his people, and building them up in the holy faith, as also for breaking downe the Kingdom of Antichrist; and verily had not the Lord been pleased to furnish N. E. with means for the attainment of learning, the work would have been carried on very heavily, and the hearts of godly parents would have vanish'd away with heaviness for their poor children, whom they must have left in a desolate wilderness, destitute of the mcancs of grace. It being a work (in the apprehension of all, whose capacity could reach to the great sums of money, the edifice of a mean Colledg would cost) past the reach of a poor Pilgrim people,' who had expended the greatest part of their estates on a long voyage, travelling into Forraign Countryes being unprofitable to any that have undertaken it, although it were but with their necessary attendance, whereas this people were forced to travel with wifes, children, and servants; besides they con- sidered the treble charge of building in this new populated 'The word is of course used in its general sense. "Pilgrim," according to Mr. Albert Matthews, appears not to have been specifically applied to the early settlers of Plymouth until 1798, nor "Pilgrim Fathers" until 1799. In this use the term is derived from a well-known passage in Bradford. ■/ 200 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1636 desart, in regard of all kind of workmanship,' knowing like- wise, that young Students could make but a poor progress in learning, by looking on the bare walls of their chambers, and that Diogenes would have the better of them by far, in making use of a Tun to lodg in, not being ignorant also, that many people in this age are out of conceit with learning, and that although they were not among a people who counted ignorance the mother of devotion, yet were the greater part of the people wholly devoted to the Plow, (but to speak uprightly, hunger is sharp, and the head will retain little learning, if the heart be not refreshed in some competent measure with food, although the gross vapors of a glutted stomack are the bane of a bright understanding, and brings barrenness to the brain) but how to have both go on together, as yet they know not; amidst all thase difficulties, it was thought meet learning should plead for it self, and (as many other men of good rank and quality in this barren desart) plod out a way to live: Hereupon all those who had tasted the sweet wine of Wisdoms drawing, and fed on the dainties of knowledg, began to set their wits a work, and verily as the whole progress of this work had a farther dependency then on the present eyed means, so at this time chiefly the end being firmly fixed on a sure foundation, namely, the glory of Grod, and good of all his elect people, the world throughout, in vin- dicating the truths of Christ, and promoting his glorious Kingdom, who is now taking the heathen for his inheritance, and the utmost ends of the earth for his possession, means they know there are, many thousands uneyed of mortal man, which every daies Providence brings forth; upon these resolutions, to work they go, and with thankful acknowledg- ment, readily take up all lawful means as they come to hand; for place they fix their 0}^c upon New-Town, which to tell their Posterity whence they came, is now named Cambridg,* and withal t o make the w hole_worid ""dprstnnH, t hn^ spiritnnl l earning was the thing they chiefly desired^ to sanc tifie the ' Wages were high, as they always are when free or cheap land is drawing the laborer away from wage-service. Thus we find the General Court passing laws to restrict excessive wages. " Most of the early ministers were Cambridge men, Oxford being much less productive of Puritans. 1636] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 201 other,^apjd make the Hbo j e lump holy^ and tha t learning being set upon its iighrobject/ nii^ht n ot co nten^^ error inst gad. of truth; they chose this place, being" then unrlerthe (*)rt,ho- dox, and soul-flourishing Ministery of Mr. Thomas Shepheard, of whom it may be said, without any wrong to others, the Lord by his Ministery hath saved many a hundred soul. The scituation of this C!olledg is very pleasant, at the end of a spacious plain, more like a bowling green then a Wilderness, neer a fair navigable river, environed with many Neighbour- ing Towns of note, being so neer, that their houses joyn with her Suburbs; the building thought by some to be too gor- geous for a Wilderness, and yet too mean in others appre- hensions for a Colledg,' it is at present inlarging by purchase of the neighbour houses; it hath the conveniencies of a fair Hall, comfortable Studies, and a good Library,' given by the liberal hand of some Magistrates and Ministers, with others: The chief gift towards the founding of this Colledg, was by Mr. John Hames,' a reverend Minister; the Country being very weak in their publike Treasury, expended about 500. I. towards it, and for the maintenance thereof, gave the yearly revenue of a Ferry passage between Boston and Charles Town, the which amounts to about 40. or 50. I. per annum. The CoDMnissioners of the four united Colonies also taking into consideration, of what common concernment this work would be, (not only to the whole plantations in general, but also to all our English Nation) they endeavoured to stir up all the people in the several Colonies to make a yearly contribution toward it, which by some is observed, but by the most very much neglected; the Government hath endeavoured to grant them all the priviledges fit for a Colledg, and accordingly the Govemour and Magistrates, together with the President of the Colledg, for the time being, have a continual care of order- ing all matters for the good of the whole. This Colledg hath brought forth, and nurst up very hopeful plants, to the sup- ' Yet in 1655 the corporation and overseers declare that the building is "in a very ruinous condition . . . not fit for scholars to abide in as it is." ' John Harvard's library, which he bequeathed entire to the college, con- sisted of 260 volumes. Its catalogue, still existing, shows it to have been a good foundation. ' Misprint for Harvard. 2U2 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1036 plying some Churches here/ as the gracious and godly Mr. \\'ilson, son to the grave and zealous servant of Christ Mr. John Wilson, this young man is Pastor to the Church of Christ at Dorchester; as also Mr. Buckly, son to the reverend M. Buckly of Concord; as also a second son of his, whom our Native Country hath now at present help in the Ministery, and the otlier is over a people of Christ in one of these Col- onies, and if I mistake not, England hath I hope not only this young man of N. E. nurturing up in learning, but many more, as M. Sam. and Nathanael Mathers, Mr. Wells, Mr. Downing, Mr. Barnard, Mr. Allin, Mr. Bruster, Mr. William Ames. Mr. Jones, Another of the first fruits of this Colledg, is imployed in these Western parts in Mevis, one of the summer Islands; beside these named, some help hath been had from hence in the study of Physick, as also the godly Mr. Sam. Danforth, who hath not only studied Divinity, but also Astronomy; he put forth many Almanacks, and is now called to the office of a teaching Elder in the Church of Christ at Roxbury, who was one of the fellows of this Colledg. The number of Students is much encreased of late, so that the present year 1651. on the twelfth of the sixth moneth, ten of them took the degree of Batchelors of Art., among whom the Sea-born son of Mr. John Cotton was one; some Gentlemen \^ h ave sent the ir so ns hi ther from_England, who are to be com- mended for~theTr care oT tHerh, as tEe judicious and godly Doctor Ames, and divers others. This hath been a place certainly more free from temptations to lewdness then ordi- narily England hath been, yet if men shall presume upon this to send their most exorbitant children intending them more especially for Gods service, the Justice of God doth sometimes ' The hopeful plants mentioned Wlow nre: John Wilson of the class of 1642; John [Bulkley, 1042; and Edward Bulklcy (see p. 110, note 2); Samuel and Nathaniel Mather, Kit.i and 1047, sons of Rev. Richard, and preachers in Dublin and London, rcs[>('sl famous of them all, scout-master-general under Crom- well and ambassador under him and Charles II.; Tobias Barnard, 1642; John Allin, H'll.i; Nathaniel Brewster, 1(1 l.S; William Ames, 1045, son of the cele- brated minister at Rotterdam (of thisc four Brewster preached in Ireland, the other three in England); John Jones, 1643, who preached at Mevis or Xcvis in the West Indies (not Bermudas or Somers Lsliinds); Samuel Danforth, 1043, colleague of Eliot; and Seaborn Cotton (see p. 63). 1636] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 203 meet with them, and the means doth more harden them in their way, for of late the godly Governors of this Colledg have been forced to expell some, for fear of corrupting the Fountain, wherefore the Author would ye should mind this following verse. You that have seen these wondrous works by Sions Savior don, Expect not miracle, lest means thereby you over-run; The noble Acts Jehovah wrought, his Israel to redeem. Surely this second work of his shall far more glorious seem; Not only Egypt, but all Lands, where Antichrist doth raign. Shall from Jehovahs heavy hand ten times ten plagues sustain: Bright shining shall this Gospel come, Oh glorious King of Saints, Thy blessed breath confounds thy foes, all mortal power faints. The ratling bones together run with self-same breath that blows. Of Israels sons long dead and dry, each joynt their sinew grows. Fair flesh doth cover them, and veins (lifes fountain) takes there place. Smooth seamless coats doth cloath their flesh, and all their structure grace. The breath of Life is added, they no Antinomians are, But loving him who gives them life, more zealous are by far, To keep his Law, then formerly when righteousnesse they sought In keeping that they could not keep, which then their downfal brought. Their ceremonies vanisht are, on Christ's all their desires. Their zeal all Nations doth provoke, inkindled are loves fires: With hast on horseback, bringing home their sons and daughters, they Rejoyce to see this glorious sight, like Resurrections day; Up and be doing, you young plants, Christ calls his work unto. Polluted lips, touch'd with heav'ns fire, about this work shall go. Prostrate in prayer, parents and you young ones, on Christ call. Suppose of you he will make use, whereby that beast shall fall: So be it. Lord, thy servants say, who are at thy disposing. With outward word work inward grace, by heavenly truths dis- closing. Awake, stand up from death to life, in Christ your studies enter,' The Scriptures search, bright light bring forth, upon this hardship venter. Sound doctrine shall your lips preach out, all errors to confound v/i And rid Christ's Temple from this smoke, his glory shall abound; Precipitant doth Dagon fall, his triple head off cut. The Beast that all the world admires, by you to death is put: ' Center ? 204 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1636 Put hand to mputh, with vehement blast your silver Trumpets sound, Christ calls to mind his peoples wrongs, their foes hee'l now con- found : Be strong in God and his great might, his wondrous works do tell, You raised are unwonted ways, observe his workings well. As Jordans streams congeal'd in heaps, and Jerico's high walls With Rams horns blast, and Midians Host, with pitcher breaking falls; Like works, your faith for to confirm in these great works to come. That nothing now too hard may seem, Jehovah would have don. The rage of Seas, and hunger sharp, wants of a desart Land, Your noble hearts have overcom, what shall this work withstand? Not persecutors pride and rage, strong multitudes do fall By little handfuls of least dust, your Christ confounds them all; Not Satan and his subtil train with seeming shew reforming. Another Gospel to bring forth, brings damned errors swarming: Your selves have seen his paint washt ofiF, his hidden poysons found, Christ you provides with Antidotes, to keep his people sound: There's nought remains but conquest now, through Christ's continued power, His hardest works have honors most attend them every hour. What greater honor then on earth, Christ's Legat for to be. Attended with his glorious Saints in Church fraternity. Christ to behold adorning now his Bride in bright array, And you his friends him to attend upon his Nuptial day. With crowned heads, as Conquerors triumphant by his side; In's presence is your lasting joy, and pleasures ever bide. Mr. Henry Dunstar is now President of this Colledg, fitted from the Lord for the work, and by those that have skill that way, reported to be an able Proficient, in both Hebrew, Greek, and Latine languages, an Orthodox Preacher of the truths of Christ, very powerful through his blessing to move the affec- tion; and besides he having a good inspection into the well- ordering of things for the Students maintenance (whose com- mons hath been very short hitherto) by his frugal providence hath continued them longer at their Studies then otherwise they could have done;' and verily it's great pity such ripe ' In September, 105.3, Johnson was placed on a committee of the General Court "to examine the state of the College in all respects," the commons being particularly mentioned. For a most amusing account of the short commons before Prc.Hi. 137, note 1. 'iOs' ■'* '.-ii^ '-%'?' J^^l ._*^.. i^i'-'i* ■■ .« ii<, % «. 1^ «! <'fl ^ IP- 1642] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 213 by the balance of the Sanctuary, for assuredly they greatly desire they may be brought to the light, for great is the truth, and will prevail, yet have they their errings as well as others, but yet their imperfections may not blemish the truths of Christ; let them be glorified, and these his people will will- ingly take shame to themselves, wherein they have miscarried ; But to begin, this Town, as all others, had its bounds fixed by the General Court, to the contenese [contents] of four miles square, (beginning at the end of Charles Town bounds). The grant is to seven men of good and honest report,' upon condition, that within two year they erect houses for habita- tion thereon, and so go on to make a Town thereof, upon the Act of Court; these seven men have power to give and grant out lands unto any persons who are willing to take up their dwellings within the said precinct, and to be admitted to al common priviledges of the said Town, giving them such an ample portion, both of Medow and Upland, as their present and future stock of cattel and hands were like to improve, with eye had to others that might after come to populate the said Town; this they did without any respect of persons, yet such as were exorbitant, and of a turbulent spirit, unfit for a civil society, they would reject, till they come to mend their manners; such came not to enjoy any freehold. These seven men ordered and disposed of the streets of the Town, as might be best for improvement of the Land, and yet civil and re- ligious society maintained; to which end those that had land neerest the place for Sabbath Assembly, had a lesser quantity at home, and more farther off to improve for com, of all kinds; they refuse d_Dot men for their p overt y, hut an- \ cording to their ability were~helpful to the poorest gpytT iQ ( h i "Q building their hou ses, and distributed to them land accor^- ) IM -l-> ingly; the poore st" had~jix^ or jgyen^ a cres o f Me3ow.„and 1 twenty five of Upla nd, or the reabouts. Thus was thiis Town ^ ' In the case of Wobum it was, by exception, the Charlestown church that in November, 1640, appointed the seven men who supervised the new settlement. Johnson was one of them, and was at once chosen their recorder or town clerk. The town records (after a preliminary piece of characteristic verse, reproduced in fac-simile on the opposite page) open with a minute and interesting narrative of the surveys and other preliminaries, written by Johnson. Building probably began in 1641. 214 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1642 \- ' populated, to the number of sixty families, or thereabout, and after this manner are the Towns of New England peopled. The Rcituation of this Town is in the highest part of the yet peopled land, neere upon the head-springs of many consider- able rivers, or their branches, as the first rise of Ipswitch river, and the rise of Shashin * river, one of the most con- siderable branches of Merrimeck, as also the first rise of Mistick river and ponds, it is very full of pleasant springs, and great variety of very good water, which the Summers heat causeth to be more cooler, and the ^^'inters cold maketh more warmer; their Medows are not large, but lye in divers places to particular dwellings, the like doth their Springs; their Land is very fruitful in many places, although they have no great quantity of plain land in any one place, yet doth their Rocks and Swamps yeeld very good food for cattel ; as also they have Mast and Tar for shipping, but the distance of place by land causeth them as yet to be unprofitable; they have great store of iron ore; their meeting-house stands in a small Plain, where four streets meet; the people are verj' laborious, if not exceeding some of them. Now to declare how this people proceeded in religious matters, and so consequently all the Churches of Christ planted in New-England, when they came once to hopes of being such a competent number of people, as might be able to maintain a Minister, they then surely seated themselves, and not before, it being as unnatural for a right N. E. man to live without an able Minister}-, as for a Smith to work his iron without a fire; therefore this people that went about placing down a Town, began the foundation-stone, with / earnest seeking of the Lords assistance, by humbling of their souls before him in dales of prayer, and imploring has aid in so weighty a work, then they address themselves to attend counsel of the most Orthodox and ablest Christians, and more especially of such as the Lord had already placed in the Ministery, not rashly running together themselves into a Church, before they had hopes of attaining an Officer to preach the Word, and administer the Seals unto them, chosing rather to continue in fellowship with some other Church for their ' Shawshin or Shawsheen. 1642] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 215 Christian watch over them, till the Lord would be pleased to provide: They after some search meet with a young man named Mr. Thomas Carter, then belonging to the Church of Christ at Water-Town, a reverend godly man, apt to teach the sound and wholesome truths of Christ; having attained their desires, in hopes of his coming unto them, were they once joyned in Church-estate, he exercising his gifts of preach- ing and prayer among them in the mean time, and more especially in a day of fasting and prayer/ Thus these godly people interest their affections one with the other, both Minister and people: After this they make ready for the work, and the 24. of the 6. moneth ^ 1642. they assemble together in the morning about eight of the clock; After the reverend Mr. Syms had continued in preaching and prayer about the space of four or five houres, the persons that were to joyn in Covenant, openly and professedly before the Congregation, and messengers of divers Neighbour Churches — among whom the reverend Elder of Boston, Mr. CottiMi, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Allen of Charles-Town, Mr. Shepheard of Cambridg, Mr. Dunster of Water-Town, Mr. Knowles of Deadham, Mr. Allen of Roxbury, Mr. Eliot of Dorchester, Mr. Mather: As also it is the duty of the Magistrates (in regard of the good and peace of the civil Government) to be present, at least some one of them (not only to prevent the disturhaiue might follow in the Commonwealth by any, who under pretence of Church-Covenant, might bring in again those cursed opinions that caused such commotion in this and the other Colony, to the great dammage of the people) but also to countenance the people of God in so pious a work, that under them they may live a quiet and peaceable life, in all godliness and hon- esty; for this cause was present the honored Mr. Increase Nowel — the persons stood forth and first confessed what the Lord had done for their poor souls, by the work of his Spirit in the preaching of his Word, and Providences, one by one; and that all might know their faith in Christ was bottomed ' In April, 1642. They had first tried to engage Rev. Jonathan Burr (p. 192) as pastor, then Rev. John Miller. Thomas Carter, M.A. of St. John's College, Cambridge, 1633, came to New England in 1635. He was pastor of the Wobum church forty-two years. ' /. e., August 24. But the Wobum town records give the date as August 14. 216 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1642 upon him, as he is revealed in his Word, and that from their own knowledg, they also declare the same, according to that measure of understanding the Lord had given them; the Elders, or any other messengers there present question with them, for the better understanding of them in any points they doubt of, which being done, and all satisfied, they in the name ' of the Churches to which they do belong, hold out the right I hand of fellowship unto them, they declaring their Covenant, in words expressed in writing to this purpose. The Church-Covenant. We that do assemble our selves this day before God and his people, in an unfeigned desire to be accepted of him as a Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, according to the Rule of the New-Testament, do acknowledg our selves to be the most unworthy of all others, that we should attain such a high grace, and the most unable of our selves to the performance of any thing that is good, abhorring our selves for all our former defilements in the worship of God, and other waves, and resting only upon the Lord Jesus Christ for attonement, and upon the power of his grace for the guidance of our whole after course, do here in the name of Christ Jesus, as in the presence of the Lord, from the bottom of our hearts agree together through his grace to give up our selves, first unto the Lord Jesus as our only King, Priest and Prophet, wholly to be subject unto him in all thing, and therewith one unto another, as in a Church-Body tt) walk together in all the Ordinances of the Gospel, and in all such mutual love and offices thereof, as toward one another in the Lord; and all this, both according to the present light that the Lord hath given us, as also according to all further light, which he shall be pleased at any time to reach out unto us out of the Word by the goodness of his grace, _renouncing also in the same Covenant all errors and ScMsmes, and whatsoever by-waj-es that arc contrary to the blessed niles revealed in the Gospel, and Th particular ilie inordinate love and seekmg after the thiiigsof the world- Every Church hath not the same for words, for they are not fur a form of words. 1642] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 217 The 22. of the 9. moneth* following Mr. Thomas Carter was ordained Pastor, in presence of the like Assembly. After he had exercised in preaching and prayer the greater part of the day, two persons in the name of the Church laid their hands upon his head, and said, We ordain thee Thomas Carter to be Pastor unto this Church of Christ; then one of the Elders Priest [Present], being desired of the Church, continued in prayer unto the Lord for his more especial as- sistance of this his servant in his work, being a charge of such weighty importance, as is the glory of God and salvation of souls, that the very thought would make a man to tremble in the sense of his own inability to the work. The people having provided a dwelling house, built at the charge of the Town in general, welcomed him unto them with joy, that the Lord was pleased to give them such a blessing, that their eyes may see their Teachers. After this there wcie di\'ors added to the Church daily after this manner: _Uie_pers(3n^esirou?JtaL_ joyn with the Church, come th to the Pastor, and nt^JE's Jl'"^ acqu amted therewith, declar ing^ how the Lord hath_ been. pleased t o work his conversion, who discerning hoges ^jKp person s~faIth in Christ, aTtliougli weak, yet if aiiy ajipoarj he, is" propounded" to the" Church in genera l fur their approbation^ touching his godly life lji3^onversation, and then by the Pastor and some brethren heard again, who make, report to ^1. the Churchof their charitable approving of the person ; but before they come to joyu'witlTthe Church, all persons within the Towne have publike notice of it, then publikelv he deckr ea the manner of h is conversion, and how t tie, Lord -halk-been pleased b y the hearing^ of his Word prcach edj^ and the work ^^ of his ^iriFTn theTnward paHs" of his s oul, to bring limi out of that natural darkness., which all me"n" are ^nature in and under, as also the measure of knowledg the Lord hath been pleased to indue him withal. And because some men cannot speak publikely to edification through bashfulness, the less is required of such, and women speak not publikely at all, for all that is desired, is lo preyenFTHe" polluting the ble gs^ ' November 22. The ordination of Carter was famous, and by Winthrop (II. 88) was censured because its central ceremony, the imposition of hunds, was performed by lay members of the church (one of them doubtless Johnson himself), Congregational custom requiring that this should be performed by some of the elders or ministers present. 218 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1642 Ordinances of (-luist by suc h as walk scandalousl )-^ and that men iuid women do not 'cat and drink their own condemna- tion, in not discerning the Lords body. After this manner were many added to this Church of Christ, and those 7. that joyned in Church- fellowship at first, are now encreased to 74. persons, or therabout; of which, according to their own confession, as is supposed, the greater j)art haying been con- veited by the preaching of the Word in_N'."E7 by wHicB"'maj jJL,. appear the powerful efficacy of the worS^ of Christ~m"the "^ mouth oTTiis Ministers^ and that this way oTChrTst in joyning together Tii Cliurcli-Cfjvenant, is not only for building up of souls in Christ, but also for converting of sinners, and bring- ing them out of the natural condition to be ingrafted into Christ, for if this one Church have so many, then assuredly there must be a great number comparatively throughout all the Churches in the Country. After this maimer have the Churches of Christ had their beginning and progress hitherto; the Lord continue and encrease them the world throughout. The Pastor of this Church hath much encreased with the encreasings of Christ Jesus, of whose labours in the Lord as followeth. Carter, Christ hath his waves thee taught, and them [thou] Hast not with-held his \Vord, but unto all With's word of power dost cause stout souls to bow, And meek as Lambs before tliy Christ to fall: The antient truths, plain paths, they fit thee best, Thy humble heart all iiaughty acts puts by, The lowly heart, Christ learns his lovely best, Thy meekness shews thy Christ to thee is nigh; Yet must thou shew Christ makes his bold to be As Lions, that none may his truUis tread down, Pastoral power he hath invested thee With, it maintain, least he on thee do frown: Thy youth thou hast in tliis Xew-Enphuul spent, I''iill sixteen years (o water, plant, and prune Trees taken up, and for that end here sent; Thy end's with Christ, wilii's Saints his praises tune. This year the General Court made an order about pre- paring houses for Sail -peter, that there might be powder made in the Country, but as yet it hath not gone on. 1643] OF SIOXS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 219 Chap. XXIII. Of the uniting of the four English Colonies in N. E. and the battel fought between the Narragansets, and Mawhiggins. The yeare 1643, the honored John Winthrop Esquire was chosen Governor again, and John Endicut Esquire Deputy Governour; the freemen added were about 87.* this year. The four Colonies, the Mattachusets, PHmoth, Canectico, and New-haven, taking into consideration the many Nations of Dutch, Zewes,' and French, that were on either side of them; as also how apt they were to lay claim to lands they never had any right unto, but only a paper possession of their own fra min g; and further, that the inhumane and barbarous Ind- ians would be continually quarrelling and contending, could they see any hopes of prevailing, together with the contestion begun in our Native country, and withal, that although providence had cast them into four several Colonies, yet Religion had already united them, coming over all for one and the same end. Hereupon by Commissioners sent from the several colonies, they concluded a firm confederation to y assist each other in all just and lawful war, bearing an equal ^ proportion in the charge, according to the number of persons inhabiting each colony; but herein the Mattachusct had the worst end of the staff, in bearing as much, or more charge, then all the other three, and yet no greater number of Com- missioners to negotiate and judg in transacting of affairs concerning peace and war, then the least of the other, and any one of the other as likely to involve them in a chargeable war with the naked Natives, that have neither plunder nor cash to bear the charge of it, nay hitherto the most hath risen from the lesser colonies, yet are the Mattachusets far from deserting them, esteeming them highly, so long as their Governments maintain the same purity in Religion with them- selves, for indeed this is that they have spent their whole travel for, and therefore if Plimoth, or any of the other shall ' Read 78. ' Read Swedes. For the text of the famous New England Confederation of 1643, see Bradford, in this series, pp. 3S2-38S, or Winthrop, II. 100-105. 220 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1643 draw back herein, the cliiefest end of their confederacy would be lost; for should it come to pass that (in venturing their persons and estates so far for purity in the Ordinances and Discipline of Christ) they should lose the purity in doctrine, all their cost and labour were lost. This confederacy being finished, there came in certain Indian Hachims, and submitted to the Englisii (l()\'ernment, as Pomham, and Soccananocoh to the Mattachusets; also Miantonemo and Uncas; but be- tween these two latter Princes arose a vcr}- hot quarrel, the English se(>king by all means to quench it, but could not, it being, as is supposed, fomented by a small company of vaca- bond English, who were then for their crimes banished from their own complices at Rhode Island, the Ringleader of them being one Samuel Gorton, by whose mean they were drawn into damnable errors.' These Gortonists, as is said, lent Miantonenemo a Corslet for safeguard of his own person in the following fight, and he promised each of them a ]\Iaw- chiggin ^ papoose, which was the people Uncas was Prince of. For although Miantonemo were the more potent Prince by far, and a very austere man, yet did he chuse rather to take Uncasses life away by treachery if he could; and to that end hired a young man of the Pegod Nation to murther him, as is supposed, for in an evening, when it was veiy neer dark, this Sachim passing without any of his Retinue from one wigwam to another, was suddainly shot through the arm with an arrow, seeing not whence it came; but yet recovering the Palace he was passing unto, without receiving any more shot, he had the arrow drawn forth, and the wound cured in a short time after; the young man, who was suspected to have done the fact, having great store of Wampumpeage about this time, being questioned how he came by it, could give no good accompt, which encreased the suspition the more, that he had received it as hire from Miantonemo for this fact; ' Samuel Gorton hud come to Plymouth in 163C, to Aquidneck in 1639, to Providence (Pawtuxct) in 1G41, cvcrywhcn' becoming involved in controversy, and in 1043 to Shnwomet (now Wiirwiik, R. I.), where, on land bought from Miantonomoh, ln' and his followers made their final settlement. Heretical in religion, insubordiiiiito and contentious in disposition, they were a thorn in the side of Mas.siichusctis, and were finally suppressed in the high-handed manner desirihcd in the next chapter. ' Mohcgaii. 1643] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 221 and hereupon the young man fled unto him, which caused Uncas to complain to the English, who having the hearing of the case at a General Court holden at Boston, at the same time Miantonemo coming thither with his attendance, and sending one of his Councellors to follow the matter in hand, the 3'oung man was examined in presence of Miantonemo; being, as is supposed, tutored by him, he told this tale, that while he was in Uncasses Court, on a day travelling alone by a thick swamp, Uncas call'd him out of the swamp, charging him to be true to him, in declaring to the English what he required to him, which was, that he should say he had been hired of Miantonemo to kill him, and to make his matter good, quoth the young man, he then cut his arm on the top and underneath with the flint of his Gun, to make men think he had beene shot through with an arrow. This tale made the English more to suspect Miantonemo then before; and there- fore desired to examine the young man alone, which he was very unwilling they should do; but upon further examina- tion alone, they did verily believe this joung man had done the fact, yet for present they let him depart with Miantonemo, advising him to send him home to Uncas, but by the way he, instead of returning him home, cut off his head, and forth- with gathered an army of about a thousand men to fight with Uncas, who feared not to meet him in the field with half the number; the battel being come within shot one of another, with a great hubbub they let their long shafts fly one at another, and after came to a close with other weapons, till the Narrowgansets multitude being sorely distressed by the Mawhiggins valour, they began to cry out W'ammeck,' which is to say, enough. Uncas like a stout commander, with others of his bloud-royal that were about him, sought to perfect his victory, by possessing himself with the person of their Prince, which he effected, by putting his Life-guard to flight, and taking hold on the Sachim himself, carried him victoriously away to the Town of Hartford, neer the which he kept his residence at this time, and then made the English acquainted there with his noble design, and desired to have the axlvise of the united colonies what to do with his prisoner; the Nar- ' Wood gives the word as waivmoU. 222 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1643 row^ansets sought to ransom him home, being much abashed, that so mean a Prince as Uncus was should scape scotfree with such a victory; but the honored Commissioners have had proof of Miantonemo's treachery, both toward this Prince that had him in possession, and toward the English in falsifying his promise with them; they advised Uncas to put him to death, but withal), that lie should forbear to exer- cise any barbarous cruelty toward him, as their manner is, and by this means the English prevented another war, both with English and Indians, which was very neer joyning in battel. Not many years after,' the Indian Sachim upon this advise, caused Miantonemo to be led forth, as if he would remove him to a more safer place of custody, and by the way caused him to be executed; the Indians, his kindred and sub- jects, were much grieved at his death, yet took it quieth' at present, but the lesser Princes, his Neighbours, rather re- joyced, he having tyrannized over them, and enforced them to subject to his will, right or wrong. Chap. XXIV. Of the proceeding of certain persons called Gortonists, against the united Colonies, and more especially against the Matta- chuseis, and of the blasphemous doctrines broached by Gor- ton, deluding a company of poor ignorant people therewith.* For not long before, those persons that we spake of, who incouraged Miantonemo to this war, and with the help of him enforced Pomham and Socananocho to sot their hands to a writing which these Gortonists had framed, to take their land from them; but the poor Sachcnis, when they saw they ' Only a few weeks after. The sachem of the Narragansetts was one of the nobler sort of savages, and his fate hn.s coinmaiKled frequent sympathy. ' One would not learn from Johnson that the "harrying of the Gortonists" was one of the most discreditable e[)isiMl(s of early Mas.sachusetts history. Pum- ham ;ind SixananiKo were siiviipes of the Imser sort, and the Kiiu'lish neighbors of Gorton mentioned b<-low were selfish schemers trying to get his lands, but the government of Ma.ssaehusi'tls lent itself to their ni.iehin.ntions, and, extending its jurisdiction unwarrantably over the Shinvoniet n>gion, drove out the heretics with great harshness and illegal cruelly. 1643] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 223 were thus gull'd of their land, would take no pay for it, but complained to the Mattachusets Government, to whom they had subjected themselves and their lands: As also at this time certain English inhabiting those parts, with the Indians good leave and liking, desired to have the benefit of the Mattachusets Government, as Dover formerly had done, to whom this Government condescended, in hope they might encrease to such a competent number of godly Christians, as that there might be a Church of Christ planted, the place being capable to entertain them in a comfortable measure for outward accommodation, but hitherto it hath been hin- dred by these Gortonists, and one of Plimoth who forbad our people to plant there: These person[s] thus submitting, came at this time also to complain of certain wrongs done them by these Gortonists, who had thus incroached, and began to build on the Indians land; upon these complaints, the Gover- nor and the honored Mr. Dudly issue forth their \^'arrant, to summon them to appear, they being then about five or six persons, without any means for instructing them in the wayes of God, and without any civil Government to keep them in civility or humanity, which made them to cast off most proudly and disdainfully any giving accompt to man of their actions, no not to the chiefest in authority, but returned back most insolent, scornful, scurrilous speeches. After this, the Government of the Mattachusets sent two messengers on pur- pose to perswade them to come and have their cause heard, assuring them like justice in their cause with any other; but Samuel Gorton being the ring-leader of the rout, was so full gorged with dreadful and damnable errors, (the which he had newly insnared these poor souls with) that soon after the departure of the messenger, he layes aside all civil justice, and instead of returning answer to the matter in hand, he vomits up a whole paper' full of beastly stuff, one while scoffing and deriding the ignorance of all beside himself, that think Abra- ham, Isaac, etc., could be saved by Christ Jesus, who was after bom of the Virgin Mary, another while mocking at the Sacra- ments of Baptism and the Lords Supper, in an opprobrious manner, deriding at the Elements Christ was pleased to in- ' The paper is preserved in Gorton's strange book entitled Simplicities Defence against Seven-Headed Policie (London, 1646). v/ 221 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1643 stitute them in, and calling them Negromancers that admin- ister them at all ; and in a word, all the Ordinances of the Gos- pel abominable Idolatry he called, and likened them to Molock, and the Star of the Idol Rempham; ' his paper was thrust full of such filthiness, that no Christian ear could hear them without indignation against them, and all was done by him in a very scornful and deriding manner, upbraiding all that use them; in the mean time magnifying his own glorious light, i ' that could see himself to be personally Christ, God-Man, and so all others that would believe as he did. This paper he got to be subscribed, with about twelve or thirteen hands, his number of Disciples being encreased, for assuredly the man had a very glosing tongue, but yet very deceitful, for when he had but a few with him, then he cried out against all such as would rule over their own species, affirming, that the Scrip- ture termeth such to be Gods of the world, or divels; but after his return from England, having received some incour- agement from such as could not look into the depth of his deceits, being done at so large a distance, he getting into favour again with those, who had formerly whipt him out of their company, turns divel himself. The godly Governors of the Mattachusets seeing this blasphemous Bull of his, re- solved to send forty persons* well-appointed with weapons of war for apprehending of him, who accordingly, with some waiting, did apprehend him and the rest of his company, except two or three which ran awaj', without any hurt to any person, although he gave out very big words, threatning them with bloud and death so soon as they set foot on the ground, and yet this brazenfac'd deceiver published in print the great fear their women were put unto by the souldiers, whereas they came among them day by day, and had it not been that they intended peaceably to take them, they would never have waitcxl so long upon their worships as they did, but being apprehended, and standing to that they had \\Titten (yet would Ihey willingly have covered it with some shifts if they could) the greatest punishment they had, was to be con- fin'd to certain Towns for a few moneths, and afterward ban- ' Acts vii. t:{. ' Three commissioners were at (he hend of the party, and our author was one of the three. They cairied out their instructions with great severity. 1644] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 225 (ished; but to be sure there be them in N. E. that have Christ Jesus and his blessed Ordinances in such esteem, that the ^ If Lord assisting, they had rather lose their Hves, then suffer them to be thus blasphemed if they can help it ; and whereas some have favoured them, and endeavoured to bring under blame such as have been zealous against their abominable doctrines, the good God be favourable unto them, and pre- vent them from coming under the like blame with Ahab, yet they remain in their old way, and there's somewhat to be con- sidered in it to be sure, that in these dales, when all look for the fall of Antichrist, such detestable doctrines should be upheld, and persons suffered, that exceed the Beast himself for blasphemy, and this to be done by those that would be counted Reformers, and such as seek the utter subversion of Antichrist. To end this year, or rather at the beginning of it, the Lord caused another Earthquake, much less then the former, it was on the fifth of the first moneth called March' in the morning. Chap. XXV. Of the planting the twenty fourth Church of Christ at the Town of Reudding, and the twenty fifth Church of Christ in the Mattachusets Government, called Wenham. This year was chosen to the place of Governor John Endi- cut Esquire, and John Winthrope Esquire Deputy Govemour; the number of freemen added about 145. this year.* The Town of Readding had her foundation stone laid about this time.' This and the Town of Wooburn were like the twins in the womb of Tamar, Readding thrusting forth the hand first, but Wooburn came first to the birth.^ This Town is well watered, and scituate about a great pond, be- sides it hath two mills, the one a Saw-mill, the other a Corn- mill, which stand on two several streams; it hath not been so fruitful for children as her Sister hath, her habitation is fallen in the very center of the country; they are well stocked ' I. e., March 5, 1644. • In fact, 46. » Really, in 1645. * Genesis xxxviii. 28-30. 226 WONDEIl-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1644 with cattc'l, for the number of people they have. They gathered into a church, and ordained a Pastor from among themselves at the same time, a young man of good abilities to preach the Word, and of a very humble behaviour, named Mr. Green. He having finished his course, departed this life not long after, whose labours arc with the Lord; after him succeeded in the place one Mr. Hoph, a young man, one of the first fruits of N. E. a man studious to promote the truths of Christ; they are both remembred in this following verse.' On earths bed thou at noon hast laid thy head; You for that [that for] Christ (as Green) here toy! have taken. When nature fails, then rest it in earths dead, Till Christ by's word with glory thee awaken. Young Hoph thou must be second to this man. In field incounter, with Christ's foes shalt thou Stand up, and take his bright sword in thy hand. Error cut down, and make stout stomacks bow; Green's gone before, thy warfare's now begun, And last it may to see Romes Babel fall; By weakest means Christ mighty works hath done. Keep footing fast, till Christ thee hence do call. The next Town and church of Christ planted in this colony, was between Salem and Ipswitch. Salem the eldest of all the Sisters was very helpful to this her little Sister, nourish- ing her up in her own bosom, till she came of age, being bene- ficial to her besides, in giving her a good portion of Land; this Town is called Wenham, and is very well watered, as most in-land Towns are. The people live altogether upon husbandry, New England having train'd up great store to this occupation; they are encroased in cattcl, and most of them live very well, yet are they no great company; they were some good space of time there before thoy gathered into a Church-body. The godly and reverend Mr. John Fisk went tliither with thom, at first setting down as a planter among them, yet w'thal he became helpful in preaching the Word unto them, when tlicy were but a few in number; 'The Rending; church was orftiinized in iri-l"). Henry Green died in 164S, and was sucrciclcd liy Siinmel lloufjh, who, as .lohnson's phrase imphcs, was one of the earliest studcnt.s at Harvard C\)llcf;c, but was not graduated. 1644-1651] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 227 they afterward call'd him to the office of a Pastor, with whom he now remains, labouring in the Word and Doctrine, with great industry,' of whom it may be thus said: To wade through toyl of Wilderness, thou hast Doubled thy work, thy wages treble are; Christ hath thee call'd and in his vineyard plac't, He'l bear thee up above all fainting far. Sions strong Mount must now again be built, Thy faith, oh Fisk, the Lord hath holpen much; With dreadful sighs the Prelats power hath split, All pride he'l stain by his almighty touch. His truths unstain'd by liberty keep thou. To please the most, authority must fall, What Christ hath given, it safely keep with you, Till he to thee for thine accompt do call. Chap. XXVI. 0/ the military affairs, the forts of Boston, and Charles[tonm], the Castle erected anew by the six neerest Toinu, with the manner of pvMing the Country in a posture of war, to be ready upon all occasions. These souldiers of Christ Jesus, having made a fair re- treat from their Native country hither, and now being come to a convenient station, resolved to stand it out (the Lord assisting) against all such as should come to rob them of their priviledges, which the Lord Christ had purchased for them at a very high rate, and now out of the riches of his grace was minded to give them, yet would he have them follow him into this Wilderness for it: although the chiefest workjof_tlifisg select bands of Christ, was to m ind their spiritual warfare, yet~tEey knew right well the TfiiOE lc was sur rounded with walls and ^ulw orks^ and the people of God i n rer^difying the sam e, ch J prepa re to resist their enemi es with w eapons of war, even' whilg. tney co ntmu eH building. " This~peopTe no "less SITigent to make use of such means as the Lord afforded them, * Rev. John Fiske and most of the Wenham church removed bodily to Chelmsford in 1655. 228 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1644-1651 ordered and decreed, That all the souldiers belonging to the 26. bands in the Mattachusets Government, should be exer- cised and drill'd (sight daies in a yeare, and whosoever should absent himself, except it were upon unavoidable occasion, should pay 5 s. for every daies neglect; there are none ex- empt, unless it be a few timerous persons that are apt to plead infirmity, if the Church chuse them not for Deacons, or they cannot get to serve some Magistrate or Minister; ' but assuredly the generality of this people are very forw ard for feats ofwar, and manyhave spent their time and estat es fo further this work; the Town of Boston "Kth'al^orded many "active, Charles-Town hath not been inferiour, unless it be in number. This year the Court appointed certain persons to spend their skill in putting the people possessing this deso- late desart in a ready posture of drawing their forces together, upon any suddain accident that might befall them, to man- nage, guide, order, and direct all things, as may be best for the good of the whole, they being a poor and mean people, laboured to avoid high titles, yet order they knew was neces- sary, therefore ordained they only one General Officer in time of war, under the name of Major General;^ the Governor and Magistrates for the time being are the standing Councel for peace or war, and either they or the General Court may ap- point any to the office of a General; the first Major-General was the much honored Tho. Dudly Esquire, whose faithfulness and great zeal and love to the truths of Christ, caused the people to chuse him to this office, although he were far stricken ' Act of November, 1647, decreeing eight days for training. "All majes- trates, deputies, officers of Court, elders and deacons, tlie president, ffellowcs, students, and officers of Harvard CoUedge, and all proffessed schoole masters al- lowed by any two majcstrates, the treasurer, auditor gene", surv'eior gennerall of the armes, publick notaries, phisitions, chirurgeons allowed by any two majes- trates, masters of shipps, and other vessells above twenty tunns, millers and con- stant heardsmen, and such other as shall by any Court be dischardged, either for bodily infirmity or other reasonable cause, shall be exempt from ordinary trayn- ings, watchings, and wardings, but not their sonns or scr\'ants, save one sor\-ant of every majestrate allowed exemption." Johnson glances humorously at the casii-st means of escape. ' "Avoiding high titles," they called the commander of each of their regiments not colonel but sergeant-major, and then gave to their commander-in-chief the title of sergeant-major-general (/. f., general sergeant-major), whence major- general. 1644-1651] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 229 in years; * the Government is divided into four Counties, which to shew, they would their posterity should mind whence they came, they have named, Suffolk, Middlesex, Essex, and Northfolk, each containing a Regiment, over whom the chief Commander is only a Serjeant-Major; the first chosen to this office over the Regiment of Suffolk, was Major Edw. Gibbons, who hath now the office of Major-General also, he is a man of ^.-resolute spiri t, bold as a Lion, being wholly tutor'd up in ^N^E. Disciplm5> very generous, and forward to promote all military matters; his Forts are well contrived, and batteries strong, and in good repair, his great Artillery well mounted, and cleanly kept, half Canon, Culverins and Sakers,' as also field-pieces of brass very ready for service, his own company ' led by Capt. Lieutenant Sarag, are very compleat in their arms, and many of them disciplin'd in the military garden* beside their ordinary trainings; the Captains under him, are Capt. Humphry Atherton, of the Band of Dorchester; a very lively couragious man, with his stout and valiant Lieutenant Clapes, strong for the truth; of the Band of Roxbury, Capt. Prichard, and Ensign Johnson; of the Band of Waymoth, Capt. Perkins, and his proper and active Lieutenant Torry; of the Band of Hingham, Capt. Bozoan Allen; of the Band of Deadham, Capt. Eliazer Lusher, one of a nimble and active spirit, strongly affected to the ways of truth; of the Band of Braintree, Capt. William Tinge, these belong to the Regiment of Suffolk; the first Serjeant-Major chosen to order the Regi- • The oflBce of sergeant-major-general was provided for in 1643; Dudley was elected to it in 1644, being then sixty-seven years of age. Of the names which follow, several have already appeared in Johnson's enumeration of conspicuous deputies, in bk. i., ch. XLV. Comment on them is in most cases not requisite, except to correct misspellings: read Savage for Sarag, Clap for Claf)es, Jennison for Jenings, Gookin for Goggin, Greenleaf for Greenlife. Of the three ser- geants-major, Gibbons (see p. 64, note 2) became major-general in 1G49; for Sedgwick, see p. 212, note 3; Denison was major-general after Atherton, 1661-1682. ' Culverins were about equivalent to fifteen or eighteen-pounders; sakers to five or six-j)ounders. ' In the military organization of the seventeenth century, the theory was that the colonel, or sergeant-major, commanding a regiment was also captain of its senior company. Hence the ofl5cer who actually led that company was, by title, only captain-lieutenant of it. * Garden in the sense of training-ground. So in "Artillery garden," below. 230 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1644-1651 ment of Essex,' was Major Robert Sedgwick, stout and active in all feats of war, nurst up in Londons Artillery garden, and furthered with fifteen years experience in N. E. exact theory, besides the help of a very good head-piece, being a frequent instructor of the most martial troops of our Artillery men; and although Charles Town, (which is the place of his own companies residence) do not advantage such o're-topping batteries as Boston doth, yet hath he erected his to very good purpose, insomuch that all shipping that comes in, either to Boston or Charles-Town, must needs face it all the time of their coming in; the cost he hath been at, in helping on the Discipline of his Regiment hath profited much; his own com- pany are led by the faithful Capt. Lieutenant Francis Norton, (a man of a bold and cheerful spirit) being well disciplin'd and an able man; the companies under his service have not all Captains at present, Water-Town Band was led by Capt. Jenings, who is supposed to be now in England, his Lieutenant remains Hugh Mason; the band of Cambridg led by Capt. George Cook, now Colonel Cook in the wars of Ireland, but now led by Capt. Daniel Gookin, a very forward man to ad- vance Marshal discipline, and withal the truths of Christ; the Band of Concord led by Capt. Simon ^^'illa^d, being a Kentish souldier, as is Capt. Goggin; the Band of Sudbur\' lately led by Capt. Pelham, who is in England at present, his Lieutenant remains, Edm. Goodinow; the band of Wooburn led by another Kentish Captain;' the Band of Reading led by Lieutenant Walker; the Band of Maiden, being as yet a young Town, who have not chosen their Officers, are led by Mr. Joseph Hill. These belong to the Regiment of Middlesex; the two Counties of Essex and Northfolk are for present jojmed in one Regiment, their first Major, who now commandeth this Regiment, is the proper and valiant Major Daniel Denison, a good souldier, and of a quick cajiacity, not inferiour to any other of these chief Officers; his own company are well in- structed in feats of warlike activity, his Capt. Lieutenant departed this life some few years since, a godly and faithful man, which is indeed the fountain of true validity, named Mr. Whiting[h]am; the Band of Salem led by the bold and ' Middlesex. • Johnson himself. 1644-1651] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 231 worthy Capt. William Hauthorn, a man of an undaunted courage, with his Lieutenant Lothrope; the Band of Lyn led by the honored and much respected Capt. Robert Bridges, who is also a Magistrate, being endued with able parts, and forward to improve them ' for the glory of God and his peoples good; the Band of Nuberry led by Capt. Gerish, with his antient and experienced Lieutenant Greenlife; the Band of Rowly led by Capt. Brigham; the Bands of Glocester, Wenham and Andover, have not yet made choice of Superiour Officers, being in their minority; these are the Bands of the Regiment of Essex, to the which are joyned the three Bands of the County of Northfolk, Salsbury, Hampton, and Haverhil. There are none chosen to office in any of these Bands, but such as are freemen supposed to be men indued with faith in Christ Jesus, wherefore let all that truly love the Lord Christ say with Deborah, My heart is toward the Governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people.' Their Officers are chosen by the major Vote of the souldiers, being installed into their place by the Major of their Regiment. There are of late a very gallant horse-troop listed, it being a frequent thing with the Officers of the foot companies, to turn Troopers (when their own Regiment is not in exercise) for incouragement of others. The Regiments are exercised once a year by tumes; they are also very observant to keep their armes in good order; each souldier is to keep constantly by him powder, bullet, and match, besides every Town is injoyned y/^ to have a common stock in like manner, as also the country have their ammunition exactly looked unto, by Surveyor General Johnson," one very well qualified for the work, ready at all times to put the General Court in mind of keeping their store renued by fresh supply, and to say right, some particu- lar persons may be penurious in laying out their estates upon ammunition, but the general of Officers and souldiers are very generous that way; the reverend Doctor Wilson gave bounti- fully for the furthering this Wilderness-work, the which was » /. «., to make use of them. ' Judges v. 9. ' John Johnson of Roxbury, at whose death in 1669 our Captain Edward Johnson was appointed his successor; the_y are not known to have been related. The duty of the office was to care for the arms, ordnance, ammunition, and mili- tary stores of the colony. 232 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1644-1051 expended upon great Artillery, his gift being a thousand pound. Beside, many persons that came over, the Lord was pleased to indow with a large portion of the things of this life, who were not backward liberally to dispose of it, to pro- cure means of defence, and to that end there was a castle built on an Island, upon the passage into the Mattachu[setts] Bay, wholly built at first by the country in general, but by reason the country affords no Lime, but what is burnt of Oyster-shels, it fell to decay in a few years after, which made many of the Towns that lay out of the defence thereof to desert it, although their safety (under God) was much involved in the constant repair and well-mannaging thereof; hereupon the next six Towns take upon them to rebuild it at their proper cost and charges, the rest of the country upon the finishing thereof gave them a small matter toward it; ' upon this there was a Captain ordained, and put in possession thereof by the country, having a yearly Stipend allowed him for himself and his souldiers, which he is to keep in a con- stant readiness upon the Island, being about eight acres of ground; the Castle is built on the North-East of the Island, upon a rising hill, very advantageous to make many shot at such ships as shall offer to enter the Harbor without their good leave and Uking. The Commander of it is one Captain Davenport, a man approved for his faithfulness, courage and skill, the Master Canoneer is an active Ingineer also; this Castle hath cost about four thousand pounds, yet are not this poor pilgrim people weary of maintaining it in good repair; it is of very good use to awe any insolent persons, that putting confidence in their ship and sails, shall offer any injury to the people, or contemn the Government. They have certain signals of alarums, which suddainly spread through the whole country; were there but one Town more erected in this Government, which were one and thirty, it would joyn all the Towns in the same neighbourly together, excepting Spring- field. Thus are these people with great diligence provided for these dales of war, hoping the day is at hand wherein the Lord will give Antichrist the double of all her doings, and therefore they have nursed up in their Artilleiy garden some ' The first fortifying of ("iistlo Island was Ix-gun in 1634, the ordnance re- moved in 1638, the second fortifying, liy the six towns, begun in 1643. 1644-1651] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 233 who have since been used, as instruments to begin the work; but that which gives the greatest hope concerning this par- ticular, is this, that these times afford more souldiers depend- ing on the Lord Christ through faith for dehverance and true valour, then any age since Antichrist began to fall, without which, all these preparations were but as so many traps and snares to catch a people in, and to the which these Com- manders and souldiers are daily exhorted, and therefore let all people know that desire the downfal of New-England, y they are not to war against a people only exercised in feats of v^ war, but men who are experienced in the deliverances of the Lord from the mouth of the Lion, and the paw of the Bear; and now woe be to you, when the same God that directed the stone to the forehead of the Philistine, guides every bullet that is shot at you, it matters not for the whole rabble of Antichrist on your side, the God of Armies is for us a refuge high. Shda. WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE OF SIONS SAVIOUR IN NEW-ENGLAND. Book III. CONTAINING THE PASSAGES OF GODS PROVIDENCE TOWARD THIS WANDERING RACE OF JAACOBITES IN THESE LATTER SEVEN YEARS, FROM THE YEAR 1645. TILL TOWARD THE LATTER END OF 51. Chap. I. Of planting the twenty sixth Church of Christ at the Town of Haverhil, and of preparation for a second war with the Indians. This year that antient, honored and trusty souldier of the truth, Thorn. Dudly Esquire was chosen Governor, and the honored John Winthrop Esquire was chosen Deputy Governor, John Endicut Esquire to the office of Major-General. You have heard in the former book of the fortifying of the Castle, and placing a Captain therein, which was not finished till this year; the number of freemen added was 56.' The Town of Haverhil was built much about this time, lying higher up then Salisbury, upon the fair and large river of Merrimeck: the people are wholly bent to improve their labour in tilling the earth, and keeping of cattcl, whose j-early encrease incourages them to spend thoir days in those remote j parts. The constant penetrating farther into tliis ^^''iIdemess, j hath caused the wild and uncouth woods to be fil'd with fre- (]uented W!i}'os, and the large rivere to be over-laid with ! Bridges passcable, both for hoi"se and foot ; this Town is of a I large extent, supposed to be ten miles in length, there being an over-wcaning desire in most men after Medow land, which ' Properly 79. 2;i4 1645] WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE 235 hath caused many towns to grasp more into their hands then they could afterward possibly hold; the people are laborious in the gaining the goods of this life, 'yet are they not unmind- ful also of the chief end of their coming hither, namely, to be made partakers of the blessed Ordinances of Christ, that their souls might be refreshed with the continual income of his rich grace, to which end they gathered into a Church-body, and called to office the reverend M. Ward,* son to the former named M. Ward of Ipswitch. With mind resolv'd run out thy race at length, Young Ward, begin whereas thy father left, Left hath he not, but breaths for further strength, Nor thou, nor he, are yet of hope bereft: Fruit of thy labours thou shalt see so much, The righteous shall hear of it and rejoyce; When Babel falls by Christ's almighty touch, All's folk shall praise him with a cheerful voice. They prosper shall that Sions building mind, Then Ward cease not with toyl her stones to lay. For great is he thee to this work assign'd, ^Vhose pleasure is, heavens Crown shall be thy pay. This year, although divers Indian Sachems not long before had desired to subject themselves and lands unto this Govern- ment, yet the sons of old Canonicus,^ having not inherited their fathers prudence with his subjects and land, fell to hot con- tention with their own neighbours and native inhabitants, although they were forbidden by the united Colonies, and prosecuted ' so, that they would not stick to wage war with the English also, which the Commissioners perceiving, they raised an Army of horse and foot out of the Colonies, and appointed as Commander in chief over them Major-General Edward Gibbons; the reverend Mr. Tompson, one of the 'Rev. John Ward, son of Nathaniel Ward, the "Simple Cobler of Agga- wam," was bom at Haverhill in England, in which town his grandfather John Ward was rector, and after which our Haverhill was named, in compliment to the pastor. He was of Emmanuel Ccillege, Cambridge. • Canonicus did not die till 1647. The leaders in these machinations of 1645, here spoken of as his sons and heirs, were doubtless his son Mixan or Mexanino, and his nephew Pessacus, brother of Miantonomoh. ' Proceeded. 2:iC. WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1645 Elders of the Church at Braintree, was to accompany them, and to preach the Word of God unto them, during the time of the war; but the Indians hearing of this preparation against tlu'in, sent a certain number of their chief Nobihty to treat with the Commissioners of the united Colonies about a peace, who then sitting at Boston gave them audience. The Indians coming into their presence, could speak no more English, but peace, peace; the English were very desirous of an oppor- tunity to shew them mercy, and yet would they should not despise them, in gaining it upon such easie terms, as might cause them to move war again, and therefore allotted them to pay some part of the charge of the war intended, and there- fore appointed them to give four of their sons for hostages till they had wholly paid it; the Indians gladly accepted of the terms, and accordingly brought their children. Here the Reader should be minded of the admirable acts of the Lord Christ in awing these multitudes of Heathens, for they were the most populous of any that are in these parts; but it is reserved for another place in this history, the Indians being slow in their performance, had their hostages returned home before the W^apom ' was paid, yet their two Princes Pesicus and Mexanimo, did upon the sending certain armed men to demand the remainder, send the sum demanded. Chap. II. Of the planting of the twenty seventh Church of Christ at the Town called Springfield, and of the earnest seeking the Lord by all the Churches of A^ E. for his gracious assistance in the work of Reformation. About this time one Mr. Pinchin, sometime a Magistrate,* having out of desire to bettor his estate, by trading with the Indians, setlcd himself very remote from all the Churches of Christ in the Mattachusets Government, upon the river of ' Wampum. ' William Pynchon, founder of Roxbury and Springfield, came from Spring- field in I'',sscx, England. He was one of those named as the first assistants in the pntont of Massachusetts. 1645] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 237 Canectico, yet under their Government,' he having some godly persons resorting unto him, they there erected a Town and Church of Christ, calUng it Springfield; it lying upon this large navigable river, hath the benefit of transporting their goods by water, and also fitly seated for a Bever trade with the Indians, till the Merchants encreased so many, that it became little worth, by reason of their out-buying one another, which hath caused them to live upon husbandry; this Town is mostly built along the river side, and upon some little rivelets of the same. There hath of late been more then one or two in this Town greatly suspected of witchcraft, yet have they used much diligence, both for the finding them out, and for the Lords assisting them against their witchery, yet have they, as is supposed, bewitched not a few persons, among whom two of the reverend Elders children.* These people inhabiting this Town having gathered into a Church-body, called to the oflBce of a Pastor the reverend M. Moxon, who remainethwith them at this very day, of whom as foUoweth. As thou with strong and able parts art made, Thy person stout with toyl and labour shall With help of Christ through difficulties wade; Then spend for him, spare not thy self at all. When errors crowd close to thy self and friends,' Take up truths sword, trifle not time, for why, Christ call'd his people hither for these ends, To tell the world that Babels fall is nigh; And that his Churches through the world shall spread, Maugre the might of wicked men and devils, Then Moxon thou need'st not at all to dread, But be aveng'd on Satan for his evils, Thy Lord Christ will under thy feet him tread. This year th e_^rgat . traiihl,e.s Jil our, natjyfi . cnunto.-Cn- creaseing, and that hearing [hearing that] prophane Esau had ' At first, 1636-1641, this remote frontier settlement had been regarded as under the jurisdiction of Connecticut rather than of Massachusetts. ' Perhaps the earliest serious manifestation of the witchcraft delusion in New England. * This is probably a gentle reference to Pynchon's heretical book, The Meri- torious Price of Our Redemption (London, 1650). It was condemned by the magis- trates to be burned by the hangman, and Pynchon and Moxon soon after went back to England. 238 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1645 mustered up all the Bands he could make to come against his brother Jacob, these wandering race of Jacobites deemed it now high time to implore the Lord for his especial aid in this time of their deepest distress, and the rather being incour- aged hereunto from former deliverances and wonderful mercies received, the which they now presented before the Lord with the several branches and inlarged bounties thereof to refresh their frozen affections, and move a melting heart in their barren brests, that began to dry up with a lazy lethargy, and therefore thrusting themselves on to the work by the loving invitation of that godly Government the Lord in his mercy had peaceably placed among them, each Church in their own proper place meeting together in dales of solemn seeking of the Lords pleasing countenance in Christ ' (the Lord in his mercy helping them) after a serious acknowledgment of their own unworthiness, by reason of their sinful provocations of the Lord to anger against them aggravated, in that they were committed immediately upon the receipt of a multitude of marvellous mercies, they acknowledg unto the Lord in the audience of the great Congregation the maimer of his wonder- ful providence extended toward them, that as Jacob pro- fesses, I came over this Jordan with my staff, and now have I gotten two Bands; ^ so they came over this boysterous billow- boyling Ocean, a few poor scattered stones newly raked out of the heaps of rubbish, and thou Lord Christ hast now so far exalted them, as to lay them sur e in thy Sion, a building, to be the wonder of the world; (orderly arc tbcv placed in five and forty ' several Churches, and that in a WiUlerness] wEere civHIty scarce ever took place^much less any Religion, and now t o the XonT earnestly triey'ery to be delivered from the craeT^ hands of those^that would destroy both young and 6I3]~fhe bird and her young together, and as Jacobs fear was, the seed of Christs Church in the posterity of Israel should be cut ofT, and therefore pleatlcd the promise of the Lord in the multi- plying of his seed; so these people at this very time, pleaded not only tiic Lords promise to Israel, but to his only Son Christ 'August L'S, 10 I "i, was appointed ns a rlny of fasting and humiliation for troubles in Old England and New; other such, with similar reference to the mother country, had also been appointed in 1643 and 1044. ' Genesis xxxii. 10. • But .m-c p. 40, note 1. 1645] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 239 Jesus; Lord, hast thou not said, Ask of me, and I mil give thee the Heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost ends of the earth for thy possession; and now Lord, are not these the Churches of Christ which thou hast planted for his possession; and that as Rachel and Leah built the house of Israel, so now shall these and the like Sister-churches spread the whole earth, the Lord Christ raigning as King and Lord for ever over them; Then why do the Heathen rage, and the people imagin a vain thing, seeing the time of the Lords arising to have mercy upon Sion is come, yea his appointed time is at hand; and he who walks in the midst of his golden Candle- sticks, whose eyes are as a flaming fire, will not suffer his Churches to be trodden under feet of that Antichristian Lordly prelacy any longer, nor yet defiled with any trans- formed Saint-seeming Angels of light with their painted doc- trines. Thus did this poor people plead jwith th£.T(<^''d, nnt. only fo r the mselves, b ut for their dearlyjjclpved brethrenja. JEnglaiiff, 1 [ay] ana"aTr that are Christs chosen people the "wonT'throughout ; and although they were not unmindful from day to day of them, yet this year 1645. the Lord was pleased to stir up their affections in more then an ordinary maimer. What success their prayers have had, let all (that love and long to behold the beauty of Christ shining on and in his beloved Bride) declare the loving kindness of the Lord toward his Churches, and let all the Churches of Christ, though never so remote the one from the other, yet joyned together in one faith and one Christ, be frequent in prayer one for another, congregate together at the Throne of the Lord, be present in spirit though absent in body; these New-England Churches are neer one hundred miles distant one from another, and yet communicate, counsel, care, love, joy, grieve with, and for one another, dismiss some, and commend others (as occasion serves) to the Christian care and watchfulness, from one Church to another, and why may not this be practiced the worid throughout, even from Jerusalem, and round about to Illy- ricum? 240 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1646 Chap. III. Of the opposition the Government of the MoMachtisets Colony met withal, by certain persons, under the name of Petitioners. In place of Governor was chosen for this year John Win- throp Esquire, and for Deputy Governor Thomas Dudly Es- quire, the number of freemen were about 72.' At the Court of Election there was a Petition drawn, and presented to the Court by a Doctor of Physick, with seven hands to it, the persons were of a Linsiwolsie ^ disposition, some for Prelacy, some for Presbytery, and some for Plebsbytery, but all joyned together in the thing they would, which was to stir up the people to dislike of the present Government, one while env}- ing ' against the constitution of the Government as not popu- lar enough, another while against the Laws or orders of this little Commonwealth as two [too] strict, and then to provoke, at least the penurious, they tell them of great expence of the publike Treasury, and intolerable taxations; the matter they petitioned for, was a bottom to build their quarrel upon, under the name of a Presbyterian Government, and this they sup- posed would suit well with their Bill of complaint, which they intended for England, not that they cared for a Presbyterian Church, for had they so done, they might have found out one in the country before they petitioned, but because they sup- posed that the Parliament in England would establish that way only, and therefore bore themselves bold upon it, that although their seditious and scandalous words and practices should incur a penalty (as none could deem any other, unless ' In fact, 31. • Linsey-woolsey. Dr. Robert Child, William \'a.ssnll, Samuel Maverick, and others^pi'litioned the General Court that all members of the Church of Eng- land and of the Church of Scotland might be iidiiiitted to the communion of the New England churches, and that those debarred from the suffrage and from civil offiv John Winthrop the younger and supplied with I'"nglish capital obtained from the colony liirf;c privileges, and began work success- fully ut Lynn, and then at liraintrec. But soon the business languished. 1647] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR LV NEW ENGLAND 247 proved a staple-commodity, wheat, rye, oats, peas, barley, beef, pork, fish, butter, cheese, timber, mast, tar, sope, plank- board, frames of houses, clabboard, and pipestaves, iron and lead is like to be also; and those who were formerly forced to fetch most of the bread they eat, and beer they drink, a hun- dred leagues by Sea, are through the blessing of the Lord so encreased, that they have not only fed their Elder Sisters, Virginia, Barbados, and many of the Summer Islands that were prefer'd before her for fruitfulness, but also the Grandmother of us all, even the firtil Isle of Great Britain, beside Portugal hath had many a mouthful of bread and fish from us, in ex- change of their Madeara liquor, and also Spain; nor could it be imagined, that this Wilderness should turn a mart for Merchants in so short a space, Holland, France, Spain, and Portugal coming hither for trade, shipping going on gallantly, till the Seas became so troublesome, and England restrain'd our trade, forbidding it with Barbados, etc' and Portugal stopt and took our ships; many a fair ship had her framing and finishing here, besides lesser vessels, barques, and kctcht's, many a Master, beside common Seamen, had their first learn- ing in this Colony. Boston, Charles-Town, Salem, and Ips- witch, our Maritan ^ Towns began to encri'use roundly, especially Boston, the which of a poor country village, in twice ' seven years is become like unto a small City, and is in election to be Mayor Town suddainly,* chiefly increased by trade by Sea, yet of late the Lord hath given a check to our traffique, but the reason may be rendred hereafter; nor hath this Colony alone been actors in this trade of venturing by Sea, but New-haven also, who were many of them well ex- perienced in traffique, and had good estates to mannage it. Canectico did not linger behind, but put forth to Sea with the other; all other trades have here fallen into their ranks and places, to their great advantage; especially Coopers and Sho- ' An act of Parliament passed in October, 10,50, prohibited trade with Bar- bados, Antigua, the Bermudas, and Virginia, because of their course in holding out for the royalist cause against the Parliament. • Maritime. ' Read "thrice." * This fixes the date of writing this part of the book. Boston petitioned the General Court in June, 1650, to be made a corporation; the petition was not granted, but avoided, at the session of Mny, 1651. y 24S WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1647 makers, who had cither of them a Corporation granted/ in- riching llicnisclves by their trades very much, Coopers having their plenty of stuff at a cheap rate, and by reason of trade with forraign parts abundance of work; as for Tanners and Shomakers, it being naturahzed into these occupations, to have a higher reach in mannaging their manifactures, then other men in N. E. are, having not chang'd their nature in this, between them both they have kept men to their stander hitherto, almost doubling the price of their commodities, according to the rate they were sold for in England, and yet the plenty of Leather is iDcyond what they had their [there], counting the number of the people, but the transportation of Boots and Shoes into forraign parts hath vented all however: as for Tailors, they have not come behind the former, their advantage being in the nurture of new-fashions, all one with England; Carpenters, Joyners, Glaziers, Painters, follow their trades only; Gun-smiths, Lock-smiths, Black-smiths, Naylers, Cutlers, have left the husbandmen to follow the Plow and Cart., and they their trades; Weavers, Brewers, Bakers, Costermongers, Feltmakers, Braziers, Pewterers, and Tinkers, Ropemakers, Masons, Lime, Brick, and Tilemakers, Cardmakers to work, and not to play,^ Turners, Pumpmakers, and W' heelers, Cilovcrs, Fellmungers,' and Furriers, are or- derly turn'd to their trades, besides divers sorts of Shop- keepeis, and some who have a mystery beyond others, as have the \'intners. Thus hath the Lord been pleased to turn one of the most hideous, boundless, and unknown Wildernesses in the world in an instant, as 'twere (in comparison of other work) to a well-ordered Commonwealth, and all to serve his Churches, of which the Author intends to speak of three more, which came to be gathered in the compass of these years. ' The coopers and shoemakers of Boston were incorporated in October, 1648. ' Makers of wool-cards, not playing-cards. • Dealers in peltries. 1648] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 249 Chap. VII. Of the three last Churches that were gathered in the compass of these years, namely Haverhil [Andover], Maiden, and another Church gathered in the Town of Boston. This year 1648. John Winthrope Esquire was chosen Governor, and Thomas Dudly Esquire Deputy Governor, and John Endicut Esquire Major General, all three as they were the former year, the number of freemen added were about 94.' About this time there was a Town founded about one or two mile distant from the place where the goodly river of Merrimeck receives her branches into her own body, hard upon the river of Shawshin, which is one of her three chief heads; the honored Mr. Simon Broadstreet taking up his last setling there, hath been a great means to further the work, it being a place well fitted for the husbandmans hand, were it not that the remoteness of the place from Towns of trade, bringeth some inconveniencies upon the planters, who are in- forced to carry their corn far to market; this Town is called Andover, and hath good store of land improved for the big- ness of it, they soon gathered into n Church, having the reverend Mr. Whodbridg ^ to instruct them in the wayes of Christ, till he returned to England, and since have called to office the reverend Mr. Deynes, for whose further incourage- ment the promises of the Lord for protecting, providing, in- creaseing, and continuing, even the very least of his Churches, going on according to his precepts, are abundantly manifested in his Word. Thou Sister young, Christ is to thee a wall Of flaming fire, to hurt thee none may come, In slipp'ry paths and dark wayes shall diey fall, His Angels might shall chase their countless sum. Thy Shepheard with full cups and table spread. Before thy foes in Wilderness thee feeds, Increasing thy young lambs in bosom bred, Of Churches by his wonder-working deeds: ' In fact, 32. • John Woodbridge, Dudley's son-in-law. His successor was Francis Dane. 250 WOXDER-WORKIXG PROVIDENCE [1648 To countless number must Christ's Churches reach, The day's at hand, both Jew and Gentile shall Come crowding in his Churches, Christ to preach, And last for aye, none can cause them to fall. About this time the Town of Maiden had his first founda- tion stones laid by certain persons, who issued out of Charles- Town, and indeed had her whole structure within the bounds of this more elder Town, being severed by the broad spread- ing river of Mistick the one from the other, whose troublesome passage caused the people on the North side of the river to plead for Town-priviledges within themselves, which accord- ingly was granted them; the soj'l is very firtile, but they are much straitned in their bounds, yet their neerness to the chief Market Towns, makes it the more comfortable for habitation. The people gathered into a Church some distance of time before they could attain to any Church-Officer to administer the Seals unto them, yet in the mean time at their Sabbath assemblies they had a godly Christian named M. Sarjant, who did preach the \\"ord unto them, and afterwards they were supplied at times with some young Students from the Colledg, till the year 1650. one Mr. Marmaduke Mathews,' coming out of Plimouth Patten, was for some space of time with a people at the Town of Hull, which is a small Port-town peopled by fishermen, and lies at the entrance of the Bays mouth, where this Mr. IMatliews continued preaching, till he lost the approbation of some able understanding men, among both Magistrates and Ministers, by weak and unsafe expres- sions in his tcacliing, yet notwithstanding he was called to the office of a Pastor by the brethren of this Church of Christ at Maiden, although some neighbour-churches were unsatisfied therewith, for it is the manner of all the Churches of Christ here hitherto, to have the approliation of their Sister-churches, and the civil Government also, in the proceedings of this nature, by the which means Communion of Churches is con- ' Marmaduke Mathews was a Welshman, and a graduate of All Souls ('i)llepe, Oxford. lie prciuliod at Vnrniouth, Hull, .and Maiden. His call to Malilcri without the approval of the iHi>;hboring chuixhos was investigated by the (iencral Court, through a committee of which ("nptain Johnson was a tnem- bor; the Court fined the church £50 and Mathews £10. 1649] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 251 tinued, peace preserved, and the truths of Christ sincerely acknowledged, yet the Author will not miss to mind him in the following Meeter. Mathews! thou must build gold and silver on That precious stone, Christ cannot trash indure, Unstable straw and stubble must be gone, When Christ by fire doth purge his building pure. In seemly and in modest terms do thou Christs precious truths unto thy folk unfold, And mix not error with the truth, lest thou Soon leave out sense to make the truth to hold: Compleating of Christs Churches is at hand, Mathews stand up, and blow a certain sound, Warriours are wanting Babel to withstand, Christs truths maintain, 'twill bring thee honors crown'd. The last Church that compleated the number of 30. was gathered at Boston, by reason of the popularity theretif, being too many to meet in one assembly; the North-east part of the Town being separated from the other with a narrow stream cut through a neck of land by industry, whereby that part is become an Island, it was thought meet, that the people inhabiting the same should gather into a Church-body,' and build a Meeting-house for their assembly, the which they have already done, but not as yet called any one to office ; for since the people of Christ in some other places, both in England and elswhere, have through the goodness of God obtained like Hberty with our selves, the Ministers of Christ have had their labours taken up in other places as well as here, which hath caused this Church as yet to be destitute. The begin- ning of this year was sad to the people of N. E. by reason of the death of their honoured Governour, John Winthrope Esquire,' whose indefatigable paincs in this Wildemess-work ' The Old North Church, afterward famous as the church of Increase, Cotton, and Samuel Mather, was organized in 1650. ' Governor Winthrop died March 26, 1649. To have had as its chief magis- trate at the beginning that wise, unselfish, righteous, and noble statesman was to Massachusetts a good fortune comparable to that which the presence of Washing- ton brought to the early history of the United States. His Journal, or Historij of New England, a record of incomparable value and merit, occupies two volumes in this series. J 2,12 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1649 is not to be forgotten, nor indeed can it be; his Funeral was very sadly and solemnly performed, by a very great concourse of tlu- greater part of this Colony, whose mournful looks and watry eyes did plainly demonstrate the tender affection and great esteem he was in with the people. Chap. VIII. Of the death of divers personages, who were in great esteem with the people of New-England, famous for their godliness, and eminent parts, both for Magistracy and Ministery, and of the correcting hand of the Lord upon his N. E. people. This year, after the death of this godly Govemour, was chosen to succeed in the place Jo. Endicut Esq. and Tho. Dudly Esq. to be Deputy Governor, to the place of Major- General Edw. Gibbons; and seeing that the Lord is pleased t(j call this people to mourning, the Author will proceed to relate what further occasion this people have had to lament their miscarriages, that have caused the rod to be stretched out toward them, for of a truth they are no Antinomians.' The next loss was the death of that famous Preacher of the Lord M. Hooker, Pastor of the Church of Christ at Hartford, and M. Philips, Pastor of the Church of Christ at Watertown, and the holy heavenly, sweet-affecting, and soul-ravishing Minis- ter M. Tho. Shepheard, Pastor of the Church of Christ at Cam- bridg, whose departure was very heavily taken by all the people of Christ round about him.- And now N. E. that had such heaps upon heaps of the riches of Christ s tender com- passionate mercies, being turn'd off from his dandling knees, began to read their approaching rod in the bend of his brows and frowns of his foniier favourable countenance toward them; their plenty of all things, wliich shold have cheared their hearts, and quickned their spirits in elevating both soul and 1)1 idy to a thankful frame, through the work of his blessed Spirit; on the contrary, it brought a fulness on many, even to loath the very honey-comb, insomuch that good whole- ' /. I-., do not profi'ss to he excni])t from tho operation of the Law. ' Hooker died in l(il7, Phillips in 1644, Shepard in 1649. 1649] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 253 some truths would not down, yet had the Lord those that were precious unto him, who were not wanting to help one another out of this distemper, and with more warmer affec- tions exhort one another, Come let us go up unto the house of the Lord, and he will teach us his wayes. Also the Lord was pleased to awaken us with an Army of cateipillers, that had /K. he not suddainly rebuked them, they had surely destroyed the husbandmans hope; where they fell upon trees, they left them like winter-wasting cold, bare and naked ; and although they fell on fields very rarely, yet in some places they made as clear a riddance, as the harvest mans hand, and uncovered the gay green Medow ground, but indeed the Lord did by some plats shew us what he could have done with the whole, and in many places cast them into the high-waves, that the Cart- wheels in their passage were painted green with running o\er the great swarms of them; in some fields they devoured the leaves of their pease, and left the straw with the full crop, so tender was the Lord in his correction; this minded all these Jacobites of the end of their coming over, but chiefly the hus- bandman, whose over eager pursuit of the fruits of the earth made some of them many times run out so far in this Wilder- ness, even out of the sweet sound of the silver Trumpets blown by the laborious Ministers of Christ, forsaking the assembl}' of the Lords people, to celebrate their Sabbaths in the chimney- corner, horse, kine, sheep, goats, and swine being their most indeared companions, to travel with them to the end of their pilgrimage, or otherwise to gather together some of their neerest neighbours, and make a preachment one unto another, till they had learn'd so much, that they could away with none other teaching. As also the Lord was pleased to command the wind and Seas to give us a jog on the elbow, by sinking the very chief of our shipping in the deep, and splitting them in shivers against the shores; a very goodly Ship called the Seaforce * was cast away, and many N. E. people put to hard shifts for their lives, and some drowned, as the godly and dearly beloved servant of Christ, Mr. Tho. Coitmire, a very able Seaman, and also a good Scholar, one who had spent both his labour and estate for the helping on of this Wilder- ' Of the wreck of the Seafort on the coast of Spain, in 1645, there is a vivid account in Winthrop, II. 248, 249. J 251 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1650 ness-work: as also another ship set forth by the Merchants of New-haven, of which the godly Mr. Lamberton went Master, neither ship, persons, nor goods ever heard of; ' another ship also built and set forth by the inhabitants of Cambridg, split and cast away neer the same place where the Seaforce was lost; ius also another Barque mostly set forth by Dorchester men, sunk in the Sea, and never heard of the manner how, with divers others which might be here inserted; this seemed the sorer affliction to these N. E. people, because many godly men lost their lives, and abundantly the more remarkable, because the Lord was pleased to forbid any such things to befal his people in their passage hither; herein these people read, as in great capital letters, their suddain forget- fulness of the Lords former received mercy in his wonderful preservation, bringing over so many scores of ships, and thousands of persons, without miscarriage of any, to the wonderment of the whole world that shall hear of it, but more especially were the Merchants and traders themselves sensible of the hand of the Lord out against them, who were in some of the ships, and had their lives given them for a prey; as also Vintners, and other men of trade, whose gain is increased by Merchants men, being so taken up with the income of a large profit, that they would willingly have had the Common- wealth tolerate divers kinds of sinful opinions to intice men to come and sit down with us, that their purses might be filled with coyn, the civil Government with contention, and the Churches of our Lord Christ with errors; the Lord was pleased after all this, to let in the lung of Terror among his new- planted Churches. For this year 1650. Tho. Dudly Esquire was chosen Gov- ernor, and John Endicut Esquire Deputy Governor, Major- Gonoral Edward Gibbons, continued in his office still; the number of freemen added were about 55.' This year was the first noted year wherein any store of peojile died, the ayr and fjlaee being very healthy naturally, made this correction of the Lord seem the gr{>ater, for the most that died were chil- dren, and that of an unwonted disease here, though frequent 'Sec p. ITS. >In fact, 31. ■it 1651] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 255 in other places, the Lord now smiting many families with death in them , although there were not any families wherein more then one died, or very rare if it were otherwise, vet were these pilgrim people minded of the suddain forgetfulness o f those wo rthies that di ed not long before, but more especially " the little regard Fad to provide means to train their child ren ■iip in the knnwlpdg; pf Ifiarmqg. ^^^^ iTnp^-QY^RIir.b njmf j*^ the Lord hath appqinted to leav e their posterity an able Minister; as also to stir them up to prepare for the great work ^theTiord Jesus in the overthrow of Antichrist, and calling of the Jews, which in all likelyhood is very suddainly to be performed; as also in stirring up all the young ones that re- main, to consider for what end the Lord hath spared their lives, when he cut off others by death, namely, to prosecute the work that he hath given them to do in the power of his might, with the greater zeal and courage. [1651.] This year the honored and much desired servant of Christ, John Endicut Esquire was chosen to be Governour of the English, inhabiting the Colony of the Mattachusets, and the antient honored and long continued Champion for the truth, as it is in Jesus, Tho. Dudly Esquire was chosen Deputy Governour, by the major Vote of these wandering Jacobites, with heart and good will the honored Major-General Edward Gibbons continued in place this year. The Government shewed their desire to be assisting to the State of England, in making orders for establishing their Edict for these Western parts of the world among our N. E. people; the Lord in his infinite wisdom saw meet to continue his correcting hand among his N. E. Churches, somewhat more then ordinary in a sore disease, of which many [died] (in comparison of what used to do) and yet not so many as ordinarily use to do in other plantations of this Western world; and whereas the former year young children died most, this year those of grown years died also, and although so small a sickness might not be taken notice of in other places, yet the rareness of it I /V) in so healthy a country as is this, cannot but speak loud in the ears of God's people, who desire to hear the rod, and who hath appointed it, and perceive plainly many of them, that! the Lord will have us to know, that if his own people tread in \J 256 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1651 the same steps of riot and excess in the plenty he hath given them, with the men of this world, he will lay the same sicknesses and cliseases upon them; and further they perceive, according to the ordinary dispensation of his providences toward them, he hath some further great work to do with his N. E. people, that he is beginning again to awaken, rouze up, and quicken thcin with the rod of his power: For thus they begin to reason with themseh'os, when the Lord w;i,s pleased to expose them, their wifes, and little ones to the troubles of a tempestuous Sea in so long a voyage, and the wants of a barren Wilderness in great penury of food, he brought forth by his mighty power, and stretched-out arm, the glorious fabrick of his New-E. Churches ; and therefore now again they look for some farther extraordinary great work of his, if he shall once again be pleased to refine them in this furnace of his, and would the Lord Christ would confirm our brethren in England in like faith by our example, yea, and far beyond many degrees, as the Wonder-working providence of Sions Sa\'iour toward them hath more abundantly exceeded, and that as this in three seven years is comprised, though very weakly, in this little book, there's in one seven year would require volumes, and as this is wonderful, there is almost miraculous, and wonderful to the whole world, as if the Lord Clirist did intend to make his power known more abundantly then ever the sons of men saw Kings and Kingdoms strengthened, with affinity and consanguinity, the valiant of the world, men skil'd in feats of war, as Goliah from a cliild, fierce and pampered horses, whose necks are covered with strong neigliing, and cunning Engenires, men skilful to destroy with all the terrible engins of war, together with s\\arms of souldiers flocking to- gether to swallow up the poor remnant of Gods people; all these hath the Lord caused to fall before your eyes, and our cars have heard the noyse of this great fall; and lieloved countrymen, and our tlcar brethren in Christ, stop into the closet of your own heaits with us, and see if there will not be some things in this following verse that may suit your condi- tion as well as ours, that having sown in teai-s, we may reap I with joy the glorious harvest of our Lord Christ, which is hard 'at hand, for assun^Uy the Ltjrd is tyed neither to us, nor you, but may, if it i)lcase him, cast off both, and raise up new in- 1651] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 257 struments for his following work, but if he be pleased to give us melting hearts for our former "miscarriages, and r e new us wi_th a more zealous courag e nnd earnpsf pnnfpnHinfr fnr fha faith, it is very like he hathmnre glorious W9rl^s hy far fpr us yet to do. Chap. IX. Of the wonder-working providences of Christ, wrought for his people among our English Nation, both in our Native / country, and also in N. E. which shmdd stir us up to mourn V for all our miscarriages much the more. From silent night, true Register of moans, From saddest soul consum'd in deepest sin, [A ] From heart quite rent with sighs and heavy groans, My wailing muse her woful work begins, And to the world brings tunes of sad lament. Sounding nought els but sorrows sad relent. Sorry to see my sorrows cause augmented. And yet less sorrowful were my sorrows more, [ A ] Grief that with grief, is not with grief prevented, Yet grief it is must ease my grieved sore; So grief and sorrow, care but how to grieve, For grief and sorrow must my cares relieve. The wound fresh bleeding must be stanch'd with tears, Tears cannot come unless some grief proceed, [ A ] Grief comes but slack, which doth increase my fears, Fear, lest for want of help I still shall bleed ; Do what I can to lengthen my lifes breath, If Christ be wanting, I shall bleed to death. Thou deepest searcher of each secret thought, Infuse in me thy all-affecting grace, [ ^ ] So shall my work to good effect be brought. While I peruse my ugly sins a space. Whose staining filth so spotted hath my soul. That nought can wash, but tears of inward dole. A The consideration of the wonderful providence of Christ in planting his N. E. Churches, and with the right hand of his power preserving, protecting, 258 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1651 favouring, and feeding them upon his tender knees: Together with the ill re- quital of his all-infinite and undeserved mercies bestowed upon us, hath caused many a soul to lament for the dishonor done to his Name, and fear of his casting of this little handful of his, and the insulting of the enemy, whose sorrow is set forth in these four first staffs of verses.' How soon, my soul, hast thou the Lord forgot, [ B ] Who thee and thine through troublous Seas hath lead, On earth tliy parts should praise him, suddain rot,' Why dost neglect his glorious Kingdom spread. Thy eyes have seen the Alountains mov'd with's hand. And sunk in Seas to make his Sion stand. No wonder then thy works with Eastern wind [ B ] On Seas are broke, and thy best Seamen slain, Sith thou thy gain, and not Christs work dost mind. Lord stay thy hand, I see my works are vain. Our ships they shall thy Gos{>el forth convey, And not bring home strange errors here to stay. Instead of home-oppression, they shall now Thy Saints abroad relieve, by Sea them send; No riot shall our Merchantmen allow. Time in exchange- walks, not in Taverns spend; Godly grief and good purpose comes from thee, Lord Christ command, and then to work go we. B The Rod of God toward us in our Maritine affairs manifested, not only to our own shipping, but strangers; as the Mary Rose blown up in Charles River, and sunk in a moment, with about thirteen men slain therein : As also one Capt Chadwicks Pinnace, and about four men slain therein;' beside what hath been formerly said touching our own shipping. O thou my soul how weak's tliy faith become. With scatter'd seed of man and beast, thou hast Seen thy great God increase tliy little sum, C Towns close compact in desart land hath plac't: In Wilderness thy table richly spread, Thy poor therein hath satisfi'd with bread. 'These notes A, B, C. I), R, and the letters in square brackets referring to them, occur thus in the orifjinal. 'Thy parts which should praise him suddenly rot. 'Sec Winthrop, II. !l, ir>i. 1651] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 259 While firtil lands with hunger have been pined, C Thy harvest hath with heaps on heaps come in; Oh mourn, that thou no more thy God should'st mind, His gentle rod to teach thee doth begin; Then wonder not that swarms of Locust fly, And that earths fruits for want of moysture die. A countless crew of Caterpillers craul. To rob the earth of her green mantle quite; Wolves, only wont on lesser beasts to fall, C On great ones prey by day, and eke by night: Thy houses are consum'd with much good store. By fearful fires, which blustering winds blow o're. Lord stay thy hand, and stop my earthly mind, Thy Word, not world, shall be our sole delight, C Not Medow ground, but Christs rich pearl wee'l find, Thy Saints imbrace, and not large lands down plight. Murmure no more will we at yearly pay. To help uphold our Government each way; Not strive who least, but who the most shall give, Rejoyce will we, our hearts inlarged are, C Those wait on th' Altar, shall on Altar live. Nor shall our riches their good doctrine mar; Our pride of parts in thought of clear discerning, No longer shall disgrace their godly learning. Our meaner sort that metamorphos'd are. With womens hair, in gold and garments gay, C Whose wages large our Commonwealtlis work mar. Their pride they shall with moderation lay: Cast off their cloaths, that men may know their rank, And women that with outward deckings prank. f C Of the Lords hand against our Land affairs, as is heretofore expressed; / I and also in the suddain taking away many mens estates by fire, and chiefly by a v \ most terrible fire which happened in Charles-Town, in the depth of Winter, I 1650. by a violent wind blown from one house to another, to the consuming of I the fairest houses in the Town. Under the pretence of l)eing unequally rated, / many men murmure exceedingly, and withdraw their shoulders from the support ^ of Government, to the great discouragement of those that govern, 1651. Pride and excess in apparrel is frequent in these dales, when the Lord calls his people I'(i0 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1651 to humiliation and humble acknowledgment of his great deliverances; and that yy which is far worse, spiritual pride, to shew our selves to be somebody, often step out of our ranks, and delight in new fangled doctrines. The worlds imbrace, our longing lust for gain, D No longer shall us into corners draw, Nor our large herds us from Gods house detain From fellowship of Saints, who learn thy Law: "^riiy righteous Judgments Lord do make me tremble. Nor word, nor rod, but deep in this dissemble. Two Masters, Ix>rd, we will professed serve; How can we, Christ, united be to thee, D When from thy Law leam'd we so greatly swarve, With watry tears unclued' we will be. From creature-comforts, Christ thou art our stay. Work will and deed in us we humbly pray. D An over-eager desire after the world hath so seized on the spirits of ^ many, that the chief end of our coming hither is forgotten ; and notwithstanding all the powerful means used, we stand at a stay, as if the Lord had no farther work for his people to do, but every bird to feather his own nest. Oh thou, my soul, and every part in me Lament, the Lord his worthies from the earth Takes to himself, and makes our earth to be E A mourning place left destitute of mirth; Are these the dales wherein that Beast shall fall ? Lord leave us means, though thou be all in all. What courage was in Winthrope, it was thine; Shepheards sweet Sermons from thy blessing came, [ E ] Our heavenly Hooker thy grace did refine, And godly Burr rocciv'd from thee his frame: Philips didst thou indue with Scripture light. And Huet had his arguings strong and right. Grave Iligginson his heavenly truths from thee, [ E ] Maveruck was made an able help to tliine; What Ilervcr had thou^ gavest, for's people free; Follow Green full of grace, to work thou didst assign: Godly Glover his rich gifts thou gavest, Thus thou by means tliy flocks from spoiling savest. ' Undone. • Har\'ard. 1651] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 261 But Lord, why dost by death withdraw thy hand From us, these men and means are sever'd quite; Stretch forth thy might. Lord Christ do thou command, Their doubled spirit on those left to light: J Forth of their graves call ten times ten again, That thy dear flocks no damage may sustain. Can I forget these means that thou hast used. To quicken up my drowsie drooping soul ? Lord I forget, and have the same abused. Which makes me now with grief their deaths condole, And kiss thy rod, laid on with bowels tender. By death of mine, makes me their death remember Lord, stay thy hand, thy Jacobs number's small, Powre out thy wrath on Antichrists proud Thrones; Here [hear] thy poor flocks that on thee daily call. Bottle their tears, and pity their sad groans. Where shall we go, Lord Christ? we turn to thee. Heal our back-slidings, forward press shall we. Not we, but all thy Saints the world throughout Shall on thee wait, thy wonders to behold; Thou King of Saints, the Lord in battel stout Increase thy armies many thousand fold. Oh Nations all, his anger seek to stay, That doth create him armies every day. £ The Lords taking away by death many of hi.s most eminent servants from us, shewes, that either the Lord will raise up another people to himself to do his work, or raise us up by his Rod to a more eager pursuit of his work, even the planting of his Churches the world throughout. The Lord converts and calls forth of their graves men to fight his battels against the enemies of his truth. Chap. X. Of the endeavours of this people of Christ, to inlarge his King- dom the world throughout, and first of their preaching Christ to the Indians, among whom they live. These brood of Travellers having thus through the good hand of their God upon them, thus setled these Churches, according to the institution of Christ, and not by the will of ^/ 2(;2 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1651 man; they now endeavour to be assisting to others. The reverend Mr. Hugh Peters, and his fellow-helper in Christ Mr. Wells ' steered their course for England, so soon as they heard of the chaining up of those biting beasts, who went under t he name of spiritual Lords ; what assistance the Gospel of Christ found there by their preaching, is since clearly manifested; for the Lord Christ having removed that usurping power of Lordly Prelates, hath now inlarged his Kingdom there, and that not onely by the means of these men, but by divers others, both godly and eminent servants of his, who never saw New- England; and by divers other godly Ministers of Christ, who have since gone from hence, both young Students and others, to the number of twenty, or thereabout, in the whole; besides some who were eminent in the civil (jovernment here, both gracious and godly ser\'ants of Christ, and some who have been Magistrates here, to the number of five or six. The Lord Christ grant they may all endeavour the advancement of his truths, both in Churches and civil Government. But before the Author cease to speak of England, he is bold to say, that the Lord Christ will overturn, overturn, overturn, till he hath caused such a Cjovernment to be set up, as shall become nurs- ing fatliers to his new-planted Churches. The Indian people in these parts at the English first com- ing, were very barbarous and uncivilized, going for the most part naked, although the country be extreme cold in the winter-season: they are onely clothed with a Deers skin, and a little hit of cloth to cover their privy part. The Women for the most part are very modest, although they go as naked as the Men: they are generally very laborious at their planting time, and the Men extraordinary idle, making their squawes to carry their Children and the luggage beside; so that many times they travell eight or ten mile with a burden on their backs, more fitter for a hoi-se to carry then a woman. The men follow no kind of labour but hunting, fishing and fowling, in all which tlu\v make use of their Bowe and Arrowes to shoot the wilde creatures of the Trees, as Sciuirrells, gray and black Rockoones: as for Deer, they ordinarily catch them in traps, with a pole bent down, and a Cord at the end, which flycs up ' Weld. 1651] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 263 and stayes their hasty course. Bever, Otter, and Moose they catch with Traps also; they are very good marks-men, with their Bowe and Arrows. Their Boyes will ordinarily shoot fish with their Arrowes as they swim in the shallow Rivers, they draw the Arrow halfe way, putting the point of it into the water, they let flye and strike the fish through; the like the}- do to Birds lesser and great: onely the Geese and Turkies being strong of wing, sometimes flee away with their Arrowes sticking in them; this is all the trade they use, which makes them desititute of many necessaries, both in meat, drink, apparell and houses. As for any religious observation, they were the most desti- tute of any people yet heard of, the Divel having them in very great subjection, not using craft to delude them, as he ordi- narily doth in most parts of the World: but kept them in a continuall slavish fear of him; onely the Powawes, who are more conversant with him then any other, sometimes recover their sicke folk with charmes, which they use, by the help of the Divell; and this makes them to adore such; one of them was seen, as is reported, to cure a Squaw that was dangerously sick, by taking a snakes skin and winding it about her arm, the which soon became a living snake crawling round about her armes and body; another caused the sick patient, for heal- ing, to pass bare footed through many burning coals; those that cannot cure them they call Squantams powwons: but if the patient live, he is had in great admiration, and then they cry, Mvch vrinnit Abbamocho, that is, veiy good Divell: for Squantam is a bad Divel, and Abbamocho is their good Divell. It hath been a thing very frequent before the English came, for the Divell to appear unto them in a bodily shape, some- times very ugly and terrible, and sometimes like a white boy, and chiefly in the most hideous woods and swamps: they report that sometimes he hath come into their wigwams, and carryed away divers of them alive: and since we came hither, they tell us of a very terrible beast for shape and bigness, that came into a wigwam toward the North-east parts, remote from any English plantations, and took away six men at a time, who were never seen afterward. The English at their first coming did assay and endeavour to bring them to the knowledge of God: and in particular the reverend, grave, and 2(.4 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1651 godly Mr. John Wilson, who visited their sick, and instructed others as they were capable to understand him. But yet very little was done that way, till in process of time they by con- tinuall coming to the English, became better able to under- stand them; and now of late yeers the reverend Mr. Eliot' hath been more then ordinary laborious to study their lan- guage, instructing them in their own Wigwams, and Catechis- ing their Children. As also the reverend Mr. Mayhewe one who was tutored up in N. Eng. and called to office by the Church of Christ, gathered at a small Island called Martins Vineyard:' this man hath taken good pains with them: but the particulars of our godly Ministers labours, together with the good hand of our God upon their indeavours, being already published,' no further need be spoken. ' John Eliot the apostle, whose preaching to the Indians appears to have begun in 1646. The margin adds: "Also Mr. William Leverirj' [Leveridge] Pastor of Sandwich Church, is very serious therein, and with good success." 'Thomas Mayhew, the minister's father, had in 1641 bought Martha's \ ineyard from the representative of Lord Stirling. Soon afterward he and his son. Rev. Thomas Mayhew, went there to live, and the latter began preaching to the numerous Indians of the island. In a letter of October, 1651, about the time when Johnson was writing, the son reports, "Through the mercy of God, there are an hundred ninety-nine men, women and children that have professed them- selves to be worshippers of the fjreat and ever-living God." He died in 1657, but his work was continued by his aged father, the proprietor, governor, and patriarch of the island. ' Of the early Massachusetts tracts relating to the conversion of the In- dians, tracts which are now famous rarities, those which would have been known to .lohnson at this time were Xew Englands Firnl-Fruil.'< (London, 1643), The Day-Brcakincf if not tlic Sun-Ruiing of the Gospell with the Indians in Xew Eng- land (1647), The Clear Sunshitie of the Gospell breahing forth vpon the Indians of New England (1648), and The Glorious Progress of the Gospell amongst the In- dians in NexD-England (1649). The interest aroused in England by Uiese pub- lirations led Parliament in 1619, throiifjh the efforts of Edward Winslow, then in London, to incorporate the Society for Propagating the Gospel in New England. 1642-1643] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 265 Chap. XL Of the graiious goodness of the Lord Christ, in planting his Gospel in the purity of it, in Virginia: and of the first Church gathered there according to the rule of the Gospel. About the yeer 1642 the Lord was pleased to put it into the heart of some godly people in Virginia, to send to N. E. for some of the Ministers of Christ, to be helpfull unto them in instructing them in the truth, as it is in Jesus. The godly I\Ir. Philip Bennit coming hither, made our reverend Elders acquainted with their desires, who were very studious to take all opportunities for inlarging the kinp;(l(nne of Christ: and upon serious consideration, the reverend Mr. Knowls of Water- towne, and Mr. Tompson of Braintree were sent unto them, who arriving there in safety, preached openly unto the people for some good space of time, and also from house to house ex- horted the people dayly, that with full purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord; the harvest they had was plenti- full for the little space of time they wore there, till being op- posed by the Governour and some other malignant spirits, they were forced to returne to N. E. again.' It were much to be desired, that all people would take notice of the hand of ^ God against this people, after the rejection of those Ministers of Christ: and indeed it was none other but the thrusting Christ from them; and now attend to the following story, all you Cavaliers and malignant party the world throughout, take notice of the wonderworking providence of Christ toward his Churches, and punishing hand of his toward the contemners of his Gospel. Behold ye dispisers, and wonder. Oh poor Virginia, dost thou send away the Ministers of Christ with threatning speeches? No sooner is this done, but the bar- barous, inhumane, insolent, and bloody Indians are let loose upon them, who contrive the cutting them off by whole Families, closely carying their wicked counsells till they had ' An act of the Virginia assembly of March, 1643, forbade non-conformists to teach or preach publicly or privately in that colony, and required the governor. Sir William Berkeley, to compel all non-conformista to depart. The massacre mentioned below was that of April, 1644. 200 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1644 effected their desires, their bloody designe taking place for the space of 200 miles up the River: the manner of the Eng- lish Plantations there being very scattering, quite contrary to N. E. people, who f(jr the most part desire society. The manner of the Indians proceeding was thus, they divided themselves into severall companies, and beset the English houses a little before break of day, waiting for the first person that should open the doore and come forth, whom they cruelly murdered, beating out their brains, and then forthwith entred the house and slew all they found within, sometimes firing the houses, and leaving the living children miserabl\- to be consumed with their dead Parents in the fearfull flames; some people fleeing from this barbarous massacre, as they passed by a fired house, heard a pitifull out-cry of a poor Child, crj- ing, I burn, I burn: although they could willingly have made haste away, yet the miserable out-cry of this poor babe, caused them to hast to the house, and rescue it forth the flames, that was even almost ready to scorch it. This cruell and bloody work of theirs put period to the lives of five or six hundred of these people, who had not long before a plentifull proffer of the mercies of Christ in the glad tidings of peace published by the mouth of his Ministci-s, who came unto them for that end: but chusing rather the fellowship of their drunken , companions, and a Preist of their own profession, who could V hardly continue so long sober as till he could read them the reliques of mans invention in a common prayer book; but assuredly had not the Lord pittied the little number of his people among this crooked generation, they had been consumed at once, for this is further remarkable in this massacre, when it came toward the place wlicre Christ had placed his little flock,' it was discovered and prevented from further proceed- ing, and the Lord by this means did so allay their spirits of malignity toward his people, they gathered in a Church in presence of the very governour himself, and called to office one Mr. Harrison, who could not long continue among them, by reason of their fresh renewed malignity, who lunl formerly an evill eye toward them, and could no better i-efraine from op- pressing tlieiii, then Pharoah after he had rest from the ' Mostly in U|)[M?r Norfolk or \:iiiscmond County. J 1044] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 2G7 plagues under which he was. After the departure of Mr. Harrison, one Mr. Duren became an help unto them; but he and his people also were forced to remove many hundred miles up into the country,* where they now remain; but as- suredly the Lord hath more scourges in store, for such as force the people to such sufferings; and therefore let this Church of Christ continue in the way of his truth according to the rules of his Gospel, and without doubt the Lord will preserve and continue them, let the adversaries of his Truth be never so potent. As also about this time, the Lord was pleased to gather a people together in the Isle of Bermoodas, whose hearts being guided by the rule of the word, they gathered into a Church of Christ according to the rules of the Gospel, being provided with able persons, indued with gifts from the Lord to administer unto them the holy things of God;* and after they began to be opposed, their reverend elder Mr. Goulding came into these parts, and from hence he went to England: but this little flock of Christ not long after being banished from thence, went to one of the Southern Islands, where they endured much hardship; and which the Churches of Christ in these parts understanding, about six or eight of them contributing toward their want, gathered about 800 I. to supply their necessity: the which they shipped in a small vessel! hired for that end, and sent by the hands of two brethren both come and other necessaries: they arriving in safety by the blessing of God upon their labours, were well welcomed by their brethren, who abundantly blessed the Lord for them, and with godly and gratious expression returned a thankfull acknowledgement of the present good hand of the Lord Christ, in providing for them: so that as this book began with the wonderworking providence of Sioiis Saviour, in providing so wonderfull gratiously for his Churches the World throughout; so it here endeth with the same; and ' Of all this episode of Puritanism in Virginia a clearer account may l)c seen in Winthrop, II. 73, 94-95, 351-353. It appears that Elder William Durand was banished before Thomas Harrison. The latter finally retired to In-land, after a sojourn in Massachusetts. By removal " many miles up into the coun- try" the Puritan immigration into Maryland is probably intended. 'A marginal note gives their names, "Mr. .Nathaniel White, Mr. Patrick Copeland, Mr. William Golding." 2U,s WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1651 it were to be drsircid, that the Churclics of Christ in Europe would gather up the wonderfull providences of the Lord toward them also, and more especially those in our native Country: for assuredly it would make much for the magni- fyiiifz; of his glorious works in this day of his power: and al- thoui^h (he malignant and antichristian party may say, they can shew the like wonders (as Jannes and Jambres that with- stood M(jscs) ' yet were the worke of Christ for his poor Churches, within these few yeers, gathered to^^ether by some able instrument whom the Lord might be pleased to stir up for that end, and laid open the view of all, they would be forced to confess, this is the very finger of God, and no doubt but they would be a great strengthening to the faith of those, who are appointed of the Lord, for the overthrow of .Vntichrist (the Lord helping) for assuredly, the time of his having mercy upon Sion is come. Chap. XII. Of the time of the fall of Anliclirist, and the increase of the Gen- tile Churehes, even to the provoking of the twelve Tribes to submit to the kingdom of Christ. It hath been the longing expectation of many, to see that notable and wonderfull worke of the Lord Christ, in casting down that man of sin who hath hekl the whole w'orld (of those that profess any Christ) under his Lordly power, while the true professors of Christ have hardlj* had any appearance to the c\e of the world; firet, take notice the Lord hath an assured set time for the accomplishment of this work, which is set down in his word,' although more darkly to be under- stood; wherefore the reverend Ministers of Christ, for these many yc'crs have studied and laboured for the finding it out, and that holy man of (iod Mr. John Cotton, among many other, hath diligently searched for the Lords mind herein, and hath declared some sudden blow to be given to this blood-thirsty monster: but the Lord Christ hath unseparably joyned the time, meanes, and manner of this work together, ■ II Timothy iii. 8. ' The iiiiirgin gives the reference, Revelation .wii. 14. 1651] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 209 and therefore all men that expect the day, must attend the means: for such hath been and is the absurdity of many, that they make semblance of a very zealous affection to see the glorious work of our Lord Christ herein, and yet themselves uphold, or at least side with those that uphold some part of Antichrists kingdome: and therefore the lordly Prelacy may pray for his fall till their lungs are spent, and their throats grow dry. But while they have a seeming shew (and hardly that) to oppose his doctrines, they themselves in the mean time, make use of his power to advance themselves to honour: as also in these dayes there are divers desperate, blasphemous, and erronious persons whose consciences and their own self- will are imseparable companions; these are very hot in their own apprehensions to prosecute the work; but in the mean time, they not only batter down the truths of Christ, and his own Ordinances and Institutions, but also set up that part of .-Vntichrists kingdom, which hath formerly had a Rirat blow already, even his deceiveable and damnable doctrines: for as one badg of the beast is to be full of blasphemies, so are thc\-, and these take imto themselves seven spirits worse then the former, making the latter end woree then the beginning, as this story may testifie: and some stories in our native country much more. But to come to the time of Antichrists fall; and all that expect it may depend upon the certainty of it : yea it may be boldly said that the time is come, and all may see the dawning of the day: you that lung so much for it, come forth I sy and fight: who can expect a victory without, n . hnttpl? thn lordly rrelates that boasted so much of these great at cheivi- ments in this work, are fled into holes and corners: Familists, Seekers, Antinomians and Anabaptists, tliey are so iU armed, that they think it best sleeping in a whole skin, fearing that if the day of battell once go on, thcsy shall fall among Antichrists Armies: and therefore cry out Uke cowards. If you wiU let me alone, and I wiU let you alone ; but assuredly the Lord Christ hath said. He that is not with ms, is against us; there is no room in his Army for toleratorists. But some will say, We will never believe the day is come, till our eyes behold Babylon begirt with Souldiers. I pray be not too hasty; hath not the Lord said, Come out of her my people? etc., surely there is a little space left for this, and now is the time, seeing the Lord \J 270 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1651 hath set up his standerd of resort; now, Come forth of her, and be not partakers of her mn.s: now is the time, when the Lord hath a.sscuihk'd his Suints t()<^cthcr; now the Lord will come and not tarry. ;Vs it was necessary that tluTc should be a Moses and Aaron, Ix-fore the Lord would deliver his people and destroy Pharaoh lest they should be wildred indeed in the \\'il(liTnes.s; so now it was needfull, that the Churclies of Christ should first obtain their purity, and the \J" civill government its power to defend them, l)efore Antichrist come to his finall ruine: and beeause yf)u shall be sure the day is come indeed, heliold the Lord Christ marshalling of his in- vincible Army to the battell: some suppose this onely to be niysticall, and not literall at all: assuredly the spirituall fight is chiefly to be attended, and the other n(jt neglected, having a neer dependancy one upon the other, especially at this time; the Ministers of Christ who have east off all lording power over one another, are created field-Officers, whose Office is' extravagant in this Army, chiefly to encourage the fighting Souldiers, and to lead them on upon the enemy in the most advantagious places, and bring on fresh supplies in all places of danger, to put the sword of the spirit in their Souldiers hands: but ("lirisi (who is their general) must onely enable them to use it aripht: to give every Sonklier in charge that tliey watcli over one another, to see tliiit none meddle with the execrable tilings of Antichrist, and this to be performed in every Regiment throughout the Araiy: and not one to exercise dominion over the other l\v way of superiority: for Ciirist hath appointed a parity in all his Regiments, etc. let them beware that none go apart with rebellioas Korah. And further, l)eliold. Kings, Rulci-s, or (ienerals of Earths Armies, doth Clnist make use of in this day of battell, the which he liath brought into tlie field ali-eady also; who are appointed to (k'fend, uphold, and maintain the whcik^ body of his Annies against tlie insok'nt, beastly, and bl(H)dy cruelty of their in- sa(ial)k' enemies, and to keep order that none do his fcllow- Souldier any wrong, nor that any should raise a mutiny in the hosts. Notwitlistanding all tliis, if any shall say, they will ' A),'iiin.sl (his point is n inHrf,riniil note rondini;, "'^'ca pvrry Officer hath his ciwn |ir(i|MT UcfjinicMl." The wnnl "i-ximvagiuit " is used in the sense of "not ciinliiu'il 10 iiny sTiiiill locality' — ii roving commission. 1651] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 271 not believe the day is come till they see them ingage battell with Antichrist; Verily, if the Lord be pleased to open your eyes, you may see the beginning of the fight, and what success the Armies of our Lord Christ have hitherto had: the Forlome hopes of Antichrists Army, were the proud Prelates of England; the Forlome of Christs Armies, were these N. E. people, who are the subject of this History, which encountring each other for some space of time, ours being overpowered with multitude, were forced to retreat to a place of greater safety, where they waited for a fresh opportunity to ingage with the main battell of Antichrist, so soon as the Lord shall be pleased to give a word of Command. Immediately upon this success, the Lord Christ was pleased to command the right ^^ing of his Army, to advance against the left Winp; of Antichrist, wherein his former forlorn hopes of proud Prelates lay: these by our right Wing had their first pay (for that they had done to our for- lome before) being quite overthrown and cut in pieces by the valiant of the Lord in our right Wing, who still remain fighting. Thus far of the battell of .Antichrist, and the various success: what the issue will be, is assuredly known in tlie gencrail already. Babylon is fallen, the God of truth hath said it; then who would not be a Souldier on Christs side, where is such a certainty of victory? nay I can tell you a farther word of encouragement, every tme-heartcd Souldier that falls l)y the sword in this fight, shall not lye dead long, but stand upon his feet again, and be made partaker of the triumph of this \'ictory: and none can be overcome, but by turning his back in fight. And for a word of terrour to the enemy, let them ^/ know, Christ will never give over the raising of fresh Forces, till they are overthrown root and brant^h. And now you an- tient people of Israel loo^ out of your Prison grates, let these Armies of the Lord Christ Jesus provoke you to acknowledge he is certamly come, I [ay] and speedily he doth come to put Ufe into your dry bones: here is a people not onely praying but fighting for you, that the great block may be reinu\-cd out of the way, (which hath hindered hitherto) that they wth you may enjoy that glorious resurrection-day, the glorious nuptials of the Lamb: when not only the Bridegroom shall appear to his Churches both of Jews and Gentiles, (which are his spouse) in a more brighter aray then ever heretofore, but 272 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1651 also his Bride shall be clothed by him in the richest garments that ever the Sons of men put on, e\'C'n the glorious graces of Christ Josus, in such a glorious splendor to the eyes of man, that they shall see and glorifie the Father of both Bridegroom and Bride. 1. Oh King of Saints, how great's thy work, say we, Done and to do, poor Captives to redeem! Moiintnines of mercy makes this work to be (JlorioMs that grace by which thy works are seen. Oh Jc'sii, thou a Saviour unto thine. Not works but grace makes us this mercy find. 2. Of sinners cheife, no better men they be, Thou by thy work hast made thy work to do: Thy Captaines strength weak dust appears in thee. While thou art brought such wondrous works unto. Then Christ doth all, I [ay] all is done for his Redeemed ones, his onely work it is. 3. Doth Christ build Churches? who can them deface? He purchast them, none can his right deny: Not all the world, ten thousand worlds; his grace Caiis'd him diu-c them at greater price to buy. Nor marvcll then if Kings and Kingdomes he Destroy 'd, when tliey do cause his folke to flee. 4. ClirJNt is come down possession for to take Of his deer purchase; who can hinder him? Not all the .\rmics earthly men can make: Millions of spirits, although Divels grim: Can Pope or Turke with all their mortall power. Stay Clirist from his inheritjince one hour? 5. All Nations band your selves tonrethcr now, You shall fall down as dust from bellows blown: How easie can our King your power bow? Though higher you in mens accompt were grown. As drop in bucket shall those waters be, Wliereon that Whore doth sit in high degree, ft. Christs wrath is kintlled, who can stand before His anger, that so long hath been provoked? In moment ]HTish shtiU all him before. Who to\ich'd Mnimt Sinai, niid it soundly smoaked. New-England Churches you are Christs, you sav. So sure arc all that walk in Christs wav. 1651] OF SIGNS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 273 7. No such need fear fury of men or Divels, Why, Christ among you takes his dayly walk: He made you gold, you keeps from rusting evils, And hid you here from strife of tongues proud talke. Amongst his he for their defence doth bide, They need no more that have Christ on their side. 8. Man be not proud of this thy exaltation: For thou wast dung and dogs filth when Christ wrought In thee his work, and set thee in this station To stand; from him thy strength is dayly brought. Yet in him thou shalt go triumphant on: Not thou but Christ triumphs his foes upon. 9. You people whom he by the hand did lead From Egypt land through Seas with watry wall: Apply your selves his Scriptures for to read: In reading do for eyes enlightned call. And you shall see Christ once being come is now Again at hand your stubborn hearts to bow. 10. Though scattered you, Earths Kingdoms are throughout In bondage brought, cheife by those make some shew Of Jewish rights; they Christ with you cast out; Christ will their Cords for you in sunder hew. Through unbeliefe you were to bondage brought: Believe that Christ for you great work hath wrought. 11. He will your heart not member circumcise: Oh search and see, this is your Jesus sure, Refuse him not, would God you were so wise: None but this King can ought your hope procure. Once doting on an Earthly Kingdom you Mist of your Christ; be sure be wiser now. 12. The day's at hand he will you wiser make To know Earths Kingdoms are too scant and base For such a price, as Christ paid for your sake: Kings you shall be, but in a higher place; Yet for your freedom Nations great shall fall, That without fear of foes, him serve you shall. 13. You are the men that Christ will cause subdue Those Turkish Troops, that joyned Jews have been: His Gentile Churches cast down Babels crue: Then you that brood of Mahumetts shall win. Destroy his seed 'mongst Persians, Turkes and Moores, And for poor Christians ope the Prison doors. 274 WONDER-WORKING PROVIDENCE [1651 14. Your Nation prov'd too scant for his possession, Whose pretious blood was made :i price for sin: And Nations all who were in like transgression; Some of the whole Christ to his Crown will win, And now makes way for this his work indeed. That through the world his Kingdom may proceed. 15. Now Nations all I pray you look about, I Christ comes you iicer, his power I pray embrace: \J In's word him seek; he's found without all doubt: He doth beseech with ttares, Oh .seek his face: Yet time there is, the Battel's but begun; Christ, call thy folke that they to thee may run. 16. Place them in thy strong Armies newly gather'd. Thy Churches, Lord, increase and fill withall: Those blessed ones are given thee by thy Father, The wickeds Rod of? from their backs recall. Brcake off their yokes, that tliey with freedom may Tell of thy workes, and praise thee every day. 17. Lord Christ, go on with thy preat wonders working, Down headlong cast all Antichristian power: Unmaske those men that lye in corners lurking, Wliose damned doctrines dayly seates advance. For why, thy Folke for this are dayly longing. That Nations may come in tliy Churches thronging. IS. Wliat greater joy can come thy Saints among. Then to behold their Christ exalted high? Thy Spirits joy with ravishment stirs strong Thy Folke, while they thy Kingdomes glory eye. Angels rejnyre because their waiting is In Saints assembly, where tliy name they bliss. 19. Thy workes are not in Israels Land confined, F'rom East to West thy wondrous works are known To Nations all thou ha.st thy grace a.ssigned. Thy spirits breathings through the World are blown. All Languages and tongues do tell thy praise, Dead hear thy voyce, them thou dost living raise. 20. Oh iilessed dnyes of Son of ^lan now .seen. You that have lotig'd so sore them to behold, March forth in's might, and stoutly stand l>etweon The mighties swoni, and Christs dear flock infold. Undaunted close and clash with them; for why? 'Ciainst Christ thev are, and he with thee stands bv. 1651] OF SIOXS SAVIOUR IN NEW ENGLAND 275 21. No Captive thou, nor Death can on thee seize, Fight, stand, and live in Christ thou dayly dost: He long ago did lead as Captives these. And ever lives to save thee where thou goest. His Father still, and Spirit shall with thee Abide, and crovme thy Head with lasting glee. For thy words sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things, to make thy servant know them, 2 Sam. 7. 21. FINIS. INDEX Aberginian, 41, 41 n. Adams, C. F., Three Episodes of Massa- chxisetts History, 40 n., 124 n. Aggawam, see Essex County. Agissawam, 41 n. Allen, Bozoan, 229. Allen, Rev. John, 171, 171 n., 179, 215. Allen, Thomas, 215. Allin, John, Jr., 202, 202 n. America Painted to the Lije, 3. American Antiquarian Society, 4. Ames, Rev. William, 202, 202 n. Anabaptists, 31, 31 n., 132 n., 269. Andover, 231, 249. Anne, Cape, 205. Antigua, 247 n. Antinomians, 31, 31 n., 50, 67 n., 68 n., 83 n., 102 n., 124 n., 134 n., 179 n., 197 n., 252, 269. Apollonius, Rev. William, 104 n. Aquidneck, 186 n. ArheUa, ship, 51 n., 56, 63 n., 65. Arber, Edward, English Reprints, 13. Arians, 60. Anninians, 50. Atherton, Capt. Humphrey, 142 n., 143, 229. Baillie, R«v. Robert, 125, 137; Dissua- sive from the Errors of the Time, 125 n., 137 n. Ball, Rev. John, 137; Trial of the New Church Way in \ew England and in Old, 137 n. Barbados, 55, 247, 247 n. Barnard, Tobias, 202, 202 n. Batchellor, Rev. Stephen, 73, 188 n., 189. Bellingham, Gov. Richard, 37, 37 n., 97, 97 n., 101, 192, 205. Bennet, Philip, 265. Berkeley, Sir William, 265 n. Bermudas, 55, 247 n., 267. Blackstone, see Blaxton. Blaxton, Rev. William, 46, 46 n., 64. Blaxton's point, 64. Blinman, Rev. Richard, 205, 206 n. Body of Liberties, by Nathaniel Ward, 97 n., 244 n. Boston, 191; defeated hopes of being a city, 9, 247: situation of, 11; church of Christ, 70, 88; frontier town, 90; tradeof, 96; petition of church, 174 n.; fifty-eight persons disarmed, 17.3; farms kept from being part of Brain- tree, 197, 197 n.; foundation of, 212 n.; forts of, 227-232; growth of, 247; petition to be made a corporation, 9, 247 n.; coopers and shoemakers of, 248 n.; founding of the Old North Church, 2,51, 251 n. Bradford, History of Plymouth Planta- tion, 14, 42 n., 40 n. Bradstreet, Gov. Simon, 65, 141, 219 Braintree, 117 n., 171 n., 197, 236, 246, 246 n. Branford, Conn., 195 n. Brewster, Nathaniel, 202, 202 n. Bridges, Capt. Robert, 231. Brigham, Sebastian, 231. Bright, Rev. Francis, 40 n. Brooke, Nathaniel, 3, 10, 11, 21. Brooke, Lord, 106, 118 n. Browne, Rev. Edmund, 171, 171 n., 182, 196. Brownists or Separatists, Errours of the Sect called, by Wm. Rathband, i:i7 n. Bulkley, Rev. Edward, 1 1 1 n., 202, 202 n. Bulkley, Rev. John, 111 n., 202, 202 n. Bulkley, Rev. Peter, 110. Burr, Rev. Jonathan, 192, 192 n., 215 n. Burrough, Rev. Jeremiah, 138, 138 n. Cambridge, founding of, 90; church of, 93, 93 n., 252; plan of certain people to remove to Connecticut, 105-107; first synod held at, 170-175; printing- press of, 183 n.; selected as a site for Harvard College, 200; second synod held at, 242-243. 277 278 INDEX Cambridge Plai/orm, 242 n. ('atnbridge Synods, 25 n.; first, 152 n., 170-175; second, 242-243. CanonicuB, 161-163, 235. Canterbury, 5, 6, 50 n. Curtrr, Rev. Thomas, 117, 117 n., 135, 215, 217, 217 n. Castle Island, 33 n., 69, 93 n., 170 n., 2:!2, 2:t2 n., 234. Charles I., 23 n., 37 n., 38 n., 157 n., 158 n., 208 n. Charles River, 38, 63 n., 01, 65, 67, 68, 74, 84, 90. Charlestown, Johnson settled in, 0; founding of town and church, 7; es- tablishment of civil government, 65; meeting of Court of Assistants at, 66, 66 n.; church divided into two, 67, 67 n.; situation and description of, 68-69; another church founded, 70, 70 n. ; Rev. Thomas James, pastor of church of, 82, 82 n.; frontier town, 90; helpers in the church of, 100; two persons disarmed in, 175; founda- tion not due to definite acts of the General Court, 212 n.; church ap- pointed seven men to supervise new settlement of Wobum, 212, 213 n.; forts of, 227-2:!2; growth of, 247; the fire of 1650, 2.")'.) n. (charter of Freedom, 208. Chauncy, Rev. Charles, 180 n., 181, 192 n , 194. Chelmsford, 227 n. Chelsea, 64. Child, Dr. Robert, 141 n., 240 n. Church covenant, 216. Church Discipline, Plaijorm of, agreed upon by the Synod at Cambridge, 242 n. ChuTch-Disci pi ine. Survey of the Summe of, by Thomas Hooker, 91 n. ChuTch-Oovernmeni exercised in Presby- teriall, Classicall and SynmlicaU As- setiihlies, by Jolin I'a»;it, 137 n. Church of Engliiiid, 15^ 160, 240 n. Cliurdi of Scotland, 240 n. Church officers, 2(1 .iO, 3», 35, 38. Cliurrlics, nilr.H for governing, 2r)-2(); condurt of members, 28-29; govern- mriit in, 98. Clnircliis of (Virist in Xem EngUuul, The Wcnj oj the, by John Cut I on, 125 n. Churches, see also St. Botolph'a and St. George's. Clap, Roger, 229. Cod, Cape, 176, 176 n. Coddington, William, 185 n. Coitmore, Thomas, 253. Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Pub- lications oj the, 162 n. Coirict of UilX, 39. Commissioners of Plantations, 37 n., 241 n. Commonwealth, see Massachusetts. Concord, 110, 111, 115 n., 195. Congregational churches, general coun- cils or synods of, 152 n., 170-175, 242- 243. Congregationalism, democratic methods of, 7, principles and practices of, 10; polity of, 25-20, 26 n; theory regard- ing churches, 27 n.; essential features in Massachusetts Bay of, 46 n.; clas- sical exposition of polity in New E^ng- land of, 91 n.; controversy respecting merits of systems of Presbyterianism and, 137, 138, 172; imposition of hands, 217 n.; use of synods and councils, 242 n. Connecticut, migration to, 91 n., 105- 106, 193 n.; Samuel Stone removed to, 93 n.; settlement of Saybrook transferred to the colony of Connecti- cut, 118 n.; Pequot country, 148 n.: New Haven Colony absorbed by, 178 n.; confederation to assist other colonies, 219. Connecticut River, 147. Cook, Col. George, 230. Copeland, Rev. Patrick, 267 n. Cotton, Rev. John, 63 n.. 67 n., 87-89, 125, 174, 215, 20S; The Way of the Churches of Christ in \ew England, 125 n. Cotton, Rev. Seaborn, 9, 63, 202, 202 n. Covenant oj Grace Opened, 111 n. Cmdock, Matthew, 10, 12, 38. Cutter, William R., 8. Dalton, Rev. Timothy, ISS n., 189. Dane, Rev. Franci.s, 249. Dantorth, Samuel, 202, 202 n. Davenport, Hov John, 40 n., 171, 171 n., 170 n., 177. 177 n. Davenport, ("apt. Richard, 170, 232. INDEX 279 Deacons, 25 n., 27 n., 68. Dedham, 171 n., 179. Dennison, Major-Gen. Daniel, 230. Denton, Rev. Richard, 193 n., 194. Deputies, election of town, 141, 142; principal ones, 143, 144. Discipline, rules of, for the people of Christ, 33-35. Dissiiasivc jrom the Errors of the Time, by Robert BailKe, 125 n., 137 n. Doctrines, 26, 27, 29, 36, 50, 99, 123- 136, 147, 220. Dodge, Prof. R. E. Neil, Johnson's metres, 12. Dorchester, description of, and organi- zation of church of, 69, 69 n. ; Rev. Richard Mather called to the church of, 105, 105 n.; emigration to Con- necticut, 106; Rev. Jonathan Burr called to, 192, 192 n.; foundation not due to definite acts of the General Court, 212 n. Dover, 206, 207, 207 n. Downing, George, 202, 202 n. Draper, John, 17. Dudley, Gov .Thomas, 9; elected deputy- governor, 65, 77, 81, 85, 139, 182, 188, 240, 245, 249, 252, 255; elected gov- ernor, 81 n., 93, 192, 234, 254; elected major-general, 228; death of, 81 n. Dummer, Richard, 99. Duncan, Nathaniel, 142 n., 143. Dunkirk men-of-war, 56, 56 n. Dunster, Pres. Henry, 198, 202, 204, 215. Durand, Rev. William, 267, 267 n. Dutch, 59, 71, 76, 101, 148, 150, 219. Duxbury, 118 n., 119. Eagle, 51, 56. Earthquakes, 160, 160 n., 185, 225. E^t Greenwich, manor of, 37. Eaton, Rev. Samuel, 192 n., 193. Eaton, Theophilus, 171, 171 n., 176, 176 n., 177 n., 178. Eclogttes, Spenser's, 14. Elders, 26, 27, 27 n., 28, 68, 70 n., 99, 108, 216, 217. Elegy, Gray's, 13. Eliot, Rev. John, 72, 215, 264. Endicott, Gov. John, 9, 12; governor of colony at Naumkeag, 44 n.; elected deputy-governor, 205, 209, 219, 245, 254; elected governor, 225, 252, 255; elected major-general, 234, 249. Endicott Rock, 37 n. English Independency, 2-12 n. English nation, 23, 24, 40, 49, 59, 154- 161. English Reprints, Arber's, 13. Essex County, 96, 96 n., 229, 231. Familists, 31, 31 n., 50, 249. Farrett, James, 195 n. Fenwick, George, 118, 118 n. Fisk, Rev. John, 171, 171 n., 182, 226, 227, 227 n. Flint, Rev. Henry, 117 n., 197. Flint, Thomas, 117. Fordham, Rev. Robert, 195, 195 n. Formalists, 60. Franco, 55. Frederick V., 158 n. Freemen, 66, 141; number admitted in successive years, 66, 77, 81, 85, 'M, 101, 118, 139, ]S2, 1.S.S, 192, 205, 209, 219, 225, 240, 245, 249, 254. French, 69, 71, 70, 219. Gabriel, ship, 61 n. Gardiner, Sir Christopher, 10, 163 n. Gardiner, Lion, l('i3n.; Relalion ol llie Pequot Wars, 165 n. Gassendi, 39 n. General Court, 8, 9, 140, 141 n., 228, 228 n.; gift of Dr. Wilson acknowl- edged by, 33 n. ; meetings of, 65, 65 n. 66, 66 n.; rules for rlittifin of gov- ernor and deputy-governor, 81 n.; counties organized by, !)(in.; laws passed to retilrict wages, 200 n.; com- raittoc to oxamino htatc of Harvard College, 204 n.; order relating to salt- pt'trc, 218; fuller code of laws pre- pared, 241, 244 n. Geneva Bible, 52 n. Germans, 59. Gerrish, William, 231. Gibbons, Major-Gen. Edward, 04, 161 n., 229, 235, 252, 254, 256. Gloucester, 45, 205, 200, 231. Glover, John, 143. Glover, Rev. Jose, 183, 183 n. Goffe, Thomas, 38 n. Golding, Rev. William, 207. Goodenow, Edmund, 230. 280 INDEX Goodwin, Rev. Thomas, 138, 138 n. Gookiii, Major-Gen. Danifl, 5, 142 n., liA, 'JliU. Gorpes, Sir Ferdinamlo, 3, 4. Gorges, Fcniiiiiindo, Esquire, 3, 4. Gorges, Robert, ID n. Gorton, Siiiiuicl, arrest of, 9, 224; re- ports injurious to the MuHHacliusetts plantution, 10; theology of, 31 n.; leader of the so-called hentics, 220, 220 n.; relations with the Indians, 222-223; Simplicities Defence against Serev^Hcnitril PoUcic, 223 n.; govern- ment not to molest, 241 n. Gortonists, theology of, 31, 50, 122, heresies of, 128, 129; incite the Ind- ians, 220; seek to defraud Indians of their land, 222-223; numbers in- crease, 224 ; arrest and imprisonment ot members, 224-225; government not to molest, 241, 241 n. Gospel Covenant, The, by Peter Bulkley, llln. Gospell breaking forth upon the Indians of Xew England, Tlie Clear Sunshine of the, 264 n. Gospell with the Indians in jVetc England, The Day-Breaking if not the Sun- Rising of the, 264 n. Government, civil, 90, 123 n.; rules re- lating to, 30-32; Plymoutli, 43; es- tablishing of, 63-65; election of officers and their duties, 139-140; members, 140-141; sectaries not to be tolerated, 144-145; kind of men to be chosen to uphold the, 145-140. Gray's Elegy, 13. Great Britain, 36, 247, see also Eng- lish nation. Green, Rev. Henry, 22G. Green-Harbor, see Marshfield. Greenleaf, Edmund, 231. Griffin, ship, 03 n. Guilford, 177 n., 193 n. Hampton, 71 n., 188, ISO, 190, 231. Harlackenden, Roger, 103. Harrison, Rev. Thomas, 200-267, 207 n. Hartford, <)1 n., '.•:! n., lO.'i, US, 149. Harvard, Rev. John, IS7, 187 n., 201, 201 n. H.irvMrd f'nllegp, 90, 105 n., ISO n., 187, l'.J8n., 200-205, 22S ii. Hathome, Capt. William, 142 n., 143, 231. Haverhill, 231, 234. Hawkins, Jane, 132 n., 187 n. Hawthorne, see Hathome. Haynes, Gov. John, 87, 101, 106. Hem[)nteaii, Long Island, 193 n., 195 n. Hewctt, Rev. Ephraim, 193 n., 194. HinKiiiwin, Rev. Francis, 40, 47, 109; .\V »i England's Plantation, 47 n. Higginson, Rev. John, 161 n. Hill, Joseph, 142 n., 143, 2.30. Hingham, 115, 115 n., 116, 116 n., 193 a Hobart, Rev. Peter, 115, 116 n. Holland, 32, 247, see also Dutch. Hooke, Rev. William, 192 n., 1^ Hooker, Rev. Thoma8,,-87, 118,252; Survey of Churdh-. 9X n. Hopkins, Gov. Edward, 171, 171 n., 178, 17Sn. Hough, Rev. Samuel, 226. Hour-glass, 136 n. Hubbard, Rev. WiUiam, 142 n., 143. Hull, 250. Husbandmen, Company of, 73 n. Hutchinson, Mrs. Anne, 68 n.; popu- larity of, 28 n.; doctrine of, 31 n., John Cotton's position toward teach- ings of, 88 n.; leader of Antinomians, 124 n.; women as preachers, 127; removal to Pelham Neck and subse- quent murder, 186, 186 n. Hutchinsonian party, 152 n., 174 n, see also Antinomiana. Igoshaum, 41. Independency, in England, 242 n. Indians, 4."), 70, 85, S7, 90, 92, 108, 109, 114, l.')',t, 195; reception of the first settlers, 39—40; Massachusetts, 41, 41 n.; attack against Plymouth set- tlers, 42; stories of Samoset and Squanto, 43, 43 n.; trading for beaver-skins with the, 64; John Eliot's missionary work among the, 72 n., 20 1 ; complaint against the Tarratines, 78; attack on Saugus, 79; small-pox plague, 79- SO; peaceful agreement for purchase of Concord, 110 n., Ill, 112; pat lis of, 113; be- ginning of Peqiiiit war, 147-150; embassy to Cunonicus, 161-163; con- INDEX 281 duct of the Pequots, 164; war with the, 107-170; murder of Anne Hutch- inson and daughters, 186-1S7; battle between the Narragansetts and Mo- hegans, 219-222; preparations for second war against, 234-2:36; preach- ing to the, 261-264 ; massacre of 1644, 265-266. Ipswich, 74 n., 100, 143; organization of church at, 95-96; description of, 96; ministers of church of, 119; two people disarmed in, 175; growth of, 247. Ireland, 55, 78, 108. Ireland, Deputy of, 92. Jackson, Edward, 143. Jacobites, 74, 90, 113, 147, 160, 238. James I., 23 n., 158 n. James, Rev. Thomas, 82, 82 n., 100. Jenners, Rev. Thomas, 180 n., 181. Jennison, William, 230. John, Sagamore, 79, 80 n. Johnson, Lady Arbella, 56, 64. Johnson, Capt. Edward, 43 n., 45 n., 49 n., 50 n., 52 n., 58 n., 63 n., 100 n., 134 n., 143 n., 162 n., 222 n., 229 n., 230 n., 264 n.; Wonder-working I'rox-i- dence, 4-5; emigration to Massa- chusetts, 6; account of the settling of Charlestown, 7; service in the colony, 8-9; reasons for publishing book, 10; typographical errors and style of book, 11-14; character and personal qualities of, 15-16; editions of his book, 17; accusations against the Anabaptists, 31 n.; commissioner to survey Merrimac River, 37 n.; pas- senger on the Eagle, 51 n. ; description of Charlestown, 69 n. ; exploration of Wobum, 74, 74 n.; account of so- called Antinomians, 124 n.; election of magistrates, 141 n.; probable mem- ber of embassy to Canonicus, 161 n.; member of committee of the General Court to examine the state of Harvard College, 204 n.; supervised new settle- ment of Wobum, 213 n.; appointed surveyor of military stores, 231 n. Johnson, Hon. Edward F., 8. Johnson, Isaac, 56, 65, 229. Johnson, John, 144, 231, 231 n. Johnson, William, of Canterbury, 5. Johnson, Major William, 7, 18. Jones, Rev. John, 110, 112, 202, 202 n. Kent, 5. Kepler, 39 n. Kieft's war, 186 n. Ivnowles, Rev. John, 190, 191, 191 n., 215, 265. Lamberton, Capt. George, 178, 178 n., 254. Laudian persecution, 94. Lawes and Libertyes concerning the In- habitants of the M assachusets, The Book of the General, 244 n. Laws, 97 n., 244, 244 n. Legend of Gaveston, 14. Leveridge, Rev. Wilham, 264 n. Long Island, 195. Lothrop, Rev. John, 98. Lothrop, Thomas, 231. Ludlow, Roncr, 93. Lusher, Elcazar, 143, 229. Lynn, 195 n.; churches of, 70 n.; de- scription of, 73 ; attack of the Indians, 70; Rev. Samuel Whiting welcomed by church of, 120; iron work at, 2 16 n. Magistrates, not to open gates of forts, .52; election by the freemen in Cun- eral Court, 81, SI n., 140, 141 n.; not todoovil, l-).")-l 16; dutyto be present at church, 215. Magnolia, by Cotton Mather, 14. .Maine, 73 n. Maiden, 230, 249, 250. Manufactures, 245. Marshfield, 206 n. Martha's Vineyard, 38 n., 49 n., 264. ^fll^J Rose, ship, 258 n. Mason, Hugh, 230. Mason, Capt. John, 107 n., 168 n.; Brief History of the Pequod War, 165 n. Massachusetts, History of .X em- England, from the English planting in the Yeere 1628 until the Yeere 1652, 3; relations between Sir Ferdinando Gorges and, 4; arrival of Capt. Johnson in, 6; re- ports injurious to plantation of, 10; distinguished founders and their prin- ciples, 15-16; doctrine of the govem- nicnt of, 31 n.; claim to New Hamji- shirc and Maine, 37 n.; the pestilence 2S2 INDEX of 1010-1017, 40, 40 n.-41; number of churches in, 49 n.; relations of Samuel Mav(Ti(k with, (il n.; coun- ties of, 96 n.; first coile of laws of, '.t7 n.; govcrniiicnt maintaineil right to puniHh for lufniclionM of the "First TaMn," lj:j n.; public worship in, I'tryn.; arrest of Thomas Morton by tlio niagistratea of, i')'> n.; expoilition against tlic Indians by a body of troops. Hit n.; levy of men in war against Indians, 165, 165 n.; Wm. Coddington ban- ished from, isr> n., authority ex- tended over Now Hampshire, 207 n.; emigrants to island in Caribbean Sea, 208 n.; confederation to assist other colonies, 219; jurisdiction ex- tended over the Shawomet region, 2122 n.; relations of the Gortonists and, 223-224; drilling of soldiers, 228; military officers, 228-232; Wm. Pynchon named in patent of, 230 n.; petition ai^ainst the government of, 240; anotlier code of laws prepared, 244, 244 n. Massachusetts, Chronicles of, by Alex- ander Young, 94. Massachuselts History, Three Episodes of, by C. F. Adams, 40 n., 124 n. Massachusetts Bay, 67, 179. Massachusetts Company, 4, .'i? n. Massachusetts Historical Society, 17. Massasoit, 41. Mather, Rev. Cotton, 251 n.; Magnolia, 14. Mather, Rev. Increase, 105 n., 2ol n. Mather, Rev. Nathaniel, 202. Mathrr, Rev. Richard, 105, 215. Mather, Rov. Samuel, 202, 202 n., 2.'il n. Matli(w.4, Rev. Marmaduke, 250, 250 n. MattliiWK, Albert, 102 n. Maudi', Rev. Daniel, 207, 207 n. Maverick, Riv. John, 70, 105, 240 n. Maverick, Samuel, 03, (11, 105, 210 n. Miiwhiggins, see Mohcgans. Mayhew, Rev. Thomas, 2111, 201 n. Mayhcw, Thomas, Sr., .'IS a., 264 n. Mcdficlil, 179 n. Mcnridnites, 31 n. Mrrciirius Polillnts, 4. Miritorioua Price of Our Redemption, The, by \\'ia. I'ynchon, 237. Merrimac River, 37n., 38, 90, 99. 189, 214. Mcxaiiino, 235 n., 236. Miantonomoh, 161, 220-222. Middlcsrx County, 90 n., 229. Milford, ( 'onn., 177 n. Military affairs, 227-2:i3. Miller, K.v. John, 184, 215 n. Ministers, duties of, 27, 27 n.; banish- ment to the .\., LL.H.. Trqftjsor ^ Amtrlean HUtory in Brotwn Unix>*rjlty: " For all historical study beyond the most elementary, the systematic and extended use of the sources is of course indispensable. The output of documentary material (or the American Colonial Period has been these twenty years past very coiL-.iderabI'-. although vast quantities of slgnifleani documents still exist only in manuscript. In the field of narrative sources, however, republication has been far 1l-.s,s fregut-nt. and the scarcity of these originals, together with the high prices which copies command, have made It practically Impossible for students who do not have atcess to the lar^ist libraries to make more than occasional or incidental use of this kind of historical material. " If the vdumes of ' Original Narratives ' thus far published are a eufilclent Indication as I have no doubt they are — of what the series will be as a whole, a great gap in valuable material for the study of American origins will be worthily filled. " The editorial work of the volumes shows a commendable union of care and restraint. The introductions both of the general editor and of the editors of the several volumes are sufflcient without being too long, while the explanatory foot-notes are kept well within bounds. Mechanically, the volumes are well made, open easily In the hand, and are issued at a price which puts them within the reach of libraries and Individuals ot modest means. ORIGINAL NARRATIVES OF EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY ' A series so well vouched lor on the editorial side can need little commendation from other quarters, (or the volumes are their own best commendation. As a teacher of American history to college classes, however, I am always glad to find valuable material for student use increase, and the 'Original Narratives' deserve, and I hope wiU receive, a cordial reception and a generous use." WortAlngton C. Ford, Chltf of TililUlon of ManujcripU. Library of Contrmjj, Wajhln^ton, Z>. C- " I look upon it OS one of the best series undertaken to encourage the study ol Ameri- can history. Not only is the original plan rarely intelligent, but the individual volumes prove the care and critical capacity of each editor. The volumes are not only our source books of American history, but they are also readable and In such convenient form that they should be In every library, and used as text books in the teaching ol history." Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, in the fiorth American 'Ke^ietm: "In this volume on 'The Northmen, Columbus, and Cabot,' and as the prospectus indicates, in its successors, the selection could not be improved. Judging from this volume alone, it may also be said that nothing could be better than the editing. We have the best texts accompanied by brief but clear introductions, and explained by notes which are sulficient to guide and instruct and not sufficient to puzzle and encum- ber. In each case a short list of authorities is given which will direct those who wish to pursue their inquiries upon any one of the three subjects in the way in which they should go, to find all the sources and the last works of modem research and antiquarian learning. The selection and editing could not in fact have been better done for the purpose which the editors had in view. " If any one wishes to wrestle with the endless questions and controversies of the Columbian voyages, it is easy to plunge into the countless books upon the subject- Meantime the general reader, little concerned with dates and identification of places, but profoundly interested in the fact of America's discovery, can find in these lettere and journals the man himself, and live o\ er with him the triumph, one of the greatest ever won, and the tragedy, one of the most piteous ever endured. " After all. there is nothing better than this that history can do for us, and very few histories can do it quite so well as an original narrative with all its errors and imper- feciions on its head, if we are only fortunate enough to possess one which has both literary quality and real human feeling." ' A NECESSITY IN EVERY LIBRARY The American Library Ajjociation ^ooK Lijt jckyj ^ " /iarrati^ej of Early Virginia " .' "A lureful edition of the most readable original narratives ha\ing to do with the early hi.story of \'irglnia. No better introduction to the use of source material could he t,'ivi'n, and the general reader of history will find these accounts more fascinating than the lutesi historical novel. They should be found in every library that can afford to purchase them." For Fuller Injormation, send to the Publishers CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 153-157 Fifth Avenue, New York