them, "a model of church-government, according to the word of God," unto the end that out of those the synod might form what should be found most agreeuble; which three persons were Mr. Cotton, and Mr. Mather, and Mr. Partridge. So that, in the opinion of that reverend assembly, this person did not come far behind the first two for some of his accomplish ments. After he had been forty years a faithful and painful preacher of the gospel, rarely, if ever, in all that while interrupted in his work by any bodily sickness, he died in a good old age, about the year 1658. There was one singular instance of a weaned spirit, whereby he signalized himself unto the churches of God. That was this: there was a time when most of the ministers in the colony of Plymouth left the colony, upon the discouragement which the want of a competent maintenance among the needy and froward inhabitants gave unto them. Nevertheless Mr. Partridge was, notwithstanding the paucity and the poverty of his congregation, so afraid of being anything that looked like a bird wandering from his nest, that he remained with his poor people till he took wing to become a bird of paradise, along with the winged scraphim of heaven. EPITAPHIUM. Avolarit. MINISTRY OF ANGELS-FROM "COELESTINUS." When the Angel of the Lord encamps round about those that fear Him, the next news is, They that seek the Lord shall want nothing that is good for them. O servant of God, art thou afraid of wants, of straits, of difficulties? The angels who poured down at least 250,000 bushels of manna day by day unto the followers of God in the wilderness; the angel that brought meat unto the Prophet; the angel that showed Hagar and her son how to supply themselves; who can tell what services they may do for thee! Art thou in danger by sicknesses? The angel who strengthened the feeble Daniel, the angel who impregnated the waters of Bethesda with such sanative and balsamic virtues; who can tell what services they may do for thee! Art thou in danger from enemies? The angel who rescued Jacob from Laban and from Esau; the angel who fetched Peter out of prison, who can tell what services they may do for thee! The angels which directed the Patriarch in his journeys, may give a direction to thy steps, when thou art at a loss how to steer. The angels who moved the Philistines to dismiss David; the angels who carried Lot out of Sodom; the angels who would not let the lions fall upon Daniel, they are still ready to do as much for thee, when God thy Saviour shall see it seasonable. And who can tell what services the angels of God may do for the servants of God, when their dying hour is coming upon them; then to make their bed for them, then to make all things easy to them. When we are in our agonies, then for an angel to come and strengthen us! The holy angels, who have stood by us all our life, will not forsake us at our death. It was the last word of a Divine, dying in this, but famous in other countries; O you holy angels, come, do your office. Tis a blessed office, indeed, which our Saviour sends his holy angels to do for us in a dying hour. At our dissolution they will attend us, they will befriend us, they will receive us, they will do inconceivable things as a convoy for us, to set us before the presence of our Saviour with exceeding joy. O believer, why art thou so afraid of dying? What! afraid of coming into the loving and the lovely hands of the holy angels! Afraid of going from the caverns of the earth, which are full of brutish people, and where thy moan was, My soul is among lions, and I lie among them that are set on fire, even among the sons of men; and afraid of going to dwell among those amiable spirits, who have rejoiced in all the good they ever saw done unto thee; who have rejoiced in being sent by thy God and theirs, times without number, to do good unto thee; who have rejoiced in the hopes of having thee to be with them, and now have what they hoped for by having thee associated with them in the satisfactions of the heavenly world! Certainly, thou wilt not be afraid of going to those, whom thou hast already had so sweet a conversation with. It was a good Memento written on the door of a study that had much of Heayen in it: ANGELI ASTANT; there are Holy Angels at hand. ON THE DEATH OF HIS SON. The motto inscribed on his gravestone, “Reserved for a glori ous Resurrection." The exhortation of the Lord, With consolation speaks to us, As to his children his good word, We must remember speaking thus: My child, when God shall chasten thee, His chastening do thou not contemn: When thou his just rebukes dost see, Faint not rebuked under them. The Lord with fit afflictions will Correct the children of his love; He doth himself their father still, By his most wise corrections prove. Afflictions for the present here, The vexed flesh will grievous call, But afterwards there will appear, Not grief, but peace, the end of all. ON THE DEATH OF HIS DAUGHTER. The motto inscribed on her gravestone, “Gone, but not lɔst.” The dearest Lord of heaven gave Himself an offering once for me: I see my best enjoyments here, Vain smoke, they prick and leave our eyes. In glory, with eternal joys. I do believe, that I and mine, I do believe, that every bird Of mine, which to the ground shall fa'l, Now my believing soul does hear, This among the glad angels told; BENJAMIN TOMPSON. BENJAMIN TOMPSON, "learned schoolmaster and physician, and ye renowned poet of New England," according to the eulogistic language of his tombstone, was born in 1640, and graduated at Harvard in 1662. He was master of the public school in Boston from 1667 to 1670, when he received a call and removed to Cambridge. Ile died April 13, 1714, and is buried at Roxbury.* He was the author of an Elegy on the Rev. Samuel Whiting of Lynn, who died December 11, 1679, which is printed in the Magnalia. He also figures in the same volume among the rhyming eulogists at its commencement, where he turns a compliment with some skill. Quod patrios Manes revocasti a sedibus altis, In liveries of glory most divine. When ancient names I in thy pages met, His chief production is a poem entitled New England's Crisis. The piece, after an eulogy on certain patriotic women, who turned out to build a wall for the defence of the town, gives a comparison between old times and new in the colony, in which he assigns the palm, as usual in such discussions, at least in poetry, to the days gone by; and then passes to King Philip's war, with which the remainder is occupied. ON A FORTIFICATION AT BOSTON BEGUN BY WOMEN. Dux foemina facti. A grand attempt some Amazonian Dames THE PROLOGUE. The times wherein old Pompion was a saint, * Kettell's Specimens of American Poetry, Vol. i. xxxvii. Under thatch'd hutts without the cry of reat, "Good morrow, brother, is there aught you want? "T was ere the neighbouring Virgin-Land had broke But valour snib'd it. Then were men of worth Dear love, sound truth, they were our grand protection. Then were the times in which our councells sate, So that the mirror of the christian world OUR FOREFATHERS' SONG. Tms song is stated in the Massachusetts Historical Collections to have been "taken memoriter, in 1785, from the lips of an old lady at the advanced period of 96." It is also found in the Massachusetts Magazine for January, 1791. Both copies are identical. It is of an early date, and has been carried back to the year 1630. Four lines in the stanza before the last appear missing. New England's annoyances you that would know them, Pray ponder these verses which briefly doth shew them. The place where we live is a wilderness wood, Where grass is much wanting that's fruitful and good: Our mountains and hills and our vallies below, But when the Spring opens we then take the hoc, If fresh meat be wanting, to fill up our dish, We repair to the clam-banks, and there we catch fish. Instead of pottage and puddings, and enstards and pies, Our pumpkins and parsnips are common supplies; We have pumpkins at morning, and pumpkins at noon, If it was not for pumpkins we should be undone. If barley be wanting to make into malt, Now while some are going let others be coming, THOMAS MAKIN. THOMAS MAKIN was the author of two Latin poems addressed to James Logan, and found among his papers after his death; they are entitled, Encomium Pennsylvania, and In laudes Pennsylrania poema, seu descriptio Pennsylvaniæ, and bear date in 1728 and 1729. The second is "principally retained," as he phrases it, by Robert Proud, who adds an English translation by himself, in his History of Pennsylvania. Makin was an usher under George Keith,* in 1689, in the Friends' Public Grammar School in Philadel phia, and succeeded him as principal in the following year. He was frequently chosen clerk of the Provincial Assembly, but his school not proving productive, he removed to the interior.t His verses describing the features of town and country appear to have been written for amusement, and belong to the curiosities of literature. We give a brief passage of both the rural and city descriptions. Hic avis est quædam dulci celeberrima voce, Hic avis est quædam rubro formosa colore, Hie et aves aliæ, quotquot generantur ab ovis, In cymbas ingens præda aliquando cadit. 'Tis here the mocking bird extends his throat, * George Keith, celebrated both as an advocate and opponent of the Quakers, was born in Aberdeen, and came to East Jersey in 1682, where he was appointed surveyor-general. He was, as we have seen, at the head of a school in Philadelphia in 1689. In 1691, after having made a propagandist tour in New England, he left the sect with a few followers, the seceders calling themselves Christian Quakers. He not long after took orders in the Church of England. officiated about a year in New York and Boston, and travelled through the settlements as a missionary. He returned to England in 1706, and passed the remainder of his life as rector of Edburton in Sussex. He published in 1706 a Journal of Travels from New Hampshire to Caratuck, which was reprinted in 1852 by the Protestant Episcopal Historical Society, in the first volume of their Collections, and a number of controversial works, which were not deficient in energy. + Proud's History, ii. 361. Some Account of the Early Poets and Poetry of Pennsylvania, by Joshua Francis Fisher. Penn. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. ii., pt. 2, p. 78. ww Its motion quick seems to elude the eye; It now a bird appears, and now a fly. The various woodpeckers here charm the sight; But where more scarce, 'tis more esteemed and dear. Quæ parva emicuit tempore magna brevi. Et domui recto est ordine juncta domus. Elevet hoc hominum mentes, et mulceat aures, Five houses here for sacred use are known, Here psalms divine melodious accents raise, JOHN JOSSELYN. THE first mention we have of John Josselyn is from his own words, that he set sail for New England April 26, and arrived at Boston on the 3d of July, 1638. Here he "presented his respects to Mr. Winthrop the governor, and to Mr. Cotton the teacher of Boston church, to whom he delivered, from Mr. Francis Quarles the poet, the translation of the 16, 25, 51, 88, 113, and 137 Psalms into English meter." He returned to England in October of the following year. A storm which occurred on his voyage seems to have made him poetical. He thus discourses: And the bitter storm augments; the wild winds wage War from all parts; and join with the sea's rage. The sad clouds sink in showers; you would have thought, That high-swoln-seas even unto Heaven had wrought And Heaven to seas descended: no star shown; He thus commences the recital of his second voyage. I have heard of a certain merchant in the west of England, who after many great losses, walking upon the sea bank in a calm sun-shining day; observing the smoothness of the sea, coming in with a chequered or dimpled wave: Ah (quoth he) thou flattering element, many a time hast thou inticed me to throw myself and my fortunes into thy arms; but thou hast hitherto proved treacherous; thinking to find thee a mother of increase, I have found thee to be the mother of mischief and wickedness; yea the father of prodigies; therefore, being now secure, I will trust thee no more. But mark this man's resolution a while after, periculum maris spes lucri superat. So fared it with me, that having escaped the dangers of one voyage, must needs put on a resolution for a second, wherein I plowed many a churlish billow with little or no advantage, but rather to my loss and detriment. In the setting down whereof I propose not to insist in a methodical way, but according to my quality, in a plain and brief relation as I have done already; for I perceive, if I used all the art that possibly I could, it would be difficult to please all, for all men's eyes, ears, faith, and judgments are not of a size. There be a sort of stagnant stinking spirits, who, like flies, lie sucking at the botches of carnal pleasures, and never travelled so much sea as is between Heth ferry and Lyon Key; yet not withstanding (sitting in the chair of the scornful over their whists and draughts of intoxication) I will desperately censure the relations of the greatest travellers. It was a good proviso of a learned man, never to report wonders, for in so doing of the greatest he will be sure not to be believed, but laughed at, which certainly bewrays their ignorance and want of discretion. Of fools and madmen then I shall take no care, I will not invite these in the least to honour me with a glance from their supercilious eyes; but rather advise them to keep their inspection for their fine tongu'd romances and plays. This homely piece, I protest ingenuously, is prepared for such only who well know how to make use of their charitable constructions towards works of this nature, to whom I submit myself in all my faculties, and proceed in my second voyage. He sailed May 23d, 1663, and returned December 1, 1671-the interval of eight and a half years having been passed in New England. He published, the year after his return, New England's Rarities Discovered.* In it he gives us a New England's Rarities Discovered in Birds. Beasts, Fishes, Serpents, and Plants of that Country; Together with the Physical and Chyrurgical Remedies wherewith the Natives constantly use to cure their Distempers, Wounds, and Sores. Also a Perfect Description of an Indian Squa, in all glimpse of Boston in 1663. "The buildings are handsome, joining one another as in London, with many large streets, most of them paved with pebble stone; in the high street towards the Common there are fair buildings, some of stone, and at the east end of the town one amongst the rest, built by the shore by Mr. Gibs a merchant; which it is thought will stand him in less than 30007. before it be fully finished. The town is not divided into parishes, yet they have three fair meeting houses or churches, which hardly suffice to receive the inhabitants and strangers that come in from all parts." He next issued a brief work entitled, An Account of Two Voyages to New England.* His books are mainly occupied with a view of the natural history of the country, but he occasionally gives us some hints of the inhabitants, and is uniformly amusing. He also published in 1674, Chronological Observations of America, from the year of the World to the year of Christ, 1673. JOHN WILLIAMS, Joley Avotriams THE author of the Redeemed Captive, was born at Roxbury, Massachusetts, December 16, 1664, where his grandfather had settled in the year 1638, on his emigration from England. By the aid of his maternal grandfather, William Park, he received a liberal education, and was graduated at Harvard at the age of nineteen. In the spring of 1686 he became the first minister of Deerfield. This was a post of unusual peril, as the place, then a frontier settlement, the first houses in which were erected in 1671, had suffered since 1675 continued attacks from the Indians engaged in King Philip's war. It was burnt by these savages after their slaughter of Captain Lathrop and his company, on the 18th of September, 1675, and the site was not again permanently occupied by the whites until 1682. În 1693, depredations recommenced. Attacks were made from time to time on the fort by parties of French and Indians, and on the 29th February (O.S.) 1704, the place was taken, destroyed by fire, some thirty-eight of the townspeople slain, and about one hundred carried into captivity, among whom were Mr. Williams, his wife (who was murdered on the route), and children. They were marched through the wilderness to Montreal, where they arrived about the end of March. They remained in Canada until October 25, 1706, when fifty-seven were removed in a vessel sent from Boston to that city, where they arrived on the 21st of November following. A portion of the remainder had fallen from fatigue or violence on the march or died during their captivity, and some preferred to remain with their Indian captors. Williams with two of his children returned, and in the March following published his work on his captivity,* one of the most interesting productions in our early literature. He was invited immediately after his arrival to return to Deerfield, and, although the situation was still perilous, ventured on his old field of labor. Here he married a daughter of Captain Allen, of Windsor, Connecticut. The town had been rebuilt after its destruction in 1704, and was again attacked in 1709, but the assailants, finding the inhabitants prepared to give them a warm reception, withdrew. Soon after this Williams was appointed a commissioner in the expedition to Canada, under the command of Col. Stoddard, undertaken to redeem the prisoners yet remaining there. The attempt was successful in several instances, but not in obtaining the daughter of Mr. Williams. The remainder of his life was passed in comparative tranquillity, and he died at Deerfield, June 12, 1729, leaving eight children. The Redeemed Captive has been frequently reprinted. The last edition (published by Hopkins, Bridgman & Co., Northampton, Mass.) excellently edited with a life of the writer, to which we have been mainly indebted in the present sketch, and an account of his descendants by one of their number, Dr. Stephen W. Williams. We present a passage from the record of the perilous and painful journey. We travelled not far the first day; God made the heathen so to pity our children, that though they had several wounded persons of their own to carry upon their shoulders, for thirty miles, before they came to the river, yet they carried our children, incapable of travelling, in their arms, and upon their shoulders. When we came to our lodging place, the first night, they dug away the snow, and made some wigwams, cut down some small branches of the spruce-tree to lie down on, and gave the prisoners somewhat to eat; but we had but little appetite. I was pinioned and bound down that night, and so I was every night whilst I was with the army. Some of the enemy who brought drink with them from the town fell to drinking, and in their drunken fit they killed my negro man, the only dead person I either saw at the town, or in the way. In the night an Englishman made his escape; in the morning (March 1), I was called for, and ordered by the general to tell the English, that if any more made their escape, they would burn the rest of the prisoners. He that took me was unwilling to let me speak with any of the prisoners, as we marched; but on the morning of the second day, he being appointed to guard the rear, I was put into the hands of my other master, who permitted me to speak to my wife, when I overtook her, and to walk with her The Redeemed Captive returning to Zion: or a faithful history of remarkable occurrences in the captivity and deliverance of Mr. John Williams, Minister of the Gospel in Deerfield, who in the desolation which befel that plantation by an incursion of the French and Indians, was by them carried away. with his family and his neighbourhood, into Canada. Drawn up by himself. |