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 little wee have; Then spake a third, my husband hath ventured himselfe among the Indians for Corne, and can get none, as also our honoured Governour hath distributed his so far, that a day or two more will put an end to his store, and all the rest, and yet methinks our Children are as cheerefull, fat, and lusty with feeding upon those Mussells, Clambanks and other Fish as they were in England, with their fill of Bread, which makes mee cheerfull 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 providing for them, they lift up their eyes and saw two Ships comming 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 graciously provide for this his people, even at the last cast.

many times

THE EXTERMINATION OF THE PEQUOTS [From "The Wonder-Working Providence," Book II, Chap. VI] After the Ministers of Christ had, through the grace that was given them, exhorted and encouraged these Souldiers appointed for the work, they being provided with certaine Indian guides, who with the close of the day brought them to a small river, where they could perceive many persons had been dressing of fish; upon the sight thereof, the Indian guides concluded they were now a feasting it at their fort, which was hard at hand; the English calling a Council of warre, being directed by the speciallist providence of the most high God, they concluded to storm the fort a little before break of day; at which time they supposed the Indians

being up late in their jolly feasting, would bee in their deepest sleepe; and surely so it was, for they now slept their last; the English keeping themselves as covertly as they could, approached the fort at the time appointed, which was builded of whole Trees set in the ground fast, and standing up an end about twelve foot high, very large, having pitcht their Wigwams within it, the entrance being on two sides, with intricate Meanders to enter. The chiefe Leaders of the English made some little stand before they offered to enter, but yet boldly, they rushed on, and found the passages guarded at each place with an Indian Bow-man, ready on the string, they soone let fly, and wounded the foremost of the English in the shoulder, yet having dispatch'd the Porters, they found the winding way in without a Guide, where they soone placed themselves round the Wigwams, and according to direction they made their first shot with the muzzle of their Muskets downe to the ground, knowing the Indian manner is to lie on the ground to sleep, from which they being in this terrible manner awakened, unlesse it were such as were slaine with the shot.

After this some of the English entred the Wigwams, where they received some shot with their Arrowes, yet catching up the firebrands, they began to fire them, and others of the English Souldiers with powder, did the same: the day now began to break; the Lord intending to have these murtherers know he would looke out of the cloudy pillar upon them: and now these women and children set up a terrible out-cry; the men were smitten down, and slaine, as they came forth with a great slaughter, the Sqawes crying out, oh much winn it Englishman, who moved with pitty toward them, saved their lives: and hereupon some young youth cried, I squaw, I squaw, thinking to finde the like mercy. There were some of these Indians, as is reported, whose bodyes were not to be pierced by their sharp rapiers or swords of a long time, which made some of the Souldiers think the Devil was in them, for there were some Powwowes among them, which work strange things, with the help of Satan. But this was very remarkable, one of them being wounded to death, and thrust thorow the neck with a Halbert; yet after all, lying groaning upon the ground, he caught the halberts speare in his hand, and wound it quite round. After the English were thus possessed of this first victory, they sent

their prisoners to the pinnaces, and prosecute the warre in hand, to the next Battalia of the Indians, which lay on a hill about two miles distant, and indeed their stoutest Souldiers were at this place, and not yet come to the fort; the English being weary with their night worke, and wanting such refreshing as the present worke required, began to grow faint, yet having obtained one victory, they were very desirous of another: and further, they knew rightwell, till this cursed crew were utterly rooted out, they should never be at peace; therefore they marched on toward them. Now assuredly, had the Indians knowne how much weakened our Souldiers were at present, they might have born them downe with their multitude, they being very strong and agile of body, had they come to handy-gripes; but the Lord (who would have his people know their work was his, and he onely must order their Counsels, and war-like work for them) did bring them timely supply from the vessels, and also gave them a second victory, wherein they slew many more of their enemies, the residue flying into a very thick swamp, being unaccessible, by reason of the boggy holes of water, and thick bushes; the English drawing up their company beleagered the swamp, and the Indians in the mean time skulking up and down, and as they saw opportunity they made shot with their Arrowes at the English, and then suddainly they would fall flat along in the water to defend themselves from the retalliation of the Souldiers Muskets. This lasted not long, for our English being but a small number, had parted themselves far asunder, but by the providence of the most high God, some of them spyed an Indian with a kettle at his back going more inwardly into the swamp, by which they perceived there was some place of firm land in the midst thereof, which caused them to make way for the passage of their Souldiers, which brought this warre to a period: For although many got away, yet were they no such considerable number as ever to raise warre any more; the slaine or wounded of the English were (through the mercy of Christ) but a few: One of them being shot through the body, neere about the breast, regarding it not till of a long time after, which caused the bloud to dry and thicken on eitheir end of the arrow so that it could not be drawne forth his body without great difficulty and much paine, yet did he scape his life, and the wound healed.

Thus the Lord was pleased to assist his people in this warre, and deliver them out of the Indians hands, who were very lusty proper men of their hands, most of them, as may appear by one passage which I shall here relate: thus it came to passe, As the Souldiers were uppon their march, close by a great thicket, where no eye could penetrate farre, as it often falls out in such wearisom wayes, where neither men nor beast have beaten out a path; some Souldiers lingering behinde their fellowes, two Indians watching their opportunity, much like a hungry hauke, when they supposed the last man was come up, who kept a double double double distance in his march, they sudden and swiftly snatched him up in their tallens, hoising him upon their shoulders, ran into the swamp with him; the Souldier being unwilling to be made a Pope by being borne on mens shoulders, strove with them all he could to free himselfe from their hands; but, like a carefull Commander, one Captaine Davenport, then Lieutenant of this company, being diligent in his place to bring up the reare, coming up with them, followed with speed into the swamp after him, having a very severe cutlace tyed to his wrist, and being well able to make it bite sore when he set it on, resolving to make it fall foul on the Indians bones, he soone overtooke them, but was prevented by the buckler they held up from hitting them, which was the man they had taken: It was matter of much wonder to see with what dexterity they hurled the poore Souldier about, as if they had been handling a Lacedæmonian shield, so that the nimble Captaine Davenport could not, of a long time, fasten one stroke upon them; yet, at last, dying their tawny skin into a crimson colour, they cast downe their prey, and hasted thorow the thickets for their lives. The Souldier thus redeemed, had no such hard usage, but that he is alive, as I suppose, at this very day: The Lord in mercy toward his poore Churches, having thus destroyed these bloudy barbarous Indians, he returnes his people in safety to their vessels, where they take account of their prisoners: the Squawes and some young youths they brought home with them, and finding the men to be deeply guilty of the crimes they undertooke the warre for, they brought away onely their heads as a token of their victory. By this means the Lord strook a trembling terror into all the Indians round about, even to this very day.

L

ANNE BRADSTREET

[The chief poetess of the colonial time was born in England about 1612, the daughter of Thomas Dudley; and was married in 1628 to Simon Bradstreet. In 1630 she came to America, where both her father and her husband later served as governors of Massachusetts. Here she became the mother of eight children, and performed faithfully the manifold household and social duties that devolved on a woman of her station; and in some way she also found time to write a considerable body of verse. A great part of this was taken to England by her brother-in-law, and published in London in 1650, with the title "The Tenth Muse Lately sprung up in America. Or Severall Poems, compiled with great Variety of Wit and Learning," etc. The author appears to have been far too modest and too sensible to approve this absurd designation, and it is unfortunate that her work was weighted down with it. A second edition, published in Boston in 1678, six years after Mrs. Bradstreet's death, contained a number of additional poems, and showed many changes made by the author in those that had appeared earlier. Mrs. Bradstreet seems never to have sought publicity, and it is probable that many of her more personal poems, such as the last two in the selections that follow, were never intended to be printed. Besides her poems, she wrote for members of her family a short account of her religious experiences, and a series of "Meditations, Divine and Morall," of which a few specimens are given later.

were

Anne Bradstreet's avowed master was the French poet Du Bartas, whose works had been translated into English by Sylvester; though some of her later poems show influence of the school of Spenser. Her ambitious verses those not relating to personal affairs and intended for her family didactic. The greater part of "The Tenth Muse" was taken up by five poems: "The Four Elements," "The Four Humours in Man's Constitution," "The Four Ages of Man," "The Four Seasons of the Year," and "The Four Monarchies." The last and longest of these "quaternions" is based on Sir Walter Raleigh's "History of the World." "Contemplations,” which is usually considered the author's best poem, first appeared in the edition of 1678. It is given complete in the following pages, and serves to illustrate most of her excellences and her weaknesses. A few stanzas show genuine emotion, an appreciation of nature unusual in her day, and an ear for musical verse; others show lapses into the prosaic, and above all, the author's tendency to sacrifice everything to rather profitless moralizing. Faulty as Mrs. Bradstreet's work is, however, it gives evidence of more genuine poetic feeling than any other body of verse written in America in the seventeenth century, and deserves study as the work of a pioneer.