“Eliot mixed with the Indians; he spoke to them of God, and of the soul, and explained the virtues of self-denial. He became their lawgiver. He taught the women to spin, the men to dig the ground. He established for them simple forms of government; and in spite of menaces from their priests and chieftains, he successfully imparted to them his own religious faith. Groups of Indians used to gather round him as a father; and now that their minds were awakened to reflection, often perplexed him with questions similar to those which have perplexed the profoundest intellects of the world, and which none are profound enough to solve, nor was the good missionary ever tired with the importunity of their inquiring minds.”
The fame of Eliot’s pious and unremitting labours reached England, where a society was formed for aiding and supporting them. Funds by this means were sent over, which enabled him to educate his five sons at college, all of whom, with the exception of one, who died young, became preachers among the Indians; as well as to support various Indian youths at college, one of whom took a bachelor’s degree; and to allow small salaries to Indian preachers.
Turning again to Bancroft, whose page seems to glow whenever it chronicles a great or noble action, he tells us that “the spirit of humanity sustained Eliot to the last; his zeal was not wearied by the hereditary idleness of the race; and his simplicity of life and manners and evangelical sweetness of temper, won for him all hearts, whether in the villages of the emigrants or the smoky cells of the natives.
“Nor was Eliot alone. In the islands round Massachusetts, and within the limits of the Plymouth patent, missionary zeal and charity were active; and that New England scholar, the young Mayhew, forgetting the pride of learning, endeavoured to win the natives to a new religion. At a later day he took passage to England, but the ship in which he sailed was never more heard of. Such, however, had been the force of his example, that his father, though bowed down by the weight of seventy years, assumed the office of the son whom he had lost, and until beyond the age of fourscore and twelve continued to instruct the natives of the isles with the happiest results. The Indians within his influence, though twenty times more numerous than the whites in their neighbourhood, preserved an immutable friendship with Massachusetts.
“Villages of ‘praying Indians,’ as the converted natives were called, were established. Christianity, however, scarcely spread beyond the Indians on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and the seven villages round Boston. The powerful Narragansetts, situate between Connecticut and Plymouth, retained their old belief; and Philip of Pokanoket, the fierce son of old Massasoit, the early friend of the Pilgrims, maintained with pride the faith of his fathers.”
CHAPTER XII.
NEW NETHERLANDS; NEW SWEDEN.
We have already related how, in the year of our Lord 1609, Henry Hudson, on his second voyage of discovery, coasted America from Acadia to Delaware Bay; and how, on the 3rd of September, he anchored within Sandy Hook; after which, passing the Narrows, he entered New York Bay, and leaving the island of Manhattan, proceeded up the great river. His ship entering Sandy Hook Bay, the first European vessel which had ploughed those waters, was a wonderful object of curiosity to the natives, who assembled on the shore. Hudson ascended the river, still the same cause of wonder to the natives, who treated him well, and are reported by him to be “a very loving people.” Arriving at shallows in the river on the 19th, Hudson anchored at Schenectadea, now called Albany, and received pumpkins and grapes, as well as otter and beaver-skins, from the Indians, to whom, in return, he presented hatchets, beads and knives. On this occasion, too, they tasted for the first time the fatal fire-water, which was destined to have so disastrous an effect on the downfall of their kindred tribes over the whole continent of America.
The Iroquois Indians retain to this day the tradition of this wonderful event, although they differ as to the locality, some placing it at Albany, others at New York; but the substance of the incident occurred, not only at these two places, but wherever the white man set his foot. “A long time ago,” say they, “before men with white skins had ever been seen, some Indians, fishing at a place where the sea widens, espied something at a distance moving on the water. They hurried ashore, called together their neighbours, and all stood to watch this wonderful apparition. They could not tell what it was; some thought it was a large fish, others a large wigwam floating. As it appeared to approach the land, runners were sent in all directions with the news to their scattered chiefs, that they might send off for their warriors and wise men. In a short time all were there, and the conclusion was, that it was the Manitou, or Great Spirit, who was about to visit them. They were not afraid that the Great Spirit would hurt them; nevertheless a great awe fell upon them.
“The chiefs assembled to consult how Manitou could be best received, and meat was prepared for sacrifice. The women, in the meantime, prepared the best of victuals, and the conjurers tried all their arts to discover what the marvel portended. The idols were put in order, and a grand dance was held, which, in case he might be angry, it was hoped would please him.
“Whilst all this was going on, other runners arrived, who had also perceived the strange apparition, and now thronged to that part of the shore at which it appeared to be aiming. As it neared the shore, it was declared to be a great canoe, full of living creatures, and all were now convinced that it was indeed Manitou, ‘bringing some new kind of game.’