the Mankeen Wolves then hunted for killed some of them and Siezed most of their Arms and Stores and Recovered from them an English man who told them that the Enemy were intending to Rendezvouze on Pechypscot Plain in order to an Attempt upon the Town of Wells Upon this they Re imbark'd for Macquoit and repaired as fast as they could unto Pechypscot Plain and being Divided into Three parties they there waited for the Approach of the Enemy But being tyred with one of the Three Italian miseries Waiting for those who did not come they only possessed themselves of more Plunder there hid by the Enemy and returned unto Casco-Harbor The Enemy it seems dogg'd their Motions and in the Night they made a mischievous Assault upon such of the English Army as were too Remiss in providing for their own Safety in their going ashore Killing Five of our Plymouth-Friends who had Lodg'd themselves in an House without Commanders or Centinels The English as soon as the Light of the Day which was the Lords-Day Sept. 21. gave 'em leave quickly Ran upon the Enemy and Eased the world of some of them and made the rest Scamper from that part of the world and got many of their Canoo's and not a little of their Ammunition and their best Furniture for the Winter The Army was after this Dismiss'd only an Hundred men were left with Captain Convers and Lieutenant Plaisted who spent their Time as profitably as they could in Scouting about the Frontiers to prevent Surprizals from an Enemy which rarely did Annoy but when they could Surprize ARTICLE XIII A Flag of Truce NEw-England was now quite out of Breath A tedious lingring expensive Defence against an Ever Approaching and Unapproachable Adversary had made it so But nothing had made it more so than the Expedition to Canada which had Exhausted its best Spirits and seem'd its Ultimus Conatus While the Country was now in too Great Amazements to proceed any farther in the War the Indians themselves Entreat them to proceed no farther The Indians came in to Wells with a Flag of Truce and there Ensued some Overtures with the English Commissioners Major Hutchinson and Captain Townsend sent from Boston to joyn with some others at Wells At length a meeting was Appointed and obtained at Sagadehock Nov. 23. Where the Redemption of Ten English Captives was accomplished one of whom was one Mrs. Hull whom the Indians were very loath to part withal because being able to Write well they made her serve them in the Quality of a Secretary Another was named Nathanael White whom the Barbarous Canibals had already ty'd unto a Stake cut off one of his Ears and made him Eat it Raw and intended for to have Roasted the rest of him alive The poor man being astonished at his own Deliverance At last they Signed Articles Dated Nov. 29. 1691. wherein they Engaged That no Indians in those parts of the World should do any Injury to the Persons or Estaâ—es of the English in any of the English Colonies until the First of May next Ensuing And that on the said First of May they would bring in to Storers Garrison at Wells all the English Captives in their Hands and there Make and Sign and Seal Articles of Peace with the English and in the mean time give seasonable Advice of any Plots which they might know the French to have against them To this Instrument were set the Pawes of Edgeremet and Five more of their Sagamores and Noblemen But as it was not upon the Firm Land but in their Canooes upon the Water that they Signed and Sealed this Instrument so Reader we will be Jealous that it will prove but a Fluctuating and Unstable sort of a Business and that the Indians will Do a Ly as they use to do However we will Dismiss all our Souldiers to their several Homes Leaving only Captain Convers to keep Wells in some Order until the First of May do show whether any more than a meer Flag of Truce be yet shown unto us ARTICLE XIV Remarkable Encounters AT the Day appointed there came to the place Mr. Danforth Mr. Moodey Mr. Vaughan Mr. Brattle and several other Gentlemen guarded with a Troop to see how the Frenchified Indians would keep their Faith with the Hereticks of New-England The Indians being poor Musicians for keeping of Time came not according to their Articles and when Captain Convers had the courage to go fetch in some of them they would have made a Lying Excuse That they did not know the Time They brought in Two Captives and promised That in Twenty Dayes more they would bring in to Captain Convers all the rest but finding that in Two and Twenty Dayes they came not with much concern upon his Mind he got himself Supplied as fast as he could with Five and Thirty men from the County of Essex His men were not come half an Hour to Storers House on June 9. 1691. nor had they got their Indian Weed fairly lighted into their Mouths before Fierce Moxus with Two Hundred Indians made an Attacque upon the Garrison This Recruit of Men thus at the very Nick of Time Saved the place For Moxus meetting with a brave Repulse drew off and gave Modockawando cause to say as a Captive afterwards related it My Brother Moxus ba's miss'd it now but I will go my self the next year and have the Dog Convers out of his Hole About this Time the Enemy Slew Two men at Berwick Two more at Exeter and the biggest part of Nine loading a Vessel at Cape Nidduck But about the latter End of July we sent out a small Army under the Command of Captain March Captain King Captain Sherburn and Captain Walton Convers lying Sick all Summer had this to make him yet more Sick that he could have no part in these Actions who landing at Macquoit Marched up to Pechypscot but not finding any signs of the Enemy Marched down again While the Commanders were waiting ashore till the Souldiers were got aboard such Great Numbers of Indians poured in upon them that tho' the Commanders wanted not for Courage or Conduct yet they found themselves obliged with much ado and not without the Death of Worthy Captain Sherburn to retire into the Vessels which then lay aground Here they kept pelting at one another all night but unto little other purpose than this which was indeed Remarkable That the Enemy was at this Time Going to Take the Isle of Shoales and no doubt had they gone they would have Taken it but having Exhausted all their Ammunition on this Occasion they desisted from what they designed For the Rest of the Year the Compassion of Heaven towards Distressed New-England kept the Indians under a Strange Inactivity only on Sept. 28. Seven persons were Murthered and Captived at Berwick and the Day following Thrice Seven of Sandy-Beach On Octob. 23. One Goodridge and his Wife were Murdered at Newberry and his Children Captived and the Day following the
a War upon my self by Endeavouring of thy Satisfaction In Truth I had rather be called a Coward than undertake my self to Determine the Truth in this matter but having Armed my self with some good Authority for it I will Transcribe Two or Three Reports of the matter now in my Hands and Leave it unto thy own Determination One Account I have now lying by me Written by a Gentleman of Dover in these Terms The Eastern Indians and especially those of Saco and Ammonoscoggin pretend many Reasons for the late Quarrel against the English which began this long and bloody War 1. Because the English refused to pay that yearly Tribute of Corn agreed upon in the Articles of Peace formerly concluded with them by the English Commissioners 2. Because they were Invaded in their Fishery at Saco River by certain Gentlemen who stop'd the Fish from coming up the River with their Nets and Sains This they were greatly Affronted at saying They thought though the English had got away their Lands as they had yet the Fishery of the Rivers had been a priviledge Reserved Entire unto themselves 3. Because they were Abused by the English in Suffering if not Turning their Cattel over to a certain Island to destroy their Corn. 4. But the Fourth and Main provocation was The Granting or Pattenting of their Lands to some English at which they were greatly Enraged threatning the Surveyor to knock him on the Head if he came to lay out any Lands there 5. To these may be added the Common Abuses in Trading viz. Drunkenness Cheating c. which such as Trade much with them are seldom Innocent of Doubtless these Indian Allegations may be answered with many English Vindications But I shall at present Intermeddle no further than to offer another Account which also I have in my Hands written by a Gentleman of Casco It runs in such Terms as these Many were the Outrages and Insultings of the Indians upon the English while Sir E. A. was Governour At North Yarmouth and other places at the Eastward the Indians killed sundry Cattel came into Houses and threatned to knock the people on the Head and at several Times gave out Reports that they would make a War upon the English and that they were animated to do so by the French The Indians behaving themselves so insultingly gave just occasion of great suspicion In order for the finding out the Truth and to Endeavour the preventing of a War Capt. Blackman a Justice of Peace with some of the Neighbourhood of Saco River Seized several Indians that had been bloody murderous Rogues in the first Indian War being the chieâ— Ring Leaders and most capable to do mischief The said Capt. Blackman Seized to the Number of between Sixteen and Twenty in order for tâ—eir Examination and to bring in the rest to a Treaty The said Blackman soon sent the said Indians with a Good Guard to Falmouth in Casco-bay there to be Secured until orders could come from Boston concerning them And in the mean Time the said Indians were well provided with Provisions and Suitable Necessaries The rest of the Indians Robb'd the English and took some English Prisoners Whereupon Post was sent to Boston Sir Edmond Andross being at New-York the Gentlemen of Boston sent to Falmouth some Souldiers for the Defence of the Country and also the Worshipful Mr. Stoughton with others to Treat with the Indians in order for the Settling of a Peace and getting in of our English Captives As soon as the said Gentlemen arrived at the East-ward they sent away one of the Indian Prisoners to the rest of the Indians to Summon them to bring in the English they had taken Also that their Sachims should come in to treat with the English in order that a Just Satisfaction should be made on both sides The Gentlemen waited the Return of the Indian Messenger and when he Returned he brought Answer That they would meet our English at a place called Macquoit and there they would bring in the English Captives and Treat with the English And although the place appointed by the Indians for the Meeting was some Leagues distant from Falmouth yet our English Gentlemen did condescend to it in hope of getting in our Captives putting a stop to further Trouble They Dispaâ—ch'd away to the place and carried the Indian Prisoners with them and staid at the place appointed expecting the coming of the Indians that had promised a Meeting But they like false perfidious Rogues did not appear Without doubt they had been counselled what to do by the French and their Abettors as the Indians did declare afterwards and that they were near the place and saw our English that were to Treat with them but would not shew themselves but did Endeavour to take an Opportunity to Destroy our English that were to Treat them Such was their Treachery Our Gentlemen staid days to wait their coming but seeing they did not appear at the place appointed they Returned to Falmouth and brought the Indian Prisoners expecting that the other Indians would have sent down some Reason why they did not appear at the place appointed and to make some excuse for themselves But instead of any compliance they fell upon North Yarmouth and there kill'd several of our English Whereupon the Eastern parts were ordered to get into Garrisons and to be upon their Guard until further Orders from Sir Edmond Andros and that the Indian Prisoners should be sent to Boston which was done with great care and not one of them hurt and care taken daily for provision But Sir E. A. Returning from New York set them all at Liberty not so much as taking care to Redeem those of our English for them that were in their hands I had kept one at Falmouth a Prisoner to be a Guide into the Woods for our English to find out the Haunts of our Heathen Enemies But Sir E. A sent an Express to me that upon my utmost peril I should set the said Indian at Liberty and take care that all the Arms that were taken from him and all the rest of those Capt. Blackman had Seized should be delivered up to them without any Orders to Receive the like of ours from them It will be readily Acknowledged that here was enough done to render the Indians Inexcusable for not coming in upon the Proclamation which Sir Edmond Andros then Governour of New-England immediately Emitted thereupon requiring them to Surrender the Murderers now among them A Spaniard that was a Souldier would say That if we havâ— a Good Cause the smell of Gunpowder in the Field is as sweet as the Incense at the Altar Let the Reader judge after these things what scent there was in the Gunpowder spent for Nine or Ten years together in our War with the Indian Salvages Now that while we are upon this Head we may at once dispatch it I will unto these Two Accounts add certain passages of one more which was published in
poor Inhabitants Little more Spoil was done by the Salvages before Winter Except only that at a place called Kennebunk near Winter harbour they cut off Two Families to wit Barrows and Bussies but Winter coming on the Serpents retired into their Holes When Summer comes Reader look for Tornadoes enough to over-set a greater Vessel than little New-England ARTICLE III. The First Expedition of the English against the Indians WHen the Keeper of the Wild Beasts at Florence ha's entertain'd the Spectators with their Encounters on the Stage he ha's this Device to make 'em Retire into the several Dens of their Seraglio He ha's a fearful Machin of Wood made like a Greâ—t Green Dragon which a man within it roules upon Wheels and holding out a Couple of Lighted Torches at the Eyes of it frights the fiercest Beast of them all into the Cell that belongs unto him Sir Edmond Andros the Governour of New-England that he might Express his Resolutions to force the Wild Beasts of the East into order in the Winter now comeing on turned upon them as Effectual a Machin as the Green Dragon of Florence that is to say An Army of near a Thousand men With this Army he marched himself in Person into the Caucasaean Regions where he built a Fort at Pemmaquid and another Fort at Pechypscot Falls besides the Fort at Sheepscote He and his Army underwent no little Hard ship thus in the Depth of Winter to Expose themselves unto the Circumstances of a Campaign in all the Bleak Winds and Thick Snows of that Northern Country But it was Hop'd That Good Forts being thus Garrison'd with Stout Hearts in several Convenient places â—he Indians might be kept from their usual Retreats both for Planting and for Fishing and lye open also to perpetual Incursions from the English in the fittest seasons thereof And it was Thought by the most sensible this method would in a little while compel the Enemy to Submit unto any Terms albeit others considering the Vast Woods of the Wilderness and the French on the back of these Woods fancied that this was but a project to Hedge in the Cuckow However partly the Army and partly the Winter frighted the Salvages into their Inaccessible Dens yet not one of the Indians was killed but Sickness Service kill'd it may be more of our English than there were Indians then in Hostility against them The News of matters approaching towards a REVOLUTION in England caused the Governour to Return unto Boston in the Spring upon his Return there fell out several odd Events with Rumours whereof I have now nothing to say but That I love my Eyes too well to mention them Some of the Souldiers took Advantage from the Absence of the Governour to desert their Stations in the Army and tho' this Action was by Good men generally condemned as an Evil Action yet their Friends began to gather together here and there in Little Bodies to protect them from the Governour concerning whom abundance of odd Stories then buzz'd about the Country made 'em to imagine that he had carried 'em out only to Sacrifice ' em Some of the principal Gentlemen in Boston consulting what was to be done in this Extraordinary Juncture They Agreed that altho' New-England had as much to Justify a Revolution as old yet they would if it were possible extinguish all Essayes in the people towards an Insurrection in daily hopes of Orders from England for our Safety but that if the Country people by any unrestrainable Violences pushed the business on so far as to make a Revolution unavoidable Then to prevent the Shedding of Blood by an ungoverned Mobile some of the Gentlemen present should appear at the Head of it with a Declaration accordingly prepared He that Reads the Narrative of Grievances under the Male Administrations of the Government then Tyrannizing Written and Signed by the Chief Gentlemen of the Governours Council will not wonder at it that a Revolution was now rendred indeed unavoidable It was a Government whereof Ned Randolph a Bird of their own Feather confess'd as we find in one of his published Letters That they were as Arbitrary as the Great Turk And for such a Government a better Similitude cannot perhaps be thought on than that of Monsr Souligne 'T is like the Condition of persons possessed with Evil Spirits which will go an Hundred Leagues in less time than others can Ten but at the Journies End find themselves to be so Bruised that they never can Recover it The Revolution and ye Tories a Just one was accordingly Made on the Eighteenth of April which Their Majesties then happily Seated on the British Throne kindly Accepted and Approved The Governour and Magistrates of the Massachusetts Colony which were in power Three years and Half before a period often observed did some Time after this Resume their places and apply themselves to such Acts of Government as Emergencies made necessary for them Fortifyed with a Letter from the King to Authorize and Empower them in their Administrations Thus they waited for further Directions from the Authority of England and such a Settlement as would most Conduce which were the words of the Kings Letter bearing Date Aug. 12 1689. to the Security and Satisfaction of the Subjects in that Colony ARTICLE IV. A Flame Spreading upon the best Endeavours to Quench it IT was hop'd the War would now come to an Immediate End but the Great God who Creates that Evil had further Intentions to Chastise a Sinful People by those who are not a People The Government sent Capt. Greenleaf to treat with the Indians at Penacook who answered him with fair pretences and Promises of Amity They procured an Interview with some of the more Eastern Sagamores who not only promised Friendship themselves but also undertook to make our Enemies become our Friends They sent unto the Souldiers yet remaining at Pemmaquid for to keep their Post Engaging to them that they should not want their Pay But all this care was defeated by Methods of Mischiefs too deep for our present penetration The Salvages began to Renew their Hostilities at Saco Falls in the Beginning of April on a Lords day morning some while before the Revolution The Penacook Indians were all this while peaceably Conversant at Quochecho and so long as that Conversation continued the Inhabitants were very Secure of any Danger not only from those Cut-throats but also from their Brethren Happy had it been for those Honest People if their Fear had made so much Hast as my Pen ha's done to call 'em Cut throats For the Penacookian joining with the Saconian Indians hovered about Quochecho where one Mesandowit a Sagamore being that Night kindly Entertained by Major Richard Waldein horribly betray'd his kind Host with the Neighbours into the hands of Murderers Above an Hundred some say Five Hundred of the Indians about break of Day having Surprized the Secure and Silent English they particularly rushed into the Garrison of the
Generous Major which was by Sinon Mesandowit for bestowing a Heathen Name upon him we 'l now call him so opened for them and having first barbarously Murdered the Old Gentleman who was Aequivalent unto Two and Twenty they then Murdered Two and Twenty more and Captived Nine and Twenty of the People burn't four or five of the best Houses took much Plunder and so drew off but kill'd Mr. John Broughton in their drawing off while Mr. John Emmerson a worthy Preacher at Barwick by declining to lodge at the Hospitable Majors that Night when strongly Invited received a remarkable Deliverance Hereupon Forces were dispatch'd for the Relief of what Remained in Quochecho Capt. Noyes also with more Forces visited Penacook where though the Men escaped him he destroy'd the Corn of our New Enemies but the Skulking Enemies at the same Time Slew several Persons at an out-farm on the North-side of Merrimack River A party of men were soon after sent out of Piscataqua under the Command of Capt. Wincal who went up to Winnopisseag ponds upon Advice of one John Church who ran from them that the Indians were there where they kill'd One or Two of the Monsters they Hunted for and cut down their Corn. Four young men of Saco desirous to joyn with them went into the woods to Seek their Horses and Found their Deaths by an Ambush of Indians Twenty Four Armed men going forth from Saco Falls to bury the Slain had a brisk Encounter with the Indians whom they pursued into a Vast Swamp until a Greater Number of Indians pouring in upon them obliged 'em with the loss of about Five or Six more to Retire from any further Action But before the Dog dayes were out there was more Bleeding still that prov'd fatal to us On Aug. 2. One Starky going early in the Morning from the Fort at Pemmaquid unto New Harbour fell into the Hands of the Indians who to obtain his own Liberty informed Them That the Fort had at that Instant but Few men in it and that one Mr. Giles with Fourteen men was gone up to his Farm and the rest Scattered abroad about their Occasions The Indians hereupon divided their Army Part going up to the Falls kill'd Mr. Giles and others Part upon the Advantage of the Tide Snapt the rest before they could Recover the Fort. From a Rock near the Fort which inconveniently over look'd it the Assailants now over look'd it as over Lincoln and grievously galled the Defendents Capt. Weems had but few with him that were able to Fight and his own Face was in the Fight by an Accident horribly Scorched with Gun Powder Wherefore the day following they Surrendred the Fort upon Capitulations for Life and Liberty which yet the Indians broke by Butchering and Captiving many of them Capt. Skynner Capt. Farnham repairing to the Fort from an Island about half a Mile distant from it were both Slain as they Landed on the Rocks and Mr. Patishal as he lay with his Sloop in the Barbican was also taken and Slain This together with more Spoil done by the Indians on the English at Sheepscote and Kennebeck and other places East-ward caused the Inhabitants to draw off unto Falmouth as fast as they could and Well if they could have made Good their Standing there MANTISSA THE Foregoing Article of our Tragaedies hath Related the Taking of Quochecho The Condition of Two persons under and after the Fate of Quochecho may have in it an Entertainment Aceeptable for some sort of Readers It shall be in this place Reported from the Communications of Mr. John Pike the worthy Minister of Dover to whom I have been beholden for Communicating to me many other passages also which occur in this our History I. Mrs. Elizabeth Heard a Widow of a Good Estate a Mother of many Children and a Daughter of Mr. Hull a Reverend Minister formerly Living at Piscataqua now Lived at Quochecho Happening to be at Portsmouth on the Day before Quochecho was cut off She Returned thither in the Night with one Daughter and Three Sons all masters of Families When they came near Quochecho they were astonished with a prodigious Noise of Indians Howling Shooting Shouting and Roaring according to their manner in making an Assault Their Distress for their Families carried them still further up the River till they Secretly and Silently passed by some Numbers of the Raging Salvages They Landed about an Hundred Rods from Major Walderns Garrison and running up the Hill they saw many Lights in the Windows of the Garrison which they concluded the English within had set up for the Direction of those who might seek a Refuge there Coming to the Gate they desired entrance which not being readily granted they called Earnestly and bounced and knocked and cryed out of their unkindness within that they would not open to them in this Extremity No Answer being yet made they began to doubt whether all was well and one of the young men then climbing up the Wall saw a horrible Tawny in the Entry with a Gun in his Hand A grievous Consternation Siez'd now upon them and Mrs. Heard sitting down without the Gate through Dispair and Faintness unable to Stir any further charg'd her Children to Shift for themselves for She must unavoidably There End her Dayes They finding it impossible to carry her with them with heavy hearts forsook her but then coming better to her self she fled and hid among the Barberry-Bushes in the Garden and then hastning from thence because the Day-Light advanced She sheltned her self though seen by Two of the Indians in a Thicket of other Bushes about Thirty Rods from the House Here she had not been long before an Indian came towards her with a Pistol in his Hand The Fellow came up to her and Stared her in the Face but said nothing to her nor she to him He went a little way back and came again and Stared upon her as before but said nothing whereupon she asked him What he would have He still said nothing but went away to the House Co hooping and Returned unto her no more Being thus unaccountably preserved She made several Essays to pass the River but sound her self unable to do it and finding all places on that side the River fill'd with Blood and Fire and hideous Out cryes thereupon she Returned to her old Bush and there poured out her ardent Prayers to God for help in this Distress She continued in the Bush until the Garrison was Burnt and the Enemy was gone and then she Stole along by the River side until she came to a Boom where she passed over Many sad Effects of Cruelty she Saw left by the Indians in her way until arriving at Captain Gerrishes Garrison she there found a Refuge from the Storm and here she soon had the Satisfaction to understand that her own Garrison though one of the first that was assaulted had been bravely Defended and mentained against the Adversary This Gentlewomans Garrison was the most
though the First Attempt miscarried the Second prospered The Story of it makes a Chapter in Father Hennepins Account of the Vast Country lately discovered betwixt Canada and Mexico and this is the Sum of it While a Colony was forming it self at Canada an English Fleet was Equipp'd in the year 1628. under the Command of Admiral Kirk with a Design to take Possession of that Country In their Vogage having taken a French Ship at the Isle Percee they Sailed up the River as far as Tadousac where they found a Bark in which they set ashore some Souldiers to Seize on Cape Tourment And here a Couple of Salvages discovering them ran away to advise the people of Quebeck that the English were approaching When the Fleet arrived the Admiral Summoned the Town to Surrender by a Letter to Monsieur Champelin the Governour But the Governour notwithstanding his being so Surprised with the Invasion made such a Resolute Answer that the English though as the Historian says they are a People that will sooner Dy than quit what they once undertake did conclude the Fort Quebeck was in a much better Condition for Defence than it really was and therefore desisting from any further Attempt at this Time they returned into England with Resolution further to pursue their Design at a more favourable Opportunity Accordingly on July 19. 1629. in the Morning the English Fleet appear'd again over against the Great Bay of Quebeck at the point of the Isle of Orleans which Fleet Consisted of Three men of War and Six other Vessels Admiral Kirk sending a Summons form'd in very Civil Expressions for the Surrender of the Place the miserable State of the Country which had been by the English Interceptions hindred of Supplies from France for Two years together oblig'd the Sieur Champelin to make a softer Answer than he did before He sent Father Joseph Le Caron aboard the Admiral to treat about the Surrender and none of his Demands for Fifteen Dayes and then for Five Dayes Time to Consider on 't could obtain any longer Time than till the Evening to prepare their Articles Upon the Delivery of this Message a Council was held wherein some urged that the English had no more than Two Hundred men of Regular Troops aboard and some others which had not much of the Air of Souldiers and that the Courage of the Inhabitants was much to be relied upon and therefore it was best for to run the risk of a Siege But Monsieur Champelin apprehending the Bravery of the English remonstrated unto the Council that it was better to make a Surrender on Good Terms than be all out in pieces by an unreasonable Endeavour to Defend themselves Upon this the Articles regulating all matters were got ready and Father Joseph had his Commission to carry them aboard the English Admiral where the Signing of them was defeâ—r'd until To Morrow On July 20. the Articles of Capitulation were Signed on both sides and the English being Landed were put in possession of Canada by the Governour of it The French Inhabitants who were then in the Country had twenty Crowns a piece given them the rest of their Effects remained unto the Conquerers but those who were willing to stay were favoured by the English with great Advantages The Fleet set Sail again for England Sept. 14. and arrived at Plymouth Octo. 18. in that year ARTICLE IX Casco Lost WHen the Indians at last perceived that the New Englanders were upon a Likely Design to Swallow up the French Territories the Prospect of it began to have the same Operation upon them that the Success of the Design would have made Perpetual that is to Dispirit them for giving the New Englanders any further Molestations Nevertheless Before and Until they were thoroughly Advised of what was a doing and likely to be done they did molest the Country with some Tragical Efforts of their Fury Captain James Convers was Marching through the vast Wilderness to Albany with some Forces which the Massachusets Colony were willing to send by Land besides what they did send by Sea unto Quebeck for the Assistence of the Army in the West that was to go from thence over the Lake and there fall upon Mount Real but unhappy Tidings out of the East required the Diversion of those Forces thither About the Beginning of May the French and Indians between Four and Five Hundred were seen at Casco in a great Fleet of Canoo's passing over the Bay but not Seeing or Hearing any more of them for Two or Three Weeks together the Casconians flattered themselves with Hopes That they were gone another way But about May 16 those Hopes were over For one Gresson a Scotchman then going out Early sell into the mouths of these Hungry Salvages It proved no kindness to Casco tho' it proved a great one to himself that a Commander so qualified as Captain Willard was called off Two or Three Dayes before But The Officers of the place now concluding that the whole Army of the Enemy were watching for an Advantage to Surprize the Town Resolved that they would keep a Strict watch for Two or Three dayes to make some further Discovery before they Salley'd forth Notwithstanding this one Lieut. Clark with near Thirty of their Stoutest young men would venture out as far as the Top of an Hill in the Entrance of the Wood half a mile distant from the Town The out-let from the Town to the Wood was thro' a Lane that had a Fence on each side which had a certain Block-house at one End of it and the English were Suspicious when they came to Enter the Lane that the Indians were lying behind the Fence because the Cattel stood staring that way and would not pass into the Wood as they use to do This mettlesome Company then ran up to the Fence with an Huzzab thinking thereby to discourage the Enemy if they should be lurking there but the Enemy were so well prepared for them that they answered them with an horrible Vengeance which kill'd the Lieutenant with Thirteen more upon the Spot and the rest escaped with much ado unto one of the Garrisons The Enemy then coming into Town beset all the Garrisons at once Except the Fort which were manfully Defended so long as their Ammunition lasted but That being spent without a prospect of a Recruit they quitted all the Four Garrisons and by the Advantage of the Night got into the Fort. Upon this the Enemy Setting the Town on Fire bent their whole Force against the Fort which had hard by it a deep Gully that contributed not a little unto the Ruin of it For the Besiegers getting into that Gully lay below the Danger of our Guns Here the Enemy began their Mine which was carried so near the Walls that the English who by Fighting Five Dayes and Four Nights had the greatest part of their men killed and wounded Captain Lawrence mortally among the rest began a parley with them Articles were Agreed That they
of a Pin which turn'd unto a Gangrene that Cost him his Life And Reader Let the Remembrance of such Things cause thee to Live preparing for Death continually But then on the other side That nothing may be Despaired of Remember Simon Stone And besides him I call to Remembrance That the Indians making an Assault upon Deerfield in this Present War they struck an Hatchet some Inches into the Skull of a Boy there even so deep that the Boy felt the Force of a Wreâ—ch used by 'em to get it out There he lay a long while Weltring in his Blood they found him they Dress'd him considerable Quantities of his Brain came out from time to time when they opened the Wound yet the Lad Recovered and is now a Living Monument of the Power and Goodness of God And in our Former War there was one Jabez Musgrove who tho' he were Shot by the Indians with a Bullet that went in at his Ear and went out at his Eye on the other side of his head and a Brace of Bullets that went in to his Right Side a little above his Hip and passing thro' his Body within the Back Bone went out at his Left Side yet he Recovered and Lived many years after it ARTICLE XI A Worthy Captain Dying in the Bed of Honour ON July 6. Lords Day Captain Floyd and Captain Wiswell sent out their Scouts before their Breakfast who immediately returned with Tidings of Breakfast enough provided for those who had their Stomach sharp set for Fighting Tidings of a considerable Track of the Enemy going to the Westward Our Forces vigorously followed the Track till they came up with the Enemy at a place call'd Wheelrights Pond where they Engaged 'em in a Bloody Action for several Hours The manner of the Fight here was as it is at all times with Indians namely what your Artists at Fighting do call A la disbandad And here the Worthy Captain Wiswel a man worthy to have been Shot if he must have been Shot with no Gun interior to that at Florence the Barrel whereof is all pure Gold behaving himself with much Bravery Sold his Life as dear as he could and his Lieutenant Flag and Sergeant Walker who were Valiant in their Lives in their Death were not divided Fifteen of ours were Slain and more Wounded but how many of the Enemy 't was not exactly known because of a singular care used by them in all their Battels to carry off their Dead tho' they were forced now to Leave a good Number of them on the Spot Captain Floyd maintained the Fight after the Death of Captain Wiswal several Hours until so many of his Tired and Wounded men Drew off that it was Time for him to Draw off also for which he was blamed perhaps by some that would not have continued at it so long as he Hereupon Captain Convers repaired with about a score Hands to look after the Wounded men and finding seven yet Alive he brought 'em to the Hospital by Sun-rise the next morning He then Returned with more Hands to Bury the Dead which was done immediately and Plunder left by the Enemy at their going off was then also taken by them But the same Week these Rovers made their Descent as far as Amesbury where Captain Foot being Ensnared by them they Tortured him to Death which Disaster of the Captain was an Alarum to the Town and an Effectual Word of Command causing 'em to Fly out of their Beds into their Garrisons otherwise they had all undoubtedly before the next morning Slept their last their Beds would have been their Graves However the Enemy Kill'd Three Persons Burnt Three Houses Butchered many Cattel and so that Scene of the Tragedy being over away they went In fine From the First Mischief done at Lampereel River to the Last at Amesbury all belong'd unto one Indian Expedition in which though no English Places were taken yet Forty English People were cut off ARTICLE XII An Indian Fort or Two taken and some other Actions REader I remember the prolixity of Guicciardine the Historian gave such Offence that Boccalini brings in an Offender at Verbosity Ordered for his punishment by the Judges at Pernassus to Read that punctual Historian but the poor Fellow begg'd rather to be Flay'd alive than to be Tortured with Reading an Historian who in relating the War between the Florentines and Pisans made longer Narrations about the Taking of a Pigeon House than there needed of the most Fortified Castle in the World For this cause let me be excused Reader if I make short Work in our Story and Leave the Honest Actors themselves to Run over Circumstances more at large with their Friends by the Fire-side The Enemy appearing a Little Numerous and Vexatious the Government sent more Forces to break up the Enemies Quarters and Auxiliaries both of English and Indians under the Command of Major Church assisted the Enterprize About Three Hundred Men were dispatched away upon this Design in the Beginning of September who Landed by Night in Casco Bay at a place called Macquoit and by Night Marched up to Pechypscot Fort where from the Information of some Escaped Captives they had an Expectation to meet with the Enemy but found that the Wretches were gone farther a field They then marched away for Amonoscoggin Fort which was about Forty Miles up the River and Wading through many Difficulties whereof one was a Branch of the River it self they met with Four or Five Salvages going to their Fort with two English Prisoners They Sav'd the Prisoners but could not catch the Salvages however on the Lords-Day they got up to the Fort undiscovered where to their Sorrowful Disappointment they found no more than one and Twenty of the Enemy whereof they Took and Slew Twenty They found some Considerable Store of Plunder and Rescued Five English Captives and laid the Fort in Ashes but one Disaster they much Complained of That the Captain of the Fort whose Name was Agamcus alias Great Tom slipt away from the Hands of his too Careless keepers But if this piece of Carelessness did any Harm there was another which did some Good For Great Tom having terribly Scared a party of his Country-men with the Tidings of what had happened and an English Lad in their Hands also telling some Truth unto them they betook themselves to such a Flight in their Fright as gave one Mr. Anthony Bracket then a Prisoner with 'em an Opportunity to Flie Fourscore miles another way Our Forces returning to Mackquoit one of our Vessels was there Carelesly run a ground and compelled thereby to stay for the next Tide and Mr. Bracket had been miserably a ground if it had not so fell out for he thereby got thither before she was afloat otherwise he might have perished who was afterwards much Improved in Service against the Murderers of his Father Arriving at Winter Harbour a party of men were sent up the River who coming upon a parcel of
him away by the Hair of the Head in spite of all Attempts used by the Garrison to Recover him for an horrible Story to be told by'nd by concerning him The General of the Enemies Army was Monsieur Burniff and one Monsieur Labrocree was a principal Commander the Enemy said he was Lieutenant General There were also Diverse other Frenchmen of Quality Accompanied with Modockawando and Moxus and Egeremet and Warumbo and several more Indian Sagamores The Army made up in all about Five Hundred Men or Fierce Things in the Shape of Men all to Encounter Fifteen Men in one little Garrison about Fifteen more Men worthily called Such in a Couple of open Sloops Diamond having informed 'em How t' was in all points only that for Fifteen by a mistake he said Thirty they fell to Dividing the Persons and Plunder and Agreeing that such an English Captain should be Slave to such a one and such a Gentleman in the Town should serve such a one and his Wife be a Maid of Honour to such or such a Squaw proposed and Mr. Wheelright instead of being a Worthy Counsellor of the Province which he Now is was to be the Servant of such a Netop and the Sloops with their Stores to be so and so parted among them There wanted but One Thing to Consummate the whole matter even the Chief Thing oâ— all which I suppose they had not thought of That was For Heaven to Deliver all this prize into their Hands But Aliter Statutum est in Caelo A man Habited like a Gentleman made a Speech to them in English Exhorting 'em to Courage and Assuring 'em that if they would Courageously fall upon the English all was their own The Speech being Ended they fell to the Work and with an horrid Shout and Shot made their Assault upon the Feeble Garrison but the English answered with a brisk Volley and sent such a Leaden Showre among them that they retired from the Garrison to spend the Storm of their Fury upon the Sloops You must know That Wells-Harbour is rather a Creek than a River for 't is very Narrow and at low water in many places Dry nevertheless where the Vessels ride it is Deep enough and so far off the Bank that there is from thence no Leaping aboard But our Sloops were sorely incommoded by a Turn of the Creek where the Enemy could ly out of danger so near 'em as to throw Mud aboard with their Hands The Enemy was also priviledged with a Great Heap of Plank lying on the Bank and with an Hay Stock which they Strengthened with Posts and Rayles and from all these places they poured in their Vengeance upon the poor Sloops while they so placed Smaller parties of their Salvages as to make it impossible for any of the Garrisons to afford 'em any relief Lying thus within a Dozen yards of the Sloops they did with their Fire Arrows diverse times desperately set the Sloops on Fire but the brave Defendents with a Swab at the End of a Rope tyed unto a Pole and so dip't into the Water happily put the Fire out In brief the Sloops gave the Enemy so brave a Repulse that at Night they Retreated when they Renewed their Assault finding that their Fortitude would not assure the Success of the Assault unto them they had recourse unto their Policy First an Indian comes on with a Slab for a Shield before him when a Shot from one of the Sloops pierced the Slab which fell down instead of a Tomb-stone with the Dead Indian under it on which as little a Fellow as he was I know not whether some will not reckon it proper to inscribe the Epitaph which the Italians use to bestow upon their Dead Popes When the Dog is Dead all his Malice is Dead with him Their next Stratagem was This They brought out of the Woods a kind of a Cart which they Trim'd and Rigg'd and Fitted up into a Thing that might be called A Chariot whereon they built a platform shot-proof in the Front and placed many men upon that platform Such an Engine they understood how to Shape without having Read I suppose the Description of the Pluteus in Vegetius This Chariot they push'd on towards the Sloops till they were got it may be within Fifteen yards of them when lo one of the Wheels to their Admiration Sunk into the Ground A Frenchman Stepping to heave the Wheel with an Helpful Shoulder Storer Shot him down Another Stepping to the Wheel Storer with a well placed Shot sent him after his Mate So the Rest thought it was best let it stand as it was The Enemy kept Galling the Sloops from their Several Batteries and calling 'em to Surrender with many fine promises to make them Happy which ours answered with a just Laughter that had now and then a mortiferous Bullet at the End of it The Tide Rising the Chariot overset so that the men behind it lay open to the Sloops which immediately Dispensed an horrible Slaughter among them and they that could get away got as fast and as far off as they could In the Night the Enemy had much Discourse with the Sloops they Enquired Who were their Commanders and the English gave an Answer which in some other Cases and Places would have been too true That they had a great many Commanders but the Indians Replyed You ly you have none but Convers and we will have him too before Morning They also knowing that the Magazine was in the Garrison lay under an Hill-Side Pelting at That by Times but Captain Convers once in the Night sent out Three or Four of his men into a Field of Wheat for a Shot if they could get one There seeing a Black Heap lying together Ours all at once let Fly upon them a Shot that Slew several of them that were thus Caught in that Corn and made the rest glad that they found themselves Able to Run for it Captain Convers was this while in much Distress about a Scout of Six men which he had sent forth to Newichawannick the Morning before the Arrival of the Enemy ordering them to Return the Day following The Scout Return'd into the very Mouth of the Enemy that lay before the Garrison but the Corporal having his Wits about him call'd out aloud as if he had seen Captain Convers making a Salley forth upon 'em Captain Wheel about your men round the Hill and we shall Catch 'em there are but a Few Rogues of ' em Upon which the Indians imagining that Captain Convers had been at their Heels betook themselves to their Heels and our Folks got safe into another Garrison On the Lords Day Morning there was for a while a Deep Silence among the Assailants but at length getting into a Body they marched with great Formality towards the Garrison where the Captain ordered his Handful of men to ly Snug and not make a Shot until every Shot might be likely to do some Execution While they
thus beheld a Formidable Crue of Dragons coming with open mouth upon them to Swallow them up at a Mouthful one of the Souldiers began to speak of Surrendring upon which the Captain Vehemently protested That he would lay the man Dead who should so much as mutter that base word any more and so they heard no more on 't But the Valiant Storer was put upon the like protestation to keep 'em in good Fighting trim aboard the Sloops also The Enemy now Approaching very near gave Three Shouts that made the Earth ring again and Crying out in English Fire and Fall on Brave Boyes the whole Body drawn into Three Ranks Fired at once Captain Convers immediately ran into the several Flankers and made their Best Guns Fire at such a rate that several of the Enemy fell and the rest of 'em disappeared almost as Nimbly as if they had been so many Spectres Particularly a parcel of them got into a small Deserted House which having but a Board-Wall to it the Captain sent in after them those Bullets of Twelve to the Pound that made the House too hot for them that could get out of it The Women in the Garrison on this occasion took up the Amazonian Stroke and not only brought Ammunition to the Men but also with a Manly Resolution fired several Times upon the Enemy The Enemy finding that Things would not yet go to their minds at the Garrison drew off to Try their Skill upon the Sloops which lay still abrest in the Creek lash'd fast one to another They built a Great Fire Work about Eighteen or Twenty Foot Square and fill'd it up with Combustible matter which they Fired and then they set it in the way for the Tide now to Flote it up unto the Sloops which had now nothing but an horrible Death before them Nevertheless their Demands of both the Garrison and the Sloops to yield themselves were answered no otherwise than with Death upon many of them Spit from the Guns of the Beseiged Having tow'd their Fire-Work as far as they durst they committed it unto the Tide but the Distressed Christians that had this Deadly Fire Swimming along upon the Water towards 'em committed it unto God and God looked from Heaven upon them in this prodigious Article of their Distress These poor men Cryed and the Lord heard them and saved them out of their Troubles The Wind unto their Astonishment immediately Turn'd about and with a Fresh Gale drove the Machin ashore on the other side and Split it so that the Water being let in upon it the Fire went out So the Godly men that Saw God from Heaven thus Fighting for them Cryed out with an Astonishing Joy If it had not been the Lord who was on our Side they had Swallowed us up quick Blessed be the Lord who hath not given us a prey to their Teeth our Soul is Escaped as a Bird out of the Snare of the Fowlers The Enemy were now in a pittiful pickle with Toyling and Moyling in the Mud black'ned with it if Mud could add Blackness to such Miscreants and their Ammunition was pretty well Exhausted So that now they began to Draw off in all parts and with Rafts get over the River some whereof breaking there did not a few Cool their late Heat by falling into it But first they made all the Spoil they could upon the Cattel about the Town and giving one Shot more at the Sloops they kill'd the only Man of ours that was kill'd aboard ' em Then after about Half an Hours Consultation they send a Flag of Truce to the Garrison advising 'em with much Flattery to Surrender but the Captain sent 'em word That he wanted for nothing but for men to come and Fight him The Indian replyed unto Captain Convers Being you are so Stout why don't you come and Fight in the open Field like a Man and not Fight in a Garrison like a Squaw The Captain rejoyned What a Fool are you Do you think Thirty men a Match for Five Hundred No sayes the Captain counting as well he might each of his Fifteen men to be as Good as Two Come with your Thirty men upon the Plain and I 'le meet you with my Thirty as soon as you will Upon this the Indian answered Nay mee own English Fashion is all one Fool you kill mee mee kill you No better ly some where and Shoot a man and hee no see That the best Souldier Then they fell to Coaksing the Captain with as many Fine Words as the Fox in the Fable had for the Allurement of his Prey unto him and urged mightily that Ensign Hill who stood with the Flag of Truce might stand a little nearer their Army The Captain for a Good Reason to be presently discerned would not allow That whereupon they fell to Threatning and Raging like so many Defeated Devils using these Words Damn ye we 'll cut you as small as Tobacco before to morrow Morning The Captain bid 'em to make Hast for he wanted work So the Indian throwing his Flag on the Ground ran away and Ensign Hill nimbly Stripping his Flag ran into the Valley but the Salvages presently Fired from an Ambushment behind an Hill near the place where they had urged for a Parley And now for poor John Diamond The Enemy Retreating which opportunity the Sloops took to Burn down the Dangerous Hay-Stock into the plain out of Gun-shot they fell to Torturing their Captive John Diamond after a manner very Diabolical They Stripped him they Scalped him alive and after a Castration they Finished that Article in the Punishment of Traitors upon him They Slit him with Knives between his Fingers and his Toes They made cruel Gashes in the most Fleshy parts of his Body and stuck the Gashes with Fire-brands which were afterwards found Sticking in the wounds Thus they Butchered One poor Englishman with all the Fury that they would have spent upon them all and performed an Exploit for Five Hundred Furies to brag of at their coming home Ghastly to Express what was it then to Suffer They Returned then unto the Garrison and kept Firing at it now and then till near Ten a Clock at Night when they all marched off leaving behind 'em some of their Dead whereof one was Monsieur Labocree who had about his Neck a Pouch with about a Dozen Reliques ingeniously made up and a Printed Paper of Indulgences and several other Implements but it seems none of the Amulets about his Neck would save him from a Mortal Shot in the Head Thus in Forty Eight Hours was Finished an Action as Worthy to be Related as perhaps any that occurs in our Story And it was not long before the Valiant Gouge who bore his part in this Action did another that was not much inferiour to it when he suddenly Recovered from the French a valuable prey which they had newly taken upon our Coast I doubt Reader we have made this Article of our History a little too
Dolorous Ejulations I am one that hath been Afflicted by the Rod of the Wrath of God A Great King of Persia having by Death lost the nearest Relation he had in the world and being too passionate a Mourner for his Loss an Ingenious man undertook to Raise the Dead Relation unto Life again if the King would but furnish him in one point that he apprehended necessary It was demanded What that was and it was replied Furnish me but with the Names of Three persons who have never met with any Sadness and Sorrow and by Writing those Names on the Monument of the Dead I 'l bring the Dead person to Life Truly The Ten Years of our War have set many Ten Hundreds of persons a Mourning over their Dead Friends we have seen every where The Mourners go about the Streets Now I durst make you this offer that if you can find Three persons who have met with no matter of Sadness and Sorrow in these Ten Years with the Names of them we 'l fetch your Dead Friends to Life again It 't was said in Job 21.17 God Distributeth Sorrows in His Anger You may Observe a marvellous Distribution of Sorrows made among us by the Anger of God And here first I say nothing of that Amazing Time when the Evil Angels in a praeternatural and in an unparallel'd manner being Let Loose among us God cast upon us the Fierceness of His Anger Wrath and Indignation and Trouble It was the Threatning of God against a people which He had call'd His Children in Deut. 32.23 24. I will Heap Mischiefs upon them I will Spend my Arrows upon them they shall be Devoured with a Bitter Destruction What was the Bitter Destruction thus Threatned unto an Apostatizing People I remember the famous Jew Onkelos renders it They shall be vexed with Evil Spirits and indeed that Sense well agrees with what follows I will send upon them the poison of the Serpents of the Dust Syrs For our Apostasy which is the very Sin of the Evil Spirits the God of Heaven a while ago turned in the Armies of Hell upon us and in that matchless Dispensation of God we underwent a Bitter Destruction from the poison of the Serpents of the Dust But there are other points not a few wherein the Great God hath Heaped Mischiefs upon us and fulfill'd unto us that Holy Commination Ezek. 7.26 Mischief shall come upon mischief What shall I say While the Lord of Hosts hath been against us the Hosts of Lord have been so too All the Elements have as it were been up in Arms against us Particularly You may Observe That Epidemical Sicknesses have in these years been once and again upon us wherein the Angels of Death have Shot the Arrows of Death into such as could not be reached by the Bullets of the Indian Enemy This one Town did in one year loose I suppose at least Six or Seven Hundred of its People by one contagious Mortality And tho' of about Three and Twenty Hundred men that we Employ'd in one Action we did in that Action loose hardly Thirty men yet how many Hundreds did afterwards miserably perish Again You may Observe That the Harvest hath once and again grievously failed in these years and we have been Struck thro' with the Terrible Famine almost as much as if the Indian Enemy had been all the while Skulking about our Fields The very Course of Nature hath been altered among us A Lamentable cry for Bread Bread hath been heard in our Streets The Towns that formerly Supplyed other places with Grain had now been Famished if other places had not sent in a Supply to Them and had a black prospect of being Famished notwithstanding that Supply Once more You may Observe That the Sea hath in these years been Swallowing up our Neighbours and their Estates far more than the Sword of the Wilderness Alas The Devouring Displeasure of God hath said concerning us Though they go to hide themselves from my Sight afar off upon the Sea Thence will I command the Serpent and he shall bite them And here hath it been Enough that our Vessels enough to make an huge Fleet have been taken by the French Enemy A certain Writer hath computed it That in only the First Two or Three years of the War the English Nation lost unto the French more than Fifteen Millions of Pounds Sterling But no part of the English Nation hath been more frequently or sensibly prey'd upon by the French than what hath gone out of New England ever since the War began I say Ha's this been Enough No The wrath of God said This is not Enough I appeal to you that have been Owners of Vessels or Sailors in them whether horrible Shipwracks have not been multiplied since the War began very much more than ever they were before Ah Lord How many of us have Shed Rivers of Tears over our dear Friends that have been Buried in the Ocean Moreover You may Observe That in these years those very Things which were intended for our Defence have oftentimes been so much Improved for our Damage that it was hard for us to say which was the Greater the Defence or the Damage which we had from them It was a Lamentable Time with the Jewes when that Curse came upon them That which should have been for their Welfare Let it become a Trap pour out thine Indignation upon them Truly The Indignation of God hath been poured out upon us in this Fruit of the Curse no less frequently then sensibly that some things which should have been for our Welfare have at the same time served also to Entrap the Persons and Interests of many people into sore Inconveniencies There is no need of Explaining this Article They that have been under this Indignation of God know the Explaining of it Finally You may Observe What Untimely Ends and what Surprizing Fates have come upon our Sons in these Years of the Wrath of the Right-Hand of the Most High When Craesus was in War taken by Cyrus this Captive made unto the Conqueror this Remark upon the Difference between Peace and War O Syr I see that in a time of Peace the Sons Bury their Fathers but in a Time of War the Fathers Bury their Sons Truly Sirs our Time of War has in Various Wayes of Mortality been Embittered with this Remark The Fathers have been Burying their Sons all the Countrey over Many of us have had our Sons even those very Sons of whom we said This same shall Comfort us We have had them violently snatch'd away from us and Cropt in the very Flower of their Youth and they have Left us deploring Oh my Son with all my Heart could I have Dyed for thee my Son my Son But in the midst of these Deplorable Things God hath given up several of our Sons into the Hands of the Fierce Monsters of Africa Mahometan Turks and Moors and Devils are at this Day oppressing many of our Sons with a
Slavery wherein they Wish for Death and cannot find it a Slavery from whence they cry and write unto us It had been Good for us that we had never been Born Quis talia fando Temperet a Lacrymis Thus as Job sometimes complained Chap. 10.17 Thou Renewest thy Witnesses against me and increasest thine Indignation upon me Changes and War are against me Thus in our Long War we have seen those Changes on all Hands and in all Kinds which have witnessed against us the Dreadful Indignation of God God Threatned His people so I read it Amos 2.13 Behold I will press your place as a full Cart presses the Sheaf 'T is an Allusion to the old way of Threshing the Corn by drawing a Loaden Cart with Wheels over the Corn. 9. d. You shall undergo Tribulation Ah New-England Thou hast been under such a Tribulation Syrs Have you not Observed these things But you must wisely Observe them And a wise Observation of these things will cause you to see That the War which hath been upon us hath been a War of GOD. The Indians have been but a small part of those Armies which the Great GOD hath been bringing out against us for Ten Years together and we may conclude that all the Land have been more or less concerned in those Crimes for which the Almighty GOD hath been with these Armies managing His Controvesy with us Our Confession must be Peccavimus omnes We have all gone astray But shall we not upon this Observation take up some Resolution If we are Wise we fhall thus Resolve 'T is Time 'T is Time 'T is High-Time for us to make our Peaee with God Oh Let us not go on to Harden our selves against God we are not Stronger than He But let us all Fly to the Lord Jesus Corist who is our Peace and so lay down the Arms of Rebellion that God may be Reconciled unto us VII In the WAR that hath been upon us Whoso is wise may Observe those Dispensations of Heaven towards us that have carryed more than Ordinary Humiliations in them It was said concerning Miriam the Type of the Now Leprous and out-cast Church of Israel The Lord hasten that Seventh Day wherein it shall be Restored Numb 12.14 If her Father had Spit in her Face should she not be Ashamed Ah New England Thy Father hath been Spitting in thy Face with most Humbling Dispensations God hath been bringing of thee down to Sit in the Dust When the War commenced New-England might say My God will Humble me For First Shall our Heavenly Father put a Rod into the Hands of base Indians and bid Them to Scourge His Children Oh! the Humiliation of such Rebellious Children Oh! the Provocation that certainly such Sons and such Daughters have given Him It was a very Humbling thing that the Lord Threatned unto His Provoking Sons Daughters in Deut. 32.21 I will move them to Jealousy with those which are not a People I will provoke them to Anger with a Foolish Nation Should a Child of yours be Refractory and you Sir should bid a Negro or an Indian Slave in your House Go Take that Child and Scourge him till you fetch Blood of him Surely this would be to Humble him unto the Uttermost Thus doth thy God Humble thee O New-England by putting thee over into the Vile Hands of those which are not a People but a Foolish Nation Again Who are they by whose means we are now crying out We are Brought very Low When the most High God was determined Effectually to Humble His People he said in Jer. 37.10 Though ye had Smitten the whole Army of the Caldeans that fight against you and there remained but wounded men among them yet should they Rise up every man in his Tent and burn this City with Fire Truly we had Smitten the whole Army of the Indians that Fought against us Three and Twenty years ago from one end of the Land unto the other only there were left a few Wounded men among them in the East and now they have Risen up every man and have set the whole Country on Fire Certainly A more Humbling matter cannot be Related Moreover Is it not a very Humbling Thing That when about an Hundred Indians durst Begin a War upon all these Populous Colonies an Army of a Thousand English raised must not kill one of them all but instead thereof more of our Souldiers perish by Sickness and Hardship than we had Enemies then in the world Our God ha's Humbled us Is it not a very Humbling Thing That when the Number of our Enemies afterwards Increased yet an Handful of them should for so many Summers together continue our Unconquered Spoilers and put us to such Vast Charges that if we could have Bought them for an Hundred Pound an Head we should have made a Saving Bargain of it Our God ha's Humbled us Is it not a very Humbling Thing That we should have had several fair Opportunities to have brought this War unto a Final Period but we should still by some fatal Oversight let Slip those Opportunities Our God ha's Humbled us Is it not a very Humling Thing That whatever Expeditions we have undertaken for the most part we have come off Loosers and indeed but plunged our selves into deeper Straits by our Undertakings Our God ha's Humbled us Is it not a very Humbling Thing That more than One or Two of our Forts have been Surrendred and one of them that was almost Impregnable given away with a most Shameful Surrender by one that hath since Received Something of what he Deserved Thus Our God ha's Humbled us Is it not a very Humbling Thing That we should have Evil pursuing of us at such a rate that in other Lands afar off and on the Exchange in London Strangers have made this Reflection Doubtless New-England is a Countrey in Ill Terms with Heaven But so Our God has Humbled us What shall I say Is it not a very Humbling Thing That when Peace is Restored unto the whole English Nation and when Peace is Enjoy'd by all America poor New-England should be the Only Land still Embroil'd in War But thus Our God Thou hast Humbled us and shown us great and sore Troubles and brought us down into the Depths of the Earth O my dear People How can I Observe these Things and not like Joshua now fall to the Earth on my Face before the Lord and say What shall I say But if you will wisely observe these Things you will now get up and Sanctify your selves and put away the accursed thing from among you O New-English Israel Certainly The High and Lofty One who dwells in the High and Holy place Expects that we should be a very Humbled People I beseech you Sirs Observing these Things let us in all the Methods of Repentance Humble our selves under the Mighty Hand of God After such Humbling Things as have befallen us God forbid that it should be said of us as in Jer.