The Life and Death of John Eliot, Part 1

The Life and Death of John Eliot · Part 1

p. 15PART. I. Or, Eliot as a Christian.

ARTICLE I. His Eminent Piety.

SUch was the Piety of our Eliot, that like another Moses, he had upon his Face a continual Shine, arising from his uninterrupted Communion with the Father of Spirits. He was indeed a Man of Prayer, and might say after the Psalmist, I Prayer, as being in a manner made up of it. Could the Walls of his old Study speak, they would even ravish us with a Relation of the many hundred and thousand fervent Prayers which he there poured out before the Lord. He not only made it his daily practice to enter into that Closet, and shut his Door, and pray to his Father in secret, but he would not rarely set apart whole Days for Prayer with Fasting in secret places, before the God of Heaven. Prayer solemnized with Fasting was indeed so agreeable unto him, that I have sometimes p. 16thought he might justly inherit the Name of Johannes Jejunator, or John the Faster, which for the like reason was put upon one of the Renowned Ancients. Especially, when there was any Remarkable Difficulty before him, he took this way to encounter and overcome it; being of Dr. Preston's mind, That when we would have any great things to be accomplished, the best Policy is to work by an Engine which the World sees nothing of. He could say as the Pious Robertson did upon his Death-bed, I thank God I have loved Fasting and Prayer with all my heart! If one would have known what that sacred thing, The Spirit of Prayer, intends, in him there might have been seen a most luculent and practical Exposition of it. He kept his heart in a frame for Prayer, with a marvellous Constancy, and was continually provoking all that were about him thereunto. When he heard any considerable News, his usual and speedy Reflection thereupon would be, Brethren, let us turn all this into Prayer; and he was perpetually jogging the Wheel of Prayer, both more privately in the Meetings, and more publickly in the Churches of his Neighbourhood. When he came to an House that he was intimately acquainted with, he would often say, Come, let us not have a Visit without a Prayer; let us pray down p. 17the Blessing of Heaven on your Family before we go. Especially when he came into a Society of Ministers, before he had sate long with them, they would look to hear him urging, Brethren, the Lord Jesus takes much notice of what is done and said among his Ministers when they are together; come let us pray before we part. And hence also his whole Breath seemed in a sort made up of Ejaculatory Prayers; many scores of which winged Messengers he dispatched away to Heaven upon pious Errands every day. By them he bespoke Blessings upon almost every Person or Affair that he was concerned with; and he carried every thing to God with some pertinent Hosannah's or Hallelujah's over it. He was a mighty and an happy Man, that had his Quiver full of these heavenly Arrows: And when he was never so straitly besieged by human Occurences, yet he fastned the wishes of his devout Soul unto them, and very dexterously shot them up to Heaven over the head of all.

As he took thus delight in speaking to the Almighty God, no less did he in speaking of him; but in serious and savoury Discourses he still had his Tongue like the Pen of a ready Writer. The Jesuits once at Nola made a no less prophane than severe Order, That no man should speak of God at all; but this excellent p. 18Person almost made it an Order wherever he came, to speak of nothing but God. He was indeed sufficiently pleasant and witty in Company, and he was affable and facetious, rather than morose in Conversation; but he had a remarkable Gravity mixed with it, and a singular Skill of raising some Holy Observation out of whatever Matter of Discourse lay before him; nor would he ordinarily dismiss any Theme without some gracious, divine, pithy Sentence thereupon. Doubtless he imposed it as a Law upon himself, that he would leave something of God, and Heaven, and Religion, with all that should come a near him; so that in all Places his Company was attended with Majesty and Reverence; and it was no sooner proper for him to speak, but, like Mary's opened Box of Oyntment, he fill'd the whole Room with the Perfumes of the Graces in his Lips; and the Christian-hearers tasted a greater sweetness in his well-seasoned Speeches, than the Illustrious Homer ascrib'd unto the Orations of his Nestor, Whose Lip drop'd Language, than sweet Hony sweeter abundance.

His Conferences were like those which Tertullian affirms to have been common among the Saints in his Days, Ʋt qui sciret Dominum audire, as knowing that the Ear of God was open to them all; and he managed his Rudder, p. 19so as to manifest that he was bound Heaven-ward, in his whole Communication. He had a particular art at Spiritualizing of Earthly Objects, and raising of high Thoughts from very mean things. As once, going with some feebleness and weariness up the Hill on which his Meeting-house now stands, he said unto the Person that led him, This is very like the way to Heaven, 'tis up Hill! the Lord by his Grace fetch us up! and instantly spying a Bush near him, he as nimbly added, And truly there are Thorns and Briars in the way too! Which instance I would not have singled out from the many thousands of his Occasional Reflections, but only that I might suggest unto the good People of Roxbury, something for them to think upon, when they are going up to the House of the Lord. It is enough, that as the Friend of the Famous Ʋrsin could profess that he never went unto him, without coming away, aut doctior aut melior, either the wiser or the better from him; so, 'tis an acknowledgment which more than one Friend of our Eliot's has made concerning him, I was never with him, but I got, or might have got some good from him.

And hearing from the Great God, was an Exercise of like satisfaction unto the Soul of this good Man, with speaking either to him, or of him. He was a mighty Student of the p. 20Sacred Bible; and it was unto him as his necessary Food. He made the Bible his Companion, and his Councellor, and the Holy Lines of Scripture more Enamoured him, than the profane ones of Tully ever did the Famous Italian Cardinal. He would not, upon easy terms, have gone one day together without using a Portion of the Bible as an Antidote against the Infection of Temptation. And he would prescribe it unto others, with his probatum est upon it; as once particularly a pious Woman, vexed with a wicked Husband, complaining to him, That bad Company was all the Day still infesting of her House, and what should she do? He advised her, Take the Holy Bible into your Hand, when the bad Company come, and you'll soon drive them out of the House; the Woman made the experiment, and thereby cleared her House from the haunts that had molested it. By the like way 'twas that he cleared his heart of what he was loth to have nesting there. Moreover, if ever any Man could, he might pretend unto that evidence of Uprightness, Lord, I have loved the habitation of thine House; for he not only gave something more than his presence there twice on the Lord's Days, and once a Fortnight besides on the Lectures, in his own Congregation; but he made his Weekly Visits unto the Lectures in the p. 21Neighbouring Towns; how often was he seen at Boston, Charlstown, Cambridg, Dorchester, waiting upon the Word of God, in the recurring Opportunities, and counting a Day in the Courts of the Lord better than a thousand! It is hardly conceivable, how in the midst of so many Studies and Labours as he was at home engaged in, he could possibly repair to so many Lectures abroad; and herein he aimed not only at his own Edification, but at the Countenancing and Encouraging of the Lectures which he went unto. Thus he took heed that he might hear, and he took as much heed how he heard; he set himself as in the presence of the Eternal God, as the Great Constantine used of old, in the Assemblies where he came, and said, I will hear what God the Lord will speak; he expressed a diligent attention, by a watchful and wakeful Posture, and by turning to the Texts quoted by the Preacher; he expressed a suitable affection by feeding on what was delivered, and accompanying it with hands and eyes devoutly elevated; and they whose good hap 'twas to go home with him, were sure of having another Sermon by the way, until their very Hearts burned in them. Lactantius truly said, Non est vera Religio, quae cum Templo relinquitur; but our Eliot always carried much of Religion with him from the House of God.

p. 22In a word, he was one who lived in Heaven while he was on Earth; and there is no more than pure Justice in our endeavours that he should live on Earth after he is in Heaven. We cannot say that we ever saw him walking any whither, but he was therein walking with God; wherever he sat, he had God by him, and it was in the everlasting Arms of God that he slept at Night. Methoughts he a little discovered his heavenly way of living, when walking one day in his Garden, he plucked up a Weed that he saw now and then growing there; at which a Friend presently said unto him, Sir, you tell us we must be Heavenly minded; but he immediately repli'd, It is true; and this is no impediment unto that; for were I sure to go to Heaven to morrow, I would do what I do to day. From such a frame of Spirit it was that once in a Visit, finding a Merchant in his Counting-house, where he saw Books of Business only on his Table, but all his Books of Devotion on the Shelf, he gave this Advice unto him, Sir, Here's Earth on the Table, and Heaven on the Shelf; pray don't sit so much at the Table as altogether to forget the Shelf; let not Earth by any means thrust Heaven out of your mind.

Indeed I cannot give a fuller Description of him, than what was in a Paraphrase that I have heard himself to make upon that p. 23Scripture, our Conversation is in Heaven. I writ from him as he uttered it.

Behold, said he, the Ancient and Excellent Character of a true Christian; 'tis that which Peter call Holiness in all manner of Conversation; you shall not find a Christian out of the way of Godly Conversation. For, first, a seventh part of our time is all spent in Heaven, when we are duly zealous for, and zealous on the Sabbath of God. Besides, God has written on the head of the Sabbath, Remember; which looks both forwards and backwards; and thus a good part of the Week will be spent in Sabbatizing. Well, but for the rest of our Time! why, we shall have that spent in Heaven, ere we have done. For, secondly, we have many Days for both Fasting and Thanksgiving in our Pilgrimage; and here are so many Sabbaths more. Moreover, thirdly, we have our Lectures every Week; and pious People wont miss them, if they can help it. Furthermore, fourthly, We have our private Meetings wherein we Pray, and Sing, and repeat Sermons, and confer together about the things of God; and being now come thus far, we are in Heaven almost every day. But a little farther, fithly, We perform Family Duties every day; We have our Morning and Evening Sacrifices, wherein having read the p. 24Scriptures to our Families, we call upon the Name of God, and ever now and then carefully Catechise those that are under our Charge. Sixthly, We shall also have our daily Devotions in our Closets; wherein, unto Supplication before the Lord, we shall add some serious Meditation upon his Word; a David will be at this work no less than thrice a day. Seventhly, We have likewise many scores of Ejaculations in a day; and these we have, like Nehemiah, in whatever place we come into. Eighthly, We have our occasional Thoughts, and our occasional Talks upon Spiritual Matters; and we have our occasional Acts of Charity, wherein we do like the Inhabitants of Heaven every day. Ninthly, In our Callings, in our Civil Callings, we keep up heavenly Frames; we Buy, and Sell, and Toil, yea, we Eat and Drink, with some Eye both to the Command, and the Honour of God in all. Behold, I have not now left an inch of time to be Carnal; it is all engrossed for Heaven. And yet, lest here should not be enough, lastly, We have our Spiritual Warfare. We are always encountring the Enemies of our Souls, which continually raises our hearts unto our Helper and Leader in the Heavens. Let no Man say, 'Tis impossible to live at this rate; for we have p. 25known some live thus, and others that have written of such a Life, have but spun a Web out of their own blessed experiences. New-England has Examples of this Life; tho, alas, 'tis to be lamented, that the Distractions of the World, in too many Professors, do becloud the beauty of an Heavenly Conversation. In fine, our Employment lies in Heaven. In the morning, if we ask, Where am I to be to day? Our Souls must answer, In Heaven. In the Evening, if we ask, Where have I been to day? Our Souls may answer, In Heaven. If thou art a Believer, thou art no Stranger to Heaven while thou livest; and when thou diest, Heaven will be no strange Place to thee; no, thou hast been there a thousand times before.

In this Language have I heard him express himself; and he did what he said, he was a Boniface, as well as a Benedict; and he was one of those, Qui faciendo docent, quae facienda docent.

It might be said of him, as that Writer characterises Origen, Quemadmodum docuit, sic vixit & quemadmodum vixit sic docuit.

p. 26ARTICLE II. His particular Care and Zeal about the Lords-Day.

THis was the Piety, this the Holiness of our Eliot; but among the many Instances in which his Holiness was remarkable, I must not omit his exact Remembrance of the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy.

It has been truly and justly observed, That our whole Religion fares according to our Sabbaths; that poor Sabbaths make poor Christians; and that a Strictness in our Sabbaths inspires a Vigour into all our other Duties. Our Eliot knew this, and it was a most Exemplary Zeal that he acknowledged the Sabbath of our Lord Jesus Christ withal. Had he been asked, Servasti Dominicum? He could have made a right Christian primitive answer thereunto. The Sun did not set, the Evening before the Sabbath, till he had begun his Preparation for it; and when the Lords-day came, you might have seen John in the Spirit every Week. Every day was a sort of Sabbath to him, but the Sabbath-day was a kind, a type, a taste of Heaven with him. He laboured, that he might on this high day have no Words or Thoughts but p. 27such as were agreeable thereunto; he then allow'd in himself no Actions, but those of a raised Soul. One should hear nothing dropping from his Lips on this day, but the Milk and Honey of the Country, in which there yet remains a Rest for the People of God; and if he beheld in any Person whatsoever, whether Old or Young, any Profanation of this day, he would be sure to bestow lively Rebukes upon it. And hence also unto the general Engagements of a Covenant with God, which 'twas his desire to bring the Indians into, he added a particular Article, wherein they bind themselves Mehquontamvnat Sabbath, pahketeaunat tohsohke pomantamog, i. e. To remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy, as long as we live.

The mention of this, gives me an opportunity, not only to recommend our Departed Eliot, but also to Vindicate another great Man, unto the Churches of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Reverend and Renowned OWEN in his Elaborate Exercitations on the Lords-day, had let fall such a passage as this.

I judge, That the Observation of the Lords-day is to be Commensurate unto the use of our natural strength on any other day, from Morning to Night. The Lords-day is to be see apart unto the ends of an holy Rest unto God, by every one, according as p. 28his natural strength will enable him to employ himself in his lawful occasions any other day of the Week.

This passage was subject to such a misunderstanding, as that it gave some scandal unto several very Learned and Pious Men; among whom our Eliot was one: whereupon with his usual Zeal, Gravity, and Sanctity, he wrote unto the Doctor his Opinion thereabout; who returned unto him an answer full of Respect, some part whereof I shall here transcribe.

As to what concerns the Natural strength of Men (saith he), Either I was under some mistake in my Expression, or you seem to be so in your Apprehension. I never thought, and I hope I have not said, for I cannot find it, that the continuance of the Sabbath is to be Commensurate unto the natural strength of Man, but only that it is an allowable mean of Mens continuance in Sabbath-Duties; which I suppose you will not deny, lest you should cast the Consciences of Professors into inextricable Difficulties.

When first I engaged into that Work, I intended not to have spoken one word about the practical Observation of the Day; but only to have endeavoured the Revival of a Truth which at present is despised and contemned among us, and strenuously opposed p. 29by sundry Divines of the Ʋnited Provinces, who call the Doctrine of the Sabbath, Figmentum Anglicanum. Upon the desire of some Learned Men in these Parts, it was, that I undertook the Vindication of it. Having now discharged the Debt, which in this matter I owed unto the Truth and Church of God, tho not as I ought, yet with such a composition as I hope, thro' the Interposition of our Lord Jesus Christ, might find acceptance with God and his Saints, I suppose I shall not again engage on that Subject.

I suppose there is scarce any one alive in the World, who hath more Reproaches cast upon him than I have; tho hitherto God has been pleased in some measure to support my Spirit under them. I still relieved my self by this, That my poor Endeavours have found acceptance with the Churches of Christ: But my Holy, Wise, and Gracious Father, sees it needful to try me in this matter also; and what I have received from you (which it may be contains not your sense alone) hath printed deeper, and left a greater impression upon my mind, than all the virulent Revilings, and false Accusations I have met withal from my professed Adversaries. I do acknowledg unto you, that I have a dry and barren Spirit, p. 30and I do heartily beg your Prayers, that the Holy One would, notwithstanding all my sinful Provocations, water me from above; but that I should now be apprehended to have given a Wound unto Holiness in the Churches, 'tis one of the saddest Frowns in the Cloudy Brows of Divine Providence.

The Doctrine of the Sabbath, I have asserted, tho not as it should be done, yet as well as I could: The Observation of it in Holy Duties unto the utmost of the strength for them, which God should be pleased to give us, I have pleaded for; the necessity also of a serious Preparation for it in sundry previous Duties, I have declared. But now to meet with severe Expressions — it may be 'tis the Will of God, that vigour should hereby be given to my former Discouragements, and that there is a Call in it, to surcease from these kinds of Labours.

I have transcribed the more of this Letter, because it not only discovers the concern which our Eliot had for the Sabbath of God, but also it may contribute unto the Worlds good Reception and Perusal of a Golden Book on that Subject, written by one of the most Eminent Persons which the English Nation has been adorned with.

p. 31ARTICLE III. His Exemplary Mortification.

THus did Eliot endeavour to live unto God; but how much at the same time did he die unto all the World?

'Twere impossible to finish the lively Picture of this Pious and Holy Eliot, without some touches upon that Mortification which accompanied him all his days; for never did I see a Person more mortifi'd unto all the pleasures of this Life, or more unwilling to moult the Wings of an Heaven-born Soul, in the dirty Puddles of Carnal and Sensual Delights. We are all of us compounded of those two things, the Man, and the Beast; but so powerful was the Man, in this Holy Person, that it kept the Beast ever ti'd with a short Tedder, and suppressed the irregular Calcitrations of it. He became so nailed unto the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, that the Grandeurs of this World were unto him just what they would be to a dying Man; and he maintained an almost unparallel'd indifferency towards all the Pomps which Mankind is too generally flattered and enchanted with.

p. 32The Lust of the Flesh he could not reconcile himself to the least pampering or indulging of; but he persecuted it with a continual Antipathy; being upon higher Principles than Tully was acquainted withal, of his mind, Non est dignus nomine nominis, qui unum diem totum velit esse in isto genere voluptatis. The Sleep that he allowed himself, cheated him not of his Morning-hours; but he reckoned the Morning no less a Friend unto the Graces, than unto the Muses. He would call upon Students, I pray look to it that you be Morning-Birds! And for many more than a score of years before he died, he removed his Lodging into his Study, on purpose that being there alone, he might enjoy his early Mornings, without giving the disturbance of the least noise to any of his Friends, whose Affections to him else might have been ready to have called, Master, spare thy self. The Meat upon which he lived, was a Cibus simplex, an homely, but an wholesome Diet; rich Varieties, costly Viands, and poinant Sawces, came not upon his own Table; and when he found them on other Mens, he rarely tasted of them. One Dish, and a plain one, was his Dinner; and when invited unto a Feast, I have seen him sit magnifying of God for the Plenty which his People in this Wilderness p. 33were within a few years arisen to; but not more than a bit or two of all the Dainties taken into his own Mouth all the while. And for a Supper, he had learned of his Loved and Blessed Patron, old Mr. Cotton, either wholly to omit it, or to make a small sup or two the utmost of it. The Drink which he still used, was very small; he cared not for Wines or Drams; and I believe he never once in all his Life knew what it was to feel so much as a noxious fume in his head from any of them; good clear Water was more precious, as well as more usual with him, than any of those Liquors with which Men do so frequently spoil their own Healths, while perhaps they drink those of other Men. When at a Strangers House in the Summer time, he has been entertained with a Glass, which they told him was of Water and Wine, he has with a complaisant Gravity replied unto this purpose, Wine, 'tis a noble, generous Liquor, and we should be bumbly thankful for it; but as I remember, Water was made before it! So abstemious was he; and he found, that Carere suavitaribus istit, his Abstinence had more sweetness in it, than any of the sweets which he abstained from; and so willing he was to have others partake with him in that sweetness, that when he has thought the countenance p. 34of a Minister has look'd, as if he had made much of himself, he has gone to him with that Speech, Study Mortification, Brother! Study Mortification! And he made all his Addresses with a becoming Majesty.

The Lust of the Eye, was put out by him in such a manner, that it was in a manner all one with him to be Rich or Poor. It could not be said of him, That he sought great things for himself; but what Estate he became owner of, was from the Blessing of God upon the Husbandry and Industry of some in his Family, rather than from any endeavours of his own. Once when there stood several Kine of his own before his Door, his Wife to try him, asked him, Whose they were? And she found that he knew nothing of them. He could not endure to plunge himself into Secular Designs and Affairs, but accounted Sacerdos in foro as worthy of Castigation, as Mercator in Templo; he thought that Minister and Market-man were not Ʋnisons; and that the Earth was no place for Aaron's Holy Mitre to be laid upon. It was the Usage of most Towns in the Country, to have an Annual Rate for the maintenance of the Ministry, adjusted commonly by the Select-men of the Towns; which tho it raised not any exuberant Salaries for the Ministers, who also seldom received all that the People had contracted p. 35for; nevertheless in many places it prevented sore Temptations from befalling those that were labouring in the Word and Doctrine; who must else often have experienced the Truth of Luther's Observation, Duriter profecto & misere viverunt Evangelii Ministri, si ex Libera populi contributione essent sustentandi. However, for his part, he propounded that what Stipend he had, should be raised by Contribution; and from the same Temper it was, that a few Years before his Dissolution, being left without an Assistant in his Ministry, he pressed his Congregation to furnish themselves with another Pastor; and in his Application to them, he told them, 'Tis possible you may think the burden of maintaining two Ministers may be too heavy for you; but I'll deliver you from that fear; I do here give back my Salary to the Lord Jesus Christ; and now, Brethren, you may fix that upon any man that God shall make a Pastor for you. But his Church with an handsom reply, assured him, That they would count his very Presence worth a Salary, when he should be so superannuated as to do no further Service for them.

And as for the Pride of Life, the Life of it was most Exemplarily extinguish'd in him. The Humility of his Heart made him Higher by the Head than the rest of the People. His Habit p. 36and Spirit were both such as declared him to be among the Lowly, whom God has most Respect unto. His Apparel was without any Ornament, except that of Humility, which the Apostle Elegantly compares to a Knot of comely Ribbons, in the Text where he bids us to be Cloathed with it; any other flanting Ribbons on those that came in his way, he would ingeniously animadvert upon; and seeing some Scholars once, he thought, a little too gaudy in their Cloaths, Humiliamini, Juvenes, Humiliamini, was his immediate Complement unto them. Had you seen him with his Leathern Girdle (for such a one he wore) about his Loins, you would almost have thought what Herod fear'd, That John Baptist was come to Life again. In short, he was in all regards, A Nazarite indeed; unless in this one, that long Hair was always very loathsome to him; he was an acute Ramist; but yet he professed himself a Lover of a Trichocomy. Doubtless, it may be lawful for us to accommodate the length of our Hair to the modest Customs which vary in the Churches of God: and it may be lawful for them that have not enough of their own Hair for their own Health, to supply themselves according to the sober Modes of the Places where they live. But the Apostle tells us, Nature teaches us, that if a Man have long Hair, p. 37'tis a shame to him; where, by Nature can be meant, no other than, The difference of Sex; as the word else-where is used.

Thus Mr. Eliot thought, that for Men to wear their Hair with a luxurious, delicate, foeminine Prolixity; or for them to preserve no plain Distinction of their Sex, by the Hair of their Head and Face; and much more, for Men thus to disfigure themselves with Hair that is none of their own; and most of all, for Ministers of the Gospel to ruffle it in Excesses of this kind, may prove more than we are well aware displeasing to the Holy Spirit of God. I know not whether that horrible Distemper prevailing in some European Countries, known by the Name of Plica Polonica, wherein the Hair of People matted into ugly and filthy Forms, like Snakes upon their Heads, which whosoever cut off, presently fell Blind or Mad; I say, I know not whether this Disease was more odious in it self, than the sweeter, neater, but prolix Locks of many People were to our Eliot. He was indeed one priscis moribus, as well as Antiqua fine; and he might be allowed somewhat even of severity in this matter on that account.

My Reader shall have a touch or two, from a Manuscript of his, which I have in my hands, against (as he calls it) The violent p. 38and insuperable Lust of long Hair. He thus argues.

Tis a Sin for a Man to do that whereof he hath cause to be ashamed. Prov. 14.24. Rom. 6.21.

But it is a shame for a Man to wear long Hair, 1 Cor. 11.14. Therefore 'tis a Sin.

Obj. It was then so; but now 'tis a Fashion and Glory to do otherwise.

Ans. Nature is the same now as then, Unchangeable. It speaks as loud now as it did then; only our Ears are so covered with Locks, that we cannot hear it.

Again, Long Hair on the Head, and no Hair on the Face, is the Habit of a Woman, 1 Cor. 11.16. But it is a sinful Abomination for a Man to wear the Habit of a Woman. Deut. 22.5.

Therefore 'tis a sinful Abomination for a Man to wear long Hair on his Head, and no Hair on his Face.

With these, and many other such Persuasions did he endeavour to obviate the Luxury which he saw the Times degenerating apace into; and he added hereunto his own Example, as a continual and effectual Sermon against what he thought was to be condemned in the World.

p. 39ARTICLE IV. His Exquisite Charity.

HE that will write of Eliot, must write of Charity, or say nothing. His Charity was a Star of the first Magnitude in the bright Constellation of his Virtues; and the Rays of it were wonderfully various and extensive.

His Liberality to pious Uses, whether publick or private, went much beyond the Proportions of his little Estate in the World. Many hundreds of Pounds did he freely bestow upon the Poor; and he would with a very forcible importunity press his Neighbours to joyn with him in such Beneficences. 'Twas a marvellous Alacrity with which he embraced all opportunities of Relieving any that were miserable: And the good People of Roxbury doubtless cannot remember (but the Righteous God will) how often, and with what Ardors, with what Arguments, he became a Beggar to them for Collections in their Assemblies, to support such needy Objects as had fallen under his Observation. The Poor counted him their Father, and repaired still unto him, with a filial Confidence in their Necessities; and they p. 40were more than seven or eight, or indeed, than so many scores, who received their Portions of his Bounty. Like that Worthy and Famous English General, he could not persuade himself, That he had any thing but what he gave away; but he drove a mighty Trade at such Exercises at he thought would furnish him with Bills of Exchange, which he hoped after many days to find the comfort of; and yet after all, he would say, like one of the most Charitable Souls that ever lived in the World, That looking over his Accounts, he could no where find the God of Heaven charged a Debtor there. He did not put off his Charity, to be put in his Last Will, as many who therein shew that their Charity is against their will; but he was his own Administrator; he made his own Hands his Executors, and his own Eyes his Overseers. It has been Remark'd, That Liberal men are often Long-liv'd men; so do they after many days find the Bread with which they have been willing to keep other Men alive. The great Age of our Eliot was but agreeable to this Remark; and when his Age had unfitted him for almost all Employments, and bereaved him of those Gifts and Parts which once he had been Accomplished with, being asked, How he did? He would sometimes p. 41answer, Alas, I have lost every thing; my Ʋnderstanding leaves me, my Memory fails me, my Ʋtterance fails me; but I thank God my Charity holds out still; I find that rather grows than fails! And I make no question, That at his Death, his happy Soul was received and welcomed into the Everlasting Habitations, by many scores got thither before him, of such as his Charity had been liberal unto,

But besides these more substantial Expressions of his Charity, he made the Odours of that Grace yet more fragrant unto all that were about him, by that Pitifulness, and that P…acefulness, which rendred him yet further Amiable. If any of his Neighbourhood were in distress, he was like a Brother born for their Adversity, he would visit them, and comfort them with a most Fraternal Sympathy; yea, 'tis not easy to recount how many whole days of Prayer with Fasting he has got his Neighbours to keep with him, on the behalf of those whose Calamities he found himself touched withal. It was an extreme satisfaction to him, that his Wife had attained unto a considerable skill in Physick and Chyrurgery, which enabled her to dispense many safe, good, and useful Medicines unto the Poor that had occasion for them, and some hundreds p. 42of Sick, and Weak, and Maimed People owed praises to God for the Benefit which therein they freely received of her. The good Gentleman, her Husband, would still be casting Oyl into the Flame of that Charity, wherein she was of her own accord abundantly forward thus to be doing of good unto all; and he would urge her to be serviceable unto the worst Enemies that he had in the World. Never had any Man fewer Enemies than he! But once having delivered something in his Ministry which displeased one of his Hearers, the Man did passionately abuse him for it, and this both with Speeches and with Writings that reviled him. Yet it happening not long after, that this man gave himself a very dangerous Wound; Mr. Eliot immediately sends his Wife to cure him; who did accordingly. When the man was well, he came to thank her; but she took no Rewards; and this good man made him stay and eat with him, taking no notice of all the Calumnies with which he had loaded him; but by this carriage he strangely mollified and conquered the Stomach of his Reviler.

He was also a great Enemy to all Contention, and would ring a loud Courfeu-Bell wherever he saw the Fires of Animosity. p. 43When he heard any Ministers complain, that such and such in their Flocks were too difficult for them, the strain of his Answer still was, Brother, Compass them! and Brother, learn the meaning of those three little words, Bear, Forbear, Forgive. Yea, his inclinations for Peace, indeed, sometimes almost made him to sacrifice Right it self. When there was laid before an Assembly of Ministers, a bundle of Papers which contained certain Matters of Difference and Contention between some People, which our Eliot thought should rather unite, with an Amnesty upon all their former Quarrels, he (with some imitation of what Constantine did upon the like occasion) hastily threw the Papers into the Fire before them all, and with a Zeal for Peace, as hot as that Fire, said immediately, Brethren, wonder not at what I have done, I did it on my Knees this Morning before I came among you. Such an excess (if it were one) flow'd from his charitable Inclinations, to be found among those Peace-makers, which by following the Example of that Man who is our Peace, come to be called, The Children of God. Very worthily might he be called an Irenaeus, as being all for Peace; and the Commendation which Epiphanius gives unto the Ancient of that Name, did belong unto our p. 44Eliot; he was a most Blessed and a most Holy Man. He disliked all sorts of Bravery; but yet with an ingenious Note upon the Greek word in Col. 3.15. he propounded, That peace might brave it among us. In short, whereever he came, he was like another old John, with solemn and earnest persuasives to Love; and when he could say little else, he would give that Charge, My Children, love one another!

Finally, 'twas his Charity which disposed him to continual Apprecations for, and Benedictions on those that he met withal; he had an heart full of good Wishes, and a mouth full of kind Blessings for them. And he often made his Expressions very wittily, agreeable to the Circumstances which he saw the Persons in. Sometimes when he came into a Family, he would call for all the young People in it, that so he might very distinctly lay his holy Hands upon every one of them, and bespeak the Mercies of Heaven for them all.

p. 45ARTICLE V. Some special Attainments, that were the Effects of his Piety and Charity.

BUT what was the Effect of this Exemplary Piety and Charity in our Eliot? It will be no wonder, to my Reader, if I tell him, That this good man walked in the light of God's Countenance all the day long. I believe he had a continual assurance of the Divine Love, marvellously Sealing, Strengthning, and Refreshing of him, for many Lustres of Years hefore he dy'd; and for this cause the fear of Death was extirpated out of his Heavenly Soul, more than out of most men alive. Had our Blessed Jesus at any time sent his Waggons to fetch this old Jacob away, he would have gone without the least Reluctancies. Labouring once under a Fever and Ague, a Visitant asked him how he did? And he replied, Very well, but anon I expect a paroxysm. Said the Visitant, Sir, fear not; but unto that he answered, Fear! No, no, I been't afraid, I thank God, I been't afraid to dye! Dying would not have been any more to him, than Sleeping to a weary man.

And another Excellency, which accompanied this Courage and Comfort in him, p. 46was, A wonderful resignation to the Will of God in all Events. There were sore Afflictions that sometimes befel him, especially when he followed some of his hopeful and worthy Sons, two or three desirable Preachers of the Gospel, to their Graves. But he sacrificed them, like another Abraham, with such a sacred indifferency, as made all the Spectators to say, This could not be done without the Fear of God. Yea, he bore all his Trials with an admirable patience; and seemed loth to have any will of his own, that should not be wholly melted and moulded into the Will of his Heavenly Father. Once being in a Boat at Sea, a larger Vessel unhappily over-run, and over-set that little one, which had no small concerns, because Eliot's, in the bottom of it; immediately sunk without any expectation of ever going to Heaven any other way; and when he imagined that he had but one breath more to draw in the World, it was this, The Will of the Lord be done! But it was the will of the Lord that he should survive the danger, for he was rescued by the help that was then at hand; and he that had long been like Moses in every thing else, was now drawn out of the Waters: Which gives me opportunity to mention one Remarkable that had some relation hereunto. This accident happened in the time of p. 47our Indian Wars, when some furious English People that clamoured for the Extirpation of the Praying Indians, which were in Subjection unto us, as well as the Pagan Indians that were in Hostility against us, vented a very wicked Rage at our holy Eliot, because of his concernment for the Indians; and one profane Monster hearing how narrowly Mr. Eliot escap'd from drowning, wish'd (as I am credibly informed) that this Man of God had been drowned. But within a few days, that woful man by a strange disaster was drowned in that very place, where Mr. Eliot had received his Deliverance.

There was indeed a certain health of Soul which he arrived unto; and he kept in a blessed measure clear of those Distempers which too often disorder the most of men. But the God of Heaven favoured him with something that was yet more extraordinary! By getting and keeping near to God, and by dwelling under the shadow of the Almighty, he contracted a more exquisite s…nse of mind, than what is usual among other Professors of Christianity; he sometimes felt a lively touch of God upon his refined and exalted Spirit, which were not in any Paper of ours lawful or easy to be uttered; and he was admitted unto a singular Familiarity with the Holy One of Israel. Henee 'twas, p. 48that as Bodies of a rare and fine Constitution will fore-bode the changes of the Weather; so the sublimed Soul of our Eliot often had strange fore-bodings of things that were to come. I have been astonished at some of his Predictions, that were both of a more personal, and of a more general Application, and were follow'd with exact Accomplishments. If he said of any Affair, I cannot bless it! it was a worse Omen to it than the most inauspicious Presages in the World; but sometimes, after he had been with God about a thing, he was able successfully to foretel, I have set a mark upon it, it will do well! I shall never forget, That when England and H…lland were plunged into the unhappy War, which the more sensible Protestants every where had but sorrowful Apprehensions of, our Eliot being in the height and heat of the War, privately asked, What News we might look for next? Answered, unto the surprize of the Enquirer, Our next News will be, a Peace between the two Protestant Nations; God knows, I pray for it every Day; and I am verily perswaded we shall hear of it speedily! and it came to pass accordingly.

It is to be confessed, That the written Word of God is to be regarded as the perfect and only Rule of our Lives; that in all Articles of Religion, if Men speak not according p. 49to this word, there is no light in them; and that it is no warrantable or convenient thing for Christians to look for such Inspirations as directed the Prophets that were the Pen-men of the Scriptures. Nevertheless, there are some uncommon Instances of Communion and Fruition, which in our days the Soveraign God here and there favours a good Man withal; and they are very Heavenly Persons, Persons well purifi'd from the Foecul…ncies of Sensuality, and Persons better purged from the Leaven of Envy and Malice, and intollerable Pride, than usually those vain pretenders to Revelations, the Quakers are, that are made partakers of these Divine Dainties. Now such a one was our Eliot; and for this, worthy to be had in everlasting Remembrance.

It would not be improper, under this File, to lodge the singular and surprizing Successes of his Prayers! for they were such, that in our Distresses we still repair'd unto him, under that encouragement, He is a Prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live. I shall single out but one, from the many that might be mentioned: There was a godly Gentleman of Charlstown, one Mr. Foster, who, with his Son, was taken Captive by Turkish Enemies: Much Prayer was made, both privately and publickly, by the good p. 50People here, for the Redemption of that Gentleman; but we were at last informed, that the Bloody Prince, in whose Dominions he was now a Slave, was resolved that in his Life-time no Prisoner should be released; and so the distressed Friends of this Prisoner, now concluded, Our Hope is lost! Well, upon this, Mr. Eliot in some of his next Prayers, before a very solemn Congregation, very broadly begg'd, Heavenly Father, work for the Redemption of thy poor Servant Foster; and if the Prince which detains him will not, as they say, dismiss him as long as himself lives, Lord, we pray thee to kill that cruel Prince; kill him, and glorify thy self upon him. And now, behold the answer: The poor captivated Gentleman quickly returns to us that had been Mourning for him as a lost Man, and brings us News, that the Prince which had hitherto held him, was come to an untimely Death, by which means he was now set at Liberty. Thus we now know, That a Prophet has been among us!