of these poor Indians. We are about to make a town and bring them to a cohabitation and civility; for the accomplishment whereof we want a magazine of all sorts of edge tools, and instruments for husbandry, for clothing, &c. That successful and seasonable magazine of provisions, which you were a lively instrument to procure so seasonably at Bristol, for the relief of the army at Pembroke, doth encourage and embolden me to request this favor, that you would be pleased to use that wisdom and interest the Lord hath given you in the hearts of his people, to further this magazine for the poor Indians. "THE ONLY MAGNA CHARTA IN THE WORLD, IS THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. Oh! what an opportunity hath the Parliament now to bring in Christ to rule in England. If they do that, Christ will prosper and preserve them." Mr. Eliot was anxious to promote the cause of education as well as religion; and in 1689, the year previous to his death, conveyed an estate of about seventy-five acres of land to certain persons and their heirs as trustees, for "the maintenance, support, and encouragement of a school and school-master at that part of Roxbury, commonly called Jamaica or the Pond Plains, for the teaching and instructing of the children of that end of the town, (together with such Indians and negroes as shall or may come to the said school,) and to no other use, intent, or purpose whatever." This was the origin of the Roxbury "Eliot School Fund." Amiable, unostentatious, and parental, he was as remarkable for his humility, disinterestedness, and generosity, as for his intellectual attainments and exemplary deportment. His parishioners were his children, and they venerated him as a father. So universally was he respected, and so important were his services considered, that Mather remarks,-"There was a tradition among us, that the country could never perish so long as Eliot was alive." Richard Baxter, the celebrated English clergyman, in a letter to Eliot, a few years before his decease, thus expresses his opinion of his labors-"There is no man on earth whose work I consider more honorable than yours. The industry of the Jesuits and friars, and their success in Congo, Japan, and China, shame us all, save you.' وو "I think," said Shepard, who knew Eliot well, "that we can never love and honor this man of God enough." When he became old and could no longer preach, and knowing that Roxbury had cheerfully supported two ministers by voluntary contributions for a long time, he requested permission to relinquish his annual compensation. "I do here," said this venerable teacher, "give up my salary to the Lord Jesus Christ; and now, brethren, you may fix that upon any man that God shall make a Pastor." But the society informed him that they considered his presence worth any sum granted for his support, even if he were superannuated, so as to do no further service for them. Eliot's charity was a very prominent trait in his character, and he frequently gave more than he could afford, for his own family often suffered for the necessaries of life. The treasurer of the parish, on paying him his annual salary, and knowing well his lavish expenditures for the relief of others, put the money in a handkerchief, and tied it in as many hard knots as possible, in hopes thus to compel him to carry it all home. On his way thither he called to see a poor sick woman, and on entering he gave the family his blessing, and told them that God had sent them some relief. He then began to untie the knots, but after many efforts to do so, and impatient at the perplexity and delay to get at his money, he gave the whole to the mother, saying with a trembling accent—“Here, my dear, take it; I believe the Lord designs it all for you." When a minister complained to him of the injurious treatment of some of his parishioners, he replied "Brother, learn the meaning of these three little words, bear, forbear, and forgive." He said to some students, who were not early risers—“I pray look to it, that you be morning birds." As he was walking in his garden, with a friend, he began to pull up the weeds, when his friend said to him; “you tell us we must be heavenly-minded." Eliot replied "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." Cotton Mather states that his manner of preaching was very plain, yet powerful. His delivery graceful; but when he reproved immoral and sinful conduct, his voice rose into great warmth and energy. He said to a minister who had delivered a well-written sermon-"There is aid required for the service of the sanctuary, but it must be well beaten. I praise God that yours was so well beaten to-day." Eliot continued to preach as long as his strength lasted. With slow and feeble steps he ascended the hill on which his church was situated, and once observed to the person on whose arm he leaned "This is very much like the road to Heaven; 'tis up hill; the Lord by his grace fetch us up. Frugal and temperate through a long life, he never had indulged in the luxuries of the table. His drink was water, and he said of wine-" It is a noble, generous liquor, and we should be humbly thankful for it; but, as I remember, water was made before it." Thus, among his other good deeds, he taught, by precept and example, the importance of that Temperance, which now wages such an honorable crusade against the deleterious, demoralizing and ruinous vice of inebriety. While death was fast approaching, and a friend inquired how he was, he replied " Alas! I have lost everything; my understanding leaves me; my memory fails me; but I thank God, my charity holds out still; I find that rather grows, than fails." A short time before his death, Mr. Walten, his colleague, having called to see him, he said—“You are welcome to my very soul; but retire to your study, and pray that I may have leave to be gone." Having presided over the church of Roxbury for nearly sixty years, this reverend pastor calmly ended his earthly existence, on the 20th of May, 1690, in the eighty-sixth year of his age. 1 He lived nearly opposite Thomas Dudley's house, on the other side of the brook, in the rear of the spot on which Guild's Hall stands. Governor Thomas Dudley's mansion was taken down in 1775, and a fort was erected on the site, which is now occupied by the Universalist Church. He first settled in Cambridge, but removed to Ipswich, and soon after came to Roxbury. His son, Governor Joseph Dudley, and grandson, Paul Dudley, who was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, lived and died in Roxbury. Paul Dudley placed the milestones now to be seen in many parts of the town, with his initials (P. D.) cut upon them. Eliot's remains were placed in what was called the Ministers' Tomb, in the first burying ground. It was built in the manner described in the following deposition of Captain William Heath and Martha Gary, which was sworn to before Paul Dudley and Samuel Sewell, on the 7th of June, 1725, and is inserted in the Town Records. "Mr. William Bowen, brother of Mr. Henry Bowen, late of Roxbury, was taken by the Turks, and it was proposed to ye Congregation, met in Roxbury, a contribution for his redemption, and the people went generally to the public box, young and old; but before the money could answer the end, for which the Congregation intended it, the people of this place were informed that Mr. Bowen was dead, and the money that the town had given for his redemption, was restored to ye Congregation again, and put into the hands of Deacon Gyles Pearson, as we were informed. About the same time good old Mrs. Eliot lay at the point of death, [the wife of the pastor.] It was then agreed upon by our heads. and leader, with the consent of others, that the above-named contribution money should be improved to build a tomb for the town, to inter their ministers, as occasion should require, and that old Mrs. Eliot, for the great service she had done for the town, should be put into said tomb. Robert Sharp, certain, and we think Nathanial Wilson, were employed by the Deacons Pearson and Gary, and others concerned, to build said tomb. But before the tomb was finished the good old gentlewoman was dead, and the first the town admitted into said tomb. Some months after, Benjamin Eliot [a son of the Apostle] died. He had preached and expounded the word of God to us a long time, and the town admitted him into said tomb. "About three or four years after, our Reverend Father, Mr. John Eliot, left us, and the town laid him in said tomb; and the tenth of last January, our Rev. Pastor, Mr. Thomas Walter, died, and the town, at their own charge, interred him in the tomb belonging to the town. We hear there were divers others put into the said tomb; but we never knew by what right or order." At the anniversary town meeting, holden on the seventh of March, 1725-6, a memorial was presented by Major John Bowles, in which he claimed “a right in the town tomb, as his ancestors were interred there, and that the descendants had since kept it in repair," and requested that "a committee might be chosen to prosecute him in the laws by a writ of ejectment, or any other way, that might be thought proper, that the matter in controversy might be put upon its right basis." The subject was referred to Daniel Oliver, Jonathan Remington, Oxenbridge Thatcher, on the part of the town, and Henry Dering and Daniel Henchman, on the part of Major Bowles, who reported on the twelfth of May, 1726, "that it appeared, the descendants of Ana Eliot, wife of John Eliot, were at some expense of the charge, in building the tomb, and have since kept it in repair, and always have improved it, as they had occasion for burying their dead, without molestation," and they, therefore, were of opinion that said descendants should have "the right to improve it in burying their dead;" and that the charge arising for repairs for the future be equally borne by the town of Roxbury and the descendants of Eliot." (For a list of Mr. Eliot's Publications, see Appendix D.) |