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Page 14
From that period, down to the time of King Philip's war, which will be
mentioned hereafter, there was not much trouble with the Indians. But
the colonists were always on their guard, and kept their weapons ready
for the conflict.
"I have sometimes doubted," said Grandfather, when he had told these
things to the children, "I have sometimes doubted whether there was more
than a single man, among our forefathers, who realized that an Indian
possesses a mind and a heart, and an immortal soul. That single man was
John Eliot. All the rest of the early settlers seemed to think that the
Indians were an inferior race of beings, whom the Creator had merely
allowed to keep possession of this beautiful country, till the white men
should be in want of it.
"Did the pious men of those days never try to make Christians of them?"
asked Laurence.
"Sometimes, it is true," answered Grandfather, "the magistrates and
ministers would talk about civilizing and converting the red people.
But, at the bottom of their hearts, they would have had almost as much
expectation of civilizing a wild bear of the woods, and making him fit
for paradise. They felt no faith in the success of any such attempts,
because they had no love for the poor Indians. Now Eliot was full of
love for them, and therefore so full of faith and hope, that he spent
the labor of a lifetime in their behalf."
"I would have conquered them first, and then converted them," said
Charley.
"Ah, Charley, there spoke the very spirit of our forefathers!" replied
Grandfather. "But Mr. Eliot had a better spirit. He looked upon them as
his brethren. He persuaded as many of them as he could, to leave off
their idle and wandering habits, and to build houses, and cultivate the
earth, as the English did. He established schools among them, and taught
many of the Indians how to read. He taught them, likewise, how to pray.
Hence they were called 'praying Indians.' Finally, having spent the best
years of his life for their good, Mr. Eliot resolved to spend the
remainder in doing them a yet greater benefit."
"I know what that was!" cried Laurence.
"He sat down in his study," continued Grandfather, "and began a
translation of the Bible into the Indian tongue. It was while he was
engaged in this pious work, that the mint-master gave him our great
chair. His toil needed it, and deserved it."
"O, Grandfather, tell us all about that Indian Bible!" exclaimed
Laurence. "I have seen it in the library of the Athen�um; and the tears
came into my eyes, to think that there were no Indians left to read it."
CHAPTER VIII
As Grandfather was a great admirer of the Apostle Eliot, he was glad to
comply with the earnest request which Laurence had made, at the close of
the last chapter. So he proceeded to describe how good Mr. Eliot
labored, while he was at work upon
THE INDIAN BIBLE
My dear children, what a task would you think it, even with a long
lifetime before you, were you bidden to copy every chapter and verse,
and word, in yonder great family Bible! Would not this be a heavy toil?
But if the task were, not to write off the English Bible, but to learn a
language, utterly unlike all other tongues,--a language which hitherto
had never been learned, except by the Indians themselves, from their
mothers' lips,--a language never written, and the strange words of which
seemed inexpressible by letters;--if the task were, first, to learn this
new variety of speech, and then to translate the Bible into it, and to
do it so carefully, that not one idea throughout the holy book should be
changed,--what would induce you to undertake this toil? Yet this was
what the Apostle Eliot did.
It was a mighty work for a man, now growing old, to take upon himself.
And what earthly reward could he expect from it? None; no reward on
earth. But he believed that the red men were the descendants of those
lost tribes of Israel of whom history has been able to tell us nothing,
for thousands of years. He hoped that God had sent the English across
the ocean, Gentiles as they were, to enlighten this benighted portion of
his once chosen race. And when he should be summoned hence, he trusted
to meet blessed spirits in another world, whose bliss would have been
earned by his patient toil, in translating the Word of God. This hope
and trust were far dearer to him, than any thing that earth could offer.
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