Wherefore, having dedicated himself unto God betimes, he could not reconcile himself to any lesser way of serving his Creator and Redeemer, than the sacred ministry of the gospel; but, alas! where should he have opportunities for the exercising of it? The Laudian, Grotian, and Arminian faction in the Church of England, in the prosecution of their grand plot for the reducing of England unto a moderate sort of Popery, had pitched upon this as one of their methods for it: namely, to creeple as fast as they could all the learned, godly, painful ministers of the nation; and invent certain Shibboleths for the detecting and the destroying of such men as were cordial friends to the reformation. "Twas now a time when there were every day multiplied and imposed those unwarrantable ceremonies in the worship of God by which the conscience of our considerate Eliot counted the second commandment notoriously violated; it was now also a time when some hundreds of those good people which had the nick-name of Puritans put upon them, transported themselves, with their whole families and interests, into the desarts of America, that they might here peaceably erect Congregational Churches, and therein attend and maintain all the pure institutions of the Lord Jesus Christ; having the encouragement of royal charters, that they should never have any interruption in the enjoyment of those "precious and pleasant things." Here was a prospect which quickly determined the devout soul of our young Eliot unto a remove into New-England, while it was yet a "land not sown;" he quickly listed himself among those valiant soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ, who cheerfully encountred first the perils of the Atlantick Ocean, and then the fatigues of the NewEnglish wilderness, that they might have an undisturbed communion with him in his appointments here. And thus did he betimes procure himself the consolation of having afterwards and for ever a room in that remembrance of God, "I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, and the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me into the wilderness."

On his first arrival to New-England, he soon joined himself unto the church at Boston; 'twas church-work that was his errand hither. Mr. Wilson, the pastor of that church, was gone back into England, that he might perfect the settlement of his affairs; and in his absence, young Mr. Eliot was he that supplied his place. Upon the return of Mr. Wilson, that church was intending to have made Mr. Eliot his collegue and their teacher; but it was diverted. Mr. Eliot had engaged unto a select number of his pious and Christian friends in England that, if they should come into these parts before he should be in the pastoral care of any other people, he would give himself to them, and be for their service. It happened that these friends transported themselves hither the year after him, and chose their habitation at the town which they called Roxbury. A church being now gathered at this place, he was in a little while ordained unto the teaching and ruling of that holy society. So, 'twas in the orb of that church that we had him as a star fixed for very near three-score years; it only remains that we now observe what was his magnitude all this while, and how he performed his revolution.

PART I.

OR, ELIOT AS A CHRISTIAN.

ARTICLE. L-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 thought 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 the blessing of Heaven on your family before we go." Especially when he came into a society of ministers, before he had sat 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 hosannahs or hallelujahs 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 humane occurrences, 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 profane than severe order, "that no man should speak of God at all;" but this excellent person 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 what ever 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 ointment, he filled the whole room with the perfumes of the graces in his lips, and the Christian hearers tasted a greater sweetness in his wellseasoned speeches, than the illustrious Homer ascribed unto the orations of his Nestor,

Whose lip dropp'd language than sweet honey, sweeter abundance.

His conferences were like those which Tertullian affirms to have been common among the saints in his days, Ut qui sciret dominum audire,-"as knowing that the ear of God was open to them all;" and he managed his rudder so 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 Ursin could profess that he never went unto him without coming away, aut doctior, aut melior—"either the wiser or the better from him"-so, it is 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 sacred Bible; and it was unto him as his necessary food. He made the Bible his companion and his counsellor, 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 comes, and you'll soon drive them out of the house;" the woman

It has been tested.

made the experiment, and thereby cleared her house from the haunts that had molested it. By the like way it was 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 neighbouring towns; how often was he seen at Boston, Charlestown, Cambridge, Dorchester, waiting upon the word of God, in 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, quæ cum Templo relinquitur;* but our Eliot always carried much of religion with him from the house of God.

In 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 pleasantly said unto him, “Sir, you tell us we must be heavenly-minded;" but he immediately 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." 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 is 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."

• That is not true religion, which we leave behind us in the sanctuary.

Indeed, I cannot give a fuller description of him, than what was in a paraphrase that I have heard himself to make upon that scripture, “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 calls '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 won't 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, fifthly, we perform family-duties every day; we have our morning and evening sacrifices, wherein having read the Scriptures 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 known 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 example of this life: though, 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, quæ facienda docent.*

m

m

It might be said of him, as that writer characterises Origen, Quemadmodum docuit, sic vixit, et quemadmodum vixit sic docuit.†

ARTICLE II.-HIS PARTICULAR CARE AND ZEAL ABOUT THE LORD'S 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."

* Who teach by doing, what we ought to do.

+ As he taught, he lived; and as he lived, he taught.