A50170:184
The triumphs of the reformed religion in America the life of the renowned John…
The triumphs of the reformed religion in America the life of the renowned John Eliot, a person justly famous in the church of God, not only as an eminent Christian and an excellent minister among the English, but also as a memorable evangelist among the Indians of New-England : with some account concerning the late and strange success of the Gospel in those parts of the world which for many ages have lain buried in pagan ignorance / written by Cotton Mather.The triumphs of the reformed religion in America the life of the renowned John Eliot, a person justly famous in the church of God, not only as an eminent Christian and an excellant minister among the English, but also as a memorable evangelist amoung the Indians of New-England : with some account concerning the late and strange success of the Gospel in those parts of the world which for many ages have lain buried in pagan ignorance / written by Cotton Mather.
Boston: printed by Benjamin Harris and John Allen for Joseph Brunning, 1691
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
The Attainments which with Gods help we have carried up our Indians unto, are the chief Honour and Glory of our Labours with them. The Reader will smile perhaps, when I tell him, that by an odd accident there are lately fallen into my hands, the Manuscripts of a ⟨p. 125⟩Jesuit, whom the French Employed as a Missionary among the Western Indians; in which Papers there are, both a Catechism containing the principles which those Heathen are to be instructed in; and Cases of Conscience, referring to their Conversations. The Catechism which is in the •roquoise Language (a Language remarkable for this, that there is not so much as one Labial in it) with a Translation annexed, has one Chapter, about Heaven, and another about Hell, wherein are such Thickskulled passages as these.
The Attainments which with Gods help we have carried up our Indi•ns unto, are the chief Honour and Glory of our Labours with them. The Reader will smile perhaps, when I tell him, that by an odd accident there are lately fallen into my hands, the Manuscripts of a ⟨p. 125⟩Jesuite, whom the French Employ'd as a Missionary among the Western Indians; in which Papers there are, both a Catechism containing the principles which those Heathen are to be instructed in; and Cases of Conscience, referring to their Conversations. The Catechism which is in the •roquoise Language (a Language remarkable for this, that there is not so much as one Labi•l in it) with a Translation annexed, has one Chapter, about Heaven, and another about Hell, wherein are such Thickskull'd passages as these.
Q. How is the Soil made in Heaven? A. 'tis a very fair Soil; they want neither for Meats nor Cloths; 'tis but Wishing and we have them. Q. Are they employed in Heaven? A. No, they do nothing; the fields yield Corn, Beans, Pumpkins, and the like, without any Tillage. Q what sort of trees are there? A. Always Green-Full, and Flourishing. Q. Have they in Heaven the same Sun, the same wind, the same Thunder that we have here? A. No, the Sun ever shines; 'tis always fair weather. Q. But how their Fruits? A. In this one quality they exceed ours; that they are never wasted; you have no sooner plucked one, but you see another presently hanging in its Room. And after this rate goes on