Massachusetts Bible History (3)

**List: Massachusetts Ministry the Bible ( the Bible ) Massachusetts... NEW ENGLAND-INDIAN. VIRGINIAN, MASSACHUSETT, AND MOHEGAN. "IN the beginning of the seventeenth century, all the regions of North America comprised between the thirty-fourth and forty-fifth degrees of latitude were known in Europe under the general name of North and South Virginia; and it was not till the year 1620 that the designation of "New England" was applied to the territory now occupied by the north-eastern states of the North American Union. Within that territory three closely-allied dialects of the Algonquin stock were formerly predominant, namely, the Massachusett, the Mohegan, and the Narragansett.   As these dialects were commonly included under the collective appellation of the Virginian or New England language, it is extremely difficult at this distance of time to determine the relative extent of each; more particularly as the tribes to whom they were respectively vernacular have long since given place to the British settlers.   It seems natural to suppose that the Massachusett dialect was predominant in Massachusett; and the Mohegan dialect appears to have prevailed immediately to the east of the Hudson River.   The New England Indians were greatly reduced in numbers during the years 1612 and 1613, seven or eight years before the settlement at Plymouth, by a mortal epidemic which raged among them, and swept off whole families.   "Thus (observes an old writer) did Providence make way for the quiet settlement of the pilgrim fathers."   Gookin gives the following statistical account of the native tribes of New England, which shows the ravages occasioned by the epidemic:--   Number of Warriors   in former times.   Number of Warriors in A.D. 1674. Pequots, or Mohicans . . 4000 300 Narragansetts . . . . 5000 1000 Pawkunnawkuts . . . 3000 nearly extinct Massachusetts . . . . 3000 300 Pawtuckets . . . . 3000 250    The Gospel was first proclaimed to these tribes by John Eliot, an Englishman by birth, who in the year 1631 had settled as an independent minister at Roxbury, in New England.   He entered upon his important labours in 1646, in the forty-second year of his age, under the sanction of the general court of the Massachusetts colony, by whom an act had been passed for the encouragement of attempts to win the natives to Christ.   No grammatical or other philological helps then existed for the attainment of any American langage; but Eliot, availing himself of the assistance of a few natives, mastered their language, reduced it to writing and executed a translation of the entire Scriptures.   The secret of his success is made known in a few lines which he inscribed at the close of his grammar of the New England language, published in 1666: they are to the following effect:-- "Prayers and pains, through faith in Christ Jesus, will do anything."   The first edition of his version of the New Testament was printed at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1661, and was dedicated to King Charles II.   It is stated in the title-page, that "it was ordered to be printed by the Commissioners of the United Colonies in New England, at the charge and with the consent of the Corporation in England for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Indians in New England."   The edition consisted of 2000 copies, and was sooner exhausted than was expected.   The New England or Virginian Old Testament was published at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1663, and is remarkable as being the first edition of the Bible in any language ever printed in America.    A second edition of the entire Scriptures was published at the same place in 1685: Eliot was assisted in the correction of this edition by Mr. John Cotton, pastor of the English church at Plymouth, New England, son of Mr. John Cotton, the celebrated puritan preacher.   It has been mentioned as a curious circumstance in connection with this version, that it was written, from beginning to end, with the same pen.   The expenses of the publication were partly defrayed by the Society above mentioned, and partly by a contribution of £300 from the Hon. Robert Boyle.   The effects of the dissemination of the Word of God in this language are evident from the fact that, before Eliot closed his long and honourable career, there were 1100 souls within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts yielding obedience to the Gospel of Christ; there were six churches of baptised Indians in New England, eighteen assemblies of catechumens professing Christianity, and twenty-four native converts set apart to preach to their countrymen the glad tidings of salvation.    In 1709 the Gospel of St. John and the Psalms were translated by the exemplary my., Mr. Experience Mayhew, into the Massachusett dialect of New England, and an edition was printed at Boston, New England.    A version for the special benefit of the Pequots, or Mohican tribes of New England, was likewise undertaken by the Rev. John Sergeant, sen., a my. at Stockbridge, towards the close of the eighteenth century.   He translated the New and part of the Old Testament, but no portion of his version has ever been printed.    These New England-Indian versions are no longer of any practical utility, and are valuable only as literary curiosities.   The idioms in which they are written are now obsolete, and the tribes for whom they were designed are wholly or partly extinct."--The Bible of Every Land. (1860, Second Edition)   Samuel Bagster   [Info only: See Baptism.] NEW ENGLAND-INDIAN.   [VIRGINIAN VERSION.]--1860   S. Bagster   [Info only: n.d. John 1:1-14 unknown.] NEW ENGLAND-INDIAN.   [MASSACHUSETT VERSION.]--1860   S. Bagster   [Info only: n.d. John 1:1-14 unknown.]

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