mous Captain Miles Standish, slew some of them,
in 1623, without any very evident necessity for so doing. In 1636,
and the following year, there was the most dreadful war that had yet
occurred between the Indians and the English. The Connecticut settlers,
assisted by a celebrated Indian chief named Uncas, bore the brunt of
this war, with but little aid from Massachusetts. Many hundreds of the
hostile Indians were slain or burned in their wigwams. Sassacus, their
sachem, fled to another tribe, after his own people were defeated; but
he was murdered by them, and his head was sent to his English enemies.

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 Christian 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 the 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 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,