Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	bring_v	great_a	part_n	1,570	5	3.8915	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A96422	Strength out of weakness. Or A glorious manifestation of the further progresse of the gospel amongst the Indians in New-England. Held forth in sundry letters from divers ministers and others to the corporation established by Parliament for promoting the gospel among the heathen in New-England; and to particular members thereof since the last treatise to that effect, / formerly set forth by Mr Henry Whitfield late pastor of Gilford in New-England. ; Published by the aforesaid corporation.	Gouge, William, 1578-1653.; Whitfield, Henry, 1597-1660?; Eliot, John, 1604-1690.; Wilson, John, 1588-1667.; Leverich, William, d. 1677.; Bessey, Anthony, 1609?-1657?; Mayhew, Thomas, 1621-1657.; Endecott, John, 1588?-1665.; French, William, 1603?-1681.; Allen, Thomas, 1608-1673.; Society for Propagation of the Gospel in New England.	1652 (1652)	Wing W2002; ESTC R223436	37,294	59

as they might propound and to stirre them up to call on God I did accordingly and sent him a Present by them but the proud Sachem did little lesse then despise the offer though hee tooke the Present So they thought they should have returned without successe but when they came among the people especially such as were a little more remote from the great and proud ones they received them with great gladnesse one Company taking one of ours among them others taking the other of our men amongst them they asked them many Questions expressed their readinesse to call upon God if they had any to teach them expressing likewise that they did not expect their Sachems would pray to God because they vvere so proud by which I doe perceive that the Lord is preparing a plentifull harvest and not onely by this but by many other Evidences There is a great Countrey lying betweene Conectacott and the Massachusets called Nipnet where there be many Indians dispersed many of which have sent to our Indians desiring that some may be sent unto them to teach them to pray unto God And sometimes some of our best men doe goe to severall places for a little while and returne againe and not without successe These things being so the worke which vvee now have in hand will be as a patterne and Copie before them to imitate in all the Countrey both in civilizing them in their order government Law and in their Church proceedings and administrations and hence great care lyeth upon mee to set them right at first to lay a sure foundation for such a building as I foresee will be built upon it and in this matter I greatly need pray The order of proceeding with them is first to gather them together from their scattered course of life to cohabitation and civill order and Government and then to forme them the Lord having fitted them into visible Church-state for the guidance whereof I have instructed them that they should looke onely into the Scriptures and out of the word of God fetch all their Wisedome Lawes and Government and so shall they be the Lords people and the Lord above shall Reigne over them and governe them in all things by the word of his mouth Sundry of these which pray unto God have formerly subjected themselves unto the English So that in this Government among themselves they doe reserve themselves in that poynt to owne them as their superiours to make appeales unto them as neede may require and experience for these many yeares shew that though they have so subjected themselves yet the onely benefit they have is protection as for hearing and determining their causes the difference of language and paucitie of Intepreters prohibits and if their causes come they be so longsome and yet of small importance that it is of necessitie that either they must have no government as hitherto it hath been or else they must have it among themselves Besides all or many of their differences and causes they usually brought to mee which was not convenient and I was willing to avoyde themselves also found great need that some should be over them to judge their causes and end differences and much desired it Therefore upon the sixt day of the sixt Moneth of this present yeare their Pallizadoe Fort being finished they had a great meeting and many came together from diverse parts though sundry were hindred and came not at that time where with prayer to God I read and expounded to them the 18th of Exodus which I had done severall times before and finally they did solemnly choose two Rulers among themselves they first chose a Ruler of an Hundred then they chose two Rulers of Fifties then they chose Ten or Tithing Men so I call them in English for so they were called as is reported in England vvhen England did flourish happily under that kinde of Government And lastly for that dayes worke every man chose who should be his Ruler of ten the Rulers standing in order and every man going to the man he chose and it seemed unto mee as if I had seene scattered bones goe bone unto his bone and so lived a civill politicall life and the Lord was pleased to minister no small comfort unto my spirit when I saw it After this worke was ended they did enter into Covenant with God and each other to be the Lords people and to be governed bythe word of the Lord in all things The words of which Covenant are these in English Wee doe give our selves and our Children unto God to be his people Hee shall rule us in all our affaires not onely in our Religion and affaires of the Church these wee desire as soone as wee can if God will but also in all our workes and affaires in this world God shall rule over us Isa. 33. 22. The Lord is our Judge the Lord is our Law-giver the Lord is our King Hee will save us the Wisedome which God hath taught us in his Booke that shall guide us and direct us in the way Oh Jehovah teach us wisedome to finde out thy wisedome in thy Scriptures let the grace of Christ helpe us because Christ is the wisedome of God send thy Spirit into our hearts and let it teach us Lord take us to be thy people and let us take thee to be our God This Act of forming themselves into the Government of God and entring into this Government is the first publique Record among the Indians and for ought I know the first that ever was among them and now our next worke is to prepare them for Church-estate to which end I doe instruct them that the Visible Church of Christ is builded upon a lively confession of Christ and Covenanting to walke in all the Administrations of the publique worship of God under the Government and Discipline of Jesus Christ I doe therefore exhort them to try their hearts by the word of God to finde out what change the Lord hath wrought in their hearts and this is the present vvorke vvee have in hand Give mee leave much honoured Friends to goe a little backe in my relation that I might be more particular because these Letters I prepared in the sixt Moneth after they had chosen their Officers as I was propounding and teaching them the above-written Covenant for that I did often before wee did solemnely accomplish it that so they might doe it as an Act of knowledge and faith Now let mee relate the order of our proceeding Having againe and againe read this Covenant to them and instructed them in the meaning of it it pleased God to wrack Mr Webbers Ship at Conahasset though the Lord dealt favourably most goods were saved though much spoyled this was on the first day of the 7th Moneth wherefore at a Lecture at Natik on the 10th of the same Moneth I informed them of the plentifull supply which the Lord had made your selves his instruments to send unto them for the

he professed unto mee that upon all his best observation there was a very hopefull beginning amongst them of the Grace Kingdome of our Lord Jesus The Lord vouchsafe to be the Omega among them as well as the Alpha of this blessed change Your most loving Friend and Brother in Christ John Wilson Boston 27 8ber 51. As Mr Wilson was stirred up in himselfe to send us the Relation of his owne observations upon his journey with Mr Eliot so he having received some precious lines from an able Minister of the Gospel viz. Mr Leverich of Sandwich in the Government of New Plymouth whom the Lord had stirred up to labour also in the conversion of the Indians the eares seeming as it were white unto harvest and the labourers but very few he adventures to put in his sickle not without hopefull successse as will appeare in his following lines And for the discouragements mentioned in his Letter know that divers of his people having cast off all the Ordinances of God in his Church at last came to be seduced by every idle spirit that came amongst them to be led into such fancies as we are ashamed to mention And so this good man upon this occasion turned to the Indians where he meets with an abundant blessing upon his endeavours Reverend Sir I Salute you in the Lord I shall trouble you onely with two things first the mooving causes inducing mee to set upon this worke Secondly with what successe I have hitherto been entertained by the blessing of God upon my weake endeavours For the first of these I suppose it s not unknowne to your selfe amongst many others what singular exercise I have had in these parts and what singular Conflicts I have met withall in my travails amongst our owne Countreymen divers of them transported with their though not singular Fancies to the rejecting of all Churches and Ordinances by a new cunning and I perswade my selfe one of the last but most pernicious plot of the Devill to undermine all Religion and introduce all Atheisme and profanenesse if it were possible together with which I have observed a spirit of Pharisaisme and formalitie too too evidently creeping upon and strongly possessing others generally besides other discouragements I shall forbeare to mention which considered divers of our brethren together with my selfe upon consultation had together were resolved to moove together else whether where wee might hope for more and better encouragement as touching our Communion if God so pleased but were disswaded by divers our honoured Friends both by their Letters and more private Councells unto whom we gave way at least for the present not long after having an hopefull Indian in my house he propounds to mee a motion of teaching the Indians neere us And sometime after Mr Eliot invites mee to the same worke by his Letters then I thought with my selfe I must stay and began to tast the motion with more affection resolving that if God would please to fit up the roomes of others with the accesse of such forlorne Creatures and bring in such as wandred in the high wayes lanes and hedges and Call in the lame and hale and blind in stead of those Contemners it would be a mercy and by no other respects in this world was my breast inclined unto this worke and to attend God in it As touching the second for matter of successe and incouragement I cannot but reckon this one and that not the least that though the Indian tongue be very difficult irregular and anomalous and wherein I cannot meete with a Verbe Substantive as yet nor any such Particles as Conjunctions c. which are essentiall to the severall sorts of axioms and consequently to all rationall and perfect discourses and that though their words are generally very long even se squipe dalia verba yet I finde God helping not onely my selfe to learne and attaine more of it in a short time then I thinke I could or did of Latine Greeke or Hebrew in the like space of time when my memory was stronger when all known rules of Art are helpfull to fasten such notions in the minde of the learner but also the Indians to understand mee fully as they acknowledge so farre as I have gone I am constrained by many ambages and circumlocutions to supply the former defect to expresse my selfe to them as I may The next encouragement I may not without ground omit to mention is this that it pleaseth God to helpe some of these poore Creatures to looke over and beyond the Examples of some of our looser sort of English which I looke upon as a great stumbling blocke to many It 's to be lamented that the name of God so generally professed by those looser sort of English should be so generally polluted by them and blasphemed by Heathens through the occasion of their loosenes and deniall of the power of godlinesse yet God gives some of theirs a spirit of discerning between precious and vile and a spirit of Conviction to acknowledge oh that ours would lay it to heart there is no difference between the worst Indians and such English saying they are all one Indians yea and further to put a like difference between such Indians amongst themselves here and elsewhere as appeare to be more serious in their Inquiries after God and conscientious according to their light and such others that are more slight and meere pretenders to Religions Thirdly for more particular observations 1. God hath brought some of them to a sence of their sinnes and a feare of his justice Here I shall insert an example or two one of them being to repeate such Principles I had begun to traine them in in a Catechisticall way for my penury confines mee to this method at present and I hope it may be never the worse for them was a good while before he could speake having his countenance sad before and as I have understood since a weeke together after our former exercise and in speaking the teares all the while trickling downe his Cheekes After being demanded by mee what was the matter of his sadnesse he answers mee he did now understand that God was a just God and for himselfe he had been very wicked even from a childe And another whom I used as my Interpreter now and then in teaching them falls suddenly and publiquely into a bitter passion crying out and wringing his hands out of the like apprehension of his Condition as he told mee afterwards and I finde no one of them daring men to speake of their good hearts but some more some lesse sensible of the Contrary Secondly God hath brought some of them to some Evangelicall Conviction one acknowledging that though he and others leave their former evills and should keepe Gods Commandements yet without Christ they must goe to hell Thirdly Two or three of them have complained of the hardnesse of their hearts and are questioning of Remedies Fourthly Speaking to them of the mercy of God