Putnam patriot., 1913-03-07
John Eliot

and read before the kA3zaA<Ah FDfbef Putnam chapter, b. 4. R. by Miss Emma F.. Allen.
 t is one of the common blessings of oar sasy modern days that We can, nov and again, find records Of noble lie. Ne cannot find sii we would wish of John Eliot, fOr a. the kind sphinx of the Past is mefeiiuiiy silent concerning the harshness and crudity Of the early days, 50 too Is sbe often fafhleasly dumb to our questions about the qualities Of heart and mind Of the NeareF of an ancient name. No su- thenlIe portrait gives sign Of the goOd apostles personality. lie is known as ne would have chosen lo 5e, by his la- bofs ia church and mission field. by tbs Nltness of friends by The liyes of . his converts. And they al pronounce him 3 scholar. man of great charm Of pesonality, man Of God.
 When ae inquire into the origin of John Eliot we find fe0 curt details in answer Mother England is rich iu soufees Of our life but ehary of i'm parting information about them. Still, the Great Central Plain holds safe get the vital records Of many q village church, whose walls once rang to the destructive cheers of York Or Baneas- tfian soldiers and the fuinoas work Of Henry Tudor's fighting men.
 In the southern part then of Central England, beloved of George Eliot. the novelist, lies WickfoFd, an English vii. lare of iiaFfforashife. Let her dss- cribe II for you as she described simi lar one, doubtless, in her poem to 5ilas Msfnef: aNestled in a snDg, we'll wooded hollow, 1t was sn important looking village, with fine old church and large church-yard in the heart of it, and two or three large brick and stone homestesds, with 1ell.wailed or chards, looking lazy with neglected plenty"
 In the baptIsmal record of Widford church Is the record of how John Eliot, son Of Bennett Eiot, WAS baptized there the 5th dave of August in the year of our Lord ls04. His mother was Letles Aggar. The father and mother are buried in the charch.yard at Nanag nearby parish, church around which Charles Lambs mem ories chung to which Ae refers loving Iy more thaa anee in Ais letters.
 CT Bennett Eliot We know only thnt he was i Yeom m,n of substance, Nhu oWned lands iu more lhnn four par- ishes r iuaeluaiion may aid this meagfe 8setunt, may We aat picture him staat ruady EneH-amaa, ai. iaut in ur aud religion, N hose for bears ma5 wrii haye ridden attendant upon Che knights who forced King Johns reluctant hand at kunny- oede. and. It Is morally certain, kept their hearts open 10 political and re- ligious liberty.
 One thing more we know about Ben nett Eliot. ln hts prosperity he had friends, for al his death he set aside a portion of Pounds from the income of his lands in charge of "tfusty and well.beloyed fnendsh for the mainte- nance Of his son John in Cambridge "mhere he k a schollar.n
 This was about l620. The proceed ing years Of boyhood and youth must have seen him a normal English lad lie went to school along past hedge rows and matched cottages, now an, then being taken to n si5asS,s ;sssHh= town of red roofs and sleepy impoF lance, from whence he brought ava, great, new ideas from the world be yond lhe sunny green hills. Echoe about Sir Francis Bacon, who was n disgrace at London bat was yet won defiul wise man; of men who talke' making a new translation of the iol, Scriptures, a copy of which, no doub,
 Bennett Eliot parted with many a fai silver piece 10 obtain. And what tn
 ierest the heavy folio volume mus
 have bad for the lad How his bloo'
 must have thrilled to 1t. Paul's ac count of hls mission journeys "Il peril of waters, in perils Of robbers, Il
 perils by the heather, in pefils in tn
 sea In i6i5, 300 years ago now, h may be was dreaming the long dream .sf t.s.sbs..B ahnus tha .t...sts .f tha a,x..a
 ties, and ionged for visions like thos
 St. Peter had upon the honsetop, whei the Heavenly Voice bade him, "Wha the Lord hath eleansed, cali thou no unclcan.n
 On March 20, 1919, he matrieulate'
 al Jesus College, Cambridge. Gam
 bridge. with her mighty eims an'
 placid river, Cambridge