Page:Sketch of Connecticut, Forty Years Since.djvu/67

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FORTY YEARS SINCE.
55

from the cloud sendeth forth the bow of promise to renew his trust, and the sunbeam to cheer his toil. In the cultured fields, clothed with their various garb, he perceived an emblem of the righteous man, bringing forth good fruits, out of faith unfeigned: in the harvest bowing to the reaper, he beheld him ready to be gathered into the garner of eternal life. Thus increasing in knowledge and, piety, Mr. Occom considered him an useful assistant in his stated instructions to the people, and thought of committing them to his spiritual charge, when he was compelled to be absent. But though they acknowledged that what John Cooper said of religion was well, and his prayers to the Great Spirit sufficiently long, it was evident that he did not possess their entire confidence, and some of them could not refrain from saying, that they "never yet saw an Indian so eager after both worlds." Near the dwelling of John was that of Arrowhamet the warrior, or Zachary as he was familiarly called, by the name of his baptism. Tall, erect and muscular, he seemed to defy the ravages of time, though the records of his memory proved, that seventy winters had passed over him. He had borne a part in the severe campaign, which preceded the defeat of Braddock, and shared the hardships of the war of revolution, as the firm friend of the Americans. The taciturnity of his nation prevented that garrulous recitation of the minutiæ of his drama, to which aged soldiers are often addicted; but sometimes, when induced to speak of his battles, his flashing eye, and lofty form rising still