Our friends and brethren of that they colony, altho? had never actually felt half of those miseries that befel the people of the other two, yet never denied their assistance to the suppressing of the common enemy, yea, sometimes they did offer it, before it was expressly desired, according to the tenor of the articles of confeder ation and rules of common prudence; considering that if the fire of this war was not timely extinguished it would endanger their own fabrick; therefore according to agreement, the council of that colony ordered their successful commander, Major Talcot, to meet our forces at Quabaog, or Brookfield, in order to the pursuing of the enemy in those parts. In the way as they were marching from Norwich thither, divine Providence so far smiled upon the enterprize, as to give them an opportunity to surprize 51 of the enemy, of whom 19 were slain, without the loss of any one of their own company, which could not but much enhance the price of the victory to the conquerors. The like success had their friends which they left behind (the volunteers gathered out of three towns by the sea side, New-London, Stonington and Norwich) and who were some of them released by Major Talcot, when he first began his march, that they might better in the absence of the army guard their own towns; for before the return of their forces under Major Talcot to that side of the country, they had made two expeditions against their enemies, the Narragansets, that were skulking up and down on that side of the country, in one of which they killed and took above 30, the most of whom being men, are said to have been slain by

them. In the other 45, the most of whom probably were women and children, but being all young serpents of the same brood, the subduing or taking so many, ought to be acknowledged as another signal victory and pledge of divine favor to the English. But to return, it was not without the special direction of Providence that those Hartford forces were sent to those western towns a week before those of Massachusetts could get thither; for otherwise one or more of those towns might have been lost; seeing that on the 12th of June, soon after, if not the next day after they arrived there, the enemy, as if resolved to try the utmost of their power, violently assaulted the town of Hadley, with a body of about 700 men, at five or six o'clock in the morning laying in ambush at one end of the town, while the greater part of them were alarming the other; but the Connecticut forces being at that time quartered in the towns thereabouts, (who were English, and friendly Indians, Pequods and Mohegins, about 500 in all) that were ready at hand, besides those that had been quartered there ever since March, who had been left by Major Savage when he left those parts under the command and charge of Capt. Turner, slain at the great falls, as is noted before, but since commanded by Captain Swain. These by their joint and ready assistance, wherein the fence of palisadoes surrounding the town was no little advantage, gave the Indians such a smart repulse, that they found the place too hot for them to abide it; for the soldiers or townsmen within firing a piece of ordnance, so affrighted the savages, or a party of them

against whom it was discharged, that although they had just before surprised and possessed an house at the north part of the town, yet they instantly fled leaving some of their dead upon the place; nor did they any considerable mischief with all their numbers, save firing a barn about that end of the town and killing two or three of the soldiers, or two daring inhabitants, who would against express order, venture to go without the fortification.

It was accounted by some that were present near the time of that assault, a great oversight that having so fair an opportunity to chace the enemy upon so considerable advantage, it was let slip, and not improved, for Connecticut soldiers being all, or most of them furnished with horses, they might have been soon overtaken, and many of them destroyed, but God hid it from their eyes. The commander in chief, it is said, quartered at one end of the town, (Hatfield was then within the limits of Hadley) on the west side of the river, and did not apprehend the advantage till the season was over; nor was any such thing as an assault expected from the enemy so early in the morning; it being a general observation heretofore, that they seldom or ever used to make any attempts in the night; part of which could not but be improved in way of preparation for such a design. But the Lord of Hosts who is wise in council, and wonderful in working, will find some other way to destroy our enemies, wherein the hand of his providence should more remarkably be seen, that so no flesh should glory in its own wisdom or strength, but that salvation might appear to be from the Lord alone. The rest of this month was spent

without any other matter of moment happening therein. The Governor and Council of Massachusetts, taking into serious consideration the many merciful occurrences that had returned upon us, notwithstanding the mixing of many dispensations of a contrary nature, thought themselves bound to make some public acknowledgmeat thereof, to him whose name alone is worthy to be praised. The 29th of June was set apart as a day of public Thanksgiving to God, who had remembered his people thus in their low estate. And that matter of Thanksgiving might not be wanting at the day appoint ed, the very day before were most of our English captives brought back from the Indians, and many more. soon after to the number of 16, whose mouths might then well be filled with laughter, and their tongues with singing, both of themselves and all that were any way concerned in their welfare.

And as this day appointed for solemn and public Thanksgiving was ushered in by several special mercies, so also was it followed with many remarkable benefits. For besides the preserving the town of Northampton, March the 14th, and Hadley June the 12th, by the timely sending our forces the very night before they were assaulted; the saving of the people of Marlboro' from being cut off, was very observable, when Mr. Graves by occasionally going from the sermon with the extremity of the toothache, March 26th, discovered the Indians ready to assault the town, and the people might have been cut off, had not the accident happened. It is certain that after the end of this month, the power of

the enemy began every where to fail; for the body of the enemy that had lurked about Connecticut river all this spring, being visited with sundry diseases, disappointed of the fishing, and put by their planting, began to be at variance among themselves; the Hadley and Pocumtuck (now Deerfield) Indians quarrelling with Philip for bringing all this mischief about, and occasioning the English and them to fall out, with whom they had always good correspondence, and lived lovingly together, but now they were like to be ruined by the war. This quarrel proceeded to that height, that from that time forward, those several Indians that had for so long a time been combined together, resolved now to part, and every one to shift for themselves, and return to their own homes; Philip to Mount Hope, and the Narragansets to their own country again: the Nipnets and the river Indians bending their course westward, others northward, towards Pennicook, upon Merimack, intending to shift for themselves as well as they could for the future; all which is like to be the real and true state of the case with the Indians which were our enemies; for the next news we heard of Philip, was that he had returned back to Mount Hope, now like to become Mount Misery unto him and his vagabond crew, and that his friends and allies that had hitherto stood as neuters, waiting only which way the scale of success and victory would turn, began now to sue for mercy at the hands of the English: The Massachusetts government having understood something of this nature, put forth a declaration, that whatsoever Indians should within fourteen days next ensuing,