Military History. 247 



strong words. Nor is it possible to overlook the figure in the 

 long cloak, moving more slowly, it is true, than when speaking his 

 mind to the magistrates, but still with considerable vigor and the 

 natural grace of a man of superior mind and strong will ; every- 

 one recognizes immediately the venerable minister, and many a 

 word of hope and many an admonition to duty he speaks as he 

 passes among his people exerting his quieting influence upon them. 

 With our knowledge of his younger days, we cannot help thinking 

 that he had moments of impatience in the reflection that his age 

 and calling prevented a more active participation in the move- 

 ments against the enemy ; nor would it surprise us to learn that 

 Parson Hobart more than once thought, and even said, that if he 

 were Captain Hobart the military operations would be conducted 

 with more reference to an offensive policy. Be that as it may, 

 the latter's dispositions saved the town and the lives of those 

 whose safety was committed to his care. 



Succeeding the first alarm there followed many weary hours 

 of anxictv and waiting. The dav, with its exciting rumors and 

 exaggerated stories, wore away, and a night of watchfulness, 

 with a terror hanging over the people huddled together in their 

 strange quarters difficult to picture, seemed interminable. Xor 

 was the dawn much more reassuring, for soon the smoke from the 

 burning homes of Joseph Jones and Anthony Spraguc " over the 

 river," and of Israel Hobart, Nathaniel Chubbuck, and James 

 Whiton rose into view from widely separated points on the south- 

 ern horizon, and added fresh consternation to the anxious 

 watchers. These fires, however, were the last acts of the Indians, 

 who abandoned the attack. The second visit was just one month 

 later, being the 20th of May. It was even more fruitless, and the 

 savages soon passed into Scituate, which thev largely destroved. 



Oct. 12, 1676, the General Court ordered" " That Hingham be 

 allowed and abated out of their last tax rates towards their losses 

 by the enemy the sum of ten pounds." 



The soldiers from Hingham appear to have been engaged in 

 some of the most arduous service of the war, for besides leading 

 the van in the great Narragansett fight, as already stated, we find 

 them serving under the immediate command of their old towns- 

 man, the brave Captain Church, on Martha's Vineyard and the 

 adjacent islands ; and it need not be said that service under that 

 officer was of the most active kind. 



August the 12th Philip was killed at Mt. Hope and the war 

 closed, but the military preparations of the colony rather in- 

 creased than otherwise, and the towns as a necessary conse- 

 quence participated in the general activity. In 1679 a petition 

 for leave to form a small troop of horse in Hingham, Weymouth, 

 and Hull, signed by Captain Hobart and others, was granted, and 

 in June of the following year Ensign John Thaxter, whom we 

 have already seen as one of Captain Hobart's company officers, 



