214 Singing Valleys 



feared it applied to the Congregationalists living on Boylston 

 Street. 



In fact, the Reverend Dr. Mather was not above making 

 certain observations of his own concerning Nature's way of 

 propagating the family of zea mays. His letter on the subject 

 to his friend James Petiver contains what are probably the first 

 reports on the way of a wind with a grain of corn pollen: 



My friend planted a row of Indian corn that was colored red 

 and blue; the rest of the field being planted with corn of the yellow 

 which is the most usual color. To the windward side this red and 

 blue row so infected three or four whole rows as to communicate 

 the same color unto them; and part of ye fifth and some of ye 

 sixth. But to the leeward side, no less than seven or eight rows 

 had ye same color communicated unto them; and some small im- 

 pressions were made on those that were yet further off. 



It would seem that these early American Christian fathers, 

 believing passionately in heaven, dared to believe in earth as 

 well. John Eliot did so. He set himself the task of translating 

 portions of the Bible into the Indian tongue for the conversion 

 of the Massachusetts savages. In the course of that work he 

 had occasion time and again to rejoice in the Indian names for 

 the maize which made possible a literal rendering of such 

 phrases as "the bread of the world," and "This is my body, 

 given for you." As he made his missionary journeys to the vil- 

 lages he invariably paused to survey the fields of growing corn 

 which ringed the huddle of huts. John Eliot found many a 

 text and a powerful argument for the Lord's cause in the 

 maize fields. "That thy sons shall grow up as the young plants" 

 meant to him, and to his hearers, "like the corn." "That thy 

 corn and thy cattle increase" was literally a prayer for bumper 

 harvests of zea mays. 



No small proportion of his enthusiasm was passed on to 

 his grandson Jared Eliot of the Connecticut colony, who was 

 destined to become not only another minister of the Con- 



