tomahawked nine persons; all of whom perished, except a lad who
survived his wounds. In 1698, they made a murderous and destructive
assault upon Haverhill. The story of the capture, sufferings, and
heroic achievements of Hannah Dustin, belongs to the history of this
event. It stands by the side of the immortal deed of Judith, and has
no other parallel in all the annals of female daring and prowess. On
the 3d of July, 1706, a garrison was stormed at night in Dunstable;
and Holyoke, a son of Edward Putnam, with three other soldiers, was
killed. He was twenty-two years of age. In 1708, seven hundred
Algonquin and St. Francis Indians, under the command of French
officers, fell again upon Haverhill about break of day, on the 29th of
August; consigned the town to conflagration and plunder; destroyed a
large amount of property; massacred the minister Mr. Rolfe, the
commander of the post Captain Wainwright, together with nearly forty
others; and carried off many into captivity. On this occasion, a troop
of horse and a foot company from Salem Village rushed to the rescue;
the then minister of the parish, the Rev. Joseph Green, seized his gun
and went with them. They pursued the flying Indians for some
distance. So deeply were the people of Haverhill impressed by the
valor and conduct of Mr. Green and his people, that they sent a letter
of thanks, and desired him to come and preach to them. He complied
with the invitation, spent a Sunday there, and thus gave them an
opportunity to express personally their gratitude. On other occasions,
he accompanied his people on similar expeditions.

These occurrences show that the fears and anxieties of the colonists
in reference to Indian assaults were not without grounds at the period
of the witchcraft delusion. They were, at that very time, hanging like
a storm-cloud over their heads, soon to burst, and spread death and
destruction among them.