aper was
published in his name, although he did not remain with James so long.

We have referred to the time of Benjamin's boyhood as a period of
public excitement and disturbance. Great alarm was frequently
occasioned, for some time before and some time after his birth, by the
depredations of the Indians. The French were hostile to Great Britain;
so they sought to stir up, and ally themselves with, the savages, in
making inroads upon the Colonies. The consequence was, "wars and
rumours of wars," with actual massacres and bloodshed. Benjamin's
ears, in his early life, were often saluted with the harrowing tales
of slaughter and conflagration, an experience that may have qualified
him, in a measure, to act the prominent part he did in achieving the
independence of his country, half a century thereafter. Rev. Dr.
Willard, who baptized him, was driven from the town of Groton by the
Indians in 1675. Later still, only three years before the birth of
Benjamin, the town of Deerfield was attacked and burned by these
savage tribes, instigated and led on by the French,--and "upwards of
forty persons were slain, and more than a hundred were made
prisoners." "When the sun was an hour high, the work was finished, and
the enemy took their departure, leaving the snow reddened with blood,
and the deserted village enveloped in flames." Only two or three years
after his birth, the famous attack upon Haverhill was made, when the
Indians massacred men, women, and children indiscriminately, a few
only escaping their terrible vengeance. The stories of such dreadful
cruelties and sufferings were fresh in Benjamin's boyhood, and their
effect upon the youthful mind was heightened by the frequent reports
of outbreaks and anticipated Indian attacks from different quarters.
Thus born and reared in troublous times, our hero was prepared to work
out his destiny in the most perilous period of American history.

A single item published in the Courant about this time, will show the
young reader that Boston and its environs of that early day did not
much resemble the same city now. The item is the following:--

"It is thought that not less than twenty bears have been killed
in about a week's time within two miles of Boston. Two have been
killed below the Castle, as they were swimming from one island to
another, and one attempted to board a boat out in the bay, but
the men defended themselves so well with the boat-hook and oars