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APRIL

 7, 1630 --At Sea. Aboard their chief ship, the Governor and company of the Massachusetts colony write to their brethren they have left behind, "Reverend Father and brethren: ... Howsoever your charity may have met with some occasion of discouragement through the misrepresentation of our intentions, ... yet, we desire you would be pleased to take notice of the principles and body of our company, as those who esteem it our honor to call the Church of England from whence we rise, 'Our Dear Mother,' and cannot part from our native country where she specially resideth, without much sadness of heart, and many tears in our eyes; ever acknowledging that such hope and part as we have obtained in the common salvation, we have received in her bosom and sucked it from her breasts. We leave it not therefore as loathing that milk wherewith we were nourished there, but blessing God for the parentage and education as members of the same body, shall always rejoice in her good..." It is signed by John Winthrop, Charles Fines, George Philips, Richard Saltonstall, Isaac Johnson, Thomas Dudley, William Coddington, etc.

7, 1688 --Massachusetts. Under the cover of darkness, Dr. Increase Mather escapes out of town in disguise and boards a ship bound for England. Outspoken as a critic of religious intolerance, a writ has been signed to seize the good doctor and put him in prison.
     Upon arriving in London, he along with several others, petition the king, "that there might be liberty of conscience in matters of religion, ...and that all their meeting-houses may be left free to them, according to the intention of the builders thereof." The petition will not meet with success.

7, 1763 --England. William Grimshaw dies in his own house at Haworth. The putrid fever, which has arrested his ministry of twenty-one years, has raged here since January and has taken the lives of many. Mr. Grimshaw is in his fifty-fifth year. When the fever began, he felt sure it would claim some members of his family and cautioned all to be ready. He contracted his illness while visiting a parishioner and at that time predicted he would not recover. Mr. Henry Venn will preach his funeral sermon.
      Mr. William Romaine publicly said of him, "For the good of souls, he rejected all hopes of affluent fortune. Mr. Grimshaw himself often used to say, "If I shall die today I have not a penny to leave behind me."
     In Haworth, Mr. Grimshaw was successful in halting the annual races that the innkeepers had organized. It was an occasion for drunkenness, riot, and profligacy. He attempted to stop the races but had not been successful. Unable to prevail with men, he poured out his soul to God. For some time prior to the races, he gave himself to prayer asking that the Lord be pleased to interfere with them.
     The people assembled as usual but were soon dispersed, for before the races could begin, dark clouds covered the sky, and such heavy rain fell, the people were forced to leave. The rain continued for the three days appointed for the races. The event was so much spoken of, it came to be said that Mr. Grimshaw put an end to the races by his prayers, and it proved an effectual end, because no more races were held at Raworth.

7, 1901 --New Guinea. James Chalmers has anchored his ship off Goaribari Island. Today is Easter. When armed natives paddle out to the ship and invest it, Mr. Chalmers agrees to go ashore with them tomorrow morning. When they return tomorrow morning, Mr. Chalmers and another missionary will go ashore with them. When they are invited to a feast with the few believers on the island, they will enter a building and will be immediately clubbed to death and decapitated. Their bodies will then be hacked to pieces for cooking the same day.



 

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