The zeal of Eliot quickened that of others, and in 1674, there was a
missionary circuit of 14 villages and 1,100 praying Indians.

At this same date, through the sacrificial labors of Mr. Thomas
Mayhew and his son, there were 1,500 praying Indians in the Island of
Martha's Vineyard and vicinity. The next year came war--King Philip's
War. It meant extermination of the whites, or conquest of the red
men. Civilization was too strong to be resisted by barbarism, and
then began the long catalogue of organized Indian miseries. The
General Court ordered the removal of the conquered Indians, and they
were pushed away before the aggressive steps of a stronger race. In
1743, the Rev. David Brainerd was propagating missions among the
Indians with success in various places. Idolatrous sacrifices were
altogether abolished; many heathen customs lost their sanction, and
sincere converts were made whose pious lives and peaceful deaths
attested to the influence of the spirit of God in their hearts.

At this period of history the Moravian Church began missions in
Pennsylvania among the Delawares. Christian Rauch soon won the
confidence of the savages and excited their astonishment. And
observing him asleep in his hut, an Indian said: "This man cannot be
a bad man, he fears no evil, he does not fear us who are so fierce,
but he sleeps in peace and puts his life in our hands." There was a
remarkable acknowledgment of this mission in converted souls. The
Moravian Missions in various sections of the country, from the early
date of 1740 until now, have been characterized by courage, activity,
humility and devotion. In the midst of these scenes of devastation
and murder, the Moravian missionaries have wandered in deserts, in
mountains, in dens and caves of the earth, never relinquishing their
purposes, and they have obtained a good report through faith.