this hurt them, and take away their comfort, to be made sorry, and to have their hearts broken?

A. No, it does them good.

2. Did God teach man his will at first by writing it down in a book, or did he put it into his heart, and teach him without a book what was right?

A. He put it into his heart, and made him know what he should do.

2. Has God since that time writ down his will in a book? A. Yes.

2. Has God written his whole will in his book; has he there told us all that he would have us believe and do?

A. Yes.

2. What need was there of this book, if God at first put his will into the heart of man, and made him feel what he should do?

A. There was need of it, because we have sinned, and made our hearts blind.

2. And has God writ down the same things in his book, that he at first put into the heart of man?

A. Yes.

In this manner I endeavour to adapt my instructions to the capacities of my people; although they may perhaps seem strange to others who have never experienced the difficulty of the work. And these I have given an account of, are the methods I am from time to time pursuing, in order to instruct them in the principles of Christianity. And I think I may say, it is my great concern that these instructions be given them in such a manner, that they may not only be doctrinally taught, but duly affected thereby, that divine truths may come to them, "not in word only, but in power, and in the Holy Ghost" and be received "not as the word of man."

SECT. III.

Difficulties attending the Christianizing of the Indians-First Difficulty, the rooted aversion to Christianity that generally prevails among them.

I shall now attempt something with relation to the last particular required by the Honourable Society in their letter, viz. To give some account of the "difficulties I have already met with in my work, and the methods I make use of for surmounting the same." And, in the first instance, first, I have

met with great difficulty in my work among these Indians, "from the rooted aversion to Christianity that generally prevails among them." They are not only brutishly stupid and ignorant of divine things, but many of them are obstinately set against Christianity, and seem to abhor even the Christian

name.

This aversion to Christianity arises partly from a view of the "immorality and vicious behaviour of many who are called Christians." They observe that horrid wickedness in nominal Christians, which the light of nature condemns in themselves and not having distinguishing views of things, are ready to look upon all the white people alike, and to condemn them alike, for the abominable practices of some.-Hence when I have attempted to treat with them about Christianity, they have frequently objected the scandalous practices of Christians. They have observed to me, that the white people lie, defraud, steal, and drink worse than the Indians; that they have taught the Indians these things, especially the latter of them; who before the coming of the English, knew of no such thing as strong drink that the English have, by these means, made them quarrel and kill one another; and, in a word, brought them to the practice of all those vices that now prevail among them. So that they are now vastly more vicious, as well as much more miserable, than they were before the coming of the white people into the country.-These, and such like objections, they frequently make against Christianity, which are not easily answered to their satisfaction; many of them being facts too notoriously true.

The only way I have to take in order to surmount this difficulty, is to distinguish between nominal and real Christians; and to shew them, that the ill conduct of many of the former proceeds not from their being Christians, but from their being Christians only in name, not in heart, &c. To which it has sometimes been objected, that if all those who will cheat the Indians are Christians only in name, there are but few left in the country to be Christians in heart. This, and many other of the remarks they pass upon the white people, and their miscarriages, I am forced to own, and cannot but grant, that many nominal Christians are more abominably wicked than the Indians. But then I attempt to show them, that there are some who feel the power of Christianity, and that these are not so. I ask them, when they ever saw me guilty of the vices they complain of, and charge Christians in general with?

VOL. III.

3 K

But still the great difficulty is, that the people who live back in the country nearest to them, and the traders that go among them, are generally of the most irreligious and vicious sort; and the conduct of one or two persons, be it never so exemplary, is not sufficient to counterbalance the vicious behaviour of so many of the same denomination, and so to recommend Christianity to Pagans.

Another thing that serves to make them more averse to Christianity, is a "fear of being enslaved." They are, perhaps, some of the most jealous people living, and extremely averse to a state of servitude, and hence are always afraid of some design forming against them. Besides, they seem to have no sentiments of generosity, benevolence, and goodness; that if any thing be proposed to them, as being for their good, they are ready rather to suspect, that there is at bottom some design forming against them, than that such proposals flow from goodwill to them, and a desire of their welfare. And hence, when I have attempted to recommend Christianity to their acceptance, they have sometimes objected, that the white people have come among them, have cheated them out of their lands, driven them back to the mountains, from the pleasant places they used to enjoy by the sea-side, &c.; that therefore they have no reason to think the white people are now seeking their welfare; but rather that they have sent me cut to draw them together, under a pretence of kindness to them, that they may have an opportunity to make slaves of them, as they do of the poor negroes, or else to ship them on board their vessels, and make them fight with their enemies, &c. Thus they have oftentimes construed all the kindness I could shew them, and the hardships I have endured in order to treat with them about Christianity. "He never would (say they) take all this pains to do us good, he must have some wicked design to hurt us some way or other." And to give them assurance of the contrary, is not an easy matter, while there are so many, who (agreeable to their apprehension) are only "seeking their own," not the good of others.

To remove this difficulty I inform them, that I am not sent out among them by those persons in these provinces, who they suppose, have cheated them out of their lands; but by pious people at a great distance, who never had an inch of their lands, nor ever thought of doing them any hurt, &c.

But here will arise so many frivolous and impertinent questions, that it would tire one's patience, and wear out one's spirits to hear them; such as, "But why did not these good

people send you to teach us before, while we had our lands down by the sea-side, &c. If they had sent you then, we should likely have heard you, and turned Christians." The poor creatures still imagining, that I should be much beholden to them, in case they would hearken to Christianity; and insinuating, that this was a favour they could not now be so good as to shew me, seeing they had received so many injuries from the white people.

Another spring of aversion to Christianity in the Indians, is, "their strong attachment to their own religious notions, (if they may be called religious), and the early prejudices they have imbibed in favour of their own frantic and ridiculous kind of worship." What their notions of God are, in their Pagan state, is hard precisely to determine. I have taken much pains to inquire of my Christian people, whether they, before their acquaintance with Christianity, imagined there was a plurality of great invisible powers, or whether they supposed but one such being, and worshipped him in a variety of forms and shapes: but cannot learn any thing of them so distinct as to be fully satisfying upon the point. Their notions in that state were so prodigiously dark and confused, that they seemed not to know what they thought themselves. But so far as I can learn, they had a notion of a plurality of invisible deities, and paid some kind of homage to them promiscously, under a great variety of forms and shapes. And it is certain, that those who yet remain Pagans pay some kind of superstitious reverence to beasts, birds, fishes, and even reptiles; that is, some to one kind of animal, aud some to another. They do not indeed suppose a divine power essential to, or inhering in these creatures, but that some invisible beings-I cannot learn that it is always one such being only, but divers; not distinguished from each other by certain names, but only notionally-communicate to those animals a great power (either one or other of them, just as it happens, or perhaps sometimes all of them) and so make these creatures the immediate authors of good to certain persons. Whence such a creature becomes sacred to the persons to whom he is supposed to be the immediate author of good, and through him they must worship the invisible powers, though to others he is no more than another creature. And perhaps another animal is looked upon to be the immediate author of good to another, and consequently he must worship the invisible powers in that animal. And I have known a Pagan burn fine tobacco for incense, in order to appease the anger of that invisible power which he

supposed presided over rattle-snakes, because one of these animals was killed by another Indian near his house.

But after the strictest inquiry respecting their notions of the Deity, I find, that in ancient times, before the coming of the white people, some supposed there were four invisible powers, who presided over the four corners of the earth. Others imagined the sun to be the only deity, and that all things were made by him. Others, at the same time, have a confused notion of a certain body or fountain of deity, somewhat like the anima mundi, so frequently mentioned by the more learned ancient Heathens, diffusing itself to various animals, and even to inanimate things, making them the immediate authors of good to certain persons, as before observed, with respect to various supposed deities. But after the coming of the white people, they seemed to suppose there were three deities, and three only, because they saw people of three different kinds of complexion, viz. English, Negroes, and themselves.

It is a notion pretty generally prevailing among them, that it was not the same God made them, who made us; but that they were made after the white people: which further shews, that they imagine a plurality of divine powers. And I fancy they suppose their God gained some special skill by seeing the white people made, and so made them better: for it is certain they look upon themselves, and their methods of living, (which, they say, their God expressly prescribed for them), vastly preferable to the white people, and their methods. And hence will frequently sit and laugh at them, as being good for nothing else but to plow and fatigue themselves with hard labour; while they enjoy the satisfaction of stretching themselves on the ground, and sleeping as much as they please; and have no other trouble but now and then to chase the deer, which is often attended with pleasure rather than pain. Hence, by the way, many of them look upon it as disgraceful for them to become Christians, as it would be esteemed among Christians for any to become Pagans. And now although they suppose our religion will do well enough for us, because prescribed by our God, yet it is no ways proper for them, because not of the same make and original. This they have sometimes offered as a reason why they did not incline to hearken to Christianity.

They seem to have some confused notion about a future state of existence, and many of them imagine that the chichung, (i. e. the shadow), or what survives the body, will