confiderable harvest of this kind of converts here. Spiritual pride also discovered itself in various inftances. Some perfons who had been under great affections feemed very defirous from thence of being thought truly gracious; who, when I could not but exprefs to them my fears respecting their spiritual states, discovered their refentments to a confiderable degree upon that occafion. There also appeared in one or two of them an unbecoming ambition of being teachers of others. So that Satan has been a bufy adverfary here as well as elfewhere. But blessed be God, though fomething of this nature has appeared, yet nothing of it has prevailed, nor indeed made any confiderable progrefs at all. My people are now apprized of these things, are acquainted that Satan in fuch a manner transformed himself into an angel of light in the first season of the great outpouring of the Divine Spirit in the days of the apostles, and that fomething of this nature in a greater or leffer degree, has attended almost every revival and remarkable propagation of true religion ever fince. And they have learned fo to diftinguish between the gold and drofs, that the credit of the latter is trod down like the mire of the fireets: And it being natural for this kind of stuff to die with its credit, there is now scarce any appearance of it among them.

And as there has been no prevalency of irregular heats, imaginary notions, fpiritual pride, and fatanical delusions, among my people, fo there has been very few instances of fcandalous and irregular behaviour among those who have made a profeffion or even an appearance of seriousnefs. I do not know of more than three or four fuch perfons who have been guilty of any open mifconduct, fince their firft acquaintance with chriftianity, and not one that perfifts in any thing of that nature. And per haps the remarkable purity of this work in the latter refpect, its freedom from frequent inftances of scandal, is very much owing to its purity in the former refpect, its freedom from corrupt mixtures of fpiritual pride, wild fire and delufion, which naturally lay a foundation for fcandalous practices.

May this bleffed work in the power and purity of it prevail among the poor Indians here, as well as fpread elsewhere until their remotest tribes fhall fee the falvation of God. Amen.

Gg

ENUMERATING fome of the difficulties which ob Aructed his faceels in chriftianizing the Indians, Mr. Brainerd fays,

I have met with great difficulty in my work among there Indians, from the rooted averfion to christianity that generally prevails among them. They are not only brushly stupid and ignorant of divine things, but many of them are obstinately set against chriftianity, and feem to abbor even the christian name.

This averion to christianity arises partly from the view of the immorality and vicious behaviour of many who are called christians. They obferve that horrid wickedmeis in nominal chriftians, which the light of nature condemas 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 fome. Hence, when I have attempted to treat with them about christianity, they have frequently ebjeßted the scandalous practices of christians, and cast in my teeth all they could think of that was odious in the conduct of any of them. Have obferved to me, that the white people lie, defraud, steal, and drink, worse than the Indians: That they have taught the Indians these things, pecially the latter of them; who before the coming of the English, knew of no fuch thing as strong drink: That the Engüith have by these means, made them quarrel, and kid one another, and in a word, brought them to the practice of all thofe vices that now prevail among them. So that they are now vaftly more vicious, as well as much more milerable, than they were before the coming of the white people into the country.

There, and fuch like objections, they frequently make agant chriiianity, which are not eafily answered to their Madsfaction; many of them being facts too notoriously true.

The only way I have to take in order to furmount this difficulty, is, to distinguish between nominal and real chridians, and to thew them that the ill conduct of many of the former proceeds not from their being chriftians, but from their being chriftians only in name, not in heart, de. To which it has fometimes 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 chriftians in heart. This, and many other of the remarks they pafs upon the white people, and their miscarriages, I am forced to own, and cannot but grant, that many nominal chriftians are more abominably wicked than the Indians. But then I attempt to fhow them that there are some whe feel the power of chriftianity, that are not fo. And I ask them when they ever faw me guilty of the vices they complain of, and charge chriftians in general with. But ftill 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 moft irreligious and vicious fort, and the conduct of one or two perfons, be it never fo exemplary, is not fufficient to counterbalance the vicious behaviour of fo many of the fame denomination, and fo to recommend christianity to pagans.

Another thing that ferves to make them more averse to christianity, is a fear of being enflaved. They are, perhaps, fome of the moft jealous people living, and extremely averfe to a state of fervitude, and hence are always afraid of fome defign forming against them. Befides, they seem to have no fentiments of generofity, benevolence and goodness: That if any thing be propofed to them, as being for their good, they are ready rather to fufpect that there is at bottom fome defign forming against them, than that fuch propofals flow from good will to them, and a defire of their welfare. And hence, when I have attempted to recommend christianity to their acceptance, they have fometimes 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 fea fide, &c. That therefore they have no reason to think the white people are now feeking their welfare; but rather that they have sent me out to draw them together under a pretence of kindness to them, that they may have an opportunity to make flaves of them as they do of the poor negroes, or elfe to fhip them on board their veffels, and make them fight with their enemies, &c. Thus they have oftentimes conftrued all the kindnefs I could fhew them, and the hardships I have endured in order to treat with them about christianity. "He never would (fay they) take

all this pains to do us good; he must have fome wicked. defign to hurt us fome way or other." And to give them affurance of the contrary, is not an eafy matter, while there are so many, who (agreeable to their apprehenfion) are only feeking their own, not the good of others.

To remove this difficulty 1 inform them, that I am not fent out among them by those persons in thefe provinces, who, they fuppofe, 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 arife fo many frivolous and impertinent questions, that it would tire one's patience, and wear out one's fpirits to hear them; fuch as that, "But why did not thefe good people send you to teach us before, while we had our lands down by the fea fide, &c? If they had fent you then, we should likely have heard you and turned chriftians." The poor creatures ftill imagining that I should be much beholden to them in cafe they would hearken to christianity, and infinuating that this was a favour they could not now be fo good as to fhew me, seeing they had received fo many injuries from the white people.

Another fpring of averfion to chriftianity in the In dians, is, their ftrong 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 precifely to de termine. I have taken much pains to inquire of my ehriftian people whether they, before their acquaintance with chriflianity, imagined there was a plurality of great invisible powers, or whether they fuppofed but one fuch being, and worshipped him in a variety of forms and fhapes: But cannot learn any thing of them so distinct as to be fully fatisfying upon the point. Their notions in that ftate were fo prodigiously dark and confused, that they feemed not to know what they thought themselves. But fo far as I can learn, they had a notion of a plurality of invifible deities, and paid fome kind of homage to them promifcuously, under a great variety of forms and fhapes And it is certain, those who yet remain pagans pay fome

kind of fuperftitious reverence to beafts, birds, fishes, and even reptiles; that is, fome to one kind of animal and fome to another. They do not indeed fuppofe a divine power effential to, or inherent in these creatures, but that fome invifible beings (I cannot learn that it is always one fuch being only, but divers; not diftinguished from each other by certain names, but only notionally) communi cate to these animals a great power, either one or other of them, (just as it happens) or perhaps fometimes all of them, and so make these creatures the immediate authors of good to certain perfons. Whence fuch a creature be. comes facred to the perfons to whom he is fuppofed to be the immediate author of good, and through him they muit 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 confequently he muft worship the invifible powers in that animal. And I have known a pagan burn fine tobacco for incenfe, in order to appease the anger of that invifible power which he fuppofed prefided over rattlefnakes, because one of these animals was killed by another Indian near his house.

But after the ftricteft inquiry refpecting their notions of the Deity, I find, that in ancient times, before the coming of the white people, fome fuppofed there were four invi fible powers who prefided over the four corners of the earth. Others imagined the fun to be the only deity, and that all things were made by him: Others at the fame time having a confused notion of a certain body or foun. tain of deity fomewhat like the anima mundi, fo frequent ly mentioned by the more learned ancient heathens, dif fufing itself to various animals, and even to inanimate things, making them the immediate authors of good to certain perfons, as was before obferved with refpect to various fuppofed deities. But after the coming of the white people, they feemed to fuppofe there were three deities, and three only, because they faw 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 fame God made them who made us; but that they were made after the white people; which