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inceffant in his pious endeavors. | made but flow progress among the

He does not fpare his body either by day, or by night. He readily travels and lodges in their fmoky wigwams; and chearfully fubmits to felf-denial, and fuch hardships to which heretofore he was a stranger. His way in public then was, by preaching a lecture every fortnight, to which both men, women, and children came. He first prayed, then preached, then catechifed, then fang a pfalm, and all in their own language. After fermon, he generally spent more time than in the fermon itself; reafoning with them in a more familiar manner, anfwering their questions, removing their doubts, filencing their cavils, and refolving cafes put to him.

Every Saturday morning he confers with Hiacoomes more privately about his fubject matter of preaching to the natives on both parts of the following day; Mr. Mayhew directing him in the choice of his text, and in the management of it.

When abroad upon his miffion, and obliged to lodge in their wigwams, he ufually fpent a confiderable portion of the night, partly in relating the ancient hiftories in the holy fcriptures, a fubject with which the natives were at first greatly furprized, and not a little cntertained; and partly in difcourfing upon fuch other topics, as he judged moft conducive to promote their benefit: He particularly propofes to their confideration, fuch things, as he thinks requifite in the first place: He fairly folves their fubtle objections; and tells them that they might plainly fee, that it was purely in good will to them, from whom he could expect no reward, that he fpent fo much time, and pains, and endured fo much cold and wet, fatigue and trouble.

For feveral years the gofpel

natives. Mr. Mayhew, as well as other miffionaries, before and fince, found many obstacles. Various things tended to obftruct the good work.

The Indians, in common with other Heathens, must be fuppofed to have been prejudiced in favor of, and firmly attached to the religion, in which they had been educated. "All men have naturally a veneration for the religion of their ancestors; and the prejudices of education in a false religion are commonly infuperable without the extraordinary grace of God." "Hath a nation changed her Gods, which are yet no Gods."*

They would reafon, as many in heathen countries had done before them; "Shall we forfake the Gods, whom our forefathers, from time immemorial have worshipped, Gods who have been kind to us, for a strange God, utterly unknown to us?-Shall we abandon a religion, which our ancestors embraced?-A religion venerable for antiquity-a religion, which approves itself to our minds: Shall we forfake this for one to which we are entire strangers, which is brought to us by foreigners, with whofe character we are not fufficiently acquainted; and who, for ought we can tell, may have fome finifter end in view, in propofing to us to receive it ; and may not, in the leaft degree, have our good at heart?

Thus many flood strongly for their own meetings, ways, and cuftoms, as being in their account much more advantageous and agreeable, than ours, in which, as they faid, there is nothing but praying, and talking, and this, in a manner too fill and fober for them. This attachment to their own

* Jer. ii. 11

religion was a general obftacle, and a very powerful one, which it was extremely difficult to remove.

Another great impediment was the oppofition made by the Sachems. Like most princes, in the early times of the gofpel, they would not give any countenance to that new religion, which was propofed to them; on the contrary, they used ftrenuous endeavors to prevent their fubjects from embracing it. Almost all of them, and of their other chief men, either openly, or privately oppofed it. The Sachems feemed to fear, that if their fubjects fhould receive the gofpel, their own authority would be diminifhed--that Chriftianity might introduce fome great revolution in the government to their detriment that they, who were for introducing Chriftianity among them, might have it in contemplation to overturn their civil, as well as regious polity. The lower grades of the people ftood in awe of their princes; and were much afraid of counteracting their will: And their example mult be fuppofed to have no fmall influence; as nothing is more obvious, than that the examples of men in power, and other diftinctions, have much fway over the minds of their inferiors and dependents. It required no fmall degree of faith and fortitude to break thro' this obftacle.*

Ridicule was alfo tried upon the new converts, particularly upon Hiacoomes. This is what fome dread, almost as much as fire and fword. This is a weapon, upon which infidels, in all ages, from the first date of Chriftianity, down to the times of lord Shaftesbury, Thomas Paine, and others of a

Matthew Mayhew, triumph's of grace-Indian Converts, p. 2, 3, 77, 220.

fimilar turn of mind refpecting revelation, have had great dépendence. Thefe untutored Indians were not unacquainted with the force of it. They affaulted Hiacoomes with this weapon, but, as will appear hereafter, he with kill and dexterity parried it off. They doubtlefs thought, that as he was the first convert among them, the moft ftrenuous advocate for Chriftianity in that fmall number, who had embraced it, and very zealous in propagating it, as far as in his power; if, by ridicule, they could drive him to renounce it, others, lefs firm, and lefs eftablished in this new religion, might follow his example; and the multitudes, who ftill adhered to their old religion, might be deterred from fo much as examining into the grounds of Chriftianity, and giving any encouragement to thofe who might be defirous of making any further ef fays to propagate it among them; and fo this feed, which was planted only in a few minds, might be deftroyed."

In 1644, Hiacoomes, the year after his converfion to Chriftianity, went to an Indian's houfe, where feveral of that nation were met together: Upon his entrance, they laughed and derided him, "Here comes the Englishman." A Sagamore prefent joined with the other Indians, and fpake in the manner following; "I wonder, that you, who are a young man, and have a wife and two children, fhould love the Englife, and their ways, and forfake the powows"-and he added a diffuafive, drawn from the topic of family and perfonal safety; "What would you do, if any of you were fick? Whither would you go for help? If I were in your cafe, nothing fhould draw me from our gods and powows."

After Mr. Mayhew and Hia

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laft end.

coomes were allowed to addrefs On God's making his own glory his the natives in public, in the year 1646, and Mr. Mayhew was defired by Tawanquatuck, the first HE term glory, as it relates convert among the Sachems, to to the Moft High, is fomepreach in a stated courfe to his times used, in the holy fcriptures,, people, the infidel Indians deri- to denote the inherent excellency of ded and fcoffed at those, who at- | the divine nature; at others, the tended the lecture, and blafphe- respect and honor due to his holy med the God, whom they wor- name. In the former fenfe it apfhipped, which very much damped pears to have been used by Mofes, the fpirits of fome in the way, when he befought the Lord to fhew which they were purfuing; and him his glory: For, the answer hindered others, for a time, from was, " I will caufe all my goodness entering into it, or even cafting an to pass before thee and the eye towards it. Such power has "Lord paffed by before him, ridicule over the human mind! "and proclaimed, The Lord, Nor were these the only imped-" the Lord God, merciful and iments to the fuccefs of the gofpel" gracious."-In the latter, by on the island: For fo inveterate God himself, when he says, "Ï 66 am the Lord; that is my name,

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and my glory will I not give unto another." When the glory of God is fpoken of as an end for which he may be fuppofed to act, it means, either the intrinfic excellency of his own nature, or the mani feftations of it-either that, which conftitutes the real worth and beauty of the divine character; or, a display of it, in its genuine fruits. The former is ufually termed the inherent glory of God; the latter, his declarative.

was the hatred of fome to Chrif
tianity, that, not only was Hia-"
coomes abufed by blows by an ill-
natured and malicious Sagamore;
but even the life of Tawanquatuck
was in great danger by a daring at
tempt made to affaffinate him. This
was in the year 1647. Tho' he
loft not his life, for that was re-
markably preferved; yet he did
not escape without a wound. The
caufe of this murderous attempt
was, as the Indians faid, for his
walking with the English: And
Mr. Mayhew obferves, that it was
fuppofed both by them, and the
English, that the Sachem's for-
wardness for fetting up, and contin-
uing the lecture mentioned above,
was another thing, which incited
the wretch to this cruel underta-
king. A regard to perfonal fafety
would undoubtedly fo operate up-
on many timorous minds, as to pre-
vent them, for a feafon, from pay-
ing attention to the gospel*.

(To be continued.)

The inherent glory of God, as the term refpects his moral charac ter, confifts in the affection or difpofition of his infinite, eternal mind; the declarative, in the vifible, external manifeftations of this affection, or difpofition. What the inherent glory of God is, confifting in the moral difpofition of his eternal mind, the holy fcriptures very clearly teach us. The apostle John tells us, that God is LovE. The fame is implied in the name, by which God proclaimed himself before Mofes. This conftitutes

* Indian Converts, page 3, and 81. the whole moral nature of the ever

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1. That it is a moft defirable

For purpofes of thing that God fhould make his own glory his great and ultimate end. This implies, that the higheft felicity of the infinite Being

nature

excellent
of the divine mind,

This being the and Sifpedition

it must be that his highest delight | himself is in doing good. Were

is is doing good.

God's own en

not the difpofition of the divine ·

joyment and happiness must be, in mind fuch, that his chief and highproducing and diffufing happiness. eft delight is in doing good, what and enjoys it to an infinitely higher laws would be holy, just and good? He enjoys the good which he does; reafon have we to suppose, that his

than his creatures, who rede it. A difpofition to do good, in the good which is done.

degree, rejoices

And what certain evidence could we have, that his government is, or will be wifely administered?

As love feeks, fo it enjoys the hap- Were not this the divine moral pinels of others. It is, therefore, character-were not this the dif the glory of God to do good-to pofition of the Eternal Mind, what do excellent things. In this way God feeks his own glory-In this way, glorifies himfelf. This was his motive to create: The fameinfluences in his whole government of the world.

reafon could we have to rejoice, that the Lord reigns? But that a Being, whofe love and good will are abfolutely infinite, fhould make his own glory his highest and last end, reprefents his character in the For God to make his own glo- most excellent light, and renders ry his last and higheft end, is no him an object worthy of the fu other, therefore, than to exercife preme and higheft love of his crea an infinitely strong difpofition to tures. There is no other or highdo good; and, to be primarily and er end, for which it can be defiraprincipally influenced by it, in the ble, that the holy God fhould act. whole of his works and adminif- In what can it be defired, that the tration. In no other light can the great God fhould more delight, divine character appear fo excel- than in doing good-in diffufing lent, fo lovely and glorious. For happinefs? When we confider God to make his own glory his what the moral character of the dihighest end, naturally and neceffa- vine Being really is, as represented rily comprises the greatest good in the holy fcriptures, we evidentand higheft felicity of his morally detract from it, by fuppofing kingdom. In his making this his him to be influenced, in his wonhighest end, his own happiness and derful and excellent works, by any that of his creatures are united-other, or lower end, than his own they are fo united, that they can- glory. not be feparated from each other. God accomplishes his end only in the production of a good, which will fatisfy his own infinite good will. In this way he is glorified, and will be glorified forever.

If these obfervations are juft,

2. God's making his own glory his laft and highest end, is the fulleft and only fecurity for the best and highest good of the created fyftem. Here, and here only, we find evidence, that a good will take place adequate to the purposes of

infinite love and good will-a created holiness and happiness, in which God himself will rest satisfiedwhich will fatisfy the infinitely ftrong defires of divine, unbounded love. We accordingly find it promifed to Chrift, that he should fee of the travail of his foul, and be fatisfied. Could that love, that travail of foul, which brought the Lord of glory into our world, and to the cross, be fatisfied with a good with a created felicity, which might have been exceeded? If infinite power and wifdom and love fail of producing fuch measures of created holiness and created happinefs, as cannot be exceeded; the great and glorious God fails, for aught we can fee, of accomplishing his laft and higheft end. And, failing of this, how can he reft fatisfied in his works, and enjoy complete and infinite felicity?

3. As God makes his own glory his laft and higheft end, it is moft defirable, that he fhould be an abfolute fovereign. The fovereignty of God principally intends his being influenced to acts of goodnefs purely by the inherent goodness of his own glorious nature-taking his motives wholly from within himfelf-his own wifdom alone adopting and directing the measures for accomplishing the purposes of his love. Were it not that the glorious God is this abfolute fovereign, where would it have been poffible for him to find a motive for faving finners! Where, but in his own infinite good will, could there have been a motive for God's being manife in flesh-for Chrift's dying, and himfelf becoming a curfe! Had not the holy God been moved to give his only begotten Son-had not the glorieus Redeemer been influenced to that humiliating and painful work, which lays the only foundation for

the recovery of finners, purely by the inherent, infinite good will and love of the divine nature itself; the work of redemption never would, or could have been accomplished: Nor could finners of mankind ever have been faved. And, whatever difpofition might have exifted in any one for the falvation of finners, had not God's wifdom alone devised the plan, and chosen and directed the measures for its accomplishment, we must, all, infallibly have perifhed forever. It is infinitely beft, that the unerring wisdom of God fhould alone direct the measures for accomplishing fuch good, as his own infinite love alone can incline him to accomplifh. What can be more defirable, than that fuch a Being as the Lord is fhould be an abfolute fovereign! Confidering the moral character, and the infinite perfection of God, what more precious doctrine, than that of his abfolute fovereignty! Who, that is a friend to the greatest good, can underftandingly be an enemy to it!

4. It is eafy to see that, had there not been fuch fallen, finful creatures as we are, there would have been no opportunity for a dif covery of fuch infinite strength of divine love and good will, as evidently appear in the recovery and falvation of finners.-Creatures would have had no advantage to fee, that the divine Being poffeffes fuch treasures of good will, as to be influenced to fuch wonders of goodnefsinfinitely undeferved goodness, by nothing but the mere infinite benevolence of his own heart! That glorious fovereignty, which implies felf-moving infinite goodnessa difpofition to do good, for the pleafure of doing it-doing the greateft poffible and the moft undeferved good, for the fake of the delight there is in doing it,

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