one of his visits to the Susquehannah, besides the obstacles common to undertakings of that kind, he had to encounter a difficulty of rather an extraordinary nature. On his arrival, the Indians pretended that they had just received a revelation from heaven, which, after representing the evil of some particular vices, and recommending the sacrifice of a deer, and certain other superstitious practices, concluded by telling them, that God made two worlds, one for the white people, and the other for the Indians; that the white people had no business to come into the Indian country, much less to persuade them to embrace their religion, for that he had commanded them to worship him in their own way, and their red brethren to worship him in another; and though the white people made some pretences of instructing them, yet they had no design of doing them good, but merely to put money into their own pockets. This revelation, it is probable, was the production of some interested Indian, perhaps of some artful powaw; but yet, in consequence of it, Mr. Brainerd was able to do little amongst these poor people, though in other respects they seemed more civilized than any he had hitherto seen.*

Among the many difficulties attending the Christianizing and civilization of the Indians, their living in small villages scattered through the wilderness was none of the least. It was therefore an object for some years, with the society for propagating Christian knowledge, to collect them together into one place, and to fix them in regular habitations. This, indeed, had been accomplished in part by Mr. David Brainerd, previous to his death; and in 1759, Mr. John Brainerd settled upon a tract of land, which was purchased on their account by the government of New Jersey. The extent of country under his charge, was a hundred miles east and west, and near eighty north and south. The land for the use of the Indians consisted of about four thousand acres, and was

Gillies' Hist. Coll. vol. ii. p. 448.-Bonar's sermon before the society in Scotland for propagating Christian knowledge, App. p. 50.

situated near the centre of the country, between the river Delaware and the Atlantic ocean. The soil was suitable for Indian corn, rice, beans, potatoes, English clover, and various kinds of fruit trees, and wanted nothing but cultivation, to supply the Indians with plenty of vegetables.*

It does not appear, however, that this new arrangement was attended with that success which was expected or desired. To what particular causes this is to be ascribed, we do not certainly know. In 1774, Mr. Thomas Rankin, a Methodist preacher, informs us, that he met with Mr. John Brainerd; "but, alas!" adds he, "what an unpleasing account did he give of the remains of his excellent brother's labours, as well as of his own among the Indians! When his brother died, there was a large company of Indians who regularly attended the preaching of the word, and above sixty who were communicants. The number, however, who attended his ministry, was now small, and there were not above ten or twelve who were qualified for admission to the Lord's Supper. On asking him the reason of this declension, he observed, that some were dead, and died happy in the Lord; others had grown careless and lukewarm; and many had wandered back among their Pagan countrymen, several of whom had even returned to their idolatrous customs. Some, also, had yielded to the love of spirituous liquors, from which they seemed once completely weaned. Thus, the gold had become dim, and the most fine gold was changed."" We have given Mr. Rankin's account at large, but do not pledge ourselves for its accuracy. It is obvious he was mistaken with regard to the number of communicants at the time of Mr. David Brainerd's death, for instead of being upwards of sixty, they did not amount to forty; and it appears from an official statement published about this very period, that the number of Indians under the pastoral care of Mr. John Brainerd, instead of being small,

Macqueen's sermons before the society in Scotland for propagating Christian know. ledge, Appendix.-Account of the society in Scotland for propagating Christian knowledge, 1774, p. 15, 18.

amounted to about a hundred and fifty or sixty, which is equal to what they were when he succeeded his brother; and it is stated by the same authority, that, "as to their morals, they were, in general, rather reformed, and many of them even supported an unblemished character." Perhaps, therefore, Mr. Rankin, in the picture he has drawn, may undesignedly have overcharged the colouring in some other particulars; but yet we fear, his representation was by no means without foundation.*

During the American war, Mr. John Brainerd's correspondence with the society in Scotland was suspended, and toward the close of it he died. He was succeeded, in 1783, in the charge of the Indian congregation, by Mr. Daniel Simon, an Indian, who had been ordained to the ministry; but it was soon after found necessary to suspend him from his office, on account of drunkenness and other irregularities. No missionary was appointed to succeed him; but the congregation was occasionally supplied by the neighbouring ministers.†

In July, 1802, some commissioners from New-Jersey conducted eighty-five Delaware Indians, the remains of Mr. John Brainerd's congregation, to New Stockbridge, to place them under the ministry of Mr. Sergeant, the missionary in that town; and it was then stated, that after Mr. Brainerd's death they were left alone, having no spiritual shepherd to watch over them, no meetings for divine worship on the Sabbath, and no school for their children. Hence, they in general grew very wicked, and for many years past had been in a very miserable state, scattered through the country, and excessively addicted to drinking.‡

Such a result of those bright, those pleasing prospects, which once dawned on this tribe of Indians, is truly deplorable. Few of these individuals, however, could have be

* Methodist Magazine, vol. xxxiv. p. 445. Account of the society for propagating Christian knowledge, 1774, p. 18.

† American Correspondence, among the records of the society in Scotland for props.. gating Christian knowledge, MS. vol. i. p. 48, 49, 72, 122, 123.

+ Religious Monitor, vol, i. p. 189.

l'onged to Mr. David Brainerd's congregation, and such as lid, must, in general, have been little more than children at that time. Indeed, though there certainly was an extraordinary work of grace among his people, yet it was never sup

P osed they were all converted.* Of adults, he baptized only between forty and fifty, and though there were many others, as we have already mentioned, under deep concern for their souls, who possessed sufficient knowledge and apparent seri ousness, to render them fit subjects of that ordinance, yet as they did not give satisfactory evidence of a saving change, he judged it expedient to defer their baptism. Now, as the Christian Indians, in general, continued for several years at least to adorn their profession by a holy exemplary conversation; as some of them died happy in the Lord; as, in 1774, twenty-seven years after Mr. Brainerd's death, there were still, even according to the most unfavourable accounts, ten or twelve, who were considered as fit for admission to the Lord's Supper, it is probable there were as many, or even a greater number than he ever supposed, who were truly converted to Christ, maintained a Christian deportment to the last, and now join with him in heaven, in celebrating the praises of God and of the Lamb. It gives us pleasure to state, that the late Dr. Witherspoon, president of the New-Jersey college, in referring to these Indians, assures us that it was fully attested, that they had persevered, with scarcely any exceptions, in their profession of religion, and even adorned it by their exemplary conversation.† Still, however, it is melancholy to think, that our hopes with respect to so many other of the Indians, as well as with regard to the extension and the permanent establishment of the mission, have been so miserably disappointed. Let us learn not to be too sanguine in our expectations, even when appearances are of the most promising nature; and especially not to be so intoxicated by the most promising appearances, as to cease to "watch unto prayer."

* Brainerd's Life, p. 340.

† American Correspondence, MS. vol. i. p. 171.

SECTION VI.

ONEIDA.

IN November, 1764, Mr. Samuel Kirkland, son of a minister at Norwich in Connecticut, after finishing his education at Nassau Hall, in New-Jersey college, set off for the country of the Senecas, with the view of learning their language, and of introducing Christianity among them. Having been obliged to stop some weeks by the way for a convoy, he afterwards proceeded on his journey, under the conduct of two Indians of that tribe. As the ground was then covered with snow, he travelled on snow shoes, with his pack of provisions on his back, about two hundred and fifty miles, through a wilderness where there was no path, and no houses in which to lodge. After journeying in this manner for seventeen days, he reached a Seneca town called Kanasadago. Here he met with a kind reception from the Indians; but it was not long before he was involved in unforeseen difficulties. A few days after Mr. Kirkland's arrival, the chief man of the town in whose hut he lodged, died very suddenly. He lay down in his usual health at night, and was found dead in the morning. Upon this a general suspicion arose among the Indians, that the white man had either killed him with magic, or had brought death and destruction to the town. After this they gave him nothing to eat for two days, and they even held a consultation among themselves, whether it would not be best to kill him. They resolved, however, only to set a guard upon him, and to kill him should he attempt to make his escape. Soon after a famine arose in that quarter of the country, and for two months Mr. Kirkland lived without bread, flesh, or salt, excepting once that he

VOL. I.