endeavour! When the Lord Jesus is about to set up his blessed kingdom among these poor Indians also, how well doth it become the spirit of such instruments in the hands of Christ to promote that work also, being the same business in some respect which themselves are about by the good hand of God!"n Honourable as Mr Eliot conceived the work of evangelizing the Indians to be, anal grateful as he was to find that the inhabitants of his native country were disposed to encourage it, he appears to have been grieved to observe that his friends, in pleading its cause, had alluded to his exertions in terms which he conceived to be derogatory to the glory of the Saviour, whom he desired to serve. The appellation of INDIAN EVANGELIST, which Mr Winslow had applied to him, he declared to be a "redundancy," and protested against its use with the greatest vehemency. "I do beseech you," he writes, " to suppress all such things if ever you should have occasion of doing the like. Let us speak, and do, and carry all things with all humility. It is the Lord who hath done what is done, and it is most becoming of Jesus Christ to n Gookin, in Coll. of Mass. Hist. Soc. vol. i. p. 269, 270. Whitfield's Light appearing, p. 16. lift up Christ, and (let) ourselves lie low. I wish that word could be obliterated, if any of the copies remain." What might not be expected, if the principles here recognized were generally felt and acted on, by those who are engaged in propagating the gospel,-by those who direct the affairs of our Missionary Societies, and by those who urge the claims of the heathen before the Christian public? Alas! it has now become customary with many to speak of making “sacrifices" for the cause of Christ,-to boast of the "wisdom" of the plans which are in operation for the extension of the truth, and to consider the success vouchsafed by God, as a testimony to the merit of " zeal and liberality.” The command of the Saviour, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature;" the appalling cry, "Come over and help us ;" and the divine declaration, “Ye are not your own," are liable to be forgotten amidst the unhallowed congratulations in which the Christian public too frequently indulge. n Whitfield's Light Appearing, p. 18. G CHAPTER V. Eliot petitions his friends in England for assistance in supporting schools among the Indians-He resolves to translate the Scriptures into the Indian language-He submits a proposal to his friends about sending mechanics to America-Extract from one of his letters relative to his success in teaching the Indians-Illustrations of the views with which he contemplated the establishment of civil and ecclesiastical order among the Indians-Letter relative to his success in preaching to the Indians, and his efforts in leading them to build a town at a distance from the English-The Rev. S. Danforth appointed his colleague at Roxbury. ENCOURAGED by the institution of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New-England, Mr Eliot exerted himself to the utmost of his power to promote the improvement of the Indians to whom he had access, and embraced an early opportunity of communicating his views on this subject, to the individuals from whom he could look for pecuniary assistance. Necessity alone compelled him to take this step. "I have not means of my own," he said, "I have a family of many children to educate, and therefore I cannot give over my ministry in our church, whereby my family is sustained, to attend the Indians, to whom I give, and of whom I receive nothing." The education of the youth appears to have been an object to which his attention was particularly directed. "Let me, I beseech you," he writes, "trouble you with some considerations about this great Indian work, which lieth upon me as my continual care, prayer, desire, and endeavour to carry on; namely, for their schooling, and education of youth in learning, which is a principal means of promoting it for future times. We must have special care to have schools for the instruction of the youth in reading. Moreover, there be sundry prompt, pregnant-witted youths, not vitiously inclined, but well-disposed, whom I desire may be wholly sequestered to learning."a He seems to have been no less anxious to translate the Scriptures into the Indian language. When he proposed to engage in this work of immense labour and difficulty, his mind was deeply impressed with its importance and responsibility, a Whitfield's Light Appearing, p. 17. and with the necessity of using all the means in his power for securing fidelity. “I must have some Indians," he remarked," and it may be other help, continually about me, to try and examine translations, which I look at as a sacred and holy work, and to be regarded with much fear, care, and reverence." b Desirous of instructing the Indians in the arts of civilized life, he also submitted to his friends a proposal about sending mechanics from England, who might act under his direction. Aware, however, of the disastrous consequences which might ensue to his work, from his people holding intercourse with persons who were strangers to the power Christianity, he anxiously demanded, that, if his request should be complied with, the individuals who should cross the Atlantic, "might be godly, well-conditioned, honest, meek, and well-spirit ed." of When Mr Eliot submitted these proposals to his friends, he furnished them with an account of the progress of the gospel, and of his expectations of its future success. The following extract from one of his letters, which refers to these subjects, possesses considerable interest :— b Whitfield's Light Appearing, p. 17. |