fectually teach them Christianity, and have a fairer profpect of fuccefs. Every one must be sensible, that he judged wisely in this matter. It was doubtless then, as well as now, difficult to obtain interpreters with requifite qualifications, men, who are not only well acquainted | with both languages, and have quicknefs of thought and ready utterance; but persons of prudence, of fortitude, and of engaging manners, by which they may ingratiate themfelves with the heathen-persons of a pious mind, and zeal in the caufe men of an exemplary life, and good proficients in facred science, so that they will easily apprehend the meaning of the instructor, and communicate his ideas readily, clearly, and with precision. However, on supposition such interpreters could be obtained, (not to mention the expence of supporting them) yet it must be obvious to all, that religious instructions cannot be given to so good advantage in this way, as by an immediate address by a well qualified Miffionary, who is competently acquainted with the language of those, whom he is teaching. In the former method doctrinal knowledge will, in a comparative view, begained but flowly. There is greater danger that the speaker will be misunderstood in the former, than in the latter way. Befides the Indian language is said to be destitute of many terms, by which fome of the peculiar doctrines of Christianity could be di rectly communicated; and it requires particular skill, and attention in a miffionary to convey tolerably just ideas concerning these points, An understanding of the language of his hearers must evidently be of particular benefit in this cafe. It may be added, that when the Indians ask questions, as has been customary after the fermon, and public prayers are finished, the preacher will be under superior advantages to understand and answer them; and much time may also be faved in this way. Mr. David Brainerd regretted, that he had not been able to gain a better knowl. edge of the Indian tongue. And Mr. Sergeant, the first misionary at Stockbridge, found that his acquaintance with it was of very great use to him in his miffion. Mr. Mayhew, having acquired the neceffary knowledge of the Indian language, immediately applied himfell to the miffionary work. He well knew, that it was of the utmost importance, in order to obtain defired success, to ingratiate himself with the natives, and gain a paffage to their hearts. He conversed with them in a pleasing and affable manner, by which means he wrought himself into their affections and thus had the easier access to their minds. He treats them in a friendly and condescending manner; denies himself, and does his utmoft to oblige and help them. He takes all fitting occafions to insinuate and show the fincere and tender love, and good will he bare them: And as he grows in their acquaintance and affection, he proceeds to express his great concern and pity for their immortal fouls. He tells them of their deplorable condition under the power of Satan, that envious and malicious spirit, who notonly kept them in ignorance of those earthly good things, which might render their lives in this world much more comfortable; but of those also which might bring them to eternal happiness in the world to come; what a kind and powerful God the English ferved, and how the Indians might happily. come into his favor, and protection.* a firm and resolute adherence to it, notwithstanding those many trials he experienced in consequence of his profession, which would have was not rooted and grounded in the faith. Mr. Mayhew having, by the blessing of God upon his pious endeavors, gained Hiacoomes; he first employs him as a faithful instrument to prepare his way to the rest of the natives; instructing him more, and more in this new reli. gion; and showing him how to recommend it to them, and to answer their arguments, and objec tions against it. Under existing circumstances, Mr. Mayhew deemed it not expedient, at first, to make an attempt | shaken the constancy of one, who to gain a public audience of the Indians: He was, it seems, either convinced, that he could not fucceed, were he to make a trial; or, that if he should fucceed, it would not fubserve the cause so well, at that time, as other measures. He therefore applies himself to the work with great diligence and zeal in more private ways; hoping, that after some time, his sphere of action, and usefulness might be enlarged, as, to his great encouragement, he afterwards found. Some times he goes to particular houses of persons, whom he esteemed most rational and candid; at other times he discoursed with particular men. The first Indian, who embraced the motion of forsaking the false Gods, and adoring Jehovah, was Hiacoomes: His converfion was in 1643. This Indian, living near the English settlement, formed an acquaintance with them; and being a man of a sober, thoughtful, and ingenuous spirit, he not only visited their houses; but also their public, and religious meetings; at which time Mr. Mayhew took particular notice of him; difcour-❘ sed often with him; invited him | to his house every Lord's day evening; gave him a clear account of the nature, reasonableness, and importance of the Christian faith; and by the energy of the divine Spirit, he was quickly brought to * Matthew Mayhew's triumphs of grace. + Governor Hutchinfon obferves "The first inftance of an Indian, who gave any hopes of becoming a real Chriftian, was that of Hiacoomes Hift. Mafs. Vol. 1, p. 161. And as Mr. Mayhewendeavored the good of these heathens, by difcoursing with as many as were wil. ling to have any conference with him; fo with Hiacoomes in particular, whom he from time to time, earnestly desired to communicate the knowledge, which he had received, to those, whom Mr. Mayhew could not so easily meet with. Thus they united their counfels-wrought together, and by the blessing of God, foon gained fome others. After a little while, Mr. Mayhew had the pleafure to observe happy confequences resulting from these private interviews, which he, and his faithful friend Hiacoomes, had with the natives. And he persisted in these pious attempts to gospelize the heathen, 'till a way was opened for addreffing them in public in the year 1 646, the occafion of which will be related in the sequel. As foon as Mr. Mayhew had once entered upon his public fervices, he found his labor, and hardships to increase; and that he had greater need of self-denial than before. He redoubles his diligence-is incessant in his pious endeavors. I made but flow progress among the He does not spare his body either by day, or by night. He readily travels and lodges in their smoky wigwams; and chearfullysubmits to felf-denial, and such 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 catechised, then sang a psalm, and all in their own language. After fermon, he generally spent more time than in the fermon itself; reasoning with them in a more familiar manner, answering 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 subject matter of preaching to the natives on both parts of the following day; Mr. Mayhew directing himin the choice of his text, and in the management of it. When abroad upon his mission, and obliged to lodge in their wigwams, he usually spent a confiderable portion of the night, partly in relating the ancient histories in the holy scriptures, a subject with which the natives were at first greatly furprized, and not a little entertained; and partly in discourfing upon such other topics, as he judged most conducive to promote their benefit: He particularly proposes to their confideration, such things, as he thinks requifite in the first place: He fairly solves 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 spent so much time, and pains, and endured so much cold and wet, fatigue and trouble. For feveral years the gospel natives. Mr. Mayhew, as well as other missionaries, before and fince, found many obstacles. Various things tended to obstruct the good work. The Indians, in common with other Heathens, must be suppofed to have been prejudiced in favor of, and firmly attached to the religion, in which they had been educated. rally 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 areentirestrangers, which is brought to us by foreigners, with whose character we are not sufficiently acquainted; and who, for ought we can tell, may have some finifter end in view, in proposing to us to receive it; and may not, in the leaft degree, have our good at heart? "All men have natu "Thus many ftood 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 ftill and fober for them. This attachment to their own religion was a general obstacle, and a very powerful one, which it was 'extremely difficult to remove. * Jer. li. xx Another great impediment was the oppofition made by the Sachems. Like most princes, in the early times of the gospel, they would not give any countenance to that new religion, which was proposed to them; on the contrary, they used strenuous endeavors to prevent their subjects from embracing it. Almost all of them, and of their other chief men, either openly, or privately opposed it. The Sachems seemed to fear, that if their fubjects fhould receive the gospel, their own authority would be diminished 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 çivil, as well as reigious polity. "The lower grades of the people stood in awe of their princes; and were much afraid of counteracting their will: And their example must be supposed to have no small influence; as nothing is more obvious, than that the examples of men in power, and other diftinctions, have much sway over the minds of their inferiors and dependents. It required no small degree of faith and fortitude to break 'thro' this obstacle.* Ridicule was also tried upon the new converts, particularly upon Hiacoomes. This is what some dread, almost as much as fire and fword. This is a weapon, upon which infidels, in all ages, from the firft 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, 280. fimilar turn of mind respecting revelation, have had great dependence. These 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 doubtless thought, that as he was the first convert among them, the most strenuous advocate for Chriftianity in that small 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, less firm, and less established in this new religion, might follow his example; and the multitudes, who still adhered to their old religion, might be deterred from so much as examininginto the grounds of Chriftianity, and giving any encouragement to those who might be defirous of making any further efsays to propagate it among them; and so this feed, which was planted only in a few minds, might be destroyed. In 1644, Hiacoomes, the year after his converfion to Chriftianity, went to an Indian's house, where several of that nation were met together: Upon his entrance, they laughed and derided him, " Here comes the Englishman." A Sagamore present joined with the other Indians, and spake in the manner following; "I wonder, that you, who are a young man, and have a wife and two children, should love the English, 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 should draw me from our gods and powows." After Mr. Mayhew and Hia T last end. coomes were allowed to address 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 convert among the Sachems, to preach in a stated course to his people, the infidel Indians derided and scoffed at those, who attended the lecture, and blafphemed the God, whom they worshipped, which very much damped the spirits of fome in the way, which they were pursuing; and hindered others, for a time, from entering into it, or even cafting an eye towards it. Such power has ridicule over the human mind ! HE term glory, as it relates to the Most High, is sometimes used, in the holy scriptures, to denote the inherent excellency of the divine nature; at others, the respect and honor due to his holy name. In the former fenfe it appears to have been used by Moses, when he befought the Lord to shew him his glory: For, the answer was, " I will caufe all my goodness " to pass before thee-and the "Lord passed by before him, " and proclaimed, The Lord, "the Lord God, merciful and " gracious." In the latter, by God himself, when he says, “I " am the Lord; that is my name, " and my glory will I not give " unto another." When the glory of God is spoken of as an end for which he may be supposed to act, it means, either the intrinfic excellency of his own nature, or the manifestations of it either that, which constitutes 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. Nor were these the only impediments to the fuccess of the gospel on the island: For so inveterate was the hatred of some to Chriftianity, that, not only was Hiacoomes abused by blows by an illnatured and malicious Sagamore; but even the life of Tawanquatuck was in great danger by a daring attempt made to assassinate him. This was in the year 1647. Tho he lost not his life, for that was remarkably preserved; yet he did not escape without a wound. The cause of this murderous attempt was, as the Indians faid, for his walking with the English: And Mr. Mayhew observes, that it was supposed both by them, and the English, that the Sachem's forwardness for fetting up, and continuing the lecture mentioned above, was another thing, which incited the wretch to this cruel undertaking. A regard to perfonal safety would undoubtedly so operate up-ing in the moral disposition of his on many timorous minds, as to prevent them, for a season, from paying attention to the gospel*. (To be continued.) The inherent glory of God, as the term respects his moral charac ter, consists in the affection or dif pofition of his infinite, eternal mind; the declarative, in the vifible, external manifestations of this affection, or disposition. What the inherent glory of God is, confift eternal mind, the holy scriptures very clearly teach us. The apostle John tells us, that God is LOVE. The same is implied in the name, by which God proclaimed himself before Mofes. This constitutes * Indian Converts, page 3, and 81. the whole moral nature of the ever blefsed God. The divine, eter |