GENERAL REMARKSON THE PRECEDING NARRATIVE.
“Atthe close of this Narrative I would make a fewGeneral Remarksupon what, to me, appears worthy of notice, relating to the continued work of grace among my people.
I. “I cannot but take notice, that I have in general, ever since my first coming among the Indians in New-Jersey, been favored with that assistance which to me is uncommon, in preachingChrist crucified, and making him thecentreandmarkto which all my discourses among them were directed.
“It was the principal scope and drift of all my discourses to this people, for several months together, (after having taught them something of the being and perfections of God, his creation of man in a state of rectitude and happiness, and the obligations mankind were thence under to love and honor him,) to lead them into an acquaintance with their deplorable state by nature, as fallen creatures; their inability to extricate and deliver themselves from it; the utter insufficiency of any external reformations and amendments of life, or of any religious performances, of which they were capable, while in this state, to bring them into the favor of God, and interest them in his eternal mercy; thence to show them their absolute need of Christ to redeem and save them from the misery of their fallen state;—to open his all-sufficiency and willingness to save the chief of sinners;—the freeness and riches of divine grace, proposed ‘without money, and without price,’ to all that will accept the offer; thereupon to press them without delay to betake themselves to him,under a sense of their misery and undone state, for relief and everlasting salvation;—and to show them the abundant encouragement the gospel proposes to needy, perishing, and helpless sinners, in order to engage them so to do. These things, I repeatedly and largely insisted upon from time to time.
“I have oftentimes remarked with admiration, that whatever subject I have been treating upon, after having spent time sufficient to explain and illustrate the truths contained therein, I have been naturally and easily led to Christ as the substance of every subject. If I treated on the being and glorious perfections of God; I was thence naturally led to discourse of Christ, as the only 'way to the Father.'—If I attempted to open the deplorable misery of our fallen state; it was natural from thence to show the necessity of Christ to undertake for us, to atone for our sins, and to redeem us from the power of them.—If I taught the commands of God, and showed our violation of them; this brought me, in the most easy and natural way, to speak of, and recommend the Lord Jesus Christ as one who had ‘magnified the law’ which we had broken, and who was ‘become the end of it, for righteousness, to every one that believes.’ Never did I find so much freedom and assistance in making all the various lines of my discourses meet together, and centre in Christ, as I have frequently done among these Indians.
“Sometimes when I have had thoughts of offering but a few words upon some particular subject, and saw no occasion, nor indeed much room, for any considerable enlargement, there has appeared such a fountain of gospel-grace shining forth in, or naturally resulting from a just explication of it; and Christ has seemed in such a manner to be pointed out as the substanceof what I was considering and explaining; that I have been drawn in a way not only easy and natural, proper and pertinent, but almost unavoidable, to discourse of him, either in regard to his undertaking, incarnation, satisfaction, admirable fitness for the work of man’s redemption, or the infinite need that sinners stand in of an interest in him; which has opened the way for a continued strain of gospel invitation to perishing souls, to come empty and naked, weary and heavy laden, and cast themselves upon him.
“As I have been remarkably influenced and assisted to dwell upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and the way of salvation by him, in the general current of my discourses here, and have been, at times, surprisingly furnished with pertinent matter relating to him, and the design of his incarnation; so I have been no less assisted oftentimes in an advantageous manner of opening the mysteries of divine grace, and representing the infinite excellencies, and ‘unsearchable riches of Christ,’ as well as of recommending him to the acceptance of perishing sinners. I have frequently been enabled to represent the divine glory, the infinite preciousness and transcendant loveliness of the great Redeemer, the suitableness of his person and purchase to supply the wants, and answer the utmost desires of immortal souls;—to open the infinite riches of his grace, and the wonderful encouragement proposed in the gospel to unworthy, helpless sinners;—to call, invite, and beseech them to come and give up themselves to him, and be reconciled to God through him;—to expostulate with them respecting their neglect of one so infinitely lovely, and freely offered;—and this in such a manner, with such freedom, pertinency, pathos, and application to the conscience, as, I am sure, I never could have mademyself master of, by the most assiduous application of mind. Frequently, at such seasons, I have been surprisingly helped in adapting my discourses to the capacities of my people, and bringing them down into such easy, and familiar methods of expression, as has rendered them intelligible even to Pagans.
“I do not mention these things as a recommendation of my own performances; for I am sure I found, from time to time, that I had no skill or wisdom for my great work; and knew not how ‘to choose out acceptable words’ proper to address to poor benighted Pagans. But thus God was pleased to help me, ‘not to know any thing among them, save Jesus Christ and him crucified.’ Thus I was enabled to show them their misery without him, and to represent his complete fitness to redeem and save them.
“This was the preaching God made use of for awakening sinners, and the propagation of this ‘work of grace among the Indians.’ It was remarkable, from time to time, that when I was favored with any special freedom, in discoursing of the ‘ability and willingness of Christ to save sinners,’ and ‘the need in which they stood of such a Savior;’ there was then the greatest appearance of divine power in awakening numbers of secure souls, promoting convictions begun, and comforting the distressed.
“I have sometimes formerly, in reading the Apostle’s discourse to Cornelius, (Acts, 10,) wondered to see him so quickly introduce the Lord Jesus Christ into his sermon, and so entirely dwell upon him through the whole of it, observing him in this point very widely to differ from many of our modern preachers; but latterly this has not seemed strange, since Christ has appeared to be the substance of the gospel and the centre in whichthe several lines of divine revelation meet. Still I am sensible that there are many things necessary to be spoken to persons under Pagan darkness, in order to make way for a proper introduction of the name of Christ, and his undertaking in behalf of fallen man.
II. “It is worthy of remark, that numbers of these people are brought to a strict compliance with the rules of morality and sobriety, and to a conscientious performance of the external duties of Christianity, by theinternal power and influence of divine truth—the peculiar doctrines of grace upon their minds; without their having these moral duties frequently repeated and inculcated upon them, and the contrary vices particularly exposed and spoken against. What has been the general strain and drift of my preaching among these Indians, what were the truths I principally insisted upon, and how I was influenced and enabled to dwell from time to time, upon the peculiar doctrines of grace, I have already stated. Those doctrines, which had the most direct tendency to humble the fallen creature; to show him the misery of his natural state; to bring him down to the foot of sovereign mercy, and to exalt the great Redeemer—discover his transcendant excellency and infinite preciousness, and so recommend him to the sinner’s acceptance—were the subject-matter of what was delivered in public and private to them, and from time to time repeated and inculcated.
“God was pleased to give these divine truths such a powerful influence upon the minds of these people, and so to bless them for the effectual awakening of numbers of them, that their lives were quickly reformed, without my insisting upon the precepts of morality, and spending time in repeated harangues upon external duties. There was indeed no room for any kindof discourses but those which respected the essentials of religion, and the experimental knowledge of divine things, while there were so many inquiring daily—not how they should regulate their external conduct, for that, persons who are honestly disposed to comply with duty, when known, may in ordinary cases be easily satisfied about, but—how they should escape from the wrath they feared, and felt that they deserved,—obtain an effectual change of heart,—get an interest in Christ,—and come to the enjoyment of eternal blessedness? So that my great work still was to lead them into a further view of their utter undoneness in themselves, the total depravity and corruption of their hearts; that there was no manner of goodness in them; no good dispositions nor desires; no love to God, nor delight in his commands; but, on the contrary, hatred, enmity, and all manner of wickedness reigning in them:—and at the same time to open to them the glorious and complete remedy provided in Christ for perishing sinners, and offered freely to those who have no goodness of their own, no works of righteousness which they have done, to recommend them to God.
“This was the continued strain of my preaching; this my great concern and constant endeavor, so to enlighten the mind, as thereby duly to affect the heart, and, as far as possible, give persons asenseandfeelingof these precious and important doctrines of grace, at least so far as means might conduce to it. These were the doctrines, and this the method of preaching, which were blessed of God for the awakening, and I trust, the saving conversion of numbers of souls; and which were made the means of producing a remarkable reformation among the hearers in general.
“When these truths were felt at heart, there wasnow no vice unreformed—no external duty neglected. Drunkenness, the darling vice, was broken off, and scarce an instance of it known among my hearers for months together. The abusive practice ofhusbands and wivesin putting away each other, and taking others in their stead, was quickly reformed; so that there are three or four couples who have voluntarily dismissed those whom they had wrongfully taken, and now live together again in love and peace. The same might be said of all other vicious practices. The reformation was general; and all springing from theinternalinfluence of divine truth upon their hearts, and not from anyexternalrestraints, or because they had heard these vices particularly exposed, and repeatedly spoken against. Some of them I never so much as mentioned; particularly that of the parting of men and their wives, till some, having their conscience awakened by God’s word, came, andof their own accordconfessed themselves guilty in that respect. When I at any time mentioned their wicked practices, and the sins they were guilty of contrary to thelight of nature, it was not with a design, nor indeed with any hope, of working an effectual reformation in their external manners by this means, for I knew, that while the tree remained corrupt, the fruit would naturally be so. My design was to lead them, by observing the wickedness of their lives, to a view of the corruption of their hearts, and so to convince them of the necessity of a renovation of nature, and to excite them, with the utmost diligence to seek after that great change, which, if once obtained, I was sensible, would of course produce a reformation of external manners in every respect.
“And as all vice was reformed upon their feeling thepower of these truths upon their hearts, so the external duties of Christianity were complied with, and conscientiously performed from the same internal influence; family prayer set up, and constantly maintained, unless among a few who had more lately come, and had felt little of this divine influence. This duty was constantly performed, even in some families where there were none but females, and scarce a prayerless person was to be found among near an hundred of them. The Sabbath was seriously and religiously observed, and care taken by parents to keep their children orderly upon that sacred day; and this, not because I had driven them to the performance of these duties by frequently inculcating them, but because they had felt the power of God’s word upon their hearts,—were made sensible of their sin and misery, and thence could not but pray, and comply with every thing which they knew to be their duty, from what they felt within themselves. When their hearts were touched with a sense of their eternal concerns, they could pray with great freedom, as well as fervency, without being at the trouble first to learn set forms for that purpose. Some of them, who were suddenly awakened at their first coming among us, were brought to pray and cry for mercy with the utmost importunity, without ever being instructed in the duty of prayer, or so much as once directed to a performance of it.
“The happy effects of these peculiar doctrines of grace upon this people, show, even to demonstration, that, instead of their opening a door to licentiousness, as many vainly imagine, and slanderously insinuate, they have a directly contrary tendency; so that a close application, asenseandfeelingof them, will have the most powerful influence toward the renovation, andeffectualreformation both of heart and life.
“Happy experience, as well as the word of God and the example of Christ and his apostles, has taught me, that the very method of preaching which is best suited to awaken in mankind a sense and lively apprehension of their depravity and misery in a fallen state,—to excite them so earnestly to seek after a change of heart, as to fly for refuge to free and sovereign grace in Christ as the only hope set before them,—is likely to be most successful in the reformation of their external conduct. I have found that close addresses, and solemn applications of divine truth to the conscience, strike at the root of all vice; while smooth and plausible harangues upon moral virtues and external duties, at best are like to do no more than lop off the branches of corruption, while the root of all vice remains still untouched.
“A view of the blessed effect of honest endeavors to bring home divine truths to the conscience, and duly to affect the heart with them, has often reminded me of those words of our Lord, which I have thought might be a proper exhortation for ministers in respect to their treatment of others, as well as for persons in general with regard to themselves. ‘Cleanse first the inside of the cup and platter, that the outside may be clean also.’ Cleanse, says he, the inside that the outside may be clean. As if he had said, the only effectual way to have the outside clean, is to begin with what is within; and if the fountain be purified, the streams will naturally be pure. Most certain it is, if we can a weaken in sinners a lively sense of their inward pollution and depravity—their need of a change of heart—and so engage them to seek after inward cleansing, their external defilement will naturally be cleansed, their vicious ways of course be reformedand their conversation and behavior become regular.
“Now, although I cannot pretend that the reformation among my people does, in every instance, spring from a saving change of heart; yet I may truly say, it flows from someheart-affectingview and sense of divine truths which all have had in a greater or less degree. I do not intend, by what I have observed here, to represent the preaching of morality and pressing persons to the external performance of duty, to be altogether unnecessary and useless, especially at times when there is less of divine power attending the means of grace, when, for want of internal influences, there is need of external restraints. It is doubtless among the things that ought to be done, while others are not to be left undone. But what I principally designed by this remark, was to discover a plain matter of fact, viz. That the reformation, the sobriety, and the external compliance with the rules and duties of Christianity, appearing among my people, are not the effect of any mere doctrinal instruction, or merely rational view of the beauty of morality, but from the internal power and influence which the soul-humbling doctrines of grace have had upon their hearts.
III. “It is remarkable, that God has socontinued and renewedthe showers of his grace here; soquicklyset up his visible kingdom among these people; and so smiled upon them in relation to their acquirement of knowledge, both divine and human. It is now nearly a year since the beginning of this gracious outpouring of the divine Spirit among them; and although it has often seemed to decline and abate for some short space of time—as may be observed by several passages of my Journal, where I have endeavored to note things just as from time to time they appeared to me—yetthe shower has seemed to be renewed, and the work of grace revived again. A divine influence seems still apparently to attend the means of grace, in a greater or less degree, in most of our meetings for religious exercises; whereby religious persons are refreshed, strengthened, and established,—convictions revived and promoted in many instances, and some few persons newly awakened from time to time. It must be acknowledged, that for some time past there has, in general, appeared a more manifest decline of this work; and the divine Spirit has seemed, in a considerable measure, withdrawn, especially with regard to his awakening influence; so that thestrangerswho come latterly, are not seized with concern as formerly; and some few who have been much affected with divine truths in time past, now appear less concerned. Yet, blessed be God, there is still an appearance of divine power and grace, a desirable degree of tenderness, religious affection and devotion in our assemblies.
“As God has continued and renewed the showers of his grace among this people for some time, so he has with uncommonquicknessset up his visible kingdom, and gathered himself a church in the midst of them.Fifteenindividuals, since the conclusion of my last Journal, have made a public profession of their faith, makingthirty-eightwithin the space ofelevenmonths, all of whom appear to have had a work of special grace wrought in their hearts; I mean, to have had the experience not only of the awakening, but, in a judgment of charity, of the renewing influences of the divine Spirit. There are many others under solemn concern for their souls, and deep convictions of their sin and misery, but who do not yet give that decisive evidence which could be desired, of a saving change.
“From the time when, as I am informed, some of them were attending anidolatrous feastandsacrificein honor todevils, to the time when they sat down at the Lord’s table, I trust to the honor of God, was not more than afull year. Surely Christ’s little flock here, so suddenly gathered from among Pagans, may justly say, in the language of the church of old, ‘The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.’
“Much of the goodness of God has also appeared in relation to their acquisition of knowledge, both in religion and in the affairs of common life. There has been a wonderful thirst afterChristian knowledgeprevailing among them in general, and an eager desire of being instructed in Christian doctrines and manners. This has prompted them to ask many pertinent as well as important questions; the answers to which have tended much to enlighten their minds and promote their knowledge in divine things. Many of the doctrines which I have delivered, they have queried with me about, in order to gain further light and insight into them; and have from time to time manifested a good understanding of them, by their answers to the questions proposed to them in my catechetical lectures.
“They have likewise queried with me respecting a propermethod, as well as propermatter of prayer, and expressions suitable to be used in that religious exercise; and have taken pains in order to the performance of this duty with understanding.—They have likewise taken pains, and appeared remarkably apt in learning to singpsalm-tunes, and are now able to sing with a good degree of decency in the worship of God.—They have also acquired a considerable degree of useful knowledge in the affairs of common life; so that they now appear like rational creatures, fit for humansociety, free of that savage roughness and brutish stupidity which rendered them very disagreeable in their Pagan state.
“They seem ambitious of a thorough acquaintance with the English language, and for that end frequently speak it among themselves. Many of them have made good proficiency in acquiring it, since my coming among them; so that most of them can understand a considerable part, and some the substance of my discourses, without anInterpreter, being used to my simple and familiar methods of expression, though they could not well understand other ministers.
“As they are desirous of instruction, and surprisingly apt in the reception of it, so divine Providence has smiled upon them with regard to theproper meansin order to it. The attempts made for establishing aschoolamong them have succeeded, and a kind Providence has sent them aschoolmaster, of whom I may justly say, I know of ‘no man like minded, who will naturally care for their state.’ He has generallythirtyorthirty-fivechildren in his school; and when he kept an evening school, as he did while the length of the 'evenings would admit of it,fifteenortwentygrown people, married and single, attended.
“The children learn with surprising readiness; so that their master tells me, he never had an English school which learned, in general, so fast. There were not above two in thirty, although some of them were very small, but learned all the letters in the alphabet within three days after his entrance upon his business; and several in that space of time learned to spell considerably. Some of them, in less than five months, have learned to read with ease in the Psalter or Testament.
“They are instructed twice a week in theCatechism, on Wednesday and Saturday.Someof them, since the latter end of February, when they began, have committed more than half of it to memory; andmostof them have made some proficiency in it.
“They are likewise instructed in the duty ofsecret prayer, and most of them constantly attend it night and morning, and are very careful to inform their master, if they apprehend that any of their little school-mates neglect that religious exercise.
IV. “It is worthy to be noted, to the praise of sovereign grace, that amidst so great a work of conviction—so much concern and religious affection—there has beenno prevalence, nor indeed any considerable appearance of false religion—heats of imagination, intemperate zeal, or spiritual pride; and that there have been very few instances of irregular and scandalous behavior among those who have appeared serious.
“This work of grace has, in the main, been carried on with a surprising degree of purity, and freedom from corrupt mixture. Their religious concern has generally been rational and just; arising from a sense of their sins, and exposure to the divine displeasure on account of them; as well as their utter inability to deliver themselves from the misery they felt and feared. If there has been, in any instance, an appearance of concern and perturbation of mind, when the subjects of it knew not why; yet there has been no prevalence of any such thing; and indeed I scarcely know of any instance of that nature at all.—It is very remarkable, that, although the concern of many persons under convictions of their perishing state has been very great and pressing, yet I have never seen any thing like desperation attending it in any one instance. They havehad the most lively sense of their undoneness in themselves; have been brought to give up all hopes of deliverance from themselves; have experienced great distress and anguish of soul; and yet, in the seasons of the greatest extremity, there has been no appearance of despair in any of them,—nothing that has discouraged, or in any wise hindered them from the most diligent use of all proper means for their conversion and salvation. Hence it is apparent, that there is not that danger of persons being driven into despair under spiritual trouble, unless in cases of deep and habitual melancholy, which the world in general is ready to imagine.
“The comfort which persons have obtained after their distresses, has likewise in general appeared solid, well grounded, and scriptural; arising from a spiritual and supernatural illumination of mind,—a view of divine things, in a measure, as they are,—a complacency of soul in the divine perfections,—and a peculiar satisfaction in the way of salvation by free sovereign grace in the great Redeemer.
“Their joys have seemed to rise from a variety of views and considerations of divine things, although for substance the same. Some, who, under conviction, seemed to have the hardest struggles and heart-risings against the divine sovereignty, have seemed, at the first dawn of their comfort, to rejoice in a peculiar manner in that divine perfection:—and have been delighted to think that themselves, and all things else, were in the hand of God, and that he would dispose of them ‘just as he pleased.’
“Others, who, just before their reception of comfort, have been remarkably oppressed with a sense of their undoneness and poverty, who have seen themselves, asit were, falling down into remediless perdition, have been at first more peculiarly delighted with a view of the freeness and riches of divine grace, and the offer of salvation made to perishing sinners ‘without money and without price.’
“Some have at first appeared to rejoice especially in thewisdomof God, discovered in the way of salvation by Christ; it then appearing to them ‘a new and living way,’ a way of which they had never thought, nor had any just conceptions, until opened to them by the special influence of the divine Spirit. Some of them, upon a lively spiritual view of this way of salvation, have wondered at their past folly in seeking salvation in other ways, and that they never saw this way of salvation before, which now appeared so plain and easy, as well as excellent to them.
“Others, again, have had a more general view of the beauty and excellency of Christ, and have had their souls delighted with an apprehension of his divine glory, as unspeakably exceeding all they had ever conceived before; yet, without singling out any one of the divine perfections in particular; so that, although their comforts have seemed to arise from a variety of views and considerations of divine glories, still they werespiritualandsupernaturalviews of them, and not groundless fancies, which were the spring of their joys and comforts.
“Yet it must be acknowledged that, when this work became so universal and prevalent, and gained such general credit and esteem among the Indians that Satan seemed to have little advantage of working against it in his own proper garb, he then transformed himself ‘into an angel of light,’ and made some vigorous attempts to introduce turbulent commotions of the passionsin the room of genuine convictions of sin, imaginary and fanciful notions of Christ, as appearing to the mental eye in a human shape, and in some particular postures, &c. in the room of spiritual and supernatural discoveries of his divine glory and excellency, as well as many other delusions. I have reason to think, that, if these things had met with countenance and encouragement, there would have been a very considerable harvest of this kind of converts here.
“Spiritual pridealso discovered itself in various instances. Some persons, whose feelings had been greatly excited, seemed very desirous from thence of being thought truly gracious; who, when I could not but express to them my fears respecting their spiritual state, discovered their resentments to a considerable degree. There also appeared in one or two of them, an unbecoming ambition of being teachers of others. So that Satan has been a busy adversary here as well as elsewhere. But, blessed be God, though something of this nature has appeared, yet nothing of it has prevailed, nor indeed made any considerable progress at all. My people are now apprised of these things, are made acquainted, that Satan in such 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 something of this nature, in a greater or less degree, has attended almost every revival and remarkable propagation of true religion ever since. They have learned so to distinguish between the gold and dross, that the credit of the latter ‘is trodden down like the mire of the streets;’ and, as it is natural for this kind of stuff to die with its credit, there is now scarce any appearance of it among them.
“As there has been no prevalence of irregular heats,imaginary notions, spiritual pride, and satanical delusions among my people; so there have been very few instances of scandalous and irregular behavior among those who have made a profession, or even an appearance of seriousness. I do not know of more than three or four such persons who have been guilty of any open misconduct, since their first acquaintance with Christianity; and I know of no one who persists in any thing of that nature. Perhaps the remarkable purity of this work in thelatterrespect, its freedom from frequent instances of scandal, is very much owing to its purity in theformerrespect, its freedom from corrupt mixtures of spiritual pride, wild-fire, and delusion, which naturally lay a foundation for scandalous practices.
“May this blessed work, in the power and purity of it, prevail among the poor Indians here, as well as spread elsewhere, till their remotest tribes shall see the salvation of God! Amen.”