And as they are desirous of instruction, and surprisingly apt in receiving it, so divine providence has afforded them the proper means for this purpose. The attempts made to raise a school among them have been succeeded, and a kind providence has sent them a schoolmaster, of whom I may justly say, I know of "no man like minded, who will naturally care for their state." He has generally thirty or thirty-five children in his school; and when he kept an evening school, as he did while the length of the evenings would admit of it, he had fifteen or twenty people, married and single.

The children learn with surprising readiness; their master tells me, he never had an English school that learned in general so fast. There were not above two in thirty, although some of them were very small, but what learned to know all the letters in the alphabet distinctly, within three days after his entrance upon his business, while several in that space of time learned to spell considerably. Some of them, since the beginning of February last, at which time the school was set up, have learned so much, that that they are able to read in a Psalter or Testament without spelling.

They are instructed twice a-week in the Assembly's Shorter Catechism, viz. on Wednesday and Saturday. Some of them, since the latter end of February, at which time they began, have learned to say it pretty distinctly by heart, considerably more than half through; and most of them have made some proficiency in it. They are likewise instructed in the duty of secret prayer, and most of them constantly attend it night and morning, and are very careful to inform their master if they apprehend any of their little school-mates neglect that holy exercise.

Fourthly, 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 been no prevaleney, nor indeed any considerable appearance of false religion, if I may so term it; or heats of imagination, intemperate zeal, and spiritual pride. These corrupt mixtures too often attend the revival and powerful propagation of religion; but in the present instance

there has been very little irregular or scandalous behaviour among those who have appeared serious. I may justly repeat what I observed at the conclusion of my last Journal, viz. that there has here been no appearance of "bodily agonies, convulsions, frightful screamings, swoonings," and the like. I may now further add, that there has been no prevalency of visions, trances, and imaginations of any kind; though there has been an appearance of something of that nature since the conclusion of that Journal. An instance of this sort I have given an account of in my Journal of December 26.

This work of grace has in the main been carried on with a surprising degree of purity, and freedom from corrupt mixture. The religious concern that persons have been under, has generally been rational and just; arising from a sense of their sins, and exposedness 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 irrational concern and perturbation of mind, when the subjects of it knew not why, yet there has been no prevalency of any such thing; and indeed I scarcely know of any instance of that nature at all. And 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 have had the most lively sense of their undone state; have been brought to give up all hopes of deliverance from themselves, while their spiritual exercises have been attended with great distress and anguish of soul. 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, there is not that danger of persons being driven into despair under spiritual trouble, unless in cases of deep and habitual melancholy, that the world in general is ready to imagine.

The comfort that persons have obtained after their

distresses, has likewise in general appeared solid, wellgrounded, 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 the great Redeemer. Their joys 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 divine sovereignty, have seemed at the first dawn of their comfort, to rejoice in a peculiar manner in that divine perfection,-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 helplessness and poverty, who have seen themselves as it 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 to perishing sinners "without money, and without price."

Some have at first appeared to rejoice especially in the wisdom of God, discovered in the way of salvation by Christ. It appeared to them "a new and living way,' a way they had never had any just conception of, 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 any other way, 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 as it were any one of the divine perfections in particular; so that although their comforts seemed to arise from a variety of views and considerations of the divine glories, still they were spiritual and supernatural

views of them, and not groundless fancies, that were the spring of their joys and comforts.

It must be acknowledged however, 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 passions in the room of genuine convictions of sin, imaginary and fanciful notions of Christ, as appearing to the mental eye in a human shape, and being in some particular postures, &c. instead of spiritual and supernatural discoveries of his divine glory and excellency. If these and similar delusions had met with countenance and encouragement, there would have been a very considerable harvest of this kind of converts here. Spiritual pride also discovered itself in various instances. Some persons who had been under great affections, seemed desirous of being thought truly gracious; who, when I could not but express to them my fears respecting their spiritual state, discovered their resentment to a considerable degree upon that occasion. 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. My people are now apprised of these things, are acquainted that Satan in such a manner "transformed himself into an angel of light," in the first season of the great out-pouring of the divine Spirit in the days of the apostles; and that something of this nature, in a greater or lesser degree, has attended almost every revival and remarkable propagation of true religion ever since. And they have learned so to distinguish between the gold and the dross, that the credit of the latter "is trode down like the mire of the streets :" and it being natural for this kind of stuff to die with its credit, there is now scarcely any appearance of it among them.

And as there has been no prevalency of irregular heats,

imaginary notions, spiritual pride, and Satanical delusions among my people; so there has been a very few instances of scandalous and irregular behaviour among those who have made a professsion, or even an appearance of seriousness. I do not know of more than three or four such persons that have been guilty of any open misconduct, since their first acquaintance with Christianity, and not one that persists in any thing of that nature. Perhaps the remarkable purity of this work in the latter respect, its freedom from frequent instances of scandal, is very much owing to its purity in the former respect, 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.

D. R.