Esquimaux visit the English settlements--pernicious
consequences--dreadful accident--famine--unexpected supply of
food and skins.--Emigration from Okkak--missionaries' care of the
wanderers, who return disappointed.--Terrible tales from the
south.--Inquirers separated from the heathen.--Popish priest
attempts to seduce the converts.--Brother Rose inspects
Hopedale.--Karpik the sorcerer.--Peter's fall.--Visits to the
south renewed.--Parting address of the
brethren.--Epidemic.--Death of Daniel--of Esther.--Conversion and
peaceful end of Tuglavina.--Last days of Mikak.--Indians come to
Hopedale.--Rose's remarks on the internal state of the
missions.--Instances of the power of grace among the
Esquimaux--striking observation of one of the
baptized.--Jonathan's letter to the Greenlanders.--Affecting
confession of Solomon.--Conduct of a young woman sought in
marriage by a heathen.--State of the settlements at the close of
the century.--Prospects begin to brighten.--Remarkable
phenomenon.--Avocations of the missionaries--their
trials--preservation of their vessels--of their
settlements--their brotherly love.
Eleven years had the brethren now laboured for the conversion of the
Esquimaux amidst many difficulties and dangers, when circumstances
occurred which threatened to blast these fair hopes of success. In the
summer of 1782, the Esquimaux, for the first time since missionaries
had settled in the country, visited the English settlements in the
south. Tuglavina had persuaded Abraham, one of the baptized of Nain,
to go with him to Chateau Bay; and when they returned in October, they
reported that the Commander-in-chief had been quite overjoyed to see
baptized Esquimaux, and wished that more of them might come to visit
him, for he also had been baptized, and hoped that his soul after
death would go to heaven. He had reproved Mikak for not being
baptized, and warned then all against murders and adultery. Abraham
had bought a boat and still owed half of the price, yet he and
Tuglavina had each received a present of a musket and powder and ball,
nor had the women been sent empty away; also, while they were there,
they had had plenty to eat, a gratification of no minor importance.
By these splendid accounts of their kind reception, a general desire
was excited among their countrymen to go likewise to the south; and
the next consequence was, insolence and opposition to the missionaries
and teachers. If they were reminded to be sparing of their winter
provisions, they sarcastically replied, by reminding the brethren of
the manner in which Tuglavina and Abraham had been treated by the
"good" Europeans in the south; or if they came into the mission-house
and got nothing to eat, they immediately exclaimed, with the
Europeans in the south we can have plenty to eat. And when one was
turned out from the palasadoes, he angrily remarked, the Europeans
have no palasadoes. By these representations the greater part of the
baptized were seduced and deceived; the brethren with meekness
endeavoured to put them right, reminded them that at their baptism
they had promised to love Jesus only, and to follow him, not to leave
the congregation of the faithful, and to obey their teachers. They
also particularly described the dangers to which they would be exposed
in their journey to the south, and desired them to consider the
impressive warnings the Commander-in-chief had so lately given
them--but all was in vain.
In the following winter, a famine broke out among the Esquimaux in
Nain; their number amounted to eighty-two souls, whereof thirty-five
were baptized and candidates for baptism. All these looked to the
brethren when in want of the necessaries of life, who afforded them
assistance to the utmost of their ability; but received little thanks
for their kindness, for if they did not give them what they thought
enough, they upbraided them with the conduct of the good Europeans in
the south.
On the 4th December a dreadful accident happened at Ankpalluktak,
about six hours distant from Nain. A large mass of snow was
precipitated from a mountain and overwhelmed an Esquimaux winter
house, wherein were thirty persons, young and old. No one could escape
to tell the tale of their disaster or procure assistance; but it
happened, by the merciful providence of God, that Nathaniel, with
another Esquimaux, went to Ankpalluktak to bring Sirmek to Nain; to
their astonishment they found him lying half-frozen, unable either to
stand or walk, yet still alive. They then heard a voice from the midst
of the ruins, by which they perceived there were still some persons
alive beneath the snow; and hastening back to Nain with Sirmek, they
returned with additional hands, and the necessary tools from the
brethren. They soon found that there were more Esquimaux within, and
by great exertion and labour succeeded in extricating nine persons
from the rubbish, but one of them was so much bruised that she died
very soon after. By this visitation twenty-one persons lost their
lives. The Esquimaux were greatly alarmed by it for a little, but the
impression soon wore off, and all was forgotten.
In January and February 1783, the famine increased among the natives,
and the brethren redoubled their endeavours to supply their
necessities, which however appears only to have had the effect of
encouraging their indolence, for so long as they could get food in
this way they would not stir abroad, or make the least exertion to
supply their own wants. If urged to go in search of food, they alleged
that hunger prevented them; "for," said they, "when we go out and
catch nothing it makes us the more hungry." If advised to go and hunt,
they replied, "We have no gun." Yet did not this waywardness tire the
patient benevolence of the missionaries; but, like children of their
Father in heaven, who causeth his sun to rise on the evil and the
good, and sendeth rain on the just and unjust, when the famine had
reached its height, brother Lister sent to Okkak to fetch a sledge
load of dried fish.
Ere they arrived, news was brought that the Esquimaux in the island of
Kerniteksut, two hours distant from Nain, had been so fortunate as to
find a dead whale. On hearing this, the whole inhabitants of the
country hastened to the place to satisfy their hunger; an immense
number of foxes came for the same purpose; these they killed, and thus
the starving natives were supplied both with food and riches, the
skins of these animals forming a principal article of exchange with
the Europeans. But this last occurrence proved that wealth among
savages, as well as in more civilized countries, is not always a
blessing; it renewed anew the desire to go to the south, as the
greater part were now in circumstances to carry merchandize thither,
to barter with the good and kind Europeans. Nothing then was spoken of
but trade in the south, and they could hardly wait for the season to
undertake the journey. When the brethren visited them in the spring,
they treated them with the greatest indifference and even insolence;
the gospel of Jesus found no access to them; and though, through a
certain dread of the missionaries, which they could not cast off, they
were not so outrageously brutal as formerly; yet in secret they
returned to the indulgence of many of their vile practices.
Early in the approaching summer, more than eighty Esquimaux went from
the country round Nain to the south, among whom were nineteen of the
baptized, and even Peter, the first fruits of the mission, accompanied
them. The majority had determined to spend the winter there, and get
plenty to eat, and tobacco, and guns, and powder, and ball, and other
articles which they could not purchase so advantageously from the
brethren. From the country round Okkak too, above an hundred of the
natives went south in four boats, among whom were Luke and his family,
who were baptized.
When the brethren saw that the baptized would not be prevented from
going to the south, though sorely grieved, yet anxious for their
welfare in their ill advised expedition, they gave them a written
certificate, stating that they, the missionaries, had been sent there
by an agreement with the governor of Newfoundland, in the years 1771
and --2; that they had lived in love and concord with the Esquimaux,
and had no cause of complaint against them; that there was no other
reason for their present journey than the invitation of Europeans in
the south; then recommended them to the care and friendly treatment of
the colonists, and concluded by giving a short account of the progress
of the mission since its commencement.
At the new mission station, Hopedale, some beginnings of a stirring
among the heathen were perceived, but the same giddy infatuation which
had seized their countrymen laid hold on them also, and blasted this
pleasing prospect. A boatful of them undertook the voyage to the
south, while the others who remained, had their minds wholly
dissipated.
From this propensity of the Esquimaux to go to the colony, the outward
circumstances of the mission appeared to be in great danger. For as
the wanderers carried considerable quantities of merchandize to the
southern settlements, the home freight of the Society's ship, the
Amity, which consisted of the same articles, was much less this, than
it had been in any former year.
On the 5th of October five families of Arcktok came from Chateau Bay
back to Nain; they now spoke in a very different tone respecting the
"good and kind" Europeans; they had quarrelled with their friends, who
had seized their wives, and afterwards maltreated and threatened to
shoot themselves; while they, probably, had not altogether refrained
from their old thievish practices. The year before, they said, the
people in the south are better than you, they give us plenty to
eat;--now they said, "You are the _Innuit_, our true friends, we will
never leave you more."
The following year, 1784, Tuglavina arrived at Nain on the 6th of
September with three boats, on his return from Chateau Bay--the
accounts which he and others gave of their residence there pierced the
missionaries to their inmost souls. Of the nineteen baptized who went
south five had perished, David, Abraham, Moses, Timothy, and Deborah;
the latter, there was ground to hope, had a blessed departure. David
was drowned in a kaiak on the sea, and on this account, by the counsel
of old Nerkingoak, his sister Killatsiak was ordered to be burnt to
death. Abraham, while striking fire for this purpose, slightly wounded
his finger; but trifling as the hurt appeared, it brought him to his
miserable end. Moses was shot by Tuglavina. Timothy was likewise
assassinated. When Tuglavina touched at Hopedale, being asked, "Where
is Moses?" he coolly answered, "He is lost." "Where is he lost? is he
gone over the sea?" was next asked. "No! I have killed him," answered
the savage. "And wherefore did you kill him?" said they. "Because he
was good for nothing," was the careless reply. It was apparent,
however, that they had been murdered for the sake of their women.
Moses had three baptized wives, who were given or sold to three
northern men; Kathmina was purchased by her brother, Kekluana of
Pitteklaluk, for a great coat, a hatchet, a folding knife, and a
spoon. These conjugal bargains Tuglavina related to brother Lister,
quite unasked and without emotion; indeed his whole appearance was as
if he had been possessed by an evil spirit. The brethren slept none
that night for grief.
By such horrible occurrences the desire of the baptized to travel to
the south was somewhat checked, and the following year only a single
boat went thither. But the colony possessed particular attractions for
the natives; as there they could be supplied with muskets, powder, and
ball, which having learned the use of, had now become absolutely
necessary for them in hunting. The missionaries had, hitherto, doubted
the propriety of arming them with such dangerous weapons; but as they
could no longer be kept from them, they got themselves supplied with
them from England as articles of trade, to prevent, if possible, the
Esquimaux from making this a pretext for emigrating.
Daily observation more and more convinced the brethren of the injury
the baptized and the inquirers had sustained while they continued to
live among their heathen countrymen; the constant incitements to their
superstitious sinful customs, and to their heathenish juggling and
games, they were frequently little able to resist, especially when
their old inclinations were seconded by the calls of affection or
friendship. When, for example, some spell was to be tried on a sick
relative, and any of those who had been taught something of
Christianity opposed it, they were reproached with hating the invalid,
and wishing him dead. Another source of seduction to the half-informed
heathen, was the use which the Angekoks made of the little knowledge
of Christianity which they had obtained. These sorcerers, who are held
in great veneration and dread by the people, and whose atrocities, as
well as their pretended inspirations, render them objects of terror;
when they saw the influence of the missionaries, and felt their own
importance begin to shake, introduced into their incantations the name
of Jesus, whom they acknowledged to be a powerful supernatural being,
inferior only to Torngak--and the believers themselves were apt to
retain and to mix some of their old opinions with their new creed.
To preserve these tender plants from the contagious breath of a
heathen atmosphere, the brethren determined that in future, they
should have fixed habitations adjacent to their own dwelling, and they
erected houses in a substantial fashion not far from the missionary
station, into which they received no Esquimaux except such as
expressed their sincere resolution to renounce heathenism. In Hopedale
they had often experienced the baleful consequences of being in the
neighbourhood of the heathen at Avertok. This was peculiarly evident
from a declaration of some of the baptized who had spent the winter
among them. A meeting was called on the 12th April 1786, to consult
about the subject, when all the men inhabiting the station attended;
it was held in the open air, and as the weather was exceedingly fine,
continued for upwards of three hours. Here the brethren were informed
of the transactions which had taken place the winter before, and one
professed believer thought himself bound to make a confession of the
superstitious and sinful practices in which he had formerly engaged.
As these were among the actions and deeds which ought not so much as
to be named among Christians, the brethren strictly forbade any such
confessions in future, but particularly in public, and before the
heathen; who being strongly addicted to the same abominations, and
unable to distinguish between a penitent confession and an actual
approval, might be hardened in their sins by hearing such narratives,
which they would naturally conclude proceeded from the pleasure the
persons still took in practices they delighted to talk of.
A new trial, of perhaps a more distressing kind, afflicted the
brethren, from an attempt made by a Roman catholic priest to seduce
the baptized and the inquirers, by presenting them with a form of
Christianity which had some appearance to that they saw among the
Moravians, while it permitted an indulgence in those vices which the
doctrines of the latter could not tolerate. A warm and a flattering
invitation sent by a Frenchman named Macko, from Canada, who had an
establishment in the south at Avertok, awakened with redoubled force
the propensity of the Esquimaux to go to the south, though they now
could get shooting materials at the settlements, better, and on more
advantageous terms, than they could there. This Frenchman, who acted
not only as a merchant, but as a Roman catholic priest, made them the
most extravagant promises; and besides, he said he would pray daily
with them to Jesus, and that he had the most beautiful writings--_i.e_.
pictures--of the Saviour. In consequence, a company of thirty-two
persons, and among them fourteen of the baptized, went thither in the
summer of 1787, so that the number of inhabitants in Hopedale was
reduced from fifty-nine to thirty. Macko invited the Esquimaux to
worship God with him; this seemed more pleasant and convenient than to
remain under restraint with the brethren, for there they saw
"Christian" sailors who allowed themselves to follow every species of
sinful dissolute conduct. On their return they said, the Europeans have
meetings yonder as you have, and they have Jesus as you have here.
The repeated distressing accounts from the brethren of the apparently
insurmountable obstacles with which they had to struggle in attempting
the conversion of the heathen, gave occasion to the venerable Bishop
Spangenberg to write an impressive letter to the believing Esquimaux.
This letter was translated into their language, and read to the
baptized and the candidates for baptism at all the stations.
Particularly anxious to root out these heathenish weeds which were
chocking the growth of the good seed, Superintendant Rose, in 1787,
inspected Hopedale, where they appeared most thickly scattered, and
producing the most baneful effects. He spoke to every member of the
congregation separately; and when they had given their assent to the
contents of the letter, he made them, in a fellowship meeting,
solemnly promise to give up their feasts with their heathen
neighbours, and withdraw from the government of Kapik, a powerful
Angekok in Avertok. This sorcerer, whenever he chose, seduced the
Esquimaux to commit the greatest enormities, by threatening to kill
them through the power of Torngak, if they did not obey his commands.
But coming soon after to Hopedale, the missionary spoke seriously with
him, and extorted a reluctant promise from him to renounce his usurped
authority over the believers.
Although the journies to the south were a great hindrance to the
collecting of congregations, yet in all the three settlements some
were almost yearly added to the Christian church by baptism; and the
number of baptized, and candidates for baptism, in the year 1789,
amounted to about eighty. Yet, alas! even with the baptized little
fortitude and growth in grace could be observed--many deviated
grievously from the right path. In Nain, Nathaniel, a baptized
Esquimaux, had taken a baptized woman for a second wife and had gone
with her to the heathen, with whom a plurality of wives is very
common, and is considered as a mark of superiority; he being
considered a great man who possesses two or three wives, and as soon
as any one possesses a European boat he is, according to the opinion
of the country, in circumstances to have at least four helpmates. Even
Peter had so far again sunk into heathenism, that he had taken
several, and among others, a mother and her daughter. Bishop
Spangenberg was so touched with the case of this poor wanderer that he
wrote him, representing the nature of his conduct in the most
affectionate manner, and earnestly exhorting him to return. When the
letter was read to him at Nain, 1779, he said Joseph has spoken pure
truth, and I love him for it; his words are right, but I require the
women for my boat and I cannot send them away. He was again put in
remembrance of the letter in the following year, when he assured the
brethren it had made such an impression on him that he could not sleep
for three nights; but he continued in his evil course of conduct, and
still kept the mother and the daughter among his wives. He went
afterwards to the south, where he remained two or three winters, but
whether he ever obtained repentance must remain a secret till "that
day."
Reports of many horrible murders committed in the north in the year
1790 having reached the brethren, they were not a little comforted by
the remark of an Esquimaux living at one of the settlements, "As many
murders," said he, "would have been committed here if you had not come
and brought us the good word of our Creator becoming our Redeemer, of
his great love to us, and of our duty to love him and our neighbour."
A strong desire to travel to the south became again prevalent among
the Esquimaux in the summer of 1791; they said one could get a large
boat there for a small price, and plenty to eat, as the Europeans
caught the seals in nets and gave away the flesh for nothing, and they
gave them also bread and rum at a low rate, and all this was good for
the _Innuit_. A hundred persons, of whom fifteen were baptized, and
three candidates for baptism, went from Nain and Okkak in eleven
boats. The sad experience of former years had shewn the brethren the
destructive effects that the frequent dispersion, and the constant
intercourse with their heathen countrymen and careless Europeans, had
in bewildering the Esquimaux, and erasing all their religion; they
therefore determined at parting to give them a serious and
affectionate admonition. In this they reminded them that the members
of the congregation, in going away, were departing from what they had
heard of the Saviour, and what they had promised at their baptism, and
from what the ordinance of the holy supper required them to be. That
they--the missionaries--ever since the time of their backsliding, had
never ceased to cry to the Saviour, as they well knew that he was
merciful and gracious, and would again receive repenting sinners; that
though they would not now follow the counsel of their teachers, and
would separate from them, yet it might be, that when they were in
necessity or affliction, they might think on what they had heard of
Jesus, and take refuge in him; and then, though their bodies should
return to the dust, their souls, purchased by his precious blood,
would be saved. One of the baptized replied that he knew all that, and
understood it quite well, but he must be allowed to follow his own
discretion. He promised, however, at parting, that he would continue
to love his teachers--would think on their words, and if he should die
in the south, he would order that his baptized children should be sent
back to the congregation and put under their care.
During the winters 1796 and 1797, an infectious disease visited all
the settlements, a violent cough, accompanied with fever and pleurisy;
it attacked both Europeans and Esquimaux, but proved fatal chiefly to
the latter, and lasted for about two months; at Nain it was so
universal, that when they met together they could not proceed, as the
coughing rendered the service altogether unintelligible. When an
Esquimaux is taken ill, he expects, from any medicine that may be
prescribed, an immediate cure, and if this does not take place grows
dejected; and now, fears at the thoughts of death, which are deeply
rivetted, shewed themselves even in believers. The missionaries were
assiduous in their attendance, and in using every means they possessed
for their cure; but learned, to their inexpressible grief, that the
impatience of some also who had received the gospel, led them to
follow the old superstitious ways of the sorcerers to procure relief,
and this at the very time when they were professing to follow
implicitly the prescriptions of the brethren. They were very cautious,
however, lest it should reach the missionaries' ears; nor do the
latter seem to have been aware of it, till one of the communicants at
Okkak, constrained by uneasiness of mind, confessed the whole with
many tears, saving that he had grievously sinned against the Lord. The
hypocrisy and equivocation which many, of whom they had hoped better
things, evinced, added greatly to the anguish of the missionaries; but
they had great consolation in the death of others, who departed happy
in the faith to their Saviour. Among these was Daniel, a communicant;
he said in his last illness, "All the things I had confidence in are
now in the depths of the sea, my only refuge is the Saviour; all my
thoughts rest on him." The widow Esther, however, deserves particular
notice; she was bred at Kilanok north from Okkak, and when a child
came on a visit to Nain in 1773, where she and her countrymen heard
for the first time the missionaries speak of the Creator and Redeemer
of men; this made a great impression upon her, and though a child, and
surrounded only by the heathen, it constantly occurred to her mind,
"It is he who made all things and knows all things; he, therefore,
knows me and can help me." Often she told the missionaries, that when
she was at Kilanok, she would go out to a mountain and weep and pray
to Jesus, particularly when any thing painful happened to her. After
her father's death a man took her for his third wife, which placed her
in the most painful circumstances, as he was a rude wicked wretch, a
sorcerer, and a murderer. In the year 1787 he died, and she was left
with two children completely destitute, for every one hated them on
his account. Her children were so dreadfully beaten that they both
died in consequence; but though they were thus cruelly treated in her
presence she durst not interfere, as the savages in ridicule
pretended it was the Torngak that bid them, and threatened her also
with death. At last Rebecca, one of the baptized, had compassion on
her in this disconsolate situation, and brought her to Okkak. Here the
missionaries soon perceived such an earnest desire after salvation as
they say they had never before seen in any Esquimaux, though she at
first spoke but little. In 1789, she was baptized, and soon after was
a partaker of the holy supper. She lived in constant communion with
her Saviour, for she had learned to know him as her comforter, her
counsellor and help, and often said, "He is indeed my Father; wherever
I go, and wherever I am, he is with me, and I can tell him every
thing." Esther was the first converted person among the Esquimaux who
continued faithful unto the end, without allowing herself in any thing
sinful, and though often asked in marriage by unbelievers, so far was
she from listening to such proposals, that her reply was, "I would not
disturb my present enjoyment even to marry a believer." For had she
married, she must have gone in summer with the other Esquimaux to the
distant places where they procured their furs and skins, while in her
present state she could always remain at the settlement, and enjoy
the privileges of a Christian church. She learned to read and write,
so that she wrote letters with her own hand to the sisters at Nain. In
June 1792, when she was taken ill, she sweetly repeated, "Whether I
live I am the Saviour's, whether I die I am the Saviour's--living or
dying I am the Saviour's! Yes! he hath bought me with his blood, and
he will take me to himself!" She died after three days illness, aged
thirty years.
About this time the hearts of the missionaries were revived by the
joyful news, that Tuglavina had begun to think about his soul, and
seemed in earnest. This furious savage, by strength, courage, and
activity, had procured a commanding influence among his countrymen;
who so highly dreaded him as a chief, and trembled at his supernatural
powers as an Angekok, that his word was a law; and he had only to
signify to them his pleasure as a revelation from Torngak, when it was
instantly executed. Whoever he pointed out as a victim, his deluded
followers were ready to sacrifice. Besides the numerous murders thus
perpetrated, he committed many with his own hands; nor was there any
method of controlling or bringing him to an account. He had, however,
at first, and upon many occasions, been of essential service to the
mission; and entertained a peculiar respect for the missionaries,
particularly "little Jans," of which a striking instance is narrated
in the journals. At one time, when he returned from the south from
Chateau Bay, where he had purchased a two masted shallop, arms and
ammunition, &c. he presented himself before Haven dressed in an
English officer's old uniform, swaggering with a cocked hat, and sword
by his side. Haven, with a grave aspect looking him in the face,
asked, "What do you want here, Kablunat?" "Do you not know me?"
replied the other, "I am Tuglavina." "Art thou Tuglavina?" retorted
Jans, "then set off this moment, I have nothing to say to you in that
attire; but put on thy own dress, and come again and act like a
rational Esquimaux, and I will speak to you." Tuglavina, confounded,
made no reply, but left the room; and without regarding the pitiful
figure he was about to cut before his countrymen, laid aside his
splendid apparel, resumed his seal skin clothes, and returned to the
missionaries. These holy men, who neglected no opportunity of
representing to him the guilt of his crimes, now pointed out the
atrocity of the murders he had committed, or occasioned, and sharply
reproved him for seducing the baptized to participate with him in his
heathenish abominations. Tuglavina trembled, grew pale, and confessed
he was an horrible sinner; but, like some men who call themselves
Christians, excused himself on the ground of necessity. "I must sin,"
said he, "for Torngak drives me to it." He frequently repeated this
confession of his sins; but dazzled by the respect in which he was
held by his countrymen, it was extremely difficult for him to think of
relinquishing this flattering distinction, and humble himself under
the mighty hand of God. But at length the time came when this once
dreaded chieftain must lose his influence. His bodily vigour began to
decline, and he saw and feared an enemy in every one of those whose
relations he had murdered. He began to grow poor, and his numerous
wives either deserted him or were carried away by force; of the whole
number one only clave to him in his adversity. Amid this extraordinary
change of circumstances conscience awoke, and in his desolate state he
had nothing with which to still its voice--his sins and his evil deeds
stood in array before him, and he resorted to the brethren for
consolation. He declared his resolution now cordially to renounce
heathenism; and in October 1793, was permitted, with his wife and
children, to reside at Nain.
Though he experienced many changes, yet at last the grace of God
triumphed over this great sinner, and he remained firmly opposed to
all the importunities of his friends, who, upon his returning
prosperity, used every artifice to decoy him to another southern
journey. Formerly, when living in the south, he had a dangerous
illness; and, at the request of the governor of Chateau Bay, he had
been baptized by an English minister and got the name of William. On
Christmas-day he was received into the brethren's congregation; and on
the 2d of April 1795, admitted as a communicant to the Lord's table.
His conduct after this, and his expressions of gratitude for the mercy
bestowed on him by the Lord, who had forgiven him his sins and
received him graciously, proved very pleasing and encouraging to the
brethren. But afterwards they perceived, with grief, that he began to
entertain high thoughts of himself, which made them apprehend some
lurking deviation. And so it proved; for being led into temptation, he
conducted himself in such a manner as obliged them to exclude him from
the holy communion. But he soon acknowledged it with deep contrition,
and sought and found forgiveness with the Saviour, and was then
re-admitted to the Lord's supper. He now took every opportunity of
telling his countrymen what Jesus had done for him; "because," said
he, "I am anxious that many more should he converted to him."
On the 29th September 1799, he returned home from a rein-deer hunt
sick of a pleurisy; and the disorder increased on the following day so
much, that all the remedies applied were in vain. From the very first
the brethren suspected that his illness would end in his dissolution,
and mentioned to him their fears without reserve; on which he declared
that he was ready to go to Jesus, and hoped his Saviour would not
despise him. One of the brethren was constantly with him; and, at his
request, sung verses expressive of the change in view, in which he
joined as long as he was able. He frequently testified that he was
happy, and put all his confidence in our Saviour alone; "and we," say
the missionaries, "felt the peace of God attending his sick-bed." He
breathed his last, October 4th, in the most gentle manner, while the
waiting brother was engaged in prayer. "A singular object," says the
missionary diary, "of the mercy of our Saviour, who followed him
through all his perverse and wicked ways with infinite patience and
long-suffering, until at last he drew him to himself. He was sixty
years of age."
Before this Mikak died. She had resided chiefly in the south since the
year 1783, and thus lost the advantage of hearing the gospel, which
she seemed latterly to view with indifference. But on the approach of
death her impressions revived. The last two days of her life she spent
at Nain. Immediately on her arrival, being very ill, she sent to
Brother Burghardt, to request assistance and advice. He found her
extremely weak, and apparently without hopes of recovery. However,
after giving her some medicine, he took occasion to speak seriously
with her concerning the state of her soul, advising her to return to
Jesus Christ as a repentant sinner, who will surely receive all poor
prodigals, if with their hearts they confess their deviations; and he
also reminded her of the promises she had formerly made to devote her
whole heart to him. She assented to the truth of all he said, and
exclaimed, "Ah! I have behaved very bad, and am grieved on that
account; but what shall I do? I cannot find Jesus again!" Brother
Burghardt exhorted her not to desist from crying to him for mercy,
for he came to seek and save the lost, and would not cast her out. In
the following days she seemed to receive these admonitions with
eagerness, and declared that she had not forgotten what she had heard
of her Saviour in former days, nor what she had promised when she
became a candidate for baptism. She departed this life Oct 1; and was
buried in the brethren's burying ground; and they were willing to
entertain the hope that this straying sheep had found mercy at last.
Ever since the brethren had been in Labrador, they had heard the
Esquimaux speak of Indians in the interior, of whom they seemed
greatly afraid; frequently a sudden terror would be diffused among
their tribes, if they discovered any trace of that formidable people
near them. But in the summer of 1798, they were alarmed with the
certain intelligence that five or six of their families had arrived at
a European settlement, at Kippakak, about five or six miles distant
from Hopedale; and in April 1799, some of them for the first time paid
the mission-station a visit. They were a father and son, who came with
the design of buying tobacco from the brethren. They lived with some
Christians of French extraction in the southern settlements, and had
been baptized by a French priest. All the Esquimaux immediately
gathered round the strangers, and eyed them as objects of jealous
curiosity. The old man appeared exceedingly alarmed at this, and was
extremely glad when the brethren invited him and his son into the
mission-house. The latter understood the Esquimaux language and
English; but the father, when any one wished to speak with him,
pointed to his ears, giving them to understand that he could hear
nothing. When food was placed before them they took off their caps and
crossed themselves; and before they went to bed they kneeled down and
repeated a long prayer.
An Esquimaux wished them to lodge in his house, but when they came to
the door they would not enter; the old man began to tremble, and made
signs that they would rather sleep in the bushes. As the brethren
tried to quiet them, the son cried out in the Esquimaux language,
"They are so filthy," and added in English, "We cannot sleep with the
Esquimaux, nor eat out of their dirty vessels. We have been accustomed
to live as cleanly as the Europeans." The brethren, who saw that they
were afraid of the great number of the Esquimaux, but wished to
conceal their terror under the pretence of disgust at their
filthiness, showed them into one of their own workshops, where beds
were quickly prepared.
The following morning they asked them if they knew any thing of the
crucified Jesus, in whose name they had been baptized; and showing
them a picture of the Saviour's crucifixion, told them that he had
suffered thus, and died that they might not everlastingly perish. The
history of Jesus seemed not unknown to them; and they said, that they
would not go down into the fire, but up into glory. As they saw a book
lying on the table, they said, their priests, morning and evening,
read kneeling, from such a book, that all the people listened to them,
and in their meetings they made the sign of the cross. They also said
that a great many Indians lived not far from thence, who, for fear of
the Europeans, never ventured near the coast; that they had no
fire-arms, but used bows and arrows in hunting. They wore a thin
dress, evidently not calculated for a cold climate; their skin was
brown, their hair black, and their features bore a greater resemblance
to the Europeans than the Esquimaux. The morning after, they prepared
to return; and on taking leave, reached over their hands to the
brethren, and said, "You shall in future see more Indians." Since then
the terror of the Esquimaux for the Indians, and their enmity towards
them, have been greatly diminished.
Frederick Burghardt being appointed superintendant of the mission in
room of Rose, who, after twelve years' service, returned to Europe,
the latter, before leaving, transmitted home the following remarks on
the internal state of the mission at the close of the year 1799. "It
is the cause of great pain and grief to me and my sister, and my
spirit often sinks within me, when I see those on whom the greatest
care and faithful labour has been bestowed, so easily fall back to
their heathenish practices; and who, if they are not treated with the
greatest patience and tenderness, would be wholly carried away. In
these cases it always occurs to me, how would the Saviour have acted
with such persons? The hypocrisy that appears in many is abominable,
and could we have received them upon a mere verbal profession of love
to the doctrine of Jesus, we might in a short time have baptized the
whole nation, as far as we could reach. Many would have come here to
live, but we were obliged to prevent them, and many expressed a desire
to be converted, though they felt little interest in the subject, and
did not so much as know what conversion meant. Others, who had
obtained rather more knowledge, and whose relations lived here, would
pretend to be converted, and these we would receive in hope, but they
only proved sources of affliction and sorrow. When I read the reports
of other missions, and reflect on the little fruit of our many years'
labour, how my heart is grieved, and I say, 'Ah! why is the hour of
visitation to the Esquimaux so long delayed!' I expect not this for
any faithful labours of ours--for when I think on them, I can only
pray and entreat the Lord Jesus to forgive our great guilt, our many
errors and mistakes in His service--but HE shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied; this makes me many times think, and
why not among the Esquimaux? With all this, however, I am constrained
to render thanks to the Saviour for what he has done in winning souls
for himself even here, for there are a few who have received
forgiveness of sins, who know the Saviour, and live in the enjoyment
of communion with him. O! that this were the case with all the
baptized; it is, however, with the greater part; although, alas! there
are others who do not yet feel heathenish customs to be a burden, and
many that, having tasted the good word of God, have been deceived and
involved in the commission of sin."
Of those who appeared truly converted there are some delightful
examples in the diary of 1799, who evince the power of the grace of
God; though the missionary, under a sense of his own unworthiness,
cried out, "My leanness! my leanness!" It is a practice with the
missionaries, occasionally, to read to the Esquimaux extracts from the
accounts of other missions, particularly those of Greenland, that
nation having so great a resemblance to themselves, in their language,
manners, and way of procuring their livelihood; these generally give
rise to interesting conversations, and draw from the natives some
striking remarks. At Nain, upon an occasion of this kind, one of the
baptized observed, "If we had so far advanced in grace, that our walk
and conversation shone as a light among our heathen countrymen; and if
some who are baptized had not, after their baptism, behaved again as
bad as the heathen themselves, we should soon see an increase of our
number; for the heathen would soon perceive the difference between a
believer and an infidel, and seek to obtain the same happiness, but we
ourselves are in fault." Upon a similar occasion Jonathan--of whom the
missionaries write, "He is, without a particular commission, a
faithful assistant among his nation, and proves useful in averting
much mischief, and in exhorting them to obedience to the
Saviour,"--dictated the following remarkable letter to the believing
Greenlanders:
"My brethren and sisters, you who live on the other side of the water,
and are baptized, I salute you by these lines, and send my words to
you in the name of Jesus. When I hear your words come forth out of the
written accounts, I ardently desire to be a partaker of your faith;
for whenever these writings are read to us, my heart begins to burn
within me. Of that long period since my baptism, (fifteen years) I can
reckon but about three years during which I have had solid and
constant thoughts towards Jesus; and have begun to enjoy my Saviour's
peace in my heart. I reflect also, that the time of my life in this
world may possibly be soon past, since I begin to grow old. At the
time when I was baptized I was still very ignorant, and for some time
after walked in error and darkness. But now, I cleave with my whole
heart to Jesus, my Lord and God, and weep for desire after him. I
search my heart frequently, and examine my conduct on account of my
sinfulness; for I find myself exceedingly depraved and sinful,
therefore it is my concern that I may never lose sight of him again.
Of myself I am not able to abide faithful; but Jesus my lover will
help and protect me.
"I will relate to you something of my chief wanderings and perverse
ways in which I have lived:--I was not clever enough to have to do
with Satan, and to use sorceries; but I have lived in the sins of the
flesh--from these I have now ceased, for I perceive I should be worse
than a beast if I were to go to the holy communion, to partake of the
body and blood of Jesus, with a heart defiled with such impurities.
Henceforth I could not bear to be separated from my teachers, for I
think thus--Why was Jesus crucified and put to death? Surely for this
cause, because he would atone for me, an exceeding sinful creature.
When I was a poor orphan child, for I have seen neither father nor
mother, then Jesus became my father. As long as I live I will not
forget him, and even in eternity I shall be with Him.
"I sometimes think, if I were with you and beheld your faith, I should
be much more happy and cheerful than I am now; however, though I be
ever so needy--be it so--yet, like Thomas, I will call him my Lord and
my God! This, 'tis true, I cannot do of myself; but when I continue
asking it as a favour he grants it me, and I experience it.
"With respect to my countrymen, I must tell you, that they often
grieve me when they will not follow my advice. I do not say this as if
I fancied myself to be a man of importance, for I will gladly be the
meanest of these before the eyes of Jesus. When I think on my former
resistance and stiff-necked behaviour in the work of conversion, I
could strike myself. It causes deep sorrow and repentance within me,
when I consider that I have been most faithfully instructed by my
teachers for so many years, and yet have been like one that had no
ears to hear. But now, not my ears only are unstopped to hear and
understand the doctrine of Jesus and the hymns we sing, but I feel
that what I hear and learn penetrates into my heart, and since I am
thus inwardly affected, warmed, and enlivened, I am the more
astonished and amazed at the change, when recollecting, that I have
been so hard and callous, that whenever any of my nearest relations
departed this life, being taken from my side by death, I was not able
to weep a tear for them; but now I can shed a flood of tears, both
from a fervent desire of living intimately attached to Jesus, and for
delight and pleasure to think what happiness I should enjoy if
incessantly thus disposed. However, since I am so poor and defective,
I find that I cannot procure it by my own efforts; but I am taught
that I may yet enjoy this constant happiness, by entreating our
Saviour for it to-day, to-morrow, and every day. As long as I am on
this earth, I shall remain like a sick one, and be always apt to
stray; for my heart is naturally untoward and hard as a stone, but
when Jesus softens it, then it becomes truly soft and tender. Ah! that
I had not such corrupted senses! yet, being conscious that I am
constantly in danger on account of my depravity, I am determined
faithfully to attend to the gospel, and to my teachers, to be guided
and advised by them and to follow after righteousness. When I search
my own heart, I still find many things condemnable in the sight of
Jesus, of which I had never thought before. Hear these my poor words
to you in love. JONATHAN."
At Okkak, Solomon, a baptized man, thus complained to the brethren: "I
will now utter words of truth only. I am unhappy because I cannot
regain that state of mind I enjoyed when I was baptized. There is as
it were a dark shadow between me and our Saviour; this is the only
thing that gives me pain at present. I feel, 'tis true, some desire
after Jesus, but I cannot always pray to him. This is, alas, my case,
for whole days together, and yet I cannot live without him. I know,
also, that it was he alone who first saved me from my evil ways, for
neither you nor I could do it!" Here he was so much affected, that he
burst into tears. The missionaries encouraged him, and bid him not
cast away his confidence in Jesus; for since he, according to his own
confession, had bestowed such mercy upon him, he might believe and be
sure, that he would not suffer him to weep in vain for a new
manifestation of his love towards him.
There is not, perhaps, any surer test of a young woman's Christianity
than the choice she makes of an husband; and the missionaries were
highly gratified in this respect, with the conduct of a young girl, a
candidate for baptism. When the winter meetings were resumed, she
expressed her joy, for she was desirous of learning the doctrine of
Jesus, and wished to know and love him more; and she said she was
resolved never again to leave the fellowship of believers. Her
resolution was almost immediately tried; a heathen, from Kivalek,
proposed marriage to her, but she at once declared she would never
take a husband who would lead her astray from God and his people.
Some time after, her parents, Joseph and Justina, came from Okkak to
Nain, to inquire whether Anauke, who seems to have been a rich
Esquimaux, was a candidate for baptism, or had ever spoken to the
missionaries on the subject of conversion; and when informed that he
had not, they said that since their daughter had declared her
attachment to the believers, and her purpose to live with Jesus, they
would never bestow her upon a stranger. On which the missionaries
observe, "Whoever knows the natural dispositions and habits of the
Esquimaux, will, from this instance, see that there is a manifest
influence of the Spirit of God in their hearts, to cause them to act
with such willing conformity to the doctrine of the Scriptures, and
such attention to their souls' welfare."
As the century closed, the prospects of the missionaries brightened,
and they therefore with greater earnestness entreated the prayers of
their brethren. "The more we perceive," say they, "our own
insufficiency, the more we perceive how much we stand in need of the
support and prayers of God's children, in this our important calling,
to win to Christ, souls, harder than the rocks on which they dwell,
and to be melted only by the fire of his love unto death." "We find
every year," was the report from Okkak, "when we receive the various
accounts from our congregations, abundant cause to rejoice over all
the manifold proofs of His grace and faithfulness towards them; and as
to ourselves, we may confidently assert, that his goodness towards us
has been daily new. He has granted us the grace to preach him to the
Esquimaux, both living in our land and elsewhere, as the Saviour of
men, who will have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of
the truth, with courage and with joyful hearts, though under a sense
of our own poverty and weakness;" and many heathen, who came hither
from a great distance from the north for the sake of trade, heard it
with attention. There was also a particular awakening among the
baptized, who expressed an ardent desire to be admitted to partake of
the Lord's supper, and they in general acknowledged to the praise of
the Lord, that he had owned their small Esquimaux flock, and blessed
them with his presence. The state of the settlement at Nain was
equally pleasing. "We have had much joy," the missionaries write, "in
observing the course of our small Esquimaux congregation; having
perceived that they are more and more desirous to live in a manner
acceptable to God, and to be cleansed from all those things which
might grieve the Holy Spirit, and be a disgrace to the cause of our
Saviour. In our meetings we frequently experience his gracious
presence, and, more than ever before, felt the true spirit of a
congregation of Jesus, especially during two baptismal transactions we
have had. It proves a great encouragement to us, when we see that
people, who, only a short time ago, hardly knew that there exists a
divine Being, and lived in all manner of sin and abomination, now that
they have learned to know the Saviour, shed tears from a sense of God
in their hearts, and of their fellowship with him as their Redeemer."
Nor was Hopedale less favoured. "We can declare to you with joy," was
the language of missionaries in their letters to England, "that there
has been a manifest work of God and his Spirit upon the souls of the
Esquimaux in the year past. Most of them are in a hopeful state, and
intent upon cleaving to the Lord, that they may partake of the
blessings he has purchased for us by his bitter sufferings and death."
Of four families at Arvertok, not far from Hopedale, consisting of
thirty persons, the greater part were awakened to a concern for their
soul's conversion, by a remarkable appearance in the sky, which was
repeated three times, particularly on the night of January 14th. It
consisted of a vast quantity of inflammable matter in the air, which
seemed to ascend from all parts of the horizon, and then to pour
itself towards the earth, in immense fiery rays and balls. Karpik and
his people, who first saw the phenomenon, ran to Hopedale in the
greatest agitation and amazement, and awakened the Esquimaux there,
with the awful intelligence that the world was at an end. They, upon
suddenly rising from bed, struck with the spectacle, imagined that the
stars were falling from heaven, and that they were the signs which
announced the near approach of the Lord, as he had foretold. Karpik
cried out in agony, "Let us turn with our whole hearts to our
Saviour--this is the hour;" and began to pray aloud to Jesus, to sing
hymns, and to entreat, with the greatest concern, all his household to
unite with him.
These Esquimaux now attended the meetings daily, and evinced by their
conduct a change in their minds; for they were not only anxious
themselves about their eternal concerns, but were desirous that their
children should also regard them. Instead of preventing them as
formerly, they now intreated that they might be allowed to send them
to school, which from this time was well attended by both old and
young. Among the primary objects of the brethren is the instruction of
the youth. Old trees are ill to bend, but the tender sapling is more
easily impressed, and there are peculiar promises to bless the
instruction of children, and to encourage to a patient and proper
performance of a very trying, and not unfrequently a very irksome
task. But while the brethren communicate to their interesting charge
the elements of knowledge, they employ as the grand instrument for
shaping their characters, the word of the gospel of Christ, and
subject their pupils to a moral training, without which, the mere
communication of knowledge, whether sacred or profane, is often a
curse rather than a blessing. So soon as they had attained a
sufficient knowledge of the language, the missionaries composed
elementary books, and for those who were farther advanced they
translated a history of the sufferings of Jesus, which was gratefully
received by those who could read and eagerly listened to by those who
could not.
About three months after this occurrence, Karpik declared that he was
now in his heart convinced that the blood of Jesus could blot out his
exceeding great sins--that he wept daily before him, entreating him to
wipe away his iniquities, and declared that the ardent desire of his
soul was to cleave more closely to the Saviour; that he was resolved
to follow him only, and to give up all connection with the
unbelievers. And he was diligent in speaking to all the strangers who
passed that way, beseeching and exhorting them to turn to the Lord.
When the century closed, after thirty years' labour, the missionaries
at the three different stations had the pleasure of numbering two
hundred and twenty-eight resident Esquimaux under their care, of whom
one hundred and ten were baptized. This involved them in various other
avocations. They had not only to instruct them in matters of religion,
but to teach them habits of industry and of economy and to show them
the example; they induced them to build, and assisted them in
building, substantial houses; they made them tools for working and
implements for fishing[F] and gardening, which last process they had
to superintend and to direct. Besides, they erected and kept in repair
their own dwellings, cultivated their own gardens, fabricated tools
for themselves, and used every exertion to lessen the demand for, or
supply the deficiency of their European food. They had also to collect
and bring home firewood for their domestic purposes--no small labour;
and to fell timber and build boats for the purposes of barter, as they
took nothing gratuitous from the natives, heathen or Christian.
Since the mission commenced, they had, in the mysterious ways of
providence, lost two missionaries by shipwreck; and in 1800, they were
tried with the loss of another, in a yet more distressing manner. One
of their new assistants, Rieman, on the 2d December, had gone out to
hunt alone, and had wandered, but whither was never known, as he never
returned; nor, though diligent search was made for him five successive
days, could any traces be found.
During the period that had elapsed since the foundation of the
mission, they had been repeatedly tried both by pestilence and famine,
but they now found their heavenly Father a ready help in every time of
need. In one season, when the seal-catching had entirely failed, and
the Esquimaux were deprived of the means of subsistence for the
winter, the brethren joined with them in crying aloud to God for help,
and he so directed it, that in a short time two dead whales were
found, which preserved them from starving. The missionary families
depended chiefly upon the supplies from Europe for their healthful
subsistence, and it is an instance of the superintending providence of
a gracious God which these missionaries acknowledged with humble
thankfulness, that the voyages of the vessels which carried their
stores, were never interrupted by storms or enemies. The Amity was
preserved so long as employed in the service, but the very year when
about to quit it on her return home, she was taken by the French, yet
was restored without much detriment. And the Harmony, which had been
purchased to supply her place, had now for more than twenty-six years
traversed the wild and icy ocean, amid sunken rocks and in the sight
of enemies, without accident.[G] The missionary settlements during
this period, had been threatened with an attack from the French. Two
of their ships of war arrived on the coast in 1796, but having landed
at Chateau Bay, after plundering and burning that town and blowing up
the fort, they were mercifully restrained from harming the more
peaceful habitations of the brethren.
In concluding the account of this past century, it is impossible not
to notice the extraordinary spirit of love and of Christian affection
which pervaded the missionaries in Labrador and their brethren in
Europe; they loved each other with pure hearts fervently; and it is
remarkable, and worthy of peculiar observation, that before these
servants of God were honoured to carry the tidings of the gospel to
the heathen, a spirit of love for the brethren, and for all the
members of the body of Christ, was poured out largely upon the
churches at home.
Twenty-six missionaries were employed in Labrador in the year 1800.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote F: This refers to them making their nets for catching
salmon-trout, of which there are immense numbers. In 1798, in six
nights, 5000 were taken, and in 1799 they got 1800 at one haul.]
[Footnote G: The Brethren's Society in London, now undertook to supply
the missions, and relieved the merchants from a losing concern; they
built the brig Harmony of 133 tons, which made her first voyage, 1787,
under Captain James Fraser, and continued to sail in safety till 1802,
when she was laid aside, and the Resolution was employed.]