Mutual affection of the Christian Esquimaux and
Greenlanders--their correspondence--letter from Timothy, a
baptized Greenlander.--Delight of the Esquimaux in religious
exercises.--Order of the congregations--distressing events,
apostasy of Kapik--awful end of Jacob--peaceful death of
believers--Judith, Joanna.--Revival among the communicants.--A
feast by a Christian brother, to the Esquimaux.--Winter
arrangements.--Childrens' meetings--schools.--The brethren's
settlements contrasted with the heathen.--Progress of religion
at the different stations.--Books printed in the Esquimaux
language.--Number of the settled Esquimaux.--Epidemic at
Nain--its consequences.--General view of the mission.
Love to all the members of the body of Christ, is the visible token of
the vitality and truth of a Christian profession; and as it rises or
falls, the progress of an individual or a community waxes or wanes. At
this period, the converted Esquimaux felt a lively interest, not only
in their countrymen, but likewise in their fellow-Christians in
Greenland; the affection was reciprocal, and though they had never
seen each other in the flesh, they rejoiced over each other's welfare,
and communicated their feelings in affectionate letters. Jonathan had
dictated an epistle to the baptized Greenlanders, in 1799; the annexed
was from the Christian Greenlander, Timothy, an assistant at
Lichtenfels, in return. "My beloved, ye who live just opposite us, on
the other side of the great water!--You have the same mode of living
that we have; you go out in your kaiaks as we do; you have the same
method of procuring your livelihood as we have; our Saviour has given
you teachers, as he has given us: be thankful to him that they make
known to you his precious words, and all his deeds, which are full of
life and happiness. I have, from my earliest infancy, been instructed
in this blessed doctrine, for I have grown up in the congregation.
When you read this, you may very likely think that I have always lived
to the joy of our Saviour; but, alas, I have been, particularly in my
youth, very often ungrateful towards him who died for me. But when
this was the case, I was never happy, and I found no rest for my soul,
until I cast myself at the feet of Jesus, and implored his
forgiveness; and even now I can do nothing else, when I am distressed
about myself and my great sinfulness. When I am in my kaiak procuring
provisions, or on other occasions alone, and I call to mind that my
Saviour was for my sake nailed to the cross, and suffered for my sins,
which are numberless, I acknowledge myself the chief of sinners; I
then pray to our Saviour with deep abasement, and often with loud
weeping. At such times I feel that he draws nigh, and fills my heart
with such comfort that I am quite melted by his love. This is also the
reason why I make our Saviour my most important object; I cleave to
him as a child does to its mother, and I will never turn away from
Him. Nothing is more profitable to me than the contemplation of his
sufferings. Of this alone I speak to my fellow-men.
"My dear brethren and sisters, I must still tell you that I have been
four times in danger of my life when running in my kaiak, for so often
have I been overset when I was quite alone. When almost suffocated in
the water, I prayed to our Saviour for deliverance. Each time I raised
myself up by means of the bladder, but it was God my Saviour who saved
me from these dangers. In him alone I trust, and provide for myself,
my wife and children with pleasure. Although, as long as I am upon
earth I shall feel my weakness and corruption, yet I go with it all to
our Saviour, as a child does for help to its parent. I pray thus: 'O!
my Jesus! thou lover of my soul, let me feel thy nearness, impress thy
sufferings and death upon my heart, melt it and make it tender through
the power of thy blood, and according to thy good pleasure, make me
well-pleasing unto thee. Thou hast bought me with thy blood, that I
might be saved; throughout my whole life will I rely upon thee, my God
and Redeemer! I will place thee before my heart, as thou for my sake
in agony and sore distress in the garden of Gethsemane wast weighed
down to the ground with my guilt, until sweat mixed with blood, forced
itself through thy body, and fell in great drops to the ground.' At
such times my heart grows warm, and my eyes overflow. This alone is
able to soften our hard hearts--this I experience, and your hearts
cannot be subdued and softened by any thing else. You must go to
Jesus' cross, for there is no other way to happiness.--Take these my
imperfect words to heart, which I write out of love to you, as a
people related to us. Your Jonathan's words which he caused to be
written to us, we have received to our joy; we have not forgotten
them. It is very pleasing to hear such accounts. O that we all, as
one people, might put in practice what our Saviour has commanded in
his word, love him above all things, give him joy by our conduct, and
never again cause him grief. I write to encourage the heathen in your
country, of whom there are still many, to be converted to the Creator.
Let them hear much of his incarnation, sufferings, and death, and
relate it to them when you are with them. Remember us also, and pray
for us to our Saviour. We will also pray for you, and when we do this
we shall also reap those blessings which our Saviour has promised to
those who pray to Him.--I am your brother, TIMOTHY."
Diligence in the improvement of the means of grace, particularly in
not forsaking the assembling of themselves together, is another
evidence of the reality and health of the Christian life in any
community: this awakening bore that stamp also of the genuineness of
its nature; and from the frequency of their meetings, which were
punctually and cheerfully attended by the people, some idea may be
formed of the hungering and thirsting after divine things which marked
the Esquimaux congregations. The order of the different meetings of
the congregation at Hopedale during winter--and in the other
settlements it was pretty much the same--was as follows:--Sunday.
Public service in the fore and afternoon. In the morning the Litany
was read. The children then met. After the afternoon's service the
communicants sung a liturgical hymn, or the candidates for the Lord's
supper held a meeting for instruction.--Monday Evening. All the
baptized had a meeting, when a suitable discourse was delivered to
them. After a short pause, a singing-meeting was held.--This is a
service peculiar to the brethren's church, in which some doctrinal
subject, commonly that contained in the Scripture-text appointed for
the day, is contemplated by singing verses or hymns relating to it, so
as in their connection to form, as it were, a homily on the text,
according to the words of the Apostle, "Speaking to yourselves in
psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs."--Tuesday Evening: A public
meeting, with a discourse.--Wednesday Morning. The children had a
meeting, the one Wednesday for all the children, and the next, for the
baptized only. On the evening, there was a public service, when a
portion of the harmony of the four Evangelists was read and
explained.--Thursday Evening: The same.--Friday. Both the baptized and
the candidates for baptism met, where, after a discourse on the text,
a hymn treating of the Saviour's passion was sung.--On Saturday there
was no service in the church. Besides these meetings, the believing
Esquimaux had the worship of God regularly morning and evening in
their own houses. But the crowning sheaf in this harvest of mercy, was
the permanence of the awakening; the impressions were lasting, not
like a momentary blaze occasioned by some temporary excitement, but a
pure and steady flame, which in a majority increased in brightness,
till it was lost in glory.
Lovely however, and heart-cheering as this delightful period was, it
is not to be imagined that it was a period of unmingled joy; there
were several instances in which strong and violent emotions were
succeeded by coldness, formality, and hypocrisy, and in some cases by
open apostasy, or by unequivocal marks of reprobation. The most
remarkable were Kapik and Jacob; the former had been baptized by the
name of Thomas, and his declarations breathed, or seemed to breathe,
the very essence of a more than ordinary spirituality. "I have no
other desire," said he upon one occasion to the missionaries, "but
Jesus my Saviour, who has had mercy even upon me, the very worst of
men; and I pray, that I may now give him joy, and cleave to him to the
end. Alas! alas! that I have known him so late! Formerly I could not
believe one word of what your predecessors and yourselves told us of
Jesus, and of the necessity of believing on him, and becoming his
property. I only laughed, and mocked, and gave pain and trouble to my
teachers. But how is this? I now believe it all, and our Saviour has
so powerfully drawn my heart towards himself, that I can find no words
to describe what I feel." By this and similar speeches he so far
imposed upon the brethren, that they believed him a humble follower of
the good Shepherd, and a true child of God.
But being attacked, autumn 1806, by a malignant disorder somewhat
resembling the smallpox and measles, which raged in the settlement,
the severe pain he suffered from the virulence of the disorder, as the
irruption in his face struck inward, and assuming a cancerous form
destroyed his upper jaw bone, he became impatient, forsook his
professions of confidence in the Saviour, and sought for help in
heathenish practices, and if he had had opportunity would have
proceeded to greater lengths in these abominations, than ever before.
His behaviour in his family too, had become very oppressive, and all
the kind exhortations, as well as the serious remonstrances of the
missionaries, produced no effect; even after he recovered, he remained
quite hardened. He some years afterwards professed sincere repentance,
but his artifice had been so deep before, that the missionaries could
only say, that nothing was impossible to God.
Jacob came first to the brethren at Nain. He was in the beginning
apparently very earnest in seeking his soul's salvation and was
baptized in 1801. But he afterwards fell into temptation, and again
took refuge in his old practices, playing at the same time the part of
a most consummate hypocrite: being discovered, he was excluded; yet
when his health began to decline, the missionaries waited upon him,
and as they saw him drawing apparently near his end, were the more
earnest in exhorting him to turn to Jesus, who alone could deliver him
from the bondage of sin and Satan. For some time he seemed to attend
to their advice, but his last days and final exit out of the world,
gave sufficient proof that his heart was untouched. As his pains
increased, his impatience increased with them. He demanded with
violent cries that a knife might be given him to stab himself, which
being refused, he called for a rope, and persisted with such
vehemence that his wife and son, wearied out by his constant
shrieking, gave him one, with which he put an end to his own
existence. Lamentable as these awful examples of the deceitfulness and
depravity of the human heart were, yet they operated more powerfully
than many exhortations, in inculcating upon the baptized the solemn
warning, "Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall."
At the same time there wanted not instances of an opposite
description, to prove the reality of God's work, and the power of
divine grace, to recall and establish the deluded wanderer, and to
preserve the humble believer amid the strongest temptations and the
sorest trials; to enable him to maintain a consistent conduct through
life, and to seal the sincerity of his faith by a peaceful, if not a
triumphant death. Early in the year, Judith, a full communicant, died.
She had come to Hopedale with her husband, Tuglavina, and always
conducted herself with great propriety. After his death she married
Abel in 1801, and with him came to live at Hopedale, 1804. When the
awakening took place she was greatly enlivened; but like many of the
old baptized people, who thought themselves converted because they
had some knowledge, and a fluent way of expressing themselves on
religious subjects, she did not at first shew much of the Divine life
in her soul; till by the powerful work of the Holy Ghost she was
brought to see and acknowledge herself an unworthy sinner, and no
better than those who were just then alarmed and brought from darkness
unto light, and from the power of Satan to the living God. Before
partaking for the last time of the Lord's supper, she was much
affected. "I perceive now," said she, "that I am a great sinner, and
am so ashamed that I dare hardly open my lips, for it is clear to me
that I am far behind others in love to our Saviour. It appears as if
he and I were yet strangers to each other, and I can do nothing but
weep for him." Afterwards she became composed, and earnestly longed
after communion with God. In her last illness, however, she showed
much uneasiness of mind, as if something disturbed her peaceful
expectation of dismissal. Brother Kohlmeister, who visited her very
faithfully, encouraged her to look up to Jesus, the author and
finisher of our faith; and on one occasion, particularly, offered up a
most fervent prayer to the Lord that he would remove all her doubts by
a full assurance that her sins were forgiven through the merits of
his precious blood, during which the poor patient and all present
melted into tears, and felt that their prayer was heard and answered.
Then she unbosomed herself to her teachers, and confessed that she had
hitherto concealed some deviations which burdened her conscience, and
which she must make known before she departed. Having done so, she
declared her firm trust that God her Saviour would wash away all her
sins and remember them no more; after which she exclaimed, "Now I am
ready, and will go to Jesus. He will receive me in mercy just as I am,
for he has died for me." She now lay still in the joyful hope of being
soon released. Both the missionaries' wives and Esquimaux sisters
visited her frequently, to whom she declared the happiness of her
soul; and on the night previous to her departure, conversed in a most
edifying manner with those that watched with her of the near prospect
she had of seeing her Saviour face to face. She requested her husband
to bring her clean white dress, which she always wore at the Lord's
supper, and to dress her in it after her decease. Her two youngest
children she earnestly recommended to his care, and that they might be
instructed in the ways of the Lord; and sent a message as her last
will, to the two eldest who live at Nain, that they should remain with
the congregation, and devote their whole hearts to Jesus. When the
sisters took leave of her with a kiss, she exclaimed with joy in her
countenance, "I shall now go to Jesus and kiss his feet, adoring him
for all his love to me, and that he has redeemed me also, a vile
sinner, and called me to eternal life."
Joanna, who died in child-bed, was another example of the faithfulness
and rich mercy of the Redeemer; in the autumn, a wild ignorant savage,
she came to the settlement with her husband Aulak, and when asked what
was her intention in coming--if she wished to be converted? answered,
"That's more than I know. I follow my husband, and as he chooses to
live here, I will live here too!" But soon after she learned to know
what true conversion of heart means, and would not be satisfied with
any thing of a superficial nature. "She cried to the Lord for mercy,
and obtained," says the diary, "real saving faith; it was surprising
to observe how well she comprehended the meaning of the gospel, and in
how clear a light the mystery of the cross of Christ was revealed to
her soul, insomuch that she could apply to herself the sufferings of
Jesus, as meritorious and allsufficient for the remission of sin, and
the sanctification of soul and body. She adored the crucified Jesus in
truth, as her Redeemer, and nothing was so delightful to her, as to
hear of him, and all he had done and suffered, to save her from sin
and destruction. She sought him with earnestness, and found rest for
her soul in his sufferings and death. Her whole walk and conversation,
from the time she joined the church, testified of the new birth which
had taken place within her, and of a total change of heart and
sentiment. Immediately after her delivery, there appeared symptoms of
inward inflammation. She lay still and resigned to the will of the
Lord, and seemed to take no more notice of any thing that was said;
but towards morning, raising herself up in the bed, she exclaimed,
'Jesus is coming, and I am ready to meet him; a very short time will
bring me to him. Jesus' bleeding love is not cold toward those who are
longing for him.' So composed was she, that, observing the place dark,
she desired them to 'trim the lamps, and make the room light and
pleasant,' and when the company present proposed to join in a hymn,
but could not immediately remember a suitable one, she herself pointed
out that hymn of praise, 'Unto the Lamb of God,' at page 92. of the
Hymn book. After it was ended, she fainted, and sunk down upon the
bed; her sight and hearing failed, and she fell gently asleep in
Jesus." During her short Christian career, she had become universally
beloved; and the happy manner in which she left the world, made a deep
impression upon the minds of the Esquimaux, "stronger," say the
missionaries, "than all our words could do."
Previously to the administration of the Lord's Supper, the
missionaries usually have some conversation with the communicants, and
at this time they were greatly refreshed by their simple, artless
declarations. One said, "I am struck with astonishment when I reflect
that Jesus can, and does receive such abominable creatures as I am.
Indeed I am one of the worst, but his love is infinite. He bled and
died for me, that I might be saved. Oh! how often have I crucified him
afresh by my sins, and bid defiance to his mercy. But now he has
forgiven me, and granted me to hunger and thirst after him. I pray to
him continually that he would not forsake me, for I can do nothing of
myself as I ought. The holy communion is, every time that I enjoy it,
more valuable to me, because I feel the power of my Saviour's death,
more than I can express in words." Another: "I have now only one
object, and that is Jesus; may I never more part with him. Since I
have had the favour to partake of his holy body and blood in the
Sacrament, I continually cry to him to keep me under his direction,
and to preserve me from the evil one, for I am indeed weak. He alone
is my strength and refuge."
A peculiar blessing also attended the administration of the ordinance,
not only to those who partook, but to those, likewise, who were
permitted to be spectators. At Nain, in the month of February, when
that holy feast was celebrated, three Esquimaux, Joseph, Lydia, and
Kitura, were present as candidates, and Sarah with a view to
confirmation; the three women were so much affected that they cried
and sobbed aloud, and after the service was concluded were so
overpowered that they could hardly stand, and still continued weeping.
Being brought into the mission-house, when they recovered themselves
they said they were so overcome by a sense of the presence of the Lord
Jesus, that they knew not where they were nor what they did. They wept
on account of their unworthiness, and would now give their whole
hearts to him who died for them. On the following day Sarah came, and
brought all the metal rings with which she had decorated her fingers
after the Esquimaux fashion, and wished to part with them, and
assigned as her reason, that she wished to delight herself in nothing
now but Jesus. Lydia, Louisa, and others followed, and brought their
pearl ornaments to dispose of, as they thought it improper for
Christian women to be gaudily decked out in costly pearls; and this
they did spontaneously, without being spoken to by the missionaries,
who never begin with finding fault with the dress or ornaments of
inquirers.
Before the Esquimaux set out for their fishing or hunting stations,
the members of the church usually partook of a love feast together,
and united in thanksgiving and prayer for the mercies they had
received, and for the continuance of the Divine blessing. Siksigak,
now named Mark, and Joseph, at their return, having been remarkably
successful, treated all the inhabitants of Nain with a meal of seals'
flesh. The entertainment was given in the open air, and Mark opened it
in an edifying manner by singing some verses of a hymn expressive of
thanks to their heavenly Father, for providing for their bodily wants,
in which all the Esquimaux joined most devoutly, exhibiting a very
different scene from the riotous gluttony of the heathen.
After the people reassembled at the end of the season, the winter
arrangements were made. The communicants were divided into classes,
male and female, the former under the care of the missionaries, and
the latter under that of their wives. In their meetings the
conversation was unrestrained and profitable, many little grievances
were done away, and brotherly love promoted. "That of the communicant
sisters," the diary of Dec 11 remarks, "was remarkably lively; their
conversation treated of the great love of the Saviour in dying on the
cross to save them from death, and their own unworthiness to be so
highly favoured as to be permitted to approach unto his table, and
there to feed on him by faith, and to experience the power of his
sufferings and death in the quickening of their souls." They added,
that upon that occasion they sometimes felt a desire to depart out of
the world, to see him face to face, and thank him for his mercy
revealed to them. Mark thus addressed his countrymen: "If we who
belong to this class are with our whole hearts converted to Jesus, and
determine, by his help, to put aside all the old deceitful and evil
ways, and give ourselves up entirely to him, then we shall feel his
power within us. It has been a very painful thing for me to leave my
brethren at Hopedale, but I shall live here with pleasure if I
perceive that we are come together with a view to belong to our
Saviour, and in truth to believe on him, and to become his faithful
followers. I am indeed not fit to teach you, but yet I wished to say
what I hope from your love, and our being bound together in one mind,
to live unto the praise of God. You all know that formerly I led a
very wicked life, but at Hopedale Jesus Christ called me by his
powerful voice, saved me from death, and forgave my sins. As my
conversion to him began at that place, I feel a peculiar attachment to
it." He was heard with great attention, and all exclaimed, "Yes! we
all desire to become such people, over whom Jesus may rejoice, and
pray him to grant us all true conversion."
The children likewise had their meetings, in which they sung hymns and
prayed, during which they were frequently so sensibly affected that
they would burst out into weeping. A boy who gave evidence of being
truly awakened, called upon the missionaries and told them, "We boys
have been sitting together by ourselves and speaking, both of our own
sinfulness and of the mercy we have experienced from our Saviour. At
the close of our conversation we kneeled down and prayed to him in
fellowship, that he would deliver us from all power of sin, during
which my heart grew so warm that I felt it penetrate to my feet"--a
phrase used by the Esquimaux to express great inward joy. "Jesus,"
continued he, "was very near us. I will give him my whole heart as his
property." The schools were diligently attended, both by young and
old, whose improvement in Christian knowledge, and in the facility of
reading, advanced steadily, while several among the scholars evinced a
strong desire to know Jesus, and live to him. But at Okkak in the
following year an unusual emotion appeared among the scholars. One
day, while the teachers were closing the schools as usual by singing a
verse, there arose such an affection of heart, that all melted into
tears, and at last without any direction they all fell on their knees.
The missionary, therefore, who was keeping the school knelt down also,
and was powerfully excited to fervent prayer for these dear little
ones, commending them to the grace of the Saviour, that he would
preserve them from the many snares of Satan, and sanctify and build
them up in the faith. Some of the more advanced youths gave the
missionaries much pleasure by their simplicity and frankness in
speaking of their hearts; two of them--companions--conversing with one
of the brethren, said, "When we are out together hunting we speak of
Jesus and pray to him, and often feel such power and happiness in
thinking of him that we weep for joy. But how is it that we have so
long heard of him, and he is but just now become precious to us?" They
could not explain the phenomenon; but they felt that a long train of
historical proof, or of external evidence, was unnecessary to
establish the authenticity of the gospel-message. "How is it," added
one of them, "that formerly I used to think--It is all fiction! There
is no Jesus! And now I know in truth that Jesus lives and loves me,
and sometimes draws so near to me that I weep for gratitude and
delight. To him I will give myself both soul and body."
In the back ground, at the distance, stand out in horrible and
melancholy contrast the effects of satanic influence on the conduct of
his votaries. The wife of the old sorcerer, Uiverunna, having died,
the old monster seized a poor orphan child, whom they had formerly
adopted, and murdered him; then cut him across all the joints of his
fingers and toes, ripped open his belly, and threw the body naked
into the sea, an offering to appease the wrath of the water-devil he
worshipped, and by whose aid he pretended to work great wonders, but
who now required a greater sacrifice than usual, as he had not saved
his wife's life. But his day of retribution did not long linger.
Having boasted that his Torngak had killed a man, Kullugak's two
wives, who died suddenly within a few hours of each other at Okkak,
where the family had obtained leave to settle, Kullugak, in company
with another Esquimaux, assassinated the poor wretch within eight days
after he had sacrificed the unfortunate infant.
For several succeeding years the progress of the awakening continued
to advance at all the three settlements, both among the heathen by
whom they were visited, and among the residents, while the believers
grew in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord their Saviour; and the
decided nature of the change which had taken place was evidenced by
the professing Esquimaux declining their pernicious intercourse with
the Europeans, while their heathen countrymen, who were determined to
retain the abominations of their forefathers, were as unwilling to
reside among them; so much so, indeed, that the missionaries at
Hopedale, writing to Europe in 1807, remarked, "No heathen families
have lived near us, and it appears as if that old den of Satan at
Avertok would remain unoccupied. Three Europeans lived about half a
day's journey from hence, but as none of our Esquimaux went to them
they did not call here." The report of the brethren in 1809 was:
"Concerning our dear Esquimaux congregation, we may truly and
thankfully declare that we have perceived a continued work of the Holy
Spirit within their souls, leading them to a better acquaintance with
themselves as depraved creatures, who stand in daily need of the
saving grace of our Almighty Saviour. They are earnest in prayer to
him that he would preserve them from falling back into their former
wicked and superstitious courses." The accounts from Nain were to the
same effect: "Our communicants," say they, "have made a perceptible
advance both in the knowledge of themselves as sinners, and of Jesus
as their Saviour. They have been taught to know how needful constant
dependance on, and communion with him is, if they would walk worthy of
their heavenly calling." It is a melancholy and stumbling remark, that
as the converted Esquimaux advanced in knowledge and in decency of
conduct, so in proportion those who formed an intimate connexion with
the Europeans in the south increased in enmity to the word of God, and
to the Saviour's name in particular, declaring they would hear or
listen to nothing about him.
Oral instruction has, from the beginning, been the principal, and most
efficient means, which God has employed in propagating the gospel; but
the written word has been always necessary for establishing and
building up the churches in their most holy faith. Never did Satan
employ a more effectual method for covering the earth with thick
darkness, than by instigating his servants, under pretence of a high
reverence for the holy word, to shut it up from the people; and when
God wills mercy to a nation, he removes all the hindrances which
obstruct its diffusion. As the Esquimaux advanced in their course,
they were furnished, by means of the press, with portions of the
Scriptures as they could be got translated. The brethren, however,
wisely prepared the way for this important work, by translating hymns
and tracts, and a harmony of the Gospels, where any deficiency in the
language could be more easily rectified than in a book, destined to be
left as a permanent legacy to future generations. The joy of the
Esquimaux on receiving the hymn books in 1809, was inexpressibly
great. "We wish," the missionaries write, "our dear brethren had been
present at the distribution, to see the fervent gratitude with which
they were received. They entreated us, with tears, to express their
thankfulness to their fathers and brethren in the east, for this
present." In 1810, they received the Harmony of the Gospels, also
printed by the Brethren's Society in London for the furtherance of the
Gospel, and the Gospel of John and part of Luke, printed at the
expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society, who undertook to
print the other parts as they could be got ready. Meanwhile the
superintendant, Burghardt, finished the translation of the Acts, and
the epistles to the Romans and Ephesians, which were read from the MS
to the Esquimaux congregation, who were highly delighted to hear the
words and exhortations of our Saviour's apostles, and particularly
struck with the character and writings of the apostle Paul. Along with
their activity in the Christian life, the activity of the converted
Esquimaux, in their temporal concerns, increased. The missionaries in
the different settlements had erected saw mills; the Esquimaux, under
their direction, kept them frequently in employment, and built
substantial store-houses for themselves, for preserving their winter's
stores; and when the scarcity of food in their own neighbourhood
obliged them to go to a distance in search of seals or whales, or to
the cod-fishing, their anxiety to return, to enjoy the benefits of
instruction from their teachers, and of communion with their
fellow-Christians, quickened their diligence in their necessary
avocations. At the close of 1810, the number of the inhabitants at the
three settlements amounted to 457, of whom 265 belonged to the
different classes of communicants, baptized and candidates for
baptism.
Hitherto the settlements, though occasionally visited by the
contagious diseases that periodically afflicted the country, had never
known more than a partial sickness; but in 1811, the small society at
Hopedale suffered severely from an epidemic, which, so far as we are
able to judge from the symptoms mentioned in the diary, quoted below,
bore some distant resemblance to the spasmodic cholera. "On the
evening of the 24th of July, we were all suddenly thrown into the
greatest confusion, by the arrival of a boat, with our people, from
Tikkerarsuk, one of their provision-places in the south:
Mark--formerly Siksigak--was dead, and several others dangerously
ill. When they went out in the morning, they were all in good health,
but were suddenly seized with a nervous affection, which, in a very
short time, terminated fatally; notwithstanding every assistance,
Samuel died in the night. Next morning another boat arrived, and
brought Adam and Isaac, both dead, though they had yesterday been both
fishing in their kaiaks; the four dead bodies were obliged to be
immediately buried, as they quickly showed signs of corruption. The
same evening, Daniel brought in his boat four dying persons; at five
o'clock the younger, Mark, died. On the 26th, early in the morning,
the widow Rebecca, and in the forenoon, young Philip departed; before
twelve o'clock, the bodies became so offensive, that it was necessary
to inter them. All were filled with alarm and terror, but to our
comfort we also remarked submission to the will of the Lord. The sick,
in general, declared they were willing to go to the Saviour when he
should call them; some said they felt their unworthiness to appear
before him, and yet expressed their reliance upon his sufferings as
their only refuge; but from total debility and oppression they could
speak very little: they complained of great weakness, lameness,
blindness, and a feeling of suffocation. At four in the afternoon
little Abel, and in the same tent, the widow Salome, and at six
o'clock old Thomas, (Kapik,) died. 27th, There was little improvement;
besides those who remained ill many more began to complain, and cried
out to us for assistance, so that we knew not where to go or who to
help first. At eleven o'clock the four dead were buried, which made
ten. On the 29th a great many were taken ill; at four in the
afternoon, Magdalene departed comfortable and happy. Father Abel, who
had willingly assisted in burying the dead, followed the same evening.
His wife, Benigna, who had faithfully attended the sick, was prevented
from nursing him, being herself laid up. The dead bodies were laid in
their place of rest next day. We now felt that all of us were more or
less worn out by this great affliction, some of us actually sick, and
none certain but he might be seized the next moment. To add to our
distress, many children were rendered orphans by the loss of both
father and mother, which called forth our sighs to our gracious and
merciful God and Lord for his compassion and assistance, and felt
revived with the hope that he would hear and help us. Some of the sick
began to recover: but on the evening of the 31st the Saviour took
Abel's wife, Benigna, home to her blessed rest, and on the following
morning, August 1, she was laid in her grave; at seven o'clock in the
evening we held a meeting with the Esquimaux, especially with regard
to improve the solemn warning given in that harvest the Lord had
gathered from this church. From conversations held with several of the
sisters on the 12th, we clearly perceived that the removal of so many
of our number had made a deep impression on them, and had brought them
to reflect on the necessity of constantly depending on the Saviour,
and being ever ready to meet him when he shall come to gather them
also into his garner."
But to their great grief the missionaries discovered that this was not
the happy state of all. When the disease abated they learned with the
utmost pain, that some, even of their communicants, in their agony and
terror, had had recourse to their old heathenish practices; and what
was worse, had endeavoured to appease their consciences by attempting
to assimilate them to Old Testament rites imperfectly understood. They
had killed a dog, and cut the ears off many others, that by sprinkling
themselves with the blood of the dog they might prevent death from
approaching them. Under the influence of a fanatical delusion, they
compared this with the offerings of the Jews, and particularly with
the slaying of the Paschal Lamb, and sprinkling the blood on the
lintel and posts of the door. "Our situation we feel very difficult,"
complained the anxious missionaries, "as the enemy uses all his
ingenuity to blind the poor people, and knows how to employ their fear
and distress to harden their hearts, and to prevent them from
discerning their sins and repenting. It appears as if he exerted every
power to destroy this little congregation, but we hope that God will
shortly bruise Satan under our feet, and not allow his attempts to
prosper."
They found it necessary to exclude several from partaking of the holy
supper, and this severity was the blessed mean of soon bringing them
to repentance and sorrow for their sins. Others who had fainted, but
not fallen in the day of trial, expressed themselves now convinced of
the necessity of watching over their hearts, that they might not be
seduced to seek false comfort or unlawful assistance: they had, during
the time of this awful visitation, as well as they could, kept close
to Jesus and prayed to him; but they were nevertheless troubled with
fearful thoughts--as that they might all perish, and how sad it would
be if their teachers should turn away from them, when there was no one
to come to their assistance, and when they could not help themselves.
But they now saw that they had greatly erred in indulging these hard
thoughts, for Jesus had delivered them in their necessity. They felt
that they ought to be thankful, but they came far short of that
gratitude they owed to him.
Nain and Okkak were mercifully spared this year, and in the grand
object of their labours the brethren had still occasion to bless the
Lord that he graciously owned the preaching of the glad tidings of
salvation, and accompanied it with power and the demonstration of his
Spirit: often was his presence powerfully felt, particularly when,
from time to time, individuals were added to the church by baptism, or
when they partook of the holy sacrament of our Lord's body and blood,
in fellowship together.
The outward circumstances of the missions in Labrador this year were
uncommonly prosperous--they sent to England upwards of 100 tons of
blubber, 2000 seals' skins, and 2750 fox skins.