Today the King sent
for me to his house. I found him with 6 or 7 of his Council. The Speaker, in
the name of the King, delivered the following Laconic answer.
"My brother, I am glad you have
come among us, from such a great distance, & that we see each other, and
rejoice that we have had an opportunity to hear you preach. Brother, you will
now return home & when you get there give my love to them that sent you. I
have done speaking."
The prospect of being instrumental of
much good to these poor & perishing heathen, was no more. I asked him, if
this short answer was the result of their long consideration on the
disinterested and benevolent errand on which I had come? And that I was very
sorry that they had rejected an offer intended for their greatest good.
I conversed with them some time, &
asked them what reasons, in particular, I should give to the great & good
men who had sent me, for their rejection of the offer now made to them. One of
them, with expressions of anger, said they did not like that the white people
should settle upon the Ohio. They destroyed their hunting. That it was necessary
that the friendship between King George and them, should be made more firm and
strong, before they could receive the english so much into favor, as to take
their religion. That when they were ready they would let us know it. I
mentioned that it was our intention to have procured a school master to
instruct their children, and also to furnish them some utensils for husbandry,
and a grist mill, (as our worthy patron Dr. Wheelock had authorized us so to
do, and for that purpose had given us blanks, for bills of Exchange, on the
School's funds in Scotland,) for the pious and benevolent, among the english,
were greatly desirous to promote their comfort in this world, as well as their
happiness after death; and that they expected and desired no reward from them ;
that the labour and expence would all be ours, and the benefits all their own.
But that I was sorry that they had now excluded themselves from these kind
offers of their brethren, the white people. An aged Councillor & warrior,
who had never come to hear me preach, but was violently opposed to my
continuance with them, was present, and appeared to scoff at these proposals. I
thanked them for their civilities, and mentioned my satisfaction that I had had
opportunity to speak to them, on the great things of religion, and prayed that
God would make what they had heard, of lasting good to some souls. I rose and
bid them farewell. Capt. Killbuck came out with me, & said he would
accompany me to Fort Pitt. He, and others, appeared a little surprised at the
offer of implements of husbandry. "He said, perhaps, the Council will
change their minds; and that they had prepared a lengthy speech to deliver to
me, but that one who was violently opposed, spoiled it all."
From the hostile appearence [sic] of things, I had, for several days,
entertained apprehensions of my personal safety, and that I should not, after a
while, be indulged the liberty of leaving them. 1
McClure went on
to list some reasons why the Indians rejected his offer to remain with them and
preach the Gospel, and these all revolved around allegations that the British
were actively arousing Indian resentment against the colonists. Pepee divulged to McClure what the Delawares
had been telling him and McClure himself had observed wampum belts being
communicated amongst the tribes. McClure then began to make his way back
east. In the spring of 1773 he was back
in the settlements around Ft. Pitt. Here
we find an encounter he had with a Dr. John Connelly.
June 1 [1773]. At Esq. Mackay's. Walked with Dr. John Connelly along the bank of the
Allegany. In conversation he asserted some deistical tenets: said, he did not
believe the whole of the Bible—that religion was all a piece of policy—that
Joshua was a grand villain—that men were from the creation, the same, as to
moral powers & propensities, that they are at present—and many other great
errors and falsities of a similar import. I endeavored to set before him the
perfection & purity of the divine character, and the deep depravity of the
human heart, & thence to infer the necessity of a moral change, called in
scripture, being born again, a new heart, & the like, in order to the
enjoyment of the love of a holy God, & a preperation [sic] for the holy employments of heaven &c.
He replied, that no change would take place, until the soul should be disingaged
[sic] from the body; then he supposed
it would be refined, & fitted for the spiritual world &c. I
urged the necessity of faith in the word of God, & reliance on the
righteousness and mediation of Jesus Christ. He replied that he wished to
believe; but could not. The doctor is a man of bright parts, and an amiable
disposition; but has lived a dissipated life. I was informed by my christian
friend (Mr. Plumer) that the Doctor was, at times, exercised with very serious
awakenings. A sovereign God is pleased
to reveal unto babes that divine light & grace, which he hides from the
wise & prudent men of the world. 2
Isn’t it
interesting that a learned man such as Dr. Connelly would essentially raise the
same objections that the “savage” Indians would against the Gospel? The Indians and Connelly both believed that
human reason alone was sufficient for them ascertain how to be pleasing to God. Both the Indians and Connelly essentially
denied the sufficiency and necessity of the Scriptures for mankind to perceive
their lost estate. I see this as just
another reminder that, apart from God’s grace changing the hearts of people, no
savage or scientist will ever turn from their sins and reach out to Jesus in
repentance and faith. Father God, pour
out such grace abundantly in our day!
Christ, not man, is King!
Dale
1) Franklin B.
Dexter, ed., Diary of David McClure (New York, NY: Knickerbocker Press, 1899),
p. 83-4.
2) Ibid., p.
122-23.
Very interesting. The objections that were voiced in the 18th century are alive and well in the 21st century. Excellently done.
ReplyDeleteSoli Deo Gloria,
Jordan