London
20th. Aug.st 1766 —
Revd
& dear Sr
I have the Happineſs to acquaint you
Providence appears Remarkably to smile here on your
Indian School affairs — there is already Subscrib'd
& Collected
Three Thousand Pounds Sterling— There is no doubt but
the
Lord put it into your Heart at first, & has wonderfully Sup‐
-ported you & those Disinterested Creatures, such as
Mr Kirtland,
Fowler,
Occom
&c
&c who have truly gone with their Lives in
their hands & have as miraculously been preserv'd. as your
Letters now before me of
April 5th-
29th
&
June 24th
& Sundry former Ones
and many others dear
Mr Whitefield when in
America transmitted to
me abundantly Shew — from all which, together with the Lords
Opening the Hearts of his
people to Subscribe so liberally; looks
as if the time was come, when the Lord will
work a great Work
on the Earth; &
Litterally
fulfil his promises, & give his Son the
Heathen for his Inheritance & the uttermost parts of the Earth for
his poseſsion — I hope your Life will be preserv'd to see much
of this accomplish'd; and have the pleasing Hopes of a
Foundation being laid, for its entire
Accomplishment, when
you are dead & Gone. — — As
Mr Whitaker needed
Aſsistance, we judg'd it best, to have a weekly meeting of such
persons, who seem'd quite hearty in the Cause. & Accordingly,
The Rev.
d
Meſs:
rs
Whitefield,
Brewer,
Hitchins,
D.r Gibbons,
D:r
Gufford, &
D.r Stennett; together with
Mr Smith of
Boston,
Charles Hardy Esqr,
Mr
Saml Savage
&
My self; have met some,
or all of us, every tuesday; and purpose so to do, when Meſs
rs
Whitaker
&
Occum are in the Countries round about, to send them
any advice and
Letters of Recommendation to the leading men in
the places they are next to go to;
and every other needfull step proper
to be taken — and we all do agree, that
M.r Whitaker acts quite to
our satisfaction; listens to advice,
and takes it when given — is most
Indefatigable in every instance relateing to the affairs he is come about.
is greatly belov'd, and no One could have done better, unleſs dear
M.r Wheelock had come over himself — He is quite cut out for y
e work,
and in our Opinion, has been neither too speedy nor too slow; but
has
acted prudently and Wisely, and has succeeded Accordingly — and we
likewise think it would
^be^ Marring the Work to recal him, or send any other
in his Room, but let him go through with it, if
please God spare his
Life, nor would we advise the least hint to be dropt to him of that nature
to discourage him, but on the contrary every thing that is encourageing;
as we really think he ought to have the Approbation of all —
I've aſsisted him in his accounts from the beginning, as well for Your sake,
his sake,
and the publicks — I was thinking in this letter to have sent
you a list of those that
have Subscrib'd largely, but that I may do in a
Future one if requested — the Money
Collected is Chiefly lodg'd in Bankers
hands; except the running Cash, which is chiefly in
Mr Savage^s^
& mine; with
which I pay all the Bills drawn by You, and Accordingly I've
paid a Bill
of Exchange of £100 Sterling dated
Nov.r
28.th 1765 drawn by
Nathl Eells of
Boston to
Mr John Timmins or Order — — One of £52..13
s..9
p payable to
Moses Peck or ord
r dated at
Boston
May 28th — — One of £50 Sterling payable
to
Asahel Clark Junr or Ord.
r dated at
Boston
May 29th — One of £120 sterling
payable to
Gersham Breed or Order dated June — just paid — the Three last
is
drawn by your self which is the most satisfactory of all — likewise let
Mr Smith of
Boston (who I
believe is one of the worthiest men in y
e world &
his being here a most Singular bleſing to this affair) have £30 & £25 to be
by him in Bills &
illegibleremitted to & for the use of
Mr
Occum
&
Whitaker family &c
If these are all right, and any more is drawn, or you can Communicate
in what Channel you would like to have the Money ^Subscrib'd^ run in — wether a Large Sum for Building a School at once or draw annually for certain
sums or Occasionally as you choose, or illegiblewether ever any Bills may be paid that is not of your drawing (tho' we like to see your name best) in Short, whatever you find Freedom to
write, we shall read in our weekly meeting, and endeavour to make the best use of it,
to promote the design, both among our selves and others, that seem able & willing so to do. — we do not attempt to prescribe to you, but would
contribute all we can to strengthen your hands and enlarge your design — and beg continually ^call'd^ upon to give answers, some of One sort & some of another; haveing
engag'd ourselves fully in it, should be glad to be furnish'd with every thing
neceſsary to be known —
Dear
Mr Whitefield is as much own'd
&
bleſs'd here as ever, Large, Crowded
& Serious Congregations every time he preaches. and though he has been
frequently
Brought low as to his Bodily strength, yet he has always been enabled to preach
at least twice in a week; Viz
t at
Tottenham Court Chapel on a Lords
day Morning
at 10 o'Clock and at y
e
Tabernacle near Moorefields on a Wednesday Evening;
Thousands will bleſs God to Eternity they ever heard him —
I swel'd this letter grea
[gap: tear][guess: tly
bey]ond my Intention — especially as I'm a
stranger to You— but
b
[gap: tear][guess: elieve you']ll excuse & believe it to proceed from a
Real desire to promote
[gap: tear][guess: the] Redeemers Kingdom, and to Cultivate
a
lasting Friendship & Correspondence with dear
Mr Wheelock.
I am Dr
S:r Sincerely yours in the Best of Bonds
Robt Keen
P. S. all the above-mentiond Friends
joyn in hearty Love — — please to direct for
me. Woollen draper in
the Minories —
London
Meſs.
rs
Whitaker
&
Occum
are at
Bristol — I
heard
from them yesterday are both well & well Employ'd — I believe they
will go from thence to
Bath,
Exeter,
Plymouth
&c
& so finish their tour in y
e west
P. S. There was a Bond on
Edwd Lollard for £100 & upwards sent w
th a power of Attourney
to
Mr
Saml Broome to recieve the Money & pay it into your hands — the person hopes
Mr Broome will not let him shuffle but
makOblige him to
pay it—