Mohegan
July 24: 1771
Revd Sir
Yours of Janr 22: I receivd but a few Days ago, wherein You Speak of mu^c^h
Sorrow on my account, I am obliged to you So far as it is agreable to god, You Seem to think that it is a sort of Reproof from God, that I
was Left to Stray, for my Staying at Home so much, But I don’t think with
You, — God woud Certain ly gave me Strenght Sufficient to go Such Long
Journeis, but I han’t been able to Ride far Now two whole Years, and I have been Con‐ fin’d to my Houſe good Deal this Spring, I am greatly Exerciſ’d with my old Pains — As to my Pre‐ ſent Standing with the Indians, I need not Say more than this, I am as well, if
not better recei^vd^ by them than ever, if I woud only Comply with their Deſire, the Indians ^at^
Mohegan, groton,
Nahanteck, Stonington, and even
at Charles town in general woud put themſelves un‐ der my Inſtructions — as to my [illegible] being under a Miſtake about my and Davids going into the wilderneſs I am not, I woud have gone up and David too, the
Spring after I got Home from England, but
you Said, you had no money to AſSiſt me with, and You yourſelf
Diſ‐ couragd
David from going, — Indeed I have
always Declin’d to remove my Family into the wilderneſs, but David
woud have gone up to Settle there — had he a proper Encourage‐ ment he woud go now — but he will not go for what you offer — he has Some
thoughts of offering his Service to the Comiſsrs of Boſton to go into the wilderneſs, if they woud give him £30 Lawf
per Am he woud go into the wilderneſs with his Family to Settle — I am very Jealous that inſtead of Your Seme‐ nary Becoming alma Mater, She will be too alba mater to Suckle the Tawnees, for She is already a Dorn’d up too much like the Popiſh Virgin Mary She’ll be Naturally aſham’d to Suckle the Tawnees for She is already equal in Power Honor and Autho rity to
and any College in Europe, I think
your College has too much wordly
Grandure for the Poor Indians they’ll never have much benefet of it, — In So Saying I Speak the general Sentiment of Indians
and Engliſh too in theſe parts; ^a.^
so many of your Miſsi onaries and School maſters and Indian Scholars Leaving You and Your Service Confirms me in this
opinion, — ^b^ Your having So many white Scholars and So
few or no Indian Scholars, gives me great
Diſcouragement — I verily thought once that your
Inſtitution was Indtended Purely for the poor Indians with this thought I Chearfully
Ventur’d my Body & Soul, left my Country my poor Young Family all my Friends and
Relations, to Sail over the
Boiſterous Seas to England, to help forward
your School, Hoping, that it may be a laſting
Bene‐ fet to my poor Tawnee Brethren, with this View I went a Volunteer — I was quite willing
to become a Gazing stock, Yea Even a Laughing Stock, in Strange Countries to
Promote your
Cauſe — we Loudly Proclaimd before Multitudes of People from Place to Place, that there was a
moſt glorious Proſpect of Spreading the goſpel of the Lord Jeſus to the furthereſt Savage Nations in the wilderneſs, thro’ your Inſtitution, we told them that there were So many Miſsionaries
& So many Schoolmaſters already Sent out, and a greater Number woud Soon follow
^[left]a: N.B. none have left me ſince I got a Charter. b. I ha’ no white Charity Scholars but such as ^are^
[illegible]fittg for a miſsion^
But when we got Home behold all the glory had decayd and now I am afr’aid, we Shall ^be^
Deem’d as Liars and Deceivers in Europe, unleſs you gather Indians quickly to your College, in great Numbers and not
to have So many Whites in the Charity, — I under ſtand you have no Indians at Preſent except two or three Mollatoes — — this I think is quite Contrary to the Minds of the Donors,
we told them, that we were
Beging for poor Miſerable Indians, — as for my part I went, purely for the poor Indians, and I
Should be as ready as ever to promote your School according to my poor Abilities
^if^ I coud be Convinc’d by ocular Demon‐ ſtration, that your pure Intention is to help, the poor help^leſs^ Indians, but as long as you have no Indians, I am full of Doubts,
— Your writing to Esqr Thornton to my Diſadvantage and not ^one^ word in my favour, gave me to think,
that your Indian Scholars had
reaſon to with Draw from You, and Your Miſsio naries and Schol, Maſters too, the opinion of many white People about here is that You have been
Scheeming
altogather, and that it was a Po[illegible]llicy to Send me over to England, for
(Say they) now they don’t Care any^thing^ ab^o^ut you, You have anſwerd their Ends, now you may Sink or Swim it is all one to them, this makes
me think of what that great man of god Said to me, Mr Whitefield, juſt before I left England in the
^hearing of^ Some gentlemen — ah, Says he,
[illegible]You have been a fine Tool to get Money
for them, but when you get home, they won’t Regard you the’ll S[illegible][guess: e]t you a Drift, — I am ready to believe it Now — I am going to Say Some
thing further, which is very Diſagreeable
Modiſty
woud forbid me, but I am Conſtraind So to write, — Many Gentlemen in England
and in this Country too, Say, if ^you^ had not this Indian
Bait, you woud not Collected a quarter of the Money you did, one gentleman in Parti cular in England Said to me, if
^he^ hadn’t Seen my face he woudn’t have given [illegible][guess: ye]
happence but now I have £50 freely — This
one Conſideration gives me great Quietneſs, I think I went to En‐
gland with Honeſt Heart, I think I have dont that which I think was my Duty to Do — I mig^ht^ write more but I have no time, — I wiſh I
coud give you one viſit, to have a ful talk but you got so ^far^ up, I Shall never be able
— if I am under any Miſtake, Pleaſe to enlight en me, — I am better in Health than I’ve
been and my Family is well thro’ Divine Favour
Pleaſe to ^give^ my Compts to all under your Care and Accept Duty from
Your moſt unworthy
Servt
Samſon Occom
PS I have not wrote this Sort to any one in England, I Chuſe to let you know my mind firſt
SO
From M.r Occom
July 23. 1771