Clapham
28th February 1772
Dear ſir
Since my last I duly recd your several favors of the 11th
Jany
20th June
1st August
29th do
9th
Septr
&
31st October Ap & I should have wrote you long since had I known what to say, but I was
much comforted by the last with the glad tidings that you &
Mr Kirkland had met I come to the Agreement to put it out of the
power of evil minded Peo ple to break into that harmony that ought ever to
sub sist betwixt those of the same Views; by disbelieving all false insinuations relative to
each other & ever coming to an explanation betwixt yourselves, I hope this will be steadfastly adhered to in future & that you will be enabled to see the Cloven foot, whenever any Person
shews a tendency to prejudice you against that valuable Minister, who indeed in
this unhappy difference has acted as few besides himself Would have done & I shall ever highly value & esteem it for it & all considered he has made as few mistakes as could be expected, as
indeed my Dear ſir he harboured not the evil reports that were falsely suggested against you,
but ever spoke with becoming regard & respect of your Character it is for best to bury all that is past & not so much as to think of it, but I must with my usual unreserve
^[left]Received May. 16th 1772^
tell you that I think your Parental regard to your Son
Ralph, has blinded your Eyes to some misconduct of his
& that
Mr Woodward has not been so single Eyed as I
would wish all to be
in so glorious a Cause, I don’t mean
to enter on any discussions, but rather
what I say is by
way of caution that neither of them may have it in their
power
to injure the Redeemers Cause thro the sides of
Mr Kirkland if they should be so unwise as to attempt it
but be
you forewarn’d
& thereby forearmed,
^so as^ not to listen
to the
Subtle Adversarys poison, should he be prevalent
eno to obtain an Eve to administer it, I know how
hard it is to know no one
after the flesh & to look th
[gap: tear] all to him with whom we have to
d
[illegible]o, but that Lord
who strengtheneth is Almighty, & he requires not
more then he will enable us to perform, when we are
armed from his heavenly Storehouse, all things are
poſsible, not only so but they are made easy thro the
divine influence, may the Lord ever guide you by his
Counsel till
he receives you to glory, & keep you watchful
& mindful that those who have not the Spirit of Christ
are none of his.
Your Drafts are duly taken Care of & whenever your
occasions further require aſsistance I have (thro mercy
wherewithal to aſsist you & at any time you may draw for One or Two Hundred pounds on your private
account or more if you find it needful to set you quite clear as it must relieve
your mind & be in every view desirable to stand quite clear of debt, I assure you the
Gentlemen of the Trust are disposed to do all
they consistently can to strengthen your hands that you need be under no
apprehensions of failure therein I was glad to find you had guarded against blending
the accots of the School
&
the College, in which you have acted wisely I
feared much your being involved thereby that it was an ease to my mind to see my
fears were groundleſs
& that consequently my Credit given on that score was unneceſsary, I own I doubt much whither your Charter will be confirmed on this side, as we don’t see it
in the light you do; the Trustees will soon have
a Meeting & then you will hear from them about th[illegible][guess: at] as well as other matters, but I don’t
think an Interview would tend to clear things as you imagine; many Men will be
of many minds & opinions, upon the whole you have ^an^ admirable
good set of Trustees
& I believe they are as disposed to favor you as you could wish
& you need fear nothing harsh from them, but go on with confidence, keep
always in mind Jesus reigns
who has all hearts at Command, he makes our enemies to be at peace with us & brings good out of evil, continue simple & keep in mind that as his ways are in the Sea & we can not trace them, we must not pretend to make our Mountain
strong, but our strength consists in the acknowledgement of our weakneſs
& looking to him continually step by step to direct us in all our ways, let
us never go forth but with his presence & when we feel a void let us humbly wait
& be still & he will shine upon us, surely it is his Work
& not ours & he knows best how to carry it on, &
unleſs when we have done our duty to the utmost we rest it as wholly as if we
had done nothing we shall find a Canker in our Gourd & experience a blight instead of a bleſsing you will know my dear Friend that nothing is simpler nor plainer then
the path of duty & it seems easy but is unaccountably difficult, & we are often called on to groan being burdened by indwelling Sin, that
even when we would do good evil is present with us
& we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves but bleſsed be God our Souls being restored, we can triumph in Christ & be more then Conquerors over all
& draw from his fulneſs grace to help in our every hour of need, for with him is plentious redemption & we are strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner Man
That the Adversary & many of his Party will oppose you is undoubtedly true & it is not leſs so that if you look on them you will imbitter your own Spirit, therefore let us go on unweariedly in the fear of the Lord
disregard ing those on the right & on the left & we shall be safe the danger is abundantly more from false Friends then from open Enemies, but bleſsed be God they are all Tethered & can’t paſs the bounds prescribed them whereas we know all things are ours both present & to come for we are Christs & Christ is Gods.
Mr Occom seems to me to have been hardly treated
& that I fear has been one means of driving him to his unjustifiable
Character
^Conduct^, I had rather stand in his Shoes than in those who
have a much better opinion of themselves & exceed him abundantly in putting the best gloſs on every thing; the best respecting them is only considered & the worst of him, it should be remembered he has been taken from that
scene of life that made labor & the greatest parsimony habitual to him & it is not in human Nature to return ^[inline]to^ it with
that alacrity which is expected ^from him^ If people that
Judge harshly would make his Case
their own, they would be compassionate instead of ſevere O how differently would they judge! & pray look to his Case
&
Dr Whitakers, & see who was benefited & yet Mr Occom was the Instrument (under God) that was the means
of collecting all the Money & Had the Doctor come without him the disgrace would have all fell to
his share, whereas poor Occom proved the ScapeGoat
& I am much mistaken if a day is not at hand that a Vail will be drawn over his great Infirmities
& his heart be found upright with God, do my dear Sir shew him all the kindneſs you consist[illegible][guess: on]ly can, he will not prove unworthy of your Patronage I never was
more deceived then in him if he is not an Israelite indeed; his trials have been
very great, I trust he will set bright at last —
Aſsist him with whatever you please from ^[inline]me^ I am very
willing my heart yearns towards him & I love him unfeignedly that I can’t but feel for him I am very
glad to hear Mr Avery is gone to Oneide
& that the Lord seems to be smiling on the good work you are engaged in I
trust the [illegible][guess: mou]ths
of
all our Adversarys will be stoped, I sent Dr Erskine of Edinburgh a Copy of the Agreement betwixt you
&
Mr Kirkland
& endeavoured to remove some prejudices I found he had inbibed to the prejudice of your new School,
as I got an extract of a Letter he wrote Mr Davidson of Braintree
last ſeptember as follows — “By accounts from America one Mr
Kd “a Miſsionary among the Oneida
&
Tuscoraga Indians “has been wonderfully bleſsed
& in the Judgemt of Charity “many of his hearers savingly converted. There has
been “nothing equal to this since Mr David Brainard
& “yet he might have starved for Dr Wheelock had not “our board
of Correspondents
& the London Com̅iſsioners “at Boston
taken him under their care. The Dr instead “of employing Missionaries, Schoolmasters or Catechists
“has alienated the greatest part of the Monies collected “in England to creating a new
College in New Hampshire
“the Charter of which where he is named first President “is conceived in
such artful terms, that that College “will
soon fall under Episcopal management, & had “not this been in view, the ease with which he
“procured a Charter, when Mr Whitefield was refused “it can hardly be accounted for
—”
I shall not cease to pray that the Lord may long strengthen you in your Work & for your Work, it is hard Service that forms Veterans, as you have often
seen in the Book of the way to Zion, may you be enabled to say with a departed
Friend of mine under very severe Discipline, “I have great Confidence —
great Submiſsion “no complaining. The Word to Christians goes beyond “all
this “in every thing give thanks” Hard as this “may seem under
great bodily trials &c I have no objection “to it, & the real sense of my own mind is, thankful “for Christ —
thankful for every thing”— I shall be always glad to hear from you, may
you & yours be growing up in the love of Christ devoted Servants of the Croſs, live daily upon the will of God & enjoy yourselves in nothing else praised be God there seems a
great revival in this Land in various parts while those that preserve the form
only are making great strides to cast that intirely off & Luxury & dissipation surely never were more prevalent
I am always Dear ſir Yours affectionately
John Thornton
From Esq.r Thornton
Feb.y 28. 1772.