May it please your Lordship.
Were I not confident, upon good
testimonies, that God has inspired your breast with
another Spirit, than that which rules in the men of this
world,
and with nobler Principles, and higher views
than they are governed by, I might well be solicitous
what Returns of Gratitude to make, which your Lord‐
ship might think Suitable for Such distinguishing
condescension, and goodness, as you have shown in the
Grand Affair, on which I have Sent the Rev.
Messrs.
Whitaker and
Occom, in my Stead, to
Europe;
but as
the success of the general design in view, is the only Joy
that is Set before you, I need not trouble you with,
so much as a mention of those Sentiments of Gratitude
toward you, which fill
not only mine, but the Hearts
of all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in this Corner of
the world.
Nor can I, with this confidence of your Lordship, be
So modestly
reserved, in a cause in which I am not con‐
scious to myself of having any other governing views
than the Advancement of the Kingdom of
our common
Lord,
Lord, and the interests of
his Majesty's Crown, as not
to
Suggest any other Favour, which may be in the Power
of your Hands, towards it, or
attainable by your Lordship's
Influence. and particularly that the grand design be en‐
couraged, and accommodated with a Grant of Lands Suitably
Situate, and Sufficient for it. as by the
late conquests large
Tracts are become the Property of the British Crown, and
other Tracts which were before chartered, but unsettled and
of but little account, by reason of their distance from
English Settlements, and their vicinity to an Enemy's
country, are now become
valuable and may Soon be
peopled.
of these Lands, his
Majesty has
already been pleased,
with good reason, to make various Grants to one and
another, as a Reward of their Merit, and
as Profit has
accrued to his Crown by their Service. But, may it please
your Lordship, there has been nothing hitherto
devised,
or done, in Which there is any prospect of the firm Attach‐
‐ment of the Numerous Tribes of
Savages in this land, to the
British
interest, and their becoming good and peaceable
Subjects, and industrious Members of Society, which has
in any measure that Degree of Probability in it, as this
has which is recommended to your Lordships Patronage.
The Nations will not make war with us while their Children,
and especially the Children of their chiefs are with us — They can't
resist the Evidence we hereby give them of the Sincerity of our
Intentions towards
them — They know their Sons are made better
by being with us — and that
we make no gain to ourselves by
it — They receive the testimony of their Sons, that we constantly
treat them as Children in Health, and in sickness, and calculate
all our measures for their Good — and they begin to believe that
our Motives are
Something great, quite beyond what they have
before conceived of them — many of them begin to be convinced
of the necessity of Agriculture, in order to their subsistence when
their
their resources from the wilderness fail, (as they certainly must
do, when, and So fast, as the English extend their Settlements among
them) and their own sons are made able, by their Education here,
to instruct them in it — The Reputation of
this
School and
their fondness to have their Children taught in it, are yet in‐
creasing — a number of their own Sons are now become accom‐
plished Interpreters, and schoolmasters, among their Tribes, and
recommend a Sober, manly, virtuous, and religious
Life by their
own Example. I can now obtain as many of their Children as
I please, to be instructed here, and an hundred of them easier
than I could one six years ago. — And how many and
important are the consequences which now open to our
view?
And by the royal Favour of a Tract of Lands in Some Place
convenient, Sufficient to accommodate
the School, and employ the
Members of it while
they are learning husbandry, there is a fair
prospect that more than double the Benefit might be done
them, and the Crown, with
the Same expense.
But as I am ignorant what may be reasonable to petition
for, and as I would not needlessly burden your Lordship
in this Affair, I have fully communicated my mind to the
Rev.
Mr. Whitefield, and
Mr. Whitaker, by whom your Lordship
may expect to hear what may be judged most conducive to
the great Ends in view.
I humbly ask your Lordships Pardon for this Freedom;
and I hope the Nature, and importance of
the Subject may be
esteemed, in Some measure, Sufficient excuse for him, who
begs leave, with the most Sincere Duty, and Respect to
Subscribe
himself.