John Brainerd, letter, to Eleazar Wheelock, 1766 September 16
Date16 September, 1766
Call Number766516.1
abstractBrainerd writes about the apprehension of the murderers of two Indian women, includes letters from Francis Alison and John Ewing recommending John G. Kals as a teacher and missionary, and gives his own recommendation of Kals, with reservations.
handwritingHandwriting is bold, stylized and occasionally difficult to decipher.
paperLarge sheet folded in half to make four pages is in good-to-fair condition, with some yellowing and moderate-to-heavy creasing that leads to a minor loss of text. There is older preservation work on one verso and two recto. The outer edges appear to have been trimmed.
inkDark brown.
noteworthyThe text is dimmed somewhat by preservation work. An editor, likely 19th-century, had added the note "Ind Mis" to two verso; this note has not been included in the transcription.
EventsFundraising Tour of Great Britain
Modernized Version Deletions removed; additions added in; modern spelling and capitalization added; unfamiliar abbreviations expanded.
Rev. and Dear Sir,
at Egg harbour to go by the first Connecticut Vessel;
what its fate will be I know not. I now write
again, not knowing of any direct Opportunity,
but determining to embrace the first and best that offers.
I informed you of the Murder of two Indian Women
in this Pr[gap: tear][guess: o]vince, by a Couple of straggling Stran=
gers, — of their Apprehension, and Execution at Bur=
lington, the first of Aug. ultimo This I did that
it might communicated to the remote Indi=
ans, who will doubtless hear of the Murder, and
ought to be informed of the Murderers being
brought to Justice. You will doubtless, through
Sir William Johnson, or otherwise have Oppor=
tunity to do it.
Rev. Dr. Alison, the Contents of which I shall
give you, and they are as follows.
"Acquaintance the Rev. Mr John G. Kals, a Minis=
"ter of the Dutch reformed Churches. He is a Gentle=
"man of Piety and Learning, and zealous to promote the
"Kingdom of Christ, and well qualified many Ways to
Serve
Letter from Mr. John Brainerd
September 16. 1766,—about
Mr. Kalls —
"Serve God, and to do Service in the Church if a Door
"of usefulness were opened. He understands Hebrew,
"Chaldaic etc. beyond any that I know on the Continent,
"and might be of great Service to teach Candi=
"dates for the Ministry to read the Bible in Hebrew.
"I lament that we are so careless how we teach Divi=
"nity, and particularly to make our Students migh=
"ty in the Scriptures, and I am amazed that in the
"Colleges of Princeton and Philadelphia this is neglected or ra=
"ther despised for this Gentleman c[gap: tear][guess: an] teach it to
"great Perfection, and is willing to teach it on any
"terms, so as he can have but food and Raiment and
"our neglect of what is in our Power will be charged
"to our Account. He has heard of Mr. Wheelock's
"unwearied Endeavours to convert the Indians, and
"would think himself greatly honoured could he
"be any Way useful in this great Work. I ad
vised him first to visit and converse with you, and to
"Stay Some Days and visit the Indians in their Houses,
"to See them attend Worship, and how the Children
"learn: and possibly from thence he might form a bet=
"ter Judgement how he is qualified to do anything
"in this great Work. he is poor, but very frugal;
"what regard you show to him I shall account as
"a favour done to
Rev. Sir,
your etc." — —
the Rev. Mr. Ewing.
closed
" Letter from Dr. Alison before the Sealing of it,
"I can say from my own Knowledge that what he relates
"of that Gentleman I can heartily Subscribe. I would only
"add that Such was his Zeal to Spread the Gospel a=
"mong the benighted Heathen that he voluntarily under=
"took a Voyage to Surinam with proper testimontials
"from the Synod of Holland and Classis of Amsterdam. But left
"it, when he found that there was no effectual Door opened for
"him in that Place. His heart is [illegible][guess: So much] Set upon this
"Work that he has wrote a large Quarto Volume upon the Sub=
"ject in Low Dutch as a Testimony to the World of his
"Desire to contribute to So good a Cause, in hopes that Some
"might be excited thereby to engage in the arduous and self-de
nying Work. If you have need of Such assistance as he can
"give, I doubt not but he would be very glad of an
"Opportunity of being employed in any Way that you may
"think will have the best tendency to promote your truly
"benevolent designs both to the Indians and white People
"in your wide, extended diocese.
Rev. Sir,
your etc." —
preachd twice attended the School some and visited at
some of the Indian Houses.. He is a Man of about
65 Years of Age, a great Linguist [gap: worn_edge][guess: and] a [gap: worn_edge][guess: c]lose Student.
He tells me he can make use of 16 Languages viz
Latin, Greek Hebrew, Chaldea, Syriac, Arabic Ethiopi[gap: worn_edge]
Parsi, German, Low Dutch, French, Spanish, Italian
Turkish, Russian and English. The last of these he Seems
to be well acquainted with, but does not Speak
plain, which renders it somewhat laborious to con
verse with him. This I apprehend to be the great=
est
est Difficulty in his Way of Instructing, espe
cially in such a School as yours. I have
a good deal of Reason to think him well
capable of Instructing in other Branches of
Learning besides the Languages, especially Di=
vinity, and that he would be very accurate there=
in, but his want of Speaking the English
well is a great Difficulty. I thought it my
Duty to write, as I know him to be in many re
spect[gap: worn_edge][guess: s] Qualified to do Service in the teaching
Way; yet I am not without Some Secret Fears
he won't Suit you, as it is somewhat Difficult
to understand him, and must be much more
So for those that have not the English Tongue
perfectly. But that his Talents might not
be buried, and that your School (if it may be)
may receive Help and Benefit I have written:
And now commit the Matter to the Disposal of Pro=
vidence. This Gentleman at present resides in
Philadelphia.
Whitaker and Mr. Occom collected upward of 133 £ at
the Rev. Mr. Brewers Church in Stepney. May Heaven
send them Prosperity everywhere, and make your
School a blessing to the [illegible] Posterity. I long
to hear from you.
Wife very heartily Joins though unknown).
and accept the Same from,
I had no Acquaintance with him 'til the other Day. Mr. William Tennent might be a proper person. — —