true piety, unselfish benevolence, earnest religious zeal, and warm-hearted social friendship. Had we Dr. Wheelock's responses, it would add interest to the letters; but alone they will be cherished as mementos of a devout and affectionate friend of God and man.

1775-76.

We have little information of Mr. Brainerd's labors during 1775 and 1776. It was a season of public turmoil. The battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill had been fought, the Declaration of Inde pendence made, and the Presbyterian clergy of the country, sympathizing most heartily in the principles involved in the contest, were greatly engaged in stimulating the courage and animating the hopes of their fellow-countrymen. The same zeal which led Mr. Brainerd to offer himself as a chaplain in the Old French War doubtless burned in his heart in this hour of peril. He belonged to a family not likely to stand neutral in the shock of conflicting principles, nor to be insensible of their obligations to their native land.* The State of

* The Rev. Allen H. Brown, of New Jersey, has furnished us with the following facts. He says, under date of August, 1864:

I have before me a sermon preached by Rev. B. S. Everett, pastor, at the dedication of the church of Blackwoodtown, and make this extract:

"The inhabitants of West Jersey were from the first strongly opposed to the crown, and at the outbreak flocked to their country's defence. Their patriotism, too, was stirred up and guided by their ministers in those days.

"In 1776, John Brainerd preached in the church here a sermon glowing with patriotism. His text was (Psalm cxliv. 1), "Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth

New Jersey, lying between the great cities of Philadelphia and New York, was in the direct track of advancing and retreating armies: sometimes it was in the possession of one side, sometimes the other. And there were not wanting then, as now, men of easy principles, whose patriotism and courage rose and fell with their interest and convenience. The Indian population, instinctively tending to "smell the battle afar off," and loosely compacted in habits of civilization, would naturally become more intractable and religiously unimpressible in these circumstances.

The motive which led Mr. Brainerd from Mount Holly to Brotherton, and from Brotherton finally to Deerfield, was, doubtless, to escape the agitations of the period, so that his influence as a minister of the gospel could be made still effective.

As his pecuniary condition had been straitened by his sacrifices for his mission, he made a final effort, as we have seen, to secure relief from his old friends in Scotland. The Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge seemed still to regard him as in some sense their missionary, and no doubt would have aided him had not their funds failed. In spite of the bitterness rising between the two countries, they still regarded him with great interest, and in the year 1776 itself, the

my hands to war, and my fingers to fight." He appealed to the people to enlist and fight for their country.

"The audience was deeply impressed. Tears flowed freely: stout hearts and strong wills resolved to join the army. Randal Morgan and his two sons, Lazarus Pine and his sons, John Hedger, David Morgan, Richard Cheeseman and son, served in the war.''

General Meeting of the Society adopted the following minute:

Extract from Minutes, Edinburgh, June 5, 1776.

"There was read a letter, of date the 23d February last, from Mr. John Brainerd, the Society's missionary, then at Bridgetown, together with a journal of his labors, commencing December, 1770, and ending in December, 1774: he further mentions that he had not had time to transcribe the journal of last year, but had proceeded and carried it on as heretofore. Mr. Brainerd further transmitted a report, signed by two correspondent members in 1763, bearing that from the beginning of his mission. in the Society's service £320 New-Jersey proclamationmoney, over and above his annual allowance from the Society, and over and above the public collections and private donations received by him for the support of the mission; some small part of which sum Mr. Brainerd writes he has received, but the remainder with lawful interest amounts to above £450, Spanish dollars at 7s. 6d. He has likewise expended considerable sums since the above time in the same manner as before; all which he entreats the Society to take into consideration, and allow him to draw for the whole or part.

"The Clerk is to examine the Society's minutes and account relative to the above claim made by Mr. Brainerd, and report to next ordinary meeting of the Com

mittee."

Before the Committee could meet, the Declaration of Independence and the prevalence of war terminated all intercourse between England and America; but we cannot record this final minute

of the Society in regard to Mr. Brainerd without testifying our approbation of the Christian benevolence in which their Society was founded, our admiration of their perseverance in the great idea of converting the pagans of this continent, and our gratitude for the sympathy, encouragement, prayer, and pecuniary aid which for a quarter of a century they gave to the brothers David and John Brainerd.

The Synod of 1775 continued Mr. Brainerd on the "Commission," and appointed him a delegate to the Convention at Greenfield, Conn., the first Wednesday of September, and up to the year of his death considered him as their missionary to the Indians, allowing him the interest of the three hundred pounds in the hands of the Treasurer of New Jersey College. His pastorship at Deerfield from 1777 to 1781 was not allowed to interfere with this arrangement of Brainerd's general care of the Indian mission.

The history of Mr. Brainerd's labors as a domestic missionary among the whites of New Jersey we shall present hereafter. Outside of his mission at Brotherton there was a settlement of Indians, about a mile west of Vincenttown, where stood a log church, erected by his influence, in which he often preached. Its vicinity to Mount Holly, when that place was invaded, interrupted his labors at that station.

CHAPTER XLI.

SKETCH OF BROTHERTON-MR. BRAINERD SETTLES AT DEERFIELD-INDIANS NEGLECTED-REV. DANIEL SIMON FINAL EXIT OF THE INDIANS FROM NEW JERSEY-BARTHOLOMEW S. CALVIN'S RETURNDELAWARE INDIANS IN NEW YORK AND MICHIGAN-MR. BRAINERD'S LABORS NOT LOST.

IN N the year 1777, at fifty-seven years of age, Mr. Brainerd removed from Brotherton to Deerfield, in Cumberland county, N. J., and took charge of the church there. He still seems to have retained some oversight of the mission. In 1778, 1779, and 1780, up to the year of his death, the Synod of New York and Philadelphia voted that "the interest on the Indian fund be paid to Mr. Brainerd for his services among the Indians." To the last of life he seems to have clung to his little flock, his first love, and his brethren did their best in a time of war to sustain him,

Brotherton, the Indian settlement which he had aided to build up, and where for fifteen years he had resided, was situated in what is now a prosperous and pleasant rural neighborhood, near the present Shamong station, on the Delaware-Bay and Raritan Railroad, about forty miles from Philadelphia. The "Historical Collections of New Jersey" give the following description :