ably with those of his cotemporaries one hundred years ago. He aimed at no display of talent or learning. He seems to have been too busy to meddle with mere metaphysical theories, and too conscientious to absorb time and thought on bellelettres diversions in the regions of imagination and taste. Governed himself by truth and duty, he may have erred in supposing that these alone would govern others; and he may thus have failed in reaching and moulding certain classes of minds. We think he was defective in this respect.

In addition to this, we see some evidence that his caution and prudence bordered on indecision; his modesty on timidity. His tendency in this direction may have been confirmed by his insulation in the wilderness, his labors with the ignorant, and his dependence on church-charities for his salary. Thus, his keen sensibility and high moral standard, joined with imperfect success in his work, made him dissatisfied with himself, and left bolder, more obtuse and reckless, but less worthy men to execute schemes which his piety had planned and his prayers sanctified.

We have sought in vain, in his life, the traces of unkindness towards a human being: he was involved in no contentions; he mixed in no controversies; he is carried away by no fanatical delusions; he rides no theological nor ecclesiastical hobbies; he gives no token of exasperated feeling, permanent or transient; he develops no emo

tions of jealousy nor envy towards his brethren who basked in sunshine, nor contempt for those in the shade: he was a lover of all good men and good objects, and seems to have hated nothing but sin. He was a holy man of God; and his whole life bears testimony to his sympathy with suffering humanity.

“And, lo! that withering race, who fade as dew 'neath summer's ray,

Who, like the rootless weed, are tossed from their own earth away;
Who trusted to a nation's vow, but found that faith was vain,
And to their fathers' sepulchres return no more again :
Long did thine image freshly dwell beside their ancient streams,
Or mid their wanderings, far and wide, did gild their alien dreams;
For Heaven to their sequestered haunts thine early steps did guide,
And the Delaware hath blessed thy prayer his cabin-hearth beside;
The Indian orphan meekly breathed his sorrows to thine ear,
And the lofty warrior knelt him down with strange, repentant tear.”

In reviewing what can be known of his life, we are unable to fix our eye on a prominent moral defect. He seems to have made duty his standard, and Christ his model; and, though he doubtless fell short in many things, we are unable to see in what, and when, and where he failed. The spirit of all he wrote, as well as the record of all his words and acts, confirm the tradition in his native town, that "he was as holy a man as his brother David," and to have equalled in holiness his eminent brother implied an excellence seldom found on earth.

The holiness of his character, rather than an admiration of his greatness, induced the prepara

tion of this volume; and, in closing it, we have a solid satisfaction in having recalled such an example of moral purity and worth to the gaze and the imitation of present and, we trust, future generations. We can hardly hope by this book to make bad men good, for they will see little beauty or attraction in such a man and such a life; but we shall be greatly disappointed if the example of John Brainerd fail to make good men better.

39

APPENDIX.

A.

Letter of Rev. Joseph G. Symmes, of Cranberry, N. J., concerning Bethel, the former Indian town in his neighborhood (see pp. 107,

419):

·

REV. THOMAS BRAINERD, D.D. :—

CRANBERRY, N. J., August 27, 1864.

DEAR SIR:-You came thirty years too late to collect accurate information from the people with reference to the labors of the Brainerds among the Indians in this vicinity. Those who possessed such information have passed away; and all that remains consists of the traditions of a former generation, always inaccurate in some points. But such traditions abound among us; and perhaps it would be well to put some of them upon record. Some of them assert very definitely that under an old elm-tree, now standing at the north end of our village, Brainerd was accustomed to gather his Indians for the worship of God. It is not stated which one of the Brainerds it was; but, as it was probably before the Indian settlement at Bethel, it would seem to have been David.

Concerning the location of the Indian town of Bethel there can be no doubt. It lies to the northeast of the village of Cranberry, a little more than two miles away in a straight line, which is the Indian line. It is about one mile to the west of Old King George's Road. You remarked, once, that your only doubt about this being the location was in its distance from a stream of water. But the Indian Field, as it has long been called, lies on a small stream of neverfailing water, supplied by two or three springs; and at the lower end of the Field there is a dam that has been from two to six feet high, and wide enough to permit a wagon to pass. It is still in existence, and is called Beaver Dam, but was probably built by the Indians. This would have given them a large pond of clear water. The space once occupied by the pond was long mowed for hay, but