"Yes!" cried all the men, and gave him their hands, and some kissed him.
Having concluded the solemn transactions of the day, the missionaries, towards evening, returned to the ship, and the next day the Esquimaux began to set out for their hunting stations. But Tuglavina and his wife remained some days longer to a.s.sist the brethren in seeking out an island, and then parted with tears on both sides. The missionaries rewarded them liberally for their services; and they were not forgetful of the favours they had now and formerly received. Mikak begged the brethren would take charge of two white fox skins for the Dowager Princess of Wales, of a black one for the Princess of Glocester, and two red ones for the Governor Palliser, as acknowledgments for their kindness.
The place pitched upon by the brethren for their settlement was 56 deg. 36 m. N.L., well supplied with good wood for building, and numerous rivulets of excellent water, and where ships could conveniently find an excellent anchorage. The stones they erected were placed, one on King"s point, marked G R III. 1770, the other marked U F (unitas fratrum,) 1770, and the land was taken possession of in the name of King George, for behoof of the United Brethren--a very important process, as it secured the protection of the British government for the new settlements; the other two stones were marked and placed in the interior merely as boundary stones. This first sacred spot was consecrated by thanksgiving and prayer. Amid the heathen tribes and their rude rocks, the missionaries kneeled down, and with the deepest expressions of humility, thanked the Lord that he had thus so far prospered them in their undertaking, had guarded them through the perils of their journey, and graciously granted them a resting place. Having thus accomplished the object of their mission, they returned to England, and reached London 16th November 1770, blessing and praising the Lord that no evil had befallen them.
CHAPTER III.
Preparations for establishing a settlement in Labrador.--A love feast.--Missionaries leave London--erect a mission-house at Nain--regulations for their intercourse with the natives--visited by great numbers--manner of instruction--they retire in winter, are visited by the Brethren in their houses.--Death of Anauke.--An incantation.--Adventures in search of a dead whale.--P.E. Lauritz deputed by the conference--visits the missions--his excursion along the coast.--A sloop of war arrives to examine the settlement--the Captain"s report.--Jans Haven"s voyage to the north--interesting occurrences.--Lauritz leaves Nain--his concluding address.--The Brethren propose new settlements--disastrous voyage in search of a situation.--Liebisch appointed Superintendant.--An Angekok baptized--his address to the natives.--Jans Haven commences a new station at Okkak--received joyfully by the natives--six Esquimaux baptized--proceedings at Nain.--Missionary accompanies the Esquimaux to a rein-deer hunt.--Third settlement--Hopedale founded.--Remarkable preservation of the Missionaries.
Every thing being now settled for establishing a missionary station among the Esquimaux, the Brethren were occupied during the winter in making the necessary preparations for carrying their object into effect. In this they were essentially aided by the same society who had sent out the vessel on the previous year, and who, knowing the difficulty Europeans lay under of procuring the necessaries of life in that climate, resolved to send out one annually with supplies, and to preserve the communication, notwithstanding the previous voyage had been but a losing concern. The number of persons destined for this arduous undertaking was fourteen, among whom were three married brethren, Brazen Schneider and Jans Haven, accompanied by Drachart and seven unmarried missionaries. Brazen, who had gone as a surgeon to Greenland in 1767, and remained during the winter at one of the settlements, was appointed superintendant of this mission. Before leaving London, on May 5th, these devoted men had a meeting in the Brethren"s chapel with the congregation, and a number of other Christians who felt interested in the undertaking, and with the most delightful feelings they sat down together to a love feast, at which the following letter from Mr Drachart to the church was read:
"Dearly beloved Brethren and Sisters,--We are now for the third time going among the wild Esquimaux; and in their name we thank you for the a.s.sistance you have afforded us in the past year to enable us to declare among these savages the gospel of the sufferings and death of Jesus. We thank the Saviour that he has so illuminated your hearts, that you are as willing to give your wealth, as we are to venture our lives to promote this cause. We now take our leave, and commend ourselves to your love and remembrance before the Saviour. He is indeed near to you, and to us, to help in all our difficulties,--that our courage may not fail, but that we may look to him. It is his cause, and he will support us; on him we hope, and on him we rely; and in his name we venture our lives and all that we have, for he ventured his life for us. When we think of this our hearts are melted, and we fall down at his pierced feet, and exclaim, O! Lord Jesus, the little confidence we have in thee thou hast given us; our goods, our lives, we have from thee. Thou knowest we venture to go through the great deep, through rocks and ice, that thy holy name may be glorified among the Esquimaux. We pray that the angel of thy presence may accompany the ship out and home again; be with our brethren, give them courage to proclaim the tidings of thy love, which was stronger than death--Dear brethren and sisters, the Saviour is present, he certainly hears us when we join together to call upon him for ourselves and others The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of G.o.d be with you all. Amen."
On the 8th of May they left London in the ship Amity, commanded by Captain Mugford, and on the 9th August reached the place of their destination, after a pa.s.sage of peril and danger. They had constructed a wooden house while in London, and had been kindly furnished by their friends with household furniture, and a number of implements for enabling them to work in carpentry, in iron, and for gardening.
Immediately upon landing they commenced their operations, by surrounding the spot upon which they had fixed, and to which they gave the name of Nain, with pallisades, and on the 20th of August laid the foundation of their wooden house; they soon found their fortification was unnecessary, as the natives, so far from offering any obstruction, appeared eager to forward the building, which, on the 22d September, was so far finished as to be habitable. As on the former occasion, so on this, the Governor of Newfoundland issued a proclamation in their favour, declaring the missionaries under the immediate protection of the British; and at the same time he conveyed to themselves the strongest a.s.surances of his personal regard for their characters and wishes for their success, as what would so materially tend to tranquillize the country.
Among the excellent regulations adopted by the brethren, one, and not the least important, was, in their transactions with the savages, while they did them every kind office, to offer them nothing which might appear in the shape of a bribe to induce them to embrace their religion: they sometimes built boats for them, and sometimes improved and repaired those they had, and furnished them with iron pots, and arrows and lances for seal hunting, but they always required payment, which the Esquimaux could easily render in whale fins, seals" blubber, or such other articles as their dexterity could procure. Very soon, instruments of European manufacture became so necessary, that the natives were rendered industrious by the desire to possess them, while they enabled them to render that industry doubly advantageous. In this traffic the annual visits of the Society"s vessel were important, and the greater part of the barter was carried on through the agent or supercargo.
More than a hundred Esquimaux, during the summer, planted their tents round Nain, to whom the missionaries preached the gospel. Of the manner in which they did this, Drachart tells us in his journal, "My method," says he, "is first to give a short discourse, and then to ask a few plain questions which only require a denial or a.s.sent; but they do not always content themselves with this--for instance, if I ask if they, as poor sinners, would wish to come to the Saviour, some would say, Yes! we cannot deny that we are poor sinners, and we begin to reflect upon what we have heard from you about this, and to converse with one another on the subject. Others will boldly reply, No! we will not think of it; and a third sort will confess they do not understand any thing about the matter, but would be glad to know if I had any knives to sell, for they had whale fins. I then pray to the Saviour:--Thou hast in Greenland made many stupid minds to understand, and many cold hearts warm; O do the same here, and bless my weak discourse that I may not be put to shame, for it is indeed thine own cause."
During the winter the natives retired to other places, the nearest of which was many miles distant from Nain; individuals, however, came from time to time to visit the brethren; among these were Mikak, Tuglavina, and Segulliak, and the brethren returned their visits, as far as the deep snow and excessive cold would permit. The friendly reception they met with upon these occasions, and the willingness with which the heathen heard the word, reconciled the missionaries to the filth and inconvenience they had to encounter. Of these the following specimen will enable the reader to form some idea.
About the end of January 1773, the brethren Schneider and Turner visited Mikak in the island Nintok, at the distance of five and a half hours from Nain. They found here two houses, each of which contained twenty persons, the families only separated from each other by skins stretched out between them. Mikak directed the brethren to an apartment in one of these houses, to which, when they retired, they were followed by great numbers of the Esquimaux, who gathered round them, and heard in silence Schneider preach to them the death of the Lord, and sing some verses on the same subjects. They here met with a circ.u.mstance which greatly tended to comfort them amid other scenes which weighed heavily on their spirits. In a division of the house where they lodged, they found three widows dwelling together, and one of them informed them that her husband, Anauke, who had died the year before, had said to her, when she was mourning over him in his last illness, "Be not grieved for me,--I am going to heaven, to Jesus who has loved his people so much!" He was one of those who had remained during the summer near Nain, and whose countenance bore strong marks of the thief and the murderer, and had appeared at first to have more than usual savage ferocity in his whole deportment; but it was remarked that, before he left that vicinity, his very countenance had changed, and his behaviour had become gentle; but the missionaries had no decisive proof of his conversion to the Saviour, till they heard, to their joy, this his dying profession of the faith. His countrymen called him the man whom the Saviour had taken to himself. This man, there is every reason to believe, was the first fruits of the mission.
Night is an appropriate time to call on the prince of darkness; and it is observable that among all the heathen, that season has generally been devoted to his service in deeds that shunned the light. In the evening, when the missionaries had laid themselves down to sleep in Mikak"s house, they had another confirmation of this remark. There had been a dreadful storm during the day, so that the natives had been prevented from going to seal-catching, they therefore a.s.sembled in her house after nightfall, to entreat her, as she was considered a powerful sorceress, to make good weather, bring the seals from the deep, and show the holes in the ice to which they came for air; also where the greatest number of rein-deer were to be found. All the lamps were immediately extinguished, and she began with deep sighs, and groans, and mutterings, to call up Torngak. Sometimes she raised her voice so loud that the whole house rang. At this signal, the people began to sing, and to ask one another, what does Torngak say? At length there was a tremendous crash, as if the whole place had been falling about their ears, produced, as the missionaries supposed, by the stroke of a stick on the extended skins. The sorceress then proceeded to the door, beating with her feet, and uttering strange sounds, at which some of the more sensible among the worshippers could not forbear to express their sense of the ridiculous scene by their laughter. Schneider, who had hitherto been silent, now cried to the enchantress to cease calling upon Torngak, who was an evil spirit, and reigned in darkness, and light the lamps again; but some one replied it was the custom of the country, and proposed they should conclude with a short song, in which all the company joined, after which they separated for their resting places before the lamps could be relighted.
With a heart greatly touched, and eyes full of tears, the missionaries early next morning addressed the inmates of the house upon the true light that is come to enlighten men, and to redeem them from the spirit of darkness. He entreated them with great earnestness to turn to the crucified Jesus, and renounce the evil spirit and his works, and commended them in prayer to the compa.s.sionate heart of the Saviour.
Disinterested exertion, not only to prevent themselves from being burdensome to those among whom they labour, but to save as much as possible any unnecessary expense to the churches or societies who send them out, forms an admirable and a prominent feature in all the Moravian missionary brethren. They follow the apostolic example, and minister to their necessities by their own hands, and exhibit a pattern to their infant establishments, not only of industry to procure the means of personal livelihood, but to enable them to a.s.sist those improvident heathen by whom they are surrounded, even when their exertions are attended with danger and repaid by insult; and by these means they often acquire an influence over the most savage minds, which it were otherwise difficult to obtain. Of this we have a most remarkable instance which occurred in the beginning of the present year. Having received accounts that a dead whale was found at Comfort Harbour, about seven miles south of Nain, the brethren, Jans Haven, Lister, Morhardt, and Turner, resolved to go thither, accompanied by some Esquimaux, in the hope that, by procuring the blubber and the fins, they might be enabled to contribute somewhat to the support of the mission, while they would a.s.sist the starving natives at this season in obtaining a supply of provisions; and at the same time, they would have an opportunity of commending the Saviour to these poor benighted heathen.
They accordingly set out, under the guidance of an Esquimaux, Mannmoima, whose house they reached February 17th about mid-day, where, on account of the stormy weather, they were forced to remain.
"If," says Jans Haven, in his diary, "our European sisters had only seen us here they would certainly have pitied us. We were forced to creep on all fours through a low pa.s.sage several fathoms long to get into the house, and were glad if we escaped being bitten by the hungry dogs, who take refuge there in bad weather, and who, as they lie in the dark, are often trodden upon by the entrant; who, if he escapes this misfortune, is compelled to undergo the more disgusting salutation of being licked in the face by these animals, and of crawling through the filth in which they all mingle. Yet this house, notwithstanding our senses of seeing and smelling were most woefully offended, in such frightful weather, was of equal welcome to us as the greatest palace."
When Haven here began to speak of the Saviour, the Angekoks began to exercise their enchantments. One man laid himself on his back, and allowed his left leg to be fastened to his neck by a string like a bow, while a woman who sat by his side, performed upon it with his right as if playing on some musical instrument. The lady was then asked if they might hope for good weather, and if the whale would be driven away? but the company appeared to be divided; and while some thought these operations were under the influence of Torngak, others thought they might be directed by Jesus Christ, and asked the brethren to pray that there might be good weather, and that the whale might not be driven away. Haven answered, "We only pray, Lord be gracious to us, and open the eyes of poor ignorant people, that they may know how necessary it is for them to be washed in thy blood--but we are a.s.sured that he will do nothing but what is good to us, because he loves us."
Next day, the missionaries, accompanied by eleven Esquimaux, attempted to reach the whale; but when they were about an hour"s distance from the house, they perceived from a mountain near where the whale lay, that the ice was broken, and encountered such a violent storm of wind and snow that they were forced to return; while the frost was so intense, that often their mouth and nose were frozen to their skin coats, so that they had to break the ice before they could breathe, and their eyes were so closed that they had to force them open with their fingers.
As hunger now began to torment the party, the brethren were exposed to great anxiety, suffering, and danger, from the perpetual importunity of the Esquimaux for provisions, which they had no means of supplying, but which they supposed they were the means of their being deprived of obtaining. An old man began to cry, "Torngak moves me to say that he will tell us the cause of this storm, and the breaking of the ice, and the loss of the whale." "Let us hear," said they. "O! the sinews!
O! the sinews!" replied he.
Rein-deer sinews are what, according to the superst.i.tion of the country, dare not be brought near a whale. But the brethren that morning had plaited some whale sinew, and fastened the haft of the ax with which they intended to cut up the whale; and he, supposing that they had been the sinews of the rein-deer, raised the cry. Being informed of his mistake, he changed his tone and exclaimed, "O! the rotten wood! O! the rotten wood!" Rotten wood is expressly forbid to be burnt in the preparation of food, but Jans Haven had brought some pieces in a sledge along with the rest of the fuel; the Esquimaux, to whom the sledge belonged, had carefully picked it out and thrown it away, and the conjurer was informed that in this also he was mistaken.
He was then called upon to say, as he affirmed that Torngak was there, how he could be mistaken. With an ingenuity that would have done credit to a Jesuit, he answered, "There is one present that keeps us back, he cannot go with us." Every person in the company being mentioned, he pointed out Jans Haven. Haven immediately rose, and looking the sorcerer full in the face, prayed to the Saviour to stop the mouth of that wicked one. Struck with the unexpected intrepidity of the missionary, and the appeal to a name of which they all had some knowledge, the Angekok was utterly confounded; he grumbled and foamed, but could not utter a word. Providentially at this very moment two persons arrived with intelligence that the whale was lying safe, and had not been driven away; and Haven, charging the fellow with his imposture and lies, commanded him not to attempt accompanying them, or removing from the place where he was. The astonished sorcerer made no attempt to disobey.
The weather increasing in severity, the Esquimaux, who were confined to their huts, came to their favourite Jans Haven, saying, "Tell us about the Saviour." Jans answered and said--"What shall I say? I know not what to say; I am grieved because I am constrained to hear and see that the wicked spirit yet dwells within you and robs you of your senses. He will hold your ears that you may not hear the love the Saviour has for you, that after death you may dwell with him in utter darkness. Yet listen to our words and follow us to the Saviour, who will wash you from your sins in his own blood, that you may live eternally happy with him, after you have left a world where sorrow and pleasure are mingled together; where we must suffer hunger, and thirst, and cold, and wretchedness, and misery, unless we believe in Jesus, who will preserve us, and keep us, and bring us to be for ever with himself, where there is no pain, but fulness of joy for evermore." Still, on the succeeding day, the weather not abating, the party were detained at the station, which the increasing scarcity of food rendered now doubly uncomfortable; the brethren were obliged to be on the watch whenever they eat, lest the Esquimaux should s.n.a.t.c.h the scanty morsel from them, which now consisted of only one meal a day. "One can hardly conceive," say they in their journal, "what we endured: we had no rest neither night nor day; when we lay down to sleep and gat warm, we were almost devoured with vermin; when we sat up during the day, we were almost suffocated with stench and smoke."
At length a sledge, which had been sent off to the whale, returned laden with fat and flesh, which afforded relief from the pressure of hunger, "and made," say the missionaries, "all our hearts leap for joy;" and on the succeeding day, the whole party set off for the whale. When they reached it they found it of the middling size, about sixty-four feet long, but covered with ice and snow almost a fathom deep. The Esquimaux, however, crept into the mouth and cut off what they wanted from the interior to supply themselves; but the wants of the brethren were only increased, they could make little use of such flesh, and they were without wood to dress it, had it been even more palatable. They had no shelter but a snow-house, which they constructed with the help of the Esquimaux. The women, however, had forgotten their lamps, and the brethren had no resource for rendering their habitation comfortable, but to construct a kind of temporary lamp from a piece of whale"s flesh, into which they cut a hole and put a piece of moss, and then to kindle it, but the smoke and disagreeable smell were insupportable; they also suffered greatly from the want of water, as they could get nothing to drink but ice or snow melted, which was done in a manner that in other circ.u.mstances would have proved an absolute prohibition against tasting it--the Esquimaux filled their gloves with snow, or put it in the intestines of the seals which they had wrapped round them, and the natural heat of the body reduced into a state of liquifaction--yet even this they were happy to procure.
Amid these hardships Haven was seized with a violent pain in his side, which the Esquimaux, who greatly loved him, much lamented, as they said it was the disease that carried off so many of their countrymen.
Peaceful, however, in the hour of his suffering, the missionary was enabled to testify to the heathen that death for him had no terrors; nor was it to be dreaded by those who believed in the Saviour. They showed their affection by procuring, with much difficulty, a lamp and some skins on which they placed the invalid, and by the blessing of G.o.d, the heat effected his cure. The brethren now began to try to hew down the frozen whale, but the want of food had so enfeebled them that they found themselves wholly unequal to the task, and were forced to give it up and return home, worn out with the fatigue they had endured, and without effecting their object.
In the same year, 1773, Paul Eugenus Laritz, from the Elders"
Conference of the Unity, visited the missions. He was accompanied by John Ludwig Beck, who had spent some years in Greenland with his father, and learned the language. They came in the ship Amity to Newfoundland, which they left there for the purpose of fishing, and proceeded to the coast of Labrador in a shallop or sloop with one mast, which had been purchased for the use of the mission. On the 20th of July they arrived at Nain, where the missionaries welcomed them with tears of joy--the Esquimaux received them with shouting and other rude expressions of pleasure. Of these, some hundreds, this summer, had set up their tents around the settlements--many of them strangers from a distance. In the evening they had a short discourse in the mission-house, after which the brethren visited them in their tents, and conversed further with them on what they had heard. The same evening Laritz gave a short address to the a.s.sembled baptized Esquimaux, and delivered the salutations of the European congregations to them, Drachart being his interpreter. Then one of the Esquimaux answered in name of the rest--"We, our wives and children, were wonderfully glad when we saw the little ship come in; and we thank the brethren that they have come to us, and brought us so many good words that we have never heard before. We love all the brethren, and will be ever their good friends. We will constantly visit them to hear the good word of Jesus" sufferings. We think on the Saviour; we love him, and will give up our hearts to him, and renounce all our old heathenish customs. We agree with the Innuit who live on the east coast opposite us. We, and our wives and our children, in our houses and our tents, speak of the Saviour becoming man, of his sufferings and death. We cannot deny that we are sinners, but we think the Saviour will be gracious to us." As there was not room in the mission-house to contain all the Esquimaux, wood was cut down to build a large meeting-hall. Some appeared deeply impressed by the word of G.o.d, particularly Manamina, his sister Alingana, and Akaplack, who were received as catechumens.
Soon after Laritz"s arrival at Nain, a sloop of war unexpectedly made its appearance, dispatched by Commodore Shuldam from Newfoundland, commanded by Lieutenant Cartes, to explore the coast, and to see if the poor people who had settled there were all still in life. The Lieutenant stopped some days with the brethren, and expressed his astonishment and happiness to find them so well accommodated, and on such good terms with the Esquimaux. He had expected to find dark, sour, starving fanatics, living in huts of earth, and his disappointment was therefore the more agreeable. Through Drachart he told the Esquimaux, that they should go no more to the English settlements in the south, nor rob and murder. They answered, We have never either robbed or murdered, since the time we heard of the Saviour. Robbers and murderers shall be punished as they deserve; and when we come to the south to get fir-timber, we will bring with us a letter from the brethren to the gentlemen of Cheteau Bay. The officer a.s.sured them of his love, and said to Drachart, that the great change in the behaviour of these people appeared to him a miracle of G.o.d, who had begun his work among them.
While Laritz remained at Nain, Jans Haven and James Rhodes took the vessel which brought him there, and made a voyage on the north coast to Nachwach, 59 deg. 30 m. N.L. It lasted from the 7th August to the 17th September. They landed at different places, and the Esquimaux everywhere, who had either before known or heard of Jans Haven, received him with shouts! He told them what had moved the brethren to settle in the country, and invited them to come to him. They heard him with astonishment speak of the great love of the Saviour to men, and asked if he was an Angekok, as he spoke of such high things as they never had heard, even from their own prophets? Others asked, why the Saviour, who made all things, had not before sent some one to tell their fathers these good news, and now they were gone where they could hear nothing? Havens answered, that "the times of their ignorance G.o.d had winked at," but that he now shewed mercy to them in sending them the gospel, and they ought to improve this the day of their visitation. At Napartok, having declared to the natives the counsel of G.o.d for their salvation, he thus continued: "I hear that there are quarrels and backbitings among you, and that some even seek the lives of others; all this proceeds from your not knowing the Saviour." He then turned to the Angekok, Aweinak, who was a reputed murderer, and said, "Hear these my words, "Whoso sheddeth man"s blood, by man his blood shall be shed." Forgive one another, and live as brethren and sisters in love and fellowship; make no difference between your own countrymen and those of the north and south." The Angekok promised to behave better, and begged Haven to repeat his a.s.surance of friendship.
Haven did so, and turning to the by-standers, said, "You hear his words; forgive him and love him, and if he ever again act wickedly, let me know." At Arimek, the Esquimaux thanked him for what he had spoken, and concluded by saying, "Though thou art not big, thou hast a great soul and a brave spirit."
During an abode of two months at Nain, Laritz received every information respecting the state of the mission, and having made the proper arrangements for their further direction, he a.s.sembled the brethren in the mission-house at Nain, and read to them a solemn farewell address, and left it with them. "From the bottom of my heart," he begins, "I praise the gracious counsel of our dear Lord towards the poor and blind nations of the Esquimaux, and I return back to Europe with a deep impression of it; for though I have as yet only seen the springing of the seed, yet I feel in my heart a believing confidence, that in the proper time and hour which the Lord himself has appointed, a joyful harvest shall appear. Dear brethren and sisters, as the Lord of his pure grace has placed you in a land, where, since the creation of the world, his name has not been named or praised, it seems to me to be more inc.u.mbent on you daily to renew the deep consideration of your call and appointment to the fulfilling his purposes of grace; for you are not called here, either collectively or separately, of your own choice, or of the will of men, but of the counsel of peace in the heart of Jesus. You must therefore have it as a fixed principle in your hearts, and before your eyes, continually, that you are sent here to make known among the Esquimaux, the character of Him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. If you are not all able to do this in words, you can place it before their eyes by a holy walk and conversation, and by your earnest prayers and supplications be blessed helpers of their joy. And first of all, as their fellow-servant, I pray that all the servants of the Lord in this place, who bring the testimony of the gospel to the poor heathen, may, as often as they with the mouth praise the Saviour, be baptized with the Spirit and with fire, that their testimony may appear the power of G.o.d, able to make those blessed who believe it. And I beseech all the brethren to support and help with their prayers, those of them who shall speak and preach to the Esquimaux.
"You must not rest satisfied, my dear brethren, with daily meetings, but you must carefully visit them in their tents and in their houses, and put them in mind of what they have heard; for this end, all our dear brethren and sisters must diligently use the gifts and talents given them to learn the Esquimaux language. Let the joy of the Lord animate you!--When you perceive the heart of any one awakened by the Holy Spirit, and in distress fleeing for mercy to the blood of Jesus, baptize such an one, as the Lord has directed, into his death, in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: there shall be joy in heaven over such first fruits, and on earth in the church of Jesus. With respect to the Esquimaux, either as to gifts or European food, do as we agreed on--neither, on the one side, neglect what necessity or compa.s.sion require; nor, on the other, accustom them to what would be injurious. When they labour for you, or go messages, pay them according to the custom of the country; and when you work for them, and make boats, sails, chests, lamps, arrows and lances, let them also pay you, that by degrees they may be accustomed to an orderly domestic life.
"To your little church in the house, I call in the name of Jesus, love ye with a thorough inward sacred impulse; for G.o.d hath from eternity chosen you to love. Consider this well, that our dear Lord has said, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." You know from what source the apparent want of this can be supplied; and I am sure, if every one would search out his own fault, with kindness and benevolence acquitting others, then would you feel that you loved one another from the heart fervently. Be of one mind; live in peace, then shall your conferences be kept with much blessing, and you be subject one to another in the fear of G.o.d. No one will then tenaciously hold his own opinion as the best, or as infallible, but every one will gladly take advantage of the other"s discernment, and rather follow what is likely to attain the desired end, than his own private inclination. In the division of your labour consider yourselves as members of one body--that the eye cannot be supposed to do what the hand can, and the hand cannot do what the foot can; and if ye are each of you conscious that you have, according to the words of our Lord, done what thou couldst, let no one even in his heart think that one of his brethren has done too little. Whatever the congregation sends for your support and clothing, receive with thanksgiving to our Heavenly Father, who has enabled his people to minister to you in these things: at the same time you must frugally and faithfully improve every opportunity afforded by providence to supply your necessary expenses, by working with your own hands, and his blessing shall certainly accompany your labours.
"Commend us to the Lord, that his inestimable presence may be near us by sea and by land; and, dearest brethren and sisters, I commend you to G.o.d and the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and give you an inheritance among them that are sanctified. The G.o.d of love and peace sanctify you wholly, that your whole spirit, soul and body, may be kept unblameable to the coming of the Lord Jesus; that then you, with a great number of believing Esquimaux, may appear before his presence with exceeding joy--"Faithful is he who hath called you, and also will do it.""
With this excellent address, the labours of Mr Laritz ended. After partaking of the communion together, he bid adieu to the brethren on the 29th September, and went on board the ship Amity, which had come from Newfoundland, according to appointment, and arrived in London on the 29th of October.
Circ.u.mstances, apparently the most unpropitious, frequently contribute, in the course of Providence, to promote the most important and most happy issues. While the brethren at Nain continued with unwearied diligence to make known the salvation of Christ among the Esquimaux, they observed with grief, that their deep-rooted heathenish superst.i.tions, and the violent and gross, but natural evil pa.s.sions which they delighted to indulge, and which led to the frequent perpetration of adultery and murder, obstructed the entrance of the word of G.o.d into their hearts, and had as yet rendered almost all their labours fruitless. But what particularly distressed them was, when they saw that the impressions which had been made on some of the natives on hearing the gospel, while residing in the neighbourhood of the mission-settlement, were wholly effaced when they removed to a distance, and a.s.sociated with their heathen countrymen.
Anxious, therefore, to retain them around their station, the brethren proposed a method for rendering them comfortable during the winter, by building a store-house where their provisions might be laid up, so that the superfluities of summer should supply the wants of winter.
But the savages could not understand the use of refusing to gratify their present appet.i.tes in order to provide for any distant emergency--they preferred to revel in the plenty of summer, and to rove to other places in winter in search of food, by which propensity they were scattered above one hundred and twenty miles along the coast. Yet, even these wanderers were the means of exciting the attention of their kindred to the gospel, by telling them of the strange things they had heard at Nain. It was therefore resolved to follow the leadings of Providence, and, as soon as possible, to establish two other missionary settlements, the one towards the north, the other south of the present.
For this purpose, application was made to the Society of the Brethren in London, who, entering fully into their views, obtained from the Privy Council an order granting them liberty to search out and take possession of land sufficient for their object. A commission was accordingly sent for the brethren to explore the coast, and Brazen, Lister, Lehman, and Jans Haven, offered themselves for this service.
On the 5th of August they set out for the north. "But just as we were setting out," says Jans Haven, "an uncommon horror and trembling seized me, so that, contrary to my former experience, I was exceedingly intimidated, and wished rather to stay at home." They proceeded however, and were every where received in a friendly manner by the Esquimaux, and invited to settle among them. Their return justified the presentiment of Jans Haven. Not far from Cape Keglapeit they had the misfortune to encounter a dreadful storm, and when only three miles from Nain, their vessel struck on a sunk rock where she was wrecked.
After a fearful night, about 2 o"clock next morning they attempted to get at the boat that belonged to their shallop, but through the violence of the waves it was driven on a rock and almost dashed to pieces. Brazen and Lehman were drowned, but Haven and Lister, together with the sailors, succeeded in reaching a barren rock, where they suffered much from cold and hunger--where they must have perished miserably had they not providentially got their boat, which was in tatters, drawn on sh.o.r.e, and with all the woollen clothes and seal skins they could spare, patched it together. Still it was a wretched barque, but they had no other resource, and were obliged to venture to sea in it such as it was. The wind was favourable, and at length they happily met Manamina in his kaiak, who towed them safely to Nain, where they arrived on the evening of the 18th of September, truly thankful to the Lord for his wonderful a.s.sistance. "After our return,"
Haven says in the account of his life, "I was overwhelmed with sorrow--spent days and nights in sighs and tears--thought much of my whole past life--cried to the Lord for help and forgiveness of all my many failings, and renewed my vows to devote myself entirely to his service." The bodies of both the brethren who were drowned were driven on sh.o.r.e, and afterwards brought to the settlement, where they were decently interred.
Sad as this catastrophe was, it did not prevent the brethren, in the year 1775, from undertaking new journies to explore the south and north coast; nor deter others from offering themselves to supply the place of those who had perished in the cause. When the accounts of Brazen"s departure reached the Unity Elders" Conference, they appointed Samuel Liebisch superintendant of the mission, who, on the 16th August, the same year, arrived at Nain with some new a.s.sistants to the mission.
As usual, about the month of November, all the Esquimaux left the neighbourhood of Nain for their winter places, but towards Christmas great numbers came on their sledges over the frozen sea to visit the brethren. Among their visitors was Kingminguse, who had formerly been an Angekok, but who, by the preaching of the word of G.o.d, had experienced such an apparent change of mind as to give hopes of his conversion; and, indeed, early next year, on the 19th of February, the day on which the meeting-hall at Nain was consecrated, he was baptized as the first fruits of that mission, and received the name of Peter. Some days before his baptism he told the brethren, "that he had been an Angekok, and believed what his forefathers said, but now he believed it no more; that he would give up all his former evil customs and follow the Lord Jesus, though he should be persecuted by his countrymen; that he was ignorant, but what the brethren who had come thither had told him of the Lord who made heaven and earth, who had become a man, and shed his blood from love to us, had taken fast hold of his heart--he had rejoiced in it, and would forsake all for it. He knew but little of the Saviour, but was willing to learn, and placed his confidence alone on him, because he truly believed he only was good; and that when the body died the soul went to the place of rest to be with him, and happy for ever." Shaking hands with every brother, individually, he promised that he would remain with the congregation of the believers, to be constantly obedient to his teachers, and walk worthy of the gospel. In the administration of the ordinance he was quite overcome, as were also several of the other Esquimaux, who expressed their wishes likewise to be baptized, which afforded the missionaries an opportunity of speaking earnestly and affectionately to them.
Peter, likewise, every where testified to his people his great joy that he now belonged to the faithful; they viewed him with particular respect, and listened attentively to his discourse about the Saviour, which was remarkably urgent and affectionate. For instance, upon one occasion he expressed himself in the following manner to them: "You must turn wholly to the Saviour and place your confidence on him alone, so shall he by his precious blood purify and fill your hearts.
You know that I am baptized, for this I am very thankful; and it would be well with you would you but learn to know Jesus in time, for we have no other Saviour either in this world or in the future. If we are washed in his blood we need no more fear death or darkness, we shall then come where it is ever light, and where we shall ever see the Saviour. When we are sick or in pain, we must turn to him, for he hath born all our sicknesses. He still calls us to come to him; this call we have never hitherto understood, therefore he has sent the brethren who know him, to shew our souls the way to him. You know they have built a house, and ask nothing but to make the Saviour known to our hearts. We cannot be grateful enough to him who sent them thither, for it is of the greatest importance to us; and, even those among them who do not know our language sufficiently to speak to us, pray to him that we may feel the power of his blood on our hearts. I have learned sorcery, and I have practised it, but that is the road to the greatest darkness, and can give no peace to the heart; but he who looks to the Saviour, and to his wounds, receives peace and joy in his heart, and that is the only thing of any value in this world." In the following summer there were above two hundred Esquimaux in thirty-seven tents near Nain, and they were so a.s.siduous in their attendance on the meetings, that the new hall could not contain the crowd that anxiously pressed to hear, and some were entered among the candidates for baptism.
Liebisch brought with him a commission for Jans Haven to commence a new settlement. "I felt," said Haven, "not a little anxiety on this occasion, knowing the difficulties attending such a commission, but accepted it in reliance on our Saviour"s help." He accordingly, accompanied by Stephen Jensen, proceeded in an Esquimaux boat to a little creek, afterwards Okkak, which had been formerly fixed on as a most eligible spot for a settlement, and purchased from the Esquimaux a hundred thousand acres, or three German square miles, of land; they expressing great joy at the prospect of the brethren coming to reside among them. Stones were placed to mark the boundaries, and the place taken possession of with the usual formalities. The following was the mode of expression used by the brethren upon the occasion: "In the name of our G.o.d and Saviour, and under the protection of our gracious monarch, George III King of England, we take possession of this land for the purpose of a missionary settlement for the Brethren"s Unity, and the Society for propagating the gospel."
During the following year, [1776,] the brethren were busily employed in cutting down wood in the forest near Nain, and preparing it for a dwelling-house at the new station; and so diligent were they in their work, that in August, when the ship Good Intent arrived from England with the other necessary articles for building the house, the timber was all ready to be shipped for Okkak. On the 13th September, Jans Haven, with his family and three other missionaries who had been appointed for the new settlement, arrived there, and immediately went to work and erected their house. "I had," says the devoted Haven, "the peace in all trying circ.u.mstances to cleave to my Saviour, of whose gracious a.s.sistance I had manifold experience. He was with us, and gave us success in our present enterprise. Having finished the building of our house, we moved into it; and in our first conference, were so united by the power of Jesus" grace in brotherly love and harmony, that we made a covenant with each other to offer soul and body to the Lord, to serve him without fear, and bear each others"
burdens with a cheerful heart. Nor did we meet with the least interruption during the whole year, so that I justly count it the happiest of my life."
This station lies thirty German miles north from Nain, in 58 deg. 20 m. N.L., and is of great consequence both to the European settlers and the Esquimaux, of whom above three hundred always live near it. There is a good harbour for ships and boats--a supply of wood and of fresh water in summer and winter--great quant.i.ties of fish, particularly haddocks--also some whales, but few seals, so that the Esquimaux are obliged to go to various places at a considerable distance for this valuable animal, whose skins are among their absolute necessaries for their tents and clothing. The mission-house is built at the side of a high mountain, which serves as a protection from the north-west wind.
The natives received the brethren with great joy, and evinced a pleasing desire to hear the gospel; but it was not till the 29th of August 1778, that any baptism took place. On this occasion, however, six adults were received into the church by this holy ordinance, and several others soon followed. The baptized lived for the greater part of the winter in the mission-house, where daily meetings were held, and where they received farther instruction, for which purpose a larger meeting-hall was built in 1779.