suppressed in a considerable measure, and appeared unaffected, without any indecent commotion of the passions. Several religious people were put upon serious and close examination, from hearing that "not every one that saith to Christ, Lord, Lord, shall enter into his kingdom." Some of them expressed fears lest they had deceived themselves with a false hope, because they found they had done so little of the "will of his Father in heaven." One man was brought under very great and pressing concern for his soul, which appeared more especially after his retirement from public worship. That which gave him his great uneasiness, he says, was not so much any particular sin, as that he had never done the will of God at all, but had sinned continually, and so had no claim to the kingdom of heaven.

'In the afternoon I opened to them the discipline of Christ in his church, and the method in which offenders are to be dealt with. The religious people were much affected when they heard, that the offender continuing obstinate, must finally be esteemed and treated as a heathen man,' a pagan, that has no part nor lot among God's visible people. This they seemed to have the most awful apprehensions of; a state of heathenism, out of which they were so lately brought, appearing very dreadful to them.After public worship I visited several houses to see how they spent the remainder of the Sabbath, and to treat with them solemnly on the great concern of their souls. The Lord seemed to smile upon my private endeavours, and to make these personal addresses more effectual upon some than my public discourses.

April 7. Preached to my people in the evening from 1 Cor. xi. 23-26. Endeavoured to open to them the institution, nature, and ends of the Lord's Supper, as well as the qualifications and preparations necessary to the right participation of that ordinance. Several appeared much affected with the love of Christ, in making this provision for the comfort of his people, at a season when himself was just entering upon his sharpest sufferings.'

Thus closed the twenty-eighth year of Brainerd's age, and the third of his ministry ;—his path shining more and more to that perfect day, which was about soon to open on his holy soul !

CHAPTER VII.

The fourth year of his Missionary Labours;
from 1746 to 1747.

BRAINERD was now hastening to the close of his labours, and rapidly maturing for his crown. On the 20th of April, 1746, he entered into the twenty-ninth year of his age, and the last complete year of his ministry. His Public Journal was continued but for about two months of this year; his last record in it being made on the 19th of June. From that time he grew gradually more infirm, and was occasionally wholly disabled from public duty. His private journal was regularly continued till Sept. 20th of this year; after which it was greatly interrupted by the rapid progress of his disease.

About this time, a great clamour was raised against the Indians, in various parts of the country; and insinuations propagated against Brainerd, that he was training them up to become formidable and injurious to others. Many persons wished to have them banished entirely from those parts; and some threatened loudly, in order to deter the Indians from settling on the best and most convenient tracts of their own lands; pretending a claim to these lands themselves, though never purchased of the Indians.

Brainerd watched, as we have already seen, with parental anxiety, over the temporal comfort, as well as spiritual growth of his Indians. With a view to both these objects, he set apart a day for solemn fasting and prayer.

We extract his own account of his design, and of the manner in which this day was observed.

́ April 25, 1746.—Having of late apprehended that a number of persons in my congregation were proper subjects of the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, and that it might be seasonable speedily to administer it to them; and having taken advice of some of the reverend correspondents in this solemn affair; and, accordingly, having proposed and appointed the next Lord's-day, with permission of Divine Providence, for the administration of this ordinance, this day, as preparatory thereto, was set apart for solemn fasting and prayer, to implore the blessing of God on our design of renewing our covenant with him and with one another, to walk together in the fear of God, in love and Christian fellowship; and to intreat that his divine presence might be with us in our designed approach to his table; as well as to humble ourselves before God, on account of the apparent withdrawment (at least in a measure) of that blessed influence that has been so prevalent upon persons of all ages among us; as also on account of the rising appearance of carelessness, vanity, and vice among a few, who, some time since, appeared to be touched and affected with divine truths, and brought to some sensibility of their miserable and perishing state by nature: and that we might also importunately pray for the peaceable settlement of the Indians together in a body, that they might be a

commodious congregation for the worship of God; and that God would blast and defeat all the attempts that were or might be made against that pious design.

The solemnity was observed and seriously attended, not only by those who proposed to communicate at the Lord's table, but by the whole congregation.

"In the former part of the day, I endeavoured to open to my people the nature and design of a fast, as I had attempted more briefly to do before, and to instruct them in the duties of such a solemnity. In the afternoon, I insisted on the special reasons there were for our engaging in these solemn exercises at this time; both in regard of the need we stood in of divine assistance, in order to a due preparation for that sacred ordinance which we were some of us proposing, with leave of Divine Providence, speedily to attend on; and also in respect to the manifest decline of God's work here, as to the effectual conviction and conversion of sinners; there having been few of late deeply awakened out of a state of security.

'The worship of God was attended with great solemnity and reverence, with much tenderness and many tears, by those who appeared to be truly religious; and there was some appearance of divine power on those who had been awakened some time before, and who were still under concern.

'After repeated prayer, and attendance on the word of God, I proposed to the religious people, with as much brevity and plainness as I could, the substance of the doctrine of the Christian faith, as I had formerly done, previous to their baptism; and had