ful coadjutor. He also occasionally preached to the Iroquois, as did Mr. Edwards once every Sabbath.

*

Soon after the removal of Mr. Edwards to Stockbridge, in consequence of the misunderstandings and jealousies, subsisting between some of the principal English inhabitants of the town, and the confusion in which he saw the Indian affairs involved, he was led, in a letter to the Hon. Mr. Hubbard of Aug. 31, 1751, to recommend the appointment of two or more Trustees, "men perfectly impartial, no way interested in, related to, or engaged with, the contending parties." The absolute necessity of this step, to the welfare of the mission, and of the Indian schools, soon became apparent. In consequence of the increasing importance of the Indian establishment at Stockbridge, and the increasing attention of the public to the Mission and the Schools; the benefactions of the Legislature and of individuals, were increasing, and still likely to increase. By the augmented numbers of the Housatonnucks, and the accession of a Mohawk colony, it had become the principal mission of the Society for propagating the Gospel in New England, and appeared destined to receive the chief amount of its revenue; Mr. Hollis had increased his annual stipend to £160, stg.; Mr. Paine was proposing to support a female boarding school; the Legislature of the Province had just voted £500, provincial currency, for the school-house, and would probably aid in the support of the mistress; an adequate support was now given to the instructor of the Housatonnuck school; an annual stipend was given to the Housatonnucks, to be expended at Stockbridge for their benefit; a similar stipend was to be paid for the Mohawks, if they removed in considerable numbers to Stockbridge; a school, to be supported by the colony, for the education of their children, was not only pledged, but actually begun; and hopes were indulged that the yearly stipend of £500, stg. granted by the King, to the Mohawks, might be expended under the direction of an agent, residing at Stockbridge, and not as before at Albany. It needed no great discernment to discover, that the amount of these numerous items must be great; and the bare possibility of engrossing the agency, through which this large aggregate must pass, and of turning it into a source of great private emolument, might easily excite the strong cupidity of individuals, and lead them to resort to every measure in their power, to secure that emolument to themselves. The opponent of Mr. Woodbridge, (whose influence in the town, and with the Indians, had been long chiefly extinct,) in consequence of the strong recommendation, given of him, by his nephew, while

A representation having been made to the Legislature, in pursuance of this recommendation, three Trustees or commissioners were appointed in behalf of the Province.

in London, to the Directors of the Society for propagating the Gospel in New England, had been appointed one of the Board of Commissioners of that Society; as had the nephew himself, another of the same Board; one of his family through the same recommendation, had been conditionally nominated as the teacher of the female school;* one of the Trustees of the Indian establishment was about to connect himself with the family; and, if the nomination should be confirmed, it was his intention to remove to Stockbridge, in order to take a superintendence of Indian affairs, which, in the absence of his colleagues, would be sole and exclusive. So fair was the prospect at this time, in the view of these individuals, of engrossing the profit and the direction of the whole establishment in their own hands, that they threw off their wonted caution, and made known their purpose of removing every obstacle in the way of their designs.

Mr. Edwards well knew, that the influence of these individuals was most formidable: two of them being now members of the Board of Commissioners, on which, as Indian missionary, he was dependent; one of them being one of the Trustees for the Indians at Stockbridge; one of them being personally acquainted with the Directors in London; and two of them having considerable influence with the principal men in the Provincial government. Yet he saw, just as clearly, that, if their plans succeeded, the funds appropriated to the literary and moral improvement of the Indians, would be perverted to the purpose of individual aggrandizement.. In such a state of things, he was not at a loss, as to his own duty. The question, whether the individual nominated by the Board of Directors in London, as the teacher of the female school, should be appointed, having been thus submitted, for final decision, to the Board of Commissioners in Boston; their Secretary wrote to Mr. Edwards, for an explicit statement of the facts relating to the subject. Thus called upon, he did not hesitate to present the whole case, in a reply to the Secretary, bearing date Feb. 18, 1752.

In this letter, after stating it to be absolutely necessary, that his correspondent should be let into some of the secrets of the affairs of Stockbridge, and after alluding to his having, on account of the controversy there subsisting, recommended, formerly, the appointment of "two or more impartial Trustees, no way interested in, or related to, the contending parties," to inspect those affairs; he states, among other things, the following particulars :--When he recommended the appointment of these trustees, he little suspected, that one of them would prove the farthest of any person whatever, from possessing the indispensable qualification of impartiality, in

* That is, provided the Commissioners, in Boston, approved of the appointment. VOL. I.

62

consequence of his being about to become the son-in-law of one of the contending parties.-The preceding year, a very formal pacification took place, between Mr. Woodbridge and his opponent, with solemn promises made by the latter, that he would thenceforward live peacefully with Mr. W., and no more speak ill of him, nor in any wise molest him. But the proposed alliance, the nomination of one of his family as teacher of the female school, and the appointment of himself and his nephew to the Board of Commissioners, had so elated him, that those promises appeared to be wholly forgotten. A sudden and strange alteration had also appeared, in the temper and conduct of his intended son-in-law, who, in the absence of his colleagues, claimed the sole management of all Indian affairs, so that nothing was done, but he was the doer of it.-The Indians had a most unfavourable opinion of the opponent of Mr. Woodbridge, and the deepest prejudice against him, in consequence of his having often molested them, with respect to their lands, and other affairs, and, as they thought, having done very unjustly by them. This prejudice was extended to the family; and that to such a degree, that, after offering to feed and clothe such of their children, as should be sent to the school, attempted to be established, only four could be procured, three Housatonnucks and one Mohawk; and the parents of these four complained loudly of the treatment of their children. Whether this prejudice was well or ill founded, it was too deep to be eradicated. Very improper use had been made of the money given by Mr. Hollis. He had made large remittances, and to no good purpose; and was kept in entire ignorance, as to the actual state of things at Stockbridge. The individual who received his money, and boarded, and professed to instruct, the children, had never established a regular school, and had never kept any regular accounts of his expenditures. No government was maintained, little attention paid to the manners of the children, and all was suffered to go on in wildness, filth and confusion, to the great offence of such as visited the place. The generous design of Mr. Hollis had been totally defeated, and the large sums of money he had given, had been wholly lost, and worse than lost. The same boys, without this additional expense, would have been far better instructed, and governed, at the school of Mr. Woodbridge. There, they would have been taught reading, cleanliness, good manners, and good morals; all of which had been wholly neglected, on the part of their professed instructer, who had himself been absent from Stockbridge, for a long period.-This irregularity, and disorderly management, led the Mohawks to take all their children away from him, after the arrival of Mr. Hawley, and to place them under the care of the latter. Yet the former, wishing some pretext for drawing the money of Mr. Hollis, and not being able to procure any of the Indian

boys to form a school, went regularly into the school kept by Mr. Hawley, and proceeded to treat the boys, as if they were under his own care; alleging, that he was the superintendent of the male school.No one had been more open and abundant, in speaking of his uselessness, his exceeding unfitness for the business of an instructer, and the disorder and filthiness in which things were kept under his care, or in declaring, that it was high time that he was dismissed from the employment, than the rèsident trustee; but, in consequence of his new connection, he had suddenly changed his mind, and now declared, that he must be retained.-A similar change had taken place, in his treatment of Mr. Edwards. For many years, he had constantly professed the highest respect for him, far beyond what the latter could, with any modesty, expect. He had often expressed a higher esteem of him, than of any minister in New-England, as well as a very strong desire of living under his ministry. Yet, although Mr. Edwards had never had a word of difference with him, or his new connections, his whole conduct was suddenly and entirely changed, and he had sided with them, in all their measures of opposition and violence.

Very singular management had been used, with respect to Mr. Hawley. Before his arrival, dark representations were carried to him, misrepresentations of the actual state of things at Stockbridge,

-to discourage him from accepting his appointment. Soon after his arrival, it was openly given out, that he would soon be removed. Had it not been for his firmness, prudence, and steadiness of temper, he would have been laid under great and permanent disadvantages. The resident trustee had warned him not to depend on Mr. Edwards, and challenged to himself the whole authority of directing the school, and the affairs of the Indians.-When the Society in London recommended the proposed teacher of the female school, they could not have been aware, that her nearest kinsmen were to be the committee to examine her accounts. But the actual state of things was soon to be still more preposterous. She being the mistress, her nearest relatives were to be her council, and her husband the sole committee to examine her accounts, and make report to the Legislature.

Mr. Edwards then adds, "I write these things, honoured Sir, because I am satisfied you have not heretofore been enlightened, in the true state of things, as you ought to have been. It was my knowledge of some of these matters, though but little in comparison, which occasioned me, when last in Boston, so earnestly to press the Commissioners frequently to visit this place. I have been Slow to speak. My disposition has been, entirely to suppress what I knew, that would be to the disadvantage of any of the people here. But I dare not hold my peace any longer. You doubtless will own, Sir, that it is but doing you justice, for somebody or other

to let you know the true state of things, in a matter of such vast importance, which is under your care, and which you, being at so great a distance, never can know, but by the information of some that live here; and I know of no one, from whom you can more reasonably expect it, than from the missionary you have sent here, to have the special care of the interests of religion among the Indians. I did not intend to interfere with the affair of the teacher of the female school, or to say any thing that should tend to hinder it; and therefore avoided every thing of that nature, in my letter to Sir William Pepperell. But, being now questioned again by the honourable Commissioners, and the tendency of the measure more and more appearing, I thought that this was the time, when God called on me to speak, and that, if I should hold my peace now, I should, perhaps, lay a foundation for great uneasiness to my conscience, all my life after; when I might deeply lament the continued consequences of my silence, and when it would be too late to speak."

The next day, Mr. Edwards addressed a letter to the Commissioners in Boston, in which, afer announcing the arrival of Mr. Hawley, and the high gratification of the Mohawks, at the establishment of a regular school for their boys, he states the number of his scholars to be, at that time, thirty-six, mentions his happy qualifications as an instructer, and, in compliance with their request, gives, very summarily, his own views, respecting a proper teacher for the female boarding-school.

During the spring of 1752, the state of affairs in Stockbridge, instead of improving, only grew worse. The interference of the former school-master with the school of Mr. Hawley, produced so much confusion, that, in the latter part of April, one half of the Mohawks left Stockbridge, in utter disgust with him and his friends, and fully resolved never to return. A few days after their departure, an intimate friend of the former school-master and his associates, visiting the male Mohawk school, under the care of Mr. Hawley, struck a child of the chief Sachem of the Onohquaugas on the head, with his cane, without any manner of provocation. The mother of this child was a woman of remarkable piety. This unhappy occurrence excited the universal indignation of the remaining Iroquois; and they appeared resolved, all of them, to pack up their effects immediately, and be gone. Mr. Hawley and the interpreter, finding it impossible to calm them, came to Mr. Edwards for advice; but he, having been often blamed for interfering with the affairs of the Iroquois, and told that, in doing so, he meddled with that which was none of his business, referred them to the resident trustee ; advising them to represent the whole affair to him, that he might use proper means to prevent the fatal