Conestoga, Susquehannock Chief, 1710

The Indian's speech, translated from the Latin, is as followeth.— "Since the subject of his errand is to persaude is to embrace new doctrines, perhaps it may not be amiss, before we offer hint the reasons why we cannot comply with his request, to acquaint him of the grounds and princi-ples of that religion he would hare Us to abandon.

"Our fathers were under a strong persuasion (as we are) that those who act well in,this life, will be rewarded in the next, according to the degree of their virtues; and, on the other hand, that those who behave wickedly here, will undergo such punishments hereafter, as are proportionate to the crimes they were guilty of.   This has been constantly and invariably received and acknowledged for a truth, through, every successive generation of our ancestors; it could not, then, have taken its rise from fable: for, human fiction, however artfully and plausibly contrived; can never gain credit long among people where free inquiry is allowed, which was never denied by our ancestors, who, on the contrary, thought It the sacred, inviolable, natural right of every man, to examine and judge for himself: therefore, we think it evident, that our notions of future rewards and punishments, were either revealed immediately from heaven, to some of our forefathers, and from them descended to us, or that it was triplanted in each of us at our creation, by the Creator of all things, Whatever the method might have been, whereby God has, been pleased to make known unto us his will, and give us a knowledge of our duty, it is, in our sense, a divine revelation.

Now, we desire to propose to him some questions.  Does he believe our forefathers, men eminent for their piety, constant and vvarin in the pursuit of virtue, hoping thereby to obtain eternal happiness, were all damned?  Does he think that we, who are zealous imitators of them in good works, and influenced by the same motives as they were, earnestly endeavouring, with the greatest circumspection, to tread the paths of integrity, are in a state of damnation? If these be his sentiments, they are surely as impious, as they are are bold and daring.

In the next place, we beg that he would explain himself more particularly concerning revelation.  If he admits of none but what is contained in his written book, the contrary is evident from what has been shewn before.  But if he says God has revealed himself to us, but not sufficient for our salvation, then we ask, to what purpose should he have revealed himself to us in any wise?  It is clear, that a revelation insufficient to save, cannot put us in a better condition than we should be without a revelation at all.  We cannot conceive that God should point out the end we ought to arrive at, without opening to us the way to arrive at that end.  But supposing our understanding were so far illuminated, as to know it to be our duty to please God, who has yet left us under an incapacify of doing it; will this missionary, therefore, conclude, that we shall be eternally damned?  Will he take upon him to pronounce damnation upon us, for not doing those things which he himself acknowledges were impossible by us to be done?  It is our opinion, that every man is possessed with sufficient knowledge for his own salvation.

"The Almighty, for any thing we know, may have communicated himself to different races of people in a different manner.  Some say they have the will of God in writing : be it so ; their reve-lation has no advantage above ours, since both are equallj, sufficient to save, or the end of the revelation would be frustrated ; besides, if both be true, they most be the same in substance, and the difference can only lay in the mode of communication.

He tells us, there are many precepts in this written revelation, which we are entirely ignorant of.  But, as those written commands could only be necessary for those who have the writings, they cannot possibly regard us.  Had the Almighty thought so much knowledge necessary for our salvation, his goodness could not to long have deferred the communication of it to us.  And to say, in a matter so necessary, he could not at one and the same time reveal himself to all mankind, is nothing less than a denial of his omnipotence.  Without doubt, he can make his will manifest without the help of any book, or the assistance of any bookish man whatever.

We shall, in the next place, consider the arguments that arise from the consideration of providence.

If we be the work of God, (which we presume will not be denied) it follows from thence we are under the care and protection of God; for it cannot be supposed, that the, Deity should abandon his own creatures, and be utterly regardless of their welfare: and to say the Almighty has permitted us to remain in a fatal error, through so many ages, is to represent him as a tyrant.  How is it consistent with his justice, to force life upon a race of mortals without their consent, and then to damn them eternally, without ever opening to them the door of salvation.  Our conceptions of the gracious God, are much More noble; and we think that those who teach otherwise, do little less than blaspheme.

Again, it is through the care and goodness of the Almighty, that from the beginning of time, through so many generations to this day, our name has been preserved un-blotted out, and by our enemies un-reduced to nothing.  By the same care we now enjoy our lives, and are furnished with the necessary means of preserving these lives; but all these things are trifling, compared with our salvation.  Therefore, since God has been so careful of us in matters of so little consequence, it would be absurd to affirm, that he has neglected us in cases of the greatest importance; admit he has forsaken us, yet it could not be without a just cause.

Let us suppose, that some heinous crimes were committed by some of our ancestors, like to that we are told of among another race of people; in such a case; God would certainly punish the criminal, but never involve as that are innocent in the guilt; those who think otherwise, most make the Almighty a very whimsical, ill natured being. "Once more are the Christians

Once more are the Christians more virtuous? Or rather, are they not more vicious than we are; If so, how comes it to pass that they are the objects of God's beneficence, while we are neglected?  Does he daily confer his favours without reason, and with on much partiality?

In a word, we find the Christians much more depraved in their morals than we are; and we judge of their doctrine, by the badness of their lives."