第78章

I therefore diverted the present Discourse between me and my Man，rising up hastily，as upon some sudden Occasion of going out；then sending him for something a good way off，I seriously pray'd to God that he would enable me to instruct savingly this poor Savage，assisting by his Spirit the Heart of the poor ignorant Creature，to receive the Light of the Knowledge of God in Christ，reconciling him to himself，and would guide me to speak so to him from the Word of God，as his Conscience might be convinc'd，hid Eyes open'd，and his Soul sav'd. When he came again to me，I entred into a long Discourse with him upon the Subject of the Redemption of Man by the Saviour of the World，and of the Doctrine of the Gospel preach'd from Heaven，viz. of Repentance towards God，and Faith in our Blessed Lord Jesus. I then explain'd to him，as well as I could，why our Blessed Redeemer took not on him the Nature of Angels，but the Seed of Abraham，and how for that Reason the fallen Angels had no Share in the Redemption；that he came only to the lost Sheep of the House of Israel，and the like.

I had，God knows，more Sincerity than Knowledge，in all the Methods I took for this poor Creature's Instruction，and must acknowledge what I believe all that act upon the same Principle will find，That in laying Things open to him，I really inform'd and instructed my self in many Things，that either I did not know，or had not fully consider'd before；but which occurr'd naturally to my Mind，upon my searching into them，for the Information of this poor Savage；and I had more Affection in my Enquiry after Things upon this Occasion，than ever I felt before；so that whether this poor wild Wretch was the better for me，or no，I had great Reason to be thankful that ever he came to me：My Grief set lighter upon me，my Habitation grew comfortable to me beyond Measure；and when I reflected that in this solitary Life which I had been confin'd to，I had not only been moved my self to look up to Heaven，and to seek to the Hand that had brought me there；but was now to be made an Instrument under Providence to save the Life，and for ought I knew，the Soul of a poor Savage，and bring him to the true Knowledge of Religion，and of the Christian Doctrine，that he might know Christ Jesus，to know whom is Life eternal. I say，when I reflected upon all these Things，a secret Joy run through every Part of my Soul，and I frequently rejoyc'd that ever I was brought to this Place，which I had so often thought the most dreadful of all Afflictions that could possibly have befallen me.

In this thankful Frame I continu'd all the Remainder of my Time，and the Conversation which employ'd the Hours between Friday and I，was such，as made the three Years which we liv'd there together perfectly and compleatly happy，if any such Thing as compleat Happiness can be form'd in a sublunary State. The Savage was now a good Christian，a much better than I；though I have reason to hope，and bless God for it，that we were equally penitent，and comforted restor'd Penitents；we had here the Word of God to read，and no farther off from his Spirit to instruct，than if we had been in England.

I always apply'd my self in Reading the Scripture，to let him know，as well as I could，the Meaning of what I read；and he again，by his serious Enquiries，and Questionings，made me，as I said before，a much better Scholar in the Scripture Knowledge，than I should ever have been by my own private meer Reading. Another thing I cannot refrain from observing here also from Experience，in this retir'd Part of my Life，viz. How infinite and inexpressible a Blessing it is，that the Knowledge of God，and of the Doctrine of Salvation by Christ Jesus，is so plainly laid down in the Word of God；so easy to be receiv'd and understood：That as the bare reading the Scripture made me capable of understanding enough of my Duty，to carry me directly on to the great Work of sincere Repentance for my Sins，and laying hold of a Saviour for Life and Salvation，to a stated Reformation in Practice，and Obedience to all God's Commands，and this without any Teacher or Instructer；I mean，humane；so the same plain Instruction sufficiently serv'd to the enlightning this Savage Creature，and bringing him to be such a Christian，as I have known few equal to him in my Life.

As to all the Disputes，Wranglings，Strife and Contention，which has happen'd in the World about Religion，whether Niceties in Doctrines，or Schemes of Church Government，they were all perfectly useless to us；as for ought I can yet see，they have been to all the rest of the World：We had the sure Guide to Heaven，viz. The Word of God；and we had，blessed be God，comfortable Views of the Spirit of God teaching and instructing us by his Word，leading us into all Truth，and making us both willing and obedient to the Instruction of his Word；and I cannot see the least Use that the greatest Knowledge of the disputed Points in Religion which have made such Confusions in the World would have been to us，if we could have obtain'd it；but I must go on with the Historical Part of Things，and take every Part in its order.

After Friday and I became more intimately acquainted，and that he could understand almost all I said to him，and speak fluently，though in broken English to me；I acquainted him with my own Story，or at least so much of it as related to my coming into the Place，how I had liv'd there，and how long. I let him into the Mystery，for such it was to him，of Gunpowder，and Bullet，and taught him how to shoot：I gave him a Knife，which he was wonderfully delighted with，and I made him a Belt，with a Frog hanging to it，such as in England we wear Hangers in；and in the Frog，instead of a Hanger，I gave him a Hatchet，which was not only as good a Weapon in some Cases，but much more useful upon other Occasions.