Harper's New Monthly Magazine
November, 1871.

A New England Village.

When Sergeant came to his missionary field he found a greater obstacle to his success in the lawless and immoral conduct of some whites from the Dutch plantations on the Hudson than from the paganism of the Indians. As one has said, "the trials incident to other missionaries were to be encountered--perils among the heathen, perils in the wilderness--and one peril which the apostle does not mention--peril among the Dutch." It is the old story which runs through all our Indian history. Even in those early times there were to be found those who, for their selfish purposes, were ready to make victims of the aborigines. Rum was then, as it has been ever since, the grand instrument of their success. Happily the influence of the missionary was so great, and such the good sense and moral principle of a portion of the red men, that they were led early to take strong measures against the threatening evil. It was not a year after Sergeant came among them when they passed a resolution ''to have no trading in rum." The General Court also came to their assistance with its law, antedating the "Maine Law" by more than a century, making it a criminal offense for any private person to sell strong drink to an Indian. The Dutch traders, fearing, like those of old who made silver images of Diana, that the hope of their gains would disappear in proportion as the Gospel should produce its effect upon the Indians, endeavored to excite their opposition to the missionary and to the colonial government, telling them that the latter was unfriendly to them, and seeking to deprive them of their liberty in not allowing liquor to he freely sold them. But their confidence in their pastor enabled him to convince them that the law was enacted for their welfare, and that the traffickers in rum were their real enemies.        In 1734, when the mission was begun, the number of Housatonic Indians within its reach was not more than fifty. In two Years this number had increased to ninety, and it was not long before the faithful labors of Sergeant and those associated with him had made such an impression upon the Indians of the vicinity that the settlement at Stockbridge embraced more than four hundred of the children of the forest. Sergeant was not content, however, with the endeavor to enlighten and Christianize the few families he found residing upon the Housatonic. He designed, rather, the mission here to be a focal point of influence which should make itself felt through a wide region. Early in the history of his labors here he formed the plan of a manual-labor school. In this school he hoped to gather not only the children of the Indians living in the vicinity of Stockbridge, but those of more distant tribes, who might be induced to avail themselves of its benefits. Here he proposed, in addition to the common education of the school and the instructions of religion, that the boys should be taught the arts of agriculture, and the girls those of domestic economy. It was an intelligent and far-sighted plan, worthy of the apostolic zeal and love of such a man as Sergeant. It enlisted much interest, also, not only among the ministers and churches of New England, but among the people of Great Britain. The mission to the Housatonic Indians had, indeed, derived the main portion of its pecuniary as well as moral support from abroad ever since its beginning. The Commissioners of Indian Affairs at Boston were the agents of the Society in London for Publishing the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and Sergeant, as well as Edwards and West, his Successors, received their salary largely from that source. The plan of the boarding school was formed in consultation with gentlemen of piety and distinction abroad, and had their encouragement from the first. Rev. Isaac Hollis, of London, a nephew of Hollis, the distinguished benefactor of Harvard College, had been interested in the mission from its start, and had offered to support twenty of the Stockbridge Indians at an annual charge of £500. When the larger scheme was proposed he was quite ready to second the plan. Rev. Dr. Watts also took up a collection among his friends in its behalf; and sent Sergeant £70, together with a copy of his treatise on the        Improvement of the Mind," a little volume which is cherished as a memorial among the descendants of Sergeant to this day. Other English clergymen took hold of the matter with interest. The Prince of Wales, also, and the Dukes of Cumberland and Dorset, and Lord Gower, with others, became liberal subscribers to the mission and to the school. Dr. Francis Ayscough, of London, clerk of the closet and first chaplain to the Prince of Wales, also made a donation of a copy of the Scriptures in two large folio volumes, gilt and embellished with engravings. Upon the fly-leaf was written, "Presented by Dr. Ayscough to Rev. John Sergeant, missionary to the Stockbridge Indians, in that vast wilderness called New England." It is creditable to the catholicity of Dr. A. that, when he was informed that Mr. Sergeant was a Dissenter, he replied, "What if he be a Dissenter? It is time those distinctions were laid aside...... I love all good men alike, let them be Churchmen or Dissenters." The Indians cherished these volumes of the Scriptures with great regard, and took them with them in their several migrations after they removed from their old Stockbridge home. But the plan of the boarding-school, though in itself so generous and so generously helped, was not altogether successful. 819 | Previous Page | Next Page | | Berkshire County Home |