American Indians and the Inward Light

54BULLETIN OF FRIENDS' HISTORICAL SOCIETY. AMERICAN INDIANS AND THE INWARD LIGHT. Count Per Abrahamsson Brahe, intimate friend of King Gustavus Adolphus, and for some years a member of the Swedish Council of State, was much interested in New Sweden on the Delaware River, and in the various problems which the Swedes had to face in the New World. Johan Printz, Governor (1643-1653) of New Sweden, felt that the best way to deal with the Delaware Indians was to kill them, and he believed that with two hundred soldiers he could " break the necks of every one on the river." Fortunately the Swedish government did not countersign such a program, but instead ordered Governor Printz to convert the Indian nations to Christianity. In this connection Count Brahe urged Printz to teach the Indians as children and to work on their imaginations through the ceremonies of the Lutheran service, for " outward ceremonies greatly affect such savage people." 1 It is impossible to say how Brahe came to his judgment that outward ceremonies would greatly affect the Indians, but his statement is mentioned here because it is so at variance with ideas long entertained by many Friends. When Thomas Chalkley (about 1706) was visiting the Indians on the Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania, he told them how Jesus " came to save people from their sins, and by his grace and light in the soul shows to man his sins and convinceth him thereof." To all of this doctrine the Indians gave assent, according to Chalkley, " and to that of the light in the soul they gave double assent, and seemed much affected by the doctrine of truth." 2 The fact that the Indians gave ready assent to the doctrine of the Inward Light, and that it seemed to tally with their spiritual conceptions was mentioned by many early Friends, and is sometimes referred to by Friends of the present day. The conclusion often drawn is that the Friendly message and the Friendly type of worship are especially suited to the understanding of the 1 A. Johnson, " Swedish Settlements on the Delaware," I, 377-378. 2 " Journal of Thomas Chalkley, 1818," p. 73 or Friends' Library, vi, 20. AMERICAN INDIANS AND THE INWARD LIGHT.55 Indian. It may be that there was something in the Indian's conception of the " Great Mystery " and in his apprehension of the voice of conscience that provided a point of contact between him and early Friends. It seems perfectly clear that the early message of Friends, coupled with their consistent practice of the Christian virtues, made a very genuine appeal to him. Yet, on the whole, judging from the history of Friends' religious work among the Indians, it would seem that the Friendly message and type of worship have not made an extraordinary impression upon the Indian's mind and spirit. It is remembered, of course, that for the past fifty years the ancient type of meeting for worship has not been used at the Friends' Indian missions, except at Tunesassa, New York. On the other hand, the effectiveness of the work done by other bodies with more " outward appeal " has been often noticed by Friends. William Savery acknowledged the real devotion with which the Indians of western New York " sang their Maker's praise." Many Friends of many periods remarked upon the great hold that the Catholic ceremonies gained upon the Indian's mind. In several instances other denominations working side by side with Friends had far greater success in winning the Indians. In one notable instance a tribe that had been long served by Friends and helped much in a material way, was quickly won over, almost to a man, by a small sectarian group that made its chief appeal through somewhat ostentatious practice of certain outward ordinances. Much care must be used, many attendant circumstances examined , in drawing conclusions from such historical data. Yet on the whole it seems safe to say that the religious message and method of Friends have not succeeded in any remarkable way in winning and holding the Indians. This is entirely apart from the very great effect upon the Indians of the Friendly practice of the Christian virtues. This is only...