Francis Le Jau to John Chamberlayne (Secretary)

South Carolina Parish of St. James, near
Goose Creek Apr. the 12th 1711

Sir,

besides the Letter which shall I hope come to your hands from the Post Office \if God please to bring the Loyal Johnson safe to London/ wherein I have the honour to give to the Society my Generous Superiors an Account of my Mission I write this which I design to trust to the Care of Mr Comm[issa]ry Johnstons Spouse with the Inclosed Papers, wishing with all my heart \that/ the whole may safely be deliverd to you and find you in perfect health which I pray to Alm[ighty] God to Preserve. Mr Johnston allarmd me 2 or 3 weeks ago, he sent me word that Poor Capt[ain] Cole, after his misfortune, coming to London had found you sick. I am very Impatient for the arrival of Capt[ain] Thomas by whom I hope to hear of your Perfect Recovery. I had given several Letters to Capt[ain] Cole those I had the honour to write to you were dated July the 14 and 16th I should be sorry if they were lost. I also writ via \a/ Barbadoes Octob[er] 23 I have heard lately that my friend Coll[onel] Th[omas] Maycok whom I thought to be dead, is not so: I flatter my self that my letter has been taken care of: my last letters that went by Capt[ain] Belcher were dated febr. the 6. and 9 last past the most material articles were about the project of promoting a Reformation of manners here. We will do by the Grace of God what we can to forward so good a work but I mistrust the success. on the contrary I find great dispo[siti]ons in 3 aetheistical men or 4 to do all the prejudice they can to me. they never come to church and spend the Lords day in particular and Indeed Every day in the week in a most scandalous manner, they are curious to have all the blasphemous books and Seditious pamphlets they can get, It grieves me to the heart to hear that, but I don’t know how to help it; had they sense, it would be some satisfaction for me to discourse with them but their Ignorance and Malice are of Equal dimensions. without naming them otherwise they are the 3 men who have troubled you with their Epistles. mortal Enemys to the clergy and anything that is Good.

If God Pleases that Cap[tain] Belcher should come safe my friend and Attorney Mr John Carpender Merch[an]t will send to your house a small packet with a little Quantity of this Country Rice which My Wife takes the Liberty to present to your Lady for a mark of her Respect & humble service, she also sent some to Madam Hodges. Give me leave to join my Respect & humble service with my wife’s to your Lady & Mr hodges & Madam hodges. I believe In the packet there is nothing but a letter, and one of Mr Stobos pamphlets. I had sent a Copy of my subscription by Capt[ain] Cole I now send another of Mr Stobos books. if any of those books or papers I mention should miscarry I beg of you to let me know it that I may send others. I have often been promised some of the Spanish and Indian Prayers printed together but I can see none yet, I assure you I loose no opportunity to put my friends in mind of their promises. Mr Marston has of late behav’d himself as I wish he had done these 5 years past. the Comm[issa]ry is better pleasd with his temper now. he took the trouble to come and see me some weeks ago I wondred to see him stile so much reformed, I pray to God it may so continue for his own Good. there is an inclination in the Parishioners of a place called Bermudastown to entertain him for their Minister.

If the Society thinks fit to send any missionary to \any/ one of our vacant Parishes and they \should/ have familyes, if they be your friends I must Ingenuously declare they must prepare to suffer great hardships and Crosses. our poor Brother wood perish’d of meer misery. Batchelors do well Enough if they be young and healthy. the poor man was some-what Elderly and broken & no care was taken of him. I make very hard shifts in my family, I have little or no help from my Parishioners who have much ado to maintain themselves, we hardly have a joint of fresh meat once a week. Indian corn bread & water is the common food and drink for my children with a little milk sometimes, and to keep our house a little in order, which would be the work of one maid in England, is that of 3 Slaves which I have been forced to purchase by degrees, new and raw, and they are not wholly payd for yet. this melancholy narrative is not all I suffer here.

Were people but willing to serve God and be loved by his Grace I would reckon

all those hardships for nothing and be glad to suffer more. but it is not so what ever they may pretend to in all sects and Professions really God is very little adored and loved. I was told of a pamphlet lately printed in London which dos contain an Enumeration of our Inhabitants. there in I hear it is affirmed that the number of the presbyterian dissenters compard with the members of our church is as 5 to 10. and they put the French protestants among the presbyterians, which is notoriously false: the anabaptists they say are as 2 to 10: the Quakers 1 to ten: it is certainly a factious spirit that has layd the number thus. for I question whether there be 6 quakers in the whole Province, and whether any of our anabaptists knows any thing of that heresy without Excepting the teachers, my reason is because I did not find two of them agreeing together in principles. I baptisd lately the most sensible and rational of them all. but I could I believe give out a more certain Rule to know the difference of Religions in many places in the world as well as here; as for Instance setting aside the Atheists, Deists, Socinians, hereticks, freethinkers, and hypocrites, if we were to judge of the number of the true Christians or those good Souls that are desirous by the Grace of God to be such, by the fruits, I am affraid the number would be of few in the hundred. there are crying Enormityes committed openly by men who make a figure here. yet they are honoured and respected, and they call themselves our friends, the poor and unfortunate are lashd at our sessions; the Great Tryumph. those things are seen to the scandal of those that are honest. if any body happen to say that Evil is Evil and ought not to be committed he is looked upon as an Enemy and a Just object of revenge. I could declare that some persons have not yet forgiven pretended wrongs done to them many years ago and are not disposd to forgive I was told but two days ago by a person of honor & vertue that the man who takes upon himself to be the truest friend to us has for a perfect interest & that most unjustly abused very proply one of the most worthy of our Gentry. if the thing goes farther I think it a duty upon me to let You know if, it concerns the Society, I say no more but that the Members of that honourable Body that are in London shall not be Imposd upon nor deceived by my consent. I’ll prevent it if I can. Thats my onely desire and Ambition in my place and office by the Grace of God to prevent all the Evil I can for fear I should partake of other men’s Sins, and to Strive to do all the good I can by the Grace of my Jesus who went about doing good: As for the Incorrigible and such persons as appear to be wilfully Impertinent I say nothing to them but what is Civil, but when their Enfirmetyes are mention’d and my mind askd I usually say that Evil can’t be approved and I must condemn it because Sin is to be condemned absolutely. That free condemnation of sin dos not please; but I can’t help that.

The last thing I’ll trouble you with in this tedious letter is about partyes in this Country. Interest has divided great many even of those we may call the best. Now it is a nice point to keep neuter as I endeavour to do, for such as we may look upon as friends Expect very unreasonable that we

should connive at, approve, or sometimes command things which they do & that are clearly against all manner of Justice, goodness and truth in Jesus Christ, our bare Indifference is enough to give a disgust: they Expect we should side warmly, I Pray to Alm[ighty] God to give me Grace to love Justice & charity till death more perfectly and Impartially and resolutely than I do at this time for tho I endeavour to do as well as I can I am affraid to be rather too pusillanimous and to be blended by human regards. Must I see every body almost about me in danger of perdition and not give them the warning I am commanded? Pray God strengthen me. I must speak a comfortable word in the behalf of pen\i/tent sinners, I thank God I have met pretty many, some are dead. the others continue: but what they suffer is great, I see them as well as myself under severe tryals, In which state God alone is able to bless and sustain up; we heartily beg the prayers of all the friends of God and yours most particularly and that Mr hodges and such honoured Members of the Society as you think convenient to Impart this account to, have the charity also to pray for us. I am with due Respect and perfect Gratitude for your goodness to me and mine and begging the Continuance of it
Sir

your most humble and obedient Servant

Francis Le Jau.