labour would not be lost upon her.
Accordingly I called her in, and placing myself as interpreter
between my religious priest and the woman, I entreated him to begin
with her; but sure such a sermon was never preached by a Popish
priest in these latter ages of the world; and as I told him, I
thought he had all the zeal, all the knowledge, all the sincerity
of a Christian, without the error of a Roman Catholic; and that I
took him to be such a clergyman as the Roman bishops were before
the Church of Rome assumed spiritual sovereignty over the
consciences of men. In a word, he brought the poor woman to
embrace the knowledge of Christ, and of redemption by Him, not with
wonder and astonishment only, as she did the first notions of a
God, but with joy and faith; with an affection, and a surprising
degree of understanding, scarce to be imagined, much less to be
expressed; and, at her own request, she was baptized.
When he was preparing to baptize her, I entreated him that he would
perform that office with some caution, that the man might not
perceive he was of the Roman Church, if possible, because of other
ill consequences which might attend a difference among us in that
very religion which we were instructing the other in. He told me
that as he had no consecrated chapel, nor proper things for the
office, I should see he would do it in a manner that I should not
know by it that he was a Roman Catholic myself, if I had not known
it before; and so he did; for saying only some words over to
himself in Latin, which I could not understand, he poured a whole
dishful of water upon the woman’s head, pronouncing in French, very
loud, “Mary” (which was the name her husband desired me to give
her, for I was her godfather), “I baptize thee in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;” so that none could
know anything by it what religion he was of. He gave the
benediction afterwards in Latin, but either Will Atkins did not
know but it was French, or else did not take notice of it at that
time.
As soon as this was over we married them; and after the marriage
was over, he turned to Will Atkins, and in a very affectionate
manner exhorted him, not only to persevere in that good disposition
he was in, but to support the convictions that were upon him by a
resolution to reform his life: told him it was in vain to say he
repented if he did not forsake his crimes; represented to him how
God had honoured him with being the instrument of bringing his wife
to the knowledge of the Christian religion, and that he should be
careful he did not dishonour the grace of God; and that if he did,
he would see the heathen a better Christian than himself; the
savage converted, and the instrument cast away. He said a great
many good things to them both; and then, recommending them to God’s
goodness, gave them the benediction again, I repeating everything
to them in English; and thus ended the ceremony. I think it was
the most pleasant and agreeable day to me that ever I passed in my
whole life. But my clergyman had not done yet: his thoughts hung
continually upon the conversion of the thirty-seven savages, and
fain be would have stayed upon the island to have undertaken it;
but I convinced him, first, that his undertaking was impracticable
in itself; and, secondly, that perhaps I would put it into a way of
being done in his absence to his satisfaction.
Having thus brought the affairs of the island to a narrow compass,
I was preparing to go on board the ship, when the young man I had
taken out of the famished ship’s company came to me, and told me he
understood I had a clergyman with me, and that I had caused the
Englishmen to be married to the savages; that he had a match too,