November 14, 2022 • 9 mins
View our full collection of podcasts at our website: https://www.solgoodmedia.com
or YouTube channel: https://www.solgood.org/subscribe
or YouTube channel: https://www.solgood.org/subscribe
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Chapter three. Perplexed in what mannerto act, she ascends the idol,
addresses the Indians, and informs themthat a person shall come to instruct them
in the knowledge of the True God. I now once more found myself left
to my little occupations and to myown thoughts. I soon and easily fulfilled
(00:22):
the demands of the former, butnot so those of the latter. I
had engaged in an affair that requiredthe utmost attention and not the smallest abilities.
This latter reflection startled me. Whatan arduous attempt, thought I,
and was abashed what I had neverengaged. But how can I desist?
(00:44):
This was as difficult to answer ashow to go on. As I knew
something of the manner of the Indians, I did not doubt of their docibility,
but I was very suspicious of thepriests. I foresaw they would never
easily suffer themselves to become useless tothe people, and nothing less could be
the consequence of my instructing them.And supposing this to be got over,
(01:07):
how was I to proceed to continueteaching them from the statue if I hoped
to make any tolerable progress, asit would render their attendance more frequent than
might be convenient to them, andin the wet season they could not come
at all. And further, howcould I, with any possible degree of
comfort continue to live underground even inthe summer, and in the winter I
(01:32):
should be entirely confined underground. Thislast thought affected me so much that I
saw the absolute necessity of going tolive among the Indians. Whatever my success
in teaching or reception might prove,I determined to trust in Providence for a
discharge of the first and no lessto rely on its protection as to my
(01:53):
personal security. Though I had thusdetermined the part I was to take,
there, yet remained a great difficultyhow to introduce myself among them. They
might at present conceive of me asmore than mortal reverence me and pay an
implicit faith to all my teachings.But how would their opinion of me change
(02:15):
when they should discover me a meremortal, a destitute stranger, even needing
their support. What credentials had Ito support the novel doctrines that I was
to introduce? How was I tocombat old opinions handed down from father to
son, received with reverence and nodoubt maintained with obstinacy. What advantage would
(02:38):
not all these difficulties give the priestsover me among an ignorant and deluded people,
And what might not exasperated bigotry promptthem to nay, I knew not,
but they might even think it necessaryand write to destroy one who should
dare to deny the deity of theson and expose the absurd of their religion.
(03:01):
These were discouraging reflections, and themore I considered them, the more
I was intimidated, and I heartilyrepented that I had ever spoken to them,
and again was irresolute as to goingamong them. Thus I was distracted
whether I determined to stay or go. To stay was attended with certain evils.
(03:23):
To go, too, probably withvery great ones. Miserable wretch,
cried I, what shall I do? Tears succeeded, and I could think
no more with any coherence. Assoon as I was a little composed,
I had recourse to my usual consolationprayer, And now my mind was calm.
(03:45):
I could view the difficulties before mewithout terror, and distinguish between positive
and real dangers. I concluded totrust Providence in adopting that course, which
upon the most mature consideration should appearhere to have the fewest difficulties and the
most advantages on its side. Itwas to go among the Indians the manner
(04:08):
thus, not to acquaint them inthe least with my condition, that they
might not conceive any prejudices against meon that count, and that by keeping
them ignorant who I was or howI came to them, I might preserve
a superiority over them sufficient to keepthem in awe and to excite their obedience.
(04:29):
Yet I determined to speak no untruth. Accordingly, when the day of
their return arrived, and the priestsand a great many of the people were
present before the statue, I thusaddressed them, be attentive. And here
you are a people ignorant of theknowledge of the True and only God,
who made heaven and earth and everythingtherein. You are also ignorant of that
(04:54):
worship which God expects from his creatures, and of that happiness which He will
bestow upon all those who worship Himaccording to his holy will. This his
holy will he hath revealed to manythousands of men and women like you,
who live in other parts of theearth. And now you also may know
(05:16):
His holy will and be happy.God hath been pleased to send into the
world from time to time holy menand sometimes women, to instruct mankind in
the knowledge of Him, and atlast his son to instruct them more fully.
But forsomuch as mankind had, bytheir great wickedness offended God of whom
(05:41):
you are a part, he wouldhave punished them with a very grievous punishment.
But his son, who loved them, came down upon earth and was
made a man, and offered himselfup a sacrifice to his father, that
mankind might be forgiven, reconciled untohis Father, and be made good people
(06:02):
by believing and doing as he taughtthem. He was, whilst upon earth,
attended by certain persons called his disciples, who wrote the history of his
life. This history, with thewritings of the holy men who lived before
his coming into the world, andthe writings of his disciples, designed to
(06:24):
teach all men, you shall havefor your instruction. With respect to teaching
you the holy religion of the Sonof God, from this place, it
will be too inconvenient to you tocome here as often as necessary, and
during the rainy seasons every year,it will be impossible for you to come
at all. Therefore, that youmay not want that instruction which is necessary
(06:48):
to your happiness. Here and afteryou are dead, you shall be taught
in this manner. A person shallcome to you like yourselves, and that
you may be the less fearful orsuspicious. That person shall be a woman
who shall live among you as youdo. She shall bring with her the
(07:08):
holy writings I have been speaking of, and shall teach all of you,
especially your priests, who shall instructyou after her departure, the knowledge of
the True God and the way tobe happy forever. You must be sure
to show the greatest respect to her. Do everything that she shall command.
You. Never ask who she isfrom, whence she comes, or when
(07:33):
or whether she will leave you.Never hinder her from coming to this island
when she pleases, nor follow herhither without her leave. You must all
believe and do as she shall instructyou, and never presume to come to
this island without her leave, ordo anything that she forbids. But I
(07:55):
do not want to force her amongyou. If you do not choose she
should come, speak and she shallnot come, and I will be dumb
forever. Let her come let hercome. Let her come, and we
will love and obey her. Thiswas the cry of all, with a
noise in my ears like that ofthunder, whilst they showed every outward sign
(08:18):
of joy. As soon as allwere silent again, I once more addressed
them, hear me, then,let as many of you as please come
here three days hence, two hoursafter the sun is risen, and you
will see her sitting upon these steps, dressed like the high priest of the
(08:39):
sun. Receive her with great respect, and conduct her to your country,
and remember all I have said.I now was silent when the whole multitude
shouted, we will meet her,We will meet her. This important business
of the day being thus concluded,they all returned home and left me not
(09:01):
a little pleased at the happy expedientI had devised to procure myself a favorable
retreat among the Indians and a highprobability of success in my future teachings.
It now only remained to prepare formy departure. The day before the return
of the Indians, I collected togetherall my clothes and the few books that
(09:22):
I had but had no chest,put them in, having broken that when
I tumbled it down from the rock. I considered how to supply this want,
and at last concluded to tie themup as well as I could,
with twigs having no cords. Havingfirst chosen such things as I intended to
make my appearance in, I wrappedmy bundle up in one of the priests
(09:46):
golden vestments, and put in twoothers. The last evening I spent in
particular prayers upon the ensuing occasion.End of Chapter three
Chapter three. Perplexed in what mannerto act, she ascends the idol,
addresses the Indians, and informs themthat a person shall come to instruct them
in the knowledge of the True God. I now once more found myself left
to my little occupations and to myown thoughts. I soon and easily fulfilled
(00:22):
the demands of the former, butnot so those of the latter. I
had engaged in an affair that requiredthe utmost attention and not the smallest abilities.
This latter reflection startled me. Whatan arduous attempt, thought I,
and was abashed what I had neverengaged. But how can I desist?
(00:44):
This was as difficult to answer ashow to go on. As I knew
something of the manner of the Indians, I did not doubt of their docibility,
but I was very suspicious of thepriests. I foresaw they would never
easily suffer themselves to become useless tothe people, and nothing less could be
the consequence of my instructing them.And supposing this to be got over,
(01:07):
how was I to proceed to continueteaching them from the statue if I hoped
to make any tolerable progress, asit would render their attendance more frequent than
might be convenient to them, andin the wet season they could not come
at all. And further, howcould I, with any possible degree of
comfort continue to live underground even inthe summer, and in the winter I
(01:32):
should be entirely confined underground. Thislast thought affected me so much that I
saw the absolute necessity of going tolive among the Indians. Whatever my success
in teaching or reception might prove,I determined to trust in Providence for a
discharge of the first and no lessto rely on its protection as to my
(01:53):
personal security. Though I had thusdetermined the part I was to take,
there, yet remained a great difficultyhow to introduce myself among them. They
might at present conceive of me asmore than mortal reverence me and pay an
implicit faith to all my teachings.But how would their opinion of me change
(02:15):
when they should discover me a meremortal, a destitute stranger, even needing
their support. What credentials had Ito support the novel doctrines that I was
to introduce? How was I tocombat old opinions handed down from father to
son, received with reverence and nodoubt maintained with obstinacy. What advantage would
(02:38):
not all these difficulties give the priestsover me among an ignorant and deluded people,
And what might not exasperated bigotry promptthem to nay, I knew not,
but they might even think it necessaryand write to destroy one who should
dare to deny the deity of theson and expose the absurd of their religion.
(03:01):
These were discouraging reflections, and themore I considered them, the more
I was intimidated, and I heartilyrepented that I had ever spoken to them,
and again was irresolute as to goingamong them. Thus I was distracted
whether I determined to stay or go. To stay was attended with certain evils.
(03:23):
To go, too, probably withvery great ones. Miserable wretch,
cried I, what shall I do? Tears succeeded, and I could think
no more with any coherence. Assoon as I was a little composed,
I had recourse to my usual consolationprayer, And now my mind was calm.
(03:45):
I could view the difficulties before mewithout terror, and distinguish between positive
and real dangers. I concluded totrust Providence in adopting that course, which
upon the most mature consideration should appearhere to have the fewest difficulties and the
most advantages on its side. Itwas to go among the Indians the manner
(04:08):
thus, not to acquaint them inthe least with my condition, that they
might not conceive any prejudices against meon that count, and that by keeping
them ignorant who I was or howI came to them, I might preserve
a superiority over them sufficient to keepthem in awe and to excite their obedience.
(04:29):
Yet I determined to speak no untruth. Accordingly, when the day of
their return arrived, and the priestsand a great many of the people were
present before the statue, I thusaddressed them, be attentive. And here
you are a people ignorant of theknowledge of the True and only God,
who made heaven and earth and everythingtherein. You are also ignorant of that
(04:54):
worship which God expects from his creatures, and of that happiness which He will
bestow upon all those who worship Himaccording to his holy will. This his
holy will he hath revealed to manythousands of men and women like you,
who live in other parts of theearth. And now you also may know
(05:16):
His holy will and be happy.God hath been pleased to send into the
world from time to time holy menand sometimes women, to instruct mankind in
the knowledge of Him, and atlast his son to instruct them more fully.
But forsomuch as mankind had, bytheir great wickedness offended God of whom
(05:41):
you are a part, he wouldhave punished them with a very grievous punishment.
But his son, who loved them, came down upon earth and was
made a man, and offered himselfup a sacrifice to his father, that
mankind might be forgiven, reconciled untohis Father, and be made good people
(06:02):
by believing and doing as he taughtthem. He was, whilst upon earth,
attended by certain persons called his disciples, who wrote the history of his
life. This history, with thewritings of the holy men who lived before
his coming into the world, andthe writings of his disciples, designed to
(06:24):
teach all men, you shall havefor your instruction. With respect to teaching
you the holy religion of the Sonof God, from this place, it
will be too inconvenient to you tocome here as often as necessary, and
during the rainy seasons every year,it will be impossible for you to come
at all. Therefore, that youmay not want that instruction which is necessary
(06:48):
to your happiness. Here and afteryou are dead, you shall be taught
in this manner. A person shallcome to you like yourselves, and that
you may be the less fearful orsuspicious. That person shall be a woman
who shall live among you as youdo. She shall bring with her the
(07:08):
holy writings I have been speaking of, and shall teach all of you,
especially your priests, who shall instructyou after her departure, the knowledge of
the True God and the way tobe happy forever. You must be sure
to show the greatest respect to her. Do everything that she shall command.
You. Never ask who she isfrom, whence she comes, or when
(07:33):
or whether she will leave you.Never hinder her from coming to this island
when she pleases, nor follow herhither without her leave. You must all
believe and do as she shall instructyou, and never presume to come to
this island without her leave, ordo anything that she forbids. But I
(07:55):
do not want to force her amongyou. If you do not choose she
should come, speak and she shallnot come, and I will be dumb
forever. Let her come let hercome. Let her come, and we
will love and obey her. Thiswas the cry of all, with a
noise in my ears like that ofthunder, whilst they showed every outward sign
(08:18):
of joy. As soon as allwere silent again, I once more addressed
them, hear me, then,let as many of you as please come
here three days hence, two hoursafter the sun is risen, and you
will see her sitting upon these steps, dressed like the high priest of the
(08:39):
sun. Receive her with great respect, and conduct her to your country,
and remember all I have said.I now was silent when the whole multitude
shouted, we will meet her,We will meet her. This important business
of the day being thus concluded,they all returned home and left me not
(09:01):
a little pleased at the happy expedientI had devised to procure myself a favorable
retreat among the Indians and a highprobability of success in my future teachings.
It now only remained to prepare formy departure. The day before the return
of the Indians, I collected togetherall my clothes and the few books that
(09:22):
I had but had no chest,put them in, having broken that when
I tumbled it down from the rock. I considered how to supply this want,
and at last concluded to tie themup as well as I could,
with twigs having no cords. Havingfirst chosen such things as I intended to
make my appearance in, I wrappedmy bundle up in one of the priests
(09:46):
golden vestments, and put in twoothers. The last evening I spent in
particular prayers upon the ensuing occasion.End of Chapter three
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.