REASONING OF A GREENLANDER.

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him not," or, "It must be a powerful man," or, "These things have always existed, and must endure for ever." But after obtaining a more intimate acquaintance with their language, the Missionaries were led to entertain a contrary opinion, from their various notions concerning the soul and spirits in general, and from their evident anxiety about their probable state after death. From free conversations with the natives, it became very apparent that their forefathers believed in a Being who resides above the clouds, to whom they paid religious worship. But this belief had gradually died away, in proportion as they became isolated from all communication with civilized nations, till they had lost all clear notions of a Deity.

Alas! how constant is the tendency of human nature to error and darkness! how speedily did the little spark of knowledge, which survived the fall, become extinct among all heathen nations! "When they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened professing themselves to be wise, they became fools." How necessary is it, that our minds should receive continued illumination from the Father of lights, and how inestimable the blessing which we enjoy, in the possession of the sacred Scriptures, to be a light unto our feet, and a lantern to our paths!

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But some were to be found among this rude people, whose hearts, under the renewing influence of the Holy Spirit, began to inquire, "Where is God, my Maker?" We subjoin two instances of this :-A company of baptized Greenlanders one day expressed their astonishment, that they had spent their lives in a state of such complete ignorance and thoughtlessness. One of the party immediately rose up, and spoke as follows: "It is true, we were ignorant heathens, and knew nothing of God and of a Redeemer, for who could have informed us of their existence, before you (addressing the Missionaries,) arrived? Yet I have often thought, a kayak, with the darts belonging to it, does not exist of itself, but must be made with the trouble and skill of men's hands; and he who does not understand the use of it spoils it. Now, the smallest bird is composed with

more art than the best kayak, and no man can make a bird-man is still more exquisitely framed than other animals. Who, then, was it that made him? And from whence do the earth, sun, moon, and stars proceed? There must necessarily be some one who has created every thing,-who has always existed, and canhave no end. He must be more powerful and skilful than the wisest of men: He must also be very good; because every thing that he has made is so useful and necessary for us. Did I but know him, what love and respect should I feel for him! But who has seen or conversed with him? None of us men; yet there may be men who know something about him-with such, I should willingly converse. As soon, therefore, as I heard from you of this great Being, I believed you willingly, having for a length of time longed for information."

On another occasion, one of the Greenland converts expressed himself thus to the Missionaries: "Before you came to us, we had learned something about God, from his works around us; but it is only by your visiting us, and making us acquainted with the word of God, that we have come to know any thing about a Redeemer." This is a striking testimony to the insufficiency of the light of mere natural religion, and that it is through Divine Revelation alone, that man can know any thing concerning the mode of his acceptance with his offended Maker. And all this tends to illustrate the assertion of the great Apostle of the Gentiles, in reference to the testimony borne by the visible works of creation, before the heathen, to their great Creator— "Because that which may be known of God, is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world' are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse," Rom. i. 19, 20.

But these were the thoughts of a few only, and those evidently, like Cornelius, under the preparatory teaching of the blessed Spirit. The father of lies had perplexed the minds of the generality with notions of gods many, and lords many, resembling, in their supposed power and character, the gods of the ancient heathen.

IMPOSTURES OF THE ANGEKOKS.

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We shall not here tire the reader, by enumerating at length the superstitious fables current among the Greenlanders; the following extract from Mr. Crantz's History, descriptive of the prevalent notions of heaven, will sufficiently shew the deplorable darkness of these poor heathen.

"As the Greenlanders acquire the most and best of their sustenance from the bosom of the sea, therefore many or most of them place their elysium in the abysses of the ocean, or the bowels of the earth, and think the deep cavities of the rocks are the avenues leading to it. There, as they imagine, dwells Torngarnsuk, and his mother; there a joyous summer is perpetual, and a shining sun is obscured by no night; there is the fair limpid stream, and an abundance of fowls, fishes, reindeer, and their beloved seals, and these are all to be caught without toil, nay, they are even found in a great kettle boiling alive. But to these seats none must approach, but those that have been dexterous and diligent at their work (for this is their grand idea of virtue,) that have performed great exploits, have mastered many whales and seals, have undergone great hardships, have been drowned in the sea."

A class of men called Angekoks, or conjurors, are the principal instruments of satan for propagating these lies among the Greenlanders. These impostors delude the poor people with marvellous tales, concerning their intercourse with the world of spirits. When an Angekok is consulted by a Greenlander upon any business, he goes to the entry of the house; there his head is tied between his legs by one of his pupils; and then all the lamps in the house must be put out, and the windows shut up, for no one must see the interview between him and his Torngak, or familiar spirit. When the Angekok, together with all present, have sung for some time, he begins to sigh, and puff, and foam with great perturbation and noise, calling out to his familiar spirit, to come to him. If the spirit is still deaf to his cries, the Angekok's soul flies away, as he pretends, to fetch him. During this pretended absence, the cunning knave is silent, but presently returns with shouts of joy, and with a certain rustling noise, as if some birds flew over the house, and then entered it. Then the Ange

kok pretends to converse with the spirit, feigning the voice in which answers to his questions are given. The answer is always dark and intricate, in order that it may admit of no certain and fixed interpretation, and that thus the impostor's credit may be preserved.

Sometimes, when the Angekok is requested to use his interest for the healing of a sick person, or for procuring a supply of seals, he pretends to soar aloft with his Torngak on a long string to the realm of souls, where he is admitted to a short conference with the Angekut poglit, i. e. the fat or the famous wise ones, and learns there the fate of his sick patient, or even brings him a new soul back. Or else the wicked impostor pretends to descend to the goddess of hell, and set the enchanted creatures free. At length having disengaged himself by the assistance of his scholars from his bonds, he pretends to have returned from his journey, cries out terribly, and begins to beat his drum; and then, with the air of one quite jaded with his journey, tells a long story of all that he has seen and heard. Finally, he tunes up a song, and goes round and imparts his benediction to all present by a touch. Then they light up the lamps, and see the Angekok wan, fatigued, and harrassed, so that he can scarcely speak.

By tricks such as these, conducted with more or less cleverness, do the Angekoks seek to impose upon their countrymen. How far the agency of satan is concerned in their artifices it is difficult to say: to exclude him from any participation in them would be the height of Sadduceeism. The Angekoks who were subsequently converted to Christianity, while they confessed that the greatest part of the art which they had formerly practised was a delusion, still maintained that some spiritual agency was also mixed with it,-something on which they looked back with abhorrence, but could not describe.

Such was the Greenland nation before the arrival of the Missionaries: while the inhabitants of those frozen regions were cut off from the happiness enjoyed by other nations, who live under regular laws, breathe a more genial atmosphere, and inhabit a more fertile country, they were also without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the cove

BRIGHTENING PROSPECTS.

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nants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But a brighter day was now about to dawn upon their country-many of these poor people, who were sometime afar off, were to be made nigh by the blood of Christ, and through him and in him to find satisfying happiness, which should still increase, when every other blessing, however valuable in man's estimation, but having its root in earth, shall have become as the dust of the summer threshing-floor, which the wind carries away.

The means which God employed, for conferring this inestimable blessing upon the Greenland nation, will be unfolded in the following chapters.

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