T opIC II | the Conquest of native north america 41I observed at this time, that she appeared to be unhealthy, and I heard a while
after that her friends feared she was falling into a consumption: however, I did
not see and speak with her again, till at least a year after I had my first discourse
with her; but hearing that she was grown worse, and was like to die, I again vis-
ited her, and I shall here set down the substance of what she said to me, chiefly in
answer to such questions as I then put to her.
She said she remembered the discourse which I formerly had with her, and
said she had been thereby encouraged to seek after God, and she manifested a
desire that I would further instruct her.
I then put many questions to her for the trial of her understanding, and found
she well understood the principles of the Christian faith; as the doctrine of original
sin, the guilt which it brought on all mankind, and the depravation of the humane
nature by it, by which man is now naturally inclined to that which is evil only, and
that continually. She owned, that from this corrupt fountain all those actual sins do
flow, which mankind commit, and said, her own sins had been very many and great.
I found also that she had a distinct understanding of the doctrine of redemp-
tion by Jesus Christ. I put several questions to her concerning his person, offices,
and the righteousness he fulfilled in his obedience and sufferings for sinners; all
which she answered well, and declared her belief of his resurrection from the
dead, and ascension into Heaven, &c.
I likewise found she understood the doctrine of regeneration, and the absolute
necessity of it, in order to the eternal salvation of sinners. She owned, that without
holiness of heart and life, none could have any saving benefit by Jesus Christ, or
ever enter into the kingdom of God.Experience Mayhew and Thomas Prince, Indian Converts: or, Some Account of the Lives and
Dying Speeches of a Considerable Number of the Christianized Indians of Martha’s Vineyard, in
New-England (London: S. Gerrish, 1727), 273, transcribed into modern English by Jason Stacy.praCTICINg historical Thinking
Identify: What evidence do Mayhew and Prince provide for their claim to have
converted this native woman to Christianity?
Analyze: What interests do Mayhew and Prince have in presenting this conversion
in this fashion?
Evaluate: In Chapter 1, Pope Paul III sought the conversion of native peoples in
New Spain a little over ten years after the Spanish conquest of Central America
(Doc. 1.6). Likewise, Bartolomé de las Casas portrayed natives as ideal Catholics
around twenty years after Hernán Cortés’s conquest (Doc. 1.7). This document,
on the other hand, was written nearly a hundred years after Puritans first settled
New England (Doc. 2.4). What in these four documents accounts for the difference
between Spanish Catholic and English Puritan conceptions of native peoples and
their possibility of salvation?03_STA_2012_ch2_027-056.indd 41 11/03/15 12:37 PM