It did not seem to occur to Brainerd that in thus setting the child in the midst of them as an illustration of the kingdom of wrath he was not imitating the method of Jesus. Even in his treatment of the sins of later life there is something illustrative of the cruel system which dominated him.
“I then mention all the vices I know the Indians to be guilty of, and so make use of these sinful streams to convince them that the fountain is corrupt. This is the end for which I mention their wicked practices to them; not because I expect to bring them to an effectual reformation merely by inveighing against their immoralities, but hoping that they may hereby be convinced of the corruption of their hearts, and awakened to a sense of the depravity and misery of their fallen state.”
Brainerd had in mind a profound truth; every great moral awakening is accompanied by pain. But he was not content with that which comes naturally. All specific reformation in morals and manners was subordinated to that which he conceived to be the essential thing,—that they should feel to its full extent the misery of being human.
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In every readjustment of thought or advance in the manner of life there is involved a vast amount of unescapable pain. There is also a great deal of pain that is gratuitously inflicted. In the contest between the forces of conservatism and progress it is difficult to say which side is more open to the charge of cruelty.
In reading history our sympathies are usually with the bold innovator. He stands alone against the world and proclaims an unpopular truth. He is misunderstood, reviled, persecuted for righteousness’ sake. The defenders of the old order are hard-hearted persecutors who hound him to death.
But this is only half the story. A glimpse of the other side is given in the very term we use. We speak of the defenders of the old order. We only understand their feelings when we remember that they were really on the defensive. The things they held most sacred were attacked by a ruthless power which they could not understand. They flew to the rescue of sanctuaries about to be violated. They often fought as those in mortal agony, using blindly such weapons as came to their hands.
In “The Faerie Queene” Una, the fair symbol of Truth, wanders through the forest protected by her lion. He is a good lion and faithful to his lady.
The lyon would not leave her desolate,
But with her went along, as a strong gard