I had, God knows, more sincerity than knowledge in all the methods I took for this poor creature’s instruction, and must acknowledge, what I believe all that act upon the same principle will find, that in laying things open to him, I really informed and instructed myself in many things that either I did not know or had not fully considered before, but which occurred naturally to my mind upon searching into them, for the information of this poor savage; and I had more affection in my inquiry after things upon this occasion than ever I felt before: so that, whether this poor wild wretch was better for me or no, I had great reason to be thankful that ever he came to me; my grief sat lighter, upon me; my habitation grew comfortable to me beyond measure: and when I reflected that in this solitary life which I have been confined to, I had not only been moved to look up to heaven myself, and to seek the Hand that had brought me here, but was now to be made an instrument, under Providence, to save the life, and, for aught I knew, the soul of a poor savage, and bring him to the true knowledge of religion and of the Christian doctrine, that he might know Christ Jesus, in whom is life eternal; I say, when I reflected upon all these things, a secret joy ran through every part of My soul, and I frequently rejoiced that ever I was brought to this place, which I had so often thought the most dreadful of all afflictions that could possibly have befallen me.
In somma, sia o no divenuto migliore per opera mia quello sfortunato, certo ho grande motivo di ringraziare la celeste provvidenza che me lo inviò. I miei cordogli da quell’istante divennero più leggieri; la mia abitazione mi si rese oltremodo cara; e quando pensava che questo solitario confine mi fu non solo un impulso a volgere gli sguardi al cielo io medesimo e a cercare con affetto la mano che mi vi aveva condotto, ma era per rendermi con l’aiuto di Dio uno stromento alto a fare salva la vita e, a quanto sembrommi, l’anima di un povero selvaggio ed a condurlo su la via della religione e degl’insegnamenti della cristiana dottrina e dell’adorazione di Gesù Cristo in cui è la vita eterna: quando io pensava a tutto ciò, una segreta gioia comprendeva ogni parte della mia anima; e una tale idea frequentemente mi è stata di consolazione sino al termine del mio esilio in questo luogo: esilio ch’io aveva si spesso riguardato come la più spaventosa fra quante sventura avessero mai potuto avvenirmi.