(seq. 2)

Cautions, Advice, & Information, which my youthfull Age
& Inexperience, together with my want of a larger extent
of knowledge both in Men & Things, may many times
make them needfull & advantageous to me. And as I
have Reason to think, & conclude, that those People who
now appear against & declare their now concurrence & Dissatisfaction
with the present Scituation of the Meeting House will,
in a short time, commence my personal enemies as
they have already manifested to my face, their Disaf-
fection, & Disregard to me as a Minister in Natick,
& by their Insinuations have threaten'd to disturb my
Peace. So I humbly hope, & expect, & presume, you will not leave
me alone to combat with them, if they shou'd become
troublesome, & if your Interposition & Influence will be
in any Degree serviceable & beneficial to me.

Honourable & Reverend Gentlemen, I take this
opportunity to offer my humble & gratefull acknowledge-
ments to God, & to you, for the candid, & favourable
Sentiments which you conceive & express concerning me,
& hope I shall be better qualified to deserve them
than, at present I can presume to be: And as several
of you have exerted yourselves in my Behalf to pro-
cure a comfortable Maintenance for me whereby I have been
freed from the Imputation of being mercenary & of being too much
under the government of worldy & unworthy motives, which
undiscerning & undistinguishing minds are apt to affix
to a minister, who is sometimes oblig'd to urge even [illegible]
a bare competency; so I acknowledge myself to be
greatly indebted to you in point of gratitude & Res-
pect therefor, & shall be very ready to manifest it upon
every Occasion -- I now commit myself to God in
this difficult & important service of Preaching the
Gospel to the poor Indians, & of taking the Oversight,
& charge of them, & to you, the Prospect of whose
Suffrage & Protection, together with that of the honourable
Commissioners, (next to the first Motives of serving God, & my
Generation) were the strongest inducements that I cou'd be
urg'd & determin'd by; & so without engrossing your attention
any longer, I subscribe, [illegible] with great Gratitude, &
Respect,

Honourable & {Reverend} Gentlemen
yr most humble Servant,
In the Gospel
of Jesus Christ --

Stephen Badger
{Harvard} {College} 20th {February} 1753