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as they did not wish to hear my talk; others prepared me a seat, and wished me to sit down. What I had before advanced, I perceived, had evidently disturbed them. After making a few brief remarks, I took leave of them, as they were so agitated as not to afford opportunity for a calm and candid discussion of the subject of Christianity. I could not but hope that their agitation might result, in some measure, from the power of divine truth upon their guilty consciences. O, that their proud hearts may be made to bow to the cross of that crucified Jesus, whom they now fatally neglect!

Retrospect of a month.

April 30. For a month past, I have felt more animated in the missionary work than is usual for me, and have daily addressed the truth to a great number of people. On one Sabbath, a Hindoo schoolmaster, not in our employ, with about 20 of his boys was present. This man keeps his school very near my house, and some circumstances attending it have been very gratifying. Most of the larger boys have been in the habit of coming to me for books; and also to show their progress from time to time in learning to read them. They have begun to learn the catechism. I call at the school occasionally, and talk to the master and the boys about religion.

During the month, I have written a tract, which I may perhaps name, "An Appeal to the Protestant Churches of all denominations, in behalf of the Heathen." My own mind has been, and still is, very deeply impressed with the subject. It seems to me, that the Christian public are expecting, that the world will be converted in an easy and convenient way, without any very great self denials, or any very extraordinary exertions. But such a sentiment is most obviously repugnant to the general tenor of the Gospel on the subject; and contradictory to the whole history of the Church. The objections now urged against indefatigable exertions for christianizing the heathen, may be urged, with the same plausibility, by the next generation, and again by the next, and so on, without leaving us any prospect, (except the promises of God,) that the world will ever be converted. Should the great Redeemer say to his churches, "Come, let us reason together on this matter," what could they say! O, that the Spirit of God, in full measure, may descend upon the churches, and make them faithful to the souls of others, as well as to their own souls; and faithful, also, to the mandate, and to the glory of their Redeemer!

MISSION AMONG THE CHOCTAWS.

EXTRACTS FROM

THE JOURNAL KEPT AT MAYHEW. (Continued from p. 141.)

Feb. 1, 1822. Mr. and Mrs. Wisner have taken a little fatherless Choctaw girl to bring up and educate as their own. She is three or four years old, an active and interesting child. Her father was a Choctaw; her mother is a poor widow. She has for some time been employed in our family.

9. Dismissed one of our hired men for wicked conduct. It is often our painful situation to have those in our employment, who have not the fear of God before their eyes.

10. This morning has the appearance of a northern winter. The cold is piercing, and the snow three inches deep. The prairie in front of Mayhew,affords a fine prospect. Yesterday was mild and pleasant, and as warm as a northern May. To-day we are shivering with the cold of a northern December. A gentleman from North Carolina tarried with us over the Sabbath.

11. Thermometer stood at 13 1-2 this morning at sunrise. The ground still covered with snow. Mr. Kingsbury preached at Columbus on the Sabbath. The moral state of that place has improved of late, and the attention to preaching is encouraging.

Pleasing instance of Native Honesty.

12. Dismissed another of our hired men for intemperance and other improper conduct.-Had an instance of honesty in the natives. Five or six months since, a young man from the Chickasaw nation stole from us an axe. From the unsatisfactory account he gave of the manner, in which he said he obtained the axe, the father of the young man suspected it had been stolen, and came to-day more than twenty miles to bring it back.

23. Received a letter from our kind friend Mr. S. of Marietta, dated 22d of January, informing us that the boat with our supplies was in a state of forwardness, and would leave there shortly. We also learnt with gratitude, from the same letter, that a Mr. and Mrs. Remington passed that place, about the first of January, on their way to Mayhew, as assistant missionaries. In the evening, Mr. Dyer arrived from Elliot. He came partly on business, but more especially for the benefit of his health, which, for some time past, has been feeble. He is the bearer of good tidings. A spirit of grace and supplication

still rests upon the dear brethren and sisters of that family.

25. A boat, with 3 or 400 bushels of corn, purchased in the settlements, came up the Ook-tib-be-ha, within three-fourths of a mile of Mayhew. Water carriage is of great importance to us in obtaining our heavy supplies.

March 1. Mr. Hooper continues feeble. He has frequent attacks of the intermittent fever.

3. Sabbath. Were indulged with the precious privilege of coming around the table of the Lord, and commemorating his dying love. Most of us, we trust, found it good to be there. How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts. The little orphan adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Wisner, was baptized by the name of Judith Fris

sell.

4. Mr. Wright went to Capt. Folsom's to pursue the study of the Choctaw language. In the evening, mingled our supplications with the Christian world, for the enlargement of the Redeemer's kingdom. Our hearts were made glad, by reading accounts of the triumphs of the cross in New England.

Arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Remington.

have put new life and vigor into the vine, which the right hand of the Lord hath planted there.

Notice of a company of Cherokees.

23. Mr. Wright, just returned from the Pigeon Roost, gives the following account of a company of Choctaws, recently settled near Capt. Folsom. For many years they have had no fixed residence; and being made up from the different clans and districts in the nation, they have not been considered as belonging to either of them, and have not received any part of the annuity, which is paid the nation by the United States. Last summer, Capt. Folsom advised them to select a place, where they could settle compactly and permanently,

to quit drinking whiskey, to which they were excessively inclined,-and to cultivate the soil; telling them, that, if they acceded to his proposal, he would use his influence to procure for them their proportion of the annuity. He gave them some account of the object of the missionaries, with which they appeared pleased, and expressed a desire to hear them preach. The same desire has often been expressed since.

A few weeks ago, the man who is considered their leader, appointed a day for them to assemble, to see if they were unanimously agreed to have him for their head-man, and to adopt their new mode of settled living. Captain Folsom was requested to attend, and bring with him one of the missionaries, that he and his people might hear about the great Spirit. Mr.

6. Just at night, had the privilege of welcoming Mr. and Mrs. Remington to our dwellings. They left Buffalo the 29th of November. After singing a hymn, we raised our hearts in thanksgiving to that God, by whose gracious providence our dear brother and sister have been preserved, during their long and fatiguing jour-Wright attended. There were about an

ney.

15. Mr, Kingsbury left us this morning for the Choctaw Agency, distant 148 miles. On account of various and urgent business to be attended to here, it was difficult for Mr. Kingsbury to be absent at this time. But as the Choctaws would be convened at the Agency to receive their annuity, it was deemed important that he should be present; particularly that he might confer with the chiefs from the Six Towns, relative to a school in that district. Mrs. Wisner goes with him as far as the French Camps. Mrs. Williams being very feeble, and threatened with a fever, her aid at this time is much needed. Mr. Remington, who has been at Columbus several days, waiting the arrival of our supplies from Boston, by way of Mobile, returned this evening. We would bless Him who controls the winds and the waves, that he has safely wafted these sacred treasures and charities so near their place of destination.

18. As cold water to the thirsty soul, so is the refreshing news from Elliot, by Mr. Pride, who arrived this evening. Drops of mercy, distilling like the dew of heaven,

hundred present. Most of them listened with serious attention, while the attributes of God, the creation of the world, the fall of man, and the plan of redemption were briefly explained. As the village is but a few miles from Capt. Folsom's, where Mr. Wright expects to reside for some time, we trust he will have frequent opportunities of preaching among these Gentiles the

unsearchable riches of Christ.

26. Last night and to-day, we have had one of the most tremendous falls of rain, that has been experienced in this country for many years.

29. Mr. Kingsbury and Mrs. Wisner returned. We were rejoiced to hear that the health of Mrs. Williams is considerably improved.

Spirited efforts of the Natives at the French Camps.

At the French Camps, Mr. Kingsbury had an interview with the persons, who have been at the principal expense of erecting the buildings at that place, and who have engaged to furnish provision for their

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children, and the teachers. Besides these children, it was designed, from the first, to make provision at this place for several poor scholars. The plan of the establishment was proportionably enlarged for their accommodation, and it was thought proper, that a proportionable part of the expense of the buildings should be defrayed from the general fund of the mission, unless an appropriation can be obtained from the civilization fund.

Various items of expense are also found necessary, which were not anticipated by those who first engaged to establish the school. They are not disposed to shrink from the laudable work they have undertaken. They only require such aid, as it seems proper they should receive, and such as we believe will be easily obtained. The people will continue to furnish provision for their children, and a portion for the teacher and his family, and will aid in cultivating several acres of ground for the benefit of the school. It is believed that this establishment will be a very useful one. The situation of the school is pleasant and healthy. A pious and industrious man and woman are much needed at this station, as assistants.

As Mr. and Mrs. Williams are at this place deprived of the ordinances of the Gospel, Mr. Kingsbury administered the Lord's supper to them there, for the first time in that place.

A School desired at the Six Towns.

The chief men and warriors from the Six Towns, who attended the distributing of the annuities, were desirous that a school should be commenced in their district, as soon as practicable. After conferring with them, as to the most suitable situation for the school, they said they were willing it should be located where we thought best; for if it were left to them, they should not be agreed. It was determined that preparations for this school should be made the ensuing summer. The impression on the minds of the natives is generally favorable towards schools and civilization. But, like the rest of the world, they give good talks, but conduct very badly.

Distribution of the Annuity.

Two or three thousand Choctaws, men, women, and children, were assembled to receive the Annuity, which, on the present occasion, consisted of blankets, stroud, domestic cottons, calico, quality bindings, knives, scissors, powder, lead, and a variety of other articles, to the amount of $6000. Many of the poor Indians had travelled, almost without provisions, and some half naked, five or six days' journey. Some got

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My dear Sir,

Creek-Path, April 30, 1822.

I HAVE visited Mayhew, the French Camps, and Elliot, with much satisfaction; and am now on my way, with Mr. Kingsbury, to meet the the Corresponding Secretary at Brainerd. The situation of Mayhew is pleasant indeed. As you approach it from the east, there opens unexpectedly to view an extensive prairie, which contains several thousand acres, and which appears to be without a single stone, or tree, or fence, except now and then a small cluster of trees at great distances, like the little isles of the sea, and except also the railing, which encloses the fields of Mayhew. These fields are on the north sideof the prairie, and directly in front of the mission houses. "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north." Casting your eye over the prairie, you discover here and there, herds of cattle, and horses, and wild deer, all grazing and happy. "This," said Dr. Worcester, as he passed Mayhew, on his way towards home, and towards heaven,-"This is the loveliest spot my eyes ever saw." The grass, which will soon be eight feet high, is now about eight inches, and has all the freshness of spring. The prairie has very gentle elevations and depressions, which contain each from 100 to 1000 acres, and which, from a distance, resemble the undulating motion of the Atlantic, a few leagues from land, after a storm. An hundred horses and chariots could go abreast in any direction, and with almost any speed. As you proceed, May

hew often almost wholly disappears; again || quent communications with the various In

it rises to view in still greater loveliness, half encircled with the oak, which, with the sycamore and mulberry, borders the prairie on all sides. Flowers of red, purple, yellow, and indeed of every hue, are scattered, by a bountiful God, in rich profusion, and in all the beauty and innocence of Eden, on each side of the path; and their fragrance is, as if the very incense of heaven were there offered. You can stand in almost any place, and count flowers of ten or twelve different hues. The distance to Mayhew, which at first appears to be no more than a few hundred yards, is no less than two miles. And as you walk on, contemplating this lovely scene with all its interesting associations, your soul, or ever you are aware, will make you like the chariots of Amminadib.

"This," said one of the missionaries to me, “is the Lord's plantation. These are his fields. These houses, these cattle, and these utensils, are also his. We are his servants, and hope to die in his service." The missionaries are laboring constantly, cheerfully, prayerfully, and with much of a spirit of self-denial. A school on a large scale is about to go into operation. Last week, Mr. Kingsbury assembled the chiefs and principal men of the district, and explained to them the nature and design of the school. To this, one of the chiefs replied; "I be not accustomed to make a talk with the whites, but when a man's heart feel glad, he can say it. We have listened to your talk. We never understood this business so well before. We never before understood so well, that the missionaries labor here without pay; but leave their farms and houses, and all for good of the Choctaws. The Choctaws are ignorant. They know when day come, and when night come. That all they know." He wished, when I returned to the north, through the great cities, I would say to the white men,-"You are fathers. We are poor and feeble. Fathers must provide for the children. When these missionaries die, send more. We expect to die in our old habit; but we want our children do better."

WILLIAM GOODELL.

our

CIRCULAR FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT OF INDIAN TRADE.

dian tribes.

Office of Indian Trade,
May 28, 1822.

To the Corresponding Secretaries of the several Societies in the United States, for the promotion of Indian Civilization:

By an act of the recent Congress, the United States' trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes will have ceased on the third proximo. With the abolition of this system, will fall the office, which, for the last six years, I have had the honor to fill, and to which I am indebted for the very agreeable relations which exist between us, but which are now about to terminate, officially at least, for ever.

It is necessary, however, that I should apprize you of this state of things, in order that you may make new arrangements for the transmission of your supplies and correspondence to the Indians, and to those who are engaged in the work of their civilization, as all such facilities, by the agency of this office, are now at an end.

The success which has hitherto attended your efforts in this cause of humanity, should, and I trust will, animate your future exertions. Conclusions, it is true, have been drawn by some, unfavorable to the success of this noble enterprise; whilst others, as might have been expected, have attempted to pour contempt upon it. But the views which have been taken, and the inferences which have been drawn from them, have been alike irrelevant. What the Jesuits did a century or two ago is one thing, what you are doing now is another-that is, your plans and theirs bear scarcely any resemblance to one another, and might be considered as contrived for the accomplishment of different ends. Scarcely any thing can be recognized in those of former times to liken them to that which is in operation at this time. Religious observances, and the ceremonies of the church, are all excellent, and should form part of every system for the conversion of the sayage into the civilized man and Christian; but they are not sufficient, of themselves, to accomplish this great end, at least in the ordinary course of things. Yet those forms, and their outward observances, too, were chiefly, indeed altogether, relied upon by the zealots of former times. But to these is now superadded the machinery of practical and domestic life, which, whenever and wherever put in motion, in connexion with moral instruction, never fails to work out results improving alike to the civilized man and the savage. Such is the system which is now in operation, and which has already (I mean since 1817)

WE copy this Circular from the Columbian Star; and are of opinion, that the views of the respected writer, with regard to the inducements to perseverance in Indian missions, are entitled to great weight. He has long enjoyed excellent advantages for observation; having had, by virtue of his office, fre- " demonstrated its complete adaptation to

the great end you have in view. From such as believe Indians to be upon a level only with the beasts that perish, and who treat them as unworthy of their sympathy, and ridicule all attempts to introduce them into civilized life, no change of opinion need be anticipated until they shall be-, come better informed.

My parting advice to you is, to persevere. New difficulties may arise, obstacles may multiply, and opposition may blacken the sky of your prospects—but persevere. 'Tis the cause of your country in which you are engaged, as well as the cause of humanity. Patriotism and kindness here are essentially united. You have every inducement to persevere. The experiment, it is true, has been made, and few are now to be found prepared to advocate the doctrine that an Indian is necessarily a savage; but to yield even now, and after the proofs which exist to show that he is not, might involve all future efforts. Men are apt to look at things as they see them, without stopping to inquire into the causes which operated to make them so. The question may be considered, therefore, as not yet fully settled. Let this sustain the cause. But there are nobler motives. Suffering humanity implores; the destitute are crying to you for help; the persecuted demand your protection-your country invites, and the lessons of the past admonish.

Great sacrifices, I am aware, are involved in your scheme of kindness. The enjoyments of social and polished life are to be exchanged for the rude and cheerless prospects of a wilderness home. Friends and kindred are to be surrendered, and death itself is sometimes to be dared, and even met. But the greater the difficulties to be overcome, the greater the triumphs of your

success.

You have my best wishes; and, be my destiny what it may, I shall not cease to cherish for you, and for those whose condition you have so generously volunteered your services to meliorate, an ardent solicitude for your success and their welfare.

THO. L. M'KENNEY, S. I. T.

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Fem. Cent So. for the Choc. miss. 6 00 Friends for do. 5 47 Amwell, N. J. A coll. at the United 10 70 First Chh. by Mr. A. Bishop, Andover, Ms. N. par. A fem. friend, an ann. contrib.

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S. par. Mor. and Char. So. by the
Rev. J. Edwards,
Mrs. A. B. Putnam, for Ind. miss.
by the Rev. Dr. Ripley,
Mr. Jona. L. Hale,

Char. box kept in the room of Mr.
J. L. Hale, by Mr. Smith, $4,71.
A friend, 75,

Arkport, N. Y. J. H.
Ashburnham, Ms. So. for ed. Ind.
Chdn. by the Rev. J. Cushing,
Mon. con.

Ashfield, Ms. Mon. con. 7,83, A friend,

1, av. of a m. field, by Z. Leonard, 1,50, Char. box kept by Esther P. Williams, 1,46, do. by Martha Paine, 1,35, do. by Mary A. White, 1,72, rem. by the Rev. T. Shepard, Augusta, Me. Rev. Benjam. Tappan, to constitute him an Honorary Member of the Board, by the Rev. Mr. Cornelius,

Augusta, Oneida co. N. Y. Mon. con. by the Rev. E. Burchard, Owhyhean So. of young people, for the For. Miss. Sch. John Fisk, Tr. by Dea. A. Thomas, Bath, N. H. Mon. cou. by the Rev. D. Southerland,

Half av. of a m. field,

Mr. Horatio Buck, av. of wheat, Beach Island, S. C. A coll. by Mr. Saml. Moseley,

Becket, Ms. Fem. Char. So. by Miner. va Higley, Tr.

Belchertown, Ms. Several indiv. in Fed. st. av. of a waggon, by Mr. B. Smith,

S 00 50 00

3 38 10.00

5 46 10.00

14 42 1 61

14 86

50 00

15.00

5 00

12 25

7 00 1.00

46 12

7 80

27 60

Av. of m. fields, by Mr. W. Bridg

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DONATIONS

TO THE AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS,

from May 15th, to June 17th, inclusive, 1822.

Abington, Ms. Sec. par. Fem. Benev.
So. by S. Whitman,
The 4th ann. payt.for DANIEL THOM-
AS, by the Rev. D. Thomas,
Third par. coll. $22,60, mon. con.
$3, by the Rev. S. W. Colburn,
VOL. XVIII.

12 00 Berkshire, Tioga co. N. Y. Mon. con. by the Rev. M. Ford, Beverly, Ms. Juv. Brainerd So. 2d semi 29

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