CHAPTER XII.

MISSIONARIES-REGULATORS SKUNK-HARMONY.

AFTER leaving St. Louis, I returned fifty-four miles by the same road that I had before travelled, to the little Village of Carlyle, on the Kaskaskia. Having arrived there early on the second day and seen my horse taken care of, I went, for the want of something better to do, to hear a Sermon delivered by some Missionaries, who were going to the Wilderness for the purpose of converting the Indians.

The sermon, as may easily be supposed, was nearly incomprehensible. A conversation arose afterwards between the preachers and their auditors upon doctrinal points, when the Missionaries, who were thorough Calvinists, did not hesitate to declare, that only a certain portion of the human race, viz. the elect, would be saved. All the rest, or at least 999 out of every 1000 were of course to

be damned.

I perhaps however may be allowed to doubt, whether the Missionaries were perfectly correct, in this their charitable and sensible exposition of the intentions of the Almighty; for I can myself hardly imagine, that the beneficent author of all things will" show his power," as they call it, by sending such an immense proportion of the human race, into fire and brimstone. I cannot see, why a man

born in the centre of China, and who never even heard of Christianity, should of necessity be a "vessel of wrath," whom the great Creator for his own better glorification, is to plunge into everlasting torments. Doubtless however I am wrong; for the Missionaries, going on with the subject, affirmed, that there were many children in the number of the non-elect; that there are infants in hell not a span long,-an amiable and enlightened doctrine, which has been also maintained in the Presbyterian Church at Philadelphia.

A woman who, like myself, was among the listeners, and who had just lost her child, was so much afflicted at this, that she began to cry. She knew not (and indeed how could she know ?) whether her child was really one of the elect; and the idea of the bare possibility of its being in fire and brimstone distressed her terribly, and cost her an abundance of tears.

The reader may perhaps think, that the present system should be reversed; and that the Indians should send Missionaries to convert these unfortunate expounders of the Bible, to a more reasonable faith.

At any rate, nothing can well be imagined more absurd, than the plan at present pursued by those wishing to convert the Aborigines to Christianity. Instead of preaching morality, instead of teaching them the useful arts, and of pointing out the advantages of civilization, and thus preparing them to quit their wild life and to adopt our mild doc

trines; the Missionaries begin at once by requiring the Indians to believe the most incomprehensible dogmas. In fact their object is not so much to make the Indians civilized beings and Christians -No, they must make them Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, or members of whatever other sect they themselves belong to. Consequently the Indians, shocked as may easily be supposed at this method of proceeding, and astounded at the dogmas which they are required to believe, consider the whole a trick, and despise it as such.

66

66

The Missionaries are also in general men of very inferior education; for of course few of those that can obtain any employment at home, will sally forth to preach in woods. Many of them are also not of the very strictest chastity. A gentleman travelling from New Orleans to Tennessee, when passing through the Indian territory, met a little boy who appeared to be too white for an Indian : Pray my little fellow," said the traveller," are you a full-blooded Indian?" No, Sir," replied the boy, "I am half Indian, half Missionary." The Indians believe in one great incomprehensible Spirit, the Creator and Governor of all things; and although they have no altars, images, or temples, yet we may perhaps be permitted to believe, that their sincere and simple adoration may not be altogether displeasing to the Almighty. Indeed I should have been strongly tempted to hope, that these Indians, following the light of

nature and doing what they believe to be right, would not be in danger of eternal punishment: but alas! this pleasing hope is utterly annihilated by the 18th Article of our holy Religion.

66

They," it tells us, "are to be had accursed, that presume to say, that every man shall be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth, so that he be diligent to frame his life according to that law and the Light of nature."

Being therefore myself a staunch High Churchman, and extremely unwilling to be had accursed, I am obliged to believe, that all these poor Indians will be damned; which I am sorry for, as I have known some among them, not only held in universal estimation, but who were really endowed with the utmost nobleness of soul. Of a truth I have heard it said by some philosophers, children of Belial, that this article is worthy of the one preceding it, (on predestination,) and that neither of them is consistent with the goodness of the Almighty. But I abhor and detest such profané reasoners, who will no doubt, in the next world, keep company with the Indians.

After leaving Carlyle, I took the Shawnee town road, that branches off to the S. E., and passed the Walnut Hills, and Moore's Prairie. These two places had a year or two before been infested by a notorious gang of robbers and forgers, who had fixed themselves in these wild parts, in order to avoid justice. As the country became more

settled, these desperadoes became more and more troublesome. The inhabitants therefore took that method of getting rid of them, that had been adopted not many years ago in Hopkinson and Henderson counties Kentucky, and which is absolutely necessary in new and thinly settled districts, where it is almost impossible to punish a criminal according to legal forms.

On such occasions therefore, all the quiet and industrious men of a district form themselves into companies, under the name of " Regulators." They appoint officers, put themselves under their orders, and bind themselves to assist and stand by each other. The first step they then take, is to send notice to any notorious vagabonds, desiring them to quit the State in a certain number of days, under the penalty of receiving a domiciliary visit. Should the person who receives the notice refuse to comply, they suddenly assemble, and when unexpected, go, in the night time, to the rogue's house, take him out, tie him to a tree, and give him a severe whipping, every one of the party striking him a certain number of times.

This discipline is generally sufficient to drive off the culprit; but should he continue obstinate, and refuse to avail himself of another warning, the Regulators pay him a second visit, inflict a still severer whipping, with the addition probably of cutting off both his ears. No culprit has ever been known to remain after a second visit. For in