war, littlei or nothing of this kind wil^remaih^
in a perfect state, vefy long.
To gratify; the moral interest belonging to the
subject, by fffiland elaborate plans and descriptions,
would require 'time and means, very different
from any at my ebmmand at that time ;
but the topic was one which admitted-of:;inel-
dental attention* while awaiting decisibhs and
obviating objections, which sóme of the tribes
Urged to the general principles and policy'of the
census. And while the subject of full archeological
and ethnological survey of the state is
left as the appropriate theme of future research,
facts and traditions,- bearing on these subjects,
Were obtained and minuted down, at various
points.
In availing myself bf the liberty- extended to
me in this particular, by tfte instructions ofthe
legislature, I have, in fact, improved evefy possible
means of information. Motes and sketches
were taken down from thé lips bf both white
and red men, wherever' the matter itself and thè
trust-worthiness ofthe individual appeared to justify
them. Many of the ancient forts, barrows
and géneraf places of ancieht sepulchre were visited,
andofsome of them, accurate plans, diagrams
or sketches made on the sjk)t, or obtained from
other hands. A general interest was manifested
in the subject by the citizens of western New
York, wherever it was introduced, and a móst
ready and obliging disposition evinced, on all
hands to promote the inquiry.
The present being the first time* that a formal
and full census of a nation or tribe of Indians
has been called for, with their industrial
efforts, by any American or European government
exercising authority on this Continent, the
principles and policy, of the measure presented
a novel question, tb the Iroquois, and led to extended
discussions. As these discussions, in
which -the‘ speakers . evinced no little aptitude,
bring out some characteristic traits of the people,"
it may be pertinent, and not out of place
here, briefly f o advert to them.
' As a. general fact, the policy of a census, and
Its beneficial bearings on society, were not un-
dersto'od or admitted.f It Seemed to these an-
cièiit -cantons to be an infringement on that
independence of condition which they still
claim and ardently cherish. In truth, of all subjects
upon which these people have been called
bn to think and act, during bur proximity to them
of two Or three Centuries, that'of political economy
ia decidedly the most foreign and least
known to them, or appreciated by them, and
the census movement was, consequently, the
Aa b jeoSd Wijk . féFm§ pf this remark,
that the Legislature of Virginia directed the Numbering
of the Pdwhattanieiribas, WitLin its boundaries, in 1788.
Vide Jjéffers&n’s Aofés 'dw: .
.t t To this remark, the Ttfscaroras, who met- thè Subject at
.price,. in a frank and coöSdential mariner, and the Onondagas,
who appeared tö- be govèrnèd therein by the counsels of a
single educated ehief, form exceptions.