the teacher, his wife* and twelve native members. There'
have:been additions fo it from time to -time, untÿ ; the Whole
number who have held a connection with this church is>oné
hundred and eighteen. Thirteen, of these have been white
persons and most of them connected with the mission family.
Of the one hundred and five nativè members, seven or eight
have, come by letter from .other reservations,, so that the number
who have united on profession of faith is a littloshort of
one hundred. Twenty-five Of these have gphe to their final
account. Some, have died in the. triumph? of faith, and we
humbly hope and trust that they are among.thè blessed, in the
kingdom, of our common Father. A number (as it was na>-
tural to expect from converts out Of heathenish darkness),
have apostatized from- Christianity, and returned to their
former courses. The proportion of these is not probably more
than one in ten. Between sixty and. seventy are-now-connected
with some of the mission churches. A few only have
removed to Alleghany, Tuscarora, while the remainder still
li ve on this Reservation, .
. The effect of the gospel in-'promoting morality and civilization,
may be learned in part fromthe-fact that the publie
, worship of God’ has been steadily maintained ever- since the
organization of the churchy with members ranging, from--fifty
to one hunrdred, and sometimes one hundred, and fifty and
two hundred, aa_ regular,hearers of the ,word- sabbath
school has been sustaineff a considerable share oT'tbe time,.
Many copies of the Holy Scriptures, and theNew Testament,
together with tracts, sabbath school books, temperance papers,
and religiousperiodicals, have been circulated ; among the children
and youth. Temperanoe societies have been patronized
by nearly all the chiefs and leading men on the reservation.
Pledges have been circulated, and received thé. signatures of
a large majority of the population, of all: parties; on the
Washingtonian pfeh. : .
Day schools for teaching the English language-have been
kept in operation almost without interruption'for more than
twenty years, tinder' the patronage of the American Board
of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.
During .the thirteen yearn that I have superintended these
sehoplsj nearlythirty different persons have engaged for a longer
ot shortebtime^ as teachers. For the past year there have
been four schools under the patronage of the American Board,
and one under the Society mf Friends. The whole number
who have been'- instructed in the five schools is probably not
far from one, hundred^ and twenty-five. The attendance of a
part has been very irregular,, sometimes shifting from one
school fo anothef, -and. sometimes attending no school at all.
Several rof the early pupils in the mission schools are now
heads of families, ’well informed1, industrious, temperate and
religious, and in gdoff circumstances. Some are interpreters;
some teachers of schools, and others engaged in transacting
the business of the nation. V
You can, sir, best judge of the-influence of the gospel in
promoting worldly prosperity, When you have fully completed
the census which is .now being taken. When you count up
the framedhouS'es ' and bams, the'horses, cattle, sheep and
hogs, the acres o f improved land, witlrithe wagons, buggies
and sleighs, docks and watches; andthe-various productions
of agriculture, yob. can e&silybOriceive- the difference between
the present, and thirty years ago. I suppose there was mot
then a framed building “bf any description, and scarcely a log
house, properly*' So- called; no- team-si no roads, no ploughed
fend, and but small patches' Of coin, beans and squashes.
What an astonishing change ! 1
A'S to the'capacity of Indian children for improvement, my
Own impression is that there is no' essential difference between
them and white children. The fact that Indian.children Usually
make slow progess in studying English hooks, can be accounted
for in three ways: 1." They generally have little or
fto assistance Trom-"their parents at home; 2. They are irregular
in their attehdance on schools, for'want 'of order and
discipline on the part of parents; 3. Being ignorant o f the