MISSIONARY'S HOUSE-INDIAN GUESTS.

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chiefly to Mr. Crane and myself. Mr. Crane, in introducing me to the Indians, told them that I had come across the great waters, from the country where the good people lived, who in former times had sent out Brainerd to preach among the Oneydas.

Mr. Crane has been but little more than a year among the Tuscaroras, and is of course as yet but imperfectly acquainted with their language; he has however had very considerable encouragement in his labours, and feels his situation more comfortable than he had reason to anticipate. The Indians evince a great degree of regard for him and Mrs. Crane, and show them every little kindness in their power. Another missionary had been stationed here for several years, previous to the late war; but the burning of the village which then took place scattered all the inhabitants, and put a period to his labours. Mr. Crane's congregation consists at present of thirteen regular members, six men and seven women; but in addition to these a great many are very regular in their attendance at public worship, and are to all appearance favourably affected to christianity. William has been a professor of religion for seven years, his wife Nancy for some months,

A gentleman, who has recently visited this interesting village, informs me that Mr. Crane has now acquired so considerable a knowledge of the language, that he intends soon to commence preaching in it; the settlement prospers under his care. (1822.)

5

and their conduct in private life is every way consistent with their public profession. Mr. and Mrs. Crane took tea a short time ago in William's house; the children were, as on all former occasions, perfectly obedient and respectful in their behaviour; they waited in patience, for their tea, till the older people had finished, and then went one by one to their mother and thanked her for what she had given them.

Mr. Crane assured me, that a material improvement has taken place in the condition of the Tuscaroras, since the introduction of christianity among them. They were, a few years ago, in a state of as great debasement as any of the nations around them; but now out of their whole number, which amounts including women and children to about three hundred, not more than ten ever indulge to excess in spirituous liquors. Even these do it but seldom; and for some time after each transgression they keep as much as possible out of sight, till they think it has been forgotten.

Agriculture is considerably attended to among them; and in addition to Indian corn, they have begun to cultivate wheat, which requires much more attention, but is a more valuable crop and less affected by the vicissitudes of the weather. They are honest in their transactions with each other,

5 The religious magazines have recently announced the death of William's eldest daughter, a girl of seventeen. She is said to have died enjoying the hope and consolations of the gospel. (1822.)

and with the whites around them, and industrious in providing for the support of their families. The benefits of christianity, therefore, have not been confined to those who have publicly professed it; a standard of honesty and morality has been introduced among them; propriety of conduct has been countenanced, and vice discouraged; and as a community they are happy and comfortable beyond what they ever were before.

Kusick the interpreter, one of their chiefs, is a decided christian. Some of the other chiefs are still unbelievers, but even they have been compelled to bear testimony to the beneficial change which has been produced on the nation. One of these had lately visited the Indian village near Buffalo, where part of the remains of the Five Nations are collected,-once a powerful confeder

6

6 The Five Nations were the Mohawks, Oneydas, Onondagoes, Cayugas, and Senecas. The Tuscaroras appear to have afterwards become a party to the league. At the village referred to, the Senecas are the most numerous, and it is in consequence generally called the Seneca village. The introduction of christianity among them has been frequently attempted, but Red-Jacket, a chief of great influence, has hitherto successfully resisted it. The village is noted for idleness and dissipation. Passing through Buffalo I saw several Senecas begging in the streets; and on the Sabbath morning, before I left Lewiston for the Tuscarora village, two of them came to the door of the tavern at which I lodged wanting rum. I asked them to what nation they belonged, afraid that they might be Tuscaroras; they answered" Senecas." I told them rum was very bad for them. "No," said one of them laughing, "good, very good." They went away however without obtaining it. By a New York newspaper which has lately reached me, I observe, that in the spring of 1819, a

nant.

acy, possessing unlimited sway along the banks of lake Erie and lake Ontario, the Mohawk and the Hudson, now a broken and spiritless remThe Tuscarora chief, on returning home, confessed to Mr. Crane that he was astonished at the difference between the people of the two villages; the one sober, industrious, and happythe other idle, drunken, and miserable. The change at home had been so gradual, that he had scarcely marked its progress, or thought of its

cause.

Mr. Crane has been several times applied to by tradesmen in the neighbourhood, who had allowed some of the Indians to get into their debt, but he said that he never interfered unless the individual complained of was a member of the church. One

new Council Fire solemnly decided against the introduction of christianity. The editor adds, "this remnant of the Five Nations will not exist much longer; none ever decreased with so much rapidity."

It was from this village that the men were brought, who appeared in 1818 and 1819 in most of the British theatres, exhibiting their war-dances. I have learned since the above note was written, that some benevolent individuals in England gave each of them Bibles, before their return to their native country, and attempted to communicate to them some religious instruction. This has not been without its effect; for a meeting for social worship every Sabbath has since been established in the Seneca village, under the care of an American teacher who is settled there, and either two or three of the Indians who visited Britain are regular in their attendance. A letter of thanks, dictated by them, to their benefactors in England, has appeared in some of the religious periodical publications. (1822.)

of the Indians had ordered a waggon from a carpenter in Lewiston, at a stipulated price; but before it was delivered, a New England merchant had come to the village who offered to sell him one for a smaller sum, and got him persuaded to purchase it. The carpenter soon after informed him that the waggon was ready, and that he wished payment of it. The Indian said that he had been provided at a lower price, and did not now want it. On Mr. Crane's being applied to, he tried to explain to the Indian the nature of a bargain, and its obligation upon both parties. The Indian admitted the engagement, but thought that his having obtained a waggon cheaper, proved that the carpenter had tried to overreach him, and was therefore not entitled, according to the principles of Indian jurisprudence, to insist on his taking the waggon. All that Mr. Crane said, failed in convincing the Indian of the carpenter's right to force the waggon upon him, but being perfectly persuaded that Mr. Crane would not wrong one of his red brethren, and that he knew best what was consistent with the laws of white men, he took the waggon, for which he had no use, and paid the stipulated price, forty dollars.

This conduct will appear the more honourable in the Indian when it is understood, that a white man has no recourse at law against an Indian for debt, although an Indian may prosecute a white. A wise and most humane regulation.

In the course of the afternoon, Kusick the inter