them from their purpose. His efforts, however, were ineffectual. As he has no authority to prevent their proceeding, they are coming on. The number is 400, or more. He gave them a fresh charge not to disturb this establishment; still he advises us to keep an eye over our stock, and to keep the children close, supposing that they intend to destroy every man, woman, and child of the Osages, if it be in their power. May the God of Mercy be pleased to protect us from these blood-thirsty savages, who are making towards us with the instruments of death! Before we arrived in this country, we expected that the design of the Garrison, was to keep peace among the Indians. We find, however, that they are not to be opposed in their wars with each other. Vain will be our efforts to benefit them, while this state of things is permitted! Vain also the efforts of benevolent Societies, and useless the appropriations of Government. Wednesday, Oct. 17th.-Consulted last evening concerning our duty, should any of the Cherokees come to injure the family. Concluded, that we had nothing to do with carnal weapons; still, that we ought to use all suitable means to keep them from violence. We understand that they have that intoxicating poison, whiskey, with them. Although we believe their Chiefs understand the design of our establishment, yet we cannot tell how straggling parties may behave, should they see fit to come this way. We fear they would destroy the three little Osages who are with us, were it in their power. Thursday, Oct. 18th.-One of our hired men received a wound in his leg, which will probably lay him aside for to communion on the Friday preceding. Brother Chapman spoke to us this evening from these words, "Not my will but Thine be done." Wednesday, Oct. 24th.-Removed into our new kitchen, which also serves as a dining room. This room is 24 feet square, has a large fireplace, and a spacious oven. It will afford a convenience in cooking, which we have not before realized. Fifty children might be accommodated at the tables. Relapse of Doctor Palmer. Saturday, Oct. 27th.-Brother Palmer is again brought very low with the fever." Lord's Day, Oct. 28th.-In addition to our Saturday evening prayer-meeting, we instituted a Sabbath evening meeting for religious conference among the brethren' and sisters. Also, agreed to meet with our hired men one evening in the week, for their spiritual benefit. Monday, Oct. 29th.-Brother Requa is again able to take the school. A very convenient and pleasant room is finished. Oh! that it were filled with young Osages! Our hearts sigh within us, because we cannot obtain these precious children! Corn Harvest. Wednesday, Oct. 31st.-Have built two large corn cribs, and gathered our corn' to the amount of 400 bushels. Thus the Lord has blessed the labour of our hands. GREAT OSAGE MISSION. The Superintendent to the Domestic DEAR SIR,-By our Journal, you will perceive that we have been visited with sickness and with death. We are not, Although nothing subsequent to this date is mentioned by Mr. Vaill, in relation to the health of Dr. Palmer; yet our letters from the Great Osage Mission, announcing the arrival of Mr. Chapman and Mr. Requa at that Station, mention that they left the Union Family in improving health on the 18th of November.-Editor. however, discouraged, by all that we have been called to experience. The season, since our arrival, has been peculiarly unfavourable. The water, it is said, was scarcely ever so high in any part of the year, as it has been during the autumnal months. The marshes have been filled, and the low lands overflowed; and it is said, by the Indians, and by white persons, acquainted with this country, that this has been a more unhealthy season, than has been known for many years. The Indians have been sick, as well as we; and a number of them have died. When we have become seasoned to the climate, I have not a doubt but we may be as healthy here as we should have been, had we remained in the Eastern States. We have now completed ten cabins for the accommodation of the Family. They are each sixteen feet square, excepting the one for the Superintendent, which is eighteen. They stand on a line, fronting the East, and have each a piazza, or shed, of four or five feet. Our storehouse, 20 feet by 24, and a story and a half high, is finished, and our kitchen and dining hall, 24 by 28 feet, will be completed soon. We hope also to build a schoolhouse and a blacksmith's shop, in the course of a few weeks. Brother Newton and myself are about to start for the Missouri, to purchase our winter's supply of beef and pork. These articles are cheap in that country; and to save the expense of transportation, we propose to procure cattle and hogs which are well fatted, drive them to the Station, and then slaughter and salt them ourselves. We have received your letters of the 8th of July and of the 21st of September, and were rejoiced to hear from the Board under whose fostering care we have been sent out. Let the Board and the good people of New-York continue their prayers to the God of Missions, that he would remember the Missionaries in heathen lands. Praying that the Board may be greatly prospered in all its efforts for the diffusion of the Gospel among the heathen, and that you and your family may enjoy the Divine favour, I subscribe myself your brother and fellowlabourer in the Lord, N. B. DODGE. Rev. Mr. Montgomery, to the Rev. Mr. Herron, Dec. 3, 1821. REV. AND DEAR SIR, After the lapse of four months, I find myself in circumstances to give you a few brief notices of our eventful history since reaching our destined field -a duty which I had long ago commenced, and which had not been many days out of my mind. But oh that the obstacles to its fulfilment had not been so real! You, no doubt, have been long ere this apprised of our arrival at the Osage boundary, on the 2d of August. The Indians had not yet returned from their summer hunt: and some apprehensions as to our reception were excited. A few days, however, removed our anxiety and exhibited to us every evidence of satisfaction and good will on the part of the natives that we could have expected: indeed, the chiefs were as prompt in assembling in council, and as ready and cheerful in granting us a settlement as we could have wished. Most of the chiefs seem in some degree sensible of the value of schools, for their children, and of some of the principal arts which we are to endeavour to teach them; but, unhappily, that which was hoped to be their principal motive in desiring the mission, was soon discovered to possess not the least weight whatever in their minds. After an argument of some length with one or two of the brethren, on the subject of one religion being designed for the whole human race, the Big Soldier, one of the most intelligent of the chiefs, observed, that, "he was glad we had come, because we would teach them how to make corn soft;" he also inquired whether any of us knew how to make powder, and expressed a strong desire to have one of his sons taught that business. Though we were thus obliged, in common with all who have gone before us, to direct our endeavours towards creating a sense of that want which we came to supply, every thing which relates to our settlement among this numerous and destitute tribe was in the highest degree pleasing and auspicious. The people have nothing of that fierceness of countenance and manners which enter into our conceptions of barbarism; indeed, the prevalent trait in their physiognomy is mildness and cleverness; and, with respect to the males, so far as has come within my observation, universal regularity and comeliness of features. The country as little deserves the name of wilderness as any in the Union, and nothing but industry can be requisite to derive from such a soil an abundant supply of all the necessaries of life. All that seemed to be wanting towards our actual entrance upon the delightful employment of preaching Christ to a most interesting section of the heathen world, and of training up their children in the knowledge and ways of the Lord, was a little time for the erection of buildings, and the acquisition of the language. Such were the prospects which animated the first two or three weeks of our residence at Harmony; but oh! we had overlooked the interval of hardship and suffering, not yet terminated, in which two of our number, who had been ardently looking forward to years of service and enjoyment in this work, have been withdrawn by the Master, and have left their partners to experience the desolation which the disappointment of our dearest hopes carries into the heart. One of them was our dear brother Seeley, who died of the pleurisy about ten days ago; and the other was my beloved wife, the friend of my youth, and the chosen companion of my travels-she to whom I looked for advice in difficulty, for solace in distress, and for almost all that could be saved from the wreck of my social enjoyments. I am now a stranger indeed in a distant land, without any thing to interest or cheer, but the hope of usefulness to this miserable people. Seldom has a stroke of Divine Providence been more sudden and unexpected than that withwhich I have been visited. Mrs. M. in common with every member of the Family, and indeed, with all residing with us, was seized shortly after our settlement here with the ague; but its course was more speedily arrested than in most of the rest; and, notwithstanding she did not regain strength to walk but a small distance during the principal part of the six weeks of her illness, she enjoyed a good appetite and was in a good measure comfortable, Her death took place on Sabbath evening, the 28th of October, the next day after her confinement. To you, who had some knowledge of her spirit and abilities, I need hardly say, that by it a loss of no common magnitude has been sustained to the work of Christ among this people.-But I trust she had not lived in vain; and though cut down in the fulness of her strength, will be assigned a conspicuous place among the followers of the Lamb. Amidst the chastisements which we have suffered, it is pleasing and encouraging to discern evident tokens of paternal care and tenderness in apportioning our sufferings in the most exact manner to our abilities-and in appearing for our deliverance at the very time that seemed necessary to save the mission from perishing. So general was the prevalence of the ague among us, that, with the help of six hired men, the brethren were able only to erect a storehouse and the shell of one cabin; and, for a considerable time, we had reason to fear that winter would arrive before we could procure a shelter from its blasts. But on the 8th of October, a period which the result has shown to have been sufficiently late, brother Newton became able to set out to the Missouri in quest of help, and met with better success in his mission than could have been expected. By this means, the anxieties of several families in peculiarly interesting eircumstances were removed; most of the sick were preserved from suffering from the inclemency of the weather, and we now find ourselves in possession of ten cabins fourteen feet square, with comfortable lower floors and chimneys. Thus, though we have been cast down, we have not been destroyed. -Our friends, we hope, will join us in thanking the Lord who hath remembered mercy. One very favourable circumstance for us, is the having quite convenient to us the only competent interpreter of the nation: an advantage to which we owe two very pleasing and beneficial visits from brother Chapman and two others of the brethren from Union. He and brother Requa are with us at present, prosecuting the study of the language. The mission on the Arkansaw continues to be covered with clouds of discouragement. Nothing but some signal interposition of Providence can arrest the work of destruction, and open a door of entrance to our almost desponding brethren. We derive also many accommodations from the neighbourhood of the U. S. Factory, just commencing operations. -Though settled at the distance of eighteen miles from the village, we are almost every day visited by larger or smaller parties of Indians. The fine appearance of the children, and the readiness of the parents to promise to give them to us, make us impatient for the return of the chiefs from their fall hunt, in order that we may present our application for scholars in the first instance to them. We hope to have our school in operation in the course of three or four weeks. I must not omit to mention, that the continuance of the ague beyond a very few days appears evidently to have been occasioned by the want of Bark. Last week, we obtained a supply from Franklin, and there is already no more ague amongst us. But it was near roming too late to several. March, 1822. 45 Mr. Sprague to the Domestic Secre lary-December 7. DEAR SIR.-Your letter of the 20th of September has been received, and has given us the highest satisfaction. It is peculiarly gratifying to hear from those with whom we are connected by the tie, not only of friendship, but of grace; and more especially since we are far removed from them, from civilized society, and from what we held near and dear, our native land. But there is that which will support the mind under every privation and trial, which will realize to us more than all we have sacrificed of earthly friends, relations, or enjoyments. Look away to Calvary! The High Priest of our Salvation will support, in time of adversity or affliction! Under every pressure, it is He that will cheer, and animate, and comfort, and make the yoke easy and the burthen light! The Missionary has peculiar trials. He finds himself subject to like passions, weaknesses, and temptations, with other men; yet he feels sensibly, that a life more devoted to the cause of the Redeemer should be maintained; that less of the world and more of Christ will make him the more happy, and the better qualified for the work to which he is called. O, may the mercy of God rest upon us, and His blessing descend upon our feeble exertions. For this purpose, we would invoke a spirit of prayer upon our friends, and the friends of Missionaries in general, that their prayers, with ours, may rise before the throne of God, and, if I may be allowed the expression, draw a blessing down. O, what feeble worms are we, when compared with Infinity! A little lower than the angels, yet a mere nothing! Nature is disposed to say, Who but I? Ah! it is for the want of knowledge-for the want of a knowledge of ourselves, that we grovel in darkness; and a knowledge of God, that we remain in doubt, fear, and dismay. The remainder of the foregoing letter is devoted to instructions in relation to the ascending of those rapid rivers, highly important to the Board in their future operations, but not particularly interesting to the public. Mrs. Sprague to her Friend in this City.-Dec. 1, 1821. MY RESPECTED FRIEND,-As I take the pen to write to you, my imagination would wander over the ground that I have passed, and rest under that roof where I received so much kindness from your hospitable hand. I delight in the retrospect. Yes, I delight to retrace the journey, and imagine myself seated at your fireside, recounting, or rather anticipating, the toils, the trials, and the privations of a Missionary life. These, as we have found on experience, are many, and, to the natural heart, hard to submit to; but the influence of God, when wrought upon the human mind, will overcome these evil propensities, and the Christian will rejoice in calling himself worthy to suffer in the cause of his Master. Since we were permitted to reach our haven of rest, I have felt sensibly the need of keeping a more constant and humble walk with God, of maintaining a devotional frame of spirit, and of frequently bringing to mind my latter end, that by so doing I may be prepared to enter on the work, for which I was sent, with vigour and cheerfulness. In silent contemplation, my mind often revisits the dear friends and companions left behind; but not with one wish to return. Although the affectionate tie that binds our hearts together can never be broken, yet the idea of performing my duty in the glorious cause of my Lord, renders life happy, and the separation, in one sense, pleasant. What Christians are there, whose hearts are not engaged in the Mission ary cause? I trust there are none. They love to pray for the heathen; they love to pray for the prosperity of Zion; they love to pray for the aborigines of our own country: yes, these tawny inhabitants of the forest are often brought in remembrance to the throne of grace; and we are told that the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous availeth much. We hope to see the day when this people shall renounce their superstitious sentiments, and shall accept our God as their God. We need your prayers. We feel our own weakness, when we think of the great work before us. But the Lord, by affliction, is preparing us for it. In the language of Isaiah-When His judgments are abroad in the earth, the inhabitants thereof will learn righte ousness. I feel assured, my dear friend, that if Christians were faithful at the throne of grace, and vigorous and persevering, as well as prayerful, in their exertions, the Lord would bless the means in beautifying, perpetuating, and enlarging his Church on the earth. Oh! then, may we be active, may we work with diligence, while it is called to-day, for when the night of death shall overtake us, we know not: but this we know, that death cometh as a thief in the night, and that blessed are they who are found watching. Sabbath, Dec. 2.-With silent awe, I hail the sacred morn on which the Saviour rose from the dead. I rejoice that, after a long indisposition, I am again enabled to unite with the Family in the worship of God. You have doubtless heard that the Lord has visited us with sickness and with death. He has indeed laid his rod heavily upon us. Not one of the Family has escaped disease. But this does not discourage us: we are not dismayed: we had calculated on affictions: we expected sickness and distress: we expected to toil and to be fatigued: we expected to suffer and we expect to die. But, what if we suffer in a land |