Newspaper Page Text
*f:,Vrac®! seem* to have commenced. At
Sheldon, Gennewee Cos. N. Y and Orang-
Tille in the vicinity, there is special atten
ten!ion—several instances of hopeful con
version, and more iustances ot deep anxie
ty # _—The increase of ©embers to the
Methodist Conference oy Tennessee the
past year, was upwards of3ooo.
MISSION AMONG THE CHOCTAWS.
MAYHF.W.
Extract* from the Journal of the Mission.
“The journal states, that intermittent and
remittent fevers, of an unusually malignant
type, have prevailed, not only through the
Choctaw nation, but through the western
country generally.
On the sth of October last, Mr. Kingsbu
ry commenced a journey to the south-east
part of the nation. His object was to se
lect a site for anew school, and to make
- arrangements for putting the school iato
operation. Two days atierwards, Mr Jew
ell left Mayhew to join company with Mr.
Kingsbury at the residence ot the “ Mingo,
(or principal chief,) about 20 miles from
Mayhew.—For the support of the contem
plated school, an appropriation of $1, 000
annually, for 16 years, was made by the
Choctaws, in March, 1820; but various cir
cumstances have prevented its establish- j
meat till, the present time.
Face of the Country.
The course, which the brethren travel- j
Jed after leaving Mayhew, was S. by E.!
The fil'd 40 miles was through a level, rich
prairie country, interspc rsed with copses .
of trees, ( jke island* scattered through the j
ocean. But generally the woodland was 1
mo<> extensive, and appears to form the .
ground work, in wbTch the prairies are in-j
lersperaed. The margin of the creeks, for
V.oniderable distance, were covered with
heavy limber, principally oak and hickory.
Ttiecoutftry ihnugh extr*pe!y fertile, has j
but few inhabitants. This is owing to the
want of water. There are scarcely any
springs that appear on the surface, and all
the small branches or brooks are dry
throtigh the summer and autumn. Proba
bly there are many spring* concealed under
the rich, alluvial soil, which, if the country
should be inhabited by civilized people,
woo'd be found by a little digging. This
Kas been the case at Mayhew. Only two>
streams of running water were found m the j
above distance of 40 miles. The first was
Cntawpah, five miles from Mayhew ; the j
other was Ooknoxibee, a large creek which
empties into the Tomlugbee, about 60 miles
below the mouth ol tbe Ook-tib be-hah,
end about 150 miles above St. Stephens. ‘
The largest creek* in this country are
small, attbis season of the year, and may ‘
be easily forded; but winter they ]
become large, and frequently overflow
their banks lo the extent of from one to ‘
three” mile*. This render* travelling in ‘
the wioter season, extremely difficult.
From a dry and hard road, which is almost
every where found in tbe autumn, the coun
try is suddenly trau*formed into a region of i
n ud, with extensive swamps covered with
Water, and large over flowing cr-eks.
At the distance of 40 mile* from Mtt)hew,
tbe brethren left the military road, which
lead- to New Orleans, and took a course ,
moie easterly, in a direction towards St. ,
Stej heas. The remainder of the way wa ,
through a woody r.oootry, some part of ,
which was very hilly, through a barren soil, ,
end manv small streams of pure water.
Site of a .Veto Station
At tbe distance of 100 miles, after leav ,
ing the militaiy road, the brethren arrived ,
at what are called the Long Prairies, near (
where the line, which separates the states (
of Mississippi and Alabama, intersects the (
dividing line between the Choctaw country ,
and the white settlements on the south. .
At thispl(pe ( resides H. Nail, aD ag* and wi.i'e j
man, or. as he is culled, an 11 Indian count ry ,
man,'’ who married a “ quarteroou” Ch r, C 1
taw woman. He ha* had 13 children 12 v> .
whom are living. His son, about 25 year- ,
old, an industrious, intelligent man, is settled ,
near his father, and has a family of smai <
children. These people have done much (
to improve the condition of tbe ChocUiws
in this part of the nation. Joel Nail, the
son, is captain of the “light-horse,” or reg
iilaling company in this district, and ha*
much influence with the principal captains.
They are very friendly to the object of the
missionaries.
[The “ light-horse” here spoken of, con
sists of a company often men appointed to
ct a a patrol, for the purpose of punishing
offenders, collecting debts, Stc. This com
pany bad its origin at a general council m
the N. E district about a year before, and
was tbe first instance of the organization of
a civil power among the. Choctaws, for the
purpose of executing the laws.
As many conveniences were found in thi*
neighbourhood for the accommodation of a
achool, the brethren, after mature and
prayerful deliberation, determioed to make
the first establishment at this place. A
site was selected within about half a mile
of the abovte families. It is on the east side
of the Buckatunnee, a large creek, which
Tuns southerly and empties into the Chick
isiihha. -Preparations were immediately
made lo have some cabins erected, and a
Supply of provisoes secured.
[Two saw-mills and two grist-mills are
•within <even milts ; and a b!ack*mith’s 9hop
<* within three miles. Provisions of various
kinds can be obtained in f be neighbourhood.
The site is about two miles from white
kettle meats; about 25 miles from the near
est Uniting place in the Tombigbee, and 50
miles N. W. of St. Stephen*.—The intelli
gence which follows, in reaped to the pro
• gre‘*s of Indian civilization, is certainly very
- important. It wilt perhaps occur to the
minds of our readers, that no attempts to
suppress intemperance on this Christian,
civilized land, have had ball the success,
which has attended those made among the
Choctaws.— Tbe dreadful custom t>t-de
stroying (plants, with *U remedy, is brought
t! distinctly to view. Every where, the
- dark places of the earth are full ot the hab
■ j Rations of cruelty.”]
■ | The prospects of this part of the nation
■ are encouraging, as it respects civilization,
i! Several important laws have lately been
i! made by the chiefs, and promptly executed
| by the regnlating company.
Imvo for the suppression of Intemperance.
The object of one of these laws is, to
1 suppress intemperance. For a long time,
1 tbe Choctaws have carried on a great trade
I in whiskey. Those who could raise mon
ey, or who had cattle to dispose of, would
’ purchase large quantities in the settlements,
j for the purpose of retailing it at a great ad
vance upon the first cost. Four years ago,
i the price was one dollar for a bottle con
i taming about half a pint. No sooner was
| Jit announced, that a cargo of whiskey had
, j arrived, than all within hearing would as
, jsemble, and never quit the place till it was
consumed. Those who had money would
give it. When that was wanting, clothes,
> blankets, guns, and every species of prop
( erty, would be freely given iu exchange for
whiskey, with very little regard to the com-
I I parative value of the articles. It would be
, j impossible to describe tbe evils, which re
suited from the practice. Poverty, wretch
; edness, quarrelling, and murder, filled the
country. This is now wholly stopped in
j this part of the nation. What could not be
j checked by the influence of the government,
|or the strong arm of civil power, is now
completely put down by the Choctaws
; themselves.
Lam respecting Infanticide.
Another important law is against infanti
cide. From time immemorial, the Choctaws
i have considered this no crime. Hundreds
!of helpless children have been inhumanly
murdered bv their parents. A young man
takes a wisp, and having no means ol sup
porting a family, soon leaves fyer. The
woman seeing herself fleserted, says her
child has no father to provide it a blanket:
it had belter be dead than alive. Some
times it is destroyed before birth. Some
times the mother digs a grave, and huries
it alive, soon after it is born. Sometimes
she puts it to death by stamping on its
breast, by strangling it, or by knocking it
on the head. Yes! this horrid practice has
J prevailed forages among the Choctaws!
Thanks be to God, it is now likely to be ef
fectually checked.
j A woman was lately brought before a
! council of captains and warriours in tbe dis-,
tries, charged with having killed her infaot •
| child. On trial it appeared, that when the
child was three days old, she killed it by ‘
knocking it on the head with a pine knot, j 1
She was tied to a tree, and whipt till she 1 1
fainted. Her husband, who had instigated 1
her to ibis deed, wa punished in like wan
ner. This was the first punishment inflict- ‘
ed, in this nation, for infanticide; and, it is j
believed, the practice *t ill soon be abandon- i
ed, at least in this district. ‘•
MISSION AT THE SANDWICH IS- 1
LANDS.
From tbe Missionary Herald for January. j
Joint Letter of the Missionaries. |
This letter, which bears da'e of Februa- ,
rv 1. 1822, st ates, that the whole number of ,
regular pupils under the instruction of the ,
missionaries, was then about 65. About 40 ;
of these were at the station of Woahoo, and ,
about 25 a? Wvmai. (
Printing and Translations. \
We are happy to announce to yon, that, |
on l ( >p first Monday of January, we com- ]
minced printing, and, with great satisfac- j
tiou, have put the firsr e.ight pages of the ;
Owhyhenn spelling-bunk into tbe hands of j
our pupils, copies of which we now trans- ,
mit for the examination of the Committee, ,
and as little curiosities from these dark |
isles. By the next conveyance, we hope
to send complete copies, with a preface.
We intend io print a catechism historical
and doctrinal, a Scripture tract, aod a gram
mar and vocabulary, as we make advances
in the language. Our pupils will devour
books in this language, as fast as we can
make them.
The translation of the Scriptures into any
language, i9 a great work; especially if
there be no learned men, to whom the lan
guage is vernacular. Os such (here are none
here. Add to thi9,the great apparent pov
eity and ambiguity of the Owhybean lan
guage, which needs the aid of gesticulation
to make it clear and forcible ;—and a good
translation of the entire Bible into it, ought
no! to be expected for many years to come.
Probably our eyes will never be gladdeued
with such a goodly sight.
FROM mK CHRISTIAN WATCHMAN.
October 2, the third anniversary of the
British and Foreign Seamen’s Friend Socie
ty and Bethel Union, was held in Loudon.
Societies of a similar nature are formed io
about 40 seaports in England and Wales,
Scotland and Ireland. In the Mediterrane
an, and in various other places abroad, the
like exertions are making for the spiritual
i benefit of sailors. The meeting wag ad
dressed by several clergymen and dissent
i ing ministers, and by naval officers and
i others.
■ The Baptist Society in England for the
• moral and religious instruction of (be Irish
i peasantry have hail much opposition to en
. counter in the difficulties arising from the
> state of society in the Roman Catholick
- provinces, in which a great proportion of
) their schools is situated. But a more ‘fa
- vourable state of things is now looked for.
- A divine blessing seems to accompany their
t labours, —a confidence is reposed-in them
>i by their fellow Christians at home, and
i there seems to be a readiness to assist their
, funds by liberal contributions. We. wish
, their success may increase an hundred fold.
- In their example, we see the value of per
- sev'eripg exertion*, where the object is the
t honour of God and the salvation of seen.
Their success is a new attestation to the
. truth and faithfulness of the divine promise,
“In due season ye shall reap, if ye faint
i not.” It has been well said, and the re
mark deserves a constant remembrance,
i “ duty is ours; hut the blessing is of God.”
l
CHRISTIAN ELOQUENCE.
i A few days previous to the embarcation at
i New Yoik, of Messrs. Goodell and Bird, Mission
-1 ionaries to Palestine, several congregations united
| in observing the Monthly Concert for prayer in j
the Middle Hutch Church in that city. A Urge ;
1 and respectable assembly was addressed on this
occasion, by Mr. Evarts, Cor. Sec’y. of the Foard
of Missions, the Rev. Dr. McAuley, and tbe Rev.
Mr, Cox. From the Address of the latter gen-
I
I tleraan the Missionary Herald for January pre
sents the following extracts ;
Having quoted tbe great commission given by
the “ Prince of Missionaries,” to his apostles, jest
as he was about to ascend from the summit of Ol
ivet to his original glory, Mr. C. added;
Now of these words, the true meaning is
ascerlainted by deeds and facts—by apos
tolick usage and example. The apostles
and primitive preachers of Christianity
were all missionaries. Such was Peter—
after a miracle had broke the enchantment
of hi 9 Jewish prejudices. Such was Paul,
the apostle of the nations: his heart was
expanded with that pnilanthropy which orig
inates iu the love of God, and bis feet were
winged in the paths of missionary obedience.
He tells the church of Rome, whom he had
then never visited, that he had come as
near to them in his evangelical toils, as he
could come, without actually standiug in
their city, or upon the peninsula : “So
that from Jerusalem, and round about unto
lllyricum, 1 have fully preached the Gos
pel of Christ. Yea, so have I strived to
preach the Gospel, not where it was uamed,
lest I should build upon another man’s
foundation: but as it is written, to whom
he was not spoken of, they shall see : and
they that have not heard shall understand.”
Thus we are engaged in no fanciful af
fair. Invisible, indeed, are its ends and its
Author ; but firm its support, divine its pa
tronage, blessed its progress, and certain
its success. Unlike the vain, earthly enter
prise of the crusaders, to which reference
has been made, that monstrou* offspring of
chivalry and superstition, which erst empti
ed tbe population of Europe upon the plains
of Palestine, it appeals to the testimonies
!of God for its high vindication—it points to
the social and civil, the temporal and eter
nal blessedness of man for its immediate
and beneficent object; ft draws from eterni
ty tbe incentive and the sanction of its es- i
forts. • |
The prophecies indicate not uncertainly
the ultimate and the universal triumph of
Christianity. Soon shall “ the truth as it is
in Jesus,” he published “to every nation !
and kindred, and tongue, and people :” and
soon shall a mighty “ angel comp dowo from 1
heaven, having the., key of thp bottomless j
pit and a great chain in his band, and lay
hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which
is the devil, and Satan, and bind him a
thousand years, and cast him into the bot
tomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal
upon hioi, that he deceive ‘he nations no
more, till the thousand years be fulfilled.”
Soon shall the kingdom of light be extend
ed, and tbe truth of the Gospel be ascend
ent in tbe earth; soon shall the grace of
the Redeemer baptize the spirits of this
globe’s population, and (in the animated,
half-poetick, and wholly propetick lan
guage of the late president Dwight,) “ from
Nova Zembla to Cape Horn, and from Cal
ifornia to Japan, the spires of Christian
temples shall gladden the eye of the trav
eller, and the notes of salvation vibrate on
bis ear.”
“ The groan of nature in this nether world
Which heav’n has heard for ages, have an end. ;
Foretold by prophets and by poets sung,
Whose fire was kindled at the prophet’s tamp,
The time of rest, the promised Sabbath comes.
9ix thousand years of sorrow have well nigh
Fulfill’d their tsrdy and disastrous course
Over a sinful world ; and what remains
Os this tempestuous state of human things
Is merely as the workings of a sea
Before a calm that rocks itself to rest ;
For He, whose car the winds are, and the clouds
The dust that wait upon his sultry march,
When sin hath moved him, and his wrath is hot,
Shall visit earth in mercy—shall descend
Propitious in his chariot, pav’d with love ;
And what bis storms have blasted and defac’d,
For man’s revolt, shall with a smile repair.”
[Mr. C. then remarked, that nothing but a con- i
viction that the cause of missions is the cause of
God, and sanctioned by divine command, will:
move the millions, secure the resources, ,
and concentrate the energies of Christen
dom in this work of faith, and labour of love.—
He proceeded.] i
We feel for these friends with whom we
are so soon lo part. My associations tell
roe there is an analogy between this occas
ion and that when “ there came a woman,
having an alabaster-box of ointment of
spikenard, very precious ; and she brake
the box, and poured it on tbe head” of Je
sus, as he reclined at meat. That guiltless
head was soon to bow in death, “ the just
for the unjust, that he might us to
God.” “ Aod Jesus said, let her alone :
Why trouble ye her ? She hath wrought a
good work on me. She is come aforehand
to anoint my body to the burying.” And we
i are assembled to anoiut them for their bu
rial. Buried to us they soon will be till
: the heavens are no more —buried till we
meet them with the congregation of tbe ris
f en dead at the judgment seat of Christ.”—
. And shall we here yield to the sympathies
, of our nature, indulge the joy of grief in its
• romnntick tide, aqd “ sorrow as those who
i have no hope ?” No, rather let us say,
I with that holy calculator, who studied his
■ arithmetick in the school of Christ, “ 1 reck
i on that the sufferings of this present time
, are not worthy to be compared with the
. glory which shall be revealed in ns.” Coo
i trasted with our efforts and privations, their
, enterprise is arduous, their sacrifices great
- *■ •..* ‘ ’St it#* . 4
! —but there i* a telatfoo in which both ap
] pear diminished and annihilated. Compar
ed wilfishi* philanthropy who descended
! from the throne of glory to the place of
culls, all our self-denial—all our achieve
i m ent is nothing! We do indeed admire their
piety, and “ glorify God in them.” We
mingle our sympathies with their sufferings
and will embalm their names and their mis
sion in our recollection and onr prayers.
This concert of prayer shall ever revive
‘ them in our memories. It shall be to them
I as “ the tree of life, which yielded her fruit
• every month: and the leaves of the tree
■ were for the healing of the nations.” We
will trace them on their way iu our imagin
! atious, and when our fancy sees them enter
ing the Mediterranean, auid nearing that land
of sacred story, the cradle of Christianity,
,now under the judicial scath of God; and
j remembering that there. Jesus lived, and
| preached, and died; that there was the
• scene of Pentecost, and the seat of the prim-
I itive churches; that those shores were once
I trod by the feet and vocal with the preach
! ings of apo9tolick missionaries; and instead
’ of the glory that has departed, beholding
: every where the crescent, the mtisque, the
turban, the triumphs and the trophies ol
Mahomednn imposture, its bloody fruits and
lascivious orgies, we will anticipate their
warning to our western churches: we will
hear them saying,O America! beware of
neglecting the great salvation! thy candle
stick may, too, be remov ed out of its place ;
prize and perpetuate the pure principles of
Christianity, the institutions and blessings ol
the only religion .”
THE REV. MR. MAFFITT.
Boston, January 9.
The late decision in the Municipal Court,
in the City of Boston, on the trial of Mr. J.
T. Buckingham, for an alleged libel on the
character of the Rev. J. N. Maffitt, has
occasioned great excitement. In conse
quence of the decision, Mr. M. requested
that an Ecclesiastical Council might be cal
led on his case. Accordingly they convened
in the city of Boston, to consider the charg
es against him, as they appeared in the Gal
axy, and report of the trial.
After investigating what came before the
Court, the Council adjourned to Providence,
to examine the depositions which were ta
ken there. After a faithful and candid in
vestigation of the subject, the Council vvere
unanimous in ACQUITTING Mr. Maffitt
of the high charge* alleged against him.
The Council do indeed discover impru
dence in some instances, hot have received
satisfaction from him; and hope that by age
and experience, through the assistance of
Divine Grace, he will correct the same and
be instrumental of doing good. The doings
of the Council will soon be before the pub
lick in a Pamphlet form; in which will ap
pear, more fully, the reasons of their decis
ion. And the editors of News-papers, are
respectfully requested lo be as ready in giv
ing this paragraph publicity as they were
the doing* of the Municipal Court, in the
City of Boston, oh the same subject.
[Zion’s Herald.
Anecdote of Lady Huntingdon.
Lady Huntingdon’s heart was truly en
gaged to God, and she resolved, to fter bst
ability, to lay herself out to do good. The
poor around her were the natural objects
of her bounty. These 6he relieved in
their necessities, visited in sickness, and
led them to their knees, praying with them
and for them. The late Prince of Wales,
father of bis present Majesty, one day in
court, a*ked a lady of fashion, Lady Char
lotte E***, where my Lady Huntingdon
was that she so seldom visited the circle.
Lady Charlotte replied with a sneer, “1
suppose praying with her beggars.” The
Prince shook his head and said, “ Lady
Charlotte, when I am dyings 1 think I shall
be happy to seize the skirt of Lady Hunt
ingdon’s mantle, to lift me up with her to
heaven.”
Literary.
We make the following extract from a well
written article on the “ Literary and Religious
Character and Taste of the Age,” originally pub
lished in the Christian Spectator.
Verily, this is, in Europe and America,
the true Athenian age ; not the age of her
arts and literature, but the age of her friv
olous and insatiable curiosity. The grand
• object of most who pride themselves in !he
extent of their reading,, and'in their taste
i for elegant literature, is to tell or hear some
I new thing; or as it is in my motto, something
newer, that is, something a little uewer than
! the newest that has come to the knowledge
of any body else. The following, will !
trust, be recognized by the intelligent read
er, as a fair representation of what daily
passes in book-stores, circulating libraries
and other resorts of idleness aod fashion.—
“ Have you seen Lord Byron’s last tragedy ?
What a prodigious genius! I ordered the
‘copy from London, and believe that it was
. the first that reached America. W ,
however is printing it and his edition will
be out on Friday. Shall we hear from him
again, think you, while he stays iu Italy ?”
—“ O yes, such a mind cao never slumber.
The Noble Bard will not disappoint the
thousands who he knows are listening for
some newer and deeper tone fiom his lyre.”
Scene changes. “ How do you like the
1 last of the Waverley novels ? For my part 1
think it superlative. So true to nature, so
bewitching from beginning to end! When
iyou have once taken it up, you will find it
i impossible to lay it down, till the whole is
‘ finished. How delightful!—lt is said that
this mighty magician has another scries in
great forwardness.” —“ Well the more the
belter. But l have something still nearer
from Edinburgh. Walter Scott is writing a
new poem, and it will soon be out.” “Is it
(possible? This is npws indeed. I shall not
• rest till I can get hold of it, Such ap aa*
thor can never court the muses in’ vain
But while he writes poetry with one hand
let him keep dashing off prose with the oth
er.” Scene shifts again. “ Southey !
What ha* become of the Laureate ? He used
to sing such wild and sweet airs. So high,
ly gifted a poet ought to know, (hat the
world cau’t afford to let him slumber. R u t
the horizon of literature is brightening ev
ery day. New adventurers are rising into
notice along all the walks offitocy and ele
gance. The voice of rumour from afar,
already speaks enthusiastically of many new
impressions which are forth-coining from
the Scottish mint.” “True, and no doubt
they will be exquisite in their way; but
why exhaust all praise upon foreign wri
ters? There is Bracebridge Hall, by our
countryman Irving, which we have good
reason to be proud of. Even (he pensioned
dissecters of London and Edinburgh, with
all their prejudices and hatred against eve
ry thing American, can’t help praisiog it.”
“ Indeed we have a vast deal of native tal
ent, which only needs encouragement, to r*
val tbe most gifted writers of fiction beyond
the water. O how delightful it will be,
when America shall furnish her thousand
popular tales in a year! Such bright antici
pations, are enough to make us all regret,
that we were not born an age or two later.”
The above is a |gry brief sketch, but I
am sure it exhibits qo unfair specimen of
the literary chit-chat of the day, especially
in our large towns and villages. This cra
ving, this—what shall I call it—ihisdwjorp
sia. is assuming more and more the type of
a sweeping and demebtating epidemick ; ar.d
should it continue to spread and to rage, the
consequences must be deplorabje indeed.
Such aliment as is now almost exclusively
demanded by the young, even of pious fatn,
iiies, and by many professors of religion too,
must needs produce a race of puny, and as
Shakspeare would cal! them, “ lily-livered”
creatures of mere feeling aod romance.
For who will thirds of calling for “two in
ches on tbe ribs,” of English or Connecti
cut River roasl-beef, after having free and
constant access from childhood, to fruit
cake, floating islands, guava jelly, ice
creams, whipt sillabub, and all the other
sweet and fragrant temptations of the most
celebrated confectioners? In like manner,
should what is now called “ polite litera
ture,” moulded as it is into a thousand seducj
live forms, continue to gain upon the pub
lick taste for a few years longer, who will
think of plodding through Rollin, or Hume,
or any other writer of sober history ? How
few will consent to pass their winter eve
nings with such prosing and antiquated per
sonages as Milton and Johnson and Cowper..
Who now thinks of offering to the publick t
new editions of the most valuable English
classicks ? What prudent bookseller would
embark his capital in 9uch an undertaking?
Who of “ the trade,” is so blind, as not to
see, that if he would get bread for his chil
dren, be must fill his shelves with trash and
fiction ?
’ AsaßMMOniL^waaiaKaMMHaMHMwaaannnnwk
lEISSTOHAiry.
MOUNT ZlO% MONDAY, JAN. 27, 1323.
Within a few years there has been a great
change in the publick opinion as to the necessity
of having a well educated Ministry. None now
are so fool-hardy as to contend, that the ignorant
and uninformed are qualified to become religious
instructed, though this sentiment was once com
mon to many who professed an attachment to re
ligion. This change of sentiment has been in
some measure produced by the efforts of pious
and distinguished individuals to enlighten the
publirk mind, but principally by the exertions oi
the American Education Society. It is now ad
mitted that learning as well as piety, is necessary
for the Minister of the Gospel, and it is also now
universally acknowledged that there is a great
deficiency of well educated Ministers ; yet the
exertions to afford the one and to remedy the
other, have been by no means correspondent to’
,these opinions. This remark will apply more
particularly to the State of Georgia, as the great
body of professing Christians here have done
comparatively nothing for the promotion of either
object. A few individuals have contributed libc*’
rally to the funds of the American Education So
ciety, and the late John Whitehuaij, Esq. of
Burke county, was one of its most distinguished
benefactors.
It may be useful to inquire why so little has
been done iu Georgia for the support and promo- r
tion of what is deemed au important national ob
ject ? Are there among us a sufficient number of
well educated and well qualified Ministers of the
Gospel? The answer that truth demands to this
question, is, that there is not one of the
States but what is greatly our superiour in this
respect—uot one where so great a proportion of
the population is entirely destitute of a preached
Gospel. The inhabitants of some of our newly
settled counties have not tbe opportunity of hear
ing a sermon once in the course of a year, and iu
most of the counties in the State, there is not that
stated and regular administration of the ordinan
ces of the Gospel which is calculated to pro
duce any good effect. We say this without dispar
agement to the labours of any religious denomin
ation. All have done something, but all
have not done enough. As to Missionaries
from abroad, whether discouraged from the
poor reception they have heretofore” met with,
or whether gone into fields of greater importance,
so it is, that at this time we have none among us.
Is our soil so barren that religion and morality
cannot flourish, or is it destined to be the,exclu
sive theatre of political animosity and contention ?
Is,there not a number of the friends of Christiaui
tyv however dispersed through the State, whose
tingle exertions, ot whose combined efforts might
effect a change highly favourable to our religious
interests? It is believed that there is, if they
could be roused from their present ajjathy, and if
the few Ministers of the Gospel that we still have
among u, would show that they are in earnest t’
effect a reformation in this respect.-