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REMARKS ON MR. SCHERMERHORN'S REPORT CONCERNING THE WESTERN INDIANS.

[The following letter to the Corresponding Secretary from a highly respected associate, correcting an article in the second volume of this series of our Collections, is gratefully acknowledged and promptly inserted-The committee for publishing the former volume, and it is presumed that the select committee of the Society for propagating the gospel, by whom it was communicated, did not perceive the extent of the implication in the "Report;" and it was probably an inadvertence on the part of the writer. While the Society are not to be considered as in any degree pledged for the opinions advanced by those who furnish them with documents, it is their wish and intention never to give circulation to any censure, on individuals or associations, without the most unquestionable authority, and on some urgent necessity, for some obvious utility. This purpose they would particularly cherish in reference to so truly respectable and venerated a body as the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. They therefore frankly express sincere regret at the unintentional offence which has been given. EDITORS.]

REV. SIR,

Philadelphia, Aug. 28, 1815.

My object in the present communication is to correct an extraordinary inaccuracy in the report made "by Mr. John F. Schermerhorn to the Society for propagating the Gospel among the Indians in North America." The part of his report to which I refer relates to the Indian School established in the Cherokee country, and is published in vol. 2, (second series) of the Historical Society's Collections, pp. 13 and 14. It has occurred to me but very lately, while consulting the Collections upon another subject; and as all the papers relating to the School, including Mr. Blackburn's letters and accounts, are in my custody, I feel it more particularly incumbent on me to state the facts; and in doing this, I shall give the dates, to which peculiar importance attaches in the present case.

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The General Assembly, consisting of individuals dispersed through most of the United States, and possessing property for pious uses, found great difficulty in managing their pecuniary concerns: Application was therefore made to the Legislature of Pennsylvania for an act incorporating trustees for this purpose, and a law was accordingly passed, March 28, 1799.

Those trustees suggested, inter alia, to the General Assembly, at their session in May, 1800, "the gospelizing of the Indians on the frontiers of our country,connected with their civilization, the want of which, it is believed, has been a great cause of the failure of former attempts to spread christianity among them." Whereupon the Assembly without delay appointed agents to procure subscriptions to a fund for accomplishing the objects specified by the trustees: And in their next year's minutes they mention their having received "very pleasing intelligence of the willingness, yea, of the ardent desire, of the heathen tribes to have the gospel preached to them: And offers from some of their chief men to commit their sons to presbyteries and missionary societies, in order that they may be instructed, not only in the arts of civilized life, but also in the principles of the christian religion."

On the 17th February, 1803, "the standing committee of missions" (appointed by the General Assembly in May, 1802) addressed a letter to "each of the presbyteries immediately connected with that body in the management of missionary concerns," soliciting such information as their experience enabled them to give, respecting persons suitable for "missionaries to the frontiers and to the Indian tribes, and the places or regions demanding missionary labours."

The General Assembly met on the 19th May, 1803, when the Rev. Gideon Blackburn attended as a commissioner from the presbytery of Union; and on the 27th of that month the committee of missions entered into conversation with him "upon the subject of a mission to the Cherokees; and on their application" Mr. Blackburn agreed to engage it it. They then warmly re

commended to the Assembly, that he should be employed in that service for two months, and left at his discretion as to the season of the year in which it should be performed. They requested at the same time, that “if the disposition of the Indians should be found to be friendly, they might be allowed to establish a school to which the children of the natives might be sent for education." Upon this recommendation the General Assembly directed that Mr. Blackburn should be employed" under such instructions as circumstances," in the opinion of the committee, "might require." For this missionary service he received sixty six dollars and sixty seven cents, whereof one half was paid in advance, and the Assembly afterwards gave him a gratuity of fifty dollars. During that mission he took measures, "under the auspices of the committee of missions, for establishing a school on the borders of the Indian territory for the purpose of instructing the Indian youth in the English language, agriculture, and the mechanical arts, with other branches of useful knowledge.

The school was established at Hywassee,-received from the Cherokees all the countenance and support which they could give it, and their children made great proficiency. The General Assembly afforded it liberal patronage; appropriating two hundred dollars for the first year (which Mr. Blackburn thought would be adequate to its support) and afterwards increased the allowance for this purpose to five hundred dollars:-For Mr. Blackburn's further encouragement, he was employed as a missionary to the Cherokees from A. D. 1803 to 1809 inclusive, for two, three, (and in 1808 and 1809) for six months in the year: And upon the whole he received, for the support of the school, and as a missionary, for the above period, three thousand, nine hundred and fifteen dollars, and fifteen cents; as appears from a document furnished by the treasurer to the trustees of the General Assembly, now before me.

In 1806 Mr. Blackburn applied for the institution of a second Indian school in the state of Tennessee; but the funds of the Assembly would not admit of this addi

tion to their expenses, after what they were pledged to do for the first, and giving aid to the board of trust of the Synod of Pittsburg for christianizing the Wyandots. Unable to afford pecuniary assistance, they adopted the only measure remaining in their power, by "earnestly recommending this school to the patronage of charitable and liberal individuals." Mr. Blackburn was informed that the General Assembly were "unable to pledge their funds in any degree, for the support of the second School:" it was, however, instituted: and this, it is presumed, was one cause of the embarrassment which "obliged him to sell his farm at Marysville." Perhaps another may be suggested by the following extract from his letter, of February 20, 1809, to the committee of missions: "my little farm is nearly the only mean of support since the embarrassments respecting our lands, in connection with the embargo, has so nearly ruined my poor people." In another letter, dated April 12, 1811, from Nashville, he urges ill health as a reason for not "having preached on as many week-days as on other missions." This relates to a missionary appointment for three months, given him the preceding year, after he had given up the Hywassee School; which has not been since continued under the patronage of the General Assembly, as they have not yet been able to procure a suitable superintendant.

The facts being such, it is evident,

That the suggestion of a mission to the Indians did not originate with "Mr. Blackburn;" but that the business was engaged in by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, three years before that gentleman became a member..

That it was the General Assembly who " gave the rudiments of a common English education to the Indian children.".

That Mr. Blackburn was not " obliged to forsake the Hywassee mission for want of support," as he has actually been paid near four thousand dollars by the General Assembly, who were under no engagements to sup port any other.

That "he was" not "five hundred dollars out of pocket" on that account: I add, that he has never claimed it from the committee of missions.

That "the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church have" not "continued a School in the nation since Mr. Blackburn left the mission in 1810."

On reading Mr. Schermerhorn's Report, any person unacquainted with circumstances, would suppose the part respecting the Cherokees to be intended to fix a stigma on the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church; especially if the reflection is considered, that "if missionaries are left to go to this warfare at their own charges, the field will soon be forsaken." It will appear from the above statement that this contains an unjust insinuation, which the reporter ought modestly to have forborn, especially as he had, while in this city, a convenient opportunity for obtaining correct information by applying to any member of the committee of missions. But, why such total silence as to the Second School?

It was not my intention to have written so much on this subject; but I found, as I proceeded, that I could. not otherwise give a clear view of it. I feel for the hon our of the General Assembly; and I feel, as a member, for the honour of the Historical Society; for although they are not responsible for the correctness of statements made to them, their reputation will, in a degree, be affected by them: And I cannot doubt their readi ness to rectify mistakes when pointed out; especially when the moral character of so venerable and important a body is implicated. Under this impression, I request a place for this communication in the next volume of the Society's Collections, that those who have been misled by the Report may in future, and as early as may be, possess more just ideas.

I remain, respectfully,

Rev. Sir,

Your friend, and very humble servant,
EBEN. HAZARD.

REV. DR. ABIEL HOLMES.

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