Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1854-02-07
NO.215.

oOule preparatory steps were taken for the par-
pose Oh establishing schools and permanent mis-
sions IN the nation, but owing to their funds. an
P''eaole 10 such Objects not being at present in
condition to be reached no final action yvaa takar
, The Board think viii hear from bro. cor,ev -,
this subject during the winter, and it Is believed
the report viii be favorable
In this connection wish to add. that altbopob
it is desirable to locate Schools for the intellectual
improvement of the nation, yet my conviction is,
from observations made while there that itincrant
preaching is more loudly called for now among the
| ChOetaws than any other service our church can
render. Many of their children have gone through
the ordinary course of their education afforded at
the Schools and Academies, and returned to their
! respective neighborhoods without religion and are
now entirely destitute Of any religious instruction
Whatever Their former teachers Though most Of
them Ministers of the gospel being confined to
their schools, cannot follow them with the word of
hie and unless the itinerating system can be intro
duced, it is difficult to see how thew are n he brot
under the power of the gospel They have ab,n-
doned the hcathen religion, but have not vet eno-
braced the christian religion but 1T is believed no
people are more accessible to the truth than the
educated Choctaws, could they be blessed with
Jealous ministry.
Under an act of the late Choctaw Legislature
ten boys were sent by NE to Tennessee to learn
Trades, and one came upen his own responsibility TO
study law. Six Of those boys have been bound
in Nashville, and two in McMnnville One is
preparing for the ministry, another being rather
too young to bind to a trade) has been put to
school, am happy to learn that thus far the bows
are well pleased and that they are receiving such
sympathy in the communities where they reside "a
will be calculated to evnce kind and christian feel
lngs towards them on the part of the white man
shall confidently expect another company Of
boys on in course of the winter to enter the Uni
versity.
SUGGESTIONS.
Our brethren among the Choetaws are oreativ
in need of books. and | would suggest an aDprn. RI
priation of one hundred dollars be made by the
Board to supply them They are particularly in ID
want OF Testaments and hymn books in the Choc-
taw language. The hymn book can be had of the
American Board. and presume the Choctaw Tcs-
lament can be procured of the American Bible
Society. The Secretary, however, of our Board
Of Missions can soon learn by correspondence where
and on what terms those books can be had Rev
Israel Folsom viii dispose of the books in the ma
ton, and account TO the Board for the proceeds
The Confession of Faith should also be sent, and
there was much solcitude expressed for our Cat-
echism L would also advise to send few Tesla
ments with notes, published by the Tract So
cety.
AS There is now very strong disposition on the
part OF these Indians to send their children among
the whites to be educated and particularly to send
them to Tennessee, would suggest to our church
the propriety of encouraging them to DO So To
the religious youths and candidates for the ministry
connected with our Colleges, and young people Of
the church generally, both male female would say.
form associations for the benefit Of the Choctaws
and invite their children to your respective corr
munities TO board and 60 to school. Present to
them kind feelings, and encourage them by chris
tan sympathy TO regard you friends. In tais
way you may perform on a large scale the labor of
missionaries, without fOrsaking home or fFien,!s-
The children Of the ChOctaws ask not for your
money, but for practical kindness. They viii bear
their own expenses. How pleasing to God. low
delightful to Angels, to the young ladies' Of
semlnaries of learning, and young gentlemen Of
our Colleges, thus becoming missionaries at home
Think not Of the degradation Of the Indian char
acter 1t is ours to raise it up and 20 do this ma
ny of the most intelligent young ladies and gentle
men OF our country have gone, and are every year
finding their graves among them, and who or what
are We that We should be afraid of contamination
by admitting or two dear Indian chiHdrsa into
our families. No let Us not despise them foe their
inferority reproaeh them because of their want
Of social elevation. Had they been blessed with
our advantages, they perhaps would now be far =
above US in the scale of improvement, If il has
taken thirteen hundred years to rise to the proud
position we now occupy, blame not the red mai for
remaining as he is under all the wrongs and ncg-
ieet that he has suffered at our hands,
We owe the aboriginal tribes Of our countrya
large debt for that boundiess landed domain taken
from them during the last fifty years. They de-
mand payment but ask it not in money! but In
Christian sympathy and religious instruction.
Are We ready to meet the demand? The pres
ent is fearful crisis to our church. Every
thing among the Choctaws isripe for action, and
their expectations from US are very high DisaD-
appointment will be fatal to our future prospects
among them. have already appealed to the youth
of our church in behalf of those Indians but al
low me to add word in conclusion to my young
brethren who are standing at the threshold Of the
most elevated and solemn Of all human trusts
Take not your standard of action in reference to
the great missionary enterprise from your fathers
in the ministry. Shame covers our faces when we
turn them to the heather that have so long neg
lected While you survey those fields of awful des-
olatiOn, determine to rescue your church from eve
ry reproach that may rest upon her for not having
long since been more active in bearing the news Of
salvation to a heather land. Listen to the groans
of dying millions, and hasten to their deliverance.
Count not your lives dear in comparison to their
/ salvation. And when you come forth from your
sacred shades of study, come with hearts prepared
not only to point your fathers in the ministry to
the perishing millions who have never heard Of Je
! sus, but to lead the way to their relief
In view of the call for preachers among the
and everv yVbara al both IN aud