sionaries who would feed and clothe, as well as school them for nothing, when the poor things were running wild in the cold winter weather, with only a bit of an old tattered blanket tied about their necks, and many of them perfectly naked; but they were in utter ignorance of the worth of learning, and knew nothing of the comforts connected with civilization, and it sometimes seemed to the missionaries, that they never would learn to serve and obey God, or help themselves.

When the grist-mill began to run, you would have laughed, could you have seen the wonder of the Indians in view of the rapid motion of the wheels; one of them exclaimed, with a mixture of fear and astonishment, "Wah-cun-do-ka!" which signifies supernatural, or divine; one of the school-boys said, "no, Mr. Austin made the mill, and the water turns it, therefore it is not divine." So you see, their thoughts can be directed into the right channel, and they are capable of being enlightened if they could only be brought under the means of grace and instruction.

The mill was a great benefit to the natives as well as the mission, for before their corn was ground, the poor women were obliged to pound it; and afterwards they

had to carry back-loads of corn to be ground and to convey the meal home in the same way. But they are trained up to drudgery from infancy; indeed, their whole lives are one course of servitude and debasement.

To give you a specimen of the wickedness and cruelty of an Osage mother, I will tell you how one of them cast off a tender infant upon an open prairie to die, soon after its birth. Mr. Chapman hearing of it, sent for it, and it was immediately brought to him; thus by a singular providence, the life of this forsaken babe was preserved.

What Christian parent or child, who hears of such heathenish cruelty, will cease to pray for the extension of Christ's kingdom over all pagan lands? And can there be an individual in our Sabbath schools, who does not desire to aid in furnishing every tribe of Indians in this country with Bibles, missionaries, teachers and schools? I hope not, and rejoice that societies are daily forming among the members of Sabbath schools and Bible classes, to impart the blessings of the gospel to the ignorant and destitute in this, and foreign countries.

Affectionately yours.

CORNELIA.

LETTER XII.

My dear Cousins,-Although I have written you eleven letters about the mission to the Osages, yet I have only brought down its history to the closo of the year 1822. At both stations the family observed religiously the first day of January, 1823, and prayed most fervently that they might see the truths of the Bible producing greater effects upon the scholars and the people, than they had yet seen; and before the month closed they hoped a spirit of religious inquiry had commenced among a few of the Indians, and in one or two instances among the scholars. Prejudices appeared to give way, and four boys and one girl were added to the school at Union; two of the boys were twins of nine years old, uncommonly promising. A young chief named Moi-reh Per-sha, resolved to break away from native habits, and follow the example of white men. He came to the missionaries and offered to work for them; they employed him on the farm, and gave him half a dollar a day. Six men and two boys soon made a similar application, and performed their work well. In March, the establishment was surrounded with mul

titudes of Indians on their way to a bear hunt, east of the Neosho or Grand river. Among them was Tally's son, who had left school some time previously, promising to return soon. He went into the house, and showed that he could read quite as well as when he left school, but gave them to understand that he thought it better to be a hunter and warrior than a scholar. When they took up their line of march the next morning, in single file, it was a solemn sight. The hunters led the way, followed by the women and children; the pack-horses brought up the rear. The procession extended two miles. On the great buffalo hunt, they march in two columns, from six to ten miles long.

The mission family at Union, finding it inconvenient to accommodate so many Osage visiters as favored them with their company, built a comfortable lodge on their premises, in which the native women often staid long enough to learn to sew. The ladies of the mission took much pains with them, and it was a gratifying sight to see nine patch-work bedquilts spread forth, which had been pieced together by Osage women and little girls. In April, Joseph Swiss, a Frenchman, with an Osage wife, brought their three little boys to school,

named Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The parents wished to be employed by the missionaries, and being industrious people and their help needful, they remained. About this time, the family were short of materials for making any kind of bread, and Mr Chapman went down to the Indian village and purchased nineteen bags of corn, which were piled upon four horses, which were put under the care of Tally's wife. She led or drove the beasts to Union, walking most of the way with a child upon her back. When the poor woman arrived, she was almost exhausted with fatigue. After resting a day or two, she went home, leaving a little daughter at school about eight years old, who had followed her mother to the station. The missonaries gave her the name of Margaret Milledoler. The same week, Moi-reh Per-sha placed his little boy, only six years old, at school, and he received the name of Matthew Noyes.

In the month of May, Clamore, with nearly two thousand of his people, called at Union on their hunting expedition. Their object was to request the missionaries to take care of their property, which they wished to leave with them during their absence. It would be natural that some of this company would do much mischief, but Clamore