PAPERS RELATING TO THE SIX NATIONS.

207

I am convinced you will have particular pleasure in taking under your inspection a performancecalculated for the instruction of the ignorant, & the promoting of Christianity which with my expe-rience of your abilities are the principal inducem ts to offer you this trouble by recommending thewhole to your care. I am,

The Rev d D r Barclay with Sincerity, Dear Sir, &c.

REV D M R WHEELOCK TO SIR W M JOHNSON.

Lebanon 20 th .Tan iy AD 1763.

Sir The inclosed from M r Charles Jeffery Smith 1 is not the Fruit of an Enthusiastic turn of Mindor any Freak of a heated Imagination, but the Result of much Deliberation & good Advice ; andyour Hour may depend upon it as such.

He is a young Gentleman of about 22 years of age. He received the Honours of our College fiveyears ago ; and lias obtained a good and unblemished Character. He had the offer of the Place andOffice of a Tutor in our College last Fall but refused it for the sake of teaching this Indian Schoolgratis. He is the only son of his Father, w 7 ho lived at Brook Haven on Long Island , and theredied about 15 years ago. And the estate left to this young Gentleman , he supposes to be sufficientto support himself and an Interpreter in the Business of a Missionary among the Indians, to whichPurpose lie seems inclined to devote it. I esteem him remarkably turn’d for that Business. Andmake no doubt your Hon 1 ' will have much satisfaction in him when you shall have opportunityto know his worth by personal acquaintance with him ; for I think you will find the amiableCharacters of a Gentleman , a Scholar, and a Christian very agreably meeting in him.

And the poor Heathen will not have occasion to object against him as they have done against some“ that he loves himself and his money more than the Indians.”

Joseph and the rest of the Boys from your Quarter are all well and make good Progress inLearning. I was much discouraged with the bigest Abraham for some Time , but he does very wellof late.

Joseph is indeed an excellent youth, he has much indeared himself to me, as well as to hisMaster, and every body else, by his good Behaviour, When M r Smith first proposed to me histaking him for his Interpreter, I opposed it, fearing it would obstruct his Studies, and expose himto get into a roving unsettled State ; but upon further Consideration I am of Opinion it will be best,as M r Smith is apt and able to teach, and proposes to bed and board with him. If it should proveotherwise and be a mean to prevent his pursuing his Studies afterwards I shall be very sorry.

I very Thankfully acknowledge the Receipt of yours by M 1 ' Kingsley, but your Letter to Josephwhich you mention in that to me, never arrived, nor can I guess what was the Fate of it.

My School now 7 consists of 25, who depend wholly upon the Charities of Gods people for theirsupport, and if the Hearts of Gentlemen shall continue open to contribute supplies for it, we mustin a little Time determine where to fix it in order to build conveniently for it.

1 Rev. C. J. Smith was a descendant of Col. William Smith of St. George’s Manor, L. I. It is surmised that his fatherWas Henry S., who died in 1747. He was ordained at Lebanon in June, 1763, and was ordered to proceed to Onohoghquageas a missionary, but he had not time to effect much good in that quarter, as his labors were interrupted by the PontiacVar. He returned in consequence, and went to Brookhaven where he resided in 1766. He afterwards itinerated in the southa nd was very successful as a preacher among the colored population of Virginia. He devoted much of his means to charitable

Purposes. Ed.