.ODcz.NTUyODE

straw whether the object of Gov't. is accomplished or not, & who are too often men of idle & dissolute habits - but from principles of benevolence, whose object is not gained unless they see the Indian bettered in his moral & phisical condition. Indeed it is a matter of fact, & susseptable of the clearest proff that Christianity, I mean than renovation of our natures commonly called conversion, civilises an Indian at once. Hence the great change in the Wyandotts, the Chippewas in Canada, the Cherokees, Chocktaws, &c in the South and several of the lessor tribes in the Western Territory. With such indisputable facts before them, it must be the policy of Gov't. wishing to civilise the Indian, to encourage & sustain the missionary, or at least use them where it can be, in preference, to accomplish its objects, in the premises. The splendid scheme, at this moment, being brought into opperation, by you, thro' Gov. Doty on the St. Peters, will no doubt do much in this matter, but whether the limits of the contemplated Territory, are struck out so as not to clash with the white settlements, or not, I am not apprised. The country east of the Mississippi to its sourse & thence to the British line, is claimed by