"Right Rev. Father,

"We entreat and beseech you not to neglect us. We hope the Christian people in New-York will help us all that is in their power. We hope our brother will by no means be withdrawn from us. If this should take place, the cause of religion will die among us; immorality and wickedness will pre

vail.

"Right Rev. Father,

"As the head and father of the holy and apostolic Church in this state, we entreat you to take a special charge of us. We are ignorant, we are poor, and need your assistance. Come, venerable father, and visit your children, and warm their hearts by your presence, in the things which belong to their everlasting peace.

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May the great Head of the Church whom you serve, be with you, and his blessing ever remain.

with you.

"We, venerable father,

"Remain your dutiful children,

"HENDRICK SCHUYLER,

"SILAS ANONSENTE,

"WILLIAM TEHOIATATE,

"DANIEL PETERS,

"NICHOLAS GARAGONTIE,

"WILLIAM SONAWENHESE, &c.

"Oneida, Jan. 19, 1818."

"I have received your letter by your brother and

teacher, Eleazar Williams, and return your affectionate and Christian salutation, praying that 'grace, mercy, and peace,' from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, may be with you.

"I rejoice to hear of your faith in the one living and true God, and in his Son Jesus Christ, whom he has sent, whom to know is life eternal; and I pray that, by the Holy Spirit of God, you may be kept steadfast in this faith, and may walk worthy of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.'

My Children,

"It is true, as you say, that the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is intended for Indians as well as white people. For the great Father of all hath made of one blood all the nations of the earth;' and hath sent his Son Jesus Christ to teach them all, and to die for them all, that they may be redeemed from the power of sin, and brought to the acknowledgment of the truth, and to the service of the living God.

"My Children,

"It is true, as you say, that the religion of the Gospel will make you happy in this world as well as in the world to come; and I join in your prayer, that you may profess it inwardly as well as outwardly; that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may be 'transformed by the renewing of your minds,' and acquire the holy tempers, and practise the holy duties which the Gospel enjoins. And for this purpose I beseech you to attend to the instructions of your faithful teacher and brother, Eleazar Wil

liams; to unite with him in the holy prayers of our apostolic Church, which he has translated into your own language; to listen with reverence to the divine word which he reads to you; to receive, as through grace you may be qualified, and may have an opportunity, the sacraments and ordinances of the Church; and at all times, and in all places, to lift up your hearts in supplication to the Father your spirits, who always and every where hears and sees you, for pardon, and grace, to comfort, to teach, and to sanctify you, through your divine Mediator, Jesus Christ.

of

"My Children,

"Let me exhort you diligently to labour to get your living by cultivating the earth, or by some other lawful calling; you will thus promote your worldly comfort, you will be more respected among your white brethren, and more united and strong among yourselves. And when you are thus engaged, you will be saved from many temptations; and you will prove yourselves to be good disciples of Him who, by his inspired apostle, has enjoined, that while we are fervent in spirit, we be 'not slothful in business.'

My Children,

"Continue to respect and to love your brother and teacher, Eleazar Williams, and to treat him kindly; for he loves you, and is desirous to devote himself to your service, that, by God's grace, he may be instrumental in making you happy here and hereafter. It is my wish that he may remain with you, and may be your spiritual guide and in

structor.

"I rejoice to hear that your brethren, the Onondagas, are desirous of knowing the words of truth and salvation. I hope you will not complain if your teacher, Eleazar Williams, sometimes visits them, to lead them in that way to eternal life, which, from God's word, he has pointed out to you. Freely you have received,' you should freely give;' and being made partakers of the grace of God through Jesus Christ, you should be desirous that all your red brethren may enjoy the same precious gift.

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"It is my purpose, if the Lord will, to come and see you the next summer; and I hope to find you, as good Christians, ' denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,' and living 'righteously, soberly, and godly' in the world. I shall have you in my heart, and shall remember you in my prayers; for you are part of my spiritual charge, of that flock for whom the Son of God gave himself even unto the death upon the cross, and whom he commanded his ministers to seek and to gather into his fold, that through him they might be saved for ever.

May God be with you, and bless you.

"JOHN HENRY HOBART,

"Bishop of the Prot. Epis. Church in the State of New-York."

From the time that this unhappy people placed themselves under the Bishop's pastoral charge, until he rested from his labours, he showed the kindest solicitude both for their temporal and spiritual welfare. He visited them at their settlement-corres

ponded with their chiefs and their teacher-acted as their friend and counsellor in all their difficulties; and when a plan was proposed for the emigration of part of the tribe to Green-Bay, he wrote more than once in their behalf to the Secretary of Warmade many judicious and useful suggestions for the improvement of their condition; and after their removal to that remote region, still extended to them his watchful and protecting care.

During this year, Bishop Hobart published a Charge, which had been delivered to the clergy in New-York at the opening of the Convention in 1817, and subsequently in the state of Connecticut. It was entitled "The Corruptions of the Church of Rome contrasted with certain Protestant Errors."

The object of it was to show that there was no ground for the vulgar prejudice which is entertained by many against our Church, on account of its resemblance in some particulars to the Church of Rome; to point out in what material respects they differed from each other, and to make it appear that we had adopted the true medium between the extravagant pretensions of the Papacy on the one hand, and the unbounded license of private judgment on the other. The whole subject is well managed, but the last point is treated with so much good sense, and such just discrimination, as to make it worthy of especial notice.

There was a period when the decrees of ecclesiastical councils were received as the infallible decisions of truth; when it was supposed that they were directed by the unerring Spirit which presided in the assembly of the inspired apostles, and were VOL. I.

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