God, His paper--
His Bible is good;
For all people now
It is very good.
(2) God, His paper--
His Bible is good;
For all Indian people
It is very good.
(3) God, His paper--
His Bible is good;
For all English people
It is very good.
By changing a single word in the third line to Pa sai ooks (French),
China, Klale man (black men, or negroes), we had other verses.
In time I, however, became satisfied that the Indians would be better
pleased if they could sing a few songs in their native languages; but it
was very difficult to make them, as I could not talk their languages,
and so could not revolve a sentence over until I could make it fit a
tune. The Indians, on the other hand, were too young or too ignorant of
music to adapt the words properly to it for many years. I had, however,
written down about eighteen hundred words and sentences in each of the
Twana, Clallam, and Squaxon dialects of the Nisqually language, for
Major J. W. Powell at Washington, and could understand the Twana
language a very little, and this knowledge helped me greatly. Some of
the older school-boys became interested in the subject, and so we worked
together. After some attempts, which were failures, we were able in 1882
to make a few hymns which have become quite popular. Some the Indians
themselves made, and some they and I made. The following samples are
given of one in each language:--