THE MISSIONARIES.
"SHALL I tell you a story about an Indian girl, who lived this side of
the Rocky Mountains?"
"Is that near Calcutta, ma'am?"
"No, it is our own country. She belonged to a tribe called Cherokees,
and her name was Iwassee."
"Until some good missionaries went to her tribe to tell them about the
great God who made the sun and moon, the boundless forests and the
swift running rivers, Iwassee knew nothing what would become of her
soul when her body was tied up in a tree for the birds to pick the
flesh from the bones. She lived in a kind of tent without glass, with
a hole in the top to let out the smoke when they kindled a fire on the
heap of stones inside."
"Her parents had no money; but her father used to go out to the forest
with his bow and arrows, and bring home some wild fowl or a deer on his
back. Her dresses, when it was cold enough for her to wear dresses,
were made from the bark of trees. On her feet, she wore moccasins of
deer skin. In the winter, her mother worked moccasins with wampum or
bead-work, to be sold to visitors."
"Iwassee, as she grew older, helped her mother to tan the skins of
the bears, wolves and deer, which her father killed. These skins were
their beds and seats. They were thrown on the floor or ground inside
the tent. Iwassee herself, her father, mother and all her tribe were
savages. They lived from day to day only to eat, sleep and carouse.
They knew nothing of the pleasures which Christians enjoy. They
quarrelled, stole from each other, told lies to cover their guilt, and
broke every one of God's commands. They were filthy, too, filthy in
their own persons, in their dress, in their food, and in their tents.
They thought it quite too much trouble to wash their clothes often, or
to keep their tents in order."
"Their arrows were hung in a quiver near their bows, on a peg in their
tents. The kettle they cooked their venison in, was hung there too,
unwashed from month to month. They would have thought it very foolish
to sweep out the floor of the tents, about which the vermin were
running, or to have washed and cleansed their own bodies. They much
preferred, when their work was done, to lounge on the grass in the sun
and think of nothing."
"Poor Iwassee lived year after year in this way, until the
missionaries, I spoke of, went to the tribe. It was a terrible trial
for the wife, who had been brought up so delicately, to settle down in
the midst of such pollution. Even the touch of the filthy women and
girls, whose soiled garments were alive with vermin, was dreadful.
Nothing but their love to Jesus Christ, and their desire to tell these
poor heathen about him could have induced this intelligent Christian
lady to remain there a day."
"But this love was so strong, they were glad to obey his command to
preach the gospel of salvation to every creature. The missionary put
up his tent in the wilderness, and then called the people together to
talk to them in their own language about God. Iwassee was one of the
first who went to hear the talk. When she learned of the love of Jesus
Christ for poor sinners, tears of joy ran down her swarthy cheeks.
Her heart began to swell with love and gratitude to him. She could
not leave the spot. She went to the missionaries' tent early and late
to beg them to tell her more; and when Mrs. Johnson assured her that
Christ was waiting to be her friend, she threw herself on the ground in
a transport of joy. She was the first of the tribe who accepted Jesus
as her Saviour; but she was not the last; for the labors of the good
missionaries were greatly blessed."
"When Iwassee had once felt her need of pardon and had found her
Saviour, she did not stop there. She saw how comfortably the tent of
the Christians looked; what a contrast to the filth and confusion in
her father's. She told the Missionary's wife her trouble, and the
lady encouraged her to strive after cleanliness, as one of the first
of Christian virtues. She opened the book which contains God's word
and read: 'Wo to her that is filthy!' She told her that everywhere in
the Bible, sin and uncleanliness are named together, while order and
cleanliness follow holiness."
"Iwassee listened and remembered. The next time she went to the
Missionaries' tent, she looked so different, that the lady scarcely
knew her. She had always been in the habit, like other women of her
tribe, of oiling her face with bear's or other grease, and staining
her nails. Now she had bathed in the stream which ran through the
settlement, and in the best manner she could, had made herself tidy."
"This was very cheering to Mrs. Johnson. She took courage to talk with
other women of the tribe. In two or three years, there was a wonderful
change. Many of the men and women had become earnest Christians, and
took the Bible for their guide. It was of course very hard for them to
give up their old habits; but when they found that God requires it,
when Mrs. Johnson read to them such passages as these: 'Then will I
sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your
filthiness and all your idols will I cleanse you;' they did make great
efforts to be clean. If any stranger visited the tribe, and walked
along by the tents, it was not necessary to tell him:"
"'Here lives a man who has become a Christian.' He could see that
for himself. Everything about the small home looked thriving and
attractive. The tents were better too. Sometimes a log hut had been
made, set in a small garden. Sometimes too, there were bright-colored
blossoms before the doors. When the people assembled on the Sabbath
either under a tree or a large tent, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson no longer
shrank from their touch. They were clean and dressed according to their
fashion, in neat garments."