Saturday 23
[January 1773], in company with Mr.
Irwine, went to see captain Mc Kee, who lives three miles about west and by
north from Chillicaathee [Chillicothe]in
a small town called Wockachaalli, which
signifies Crooked Nose's Place. Here the
captain's Indian relatives live, and some others. This seems only a new town, not having as yet
much ground cleared. 'Tis situated east
of a creek, which I suppose to be a branch of Paint Creek. Some of the Indians of this town have a large
number of the best horses in the nation; nor are they worse supplied with
cattle, so that they chiefly live by stock.
Captain Mc Kee was very courteous, and still promised well.—Returned the
same evening to Chillicaathee. The day
following, being Lord's day, remained at Mr. Henry's reading [Thomas] Sherlock on revealed religion, which is a
good book on that subject, and may be profitable to the reader: but if the
author could have visited the Indians, he might have saved many arguments, and
perhaps been more fully convinced, that without revelation there would have
been little, or rather no religion among mankind. It is granted, that the apostle speaks of the
Gentiles which have not the law, yet do by nature the things contained in the
law, &c. 'Tis true that nature may direct
to some parts of the second table of the law, which includes our duty to man;
but it is far from being evident, that it directs to the first table, which
includes our duty more immediately to God;
nay, the scripture sayeth in this point, "that there is none that
understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.(Rom. 3:11)” Had a deeper sensation of this truth, when
amongst the Indians, than is common with us. In this town were near twenty white people,
some at least of them were disposed to hear the gospel, but dare not preach
without leave from the Indians; for tho' when among us they are lambs, found
them lions at home. To be debarred from preaching
on the Lord's day was very grievous, and made the day seem very long; nay, it
seemed impracticable to attempt social prayer, for not a minute was certain to
be free from the insults of rude heathens. How great is the mercy to enjoy opportunities
of worshipping God without fear! yet alas! how many are insensible of it! and under
all advantages, remain real
heathens in practice; “how shall we
escape if we neglect so great salvation?” 1
Here among the
Shawnee Jones became more convinced of man’s utter inability to worship God in
spirit and in truth apart from God’s own revelation of Himself in the Bible. It is no coincidence that in those cultures
that are without access to Bible we see the worst excesses of human
nature. What is equally sorrowful for
Jones is the realization that in “civilized” cultures, where men have the
opportunity to worship God freely, people often neglect to do so and take such
freedom for granted. How much greater
judgment will those incur who, having free access and exposure to Scripture,
refuse to obey its commands?
Mr. Henry has preserved a good conscience so
far in respect of the Sabbath, that he said, he always refused to work at his
trade for the Indians on that day, and repeatedly giving them the reason, was
so far successful that few applications are made on that day for work—the
Indians now knowing when it comes. He
told me they were not a little troublesome at first on this account, but by
utterly refusing and giving them the reason why he would not work, they were
reconciled. From this instance, am
persuaded, if the traders were unanimously to refuse trading on the Lord's day,
the heathens thereby might be brought into better regulations; but what is to
be lamented, some of the traders are not concerned about conscience in
this matter, and it never can be well accomplished except they are unanimously
agreed. When I came first to this town,
two of our canoe-men lay under the hands of an old squaa [squaw], having had their feet badly frozen in
travelling from Siota. 'Tis likely they
came with loads of rum by night, for if this article is seen, 'tis common for
the Indians to rob them without apology. One of the men indeed had his feet very badly
frozen. Having applied to me, let them
know that what medicines were in my possession, were not adapted to the
complaint, must have recourse to the productions of that soil; therefore prescribed
the following poultice, which in a short time absolutely performed the cure in
a surprising manner, quickly separating the
mortified flesh. As it is cheap, and may be depended upon in
similar cases, shall communicate it for the benefit of such as are pleased to
use it.
Take the fresh bark of sassafras roots,
pound it in a mortar very fine: then boil it a little in water, mixing it up
into the consistency of a poultice with Indian corn meal. Apply it once in twelve hours as warm as it
can be endured. Its operation is
attended with a sensation almost equal to burning, but this abates as soon as
the mortified flesh is separated.
Hats off to
Moses Henry! In spite of the Indians’
animosity towards any expression of Christian worship, Henry refused to be
pressured into violating the Lord’s Day by working. One wonders if the other traders had
unanimously followed his example, how much greater would the impression made on
the Shawnee have been. I also think it
is remarkable that a preacher like Jones would be a quasi-doctor as well. Where he picked up this natural home remedy
he doesn’t say but it is obvious that it wasn’t known to the Shawnee at that
village. The next time I suffer severe
frost bite, and I have some sassafras roots nearby, I’ll know what to do!
Christ, not man, is King!
Dale
2) Ibid., p. 42-4.
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