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[added text (appears to be different ink): C. ]
Letter from Jeremiah Evarts Esq. & Rev. Elias Cornelius to the Hon. [Honorable] John C. Calhoun Secy. [Secretary] of War dated


Washington
July 15 1818
Sir,
As agents for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions we beg leave to offer the following suggestions & enquiries. We need not trouble you with a long introduction, as there are several documents in your [deleted text: [illegible text] ] department relative to the general subject of this communication.
Permit us to observe, however, that the society in whose behalf we speak, entertains the most large & liberal designs; that its members reside in seven states of the union, & the only reason why they are not found in every state is the impracticability of their meeting to transact business, if so widely dispersed; that it has patrons & friends in all the states of the union; that its members are not confined to any religious denomination; that it disowns [added text: all ] narrow, local or party views, & seeks to do good by aiding in the moral improvement of our fellow-men, whereever accessible, who have not yet enjoyed the blessings of civilization & christianity; that it regards with peculiar interest the wants of the Aborigines within our own borders; that it acknowledges with gratitude the favorable regards & the important aid of government; & that it will not solicit the patronage of government for any object, to which the members of the society are not ready to contribute their property, their time & their labour [labor] .


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Permit us to add, that [added text: as ] the various concerns of the board are becoming weighty both on account of the expense & responsibility attached to them, & as prudence, circumspection & economy are highly necessary the committee & other agents of the board will not make any communications to government without great care and deliberation.
After these remarks we would respectfully enquire 1st whether the government may not with propriety give further assurances, that, in case the Indian title to the land on which our schools are & shall be established, should, hereafter, be extinguished, the Board shall enjoy the land occupied & improved by them, it being understood, that all the avails & profits of such tenements shall be applied solely to the benevolent objects for which the board was formed? It is proper to state here, that it is a favorite plan of the Committee to exhibit a favorable & thorough specimen of agriculture before the eyes of the Indians, and to cultivate all the grains, grasses & fruits which are suited to the various climates of our stations. For these purposes, & to prevent annoyance from near neighbours [neighbors], probably no man would think a mile square too great a reservation. This enquiry will be deemed proper when it is considered, that great expense has been already incurred in improving the farm among the Cherokees & similar expenses are contemplated at other stations.
2dly [2ndly] Will [added text: not ] the government supply a greater number of implements of husbandry & of domestic manufacture, than have as yet been promised?
At the school among the cherokees, there are already


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more than twenty boys, who can handle the hoe & the axe, very dexterously.
3dly [3rdly] As it is found desirable to give some promising Indian youths a more thorough education, than they can receive in their own tribes, & to give them a fair & full view of the benefits of civilized society, will not the government bear a moderate part of the expense of their journey & residence for this purpose?
Four youths of this description are now under our care in this city, on their way to an excellent school, designed gratuitously for their benefit & the benefit of others in similar circumstances. [added text: As a particular amount of these youths, has already been given to this Department by one of us, it is not necessary to repeat the account here. ]
4thly Will not the government assist in the erection a a corn mill near each station, provided it can be done at a moderate expense, with the approbation of the public agent, & with a prospect of success?
So important is a Mill to the comfort of the family and schools, that the Board have already expended five hundred dollars in building one among the cherokees. It was not quite completed on the
1st of June last.
5thly Should the board feel able to comply with the earnest desire of the emigrants to the Arkansas & send a Mission family & school master thither, as soon as possible, will not the government afford some extraordinary aid, particularly as the


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distance is great, the passage circuitous & expensive, & the obtaining of supplies difficult?
Expressing a confident opinion that the civil & moral improvement of the Indians will promote the true policy, the interest, and the dignity of the United States,

we are Sir, With sentiments of great respect and consideration, your obedient servants (Signed)
[Signed] Jerh. [Jeremiah] Evarts
[Signed] Elias Cornelius