but by the power of God, but if this is the time to strike the blow and go to work to sustain ourselves here, he is ready; but if it is wisdom to seek out a place with natural fortifications, where we can naturally defend ourselves let us do so. The are almost all converted to Sectarianism; they have five hundred missionaries among them. While he was in he heard a Cherokee missionary preach. He was sent on a charitable excursion for that tribe. The missionary heralds say they cannot do any thing with the Indians beyond the mountains. Now he wants to take a course that we can sustain ourselves without any unwise measure. Cool, impassionate movements are the best.
said he was intruding, but he thinks it but due to him to have the priviledge of making a few remarks by way of explanation. In his former address he attempted to convey [p. [99]]
Babbit’s estimate likely exaggerates the true number, but at least five Protestant denominations had missionaries among the Cherokee, with Baptists and Methodists being the most numerous. Nevertheless, their success was limited; by 1860 only 12 percent of the Cherokee identified themselves as members of any of these five denominations. (McLoughlin, Cherokees and Christianity, 19.)
McLoughlin, William G. The Cherokees and Christianity, 1794–1870: Essays on Acculturation and Cultural Persistence. Edited by Walter H. Conser Jr. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1994.