and most generally faithful to their treaties. But it
often happened, that when the philosopher was con-
templating them as patriots and warriors, he heard
of some of their massacres and conflagrations, and
his resentment arose against them at their barbarous
disposition. Or, he saw them through the medium
of taste, and was disgusted with their filthy habits
and wandering course of life. When Mr. Eddy

began
his career of active philanthropy, the Six Nations had
been so far reduced as not to be feared, but rather to
be pitied. Their case came within the view of the
charities of his religious order, and he made himself
acquainted with their situation, their habits, and cha-
racter. In 1793, Mr. Eddy, with his friend, John Mur-
ray, junior, visited the Brothertown, Stockbridge,
Oneida, and Onondaga Indians, to get more accurate
information in regard to them, and see if some plan
could not be devised to ameliorate their condition.
At this time, the west was a wild; Utica, now so con-
siderable a place, then contained but three houses.
From Utica they travelled on an Indian path to
Cayuga lake, and attended the meeting for making
a treaty, held by General Schuyler, and other com-
missioners, with the Indians, seven hundred of whom
were present. Mr. Eddy, and his friend Murray, on
their return, made so favourable a report to the
Yearly Meeting Committee for the improvement of
the Indians, that for several years—and I never have
heard that the Friends had relinquished their exer-
tions in the cause—considerable sums were appropri-
ated to instruct and civilize them. He was not very
sanguine, in this charity, of doing much good, notwith-
standing the great interest he took in the welfare of
the Indians. He saw that their original character
was every day changing, and that the whites, some-
times honestly, and by fair contract, but often impro-
perly, were encroaching on their grounds: but there
was another side to the question; a race of industrious
men, adorned with all the arts and sciences of civi-