ing to thee. I expect shortly a
communication from
Cadwallader D.
Colden
on the effects of our present code of penal laws, as
to the increase or diminution of crimes. There is no
person more capable of forming a correct judgment,
and none whose opinions would have more extensive
influence on the minds of our citizens. He has been
a warm friend to the system for many years. As
soon as I get this communication, a copy shall be sent
thee, and also some other materials that I expect to
procure. I am, very truly, Thy affectionate friend, THOMAS EDDY
To WILLIAM ROSCOE
I am gratified at the interest you take in our In-
dian concerns, and
thank you for your letter of the
3d
inst., and for the pamphlet which accompanied it.
I have not yet learned the views of the President,
respecting the
application of the 10,000 dollars, ap-
propriated near the close of
the late session of Con-
gress, to aid in the business of Indian
improvement.
My own opinion is, (and it is only my opinion,)
that
it will be applied through the benevolent agencies
which
are, or may be, put in operation; and at such
points as it shall be
likely to do the most good, ac-
cording to the intentions of the act
of Congress.
Those establishments, so it strikes me, will be
recog-
nized as most in accordance with this view, that are,
or
may be, organized in the Indian country;
and
which embrace the two branches of improvement,
implied in
letters and the agricultural arts, united
also with a system of moral improvement. This par-
ticular
application, it strikes me, will be, as the sum
is, to the number of
Indian children taken in by
these liberal associations of men for
education. Thus,
if there be ten schools of instruction, for
example, in