384 ELIZABETH GARY AGASSIZ 



Here I think she is entirely mistaken. The whole 

 history is a story of failure, — a failure which makes 

 the volume in the Harvard Library containing John 

 Eliot's translation of the Bible into the Indian tongue 

 one of the saddest sights in the world. One of the 

 noblest and at the same time one of the most futile 

 efforts to Christianize and civilize a savage people, 

 it ends in a volume that no man can read, which re- 

 mains a curiosity. Now and then some one asks to 

 look at it, but only from that point of view. I do not 

 think it has ever been used in the religious instruction 

 of the Indians except by John Eliot himself. 



January 21. — The children came today; much 

 enchanted. TMien after lunch they said, " What shall 

 we do this afternoon.'^" I answered, "You like to help 

 Amelia about her work; she may have something to 

 unpack." They were enchanted — especially when 

 they dived into the boxes and found dollies and beds 

 and chairs and w^ashstands, etc. They quickly ar- 

 ranged a bed chamber for the new children, and had a 

 lovely afternoon with them. I begin to find the con- 

 venience of a telephone. I sent a list to Schwartz for 

 what I wanted, and had the whole set before the 

 children arrived, to my great joy as well as theirs. 



February 1. — I think the children are very ad- 

 vanced in their music — they write it very nicely, 

 drawing their lines and making their notes neatly 

 and their intervals correctly. It is a very good begin- 

 ning. 



February 3. — The children left me this morning. 

 It has been a lovely fortnight with them, and I hope 



