MooNEY] priber's work — i7:!(;-4i 87 



mode of litV. had i|uicklv ac(iiiircd a Icadiny infliiciicc aiiinnu' tliciii. 

 He drew up t'oi- their adoption a sciienie of u-oviMMiiuenl modeled after 

 the European plan, with the capital at (ireat Tellieo. in Tennessee, 

 the principal medicine man as iMupiM-or. and himself as the emperor's 

 sccr(>tary. L nder this title he corresi)oiided with the Soutli ("ai'olina 

 government until it began to he feared that li(> would ultimately win 

 over the whole tribe to the French side. A conunissioner was sent to 

 arrest him. but the Cherokee refused to yive him up. and the deputy 

 was ol)lio'ed to return under safe-conduct of an escort furnished by 

 Priber. Five years after the inauguration of his work, liowever. ho 

 was seized by some Kngiish traders while on his way to Fort Toulouse, 

 and brought as a })risoner to Frederica, in Georgia, where he soon 

 afterward died while under confinement. Although his enemies had 

 represented him as a monster, inciting the Indians to the grossest 

 immoralities, he proved to be a gentleman of polished address, exten- 

 sive learning, and rare courage, as was sliown later on the occasion of 

 an explosion in the barracks magazine. Besides (ireek. Latin. French, 

 German, Spanish, and Huent English, he spoke also the Cherokee, 

 and among his papers which were seized was found a manuscript 

 dictionary of the language, which he had prepared for ])ublication — 

 the first, and even yet, perhaps, the most important study of the lan- 

 guage ever made. Says Adair: '"As he was learned and possessed 

 of a very sagacious penetrating judgment, and had exery ([ualitication 

 that was requisite for his bold and difficult enterjjrise, it was not to be 

 doubted that, as he wrote a Cheerake dictionary, designed to be 

 published at Paris, he likewise set down a great deal that would have 

 been very acceptable to the curious and serviceable to the representa- 

 tives of South Carolina and Georgia, which may be readily foxuid in 

 Frederica if the manuscripts have had the good fortune to escajje the 

 despoiling hands of military power." lie claimed to be a .Ii'suit. acting 

 under orders of his superior, to introduce habits of steady industry, 

 civilized arts, and a regular form of government among the southern 

 tribes, with a view to the ultimate founding of an independent Indian 

 state. From all that can bo gathered of him. e\-en though it comes 

 from his enemies, thcvo can be little dt)ubt that he was a worthy 

 memljer of that illustrious ordei- whose name has been a .synonym for 

 scholarship, devotion, and courage fi'oni the days of Jogues and Mar- 

 C|uette down to De Smet and Mengai'ini.' 



Up to this time no civilizing or mission work had l)een nndei-taken 

 by either of the Carolina governments among any of the tribes within 

 their borders. As one writer of the period ipiaintly puts it. "The 

 go.spel spirit is not yet .so gloriously arisen as to seek them more than 

 theirs." while another in stronjjer terms allirms. "To the shame of 



' .\(lair, .\meriran Indians, pp. 240-2J3, 1775; Stevens, W. B., History of Georgia, i. pp. UU-U>T: Pliila., 

 1.M7. 



