Missionary labours were commenced among these tribes while they were yet on the eastern side of the Mississippi, and as far back as the year 1818. The Rev. Cyrus Kingsbury, D. D the founder of the Choctaw Mission, if not of the Cherokee also, still lives and labours on among that people, whilst his scarcely less distinguished coadjutors, Byington, Wright, Worcester, Washburn and others, have been gathered home, with many rich and precious trophies bestowed as the reward of their common labours. The missionary operations, commenced a half century ago among these people, have been continued with some variation up to the present time and no where can we find more satisfactory or conclusive evidence of the power of the gospel to reclaim a heathen people.