In the afternoon, he officiated in the Mohawk Chapel, to the white people, most of whom were Dutch, and who had no stated place of worship*. In 1774, he was able to read the Liturgy and the several offices of baptism, marriage &c. to his flock, and converse tolerably well with them, on common subjects in their own language, but he found great difficulty to convey to them any distinct ideas on divine subjects, for want of a constant interpreter, from which cause, also, he could but seldom preach to them. To supply these and other deficiencies, he undertook a transla-
1 Geo. Okill Stuart's letter. 2 London Colonial Church Chronicle, No. ii. 3 Soe'ty's Abstract, 1771. 4 Abstract, 1772.
508 MEMOIR OF THE
tion of a part of the New Testament, and, with the assistance it is said of Brant, prepared a Mohawk translation of St. Mark's gospel, a large and plain Exposition of the Church Catechism, and a Compendious History of the Bible'. In addition to his regular duties, he officiated once a fortnight at Johnstown without any remuneration. Service was read to the Mohawks at Canajoharie by Paulus Sahonwadi, the Indian Schoolmaster. Some idea of the difficulties attendant on conveying elementary instruction to the Indians in those days may be formed from:the circumstance that the teacher had no elementary books. Paulus & the other Mohawk teachers taught the Alphabet &¢ by means only of little manuscript scraps of paper. It was notuntil several years after, that Col. Claus composed a short primer for them.?