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the ignorance of the Nez Perces language on the part of those having the matter in charge, few now are competent to judge.

No mention is made in any of the letters from Mr. Spalding now in the archives of the A. B. C. F. M. in Boston of any of the hymns or translated passages of the Bible, said by Mr. Himes to have been set up and printed by a tramp printer named Turner in 1839.

It is quite possible that all of Mr. Spalding's letters to the Board are not now extant, or that Mr. Spalding did not deem the matter of sufficient importance to mention.

Rev. H. H. Spalding was the author of seven of the eight books printed in Nez Perces, but it must not be inferred from this that his knowledge of the language was superior to that of his associates. On the contrary his brethren held his linguistic capabilities in very low esteem.

Dr. Whitman, writing from Waiilatpu, March 28, 1841., states:

"Mr Smith & Mr Rogers are the best linguists in the Nez Perces language but although Mr R is the best yet he cannot supply Mr S. place in the classification of the language for want of a more extended education. Neither Mr Spalding or myself are properly able to write the language & Mr Gray is far behind. It is our joint opinion that Mr Spalding cannot master it so as to be able to translate, or be relied on for books, or as a standard in any sense."

Rev. A. B. Smith, who seems to have studied the Nez Perces language more scientifically than the other missionaries, sending a long grammar of the language to the A. B. C. F. M. in 1843, says in a letter to Mr. Greene, dated Kamiah, Oregon, Sept. 3d, 1840, regarding Mr. Spalding:

"The views which he formerly entertained respecting the Nez Perces language, he had now found to be incorrect & has given them up. His views were these. That