Unfortunately for his political as well as personal interests, he indulged his weakness to such an extent as not unfrequently to incapacitate him for the discharge of his public duties. This was an advantage which his opponents shrewdly considered, and, in 1827, they took a favorable opportunity to deprive him of his civil rank. The document issued from the Seneca council-house on this singular occasion, under date of September 15th, is too extraordinary to be omitted. The following is a literal translation, made by an intelligent American who was present. "We, the Chiefs [FN-1] of the Seneca tribe, of the Six Nations, say to you, Yaugoyawathaw, [FN-2] that you have a long time disturbed our councils; that you have procured some white men to assist you in sending a great number of false stories to our father the President of the United States, and induced our people to sign those falsehoods at Tonnawanta as Chiefs of our tribe, when you knew that they were not Chiefs; that you have apposed the improvement of our nation, and made divisions and disturbances among our people; that you have abused and insulted our great father the President; that you have not regarded the rules which make the Great Spirit love us, and which make his red children do good to each other; that you have a bad heart, because, in a time of great distress, when our people were starving, you took and hid the body of a deer you had killed, when your starving brothers should have shared their proportion of it with you; that the last time our father the President was fighting against the king, across the great waters, you divided us, you acted against our father the President and his officers, and advised with those who were no friends; that you have always prevented and discouraged our children from going to school, where they could learn, and abused and lied about our people who were willing to learn, and about those who were offering to instruct them how to worship the Great Spirit in the manner Christians do; that you have always placed yourself before those who would be instructed, and have done all you could to prevent their going to schools; that you have taken goods to your own use, which were received as annuities, and which belonged to orphan children and to old people; that for the last ten years you have often said the communications of our great father to his red children were forgeries, made up at New-York by those who wanted to buy our lands; that you left your wife, because she joined the Christians and worshiped the Great Spirit as they do, knowing that she was a good woman; that we have waited for nearly ten years for you to reform, and do better; but are now discouraged, as you declare you never will receive instruction from those who wish to do us good, as our great father advises, and induce others to hold the same language." * * * * * [FN] Several of them were _soi-disant_ functionaries.