med all-sufficient in the wigwam.

All who could afford it had several wives. They were as unfeeling as
brutes. If a wife displeased her lord and master, he would mercilessly
cut off her nose; and with apparently as little concern as a
dog-fancier trims the ears of a terrier. United with these execrable
traits of character, there were others, to which we have already
alluded, which were alluring. In the summer, the men often went without
any clothing, except moccasins made of buffalo hide.

These poor savages were engaged in almost incessant wars. Even the
religion of Jesus, whose great mission was to bring peace on earth and
goodwill to man, has not yet been able to obliterate these sanguinary
propensities from the human heart. England, France, Germany, are great
slaughterhouses, where millions of men have hurled themselves upon each
other in demoniac strife. What, then, could be expected of savages.

The Miamis of the north were organizing an expedition against the
Illinois. The rumor reached the Indian village at Crevecoeur, and
created great consternation. Lieutenant Tonti endeavored to inspire the
Indians with a spirit of defence. He taught them how to surround their
village with palisades, and influenced them to build a fort with
intrenchments. Some of the French garrison, weary of the restraints of
the fort, deserted, and wandered away among the Indian tribes; and so
incorporated themselves with the savages, in dress, in war-paint, in
habits, and in taking Indian wives, that it required very close
scrutiny to distinguish them from the Indians.

The two missionaries, conscious that there was no substantial remedy
for the ills of humanity but in the regeneration of the soul which the
religion of Jesus enjoined, consecrated, with increasing zeal, all
their energies in the endeavor to make Frenchmen and Indians good men,
new creatures in Jesus Christ.

One of the Illinois chiefs, Asapista by name, became very strongly
attached to good Father Gabriel, and adopted him as his son. This was
quite a favor. The generality of the Indians, like the populace
everywhere, were exceedingly fickle. The friendship and caresses of
to-day might be hatred and the tomahawk to-morrow. The adoption of a
stranger into the tribe, as the son of a chief, was a great security
against any sudden outburst of suspicion, which might lead to massacre.

The Gospel of Christ makes slow headway against the wickedness of man.
As in our own enli