ociety ladies of the period of his early career as "Puss in
Boots." Our own Fremont and Eads would seem at sight capable of
only the ordinarily exposed duties of life. Of like physique is the
subject of this introduction.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is now my pleasant privilege to introduce
to your acquaintance Captain Willard Glazier as the lecturer for
the evening.

At the close of Judge Todd's introduction, Captain Glazier began his
instructive historic lecture on the "Pioneers of the Mississippi,"
holding the attention of all present by the interest of his subject and
the eloquence of his delivery. Beginning with De Soto, the discoverer of
the Great River, he gave an account of his early life and adventures, of
his ambition to found an empire like that of Cortez, and of his arrival
at the mighty stream in whose waters he soon found his final
resting-place.

Marquette, the self-sacrificing missionary, was brought vividly before
the mind's eye of the hearer as the Captain described in glowing terms
the zeal with which he preached the Gospel to the poor benighted
Indians, and drew a picture with all its poetical surroundings of his
death and burial in the wilderness.

La Salle came next, pushing onward down the river until he planted his
triumphant banner on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, and took
possession of the surrounding country in the name of the King of France.
Hennepin and Joliet then claimed the attention of the eloquent speaker,
and their exploits were clearly and forcibly recounted in graphic
language. Other explorers were mentioned, but these formed the
ground-work of the lecture--a lecture replete with historical interest,
and crowded with such a vivid portrayal of incidents that from beginning
to end one can see as in a panorama the Great River and all the mighty
men whose fame is indissolubly connected with the history of its
waters.

At the conclusion of the lecture the following letter to the President
of the Historical Society was read:

1310 Olive Street,
St. Louis, _January 14, 1882_.

Edwin Harrison, Esq.,
President Missouri Historical Society:

Dear Sir:--In my recent canoe voyage down the Mississippi, it was
my good fortune to receive many courtesies at the hands of the
press, boat clubs, and other citizens of St. Louis. This, coupled