and cursory sketch is the first distinct tribute yet paid to his
virtues; for no worthier subject ever employed the pen of the poet or
historian.

NOTE.--Struck with the fact that the history of this class of men,
and of their enterprises and sufferings, has never been written,
except by themselves in their simple "Journals" and
"Relations"--for the _resume_ given of these by Sparks, Bancroft,
and others, is of necessity a mere unsatisfactory abstract--the
writer has for some time been engaged in collecting and arranging
materials, with the intention of supplying the want. The
authorities are numerous and widely scattered; and such a work
ought to be thoroughly and carefully written, so that much time and
labor lies between the author and his day of publication. Should he
be spared, however, to finish the work, he hopes to present a
picture of a class of men, displaying as much of true devotion,
genuine courage, and self-denial, in the humble walk of the
missionary, as the pages of history show in any other department of
human enterprise.

FOOTNOTES:

[52] In common use, this word was restricted so as to indicate only the
boatmen, the carriers of that time; but I am writing of a period
anterior, by many years, to the existence of the Trade which made their
occupation.

[53] Joutel, who was one of La Salle's party, and afterward wrote an
account of the enterprise, entitled _Journal Historique_, published in
Paris, 1713. Its fidelity is as evident upon its face, as is the
simplicity of the historian.

[54] This was in the winter of 1679-'80; and the Five Nations, included
in the general term Iroquois, had not then made the conquest upon which
the English afterward founded their claim to the country. They were,
however, generally regarded as enemies by all the Illinois tribes.

[55] A collective name, including a number, variously stated, of
different tribes confederated.

[56] _Annals of the West_, by J. H. Perkins and J. M. Peck, p. 679. St.
Louis. 1850.

[57] The substance of the Journal may be found, republished by Dr.
Sparks, in the second edition of _Butler's Kentucky_, p. 493, _et seq._,
and in vol. x. of his _American Biography_.

[58] _Miscellanies_, "Review of Ranke's History of the Popes."

[59] In a book which he published at Utrecht, in 1697, entitled _A New
Discovery of a Vast Country_, he claims to have gone down the