He wrote to the Indian agent
" You are already aware of the character of the Flatheads. They are the best Indians of the mountains and the plains - honest, brave, and docile, they only need encouragement to become good citizens - they are Christians, and we are assured that they live up to the Christian code."
This passage is from the message to the President in 1854. You see, Reverend Mother, that my eulogium at Erps-Querbs, on the Flatheads, is also in the mouths of the Americans. It is the same with the other Indians. The sisters of the pupils may then rely on the prayers and gratitude of the little girls who bear their names. May these children of the desert have the same means of salvation as the children of Belgium.
Accept, Reverend Mother, this trifling homage of my gratitude, and express the same sentiments to your worthy Director, community, and pupils.
Your servant in Christ, etc.
To the Editor of the Precis Historiques, Brussels.2
Oregon Missions.
University of St. Louis, July 16, 1857.
Reverend Father:
Since my return to St. Louis I have been very busy, and not very well, in consequence of the sudden transition from a cold climate to one where the thermometer stands at go' Fahrenheit. I have not been able, thus far, to send you any interesting article. I have lately received a long and beautiful letter from Father A. Hoeken, in the Rocky Mountains. It appeared, on the I ith instant, in the Free man's Journal, which you receive regularly. I shall try and send you a translation.
2 From Western Missions and Missionaries, p. 28o. 8o