This was the beautiful bouquet which the Fathers were permitted to present to Saint Francis Xavier. The next day they were engaged from eight o'clock in the morning until half-past ten at night, in the church, excepting only one hour and a half, which they gave to repose. The follow ing was the order followed. First, they baptized the chiefs and married men. These were chosen as godfathers for the young men and little boys; then the married women, whose husbands were living with them; afterward the widows and wives who had been cast off; and lastly the young women and girls.
It was gratifying to hear with what intelligence these good savages replied to all the questions addressed to them, and to see their praying at the moment of receiving baptism. At the end, each received a taper whose blended light beautifully illuminated our humble chapel.
But let us come to something still more edifying. I shall not speak of their assiduous attendance at the instructions - of their eagerness to hear our words - of the evident profit they received from them; all this is common in the course of a mission; but rarely do we witness the heroic sacrifices which these Indians have made. Many who had two wives have retained her whose children were most numerous, and with all possible respect dismissed the other. One evening, a savage came to seek the Fathers at the lodge, which was filled with Indians, and unabashed by any merely human consideration, asked what he should do in his present circumstances? On the instant he acted according to the instructions given him; he dismissed his youngest wife, giving her what he would have wished another to give to his sister, if in the same situation, and was reunited to his first wife, whom he had forsaken. After an instruction, a young woman, asking to speak, said that " she desired very much to receive baptism, but that she had been so wicked she dared not make the request." Each one would have made a public confession. A great number of young mothers, married according to the mode of