more wise or
virtuous than you are yourselves, that he should be selected to convey
to you the orders of your God? Demand of him some proofs at least, of
his being the messenger of the Deity. If God has really employed him,
he has doubtless authorized him to perform miracles, that he may be
known and received as a prophet. If he is really a prophet, ask of him
to cause the sun to stand still--the moon to alter its course--the
rivers to cease to flow--or the dead to rise from their graves. If he
does these things, you may then believe that he has been sent from God.
He tells you that the Great Spirit commands you to punish with death
those who deal in magic; and that he is authorized to point them out.
Wretched delusion! Is then the Master of Life obliged to employ mortal
man to punish those who offend him? Has he not the thunder and all the
powers of nature at his command?--and could he not sweep away from the
earth a whole nation with one motion of his arm? My children: do not
believe that the great and good Creator of mankind has directed you to
destroy your own flesh; and do not doubt but that if you pursue this
abominable wickedness, his vengeance will overtake and crush you.

"The above is addressed to you in the name of the Seventeen Fires. I
now speak to you from myself, as a friend who wishes nothing more
sincerely than to see you prosperous and happy. Clear your eyes, I
beseech you, from the mist which surrounds them. No longer be imposed
upon by the arts of an impostor. Drive him from your town, and let
peace and harmony once more prevail amongst you. Let your poor old men
and women sleep in quietness, and banish from their minds the dreadful
idea of being burnt alive by their own friends and countrymen. I charge
you to stop your bloody career; and if you value the friendship of your
great father, the President--if you wish to preserve the good opinion
of the Seventeen Fires, let me hear by the return of the bearer, that
you have determined to follow my advice."[A]

[Footnote A: Quoted from Dawson's Historical Narrative of the civil and
military services of William Henry Harrison.]

Among the Miamis, the Prophet was less successful in establishing an
influence than with the Delawares; while over the Kickapoos he gained,
for a time, a remarkable ascendency,--greater, indeed, than he ever
established in his own tribe. Most of the Shawanoe chiefs were opposed
to him, and even complained to the agent at fort Way