Of the slow but certain steps by which an overruling Providence is
extending a knowledge of the true God, and of the great atonement
through the death of his blessed Son, Peter had no conception; nor
would it probably have seemed right to his contracted mind, had he
even seen and understood this general tendency of things. To him,
the pale-face appeared only as a rapacious invader, and not a
creature obeying the great law of his destiny, the end of which is
doubtless to help knowledge to abound, until it shall "cover the
whole earth as the waters cover the sea." Hatred, inextinguishable
and active hatred, appeared to be the law of this man's being; and
he devoted all the means, aided by all the intelligence he
possessed, to the furtherance of his narrow and short-sighted means
of vengeance and redress. In all this, he acted in common with
Tecumseh and his brother, though his consummate art kept him behind
a veil, while the others were known and recognized as open and
active foes. No publication speaks of this Peter, nor does any
orator enumerate his qualities, while the other two chiefs have been
the subjects of every species of descriptive talent, from that of
the poet to that of the painter.
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