your principle,' some one rejoined, 'the world would soon come to an end!' The remark raised a general laugh, in which the Superior himself joined heartily." CHAPTER VIII. Three epochs -- The romantic -- The military -- The agricultural and commercial -- An inviting region -- Jesuit and Protestant missions -- First Protestant mission -- First missionary -- Islands of Mackinac and Green Bay -- La Pointe -- Saut St. Mary -- Presbyterians -- Baptists -- Methodists -- Revival at Fort Brady -- Ke-wee-naw -- Fon du Lac -- Shawnees -- Pottawatimies -- Eagle River -- Ontonagon -- Camp River -- Iroquois Point -- Saginaw Indians -- Melancholy reflections -- Number of Indians in the States and Territories. The history of this region, in the language of one, exhibits three distinct and strongly marked epochs. The first may be properly denominated the romantic, which extends to the year 1760, when its dominion passed from the hands of the French to the English. This was the period when the first beams of civilization had scarcely penetrated its forests, and the paddles of the French fur trader swept the lakes, and the boat songs of the _voyageurs_ awakened the tribes on their wild and romantic shores. The second epoch is the military, which commenced with the Pontiac war, running down through the successive struggles of the British, the Indians, and the Americans, to obtain dominion of the country, and ending with the victory of Commodore Perry, the defeat of Proctor, the victory of General Harrison and the death of Tecumseh, the leader of the Anglo-savage conspiracy on the banks of the Thames. The third may be denominated the enterprising, the hardy, the mechanical, and working period, commencing with the opening of the country to emigrant settlers, the age of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, of harbors, cities, canals, and railroads, when the landscapes of the forest were meted out by the compass and chain of the surveyor, when its lakes and rivers were sounded, and their capacity, to turn the wheel of a mill or to float a ship, were demonstrated, thus opening up avenues of commerce and industry. Its wild and savage character has passed away, and given place to civilization, religion, and commerce, inviting the denizens of over-crowded cities to its broad lakes and beautiful rivers, its rich mines and fertile prairies, and promising a rapid and abundant remuneration for toil.