He was exhorted to use all his diligence and ability to accomplish the difficult task set him.

Finally Henry advised him to lose no opportunity of inculcating in the minds of the French the value of the liberty the Americans brought them, as contrasted with "the slavery to which the Illinois was destined" by the British.
This last sentence was proved by subsequent events to be a touch of wholly unconscious but very grim humor.

The French were utterly unsuited for liberty, as the Americans understood the term, and to most of them the destruction of British rule was a misfortune.

The bold, self-reliant, and energetic spirits among them, who were able to become Americanized, and to adapt themselves to the new conditions, undoubtedly profited immensely by the change.

As soon as they adopted American ways, they were received by the Americans on terms of perfect and cordial equality, and they enjoyed a far higher kind of life than could possibly have been theirs formerly, and achieved a much greater measure of success.