His priestly duties did not estrange him from the natural feelings that home and kindred inspire and he was ever alive to the pleasures and sorrows of his relatives across the sea. He thus wrote to one of his nieces upon the occasion of her marriage: " Since I now love my nephew, Mr. De Bare, as much as I love my niece Sylvie, you must be careful to give him a faithful description of your uncle, so that if I should happen in on him in your absence, he could recognize me without ever having seen me. Uncle Pierre, tell him, is a man of medium size, with gray hair, tending to white. The center of his wide face is occupied by a nose with which a Greek or a Roman would not find much fault. Its nearest neighbor is a mouth of ordinary size, which hardly ever opens save to laugh or to make others laugh; it makes people love the good Lord in that manner. The rest resembles a man of fifty years, who weighs 21O pounds. If ever you build a new house, give the door of my chamber six inches extra width, because I don't like to be bothered in getting into a room."
His friends at home likewise held him in the highest veneration and affection and a close and uninterrupted correspondence passed between them. On one of his visits to Europe, he officiated at the marriage of his nephew Paul with whom he had corresponded since he was a little boy. The church where the ceremony was performed was thronged with people eager to see the great missionary, and the scene is described as deeply touching and impressive.
These little glimpses of his inner life show how much of human nature he possessed, and how little it had been warped or withered by a calling which we are inclined to think sets men apart from the common run of humanity.
Father De Smet would have made a successful man of affairs and an ideal citizen in public life. The Society kept him constantly engaged in managing the business affairs of the Province; and his extensive travels at home and abroad gave him an acquaintance with men in all the walks of life which very few members of his order possessed. He was