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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

APTOR LOX

TILDEN FOUNDATIONS

freely given by a class of writers, as is evinced by their ignorance of Catholic doctrines and the slighting tone in which they speak of them, but still the question arises as to the merit of the system. The motive and the success of an act do not always justify the means, and in the present case, while the former was undoubtedly good, and the latter great beyond a parallel, the fact that the missionaries tem

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porarily deprived the Indians of their liberty, is considered an act altogether unjustifiable.

Modern theorists consider the savage of the plains a man endowed with equal social rights as the inhabitant of a civilized State. In the eyes of the Spanish missionaries he was a child to be instructed, and might be put under restraint in order to teach him the rudiments of religion, learning and the means of support. This is the question in its last resort, and we are inclined to consider the missionaries as correct in their view. The officers of the

United States have come to the same conclusion. Moreover, the Indians themselves, when instructed, approved of the measure and when restored to freedom by the government, regretted the period of subjection. Of this there are innumerable proofs. The condition of the wild Indian is well known, that of the mission Indian under the Fathers equally so, that of the mission Indians since their liberation a matter of daily comment. The native in the first was ignorant of God and of the arts of civilized life, in the second, a Christian industrious and happy, though to some extent enslaved, in the third a poor, degraded being.

"The best and most unequivocal proof," says Forbes, "of the good conduct of the Franciscan Fathers, is to be found in the unbounded affection and devotion invariably shown towards them by their Indian subjects. They venerate them not only as friends and fathers, but with a degree of devotedness approaching to adoration. On the occasion of the removals, which have taken place of late years from political causes, the distress of the Indians in parting with their pastors has been extreme. They have entreated to be allowed to follow them in their exile with tears and lamentations, and with all the demonstrations of true sorrow and unbounded affection. Indeed, if there ever existed an instance of the perfect justice and propriety of the comparison of the priest and his disciples to a shepherd and his flock, it is in the case of which we are treating.'

The chief of the Kechis of St. Luis Rey told Bartlett, "that his tribe was large and his people happy, when the good Fathers were there to protect them. That they cultivated the soil, assisted in rearing large herds of cattle, were taught to be blacksmiths and carpenters, as well as other trades, that they had plenty to eat and were happy. Now they were scattered about, he knew not where, without a home or protectors, and were in a miserable, starving condition."

"Christian sects," says Bartlett himself, "may cavil about their success among the Indian tribes, but it is an undeniable fact, that the Jesuits (by which he means

Catholic missionaries), accomplished more during their sway, than all other religious denominations. They brought the tribes of Mexico and California under the most complete subjection and kept them so until their order was suppressed. And how was this done? Not by the sword, nor by treaty, nor by presents. The Indian was taught Christianity with many of the arts of civilized life and how to sustain himself by his labor.

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As soon as the discoveries of Columbus were made known, the French competed without delay for discoveries of their own in the New World. Within seven years of the discovery of the continent the fisheries of Newfoundland were known to the hardy sailors of Brittany and Normandy and they continued to be frequented. The island of Cape Breton took its name from their remembrance of home, and in France it was usual to esteem them the discoverers of the country. A map of the Gulf of St. Lawrence was drawn in 1506 by Denis, a citizen of Hoyfleur.

In 1508 savages from the northeastern coast had been brought to France. Ten years later plans of colonization in North America were suggested by De Lery and Saint Just.

On the 20th of April, 1534, James Cartier, a seaman of St. Malo, left that harbor with two ships, and prosperous weather brought him on the 10th of May, to the coast of Newfoundland. Having almost circumnavigated the island he turned to the south and, crossing the gulf, entered a bay which he called Des Chaleurs, from the heat of mid

summer.

Finding no passage to the west in July, he sailed along the coast as far as the small inlet of Gaspee. There upon

a point of land at the entrance of the haven a lofty cross was raised, bearing a shield with the lilies of France and an appropriate inscription.

Leaving the bay of Gaspee, Cartier in August discovered the great river of Canada, and ascended it till he could discern land on either side. As he was unprepared to remain during the winter, on the 9th of that month he steered for Europe and on the 5th of September his fleet entered the harbor of St. Malo. His native city and France were filled with the fame of his discoveries, but no mines of silver and gold, no veins abounding in diamonds and precious stones had been promised by the faithful narrative of the voyage. The colonization of the country was slow and many attempts to settle failed.

In May, 1541, Cartier built a fort near the site of Quebec. In March, 1604, two ships left the shores of France not to return until a permanent settlement should have been made in America, and in the Fall of that year Pontricourt settled at a place which he called Port Royal. The possessions of Pontricourt were, in 1607, confirmed by Henry IV. In the next year the apostolic benediction of the Roman Pontiff followed families which exiled themselves to evangelize infidels. Mary of Medici herself contributed money to support the missions, which the Marchioness of Guercheville protected; and in 1610, by a compact with De Biencourt, the order of Jesuits was enriched by an imposition on the fisheries and fur trade.

The arrival of the Jesuits in 1611 was signalized by conversions among the natives. The colonial finances were not prosperous. In the absence of coin beaver skins long served as currency. In 1669 the council declared wheat a legal tender at four francs the minot, or three French bushels, and five years later all creditors were ordered to receive moose skins in payment at the market rate.

The Canadians paid no direct civil tax, except in a few instances where temporary and local assessments were ordered for special objects. It was the fur trade on which the chief burden fell; one-fourth of the beaver skins and

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