when the Church needed its powerful arm to extend her sway and defend her against her enemies. It became a mighty power, guiding the destinies of European nations and carrying its influence to the uttermost parts of the earth.
The proud place which the Society had acquired in the temporal affairs of the world it was destined not to hold, for the very greatness of its power excited the jealousy and hostility of European rulers, who one after another expelled it from their dominions. Finally, in 1773, the Church herself, yielding to the general outcry, decreed its total suppression, and it remained without recognized existence for forty-one years thereafter.
Our present inquiries relate solely to the missionary work of the Society in the western hemisphere, particularly in the western portion of the United States. The spread of the gospel among heathen peoples was a fundamental purpose of the Society. The discovery of America, with its vast but unknown population, offered a field of labor which from the first was one of great attractiveness. The Jesuits came early to America, and their missionary work on this continent has gone hand in hand with exploration and settlement, except in the English colonies. They went to Florida about the time of the founding of St. Augustine, but remained only a few years. They were in Mexico at a very early day, and in 1697 founded a mission at Loretto in Lower California which became the forerunner of the famous missions of Upper California, established at a later date by the Franciscans. The Jesuits themselves were not permitted to carry out their work in this inviting field. The growing hostility to the order in Europe led to their expulsion from the Spanish dominions in 1767, and on February 3, 1768, the Jesuits in California were all forcibly removed.
The principal work of the Jesuit missionaries in North America was done in Canada and the other possessions of France. Previous to 1629 there had been some progress