terrupted. The missionaries are at present more comfortably lodged than they were formerly; their arduous labors, however, allow them but little time to enjoy the sweets of
a convenient dwelling. The churches too are now more commodious and more substantially built, so that the se verity of winter is less dreaded. Their fare is not always of the most delicate kind, but it is nourishing, abundant and wholesome. The Indians are in general good and tractable and after baptism often zealous and fervent; yet their early habits and their roving disposition make it difficult, if not impossible, to accustom them to the manners of a more civil
ized life. Their nature should, perhaps, be less blamed for this than the circumstances of their location.
The Indian, like every other being, stands in need of food to support life and of raiment to protect him against the inclemency of the weather. If these accessories cannot be found in the neighborhood, he is obliged to go in search of them elsewhere; and until by some means or other this obstacle is removed, the same difficulties will continue to exist and produce the same baneful results; for it can easily be imagined that it is impossible for the missionaries to maintain at their own expense whole tribes of Indians. Consequently they must see their flocks scattered and exposed to the ravenousness of the wolves without enjoying the benefit of that spiritual aid so necessary to a Christian's life.
Our endeavors, however, have certainly not been fruitless. The great number of souls that are every year cleansed in the regenerating waters of baptism; the sick who are attended in their dying hour and strengthened with the holy sacraments for their journey to the other life, and finally the hardships and destitution of the missionaries endured for the love of him who laid down his life for his brethren: all this, I say, is fruit enough (whatever Protestants may say of the " no permanent result of Catholic missions ") and prepares the missionaries, if not for a reward in this life, for imperishable laurels in the next world.