The Portland daily press., 1871-01-03
DAILY PRESS.
PORTLAND.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 1871.


We commonly and justly, too, date the SET
tement OF our country from the English col.
onizatOn at jamestown and at Plymouth, for
it is mott be doubted that our language, laws
and customs, our institutions civil, religious
aud social; our civilization, In all its aspects
and relations, are, In every essential charac-
ter, eminently English. As we now, each
year, incorporate into the body polite, and, In
manner, assimiate thousands OF other than
English descent. without perceiving any ma
terial effect upon the character of our people,
so the Efforts of the Spanish, the French and
the Dutch, in colonizing America, are known
to US almost solely from the records of the
past; and, so imperfect vas their knowledge
OF the country, so great the changes since
wrought that we find it difficult TO identity
these familiar shores with the scene of their
labor and their losses, their hopes and disap.
pointments. Rarely now do we meet with
traces of the French occupation of the coun-
try along the great lakes and rivers OF the
Northwest, during period Of one hundred
and twenty. five years, previous to l760. A
few French names of old trading posts and Of
streams which were The highways ct travel
and of traffic remain. Here and there may
be found the decaying timbers OF an humble
log chapel which once bore the cross, and
about which gathered the sava,es to particle
pate in the service Of the holy Catholic church
At places may be seen the moulderng fUun-
dations of that line Of military posts which
stretched from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf
Upon the Missouri and its tribut aries, one
often meets with those whose features, COM
plexion snd language will establish their lust
claim to French or Indian descent. as they
may choose. But, because the attempts OF
the French 10 colonize America within the
limits of the United States, proved so iuef-
fectual, we should not hasten to conclude that
those who engaged in the work showed less
OF heroic daring, Of persistent effort. of lofty
purpose or OF undoubtlng faith, than did our
ancestors, who, bv these very qualities. on the
shores OF Plymouth. won for themselves the
admiration OF succeeding ages. In.eed, it
will appear, think, to many persons OF gen.
erous feeling and unbiased judgment, that the
otAnS VI VIC Coiiy JCS0ie tul>SiOudllC9 WeIc tOO
lofty, and their motives too unselish to admit
OF the accomplishment Of their plans for the
colonization OF America.
The length OF time during which two rival
nations. having different languages, systems of
government and religious sympathtes, were
contending for supremacy in the Mississippi
valley, renders that period one of great his.
toric interest. The prizes offered were spleu.
did. the theatre magnificent, and from what
we know OF the French and English nations
Of that day, we should expect their repre.en-
tatlves upon this continent 10 bear themselves
worthy in the contest. RELIGIOUS enthusiasm
and instances of individual herosm lend the
charm Of romance to the annals of those ear
ly Flench colonies.
But the authentic history of the struggle is
comparatively recent. McMnlen, in his His
tory OF Canada" and Gayarre, in his "Hstory
of Louisiana" both view 1t from standpoint
from which the conduct OF the Jesuits is seen
in the fairest light. The American public Is
Likely to adopt the judgment of our own able
historian, Parkman, who, in the four works
whose titles are given below, introduces us TO
the matters of prominent interest in that pc.
riod. His books will give satisfaction to those
who bave previously studied its history, while
those who have not will find in them matter
of peculiar interest. If he errs in anything it
is in forgetting this, that although the relis-
ious rites of Jesuit missionaries seem to US
supremely ridiculous; yet, to those devoted
men, they were of the most serious import.
]. b. G.
Tho Conspiracy OF Pontiac and the Indian War af-
tea the Conquest OF Can ada, SIKH Edition.
Tie Pioneer OF France in the New World-seventh
Edition
The Jesuits In North Amerlca-Fifth Elition.
The Discovery Of tie Great West-Fourth Edition.
Boston, ls71-Iittle, Brown & Co.