New Britain herald., 1929-02-09
STAMPS REFLECT RELIGIOUS HISTORY
Christopher Columbus Shown Planting Casiian Gross in t4s2
BY KERMET E. PARKER

In spite of the present tendency to minimize the purely religious dif- ferences which were formerly stressed in explaining the reasons for the settlement of this continent and the modern insistency upon economic pressure as the prime motivation. the religious element has not been entirely crowded out of the picture. and this phase has found expression on the postage stamps of the United States and its neighbor nations.
 In fact, Christopher Columbus. the acknowledged discoverer of America, brought Christianity to its shores nt the very start. He was a religious man and gave religious names to most of the places he found, and on several stamps issued about 1892 by the various American republics he is shown planting the cross or the cross-emblazoned banner of Castile upon the newly found shores. Pope Divided . World The Pope divided the New World
 between Spain and Portugal, setting
 up an arbitrary line and awarded
 Spain all land to the west. Portugal
 all to the east. Portugal got poor
 break from this, as Brazil was the only territory east of the line. This papal division is reflected in stamps, as the labels of Brazil are inscribed in Portuguese: those of the other South and Central American repub- lies, in Spanish.
 The Jesuits, religious organiza- ttion to spread the teachings of Jesus, played a large part in the ex- ploration of this country. In their efforts to Christianize the natives they pushed far inland and were among the great explorers. One of these was the Frenchman, Jacques Marquette. Jesuit father who was sent to Canada in 1666 and worked about the Great Lakes for few years. He accompanied Joliet on an expedition which traced its way down Lake Michigan, over portages and down rivers. and finally down the Mississippi as far as Arkansas. The 1-cent stamp of the United States trans- Mississippi issue 1sss) shows him on the Mississippi river He died in the course of q second journey.
 The Struggle In Canada The struggle between France and I'r0 0lo AAv n}Ao Nf the northern half of the new hemis- phere had it's repercussions in re- ligious strife. Canada was first set- tied by French Catholics; the lands of the south. by Englishmen largely of Protestant faith. The two mother countries came to grips in the New World, and at the battle of Quebec. on the plains of Abraham, in 173e. the English General Wolfe defeated the Frenchman Montcalm and won Canada for Britain. These generals. who both died in this decisive battle. arc portrayed on a French stamp issued in 1908. The Catholic French Canadians resisted English rule far into the 18th century. and being largely poorly educated group. took little part in the government With the spread of education, how ever, their condition improved and at last one of them, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, becam. prime minister. He is shown on 7. Canadian stamp Of 1928. The two factions now live peaceably together and have at tained equality. fact shown by the fact that the new Canadian stamps issued this month bear all inscrip- tions in both English and French.
 Princess Pocalonta~
 The Indian princess. Pocahontas has long been a heroine of history and legend. Her feat of saving the life of Captain John Smith is now considered as possibly apocrphal. but she has valid claim to one dis
 tinction-that of being the first In- dian Christianized by the English settlers on this continent. She mar ried John Rolfe tnot John Smith) and among their descendants are i many Of the First Families Of Nir- ginia.' Pocahontas has been pic tured on the 5-cent stamp of the Jamestown Exposition issue of the United States in 1907.
 The Pilgrims. dissenters from the Church of England who settled the New England coast, were honored i by a special series of three stamps in 1920 and in 1924 the settlement of the southern coast by the Hugue- nots and Walloons prosecuted French and Belgian Protestants- was similarly commemorated. Each series was issued 800 years after the event it celebrated.
 Did Washington Pray?, There has been great discussion lately regarding whether George Washington was devout Christian,