In looking back over the work of the missionaries in New France,
it would seem that their visible harvest was a scant one, since
the Indian races for whom they toiled have disappeared from
history and are apparently doomed to extinction. This, of
course, is due to natural causes over which the priests had no
control and which they would thankfully have had otherwise. It
cannot be questioned that their work operated for the benefit of
the natives. But the priceless contribution of the missionaries
lies in the example which they gave to the world. During the
greater part of two centuries in the wilds they bore themselves
manfully and fought a good fight. In all that time not one of
all the men in that long procession of missionaries is known to
have disgraced himself or to have played the coward in the face
of danger or disaster. The influence of the priests, however,
was not confined to the Indians. It permeated the whole colony
and lives to the present day. In no country in the world is
there a more peaceable