1632-1700.] JESUIT MISSIONARIES. 55 



our highest admiration ; but when we seek for the 

 results of these toils and sacrifices, we shall seek 

 in vain. Patience and zeal were thrown away upon 

 lethargic minds and stubborn hearts. The repoits 

 of the Jesuits, it is true, display a copious list of 

 conversions ; but the zealous fathers reckoned the 

 number of conversions by the number of baptisms ; 

 and, as Le Clercq observes, with no less truth than 

 candor, an Indian would be baptized ten times a 

 day for a pint of brandy or a pound of tobacco. 

 Neither can more flattering conclusions be drawn 

 from the alacrity which they showed to adorn their 

 persons with crucifixes and medals. The glitter 

 of the trinkets pleased the fancy of the warrior ; 

 and, with the emblem of man's salvation pendent 

 from his neck, he was often at heart as thorough a 

 heathen as when he wore in its place a necklace 

 made of the dried forefingers of his enemies. At 

 the present day, with the exception of a few insig- 

 nificant bands of converted Indians in Lower Can- 

 ada, not a vestige of early Jesuit influence can be 

 found among the tribes. The seed was sown upon 

 a rock.^ 



While the church was reaping but a scanty har- 

 vest, the labors of the missionaries were fruitful 

 of profit to the monarch of France. The Jesuit 

 led the van of French colonization ; and at Detroit, 

 Michillimackinac, St. Mary's, Green Bay, and other 

 outposts of the west, the establishment of a mission 

 was the precursor of military occupancy. In other 



1 For remarks on the futility of Jesuit missionary efforts, see Halkett, 

 Historical Notes, Chap. IV. 



