PLACE DE LA CROIX. 241 
Church” to mingle her sacred symbols with those of 
arms ; and they went joined together through the wilds 
of America. 
Among the beautiful and striking customs of those 
days, was the erection of the Cross at the mouths of 
rivers, and prominent points of land, that presented them- 
selves to the discoverers. 
The sacred symbol thus reared in solitude, seemed 
to shadow forth the future, when the dense forests would 
be filled with its followers, instead of the wild savage ; 
and it cheered the lonely pilgrim in his dangerous jour- 
neys, bringing to his mind all the cherished associations 
of this life, and directing his thoughts to another world. 
In the putting up of these crosses, as they bore the arms 
of the sovereign whose subjects erected them, and as 
they were indicative of civil jurisdiction and empire, the 
most prominent and majestic locations were selected, 
where they could be seen for miles around, towering 
above every other object, speaking the advances of the 
Kuropean, and giving title to the lands over which they 
cast their shadows. | 
Three hundred years ago the sign of the cross was 
first raised on the banks of the Mississippi. 
From one of the few bluffs or high points of land 
that border that swift-running river, De Soto, guided by 
the aborigines of the country, was the first European 
that looked upon its turbid waters, soon to be his grave. 
On this ent taking advantage of a lofty cotton- 

