It does not fall within the scope of this little sketch, in which
nothing more has been aimed at than to tell an interesting story in the
simplest possible way, to enter into any discussion of a question to
which what has just been said might naturally seem to lead - the
question, namely, of the results, immediate and remote, of the mission
system in California. The widely divergent conclusions on this subject
registered by the historians will, on investigation, be found, as in
most such cases, to depend quite as much upon bias of mind and
preconceived ideals, as upon the bare facts presented, concerning which,
one would imagine, there can hardly be much difference of opinion. To
decide upon the value of a given social experiment, we must, to begin
with, wake up our minds as to what we should wish to see achieved; and
where there is no unanimity concerning the object to be reached, there
will scarcely be any in respect of the means employed. It is not to be
wondered at, therefore, that critical judgment upon the Franciscan
missionaries and their work has been given here in terms of unqualified
laudation, and there in the form of severest disapproval, and that
everyone who touches the topic afresh is expected to take sides. In
their favor it must, I think, be universally admitted that they wrought
always with the highest motives and the noblest intentions, and that
their labours were really fruitful of much good among the native tribes.
On the other hand, when regarded from the standpoint of secular
progress, it seems equally certain that their work was sadly hampered by
narrowness of outlook and understanding, and an utter want of
appreciation of the demands and conditions of the modern world. Thus
while we give them the fullest credit for all that they accomplished by
their teachings and example, we have still frankly to acknowledge their
failure in the most important and most difficult part of their
undertaking - in the task of transforming many thousands of ignorant and