Nor Is The Popular Conception That The Church Led The Way Into California Strange, When We Understand That It Is To The Writings Of Fray Francisco Palou, Friend, Disciple, And Successor Of Junipero, That All Historians Turn For The Account Of The Occupation.

Fray Palou details the glorious life of the leader with whom he toiled; he eulogizes the worthy priest, the

Ardent missionary, as he passed up and down the length of the land, founding missions, planting the vine, the olive, and the fruit tree in a land whose inhabitants had often suffered from hunger; giving aid and comfort to the sick and weary and consolation to the dying. Indeed, the pictures of the padres are fascinating. The infant establishments planted by the church grew rich and powerful, but so wise and gentle was the administration of the priests and so generous their hospitality, that life in California in the first quarter of the nineteenth century was an almost dolce far niente existence.

Radiant as is the priestly figure of Junipero drawn by Palou, the careful investigator will find that the impelling factor in the occupation of California was stern military necessity, not missionary zeal. From the time of Cabrillo, Spain had claimed the coasts of the Pacific up to forty-two degrees north latitude by right of discovery, but more than two hundred years had passed and she had done nothing towards making good this right by settlement. The country was open to colonization by any nation strong enough to maintain and protect its colonies.

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