The Spirit of the Early Missionary [pp. 794-802]

THE SPIRIT OF THE EARLY MISSIONAR Y. [Mar.,
THE SPIRIT OF THE EARLY MISSIONARY.
BY REV. S. B. HEDGES.
[~~ tOMPARED with the field offered for research in re gard to the wondrous apostolic labors of the
I[[ | early missionaries in the United States, the
ji sum stotal of investigation is as nothing. Nor
is saying this a reflection on the invaluable and
exhaustive labors of John Gilmary Shea. Standing in Bishop's
Hall at Notre Dame University, in November, I890, conversing
with Dr. Shea on the many and valuable historical relics therein contained, and of the vast field of historical study pertaining
exclusively to Catholic subjects open to the American scholar,
the distinguished historian said: "This is but a beginning for
us as Catholics in the way of collecting relics. The real investigation as to facts by Catholic scholars is hardly begun."
These words from the lips of John Gilmary Shea struck me
as more than significant in view of his own extensive works
appertaining to these subjects; nor does it seem less significant
how slight an impression Dr. Shea's writings seem to have
produced. Nor less significant is the fact that the distinguished historian's most exhaustive work in this field, the result of ten years of labor, was undertaken at the suggestion
of the eminent non-Catholic scholar, President Sparks. Doubtless the awaking of a zealous missionary spirit so evidently
present among all classes of the clergy, the more ample opportunity for study and investigation offered by our seats of learning as they pass from the formative stage to a securer and
more permanent establishment, will in the near future be productive of fruit-bearing studies. Of the two, the historian and
the missionary, the latter is not the least interested. The
unflagging zeal, the absolute disinterestedness, the burning love
for souls, the heroic labors, the hardships, the lonely wandering
from tribe to tribe through the forest primeval, the sickness and
lonely death under the trees on the banks of some unknown
stream, or worse, an awful burning at the stake or death from
the cruel blow of a tomahawk, surely all this may inflame the
missionary's heart with divine love and a zeal for souls. Nor
should what would seem the utter failure of the noble efforts
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