The Spanish in the Southwest . of the Missions 155 can be no question about the earnestness and sincereintentions of the priests. They braved all the hardshipsof life in a new country in their honest desire to improvethe condition of the Indians. They did not doubt thatthey were taking the right way to accomplish theirobject. They must not be judged by the standards ofto-day nor of our coun-try. They were Span-iards ; they lived in theeighteenth century; andSpain at that time wasbehind the rest of theworld. They believedthat the Indians had noneed to think for them-selves, but that theyshould
The Spanish in the Southwest . of the Missions 155 can be no question about the earnestness and sincereintentions of the priests. They braved all the hardshipsof life in a new country in their honest desire to improvethe condition of the Indians. They did not doubt thatthey were taking the right way to accomplish theirobject. They must not be judged by the standards ofto-day nor of our coun-try. They were Span-iards ; they lived in theeighteenth century; andSpain at that time wasbehind the rest of theworld. They believedthat the Indians had noneed to think for them-selves, but that theyshould be guided ineverything; that theirhappiest life was to dojust what the churchtold them and in justthe way the churchdirected. The priestsstood for the churchin the lives of natives,consequently it was thepriests who were to be obeyed. If the Indians disobeyedthey must be punished for their own good, since it mighthelp bring them into a happier life. With all the fanati-cism of Spaniards of their day the missionaries labored to. Stairway to choir, San Gabriel 156 The Missions of Alt a California teach the natives. They were earnest and genuine, andmany of them were kind and affectionate. There are fewmen of to-day who would be willing to undergo the hard-ships, discouragements, and isolation, so bravely andcheerily met by the priests of Alta California. Never-theless, their system was touched by the blight and decaywhich fell upon everything that Spain tried to do in theNew World. Out of the very enthusiasm of the mission-aries grew the enslavement of the Indians. The mission era from 1769 to 1834 divides naturallyinto two periods. The first covers about forty years,from the foundation to the early part of the next century,somewhere about 1810. This has been called the era ofcalm ; the second, from near the first of the centuryuntil the downfall of the missions, was a period of resist-ance. During the first em the Indians were slowly learningfamily life, obedience, and industry,
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