The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 62, July 1958 - April, 1959 Page: 257
617 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Notes and Documents
My Reverend Father,
The account that they have made to me of Your Reverence at
Natchitoches, the perfect veneration that I have for your order and
the esteem that I hold for the Spanish nation, are the motives which
induce me to write to you in order to offer to you my services in the
post of the Nassonites, where I have the honor of commanding for
the King, our master. Our proximity redoubles in me the desire that
I have for seeing you and of serving you. It will not be my fault, my
Reverend Father, if I do not go soon to the Assinais to beg of you
your friendship; I desire even with ardor that we keep up a regular
correspondence between us, and that it may be useful to the augmen-
tation of your missions. The conversion of the infidels ought to have
the attention of the good Christians. I know that aids are necessary
there in order to be in a position for preaching the Gospel to them,
and to bring the infidels under the standard of the Cross. Your fervor
is great; but you have need of assistance. Touched by these reflections,
I have the honor of offering to you a singular and certain means for
succeeding there; write to your friends in New Mexico, in Paral and
in the Kingdom of New Leon44 that they will find at the Nassonites or
at Natchitoches all the merchandise of Europe, of which they could
have need, at a reasonable price, upon which they will make undoubt-
edly considerable profits. I am setting the prices for them, with the
proviso that you shall receive from me five per cent of the total sales.
Here is, my reverend Father, a singular means for opening com-
merce, for rendering service to many persons, who are in need of
merchandise and whom the distance from Europe does not permit
to have such for a long time. Receive them, my reverend Father,
a sure means of establishing your missions with solidity and the offers
which come from a heart truly devoted to your Reverence, in which
charity has a greater part than all other interest.
I have the honor of praying to you also to secure for me ten cows
and two bulls for using at my habitation, and as I know that you have
need for corn and beans, Your Reverence can send here to look for
that which he will wish. The carrier of the present letter is the cor-
poral of the troops of this garrison, to whom you can confide your
letters; he will deliver to you on my part ten pieces of Bretagne45
and one piece of Dama,4" which I take the liberty of presenting to
you. I am my Reverend Father, very completely, etc.
Texas, which was the headquarters of the three Zacatecan Franciscan missions in
East Texas.
44Nouveau Royaume de Ledn.
4SCloth of Brittany.
46Damask, or cloth of Damascus.257
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 62, July 1958 - April, 1959, periodical, 1959; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101173/m1/302/?rotate=270: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.