NVNC ad id venio, quod secundo loco proposui, vt scilicet explicem, quanam tandem via Societas missionem in hanc prouinciam obtinuerit. Et quidem nostri [19] Burdigalenses pro suo animarum zelo à multis retro annis huc respectârant, huc intenderant, vt miseræ nationi opem ferrent: sed pios eorum & ardentes conatus, quos periculi facies non terreret, diu subsidiorum ad agendum inopia frustrata est. Restituta demum in Galliam Societate, agere seriò per P. Cotonum cum Magno Henrico cœperunt, sibi vt liceret in his quoque regionibus laborare, & amplexus est Rex Societatis amans tam piam & propensam voluntatem, sed nihilominus tamen vtilibus consilijs longa adhuc & odiosa mora interuenit. Nulli adhuc Galli regionem incolebant, commorandi animo, & qui antè à Rege missus fuerat, explorandi tentandíque caussâ, alienus à sacris nostris erat, & ijs postmodum rebus, non solùm infectis, sed etiam prope desperatis domum in Galliam redijt: iussit tamen Princeps inuictus ne desponderemus animum, mittendi solùm destinarentur, moniturum se cùm maturum foret; atque adeò vt arrha quædam esset sponsionis, pecuniam ex eo tēpore in [20] viaticum assignauit. Sed hæc agentibus, ecce pij Regis funesta mors intercedit. Nō defuit DEVS sub idem anni tempus: ad nouum regem nuntij rediêrunt ab eo, qui anno superiore in has sibi terras coloniā depoposcerat. Now I shall enter upon my second topic and explain by what means the Society finally secured the sending of a mission to this province. It is true that our adherents at [19] Bordeaux, in their zeal for the saving of souls, had looked forward to this, and had aimed at this for many years back, namely, at bringing help to this wretched race. But their pious and ardent efforts, which recoiled before no danger, were long frustrated by lack of means for prosecuting them. When our Society was at last re-admitted into France, they began to negotiate in earnest with Henry the Great, through Father Coton, to obtain permission to labor in these regions also, and the King, so full of good-will toward our Society, espoused this pious and important project; but, nevertheless, the taking of active steps was preceded by a long and vexatious delay. No Frenchmen as yet inhabited this region with the purpose of settling here, and such as had been sent by the King as explorers and in a tentative way, being indifferent to our holy aims, had soon returned to France, leaving these things not only unaccomplished but even almost hopeless. But our Prince, undeterred by these considerations, bade us be of good heart, and promised, if we would but designate those who were to be sent, that he would let us know when he deemed the time opportune; and, as an earnest of his promise, from that time forward he assigned to us a sum of money for the [20] voyage. But at this point, unhappily, occurred the tragic death of the King.