Excerpt from History of the Society of Jesus in North America, Vol. 2: Colonial and Federal This volume of Jesuit history covers more than a century of missionary activity in North America. It extends from the time of Cromwellian disturbances in the middle of the seventeenth to the period of the American Revolution in the eighteenth century. At this latter date, French Canada had come under British rule; the Society of Jesus was temporarily suppressed; and revolution severed the English colonies from Great Britain. In the growing settlements which were destined to become the United States of America, the history of Jesuits was that of the nascent Catholic Church. No other body of Catholic clergy, secular or regular, appeared on the ground till more than a decade of years had passed after the American Revolution. The field of missionary labour during colonial times comprised Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York. The operation of many cramping agencies, which were at work to stop the growth of Popery and to restrain Jesuits, imparted to this story of religious development a form peculiar to the colonies. It was not that of a missionary body founding institutions, expanding them, and enjoying the breath of popular sympathy or the favour which Government showed to certain religious societies. The conditions of existence for Catholic missionaries were those of being scarcely able to obtain a footing, or of being suffered to breathe. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.