THE ROMANCE OF MONTEREY o9
fifty-six, after several years at the Franciscan college of San Fernando at Mexico City, and a number of years at the Missions of northeastern Mexico, he was appointed President of the California Missions, and as such, joined
Portola in the Monterey expedition.
In Serra was centered a rare combination of religious zeal of almost fanatical intensity, a gift of persuasive speech, high intellectual endowment, untiring and ceaseless energy, sound and practical judgment, and execu-
