Morice was born and raised in France. As a seminarian he was inspired by Father Émile Petitot and set himself the goal of becoming a missionary and explorer in Northwestern Canada. He arrived in British Columbia in 1880, and in 1885 he was posted to Fort St. James, the fur trading and missionary center in the Carrier (Dakelh) region. Father Morice rapidly learned the Carrier language and became the only missionary to speak more than rudimentary Carrier. Within a few months of his arrival he created the first writing system for Carrier.

Map of North America from 20 to 80 Degrees North Latitude
Exhibiting the recent Discoveries, Geographical and Nautical;
Drawn chiefly from the Authorities of M. de Humbolt, Lieut. Pike, Messrs. Lewis and Clarke, Sir Alexr. Mackenzie, Mr. Hearne, Coll. Bouchette, Captns. Vancouver, Ross, Parry & Franklin.
also describing the Boundary Lines between the
Territories of Great Britain & Spain with the United States.
London
Published by Ja. Wyld, successor to W. Faden, No.5 Charing Cross.
Geographer to His Majesty; and to H.R.H. the Duke of York.
June 1st. 1823.

James Wyld [1812–1887] was a British geographer and map-seller.