The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents Volume 18

PREFACE TO VOL. XVIII

Following is a synopsis of the documents contained in the present volume:

XXXVIII. Joseph Marie Chaumonot writes to the Father General (May 24, 1640) a brief letter, sketching the state of the Huron mission. It has thirteen priests, with several donnés; it comprises thirty-two villages, “in which not a single cabin remains where the Gospel has not been proclaimed.” The missionaries have been frequently persecuted, but none have yet perished.

XXXIX. Two days later (May 26), Chaumonot writes to Father Nappi, of Rome, a more detailed account of the mission, —the manner in which the Fathers live, their methods of work, the characteristics of the savages, the persecution experienced from them, and the ravages of the epidemic. He then narrates the miraculous cure of two blind persons by one of the missionaries, and the details of several baptisms. The death of an Iroquois prisoner, by torture, is described; and allusion is made to the possibility that some of the missionaries may meet similar treatment from the Iroquois. Chaumonot sends greetings to many of his friends by name, and closes by asking for some masses and communions, of which the missionaries are often deprived. [Page 1]

XL. This is another letter by Chaumonot to Nappi, dated August 3 of the same year. The writer describes a missionary journey made by him with Brébeuf to a tribe where the Gospel has not before been preached. Here they are met with distrust and aversion, arising from the same calumnies that had so endangered them among the Hurons. Their books are considered as repositories of magic spells; and the missionaries are suspected of concocting these spells even when they kneel in prayer. They are repeatedly threatened with death; but God protects them from their enemies. This mission has little effect, except that they succeed in baptizing many sick children, without the knowledge of their relatives; many of these are now in heaven. Chaumonot does not give the name of this tribe; but, from the Huron Relation of 1641 (chap. vi.) we learn that it was the Attiwandaronk or Neutral Nation. The letter closes by relating several acts of heroism, among the Hurons, remarkable in “poor infidels without morality.”

XLI. The Relation of 1640 is a composite. In 1639, Barthelemy Vimont succeeded Le Jeune as superior of the order in New France, and his name appears on the title-page of the annual volume. He seems, however, to have only edited the Relation, or, perhaps only forwarded the matter to Paris for publication by the provincial; for Part I., the Quebec portion, is still from the pen of Le Jeune (dated September 10); and Part II., the Huron report, is by Jerome Lalemant (dated May 27, with a postscript written August 3). In our present volume, we publish the first ten chapters of Part I., by Le Jeune.

The report opens with a synopsis of Father Ménard’s account of the voyage made by the French fleet this year, which also brought over Joseph du Peron and some lay brethren, and additional nuns for both convents at Quebec; all these were heartily welcomed there. The writer warns the nuns who desire to come to Canada that the country is not ready for them, and that they must await its development. The great object of the missionaries now is, to render the savages sedentary; four families of them are at present living in the cabins built for them by the French.

Le Jeune praises the virtue and piety of the colonists. He relates that a plague of grasshoppers and other insects was immediately driven away by some prayers and processions. The people enjoy good health; the soil is prolific; peace and content prevail. By way of diversion for the people, and honor to the infant Dauphin of France, Montmagny has a miracle play or “tragi-comedy” performed, under the charge of Martial Piraube. For the benefit of the savages, there is introduced therein “the soul of an unbeliever, pursued by two demons, who finally hurl it into a hell which vomits forth flames. The struggles, cries, and shrieks of this soul and of these demons, who speak in the Algonquin tongue, so deeply penetrates the hearts of some,” that a savage, two days later, tells of hideous dreams, inspired by the spectacle.

Now that the epidemic of smallpox (described in the Relation of 1639) is over, the savages reassemble at St. Joseph (Sillery), and resume their effort to become sedentary. Those who are converted decide among themselves to drive away from this settlement all who do not believe as they do. Acting on the [Page 3] advice of the Fathers and a suggestion from Montmagny, the governor, they elect, by secret ballot, some chiefs to rule over them, —the head of these being Etinechkavat, a Christian. They not only make all necessary arrangements for the conduct of their affairs, but summon the women to a council and admonish them to be forthwith baptized —the disinclination of the latter to that rite having been “the cause of all their misfortunes.” The women are warned that hereafter they must obey their husbands; one of them, having run away, is caught, and the chiefs ask the Fathers if she would not better be chained by one foot, and whether four days and nights of fasting would be sufficient penance for her fault.

The Indians have now begun to cultivate the land. Father Vimont, the new superior, is residing at Sillery, in order to aid them; and the French colonists have also done much in this direction. Some Algonkins also are settling at Three Rivers. At both settlements, the converts desire to interest their tribesmen in their undertaking, and to gather them into the colonies, to be aided by the French, and to have but one God. Several instances are given of the faith, obedience, and virtue displayed by these neophytes. The chief difficulty anticipated by the Fathers is, in the enforcement of single marriage, to which the savages are unaccustomed. In this, as in all other matters, Montmagny aids the missionaries to the utmost, —causing three marriages of Sillery Indians to take place at Quebec, with a magnificent feast and rich gifts for the bridal party. Many of the young Indians come to the Fathers “in private, and ask us to find them wives, or to speak for them [Page 4] to those whom they desire to marry; some widows, and even some young girls, ask us secretly to find them husbands, confiding in us more than in those of their own nation.” All the converts show great solicitude to avoid the sins they have abandoned, especially the licentious acts and speech so prevalent among their countrymen; and the girls drive away their pagan suitors with firebrands.

Madame de la Peltrie comes to Sillery at Christmas, to attend the midnight mass with the savages; the latter go to escort her thither, and “vie in caressing her.” She often visits them, at other seasons, and takes with her some Indian girls from the Ursuline seminary, who have learned to sing very sweetly, both in their own language and in French. The converts show great zeal, —they refuse to eat on fast days, even when in great need; they thank God when successful in hunting; they are very contrite for their faults, and even for their evil dreams. The children are ready to fight one another for their belief. A young man is severely punished by the Sillery converts, for having married an un-baptized girl; and “two boys, who came late to prayers in the morning, were punished by having a handful of hot cinders thrown upon their heads, with threats of greater chastisement in case the offense were repeated.” Another man gives up tobacco, when reproved by a priest. Pigarouich, erstwhile a medicine man, is immediately cured of an illness, by prayer; and the same agency enables him to make a canoe (the first he had ever built), “as well as the most expert person could have done.” Even the unbelieving Indians show the utmost respect for the Christian mysteries and belief, and imitate the actions of those [Page 5] who have been converted; some even have visions of heaven. A young Christian, having lost at gambling, confesses to the priest with great contrition; and “with charming simplicity” adds, “I will stake nothing hereafter, except some article of small value.”

Buteux sends to his superior similar accounts from the residence at Three Rivers. Many widows and orphans, made such by the fatal epidemic of last year, have come hither, to seek aid from the French. The missionaries aid these, as far as their own poverty will allow, and, in the spring, set them to raising corn for their supplies.

Le Jeune relates a terrible tragedy occurring among a household of savages who had been attacked by smallpox in the forests. Most of them died; the head of the family, —who had recently married in the savage fashion, without waiting for the Church’s, benediction, and whom, in consequence, “God was sharply pursuing with his judgments,“ —ill and helpless, was murdered by his sister, to avoid further care for him, and to flee with her own son. She at first abandoned her brother’s children, but afterward compelled the elder of these to strangle his own little sister. “But God, in whose sight all this fatal tragedy was played, willed that this Proserpina should play one act of it. He struck her with the contagion from which she was fleeing; and, before reaching the place where she wished to bring her son, she died like a beast. Finally, her son was brought to the hospital, where he died in an intolerable stench, but with strong indications of salvation.”

Le Jeune proceeds to enumerate the Indian tribes, of whom the French have knowledge, from Labrador to Hudson Bay, and from the Mississippi to [Page 8] Virginia. This survey reveals a boundless field for missionary labor, and he asks the aid of Christians in France to help spread the Gospel therein.

In this connection he states an interesting occurrence —the arrival on the St. Lawrence of an Englishman, brought hither by Abenaki Indians, who is “searching for a route through these countries to the sea of the North,” in which quest he has “for two years ranged the whole Southern coast, from Virginia to Quinebiqui.” Montmagny sends him to Tadoussac, that he may return to England by way of France.

R. G. T.

Madison, Wis., March, 1898

XXXVIII-XL

THREE LETTERS BY JOSEPH MARIE CHAUMONOT

XXXVIII.-Au T. R. P. Général de la Compagnie de Jésus; Pays des Hurons, 24 Mai, 1640

XXXIX.-Au R. P. Philippe Nappi, Supérieur de la Maison Professe, à Rome; Pays des Hurons, 26 Mai, 1640

XL.-Au même; Sainte-Marie aux Hurons, 3 Août, 1640

— — — — —

Source: The originals were in Italian, and deposited in the archives of the Society in Rome. Father Martin copied them there in 1858, and translated them into French; these translations being published in Carayon’s Première Mission des Jésuites au Canada, pp. 195-215. We follow Carayon for the French text, and our English translations are therefrom.

[195] Letter from Father Joseph Marie Chaumonot

to the Very Reverend Father Mutio Vi-

telleschi, General of the Society

of Jesus, at Rome.

(Translated from the Italian original preserved at Rome.)

From the Huron country, May 24, 1640

Y VERY REVEREND FATHER,

Pax Christi.

I arrived in the Huron country, in New France, on the 10th of September, 1639, after a very painful and dangerous voyage of three months, which was followed by a journey of another month upon rivers and lakes, and through forests.

There are thirteen Fathers of us here, all French, with some young men who are given to us for the care of temporal matters, and who with us take the place of lay brethren. Our manner of living will seem in Europe very strange and full of hardship, but we find it quite easy and agreeable. We have neither salt, oil, fruits, bread, nor wine, except what we keep for the mass. Our entire nourishment consists of [196] a sort of soup made of Indian corn, crushed between two stones, or pounded in a mortar, and seasoned with smoked fish, —this served in a large wooden dish. Our bed is the ground, covered with a piece of bark, or, at the most, with a mat.

The extent of our mission comprises this year thirty-two hamlets or villages, in which not a single [Page 11] cabin remains where the Gospel has not been proclaimed. Many savages have received baptism; most of these, the Victims of an epidemic which has ravaged the whole country, are in heaven, we hope.

This malady has been the occasion for many calumnies and persecutions, excited against us under the pretext that we were the authors of the scourge.

None of us, however, have perished in this tempest, although some have been beaten, and others have seen the hatchet raised over them, and very near to their heads.

We all have need of the help of your prayers, hence we commend ourselves humbly to your Holy Sacrifices.

I am

Your Paternity’s

Very unworthy servant and son in

Our Lord,

Joseph Marie CHAUMONOT.

From the country of the Hurons, May 24, 1640.

[Page 13]

[197] Letter of Father Joseph Marie Chaumonot

to the Reverend Father Philippe Nappi, Supe-

rior of the Professed House at Rome.

(Translated from the Italian original Preserved at Rome.)

From the country of the Hurons, May 26, 1640.

Y REVEREND FATHER,

Pax Christi.

I shall never be able sufficiently to thank the divine goodness for the favor that it has done me, by leading me through so many dangers into the most favorable place in the world for perfecting a religious. I am obliged to acquaint Your Reverence therewith, to the end that you may kindly consent to aid me in thanking the good God for it. Last year, I wrote that after three months of very difficult navigation I arrived in New France, but that I still had to proceed three hundred leagues further into the wilderness. Here follows the account of this journey.

On the eve of saint Lawrence, I embarked in a canoe of Huron savages (thus this people is called), on the great river which bears the name of [198] that glorious martyr; in some places it is ten, thirteen, twenty leagues wide, For a hundred leagues of its course its waters are salt, and the flow and ebb of tides is there perceptible: it is also subject, by reason of its width, to storms, like the Ocean.

Father Poncet embarked at the same time with me; but four days after the departure we were obliged [Page 15] to separate, leaving our first canoe in order to get into two others, singly. We were, however, to go in company, so that almost every evening we found ourselves together to sup and pass the night with the guides of our bark canoes; and often we even had the great consolation of saying the holy mass in the morning before starting; but this was the only consolation during the whole voyage, which was thirty days for me and thirty-two for Father Poncet, —the most laborious journey possible. . . . .

Having arrived at the end of this voyage, I found eleven of our Fathers, distributed in three Residences in order to be nearer to important villages, which they desire to instruct and civilize. Our habitations are of bark, like those of the savages, and without interior partitions, except for the chapel. For want of a table and household utensils, we eat on the ground, and drink from the bark of trees. The whole apparatus of our kitchen and of our refectory [199] consists of a great wooden dish, full of sagamité, whereto I see nothing more similar than the paste which is used in covering walls. Thirst hardly annoys us, —either because we never use salt, or because our food is always very liquid. As for me, since I have been here, I have not drunk in all a glass of water, although it is now eight months since I arrived. Our bed is made with a piece of bark, upon which we put a blanket nearly the thickness of a Florentine piastre. Respecting sheets, there is no mention of them, even for the sick. But the greatest inconvenience is the smoke, which, for want of a chimney, fills the whole cabin and spoils everything that one would keep. When certain winds blow, it is no longer possible to stay therein, because of the [Page 17] pain felt by the eyes. In winter, we have no other light by night than that of the cabin fire, which serves us for reciting our breviary, for studying the language, and for everything. By day we use the opening left at the top of the cabin, —which is at once chimney and window. Such is the manner of living in our residence; as for the one that we observe when we go on a mission, Your Reverence must know, to begin with, that although these savages practice among themselves certain rules of hospitality, with us they [200] apply them not. We are, therefore, obliged to carry with us a few little knives, awls, rings, needles, earrings, and such like things, to pay our hosts. We carry furthermore a blanket in the guise of a cloak, which serves to wrap us in at night.

The way of announcing the word of God to the savages is not to mount a pulpit and preach in a public square; we must visit each cabin in private, and beside the fire expound, to those who are willing to listen to us, the mysteries of our holy faith. They have, in fact, no other place of meeting, for transacting their affairs, than the cabin of some one of their captains.

I should never have imagined a hardness like that of a savage heart, brought up in infidelity. When they are convinced of the folly of their superstitions and of their fables, and when one has proved to them the truth and the wisdom of the faith, it would be necessary, in order to finish winning them, to promise them that baptism will give them prosperity and long life, —these poor peoples being susceptible only to temporal goods. That does not result from [Page 19] stupidity; they are even more intelligent than our rustics, and there are certain captains whose eloquence we admire, —acquired without many precepts of rhetoric. [201] Their obstinacy in infidelity is produced by the difficulty which they think to find in the observance of the commandments, and especially of the sixth.

The small number of faithful ones whom Our Lord has chosen for himself, is a proof of what grace can do in the most barbarous hearts on the earth. I know one who this year, at the moment when the hostilities against religion were most keen, did not fear to make the round, as an apostle, of nearly all the villages. He went into the assemblies and the councils of the captains, when they were transacting some business, and boldly censured their follies. He exalted the solidity of the doctrine which the “black gowns” (thus they call us) had come to teach them; protesting that he was ready to give his life to defend it. His hearers then applauded his remarks; but they did not therefore embrace the truth which they acknowledged. This same Savage requested to make a retreat, and he profited by this so well that the Father, who gave him the meditations, was strangely amazed thereat. If his spiritual reflections be written in the French Relation, they may serve as a lesson even to the most pious and to the most fervent religious. He had in his family a niece, attacked by some sickness or other, which at night caused her to utter frightful cries, as if she had seen some spectre. [202] To relieve her, he put his chaplet about her neck, saying to her: “Remember that thou art a Christian, and that thou belongest no more to the demon; and make the sign of the cross.” She did so [Page 21] and from that moment forward, she was not again tormented by the like trouble.

It would be too tedious to relate all the heroic examples of constancy which this Savage and some others of our converts, though in small number, have given us. But this is enough to show Your Reverence that God does not refuse his grace, even to the most savage of men, and that these peoples are capable of receiving the doctrine of the Gospel, notwithstanding the very great difficulty of explaining it, on account of the poverty of the language; for they have neither vineyards nor flocks, nor towers nor cities, nor salt, nor lamps, nor temples, nor masters of any science or art. They can neither read nor write, and we have much difficulty in making them understand the parables which are related to these matters in the holy Gospel. It is true that this defect and this poverty of their language has never been a cause. of the delay in their conversion; for the Fathers who know their language enable them to understand well enough that which is necessary for salvation, without using these comparisons.

Last winter, there was not a single cabin [203] in our thirty-two villages into which the word of God was not carried; but the results have been greater for the Church triumphant than for the Church militant. As there prevailed a contagious disease which spared neither age nor sex, all our care was to catechize the sick, in order to give them at the end of their life a passport for heaven. The greatest number of those whom this malady carried off, after holy baptism, were the little children. . . . .

The Savages have held several very crowded assemblies, to consider means for compelling us to [Page 23] leave the country. Many captains have voted our death; but not one has dared to become the executioner therein, and hitherto God has preserved us from their attacks. During the whole winter we were expecting every day to learn the death of some one of our missionaries; and each day, while saying the holy mass, we received the communion, as if it were to serve as viaticum. Everything ended in a few blows from a club, and in the vexation of seeing the crosses overturned which we had set up, and one of our cabins reduced to ashes. A single one of ours has seen his blood flow, sed non usque ad mortem.....

When we visit these poor people, if they do not arrive in time to close the door [204] to our noses, they stop their ears and cover their faces, for fear of being bewitched. All that gives us much hope that one day the faith will flourish in this unhappy land, since the persecutions which God uses to establish and cultivate it are not wanting for us.

The harvest promises much, not only on account of the number of our Savages, but because there are many other nations spread abroad in these immense solitudes. We already know the names of more than twenty, which are in the direction of the Northern sea, —not at all considerable, however; we are led to hope that, beyond, we shall find more populous regions. To arrive there, it will be necessary to suffer still more than we have done in order to come here.

Before finishing, I wish to relate to Your Reverence some extraordinary incidents which happened this year. A poor man, baptized in his sickness, having recovered health, was attacked with an inflammation which deprived him of sight. One of our [Page 25] Fathers, congratulating him one day for having escaped death, received the answer that now life was a. burden for him, since he was blind. The Father washed his eyes with holy water, saying: “May the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, in whom thou believest, heal thee;” and at the same moment the inflammation ceased, [205] and the next day his sight was completely restored. A woman having been unwilling to submit to certain superstitions, was struck with blindness by the demon, to punish her, The same Father persuaded her to put her confidence in God, and to bathe herself with holy water, and she perfectly recovered sight. A young man, having been fishing with his young brother and certain others, was attacked by the enemies of their nation. As he feared more for his young brother’s death than his own, he covered him with his own body, thus protecting him against the blows that he himself received. He was led back half dead to his village. One of our Fathers happened to be there. Seeing that he was without motion and without speech, he could not aid him to die well. Notwithstanding that, he did not lose courage, and vowed some masses in honor of saint François Xavier, for the relief of this poor infidel. At the same moment the dying man’s tongue is loosed, his eyes open, and looking at heaven, he exclaims: Aondechichiai Taitene, “Thou who hast made the earth, have pity on me.” Immediately the Father instructs and baptizes him; and he died soon afterward. Another young man had, from I know not what chagrin, eaten a poisonous root, in order to commit suicide; and he was already tormented by the violence of the poison when he came to our cabin. Having there succumbed, he flings [Page 27] himself to the ground, [206] foaming, with all the signs of an approaching death. Being questioned about the cause of his trouble, his only answer was to present the remainder of the root that he had eaten, —bidding to show it to his parents after his death. Our Fathers, warned by some Savages that this poison was deadly, make haste to instruct this wretch as quickly as possible, and baptize him, after having taken all the precautions necessary when it is a question of the baptism of adults. About half an hour later, he died by the wayside, while his parents were carrying him back to his cabin. A man, attacked by the contagion, and seeing the inefficiency of the remedies of the physicians of the country —that is to say, wizards (true or false) —stabbed himself several times in the breast. One of Ours then enters by chance into his cabin, and straightway this man calls him and asks him for baptism. The Father catechizes him, and baptizes him without delay. The new Christian says to him: “Do not believe that I have asked for baptism in the hope of prolonging my life, since I am already almost dead, —look at my wounds, and see if it is possible to escape it; it is only the hope of heaven which has impelled me to become baptized.” The Father induced him to offer an act of regret for having caused his own death. Soon afterward, he died.

Our Savages captured, less than a month ago, one [207] of their enemies; but, before being put to death, he was baptized by one of Ours, who by chance had just arrived in the village. While the Savages were tormenting this captive, he sang that he was to go to heaven. I would I could describe the tortures which they inflict upon those of the enemies [Page 29] who fall into their hands; but it is not possible to see in this world anything that better represents the way in which the demons torment the damned. As soon as they have taken a prisoner, they cut off his fingers; they tear his shoulders and his back with a knife; they bind him with very tight bonds, and lead him, —singing, and mocking at him with all the contempt imaginable. Having arrived at their village, they have him adopted by some one of those who have lost their son in the war. This feigned parent is charged with caressing the prisoner. You will see him come with a necklace in the form of hot iron, and say to him: “See here, my son; you love, I am sure, to be adorned, to appear beautiful.” While thus deriding him, he begins to torment him from the sole of the feet even to the crown of the head, with firebrands, with hot cinders, —piercing his feet and his hands with reeds or with sharp irons. When weakness no longer permits the captive to stand upright, they give him to eat, and then [208] they make him walk over the coals of several fires placed in a row. If he is exhausted, they take him by the hands and the feet, and carry him over these fires. Finally, they conduct him outside the village, and make him ascend a platform, so that all the Savages, seeing him in this lamentable plight, may satisfy their heart’s rage. In the midst of all these tortures, they invite him to sing, and the sufferer sings in order not to pass for a coward. Very rarely do they complain of the cruelty which is practiced upon them. To crown all this infernal rage, they remove the scalp from these unfortunates. After their death, they cut their bodies to pieces, and give to the principal captains the heart, the [Page 31] head, etc. The latter make presents of the same to others, to season their soup, and to feed themselves therewith, as if it were the meat of some stag or other wild animal.

We now run the risk of being captured and treated in the same manner as the Hurons, with whom we live; for we pass, each year, —either while going down to Quebec, or in coming up, —by the very places where the enemies of our Savages are on the watch to seize them in their journey; and there is hardly a year when several Hurons are not captured or killed as I have just described.

Your Reverence thereby sees that we have need of spiritual aid, [209] in order to be sheltered from so many enemies, domestic and foreign, visible and invisible, whom we encounter in the midst of these ferocious tribes.

I ought to write to many Fathers who are in your Province; but the paper and the time fail me. Wherefore I beseech Your Reverence to make good this silence, by showing this to those who shall ask about me: but especially to Our Very Reverend Father General, and to the Father Assistant for France, to whom I address this letter; but do me the kindness of correcting it beforehand, and of then having it copied by some one, —for it is too badly written to be presented to his Paternity.

Your Reverence will be kind enough to remember me to the Reverend Father Pensa, Provincial; to Father Oliva, Fathers Zucchi, Caravita, Gottefroid, Lampugnano, Fieramonti, Araña, Oddone, Conti, Giustino, Ricci, and others; besides the Fathers de Magistris and Finetti.

My Reverend Father, ask for me some masses and [Page 33] some communions, for the love of God; for, in this Mission, we are liable to be often deprived of them.

I am Your Reverence’s

Very unworthy servant in Jesus Christ,

JOSEPH MARIE CALVONOTT ¹² (CHAUMONOT).

In the Country of the Hurons, in New France, the 26th of May, 1640.

[Page 35]
[210] Letter of Father Joseph Marie Chaumonot

to the Reverend Father Philippe Nappi, Supe-

rior of the Professed House at Rome.

(Translated from the Italian original preserved at Rome.)

From Sainte Marie of the Hurons, August 3, 1640.

Y REVEREND FATHER,

Pax Christi.

I received at the same time, last year, two letters from Your Reverence: one of the year 1638; the other, of the year 1639. The first apprised me of three things: to begin with, that you remembered me at the altar and that you celebrated holy Mass for me on the tomb of the Blessed Louis de Gonzague, ³as I had begged you to. In the second place, that His Eminence the cardinal Pallotto continues, without relaxation, to propagate the devotion to the holy house of Lorette; or better, to the holy Family which sanctified it. ⁴ Finally, that Father Ange de Magistris started. for Paraguay directly after his ordination and his first mass —celebrated in the church of Lorette called de Ripetta. . . . .

[211] To acknowledge in some fashion your charity in giving me news of Rome, I will keep you informed of the matters likely to interest your curiosity; and, moreover, I will urge Father Bressani to translate into Italian the whole Relation which we send each year to our Father Assistant.

Last year, I accompanied one of Ours (Father de [Page 37] Brébeuf) to a country where the Gospel had not yet been announced. Starting from our Residence in the land of the Hurons, we made six days’ route, continually in the woods, and without finding any place in which to rest ourselves or to take refuge. We were obliged to carry on our backs whatever was necessary to us in the way of our food. The paths in these forests are very difficult, being very little worn, —filled with brushwood and branches; cut up with swamps, brooks, and rivers, without other bridges than a few trees, broken off by age or by the wind. The winter is the best season for traveling, because the snow renders the paths more even. But it must needs be hardened, as we found it on our return, with the exception of two days: otherwise, one sinks in at every step. There is still another advantage in traveling in winter, —namely, because the water-courses are frozen, and we were able to drag our baggage for sixty miles. [212] It is true that one finds no shelter from the winds, which are very violent and very cold. But thanks to Him whom the sea and the winds obey, we proceeded bravely and joyfully, despite the cold, the fatigue, and countless falls on the ice, whereof my knees have retained a good reminder. But what is that in comparison with what Our Lord has suffered for me? I should esteem myself happy to break my arms and legs in his service. The little children in danger of death have reaped the first fruits of our apostolate. We have baptized a great number of them without the knowledge of their parents, who would certainly have opposed it. Many of these children have already departed for heaven. As for the adults, not only have they not been willing to listen to the good news, but they even [Page 39] prevented us from entering their villages, threatening to kill and eat us, as they do with their most cruel enemies. The reason of this great aversion arose from the calumnies disseminated by some evil inhabitants of the country from which we came. In consequence of these calumnies, they were convinced that we were sorcerers, impostors come to take possession of their country, after having made them perish by our spells, which were shut up in our ink-stands, in our books, etc., —[213] insomuch that we dared not, without hiding ourselves, open a book or write anything. Not only were our books and our papers suspected of magic, but even our slightest gestures and motions. I once attempted to kneel down in a cabin, where we had withdrawn in order more collectedly to pray. Straightway the noise spread that Oronhiaguehre —that is to say, heaven-bearer, as they call me —had spent a part of the night in devising his spells, and that in consequence all were bound to put themselves on guard and distrust him. But, in spite of the devil and of his imps, we have been able to spend our whole winter in making the round of the savages’ villages, —threatening them with hell if they would not be converted, —and nobody has dared to touch a single one of our hairs. Each one of them, however, was desiring our death and exciting the others to kill us; but none had the courage to do so, although that was the easiest thing in the world, —we were only two weak men, without weapons, far from all human assistance. God alone was for us, and he paralyzed the ill-will of so many enemies. May Your Reverence help me to thank the Lord for having preserved me from so many trials and dangers. [Page 41]

Next autumn I hope to spend a second winter in the midst of these poor savages; accordingly, [214] I count on obtaining the help of your prayers. . . . .,

To conclude this letter, I will add three quite remarkable occurrences which happened this year, —especially since they concern poor infidels without morality. The first is that of a young man who, traveling during intense cold with his sister, and seeing her almost succumb, stripped himself of a great skin which covered him, in order to clothe her with it; then, encouraging her to quicken her pace in. order to avoid the death which was threatening her, he stayed behind, with his sister’s thin garment. The young girl, leaving him, began to run even to her village, and during that time her poor brother was dying of cold, the victim of his fraternal heroism. About sixty others, during this winter, perished in the snows.

The second instance is that of a little child of eight or nine years who, playing on the ice, fell into the water. One of his brothers, of almost the same age, jumped into the river through the hole where his brother had disappeared, seized him, and swimming beneath the ice, had the skill to come up again with his burden, through another opening quite distant from the first, and thus saved his life. This deed happened in a village where we chanced to be.

The third is an incident of war. Our savages, having gone to fight, were surprised by the enemy in an ambush. Seeing the impossibility of [215] defending themselves, the elders said to the younger men: “Since you can render services to our nation, take flight, while we shall check the enemy.” This is what happened: those old savages were taken, led [Page 43] away captive, cruelly tormented, burned, roasted, and devoured, —according to the custom of this country, inhabited by cannibals, as I have already written to you.

Having nothing else to relate to Your Reverence, I close; requesting you, if you find anything in my letter which can interest our Very Reverend Father General, to be so kind as to make it known to him: but orally alone, —my letter being written too wretchedly to put it beneath His Paternity’s eyes. Will Your Reverence kindly assure him that I never say holy mass without commending him to Our Lord?

I am Your Reverence’s

very humble servant in Our Lord.

Joseph Marie CHAUMONOT.

From the residence of Ste. Marie among the Hurons, the 3rd of August, 1640.

[Page 45]

Permission of the Father Provincial.

We, Jacques Dinet, Provincial of the Society of Jesus in the Province of France, have for the future granted to Sieur Sebastien Cramoisy, Bookseller, Printer in ordinary to the King, the printing of the Relations of New France. Done at Paris, this 12th of December, 1640.

Jacques Dinet.

[Page 55]

Table of the Chapters contained in this Relation.
R	ELATION of what occurred in new France in the year 1640. Page Chapter I. Of the voyage of the fleet, and its arrival in new France.	1. 3.
Chap. II.	Of the general condition of the French Colony, and the conversion of the Savages.	16
Chap. III.	The Savages reassemble at St. Joseph after the epidemic, elect several Captains. And show their Zeal for the Faith.	22
Chap. IV.	Of the Savages baptized, and the good deeds in this new Church.	44
Chap. V.	Continuation of the same subject.	58
Chap. VI.	Continuation of the same subject.	72
Chap. VII.	Continuation of the actions of our new Christians.	91
Chap. VIII.	Of the good disposition of some Savages not yet baptized.	105
Chap. IX.	Of the providence of God in the choice of some, and the rejection of others.	117
Chap. X.	Of the hope we have for the conversion of many Savages.	128
Chap. XI.	Of the hospital.	146
Chap. XII.	Of the seminary of the Ursuline Mothers.	168
Chap. XIII.	Various things which could not be reported in the preceding Chapters.	187

Table of the Chapters contained in the Relation of what took place in the country of the Hurons, in the year 1640.
C	HAPTER I. Of the condition of the country. Page Chapter II. Of the persecutions excited against us Chap. III. Of the general condition of Christianity in these countries.	4. 11. 33.
Chap. IV.	Of the permanent Residence of sainte Marie.	42.
Chap. V.	Of the mission of sainte Marie to the Ataronchronons.	68.
Chap, VI.	Of the residence and mission of St. Joseph to the Attingneenongnahac.	79
Chap. VII.	Of the mission of la Conception to the Attignaouentan.	99
Chap. VIII.	Of the Christians of this same mission of la Conception.	118.
Chap. IX.	Of the mission of saint Jean Baptiste to the Arendaronons.	145.
Chap. X.	Of the mission surnamed “of the Apostles,” to the Khionontateronons.	164.
	Letter written to Father Vimont after the Relation was finished.	192.

[Page 59]

[1] Relation of what occurred in New France,

in the Year 1640.

Y REVEREND FATHER,

I thought that, when I was relieved from the burdens of a Superior, I would consequently be freed from the responsibility of the Relation which Your Reverence exacts from us, and which a large part of France awaits with some eagerness, But our Reverend Father Superior has shown me that this is not a necessary consequence; and so, although he could have done it advantageously, as he has already an extensive knowledge of the country and of the Savages, there again devolves upon me [2] this year, in the pressure of his business, the tribute which Your Reverence’s affection and that of an infinite number of persons of merit and rank make it incumbent upon us to render. I doubt very much whether we shall have enough material to make up this annual rent, unless our readers like repetitions. For as the subjects are very similar, the narratives cannot have a great variety when the savages shall all be converted, —as will happen some day, if they are energetically aided. I do not know what one can record then, unless it be their good actions, which, from their great similarity, may cause some feeling of surfeit. Would to God that we might have this difficulty, and that all these poor Barbarians were at the point where we wish them to be, reluctant to make known their actions except to the sight of Heaven, [Page 61] and to speak of them except to him from whom they cannot be concealed. But let us begin our narrative. [Page 63].

[3] CHAPTER FIRST.

OF THE VOYAGE OF THE FLEET, AND ITS ARRIVAL

IN NEW FRANCE.

ATHER René Ménard, ⁵ having arrived at Kebec, related to us some details of the Voyage of the Fleet this year, which seem to me very worthy to compose this first chapter. “Our ships,” said he, “set out from their Anchorage on the twenty-sixth of March. Madame the Duchess d’Aiguilion having increased the endowment of her Hospital in New France, and desiring, consequently, that two Nuns of the house of Mercy established at Dieppe should come and give some help to their good sisters, Monseigneur the Archbishop of Rouen granted them their dismissal, with a love and affection proportionate to his desire for the increase of the glory of our Lord in the conversion of the poor Savages. [4] Mother de sainte Marie and sister de saint Nicholas, both professed nuns of this Monastery, were chosen, with very keen appreciation of their good fortune, and with regrets for the many others who were sighing for this cross, which they regarded as a Paradise. As Madame de la Pelletrie, foundress of a Seminary for little savage girls and for the Ursuline Nuns whom she has had cross over into these countries, desired that there should be brought to them a Professed Nun of the Convent of Paris ⁶ and as Monseigneur the Archbishop, who interests himself in the cause of God, and wishes to participate in [Page 65] the instruction and salvation of the souls that these good sisters will cultivate, did not judge it proper for one alone to leave her Convent, he sent two, namely, Mother Anne de sainte Claire and Mother Marguerite de sainte Athanase, and all the hearts of this great House went with them. Accordingly, there were four Nuns who embarked in the vessel called the “Esperance,” under the command of Monsieur de Courpon, a very honest Gentleman, who favored these [5] good souls to the utmost. I do not know whether the demons foresaw some great blessing from this passage, but it seems as if they desired to engulf us from the time we left the roadstead. They raised up the whole Ocean, unchained the winds, and excited such horrible and continuous tempests that they almost made us perish in sight of Dieppe. We were in the midst of these dangers,” related the Father, “from the twenty-sixth of March until the twenty-eighth of April, beaten upon by rain and snow, as near to death as we were to the coasts of France. A ship of saint Valery, which was in the roadstead with us, detaching itself from its anchors, went to pieces before our eyes, everything that was within being carried away. The men were engulfed in the waves; and, of twenty or thereabout who were in this Ship, only three were saved. The death that reaped these bodies, seemed at every moment waiting to devour us. I heard many persons cursing the hour and the moment when the thought entered their minds [6] to go upon the sea, and to entrust their lives to the mercy of a cable. Virtue animates a heart powerfully. These good sisters, who, at other times, would have trembled in a boat upon the Seine, mocked at death and its approaches. In fact, it [Page 67] matters little whether one die upon the land or upon the sea, provided one die with God. This tempest having passed over, another arose as furious as the first. As they saw it arising in the air, our sailors cast the second anchor, which saved our lives; for the cable of the first, which, until then, had secured us, broke in a moment, and our ship would have been hopelessly lost if the second anchor had not held us fast. If we avoided one danger, we fell into another. Our Vice-Admiral, missing the cable, a wave dashed it upon us with such fury that the most steadfast thought they were lost. Never have I confronted death so near. I had recourse to the great saint Joseph, patron of the countries where we wished to go. If this ship had advanced twenty paces, we would have been dashed to pieces, and the Ocean [7] would have swallowed us in its waves. At the moment when I was offering my vows to God through the medium of this great Saint, they came to tell me that the wind had passed by this vessel. God preserved the three of our Fleet which were in the roadstead, without other loss than that of a cable, and of a boat that the tempest carried away from us. Some had circulated the report that one of the Nuns was dead, and that another was dying. I landed,” said the Father, “to assure them of the contrary. It is true they were in some anxiety during the long month of these tempests when God was proving their constancy, but not one of them drew back. Ah! how good it is to cast oneself into the arms of his sweet providence, and to receive with love the strokes that his hands give us! The Angels preserved our Fleet through the same tempests that the demons excited to destroy it. I do not know that [Page 69] for a hundred years vessels have been seen so long anchored, or assailed by winds so very contrary. This fury, chaining us near the port, defended us [8] against hostile frigates equipped for war, which were awaiting us at the passage, —so that, if we had weighed anchor one day before our departure, we would infallibly have fallen into the hands of the enemy. Madame the Duchess d’Aiguillon, having been advised of this ambuscade, so arranged that Monseigneur the Cardinal de Richelieu ordered the ships of Havre to convoy us. As we were about to go and join them, we encountered five Dunkirk frigates. Immediately the weapons are grasped, the cannons are thrust out of the portholes, —every one is ready for the combat. Monsieur de Courpon, our Admiral, advances. But these frigates —being embarrassed by two Dutch ships that had left us the previous night, and which had just been captured a little while before we appeared —turned away from us, seeing in our faces that we were ready stubbornly to dispute the victory with them. We reached Havre directly afterwards, where we found fifty Ships at anchor [9] which were awaiting us. The wind favoring us, Monsieur de Beaulieu, who commanded the Royal fleet, had us surrounded by forty ships. I did not think that I was upon the sea,” said the Father, “seeing myself encompassed by so much wood. As we floated along in this security, the ships of the King discovered eight hostile frigates, to which they gave chase. But they escaped, owing to a favorable wind. The Royal escort, seeing us out of the channel and out of danger, left us. Thus the tempests, ready to destroy us in the port, protected us against our enemies. As soon as we were upon the high [Page 71] sea, the wind favored us during most of the time; we had some slight squalls, but they were of short duration. I have not seen more devotion upon the land than there was upon the sea; the chief personages of our fleet, the passengers, and the sailors attended divine service, which we celebrated very often. They frequented the Sacraments, and were present at prayers and the public readings that were given at suitable times. But the devotion was most profound and most conspicuous [10] on the day of the blessed Sacrament. A magnificent altar was prepared in the chamber of our Admiral; the whole crew erected an altar at the prow of the ship; our Lord, desiring to be adored upon this so unstable element, gave us a calm so peaceful that we could imagine ourselves floating upon a pond. We formed a procession truly solemn, since every one took part in it, and their piety and devotion caused them to march in fine order all around the ship. Our brother Dominique Scot, wearing a surplice, bore the cross, on either side of which marched two children, each bearing a lighted torch in his hands; the Nuns followed with their white wax tapers, in Angelic modesty; after the Priest, who carried the blessed Sacrament, walked the Admiral of the fleet, and then the whole crew. The cannons made the air and the waves resound with their thunder, and the Angels took pleasure in hearing the praises that our hearts and our lips gave to their Prince and to our sovereign King. There were only seven persons who did not approach [11] the holy table, and yet they had feasted upon this sacred food a little while before.” Finally, after having enjoyed very fair weather after this act so imbued with piety, the [Page 73] Admiral arrived at Tadoussac on the last of June, where the “saint Jacques” had entered two days before. Father Ménard, embarking in a shallop with our brother, Dominique Scot, left Father Joseph Du Perron and our brother Jacques Ratel with the Nuns, that he might promptly come to give us news of the fleet’s arrival. In brief, on Sunday morning the “saint Jacques,” commanded by Captain Ancelot, came and cast anchor opposite Kebec; Monsieur our Governor went down to the wharf with our Reverend Father Superior, to receive our Fathers, and to escort these truly generous sisters to their houses. Upon leaving the ship they fell upon their knees, kissed the ground so long desired, and sang the Laudate Dominum omnes Gentes; and Madame de la Pelletrie, accompanied by her little Seminarists, neatly dressed, embraced these good Nuns, [12] whom she conducted first to the Chapel of the Ursulines, this being the nearest to the Quay, as our Church and house had been burned. They were taken to this Chapel to adore our Lord, and to thank him for the favors they had received from his goodness. Thence they went to salute Monsieur our Governor in his fort; then they were taken to their own houses, where joy and love welcomed them. They left the ship in better health than when they had entered it. Poverty and discomfort, in houses that are built upon the land seem palaces and riches to those who come forth from a house of wood floating at the will of the winds and the waves. The next day, we took them to St. Joseph, to show them the Savages who have attracted them to this new world. They were present at prayers, and at the instruction that was being [Page 75] given. Joy stole away their hearts and their eyes, These poor peoples admired the noble constancy of these young Amazons, who, in spite of the Ocean, came to seek the [13] salvation of these barbarians in these farthest confines of the earth. In brief, having visited the poor dwellings of these people, they retired to their own seclusion, to observe it according to their Rules and their Institutes. Some days after their arrival, Mother de sainte Marie, a Hospital Nun, fell sick. Here was a dear lamb all ready to enter the fold of the true Shepherd. It seems, however, that God willed her to be restored to health.

As a conclusion to this Chapter, I will say these few words to a vast number of Nuns, who burn with a desire to follow those who have crossed over. It is not everything to be sent from France; one must be called by new [France], in order to produce more fruit here than noise. The sisters cannot penetrate into the more distant and more populous Nations; those who have come, are amply sufficient for the occupations they can have in a country which has accomplished only its birth. Those to whom humility, obedience, and vocation have [14] given diplomas, have been received with open arms by the guardian Angels of these countries. They cooperate piously with those blessed spirits in the salvation of these peoples. In fact, both the Hospital Nuns and the Ursulines are full of joy. They have passed the year in profound peace, cherished by the French and Savages, very zealous in the functions of their order. This happiness ought not to attract more of them, since a greater number would be unseasonable; as the country grows every day, it will, at the proper [Page 77] time, open the door to the others. At present, we must strain every nerve to arrest the Savages, When we first came into these countries, as we hoped for scarcely anything from the old trees, we employed all our forces in cultivating the young plants; but, as our Lord gave us the adults, we are turning the great outlay we made for the children to the succor of their fathers and mothers, —helping them to cultivate the land, and to locate in a fixed and permanent home; we still retain with us, however, some [15] little abandoned orphans. But our strongest efforts ought to tend towards rallying these poor lost sheep, Without this, there is no occupation in these countries for Nuns, especially for the Ursulines. It is not the same with us; for we penetrate into the sedentary nations, where the sisters have no access, —not only on account of the remoteness of our French who have charge of them, but of the horrors of the roads, and the great hardships and dangers, which are beyond their sex. The girls and women cannot go up farther than the Island of Montreal, or the sault saint Louys. Now it happens that from the mouth of the river St. Lawrence up to this Island, all the Savages are wanderers; hence they must be brought to a sedentary life, if we wish to have their children. Those who took pleasure in assisting our seminary will be consoled by seeing that the outlays made for the children, being employed in erecting a little house, arrest and win for Jesus Christ the father, the mother, and the children. We have built four little lodgings this year, and in these there are four [16] families. These good people are delighted at seeing this charity. The whole may amount to [Page 79] four or five hundred &us. Alas! It is only one throw of the dice in France, or one simple collation; and in our great woods it is the salvation of four poor families, who perhaps would never see God if this aid were not lent them.

[Page 81]

CHAPTER II.

OF THE GENERAL CONDITION OF THE FRENCH COLO-

NY, AND THE CONVERSION OF THE SAVAGES.

EACE, love, and good understanding reign among our French people. The faith is extending, and taking deep root among the Savages. These few words might suffice to show that we are living here in a golden age.

Those who have told us about golden ages did not embellish them with Peruvian mines, but with an innocence preferable to the riches of either hemisphere; [17] so that we can almost say that the use of iron renders the ages golden, and the use of gold makes the ages iron. Verily, one lives in these countries in great innocency, —virtue reigns here as if in its empire; vice, which pursues it incessantly, only appears secretly and by stealth, never introducing itself without humiliation. The principal inhabitants of this new world, desiring to preserve this blessing of Heaven, have ranged themselves under the banner of the blessed Virgin, in whose honor they hear the holy Mass every Saturday, often frequent the Sacraments of life, and lend ear to the discourses that are given them on the dignities of this Princess, and on the blessedness of the peace and union that bind them here below on earth, to render them one with God in Heaven. This devotion has banished enmities and coldness; it has introduced pure discourse in the place of too licentious language; it has [Page 83] revived the custom in families of publicly praying to God, evening and morning; it has given desires for purity to some [18] persons in marriage, even to offering their vows by mutual accord to the chastity of the blessed Virgin, and to renewing these, from time to time, that they may more holily receive her well-beloved son in their hearts. Last year, the caterpillars, grasshoppers, and other insects eating all that came out of the earth, some processions and public prayers were made on this account; strange to say, the following day these little animals died, and d

Editor		Reuben Gold Thwaites

		\| Finlow Alexander
		\| Percy Favor Bicknell
		\| William Frederic Giese
Translators.		\| Crawford Lindsay
		\| William Price
		\| Hiram Allen Sober

Assistant Editor		Emma Helen Blair

Bibliographical Adviser		Victor Hugo Paltsits

Electronic Transcription		Tomasz Mentrak

CONTENTS OF VOL. XVIII

Preface To Volume XVIII
Documents: —
XXXVIII	Lettre au T. R. P. Mutio Vitelleschi, Général de la Compagnie de Jésus, à Rome. Joseph-Marie Chaumonot; Pays des Hurons, May 24, 1640	10
XXXIX.	Lettre au R. P. Philippe Nappi, Supérieur de la Maison Professe, à Rome. Joseph-Marie Chaumonot; Pays des Hurons, May 26, 1640	14
XL.	Lettre au R. P. Philippe Nappi, Supérieur de la Maison Professe, à Rome. Joseph-Marie Chaumonot; Sainte-Marie aux Hurons, August 3, 1640	36
XLI.	Relation de ce qvi s’est passé en la Novvelle France, en l’annee 1640. [Chaps. i.-x. of Part I.] Paul le Jeune; Kebec, September 10, 1640	47
Bibliographical Data; Volume XVIII		251
Notes		255

ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL. XVIII

I.	Photographic facsimile of title-page, Relation of 1640	50