The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents Volume 25

The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents

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Travels and Explorations

of the Jesuit Missionaries

in New France

1610—1791

THE ORIGINAL FRENCH, LATIN, AND ITALI-

IAN TEXTS, WITH ENGLISH TRANSLA-

TIONS AND NOTES; ILLUSTRATED BY

PORTRAITS, MAPS, AND FACSIMILES

EDITED BY

Reuben Gold Thwaites

Secretary of the State historical Society of Wisconsin

COMPUTERIZED TRANSCRIPTION BY

Tomasz Mentrak

Vol. XXV.

Iroquois, Huron, Québec

1642—1644

CLEVELAND: The Burrows Brothers

Company, PUBLISHERS, M DCCC XCVIII

THE JESUIT RELATIONS

AND

ALLIED DOCUMENTS

Vol. XXV

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The edition consists of sev-

en hundred and fifty sets

all numbered.

No.________

The Burrows Brothers Co.

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The Burrows Company

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The Imperial Press, Cleveland

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EDITORIAL STAFF

Editor		Reuben Gold Thwaites

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

Assistant Editor		Emma Helen Blair

Bibliographical Adviser		Victor Hugo Paltsits

Electronic Transcription		Tomasz Mentrak

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CONTENTS OF VOL. XXV.

Preface To Volume XXV
Documents:—
LI.	Relation de ce qvi s’est passé en la Novvelle France, és l’année 1642. & 1643. [Chaps. xiii.-xiv., concluding the document.] Barthelemy Vimont; undated.	17
LII.	Epistola ad R. P. Mutium Vitelleschi, Praepositum Generalem Societatis Jesu, Romæ. Carolus Garnier; Sctæ. Mariæ, apud Hurones, April 8, 1644.	81
LIII.	Relation de ce qvi s’est passé en la Novvelle France, és années 1643, & 1644. [Chaps. i.-viii. of Part I., being the first installment of the document.] Barthelemy Vimont; Kebec, September 5, 1644.	89


Bibliographical Data; Volume XXV		283
Notes		287

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ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL. XXV.

I.	Photographic facsimile of title-page, Relation of 1643-44	69

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PREFACE TO VOL. XXV

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

LI. The Relation of 1642-43, written wholly by Vimont, as superior of the Jesuit missions in New France, was commenced in Vol. XXIII. of our series, wherein the first three chapters were given; in Vol. XXIV. we presented Chapters iv.-xii.; and herewith publish Chapters xiii.-xiv., thus concluding the document.

After his survey of the missions in Lower Canada, and account of Father Jogues’s capture by the Iroquois (see preceding volume), Vimont turns his attention to the Huron mission, with its peculiar difficulties and dangers, He cites letters from the Fathers there, which have fortunately escaped from the clutches of the Iroquois: they note encouraging progress in their work, and, among the savages, more inclination to the faith; but the loss of Jogues, and of so many Huron converts who were captured with him, has dealt a severe blow to the infant church. The fierce Iroquois are rendering the St. Lawrence so unsafe that the welfare of the Huron mission is greatly imperiled. Among the Huron converts are found a much larger number of warriors than formerly. “The use of arquebuses, refused to the Infidels by Monsieur the Governor, and granted to the Christian Neophytes, [Page 9] is a powerful attraction to win them; it seems that our Lord intends to use this means in order to render Christianity acceptable in these regions.”

The superior notes the deaths of three missionaries, — Raymbault, D’Olbeau, and Davost, — also the’ murder of Goupil, the don6 captured with Jogues; and he takes occasion to praise the devotion and courage of the donnes as a class. Goupil’s example has inspired another young surgeon, in Orleans, France, to’give himself for the Canada mission; he has come hither for that purpose, and has gone to the Huron country.

Vimont observes that the Canadian savages have good reason, from a purely human standpoint, for being averse to the faith; for, since it has been proclaimed among them, they have experienced extraordinary misfortunes — pestilence, famine, and war. Many of them bitterly complain: “You tell us that God is full of goodness; and then, when we give,ourselves up to him, he massacres us. The Iroquois do not believe in God, they are more wicked than Demons; and yet they prosper.” They are answered thus: “God regards you as his children; he wishes to give you sense; he uses the Iroquois as a whip, in order to correct you.” “Alas!” say some, “why did he not begin with the Iroquois? why did not he try to give them sense first? we have so much already, and they have none at all.” But the missionaries console themselves with remembering that “these same scourges and these same reproaches were in olden time encountered in the primitive Church.”

The superior announces a happy event, — the deliverance of Jogues from the hands of the Iroquois, [Page 10] and his safe arrival in France; this is described by that Father’s own letters, written from the Dutch settlement of Rensselaerswyck (now Albany), and from Rennes, France. Taken by some Iroquois on a fishing expedition to the vicinity of the Dutch, he hears while there that he is to be burned on his return to the place of his captivity. The Dutch provide him a way of escape, which he accepts only when he is persuaded that his return to the Iroquois would be useless for aught save his death. The commandant at Rensselaerswyck hides him in his own house for some time, and finally ransoms Jogues from the savages, sending him to Manhattan, whence he voyages across the ocean, reaching France on Christmas, 1643, after much hardship and suffering. A letter, written by a Jesuit at Rennes, is added, giving various details of Jogues’s captivity which are not included in his own letters; the latter expects to return to the Canadian mission.

To this Relation is appended a formal declaration by the directors and associates of the Company of New France, exonerating the Jesuits from the oft-preferred charge of having commercial interests in Canada, or any connection with the fur trade.

LII. This is a letter (in Latin) from Garnier to the Father General (Vitelleschi), dated at Ste. Marie-of-the-Hurons, April 8, 1644. Garnier reports that the Huron mission is carried on with great devotion and excellent discipline. He especially praises the pious zeal and labors of the donnés, saying that without them the mission would soon collapse. He suggests that, if Lalemant be removed from his position as superior of this field, Ragueneau is best fitted to succeed him. He mentions the constancy of the [Page 11] native converts in the trials to which their countrymen subject them.

LIII. The Relation of 1643-44 is in two parts — the first, the usual general survey by Vimont, dated at Quebec, September 5, 1644; the second is devoted to the Huron mission, and covers two years, 1642-44. It will be remembered that the Huron report for 1642-43 was being carried down to Quebec in the summer of 1643, by the trading fleet of that tribe. These Hurons were captured upon the Ottawa River by the Iroquois; and, upon reaching the Iroquois country, this document, together with several letters which the Huron missionaries were sending to France, was given to Jogues, as he states in his letters appended to the Relation of 1642-43, in the present volume. Having no prospect of escape at the time when he went to visit the Dutch at Fort Orange, he left these papers in his cabin; and they were, of course, destroyed. September 21 following, Lalemant sent down to Vimont another copy of the Huron report, — it was the practice of the missionaries to keep original drafts at the local house, and forward to their superiors a well-written copy thereof; this, as Vimont explains in a note preliminary to Part II. in the present Rdaatian, reached him too late to be sent to France for inclusion in the Relation of 1642-43. It is therefore given in this Relation, supplemented by a brief letter by Lalemant, dated “the last of March,” 1644, bringing the account of the mission up to date. In the present volume, we give the first eight chapters of Part I.

Vimont begins this Relation by a graphic account of the afflictions which have so scourged the infant [Page 12] church in Canada, — disease, war, and famine, — and the suffering caused by these among the wretched savages. The Jesuits and the Hospital nuns at Sillery have supported throughout the winter over forty savages, most of whom were infirm or aged, and would’ have died without this aid. The Indian population has been so greatly reduced by these misfortunes that, “where eight years ago one could see eighty or a hundred cabins, barely five or six can now be seen; a Captain, who then had eight hundred warriors under his command, now has not more than thirty or forty; instead of fleets of three or four hundred Canoes, we see now but twenty or thirty. And the pitiful part of it is, that these remnants of Nations consist almost entirely of women, widows or girls, who cannot all find lawful husbands, and who consequently are in danger of much suffering, or of committing great sins.”

The savages are more submissive in their afflictions than could have been expected; but their usual pride has been humiliated by trouble, “necessity has made them more dependent upon the French, and has made them experience the effects of Christian Charity.” They admit that the new religion is true, even if they do not at once accept it; and “the craft of the Jugglers and sorcerers is gradually losing credit.” Many other encouraging facts are cited; but these “do not mean that all has been done. We have greater trouble in keeping our Christians than in acquiring them.” It is the old story, of their wandering life and their license in regard to marriage.

Nearly a fourth of Vimont’s account is occupied by the conversions, religious experiences, and pious acts of the Christian Indians at Sillery. One is an [Page 13] Abenaki chief, who promises to return thither to live, after settling up his affairs at home; but there is reason to believe that he was captured, on the way, by the Iroquois. Another convert — an old man, and “a notorious sorcerer of the Iroquets” — consents to all that is required, except to give up a hair that “he has pulled from the moustache of the Manitou,” which has brought him good fortune for many years. ‘( The Devil held him firmly by that hair; but, in the end, the Holy Ghost was victorious;” the precious hair is sacrificed to God.

The good example of the Sillery neophytes has greatly aided the mission cause, by recommending to the heathen the true religion. Especial praise is due to their “Captains,” Noel Tekwerimat and Jean Baptiste Etinechkawat, “whose zeal and prudence surpass everything that might be expected from a Savage,” of which various instances are related. The latter does not talk much; but Noel “allows no opportunity to escape of making himself heard in favor of the Faith;” and he keenly pursues all evil-doers, not only with rebukes, but with the force of his authority as chief. Neither of these men will undertake anything of importance without the advice and consent of Montmagny and the Jesuits. As soon as he hears that the Iroquois have captured Father Bressani, Jean Baptiste volunteers to lead against them a band of his warriors, to punish their evil deed.

The Sillery Christians go on their annual hunt, — but three months earlier than their usual time, in order to anticipate the raids of the Iroquois. During their six months’ absence, they “retain the innocence and grace of their Baptism, though without [Page 14] instruction or any Sacrament,” much better than do many Christians in Europe. Upon their return, they hasten to confess themselves, — one of them, two or three times a day; and the Fathers have to lose their sleep during several nights, in order to satisfy them.

At the remarriage of Charles Meiachkawat, the husband compels his wife — who had been arrogant and ill-tempered-publicly to promise that she will conduct herself better in future. He adds that, if she do not keep her word, “thou wilt cause me to be angry; and, if I get angry, I shall go to Hell, and so wilt thou.” The woman soon “becomes truly a lamb;” her husband is “all afire in the affairs of God,” and of his own accord resolves to visit the Abenakis, to preach the Gospel to them.

The writer relates several incidents showing the tenderness of conscience among the Sillery Christians, and the sort of discipline maintained among them, not only by the Jesuits, but by themselves.

The Iroquois continue more and more to harass the St. Lawrence valley. This year, ten of their bands have lurked along the shores of that river, and have done much harm. One of these captured (April 28) Father Bressani and the Hurons of his party. Another penetrated to Montreal, killing several Frenchmen, and capturing two whom they afterward tortured to death. Many of the Sillery Indians take to flight, in consequence; and the Hospital nuns are obliged to remove to their house in Quebec, although only its walls and roof are yet built. They have cared for nearly forty sick persons, this year, besides many old men, women, and children who had no other refuge. Many of those who are attended by the nuns find the hospital salvation for their souls, [Page 15] as well as the cure of their bodily ailments; several instances of this sort are narrated in detail. The neighboring children are instructed, and are eager to learn.

The Ursuline seminary has been reinforced by two more nuns. Their Indian pupils surprise them by their obedience, affection, and piety; and the parents are now only too glad to place their girls in charge of the nuns. Many of these children come to the seminary in utter destitution, and must be clothed as well as taught. This is done by the nuns, as far as their means permit; they also feed many hungry savages.

The unrestrained license in which the Indians have always lived leads to some scandals among those regarded as converts. One of these concerns the quondam “sorcerer,” Pigarouich, who is very zealous while at St. Joseph, but who is corrupted by his countrymen of the Island tribe, while with them at Three Rivers. He professes repentance and reformation, but soon relapses into dissolute ways. Driven by hunger, he and another apostate come down to Quebec and Sillery; but no one, at either settlement, will aid them. The deserted wife of one of these men will not receive a visit from him, and threatens to kill him with a knife. Even the Pagan Indians do not dare receive them. This treatment subdues Pigarouich, and in public he makes confession of his sin, and submits to penance.

R. G. T.

Madison, Wis., June, 1898.

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Ll (concluded)

RELATION OF 1642-43

Paris: SEBASTIEN ET GABRIEL CRAMOISY, 1644

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Chaps. i.-iii. were given in Volume XXIII.; iv.-xii., in Volume XXIV.; and xiii.-xiv. herewith, thus concluding the document.

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[263] CHAPTER XIII.

SOME OBSERVATIONS TOUCHING THE HURONS.

THE preceding Chapter gives us the conclusion of the more memorable things which have occurred from Tadoussac even to Mont-Real; it would be now in order to speak of the Nations higher up, but the Iroquois, — having robbed us of the Relation, and of the letters which our Fathers who are in those [264] more distant regions wrote to persons who honor them with their friendship and their help, — having, I say, taken from us that little treasure, have constrained us to keep silence. Nevertheless, some Frenchmen, and some Savages of our allies, — marching afterward in the footsteps of those Barbarians, our enemies, — picked up some papers which they had thrown into the woods, or which had escaped from their hands; and, they having caused us to receive these in France, we have collected from them what follows, in order to console those who interest themselves with so much love in the conversion of those poor peoples, and to give them a little knowledge of what our Lord continues to effect in that extremity of the world.

I Know not (says one of those whose letters have reached us), what it would avail to expatiate upon the thought of what God has permitted to happen to us, — that is inconceivable to those who are not on the spot. For, not to speak of Father Jogues, I will tell you that the two Frenchmen who accompanied him, named Guillaume [Page 19] Cousture and René Goupil, who were taken with the Father [265] by the Iroquois, were two young men match-less of their kind, and excellently adapted to these countries. And if the fleet of Huron Christians and Catechumens which they accompanied, and which was taken and defeated at the same time, had arrived safe and sound, as we were expecting, the conversion of the country would have seemed almost infallible; these are secrets which we shall discover Only in eternity. could you well believe, nevertheless, that never have we taken more courage, alike for the spiritual and for the temporal? The Relation will show you the particulars thereof. Of one could remedy the incursions of the Iroquois, and constrain them to a favorable peace, we would see in a little time notable advances for Christianity in these regions. It is in this direction that I cannot see an atom, unless by ways — which approach the miraculous; insomuch that we must cast our eyes toward Heaven, in order to await the decrees of divine providence, and what shall be pleasing, in the affair, to those on whom the matter depends.

The Father who speaks to us in these terms, was well aware of the disaster which had happened, in the preceding year, to the fleet of the poor Hurons: but he could not foresee that his letters would pass [266] through the hands of the Iroquois; that the Relation which he was sending us, would be plundered; that all the Hurons who were coming down would be partly massacred, partly taken prisoners into the country of the Iroquois, and the rest pursued and stripped even to the flesh. Never (he says) have we taken more courage, alike for the spiritual and for the temporal. I understand only the half of these words: I apprehend very well this increase of heart and spirit, which causes joy to be found in the midst [Page 21] of anguish, and peace in the ardor of war; I know well that God does not allow himself to be vanquished, and that I would prefer to be helped by him all alone, than by all creatures together; what passes in desolation can indeed be felt, but the tongue has no word to express it; the joys within are rather joys of the mind than of the body. I do not understand how these poor Fathers can take courage for the temporal, since everything that Father Jogues was conveying to them was carried off with him by the Iroquois; and since everything which was sent to them this year was taken and plundered [267] by the latter. What courage can they have in the temporal, which fails them? I well know that their resolution is to hold firm even to the end, and rather to go naked, like Father Jogues, than to give way. Their experiences are already somewhat like his, — for their house, most of the time, is built of nothing but bark; and their living is usually nothing but mush of Indian cornmeal, cooked in water without salt, and without other relish than that of appetite. Certainly, I do not see what temporal pleasure they can take in this treatment; but I confess to you and give you my word that the increase of spirit well rewards the privations which the body suffers, and that God operates more perfectly and more gently by himself than when he employs his creatures. Let us continue our letters.

Our Catalogues will show you our needs; what I ask more particularly is that thy send us courageous laborers, in order to advance the work which we have in hand, and to succeed, in coume of time, those whom age and the accidents of this life may render less usefil.

[268] I must say, in passing, that the body is [Page 23] limited: but the spirit is not. The one who has written those lines knows well what one suffers for the little help one has in that end of the world; and yet he still asks for companions in his courage and in his joy, — for the labors undertaken for Jesus Christ bear those fruits. Let us proceed.

As long as the River shall be beset from every direction by the Iroquois, I shall have much anxiety about sending any of our Fathers to Kebec, for fear of exposing them to capture by the eneuny. To lose one laborer, thoroughly accustomed and suited to these regions, is to lose a precious treasure, — and if, even yet, we can dispense with sending some of our men aown thither, we will do so. But, if that be not in our power, it will be necessary to sacrifce them no less going down than is done coming up; for the ability to subsist here without help of men would, sooner or later, be impossible.

The Iroquois have so spread themselves along the great stream of St. Lawrence, and along the River des prairies, that there is no security from the lake of St. Pierre, which is a little above the three Rivers, [269] even to very far beyond Mont-Real. Those Barbarians conceal themselves, now in one place, now in another, — falling suddenly upon the French, upon the Hurons, and upon the Algonquins, when they see their opportunity; insomuch that one would scarcely dare to navigate, in all the Summer, these noble streams, unless Caravans be made, as in Arabia, which we cannot do because of our small number.

As for our missiom in the Villages of the Hurons, we have continued them as usual. We were never so fortunate, nor ever so unfortunate — the capture of Father Jogues, of our Frenchmen, of our Christian Hurons, and of our Catechumens, makes us realize our troubles; and what has [Page 25] occurred this year for the enlargement of the faith publishes in the Relation our blessedess. We are entering more and more into the possession of the goods which we come to buy in this end of the world at the price of our blood and of our lives: I see stronger tendencies than ever toward the total conversion of these peoples, whom we are attacking among the first, and whom we are undertaking to carry away, in order to serve as models and as examples [270] to those who shall be subsequently converted. In a word, our little Churches are continually increasing in number of persons, and in virtue; the affairs of our Lord advance in proportion to the adversities which he sends us. Hardly could one find, hitherto, among our Christians two or three warriors; but, since the capture of that worthy Neophyte, named Eustache, the most valiant of all the Hurons, we have counted in a single band as many as twenty-two Believers, — all men of courage, and mostly Captains or people of importance. The use of arquebuses, refused to the Infdels by Monsieur the Governor, and granted to the Christian Neophytes, is a powerful attraction to win them: it seems that our Lord intends to use this means in order to render Christianity acceptable in these regions.

Another letter speaks in these terms:

God mightily consoles us by the advancement of the spiritual, which is the only attraction that brings us hither. The faith makes a notable progress among the Hurons; one could hardly believe that he would encounter so much firmness, so much innocence, and so much feeling in Savage hearts, if the truth did not teach us that God has bounties and mercies as [271] well for the Savages as for the other nations of the earth. He has cast his eyes this year upon the Napisiriniens, through the solemn Baptism of certain persons more advanced in age, — besides some little [Page 27] children, to whom these sacred waters have opened the gates of Heaven.

Let us not, if you please, pass lightly over these fragments of letters; everything is not ruined, since we lose only the accessory, and since the essential remains intact. Three worthy laborers have died, almost in the same year. Father Charles Raimbaut — who had a heart greater than all his body, though he was of generous stature — was meditating the way to China through our Barbarian land; and God has put him in the way to Heaven. Another was Father Jean Dolbeau,[1] whom paralysis had attacked amid his labors; the ship which was bearing him back to France having been seized by three hostile frigates, while the victors were plundering it, some one let fall fire into the magazine, which hurled into the sea both our friends and our enemies. The poor Father was drowned in the sea, — fortunate to have,given his life in so [272] noble an occupation, and to have passed through fire and through water, to enter into an eternal rest and enjoyment. He led a holy life in the great forests, and now he enjoys the glory of the Saints, in those eternal dwellings. Father Ambroise Davost — crossing over because of his age and the weakness of his body, having been very often attacked by the scurvy — was carried off on the sea by a fever, which did not leave him until he was buried in the waves; he was always with God, during his life. He had a patience of iron, — or rather a patience all of gold, or a patience of Job, — in his life, in his sickness, and in his death. The severity,of the fever; the discomforts of the vessel; the want of Surgeon, of Physician, of remedies, and of the other comforts which are found on land, and which [Page 29] he did not find in his ship; the pains which one suffers in these extremities, — all these never opened his lips or loosed his tongue to complain. He was accustomed to follow rather the wishes and the inclinations of others than [273] his own. He was so accustomed to take the guidance of God, and to receive from his hand all that befell him, that never did he ask for anything in all his sickness; also he never refused anything of all that they would have him take, and never denied any one what one desired that he should do; these virtues are not common. Besides the death of these three elect persons, the capture and the evil treatments suffered by Father Isaac Jogues, and three of our Frenchmen, — one of whom was beaten to death by the Iroquois; the defeat of the Huron Christians and Catechumens; the robbery that occurred, of all that was sent last year, and again this year, to the poor Gospel laborers who are among the upper nations; the risks, the dangers, the ambushes into which these brave Athletes plunge every day; the continual deaths, — all these are only the accessory: the main thing is, that God may be known, that he may be loved, that the faith be planted and enlarged. This is the word, or the precious stone, for which it is necessary to sell, give, lavish, one’s life and one’s blood. Blessed are they [274] who make this rich acquisition on so good terms!

Since I am on the road, I must give some liberty to my .heart and to my pen: I touch two points, in passing, before closing this chapter; both seem to me very important. The first is, that this fire and this ardor of lavishing one’s blood for Jesus Christ, is communicating itself to young men who might [Page 31] have dragged their miserable lives into vices, if they had remained in France, and who, in this new world, pass for Saints. The one who was beaten to death by the Iroquois, named Goupil, was a gallant Surgeon, who had dedicated his life, his heart, and his hand to the service of the poor Savages. He lived some years at St. Joseph, where the reputation of his virtues, especially of his humility and of his charity, still gladdens the French and the Savages who knew him. When we spoke to him of going to the Hurons, his heart expanded at the thought of the dangers that he was about to incur for his master; finally, he gave his life for the sake of his love. But here is what increases our astonishment: another young [275] Surgeon, well versed in his art, and well known in the Hospital at Orleans, where he has given proofs of his virtue and of his competence, has chosen to take the place of his comrade; he has crossed into New France; and I who write this last chapter, seeing him on the point of going up to the Hurons, represented to him all the perils into which he was about to plunge. “I foresee all that,” he said to me; “if my designs tended only to the earth, your words would give me terror: but my heart, desiring only God, fears nothing more.” Thereupon, he embarks with three young Christian Hurons, resolved upon all that it might please Our Lord to send them. We believe that they have passed secretly through the enemy; we have as yet no assurance thereof.

At the time when the Hurons were most irritated against the French and against our Fathers, and when they were plotting their death, it was asked of Some young men who had come down from those [Page 33] upper Nations, whether they were not well satisfied to be delivered from those great dangers into which the malice of the Barbarians had thrown them; [276) [they answered that, since the Fathers were] so freely lavishing their lives for the glory of our Lord, they were again quite ready to go and keep them company, and to die with them. Their statement was not a mere sound formed by their lips; they went up again the same year, and exposed themselves anew to the perils which they had avoided. Such sentiments and such deeds are not of nature’s growth. I wish to say, in the second place, that the Savages have all the reasons which purely human argument can suggest to them, for having an aversion toward the faith, or rather, for rejecting it; it is in this point that God shows that the conversion of these peoples is his own work. Since we have published the law of Jesus Christ in these regions, plagues have rushed in as in a throng. Contagious diseases, war, famine, — these are the tyrants that have sought to wrest the faith from the faithful, and that have caused it ‘to be hated by the infidels. How many times have we been reproached that, wherever we set foot, death came in with us! How many times have they told us that they had [277] never seen calamities like those which have appeared since we speak of Jesus Christ! “You tell us” (exclaim some) “that God is full of goodness; and then, when we give ourselves up to him, he massacres us. The Iroquois, our mortal enemies, do not believe in God, they do not love the prayers, they are more wicked than the Demons, — and yet they prosper; and since we have forsaken the usages of our ancestors, they kill us, they massacre us, they burn us, [Page 35] they exterminate us, root and branch. What profit can there come to us from lending ear to the Gospel, since death and the faith nearly always march in company?’’ There are Christians who generously answer these complaints: “Though the faith should cause us to lose life, is it a great misfortune to leave the earth in order to be blest in Heaven? If death and war slaughter the Christians, no more do they spare the infidels.” “Yes, but,” answer the others, “the Iroquois do not die, and yet they hold prayer in abomination. Before [178] these innovations appeared in these regions, we lived as long as the Iroquois; but, since some have accepted prayer, one. sees no more white heads, — we die at half age.”

“God behaves toward you,” was said to them, “like a Father toward his child; if his child will not have sense, he punishes it, in order to give it some;. i having corrected it, he throws the rods into the fire. A Father does not put himself to so much trouble about his servants as about his children. God regards, you as his children: he wishes to give you sense; he. uses the Iroquois as a whip, in order to correct you, to give you faith, to make you have recourse to him. When you shall be wise, he will throw the rods into the fire; he will chastise the Iroquois, unless they, reform .” “Alas!” say some, “why did he not begin with the Iroquois? Why did not he try to give them sense first? we have so much already, and they have none at all.” “He is the Master,” they are told;” he does whatever he [279] will; he prefers you to the Iroquois, he loves you much more, since he gives a life all full of pleasures to those among you who die after Baptism, and since he casts all the Iroquois into the fires, — not one of them believing [Page 37] in God.” After all, one sees hardly any Pagan, however obstinate he may have been during his life, who does not ask for Baptism at death; and, notwithstanding all those calamities, these poor people nevertheless embrace Jesus Christ. These same scourges and these same reproaches were, in olden ‘time, encountered in the primitive Church. Humiliations are the harbingers that mark the dwellings of the great God; and tribulation attracts us more strongly and with much more certainty than does comfort. It is necessary to abase the pride and the haughtiness of these peoples, in order to give admission to the faith. But let us return to our letters.

We see well that, if the Iroquois be not checked, we cannot long subsist; we will do, nevertheless, I do not only say our best, but whatever we can contrive, in order not [280] to let go our hold, — preparing ourselves, however, to receive the orders which it shall please his divine Majesty to prescribe for us.

If the Iroquois did not retard the progress of the Gospel; if they did not hold the avenues of approach to a vast number of peoples, who are among the upper nations, and who have never heard Jesus Christ mentioned; if they did not threaten the Colony with a shameful ruin, and Old France with a kind of infamy for not having been able to give help to her junior against a handful of Barbarians, — in a word, if they killed only the bodies, without prejudicing the salvation of the souls, our misfortunes would seem to us tolerable; but whoso knows the value of the blood of JESUS CHRIST, knows the price and the value of a soul. Let us finish this discourse. Here are a few words of a son, written to his father, which have but little sweetness as regards the senses, [Page 39] but much as regards the spirit: it is a Religious of our society, who speaks to his nearest friends, and asks them if they do not [281] feel compassion for him, to have been deprived of the good fortune which Father Isaac Jogues has received, by falling into the hands of the Iroquois. This Father, he says, has made that journey only once, and he has encountered that happiness. I have come down six times to Kebec, and six times gone up again by the same ways, without meeting that fortunate adventure. I know not what our good God has in reserve for me; but I would esteem myself very happy to find a similar encounter, after passing add my life in his holy service. The rage of our enemies augments our merit, and their fires, our glory, when we shall enter Heaven by that gate, we shall huve a greater force by which to attract them. I desire them there with good heart, — not calling them our enemies, excejt in so far as they hinder the propagation of the faith.

ERE follows, in conclusion, the sentiment of a Christian Savage, who had been reproached that he was poor, because he believed in God: Even though [282] that were so, — he answered, — I would rejoice in it, because my riches are in Heaven. But thou who castest at me this reproach, and who hast not the faith, — thou wilt be, notwithstanding all thy goods, poor and miserable, and burned in the flames a whole eternity. It would be necessary, says he who has noted this good sentiment in his letters, to come and spend some years here, in order to make account and esteem of the faith, — the value of which we do not know, by reason of having. received it, as it were, by inheritance. [Page 41]

[283] CHAPTER XIV.

OF THE DELIVERANCE OF FATHER ISAAC JOGUES, AND

HIS ARRIVAL IN FRANCE.

THIS news will be by so much more agreeable as it was less expected. This poor Father was no longer spoken of, save as one speaks of the dead. Some believed him burned and devoured by the Iroquois; others regarded him as a victim who awaited nothing more but the knife and the teeth of the Sacrificers of Moloch. In fact, the God of the for. saken saved him by a wholly special Providence, at the moment when he was destined to the fire, and to those other cruelties which pass the malice of men. He is living, and, if his hands are shortened, his heart is enlarged, — the sufferings of his body have not diminished the strength of his mind: we are expecting him from day to day. [If] the Printer [284] were not so hurried, we could learn from his own lips the pleasant ways which God has taken in order to deliver him. The letter which he writes again from his captivity to Father Charles Lalemant, speaks to us of these quite amply; but it does not satisfy all the questions that we might put to him. Let us follow it, nevertheless; for it well deserves its place in this Chapter.

I started the very day of the Feast of Our Blessed Father saint Ignace, from the Village where I was captive, — in order to follow and accompany some Iroquois who were going away, first for trade, then for fishing. Having [Page 43] accomplished their little traffic, they stopped at a place seven or eight leagues below a settlement of the Dutch, which is located on a river where we carried on our fishing. While we were setting snares for the fish, there came a rumor that a squad of Iroquois, returned from pursuit of the Hurons, had killed five or six on the spot, and taken four prisoners, two of whom had been already burned in our Village, with cruelties extraordinary. At this news, my heart was pierced through [285] with a most bitter and sharp pain, because I had not seen, or consoled, or baptized those poor victims. Consequently, fearing lest some other like thing should happen in my absence, I said to a good old woman, — who, by reason of her age, and the care that she had for me, and the compassion that she felt toward me, called me her nephew, and I called hey my aunt, — I then said to her: “My aunt, I would much like to return to our Cabin; I grow very weary here.” It was not that I expected more ease and less pain in our Village, — where I suffered a continual martyrdom, being constrained to see with my eyes the horrible cruelties which are practiced there; but my heart could not endure the death of any man without my procuring him holy Baptism. That good woman said to me: “Go then, my nephew, since thou art weary here; take something to eat on the way.” I embarked in the first Canoe that was going up to the Village, — always conducted and always accompanied by the Iroquois. Having arrived, as we did, in the settlement of the Dutch, through which it was necessary for us to pass, I learn that our whole Village is excited [286] against the French, and that only my return is awaited, for them to burn us. Now for the cause of such news. Among several bands of Iroquois, who had gone to war against the French, the Algonquins, and the Hurons, there was one which took the resolution to go round about Richelieu, in order to [Page 45] spy on the French and the Savages, their allies. A certain Huron of this band, taken by the Hiroquois, and settled among them, came to ask me for letters, in order to carry them to the French, — hoping, perhaps, to surprise some one of them by this bait; but, as I doubted not that our French would be on their guard, and as I saw, moreover, that it was important that I should give them some warning of the designs, the arms, and the treachery of our enemits, I found means to secure a bit of paper in order to write to them, — the Dutch according me this charity. I knew very well the dangers to which I was exposing myself; I was not ignorant that, if any misfortune happened to those warriors, they would make me responsible therefor, and would blame my letters for it. I anticipated my death; but it seemed to me pleasant and agreeable, employed for the pubdic good, and for [287] the consolation of our French and of the poor Savages who listen to the word of Our Lord. My heart was seized with no dread, at the sight of all that might happen therefrom, since it was a matter of the glory of God; I accordingly gave my letter to that young warror, who did not return. The story which his comrades have brought back, says that he carried it to the fort of Richelieu, and that, as soon as the French had seen it, they fired the Cannon upon them. This frightened them so that the greater part Fled, all naked, — abandoning one of their Canoes, in which there were three arquebuses, powder and lead, and some other baggage. These tidings being brought into the Village, they clamor aloud that my letters have caused them to be treated like that; the rumor of it spreads everywhere, — it comes even to my ears. They reproach me that I have done this evil deed; they speak only of burning me; and, if I had chanced to be in the Village at the return of those warriors, fire, rage, and cruelty would have taken my life. For climax of [Page 47] misfortune, another troop — Coming back from Mont-real, Where they had set ambushes for the French — said that [288] one of their men had been killed, and two otheys wounded. Each one held me guilty of these adverse encounters; they were fairly mad with rage, awaiting me with impatience. I listened to all these tumors, offering myself withut reserve to Our Lord, and committing .myself in all and through all to his most holy will. The Captain of the Dutch settlement where we were, — not being ignorant of the evil design of those Barbarians, and knowing, moreover, that Monsieur the Chevalier de Montmagny had prevented the Savages of New France from coming to kill some Dutch, — disclosed to me means for escape.[2] “Yonder,” said he to me, “is a vessel at anchor, which will sail in a few days; enter into it secretly. It is going first to Virginia, and thence it will carry you to Bordeaux or to la Rochelle, where it is to land.” Having thanked him, with much regard for his courtesy, I tell him that the Iroquois, probably suspecting that some one had favored my retreat, might cause some damages to his people. “No, no,” he answers, “fear nothing; this opportunity is favorable; embark; you will never find a more certain way to escape.” My heart remained perplexed at these words, wondering [289] if it were not expedient for the greater glory of our Lord, that I expose myself to the danger of the fire and to the fury of those Barbarians, in order to aid in the salvation of some soul. I said to him then: “Monsieur, the affairseems to me of such importance that I cannot answer You at once; give me, if you please, the night to think of it. I will commend it to our Lord; I will examine the arguments on both sides; and to-morrow morning I will tell you my final resolution.” He granted me way request with astonishment; I spent the night in prayer greatly beseeching our [Page 49] Lord that he should not allow me to reach a conclusion by myself; that he should give me light, in order to know his most holy will; that in all and through all I wished to follow it, even to the extent of being burned at a slow fire. The reasons which might keep me in the country were consideration for the French and for the Savages; I felt love for them, and a great desire to assist them, — insomuch that I had resolved to spend the remainder of my days in that captivity, for their salvation; but I saw the face of affairs quite changed.

In the first place, as regarded our three Frenchmen, led captive into the Country [290] as well as I: one of them, named René Goupil, had already been murdered at mny feet; this young man had the purity of an Angel. Henry, whomthey had taken at Mont-Real, had fled into the woods. While he was looking at the cruelties which were practiced upon two poor Hurons, roasted at a slow fire, some Iroquois told him that he would receive the same treatment, and I, too, when I should return; these threats made him resolve rather to plunge into the danger of dying from hunger in the woods, or of being devoured by some wild beast, than to endure the torments which these half Demons inflicted. It was already seven days since he had disappeared. As for Guillaume Cousture, I saw scarcely any further way of aiding him, — for they had placed him in a village far from the one where I was; and the Savages so occupied it on the hither side of that place, that I could no longer meet him. And that he himself had addressed me in these words: “My Father, try to escape; as soon as I shall see you no more, I shall find the means to get away. You well know that I stay in this captivity only for the love of you; make, then, your efforts to escape, for I cannot think of my liberty and of my life unless [291] I see You in safety.” Furthermore, this good youth had been given to [Page 51] an old man, Who assured me that he would allow him to go in peace, if I could obtain my deliverance; consequently I saw no further reason which obliged me to remain on account of the French.

As for the savages, I was without power and beyond hope of being able to instruct them; for the whole country was so irritated against me that I found no more any opening to speak to them, or to win them; and the Algonquins and the Hurons were constrained to withdraw, from me, asfrom a victim destined to the fire, for fear of sharing in the hatred and rage which the Iroquois felt against me. I realized, moreover, that I had some acquaintance with their language; that I knew their country and their strength; that I couldperhaps better procure their salvation by other ways than by remaining among them. It came to my mind that all this knowledge would die with me, if I did not escape. These wretches had so little inclination to deliver us, that they committed a treachery against the law and the custom of all these nations. A Savage from the country of the Sokokiois, allies of the Iroquois, having been seized by the upper Algonquins and [292] taken a prisoner to the three Rivers, or to Kebec, was delivered and set at liberty by the mediation of Monsieur the Governor of New France, at the solicitation of our Fathers. This good Savage, seeing that the French had saved his life, sent, in the month of April, some fine presents, to the end that they should deliver at least one of the French. The Iroquois retained the presents, without setting one of them at liberty, which treachery is perhaps unexampled among these Peoples, — for they inviolably observe this law, that whoever touches or accepts the present which is made to him, is bound to fulfill what is asked of him through that Present. This is why, when they are unwilling to grant what is desired, they send back the presents or make others in place [Page 53] of them. But to return to my subject, — having weighed before God with all the impartiality in my power, the reasons which inclined me to remain among those Barbarians or to leave them, I believed that our Lord would be better pleased if I should take the opportunity to escape. Daylight having come, I went to greet Monsieur the Dutch Governor, and declared to him the opinions that I had adopted before God, He summons the chief men of the ship, signifies to them his intentions, and exhorts them [293] to receive me, and to keep me concealed, — in a word, to convey me back to Europe. They answer that, if I can once set foot in their vessel, I am in safety; that I shall not leave it until I reach Bourdeaux or la Rochelle. “Well, then,” the Governor said to me, “return with the Savages, and toward the evening, or in the night, steal away softly and move toward the river; you will find there a little boat which I will have kept all ready to carry you secretly to the Ship.” After very humbly returning thanks to all those Gentlemen, I withdrew from the Dutch, in order better to conceal my design. Toward evening, I retired with ten or twelve Iroquois into a barn, where we passed the night. Before lying down, I went out of that place, to see in what quarter I might most easily escape. The dogs of the Dutch, being then untied, run up to me; one of them, large and powerful, flings himself upon my leg, which is bare, and seriously injures it. I return immediately to the barn; the Iroquois close it securely, and, the better to guard me, come to lie down beside me, — especially a certain man which had been charged to watch me. Seeing myself [294] beset with those evil creatures, and the barn well closed, and surrounded with dogs, which would betray me if I essayed to go out, I almost believed that I could not escape. I complained quietly to my God, because, having [Page 55] given me the idea of escaping, Concluserat vias meas lapidibus quadris, et in loco spatioso pedes meos: He was stopping up the ways and paths of it. I spent also that second night without sleeping; the day approaching, I heard the cocks crow. Soon afterward, a servant of the Dutch farmer who had lodged us in his barn, having entered it by some door or other, — I accosted him softly, and made signs to him (for I did not understand his Flemish), that he should prevent the dogs from yelping. He goes out at once, and I after him, having previously taken all my belongings, — which consisted of a little office of the Virgin, of a little Gerson,[3] and a wooden Cross that I had made for myself, in order to preserve the memory of the suferings of my Savior. Being outside of the barn, without having made any noise, or awakened my guards, I cross over a fence which confined the enclosure about the house; I run straight to the river where the Ship was, — this is all the service that my leg, much wounded, could render me: for there [295] was surely a good quarter of a league of road to make. I found the boat as they had told me, but, the water having subsided, it was aground. I push it, in order to set it afloat; not being able to effect this, on account of its weight, I call to the Ship, that they bring the skiff to ferry me, — But no news. I know not whether they heard me; at all events, no one appeared. The daylight meanwhile was beginning to discover to the Iroquois the theft that I was making of Myself; I feared that they might surprise me in this innocent misdemeanor. Weary of shouting, I return to the boat: I pray God to increase my strength; I do so well, turning it end for end, and push it so hard that I get it to the water. Having made it float, I jump into it, and go all alone to the Ship, where I go on board without being discovered by any Iroquois. They lodge me forthwith down in the hold; and, [Page 57]

in order to conceal me, they put a great chest over the hatchway. I was two days and two nights in the belly of that vessel, with such discomfort that I thought I would suffocate and die with the stench. I remembered then poor Jonas, and I prayed our Lord, Ne fugerem à facie Domini, — that I [296] might not hide myself before his face, and that I might not withdraw far from his wishes; but on the contrary, infatuaret omnia consilia quæ non essent ad suam gloriam, — I prayed him to overthrow all the counsel which should not tend to his glory, and to detain me in the country of those infidels, if he did not approve my retreat and my flight. The second night of my voluntary prison, the Minister of the Dutch[4] came to tell me that the Iroquois had indeed made some disturbance, and that the Dutch inhabitants of the country were afraid that they would set fire to their houses, or kill their cattle; they have reason to fear them, since they have arnaed them with good arquebuses. To that I answer: Si propter me orta est tempestas, projicite me in mare: “If the storm has risen on my account, Iam ready to appease it by losing my life;” I had never the wish to escape to the prejudice of the least man of their settlement. Finally, it was necessary to leave my cavern; all the Mariners were offended at this, saying that the promise of security had been given me in case I could set foot in the Ship, and that I was being withdrawn at the moment when it would be requisite to bring me thither if I were not there; that I had put myself in peril [297] of life by excaping upon their word; that it must needs be kept, whatever the cost. I begged that I be allowed to go forth, since the Captain who had disclosed to me the way of my flight was asking for me. I went to find him in his house, where he kept me concealed; these goings and these comings having occurred by night, I was not yet discovered. I might indeed [Page 59] have alleged some reasons in all these encounters; but it was not for me to speak in my own cause, but rather to follow the orders of others, to which I submitted with good heart. Finally, the Captain told me that it was necessary to yield quietly to the storm, and wait until the minds of the Savages should be pacified; and that every one was of this opinion. So there I was, a voluntary prisoner in his house, from which I am writing back to you the present letter. And if you ask my thoughts in all these adventures, I will tell you.

First, that that Ship which had wished to save my life, sailed without me.

Secondly, if Our Lord do not protect me in a manner wellnigh miraculous, the Savages, who go and come here at every moment, will discover me; and if ever they convince themselves that I have not gone away, it will be necessary to return into their hands, Now, if they [298] had such a rage against me before my flight, what treatment will they inflict on me, seeing me fallen back into their power? I shall not die a common death; the fire, their rage, and the cruelties which they invent, will tear away my life. God be blessed forever. We are incessantly in the bosom of his divine and always adorable providence. Vestri capilli capitis numerati sunt: nolite timere: multis passeribus meliores estis vos quorum unus non cadet super terram sine patre vestro; he who has care for the little birds of the air does not cast us into oblivion. It is already twelve days that I have been concealed, — it is quite improbable that misfortune will reach me.

In the third place, you see the great need that we have of your prayers and of the holy Sacrifices of all our Fathers; procure us this alms everywhere, Ut reddat me Dominus idoneum ad se amandum, fortem ad [Page 61] patiendum, constantem ad perseverandum in sue amore, et servitio, — to the end that God may render me fit and well disposed to lave him; that he may render me strong and courageous to suffer and to endure; and that he may give me a noble constancy to persevere in [299] his love and in his service, — this is what I would desire above all, together with a little New Testament from Europe. Pray for these poor nations which burn and devour one another, — that at last they may come to the Knowledge of their Creator, in order to render to him the tribute of their love. Memor sum vestri in vinculis meis; I do not forget you; my captivity cannot fetter my memory. I am, heartily and with affection, etc.

From Renselaerivich, this 30th

of August, 1643.

In another letter, written to the same Father Charles Lalemant, dated the 6th of January of this present year, he speaks in these terms:

Nunc scio verè: quia misit Dominus Angelum suum, et eripuit me de manu Herodis, et de omni expectatione plebis Judæorum. At last I am delivered; Our Lord has sent one of his Angels, to release me from captivity. The Iroquois having betaken themselves to the Dutch settlement toward the middle of September, after making much disturbance, finally accepted some presents which the Captain, who kept me concealed, made to them, to the amount of about three hundred livres, [100] which I will strive to repay. Add matters being settled, I was sent to Manhaté, where dwells the Governor of all the country.[5] He received me very humanely; he gave me a coat, and then had me go on board a bark which crossed the Ocean in the middle of Winter. Having put back into England, — I boarded another bark, a Collier, which carried me. [Page 63] into lower Brittany, with a nightcap on my head, and in want of all things, — in the same way that you arrived at St. Sebastien, but not dripping with a second shipwreck.[6]

Here is still another letter, which the Father has written to a person who felt toward him more envy than compassion, and who would have much desired to be the companion of his fortune:

After all, my sins have rendered me unworthy to die among the Iroquois; I still live, and God grant that it be fo amend myself; at least, I acknowledge it as a great favor, that he has willed that I should endure something, I say often with gratitude, [301] Bonum mihi quia humiliasti me, ut discam justificationes tuas. I departed on the fifth of November from the Dutch settlement, in a bark of fifty tons, which conveyed me to Falmouth in England, the day before Christmas; and I arrived in Lower Brittany, between Brest and St. Paul de Leon, the very day of Christmas, in time to have the blessing of hearing Mass and offering my devotions. An honest Merchant, having met me, took me and paid my way to Rennes, where I have arrived this day, the eve of Epiphany. What happiness, after having dwelt so long among Savages, after having conversed with Calvinists, with Lutherans, with Annbaptists, and with Puritans, to see oneself among servants of God, if the Catholic Church! to see oneself in the society of Jesus! It is a slight idea of the satisfactions that we shall receive some day in Paradise, if God please; when dispersiones Israëlis congregabit. When will God withdraw his hand from over our poor French and our poor Savages? Væ mihi ut quid natus sum videre contritionem populi mei! My sins and the unfaithfulness of my past life have made very heavy the [302] hand of the divine Majesty, justly provoked [Page 65] against us. I beseech Your Reverence to obtain for me, from our Lord, a perfect conversion; and that this little chastisement that he has given me may avail, according to his purpose, to render me better. Father Raimbault, Father Dolbeau, and Father Davost are then dead? They were ripe for Paradise, and New France has lost in one year three persons who had greatdy labored there. I know not whether a copy of the Relation of the Hurons has been received this year. The first copy was taken with the Hurons who were going down to the French, in the month Of June, and was restored to me in the country of the Iroquois, with a large package of letters which our Fathers with the Hurons were sending to France. If I had supposed that God intended to deliver me, I would have carried it with me when I went to visit the Dutch; everything remained in the Cabin where I was. Another time, I will write at greater length: this is enough for the first day of my arrival.[7]

At Rennes, this 5th of

January, 1644.

[303]

THOUGHT that the end of this letter would be the conclusion of this Chapter: but here is still another, which will shed some light upon the ones preceding. I arrange them according to the time when they are sent to us, without considering whether there may not be some repetitions, — the Printer not permitting me to draw from them a connected narrative.

When I begged Father Isaac Jogues to relate to us the details of his capture and of his captivity, he answered me that he had written thereof quite amply; but because I perceive every day that he is so reserved in speaking of himself that he may have omitted many interesting particulars, [Page 67] here follows what I have drawn from his lips on sundry occasions. After the combat of the Hurons, which was soon followed by their defeat, this good Father found himself in a place where he was not beyond hope of saving himself from their hands. But he soon lest the desire for this, for, — having noticed that the principal Christians of the Squad which accompanied him were taken, with a Frenchman, — he himself called and summoned to him the Iroquois, to whom he generousdy surrendered, that he might be able to assist these poor [304] captives. As soon as he had given himself up, they stripped him, leaving him only his shirt. They tore out his finger-nails, except two. It was necessary to make afterward a journey of about ten days, with great fatigues, and notable inconveniences from hunger, those Barbarians lacking provisions. Approaching within about a day’s journey of the country, he was cruelty beaten, and all his fellow captives, by a band of two hundred Savages. They received the same treatment at the entrance to three Villages insomuch that, during three days in which they were led in triumph from Village to Village, they received a countless number of beatings. As those Barbarians were greatly enraged against the French, and as they regarded the Father as one of the principal French Captains, the fury of the blows fell more especially on him. They were made to mount, during the day, upon scafolds, in order to be exposed to the ridicule and to the insolence of those Barbarians. At night, they were withdrawn into the Cabins, where the children tormented them with burning cinders and live coals. The fourth day of their arrival, they cut off the Father’s left thumb, even to the root; they crushed and they burned the ends of the fingers [305] from which they had torn off the nails. The left index finger appears to have been partly burned with a hot iron; it has thus remained somewhat [Page 69] crippled, — though he has the free movement of the others which are left to him. The sixth day, they bound him to two stakes, as if they intended to burn him; the cords were so tight that he was likely, in a little time, to fall into a swoon, — When a young Iroquois, touched with compassion and pity, unbound him. This charity was recognized by Heaven; for, some months dater, the Father having, as if by chance, encountered him very sick, instructed and Baptized him; and soon afterward he died. It is said that a good deed is never lest; but that one has indeed been rewarded.

The seventh day, they were notified that it was the last of their lives, and that toward evening, their captors would begin burning them; these held, nevertheless, a great council about that business. Meanwhile, the Father rallies his people, as a good Pastor his sheep; gives courage to the Christians, instructs them in the ways of deriving profit for Heaven out of these horrible cruelties; and baptizes some Hurons, still Catechumens. When they were expecting their final sentence, the Barbarians, leaving the assembly, [326 i.e., 306] tell them that they should not die; they were, neverthedess, for four whole months, treated like victims destined to tortures. Finally, — the Father having given notice of his capture to the Dutch, who are settled in the region near the Iroquois, — the Governor of all the country wrote to the Captain who commands in the settlement nearest the Iroquois, that he should strive to release him and the other French, his fellow captives. He made some presents to these Barbarians, — as did also some Savages of a neighboring nation, for having been obliged at Kebec by the French; these presents somewhat softened the Iroquois, insomuch that they gave liberty to the Father to go and to come where he would. This gave him opportunity to baptize about seventy persons, both Children and adults, [Page 71] most of whom are in Heaven; he also, by this means, maintained the captive Hurons in piety. These good deeds — which had made him resolve not to escape, even when able to do so — greatly mitigated the rigor of his captivity. The Iroquois, however, would not hear mention of his deliverance, — imagining that, while they could retain the Father, the French of Kebec and other places round about would not dare to do them any harm, [327 i.e., 307] when they should come in pursuit of the Hurons and Algonquins. But the Father, despising his life, wrote back to the French that consideration for him should not prevent them from doing add that might be to the greater glory of our Lord, — not unwilling to be the occasion for some Frenchmen, or some poor Savages, to be surprised and massacred by those Barbarians. At last, this poor Father having arrived in England, as he himself has sent word, the Dutch went ashore in order to go and refresh themselves a little from the sea and from a long voyage; some English robbers, entering the Bark and having found only the Father, all alone, plundered it, and seized from him and carried of the cloak and the hat which the Dutch had given him. You have been able to see, by his own letters, in what plight he arrived in France. In conclusion, he is as cheerful as if he had suffered nothing; and as zealous to return to the Hurons, amid all those dangers, as if perils were to him securities, he certainly expects to cross the Ocean once again, in order to go to succor those poor peoples, and to finish the sacrifice already begun.

At Rennes, this 14th of January, [Page 73]

HOSE who believe that the Jesuits go into this end of the world in order to make traffic of skins of dead beasts, account them very rash, and destitute of sense, to go and expose themselves to such horrible dangers, for a benefit so sordid. It seems to me that they have more generous hearts; and that only God and the salvation of souls can make them leave their native land, and the comfort of France, in order to go in quest of fires and torments in the midst of Barbarism. Forasmuch, nevertheless, as this error about commerce might slip into the minds of those who are not acquainted with them, it has been judged proper to affix here an authentic attestation, which will show how far they are removed from such thoughts[8] If they who speak of them with freedom, for want of knowing them, chanced to be with them in that new world, they would certainly change their tone; and, becoming cqmpanions in their sufferings and their zeal, they would find themselves united and bound by like affections; and these chains [309] might be eternal, since true love .and true charity pass beyond time. Enough; let us conclude with a genuine and impartial testimonial, which may be drawn from the lips of honorable persons, who have stamped it with their names and confirmed it with their signatures. [Page 75]

Declaration of Messieurs the Directors and

Associates in the Company of

New France.

HE Directors and Associates in the Company of New France, called Canada, having learned that some persons persuade themselves, and circulate the report, that the Society of the Jesuit Fathers has part in the shipments, returns, and Commercial Transactions which are made in the said country, — wishing by this device to disparage and destroy the reputation and value of the great labors which they undertake in the said country, with pains and fatigues incredible, and in peril of their lives, for the service and glory of God, in the Conversion of the Savages to the faith of Christianity and the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman Religion, in which they have grade and are making great progress every year, whereof the said Society is very intimately informed, — have believed themselves obliged by the duty of Christian Charity, to undeceive those who might have this belief, through the declaration and certification which they make by these presents: that the said Jesuit Fathers are not associated in the said Company of New France, directly or indirectly, and have no part in the traffic of merchandise — which is carried on by it. In witness whereof the present declaration has been signed by the said Directors and Associates, and sealed with the seal of the said Company, at Paris, in the regular Assembly of the same, the first day of December one thousand six hundred and forty-three. Thus signed: De la Ferté, Abbé [Page 77] de sainte Magdeleine,[9] Bordier, Margonne, Beruyer, Robineau, Tabouret, Berruyer, Verdier, Fleuriau, Caset, Bourguet, and Clarentin; and sealed with a Seal.

Collated with the Original by

me, Counsellor, and Secretary

of the King, house, and

Crown of France.

JOLLY

LII

Epistola Patris Caroli Garnier, ad R. P. Mutium

Vitelleschi, Præpositum Generalem

Sctæ, Mariæ, apud Hurones, 8 Aprilis, 1644

—————

Source: The original is in the MSS. Soc. Jes.; we follow an apograph thereof by Father Martin, in the archives of St. Mary’s College, Montreal.

[Page 81]

Letter from Father Charles Garnier to the Rever-

end Father Mutius Vitelleschi, General

of the Society of Jesus.

ERY REVEREND FATHER IN CHRIST,

Pax Christi.

Concerning ours who are in this mission of the Hurons, I will say only this to your Paternity, — that they are very strict observers of religious discipline, and earnest laborers in the Lord’s vineyard. For superior, too, we have a man distinguished in virtue, very discreet, and greatly attached to his people. However, he lacks this little, — that he does not sufficiently find his way into their hearts; yet there is nothing which urges his removal. But, when he shall be removed, no one seems to me equally worthy to be substituted in his place, as Father Paul Ragueneau, inasmuch as he is endowed with unusual graces of virtue, talent, prudence, and learning; and, in many respects, he excels him whom we now have for superior, Reverend Father Jerome Lallemant.

As to our domestics who have given themselves to us for life, we cannot sufficiently praise the divine will for having given them to us; and no doubt, if Your Paternity saw the matter with your own eyes, you yourself would urge us to praise the best and greatest God, for you would see that it is most unlikely that domestics are attracted hither by the mere [Page 83] hope of any gain. You would moreover perceive the impossibility that many of these should serve here during many years. So great is the difficulty of the roads, so horrible are the dangers, so great is the scarcity of provisions, that, if these who have given themselves to us, impelled by God, had not given themselves, certainly we would now be without domestics, — that is, this mission would soon collapse. Such, too, are these domestics that few like them are to be found who are hired, — that is, very pious, most prompt in obedience, and an unusual example to our Barbarians. The difficulty which we have experienced with the Barbarians, during many years, has taught us to value highly this last qualification; since to us who expound the law of the gospel they opposed the corrupt morals of the French who first landed on these shores, — so that they deemed us alone Christians, who wear the black gown. Of so great moment this matter of our domestics has seemed to us, that with one voice it has seemed necessary to us to cry aloud to Your Paternity.

To say somewhat of our Barbarians: the zeal for the Gospel law increases daily. There are especially two villages in which are very many Christians, and among them not a few endowed with singular piety, and with constancy which neither adversity nor the taunts and curses of the infidels can shake. There are some Christians and sacred buildings in other villages. Certainly, if any entire village will once give support to the faith, there is hope that it will, by its example, bring over to Christ very many villages. We request Your Paternity with earnest entreaties that you aid us with your Holy Sacrifices and prayers. [Page 85]

I, too, with especial earnestness implore your aid, who am

Your Paternity’s

Most unworthy son in Christ,

CHARLES GARNIER.

At the Residence of Ste. Marie of the Hurons,

April 8, 1644

LIII

Relation of 1643-44

—————

Paris: SEBASTIEN ET GABRIEL CRAMOISY, 1645

Source: Our facsimile of the title-page is from the original Cramoisy edition of H. 83, in the library of the Wisconsin Historical Society; in reprinting the text, we follow the Lamoignon copy in Lenox Library.

The Relation is in two parts; we present herewith chaps. i.-viii. of Part 1

[Page 89]

RELATION

OF WHAT OCCURRED

NEW FRANCE

IN THE YEARS 1643 AND 1644

Sent to the Rev. Father JEAN FILLEAU,

Provincial of the Society of Jesus

in the Province of France.

ByFather Barthelemy Vimont

of the same Society, Superior of

the whole Mission..

P A R I S.

———————

M. DC. XLV.

By Royal License.

[Page 93]

To the Reverend Father Jean Filleau, Provincial

of the Society of JESUS in the

Province of France.

Y REVEREND FATHER,

It is a deeply-felt consolation for us to receive every year Your Reverence’s letters, which are so many authentic proofs of the interest