the Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents Volume 27

The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents

—————

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. XXVII

Hurons, Lower Canada:

1642-1645

CLEVELAND: The Burrows Brothers

Company, PUBLISHERS, M DCCC XCVIII

THE JESUIT RELATIONS

AND

ALLIED DOCUMENTS

Vol. XXV

[Page iii]

The edition consists of sev-

en hundred and fifty sets

all numbered.

No.________

The Burrows Brothers Co.

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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

[Page v]

CONTENTS OF VOL. XXVII.

Preface To Volume XXVII		9
Documents:—
LIII.	Relation de ce qvi s’est passé en la Novvelle France, és années 1643. & 1644. [Chap. vi. to end of Part II., completing the document.] Hierosme Lalemant; Des Hurons, September 21, 1643, and March 31, 1644		19
LIV.	Journal des PP. Jéuites. Hierosme Lalemant; Quebek, September-December, 1645.		73
LV.	Relation de ce qvi s’est passé en la Novvelle France, és années 1644. & 1645. [Chaps. i.-xi.] Barthelemy Vimont; Quebec, October 1, 1645		123


Bibliographical Data; Volume XXVII			307
Notes			311.

[Page vii]

[INSERT GRAPHIC HERE]

ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL. XLVII.

I.	Reduced facsimile of Brief of Pope Urban VIII., dated February 18, 1644, granting a plenary indulgence	106
II.	Photographic facsimile of title-page, Relation of 1644-45.	126

[Page viii]

PREFACE TO VOL. XXVII.

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

LIII. Part I. of this Relation, written by the superior, Vimont, was given in Vols. XXV. and XXVI.; Part II., sent to Vimont from the Huron country by Jerome Lalemant, was commenced in Vol. XXVI., and is here concluded.

Continuing his survey of the Huron missions for 1642-43, Lalemant states that lack of workers has prevented the Jesuits from carrying on their labors, begun two years before, among the Neutral Nation; some of the Christian Hurons, however, have preached among them, meeting with considerable success. At the end of the winter, one hundred of this tribe visit the Jesuits in the Huron country, and are so pleased with what they see and hear that they promise the Fathers a favorable reception by their people.

A sanguinary attack by this tribe upon the Mascoutens, last summer, is described. The latter constitute a nation more populous than the Neutrals, Hurons, and Iroquois, all together: they speak an Algonkin dialect, and offer a vast field for missionary labor.

The station of St. Jean Baptiste is still in charge of Daniel. A notable increase in the number of conversions is reported; and several instances of [Page 9] devotion and piety are related. Driven hither by the murderous Iroquois, many Algonkins from the St. Lawrence valley have taken refuge with the Hurons; and in their behalf is established the mission of Ste. Elizabeth, in charge of Ménard. He soon finds ready access to them, and they listen to him willingly; several conversions occur among them.

The final chapter describes the labors of Pijart and Ménard, begun in the previous summer, among the Nipissing Algonkins. They meet a friendly reception; but on attempting to rebuke the superstitious and licentious practices of the natives, much opposition is aroused, and the missionaries are even threatened and assaulted. In December, these and several other Algonkin tribes come to winter among the Eturons, and Pijart continues his instruction to them. He secures some conversions, and baptizes several at the point of death.

It will be remembered (see Preface to Vol. XXV. that the original Huron report for 1642-43 was captured by the Iroquois: and the second draft thereof reached Quebec too late, in the autumn of 1643, to be sent to France from Quebec, for insertion in the Relation of that year. In publishing this belated copy in the Relation of 1643-44, the account of affairs in the Huron mission is brought up to date by a supplementary letter from Lalemant to his provincial, dated March 31, 1644. In this epistle, Lalemant reports that the Iroquois have closed all passage by the rivers to Quebec; many of the Hurons, attempting to descend thither, have been slaughtered or captured, or have barely escaped with their lives; and their country has been continually harassed by the foe. Largely as a result of the war, a severe famine has [Page 10] helped still further to desolate this afflicted land, — “prevailing among all the tribes for over a hundred leagues around.’ There is hardly enough Indian corn for sowing the fields. Fortunately, the Jesuits have a good supply of corn; and this enables them to exercise toward the starving Indians a charity that wins their affection. On the whole, the church has been strengthened, rather than injured, by these afflictions. The mission stations have become residences, and the chapels have been everywhere enlarged. The Christians are notably more numerous, and even the Infidels are less hostile.

LIV. We here commence the publication of the Journal des Jésuites — as its title indicates, a brief record, from day to day, of events occurring in the Jesuit residence at Quebec, and written by the superior in charge. It is prefaced by an outline of affairs in Canada, as they existed at the time when Jerome Lalemant came down to Quebec (September, 1645), to replace Vimont as superior of the Canadian mission. The Journal itself commences October 17, 1645, and continues to June 2 I, 1668, with some gaps between 1654 and 1656; we shall present its contents in yearly installments, — the portion given in this volume embracing September to December, 1645.

The Relations were formal accounts, carefully edited in Quebec and in Paris, and avowedly published for the purpose of attracting money and recruits for the missions of New France; it is to the letters and other informal documents of the period, that we must look for side lights with which to illumine the heroic picture of the Jesuits in New France. Among the mass of material of this character which will be supplied in the present series, no document will be more [Page 11] serviceable to historians of the period than the Journal des Jésuites, which is the more valuable because obviously not intended for the public eye.

In his introductory note on the” State of the country” when he arrived at Quebec in September, 1645, Lalemant says that the Hundred Associates had just ceded the fur trade to the French colonists on the St. Lawrence. At Montreal, “there remain, of notable persons,” only D’Ailleboust and his family, and Mile. Mance, Le Jeune and Jogues are assigned to that post for the winter. Coûture, the donné who had been captured with Jogues, two years before, by the Iroquois, returns from an embassy to the Mohawks, with whom he has been negotiating a peace. Fort Richelieu is almost abandoned, only eight or ten soldiers being left there. A list of the appointments at the various mission stations is given.

Here the Journal proper begins. Following are the principal entries: The fleet departs for France, October 24, “laden, as is estimated, with 20,000 pounds’ weight of Beaver skins for the habitans, and 10,000 for the general company, at a pistole, or ten or eleven francs, a pound.” The soldiers sent last year to the Huron country return, this September, to Montreal, with a valuable cargo of furs. “A dispute over this having arisen between the habitans, lately put in possession of the trade, and the messieurs of the general Company, they agreed to employ the proceeds in building a church and clergy-house, for which 6,000 livres were specially set aside,” They make up for this, however, by allowing the Jesuits only thirty crowns apiece for the maintenance of these soldiers during the past year; “they caused us thereby a loss of more than 2,500 lives.” Some [Page 12] of the Hurons wintering at Sillery steal from a Frenchman; they are “intimidated with the anger of Monsieur the Governor at his return.”

Complaint is made of the Huron Atironta and his family, who lodge at the hospital, that they take the place of the sick there. A wedding, at which Le Jeune officiates, causes Chavigny to lose one of his men, for which he blames the priest; but it appears afterward that he was wrong in complaining of Le Jeune. A house for the Jesuits at Montreal is ready for erection, when orders come from France that all the workmen must at once begin work on Madame de Bullion’s hospital. Maisonneuve finds it hard to tell this news to the Fathers; Lalemant says: “I took it upon myself to do so, and to persuade them to regard the matter favorably; afterward, they flung the cat at my legs, as if I were the one who had hindered that work.”

November 15, Vimont obtains Des Chastelets’s consent that the prohibition of trade with the Indians shall not apply to the Jesuits, but that they must carry it on quietly. “The Algonquins of Sillery inflict on themselves severe disciplines for having been several times drunk; but they complain much and stoutly that the French get drunk and are bad, and that not a word is said about it.” At a wedding, “there were two violins, for the first time.” Much curious information is given, incidentally, about the values of wages, food, peltries, etc. Lalemant notes the great expenses incurred for the Sillery establishment, — nearly a thousand écus, — while the revenues therefrom are nil.

December 3, the Ursulines send a dinner to the Fathers —“a perfect banquet, indeed.” “About [Page 13] this time, we began to make bread at the house, not only because that made for us at the warehouse oven was not good, but because we wished to use the corn of the land, which they did not use at the warehouse.” The religious ceremonies observed on the various church festivals of the month are described, — especially those at Christmastide. Two great kettles filled with fire have been furnished by the warehouse, to warm the chapel; through neglect to remove these after mass, the floor beneath them catches fire, early in the morning, but it is fortunately seen by the Jesuits’ cook, who quietly extinguishes the fire. Two Frenchmen create a scandal by getting intoxicated, while waiting for the midnight mass. The Jesuits vigorously denounce this, “because the savages said: ‘They make us take the discipline when we get drunk, and they say nothing to the French.’ Nothing further was required than this public expression; Monsieur the governor had them put on the chevalet, exposed to a frightful Northeast wind.”

Lalemant finds that his predecessor, Vimont, had granted to the two convents of nuns twelve arpents of the best meadow lands owned by the Jesuits, for a term of six years. He blames Vimont for this; but the latter soon afterward obtains a retrocession of the land, as appears by a marginal note in the text.

LV. The Relation of 1644-45 consists of but one part (dated at Quebec, October I, 1645), written by Vimont, because his successor, Jerome Lalemant, had not arrived in time to perform the task; it is supplemented by a letter from Lalemant, dated in the Huron country, May 15, 1645, and treating of the mission in that quarter. We present the first eleven [Page 14] chapters of the Relation in this volume; it will be concluded in Vol. XXVIII.

The great event of the year, says Vimont, is the peace which has just been concluded with the dreaded Iroquois. “Another blessing” to the country is the cession of the fur trade to the habitants by the Company of New France and the Montreal Associates, respectively.

Much space is this year devoted to the pious utterances and behavior of the Christian Indians. Some, who become intoxicated, are shut out from the church, and kneel by the door, in the midst of rain and mud. The Father orders some boards to be brought for them to kneel on, that they may not soil their clothing; but they decline this relief. Some even refuse to enter the church when he gives them permission, so humble and contrite are they.

One of these neophytes, while on a trading trip, meets a small tribe who have thus far had no intercourse with the French. He preaches to them, and so arouses their interest in the new religion that they help him erect a large cross on the banks of a river, where he promises to meet them in the following spring.

The new Christians persist in their religious duties, despite the scorn and jeers of their heathen companions. They resist the numerous temptations to anger, licentiousness, and superstition. They patiently suffer hunger, sickness, and affliction; and comfort one another in those troubles. At Tadoussac, one man is suddenly cured of an illness, and claims that he has been in heaven, where he has seen Jesus, who has given him a message to his tribesmen. This man has seen the book in which are [Page 15] inscribed all their names, and the record of their sins; also he has seen hell itself, and men burning in the infernal fires. To all this, the Indians listen with the utmost attention, and in profound silence; it frightens the wicked, and consoles the good, and has excellent results. Some of them surprise their priest by inflicting the discipline upon themselves, — of their own accord, and in public. This arouses a contagion of fervor among those assembled: “the penance was so general that the innocent wished to share it with the guilty. Even the children were not spared; their fathers and mothers made them approach the altar, took off their little garments, and begged him who held the whip to chastise them. These poor victims went there cheerfully, and without shrinking, or shedding one little tear, they received the blows from the whip, which were gently delivered on their innocent flesh. Some of the mothers even struck with their Rosaries, in the manner of the discipline, their little children still at the breast. This flagellation would have been too long had not the Father put an end to it: he consoled them, assured them of the pardon of their sins, and warned them not to perform any other public penance without the advice of their Confessors.” Afterward, “the discipline was hung up on a nail in the Chapel,” as a warning.

A party of Sillery Indians go into the woods for their usual great hunt; and, at their request, Father Dreuillettes goes with them as their spiritual guide. They greatly edify him by their zeal in observing all religious duties, especially at Christmas. The poor Father becomes blind through the smoke of the cabins. An Indian woman attempts with a bit of rusty [Page 16] iron to remove this difficulty, but to no avail. Finally, his sight is suddenly restored through an appeal to the intercession of the Virgin.

Vimont relates the particulars of several Iroquois raids upon Fort Richelieu, also of a retaliatory incursion made by the Algonkins, in which they capture two Iroquois prisoners; contrary to the usual savage custom, these prisoners are not harmed, but are kindly treated, and are delivered to Montmagny. He orders another Iroquois, who had been kept at Three Rivers, to be liberated and sent back to his own country. This man returns (July 5) with ambassadors, who negotiate a treaty of peace with both French and Hurons. These envoys bring back Couture, who had been captured with Jogues, and restore him to the French. Ten days are spent in the preliminaries of a peace, which is finally ratified, early in September, at a general council of the Hurons, Algonkins, and French, who meet deputies from the Iroquois. The proceedings by which this treaty is made, with the speeches, gifts, and feasts accompanying, are given in much detail. The Iroquois envoys depart September 23, leaving three of their number with the French as hostages.

R. G. T.

Madison, Wis., July, 1898

[Page 17]

LIII (concluded)

Relation of 1643-44

Paris: SEBASTIEN ET GABRIEL CRAMOISY, 1645

—————

Chaps. i.-viii. of Part I. were given in Volume XXV.; in Volume XXVI. were given the remainder of Part I., and the first five chapters of Part II, (the Huron report); we here with present the remainder of Part II., thus completing the document.

[Page 19]

[110] CHAPTER VI.

OF THE MISSION OF THE ANGELS AMONG THE ATI-

OUENDARONK OR NEUTRAL NATION.

UR small number being barely sufficient to attend to the villages that are nearest to us, we have been unable to continue the instruction of the neutral Nation, where two years ago we sowed the first seeds of the Gospel. Some Christian Hurons went there in our stead and performed the duty of Apostles, perhaps with more success for the present than we ourselves could have had.

Éstienne Totiri, of the village of St. Joseph, accompanied by one of his brothers, stopped in one of their villages nearer the frontier, and found ears so well disposed to listen to them that they had barely three or four hours at night for sleep. They carried their rosaries around their necks, and, as curiosity excites these barbarous peoples, as it [111] does the most civilized Nations in Europe, such a novelty, in persons who in all other respects resemble them, caused them to be asked the reason thereof at every village. “It is,” they said, “one of the signs that we acknowledge as our master him who alone has created Heaven and earth. He is invisible to us, although he fills the whole world; and he alone maintains all things, as the soul fills the body, vivifies and sustains it, though it never appears to our eyes.” Afterward, they expounded the principal mysteries of the Faith. But what touched those people more [Page 21] than all was the fear of those fires that they were told they could not avoid, unless they adored the great master of nature. “And why,” replied they, “have they not continued to come and instruct us? Why do you give us the knowledge of this misfortune that awaits us if no one come at the same time to deliver us from it? Otherwise by inspiring us with that fear, that we have not had till now, it is enough to make us miserable even in this life, before [112] we are in the other.”

Barnabé Otsinnonannhont, an excellent Christian of the village of St. Michel, who penetrated to the heart of the country, made a longer stay there; and, as he has great authority among these tribes, his zeal has given much more publicity to the truths of our Faith, and his example has preached more forcibly than his words. He publicly refused the desires of a shameless woman, who asked him to do what his conscience could not permit, although the customs of this country sentenced’ him to it, and here they call a virtue what, before God, is but a crime. He had to fight a thousand battles against those even whom he held most dear; for he always firmly refused to obey their dreams, which are the God of all these peoples. And when they reproached him, saying that Faith was an intolerable yoke, as it compelled him thus to sever the bonds of friendship, and to deprive himself of the greatest pleasures of life, “No,” said he, “if, in order to reach Paradise, I knew of a road full of precipices, I would courageously advance, and would consider myself only too happy if [113] perished in the effort. At whatever price we win eternal happiness, we always acquire it cheaply.” [Page 23]

Finally, when the time drew near for his return, he found himself obliged to give Baptism to a daughter of his, whom he left in that country, where he has a great many relatives. “But remember, my daughter,” he said to her, “carefully to preserve the grace that thou receivest through Baptism. When the Devil, or impious tongues, shall impel thee to evil, think that God sees thee, although thy father be absent. And if that consideration do not stop thee, remember at least this one — that the greatest sorrow thou canst cause thy father is to commit a sin that will separate thee from him forever.”

At the end of the winter, a party of about one hundred persons of these peoples of the Neutral Nation came to visit us in this country. They saw here the nascent Church of the Hurons; they questioned our Christians on matters of the Faith; we instructed them ourselves; and, if we may trust their word, they went away regretting that we could not [114] accompany them, and promising that their country would offer no resistance to the reception of the Faith. As soon as we shall have made a sufficient breach here among the Hurons, we shall be able to go to them. God grant that this seed may bear fruit in due time.

These peoples of the neutral Nation are always at war with those of the Nation of fire, who are still farther distant from us. They went there last Summer to the number of two thousand, and attacked a village well protected by a palisade, and strongly defended by nine hundred warriors who withstood the assault. Finally, they carried it, after a siege of ten days; they killed many on the spot, and took eight hundred captives, — men, women, and children [Page 25] After having burned seventy of the best warriors, they put out the eyes and girdled the mouths of all the old men, whom they ‘afterward abandoned to their own guidance, in order that they might thus drag out a miserable life. Such is the scourge that depopulates all these countries; for their wars are but wars of extermination.

This Nation of fire alone is more populous [115] than all the Neutral Nation, all the Hurons, and all the Iroquois, enemies of the Hurons, put together. It consists of a large number of villages, wherein is spoken the Algonquin language, which prevails still farther on. Life will fail us rather than new nations to conquer for Jesus Christ. And it is necessary that the Faith should soften these tribes, as it is commencing to tame those of the same language who live toward the North. At least, some trustworthy Hurons, who go every year to trade with the Algonquin tribes scattered here and there, have informed us that they have met Christians who kneel as we do, clasp their hands, raise their eyes to Heaven, and pray to God night and morning, and before and after meals. And the best evidence of their Faith is that they are no longer wicked and dishonest, as they formerly were. They call them Ondoutaouakeronnon. These are people about a hundred leagues above the Saguene, toward the North, who have been instructed — some at Tadoussac, [116] and others at Three Rivers, where they go merely as birds of passage, bearing with them into their solitary woods, lakes, and mountains the Faith and the fear of God, which finds its abode everywhere. [Page 27]

CHAPTER VII.

OF THE MISSION OF SAINT JEAN BAPTISTE AMONG

THE ARENDARONNONS.

ATHER Antoine Daniel has continued in charge of this Mission, which this year has had within its province the villages of St. Jean Baptiste, of St. Joachim, and of a third, about six leagues distant, that bears the name of St. Ignace. God has everywhere increased the number of the Christians and Catechumens. But let us give more particulars respecting that Church.

A good old man — a Christian, over a hundred years old — heard that the enemy were approaching his village to carry it by storm. He rejoiced amid the public alarm, and the weeping [117] that he heard on all sides, saying to the Infidels that this time he would be happy and enjoy the pleasures that his Faith led him to hope for.

In this same spirit of Faith, a Christian woman who had just lost her sight, and felt almost unbearable pain, sang while her sufferings were keenest, that the thought of Paradise alleviated her trouble; that her misery would come to an end, but the joy that she hoped to feel in Heaven would never cease.

A Christian young man, last year, saw himself pursued by a band of Iroquois, and threw himself, almost in despair, behind a bush, where he found life when he expected only death. He told us that, in the midst of his fears, he was about to call out to [Page 29] the enemy, thinking that after death he would be happy in Heaven: “My God,” he said in the depths of his heart, “it is you who hide me here. The enemy are twenty paces from me. If you did not help me to conceal myself, would I be safe here? Dispose of my life as you please. If I knew your will, I would present myself, [118] and tell them to burn me; and then I would offer you’ my torments. I ask of you nothing, my God, but Heaven, where I may ever see you as you see me now.” This young man came very frequently from a distance of ten or twelve leagues to hear Mass; and, as it was a dangerous time, owing to fear of the enemies, we told him that he was wrong in exposing himself to that danger without being in a numerous company.” What,” said he, “is not God with me? If I were killed on the road, could I die a better death? Would I not go straight to Heaven? Can I fear death, even when walking in the midst of peril, while I have such thoughts?”

The parents of a young Neophyte proposed to him a marriage that was advantageous for him and asked him if the girl pleased him. “You look only at the outside,” he said to them. “What I wish to love cannot be seen with the eyes. Has she good thoughts regarding Heaven? Is she disposed to die in the Faith? Does her heart belong to God? Will she cherish her salvation? If so, [119] I love her; if not, she will never be anything to me.”

A Christian Captain, one of the leading men of the village of St. Jean Baptiste, who had spoken publicly in favor of a dream of one of his friends, was at once touched to the heart. “I have offended God,” he said to the Father; “my sin deserves to be punished [Page 31] and, as it was a public one, fear not to order me to do penance publicly. Speak, and I will obey thee.” The Father ordered him to abstain from going to any feast for a period of eight days. This meant condemning him to a fast stricter than if on bread and water, and compelled him, more than ten times a day, to reply to all the Infidels that he was doing penance for his sins. Sometimes it was past three in the afternoon before he broke his fast, because the feasts that were given in his own cabin prevented him from taking his usual repast. When the Father perceived this, he wished to relax his penance. “My brother,” replied the Captain to him, “thou hast not enough courage; thou mistrustest us too much. No, no, do not waver. I take pleasure in punishing myself [120] for my sin; I must serve my penance to the end. Whosoever offends God is only too happy to be so easily forgiven.”

I thought that I would conclude this Chapter with the conversion of a magician, the most famous one in this country. The fear of Hell seemed to have touched his heart. He had already publicly thrown his charms into the fire; he had protested, in the presence even of the Infidels, that the Demons would never have anything to do with him, that God alone deserved to be loved by all men, and that, in truth, the Devils conspired together only for our misfortune. But, before he received holy Baptism, he returned to his vomit; and the shame that he now feels for having cast discredit on his art makes him blaspheme against God more horribly than ever, and give himself up to all the Demons, — although from time to time his conscience has urged him to come to us and ask pardon. I pray our Lord that he may [Page 33] derive his own glory therefrom; but, to tell the truth, it seems that this unfortunate man is numbered among the reprobates. In a word, he would wish [121] to belong entirely to God in Heaven, and entirely to the Devil on earth. [Page 35]

CHAPTER VIII.

OF THE MISSION OF SAINTE ELIZABETH AMONG THE

ATONTRATARONNON ALGONQUINS.

HE Iroquois, who make themselves dreaded on the great river St. Lawrence and who every winter for some years past have been hunting men in these vast forests, have compelled the Algonquins who dwelt on the banks of the river to abandon not only their hunting grounds, but also their country, and have reduced them this winter to come here near our Hurons, in order to live more in safety, — so much so, that a whole village of these poor wandering and fugitive Tribes came near the village of saint Jean Baptiste. We were obliged to give them some assistance, and for that purpose to associate with Father Antoine Daniel — who had charge of the Huron Mission of which I have spoken in the preceding Chapter — Father René Ménard, [122) who, having a sufficient knowledge of both languages, had, at the same time, charge of this Algonquin Mission, to which we have given the name of sainte Elizabeth.

Amid this gathering of people — who, as a rule, have no other abode than the woods and the rivers — there were ten or twelve Christians who had formerly been baptized at Three Rivers or at Kebec, and others who had never heard of God.

The Father had not much trouble in winning the hearts of all after a few visits. “Take courage,” [Page 37] they said to him, “thou sayest truly that it is right to have recourse to that great Master of our lives, Teach US what we should say, so that he may hear our prayers. Do not weary of speaking to us; we shall never be tired of listening to thee, although we have not much sense; fail not to have pity on us.” Afflictio dat intellectum — misfortune seems to have opened their minds; and, if dread of the Iroquois did not make them fear to live near the French, I think that in a few years we would make [123] an entirely Christian people of them. At least, they pay much deference to our words, and most of them are becoming amenable to reason.

The Father heard that an Infidel had two wives, one of whom was a Christian. He spoke to that man of the grievousness of his sin; of the greatness of God, whom he offended; ‘and of the pains of hell, that would inevitably be his fate if he continued in that sin. “My brother,” replied the Infidel, “I acknowledge the truth of what thou teachest me; but I do not yet feel strong enough to obey God completely. I will obey him partly; and from this moment I give up one of my wives, and will keep only her who believes in God. Pray him to have pity on me.”

An Infidel mother commanded her daughter to be present at a superstitious feast, at which the ceremonial required that they should attend quite naked. When Father Ménard heard of this shameless order, he reproved the mother and the daughter. “Our Captains command it,” they replied. “Yes, but God forbids it; and the fire that burns sinners forever shall be your [124] punishment if you refuse to obey him.” To these words, the women made no [Page 39] answer; and they did not even venture to go out of their cabin to witness the ceremony, when they heard that God would be offended by it.

An Infidel woman fell grievously ill. She was told that we had recourse to God in our afflictions as to one who could deliver us from them; that she should pray to him with all her heart, and that perhaps he would have pity on her. The same Father who had taught her passed that way, two days after, and was surprised to see her working as hard as the others. The woman called him, and told him that he was not a liar; that, in truth, God is all-powerful; that she had prayed to him, and at the same time she was cured. Then, speaking more privately to him, she added that her mind was in trouble, — that the wicked Manitou had appeared to her during the night, and had threatened her with death if she did not offer a sacrifice to him, and publicly avow that she owed her life to him. “Thou knowest,” said the Father to her, “that God alone has cured thee; obey [125] not that Demon who seeks the means of damning thee forever.” “No, no,” replied the woman, “I wish to honor God; I will pray to him all my life, and I will never forget him. She is very well disposed to Baptism, and all of her family are not far from the Kingdom of God.

Some followed the Father from cabin to cabin, being never weary of hearing him speak of God. Others went regularly to see him, every night and every morning, no matter how stormy or tempestuous the weather in the depth of winter. Although these Algonquin cabins were distant from the village of St. Jean Baptiste a quarter of a league, and the road was very bad, it was consoling to our Fathers [Page 41] to see God worshipped in their Chapel at the same time in two different languages, the Huron and the Algonquin, and by nations who had nothing in common but the Faith.

The guidance of God has manifested itself particularly in the case of some who have been granted holy Baptism, and, among others, a warrior who received in those [126] sacred waters the name of Antoine. This man had escaped more than eight times from the hands of the enemy; and, ever since his birth, his life has been but one series of combats and adventures that succeeded one another. Quite recently, not more than six months ago, while in the hands of the Iroquois, who had already commenced to vent their fury on him, he found means to cut his bonds and to flee, — quite naked, in the dead of night, — making his way for over a hundred leagues by devious paths, with no other food than the grasses and roots that he found in the woods. “From that moment,” he said, “I thanked God, without knowing him, for I had never received any instruction, — only, some years ago, one of my comrades told me that there was a great Master of the whole world, who must be adored. I had forgotten about him; but, when I saw myself so wretched, he was all my refuge. I looked to him for help; and, when I found that I had escaped the terrors of death and of the fires prepared for me, I recognized that to him alone did I owe my life.” When the Father [127] heard him speak in that manner, almost as soon as he arrived, he said to him, “But knowest thou the designs that God has for thee? It is not enough that thou shouldst acknowledge him; he also wishes thee to love him, that, after obeying him here on earth, [Page 43] thou shouldst be happy forever in Heaven.” These words entered so deeply into the soul of the poor captive, who had so often escaped from death, that he at once ardently resolved to be a Christian. And ever since, no matter what opposition he may have encountered, whatever difficulties have arisen, he has never belied his holy resolutions.

Another of about the same age, who kept him company at Baptism, took the name of René That young man had no sooner returned from ‘hunting than he went to the Father. “Wipe away my sins, I beg of thee,” he said. “We are in continual danger of our lives. Where would I go, if I were not baptized! I dread hell more than death. I am quite resolved to serve God, and, whatever may happen, I will not offend him. He perceives the sincerity of my heart, and I think that he is satisfied with me. Be not more rigorous (1z8] than he.” Indeed, his actions have not belied his words; and he has always behaved as a Christian, even before becoming one. [Page 45]

CHAPTER IX.

OF THE MISSION OF THE HOLY GHOST AMONG THE

NIPISSIRINIEN ALGONQUINS.

LTHOUGH the Huron language is very widely spoken and is common to a number of peoples whom Faith has never enlightened, nevertheless it is so concentrated in the midst of a multitude of Tribes, — scattered here and there, to the East, to the West, to the North, and to the South, — who all speak the Algonquin language, that the tribes of the Huron tongue almost seem to be only at the center, as it were, of a vast circumference filled with Algonquin tribes. Consequently, our trouble is not to find employment here, but rather, considering our small number of laborers, in deciding where it were better that we should apply our labor.

[129] In concluding the Relation of last year, I said that Father Claude Pijart and Father René Ménard had embarked a few days before with the Nipissiriniens, in order to continue instructing them in their own country, which is distant about seventy leagues from the place where we are. They remained there from the month of April to the month of September; or, rather, during all that time they followed those homeless people in the woods and on the rivers, over the rocks and across the lakes, — having for shelter but a bark hut; for flooring, but the damp earth or the slope of some uneven rock, which served [Page 47] as table, seat, bed, room, kitchen, cellar, garret, Chapel, and all. In a word, one leads there a life in which one soon learns that Nature is content with little; and, if one has to abandon his house wherever he goes, he finds that he has lost nothing, and in less than half an hour he has erected a complete lodging.

The Fathers commenced their instruction with the principal Captains; sed non hos elegit Dominus, but God does not [130] commence his works by that which makes most display. It was necessary that a poor old blind woman should be preferred and be the first to receive the blessings that flow from Heaven. Grace took possession of her heart, and soon changed her nature; she had a proud and mocking spirit, which scoffed at the things of the Faith. No sooner had God touched her, than she was no longer what she had been. Her words were all gentleness; she respected our mysteries; she desired Baptism. Finally, when she had received it, and found herself in the happy condition of the children of God, she thought only of Heaven. “It was a pleasure,” our Fathers say, “to see her on the day when she came to be baptized, — in rather severe weather, over a rocky road where she lost her way, owing to her blindness; and where, no doubt, she would have lost courage if her fervor had not made such difficulties agreeable to her, and made of her wanderings a means of showing her love.”

An infidel woman, in the pains of childbirth, was for two days in despair of her life. The Medicine men, or rather the Sorcerers of the country, had exhausted [131] their arts; and, thinking that the mother and child could not escape death, they sought [Page 49] our Fathers: “Is it true,” they said to them, “that he whom you honor is more powerful than our Demons? Let him manifest his power. Entreat him to bring back to life this woman, who has lost the use of her senses, and is about to lose her life, — at least, that she may be delivered of her child before she dies. If he grant your prayers, you shall dispose of the child; you may instruct it and administer Baptism to it, and no one will oppose you.” Our Fathers went to the place where the sick woman was, and recommended her to God and to the prayers of St. Ignatius. That great Saint was not long unheard. At that very hour, the dying woman was happily delivered of her child, who was full of life. The mother’s health returned; all gave glory to God, and acknowledged that it was he alone who was worthy of being adored. It is not difficult’ to induce these people to have recourse to God in their necessities; and if the Heretics, who claim that Faith without works can justify, [132] were to come to this country to teach their error, they would find our savages quite in accord with them. For, if they were allowed to live as barbarians, they would soon become Christians. But, when we tell them that, in order to honor God and to be happy in Heaven, they must abandon vice; live as men, and not as beasts; think more of their souls, that are immortal, than of a body that will rot after death; finally, that with Faith good works are needed, — that is what seems difficult to them, what frightens and repels them from the holiness of our mysteries; and that alone makes them hostile to US.

Our Fathers soon experienced this, amid this nomad people. For, when it was necessary to come to the [Page 51] point, — to cast discredit on vice, to reprove those who had two wives, to forbid recourse to diabolical superstitions, — then they encountered more opposition, and had to contend more arduously; then the instruments of the Devil, and those who pass here for Magicians, became more insolent in blaspheming, against the Faith, in making use of threats, and in doing something more. [133] Whoever comes here must carry his life in his hands, and expect death, — perhaps as much from the fury of an Algonquin or of a Huron as of an Iroquois foe. A barbarian, who dreads the justice neither of God nor of man, will very readily commit a crime.

One of these instruments of Satan one day became angry with one of the Fathers, rushed furiously on him, threw him down, and tried to strangle him. The Father called on God to succor him, and was heard by some one who fortunately was not far away, and who, having a horror of so black a crime, threw himself on the man, tore his victim from his hands, and prevented this crime.

These acts of opposition did not hinder some, even among the principal persons, from relishing matters pertaining to God. They assiduously obtained instruction and attended the prayers said in a Chapel which had nothing rich in it but an Altar whereon the Angels adored every day the most august object of their vision in Heaven. But our Fathers did not see, as yet, in all this anything sufficient [134] for the foundations of a Church, which must be solid, if we wish to build anything lasting on them; and, when they heard that these tribes were to winter here in the Huron country, they resolved to baptize only those whom they saw in danger of death, and [Page 53] to put off the others for a probation during the whole course of the winter.

Indeed, at the end of December, not only the Nipissiriniens but also several others of these nomad Tribes, and of the same Algonquin language, who dwell on the shores of our fresh-water sea, came almost to our doors. They set up their cabins quite near us; and Father Claude Pijart, who was the only one left us able to speak the Algonquin tongue, continued to instruct them.

The first who received Baptism while in full health was a war Captain, named Alimoueskan. He was of an impetuous and arrogant character, especially toward us. Faith has made a lamb of him, and has changed him beyond recognition. He took the name of Eustache when he became a Christian; and since then he has so exerted [135] his courage in conquering himself, in scorning the banter of the Infidels, and in repelling their attacks, that, whatever efforts the enemies of the Faith have made to induce him to commit sin, they have never been able to overcome him. One day, while he was being dragged by force to. a place for which his Faith alone could inspire him with horror, when he saw that he could not win by fighting, he escaped by flight from the hands of those who sought to effect his ruin through love. He has often left the company of people on that account. He has abruptly come away from feasts in the midst of the ceremonies, although that is considered an offense among these peoples. “But,” he said, “I prefer to be a criminal in the eyes of all men than in the sight of God.” He prays publicly, night and morning, in his cabin, and is never ashamed to appear a Christian in any place [Page 55] When some scoffers reproached him, saying that Faith made him a slave, and that it was lowering himself too much to obey the Father who taught him. “Well,” said he, “I do not wish to obey him any longer, but I wish to obey God, whose word he bears.’ “I have now but one [136] fear in this world,” he said on one occasion, “and that is that I may lose the grace of Baptism. That is the occupation of my thoughts, and the strongest desire of my heart.”

One favor from Heaven soon attracts another, and the graces of God do not stop at a single person. He who followed this Captain in Baptism was named Estienne; his surname is Mangouch. He is a man of very sweet temper, who had already some knowledge of our mysteries through having nearly always been the Teacher of the language to our Fathers. But he knew them without believing them, and what he had heard of Paradise and of Hell had never effected a breach in his heart.

When God gives life to words, they have a thousand times more effect than the most forcible Rhetoric of an Aristotle or a Cicero. Father Charles Raymbaut spent last Summer with the Nipissiriniens, and while he was suffering from the disease that killed him after his arrival at Kebec, he said but a few words to this man, which pierced his heart. “Mangouch,” he said to him, “thou seest well that I am about to die; and at such a moment I would not tell thee a lie. I assure thee that there is [137] down below a fire that will burn the wicked forever.” This man had heard this truth a thousand times, but this time he feared it. He did not reply, although his heart was more strongly agitated than ever [Page 57] “Beyond a doubt,” he concluded in his own mind, “that is true. I must obey God. But who will loosen the chains that keep me captive?” In a word, he felt himself too weak, and saw his misfortune without being able, as yet, to extricate himself from it.

Finally, grace crowned its work. Last winter, when one of the most important personages of the Nation, whom God had touched first of all, lost courage and, just as he was on the point of being baptized, refused the happiness of the children of God, this man took his place, and was quite changed in a moment. He suddenly broke his chains, and burst the bonds of his captivity. He began to pray to God publicly; he renounced the superstitions of the country; he laughed at those who opposed his designs; and it was manifest in his person that in one moment the Holy Ghost gives, to a heart of which he wills to take possession, strength greater than was [138] the depth of its weakness, when abandoned to the baseness of a corrupt nature.

His fervor has increased since his Baptism, he continues to progress in the spirit of Faith, that animates his zeal, that inflames his charity, that gives life to everything that he does, and makes him known everywhere as an excellent Christian. He has won his wife over to God, and teaches her himself, to prepare her for grace. “No,” he sometimes says, “I no longer find difficulty in anything. Everything is easy to me, and I feel that I walk in a road all smoothed, knowing what I know. Even if those who have taught me should league themselves against me, and should drive me away from the company of the Christians, I would have recourse to God. He would [Page 59] be my guide, and I would always live in the hope that, as I wish to belong entirely to him, he alone will have pity on me, no matter what men may do.”

Some other persons are moved by these examples, and give us hopes of fair success; but we do not consider that we should be in haste with [139] savages, or confide our holy mysteries to them without some thorough test. Meanwhile, we fail not at least to send to Heaven some innocent souls, and occasionally with so much happiness that it is easy to see that the ways of divine providence are adorable everywhere, and are in all places full of love for his Elect. These are so many Advocates in Heaven; so many intercessors with God, who in the end will cause his mercy to incline, and will call down his blessing on these peoples. [Page 61]

Letter of M. DC. XLIV.

Y REVEREND FATHER,

Last year, I sent the Relation to your Reverence; but when the bearers were captured or killed on the way by the enemies, the Angels of Heaven happily made it fall into the hands of Father Isaac Jogues, to serve him as some consolation in his captivity, and to show him the fruits of his Apostolic labors and sufferings. We [140] afterward sent a second copy, but we do not know what became of it, We have every reason to fear that the same accidents will happen this year. Therefore, in order to attempt every possible means of giving your Reverence some news of us, since I have not received more ample notes from our Fathers for a new Relation, I now send a few words in advance, to give you some idea of the present state of the affairs of God in this country.

War continued its usual ravages during the Summer. The Iroquois, who are the enemies of these tribes, have closed all the passages and avenues of the River that leads to Kebec; and of those whom the necessity of obtaining goods from France had compelled to close their eyes to these dangers, many have fallen therein. Most of the others have come back entirely naked, or pierced with arquebus balls, after having escaped seven or eight times from the hands and the cruelties of those barbarians.

There was no less desolation throughout the [Page 63] country. Nearly every day, unfortunate women were killed [141] in their fields. The villages were in a state of continual alarm, and all the troops that were raised in good numbers to pursue the enemy over the frontiers were defeated and routed; captives were taken by hundreds, and frequently we had no other couriers and bearers of these dismal tidings but poor unfortunates who had escaped from the midst of the flames, whose half-burnt bodies and mutilated fingers convinced us, more than their words, of the misfortune that had fallen on them and on their comrades.

This scourge of Heaven was all the more felt as it was accompanied by that of famine, which is universal among all these Tribes for over a hundred leagues around. Indian corn, which is the sole staff of life here, was so scarce that those who had the most had hardly enough for sowing their fields. Many lived only on a kind of acorn, on pumpkins, and on paltry roots which they often went to seek very far away, in places where they were exposed to massacre and which were [142] covered only with the enemies’ tracks.