The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents Volume 48

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. XLVIII.

Lower Canada, Ottawas:

1662 — 1664.

CLEVELAND: The Burrows Brothers

Company, PUBLISHERS, M DCCC XCVIX

THE JESUIT RELATIONS

AND

ALLIED DOCUMENTS

Vol. XLVIII.

[Page iii]

The edition consists of sev-

en hundred and fifty sets

all numbered.

No.________

The Burrows Brothers Co.

[Page iv]

EDITORIAL STAFF

Editor	Reuben Gold Thwaites

	\| Finlow Alexander
	\| Percy Favor Bicknell
Translators.	\| Crawford Lindsay
	\| William Price



Assistant Editor	Emma Helen Blair

Bibliographical Adviser	Victor Hugo Paltsits

Electronic Transcription	Tomasz Mentrak

[Page v]

CONTENTS OF VOL. XLVIII.

Preface To Volume XLVIII		9
Documents: —
CXII.	Relation de ce qvi s’est passé en la Novvelle France, és années 1662. & 1663. Hierosme Lalemant; Kebec, September 4, 1663.		17
CXIII.	Relatio Terræmotus in Nova Francia, 1663. Charles Simon; translated into Latin by François Ragueneau. Bourges, December 12, 1663.		182
CXIV.	Journal des PP. Jésuites. Hierosme Lalemant; Quebek, January-November, 1664		224
CXV.	Relation de ce qvi s’est passé en la Novvelle France, és années 1663. & 1664, [Chaps. i.-ii., first installment of the document.] Hierosme Lalemant; Quebec, August 30, 1664		243

Bibliographical Data; Volume XLVIII.			291
Notes			295

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[INSERT GRAPHIC HERE]

ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL. XLVIII.

I.	Photographic facsimile of title-page, Relation of 1662-63.	Need page
II.	Photographic facsimile of title-page, Relation of 1663-64.	Need page

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PREFACE TO VOL. XLVIII.

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

CXII. The Relation of 1662-63 is written by Jerome Lalemant. A preliminary note by him mentions the three salient points of this year’s record — the reverses sustained by the Iroquois, at the hands of the Algonkins and other tribes; the notable earthquake of 1663; and the death of Ménard.

The opening chapter records the mysterious aerial phenomena which preceded the earthquake — presages of that occurrence, which terrify the people of Canada. The night is illumined by strange meteors; fiery serpents fly through the air; and twice are seen brilliant parhelia (“sundogs“). A solar eclipse also occurs, several months after the earthquake.

This last phenomenon is recounted with considerable detail. Its effects are greater in the forests than in the clearings, causing the trees to crash and topple against one another to such an extent that the savages say, “ All the woods are drunken.” Even mountains are overturned; springs cease to flow, or become sulphureous; rivers disappear; and the St. Lawrence appears of a whitish tint, as far down as Tadoussac; this turbidity lasts nearly three months. A shower of meteors is seen; these appear to the frightened habitants as “ specters and fiery phantoms [Page 9] bearing torches. ” Forests are denuded, in tracts of more than a thousand arpents. Near Tadoussac, “ little mountain was swallowed up; and, as if it ha only taken a plunge, it came up again from the depths, to be changed into a little Island.”

This earthquake has several peculiarities: the shocks continue more than six months, though wit varying intensity and intervals; it extends through the entire St. Lawrence valley, and into New England and Acadia; and, notwithstanding all its devastation, the French settlements miraculously escape without the death, or even injury, of a single person, — or even any notable injury to property Presentiments of this wonderful event were felt b both French and savages, several seeing strange visions just before its occurrence. The form: deposition made by one of these, an Algonkin woman is given in full.

The fear thus aroused in the people causes them to manifest extraordinary devotion to all chum rites: and “ Shrove Tuesday was fortunately change into a Good Friday and an Easter.” The savage also experience this influence, and most edifying piety is manifested by the Algonkins at Sillery and at Cap de la Magdaleine. These two settlement consist of the more faithful Indian disciples, who have there taken refuge, not only from the Iroquois but from the demon of drunkenness — a vice which has spread “from Gaspé to the Iroquois,” and in ruining the savages everywhere. The missionaries see their labors thus rendered fruitless; “it would require dragon’s gall to express here the bitterness which we have experienced therefrom. ’ ’

Lalemant now describes the warfare which ha [Page 10] continued between Canadian and other tribes and the Iroquois. The latter attack the Andastes, far down the Susquehanna, but find that the villages of this tribe are defended with European cannon; and, moreover, the Andastes are a match for them in cunning — seizing twenty-five Iroquois spies, and burning them to death in the sight of their own army. Not only do the invaders meet disaster, but their own villages are ravaged by smallpox, and their fields remain half tilled. Thus menaced, the Iroquois plan to form an alliance with the French, hoping that the latter may help them against their enemies; but they abandon this scheme, upon hearing that the king of France is about to send many soldiers to Canada, to crush the enemies of the colonists. Meanwhile, some souls among them are saved; for certain captive Frenchmen baptize over three hundred children, and some adults who are dangerously ill.

Canada has thus been at peace this year, except at Montreal. Mohawks come there, ostensibly as envoys, who, with their usual treachery make a night attack on some Hurons, — all but one, women and children, whom they murder or carry away. In a retaliatory attack, two Onondagas are, soon after, killed by Hurons. A Frenchman is captured by a Mohawk band, at Whitsuntide. On the homeward march, this band is attacked by the Algonkins of Sillery, who defeat the Iroquois and slay their leader Garistatsia, a chief of great renown. The Frenchman is also set free; this is the result of his unceasing prayers to the Virgin. Returning to Sillery, the Algonkins ‘ ‘ use their victory, not as Barbarians, but as Christians. “ “ Reasons of state condemned the [Page 11] captives to death, but Christian piety exempted them from the stake,” and they are shot instead. Before this, they are delivered to the Jesuits for instruction and baptism; and some of the Algonkins themselves become sponsors at this ceremony for the Iroquois.

The news of Father Ménard's death is brought to Montreal, two years after the event. The Frenchmen who had accompanied him to the Ottawa Country relate the particulars of the privations and sufferings endured by them there — hardest of all for the Father, who is old, and spent by many years of toil and exposure. He baptizes some dying children, and gains a few adult converts; but the Ottawas, excepting these, treat him with indifference, and even brutality. The Father hears of a Huron band who have fled from the cruel Iroquois into the depths of the great forests in Wisconsin; they are safe from their enemies, but are starving to death. Ménard sets out to visit them, despite all remonstrances from his companions. His savage guides leave him with one Frenchman, promising to return soon for them, As the Indians do not come, the Frenchmen finally proceed alone; but the Father, becoming separated from his companion, disappears from sight, and cannot be found by any search. Later, articles belonging to him are found among the savages; but it is not known whether he was murdered by Indians, or starved to death. In the following year, 1662, the donné Guérin dies, also in Wisconsin; the piety and devotion of both these missionaries are warmly commended by Lalemant. Guerin would not look at a woman’s face, and was consequently often robbed by the Indian women. SO great was his humility that “ he Once offered himself as public Executioner in [Page 12] Canada, that he might thus become an object of abhorrence to every one; ” and he would not ask for admission to the Jesuit order, lest his cassock “ might cause him to be esteemed more highly than he deserved. ’ ’

At the end of the Relation is an account of the St. Lawrence valley, written by some one who has been commissioned to examine the country. He admires the marvelous richness of the cod and other fisheries; the extent and availability for commerce of the great river; the beauty and fertility of its islands, especially that of Orleans; and the abundance of wild game. He mentions the various French settlements thus far made; these are threatened with destruction by forest fires, which have consumed vast tracts of timber; but rain comes in time to save the farms and towns, and to give promise of an enormous harvest. The people live in comfort and prosperity. Montreal and the adjacent islands are especially beautiful and fertile, and the writer regards this region as “ most suitable for the site, some day, of a large and wealthy city. ’ ’ He regrets that so rich a land should be almost useless on account of the Iroquois — a land, too, so healthful that “ it is well-nigh impossible to die here, unless it be by accident or violence.”

CXIII. The earthquake described in the preceding document finds another chronicler, in Father Charles Simon, a Jesuit who spent that year in Canada. His account of this occurrence is translated into Latin by François Ragueneau, a brother of the Canadian missionary, and forwarded to Rome, addressed to the father general, Oliva. This is prefaced by a brief statement of the firmness and strength with which its location provides Quebec. Simon’s [Page 13] description is similar to that given in the Relation above, but it is more circumstantial in details, and more picturesque and vivid in style; he also relates at length the visions alluded to by Lalemant. Among these is a vision of the “ wine-dealers and retailers of Brandy, in a confused throng of victims devoted to hell, ’ ’ and menaced by an angel brandishing an arrow. The physical effects of the earthquake are described, especially as seen in the St. Lawrence River, the great extent, volume, and tidal current of this stream rendering those effects more extraordinary. The moral results are no less marked, among both French and savages.

At the end of this narration are added extracts from letters written by Father Simon to his sister, referring to the apparitions described by him. Among these is mentioned one of Father Brébeuf, who died in 1649; he frequently appears, “ giving wholesome and seasonable warnings,” and states that the earthquake is partly due to “ the contumacious conduct of certain Frenchmen, who had despised the thunders and excommunications of the church. ” One of those despisers has already met a violent death.

CXIV. The Journal des Jésuites (1664) is still kept by Jerome Lalemant. Late in January, “ troubles begin about the tithes ” now levied upon the country for the support of the clergy and seminary established by Laval. The disorders caused by intemperance also revive. In May, the upper Iroquois — including “ Garakontie and others ” — are defeated by the Algonkins. This year an Ottawa trading fleet arrives in July at Montreal, and greatly enriches that place. A party of Crees come with them, who ask for a “ black gown; ’ ’ one is to be sent to this tribe. [Page 14] In September the usual quarrels between the civil and ecclesiastical authorities begin; De Mezy, the new governor, like his predecessors, has numerous collisions with the bishop, and arbitrarily asserts his own authority. He dissolves the Council, and forms a new one in which the bishop has no place. The governor is finally debarred from confession and communion. During December, two comets are seen.

CXV. Of the Relation of 1663-64, we give Chaps. i.-ii. in this volume; Chaps. iii.-viii. will appear in Vol. XLIX. Lalemant begins it with a call for more missionaries, especially in view of the military aid now promised from France, by which, it is confidently expected, the power of the Iroquois will be broken. Letters by Father Ménard, received after his death, are given in this Relation; they were written from his station on Lake Superior, and are dated March I and July 2, 166 I. In the main, they cover the same ground as the Ménard letter published in Vol. XLVI. of this series (Doc. ciii.). These are followed by letters and a journal written by Father Henri Nouvel, who has spent the past winter with the Papinachois and other savages below Tadoussac. We have space for only the first of these; it begins an account of the wanderings of these savages along the south shore, and mentions a “ medicine-man ” in the party, who undertook to perform his customary incantations. Nouvel calls together all the women and little children, and sets them to reciting their prayers so loudly that it compels the heathen to keep silence.

Madison, Wis., June, 1899.

R. G. T.

[Page 15]

CXII

RELATION OF 1662-63

PARIS: SEBASTIEN CRAMOISY ET SEBASTIEN

MABRE-CRAMOISY, 1664

SOURCE: We follow a copy of the original Cramoisy

in Lenox Library, New York..Relation de la Novvelle

France, 6s ant&es

1662. et 1663.

Relation of New France,

in the years

1662 and 1663.

RELATION

OF WHAT OCCURRED

MOST REMARKABLE

IN THE MISSIONS OFTHE FATHERS

Of the Society of JESUS

mw;;NRANCE

in the years 1662 and 16;s.

Se& to the Reverend Father An&$ Castilzon,

ProvZh’al of the Province of France.

PARIS,

SEBASTIEN CRAMOISY And SEBASTIEW

MABRE-CRAMOISY, Printers in ordinary

to the King and Queen, rue St. Jacques,

at the Sign of the Storks.

DC LXIV

BY:bYAi L1CEiV.W.[Page 23]

To the Reverend Father André Castillon, Pro-

vincial of the Society of Jesus in

the Province of France.

Y REVEREND FATHER,

Pax Christi.

I send your Reverence our Relation of New France. By the grace of God, everything is going on fairly well here, although we are in greater fear than ever. The Iroquois, hitherto invincible, have met with defeat on add sides at the hands of the Savage Nations allied to us, and of our Christian Algonquins, who have been victorious by the aid of the most holy Virgin. If the King send us, by the next sailing, the succor which he has had the goodness to promise us, in order to carry the fear and dread of the French arms into the country of the Iroquois, — who alone have ravaged all our infant Churches, and who alone prevent the progress of the Faith in many Nations not yet Christian, — that aid will be the salvation of all those countries.

Despite the raids of the Iroquois, God has been able to choose his Elect, not only from among the remote Nations which, to escape the fury of the enemy’s arms, have come and taken quarters near us, where many have happily received Baptism; but also from among those dwelling four and five hundred leagues from us, where more than two hundred children, baptized before dying, have carried their innocence to Heaven. Even among the Iroquois, our enemies, more than three hundred children have received this favor at the hands of our Frenchmen who were [Page 25] captives in their country — God using our afflictions and losses to secure the happiness of his Elect.

An earthquake, extending over a region more than two hundred leagues in length and one hundred in width, — making twenty thousand leagues in all — has shaken the whole country, and caused us to witness some prodigious transformations. Mountains were swallowed up; Forests were changed into great Lakes; Rivers disappeared; Rocks were split, and their fragments hurled to the very tops of the tallest trees; thunders rumbled beneath our feet in the womb of the earth, which belched forth flames; doleful and terror inspiring voices were heard; white Whales and Porpoises bellowed in the waters; in short, all the Elements seemed armed against us, and threatened us with the direst disaster. But so benign was God’s protection over us that not a person lost his life or even his earthly possessions; while the greater number — both Savages and Frenchmen, Believers and Unbelievers — derived such profit for their salvation from that event, that we have reason to bless God for it, and to acknowledge that his mercies have been most tender.

The past makes us hope everything for the future, Canada being a work of God, and the conversion of the Savages having been the chief motive for the establishment of the Colonies there planted. To that end the Fathers of our Society have given their labors, their sweat, and their blood. Of twelve who have ended their lives there, ten were butchered and burned by the Iroquois in their frenzy, or died in the snow when on their way to win sods. This year we have learned of a similar death of one of our old Missionaries, Father René Ménard, who had penetrated five hundred leagues into the interior, bearing the name ofJesus Christ to lands where he had never been worshipped. We need Missionaries to enter into the labors [Page 27] Of those Who have met with such happy death, and we ask your Reverence for them, assuring those who have an Apostolic zeal that they will find here a holy occupation, great sufferings, and probably the happiness of pouring out their blood to mingle with that of Jesus Christ. We pray him that his divine wild may be fulfilled in us, in life and in death. To that end, your Reverence will grant us the aid of your prayers, and all who have any interest in the conversion of Infidels will do Likewise.

MY REVEREND FATHER,
	Your very humble and obedient
Kebec, this 4th of		servant in Our Lord,
September, 1663.			Hierosme Lalemant.

[Page 29]

Table of the Chapters contained in this Book.
CHAP. I.	T				HREE Suns and other Aerial phenomena, which appeared in New France.		page 1
CHAP. II.	Universal Earthquake in Canadas, and its marvelous effects.						page 6
CHAP. III.		Good effects of the Earthquake; and concerning the state of Christianity among the Savages in the vicinity of Quebec.					page 26
CHAP. IV.		Various Iroquois wars, and their results.					page 43
CHAP. V.		Sundry murders committed at Montreal by the Iroquois and the Hurons.					page 54
CHAP. VI.		Victory of the Algonquins over the Iroquois, and the deliverance of a French captive.					page 69
CHAP. VII.			Torture of two Iroquois captured by the Algonquins.				page 78
CHAP. VIII.				Concerning the Mission to the Outaouaks, and the saintly death of Father René Menard, as weld as that of his Companion, in their country.			page 96 [i.e., 86]
CHAP. IX.		Journey from the entrance to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence up to Montreal.				138 [i.e., 128].

[Page 31]

Extract from the Royal License,

Y grace and License of the King, Sebastien Cramoisy, Printer in ordinary to his Majesty, Director of his Royal Press at the Castle of the Louvre, and former Alderman and Judge-Consul of this city of Paris, is authorized to print, or cause to be printed, a Book entitled, Relation de ce qui s’est passé en la Mission des Peres de la Comapagnie de JESUS, au pays de la Nouvelle France, és années 1662 et 1663. And this during the period of ten consecutive years; forbidding all Booksellers, Printers, and others, under the penalties provided by the said License, to print or cause to be printed the said Book, under pretext of any disguise or change whatsoever. Given at Paris, December the first, 1663.

Signed, by the King in his Council,

MABOUL.

[Page 33]

Permission of the Reverend Father Provincial.

E, André Castillon, Provincial of the Society of JESUS in the Province of France, have for the future granted to Sieur Sebastien Cramoisy,Bookseller, Printer in ordinary to the King and Queen, Director of the Royal Press of the Louvre, and former Alderman of this city of Paris, the Printing of the Relations of New France. Paris, January 20, one thousand six hundred and sixty-two.

Signed, André Castillon.

[Page 35]

[1] Relation of what occurred in the Mission of the

Fathers of the Society of Jesus in the country

of New France, from the Summer of the year

1662 to the Summer of the year 1663.

CHAPTER I,

THREE SUNS AND OTHER AËRIAL PHENOMENA, WHICH

APPEARED IN NEW FRANCE,

EAVEN and Earth have spoken to us many times during the past year, and that in a language both kind and mysterious, which [2] threw us at the same time into fear and admiration. The Heavens began with Phenomena of great beauty, and the Earth followed with violent upheavals, which made it very evident to us that these mute and brilliant aërial voices were not, after all, mere empty words, since they presaged convulsions that were to make us shudder while making the Earth tremble.

As early as last Autumn we saw fiery Serpents, intertwined in the form of the Caduceus, and flying through mid-air, borne on wings of flame. Over Quebec we beheld a great Ball of fire, which illumined the night almost with the splendor of day — [3] had not our pleasure in beholding it been mingled with fear, caused by its emission of sparks in all directions. This same Meteor appeared over Montreal, but seemed to issue from the Moon’s bosom, with a noise like that of Cannon or Thunder; and, [Page 37] after traveling three leagues in the air, it finally vanished behind the great mountain whose name that Island bears.

But what seemed to us most extraordinary was the appearance of three Suns. Toward eight o’clock in the morning, on a beautiful day last Winter, a light and almost imperceptible mist arose from our great river, and, when struck by the Sun’s first rays, became transparent, — retaining, however, [4] sufficient substance to bear the two Images cast upon it by that Luminary. These three Suns were almost in a straight line, apparently several toises distant from one another, the real one in the middle, and the others, one on each side. All three were crowned by a Rainbow, the colors of which were not definitely fixed; it now appeared Iris-hued, and now of a luminous white, as if an exceedingly strong light had been at a short distance underneath.

This spectacle was of almost two hours’ duration upon its first appearance, on the seventh of January, 1663; while upon its second, on the 14th of the same month, it [5] did not last so long, but only until, the Rainbow hues gradually fading away, the two Suns at the sides also vanished, leaving the central one, as it were, victorious.

We may here record the Solar eclipse which occurred at Quebec on the first day of September, 1663, and which, being ascertained to be quite eleven digits across in the observation, taken with great exactness, rendered our forests pale, somber, and gloomy. It began at twenty-four minutes and forty-two seconds past one in the Afternoon, and ended at fifty-two minutes and forty-four seconds past three. [Page 39]

[6] CHAPTER II.

UNIVERSAL EARTHQUAKE IN CANADAS, AND ITS MAR-

VELOUS EFFECTS.

N the fifth of February, 1663, toward half past five in the evening, a loud roaring was heard at the same time throughout the length and breadth of Canadas. This noise, which gave one the impression that the house was on fire, made all rush outdoors to escape so unexpected a conflagration; but, instead of smoke and flames, people were much surprised to behold the Walls tottering, and all the stones in motion, as if they had been detached. Roofs seemed [7] to bend down in one direction, and then back again in the other; Bells rang of their own accord; beams, joists, and boards creaked; and the earth leaped up, and made the palisade stakes dance in a way that would have seemed incredible, had we not witnessed it in different places.

Then all left their houses, animals took flight, children cried in the streets, and men and women, seized with terror, knew not where to take refuge, — expecting every moment to be either overwhelmed under the ruins of the houses, or swallowed up in some abyss that was to open beneath their feet. Some knelt in the snow and cried for mercy, while others passed the [8] rest of the night in prayer; for the Earthquake continued without ceasing, maintaining a certain swaying motion much like that of Ships at sea, so that some experienced from this tossing the [Page 41] same heaving of the stomach that one suffers on the water. The disturbance was much greater in the forests, where there seemed to be a battle between the trees, which crashed against one another, — not merely their branches, but even, one would have said, their trunks being torn from their places to leap one upon another, with a din and confusion that made our Savages say that all the woods were drunken.

War seemed to be waged even by the Mountains, [9] some of them being uprooted, to be hurled against others, and leaving yawning chasms in the places whence they had sprung. At times, too, they buried the trees, with which they were covered, deep in the ground up to their topmost branches; and at other times they would plant them, branches downward, which would then take the place of the roots, leaving only a forest of upturned trunks.

During this general wreck on Land, ice of five and six feet in thickness was broken, flying into fragments, and splitting open in various places, whence issued either great clouds of smoke or jets of mud and sand, which ascended to a lofty height in the air. Our springs either ceased to flow or gave forth only [10] sulphurous waters; Rivers either disappeared entirely or were thoroughly defiled, the waters of some becoming yellow and of others red; and our great river Saint Lawrence appeared all whitish as far as the neighborhood of Tadoussacq — a prodigy truly astonishing and fitted to surprise those who know the volume of water carried by this great stream below the Island of Orleans, and how much matter it must have taken to whiten it.

The atmosphere was not without its disturbances, [Page 43] during those on water and Land; for, beside the roaring which constantly preceded and accompanied the Earthquake, we saw specters and fiery phantoms bearing torches in their hands. Pikes and lances of fire [11] were seen, waving in the air, and burning brands darting down on our houses — without, however, doing further injury than to spread alarm wherever they were seen. There was even heard what sounded like plaintive and feeble voices in lamentation during the silence of the night; while white Porpoises were heard crying aloud before the Town of three Rivers — a very unusual occurrence — and filling the air with a pitiful bellowing. Whether they were real Porpoises, or sea-cows (as some have supposed), so extraordinary a circumstance could have arisen from no common cause.

Word comes from Montreal that, during the Earthquake, fence stakes were plainly seen to jump up and down as if in [12] a dance; of two doors in the same room, one closed itself and the other opened, of its own accord; chimneys and housetops bent like tree branches shaken by the wind; on raising the foot in walking, one felt the ground coming up after him and rising in proportion to the height to which he lifted his foot, sometimes giving the sole a quite smart rap; and other similar occurrences, of a highly surprising nature, are reported from that place.

From Three Rivers they wrote the following account: “ The first and severest of all the shocks began with a rumbling like that of Thunder, and the houses were shaken like tree tops during a storm, amid a noise that made people think there was a fire [13] crackling in their garrets.

“This first shock continued fully half an hour, [Page 45] although its great violence really lasted only a scant quarter of an hour. There was not a person who did not think the Earth was about to split open. We further observed that, while this earthquake was almost continuous, still it was not of the same intensity, sometimes resembling the rocking of a great vessel riding gently at Anchor, — a motion which caused giddiness in many. Sometimes the disturbance was irregular, and precipitated by various sharp movements — sometimes of considerable severity, at other times more moderate; but most commonly consisting of a slight quivering motion, which was perceptible to one away from the noise [14] and at rest. According to the report of many of our Frenchmen and Savages, who were eye-witnesses, far up on our river, the Three Rivers, five or six leagues from here, the banks bordering the Stream on each side, and formerly of a prodigious height, were leveled — being removed from their foundations, and uprooted to the water’s level. These two mountains, with all their forests, thus overturned into the River, formed there a mighty dike which forced that stream to change its bed, and to spread over great plains recently discovered. At the same time, however, it undermined all those displaced lands and caused their gradual detrition by the waters of the [15] River, which are still so thick and turbid as to change the color of the whole great St. Lawrence river. Judge how much soil it must take to keep its waters flowing constantly full of mire every day for nearly three months. New Lakes are seen where there were none before; certain Mountains are seen no more, having been swallowed up; a number of rapids have been leveled, a number of Rivers have disappeared; [Page 47] the Earth was rent in many places, and it has opened chasms whose depths cannot be sounded; in fine, such confusion has been wrought, of woods overturned and swallowed up, that now we see fields of more than a thousand arpents utterly bare, and as if [16] very recently plowed, where a short time ago were only forests.” We learn from Tadoussacq that the stress of the Earthquake was not less severe there than elsewhere; that a shower of ashes was seen crossing the stream like a great storm; and that, if one were inclined to follow the river bank all the way from Cap de Tourmente to that point, he would see some marvelous effects of the earthquake. Near the Bay (called St. Paul’s) there was a little Mountain, situated on the riverbank and a quarter of a league, or nearly that, in circumference, which was swallowed up; and, as if it had only taken a plunge, it came up again from the depths, to be changed into a little Island, and to turn a spot all beset with breakers, as [17] it used to be, into a haven of safety against all kinds of winds. And farther down, near Pointe aux Allouettes, a whole forest became detached from the mainland and slid into the river, where it presents to view great trees, straight and verdant, which sprang into being in the water, over night.

Three circumstances, moreover, rendered this Earthquake very remarkable. The first was its time of duration, it having continued into the month of August, or for more than six months. The shocks, it is true, were not always equally severe. In certain districts, as toward the mountains in our rear, the din and the oscillating motion were [18] unintermittent for a long time; in others as in the region [Page 49] of Tadoussacq, the shocks occurred ordinarily two or three times a day, with great force; and we noted that in more elevated places the motion was less than in the level country. The second circumstance concerns the extent of this Earthquake, which we believe to have been general in all New France; for we learn that it made itself felt from Isle Percée and Gaspée, which are at the mouth of our river, up to Montreal and beyond, as also in new England, Acadia, and other far distant regions. Therefore, knowing as we do that the Earthquake extended over a tract two hundred leagues in length [19] by one hundred in width, we have an area of twenty thousand leagues which was all shaken at once, on the same day and at the same moment.

The third circumstance concerns God’s special protection of our settlements; for near us we see great clefts that were formed, and a prodigious extent of country utterly wrecked, while we have not lost a child or even a hair of our heads. All around us we see evidences of overthrow and ruin, and yet we had only some chimneys demolished, while the surrounding Mountains were swallowed up.

We have all the more [20] reason to thank Heaven for this most loving protection, inasmuch as a person of probity and of irreproachable life, — who had felt presentiments of what afterward occurred, and who had declared them to the one to whom such confession was due, — had a vision, on the very evening that this Earthquake began, of four frightful specters occupying the four quarters adjoining Quebec, and shaking them violently, as if bent on working a universal overthrow. This they undoubtedly would have done, had not a higher Power — one of [Page 51] venerable Majesty, the author of the universal disturbance — interposed an obstacle to their efforts, and prevented them from harming those whom it was God’s will to frighten, for the sake of their own salvation, but [21] not to destroy.

The Savages, as well as the French, had had presentiments of this fearful Earthquake. A young Algonquin girl, between Sixteen and seventeen years of age, named Catherine, — who has always lived a very innocent life; and who, indeed, owing to her extraordinary trust in the Cross of the Son of God, has been cured, as if by a miracle, of an illness from which she had been suffering for an entire Winter, without any hopes of recovery, — deposed with all sincerity that, on the night preceding the Earthquake, she saw herself with two other girls of her age and Nation mounting a great Stairway. At its top [22] was seen a beautiful Church, where the Blessed Virgin appeared with her Son, predicting to them that the earth would soon be shaken, trees would strike against one another, and rocks would be shattered, to the general consternation of all the people. This poor girl, much surprised by such an announcement, feared that it was some illusion of the Demon, and determined to reveal the whole, as soon as possible, to the Father in charge of the Algonquin Church. On the evening of the same day, a short time before the Earthquake began, she shouted in a transport of excitement; and, as if wrought upon by a powerful influence, she said to her relatives, “ It is coming soon, it is coming soon.” And she afterward had the same presentiments before each [23) of the Earthquake shocks.

We add a second deposition of much greater detail, [Page 53] which we received from another Algonquin woman, — twenty-six years of age, and very innocent, simple, and sincere, — who was questioned by two of our Fathers concerning her experiences, and answered them in all frankness. Her replies were confirmed by her Husband and her Parents, who saw with their own eyes and heard with their own ears what follows. Her deposition runs thus:

“ On the night between the 4th and 5th of February, 1663, being fully awake and in full possession of my senses, while in a sitting posture, I heard a voice, distinct and intelligible, which said to me: ‘ Strange things are to happen [24] today; the Earth will tremble.’ Thereupon I was seized with great ‘fear, seeing no one from whom those words could have come. Filled with alarm, I endeavored, with considerable difficulty, to go to sleep; and when day broke I told my Husband, Joseph Onnentakité, quite in private, what had happened to me. As, however, he rebuffed me, saying that I was lying, and wished to impose upon him, I said nothing further. At about nine or ten o’clock on the same day, on my way to the woods to gather fagots, I had scarcely entered the forest when the same voice made itself heard, saying the same thing and in the same manner as on the night before. My alarm was much greater, as I was [25] entirely alone. So I looked all around, to see if I could catch sight of any one; but no person was to be seen. Accordingly, I gathered a load of fagots and went home, meeting my sister on the way, as she was coming to help me; and I told her what had just occurred. She at once took the lead and, reëntering the Cabin before me, repeated my experience to my father and mother; but, as it was [Page 55] all very extraordinary, they merely heard it without giving it any especial thought. There the matter rested until five or six o’clock in the evening of the same day, when an Earthquake occurred, and they recognized by experience that what they had heard me say in the Forenoon was only too true.” [Page 57]

[26] CHAPTER III.

GOOD EFFECTS OF THE EARTHQUAKE; AND CONCERN-

ING THE STATE OF CHRISTIANITY AMONG THE

SAVAGES IN THE VICINITY OF QUEBEC.

HEN God speaks, he makes himself heard with distinctness — especially when he speaks with the utterance of Thunders, or of Earthquakes, which have moved hardened hearts to less than our greatest rocks, and have caused greater commotion in men’s consciences than in our Forests and on our Mountains.

This Earthquake began on shrove Monday, at half past five in the evening. From that moment — a time which commonly introduces the [27] debauches of the following day — every person gave his serious attention to the matter of his own salvation, each one searching his own heart, and viewing himself as on the point of destruction, and of appearing before God for the purpose of receiving that judgment which could decide his fate for eternity, and which is terrible even to the most saintly souls. Thus shrove Tuesday was fortunately changed into a Good Friday and also into an Easter. It represented Good Friday to us in its modesty and humility, and in its tears of perfect Penitence. Never were Confessions made which came more from the bottom of the heart, and from feelings of genuine fear of God’s judgments. This same day also seemed to us like an [28] Easter, from the frequent administration of Communion, [Page 59] which was received by most as the last they would take in their lives. The Holy Lenten season was never passed in greater piety, the Continuance of the Earthquakes causing a continuance in the feelings of contrition and penitence.

But let us here speak only of our Savages, who, despite their being Barbarians, are not insensible to Heavenly influences.

Beside the remnants of the Huron Church, we had last Winter in the neighborhood of Quebec between three and four hundred Algonquins. A part of them were formerly Christians and Settlers of Sillery, whence the fear of the Iroquois had driven them, to find a safer asylum in the heart of Quebec. The rest [29] were strangers, who had come in part from Acadia, where they had passed three or four years without instruction; and in part from up the Saguenay, the river of Tadoussacq, — fleeing likewise from the common enemy, who, in the preceding year, had carried his ravages even into their country, far distant although it is toward the North, These latter people had never seen any Frenchmen or heard of the Faith, and perhaps never would have heard of it if a kind providence had not made use of these very Iroquois to drive hither those whom they prevent us from visiting in their own country. It is true, the Devil, ever sleepless in guarding his Kingdom, has raised up against us a domestic Enemy more cruel by [30] far than the public foe. I mean the mania for drinking to excess, which possesses some Savages; and the passion for selling them the drink, which possesses certain Frenchmen. All Americans have at first a loathing for our wines; but, having once acquired a taste for them, they seek [Page 61] them with such passion that some strip themselves of everything, and reduce their families to beggary, while others sell even their own children, in order to obtain the means of gratifying this furious craving.

This evil is general in these regions, extending as it does from Gaspé (whence a good Ecclesiastic writes in fitting terms that Christianity is utterly ruined among the Savages, because of drunkenness) as far as the Iroquois.

[31] I will not describe the ills which these disturbances have caused to this infant Church. My ink is not black enough to depict them in their true colors; it would require dragon’s gall to express here the bitterness which we have experienced therefrom. We tell the whole story in saying that we lose in one month the labors and exertions of ten and of twenty years.

The more self-controlled among our Savages had taken refuge, it is true, in Sillery, in order to enjoy the protection of four walls, rather against this Demon than against the Iroquois. Those of Three Rivers found a similar asylum in a Fort which we built for them on a Cape named after Monsieur de la Magdeleine, whose purpose in giving [32] the land was that it should be devoted to the cause of converting the Savages.[1]

These two Colonies, thus shut up as in two Monasteries, have there practiced every kind of pious exercise, and have there been instructed at leisure, making of those two forts two Academies of virtue, so to speak. The Fathers who have the care of this Algonquin Church of Sillery speak of it in the following manner:

“ The Earthquakes have made apparent our [Page 63] Neophytes’ Faith and their fear of the judgments of God, to whose goodness they have had recourse with a Trust that is extraordinary. It was unnecessary to call them to confession; they came voluntarily, with feelings which showed plainly that they were deeply moved. The Church was their [33] customary asylum, where they kept themselves in security before the Most holy Sacrament, some of them reciting their Rosaries there as often as an Earthquake shock occurred. It was a great consolation to see with what trust they appealed to the Mother of God, to Saint Joseph, her Spouse, and to Saint Michael, Patron of this Mission. That great Archangel was especially honored there by both French and Savages, who came from a distance to put themselves under his protection and fulfill their vows.

“ One Friday, among other occasions, the Savages of the neighborhood made a solemn Procession of two, three, and even, in some instances, of six or seven leagues, for the sake of visiting the Cross of Saint Michael. Thither came [34] Old men all tottering with age, children of the tenderest years who had escaped from their parents’ keeping, all fasting, and all consecrating their journey with prayers, — until, on approaching their goal, they were met by the Savages dwelling at Sillery, who went forth a long distance to receive them, forming on their part another Procession. When these had united, they proceeded all together into the Church, where, after Holy Communion, which many had the happiness to receive, they made fresh vows to appease God’s anger by the innocence of their lives.

“ It is a great satisfaction ” (continue the Fathers) “ to see how unitedly they live together. We have [Page 65] often admired [35] the goodness of a woman, a Christian of long standing, who is called, par excellence, ‘ the Charitable. ’ She is the refuge of Orphans, whom she adopts and rears with the greatest care. God blesses her charity to an extraordinary degree, for she always has the means to support her family, numerous although it is. When she was afflicted with an illness which endangered her life, she bore her ailment with an uncommon patience and resignation to God’s will. Following is the sentiment with which she prepared to meet death: Thou who hast made all things, thou gavest me two Children; they died young; thou didst call them to thy Paradise. I hope that thou wilt do me the same favor, and that I shall love thee forever in their company. It being God’s will [36] to add to her crown, he restored her to health, which she put to very good use. Her charity was manifested, some days ago, toward a young French woman whom, with a skill and affection savoring no whit of the Savage, she attended in her first confinement, in which the patient’s life was in serious peril.

“ It is a truth long since recognized that the Savages tenderly love their children with that love which Nature has implanted in their hearts; but we daily ’ find that they love them not less with that love above nature which prompts them to obtain for their off-spring an education wholly Christian in character. Their joy is to see the children taught to pray, and [37] trained in the virtues for which they are fitted. If they are ill, nothing gives the parents greater consolation than to see them visited and prayed over. The following is an illustration of a good widow’s very tender love, and although nothing more than natural, yet it is not without its charms. Summoned [Page 67] to the Church by one of our number for the purpose of receiving some instruction, and then being asked if she had anything on her mind that troubled her, ’ Only one thing, ’ she answered, ‘ and that is to hear my little child cry when I have no bread to satisfy its hunger. That is the only thing that troubles me in this world.’ ‘ Thou shalt be no longer troubled in that way ’ (the Father answered her); ‘ bring it to me when it cries, and I will dry its [38] tears and thine. ’ This reply dispelled all her sorrow, and she brings her little boy every day to obtain bread for him, which is to them a highly delicious viand and one which they greatly esteem.

“ As for the stranger Savages recently arrived here, those who were utterly ignorant of our doctrines have been instructed at leisure and baptized, to the number of eighty, — being indebted for this happiness to a poor woman helplessly crippled in her legs, which she cannot use at all. Nevertheless, she had the courage to undertake a long journey full of rapids and precipices, from the lands of the North to this place, in order to conduct her compatriots hither and have them share the grace which she herself [39] received three years ago, when she was baptized as a dying woman in the heart of the Woods; and she has not ceased since then to pray to God and exhort the people of her nation to come and receive instruction. Accordingly they came, and instead of the famine which they left behind them in their woods, they here found illness, with which it was God’s will to try these poor Catechumens, in order to make their Faith shine the more brightly; for, actually, when the Father in charge of them asked them if they were content to embrace Christianity despite all of [Page 69] this sickness, ‘ Alas ’ (they replied), ‘ thinkest thou that we can have passed so many rocks and traversed so many Forests for any other purpose? We are slaves of the demon, and [40] wish to be freed from that cruel servitude, which would consign our bodies and our souls to never-dying fires.’ ”

These sentiments are similar to those noted by one of our Fathers who is in charge of the Missions below Tadoussacq — nomadic Churches, composed of Savages inhabiting more than a hundred leagues of sea-shore. Their mode of life, as regards food, raiment, and shelter, is much like that of the beasts with which they share the Forests as abode, changing their dwelling place with them according to the season, Of all these tribes, some felt the Earthquake, while others had no knowledge of it except by [41] report; but all manifested thereafter such unusual ardor for receiving instruction, that the Father, delighted and overwhelmed by such an exhibition of pious desire, could not refuse Holy Baptism to those poor forsaken souls. It was a beautiful sight to see those devout Barbarians, some of whom came from a great distance, at the risk of falling into the hands of the Iroquois and of their other enemies, in order to be instructed. It was a beautiful sight, I say, to see Jugglers break and demolish their Tabernacles; Apostates appeal for mercy, and beg with flowing tears to be admitted into the Church: little children uplift their voices in the brief Catechism and the prayers which they recited; and Old men turn [42] Disciples of these children in order to learn of them, and follow the Father whithersoever he went, without giving him any respite, night or day, that they might lose none of his teachings. “ I have never seen thee, my [Page 71] Father. “ (Thus he was accosted by one of these old men, who was more than a hundred years of age, and whom providence caused to arrive at the mouth of a small River at the same time as the Father.) (‘ Ah, thou shalt be my Father; old as I am, and despite death’s close pursuit of me, thou wilt give me life, if thou art willing to give me Baptism. I give thee my children, my nephews, and my whole nation, whom I am going to Summon to receive instruction from thee.”

How gladly does Heaven hear such words from the lips and [43] hearts of these poor Barbarians who, amid their great Forests, have only the Holy Ghost for master, Pastor, and Instructor! [Page 73]

CHAPTER IV.

VARIOUS IROQUOIS WARS, AND THEIR RESULTS.

AST year the Agnieronnons and Onneiochronnons, the haughtiest of the five Iroquois nations, formed an expedition of a hundred men to go and lie in ambush for the Outaouax, who constitute our upper Algonquins, and to fall upon them when engaged in passing some difficult rapid. With this purpose they set out [44] early in the Spring of the year 1662, depending on their muskets for provisions, and using the Woods which lay in their path as courtyard, kitchen, and lodging-place. The shortest paths are not the best, because they are too much traveled; he who loses his way makes the most successful journey, because one is never lost in these Woods without finding wild animals, which seek a retreat in the remotest forests.

After following the Hunter’s calling for a considerable time, they turned into Warriors, seeing that they were approaching the enemy’s country. So they began to prowl along the shores of the Lake of the Hurons, seeking their prey; and while they were planning to surprise some straggling huntsmen, they were themselves surprised [45] by a band of Sauteurs (for thus we designate the Savages living near the sault of Lake Superior). These latter, having discovered the enemy, made their approach toward daybreak, with such boldness that, after discharging some muskets and then shooting their arrows, they [Page 75] leaped, hatchet in hand, upon those whom their fire and missiles had spared. The Iroquois, although they are very proud and have never yet learned to run away, would have been glad to do so had they not been prevented by the shafts leveled at them from every direction. Hence only a very few escaped to bear such sad news to their country, and to fill their villages with mourning instead of the joyful shouts that were [46] wont to ring out on the warriors’ return. This shows clearly that these people are not invincible when they are attacked with courage.

The three other Iroquois nations had no better success in an expedition undertaken by them against the Andastogueronnons, Savages of new Sweden with whom war broke out some years ago. Raising, accordingly, an army of eight hundred men, they embarked on Lake Ontario toward the beginning of last April, and directed their course toward the extremity of that beautiful Lake, to a great river, very much like our Saint Lawrence, leading without rapids and without falls to the very gates [47] of the Village of Andastogué. There our warriors arrived, after journeying more than a hundred leagues on that beautiful River. Camping in the most advantageous positions, they prepared to make a general assault, planning, as is their wont, to sack the whole village and return home at the earliest moment, loaded with glory and with captives. But they saw that this village was defended on one side by the stream, on whose banks it was situated, and on the opposite by a double curtain of large trees, flanked by two bastions erected in the European manner, and even supplied with some pieces of Artillery. Surprised at finding defenses so well-planned, the [Page 77] Iroquois abandoned their projected assault, and, after some light skirmishes, resorted to their [48] customary subtlety, in order to gain by trickery what they could not accomplish by force. Making, then, overtures for a parley, they offered to enter the besieged town to the number of twenty-five, partly to treat for peace, as they declared, and partly to buy provisions for their return journey. The gates were opened to them and they went in, but were immediately seized and, without further delay, made to mount on scaffolds where, in sight of their own army, they were burned alive. The Andastogueronnons, by thus declaring war more hotly than ever, gave the Iroquois to understand that this was merely the prelude to what they were going to do in the latter’s country; and that the Iroquois had only to go [49] back home as speedily as possible and prepare for a siege, or at least make ready to see their fields laid waste.

The Iroquois, more humiliated by this insult than can be imagined, disbanded and prepared to adopt the defensive — they who hitherto had borne their arms in victory through all those regions. But what are they to do? The smallpox, which is the Americans’ pest, has wrought sad havoc in their Villages and has carried off many men, besides great numbers of women and children; and, as a result, their Villages are nearly deserted, and their fields only half tilled. So there they are, menaced at the same time by three scourges which they have so richly deserved, for the resistance which they [50] have offered to the Faith, and the perfidy which they have shown toward the Preachers of the Gospel. In these extremities they see no relief from their embarrassment except from the French, who alone can save them by fortifying [Page 79] their Villages and flanking them with Bastions in order to defend them against the enemy’s army if it should come. With this end in view, they prepare a notable Embassy, which is to come with beautiful presents, and invite us to go again and dwell in their territory. They intend to give US the hope of obtaining some of their little girls as hostages, since we have often asked for these in order to place them with the Ursuline Mothers, to be trained, instructed, and prepared for Baptism under the care of those good Nuns, — [51] who are longing only for such holy occupation, having for that purpose made an offering of their lives to the perils of the Ocean and the rigors of this country. The Iroquois were, therefore, arranging the terms of this Embassy, and were all ready (as they say) to launch their Canoe, when a fugitive, — Huron by Nation, but naturalized among the Iroquois, — escaping from Three Rivers and arriving just as the party was about to start, reported falsely that preparations were in progress at Quebec for a cruel war; that thousands of soldiers had crossed the Sea for the purpose of capturing all the Iroquois Villages, and that the Ambassadors would be murdered, or, at least, sent to France to remain in Captivity the rest of their days. This [52] fugitive had heard something about the relief promised US, and that was what made him speak thus. At this intelligence, alarm seized the Ambassadors; the project was abandoned; and only one man had the courage to come to Quebec, and ascertain the truth of these rumors. We received him as a friend, but regarded him as a Spy, being unable to fathom the genuine purport of his words, so covert and habituated to dissimulation are those people. [Page 81]

What we learned with certainty was, that they were grievously afflicted with disease, which induced some captive Frenchmen to baptize more than three hundred dying children, and even a number of [53] adults, who, — seeing themselves in a critical condition, and well remembering the teachings received from us when we were in their villages of Onnontagué and Oioguen — of their Own accord, asked their captives to endow them with the freedom of God’s children through the waters of holy Baptism. Thus the seed cast on the ground bears fruit in its season, as saith the Son of God; and the sweat wherewith we have watered those Missions, and which we thought was to prove useless, is found to have produced an abundant harvest for Eternity. [Page 83]

[54] CHAPTER V.

SUNDRY MURDERS COMMITTED AT MONTREAL BY THE

IROQUOIS AND THE HURONS.

UR enemies, being this year engaged elsewhere, have suffered us to till our fields in safety, and to enjoy a sort of foretaste of the quiet which our incomparable Monarch is about to secure for us, in order to spread beyond the Sea the peace which he has extended in all directions outside the borders of France. Montreal alone has been stained with the blood of Frenchmen, Iroquois, and Hurons.

I begin with the sad calamity that befell some Hurons [55] who had, a short time before, left the enemy’s country and taken refuge at Montreal, there to live as Christians. If ever the Iroquois showed notorious perfidy, it was in the affair I am about to relate. Last May they appeared on the Hills of Montreal, to the number of seven Agnieronnons, and asked for a parley. Upon receiving a hearing they proposed the plan of a great Embassy for uniting the Land of the French and that of the Iroquois. This proposition was approved, and three presents were given them as assurance that the Envoys would be welcome, provided they brought with them the rest of the Frenchmen who were still groaning in captivity. [56] This they agreed to do, and, in proof of their sincerity, offered to leave four of their number as hostages, while the three others would go as speedily as possible to the Elders and hasten forward [Page 85] the Embassy. This expedient meeting with approval, the four new guests were received with all possible ceremony and, for the sake of lodging them the more comfortably, were taken to the Hurons’ Cabin. There ensued nothing but feasting and singing, dancing, and exchanging of presents; in a word, no sign of rejoicing was forgotten. When evening came, the bell for prayers rang as usual for the Savages. The Iroquois attended prayers, and gave one of our Fathers great cause for consolation at seeing such an addition to his little flock. [57] All the rest of the evening was passed in familiar intercourse, good cheer, and all the intimacy to be desired in the most cordial friendships. After all the rejoicing customary on such occasions, every one retired to take a little repose. At that time there were in the Hurons’ Cabin only a man, two women, a young lad, and three girls, all the others having gone hunting some time before. Toward midnight, those four treacherous rogues arose and made a vigorous assault with their hatchets on these poor sleeping people, dyeing the whole Cabin with blood. After braining the man, they left the two women for dead, covered as they were with wounds, and carried away [58] the three little girls as captives, the young lad having happily escaped the clutches of those Barbarians.

All this did not occur without some noise, and the French hastened to the spot from all directions, but too late. The fugitives, after using the darkness of the night to conceal their perfidy, used it still further to cover their flight. A pitiful spectacle was discovered in the Cabin — three bodies weltering in their own blood and frightfully disfigured. Upon approaching, it was found that one of the two women named [Page 87] Helene, had yet a little life remaining — it being doubtless God’s will to prolong her days as if by a miracle, in order to make manifest her virtue, which ought never to perish from the memory [59] of man. She did in the country of the Iroquois what the good Tibias did among the Assyrians. She aided the poor and the Captive, poor and captive although she herself was; she buried the dead, and, as often occurred in the primitive Church, attended the Captive Christians when they were being burned. She shrank not from mounting the scaffolds to encourage the victims to stand firm in the Faith; or from approaching those half-burned bodies, to suggest to the victims short and fervent prayers at the height of their agony, — mingling with the Executioners for the purpose of encouraging the sufferers to die as Christians, and with public profession of the Faith. Her greatest affliction [60] in the misfortune that had just befallen her was not her own condition, mutilated with wounds and dripping with her own blood as she was, but the loss of her poor daughters who had been carried away. She mourns them with tears of blood, not so much because they are the prey of those Barbarians as because they are in danger of falling victims to the Demons. She recites twelve or thirteen Rosaries a day to obtain from God their deliverance; and perhaps he will give heed to such fervent and righteous prayers by an afflicted mother.

Seeing themselves so badly used by their enemies, the Hurons thereupon sought an opportunity to exact satisfaction for such perfidy. The following occasion was offered.

On the twenty-sixth of May, there touched [61] at Montreal a Canoe manned by five Onnontaghéronaon [Page 89] Iroquois, one of whom, being ill, asked to be admitted to the Hospital. Those Barbarians are well aware that at Quebec and Montreal there are holy Maidens (for so they call the Nuns), who consecrate their services and their labors to such charitable occupations; and, as they have become known far and wide through our forests, winning the hearts even of barbarians by such deeds of charity, these Iroquois were impelled to come and put their patient in such good hands. He was, therefore, received with kindness, and SO well cared for that, at the end of a week, he was placed on his feet, and ready to embark with his companions. But the Hurons who were then at [62] Montreal, and whose wounds had not yet healed, were of opinion, adopting the view of the French themselves, that these Iroquois were only Spies, and thought it was time to wash away the blood of their relatives, but recently shed, with the blood of these Iroquois. Accordingly they allowed them to embark and, awaiting them at a point of land near which they were to pass, fired a volley at them, killing one man on the spot and carrying off his scalp, the usual Trophy and sign of victory. The others, dangerously wounded, were rescued from their hands by the French; and as one was in danger of dying, he was instructed by the Father then at Montreal. As they have all [63] often heard of our doctrines, it was easy to put him in a condition to receive holy Baptism — a piece of good fortune that he will never fully pay for, even though he should shed the rest of his blood to obtain it. Thus does God choose his Elect; although he does so by paths unforeseen by our limited understandings, yet it is in pursuance of his eternal designs, [Page 91] which make the most Unexpected events contribute to his glory, and to the Salvation of his predestined ones.

Such choice, made by that gentle and wise providence, appeared still more admirable in the case of another young Iroquois who, arriving at Montreal with his uncle, willingly heard the teachings given by the Father to both of them; but, while the nephew yielded without opposition to the allurements of grace, [64] the uncle not only offered resistance thereto, but also added mockery and impertinence, As a result, when the younger soon afterward fell ill, he was thoroughly prepared for holy Baptism, which he received with feelings of piety out of the reach of a mere Barbarian, and died with evidences of a genuine faith, leaving his uncle in the blindness of his unbelief.

It remains to be seen by what course of events the French were made to share the bloodshed, as well as the Hurons and the Iroquois. On the day before Whitsuntide a Band of forty Warriors, partly Agnieronnons and partly Onneiochronnons, approaching our fields while some [65] husbandmen were at work there, made a sudden sally against them. Then, according to their custom, filling the air with fearful yells to terrify those whom they were attacking, they discharged their muskets and fell upon two Frenchmen, who were more engrossed in their work than observant of their defense. These they captured and bound, and, as if they had made some great conquest, proceeded homeward in great glee over their Prey, upon whom they were about to sate their cruelty and vent their wrath, as upon poor victims destined for the flames. [Page 93]

One of these two Frenchmen, who had an eye put out in this engagement, had formed an alliance a short time before with several other families belonging to the most devout and exemplary [66] in Montreal, for the purpose of putting themselves, all in company, under the special protection of the holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.[2] This good man was no sooner seized than, raising his hands to Heaven, he offered up a prayer, fervent and full of faith, addressing it to the Blessed Virgin, whom he conjured not to suffer one of the children of her family to be maltreated. The prayer had its effect, for he found himself freed from all fear; it did not seem to him that he was going to the stake, so willingly did he follow his Executioners. Every evening, too, when he was stretched out and bound by his feet, arms, and neck, to stakes driven into the ground, he submitted to this Chevalet as he would have laid himself on his bed; and, offering [67] his hands and feet to be bound, he would say to his captors: “ There they are; bind them and tie them fast. My God did much more than this for me when he was stretched on the Cross; and I am glad to obey you, in imitation of my Master’s obedience to his executioners.” This thought so strengthened him and made him so hopeful of regaining his freedom that, when they came to some rapid or dangerous spot that had to be passed, he would address the Blessed Virgin with filial trust, saying, “ Finish, my good Mother, what you have begun.”

Meanwhile, long prayers were offered in his behalf at Montreal by those with whom he had allied himself, and who could not [68] be persuaded that an adopted son of the Virgin was destined to perish in [Page 95] that manner. Nevertheless, he was drawing ever nearer to the enemy’s country, and consequently nearer to death. His bonds were not lessened in number, his guards watched over him unceasingly, and the wound in his blinded eye, not having been dressed for a week, became charged with pus, and threatened him with gangrene. In short, the victors — wishing to reap as soon as possible the fruits of their victory, in burning their Captives at their ease — parted company in order to take the shortest routes, the Agnieronnons proceeding directly to Agnie, and the Onneiochronnons to their own country, after dividing their two prisoners. The one of whom I am speaking fell to the Agnieronnons, who, being [69] far greater in number than the others, gave our poor man all the less opportunity to escape; nor, indeed, did he think of attempting it, seeing that it was utterly impossible, although he did not yet despair of being aided by his dear Protectress. The following Chapter will show us