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. LXX.

Lower Canada, Illinois, Ottawas

1667—1669

CLEVELAND:            The Burrows Brothers

Company, PUBLISHERS,  M DCCC XCIX

THE JESUIT RELATIONS

AND

ALLIED DOCUMENTS

Vol. LIX

[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.	| 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]

Copyright, 1899

by

The Burrows Company

—————

all rights reserved

The Imperial Press, Cleveland

[Page ]

 

CONTENTS OF VOL. LXX.
Preface To Volume LIX				9
Documents:—
CCXXIV.	Mission des Hurons du Detroit, 1733-56. Armand de la Richardie, and Pierre Potier. [Second and final installment of the document.]				19
CCXXV.	Catalogus Personarum et Officiorum Provincice Francia Societatis Jesu. Exeunte Anno 1756. Missiones Americæ Septentrionalis in Nova Francis				80
CCXXVI.	Lettre du Père * * * , Missionnaire chez les Abnakis. Saint-François, October 21, 1757				90
CCXXVII.	Des Hurons. [Étienne Girault de Villeneuve; Quebec, 1762]				204
CCXXVIII.	Bannissement des Jésuites de la Louisiane. [François Philibert Watrin]; Paris, September 3, 1764				211
Bibliographical Data; Volume LXX					303
Notes					305

 

[Page vii]

 

[INSERT GRAPHIC HERE]

 

ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL. LXX.
I.	Photographie facsimile of handwriting of Pierre Potier, S. J., selected from his MS. Livre de Compte, now in possession of Theodore Parsons Hall, Detroit	Facing 64
II.	Photographie facsimile of handwriting of Pierre Potier, S. J., from a MS. sermon, dated July 2, 1746, and now in the archives of St. Mary’s College, Montreal	Facing 74
III.	Reduced facsimile of Franquet’s plan of Fort du Saut St. Louis, 1752.	Facing 86

 

[Page viii]

PREFACE TO VOL. LXX

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

CCXXIV. Potiers account-book of the Huron mission at Detroit was commenced in Vol. LXXIX., and is now concluded. This second installment begins with La Richardie’s “return to the Mission” (in the summer of 1747). The transactions recorded are similar to those for preceding years — sales of goods, payments for work done at the mission, loans given and received, exchanges of accounts, orders for the saying of masses, etc. Women often figure in these memoranda as receiving or selling goods — obviously sharing the business cares and responsibilities of their husbands.

A soldier in the Detroit garrison purchases from the mission, on credit, 400 livres’ worth of liquor, probably as part of the supplies requisite for barter with the Indians of that region. La Richardie sends to Montreal, by the Detroit interpreter, a large quantity of “porcelain” (wampum) to be sold there, the proceeds to be paid to the resident factor or agent of the mission, Couagne. A new list of assets and liabilities is begun “with the arrival of the Convoy in 1748.” Contracts are made (1748) by the Fathers for more building, the church being enlarged. [Page 9]

On September 1, 1748, the mission farm is let on shares to Nicolas (locally known as “Niagara”) Campeau; the terms of his lease are here recorded. The forge is also leased (April 10, 1749), to Charles Chauvin. It curiously appears that drafts on Montreal are discounted at 30 per cent in Detroit,

La Richardie gives (August 30, 1750) a list of the articles given or lent by the Fathers to Campeau, and tools made by the latter for the farm; also of the animals on the farm. He notes the quantities of seed sown, in that year, and the crops resulting therefrom.

In the summer of 1751, “Niagara” Campeau cesses to work the mission farm, and is succeeded (September 1) by Nicolas F. Janis. The terms of settlement with the former, and the contract made with the latter, are given in detail. This ends the “book of accounts.” We have noted only the points of special interest or importance; the intervening spaces are filled in with a multitude of items which record petty and everyday transactions, but in their very commonness give a most intimate and accurate view of life in the frontier post a Century and a half ago, in its social and economic aspects.

The blank leaves remaining in Potier’s book were utilized by him and other priests for recording baptisms; we reproduce such of these as were performed by the Jesuits, Potier and Salleneuve. They are dated from August, 1752, to December, 1756, inclusive.

CCXXV. The official catalogue of the Jesuit order for 1756 names the persons then employed in its North American missions. In the college of Quebec are eight priests and as many lay brethren, [Page 10] besides three “instructors not priests.” At Montreal resides one priest, with one brother; “in remote regions,” which in this case refers to the Huron mission near Detroit, are two priests; and as many are laboring with another Huron band. Among the Abenakis are five priests. Three priests labor among the Iroquois (at Sault St. Louis, and elsewhere); and the same number, with one brother, are with the Ottawas. Coquart is alone in the Montagnais mission. In the residence at New Orleans are four priests and two brethren; and five priests and two brethren are caring for the Illinois mission. Four more priests are located at outlying stations in the South. The total number of all these missionaries is fifty-five.

CCXXVI. An unnamed “missionary to the Abnakis” (but known to be Pierre Roubaud) contributes to Lettres édifiantes an account of the capture of Fort William Henry (or George). The Father goes to Montreal (July, 1757) with a band of Abenakis, and then accompanies the French and Indian forces led by Montcalm against the English at Lake Champlain. Soon after leaving Montreal, the savages give a war-feast, which is fully described, — as is also a brilliant defense made by a Canadian officer against a far greater force of English who attacked him on Lake George. In another encounter, a force of 300 English are cut to pieces, while the French and savages lose not one man. The captives taken by the Indians are cruelly treated, and it is with difficulty that the French can moderate the ferocity of their allies. The missionary’s kind heart is full of sadness and compassion for the poor captives, and he does what he can to keep in check his own [Page 11] neophytes, the Abenakis. He is disgusted and horrified at the insatiable and brutal ferocity of the Ottawas, which they display in hideous acts of cannibalism.

The Abenakis are usually more humane, and docile to their priest’s commands. Some of them, however, steal brandy from the French quarter, and in their drunken condition raise a great disturbance in the camp; but the missionary finally succeeds in reducing them to order. The several divisions of the French and Indian army, having rendezvoused near the English fort, proceed to its investment. Montcalm’s summons to surrender is proudly refused, and the fort is besieged. A week later, the English surrender. Montcalm allows them all the honors of war; but his savage allies care not for the law of nations. When the English troops march out of their intrenchments, the savages, like “ so many ferocious beasts,” fall upon them, and murder and capture all upon whom they can lay their hands. The French and Canadian officers do all they can, often risking their own lives, to restrain the ferocity and lawlessness of the Indians; but they only partially succeed. They rescue, however, many English people, and carefully guard them in the fort, afterward sending them home to New England. The missionary who writes this letter does so, avowedly, to show that the blame for this outrageous infraction of the articles of capitulation should rest upon the lawless and bloodthirsty savages, and not upon the French or Canadian troops.

Our missionary exerts himself to the utmost to aid these poor unfortunates, and rescues several from [Page 12] their cruel captors, — among them, a little Child torn from its parents, to whom it is later restored. He relates the efforts made by the French officers to check the cruelty of the savages, and later to make what reparation they can for the treacherous conduct of their allies. So great is the affliction and dread felt in the English colonies at this fearful massacre that they do nothing in retaliation — although, if they could have known it, “nothing was more critical for us than the situation in which the French army then was.” The latter raze and burn the captured fort.

Roubaud sets out on August 15 for Montreal, which he reaches after a stormy and dangerous voyage. He soon returns to his mission of St. François, where he immediately devotes himself to securing the restitution of some English prisoners held there.

CCXXVII. This is a brief outline, by Étienne de Villeneuve, written in 1762, of the history of the Huron nation and the missions established among them. Since the autumn of 1697, they have lived at Jeune Lorette.

CCXXVIII. The suppression in France of the Jesuit order (1761-62) led to similar proceedings elsewhere; and the superior council of Louisiana, by a decree dated July 9, 1763, expelled the Jesuits from that colony. The present document relates the circumstances of that event, and its consequences; it is written by one of the Fathers thus exiled from Louisiana, evidently François Philibert Watrin. In June, 1763, a new governor comes to Louisiana, D’Abbadie; and, by the same vessel, a royal official [Page 13] who obtains from the council of the colony a decree for the expulsion of the Jesuits therein, and their deportation to France.

Watrin mentions the charges brought against the Jesuits of Louisiana, and, in refutation thereof, cites in behalf of the order the testimony of Bienville and other former officials of the colony. He then relates, for its further justification, the beneficial results of the missionaries’ labors in Illinois and Louisiana. Not only do the Fathers perform all their duties as curés of the French parishes, but they minister to the savages, and retain the latter in their loyalty to the French. The curé at Kaskaskia also serves the parish of Ste. Genevieve in its early years, crossing the Mississippi in a little boat, often at the risk of his life. That the Jesuit curés at Vincennes “acquitted themselves of their duty is proven by the complaints that the parishioners made against them; for these people claimed that their curés went, beyond their duty, and assumed too much care. ” Leroy, who is among the savages of Alabama, also attends to the spiritual needs of the neighboring French people; and he wins from the latter a public pledge that they Will not trade any more brandy to the savages, — a resolve, however, which does not long endure; “the hope of sordid gain prevailed over the most righteous arguments.” Baudoin, during the twenty years which he spent among the Choctaws, rendered the utmost services (often at the peril of his life) to the French settlements in Louisiana, by keeping those savages well disposed toward the French. At Arkansas Post, Carette long remained, despite the difficulties of his task and the irreligious conduct of the French; at last, finding [Page 14] these obstacles insuperable, he had withdrawn from that post, returning to New Orleans. The Jesuits residing there have had the spiritual direction of the hospital and the Ursuline convent; and have had to manage and instruct over a hundred slaves on their estates.

Watrin admits that the apparent fruits of these missions are small, except in the virtues exercised by the missionaries themselves, several of whom have given their lives in the exercise of their ministry. The deaths of these men — Du Poisson, Souël, Senat, Aulneau, and others — are described. Yet the external results of the missions are not to be despised. In Illinois the Fathers have done much to maintain religion and elevate morals among the French who have settled there. The savages of that region have, under the same care, preserved the religious faith taught them by Allouez and his successors; “jugglery” is almost abolished among them; even unbelievers bring their children for baptism; and many refrain from brandy, even when it is offered to them free of cost. If intoxicating liquors could be kept from these savages, much greater results of missionary labor would appear.

All these points sufficiently refute the charge made against the Jesuits that “they have not taken care of their missions.” The next complaint is that “they have only taken care to extend their estates;” but Watrin shows that they were obliged to maintain these estates, in order to provide for their necessary expenses. They are, finally, charged with usurping the powers of the vicanate-general for the episcopate of Quebec. Watrin relates the difficulties arising between the Capuchins and the Jesuits in [Page 15] regard to this dignity, and the decree of the colonial council, which assigns it to the Jesuits. The council has, accordingly, stultified its own record by admitting this charge against the Jesuits.

Watrin proceeds to describe the execution of the decree expelling the order from the West. All their property, real and personal, at New Orleans is seized, and sold at auction; their chapel furniture and sacred utensils are given to the Capuchins, and the chapel razed to the ground. The Jesuit Fathers take refuge in Spanish colonies, except the superior Baudoin, who is allowed to remain as the guest of a Louisiana planter.

The decree of expulsion reaches Kaskaskia on September 23 following, and is at once carried out by the civil authorities there. The Fathers are driven from their house, and all their property is seized. Their parishioners, both French and Indian, are filled with sorrow and indignation; but the officiais carry out the decree with much harshness and severity. Their property is all sold, and they are finally sent (November 24) to New Orleans, — but with scanty provision for that long and perilous journey; and they even share their own frugal supplies with their former negro slaves, now confiscated for the king. Fortunately, the officer in charge of this expedition is humane, and does what he can to mitigate the hardships of the voyage. Arriving at New Orleans, the acting commandant generously provides a lodging for them until their departure, and the Capuchin priests there show them the utmost kindness and friendship; while D’Abbadie, the royal commissary, asks the French government to grant Pensions to the exiles. The council grant Meurin [Page 16] permission to return to his post among the Illinois savages. Returning to Europe, the Jesuits first land at the Spanish port of St. Sebastian, where there is a college of the order, in which they are gladly welcomed. To their surprise, they meet here and at Bayonne many of their brethren from France, also exiled by decrees of the parliaments there. After a time they proceed to Paris, to present D’Abbadie’s letter to the duke de Choiseul.

Vol. LXXI. Will contain the remainder of the text of our series. The Index will occupy Vols. LXXII. and LXXIII.

R. G. T.

Madison Wis., September, 1900.

 

[Page 17]

CCXXIV (concluded)

MISSION DES HURONS DU DÉTROIT, 1733-56

Par Armand de la Richardie et Pierre Potier

—————

The first instaliment of the document was given in Volume LXIX.; the remainder is herewith presented. [Page 19]

CONTINUATION OF THE BOOK OF ACCOUNTS, COM-

MENCING FROM FATHER DE LA RICHARDIE’S

RETURN TO THE MISSION.

I owe parent, The joiner, 2 days’ work.	These things were done in my time.
Parent, of les Miamis, owes me 23 livres for a kettle.
I owe cuillerier for The bolting of [blank space in MS.] minots of flour.
I owe st. andré 20 sols for tacks.
Monsieur godefroi owes me 66 boards for roofing;
Monsieur desruisseau, 55;[1] Father bon, 88.
On the 25th of august, 1747, I engaged One joseph L’esperance to serve me for 3 years at detroit, in consideration of 50 écus for wages, which I am to pay Him every year at the said Place, detroit.
I owe valet 30 livres, for 3 pots of portuguese wine.
I owe Monsieur cuillerier 100 livres, for a pirogue.
I owe parent, The joiner, 10 livres, for work.
I owe The elder L’esperance 50 livres, for indian corn.
I sold to sieur st. bernard, a soldier of this garrison, 400 livres’ worth of liquor, which he is to pay me here, in detroit, in the month of may, 1748.
This day, the 15th of December, 1747, I sent to sieur rené de Couagne by sieur detailli, the interpreter at detroit, 7,200 porcelain beads, both black and white, to be sold in Montreal on account of what I owe him.
I owe sieur de Lille The sum of 27 livres 10 sols, for 81 livres of beef, which he sold to me, at 6 sols A livre, this 17th day of December, 1747.
In the spring of 1748, I shall owe 700 livres and 10 more to Niagara campeau and Charlot st. aubin[2] for a frame barn, with roof and casing of sawn [Page 21] planks, and a threshing-floor. The said persons must also cut, point, and put up 1,000 running feet of rails, 10 feet long, to fence in my yard and garden.
I owe Monsieur Navarre 6 livres, for 3 chairs that he bought for me.
I advanced to Niagara, for The work that he is to do for me, a white blanket, price 25 livres, this 22nd day of December, 1747.
I owe henri Catin 600 livres for my house at the fort.[3]
I owe Cuillerier for The bolting of 16 minots, without Counting what Father potier owed him. December 22, 1747.
For all work done for me under the 1st and following contracts, I owe, 1,100 livres to niagara and to charlot St. aubin. On account of this, Niagara has taken a pair of mitasses, worth 7 livres; and charlot st. aubin a shirt, making 7 livres, february 15, 1743. Also, to charlot st. aubin, a pair of mitasses, 7 livres.
I sold to gervais a barrel of salt for 6 pieces of pine timber, and 100 boards or planks; also, to the same, a barrel of Pork for 100 planks.
Brother La tour owes 40 livres, for a cowhide.
I owe niagara for a load of wood, february, 1748.

1748

Sold to Monsieur cuillerier a pair of mitasses, 7 livres.

BEGINNING OF THE SECOND QUATERNION.

I require 400 boards and 100 planks.
Mademoiselle Royalle: Knives, and steel for striking fire;
Madame Skotache: knives, glass beads, 2 livres of vermilion. [Page 23]	[*]
The leaves cut out of this Account-book being useless, owing to their contents being fulfilled, I begin with The active and passive debts [credits and debits] of the huron mission of detroit, erie, beginning with the arrival of the Convoy of 1748, commanded by Monsieur celoron.[4] Here there is no question of anything but the assets and liabilities contracted at detroit aforesaid; those contracted by the said mission at Montreal are to be paid there.
I sold to Monsieur godefroi The house in which he dwells at the fort, for The sum of 120 livres, payable in the month of may next, 1749. Done at detroit, this 13th of july, 1748. De la Richardie.
I became surety to Nicolas Catin for his nephew Niagara Campeau, for the sum of 350 livres, this 16th of july, 1748. Item, for The same, I became surety to valet for the sum of 220 livres. I owe to valet, on my private account, the sum of 7 livres.
Out of the 104 livres that I owed Charlot St. aubin, I paid Him 30 livres in furs. I paid the remainder on his order to sieur francheville; I now owe him nothing.
I still owe sieur henri Catin for the house he sold me in the fort 280 livres. He has received from Madame Caron 112 livres; from me, 85 livres in deerskins, 88 livres in Castor; also 30 masses that he asked me to say; also 25 livres from cuillerier, at detroit this 16th of july, 1748. De la Richardie.
I owe nothing in the fort except The Above sums.
Madame Caron paid me 112 livres, out of 853; she still has to pay me 741 livres. Since then, she has paid janis 60 livres on my account.
Sieur parent, of les miamis, owes me 10 livres, for a kettle. [Page 25]
Valet owes me, for 10 masses, 10 livres, to be deducted from what I owe him.
Cuillerier owes me 5 livres, which henri Catin refused to accept.
Regis owes 3 livres to francheville, for a tuque [cap], and 24 livres to metayer, — payable in indian corn, when the convoy cornes in 1749; the whole for 2 cotton shirts.
On this 21st of july, I sold a barrel of powder, with 50 livres’ worth of bullets and shot, to Madame Cuillerier, at the price which her husband shall deem proper on his return from Montreal.
Madame cuillerier told me that her husband had taken at my house 300 bullets, with 2 livres and a half of powder, besides the 6 livres which he had lent me and which he took back; july 29, 1749.
Charlot st. aubin transferred the sum of 74 livres, which I owed him, to sieur francheville. Francheville is paid.
I Delivered to sieur henri Catin in payment of the house that he sold me, besides what is noted above, the sum of 138 livres 5 sols.
I sold to Madame Cuillerier 2 livres of vermilion, 24 livres; with half a livre of Cotton, 3 francs; also sold to sieur Catin 12 livres’ worth of Rênes thread and of Poitou thread. I still owe the said Catin 130 livres on The said house.
I paid sieur pertuis,[5] and he still owes me 110 sols, and 30 sols for some Cotton.
Madame cuillerier has taken, since her husband’s departure, in addition to the above, 4 livres and a half of powder, one woman’s chemise, one livre of glass beads, a dozen and a half of woodmen’s Knives, with 3 dozen awls. [Page 27]
I sold and delivered my pirogue to Monsieur The Commandant, for The sum of 100 livres, payable in the month of may, 1749.
I took 9 livres’ worth of iron from monsieur godefroi, on account of The 120 livres that he owes me.
I owe chauvin 14 livres for mending a plowshare.	[*]
I owe 12 livres to parent, for work; to janis 10 livres, for work; to The elder L’esperance, for helping janis, 3 sols.
I owe Deruisseau 100 livres for a clearing which he “pretended to make upon my land; also to the same, 4 days’ work, 6 livres; * to meloche a plow, 10 livres.	[*]
I owe 15 livres to delisle, for some small wheels.
I owe 4 livres to one françois, for turnips.
Monsieur godefroi, 30 sols, for Cotton.
I owe boyer 10 livres, for 2 Cords of wood.
Madame Cuillerier owes me 80 livres, for a cask of brandy which she took for sieur Carignan.
I owe 10 livres to fadius, for my ice-house; to Madame Cuillerier, for The bolting of 7 minots.
Pertuis owes me 30 sols, for cotton; Robert owes 30 sols, for cotton.
Barte owes 44 livres, for Files and steel; Du mouchel 25 livres, for steel.	[*]
Madame gouin owes me, for half a livre of Cotton, 3 livres.[6]
Madame cuillerier owes me 41 livres 10 sols; 10 livres 10 sols.
I owe 4 livres to Madame cuillerier, for 30 livres of beef; item, 30 sols, for 2 partridges.
La bute, fils, owes me 80 livres, for a cask of wine.
I owe 9 livres to a man of The escort, for 6 cords of wood.
I must have chicot paid, in Montreal, 34 livres for meat that he sold me. [Page 29]
I have made a contract with meloche for The framework of my church, house, roof, etc., for the sum of 1,000 livres; and for every 100 boards and planks, at 60 livres; and, for what he shall saw for me, at 30 livres a 100. Item, with janis, for 2 stone chimneys and hearths; and for lathing, rough-casting, plastering, and floating The whole of the above that meloche is to do for me. He is to do it for The sum of 850 livres, and 3 minots of indian corn; if he rough-cast The outside, I am to pay him 300 livres more. Item, with parent for all The joiner-work of the said buildings, for The sum of 1,000 livres, and 2 minots of indian corn; of the 1,000 livres 400 are payable here, and 600 in montreal. [*]	[*]
I owe regis 5 and a half minots of indian corn, which I took from his share. I also owe him 6 livres of deerskins.
I shall owe Morand, for 100 pieces of sawed pine, 250 livres; to Mini for The frame of The church, and for the roof and frame of the house, 400 livres in notes; to Claude and Niagara, for carting the boards and deals, 40 livres; also to the same, for the cartage of Mini’s Raft, 100 livres less 10 sols.
Monsieur the Commandant has paid 500 livres to mini.[7]
Niagara took The farm of this mission on The 1st of September, 1748, on condition of sharing all The produce thereof with the Fathers of the said mission. I furnished to him 30 minots of seed of french wheat; 4 minots of pease; and a new plow with new wheels and share. I gave him 4 illinois oxen, and 4 cows of the same breed; a Young horse and an old mare. I also advanced to him 150 livres, to build himself a house and a stable — The whole on Condition that [Page 31] he shall Haul 40 Cords of firewood for us every winter, and also Plow for us every year 3 arpents of land, in which indian corn Will be planted for the benefit of the mission. I also advanced to the said Niagara the sum of 200 livres, for washing and baking for us during 2 years. On the expiration of these 2 years, he shall be obliged to wash and bake for us throughout The duration of his lease, in consideration of 100 livres per annum, which the mission will pay him at the end of his lease. He shall give back The implements in the condition in which he received Them; he shall give the animals back in the same way, and shall share The produce thereof. The original stock of animals shall also be returned.	[*]
On The 10th of april, 1749, sieur chauvin[8] took over The forge of the mission on the following conditions: 1st, that all the implements in kind in the said forge shall be delivered to Him; 2nd, that He shall be given The steel and Files that Will come from montreal every year; 3rd, that he shall build himself a forge at The said mission, and a house as soon as he can; 4th, that, on being supplied with the iron, he shall be obliged to do and mend everything that may be necessary for The buildings and the use of the mission, and also the weapons — the whole free of charge. In consideration of the above, the mission makes over to Him all the profits of the said forge, on condition of his paying every year to the missionaries The sum of 300 livres.	[*]
Boards : Robert has sawed 126 for me; also 57 boards. 7 livres 10 sols for cartage; 47 livres 10 sols for sawing. [*]Niagara brought back here from meloche’s 2 5 3 boards; also 90planks; also 20 planks; also 293 boards: total, 660. Cartage, 39 livres. [Page 33]
[*] Regis carted for me from Meloche’s 192 planks of basswood; also 40 planks 15 feet long.
Parent took at our house in the fort: 1st, 2 planks or boards; and, 15 here; 3rd, 7 also here; 4th, 4 at meloche’s and 14 at robert’s, with 12 that regis delivered to Him.
I paid Moran 250 livres for The sawed lumber that I received from him.
I paid Claude Campeau 82 livres for what I owe Him for carting, and for a pirogue-load of stone.
Barte and dumouchel finished paying me for The steel that I sold Them.
I received from the widow Caron 33 livres per length of fencing, and 140 livres’ weight of lead.
Meloche: I paid him, on account of his work, 100 livres less 10 sols, in small furs; also 30 livres, paid to Him on my account by madame Caron; also 100 pistoles, paid to him on my account by Sieur Carignan, Trader of detroit. Also paid 300 livres to the aforesaid, by Monsieur navarre. He is paid in full.
Janis : I paid him, on account of his work, 39 livres 10 sols in small furs; also 160 livres, through [that] pierrot la Bute[9] and Carignan paid Him; also 60 livres, that madame Caron paid him for me; also 10 livres, that I paid him; also 268 livres, paid to him on my account by sieur gouin, Trader at detroit; also 259 livres to the aforesaid, by Monsieur navarre. He is paid in full.
Parent : 112 livres paid to Him on my account, by Monsieur godefroi; also 63 livres, paid to him by Father bon; also 232 livres, paid to him on my account by sieur gouin, trader at detroit; also 5 livres, for masses; also 600 livres, by Monsieur navarre. He is paid in full. He has received 12 livres more than he is entitled to [Page 35]
I paid L’esperance, The younger, The sum of 59 livres, on account of the 50 écus that I owed him for The year during which he served me. I have finished paying the aforesaid the 50 écus that I owed Him.
Madame cuillerier owes me 51 livres 5 sols, for porcelain beads that she sold for me. The same owed me 90 livres for The above supplies, and I owed her 16 livres for what she supplied me; she paid on my account The sum of 74 livres to sieur francheville; thus she and I are quits for the 90 livres, and she owes me only The 51 livres for the porcelain sold.
I borrowed from sieur parent of les miamis The equivalent of 135 boards 10 feet long; those that he had lent me are 15 and 12 feet. I am to return them as soon as I can. Also, from the same, 25 planks at the rate of 10 feet to the plank; they are 12 and 14 feet.
Sieur gouin lent me 100 boards and 15 planks; with 100 pine boards I shall be quit with him.
I owed the late henri Catin 130 livres for the house in the fort that he sold me for 600 livres. Sieur Dumouchel to whom I sold the said house, paid to sieur parent of les miamis The said 130 livres; The said parent is substituted as agent for the heirs of the late henri Catin. The said dumouchel owes me on the said house The sum of 470 livres.
I owe Dubois 10 livres, for half a carcass of veal.
Father bon owes me 72 livres, which he would pay me only by transferring them to Niagara, who owes Them to him; The said niagara wished to be acquitted of his debt by myself.	[*]
I owe Monsieur godefroi 22 pieces of pine, sawed timber, at 3 livres apiece.
I owe Malet for 12 livres of beef, at 7 sols a livre. [Page 37]
I owe my sawyers for sawing 26 planks, at 45 livres A hundred.
I paid valet 72 livres for Niagara, to whom I owe them for carting. Also, to the same, 217 livres for the same Niagara. I also owe the said valet, as compensation for the payments that he will receive in Montreal Instead of receiving them here, The sum of 70 livres.
I paid nicolas Catin the sum of 350 livres, which he Will receive in montreal by means of 412 livres that he Will receive in notes at the rate of 30 percent.[10] On these I owe him 43 livres, payable here in the month of may, 1750. The said sum is paid in discharge of Niagara.
I received from Madame caron, on account of what she owes me, 144 livres of pig-lead, at 7 sols a livre, with 33 livres of furs which The elder Page gave me on his account.
I owe cuillerier 28 livres, which he gave to a soldier who sold me some pork. I owe the same 50 livres, for a cask of wine that he sold me; also, to the same, 6 pots of wine, at 4 francs a pot. Also for The bolting of 26 minots.
I owe louison 4 livres, for 4 fowl; also 4 livres, for 4 fowl.
I owe la fleur for 6 livres of dust-shot, at 15 sols A livre.
I paid meloche 144 livres of pig-lead, in payment of the 60 livres that I shall owe him for The stable that he is to put up for me.
I owe malet for 6 livres of beef, at 7 sols a livre
I owe parent of les miamis for one pine plank.
I owe chicot for 18 livres of tobacco for brother La tour, which he sold me at 15 sols a livre. [Page 39]
I gave one sans quartier 1,556 porcelain beads to sel1 for me, from which he Will receive for his trouble one-fourth of the proceeds of the sale, on which I have received 4 livres of Castor.	[*]
I owe Monsieur navarre 55 panes of glass, 6 by 7, half unbroken and half broken; I have returned him eleven.	[*]
All The above reckoned up, I owe here 335 livres, and 120 livres are due me, in which are included the 72 livres that Father bon owes me. As niagara would not accept Them from him, I owed that sum to niagara, and I was obliged to borrow Them from valet, to whom niagara owed them.
I have finished paying meloche for The stable that he put up for me; he is also paid for all my buildings.
I owe gambille’s wife for 200 tacks, at 10 sols a hundred; also, to the same, for a pipe with its tongs; she owes me 10 sols for the collection for the blessed bread.
Barte owes me a livre of vermilion and 3 pairs of mitasses.
Louïson owes me for 20 masses for his son.
I owe champagne 20 livres, for oil and tallow.
I became surety to meloche for Mademoiselle royalle, for a minot of indian corn.
I owe cecyre for carting 25 pieces of lumber for sawing.
I owe Moran 20 livres, for carting 49 pieces of lumber to be sawed at meioche’s mill.
I owe Louison Campeau for 24 fowl, Including Those mentioned above; he gave me The last 4 larded.
I gave la forêt’s wife a blanket, size 2 and one-half points,[11] for a very large bladder of oil which she [Page 41] is to give me next spring; also, to the same, 6 livres of vermilion, which she sold for me at 4 Castors a livre.	[*]
I delivered to gambille’s wife 6 livres of vermilion, at 5 Castors a livre; also 5 Castors’ worth of awls.
Madame gervais owes me for 7 masses; also for 8 masses.
I owe louison Campeau for 20 livres of mixed fat, at 10 sols a livre; also, to the same, for a cask of brandy, 80 livres.
I owe gambille’s wife for 10 livres of beef, and 3 francs for half a deer.
I owe niagara for 11 livres of beef, which I shall pay him, although he made me a present of it.
I owe 12 livres to Claude Campeau, for 6 minots of wheat which he ground for me; on this he owes me 5 livres for 5 masses.
I owe gambille’s wife 4 livres for deerskin to make shoes for regis. The same owes me for 6 handkerchiefs, at 6 livres each; and 500 Catfish hooks, at 50 sols a hundred.
I owe 20 livres to Madame caron for my half of a pig that she is fattening at our joint expense.
Louison Campeau Asked me to say 20 masses.
I owe françois 4 livres for turnips.
I shall owe goscelin and others for clearing 8 and a quarter arpents of land, at 20 livres An arpent. I owe him for 19 cords of wood, at 3 sols a cord.
He has spaded my garden, and done more than half a day’s work at my ice-house.
I owe 3 livres to chicot for 2 small turkeys; also, to the same, 6 livres for 4 turkeys.
I have received 5 partridges from Madame Le duc,[12] of which she owed me 3, less 5 sols.
I owe sieur Louison Campeau 12 livres, for Salt; [Page 43] also 50 livres, for a cask of wine; also 70 livres, for a cask of brandy.
I owc for a deerskin for Father potier’s shoes. I gave the same 18 livres of Coffee to sell.	[*]
I lent niagara a pair of mitasses. I became surety for him for 20 livres, for 10 cords of wood.
In addition to the above, I owe cuillerier for The bolting of 5 minots.
I became surety to Courtois for 111 livres 15 sols, which goscelin and his Comrades owe Him. I also became surety for The same for 65 livres, which they owe gibaud. I paid The said goscelin and his comrades in full.
Besides The 1st seeds that Niagara received from me, I added 6 minots of oats and 3 quarters of a minot of pease.	[*]
I owe cuillerier for The bolting of 24 minots; in all for The bolting of 57 minots.
On this 20th of april, 1750, sieur pilet asked Father potier to say 30 masses for his deceased wife,[13] whereof he is to pay for 15 only in the month of may, 1751. Father bon Asked me to say 20 for The same, payable in the same month and year.
For all The bolted flour, that is 59 minots: 12 livres less 4 sols.
On the 20th of may, 1750, I began to get 835 livres of flour baked — 24 livres in each baking.
I have finished paying gambille’s wife. I gave her an order on sieur marsac for all The said marsac owed me,[14] which amounted to The sum of 586 livres; of this gambille’s Wife will pay on my account 400 livres to my creditors, after which his account with me Will be settled.
Settlement of accounts with cuillerier: 58 livres,. [Page 45] which he Will draw from Father bon; this 19th of may, 1750. He is paid.
I received from sieur barte, armorer, at detroit, The sum of 312 livres in discharge of sieur dumouchel, blacksmith, to whom The said barte owed That sum and more for the house in the fort that I sold him last year, 1749.
I owe a pair of mitasses to Monsieur La mothe, for tallow that he bought for me.
Monsieur La mothe asked me to say 30 masses, for which he Will pay next year, 1751.
Monsieur navarre lent me 4 livres and a quarter of powder, with the cartridge, and 7 livres and a half of shot; to be returned when the convoy arrives.
Niagara lent me a quarter of a minot of wheat.
Cuillerier lent me 3 livres of Salt, to be returned when the convoy arrives.
2 boards are missing out of the 40 of 15 feet; there are 5 planks over and above the sixty.
I borrowed 2 livres of coffee from Madame gervais.
I am paid in full for the land that I sold the late Caron; also for the house I sold dumouchel, august 7, 1750.
I delivered to chauvin 600 porcelain beads, to be given to one la framboise, a resident of the post of vincennes, who paid me 1,200 beads. Monsieur de Raymond, the Commandant at les miamis, Will cause to be delivered to him by The soldier called sans-quartier the 600 beads that I still owe him.[15] The said soldier has or should have 1,550 beads belonging to me, on which I have received 4 livres of castor. I am writing to Monsieur raymond on the subject.
I remitted to chauvin, the blacksmith of this mission, The sum of 100 livres out of the 300 that he is to pay The said mission every year, as compensation. [Page 47] for The steel and iron that I was unable to give Him this year, 1750.
I delivered to sieur Roy, voyageur, 3 packages to be handed over, at montreal, to sieur rene de Couagne; The freight on these 3 packages is 36 livres, Including the portage. One consists of Castor, and weighs 92 livres; Another of 150 raccoon-skins, covered with 2 Castors; the 3rd, of 48 lynx-skins, 75 otters, 28 raccoons, and 43 livres of Castor. The freight on 2 of these 3 packages was paid here by a covered kettle; august 20, 1750.
I took 15 livres of beef from Madame Caron at 6 sols A livre, payable in the spring of 1751; 4 livres 10 sols.
Gambille’s wife baked us a batch of bread, for which he makes us pay 30 sols. He sold me a hat for 3 livres, a Horn for 7 livres 10 sols.
La Bute lent me 10 livres of tobacco, to be returned out of le Roy’s Roll, which his son has gone to get at niagara.
I lent parent, of les miamis, The pieces of sawed timber that I have at meloche’s mill, on condition that he Will give back as much at the same place next spring, 1751.
Parent, The joiner, is paid for all the work that he has done in The church, and for what remains to be done. This latter consists of an altar-railing, which he has drawn; a Confessional, similar to the one already made by him; 2 closets for the sacristy — one for The altar-fronts, and The other for The ornaments, Linen, etc.; and, finally, 2 chapel, if They are deemed necessary. Recently, 34 planks were delivered to him independently of the sanctuary, which he says is done; and many board and deal ends, that he took away during The winter. [Page 49]
I sent to sieur René de couagne a note for 100 livres, which I received from Father bon. Brother la tour is the holder of this note.
I took from sieur la Bute a bag containing 50 livres of shot or bullets, which I shall return to him when the convoy cornes, if the said sieur have not received a similar one for me, with the obligation of bringing It to me. I received from Him 50 livres of shot, besides the Aforesaid bag.	[*]
Madame st. martin made my trade-shirts, 3 livres; she spent a day here sewing for me, 3 livres.
I owe Madame gervais for 3 livres and a half of illinois tobacco, and she owes me for 18 masses.

CERTAIN ARTICLES BELONGING TO OUR ESTAB-

LISHMENT.

Father de la Richardie gave the following to Niagara, when he came to The farm in 1748:
1 new plow. 1 Plowshare, repaired as good as new. 1 colter and Cutter, not repaired. 1 new plow-wheel.
Given to Niagara by The brother:
The breeching-strap, with the 2 chains. The 2 collar-hooks (2 pins which are attached to the collar). The long plow-chain. The swingletree chains. The Sled-chain. 2 iron pins for the plow. The Back-pad with iron rings. 1 winnower which had been broken by the animais. *Nota. He is to give a new one. [Page 51]
Articles wanting at the farm and which must be Made, * Niagara has ofered to make them during The winter:
1 cart for wheat. 1 wood-cart. 1 sled. 2 collars for horses. 1 pair of Wheels. 2 yokes for oxen with 2 poles. 4 straps for oxen. 2 pairs of traces for horses. 1 saddle for A horse. 2 bridles with bits, reins, 2 blinkers, 1 throat-lash, 2 brow-bands. 4 horseshoes.
August 30, 1730. Animals on the farm. Animals belonging entirely to the mission.
2 Yoke of oxen, as follows: 1st, Nico, 7 years old. 2nd, Taupin, 7 years old. 3rd, The 2 oxen which niagara had from Beaubien, and which he exchanged for 2 of ours.
4 Cows, namely : 1st, La noire, 15 years old. 2nd, La Niagara, 5 years old. 3rd, la Beaubien exchanged for la blanche, 4 years old. 4th, a yearling Heifer called Blanchette.
2 horses, namely : 1st, berlingan, 7 years old. 2nd, souris, a mare about to foal, 17 years old.
Animals to be shared between The farmer and the mission:
1 Bull, 18 months old. [Page 53] 1 other Bull, also 18 months old. 1 heifer, 6 months old. 1 other heifer, 2 and a half months old.
Lent to Niagara:
23 livres and a half of flour. 4 Loaves. One carpenter’s Axe, mislaid by the bas-jaunes.[16]	Returned. Returned. Returned.
Seed sown in 1750 : 37 minots of [blank space in MS.; wheat ?]; 6 minots of oats and 3-fourths of a minot of pease. *Nota: The crop was 1,050 sheaves; 7 sheaves go to the minot, consequently there must be 150 minots; deduct 40 for seed, and 110 remain, of which our share is 55.
The wheat Crop was 150 minots; The Crop of indian corn, 40 minots, of which 7 and a half minots are side-ears. Regis has had A third thereof. The oat crop was 16 minots; and that of pease, 2 minots.
Onions: 800 in hanks, 553 not in hanks; and 347 chives (Total 1600). 240 garlic plants, of which 180 are in 4 hanks.

LOANED OR BORROWED. ACTIVE AND PASSIVE

DEBTS, ETC.

In 1750.

			[ θ ]
September 1		Lent a loaf to Niagara.	[ θ ]
1.	Lent 2 loaves to Niagara, by regis.		[ θ ]
4.	Lent, 5 loaves to niagara’s wife.		[ θ ]
October 8.		Borrowed 4 livres of shot from Father bon.	[ θ ]
8.	Regis bought a belt from courtois, for 1 écu.		[ θ ]
12.	Borrowed from Madame de Quindre[17] 1 loaf, of about 3 and a half livres.		[ θ ]
12.	Borrowed from Father bon 3 bottles of wine. [Page 55]		[ θ ]
13.	I owe 13 livres 10 sols to jaqueau St. aubin for grinding 9 minots of wheat in meloche’s mill at 30 sols a minot.		[ θ ]
14.	I owe for the bolting of 9 minots.		[ θ ]
14.	Returned to Monsieur Navarre 13 panes of glass, out of 50 that we owed him.		[ θ ]
16.	Borrowed from Niagara 12 eggs and 1 plateful of sugar, by order of the Father.		[ θ ]
26.	Lent 2 loaves to Niagara.		[ θ ]
30.	Gave to Niagara one flask of wine, by order of the father.		[ θ ]
November 2.		One knife given to Rapin.	[ θ ]
3.	A flask of wine given to Niagara’s wife.		[ θ ]
3.	A powder-horn bought from courtois, for 1 écu.		[ θ ]
5.	The Stove lent to de Quindre with 4 stove-pipes.		[ θ ]
5.	Returned to Father bon 3 bottles of white wine, in exchange for 3 of red that he had lent me.		[ θ ]
5.	Lent 2 loaves to Niagara.		[ θ ]
6.	One sail borrowed from Navarre.		[ θ ]
7.	1 ell of white molleton given to rapin to make a pair of mitasses. Item, a third of an ell, to make mitts.		[ θ ]
7.	1 loaf lent to Niagara.		[ θ ]
8.	1 flask of brandy given to Niagara’s wife.		[ θ ]
14.	The stone for the Stove and the cross-cut saw lent to Father bon.		[ θ ]
14.	100 masses for Father bon’s intention.		[ θ ]
14.	Home-made cheeses, a little gruiere cheese, half a prick of tobacco, some mouldy snuff, and 2 biscuits, given to me by Father bon.		[ θ ]
14.	15 livres of beef bought from baptiste Campeau, at 6 sols per livre (4 francs 10 sols). [Page 57]		[ θ ]

In 1750.

24	* Navarre sent (gave) me a Prick of tobacco and 1 deerskin.		[ θ ]
26.	Turkey, and haunch of deer, from St. Maurice.		[ θ ]
27.	Bustard, and quarter of a small deer, from St. Maurice.		[ θ ]
December 4.		Bought half a deer from Monsieur la motte, 4 livres 10 sols (flesh bad, antlers decayed).	[ θ ]
5.	Father bon gave me 1 large swan.		[ θ ]

In 1751.

Borrowed from Niagara enough salt to fill the soup tureen.	[ θ ]
Borrowed from niagara 123 livres of flour.	[ θ ]
Borrowed from Niagara flour enough to fill the soup tureen.	[ θ ]
Borrowed from Niagara 46 and a half livres of flour .	[ θ ]
Lent Niagara 2 minots of oats.	[ θ ]
Lent Niagara 9 livres of mixed grease.	[ θ ]
Lent Niagara 1 pair of mitasses.	[ θ ]
Lent niagara 1 minot of wheat (for le beau).	[ θ ]
Borrowed from Navarre 10 livres of shot (may 10).	[ θ ]
Borrowed from Navarre 7 livres of salt (may 16).	[ θ ]
Delivered to Courtois, on April 5: 1 cask of brandy. 22 and a half livres of heavy shot. 1 blanket of blue cloth. 1 blanket — size 3 points. 2 livres of vermilion. 1 fishing-Line. 2 coils of net-ropes. 1 livre of Poitou thread.	[ θ ]
I received 59 minots of wheat. [Page 59]	[ θ ]

In 1751.

Janis received 52 minots.

[ θ ]

In 1750, or

I owe a quarter of beef to janis, weighing 75 livres.	[ θ ]
I owe courtois 1 quarter of beef, weighing 61 livres.	[ θ ]
Delivered to Monsieur la motte 6 minots of wheat, at 8 francs.	[ θ ]
Received from Monsieur la motte 1 bustard, some butter, and oil.	[ θ ]
I owe 12 francs to St. Martin, for making 2 mattresses.	[ θ ]
I owe Madame Cuillerier 1 bustard, 2 chickens, 1 ivory comb, 1 horn comb, 1 axe, 6 ells of linen for mattresses, the bolting of 20 minots.	[ θ ]
I owe 10 francs to Nez-croche for a winnower.	[ θ ]
Delivered to barte 15 livres of steel for Springs, 14 livres of steel for hatchets, and 27 or 28 files. The whole may be worth 70 livres.	[ θ ]
Navarre sold (for me) 1 cask of brandy to chapoton for 80 francs.	[ θ ]
I sold the forge to Madame Cuillerier for 60 francs.	[ θ ]
I owe 5 brasses of fishing-line to Monsieur godefroi.	[ θ ]
I owe a sucking-pig to Monsieur la motte.	[ θ ]
January 27. I borrowed from le Roi 13 and a half livres of tallow, to be returned in The spring. February 18. I owe half a deer to courtois; I have transferred half of this to janis.	[ θ ]
February 24. I lent big st. louis 25 livres of flour.	[ θ ]
February 25. I owe 100 sols to courtois for half a deer.	[ θ ]
I owe 6 francs to pierrot la butte for 2 livres of tobacco. [Page 61]	[ θ ]

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE DEBTS CONTRACTED DURING

THE WINTER SPENT BY FATHER DE LA

RICHARDIE AT TON˛WATATIORI.

Debits.

13 livres 10 sols to the st. aubins, for grinding 9 Minots.
3 livres to Courtois, for a powder-horn.
4 livres 10 sols to Baptiste Campeau, for 15 livres of beef.
4 livres 4 sols to Marsac, for 14 livres of beef.
27 livres 18 sols to big pilette, for 101 and a half livres of beef.
For 2 deer and one turkey, to Monsieur La mothe.
8 livres to malette, for Mending 2 pairs of shoes.
[blank space in MS.] for bolting.
[blank space in MS.] to Barte for repairing a gun.
2 livres of powder to the tall st. louis for some fish.
20 sols to sieur Le beau, for chopping.
Borrowed from Niagara salt enough to fill The soup tureen.
Item, 123 livres of flour.
Item, 46 livres of flour.
Item, The soup-tureen full of flour, to make hosts.
Borrowed from Monsieur de navarre 7 livres of Salt.

Credits.

50 Masses for Father bon.
35 Masses for big pilet.
18 Masses for Deruissau’s wife.
18 Masses for baptiste Chapoton.
19 Masses for gervais’s wife.
10 Masses for the late jaques Campeau.
9 Masses for Chene. [Page 63]
2 Masses for belle-perche’s wife.
2 Masses for Catin.
2 Masses for st. maurice.
1 Mass for baptiste Campeau.
1 Mass for baptiste Campeau’s wife.
1 Mass for Montmirel’s wife.
1 Mass for persil.[18]
. . . Sold to Barte about a quarter of a livre of borax.
Lent niagara 2 minots of oats.
Item, a minot of wheat.
Item, 9 livres of mixed fat.
Item, a pair of mitasses.
Delivered to Courtois a cask of brandy.
Item, 22 and a half livres of heavy shot.
Item, a cloth blanket.
Item, a blanket, size 3 points.
Item, 2 livres of vermilion.
Item, a fishing-line.
Item, 2 coils of net-rope.
Item, one Livre of Poitou thread.

AFTER FATHER DE LA RICHARDIE’S RETURN.

May, 1751. I paid all the above petty debts.
I also paid Rapin 50 livres for The 6 months while he served Father Potier.
I paid Niagara, in molton, r9 livres 10 sols; in blankets, 18 livres 15 sols; also, to the same, 10 livres, which his brother louison owes for 10 masses, which his late father had requested Father Potier to say. The said niagara is paid in full.
I gave janis to sell, for my profit, 2 blue blankets; 3 livres of vermilion; 5 small shirts; also a catfish Line. [Page 65]
Of the 9 or 10 pieces of sawed timber, pine, etc., I made over The said pieces to meloche, for 2 Carts which he is to make for me — one for wheat, and The other for general use.	[*]
To-day, the [blank space in MS.] july, 1751, Niagara, the farmer of The huron mission at La pointe du montreal,[19] has agreed to make, for the benefit of this mission, for The use of the animals belonging to it, 2 collars for The horses, with Their bridles; and a saddle, with the traces and other straps necessary for harnessing them to the cart, the sled, or the plow. Also 2 yokes for 2 pairs of oxen, with The necessary straps for harnessing Them; and, finally, 2 carts, one for wheat and The other for general purposes. All is to be Delivered to the said niagara’s successor on The said farm, on The 1st of September next — on condition that Father de la Richardie, the superior of the said mission, gives to niagara his share of 2 bulls 2 years old, as well as of a heifer 15 months old; in consideration whereof niagara will Deliver, at the aforesaid time, all The above mentioned, in good and due condition. Done at la pointe du Montreal, this 11th of july, 1751. Armand de la Richardie, Nicolas Campeau.	[*]
The aforesaid Nicolas Campeau, otherwise called Niagara, shall at The end of his lease return The seed which Father de la Richardie and he have Agreed upon, consisting of 15 minots of wheat, 6 of oats, and 5 of pease, less a quarter of a livre. The whole is to be taken from The share of the said niagara. He shall likewise return a new plow with new wheels, a share almost new; with all The iron work [Page 67] of the plow, cart, and sled; repair The Roof of The barn, and finish that of The stable.	[*]
Janis took The farm of the huron mission of detroit on The 1st of September, 1751, on the following conditions: Ist, that The superior of The said mission shall supply Him for The 1st year of The said lease with all The seed required for sowing The land belonging to The said mission — on condition that, at The end of the lease, The same quantity and kind of seed be returned to the said superior, Which shall be taken from The said farmer’s share. 2nd, that all The produce of The farm shall be divided between The said superior and the farmer; as regards both the seed and the animals above mentioned, the whole in equal portions. 3rd, that The said farmer shall be obliged to Put up substantial fentes around The farm of The said mission in The very 1st year of his lease; in consideration whereof The superior of the mission shall allow Him a man for The period of 2 months, to help Him in making The fences; this man shall be fed by The farmer, and be paid by The superior. 4th, that The farmer shall haul every year The firewood required for The use of The said mission, not exceeding 40 cords. That he shall, moreover, also Plow every year 3 arpents of new or other land in order that The mission may have for itself The indian corn produced by The said 3 arpents. Further, The said farmer shall be obliged to wash all The Linen belonging to The said mission, and to bake all The bread needed for the same; The soap to be supplied for washing. In consideration thereof, The superior of the mission shall pay to the said farmer The sum of 110 livres every year. 5th, The profits which The farmer may [Page 69] make by Plowing and carting, etc., with the animals of The mission, shall belong wholly to Him, without the said mission exacting any portion thereof. 6th, The original stock of animais, or Their equivalent, Delivered to the said farmer at The beginning of his lease, shall be given back by Him on leaving, in the same number and of the same value, to the superior of The said mission; and all The implements for Plowing, carting, etc., which shall be Delivered to Him shall also be given back by him in the same form, condition, and value. For this purpose, an inventory shall be made of the said implements, as well as of the said animals. The produce of the said animals shall be shared equally between The said superior and the farmer. 7th, with regard to the buildings, The said farmer shall be bound to make ordinary repairs, and to give Them back at the end of his lease in the same condition as that in which he received Them. The lease shall terminate in 3 years unless The said farmer or The said superior wish to extend The term thereof. Agreed and stipulated between The said superior and The said janis, this 25th of july, 1751. Signed, Armand de La Richardie, jesuit Missionary; janis, not knowing how to write, has made a cross, +.	[*]
There is due to Father Potier, for masses which He and I have said, and The payment whereof is to be made at detroit: [ θ ] by The tremblés, 50 livres; by pilette, 27 livres; by madame desruisseau, 18 livres; [θ ] by baptiste chapoton, 18 livres; and [θ ] by Madame chene, 9 livres. In all, 122 livres.	[*]
Niagara is to Deliver to his successor 380 bundles of hay.	[*]

End of Father De La Richardie’s Book of accounts.

 

 

 

[Page 71]

BAPTISMS AT THE HURON MISSION, 1752-56.

1752.

T

hisday I baptized jean Baptiste, recently born of the Marriage of Dufour and charlotte roque; the sponsors were Poligny and [blank space in MS.] L’anglois. August 31, 1752.

Pierre Potier, jesuit Missionary. 1753.

1753.

This day I baptized françois, recently born of the Marriage of Louis viller and Marie josephine Marin; the sponsors were français janis and Marguerite La Durantaye . January 1, 1753.

Pierre Potier, jesuit Missionary.

This day I baptized Marie joseph, recently born of the Marriage of françois Le Beau and marie josephine Bigra; the sponsors were amable Bigra and Catherine Le Beau. March 3, 1753.

Pierre Potier, jesuit Missionary.

This day I baptized Michel, recently born of the Marriage of Paul Campeau and Charlotte du Moulin; the sponsors were Michel Campeau and Marie josephine Morin. April 2, 1753.

Pierre Potier, jesuit Missionary.

This day I baptized michel, Recently born of the Marriage of Charles Buteau and Marie marguerite gautier; the sponsors were Michel Campeau and elizabeth Rapin. July 13, 1753.

Pierre Potier, jesuit Missionary.

This day I Supplied the rites of baptism to jean, recently born of the Marriage of jean Brisar and marie angélique clement; the sponsors were françois Le Beau and Thérese Meloche. December 4, 1753.

Pierre Potier, jesuit Missionary.

[Page 73]

1754.

This day I baptized Marie amable, recently born of the Marriage of Joseph Levron and Marie josephine Custeau; the sponsors were Charles Campeau and Charlotte Montreil. January 2, 1754.

Pierre Potier, jesuit Missionary.

This day I supplied the rites of baptism to josephine Marie, recently born of the Marriage of jean valet and Marie elizabeth de Rouillard; the sponsors were joseph guignan, commonly called St. etienne, and marie Charlotte du four. February 5, 1754,

Pierre Potier, jesuit Missionary.

This day I baptized Thérèse, recently born of the Marriage of Michel campeau and josephine Buteau; the sponsors were Louis Delille [deligne] and Marguerite gautier. July 31, 1754.

Pierre Potier, jesuit Missionary.

This day I baptized jean Réné, recently born of the marriage of françois le beau and marie josephine bigra; the sponsors were jean réné Le Beau and judith Cuillerier. September 20, 1754.

Pierre Potier, jesuit Missionary.

This day I baptized Marie Louise, recently born of the Marriage of Louis viller and marie josephine Marin; the sponsors were pierre Morin and Marie Louise Bécquemont. October 4, 175[4? — illegible].

Pierre Potier, jesuit Missionary.

This day I baptized jean françois, recently born of the Marriage of Louis Reveau and josephine St. estienne; the sponsors were jean Claude La Salle and Susanne Bienvenue. October 12, 1754.

Pierre Potier, jesuit Missionary.

[Page 75]

This day I baptized Marie Charlotte, recently born of the marriage of joseph Levron, commonly called Metayer, and josephine Custeau. The sponsors were joseph Le Beau and Marie Charlotte Campeau [Montret — added by another hand]. January 28, 1756.

Pierre Potier, jesuit.

This day I Baptized louis, recently born of the marriage of Paul Campeau and Charlotte Desmoulins; the sponsors were louis viler and Charlotte Campeau. May 31, 1756.

Jean B. Salleneuve, S. J.

This day I baptized Marie elizabeth, recently Born of the Marriage of Michel Campeau and josephine Buteau. The sponsors were Louis gervais and elizabeth Rapin. July 29, 1756.

Pierre Potier.

This day I baptized jean Louis, recently born; the Father is unknown, and the Mother is Marie Rose Bigra; the sponsors were jean Brisart and Jeanne Belleperche. December 5, 1756.

Pierre Potier, jesuit Missionary.

This day I baptized Bonaventure, recently born of the marriage of Louis Clermont and Louise Bouron. The sponsors were valère clermont and Thérèse beguette. December 10, 1756.

Pierre Potier, jesuit Missionary. [Page 77]

CCXXV-CCXXVII

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS, 1756-62

CCXXV. — Catalogus Personarum et Offïciorum Provinciæ Francise Societatis Jesu. Exeunte Anno 1756. Missiones Americæ Septentrionalis in Nova Francis

CCXXVI. — Lettre du Père * * * , Missionnaire chez les Abnakis. De Saint-François, le 21 Octobre, 1757

CCXXVII. — Des Hurons. [Etienne Girault de Villeneuve; Quebec, 1762]

—————

Sources: In publishing Doc. CCXXV. we follow an apograph in the archives of St. Mary’s College, Montreal. Doc. CCXXVI. is taken from Lettres édifiantes, t. vi., pp. 189-253; Doc. CCXXVII. from L’Abeille, vol. xii., p. 76. [Page 79]

 Catalogue of the Persons and their Offices of

the Province of France of the Society of

Jesus, at the end of the Year 1756.

Missions of North Am.erica

in New France.

COLLEGE OF QUEBEC.

R	EVEREND Father Jean Baptiste de Saint Pé, superior-general and Rector of the college since October 1754; of the Province of Aquitaine.		BORN.		ENTERED.
		p.	Oct. 21, 1686		Oct. 15, 1703
Father Nicolas de Gonnor, minister, prefect of health, confesser in the church, adviser; of Aquitaine.		p.	Nov.21, 1691	Sept. 11, 1710
Father Armand de la Richardie, spiritual prefect, admonitor, confessor in the church; of Aquitaine.		p.	June 7, 1686	Oct.21, 1703
Father François le Sueur, confessor of the savages and of our religious; of France.		p.	July 22, 1685	Sept.7, 1704
Father Jean B. de la Brosse, procurator, confesser in the church, adviser; of Aquitaine.[20]		p.	April 30, 1724	Sept. 9, 1740
Father Siméon le BanLais, professor of scholastic theology, confessor in the church, adviser; of France. [Page 81]		p.	April 26, 1719	Aug. 29, 1749
Father Etienne Lauverjat, confessor of the savages: of France		p.	Sept. 25 1679	Nov. 8, 1700
1749.P. Petr. Joan. de Bonnécamp, professor of hydrography, confessor in the church, adviser; of France		p.	Sept. 5, 1707	Nov. 3, 1727
PROFESSORS WHO ARE NOT PRIESTS.
Monsieur Pierre de Phleugny, professor of rhetoric and of the second class; of France.		T.	March 2, 1733			Oct. 12, 1749
Monsieur Charles Alexandre Morliere, professor of the third class; of France.		T.	June 29. 1733			Sept. 11, 1751
Monsieur Réné Rivalin, professor of the fourth and fifth classes; of France.		T.	May 22, 1733			Oct.4, 1750
LAY BRETHREN.
Alexandre Macquet, tailor, sacristan; of France.		b.	May 25, 1710	Dec. 9, 1732
Charles Boispineau, apotheary; of Aquitaine.		b.	April 21, 1700	Dec.9, 1732
Charles Philippe Dohen, procurator’s assistant, has charge of the country-house;		b.	March 25, 1701	Sept.5, 1733
Jacques Ferchaud, cellarer and gardener;		b.	Feb. 21, 1691	Jan. 29, 1726
Jean B. Noel, teaches the children to read and Write;		b.	Dec.31, 1728	Sept. 7, 1751
Jean Baptiste Renette; of France.		b.	March 17, 1734	June 29, 1753
Pierre Gournay, buyer; of France.		b.	July 1, 1700	Sept. 21, 1741
Pierre le Tellier, aged; of France.		b.	May 3, 1685	Nov. 29, 1707
RESIDENCE OF MONTREAL.
Reverend Father Pierre Réné Floquet, superior;		p.	Sept. 12, 1712	Aug. 6, 1735
Étienne Racine, in charge of all the deartments;		b.	June 1, 1712	March 12, 1742
IN REMOTE REGIONS.
Reverend Father Pierre Pothier, superior; Franco-Belgian.		p.	April 2, 1708	Sept. 28, 1729
Father Jean Baptiste de Salleneuve; of France.		p.	June 14, 1708	Sept. 21, 1727
AMONG THE ABNAQUES, IN VARIOUS PLACES.
Reverend Father Charles Germain, superior; Franco-Belgian.		p.	May 1, 1707	Sept. 14, 1728
Father Louis Virot; of Toulouse.		p.	Feb. 15, 1722	Oct. 10, 1738
Father Pierre Audran; of Toulouse.		p.	Oct. 22, 1721	Oct. 14, 1737
Father Simon Gounon; of France.[21]		p.	April 20, 1719	Dec.3, 1743
Father Pierre Antoine Roubaud; of Lyons.		p.	May 28, 1724	Sept. 7, 1739
AMONG THE IROQUOIS.
Reverend Father Antoine Gordan, superior; of Lyons		p.	March 10, 1717	Sept. 7, 1736
Father Jean Baptiste de Neuville; of France.		p.	May 6, 1722	Sept. 6, 1743
Father Pierre Regis Billard; of France.		p.	Jan. 28, 1723	April 11, 1743
AMONG THE MONTAGNAIS.
Father Godefroi Coquart; of France.		p.	Feb. 2, 1706	May 14, 1726
AMONG THE OUTAOUAIS.
Reverend Father Pierre du Jaunay, superior; of France.		p.	Aug. 11, 1704	Sept. 2, 1723
Father Jean Baptiste de la Morinie; of Aquitaine.		p.	Dec, 24, 1704	Oct. 5, 1725
Father Marie Louis le Franc; of Aquitaine.		p.	June 12, 1716	March 31, 1742
Pierre Demers, In charge of all the departments; of France.[22]		b.	Jan. 12, 1722	July 14, 1748
AMONG THE HURONS.
Reverend Father Daniel Richer, superior; of France.		p.	Aug. 11, 1682	Aug. 28, 1700
Father Étienne Girault;[23] of France.		p.	Dec. 18, 1718	Nov. 2, 1738
Priests, 25; Instructors not priests, 3; Brethren, 10; Total of the Society, 38.
MISSIONS OF LOUISIANA. AT ORLEANS.
Reverend Father Michel Baudouin, superior-general since 1749; of Aquitaine.		p.	March 8, 1692	Dec. 11, 1713
Father Guillaume Morand; of Lyons.		p.	Aug. 23, 1701	March 14, 1720
Father Jean Jacques le Prédour; of France.		p.	April 28, 1722	Oct. 16, 1739
Father Julien Fourré; of France.		p.	Jan. 6, 1703	Nov. 26, 1721
Jean Jacques Parisel, apothecary; of France.		b.	Oct. 28, 1699	June 5, 1722
Simon Maillard, in charge of all the departments; of France.		b.	Nov. 29, 1705	Dec. 18, 1727
AMONG THE ILLINOIS.
Reverend Father Alexandre Xavier de Guyenne, superior.		p.	Dec. 29, 1696	Sept. 21, 1713
Father Louis Vivier; of France.		p.	Oct. 6, 1714	Sept. 12. 1731
Father Julien de Verney; of France.		p.	Dec. 19, 1719	Oct. 17, 1737
Father Philippe Wattin, parish priest of the French; of Champagne.		p.	April 1, 1697	Nov. 6, 1712
Father Sébastien Meurin; of Champagne.		p.	Dec. 26, 1707	Sept. 28, 1729
Charles Magendie; of Aquitaine.		b.	Oct. 30, 1707	Oct. 23, 1730
Julien Pernelle; of France.		b.	Nov. 19, 1721	May 11, 1751
AMONG VARIOUS TRIBES.
Father Jean Baptiste Aubert; of Lyons.		p.	March 1, 1722	Sept. 7, 1739
Father Louis Carette; Franco-Belgian.		p.	July 15, 1712	Sept. 30, 1731
Father Maximilien le Roy; Franco-Belgian.		p.	April 18, 1716	Dec. 14, 1733
Father Nicolas le Febvre; Franco-Belgian.		p.	Aug. 15, 1715	Sept. 29, 1733
Priests, 13; Brethren, 4; Total of the Society, 17.[24]

Letter from Father * * * , Missionary to the

Abnakis.

SAINT FRANÇOIS,

October 21, 1757.

I SET out on the 12th of July from Saint François, — the principal village of the Abnakis Mission — to go to Montreal; the purpose of my journey was simply to bring to Monsieur the Marquis de Vaudreuil[25] a deputation of twenty Abnakis appointed to accompany Father Virot, who has gone to try to found a new Mission among the Loups of Oyo, or the beautiful river. The share that I was allowed to have in that glorious enterprise, the events which caused it, and the difficulties that it was necessary to overcome, may furnish hereafter interesting material for another Letter. But I must wait until manifest blessings shall have crowned the efforts which we made to carry the knowledge of Faith to tribes that appear inclined to receive it.

When I arrived at Montreal, — a day and a half distant from my Mission, — I thought myself at the end of my journey; but Providence ordered otherwise. An expedition was projected against the enemy; and, on account of the state of feeling among the Savage Tribes, the greatest success was expected. The Abnakis were to be of the party; and, as all the Christian Savages are accompanied by their Missionaries, who are eager to furnish them the aid suitable to their office, the Abnakis could be sure that I [Page 91] would not abandon them at so critical a moment. I therefore prepared for my departure; my equipment was very soon ready, — a Chapel, the holy Oils, these were all; for everything else, I trusted the Providence that has never failed me. Two days afterward, I embarked on the great river saint Lawrence in company with two Gentlemen from Saint Sulpice. One was Monsieur Picquet, Missionary of the Iroquois from la Galette; and the other was Monsieur Mathavet, Missionary of the Nipistingues from the lake of the two Mountains. My Abnakis were encamped at Saint Jean, one of the Colony’s forts distant from Montreal a day’s journey. My arrival surprised them; they had not been informed of my coming. Hardly had they perceived me when they made the woods and the neighboring mountains resound with the report of my approach; all, even the children (for, with the Savages, they are soldiers as soon as they can carry a gun), uttered shouts. Yes, even the children gave me proofs of their satisfaction. Nemittangoustena, Nemittangoustena, they exclaimed, in their own language. Ourionni eri namihoureg, — that is to say: “ Our Father, our Father, how obliged we are to thee for giving us the pleasure of seeing thee! ” I thanked them in a few words for the good Will that they were expressing toward me. I did not delay to perform in their presence the duties of my Office. I had scarcely caused my tent to be set up before I hastened to join them; and I led them to the foot of a large cross placed on the bank of the river. I recited aloud the evening prayer, and ended with a short exhortation, in which I endeavored to point out to them the duties of a warrior whom Religion guides in his [Page 93] battles. After having announced Mass for the next day, I dismissed them. I believed that would be the day of our departure; but bad weather disappointed our hopes. We were obliged to be in camp that day also, which was occupied in making suitable preparations for rendering our march secure.

Toward evening, the kindness of an Officer obtained for me an opportunity to witness one of those savage military spectacles which many people admire, as being fitted to arouse in the most cowardly hearts that martial ardor which makes veritable warriors; as for me, I have never seen in them anything but a comic farce, capable of making any one burst into laughter who was not on his guard. I am speaking of a war-feast. Imagine a large assembly of Savages, decorated with every ornament most fitted to disfigure, in European eyes, their physiognomies. Vermilion, white, green, yellow, and black made from soot or scrapings of the pots — on a single savage face are seen united all these different colors, methodically applied by the aid of a little tallow which serves as an ointment. This is the Paint that is used on these grand occasions to adorn not only the face, but also the head — which is almost wholly shaved, excepting a little lock reserved on the top for the purpose of attaching to it feathers of birds, or a few pieces of porcelain, or some other similar gewgaw. Each part of the head has its distinct ornaments: the nose has its ring; there are also rings for the ears, which are pierced at an early age, and so greatly elongated by the weight with which they have been overloaded that they swing and beat against the shoulders. The rest of the paraphernalia corresponds to this grotesque decoration. A shirt [Page 95] smeared with vermilion, porcelain necklaces, silver bracelets, a large knife hanging over the breast, a girdle of variegated colors but always ludicrously arranged, and shoes of elk-skin — these are the savage accouterments. The Captains are distinguished only by a gorget, and the Chiefs by a medallion which on one side exhibits the portrait of the King, and on the other Mars and Bellona, who are joining hands, with this device: virtus et honor.

Now imagine an assembly of people thus decorated, and arranged in rows. In the midst are placed large kettles, filled with meat cooked and cut into pieces, so as to be more readily distributed to the spectators. After a respectful silence, which indicates the importance of the meeting, certain Captains appointed by the different Tribes that are present at the feast begin to chant in succession. You Will easily imagine what this Savage music may be, compared with the delicacy and taste of European music. The sounds are formed, I should say, almost by chance; and sometimes they strongly resemble the cries and howlings of wolves. This is not the beginning of the meeting; it is only the announcement and the prelude, for the purpose of inviting the scattered Savages to come to the general rendezvous. When the assembly has been organized, the Orator of the Tribe begins to speak, and solemnly addresses the guests. This is the most sensible act of the ceremony. The panegyric of the King, the eulogy of the French Nation, the arguments that prove the lawfulness of the war, the motives of glory and of Religion, all of these are fitted to tempt the Young men to press on with joy to battle; this is the substance of that sort of address, [Page 97] which ordinarily bears no mark of Savage barbarism. I have more than once heard addresses which would not have been disavowed by our finest minds in France. An eloquence drawn wholly from nature does not cause any one to regret the help of art.

When the speech is finished, they proceed to name the Captains who are to command the party. As soon as one is named, he rises from his place and proceeds to seize the head of one of the animals which are to make the principal part of the feast. He raises it high enough to be seen by the whole assembly, crying aloud: Behold the head of the enemy. Shouts of joy and applause are then raised on every side, and announce the satisfaction of the assembly. The Captain, with the head of the animal still in his hand, goes through the lines singing his war-song, in which he exerts all his force in boastings and insulting defiance of the enemy, and in the exaggerated eulogies which he lavishes upon himself. To hear them extolling themselves in these moments of military enthusiasm, you might believe them all to be Heroes who are able to carry off all, crush all, vanquish all. As he passes in review before the Savages, these latter answer his chant by hollow cries, broken, drawn from the pit of the stomach, and accompanied with such ridiculous motions of the body that you must be familiar with them in order to witness them with composure. In the course of his song, he is careful to introduce from time to time some grotesque joke. Then he stops as if to applaud himself, or rather to receive the savage plaudits that a thousand mingled shouts reëcho to his ears. He continues his warlike march as long as the sport [Page 99] pleases him; if it cesse to please him he ends it by disdainfully throwing down the head that he has in his hand, in order to show by this affected contempt that food of a wholly different kind is necessary to satisfy his military appetite. He afterward resumes his place, where he is no sooner seated, than perhaps there is put on his head a pot of hot ashes; but this is an act of friendship, a mark of tenderness which is endured only from a well-known and acknowledged friend; a like familiarity from an ordinary man would be deemed an insult. This first warrior is followed by others, who greatly protract the meeting, — especially when it is a question of forming large parties, because with this kind of ceremony the enlistments are made. At last, the feast comes to an end with the distribution and consumption of the food.

Such was the war-feast that was given to our Savages, and such the ceremony that was observed. The Algonkins, the Abnakis, the Nipistingues, and the Amenecis were at this feast. In the meantime, more serious cares were demanding our presence > elsewhere, and it was growing late; we arose, and each Missionary, followed by his Neophytes, went to close the day with the usual prayers. A part of the night was spent in making the final preparations for our departure, which was fixed for the next day. This time, the weather favored us. We embarked after having put our journey under the special protection of the Lord by a Mass, chanted solemnly, and with more precision and devotion than you could imagine; the Savages always outdo themselves at this spectacle of Religion. The tediousness of the way was [Page 101] alleviated by the privilege that I had every day of celebrating the holy sacrifice of the Mass, — sometimes on an island, sometimes on the bank of a river, but always in a spot sufficiently open to favor the devotion of our little army. It was no slight consolation to the Ministers of the Lord to hear his praises sung in as many different tongues as there were Tribes assembled. Every day each Tribe would choose a suitable place, where it encamped by itself. Religious services were held as regularly as in their Villages; so that the satisfaction of the Missionaries would have been complete if all the days of this campaign had been as innocent as were the days of our journey.

We crossed lake Champlain, where the dexterity of the Savages in fishing furnished us a very interesting spectacle. Placed in the front of the canoe, standing, with spear in hand, they hurled it with marvelous skill, and drew out large sturgeons, — so adroitly that the little scales of the fish which the slightest awkward motion could displace did not appear turned the least in the world toward either the right or the left. In order to facilitate such profitable fishing, it was not necessary to discontinue our journey; the fisherman alone ceased to advance; but, in turn, he was charged with providing subsistence for all the others, and he succeeded. Finally, after six days’ travel we came to fort Vaudreuil, formerly named Carillon,[26] which had been assigned as the general rendezvous of our troops. Hardly had we begun to distinguish the summit of the fortifications before our Savages drew up for battle, each Tribe under its own standard. Two hundred canoes placed in this fine order formed a sight that Messieurs [Page 103] the French Officers, who had flocked to the shore, did not deem unworthy of their attention.

As soon as I had landed I hastened to pay my respects to Monsieur the Marquis de Montcalm,[27] whom I had had the honor to know in Paris. The regard with which he honors our Missionaries was known to me. He received me with an affability which indicated the goodness and generosity of his heart. The Abnakis, less for the sake of conforming to ceremony than for satisfying their inclination and their respect, lost no time in appearing before their General. Their Orator complimented him briefly, as he had been asked to do. My Father, he said, do not fear, these are not eulogies that I come to give thee. I Know thy heart, it disdains them; it is sufficient for thee to merit them. Well then, thou art rendering me a service; for I was in no slight perplexity at the impossibility of expressing to thee all that I feel. I therefore content myself with assuring thee that these are thy children, all of them ready to share thy perils, and sure indeed that they will soon share thy glory. The turn of this compliment may not seem natural to a Savage; but you would have no doubt about it if you knew the turn of mind of him who uttered it.

I learned from Monsieur de Montcalm the glorious defense that was made a few days before by a Canadian Officer, named Monsieur de Saintout;[28] he had been sent to reconnoiter on Lake Saint Sacrement, with a party of ten men in a single bark canoe. In doubling a tongue of land, he was surprised by two English barges, which, lying in wait, suddenly attacked him. The numbers were unequal. One single discharge made at the right time on the canoe [Page 105] would have decided the victory or the defeat of the French. Monsieur de Saintout, as a prudent man, hastily gained an island that was formed in the Lake by a steep rock. He was closely followed by the enemy; but he very soon checked their ardor by a volley that, with as much prudence as success, he ordered his men to fire at them. The enemy, disconcerted for the moment, quickly returned to the charge; but they were again so well received that they resolved to land on the beach, which was within gunshot. The combat recommenced with more obstinacy than before, but still proceeded with the same success for us. Monsieur de Saintout, perceiving that the enemy were not inclined to come to attack him in his position, and that he could not go to them without the risk of seeing his canoe sink, decided to retreat. He did so, acting as a man of good sense, just as he had defended himself as a man of courage. He embarked in sight of the English — who, not daring to pursue him, were satisfied with constantly firing at him. In this encounter we had three men wounded, but slightly; Monsieur de Saintout was of the number. Monsieur de Grosbois, a cadet of the Colonial troops, was killed on the spot. The enemy, by their own avowal, had gone out of their fort thirty-seven strong; only seventeen returned to it. Such deeds are surprising in Europe; but here the valor of the Canadians has so often multiplied them that we would not be astonished to see them repeated more than once in the course of a campaign; the continuation of this letter will give you proof of this.

After having taken leave of Monsieur de Montcalm, [Page 107] I repaired to the quarters of the Abnakis. I sent word to the Orator to call together at once his tribesmen, and announce to them that, before going in a few days to attack the English fort, I expected from their religion that they should prepare themselves for this perilous undertaking by every step fitted to assure its success before God. I gave notice, at the same time, that my tent would be open at all times and to every one; and that I would always be ready, even at the peril of my life, to furnish them the aid that my office commands. My offers were accepted. I had the comfort of seeing some of them come as Penitents to Confession; and I prepared a few of these for the reception of the august Sacrament of our Altars. It was on the following Sunday, the twenty-fourth of July, that they enjoyed this blessing. I neglected nothing to give to this ceremony all the splendor that was in my power. I solemnly chanted the Mass, during which I gave them the first Abnakis exhortation that I had given formally. It hinged upon the obligation under which they were to do honor to their religion by their conduct in the presence of so many Idolatrous Tribes, who either were not acquainted with it or blasphemed it, and whose eyes were fixed upon them. I endeavored to present in striking colors the motives best fitted to make an impression on them; I did not neglect to recall to them the perils inseparable from war, which their courage and their valor would only serve to multiply. If the attention of the hearer and a modest deportment decided the effect of a discourse, I should have had every reason to congratulate myself on my feeble efforts. These [Page 109] services occupied us until late in the forenoon, but the Savage does not reckon the moments that he gives to Religion; they behave with propriety and earnestness in our Temples. The liberties which the Frenchmen allow themselves therein, and the weariness which they show even in their countenances, are only too often a cause of offense to our Savages. These latter have excellent dispositions, which may some day make of them Perfect Christians.

These were the occupations to which I devoted myself during our stay in the vicinity of fort Vaudreuil; it was not long; at the end of the third day we received orders to join the French army, encamped a league higher up, near the Portage, — that is to say, near the place where a great fall of water would oblige us to transport by land from Lake Saint Sacrement the munitions necessary for the siege. Preparations were being made for departure when they were stopped by a sight that attracted all eyes.

We saw appearing in the distance, in one of the inlets of the river, a little fleet of savage canoes which by their order and decorations announced a victory. It was Monsieur Marin — a Canadian Officer of great merit — who was returning glorious and triumphant from the expedition with which he had been charged. At the head of a body of about two hundred Savages, he had been detached to scour the country about Fort Lydis; he had had the courage with a small flying camp to attack the outer intrenchments, and the good fortune to carry a chief part of them. The Savages had only time to cut off [Page 111] thirty-five scalps from the two hundred men whom they had killed; their victory was not stained with a single drop of their own blood and did not cost them a single man. The enemy, numbering three thousand men, sought in vain to have revenge by pursuing them in their retreat, but it was made without the slightest loss. They were engaged in counting the number of barbarous trophies — that is to say, the English scalps — with which the canoes were decorated, when we perceived in another part of the river a French bark, which was bringing to us five Englishmen, bound, and accompanied by some Outaouacks, whose prisoners they were.

The sight of these unfortunate captives brought joy and gladness to the hearts of the spectators; but for the most part it was a ferocious and barbarous joy which manifested itself by frightful yells, and by, acts very sad to humane men. A thousand Savages — drawn from the thirty-six Tribes united under the French flag — were present and lining the bank. In an instant, without any apparent consultation, I saw them run with extreme haste to the neighboring woods. I did not know what was to be the result of such a sudden and unexpected retreat; but I very soon understood. A moment after, I saw these furious men return, armed with clubs which they were preparing in order to give to these unfortunate Englishmen the most cruel reception. I could not control my feelings at the sight of these cruel preparations. Tears flowed from my eyes; but, in the meantime, my grief was not inactive. Without stopping to deliberate I went to meet these ferocious brutes in the hope of calming them; but alas! what could my feeble voice do but utter some sounds that [Page 113] the tumult, the diversity of tongues, still more the ferocity of hearts, rendered unintelligible? At least the most bitter reproaches were not spared to a few Abnakis who chanced to come in my way; the Sharp tone that animated my words brought them to feelings of humanity. Confused and ashamed, they withdrew from this murderous company throwing away the cruel instruments which they were preparing for use. But what were a few arms less out of the two thousand determined to strike without pity? Seeing the uselessness of the agitation I was experiencing, I decided to retire so as not to be a witness of the bloody tragedy which was about to take place. I had only taken a few steps when a feeling of compassion recalled me to the bank, where I cast my eyes on those unfortunate victims whom they were preparing to sacrifice. Their condition renewed my sympathy. The fright which had seized them left them hardly sufficient strength to stand upright; their dismayed and dejected countenances were a true picture of death. Life was over for them: in fact, they were about to expire under a storm of blows, if their preservation had not come from the very heart of barbarism, and if the sentence of death had not been revoked by those very persons who, it seems, ought to have been the first to pronounce it. The French Officer who was commanding the bark had perceived the commotion which was being made on the shore; touched with that commiseration so natural to an upright man at the sight of the unfortunate, he endeavored to infuse it into the hearts of the Outaouacks, masters of the prisoners; he worked on their feelings so skillfully that he succeeded in rendering them sensitive, and [Page 115] interested them favorably in the cause of the wretched men. They took this cause up with an ardor which could not fail to succeed. Hardly was the barge near enough to the shore for a voice to be heard when an Outaouack began to speak fiercely, and exclaimed in a menacing tone: These prisoners belong to me; I wish you to respect me by respecting what belongs to me; let us have no ill treatment, of which the whole odium would fall back upon my head. A hundred French Officers might have spoken in the same tone, but their speech would have resulted only in drawing contempt upon themselves, and an increase of blows upon their captives; but a Savage fears his fellow-savage, and fears him only. Their slightest disputes lead to death; therefore they seldom engage in them. Accordingly, the wishes of the Outaouack were respected as soon as announced: the prisoners were landed without tumult and led to the fort; not the slightest shout attended them. At first they were separated; they underwent examination, in which it was unnecessary to use artifice in order to win from them the explanations that were desired. Their fright, from which they had not wholly recovered, loosened their tongues, and gave them a volubility which apparently would not have been the case otherwise. I visited one of them in a room of the Fort occupied by one of my friends. By signs I gave him the assurances best fitted to tranquilize him; I ordered for him some refreshments, which he appeared to receive with gratitude.

After having thus satisfied my compassion, as well as the needs of an unfortunate man, I went to hasten the embarking of my people; it was done forthwith. The passage was not long; two hours sufficed to [Page 117] complete it. The tent of Monsieur the Chevalier de Levi[29] was placed at the entrante of the camp. I took the liberty of paying my respects to this Dignitary whose name announces his merit, and whose name even is his least title to respect. The conversation turned upon the act which had decided the fate of the five Englishmen whose perilous adventure I have just related. I was very far from knowing the circumstances; they are somewhat surprising. Listen to them.

Monsieur de Corbiere, a French Officer serving in the Colonial troops, had been commanded, the previous night, to go to cruise on Lake Saint Sacrement. His company numbered about fifty Frenchmen, and a little more than three hundred Savages. At the first peep of day he discovered a body of three hundred English, who had also been detached to cruise, in about fifteen Barges. The form of these boats — high on the sides, and strongly built, when contrasted with our frail canoes — counterbalanced sufficiently and more the slight superiority that we might have had in the way of numbers. Nevertheless, our men did not hesitate to begin the combat; the enemy at first appeared to accept the defiance readily, but that temper did not last long. The French and Savages, who could reasonably base the hope of victory only on the boarding that their number encouraged, — and who, besides, risked everything in fighting at a distance, — began to draw closer to the enemy, notwithstanding the activity of their firing. The enemy no sooner saw themselves pursued than fear made them drop their arms. It was no longer a contest; it was nothing more than a defeat. Of all ways, doubtless, the least honorable [Page 119] — but, what is more, the most dangerous — was to gain the beach. It was on this that they decided. In an instant, we saw them moving with haste to the shore; some of them, in order to reach it sooner, began to swim, flattering themselves with being able to escape to the shelter of the woods — an ill-planned undertaking, the folly of which they continually had to lament. Whatever be the speed which the increased efforts of rowers can give to boats that the science and skill of the workman have made capable of swiftness, it does not approach, by a great deal, the fleetness of a bark canoe; this glides — or, rather, it flies — over the water with the rapidity of an arrow. Therefore the English were soon overtaken. In the first heat of the combat all were massacred without mercy; all were cut to pieces. Those who had already gained the woods did not meet a better fate. The woods are the element of the Savages; they run through them with the swiftness of a deer. The enemy were overtaken there and cut to pieces. In the meantime, the Outaouacks, seeing that they were no longer dealing with warriors, but with people who allowed themselves to be slaughtered without resistance, decided to take them prisoners. The number of these amounted to a hundred and fifty-seven; that of the dead, to a hundred and thirty-one; only twelve were fortunate enough to escape captivity and death. The barges, the equipments, the stores, — everything was taken and pillaged. By this time, Monsieur, you doubtless suppose that so undeniable a victory cost us dear. The combat took place on the water, — that is to say, in a place wholly open; the enemy were not taken by surprise. They had every leisure to make [Page 121] their preparations; they fought mostly downward, so to speak; from the tops of their barges they discharged their musketry on frail barks, which a little skill — or, rather, a little presence of mind — would easily have sunk, with all those men who were defending them. That is true : nevertheless, such a complete success was purchased at the price of one single Savage wounded, whose wrist was put out of joint by a shot.

Such was the fate of the detachment of the unfortunate Monsieur Copperelh, who was the commander; and the general report is that he perished in the water.[30] The enemy express themselves, on the disasters of that day, only in terms that indicate equally their grief and their surprise. They frankly admit the greatness of their loss. Really, it would be difficult to deny it in the slightest particular; the bodies of the Officers and their soldiers — some fioating on the water of Lake St. Sacrement, some still stretched out on the shore — would bear witness against that disavowal. As for their prisoners, the greater part are still groaning in the chains of Monsieur the Chevalier de Levi. I saw them go by in squads escorted by their victors, — who, barbarian- like, engrossed with their triumph, showed little inclination to alleviate the defeat of the vanquished. In the space of a league, which I was obliged to make in order to rejoin my Abnakis, I met several little companies of these captives. More than one Savage stopped me on my way to parade his captives before me, and to enjoy, in passing, my commendatien. Love of Country did not permit me to be insensible to a success which concerned the Nation. But the title of “ unfortunate ” is worthy of respect [Page 123] according not only to Religion but to simple nature. Besides, these prisoners were presented to me in a very wretched state, their eyes bathed in tears, their faces covered with perspiration and even with blood, and with ropes around their necks; at this sight feelings of compassion and humanity certainly had a right over my heart. The rum with which their new masters were filled had excited their brains, and increased their natural ferocity. I feared each instant to see some prisoner, a victim to both cruelty and drunkenness, murdered before my eyes and falling dead at my feet; so that I hardly dared to raise my head, for fear of meeting the gaze of some one of these unfortunate victims. I was very soon compelled to be witness of a spectacle much more horrible than what I had hitherto seen.

My tent had been placed in the midst of the Outaouacks’ camp. The first abject that appeared to my eyes on arriving there was a large fire; and the stakes of wood set in the ground betokened a feast. There was one indeed. But, oh, Heavens! what a feast! The remains of an English body, more than half stripped of the skin and flesh. I perceived a moment after, these inhuman creatures eating, with a famished avidity, this human flesh; I saw them taking large spoonfuls of this detestable broth, without being able to satiate themselves. I was told that they prepared themselves for this treat by drinking skullfuls of human blood: their still besmeared faces and their stained lips attested the truth of the report. The saddest thing was, that they had placed near them about ten Englishmen, to be spectators of their infamous repast. The Outaouack resembles the Abnakis; I believed that [Page 125] by mildly expostulating with these monsters of inhumanity I should gain some influence over them. But I flattered myself. A Young man began to speak, and said to me in bad French: Thou have French taste; me Savage, this meat good for me. He accompanied his remark by offering to me a piece of this English roast. I made no response to his argument, which was worthy of a barbarian; as to his offer. you may easily imagine with what horror I rejected it.

Having learned, by the uselessness of this attempt, that my services only could be wholly fruitless in behalf of the dead, I turned to the living, whose fate seemed to me a hundred times more to be pitied; and I approached the Englishmen. One of the company attracted my attention; from the military ornaments with which he was still decorated, I recognized him as an Officer; immediately I resolved to purchase him, and assure him of liberty and life. With this in view I approached an aged Outaouack, fully believing that, the insensibility of old age having mollified his ferocity, I would find him more favorable to my design; I held out my hand, saluting him politely, in the hope of winning him by courteous manners. But it was not a man with whom I had to deal; he was worse than a ferocious beast, which is at least appeased by caresses. No, said he in a thundering and threatening tone, — well fitted to fill me with dread, if I had been at that moment susceptible of any other feelings than those inspired by compassion and horror, — No, I do not wish thy friendship; go away! I did not think I ought to wait until he reiterated a compliment of that kind, and I obeyed him. [Page 127]

I went to shut myself in my tent, and give myself up to the reflections that Religion and humanity can suggest in circumstances of this kind. I had not thought of taking measures to warn my Abnakis against such shocking excesses. Although example is a formidable stumbling-block in matters of temperance and morals, they were incapable of proceeding to these excesses; I indeed owe them this justice, that at the time when they were plunged deepest in the darkness of paganism, they never deserved the odious name of cannibals. Their humane and docile temper on this point distinguished them even then from the greater part of the Savages on this continent. These reflections occupied me until far on into the night.

The next day, on awaking, I believed there would no longer remain about my tent a vestige of the preceding night’s repast. .I flattered myself that when the fumes of liquor had been dissipated, and the excitement inseparable from such an affair having been quieted, their brains would have become more calm and their hearts more human. I did not know the Outaouac nature and inclination. It was from choice — for the sake of delicacy, of daintiness — that they fed on human flesh. From the break of day they had had nothing so urgent as the recommencing of their execrable cooking. Already they were awaiting only the longed-for moment when they could satiate their more than canine hunger by devouring the wretched remains of their enemy’s body. I have already said that there were three Missionaries devoted to the service of the Savages. During the whole campaign, our quarters were common, our decisions unanimous, our measures [Page 129] harmonious, and our wishes perfectly in accord, This understanding served no little to alleviate the hardships inseparable from a military journey. After having consulted together, we all deemed that the respect due to the sacredness of our mysteries did not permit us to celebrate, in the verY center of barbarism, the sacrifice of the Lamb without spot; and the more so, as these people, devoted to the most grotesque superstitions, might take advantage of our mOSt solemn ceremonies in order to make them the substance, or even the ornament, of their juggleries. On this ground, we abandoned that place, proscribed by so many abominations, in order to bury ourselves in the woods. I could not make this move without separating myself somewhat from my Abnakis. It seemed that I was authorized in doing so; nevertheless I almost had reason to regret my first camping-place; you may judge of it from what follows. I was no sooner settled in my new abode than I saw reviving in the hearts of my ’ Neophytes their eagerness to come to Confession. The crowd increased so much that I had difficulty in satisfying their ardor . These oocupations, joined to the other duties of my Office, filled some of my days so full that they passed by almost without my perceiving it. HOW happy should I have been if I could have given myself onlY to such worthY duties. All my blood would not have been too much to PaY for such happiness; but the consolations of the Mini&ers of Jesus Christ are not lasting here below, because the success of the labors undertaken for the glory of their Master is not lasting. so many enemies are conspiring to thwart US that these Will, in the end, enjoy the sad triumph of their success. [Page 131]

While many of my Abnakis were striving like Christians for reconciliation and favor with God, others were seeking, in reckless fashion, to excite his anger and provoke his vengeance. An appetite for liquor is the favorite passion, the universal weakness of all the Savage Tribes; and unfortunately there are only too many hands eager to pour liquor out for them, in spite of divine and human laws. Unquestionably the presence of the Missionary, by the influence due to his character, prevents many disorders . For reasons that I have related above, I was somewhat distant from my people; I was separated from them by a little wood. I could not think of passing through it at night, to go to see if good order were reigning in their camp, without being exposed to some sinister adventure, not only on the part of the Iroquois attached to the English army, — who, at the very entrante of the camp, a few days before, had torn off the scalp of one of our grenadiers, — but also on the part of our own idolaters, on whom experience had taught me that we could not depend. Some Young Abnakis, joined with Savages of different Tribes, availed themselves of my absence and the darkness of the night to go, under caver of the prevailing sleep, noiselessly to steal some liquor from the French tents. When once they were in possession of their precious treasure, they hastened to make use of it; and very soon their brains were deranged. Savage drunkenness is rarely quiet, nearly always boisterous. This time it burst forth instantly into songs, dances, and noise; and, in short, it ended with blows. At daybreak it was at the height of its wildness; this was the first news brought to me on awaking. I promptly ran [Page 133] to the place whence the tumult proceeded. There everything was in alarm and agitation. This was the work of the drunken men. Everything was very soon restored to order by the docility of my people. I took them without ceremony by the hand, one after another, and led them unresisting to their tents, where I ordered them to rest.

The tumult seemed to be quieted when a Moraïgan [ i. e., Mohican] , naturalized and adopted by the Abnakis Tribe, renewed the uproar in a more serious manner; after having had words with an Iroquois, his companion in the debauch, they came to blows. The former, who was much the more vigorous, having thrown his adversary to the ground, dealt him a storm of blows, and, what is more, tore with his teeth his enemy’s shoulders. The contest was at the hottest point when I reached them; I could not obtain other help than that of my owa arms to separate the contestants, the Savages fearing each other too much ever to intrude, at any cost, in disputes among themselves. But my strength did not correspond to the greatness of the undertaking, and the Victor was too excited to release his prey immediately. I was tempted to let these furious creatures be punished by their own hands for their intemperance; but I feared that the scene might be stained with blood by the death of one of the champions. I redoubled my efforts, and by dint of shaking the Abnakis he at last perceived that he was being shaken; then he turned his head, but it was only with much difficulty that he recognieed me. Nevertheless, he did not recover his senses; he needed a few moments to come to himself, after [Page 135] which he gave the Iroquois full liberty to escape, of which the latter readily availed himself.

After having taken measures to prevent the renewal of the affair I went away, more fatigued than you could believe by the efforts that I had just made; but I was very soon obliged to renew them. I was informed that a company of my warriors assembled on the shore, near the boats in which the supply of powder was, were amusing themselves there with firing their guns, in spite of the guard, and even in contempt of the orders, or ,rather the prayers, of the Officers; for the Savage is his own Master and his own King, and he takes with him everywhere his independence. This time I did not have to struggle against drunkenness; it was only a question of curbing the inconsiderate youthfulness of a few heedless creatures; therefore my resolution was quickly formed. Imagine a crowd of pupils who fear the gaze of their masters. Such were in my presence those very redoubtable warriors; they disappeared at my approach, to the great astonishment of the French. With difficulty I was able to overtake one of them, of whom I asked in an indignant tone if he were weary of life or if he had plotted our destruction. He answered in a very subdued tone: “ No, my Father.” “ Wherefore then,” I added, “ wherefore were you exposing yourselves and also us to be blown into the air, by the explosion of the powder ? ” “ Tax us with ignorance,” he replied, “ but not with malice; we were not aware that it was so near.” Without wronging his probity, we might suspect the truthfulness of his excuse; but it was a great deal that he was willing to descend to a [Page 137] justification, and still more that he was willing to stop his dangerous joking, which he did immediately.

The inaction to which I saw our Christian Savages condemned, joined to their association with so many idolatrous Tribes, made me tremble, not for Religion, but for their conduct. I longed for the day when the necessary preparations for the expedition should be at last completed, so that we might be able to move. When the mind is occupied, the heart is in greater safety. At last the moment so much desired arrived. Monsieur the Chevalier de Levi, at the head of three thousand men, had made the journey by land, on Friday the 29th of July, so that he might protect the descent of the army that was to go by water. His march had none of those facilities that are furnished in Europe by those great roads, made with a Royal magnificence, for the convenience of troops. Here were dense forests to pierce, steep mountains to climb, miry swamps to traverse. After a forced march of a whole day, it was a great thing if they found themselves advanced 3 leagues; so that five days were needed to make twelve leagues. On account of these obstacles, which had been well foreseen, the departure of this body had preceded our own by a few days. It was on Sunday that we embarked with the Savages alone, who made at that time a body of perhaps I ,200 men, the rest having gone by land.

We had hardly made 4 or 5 leagues on the lake before we observed painful signs of our late victory; these were the abandoned English barges, which, after having floated a long time at the Will of the.winds and waves, had at last run aground on the beach. But the most striking spectacle was a somewhat large [Page 139] number of English bodies stretched out on t,he shore, or scattered here and there in the woods. Some were cut into pieces, and nearly all were mutilated in the most frightful manner. What a terrible scourge war appeared to me ! It would have been very consoling to me to procure by my efforts the honors of burial for these wretched remains of our enemies; but it was only by favor that we had landed in this bay. It was a duty and a necessity for us to resume immediately our journey according to the orders, which urged us to go on. About evening we landed at the place which had been assigned to us for a camp. It was a shore overspread with brambles and briers and was the haunt of an immense number of rattlesnakes. Our Savages, who chased them, caught several, which they brought to me.

If ever there was a venomous reptile, this is one. It has a head the smallness of which does not correspond with the size of its body; its skin is sometimes regularly spotted with deep black and pale yellow; at other times it îs entirely black. It is not armed with any sting, but its teeth are extremely Sharp. It has a quick and shining eye, it has under the tail several little horny pieces which it raises high and shakes violently against one another when it is irritated. The noise resulting from this has given rise to the name by which it is known. Its gall, smoke-dried, is a specific for toothache. Its flesh, also smoke-dricd and reduced to powder, is considered an excellent febrifuge. Salt moistened with saliva and applied to the wound is a certain remedy for its bite, of which the venom is so active that it causes death in less than an hour. [Page 141]

The next day, about four o’clock in the afternoon, Monsieur de Montcalm arrived with the rest of the army. We were obliged to continue OUT way, notwithstanding a deluge of rain that dreached US. We marched nearly the whole night, until we distinguished the camp of Monsieur de Levi by three fires. placed triangularly on the top of a mountain. We halted at this place, where a general council was held, after which the land troops began anew to march toward fort George, only four leagues distant. It was not until about noon that we again entered our canoes. We paddled slowly, in order to give the boats loaded with artillery time to follow us. They were far from being able to do it. By evening we were more than a full league ahead. However, as we had come to a bay the point of which we could not double without wholly exposing ourselves to the enemy, we decided to spend the night there, while waiting for new orders. It was marked by an unimportant fight, which was the prelude to the siege.

About eleven o’clock two barges, which had left the fort, appeared on the lake. They were sailing with a confidence and composure which they soon gave up. One of my neighbors, who was watching over the general safety, descried them at a considerable distance. The news was carried to all the Savages, and preparations for receiving them were concluded with admirable activity and silence. I was at once called upon to attend to my own safety by going to the land, and thence to the heart of the woods. It was not from a bravery inappropriate to a man of my profession that I turned a deaf car to the advice which they had the goodness to give me; but I did not think the matter serious, because I [Page 143] thought that I had reason to suspect the truth of the news. Four hundred boats or canoes, which for two * days had covered the surface of lake Saint Sacrement, made too great a show to have escaped the watchful and char-sighted eyes of an enemy. Holding this opinion, I had difficulty in persuading myself that two barges would have the temerity, I do not say to measure themselves with such superior forces, but to appear before them; I was arguing, and it was only necessary to open my eyes. One of my friends, a witness of everything, warned me again, in a tone too serious for me not to yield, that I was out of place. He was right. All the Missionaries were together on a somewhat large boat. A tent had been put on this in order to protect us from the in jurious eff ects of the air during the nights, which in that climate were somewhat chilly; this awning, thus set up, made in the air a sort of shadow that was easily discovered by the light of the stars. Eager to inquire into it, the English steered directly toward us. TO take such a course and to wn to death was almost the same thing. Few, in truth, would have escaped it, if, fortunately for them, a slight circumstance had not betrayed us a few moments too soon. A sheep belonging to our people began to bleat; at this cry, which disclosed the ambush, the enemy faced about, steered ‘for the opposite shore, and plied their oars that they might escape undcr caver of the darkness and the woods. This manoeuver being imm.ediately understood, what was to be done? Twelve hundred Savages began to move, and flew in pursuit of them, with yells as terrifying by their duration as by their number. Nevertheless, both sides seemed at first to respect [Page 145] each other; not a single gunshot was fired. The aggressors, not having had time to form themselves, were fearful of shooting each other; and, besides, they wished to take prisoners. The fugitives were using their arms to advantage in accelerating their flight. They had nearly reached their point when the Savages, who perceived that their prey was escaping them, fired. The English, pressed too closely by some canoes in advance, were obliged to answer it. Very soon a gloomy silence followed all this uproar. We were in expectation of success when a pretended brave undertook to do himself honor by a fabulous Account of the combat, at which he had assuredly not been present. He began by asserting that the action had been deadly for the Abnakis. That was sufficient to make me set out. Supplied with the Holy Oils, I leaped hastily into a canoe to go to meet the combatants; and, at every instant, I besought my guides to make all possible haste. There was no need, at least on my account. I met an Abnakis, who — better informed, because he had been braver — told me that this very deadly action had ended with one Nipistingue killed and another wounded in the boarding. I did not wait for the rest of his story; I hastened to rejoin our people, in order to cede my place to Monsieur Mathavet, the Missionary of the Nipistingue Tribe. I was arriving by water when Monsieur de Montcalm — who, at the report of the Musketry, had landed a little above — came through the woods; he learned that I had come with news from the place, and applied to me that he might better understand the affair; my Abnakis, whom I recalled, gave him a short report of the combat [Page 147] The darkness of the night did not permit us to learn the number of the enemy’s dead; their barg& had been seized and three men had been taken prisoners. The rest were wandering at random in the woods. Monsieur de Montcalm delighted with these details retired, that he might, with his sccustomed prudence, consider the operations of the next day.

The day had hardly begun to dawn when the party from the Nipistingue Tribe proceeded to the funeral ceremony of their brother who had been killed on the spot in the action of the preceding night, and had died in the errors of paganism. These obsequies were celebrated with all savage pomp and splendor. The body had been adorned with all the ornaments — or, rather, overloaded with all the finery — that the most whimsical vanity could use on occasions sad enough in themselves; porcelain necklaces, silver bracelets, ear and nose rings, magnificent garments, — everything had been lavished on him; they had borrowed the aid of Paint and vermilion in order to make the paleness of death disappear under these brilliant colors, and give the countenance an air of life that it did not possess. None of the decorations of a military Savage had been forgotten : a gorget, tied with a flame-colored ribbon, hung carelessly over his breast; the gun resting on his arm, and the war-club in his girdle; the calumet in the mouth, the lance in the hand; at his side the kettle, filled. In this lifelike and war- like attitude they had seated him on an eminence covered with grass, which served as a bed of state. The Savages, ranged in a circle around the body, maintained for a few moments a gloomy silence, which somewhat resembled grief. The Orator broke [Page 149] this by pronouncing the funeral Oration for the dead; then followed chants and dances, accompanied with the sound of tambourines set around with little bells. In all this appeared an indescribable sadness, sufficiently in accordance with a mournful ceremony. At last, the funeral rites were finished by interring the dead man, with whom they took good care to bury an abundant supply of provisions, fearing doubtless that for want of food he might die a second time. It is not as an eye-witness that I speak; the presence of a Missionary would hardly be in keeping with this sort of ceremony, which is dictated by superstition and adopted by a stupid credulity; I am indebted to the spectators for this account.

In the meantime, the bay in which we had anchored resounded on all sides with noises of war. Every one was in motion and action. Our artillery, which consisted of thirty-two guns and five mortars, put on platforms which had been laid on boats fastened together, took the lead. In passing the tongue of land which concealed us from the sight of the enemy, we took care to salute the fort by firing a volley — which was, to begin with, but mere ceremony, but which announced more serious volleys. The rest of the little fleet followed, but slowly. Already a body of Savages had established their camp in the rear of fort George, or on the way to fort Lydis, in order to cut ‘off all communication between the two English forts. The force of Monsieur the Chevalier de Levi occupied the defiles of the mountains, which led to the place chosen for our landing. Favored by such wise measures, our descent was made without opposition to a good half- league below the fort. The enemy had too many [Page 151] affairs of their own to undertake throwing obstacles in our way. They were expecting anything rather than a siege; but I hardly know from what cause their confidence sprang. The vicinity of the forts was occupied by a multitude of tents, which at our arrival were still standing. We observed there a number of barracks, well fitted to favor the besiegers. The enemy were obliged to clear the outworks, take down the tents and burn the barracks; these movements could not be made without their being exposed to many volleys on the part of the Savages, who are always ready to avail themselves of advantages that are given to them. Their fire would have been move active and more deadly if another abject had not attracted part of their attention. Herds of cattle and horses, which the enemy had not had time to put in safety, were roving on the lowlands situated in the neighborhood of the fort. The Savages at once gave their whole attention to chasing these animals; a hundred and fifty oxen killed or taken, and fifty horses, were the first-fruits of this little war; but this was only one of the precursors and preparations of the siege.

Fort George was a square flanked by four bastions; the curtains had fraises, the ditches were dug to the depth of eighteen or twenty feet, and the scarp and counterscarp were embanked with moving Sand. The walls were formed of large pine-trees, filled in with earthwork, and sustained by extremely heavy stakes; this gave them a terre-plein of fifteen to eighteen feet, which they had taken care to sand entirely. Four or five hundred men defended the fort, with the aid of nineteen guns — two of which were of thirty-six, the others of less caliber, — and [Page 153] with four or five mortars. The place was not protected by any other outwork than a fortified rock faced with palisades secured by heaps of stones. The garrison consisted of seventeen hundred men, and continually relieved that of the fort. The chief defense of this intrenchment was its position, which overlooked the surrounding country, and which was accessible to artillery only on the side of the fort, as mountains and swamps skirted the different avenues leading to it. Such was fort George, according to the information which I gained on the spot after the surrender of the place; it was not possible to invest it and entirely block all the ways to it. Six thousand Frenchmen or Canadians and seventeen hundred Savages, who formed our whole force, were not sufficient for the immense amount of ground that it would have been necessary to encircle in order to succeed in this; hardly would twenty thousand men have been able to do it. Accordingly, the enemy always possessed a back door by which they could slip into the woods, — which could have served them as an advantageous resource if they had not had the Savages in front: but a person rarely escapes from their hands in this way. Besides, the quarters of the Savages were placed on the Lydis road, — so close to the neighborhood of the woods, and where they were so often on the scout, that it would indeed have been risking life to seek an asylum in that direction. At a short distance were quartered the Canadians, holding the summit of the mountains, and always in condition to assist the Savages. Lastly the regular troops who came from France — t0 whom properly belonged the hardships of the siege — occupied the edge of the wood, very near the ground where the [Page 155] trenches were to be opened; then followed the reserve, composed of sufficient troops to protect it from every attack.

These arrangements having been made, Monsieur the Marquis de Montcalm sent to the enemy some propositions, which would have spared them much blood and many tears had they been accepted. The summons was couched in nearly the following words, and was addressed to Monsieur Moreau,[31] Commandant of the fort in the name of His Britannie Majesty. Sir: I have come with troops sufficient to carry the place you hold, and to cut off all aid which might come to you from elsewhere. I number among my soldiers a crowd of Savage Tribes, whom the least shedding of blood might exasperate to the point of rooting out in them forever all feelings of moderation and clemency. Love of humanity urges me to summon you to yield at a time when it will not be impossibe for me to make them agree to terms honorable for you and advantageous for all. I have, etc. Signed, Montcalm. The bearer of the letter was Monsieur Fontbrane, Aide-de-camp of Monsieur de Levi. He was received by Messieurs the English Officers, several of whom were his acquaintances,’ with a politeness and consideration from which the laws of honor excuse no person when he makes war like an honest man. But this favorable reception decided nothing as to the surrender of the fort, as was shown by the answer. Here it is: Monsieur the General Montcalm: I am especially obliged to you for the kind offers that you make me, but I cannot accept them. I am little afraid of barbarity; besides, I have under my orders Soldiers who are determined, like myself, to die or to conquer. I have, etc. Signed, Moreau. The haughtiness of this answer was [Page 157] very soon proclaimed by the noise of a volley from the enemy’s artillery. We were far from being in condition to reply immediately. Before we were able to plant a battery it was necessary to drag our guns, for a full half-league, over rocks and through the forests. Thanks to the voracity of the Savages, we could not have for this work the aid of any of our beasts of burden; being weary, as they said, of Salt meat, they had not scrupled to seize these animals and feast on them, some days previously, without considering anything but their own appetite. But, instead of that aid, so many hands animated by courage and by devotion to the Sovereign lent themselves so readily to the toil that obstacles were very soon conquered and removed, and the work brought to completion. During all this commotion I was staying near the Hospital, where I hoped to be within call so that I might perform the duties of my office for the dying and for the dead. I remained there some time, without having the least tidings of my Savages. This silence disturbed me; I had a great desire to assemble them once more, that I might avail myself of the dangerous circumstances in which they were, to bring them all, if it were possible, to feelings approved by religion. Thereupon I resolved to go in search of them. The trip had its difficulties and dangers, in addition to its length; I was obiiged to pass near the trenches, where a Soldier — occupied in wondering at the extraordinary effect of a cannon-ball on a tree — was very soon himself, at a few steps from me, the victim of his own indiscretion. In making my way, I admit to you that I was struck by the mariner with which the French and the Canadians bore themselves [Page 159] in the difficult and dangerous labor to which they had been assigned. On seeing the joyous manner with which they carried to the trenches the fascines and the gabions, you would have taken them for men invulnerable to the rapid and continual fire of the enemy. Such conduct indicates much bravery and much love of country; but then that is characteristic of the Nation. I went through all the quarters, finding only a few platoons of Abnakis scattered here and there; I therefore returned from my trip without having any other merit than that of good Will. Thus separated from my people I could scarcely be of great use to them; but, at least, my services in behalf of a Moraigan prisoner were of some use; his Tribe is friendly to England, and almost wholly under her authority. He was a man whose appearance was surely neither prepossessing nor pleasing. A head enormous in its size, with small eyes, a bulky and ponderous corpulence joined to a stunted stature, large and short legs, all these marks and many others would have given him, most assuredly, a just title to be classed among deformed men; but, although disfigured by nature, he was no less a man , — that is to say, he had no less right to the notice and consideration of Christian charity; nevertheless he was only too greatly the victim of his repulsive appearance, as well as of his unhappy fortune. He was tied to the trunk of a tree, where his grotesque figure attracted the inquisitive attention of the passers-by; yells were not spared in the beginning, but the bad treatment came afterward, — to such a degree, that by a blow, roughly dealt, one of his eyes was nearly torn from its socket. This proceeding shocked me; I went to the help of the [Page 161] afflicted man, from whom I drove away all the spectators, with a tone of authority which I doubtless would never have dared to take had I been less impressible to his misfortune. I stood guard by his side part of the day; at length I did so well that I succeeded in interesting the Savages (his masters) in his favor, so that there was no longer need of my presence to shield him from persecution. I hardly know if he were really conscious of my services, — at least, a dull glance was all that I could obtain from him; but, independently of religion, I was only too well rewarded by the mere pleasure of having succored an unfortunate person. There were other people whose fate was also to be pitied. Every day, savage activity and bravery multiplied the prisoners, — that is to say, the wretched. It was not possible for the enemy to take a step beyond the fort without being exposed either to captivity or to death, so alert were the Savages. You may judge of it by this single account. An English woman ventured to go to gather vegetables in a kitchen- garden almost adjoining the trenches. Her boldness cost her dear; a Savage concealed in a bed of cabbages perceived her, and with his gun killed her on the spot. The enemy had no opportunity of coming to take away her body; the victor, still concealed, kept guard all day long, and took off her scalp.

In the meantime, all the savage Tribes were very weary of the silence of our “ great muskets,” — it is thus that they designate our cannon; they were anxious no longer alone to bear the brunt of the war. In order, therefore, to satisfy them, it was necessary to hasten the work on the intrenchments, and plant our first battery. The first time when it was fired [Page 163] there were cries of joy, and all the mountains resounded with the uproar. It was not necessary during the whole course of the siege to make great efforts in order to be aware of the success of our artillery; the shouts of the Savages every moment brought news of it to all the quarters. I thought seriously of leaving mine; the inaction to which I was condemned there, on account of the separation from my Neophytes, influenced me in this; but, before this change, we had to endure a great fright. The frequent journeys that the enemy had made to their boats during the day had aroused suspicions that they were getting ready for some decisive blow. The report spread that their design was to come to set fire to our supplies of food and ammunition; and Monsieur de Launay, Captain of Grenadiers in a French Regiment, was ordered to watch over the safety of the boats in which these were stored. The preparations that he had made, as a man who knew his profession, almost led us to regret that the enemy did not show themselves. When this alarm was dispelled, I rejoined my Abnakis, with the purpose of not separating myself from ‘them again in the whole course of the campaign. No other remarkable event took place for some days, unless it were the cheerful alacrity and the activity with which the work on the intrenchments was advanced. The second battery was placed in two days. This was a new holiday which the Savages celebrated in military fashion. They were continually around our gunners whose dexterity they admired. But their admiration was neither inactive nor fruitless. They wished to try everything, so as to make themselves more useful. They aspired to become gunners [Page 165] and one of the number distinguished himself; after having himself pointed his gun, he shot accurately into the reëntrant angle that had been assigned to him for a mark. But he refused to repeat it, notwithstanding the solicitations of the Trench, — alleging as reason for his refusal, that, having attained in his very first attempt that degree of perfection to which he could aspire, he ought not to hazard his fame by a second trial. But the cause of their chief astonishment was those several zigzags which, forming the different branches of a trench, are so many covered ways, very useful for protecting the besiegers against the guns of the besieged. They examined with an eager curiosity the manner in which our French grenadiers proceeded to give to this sort of work the perfection which it required. Having been taught by their eyes, they very soon tried their hands at the practical part. Armed with shovels and pickaxes they were seen making a covered way to the fortified rock, the attack on which had fallen to their lot. They pushed it forward so well that they were very soon within gunshot. Monsieur de Villiers, brother of Monsieur de Jumonville,[32] — an Officer whose mere name is a eulogy, — improved these advances by coming, at the head of a Body of Canadians, to attack the outer intrenchments. The action was Sharp, disputed for a long time, and deadly for the enemy. They were driven from their first position, and it is to be presumed that the great intrenchments would have been carried that very day if their capture could have decided the surrender of the fort. Every day was marked by some Splendid act on the part of the French, the Canadians, and the Savages. [Page 167]

In the meantime, the enemy were continually sustained by the hope of speedy aid. A little event, that happened at this time, ought indeed to have diminished their confidence. Our scouts met in the woods three messengers coming from Fort Lydis; they killed the first, took the second, and the third escaped by his swiftness in running. They seized a letter put into a hollow ball and so well concealed on the body of the dead man that it would have escaped the scrutiny of any other than that of a military man who knows this sort of stratagem of war. The letter was signed by the Commandant of Fort Lydis and addressed to the Commandant of Fort George. It contained in substance the deposition of a Canadian, taken prisoner on the first night of our arrival. According to his declaration our army numbered eleven thousand men, and the Corps of our Savages two thousand; and our artillery was most formidable. There was a mistake in this reckoning. Our forces were in this letter exaggerated far beyond the truth. This error ought not, however, to be attributed to fraud and deceit — which, although useful to the Country, cannot be justified to the conscience of an honest man, even the most zealous and the most patriotic. Before this war, the most numerous armies of Canada had scarcely exceeded eight hundred men; surprise and astonishment would magnify abjects to eyes unaccustomed to see large ones. In the course of this campaign, I have been witness of much greater mistakes of this kind. The Commandant of Lydis concluded his letter by telling his colleague that the interests of the King his master not permitting him to dismantle [Page 169] his fort, the other would better capitulate, and procure as advantageous conditions as possible.

Monsieur de Montcalm did not think that he could put this letter to better use than to forward it as addressed, by the very messenger who had fallen living into our hands. He received from the English Officer thanks, accompanied by the modest request that he would continue to him for a long time the same civilities. Such a compliment either partook of the nature of trifling, or it promised a long resistance. The actual state of the fort did not indicate this: part ‘of its batteries dismounted and out of service, through the success of our own; the fear prevalent among the besieged, who were now retained as soldiers only by means of a liberal supply of rum; and, lastly, the frequent desertions, — all these tokens announced its approaching fall. Such, at least, was the general opinion of the deserters, the number of .whom would have been very much greater than it was if the savage troops had not multiplied the dangers of desertion.

Among those who came to surrender to us, there was one, the subject of a neighboring Republic which is our faithful ally; I enjoyed the sweet consolation of preparing the way for his speedy reconciliation to the Church. I went to visit him in the hospital, where his wounds detained him. At the very beginning of the conversation, I understood that it was not difficult to make a man of good sense approve of the dogmas of the true Religion, when the heart is in the condition of being no longer alive to the deceitful charms of human passions.

I had hardly returned from this trip, which had cost me a walk of three leagues, — the fatigue of which [Page 171] was much alleviated by the motive that inspired it, and by the success that crowned it — when I perceived a general commotion in all the quarters of our camp. Every Corps was in motion, — French, Canadians, and Savages; all were running to arms, all were preparing to fight. A reported arrival of the help so long expected by the enemy had produced this sudden and general activity. In this moment of alarm Monsieur de Montcalm, with a presence of mind which revealed the General, attended to the safety of our intrenchments, the service of our batteries, and the defense of our boats. He then went to .take his place again at the head of the army.

I was sitting calmly at the door of my tent, from which I saw the troops marching by, when one of my Abnakis came to disturb my tranquillity. Without any ceremony, he said to me: My father, thou hast promised us that even at the peril of thy life thou wouldst not hesitate to give us the help of thy ministrations; could our wounded come to thee here across the mountains which separate thee from the place of combat? We are going away, and we expect the performance of thy promises. so energetic an appeal made me forget my fatigue. I hastened my steps, I made my way through the regular troops; at length, after a forced march, I reached a piece of ground where my people, at the head of all the Corps, were awaiting the combat. I immediately sent a few of them to collect those who were scattered. I was prepared to suggest to them religious acts suitable to the circumstances, and to confer upon them a general absolution at the approach of the enemy; but the latter did not appear. Monsieur de Montcalm, that he might not lose the reward of so many attempts, [Page 173] contrived a stratagem which would make an opportunity for the action that we had come to seek at so great cost; he resolved to order the French and the Canadians to fight with each other a mock battle. The Savages, concealed in the woods, were to face the enemy, who would not fail to make a vigorous sally. The expedient laid before our Iroquois was an admirable artifice; but they pleaded that the day was too far advanced. The rest of the Savages vainly challenged this opinion, but the excuse was judged admissible, and accepted; thus each one went back to his place without having seen anything but the preparations for a combat. Finally, on the morrow, — the eve of Saint Lawrence’s day, and the seventh day after our arrivai, — the intrenchments having been pushed forward as far as the gardens, we prepared to plant our third and last battery. The proximity of the Fort led us to hope that in three or four days we should be able to make a general assault, by means of a suitable breach; but the enemy spared us the trouble and the danger; they hoisted a French flag, and asked to capitulate.

We are near the surrender of the fort and the bloody catastrophe which followed. Doubtless every corner of Europe has resounded with this sad occurrence, as with a crime the odium of which perhaps falls back on the Nation and disgraces it. Your fairness Will at once judge if such a glaring imputation rests on any other basis than on ignorance or on malignity. I shall relate only facts of such incontestable publicity and authenticity that I could, without fear of being contradicted, support them by the testimony of even Messieurs the English Officers, who were the witnesses and victims of them [Page 175] Monsieur the Marquis de Montcalm thought that he ought, before consenting to any terms, to take the opinion of all the Savage Tribes, in order to appease them by this condescension, and to render the treaty inviolable by their assent. He assembled all the chiefs, to whom he communicated the conditions of capitulation, which granted to the enemy the right of going out of the fort with all the honors of war; and imposed on them, with the obligation of not serving against His Most Christian Majesty for eighteen months, that of restoring liberty to all Canadians taken in this war. All these articles were universally approved: stamped with the seal of general approbation, the treaty was signed by the Generals of the two Crowns. Accordingly the French army, in order of battle, advanced to the fort to take possession of it in the name of His Most Christian Majesty; while the English troops, ranged in good order, went out to take refuge until the next day in the intrenchments. Their march was not marked by any contravention of the law of nations; but the Savages lost no time in violating it. During the military ceremonial which accompanied taking possession, crowds of them had penetrated into the fort through the gun-embrasures, that they might proceed to pillage what we had agreed to give up to them, but they were not content with pillaging. A few sick soldiers had remained in the casemates, their condition not permitting them to follow their fellow-countrymen in the honorable retréat accorded to their valor. These were the victims upon whom they pitilessly rushed, and whom they sacrificed to their cruelty. I was a witness of this spectacle. I saw one of these barbarians come [Page 177] out of the casemates into which nothing less than an insatiabIe avidity for blood could make any one enter, so insupportable was the stench which exhaled from them. He carried in his hand a human head, from which trickled streams of blood, and which he displayed as the most Splendid prize that he could have secured.

This was only a very faint prelude to the cruel tragedy of the next day. At the very dawn of day, the Savages reassembled about the intrenchments. They began by asking the English for goods, provisions, — in a Word, for all the riches that their greedy eyes could see; but these .demands were made in a tone that foretold a blow with a spear as the price of a refusai. The English dispossessed and despoiled themselves, and reduced themselves to nothing, that they might buy at least life by this general renunciation. Such complaisance ought to soften any heart; but the heart of’ the Savage does not seem to be made like that of other men: you would say that it is, by its nature, the Seat of inhumanity. They were not on this account less inclined to proceed to the harshest extremes. The body of four hundred men of the French troops, selected to protect the retreat of the enemy, arrived, and drew up in a line on both sides. The English began to defile. Woe to all those who brought up the rear, or to stragglers whom indisposition or any other cause separated however little from the troop. They were so many dead whose bodies very soon strewed the ground and covered the inclosure of the intrenchments. This butchery, which in the beginning was the work of only a few Savages, was the signal which made nearly all of them so many ferocious beasts [Page 179] They struck, right and left, heavy blows of the hatchet on those who fell into their hands, However, the massacre was not of long continuance, or so great as such fury gave us cause to fear; the number of men killed was hardly more than forty or fifty. The patience of the English, who were content to bend the head under the sword of their executioners, suddenly appeased the weapon, but did not bring the tormentors to reason and equity. Continually uttering Ioud cries, these began to take them .prisoners.

In the midst of all this I arrived. No, I do not believe that any one can be a man and be insensible in such sorrowful circumstances. The son torn from the arms of the father, the daughter snatched from the bosom of the mother, the husband separated from the wife; Officers stripped even to their shirts, without regard for their rank or for decency; a crowd of unfortunate people who were running at random, — some toward the woods, some toward the French tents; these toward the fort, others to every place that seemed to promise an asylum, — such were the pitiable abjects that were presented to my sight; nevertheless the French were not inactive and insensible spectators of the catastrophe. Monsieur the Chevalier de Levi was running wherever the tumult appeared the most violent, endeavoring to stop it, with a courage inspired by the kindness so natural to his illustrious blood. A thousand times he faced death — which, notwithstanding his birth and his virtues, he would not have escaped if a special providence had not watched over his life and had not restrained the savage arms already raised to strike him. The French Officers and the Canadians [Page 181] imitated his example, with a zeal worthy of the humanity which has always characterized the Nation; but the main part of our troops, occupied in guarding our batteries and the fort, was, on account of the distance, unable to give them aid. Of what help could four hundred men be against about fifteen hundred furious Savages who were not distinguishing us from the enemy? One of our Sergeants, who had strongly opposed their violence, was thrown to the ground by a blow from a spear. One of our French Officers, in reward for the same zeal, received a severe wound which brought him to the gate of death; besides, in this time of alarm people did not know in what direction to turn. Measures which seemed dictated by the greatest prudence led to disastrous and sinister ends. Monsieur de Montcalm — who was not apprised of the affair for some time, on account of the distance to his tent — came at the first notice to the place of the uproar, with a celerity which showed the goodness and nobility of his heart. He seemed to be in several places at once, he would reappear, he was everywhere; he used prayers, menaces, promises; he tried everything, and at last resorted to force. He thought it due to the birth and the merits of Monsieur the Colonel Yonn[33] to rescue his nephew, with authority and with violence, from the hands of a Savage; but alas! his deliverance cost the life of some prisoners, whom their tyrants immediately massacred, through fear of a similar vigorous act. In the meantime, the tumult was continually increasing, when happily some one thought of calling out to the English, who formed a large body, to hasten their march. This forced march had its effect; the [Page 183] Savages — partly through the f utility of their pursuit, partly satisfied with their captures — retired; the few who remained were easily dispersed. The English continued their way in peace to fort Lydis, where they arrived — numbering, at first, only three or four hundred. I do not know the number of those who, having gained the woods, were fortunate enough to reach the fort by the help of a cannon which our people took care to fire, for several days, in order to guide them. The remainder of the garrison, however, had not perished by the sword, neither were they groaning under the weight of chains. Many of them had found safety in the French tents, or in the fort, whither I repaired, after the disorder had been once quieted. A crowd of women came &d, with tears and groans surrounding me, threw themselves at my feet; they kissed the hem of my robe, uttering from time to time lamentable cries that pierced my heart. It was not in my power to dry up the source of their tears; they asked the return of their sons, their daughters, their husbands, whose capture they were deploring. Could I restore these to them? However, the opportunity of diminishing the number of these wretched creatures was soon offered, and I eagerly embraced it. A French Officer informed me that a Huron, at that very time in his camp, was in possession of an infant six months old, whose death was certain if I did not immediately go to its rescue. I did not hesitate. I ran in haste to the tent of the Savage, in whose arms I perceived the innocent victim, who was tenderly kissing the hands of its capter and playing with some porcelain necklaces that adorned him. This sight gave a new ardor to my zeal. I began by [Page 185] flattering the Huron, with all the eulogies that truth could permit me to bestow on the bravery of his Tribe. He understood me at once: Here, said he to me very civilly, dost thou see this infant? I have not stolen it; I found it deserted in a hedge; thou wishest it, but thou shalt not have it. It was in vain that I pointed out to him the uselessness of his prisoner, its certain death for lack of food suitable to the tenderness of its age; he showed me some tallow with which he would feed it, adding that after all, in case of death, he would find a spot for burying it, and that I should then be free to give it my blessing. I replied to his remarks by making an offer to give him a comparatively large sum of money if he would relinquish his little captive, but he persisted in the negative; afterward, he unbent so far as to exact in exchange another Englishman. If he had in no way diminished his claims, the life of the Child would have been lost. I believed the death-sentence already pronounced, when I perceived that the man was consulting in Huron with his companions; for until then the conversation had been held in French, which he understood. This conference made a ray of hope dawn on my eyes : this hope was not deceived. The result was that the infant belonged to me, if I would hand over to him an enemy’s scalp. The proposition did not embarrass me: It will soon be seen, I replied to him on rising, if thou art a man of honor. I set out in haste for the camp of the Abnakis. I asked the first one I met if he were the possessor of any scalp, and if he would do me the favor of giving it to me. I had every reason to rejoice at his readiness to oblige me; he untied his bag, and gave me my choice. Supplied with one of [Page 187] those barbarous trophies, I carried it in triumph, followed by a crowd of French and Canadians eager to know the outcome of the adventure. Joy lent me wings; in a moment I was with my Huron. “Here,” said I on meeting him, “here is thy payment.” Thou art right, he answered me, it is indeed an English scalp, for it is red. In reality it is this color which more commonly designates the English Colonists of these districts. Well then! here is the infant, take it away; it belongs to thee. I did not give him time to withdraw from his agreement. I immediately took into my hands the little unfortunate creature. As it was nearly naked, I wrapped it up in my robe. It was not accustomed to be carried by hands so unskillful as mine. The poor child nttered cries that apprised me as well of my clumsiness as of its sufferings; but I consoled myself with the hope of very soon quieting it, by holding it out to more tender hands. I reached the fort; at the cries of the little one, all the women came to me in haste. Each one hoped to find the abject of her maternal tenderness. They examined it eagerly; but neither the eyes nor the heart of any one of them recognized in it her son. They withdrew apart, to give anew free vent to their groaning and lamentation. I found myself in no slight embarrassment by this retreat, separated as I was forty or fifty leagues from any French dwelling: how was it possible to feed a Child of so tender an age ? I was buried in my reflections when I saw an English Officer, who spoke the French language very well, pass by. I said to him in a decided tone: “ Monsieur, I have just rescued this infant from slavery, but it Will not escape death unless you order some one of these[Page 189] women to take the place of its mother and nurse it, until I can provide for having it brought up elsewhere.” The French Officers who were present seconded my request. Thereupon he spoke to those English women. One of them offered to render this service if I would answer for her life and that of her husband, be responsible for their maintenance, and have them taken to Boston by way of Montreal. I immediately accepted the proposal; I begged Monsieur du Bourg-la-Marque[34] to detach three Grenadiers for the purpose of escorting my English people as far as the camp of the Canadians, where I hoped to find help in fulfilling my new engagements; that worthy Officer responded to my request with kindness.

I was preparing to leave the fort when the father of the infant was found; he had been wounded by the explosion of a shell, and was unable to help himself; he could only acquiesce with pleasure in the arrangements that I had made for the safety of his son. Accordingly I set out, accompanied by my English people under the safeguard of three grenadiers. After a fatiguing, but safe walk of two hours, we came to the place where the Canadians were encamped. I &all not attempt to reproduce to you faithfully the new circumstance that crowned my tmdertaking : it was one of those events which a person would in vain attempt to portray to the life. We were hardly at the first entrante to the camp when a quick and Sharp cry suddenly struck my ears; was it grief? was it joy? It was all that and much more; for it was the mother, who from far away had recognized her son, so clear-sighted are the eyes of maternal tenderness. She ran up with [Page 191] a haste which showed what she was to that Child. She snatched it from the hands of the English woman, with an eagerness that seemed to indicate her fear lest it should be taken away from her a second time. It is easy to imagine the transports of joy to which she abandoned herself, especially when she was assured of the life and liberty of her husband, to whom she thought she had spoken her last farewells; their happiness lacked only their reunion. I believed that I owed that also to the completion of my work.

I again took the way to the fort. My strength scarcely sufficed for me to reach it; it was more than an hour after noon, and I had taken no food, so I nearly fainted on arriving there. The politeness and benevolence of Messieurs the French Officers very soon helped me to continue my good work. I sent for the Englishman in question, but for several hours the search was unsuccessful. The suffering from his wound had obliged him to retire into the most solitary part of the fort, that he might obtain some rest; at last, he was found. I was preparing to lead him away, when his wife and Child appeared. Orders had been given to collect all the English scattered through the different quarters, to the number of nearly five hundred, and conduct them to the fort, so that their food could be more certainly supplied until they could be taken to Orange; this last was successfully accomplished some days afterward. Demonstrations of joy were renewed with still greater outbursts than before. Hearty thanks were given me, not only by those interested, but also by Messieurs the English Officers, who had the goodness to repeat them to me more than once. As [Page 193] to their offers of service, they pleased me only for the sake of the feelings from which they sprang. A man of my profession has no reward but to wait upon God alone.

I ought not to pass over here in silence the reward that the other English woman received for her kindness, she who was obliged to serve as mother to the infant in the absence of the true mother; Providence brought about for her through the agency of Monsieur Picquet the recovery of her son, who had been iniquitously taken from her. I remained a few days longer in the vicinity of the fort where my ministrations were not fruitless, — either to some prisoners, whose chains I was happy enough to break; or to some French Officers whose lives were threatened by savage drunkenness, and whom I succeeded in protecting.

Such were the circumstances of the unfortunate expedition which dishonored the bravery that the Savages had displayed throughout the course of the siege , and which have made even their services burdensome to us. They pretend to justify their deeds , — the Abnakis, in particular, by the law of retaliation, alleging that more than once in the very midst of peace, or of conferences, such as that of last winter, their warriors had come to death by treacherous blows in the English Forts of Acadia. I have neither the ability nor the information that would permit me to judge a Nation, which, although our enemy, is not on that account, for many reasons, less worthy of respect. Furthermore, I do not know that in the composition of this narrative I have mentioned a single circumstance the certainty of which could justly be weakened; still less am I able [Page 195] to persuade myself that malignity could discover one single action which would authorize it to cast upon the French Nation the infamy of that event.

We had made the Savages consent to the treaty of capitulation; could we more surely prevent its infraction ?

We had assigned to the enemy, in order to guarantee their retreat, an escort of four hundred men, — some of whom had even been victims of a too lively zeal in repressing the disorder; could we more efficaciously hinder the non-observance of the treaty?

Finally, we went so far as to ransom the English, at great expense, and take them from the hands of the Savages by paying money; so that nearly four hundred of them are in Quebec, ready to embark for Boston. Could we more sincerely make amends for the violation of the treaty? These statements seem to me unanswerable.

The Savages, then, are alone responsible for the infringement of the law of nations; and it is only to their insatiable ferocity and their independence that the cause of it can be ascribed. The news of that fatal deed, having spread abroad through the English cofonies, produced in them such grief and dread that one single Savage actually dared to carry his temerity so far as to go to carry away captives almost at the gates of Orange, without having been disturbed either in his expedition or in his retreat. Therefore the enemy planned no undertaking against us at the time which followed the capture of the fort. Nevertheless, nothing was more critical for us than the situation in which the French army then was. The Savages, with the exception of the Abnakis and Nipistingues, had disappeared on the very day of [Page 197] their wretched expedition; twelve hundred men were occupied in demolishing the fort; and nearly a thousand were employed in transporting the immense supplies of food and ammunition that we had seized. Hardly a handful of men remained to tope with the enemy, if they had assumed the offensive. Their tranquillity gave us the opportunity of accomplishing our work. Fort George has been destroyed and razed to the ground and the ruins consumed by fire. It was only during the burning that we comprehended the greatness of the enemy’s loss. Casemates and secret underground passages were found filled with dead bodies, which for several days furnished fresh fuel for the activity of the flames. As for our loss, it consisted of twenty-one dead — three of whom were Savages — and of about twenty-five wounded; that was all.[35]

At length, on the day of the Assumption, I entered a boat going to Montreal; the weather was very rainy and very cold. This voyage was marked only by the continuity of storms and tempests, which almost submerged one of our barges, and nearly caused its guides to perish. But the anxieties of the journey were much alleviated not only by the society of the other Missionaries, but also by that of Monsieur Fiesch, who was sent to Montreal as a hostage. This Officer, a Swiss by birth, and formerly in the service of France, is one of the most honest men that can be found. During his stay in the midst of the Colony, he served the Nation to which he is bound with a fidelity worthy of all praise.

When I arrived at Montreal I intended to take some necessary rest; but the Savages so greatly [Page 199] increased my occupations there, and these were all so little satisfying to my profession, that I hastened my departure to my Mission. I had another reason to press me on; it was to fulfill the promise which I had given to Messieurs the English Officers, not to spare myself in this village in urging the Savages to make a restitution of the remaining prisoners. It was time to come to begin the work. One of our Canadians, who had escaped from the prisons of New England, was incessantly talking of the bad treatment that he had experienced there; he even reported that an Abnakis, taken in the action of Monsieur de Dieskau, had perished from hunger that winter in the prisons of Orange. If this report had been noised abroad it might have caused many innocent people to perish. I succeeded in burying it in a profound silence, which furthered the departure of all the English unjustly detained in captivity.

You have here a faithful account of all the events that have marked this campaign which has just closed; you have seen with satisfaction that French valor has been sustained with splendor, and has worked wonders. But you must also have perceived that passions, everywhere the same, produce everywhere the same ravages; and that our Savages, although Christians, are not on that account more blameless in their conduct. Their wandering and vagabond life is not one of the least causes of their misfortunes. Left as they are to themselves, and struggling with their passions without being sustained by the aid of even any outward religious performance, they escape for the greater part of the year the endeavors even of the most active zeal — which, during this long time compelled to the [Page 201] saddest inaction, dwindles to the power of uttering in their behalf only prayers, which are almost always useless and superfluous. Perhaps the God of mercy Will some day enlighten these unfortunate creatures on the dangers of their strange manner of life and Will restrain them from their instability and their wanderings; but although that is an event which a Missionary is indeed permitted to desire, it is not in his power to bring it about.

I have the honor to be, etc. [Page 203]

Of the Hurons.

1ST. In 1626, Fathers Breboeuf and De Noue, Jesuits, and Father Joseph De la Roche, Recollet, went to the Huron country in the autumn of that year, to learn their language, and thereby to place themselves in a position to instruct them and teach them Christianity.

2nd. The Hurons were then settled on the shores of the lake that still bears their name, — that is to say, on the shores of lake Huron.

3rd. According to the Relations of the first Jesuits who were sent at that time among the Hurons, to labor in instructing them, the Hurons were divided into twenty villages — which, united together, formed a nation of thirty thousand souls.

4th. In 1649, on the 16th of March, the Iroquois — with whom the Hurons had been at war since the year 1638 — suddenly, to the number of fifteen hundred, swooped down on one of their largest villages, and burned it. They seized some villages, alarmed others, and thereby compelled the Hurons to flee precipitately, and to disperse.

5th. The Hurons then retired: some to a distance of a hundred leagues from lake Huron — and their descendants now constitute the Huron village at Detroit; others are said to have settled among the Illinois; others went down to Three Rivers, and others still to Quebec. Most of those who were at [Page 205] Three Rivers joined those of Quebec, on the 26th of April, 1654.

6th. There was at that time a considerable number of Hurons who had been settled at Sillery for about ten years. These were Hurons who loved a peaceful life, and who — ever since a house had been built, in 1637, at Sillery for them, and for the savages of other nations who wished to dwell there — had gradually settled there among the Algonquins and formed a considerable village.

7th. The Sillery Hurons joined those of Quebec in 1651, on the 29th of March, the day on which they were taken to the Island of Orleans to reside there.

8th. The Hurons dwelt on the Island of Orleans from the 29th of March, 1651, to the 4th of June, 1656 — that is to say, five years and some days.

9th. On leaving the Island of Orleans, the Hurons came to live in Quebec. They remained there until the month of April of the year 1668, when they left to go to Beauport, where they remained about a year. Afterward, about the spring of 1669, they went to settle at côte St. Michel, where they remained from the spring of 1669 to the 28th of December of the year 1673. From that place they went to live at Vieille Lorette, where they remained from the 28th of December, 1673, to the autumn of 1697. Finally, from the autumn of 1697 to this present year 1762, they have lived at Jeune Lorette.

10th. Jeune Lorette has no dependencies. It is not a seigniory. It is only a small piece of land of the côte Petit St. Antoine, seigniory of St. Michel, on which the Jesuit Fathers, to whom the seigniory [Page 207] belongs, consented to allow the Hurons to settle, about the end of 1697.

11th. The Jesuits have been seigniors of the Seigniory of St. Gabriel from the 2nd of November, 1667 — On which day Monsieur Robert Giffard, the first seignior of the said seigniory, in concert with Madame Renouard, his wife, gave it to the Reverend Jesuit Fathers. [Page 209]

CCXXVIII

Bannissement Des Jésuites de la Louisiane

[François Philibert Watrin]

à Paris, le 3 septembre 1764

—————

Source: Copied from Carayon’s publication thereof (Paris, 1865). [Page 211]

Banishment of the Jesuits from Louisiana.

You write me, Monsieur, that you were surprised to learn of the arrival at Paris of Jesuits banished from Louisiana by a decree pronounced against them in that colony. You wish to know the reasons for this decree, and what followed its execution. I am familiar with the affair that interests you, and likewise with all that can in any way relate thereto. I lived for almost thirty years in Louisiana, and only departed thence at the beginning of this year.[36] I am persuaded that your curiosity has no other motives than your love for religion and for truth. In the recital which I am about to give you, I shall be